#I was gonna make Seth smaller but decided not to because of plot stuff

[raventroll80]

Stowaway Mer AU

Part 4: Beach-combing and Fishnets

A chapter in which Em experiences immense regret about previous actions, and makes a surprising friend.

Heads up this story contains; Injury, Swearing, and Dead Fish.

It was not long after 7:00 p.m when Flynn had come home, far earlier than her or Nimh had expected. presumably because of the raging thunderstorm. Though she did notice that his left arm was bandaged.

When asked about it he said a shark got caught in the net and had bit him. He said they had to cut it out of the net so they had to go back. Not because of the thunderstorm.

He had brought Daisy with him who was fast asleep in his arm. He had thanked her and Nimh for the food and went to what was presumably his room.

Em didn’t know if there were any rooms off limits so she dug out her old sleeping bag from a box and laid it out on the couch and slowly fell asleep.

Sometime during the night Flynn had brought down some blankets for Em and Nimh.

“I thought you two could do with some blankets, the house can get cold when the furnace is off,” he said as he handed Nimh some old blankets.

“Thanks bud, it’s really nice of you to let Em move in here with you,” Nimh replied while placing one of the blankets on Em.

“It’s no problem, the house is huge there’s more than enough room here,” Flynn said, “ … I’m gonna, go back to bed now,”

“Good night Flynn,”

——————————————————————————

The next morning the three went into town to get some things done. Mainly getting utilities restored to the house and finding someone to inspect the property for damage.

Em was sat in the back while Nimh sat in the front passenger like before. The sky was still cloudy and a light misty drizzle is all that remained from last night’s storm.

“Ok so, you’re gonna want to go to the town hall, you see that clock tower over there?” Nimh said as they drove into town, “town hall is right over there, the clock tower itself is the post office, you should probably stop there too,”

Suddenly Em remembered that she had left her bag at the beach. The dawning realization must have been visible because Flynn had asked her if something was wrong.

“I just remembered I left my bag on the beach the other day, is it ok if I have to go look for it,”

“Do you need help looking for it?” Flynn asked as he pulled into one of the port parking lots.

“Nope, I know where I left it, I’ll meet you guys at Mr. Grimmar’s” she said unbuckling herself and getting out.

“Which one?” Nimh asked.

“Silas!” Em shouted as she briskly jogged down the beach.

“Do you have your phone?” Nimh yelled back.

Em stopped for a moment and felt her pockets before yelling,

“Fuck!”

“Aye, she left at the house,” Nimh replied rolling the window up.

“I’ll show where Mr. Grimmar’s is when we’re done at town central,”

As the truck drove off Em continued to jog down the beach, being careful as to not slip and fall. She did not leave her phone at the house, it was in fact in her backpack. The same backpack she had left behind after her encounter with the shark-man mermaid thing from the other day.

When Em got to the place she thought she had left it, she was greeted with nothing but rocks and stranded starfish.

“Shit, shit, shit,” she thought to herself as she sat down on a rock. Em gave a defeated sigh as she looked around.

“Might as well toss these starfish back while I’m here,” she said, standing up and began to collect the starfish.

She put some in tide pools and others in the surf, seagulls had already arrived and were cleaning up some of the dead fish that also scattered the beach. Some followed her hoping for a starfish to fall out of her hand.

She had just placed more starfish into the water when she had noticed a bunch of seagulls were gathering just behind some rocks down the shoreline. Curiosity got the better of her and she decided to investigate whatever the seagulls were interested in. Though she did pull out her knife out just in case, luckily she didn’t leave that behind.

Em slowly crept forward and peered over the rocks, what she saw caused her to gasp. It was the shark-mer from the other day.

They didn’t look to good, they weren’t moving and they had a massive gash in their side. They were also tangled in some fishing nets. Seagulls were picking at the wound causing it to bleed.

Em felt a twinge of guilt as she wondered if she was somehow to blame for the state the shark-man was in. She felt bad and wanted to help them but knew that the shark-man mermaid thing probably wouldn’t be to happy to see the person who stabbed them approaching them. So she decided to slowly creep towards them and hoped they wouldn’t wake up, and that they were still alive.

As she drew near she could see that the were still breathing, shallowly albeit, but still breathing. She breathed a sigh of relief and continued creeping. Unfortunately she didn’t notice some debris before stepping on it causing it to loudly crack.

