1781 lines
74 KiB
Markdown
1781 lines
74 KiB
Markdown
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## Introduction
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*Rembrance* is a story about memory, legacy, death, and the fear of
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being forgotten.
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It was written in the form of an interactive role-playing game on a
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small forum on a small server with help from a slew of collaborators,
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who I would like to thank here:
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\~Gaffen, \~bx, \~cassii2, \~chorigato, \~cymen, \~dozens, \~dzwdz,
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\~josh, \~nihilazo, and \~opfez. Thank you for playing this little game
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and seeing the story through to the end.
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\<3, dozens
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## The Maw of Omission
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So here you are. Omission. The sprawling network of caves in the woods
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outside town, home of the Cave Lads, rumored to guard vast treasures.
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The Maw is a great opening in the side of a hill, and is the closest,
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easiest way access the caves of Omission.
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You look down at the crumpled map in your hand, the one that you
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snatched from the Bulletin Board in town and which is for some reason
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slightly sticky with jelly. Yep, this is the place.
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The reward for this job, should you be able to pull it off, will be more
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than enough to clear your debt with the Guild.
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You peer into the clearing and see a smoldering campfire near the
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entrance to the cave. A figure is reclined and seems to be sleeping by
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the fire. You don't see anybody else.
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You peer over your shoulder at the small trench your Comically Large
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Sword has carved into the ground behind you. You haven't figured out a
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way to carry it without the tip dragging on the ground. It's a blessing
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and a curse: you're laughably easy to track if anybody decides to follow
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you. But you also pretty much can't get lost. Built in breadcrumbs!
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You shrug and draw the sword. Should you even be able physically able to
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lift this thing?
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You sneakily sneak into the clearing and up to the campfire. The
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sleeping figure appears to be a groll, and they continue to snooze
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soundly. They're wearing a coat of many pockets and a belt of many
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pouches. The remains of a cooked meal sit by the fire. The Maw gapes
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ahead.
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You stand uffishly in thought for a moment staring into the fire. What
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is it you're doing here again?
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Oh yeah! You're here to retrieve the stolen items from the cave! Those
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pesky Cave Lads stole chests full of blankets and costumes needed for
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the Festival of Remembering tomorrow night. Without them the festival
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will be ruined and all the children and grandmas will cry!
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And then you can claim the cash reward, and then pay off your debt with
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the Guild. Easy peasy.
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You snap out of deep thought---wiping away a tear at the thought of
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brokenhearted grandmas and children---when you hear the groll stirring
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behind you. It mumbles uneasily in its sleep, "The sky is a neighborhood
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... no way back ... my poor brain..."
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You stoop down and gently stroke the groll's fur, quietly singing a
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little song about crows and bones to soothe it. It smiles and murmurs
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happily and settles back to sleep.
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As it rolls over, its Coat of Many Pockets falls open and a small pouch
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tumbles out with a jankity clank and comes to rest at your feet.
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You awkwardly pass your Comically Large Sword into your offhand and bend
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down to pick up the pouch. The contents of the pouch shift abruptly in
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your hand like a bunch of jump beans, and you fumble the pouch as you
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try to return it to the groll.
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The pouch hits the ground, and the leather cord around the opening comes
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loose, spilling its contents: a few dozen small, smooth pebbles scatter
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across the dirt in front of the fire.
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As you watch, the pebbles flip end over end, tumbling toward each other,
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and then pile on top of each other forming a tiny little humanoid shape
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about the size of your hand. Two small dark stones in the center of its
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"face" look up at you. The human shape collapses suddenly with a soft
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clickety-clack-clack as the stones hit the ground and flip around and
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spell out an "H" and an "I". Then the stones assemble back into the
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(adorably cute) little pebble golem.
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You feel sleepy and consider curling up next to the groll by the fire
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and taking a rest, but decide now is not the time.
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You hear some faint shuffling footsteps and low voices coming from just
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inside the mouth of the cave. What's this? A patrol? Some nefarious cave
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creatures coming to devour you? What are they going to do, disarm you
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and swallow you whole? What do they think of you as, some kind of tasty
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meal? Are they going to eat you? Would they start at your feet and work
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their way up, or swallow you head first?
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You shake your head to clear the intrusive thoughts and grip your
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Comically Large Sword tightly in both hands. You'll be nobody's meal
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today! And then you notice that the pebble golem has started running
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ahead of you on its tiny little legs, click-clacking toward the cave
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entrance.
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You pull out another sword and are now dual wielding two Comically Large
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Swords, one in your left hand and one in your right, like a ninja with
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comically large katanas.
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Two cave brats emerge from the dark mouth of the cave: feathery feline
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floofy owl-cat looking creatures with huge eyes and vestigial, gossamer,
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insect-like wings folded across the back of their shoulders too small to
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allow flight; they might be able to glide short distances at best.
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They shuffle forward and stop as the pebble golem rushes toward them. It
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stops in front of the brats and looks up at them, and they look down
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curiously at it.
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They are much bigger than the pebble golem but much smaller than you.
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You start to get kind of nervous and sweaty. Two cave brats, a pebble
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golem, and a groll is... kind of a lot. You don't do that well with
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crowds. It's just a lot of pressure, you know? What if you do something
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foolish or say something dumb and they start to judge you? Are your
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comically large swords *too* large? Argh, what were you thinking! Should
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have just gotten normal sized swords! Omg are they looking at you now?
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You dive behind a large knobby gourd and take a few deep breaths. Okay.
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You've got this.
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If the cave brats were to look your way right now, they'd see what looks
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like a strange pumpkin with two comically large swords sticking out from
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behind it.
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You calm your nerves a little bit and peek out from behind the kobby
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gourd only to see the pebble golem leading the cave brats right toward
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you!
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Ah, at long last. This is the moment of your Awakening. You've been
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wondering for ages what your Archetype is. Fighter? You're handy with a
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sword. Thief? Yes, you can do a sneak. Ranger? You can hunt and track.
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No. You are apparently a Barbarian. Fueled not by rage, but by social
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anxiety.
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You fly into a Panic Attack!!!
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You leap out from behind the knobby gourd and startle the cave brats.
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They screech and hiss. The pebble golem runs up to you thrusting its
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tiny arms into the air and seems to be cheering you?
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You drop your swords on the ground, and then self consciously pick them
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back up. Then you drop one sword and wield the gourd. Then you drop the
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gourd and arm the pebble golem with the one sword you're still holding.
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(It just stands menacingly next to the sword like an angry kitten since
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it cannot *possibly* lift the thing.) Then you throw your remaining
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sword at the cave brats: it spins end over end like a whirring blade
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frisbee and slap chops one of the brats leaving a cloud of feathers and
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fur. Finally you once again wield the gourd like a club and rush toward
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the remaining brat, with a rousing battle cry of, "I JUST NEED SOME
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SPAAAAACE!" and then pulverize the brat with the knobby gourd.
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You stand heaving, catching your breath, gourd gripped in your hand,
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cave brats obliterated.
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There's a "whizzzBANG!!" and a heavy impact kicks up the dirt at your
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feet. You spin toward the campfire to find that your antics have
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awakened the groll. They are pointing a crackle twig right at you!
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You take a moment to inspire the pebble golem with a rousing pep talk.
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It shifts a couple pebbles up to its arms to make it look like it has
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extra large pebbly biceps, and looks at the Comically Large Sword still
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lying at its feet with resolute fierceness.
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It cannot wrap its hands or even its arms around the hilt, so it falls
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apart into individual pebbles and burrows beneath it and tries to lift
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it from below.
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The Comically Large Sword is lifted up off the ground a couple inches by
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a small pile of pebbles!
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You beam proudly down at the pebble golem. Good job little fella!
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The high pitched whine of the crackle twig catches your attention as it
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recharges for another blast. You stand up and address the groll. "Hold
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on, groll! This is between you and me! Let the pebble golem go! They
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have nothing to do with this!"
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The groll grins wickedly. "I'll tell ya what, hero. How about a trade?
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You give me both of your Comically Large Swords, and I'll let the little
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pile of rocks go. Sounds fair to me. What'dya say? Have we got a deal?"
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Your social anxiety kicks in and instead of answering, you awkwardly
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wave at the groll.
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"...what does that mean? That is not sufficient to create a binding
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contract. I need your verbal consent: swords for pebbles. Do we have a
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deal or not?"
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You nod and reach for your swords, but then stop. You hesitate, suddenly
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suspicious of the pebble golem.
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On the one hand, adventures and friendship with the little golem sounds
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fantastic! On the other hand, how likely is it that this little guy is
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actually your friend? After all, didn't it just fall out of the groll's
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own pouch like, 11 or 8 minutes ago? Can you really trust it?
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You wrestle with feelings of doubt and self-worth in a frozen stoop,
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hand outstretched toward the Comically Large Sword, unable to decide.
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And then the sword slowly wobbles up from the ground toward your hand!
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It's the pebble golem! They're using all of their pebbly might to lift
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the heavy blade up to your outstretched hand, thinking they're helping
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you!
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You close your eyes and whisper a heartfelt, "Thank you," and grab that,
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and the other, Comically Large Sword, and toss them both down on the
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ground at the feet of the groll.
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"I consent!" you declare confidently. The pebble golem tumbles over and
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stands on top of your right foot. You smile down at it before looking
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back to the groll. "We have a deal!"
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The groll snickers and kicks the swords behind it so they lay next to
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its pack by the campfire.
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"You made the right choice, hero," the groll sneers. "FOR ME THAT IS!"
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The groll cackles, "Pebbles! Back in the pouch!"
