Obviously another hypothetical poll, this one explicitly fantabulous. Those who find that irksome should find another thread. The frame story came out way longer than I intended; sorry about that.
Our tale is set in Pangaea, a world peopled by whatever legendary creatures you wish to postulate. There are no humans as such, unless you count the multiple varieties of shapechangers --were-tigers, vampires, etc–who are virtually identical to humans in their non-animal forms. Unlike, say, Narnia, Pangaea is not technologically stagnant. In particular, their medical technology is far beyond hat of 21st century Earth.
Pangaea and its people were created by the the a pantheon of gods led by Pallas. Now, while Pallas is immortal, wise, nigh-omnipotent, and hot, she is not interested in being worshipped; she prefers to exercise as little dominion over mortals as possible. Her representatives in the natural world are the Prophets, only one of whom exists at a time. Chosen from the mortal population, Prophets are charged with defending against natural disasters and supernatural threats but must otherwise respect mortals’ free will; they are forbidden to accept worship or encourage the worship of Pallas; nor are they supposed to set down moral laws. At most they should teach by example. Pallas checks in every other century or so but mostly expects the Prophets to make their own decisions.
The current Prophet is dealing with a magical threat, the Priest-King of the vampires. He wishes to draw all the other shapechanging peoples under his nation’s rule. Non-humanoid races he’d like either enslaved or exterminated, depending on their level of “impurity.” He’s been waging a long, ruinous war (Pangaea’s equivalent to World War II) for that purpose and has already exterminated all the naiads save the Prophet. Lately he’s been winning, as he’s found an ace–Homo sapiens. Humans make useful agents because, while they are in Pangaea, it is impossible to foretell by magic what they are going to do; crystal balls and other such mystic scrying devices are likewise blind to them.
Among the Priest-King’s human agents are Jim and Patricia. They have different reasons for agreeing to serve him. Jim has a daughter who was paralyzed from the waist down as a result of a car accident; Patricia is dying of metatastized lung cancer. The Priest-King has promised them both healing; he’s already restored Patricia to a semblance of health. Once they complete their missions, he’ll restoring Jim’s daughter’s mobility and complete Patricia’s cure.
Both Jim & Patricia do well at the beginning. But Jim begins to have doubts. Though at first he thinks the Pangaeans are monsters, he comes to see them as no less persons than he is; after killing two or three score good guys in sabotage missions, he finds he can’t bear to continue. Ultimately betrays the Priest-King, helps the Prophet, and contributes to the good guys’ victory. Patricia has similar doubts but does not switch sides. Her mission doesn’t involve directly killing people, so she never has to face matters as baldly as Jim does.
In the aftermath of victory, the Prophet makes plans to return the human henchmen to their proper world, simply to be rid of them. In the meantime she looks over the Priest-King’s lair to find out what has to be outright destroyed (any black magic); what is not black magic but still too dangerous to keep about (like the portal to Earth); and what is reasonably benign and can be salvaged. Doing so, she discovers that the “magical” cures are simply the result of better Pangaean medicine technology. The treatment for Jim’s daughter is simple enough for him to administer it himself. But Patricia has only received a stopgap; without the complete treatment, her cancer will quickly return and she’ll die.
Pallas’s next check-in isn’t for fifty years. Should the Prophet give Jim the cure for his daughter’s paralysis? What about Patricia’s cancer? Why do you choose as you do?