The shark-man’s eyes snapped open and they immediately scrambled back when they saw Em. Fear plastered their face and they struggled to hold their body upright as one of their arms was wrapped in net.

“Hey there buddy, I’m not gonna hurt you,” Em said whilst holding a knife.

The mer didn’t appear to believe her as they continued to try and back up. A seagull pecked at the wound on their side. The mer yelped in pain and pulled their tail away. Em lunged and shooed the bird away, yelling at it.

Seth’s hand slipped as they tried to back away, a grimace covering their face. Em kneeled down on the rocks a set the knife aside before addressing the mer.

“It’s ok, it’s ok… I know you’re afraid, and I don’t blame you either. I am too,” she said, the mers eyes occasionally darting to her knife before turning back to her.

“I’m sorry for stabbing you, and I know you don’t trust me but believe me I’m not going to hurt you,” she continued before picking up the knife again and leaning in.

The mer leaned backwards before falling over, they screwed their eyes shut and began to whimper. Em felt another pang of guilt and Seth braced for imminent death.

Em carefully grabbed the net, making sure not to tug on it too hard. She began to cut the net from his tail. Once it was lose she moved onto his arm. Seth tried to move away but he was afraid that he’d get cut by the woman.

Slowly and agonizingly she cut away at the net, careful as to not pull on it too hard. Eventually Seth was mostly free from the net, only his neck remained wrapped in it.

The Em began to reach towards his neck, and without thinking Seth threw his hands up in front of him. To his surprise she stopped what she was doing and also held her hands up.

Seth slowly lowered his, before lightly tugging at the remaining net around his neck. Then he looked at the scraps of net that she had removed from him, he was confused. When he looked back Em had lowered her hands and was now holding the knife with the handle pointing towards him.

“Here, you probably don’t want me anywhere near your neck with this, huh,” she said softly, with a hint of worry in her voice.

Slowly he reached out and took it from her. As he examined it Em took the opportunity to gather all of the loose net scraps and wrapped them in each other.

“You wait here, I’m gonna go get some things for those wounds of yours,” Em said as she stood up and slowly backed away.

Seth watched her as she walked down the beach at a brisk pace. Once she was out of sight he dragged himself into the water and swam out.

Once Em had made it back to the port she disposed the ball of netting in net disposal bin the town had set up. She then made her way to the bait shop to get the mer something to eat.

“Howdy Marco!” She said to the man behind the counter.

“Afternoon Em! Someone came in the other day looking for you,” Marco replied,

“Wait, really? Who? What for?”

“It was that researcher fellow, he said that he found you bag on the beach the other day,”

“Oh really thank god! Do you have it?” She asked.

“No, sorry, told him to take it to Silas’ shop since you’re there a lot,” Marco answered, “anyway what brings you here?”

“Oh right! Can I have my monthly employee bait bucket, Just moved into the old house up on the cliff, aaand I wanted to cook my roommate something as a welcoming gift,” she replied.

“Sure thing, let me just grab a bucket and let’s get you some fish,” he said stepping out from behind the counter.

“Can you ice the bucket, don’t want them getting smelly on the way home,” Em asked following Marco down the short flight of stairs to the live bait section.

“What kind do you want?” Marco asked as he packed crushed ice around the inside of the bright orange bucket.

“Hmm… just some mullets and herring today,” she answered.

“You got it,” he said and opened the fridge and grabbed some fish.

Once the bucket was full he screwed the lid on and handed it to Em.

“You have a great day now Em, you hear!”

“Thank you Marco!” She replied before exiting out the side door and jogging back down the beach.

When she got back the mer and her knife was nowhere to be seen. Em scanned the waves and thought she saw a head poking out of the water a few meters out. She wasn't entirely sure if it was the mer or not but she called out anyways.

"Umm... Can I have my knife back? You don't have to return it right now but I would like it back eventually. There's a dock on the island not too far from here, just follow the coast until there's a break and the Island should be not too far out from it."

the head tilted to one side before turning around and diving under the waves.

Em decided that she should get going an pick he bag up from Mr. Grimmar and left the beach.

---------------------------------------------------

Seth was still in shock when he surfaced for air. The net was still wrapped around his neck keeping his gills shut, he was too afraid to try and cut it off himself. He was contemplating going back to shore when he saw someone standing on the beach.

They were about the same height and shape as the human who was helping him. They were holding some sort orange cylinder. He wanted to investigate but he was still unsure if they could be trusted.

