Dead Star Dockyards

313 Backup Plan

"Thaaaaaaat's better." Donovan rubbed the fingers of his right hand together while inspecting the bow in his hands. "I'd still prefer a bit more weight, but it feels leagues ahead of the other one. Do you mind if I keep it for the hunt?""By all means, sir. I am no longer capable of utilizing it." Lasse too was inspecting Donovan's handiwork. His first shot had gone way too far, probably a result of his training with the regular bow, but the second struck true. Not perfect, it struck the lower third of the target, but neatly centered below the bullseye. "I do wonder why you want a larger bow though."

"Simple. I don't feel like I'm drawing my maximum weight." Donovan nabbed another arrow from the quiver and looked it over. The other arrows, while crafted to a consistent degree of quality, felt like unrefined twigs in comparison. "Did you make these?"

"Leno, actually. He was my squire until recently, so he often handled these matters. I haven't been able to use this bow in a while, so I haven't needed to replace them."

"I don't know much about fletching or whatnot, but the feel a lot better than the other ones." He had over adjusted again, hitting the upper third. "The weight feels much more consistent, and they don't wobble as much."

"The size of the arrow is probably the bigger factor here, not that I disagree with your assessment. If he weren't so good with his hands you would still feel a difference."hat flipped the paradigm into favoring ranged combat and opened up many opportunities for him to show off.

It was a stroke of fortune Donovan cared little for honor or how others perceived his fighting style, which would have been the only hiccup for most people. To fight at range was dishonorable, the reasons for which confounded the Watcher even now. Maybe it was a manifestation of their insecurity regarding powerful Sorcerers who could decimate a battlefield from a distance, or perhaps they thought it showed less skill, but either way only one in a thousand nobles would even consider archery as an acceptable form of combat and only a fraction of them would actually practice it.

"Should we consider bringing one of those rifles along?" The conversation below had shifted to the hunt again. "I think it would be a good way to demonstrate the difference in prowess between us."

"As much as I think a demonstration would be beneficial, I see this as more of a ceremonial event than an actual hunt. There will be many opportunities to display our weaponry, so I don't want to sacrifice the chance this event offers us." It was good to see Diana on the same page as he was, even if the reasons behind it differed. "As much as I would like your people to integrate into our culture, I recognize they won't do so unilaterally. Even if we change nothing in our habits, participating in and accumulating an understanding of your ways will make it easier to accept our rule."

"True as that may be, the grandmasters will look upon him poorly if he misses the shot."

"He won't miss." The confidence was welcome, if unsubstantiated. "I have complete faith that Donovan will not embarrass himself. So long as the target isn't moving, he'll land the hit."

"One week isn't a long time."

"Titanyana, he lived in a world of perpetual and chaotic motion for half of his life, I'd would even say he in it. Even if had computer assistance, he's become so familiar with hitting small targets zipping around in three dimensional chaos that nailing a stationary target within a reasonable range should be child's play. He only needs to learn how the weapon behaves."

Maybe her confidence wasn't unsubstantiated after all. There was quite a bit the Watcher didn't know about Donovan, knowledge only extending to what he had overheard or directly seen. If projectiles were as natural for Donovan as Diana claimed, then perhaps becoming a god of archery would be easier. Although . . . was it really a good idea to make  the base of his godhood?

If Donovan was going to engage in a form of ranged warfare more effective than archery on a frequent basis, why not make him the god of that? The experience gap would shorten, and he evidently had talent in the area. The only difficulty remaining would be figuring out how to make him godworthy.

It would be the backup plan. The Watcher did not have the patience or faith to rely on something he knew little of. Archery wasn't his strongest point, however he practiced it relatively frequently given the nature of the Nameless' work.