Joining the villains (a group fanfiction)

[youngstormlord]

(I want to try something new. A group effort of writing fanfiction, so to speak. Here's my part, everybody is free to join in.)

Parson had found Stanley's pavillion two hexes away from the city. It was a heavy forest hex and the pavillion was made from camouflage cloth, the same as all the other tents, only bigger. He needed Jack Snipe to help him search the town library (and veil Stanley's stack while they were on the move) and he needed Wanda for her bonuses, else they wouldn't have taken it easily. Of course, Sizemore had to be there for rebuilding it after the battle, to cut the costs and preserve the most of the city intact during rebuilding. Stanley wasn't happy about it; 3 casters in the field and only 3 in the Gobwin Knob itself, it was risky as hell. And Stanley insisted on coming, for some weird reason. To Parson, Tool was always a small picture man, a surprisingly good fighter and leader when fighting in skirmish yet almost hopelessly idiotic when it came to long term strategy and leading the side.

Once Parson reached the biggest tent in the camp, he could hear through the cloth Stanley talking with someone inside. A woman's voice, albeit muffled by the cloth of the tent. Parson ducked through the flap of the tent that served as the door, moving past the guards into the tent itself... Inside, there was his Overlord, sitting in front of the map with a cup of coffee in front of him and what looked like a female caster on the left of him, with the cup of her own. She seemed fairly young, how ever age worked in Erf, with short black hair, a shy smile and a very light, dark green robe. No hat, though. She seemed to have gone through cold weather and some low rations over several turns.
"Hamster. Sit down, have a snack." Stanley told him, more friendly than usual. "Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked, after pushing chocolate chips to now-seated Parson. The caster watched him politely, looking somewhat like a minimized Audrey Tattoo or possibly Anne Hataway, just waiting to be introduced to Chief Warlord.

"No Tool. This was not the city. We are getting closer, though. The markings are getting more ornamental." Parson replied.
"In that case, I've found someone to help you look. This is Jill Hauxley, our new Lookamancer if we choose to accept her turning." Stanley said, then hastily added "After proper testing and if Wanda agrees, of course. I don't want the last time repeated."

We had to use a healing scroll on you the last (and, if you ask me, Maggie and Jack, only) time.' Parson thought. He mentally contacted Maggie, who arranged matters with Jack.

"Sure Tool." Parson replied then turned to their possibly new caster "Nice to meet you, Jill. Now, if you don't mind me asking, how old and what level are you?"

"Well met." the girl replied nervously. "I was popped 63 turns ago in the city of Escrow. I reached level 3, 20 turns ago, my side fell to Undertakers 17 turns ago and I have been barbarian ever since." She looked saddened when she said that.

"M'kay then." Parson said, feeling like a job interviewer. "There's a simple abillity check waiting for you outside the tent. Follow me."
"Yes sir."Jill said and did so.

[youngstormlord]

***
There were two other casters standing outside, surrounded by Decrypted. One of them was a tall, black-haired man in a purple suit. The other was... Lady Wanda Firebaugh! The Pliers were dead give-away, although Jill knew that she would have recognised her even without them. Those eyes, that look, that stature... She was intimidating and, if Titans will it, her new Chief Caster soon.
"I'm Jack Snipe." the man in purple suit said then pointed to the rest of the hex with a flourishing sweep of his hand. "This is your test. There are ten jars hidden in this hex. Some are filled with Dirtamancy traps. Others have only dirt in them. Only one has a single hard-baked bean inside and even that one is filled with dirt. Your job is simple. Find the jar with the bean, bring it here and spill it in front of me, so we can see the bean. You have 15 minutes. If you succeed, you will become the Gobwin Knob caster and we will pay your upkeep. After that time is up and you by chance fail in your task, some stabber will cut your head off and you will be Decrypted and become our caster the unpleasant way. Got all that?"
"I think so. See where the jar with the bean is and bring it to you." Jill said, with a shiver.
"Good. Your time starts ticking... Now!" Jack said, pulling a sand timer out of his pocket and turning it so the sand started to drop.

Jill closed her eyes and concentrated, hard. She had spent some juice, around one tenth. There was a lot of stabbers, some siege, 3 casters, not counting her...
"Sizemore the Brown!" she said in half-whisper, tears almost escaping her eyes. He gave her some rations once, when she was on the edge of croaking from starvation. The other casters were a strange bunch, even other Lookamancers, but only he had shown her any charity. Some others were kind, but their kindness ended when it came to shmuckers or food. Even Great Abby's. Those who couldn't pay their own upkeep were considered worthy of starvation.
"Yes, he is." Jack Snipe said, although Jill thought he didn't hear her. "But he is not important now, is he? 12 minutes left."
Jill concentrated harder, weaving a lookamancy spell. After it was completed, three fifths of her juice was gone. "There are 14 jars, not 10." Jill said to Jack. "4 with dirtamancy traps masked by being hidden in baskets, 7 unmasked with dirtamancy traps in them. Others with dirt. Except for..." Jill went to a Decrypted stabber, took the jar out of his pocket. It was full of hard-baked beans. She brought it to Jack.

"Nice try, but no cigar. One bean in a jar full of dirt is what I asked of you. 4 minutes left." Jack said, taking the jar.
Jill started to panic. There were two jars with dirt left, but they were on the different sides of hex. There was time to grab one and run... She chose one at random, took it, even though she knew it to be empty of the bean, quickly cast some Foolamancy she picked up from Joker Nickolson in Escrow, almost completely draining her juice, then ran back to Jack.

"30 seconds left." Jack told her when she returned, before closing his hand to make the clock disappear. He tipped the jar to spill it, before rumaging in the dirt. There was a bean inside it and Jack picked it up. He studied it for what seemed to be a long time then...

"Foolamancy." he said, as the bean vanished and turned to pebble, which it was. "Novice level and quite a good job at that." Lady Firebaugh didn't say a word. She simply gave a very small nod. Two stabbers took Jill under her arms and lead her towards the clearing where a hobgobwin with an axe waited. She was too exausted to fight, too out of juice to cast a single blinding, too hopeless to have the slightest hope of running away. Tears ran down Jill's face as they lead her to execute her.

"You must have been pretty desperate to try to fool master level Foolamancer." said Parson, Lord Hamster.

"I'm sorry." was all Jill was able to whisper, as they pushed her onto her knees,into the mud and putting her head over the tree stump. The hobgobwin readied his axe.
"Do you want those to be your last words before Decryption?" Jack Snipe said. "Come on, lets try something more amusing. Like the answer to: What do I have in my left pocket?"
In utter despair, knowing with crystal clarity that she is going to croak, Jill spent the last of her juice to look inside Foolamancers pocket.

"A dwagon. Made of paper." Jill said, surprised. "It's beautiful..." The axe fell. It hit the stump, completely missing her neck and head.

"That is correct." said Wanda and stabbers helped her get up.

"We would have accepted if you put one of the beans from the jar you took from piker and put it into the one with dirt." said Lord Hamster. "Nice thinking under pressure, though. We accept your turning. Wanda, give her something to wear and something to eat. We leave next turn." After that, he and Jack turned and left towards Overlord's tent.