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The pebble golem jumps and looks up at you almost apologetically before
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falling apart and pebble tumbling back toward the groll.
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You fly into an emotional crisis and start running straight toward the
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groll!
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The pebble golem leaps up into the groll's outstretched hand as the
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groll takes its time and aims its crackle twig at you. It seems to be
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waiting to fire off a shot at point blank range.
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You are extremely buff and extremely crying and are about to get
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extremely blasted back to the stone age.
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You don't care. The betrayal hurts too much. Your vision is blurry with
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tears, but you can see the groll smile with satisfaction as it starts to
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flick the crackle twig. And you can also see the blob of pebbles lurch
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from its open palm into its twig hand, pebbles slamming against knuckles
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and knocking the crackle twig from its hand.
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The groll cries out, wide-eyed in shock at both the pebbles'
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insubordination and at having its knuckles bruised.
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It looks up to see you barreling toward it like a blubbering, screaming
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locomotive. It stoops down desperate and panicky to pick up the crackle
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twig, but the pebbles keep knocking it out of its grasp, and also
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bashing against its already bloodied knuckles.
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You're on top of the groll now, hoisting your knobby gourd overhead, and
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you growl, "I. NEED. SOME. SPAAACE." The groll shrieks and lifts its
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hands up defensively, but it cannot block the raining blows.
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Afterward, you stand, chest heaving, trying to collect yourself again.
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The pebble golem rolls over and settles contentedly in a pile on top of
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your right foot.
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You slip your hand into your trans-dimensional hip pouch and grope
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around for your third Comically Large Sword, but come up empty handed.
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You must have only packed two Comically Large Swords for this outing,
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which is very unlike you actually. Your Aunt Gladys would click her
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tongue and wag her finger at you for packing fewer than half a dozen
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Comically Large Swords, and honestly you would deserve it.
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> NEW FRIEND IN TOW, FEELING UN-BETRAYED AND A BIT HAPPIER NOW THAT YOU
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> HAVE A FRIEND, YOU FINALLY ADVANCE TOWARDS THE CAVE TO GET THE STOLEN
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> ITEMS. LIKE YOU WERE ORIGINALLY HERE FOR. SURE HOPE THAT NO ONE SAW
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> YOU GET EMOTIONAL, THAT WAS A BIT EMBARRASSING.
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## Cave Lads
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You stoop down and scoop up the pebble golem. It sits in the palm of
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your hand as you speak to it, "Heh. Wow, I kind of lost my cool there!
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Heh heh, that was kind of embarrassing. Hope nobody saw that!"
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You look around at the battered corpses of everybody who saw that.
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"Heh!"
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The golem falls to pieces in your hand and spells out a friendly ":)"
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and then climbs up your arm and snuggles cozily into your neck: you wear
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the pebble golem as a necklace of small polished stones.
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"Aw, that's cute. That's a good spot for you, isn't it?"
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With a bit of pep in your step, you march up to the cave entrance.
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"Okay, here we go. Gotta get that cloth! Or the festival will be ruined,
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and grandmas and the children will be heartbroken. And also without that
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reward, I won't have the money to pay off the Guild."
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You step into the dark and feel your way forward.
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Up ahead you hear strange footsteps, an odd dragging, lurching, stomping
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gait. You see some light up ahead and when you get close enough to peer
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into the cavern before you, you see the source of the stange noise and
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sigh to yourself: halflings.
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Halflings are pitiful creatures. They look just like regular humans in
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every way, just split right down the middle: one leg, one arm. Half a
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head and half a face: One eye, one ear, half a mouth. Half a brain.
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A Right Half halfling and a Left Half halfling pair up as soon as
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possible during childhood and spend their wholes lives together, leaning
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against each other in a sloppy approximation of a whole human. They can
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kind of walk awkwardly, and for the most part are like really clumsy,
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uncordinated humans.
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The real danger with halflings is that they see humans as unnatural and
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will 100% of the time try to "helpfully" slice them in half.
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With a stroke of genius, you rush back out to the campfire and scoop up
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a bunch of soot and ash, and draw a line straight down your middle in
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what you hope will be a passable halfling disguise.
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Back at the entrance to the room, you take a deep breath--hope this
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works!--and step inside, keeping your wary eyes on the halfling and your
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nervous hand on the knobby gourd.
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The halfling notices you enter, and gives you a blank look. (Each of
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them only has half a brain, mind you. And this is not a case in which
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two halves equal a whole. So it takes it a second to process new
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stimuli.) Its two halves don't fit that well. One's a little taller, the
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other has a darker complexion and is a little pudgier. This is a
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restless halfling: it is the life's work of each individual half to find
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a partner that looks as much like them as possible. To find the perfect
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fit. And these two are not a good fit, so they'll each absolutely be on
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the look out for a better match.
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It breaks out into a smile and waves at you with both hands. Two voices
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come out of the conjoined mouth, "Hello \[Hi\]! What you doing \[Where
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you come from\]?"
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You suddenly realize that you can't speak doubletalk: you only have one
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mouth. Hopefully if you have to speak, it'll think that one of your
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halves is shy?
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You instinctively hold your breath in panic as you remember the rules
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for social gatherings.
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A thinny collapsed in on itself a few towns over two seasons ago, and
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there have been all kinds of troubles ever since. The Council of
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Distinguished Conjurers has recommended social gathering in groups no
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larger than five, or else you risk spontaneously summoning a Joul who
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will most likely randomly curse everyone gathered.
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You do a quick head count: you, two halflings, and Pebbles, who is still
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nestled in the crook of your neck as a necklace. (You're not even sure
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whether the pebble golem is technically sentient or not, but you should
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be safe either way.)
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|
The halflings continue to smile at you expectantly.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You close your left eye, and speak out of the right corner of your
|
|||
|
mouth, and hope you can lie convincingly. "Um. Hi! We're new here. From
|
|||
|
far away in... Kanida. We've been walking all day and all night to get
|
|||
|
here, taking turns staying awake. That's why my other half is asleep
|
|||
|
right now..."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The halflings blink slowly at you, slightly out of sync with each other.
|
|||
|
Their overall appearance is kind of unsettling because of how mismatched
|
|||
|
and disjointed they are.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"Oh that's neat. \[I've never met anyone from Kanida.\] But why'd you
|
|||
|
come HERE? \[Is it cold there?\]"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You struggle to keep up two conversations at the same time. "Um, yeah
|
|||
|
it's pretty cold in the winter? Well, technically *I* came down here,"
|
|||
|
you point your right thumb at the right side of your body, "because I
|
|||
|
heard there was a Perfect Match for me down here," you point to the left
|
|||
|
side of your body. "We just got together!"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The halflings eye you appraisingly, "It's a *really* good match. \[It's
|
|||
|
almost perfect!\]"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"Almost?" you think to yourself incredulously.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"Actually," you continue out loud, trying to look thoughtful, "the Left
|
|||
|
I just split up with might be a really good match for your Right!"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You try to convince the halflings to go find the other halfling a day's
|
|||
|
walk from the caves and maybe swap halves. You slip around them while
|
|||
|
they're still discussing it amongst themselves and wave at them and wish
|
|||
|
them good luck.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
A tunnel at the far end of the cavern slopes steadily down a while until
|
|||
|
it opens up into a crystal cavern with glowing prisms jutting out from
|
|||
|
the walls and ceilings, and large mushroom caps with glowing purple and
|
|||
|
yellow rings cling to every stone surface between the crystals.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
What is this, crystals and mushrooms growing together??
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
It cannot be! The Prismat and the Fungoids have been at war with each
|
|||
|
other since before the Shattering!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
In fact, if they were suddenly working together (ha! Impossible!) it
|
|||
|
would radically disrupt the delicate balance of the Underdown.
|
|||
|
Politically, geologically, biologically..