He heard the person yell from the beach and he recognized it as the the woman from earlier. She was asking for her knife back and giving him directions to a dock somewhere nearby.

He decided to at least give this dock a look. He took a deep breath and dove back under the waves and headed down the coast to this supposed dock.

[sethpeck]

An Interview with Ford Ivey

(note: I originally published this in September 2001, back when I ran a NERO fan site, no longer maintained.  I’ve kept the raw text and have provided here for perpetuity.  I publish it here today, March 21st 2021, the day after Ford Ivey passed away. I have edited it for spelling and censored the former name for the current NERO Gadabari race.)

Blast from the Past

An evening with Ford Ivey

Older players recognize the name, but for those of you just joining us, Ford Ivey is often attributed with being the grandfather of NERO.  Not twelve hours after releasing the first issue of NEROtics.com back in July, Ford offered me an interview in the future.  Like I was going to say no. Seth Peck, NEROtics.com: How are ya? Ford Ivey: [laugh] I'm fine--and in much better health than the old days. I have lost 256 pounds. I'm weighing in at 244, and don't have diabetes nor high blood pressure any more, and the heart is a LOT healthier. SP: Wow--that's quite a change. Any secrets you wish to divulge? FI: Yeah.....surgery! [grins] Seriously. I had a gastric bypass. I was gonna die if I didn't lose weight. That was a year ago on July 5th. SP: Well, it's good to hear that you are in good health. FI: Well, it's good to be in good health. SP: As NERO gets larger and more and more newbies join the game, I hear more and more people asking about the origins of the game and "stories from olden days". Being a relatively new player myself, compared to the life-span of NERO, I find myself wondering also. How did NERO get its start? FI: Wow...big question. It started way back in 1986. I heard about a game in New Hampshire called "Midrealms Adventures". I heard about it about six months before I could get up to play it...and imagined what it would be like when I did play it. When I finally did, it was not a lot like what I imagined. It was a module based game--a few hours and it was over, and a marshal had to be with you all the time. I wanted a game where the players could be free to do what they wanted. SP: So what did you do? FI: I ran my own. At the time, I had just started a group for Friday night table-top gaming at a Boy Scout explorer Post in Newton, Massachussets, and we had available to us a Boy Scout Camp--Nobscot by name--and we decided to run a game of our own there. I had a group of 7 or so guys helping me. We wrote it, cast it, and ran it. We invited a group of 6 or so friends of one of the guys to PC it. SP: Did this game have a name yet? FI: Nope, no name. We called it "Weekend Warriors" for the first year or so. I ran a bunch of different variations on the game. I wrote the plots, bought the props, paid for everything, and ran them myself. SP: So how did it go? FI: The first game was pretty bad, to be honest. SP: [laughs] Care to elaborate? FI: Yeah--it was bad because we had very few costumes or props, we basically told the PCs where to go. We had some major problems with the PCs not picking up on things. It was amazing to us how much stuff gets missed when you are doing it for real rather than around a table. We had one point [where] we had gone to great lengths to make sure they knew that the "Ranger" character they met on the trail was a good guy and they could trust him. Well, he had been captured and was going to be sacrificed. We drug him out, proceeded to sacrifice him, knowing the PCs were watching, expecting them to save the guy--they didn't. They just watched. Poor guy had to steal a dagger, and save himself. They got to him as he was breathing his last--one guy got to him, and he said: "Beware the Dark Lord! Seek the Man of the Mountain!" When the other players got there, they asked him what he had said. He replied, "He said something about a man and a rock." SP: [laughing] FI: But we kept trying things, getting closer to the vision I had. Then, in November of 1988, we ran a game called "Shandlin's Ferry". It was the immediate ancestor of NERO. SP: how long did first several events last? FI: We did set up on Saturday and started mid afternoon on Saturday. Then we ran until Sunday afternoon. The Shandlin's Ferry game started at noon on Saturday and ran 24 hours. It was notable for several reasons: first, it's the game where we figured out how to do the NERO style play--players running around with no marshals. It was also notable because the founders of the game came together for the first time--Craig and Debbie Walton, Mike Ventrella, Heidi Hooper, me, Bob King--all of us were there. We decided after the success of that game to try and run what turned into NERO. Craig Walton came up with the name. Shandlin's Ferry remained on the NERO map, and what happened at that game became part of the NERO world. We even had a Shandlin's Ferry campaign in the Massachusetts chapter a few years later. That gave me a lot of satisfaction. SP: Speaking of the creators: I did some checking on the other LARP games (Amtgard, Dragoncrest, Camarilla) that are still being played today, and with the exception