Introduction to the Wanderers

Filed for Martin Gray, Gold King of the Wanderers

“Whither thou goest, I will go; thy people shall be my people.” — Ruth 116.

Introduction

The Wanderers are a faction now. The Board treats them as one of its sides, and it keeps tracking every side it names. This book is the Library’s record of the Wanderers.

The Wanderers started as a small group in Skykomish. People arrived hurt and with nowhere to go, and you let them stay. The group grew until the Guild listed it as a company, and the company grew until the Board counted it as a faction. The History chapter covers all of that, so this introduction stays short.

Your people do not come from one race or one world. They include dragons, dark elves, celestials, Talsagi, and creatures the Library cannot match to any known kind. Some of them fought you before they joined you. A few still answer, in part, to factions they have not fully left. The Library records all of this and judges none of it. You did not gather them for one shared goal. They stay because you let them stay, and because standing next to you puts them in danger, and they choose that danger again and again.

The next chapters cover the faction one part at a time. The General Index lists your people, starting with the Foundational Members, whose decisions change what you do. Next come the Key Personnel, who carry out the work. Last come the Friends, Family, and Allies, who fight beside you without joining the company outright. The Enemy Index then lists the people and groups that want you dead.

When the Golden King claims a person, the Board counts that person as one of yours from then on. Their wins help you and their losses hurt you, and the Machine records each change as it happens. Here you can read the same ledger the Machine keeps.

The Board treats your people as game pieces and gives each one a value. The Library writes down what the Board sees, because that is the Library’s task. You can see them as more than pieces, and the entries that follow leave room for that. This book will get longer as your company grows.