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The Prismat tend to take over and spread their crystals over stone and
|
|||
|
inorganic matter. While the Fungoids devour organic matter with their
|
|||
|
mushrooms. For as long as they kept each other in check, neither were
|
|||
|
that big of a deal on their own. But, again, if they've started working
|
|||
|
together, that is a very big deal indeed.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You stoop down and pluck a small crystaline mushroom. It has a long thin
|
|||
|
stem, and a tall pointed cap. Maybe you can use this later: you'll have
|
|||
|
to let the guilds know about this and it might be convincing to have
|
|||
|
some evidence.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You slip the crystal mushroom into your hip pouch, and continue through
|
|||
|
the cavern.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
On the far end of the cavern, you find an odd door.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
It has a smooth, round knob for turning, and the knob is set back deeply
|
|||
|
in the mouth of a large crystal skull. The mouth is open just wide
|
|||
|
enough that you might be able to squeeze your hand inside it to reach
|
|||
|
the knob. But the mouth is also full of incredibly sharp looking crystal
|
|||
|
teeth. The teeth appear to be caked with dried blood? And below the
|
|||
|
skull on the ground is a skeletal hand, almost picked clean of flesh by
|
|||
|
the fungus growing on it.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You pick up the skeleton hand and hold it by the wrist, creating a sort
|
|||
|
of boney hand extender.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You carefully reach into the skull's mouth with the skeleton hand, and
|
|||
|
the crystal jaws snap violently shut!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You pull your own fleshy hand back just in time, the hard crystal teeth
|
|||
|
almost grazing your fingers.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
After a beat, the jaws open and the skeleton hand falls back to the
|
|||
|
floor.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Maybe the skull is hungry. You pull out the crystal shroom and toss it
|
|||
|
gently into the skull's maw.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Again the jaws snap violently shut. It may be your imagination, but you
|
|||
|
think that for a split second you see the corners of the skull's mouth
|
|||
|
turn up into the faintest smile. And its crystal eyes seem to twinkle
|
|||
|
with joy.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Although nothing about it has actually changed, you think the skull
|
|||
|
looks self-satisfied as it opens its jaws again.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The crystal shroom is gone.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You assess the necessity of all your fleshy body parts and decide that
|
|||
|
you are emotionally and physically attached to all of them.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You visually inspect the maw. You flick a tooth with your finger. It is
|
|||
|
hard as a diamond and sharp as a razor.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You decide to potentially sacrifice the pebble golem. You pluck the
|
|||
|
strand of stones from your neck and they assemble into a tiny humanoid
|
|||
|
in the palm of your hand. It looks up at you and, as always, is
|
|||
|
perfectly adorable. You instruct it to turn the knob, and toss it into
|
|||
|
the skull's mouth.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The jaws snap shut!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Inside the skull, in the dark, the pebble golem wraps its tiny arms
|
|||
|
around the knob and heaves, lifting its tiny legs up off the floor and
|
|||
|
kicking to create some momentum. The knob slowly starts to turn.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You are about to start mourning the loss of your dear friend the pebble
|
|||
|
golem when you hear a click and a sigh and the door swings open an inch.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The jaws of the skull open up and the pebble golem carefully climbs up
|
|||
|
on the teeth and reaches up to you.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You reach out and the golem jumps into your hand, climbs up your arm,
|
|||
|
and settles around your neck once again as a stone necklace.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You carefully open the door and peek inside.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The floor of the round room before you slopes down to the center where
|
|||
|
there is a pool of clear water about 20 feet across and about 10 feet
|
|||
|
deep. At the bottom of the pool is a huge two-handed greatsword, its
|
|||
|
blade buried halfway into the stone floor. A large unblinking eye set
|
|||
|
into the hilt of the sword turns to look up at you through the water.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
On the far side of the pool is a large wooden chest with metal bands big
|
|||
|
enough for 2 - 3 grown men to lie down inside.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
And off to the side of the room is a plain looking wooden door set into
|
|||
|
the stone wall. It is closed.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You walk around the small pool of water to the large chest, the eye of
|
|||
|
the sword following as you do.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
It is a large wooden chest, banded with iron, and secured with a large
|
|||
|
padlock. You yank on the lock a few times, as one does when presented
|
|||
|
with a large padlock. It remains locked.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You knock on the chest a few times and try to push it around. Far too
|
|||
|
large and heavy to lift. Your knock is thick and muffled as though it is
|
|||
|
packed full of something.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You turn and address the sword.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
> Hello sword! Would you like to join my giant sword party? Ain't no
|
|||
|
> party like a comically large sword party!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The amber eye in the hilt of the sword regards you wetly and evenly from
|
|||
|
the bottom of the pool, not breaking eye contact nor looking away.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You're not sure whether that means it consents to joining your party or
|
|||
|
not. Further communication and investigation may be required.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You cry out to the sword as though in agony, "Please, can't you give me
|
|||
|
a sign? Some kind of sign! Any kind of sign!"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
It feels a little dramatic but you feel like you blew off a little
|
|||
|
steam, and you feel better.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The sword remains for the most part inanimate, buried half in stone at
|
|||
|
the bottom of a small clear pond. The eye in the hilt seems to roll in
|
|||
|
place and then fix its gaze back on you.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Not much of a talker I guess.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You decide to ask the stars for a sign instead. You grab your pouch of
|
|||
|
stars from your belt and kneel down and dump them out and scatter them
|
|||
|
across the floor in front of you. You study the pattern for a SIGN and
|
|||
|
its POSITION. Together, a sign and its position in the sky should tell
|
|||
|
you something about your current situation.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You quickly recognize the shape of THE ELDER, standing for tradition and
|
|||
|
authority. And it is COLLIDING with another object in the sky,
|
|||
|
suggesting change or violence.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Tradition must refer to the Festival of Remembering, which you're trying
|
|||
|
to save by retrieving the stolen blankets and costumes from the Cave
|
|||
|
Lads. But change? Violence?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You and the sword give each other a worried look.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You gather up your stars and put them back in your pouch, and stand up
|
|||
|
and walk around the sword pond to the plain wooden door.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You reach out for the handle only to have it ripped out of your hand as
|
|||
|
the door swings violently inward away from you. "Haha!" cries a voice
|
|||
|
from within. "Now we've got you, Adventurer!" "Yeah, you've walked right
|
|||
|
into our trap, haha!"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
It's the Cave Lads!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
There are two of them. Slightly shorter than a human, with excessive
|
|||
|
folds of loose translucent skin all over so that they look like slightly
|
|||
|
melted candles. Their noses are extra long and so are their ears, so
|
|||
|
that they droop down under their own weight. They have wide mouths and
|
|||
|
long nimble fingers and large round eyes.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
They push past you into the room with the sword and the chest, and start
|
|||
|
dancing and prancing around and singing, "Now we've got you! We won't
|
|||
|
give you the blankets! We won't give you the costumes! You won't save
|
|||
|
the festival! It will be ruined! All the children and grandmas will
|
|||
|
cry!" They tug on their noses and twist their ears and continue to taunt
|
|||
|
you.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You conjure a comically large sword from SWORDSPACE and lift it high in
|
|||
|
the air. You demand that the Cave Lads open the chest.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The Cave Lads cower and grovel.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
> Whoa, whoa, whoa! Relax, it was just a prank!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
> Yeah, it wasn't even our idea anyway!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
> Yeah! It was the owl's idea. She said we should do it!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
> You can have the dumb blankets!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
> Yeah, the sword is the key!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The Cave Lads point to the sword buried at the bottom of the pool.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The eye in the hilt of the sword slowly blinks.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You say thank you to the cave lads and give a polite little bow.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You dive into the cold, crystal clear water and swim a couple feet down
|
|||
|
to the bottom, the eye in the sword watching you as you approach.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You politely reach out and grasp the sword. The eye closes. You give it
|
|||
|
a polite but awkward tug. (It's hard to get momentum under water.) It
|
|||
|
shifts a tiny bit, but the blade of the sword remains half buried in the
|
|||
|
stone at the bottom of the pool.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You politely try to adjust your grip but find that your hand is stuck
|
|||
|
fast to the hilt. You cannot let go at all!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You look up. There is about six feet of water between you and breathable
|
|||
|
air.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You look down. You are stuck to a sword at the bottom of a pool of
|
|||
|
water.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You look at the sword. The sword looks at you.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The Cave Lads squeal with laughter and run from the room, politely
|
|||
|
leaving you alone to drown in peace.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You plant two feet on the bottom of the pool. You grab the hilt with two
|
|||
|
hands. In for a penny, in for a pound! And you heave.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The blade grinds against the stone but doesn't come loose.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You decide to full ass your final action, and give it all you got. You
|
|||
|
strain and pull. Your mouth fills with water as you scream with effort.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The sword comes loose and finally slips from the fissure as your lungs
|
|||
|
empty and start to burn.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Fun fact: there is very little difference between an anchor and a large
|
|||
|
sword when you are attached to one at the bottom of a pool of water.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Your hands are uselessly stuck to a heavy sword. You frantically kick,
|
|||
|
trying to get to the surface. Darkness creeps around the edges of your
|
|||
|
vision.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
When you finally break the surface, you gasp so hard it hurts your
|
|||
|
throat, but you love it. Air! Air!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You roll onto your back and kick toward the shore, still gulping and
|
|||
|
swallowing air. When you get to the shore you crawl onto dry land and
|
|||
|
lie there on your side breathing and holding a big sword. The eye looks
|
|||
|
intently at you.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You celebrate life by jumping up and doing a happy victory dance.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You swing the sword wildly around your body and over head, because
|
|||
|
you're still attached to it with both hands, and stomp and swish around
|
|||
|
joyfully.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The pebble golem drops to the ground and bops along.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The eyeball in the sword hilt rolls around rhythmically back and forth,
|
|||
|
back and forth.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
It's a friggin raver.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Panting slightly from exerting yourself on the dance floor, you drag the
|
|||
|
large eyeball sword over to the large chest.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
With a shrug, you lift the sword and bring it down on the lock, cutting
|
|||
|
it off easily. The lock falls to the ground.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You lean your shoulder into the lid of the chest and try to lift it
|
|||
|
because your hands are still glued to the Eye Sword, but the lid doesn't
|
|||
|
budge. You kick at it, and try to pry it open with the blade of the
|
|||
|
sword. The tiny pebble golem tries to help and it's kind of adorable so
|
|||
|
you just let it think it's helping even though it really isn't.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You sigh, defeated, and then take another closer look at the chest.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You notice that the lock had been covering a circular indentation in the
|
|||
|
front of the chest. You bend down to take a closer look, and notice that
|
|||
|
the inside of the spherical depression has an eyeball painted on it.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You look from the painted eye down to the seemingly living eye in the
|
|||
|
hilt of the sword you are currently stuck to. You catch the sword also
|
|||
|
looking at the chest, but then it flicks back up to meet your gaze.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You look through the door, behind the chest, and all around.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The room is quiet and without cave lads.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Just for good measure, you have Pebbles stand lookout by the door, and
|
|||
|
you turn to face the chest.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You make polite introductions.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
> Chest, may I introduce Sword? Sword, I present to you, Chest.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
And then you lift the hilt of the sword level with the front of the
|
|||
|
chest. The eye's gaze is locked steadfast on the painted eye as you
|
|||
|
carefully press it into the indentation. It's a perfect fit and slides
|
|||
|
into place with a quiet "thunk".
