2018-05-21: A Nice Game of Chess
- Log: A Nice Game of Chess
- Cast: Loren Voss, Lan Lilac
- Where: Pendrago - Business District
- Date: May 21st 2018
- Summary: Loren and Lan play a game of chess, which soon diverges into a discussion on the various merits of leadership. Lan asks the most important question of all. Loren has a small epiphany.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Information gathering is, increasingly, a part of his job. This was true back on Filgaia too, but it's a fact of life that has become more prominent since their arrival on the moon. The people here, the societies here, the secrets here, all of it has to be uncovered and delivered back so command can better plan their next move.
It's just a little strange, when he thinks about it. Back in Jugend, no, after all of that, he had always thought his ultimate post would have been supporting an infantry unit in direct combat, or at least close to the front lines near Kislev. Yet, that wasn't how it had gone.
For one thing, there's no unit. Not out here on the moon, at least.
It's a fact of his skill set, he'd realized -- he's reasonably self-sustaining on his own, so long as he keeps clear of combat. With numbers limited, then...
"...And now do you see the problem?" he asks his partner across the table, indicating with a nod of his head towards the pieces on the board before them. His gaze lifts to regard his current opponent in this game.
Lan Lilac.
She hadn't noticed a thing about the setup he was attempting. A more seasoned opponent, perhaps, would have noticed what he was working towards and interrupted it.
Maybe, at least. He hasn't played another person in over half a decade, and he's never attempted to play -- or teach, for that matter -- a Lamb before.
It has been a...
Well it's certainly been a last hour or so for him, here in the corner of a begrudging tavern in the slower section of the business district of Pendrago. Definitely a last hour.
"You might have taken my bishop, but that's only because I planned to let you do that. Now I've taken your queen." With that, he unfolds his arms, moves his knight, then reaches over across the table to pluck the piece away from her side.
He gazes over at her, as if to study her reaction.
...In retrospect, a tactic of this nature was probably unfair, given her level of skill at the game...
He slowly sets the captured piece down on one side of the table, his fingers still lingering on the queen.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Even Lan enjoys learning new things! Whether it's a new dance, or a little historical note about someplace, or a funny story, she's not hard to interest. So when Thomas had said he wanted to try to teach her a game, she'd accepted the offer. After all, isn't it really nice of him? She must be a good influence!
An hour or so into the lesson, she's just barely holding on. He's taken most of her pieces in the latest round, though she's managed to take two of his soldiers and a priest in return - but now he's got her queen, no matter how Lan tried to protect her. The blonde sighs resignedly and takes a long sip of her (sadly non-alcoholic) cider. "I never even saw it coming...!" Is this the kind of skill that city dwellers have, stuck indoors all the time, or is it just Thomas that's some kind of tactical genius?!
"Okay, so you've got my most powerful piece now?" she asks, staring at the board with her elbows on the table. Is there even a way to salvage this? If they were playing mancala she'd be wiping the floor with him (probably), but this game is so complicated!
"At least take good care of her..." Lan frowns at his hand. "Put her with the other pieces you took!"
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
The fact that they've been ordering (non-alcoholic) drinks and yes, even some 'bar' food, is probably the one reason they haven't been asked to leave. As long as they have money to spend and aren't causing a disruption or breaking the rules (no singing no dancing no drinking) the breadth of tolerance is as long as need be.
Ever so slightly, he nods again. "That's right. Remember?" He's not entirely sure she does -- she's had a lot of trouble with the movement of the knights. "She can move in any direction, to any distance. But there's only one queen."
Unless one of her pawns can cross the board, that is, but he's a little skeptical of that happening.
"...Anyway, that's called a 'sacrifice'. You lure the other player into a trap and let them think they've won something of yours, then strike back and claim something more valuable."
He might not be enjoying the direction of this game, insofar as it's barely a challenge, but there's something about explaining it to someone else...
Even if he has his doubts how much she's processing what he's trying to tell her.
Honestly, it's probably better that way, he thinks.
His gaze tilts down towards the piece in his hand, then he shrugs and puts the white queen with the rest of Lan's lost material.
"It's your move. Think about it carefully."
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Lan likes card games, and she had a good time with the board games an uncle brought home once (until cousin Tansy ate two of the property cards). This, though... maybe it's a game for super geniuses.
It doesn't help that she keeps thinking that there's a mouse somewhere in the room and she wants to find and catch it. Lan likes mice, they're cute!
But she already knows that Thomas thinks she's an idiot, so Lan is doing her best to pay attention and try to learn. "I think so. It's kind of sad that there's only one of her. If there were more queens and less pawns the game would be faster." It would also probably be unmanageable, but--!