of the SCA, none of them have been around longer (although IFGS was starting the same time you were). Did you consider yourselves innovators in RPGs? FI: Did we consider ourselves innovators? Not at the time, I don't think, though we finally started to realize what we had done a year or so later. In retrospect, it was quite an innovation. It was a break from the old-style module based game, which was started at Treasure Trap in England--that's what Middle Realms was based on. The IFGS is a module-based game. Treasure Trap and a bunch of English games have been running longer than us or IFGS. Also, the ILF (Interactive Fiction Society) has been around quite a while. SP: What was your experience with RPGs prior to all this? FI: Wow. I started playing Dungeons & Dragons way back in the 70's with my brother. I owned everything they put out, all the way back to the three little book set. I made a huge jump into role-playing when I started a store--The Gamemaster. It's really the home of NERO. We got everything started there after NERO was set up. SP: Tell me about your store. FI: It was a great store--we had everything. It was upstairs at 444 Massachusetts Ave in Arlington, MA. We had six or so tables for gaming in the store in the front. They were well-used. We had everything that had to do with roleplaying, and most stuff that had to do with miniatures. I used to have mini-conventions there every month. A guy named Brian Reddington-Wilde helped me run them. He's a game designer of some renown nowadays in miniatures rules--runs a business called "Goblin Tooth Enterprises" SP: I've heard of them. Do you no longer run the store? FI: Nope--NERO took over the store. We moved it twice, and the store part of it got smaller every time. Finally, we just dropped the store part and got an office. That was after Mike Ventrella wrote the article about NERO that made it into Dragon Magazine. After that article, we suddenly had, like, 5,000 members. There was no WAY we were ready to handle that many people. I'm afraid that customer service suffered a lot then. We used to have huge games. In 1992, we ran what is now known as the "Brood" weekend--the first game run by Rob Ciccolini. We had over 700 players there, including something like 150 NPCs. That was at Camp Wing, a really cool place with an old stockade and everything. SP: How many chapters were there when that happened? FI: Chapters? None. We were trying to get a couple started. The first was a New Jersey chapter, which later broke away from us and became LAIRE. Then Georgia--they later broke away and became SOLAR. The first chapter that remained was PRO, in Pennsylvania. Another Georgia chapter formed about then, too. All of this was about late 1992 and early 1993. We didn't have ANYTHING ready to support other chapters, though we got REAL anal about them conforming to our standards. A big mistake, in my opinion. SP: I've read the 3rd edition rulebook and know how much different the rules are today--and I've heard a few stories about some of the different classes and races and spells. Can you try to convince me that Stone Elves aren't Vulcans? [grinning] FI: Naw, I wouldn't even try to convince you of that. [laugh] Have you read about Metamorph and Obliterate It's true: Obliterate used to be a spell like any other. SP: What was Metamorph? FI: It was a spell that took a small representation of something--say a mouse--and allowed you to turn someone into one of them. It got, as you can imagine, severely abused. We even had a Truth spell--you'd be amazed how people remember the same event in very different ways. We had folks who sincerely thought they were telling the truth, and whose accounts of things just didn't match other people just as sincerely telling us about the same event. [It] makes you sympathize with the court system. Did you know I hate modules? SP: [laughing] What do you prefer? FI: Need them for the game, but I hate 'em. I've only been on maybe 3 in my entire career. I prefer the characters playing themselves, and getting into whatever because that's who they are. I don't know--I love the social aspect of the game, and the big problems that land in your lap, and having to deal with those. Modules are good because we have a chance to do special effects and marshalled calls that we can't do anywhere else, but--I don't know--it's the most artificial part of the game. SP: So do you like massive combat encounters at the edge of town? FI: Lord, no. I prefer hanging out in the Tavern, telling jokes with bad accents, being with friends, and being a hero when something visits. Combat encounters? I like them sometimes, but I'm not out there for the combat. But then, I'm not typical. I love the ceremonial stuff, the Tourneys, the Pomp and Circumstance, the armor, the look of the thing, the chance to make myself a part of a great movie moment. That's what I like, and that's what I tried to give to other players. Though I found over the years that those things are not as valuable for many of the other players as they are to me. SP: Some of the other races, while not unseen elsewhere in other forms, pique the interests of many new players. Where did Biata come from? FI: They were based on griffins. In the early days, we were still feeling our way as to what we could and could not do in a Live game. Heidi