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Your grip slips as your fingers abruptly loose their stiffness, and you
|
|||
|
fumble the sword. It drops to the ground with a clang like a ringing
|
|||
|
bell. The eye rattles around and then looks up at you.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
At the same time, you hear a click from inside the chest as some locking
|
|||
|
mechanism comes loose. There's a creak and a groan as the hinges on the
|
|||
|
lid move under protest. The lid swings open about two inches and stops.
|
|||
|
More than enough room for you to slip your fingers into the dark crack
|
|||
|
and lift the lid the rest of the way and see what's inside.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You look around the room again. Pebbles remains standing sentry at the
|
|||
|
far door. It's quiet.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You lift the lid and look inside the chest.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You reach all the way in, even kicking your legs in the air a little bit
|
|||
|
behind you as you tip forward, and then stand up, turn around, and
|
|||
|
triumphantly hold a blanket up in the air!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You've done it! The trunk is full of all the costumes and blankets that
|
|||
|
the Cave Lads stole!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You're going to get these home right away so that the Festival of
|
|||
|
Remembering can continue. And also so you can claim that fat reward.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
## Interlude: Festival of Remembering
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Each year on the day of the eighth moon is the Festival of Remembering.
|
|||
|
It starts with a noontime feast in the village green with food for
|
|||
|
everybody and then some. Then everybody dresses up in old timey costumes
|
|||
|
so they look like one ancestor or another. They recite the names of
|
|||
|
their dead, and remember them through story and dance and song and
|
|||
|
poetry and plays.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
With night comes games and drinking and revelry until the witching hour,
|
|||
|
when everybody puts out blankets by their front doors for the forgotten
|
|||
|
dead. And then they wait inside by the fire with warm cider and wine.
|
|||
|
They wait for the forgotten dead grow restless and rise naked from the
|
|||
|
cold ground and start to wander the dark forest.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The forgotten dead flock to the village and take the blankets to clothe
|
|||
|
themselves and keep themselves warm. And the villagers bring them into
|
|||
|
their homes to care for them, warming them by the fire and telling them
|
|||
|
stories until they feel soothed, warm, and human enough to leave and go
|
|||
|
back to sleep for another year.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
## Lullaby of the Dead
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You successfully return to the village with the bundle of stolen
|
|||
|
costumes and blankets. The grandmas shower you with kisses, the children
|
|||
|
cheer and pelt you with small candies, the emotionally reserved adults
|
|||
|
nod stoically in approval, and the village elders, as promised, give you
|
|||
|
a small cash reward, which you humbly refuse but then graciously accept.
|
|||
|
(You surreptitiously sneak out at the first opportune moment to pay off
|
|||
|
your debt to the Weavers Guild, leaving you with just a little bit of
|
|||
|
coin to spend.)
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Everybody jumps into their costumes and the festivities begin. Folks
|
|||
|
recite the names of as many dead family members as they know. There are
|
|||
|
songs and ballads of heroes of yore. There are stage reenactments of
|
|||
|
comedies, tragedies, and follies. As much remembering as possible takes
|
|||
|
place.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
When night comes, there is food and drink, singing and dancing, merry
|
|||
|
making and revelry. And everybody congratulates you and thanks you for
|
|||
|
saving the festival.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You smile to yourself and decide to enjoy the festival.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You have a dope ass time with Pebbles and Igor (pronounced "Eye Gore",
|
|||
|
which is what you named your new sword friend because it has an eye, and
|
|||
|
it is a sword. So, there's going to be gore.)
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You do some sack races and wrestle a pig, and bob for apples and play a
|
|||
|
kind of blindfolded game of tag. (Pebbles and Igor both seem to have fun
|
|||
|
during this game in particular which is interesting because Pebbles
|
|||
|
technically doesn't have eyes, and Igor is basically all eyes, so you're
|
|||
|
not sure how it actually works mechanically for them, but they seem to
|
|||
|
be having fun which is all that matters.) It's all super fun, and you're
|
|||
|
soon exhausted.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Just as well. Now it's the witching hour, when the Forgotten Dead are
|
|||
|
scheduled to rise.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Everybody is making their way home, setting out blankets for the dead,
|
|||
|
and resting inside by the fireplace. As time goes on though, it becomes
|
|||
|
clear that something is amiss. Villagers peek out their windows and
|
|||
|
doors, looking up and down the empty streets. Usually there are dozens
|
|||
|
upon dozens of Forgotten Dead roaming the streets by now, wrapping
|
|||
|
themselves in blankets and rapping on doors to be let in. Now there are
|
|||
|
probably 3 - 5 to be seen in the entire village.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The dead that have arrived pull themselves forward, dragging petrified
|
|||
|
limbs. They knock with arms stiff and fossilized, large chunks of their
|
|||
|
bodies crystalized. The villagers shudder to see them in such an
|
|||
|
unnatural state. The dead are supposed to be made of bones and leathery
|
|||
|
skin. Not inorganic stone.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
What is going on? What has happened to the dead? Why are they turning to
|
|||
|
stone? Where are the missing Forgotten Dead?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Maybe you only *thought* you saved the Festival of Remembering.
|
|||
|
Something else is obviously afoot.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You catch up to one of the forgotten dead as it stumbles down the road.
|
|||
|
You catch it by the arm and pull it to the side. It allows itself to be
|
|||
|
pulled off the road and under the eaves of one of the nearby houses.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You inspect the dead more closely and notice two things.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
One, there's a strange mold growing on it that seems to be digesting and
|
|||
|
breaking down the leathery skin that clings to its bones. Pieces of it
|
|||
|
slough off.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Two, its bones are in the process of slowly being turned into stone.
|
|||
|
It's pretty: the stone sparkles with small crystals. But it looks
|
|||
|
lethal. As lethal as something can be to someone who is already dead.
|
|||
|
This one drags it fossilized leg like it is dead weight.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Soon this poor creature will be nothing but a human shaped hunk of rock.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
It looks at you pitifully and works its jaws, though it has long since
|
|||
|
lost the ability to speak. It clutches a finely woven blanket in its
|
|||
|
hand, which it holds out to you. You take the blanket, a fine product of
|
|||
|
the Weavers Guild but with a pattern you don't recognize.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Then the dead stoops down and scratches a few circles and lines in the
|
|||
|
dirt, drawing a crude owl. It straightens up and looks at you for a
|
|||
|
moment, then turns and starts to limp away toward the nearest house
|
|||
|
where it grabs another blanket to wrap around itself.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You're not sure what the message is here, but if the Weavers are
|
|||
|
involved, you can head over to the Loominary to ask them.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You know you could also head straight to Lullaby, the crypt where the
|
|||
|
dead sleep, to look for clues and see if it's been disturbed.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
And what's with the owl? The Cave Lads said someone or something called
|
|||
|
"the owl" convinced them to steal all the blankets and costumes in the
|
|||
|
first place!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
It's prime witching hour now and shadows everywhere are as deep and dark
|
|||
|
as the ocean as you and Pebbles and Igor leave the comforts of town for
|
|||
|
the beckoning woods where Lullaby lies.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
It is a fair walk from town, deep in the forest. The path is overgrown,
|
|||
|
but worn enough that you can find your way even in the dark.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Soon you're walking along the tall piled stone wall of Lullaby toward
|
|||
|
the black iron gates, one of which hangs lifelessly on its hinge, and
|
|||
|
the other of which has been pushed open by the forgotten dead on their
|
|||
|
pilgrimage to town. A ground keeper's cottage huddles just inside the
|
|||
|
entrance like a scared animal, long vacant and abandoned: only the dead
|
|||
|
live here. The walls of the cottage still look sturdy but the windows
|
|||
|
have long since been broken.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
In the middle of Lullaby is an overgrown sunken garden with a dry
|
|||
|
fountain covered with creeping vines.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
A triple row of mausoleums lines the walls of Lullaby, the first one
|
|||
|
with its back to the wall, and the second facing the first one, forming
|
|||
|
a claustrophobic little path. And the third one sits back to back with
|
|||
|
the second one so that it looks out on the garden.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
A couple of the mausoleums stand open from when their inhabitants
|
|||
|
decided to go for a stroll.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
It's a dark, moonless night, and it's as quiet as a grave.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You decide to start investigating a mausoleum that overlooks the sunken
|
|||
|
garden of Lullaby, the city of the dead.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You skulk across the courtyard trying to stick to the shadows, for one
|
|||
|
feels obligated to sneak here so as not to disturb the sleep of the
|
|||
|
dead. Your steps are dampened by the soft decomposing leaves and
|
|||
|
grasses. The night of the new moon is deeply dark. The air is still and
|
|||
|
there is a sickly sweet smell of too old flowers.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The heavy stone door of the crypt stands ajar. No family name adorns the
|
|||
|
mausoleum, for this is not just the city of the dead, but of the
|
|||
|
*forgotten* dead.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You slip inside. It is small and claustrophobic, roughly 12 by 12 feet,
|
|||
|
cramped with coffins and tables and urns and a neglected shrine. The
|
|||
|
floor is carpeted with a thick layer of dust, disturbed only by a fresh
|
|||
|
set of footprints leading from the door into the building, between
|
|||
|
narrow shelves of coffins to a small, open trapdoor, where a metal
|
|||
|
ladder affixed to the stone wall leads down into the catacomb.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The footprints end here at the top of the ladder. A faint glow can be
|
|||
|
seen emanating from somewhere below. When you peer down you can see a
|
|||
|
dancing shadow as something scuttles around. And you can hear soft
|
|||
|
mumbling and muttering, and faint scratching and scraping.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You were sure to grab a couple of self-inflating glow orbs before
|
|||
|
leaving town, so you should be all set on light sources.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You carefully, quietly climb down the ladder and step into the catacomb.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
There is one short hall lined with recesses, most filled with vertical
|
|||
|
coffins. The hall terminates a short distance from you in a wider room
|
|||
|
where the light and the shadow and the noises are coming from.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The room contains a wide altar atop which is a body, one of the
|
|||
|
forgotten dead. You can tell even from here that its bones seem to be
|
|||
|
fully crystalized based on how they sparkle and reflect the light.