"Oh! I have a question. Can the queen move in a hook shape like the horse? --The knight," she corrects herself, turning one of hers to look at its little horsey face. Hmm... well, if she moves the knight over, she can take one of his pawns, but that puts the knight in danger of one of his castles. And then that makes two more pawns vulnerable...!
After a long handful of moments, Lan hesitantly moves a pawn one space forward. It's a rather milquetoast effort.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"If there were more queens and less pawns..."
The look on Loren's face as he imagines this sort of game is, as they say, potentially priceless.
That... that would be like having a duel with rockets...
He even sort of slumps back in his seat a little bit.
"...A, anyway, that would defeat the purpose. It has its origin as a game of war, you know. If it's too hasty, there's no time to plan your actions or think tactically."
There's a pause when Lan asks a question. "Uh," he utters, blinking again. It's probably not the first interesting question he's fielded this day. "No, she can't. Only the knight can move like that. ...I suppose it does make it unique among pieces-- but that's the reason it's important to consider all your pieces, not just the powerful ones. For instance, only the rook can protect the king by castling."
King. That's the most common name for the piece. He understands there are variants, but it's best to stick to one thing and one thing alone.
'The wise king never leaves the castle,' he'd heard it phrased. That's true. If a leader falls, what becomes of those they led?
Pawns are meant to die. Anything can be sacrificed, even the queen. The king must endure.
...That's all.
At least she's thinking. He'd thought she would have moved into the path of the other knight. Instead, it's a pawn he can't reach. He similarly plays it safely -- just moves a pawn rather than overreach, even against an opponent like her.
"There. It's your move."
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Lan thinks having a duel with rockets would be kind of awesome. Cleaning up afterwards, not so much.
"It's probably because I'm not much good with tactics," she muses, watching him move a piece. After all, it's just Lan out there... though with Thomas around, she'll have to take him into account as well. With luck she'll be able to avoid anything she can't defeat, because Thomas sure doesn't seem capable of doing much in a fight despite his skill at delving into the ruins scattered all over Filgaia and the moon. If the stranger shows up again--
He won't, she tells herself silently, briefly closing her eyes. He won't.
"I guess what I don't really get is why the king is so wimpy." Lan looks at hers, right on the center of her back line like he belongs, now with an open space where she should have left her queen. "He's the leader, so shouldn't he be stronger than everybody else?" Picking her king up, she twirls him back and forth between her fingertips. "Though I guess it's like they say, the queen is the real power behind the throne. But why let the king pretend at all? I'd understand if instead of protecting a king the object was really to protect the queen's child. A baby doesn't move too much." She's... neglecting to move anything. Lan's caught up in her new idea.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"Hmm. I can see that," Loren comments, after taking a moment to size her up. It's one of those comments that's hard to read -- was that intentional just now, or was that just because 'Thomas' is clearly the sort of boy who has spent far too much time inside and reading books?
There's a lot to do. He shouldn't be idling his time away like this, playing a game with a Lamb that hardly understands the rules. He should be finding out more about what's going on, or possibly heading afield to ferret out potential sources of raw materials or other things they could use to repair the ship.
But...
"..."
Technically speaking, the king's not supposed to leave the board, he thinks, watching her as she toys with the piece in her hands.
But for some reason, he doesn't feel like pressing the formal rule. Possibly because there's no point in it -- she's losing as is, and there's no formal structure to this...
And it feels a little bit... cruel...
He shakes his head at his own thoughts.
What are you even thinking? Or are you really forgetting again who you are?
"...Because the king isn't suppose to fight. Leaders don't take the front lines in real life, either. Or maybe it's different where you come from." He lifts his head, looking her in the eyes, then readjusts his own glasses. "A leader's important because they lead. If they're cut down, everything else falls apart. That's why, in war, a soldier will die for their king. The king guides the people, and in exchange, the people protect the king."
...That's why he can't understand Major Yugh, when he gets right down to it. Not really.
The ones who are led are the ones who should die... right? A leader isn't easily replaced.
His shoulders hunch, as if to ward off a sudden chill.
Lan isn't the only one a million miles away.
I'm still afraid to... right? That's it.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Lan seems to take it at face value. After all... she's the one who'd just admitted it in the first place!
A leader leads. Maybe it's different where she's from.
