Side-Write: The Good Word (Patreon)

Time to explore another lifestyle in the world of Project Wild One! I haven't made much reference to these people before, but the more I think about how the story of this world is developing, the more it feels inevitable that this will be at least a certain portion of the population, bringing another source of conflict into the world. This was a bit of a weird one to write out, but I hope it's still a fairly enjoyable read!

As always, this story isn't meant to be canon so much as an exploration of what may come to be in the background of the game!

~~~

What a long day. Chessamy collapsed into bed with a sigh, just relaxing in a daze for a few moments before she started working her aching muscles. Well. Any day in this town tended to be a long one, but today especially.

Sundays were always tiring, of course. The only proper Church was all the way on the other side of town. She was still trying to convince them to build a second one-- the Gods knew this town needed one on every corner. But until then, she'd do her best to spread the good word out here in the lower district.

Of course, the walk to Church wouldn't take so long if she didn't stop to try and help people, but there were far too many people wallowing in ignorance to let even a single chance slide. She just had to get up earlier to make sure she had time to pass out flyers to everyone, and answer all their questions. She also found she had to budget time for arguments with the especially stubborn ones. People thought all sorts of terrible things about the Church out here, but she was going to set each and every one of them straight. They'd all be begging for a Church out here by the time she was done.

She even had flyers for the Outsiders. She'd collected all the rumors she could about distant settlements and refuges for those who Came After. Even if they weren't among the Chosen, she figured, they would respond better to a little kindness than to open hostility. She told them about how bad it was for them and for the Chosen to intermingle, and how it would just be better for everyone if they lived elsewhere. Some were only passing through, and all the better. She encouraged them to pass quickly.

In all, it took about two hours to get to the Church, and that had been jogging the last quarter of the way to make it in time. She'd have to get up even earlier, it seemed. There were a lot of hard-headed people along today's route. But she had at last been rewarded with a good three hours of Commune, and the Preacher wasn't bad today. She still thought he was a little wishy-washy compared to the wise men and women back home. It almost felt like he was hoping some of the Outsiders might join Commune eventually, if he was soft enough with the lessons.

It was a little watered down, but still did her heart good. She'd left the Church feeling the blessing of all the Gods nice and bright, deep inside, and she walked with her Brothers and Sisters a while after, talking about the day's lessons and the hardships of living here. They'd clumped together a while as they moved in the same direction, but soon enough some peeled off here and there, and she wasn't halfway back across town when it was just two of them walking together... and she heard that noise, in the alleys.

Chessamy couldn't say for sure why she'd even thought twice about it, but looking back, it must have been the guidance of The Justice. The slightest hint of misdeeds, and she moved to investigate. She'd gestured her Sister to follow, though this one was a little on the cowardly side. In the darkness between buildings, she'd peeked around the corner, and sure enough... it was a Monster.

She'd studied the laws of this town carefully. Many of the Outsiders were protected, shameful as it was to say, but only certain species. Those that some of the First believed "civilized," safe to interact with. They didn't understand yet, but they would. But this... This creature wasn't on the lists. It was a hulking reptile of some kind, and it had mounted some poor girl, probably dragged her back here out of sight to have its way with her. A couple years ago, Chessamy would have been so shocked at such a sight she wouldn't have even known what to do. But she'd trained for this.

She sent her Sister to fetch the guard. They were a lazy bunch, but they'd get off their butts for this, and her Sister wouldn't be any help subduing this creature on her own. Indeed, she seemed happy for the excuse to flee, leaving Chess alone... with a Monster and its prey.

She never left home without her baton. Indeed, she almost never had it out of reach, even at home. You never knew when the Monsters might come for you. At a glance it seemed to be only a wooden rod, about two feet long, but it was built to crumple under a bite or an impact-- releasing a potent sedative. She'd trained endlessly to defend herself with it, to catch the mouth of all sorts of beasts. They love to bite at you, they hunger so. Block their bite, or thrust it into their mouth and twist it if you have to, and just about any matter of beast will be knocked out in seconds.

As she'd pulled out her baton, she reflected that at least she'd found them in time-- the poor girl pinned under the beast was still moaning and squirming. It was a shameful display, but plenty of these monsters had aphrodisiacs in their saliva or something similar. Chess wouldn't hold it against her. She only steeled herself to do her duty.

She rounded the corner and sprinted for the beast, but it must have heard her coming. It jerked up to blink at her, and abruptly dismounted its prey to flee in the other direction. That, she hadn't expected! So many of the monsters were too savage and hungry to do anything but attack anyone they met, but to make it this deep into town, this one must have been unusually crafty. She yelled at the poor woman to get to safety on a public road, and only glimpsed the victim's vaguely confused face before she was racing off after the beast.

The Gods chose her people, the Firstborn, as the rightful inheritors of this world. She was Chosen. But during The Fall, they had also created these monsters, and because of the foolish wishes and requests of her ancestors, overconfident in their supremacy, these beasts were given powers amazing and disastrous. Chosen though she was, she could not outrun this slithering abomination. She'd glimpsed it once, rounding that second corner, but it was gone by the time she reached the crates it had disappeared behind. She'd listened and peered around, and finally taken a guess and run down the way she thought it might have gone, but... there was no sign of it. It had vanished like smoke into this sinful town.

Now, Chessamy wrung her baton in frustration-- and stopped herself, before she cracked it open. She'd been so close. She needed to be faster. Quieter. She still had more training to do. But she'd saved a woman, at least. Hopefully earned a new convert for the Church. Still, it would have been so much more satisfying to have caught the beast.

As a young girl, Chessamy had once been frustrated that, if her people were Chosen, the Gods still chose to let those who Came After return from death as well. The Gods had done it to save their Chosen race, so why not give that blessing to them alone? She'd asked her parents, and her friends, but none of them were sure. Finally, she sat down with the Pastor and asked him, and he was impressed that such a young girl had such good questions.

It was because, he'd explained, the other species may someday still be of use to us. If all of them died, killing each other off, then we would never have access to their talents. We use horses and cows today to work for us and feed us, and it may be that when we have recovered as a people and reunited under the Church, the Outsiders may also find their proper place, at long last. It is up to us to work hard to bring order to this chaotic world again.

But, he said, until then, we also have other blessings to rely on. The Monsters are too stupid and primitive, but in our wisdom, we know how to kill these monsters permanently. We need only subdue them and take them to facilities that kill indirectly, without violence, to purge the invaders from our lands. In this way, the Outsiders will all survive out in the wilds, but we may still kill them when we need to.

That revelation had molded Chessamy into the woman she was today. It had started her down this glorious path, and while she'd been tempted to get a job as a Ranger, her family had convinced her that it would be better to work in the town itself, spreading light and truth and leaving the violence to others. Coming to this accursed town had been her compromise. Here, she would spread the word where it was needed most... and, she'd hoped, she would still have the chance to purify this world, if only a little. She'd come so close! But it seemed it would not be today. Her baton would find its place, though... Of that, she was certain.

~~~

"What's this?"

"Some One-Racer spotted Crikey with a girl and raised a fuss. Chased him off with one of their drug sticks."

"Agh. Don't they have anything better to do? ...Is Crikey okay?"

"Yeah, I checked, he's hiding in the usual spot."

"And the girl?"

"Annoyed and horny."

"Well, she can try again tomorrow. ...What's the rest of this, though?"

"That's all the One-Racer. She... had a lot to say."

"Does she think paper is free?"

"She said she'd be back tomorrow. To follow up on 'tracking down that scaled fiend.'"

"Fuck a duck. Just tell her we found it and sent it to some killbox on the border. That should satisfy her."