|
|||
|
Everywhere flesh still clings to its body, it is covered in fruiting,
|
|||
|
moth-gray fanned mushrooms.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
A humanoid figure hunches over the altar with its back to you. A glow
|
|||
|
orb hovers on the far side of the altar, backlighting the figure so that
|
|||
|
it is an inky black shadow: you can't make out any features. It bends
|
|||
|
over the body, mumbling and hissing to itself, and seems to be scraping
|
|||
|
at it or roughly scrubbing at it.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
It has not noticed you.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You edge your way into the room and creep a little closer to the figure.
|
|||
|
It is now a mere couple arms' lengths away from you, but you can see
|
|||
|
them more clearly, and you notice two things.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Firstly, it is definitely human.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Secondly, a long Fighting Needle dangles from their belt. And, even more
|
|||
|
forboding, they wear a brightly colored sash draped across their torso
|
|||
|
from shoulder to hip.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
This is unmistakenly a member of the Weavers Guild.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Some Weavers are actually handy with a Fighting Needle. But the thin
|
|||
|
blade is mostly for show as a warning to outsiders who don't understand
|
|||
|
the real threat of a master Weaver: the sash.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Weavers are highly trained in the deadly art of sarong-fu and can easily
|
|||
|
overpower a much stronger foe with a simple sash, blanket, rope, or any
|
|||
|
other soft weapon. It is well-known that any Weaver who is clothed is
|
|||
|
formidible opponent.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
This one is hunched over the body of the forgotten dead, cursing under
|
|||
|
their breath. One hand full of crystals and mushrooms, and the other
|
|||
|
hand frantically scraping at flesh and bone with what looks like a small
|
|||
|
metal flat-headed spoon.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You slink out of the chamber and back into the shadows of the hall, and
|
|||
|
pluck your stone necklace from your neck. In the palm of your hand, the
|
|||
|
stones assemble themselves into Pebbles, your good friend the pebble
|
|||
|
golem.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You tell them to count to ten and then cause a distraction. Pebbles nods
|
|||
|
resolutely, and you set them down on the ground and hide yourself in one
|
|||
|
of the coffins, leaving the lid open just a crack so that you can peek
|
|||
|
through it.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You wait for a couple beats and then hear a loud clatter of stones as
|
|||
|
though Pebbles managed to jump off of a high platform somewhere and
|
|||
|
scatter across the ground.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The Weaver gasps and stops their incessant muttering. You hear Pebbles
|
|||
|
tumbling quickly toward the ladder, and the sound of stone against metal
|
|||
|
as they start to climb up. And then the Weaver cursing and stepping out
|
|||
|
of the chamber and into the hallway, past your hiding spot. After a
|
|||
|
couple seconds, you hear them start to climb the ladder up to the
|
|||
|
entrance of the mausoleum.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You crack the coffin lid open and peer into the empty hallway.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Thanks, Pebbles!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You sneak out of your coffin and into the chamber, listening to the
|
|||
|
clatter of pebbles and the footsteps above. It is dark, so you get out
|
|||
|
one of your self-inflating glow orbs, and yank on the tab. In a matter
|
|||
|
of seconds it has fully inflated and is bobbing up and down in the air
|
|||
|
at your elbow, shedding a soft orange sulphuric light.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The forgotten dead is laid out on the altar. Like you could see before,
|
|||
|
its bones are fossilized, made of solid stone, flecked with small
|
|||
|
glittering crystals. What little remains of its flesh, formerly dried
|
|||
|
and leather-like where it clings to the bones, is being devoured by a
|
|||
|
moldy fungus. This is no longer a former human. It is now merely stone
|
|||
|
and slime.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Next to the body on the altar is the scraping tool the Weaver was using:
|
|||
|
a small metal spoon with a sharp, flat head. And also a handful of
|
|||
|
mushroom caps and crystal shards that have been scraped off the body.
|
|||
|
You can see some scratches and gouges from where the Weaver was working.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Finally, you find a scrap of paper on the ground, its edges tattered as
|
|||
|
though it was torn from a book. The Weaver must have dropped it when
|
|||
|
they left.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The script is mostly unintelligible but you can pick out the words
|
|||
|
Sporeshard and owl. There is a sketch of the strange fungus next to a
|
|||
|
hoopnet and nicstaff, powerful artifacts used by the Weavers only safely
|
|||
|
within the walls of the Loominary to Travel.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You suddenly notice that Igor has been rolling its eye and blinking
|
|||
|
frantically at you, and you realize that you haven't heard any footsteps
|
|||
|
from upstairs in a while.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You whirl around and see the Weaver standing in the entrance to the
|
|||
|
chamber staring at you. Their Fighting Needle lies discarded on the
|
|||
|
ground. They have removed their bright red sash and have looped their
|
|||
|
long slender hands through it. Their glare flickers from your eyes to
|
|||
|
the paper you hold in your hand and back again. And they take another
|
|||
|
soundless step forward.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Vibe check!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"Heyy, buddy. How's it going there, champ?"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The Weaver halts their advance and regards you cooly. They say low and
|
|||
|
quiet, "You shouldn't be here."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"Well you probably shouldn't be ... doing whatever it was you were doing
|
|||
|
to him," you cleverly retort, gesturing toward the body on the altar
|
|||
|
behind you.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The Weaver scoffs, "I'm collecting samples. We're trying to stop
|
|||
|
whatever this is. Do you know what the Weavers are known for around
|
|||
|
here? Making blankets for the forgotten dead. We do much more than that
|
|||
|
of course. But if they disappear, then so will we eventually."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"Well I'm trying to stop this too!" You take an eager step forward, and
|
|||
|
wave the page excitedly in the air. "I don't know what all this stuff
|
|||
|
is, but I know about the owl!" The Weaver's eyebrows lift slightly.
|
|||
|
"Maybe if we compare notes, we can fill in some gaps for each other,
|
|||
|
help each other out. What do you say?"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The Weaver seems to consider it but continues to hesitate, hands still
|
|||
|
looped through their sash. But finally they nod, and the two of you
|
|||
|
trade notes.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You tell them about how the Cave Lads said the owl told them to steal
|
|||
|
all the blankets. And how you saw mushrooms and crystals growing
|
|||
|
together in the caves.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The Weaver tells you a couple things:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
1. The disease is caused by an agent they're calling a sporeshard: a
|
|||
|
small geode-like stone with a hard rock casing surrounding prismatic
|
|||
|
crystals and mushroom spores. When the sporeshard is introduced to
|
|||
|
the dead, the crystals and the spores infect it and work together to
|
|||
|
fossilize the bones and remove the flesh. It doesn't seem to have
|
|||
|
any direct effect on the living. They've recovered one intact
|
|||
|
sporeshard from a lone groll found outside Lullaby.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
2. The Weaver Somnambulists have taken special interest in the
|
|||
|
mushrooms left behind by the sporeshard: they seem to be similar to
|
|||
|
the psychedelic mushroom that they use to enter the Dreaming, but it
|
|||
|
drops the Traveller into memories of the final moments of the dead
|
|||
|
instead of into a benign dreamscape. They have been too scared to
|
|||
|
explore the "Deadscape" further, but the final moments of the dead
|
|||
|
may hold some clues were you to seek out the Somnabulists in the
|
|||
|
Loominary, headquarters of the Weavers.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
## Deadspace and Beyond
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
On the way to the Loominary, the weaver tells you everything they know
|
|||
|
about the mushroom.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
1. When harvested from a body, it can be dried and burned, and inhaling
|
|||
|
the smoke allows you to enter the memories of the deceased on which
|
|||
|
it grew.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
2. If you eat the mushroom (not recommended!) you gain the look, smell,
|
|||
|
etc. of a corpse. Humans and animals will view and treat you as dead
|
|||
|
even as you go about your business. The effect lasts for about 24
|
|||
|
hours and/or until you take a bath.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
At the Loominary, the Somnambulists prepare you for your journey.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Here's what they tell you about Deadspace:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You'll enter the memories of the deceased leading up to their death. The
|
|||
|
more you smoke, the stronger your connection to Deadspace. When the
|
|||
|
subject dies in their memories, your journey ends. You can change their
|
|||
|
memories (e.g. to prevent their death and give you more time) but doing
|
|||
|
so weakens your connection to Deadspace. When your connection breaks,
|
|||
|
you wake up weak, shivering, and vomiting.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
From the initial memory, you can journey inward into the subject's
|
|||
|
deepest core memories. Or you can journey outward into deep Deadspace,
|
|||
|
into the Beyond. The Beyond is a shifting landscape with landmarks that
|
|||
|
are the same no matter whose memories you start from, suggesting that it
|
|||
|
might be some kind of persistant afterlife shared by all.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You meet your subject: one of the forgotten dead laid out on a cot. Its
|
|||
|
disease has progressed a fair bit: it is half petrified, but has been
|
|||
|
picked clean of the fungus. It has a wide gap between its two front
|
|||
|
teeth, and its left eye socket is so shallow you don't think an eye
|
|||
|
could have fit in it while it was alive. It looks at you pitifully and
|
|||
|
pleadingly.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The mushrooms have been prepared for you ahead of time. You lie down on
|
|||
|
some cushions and light the censer. The smoke fills the room and your
|
|||
|
lungs, and the sensation is unpleasant. It's like somehow falling asleep
|
|||
|
while drowning. Your heart races and feels like it will beat out of your
|
|||
|
chest even as your breathing slows and your eyes become heavy and
|
|||
|
finally close.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You jerk awake and find yourself sitting at a table in a busy tavern.