had a cool concept for them that included some mind powers that, so it turns out, just can't be included in this type of game. They became a group of Northmen/barbarians sort of Shaman-type people. Their mind powers got severely cut back. You live and learn. SP: I also heard an interesting story about the first formal component ever placed in a treasure count. FI: What first component was that? SP: I don't know what it was, but something about how no one else knew either and it got passed around for awhile until someone became formal-capable. FI: Oh, yes. We put out components for several events before people knew what they did. The early ones were tags taped to tongue depressors and then covered with plastic tape to help protect them from the weather. When they got used, the sticks were supposed to get broken. BOY, did I get sick of buying tongue depressors. SP: No matter how much things change--some things remain the same. FI: Yeah, that's true. The Formal Magic system was a fairly late addition to the game--probably in our third year or so. It was a good idea, but took years before it became even close to balanced. [grinning] SP: How come Sarr can't purchase Waylay? FI: Oh, Lord...well, that's a touchy one. Sarr were supposed to be all blood-lusty and like that--when they did damage, they wanted to see BLOOD, dammit! So, they were restricted to using weapons that were bladed, no blunts. And you [since] can't waylay someone with a blade... SP: Wow, was that ever an emotional reaction! FI: It was a silly thing. The designer of the race (Jade LeBlanc, I think) had one concept, and they guy who was in charge of approving it had another. Guess who won. Like I said--both touchy and silly. SP: Tell me about the Mystic Wood Elves. FI: Lorne Lehrer created them. Cool race, roleplaying intensive. I actually was sort of not paying attention to them as they were created--I came to an event and this guy showed up with these horns and ears. I had no idea who or what they were. I love Mystics--it took me a few years before I finally got a fair idea of their culture and stuff. SP: I guess the "bigness" of the game caught you up in that, especially with the increasing number of members and eventually chapters. How did you deal with that? FI: Slowly. It took us a while to get the game together enough to really be able to run a multi-chapter game. We really started to get it together in about 1994, by which time we had maybe 5 or six chapters. When we got our permanent site in Ware, Massachusetts in 1994, we really started to pull it together. The most useful thing was the annual symposium in September every year. Everyone got together for a weekend there, and we got a bunch of stuff done--not as much on the rules and stuff as we hoped we would, but mostly it was good to realize that we were all one game, and needed to work together. SP: When you were still in the development stages, did anything get left out that you wished could get in? FI: I guess you could say that. In retrospect, there were a lot of things that I wish we had done differently, or better. I wish there was a true economy, for instance, trading and getting the stuff to make the things you need to adventure. It gives so many more dimensions to a character--the closest NERO comes is the Formal Magic System and the components it takes to do the spells. But in general, no--we changed the bloody game ALL the time in the first few years. Heck, the first xp/bp ratio was: first level: 1 = 1; second level: 2 = 1, and so on. We made it a lot steeper, then had to make it steeper yet the next year. I think we needed to make it even steeper than that. The power scale is too steep, too--as in, the power of older players as compared to the power of a new, entering character. But now we're getting into game design, which would take forever. SP: (The current formula is (n^2 +5n)/2 xp/bp where n is your level.) Like Roddenberry and Gygax you've gone off to do other things. tell me briefly about your new project. FI: The Isles? Well, it's taking all the things I learned over the years and applying them to a new game. It's an attempt to solve the problems. I think it succeeds very well. Quiet combat, a real economy, and a bunch of skills that are very useful to the characters that are not combat related. SP: Do you have any other stories you wish to share? FI: A million or so. [grinning] I have been doing this a long time. I couldn't begin to cover the stories that it would take to do this justice. SP: I guessed. How about just one favorite? FI: How about, instead, I tell you why I do this? What "moment" do I do it for? It's those times--when I'm sitting in the Tavern, all the check-ins done, the cabin assignments finished, all of that stuff--the game is well underway, people involved in doing what their characters want to do, involved in the plot of the weekend, or on-going stuff with their group. All of them, standing around, weapons glinting dully in the candle light, talking low, in character, people gambling for gold in the back, [Gadabari] bellowing and laughing--all of it seems real. For a while, you're there. In that spot, in that reality, and it's those times I feel like what I did--what we did--really meant something. SP: Thank you for a most magical discussion! FI: Magical? [laugh] Well, you're welcome.