Well, it's not like he's wrong... Lanponders the king in her hand carefully. "In my village, we don't have what you think of as a king. There's nothing really that formal, but we do have people that lead from time to time. It's... a respect thing," she considers. "If a leader won't fight, but asked us to instead... why would we? If he can't fight, but there's a good reason to go to war, we might. But why would anybody die for someone who's unwilling to risk their own life for their people? Nobody is more important than anybody else."
Lan puts the piece back down where it came from. "I wouldn't follow someone who told me to go die for them just because they were a king. It takes more than that." She leans back a little bit and folds her hand behind her head, gazing up at the sky. What would make her fight for someone?
"They'd have to understand," she decides, "What it's like to die. What you'd die for, and what you'd kill for."
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"Nobody is more important than anyone else."
That's where you're wrong. There's always someone more important.
"And if that leader is your only hope for the future? Would you risk that for the sake of respect?"
He's from Aveh, isn't he? They have -- had, rather -- a king. Now they have a Prime Minister, one ruler just traded for another. Perhaps this is the sort of thing that comes off as a sort of blasphemy for someone from a city...
Or for someone who has been taught -- and seen -- the depravity of those from the surface.
She wouldn't die for someone just because they told her to. No wonder, he thinks. No wonder the world was in such a state. If you're not even willing to protect the people guiding you to a better future--
Do you really think you understand anything? thinks the young man sitting across from her, gaze fleetingly intent, as if he were attempting to bore a hole through her with his eyes alone.
A sea change from the vaguely agitated but largely indifferent mien he'd worn just seconds before.
The fingers of his left hand, resting on the table, curl inwards.
When he flexes them, he bumps his hand against his collection of her pieces.
There's a clatter.
The pawns, followed by a rook, roll onto the floor, leaving behind only the captured queen on her side and a knight.
"..."
He leans over, reclaiming the fallen pieces from the floor.
They're left somewhat haphazardly by the side of the board, queen and knight still left lying on their sides.
He ducks his head, and with his right hand, pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"...Somehow, I feel like 'dying' is a lesson you only get to learn once," he says, witheringly.
"Anyway... isn't it enough to die for your people because they're your people?" Your country, your leader, your guidance...
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
For an instant, his gaze turns strangely hot. Lan feels it more than she sees it, but the sensation of such intense scrutiny is strange. Thomas has always been mercurial, though... She doesn't always know when something small will upset him. Case in point.
"Why would a leader that doesn't respect his people be worth following? If they're the only thing that would save you..." She goes quiet, trying to churn through the points Thomas is bringing up. "Why would a person like that bother to try to save people anyway - what's their reasoning? People that don't care about others don't go to great lengths to help them." It's antithetical - following someone who doesn't care about you, just because you might be able to piggyback your way to survival. "You don't have to die to understand death. You just need to have lost someone. You just need to know what the death of a person does to their loved ones. Death isn't about us. It's about the people we leave behind."
The clatter of chess pieces brings her out of it for a moment. Thomas picks up and rights all but two, and without thinking Lan reaches over and sets the queen and knight on their 'feet' as well.
"Oh!" Lan thinks she gets it, now. "Of course I'd die for my people, if it would save them." She says it without hesitation. Maybe she's the one that doesn't understand dying...?!
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Sometimes it can be hard to know what someone else is thinking.
Case in point.
"Isn't it enough to be protected?" he counters.
--Of course, he wants to be respected--
But there's no need to respect the people below you. It's a one way street in the end.
--Which is why--
"Because the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. A leader needs people to follow them. People need a leader to protect them and guide them. Is this really so hard to understand?"
But in the end, it's about death. Again.
He knows what a death can do to the ones they leave behind.
If it's the wrong kind of death, isn't it obvious?
Just further shame. Shame and degradation.
It's an invisible visceral sort of shiver that rolls across him in the next heartbeat, unbidden and unwanted. When he thinks about it, sometimes... He wonders if he made the wrong decision. Maybe if he'd backed down and accepted it-- at least there wouldn't be any chance of further harm--
His hand shifts, grazing the black rook to his left, then withdraws as if stung. It's not his turn.
--and he can't... leave it like this.
Stop being a coward, he chastizes himself in the next thought. Die for your country. Die for your family. What more can you hope to do?
Which is followed by a moment of him staring at the board, his gaze unfixed.
Until Lan reaches over and sets the still fallen pieces upright again. The sudden movement, into what might be considered a pocket of his personal space, startles the 'medical student'.
His gaze lifts, and he stares at her then too, as if attempting to parse something.
...That's the same sort of feeling.
If it would save his people. Or even just one person. Or two people. He just wants to save two people.
It's that kind of feeling.
"...It's your turn," he reminds her, at a remove.