|
|||
|
There is lively music and chattering voices. The atmosphere is jolly and
|
|||
|
festive. A chorus of raucous laughing voices sings out behind you. You
|
|||
|
turn and see three friends playing cards. One of them is gathering up
|
|||
|
their winnings after winning the round. He's a gap-toothed young man
|
|||
|
with an eyepatch. "I swear," another of them laughs. "You're going to
|
|||
|
rob us blind if you keep winning like that!"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You are still yourself.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Deadspace is playing a sort of reenactment inside your head of his final
|
|||
|
moments based on his memories.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
It's as though this is all a play, and you've suddenly appeared on
|
|||
|
stage.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The gap-toothed young man with the eyepatch retorts to his friend, "Rob
|
|||
|
you blind, eh?" He taps his eyepatch. "Well, the one-eyed man is king
|
|||
|
among the blind, isn't he! Oh ho ho!" The two of them laugh, while the
|
|||
|
third card player sitting at the table glowers and scowls.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"Tell ya what!" Eyepatch continues. "I'll buy you two another drink with
|
|||
|
the money I just took from you--haha!--and then I must bid you a good
|
|||
|
night!"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
He waves at the tavern keeper, holds up two fingers, and then drops some
|
|||
|
coins on the table and stands up. "Goodnight, gentlemen!" He gives a
|
|||
|
little bow, puts on his coat, and heads for the door.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The sour friend glares at him as he goes, and the jolly friend calls
|
|||
|
after him. "Come back, Silas! You have to give us a chance to win our
|
|||
|
money back! Aw, fine then. Next time."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Silas. You've just learned something that by definition nobody else has
|
|||
|
ever known: the name of one of the forgotten dead.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Silas will die sometime in the next few minutes.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
After a moment, the jolly friend gets distracted with flirting with
|
|||
|
somebody at another table, and the sour friend discreetly grabs his coat
|
|||
|
and slips away after Silas. Is it him? Could he be the killer?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You follow him out into the night. It's dark and cold, and most people
|
|||
|
have the good sense to be indoors. You follow him up and down a few
|
|||
|
roads until he stops before a small stone footbridge and steps off the
|
|||
|
road into the shadow of a tree. Up on the bridge, bathed in the light of
|
|||
|
a lantern on a pole, is Silas. He sits up on the guard wall, gazing
|
|||
|
whistfully at the dark current as it rushes beneath him, dangling his
|
|||
|
feet idly in mid-air, lost in his thoughts. As you watch, the sour
|
|||
|
friend steps out of the shadow back onto the road. He reaches into his
|
|||
|
cloak and slowly creeps toward the bridge.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Sour Friend is almost to the bridge, and draws his hand from his cloak.
|
|||
|
He's holding something small, but you can't see what it is.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You call out just as he crosses over from the shadows into the pool of
|
|||
|
light cast by the lantern. "Silas! Watch out!"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
They both whip around to face you.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Now that you can see them in the light, it looks as though Sour Friend
|
|||
|
has pulled a tobacco pipe from their cloak? He stands staring at you,
|
|||
|
momentarily frozen, scowl deepening into a surprised grimace.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Silas looks at you and at Sour Friend. "Lethe? What.."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Sour Friend, "Lethe" apparently, turns from you to look over his
|
|||
|
shoulder back at Silas.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Silas swings his legs back over the wall and hops down onto the bridge.
|
|||
|
"Lethe, who is that-"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You and Lethe both see it before Silas does. A plumicorn--a huge horned
|
|||
|
owl-like creature--swoops silently down and attacks Silas. Its sharp
|
|||
|
talons claw at his scalp and its hooked beak snaps at his fingers and
|
|||
|
wrists as Silas raises his hands to his face and he stumbles and falls
|
|||
|
backward against the low stone wall. Silas gasps violently, but the
|
|||
|
attack is otherwise eerily silent.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"Silas!" Lethe rushes forward as the plumicorn flies off.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Silas's hands and face are all bloodied, and he slumps against the low
|
|||
|
wall as Lethe runs to his side.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You have changed the memory. If Silas had still been perched
|
|||
|
precariously on the wall when the creature attacked, he would have
|
|||
|
easily pitched forward off the bridge and into the inky black water.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You feel a brief wave of queasiness and your vision swims for a second
|
|||
|
as your connection to Deadspace degrades from strong to good.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Certain actions in Deadspace, such as changing a memory, weaken your
|
|||
|
connection here. When your connection breaks, you reawaken in the world
|
|||
|
of the living.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
For now, Silas is alive, and Lethe is tenderly holding his hands and
|
|||
|
cradling his head, examining his wounds, a concerned scowl on his face.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You rush forward to see if Silas is okay.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Lethe scowls up at you while continuing to comfort and coddle Silas.
|
|||
|
You're starting to wonder whether that's just the way his face looks.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"I'm okay... I'm okay..." Silas blubbers. He has long bloody scratches
|
|||
|
on his hands and wrists and on his scalp, but none of them seem that
|
|||
|
deep or that serious. He'll be just fine.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The world around you wobbles and shimmers nauseatingly and then snaps
|
|||
|
back into place. You feel your connection to Deadspace weaken from good
|
|||
|
to okay.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Because in real life Silas died during the plumicorn attack, he has no
|
|||
|
actual memory of anything that is happening right now, and so Deadspace
|
|||
|
is struggling to maintain this memory, and to keep you in it.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You feel like you could hang out here a little longer and ask a few more
|
|||
|
questions at the risk of being ejected from Deadspace.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Or, you could venture toward either of the edges of Deadspace.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Imagine Deadspace as a donut.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
From where you are currently, you could venture inward toward the "hole"
|
|||
|
into Silas's other memories. There, you could explore other core
|
|||
|
memories. Could he have formed memories after he died? Could you
|
|||
|
possibly find out who poisoned him and the other Forgotten Dead? Find
|
|||
|
out who the owl is?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Or you could venture outward to the edge into the Beyond, into the
|
|||
|
communal deadspace shared by everybody. Its mysteries (and dangers) are
|
|||
|
uncharted and unknown, but might eventually lead you to other memory
|
|||
|
bubbles like this one.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You step to the side and slip out of the world, leaving Silas and Lethe
|
|||
|
behind on the bridge, and emerge in the crimson void of the Beyond.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The Beyond has landmarks and denizens.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Although most of the Beyond is constantly shifting and changing, there
|
|||
|
are persistent landmarks common to every instance of Deadspace. This
|
|||
|
leads travelers to believe that the Beyond is a single experience and
|
|||
|
location shared by all the dead. Traveling between landmarks is pretty
|
|||
|
much the only way to progress through the Beyond and learn its
|
|||
|
mysteries. And if you're careful, and lucky, it can be done without
|
|||
|
provoking any hostility.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The denizens of the Beyond include the fleshless Hollow Men, whom you'd
|
|||
|
best avoid, and the enigmatic Ravenfolk, who can be bartered with.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You are currently suspended in the crimson void. There's nothing above
|
|||
|
and nothing below, yet you can stand and walk as though on firm ground.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Nearby is the towering obsidian obelisk known as the Lighthouse, usually
|
|||
|
the first landmark seen upon entering the Beyond.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
In the middle distance is something that stands on two legs like a man,
|
|||
|
covered in a cloak of glittering black feathers. Its head is the
|
|||
|
bleached white skull of a large bird with a long beak and large empty
|
|||
|
eyes. One of the Ravenfolk. It faces you and stands motionless as though
|
|||
|
waiting.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You approach the ravenfolk. It stands much taller than you.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Its voice emanates from somewhere within its empty skull and seems to
|
|||
|
envelope you.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"Greetings, Living One. Tell me what brings you here, and I will tell
|
|||
|
whether I can help you."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You answer it, "I seek knowladge of a great owl. And a crystaline,
|
|||
|
fungal blight that attacks the dead."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The ravenfolk nods.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"That which you seek are all one and the same. I will take you to them
|
|||
|
if you are willing to trade with me. The price is a precious memory.
|
|||
|
That of a loved one. Give the memory to me, and I will show you the
|
|||
|
owl."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You slowly shake my head. Which memory?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"Help me heal, raven. Remove my previous love from my mind"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You agree to the ravenfolk's terms and offer them the memory of your
|
|||
|
lover.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
They accept.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Your memories flow from you like water, swiftly receding until you stand
|
|||
|
alone on the dry, sandy shore of remembrance. Your heart stops aching,
|
|||
|
but is now less full.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The sorrow and resentment is gone, but so is all of the growth and
|
|||
|
everything you learned from the relationship about yourself and life and
|
|||
|
love.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
There. You are free of pain, and completely ignorant of the hazards of
|
|||
|
love.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The absence of your memory is so complete that you don't even have the
|
|||
|
capacity to wonder if it was worth it.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The ravenfolk seems to swell and take on new vitality after feasting on
|
|||
|
your memory.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
They turn and lead you away from the Lighthouse into the expansive
|
|||
|
crimson void of the Beyond.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
With the help of your guide and a little bit of luck, you avoid the
|
|||
|
Hollow Men with their chattering teeth and a lumbering slavering Void
|
|||
|
Beast that sails past a little too closely for your comfort.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You rest for a while by the Iron Husk, a colossal figure that is rusted
|
|||
|
and hollowed out, lying in scattered pieces. You ask the ravenfolk about
|
|||
|
it and they tell you that it is a dead god, that it once walked the
|
|||
|
spheres and inspired awe and fear before being banished to the Beyond,
|
|||
|
where it was forgotten and eventually died.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You continue on and eventually come to a cloudy lavender pool.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The ravenfolk gestures toward the pool, "The owl resides in this memory
|
|||
|
bubble, far from the prying eyes of man."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"I have fulfilled my end of our bargain. Fare well, traveler."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The ravenfolk explodes with a burst of inky black feathers into a flock
|
|||
|
of blackbirds and flies away into the void.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You are alone in the Beyond next to a murky purple pool.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You reach your hand into the pool and swish it around a bit. The pool
|
|||
|
seems to be full of a heavy swirling vaporous mist. It feels kind of
|
|||
|
cool and maybe a little damp.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Thick ropes of purple mist swirl lazily around as you agitate them, but
|
|||
|
quickly settle back down as soon as you stop.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You withdraw your hand and inspect it. Looks fine.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
I guess the ravenfolk was suggesting that the owl, and the answer to who
|
|||
|
is poisoning the dead, lies through these mists..
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
There's no wading into the pool. So you just dive in.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The mist gathers with alarming quickness around in thick ropes like a
|
|||
|
hungry animal, taking on substance that it previously lacked. You resist
|
|||
|
the urge to panic as it squeezes around you and hugs you tight,
|
|||
|
thickening and darkening from lavender to deep purple to black so that
|
|||
|
you cannot see and cannot move. Surprisingly, the mist rockets you
|
|||
|
upward instead of lowering you down into the pool. You brace yourself,
|
|||
|
barely able to breathe, and squeeze your eyes tightly shut until you
|
|||
|
feel your ascent start to slow and then come to a stop. As the thick
|
|||
|
ropes loosen their grip and then melt away into nothingness, you feel
|
|||
|
soft grass beneath you and see sunshine through your still closed
|
|||
|
eyelids.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You open your eyes and find that you have been deposited in a vibrant
|
|||
|
green forest meadow carpeted with wildflowers of purple, yellow, and
|
|||
|
orange.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The sun shines warmly and there is a gentle breeze.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
A small simple cottage stands next to the treeline, near which two
|
|||
|
little girls are picking flowers.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
## The Owl's Haunt
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The younger one has a wild tangle of long, curly, uncombed,
|
|||
|
straw-colored hair. She avoids your eyes and hangs back a little bit.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The older has black hair cut into a severe bob with short bangs. She
|
|||
|
looks at you boldly and unafraid. "I'm Nemosyne. This is my sister
|
|||
|
Heckat."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You ask them about the flowers. Nemosyne nods and holds out the bouquet
|
|||
|
she has gathered. "Want to smell? They're really nice." She smiles.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The younger one, still kind of hiding behind her older sister, asks in a
|
|||
|
voice barely above a whisper, "Are you here about the lady?"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Nemosyne keeps smiling but almost seems to flinch when Heckat speaks up.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
There's an odd sense of familiarity to all of this. The girls, the
|
|||
|
meadow, the house. Sort of a weak pre-deja-vu.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You smell they flowers. They're really nice. Kind of sweet and heady.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Nemosyne smiles at you happily. Heckat eyes you warily.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
A voice calls out from the cottage. "Girls? Nemosyne!"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Nemosyne turns and calls out over her shoulder, "Coming!"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
She turns back to you, "We have to go now. Bye!" And she turns and
|
|||
|
starts skipping toward the house, clutching her flowers in her hand.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Heckat watches her go and hangs back for a moment showing no concern nor
|
|||
|
urgency about her summons, as though accustomed to being overlooked and
|
|||
|
ignored. You notice her hair again, unbrushed and tangled. A smudge of
|
|||
|
dirt on her face. Her dress is frayed and patched, an obvious
|
|||
|
hand-me-down from her older sister.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
She glances up at you now and then as she talks but mostly keeps her
|
|||
|
eyes down, "Nobody listens to me about the lady. She's not supposed to
|
|||
|
be here."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
She finally fixes you with a stare and you notice her eyes are a deep
|
|||
|
golden amber.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"Are you here about the lady?"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"I might be. Tell me about the lady."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Heckat frowns and looks down at the ground.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"She arrived here a while ago. People act funny around her. I don't like
|
|||
|
her. She's not supposed to be here."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
She turns and points behind her to where the trees climb up a modest
|
|||
|
hill.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"She stays over the hill in the hollow in the old tower."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
She digs in the dirt with her toe as she talks and draws the same
|
|||
|
abstract owl shape that that one Forgotten Dead drew back in the village
|
|||
|
when you questioned it.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
She says, "I hope you're here to make her go away," then she abruptly
|
|||
|
scratches out the drawing with her foot and turns and runs toward the
|
|||
|
cottage.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You turn toward the hill.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You leave the bright, sunny meadow and enter the shadowy forest. When
|
|||
|
you make it to the top of the hill, you look down into the vale below
|
|||
|
you. You see the remains of what looks like an ancient fort and
|
|||
|
settlement. The houses and cottages that used to surround the fort are
|
|||
|
all completely gone and reclaimed by nature, save a stone chimney here
|
|||
|
and a few crumbling stones there. Most of the fort is gone too save for
|
|||
|
a crumbling stone wall in severe disrepair, and a fallen tower.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The base of the tower still actually stands in the center of the
|
|||
|
courtyard inside the crumbling wall. It's about one half to one story
|
|||
|
tall, and it seems like most of its insides are exposed to the elements.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The rest of the tower, about two story's worth, is laying on its side. A
|
|||
|
large segment of it is laying across the crumbling wall, having
|
|||
|
flattened it to the ground when it fell. This looks like the most
|
|||
|
obvious place to climb over and into the courtyard should you choose to
|
|||
|
approach the tower base.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The vale is quiet. There are fewer trees down below and more open grassy
|
|||
|
spaces.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
As the sun starts to set, shadows grow long and darkness settles over
|
|||
|
the vale. You can see the warm flickering glow of a candle emanating
|
|||
|
from somewhere within the tower base.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You descend into the vale and take a circuitous route around the tower,
|
|||
|
sticking to the shadows and trying to be quiet.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You get to the smashed part of the wall and carefully climb up the
|
|||
|
sloped pile of rubble, and then down the other side.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The tower is a short distance from you now. The warm candlelight you saw
|
|||
|
earlier continues to flicker somewhere deep inside.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
When you find the tower entrance, you creep forward to get a look.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The inside of the tower is basically one large room. Most of it is under
|
|||
|
open sky, but there's a large section of it, farthest away from you,
|
|||
|
that is protected by a portion of ceiling. It is in this part of the
|
|||
|
tower that the candlelight is coming from.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
It is set up as an alchemist's laboratory. There are cauldrons and
|
|||
|
beakers and bottles and vials. A crude makeshift shelf leaning against
|
|||
|
the wall is full of specimen jars, herbs, and other ingredients. A long
|
|||
|
wide workbench is in the center of the room mostly devoid of any area to
|
|||
|
actually work. It is piled with books and heavy tomes.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
A tall slender woman in a dark cloak stands at the table with a candle,
|
|||
|
hunched over a book, running her finger over the lines as she mumbles
|
|||
|
quietly to herself. She then quickly moves to reference a second book,
|
|||
|
and then a third, before returning to the first.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You hang back in the shadows and she seems not to have noticed you.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
As you watch, she looks away from her books toward the far corner of the
|
|||
|
room, and walks over there to a small cauldron. She reaches in and pulls
|
|||
|
out a small clump of sporeshard.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Shard in hand she walks back to the workbench and starts to roll the
|
|||
|
thing up in a long strip of leather. She looks up to the ceiling and
|
|||
|
reaches one hand up toward the rafters and a speckled owl silently flies
|
|||
|
down and lands next to her. She ties the leather to the owl's leg.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
At the edge of the table is what looks like a large round mirror lying
|
|||
|
flat on its back. But when she drags her fingers across it, its silvery
|
|||
|
surface ripples and moves like water. She grabs the owl with two hands
|
|||
|
and plunges it through the surface of the mirror, up to her elbows.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
When she withdraws her hands they are empty, and she goes back to
|
|||
|
puttering around with her instruments and studying her books.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
As all this happens, you manage to get a better look at her. She is tall
|
|||
|
and thin and pale. Her black cloak envelops her small frame, its hood
|
|||
|
thrown back to reveal a tight short crown of curly sandy hair. Her eyes
|
|||
|
are a dark golden amber. She's grown, but there's no mistaking that this
|
|||
|
is Heckat, the little girl from the meadow.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You step out of the shadows and call out: Heckat, would you kindly
|
|||
|
explain to me what you are doing here?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You startle her when you call out. She bolts upright and stares at you
|
|||
|
with wide golden eyes. A look flickers across her face--hope?
|
|||
|
panic?--but then it's gone and her face is carefully neutral.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"You," she says with a touch of sadness.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"I told you not to look for me. You told me you wouldn't look for me."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You are confused. You've never met Heckat. Either of them, the child or
|
|||
|
the adult.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
She cocks her head to the side. "You don't remember?" She walks slowly
|
|||
|
around the table so that she is standing in front of it, facing you.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"You don't remember, do you?" She shakes her head sadly as she steps
|
|||
|
slowly toward you, studying your face. "Tell me what memories you gave
|
|||
|
up crossing the Beyond, you poor fool."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"My... memories?" you falter as realization suddenly dawns on you.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You gave up the memories of your lover to the ravenfolk for safe passage
|
|||
|
through the Beyond.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Which means...
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"Oh no."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Heckat reaches out and gently cups your face with one hand and shakes
|
|||
|
her head.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"No," she says. "No, don't fret about it. This is for the best, really.
|
|||
|
This will make things easier."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
She withdraws her hand and turns her back on you as she walks back to
|
|||
|
the workbench.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"You were probably the last person alive who still remembered me for who
|
|||
|
I was. Now I truly am entirely forgotten." She laughs mirthlessly and
|
|||
|
roughly turns a few pages in one of the large tomes. She closes her eyes
|
|||
|
and sighs. "Now I'm free."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"You don't remember any of this any more. But I grew up completely
|
|||
|
overshadowed by my sister. I don't remember my parents ever even saying
|
|||
|
my name. To everybody else, whenever they bothered to think of me, I was
|
|||
|
only 'Nemosyne's sister' and nothing more. I barely even existed. And
|
|||
|
after she died, I didn't even have that to tether me to the world
|
|||
|
anymore."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
She turns and peers into the cauldron where the sporeshards are growing,
|
|||
|
and she adds a few drops of something from a bottle she plucks off the
|
|||
|
shelf.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"I felt just like the Forgotten Dead, you know. Not really of this
|
|||
|
world, but compelled to linger on. They just want to feel human again.
|
|||
|
But they can't. I relate to them so much, in fact. Them the forgotten
|
|||
|
dead, me the forgotten living."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
She turns and fixes you with a stare from across the room.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"Everybody deserves the right to actually be forgotten. Actually
|
|||
|
forgotten. It is an unkindness to make them linger on they way they do."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
She takes a step forward and places her hands flat on the workbench and
|
|||
|
leans slightly forward.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"So, yes. I am 'the owl'. I'm setting them all free. And I won't allow
|
|||
|
you to stop me."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You take her hands. "Explain it to me! Why are the Forgotten Dead not
|
|||
|
really forgotten? Why do they linger?"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"My whole life, my entire identity has been based on who my sister is.
|
|||
|
'Nemosyne's sister' they called me. As though I didn't even have a name!
|
|||
|
That's all they want. They just want somebody to know their name. As
|
|||
|
long as you keep giving them hope every year during the Festival of
|
|||
|
Remembering, they'll cling to that hope and keep coming back. The same
|
|||
|
way I used to hope people would see me for who I am instead of who my
|
|||
|
sister is. After she was gone, it was like I disappeared and I could
|
|||
|
finally be me. I want the same for them."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"You may feel you are doing them a kindness, but how do you know this is
|
|||
|
what they want?"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Heckate sneers at you, "Don't you dare to question me! I've BEEN there!
|
|||
|
I've lived what they're going through. And I've felt the peace of
|
|||
|
finally being let go."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"Now," she continues, suddenly calm and placid once more, "you should
|
|||
|
leave here and let me continue my work. You promised, after all, that
|
|||
|
you wouldn't come looking for me. So keep your promise and go back where
|
|||
|
you came from."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
She returns to her research and her work, seeming to ignore you for now.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"I promised a little girl just over that hill I would see about the
|
|||
|
lady. The little girl thinks she shouldn't be here."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You look at her questioningly.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Heckate raises an eyebrow at you. "She said that? That's odd... I
|
|||
|
haven't seen any original behavior from any of the projections since
|
|||
|
I've arrived. I had in fact decided that this was some kind of feedback
|
|||
|
loop on autoplay. Nothing new has happened since I've been here, nothing
|
|||
|
to deviate from the script."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
She looks thoughtful, "But if it suddenly recognizes you and me as not
|
|||
|
being part of the simulation, then ... where is that sentience actually
|
|||
|
coming from?"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
She narrows her eyes at you suspiciously, "You changed something. How
|
|||
|
did you get here anyway?"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
She produces a small cloth pouch on a draw string from somewhere within
|
|||
|
her voluminous cloak and bounces it in the palm of her hand a few times
|
|||
|
as she crosses the floor toward you once again.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"Tell me, are you even really here, hmm?"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
She holds the pouch out to you and then suddenly drops it, swiftly
|
|||
|
snatching the draw string as it falls through her closing fist. She
|
|||
|
flicks her wrist, sending the pouch arcing through the air toward you
|
|||
|
face. You flinch out of the way at the last minute but it still catches
|
|||
|
you in the collarbone, and it releases a small cloud of fine mist upon
|
|||
|
impact.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You breathe in the mist and you cough and your vision swims for just a
|
|||
|
second.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You feel your connection to deadspace decay further from okay to weak.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"Hmm," Heckate nods. "Well you've seen about 'the lady', dear. Now I
|
|||
|
really do think it's time you were on your way."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
She draws the pouch back and prepares to bop you in the face again.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"Hey, that was mean!" you cry out, blinking and sneezing in the dust.
|
|||
|
She grins maliciously at you as the pouch arcs down again toward your
|
|||
|
face.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
This time you're ready though and you crouch low and knock her legs out
|
|||
|
from under her with a sweeping kick. She squeals and falls all the way
|
|||
|
down in a heap, her puffy black cloak billowing around her.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You jump up and grab the nearest book. You know this is all basically a
|
|||
|
dream. There's no permanence here: you can't take objects from deadspace
|
|||
|
with you when you wake up. But...
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You dash to the edge of the table as Heckate groans and starts to get to
|
|||
|
her feet. You bat the surface of the large round mirror a couple times
|
|||
|
like a cat to disturb its surface, and it ripples like a saucer of milk.
|
|||
|
"WAIT!" Heckat screams behind you. You glance over your shoulder. She's
|
|||
|
too far to stop you. You thrust the book through the mirror up to your
|
|||
|
elbows. It's ice cold. You open your hands and drop the book, letting it
|
|||
|
fall who knows where, and draw your hands back out. Your hands sting
|
|||
|
from the cold. You shake them out.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Heckat growls angrily and reaches both arms up toward the sky. You look
|
|||
|
up in time to see a half dozen large owls silently decend from the
|
|||
|
rafters, all razor sharp beaks and talons.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You close your eyes and try to actively feel the feeling of letting go,
|
|||
|
of slipping away. You sever your already weak connection to deadspace.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You open your eyes and see the Owl, face twisted in anger. You smile at
|
|||
|
her. "Bye, Heckat." And you fade away as the first owl sinks its talons
|
|||
|
into nothing.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
## Remembrance
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You wake up gasping for breath on the floor cushions in the Loominary.
|
|||
|
You heave and wretch into a bucket that had been placed at your side for
|
|||
|
just this reason. Re-entry is hell. It takes several minutes to calm
|
|||
|
down.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Now, two things:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
On the floor near you is a giant leather bound tome. The one from the
|
|||
|
Owl's haunt.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
And, at the far end of the room laid out on a cot is the forgotten dead,
|
|||
|
the one whose sacrifice allowed you to enter deadspace in the first
|
|||
|
place.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Only this time, you know him. You remember.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Silas.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You know his name, his friends, how he died. His story dances on the tip
|
|||
|
your tongue, begging to be told.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
He turns his head and looks at you weakly, imploringly.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You grab the book and start flipping through the pages. It's dense. A
|
|||
|
lot of geomancy, mycology and biomancy, and necromancy. Heckat has
|
|||
|
scribbled copious amounts of notes and calculations and corrections in
|
|||
|
the margains.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You think if you spend some time with it, you can learn a lot about the
|
|||
|
production of sporeshard. Including isolating the deadshroom strain if
|
|||
|
you wanted to have more expiditions into deadspace. You also think it
|
|||
|
might be possible to come up with a treatment or antidote for the
|
|||
|
disease.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Behind you, Silas groans on the cot. He's mostly stone at this point.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You approach the cot where Silas is slowly turning to stone.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You look at him and remember living through his final moments.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"I know you."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
He turns his head and looks at you weakly.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
And then you do something that by definition nobody has ever done.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You name one of the forgotten dead.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"I know you, Silas. I was there. I saw it all."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
And you tell him everything. How his friends loved him. How Lethe was
|
|||
|
with him at the end.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Silas looks at you and smiles.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
He looks away and then the life leaves his body.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
He looks content and peaceful.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Silas is now longer one of the forgotten dead.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
He has been named. He has been remembered.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
And the disease stops spreading across his body.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
THE END
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
## Epilogue
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Heckat was right about one thing. The forgotten dead don't deserve to be
|
|||
|
made to linger on, desperate for recognition, desperate to be
|
|||
|
remembered.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
But her conclusion was wrong. The answer isn't to kill them and turn
|
|||
|
them stone. The answer is to give them what they want.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Using Heckat's tome, you are able to isolate the deathshroom strain from
|
|||
|
the sporeshard.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Over the next couple of days, you and the Weavers use the deathshrooms
|
|||
|
to bear witness to the final moments of all of the remaining forgotten
|
|||
|
dead. And then you name them and memorialize them. And they pass
|
|||
|
peacefully and happily.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You save them all.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The dead who have already been turned to stone, who couldn't be saved,
|
|||
|
are moved into the town center as a final memorial to the forgotten
|
|||
|
dead, who are now a thing of the past. There will never be any more.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The statues are paid tribute every year during the Festival of
|
|||
|
Remembering.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Time passes.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
One day you return home to find a bouquet of purple, yellow, and orange
|
|||
|
wildflowers with a card. It's not signed, but bears a drawing of an owl.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The two of you ultimately wanted the same thing in the end, after all.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
And you respect her wishes to be forgotten and don't look for her again.
|