If there was one thing that you could say about trees, it was that they were pretty consistent. Indeed, each had their own individual knots, branches at different angles, or different slants to their growth - but after a few dozen of them, they all looked like big brown rods that just got in the way.
Sally growled as she stumbled over another scarcely visible tree root hiding in the grass. The Basic Boots she had received from the chance box obviously were not enchanted to protect against making a fool of oneself. She only fared slightly better than the rest of the Party, who moved slower but were just as clumsy.
“Where badgunk?” she grunted at the floating skull.
“Beats me. No, that still wasn't an invitation.”Humphrey floated out of reach, just in case. “From what I can tell, we have managed to scare off any living critter way before you've even gotten a sniff of them. Partially because they get a sniff of you.”
Sally stopped and watched the zombies shuffle noisily through the short shrubbery and grasses of the woods. She had tuned it out, but on reflection, they weren't exactly a subtle group, even without the stench of decay about them.
She pinched the bridge of her nose. All this walking about in the daytime was making her cranky. Perhaps wandering around aimlessly, hoping you would just stumble into a clue was a terrible idea. The Party paused around her, and she allowed the silence of the place to sink into her once more.
Birds chirped in the distance. The canopy leaves shook gently in the breeze, a low rustling that rose and fell as the ripples of air ran through into the distance. There was the faint glimmer of… running water? A steam or small brook that bubbled along, somewhat nearby. Speckles of sunlight danced through the shifting gaps of the overhead cover, with the occasional block of illuminated earth to traverse where a gap in the trees allowed it through unabated.
Beautiful, perhaps. Were Sally not a living corpse, this would be relaxing. But it wasn't; it was a mess of things getting in the way of her intended Quest. It was a maze of potential hiding places for things that wanted to hunt her down and kill her. She clenched her sharp teeth, wondering if the frustrations she felt were a side effect of the heat - or her need to eat once more. She had been able to resist at first, with the Novices, but once she had tasted the blood of the Wizard…
“What do Badgunks like to steal?” Sally relented and pointed a question at the idle Observer.
“Mostly food and the like, but they are known to covet adventurer items - they have the [Pickpocket] skill.”
Sally grunted and withdrew the spare dagger, walked over to a tree stump and placed the weapon upon it. She then took out the Taming Lure - a strange object that looked like a fishing rod but with a red bobble on the end instead of a line.
“Alright, everyone… play dead.”
The Party stood for a second, taking a brief moment to process the command. Slowly, one by one, each zombie collapsed to the floor and lay there unmoving. Sally did the same, slumping against a tree a few feet away from the stump in a sitting position, head lolled to the side with her tongue out.
“Allow me to perform recon,” the skull offered to the corpse, “I am sure this is not against protocol - but I will float up and observe for approaching creatures. And then notify you appropriately.” Humphrey hung in the air, waiting for a response. But the dead body remained unmoving. “Wow, you are too good at that,” he relented and floated up into the air.
Sally couldn't resist the smallest of smirks curling up at the side of her mouth - before she quickly reset to her blank expression. With the Taming Lure hidden in her hand under a short bush, she realised that she should probably have looked more into how the blasted thing worked. Did she have to remove a Party member first? Was it just point-and-click? Did she have to weaken the target first?
She blamed Humphrey for the lack of information.
Time passed. For the lack of care she had for the idyllic beauty of nature previously, now that she had cooled down and the stress had passed - it was pretty relaxing. The sun had scooted its way across the sky, and thankfully the positions the Party chose to lay in remained shaded for the most part. Bugs and flies had gathered to see what the hubbub was about with the group of newly dead - but seemingly had no luck in accelerating the natural process.
She tried not to think about the fact that she was also a living corpse. At least she had some of the facets of one - for the most part, other than quickly overheating, she just felt like an average but very stiff and achy human. The brain fog was a little concerning too, but in comparison to her Party, she couldn’t really complain.
Instead, Sally took this downtime to try and make sense of the jigsaw puzzle pieces in a big pile in her brain. Why was she here? What was before this? The diner was familiar, and her uniform hinted that she perhaps worked there - and knew Chuck in some fashion. She could imagine doing daily chores. Serving customers, pouring coffee, and cleaning up after closing. Were these actual memories or just false ones she was placing?
She cursed the System, whatever it was. This constructed reality was unfair. Not only because she had a glitched existence between Monster and Player, but being dragged from her previous life and being set upon by who knows what-
The STAR blinked red, illuminating the shaded patch of grass in a crimson glow.
“Ohh, that’s not good,” Humphrey sunk down from his lookout point.
“Whah?” She tried not to move or make much sound, but her eyes darted towards the skull.
“Red means bad. Usually.”
Her eyes narrowed. The STAR stopped blinking but remained a dull red as it awaited her to check the notification. It didn’t look like a Badgunk was coming, but should she blow their cover - just in case one could be on the way?
The Observer bobbed in the air expectantly.
Sally sighed and reached over to press the notification, sitting back up straight. “If I miss out on completing my Quest because of this, I’m using the Taming Lure on you.”
“I don’t think that would work.”
A screen flashed up as the STAR was pressed, large letters looming over the zombie woman.
[Bounty Taken Out: 250 Gold]
She tilted her head back against the tree and exhaled at length.
“Do… do you want me to explain?”
Sally put her hands over her face. “No, I want off this wild ride, Mr Bones.”
“It's a pretty low bounty, considering.” The Observer ignored her muffled wails. “The Guild underestimates you.”
She let her arms flop back to the floor and tilted her head at the skull. “Flattery will get you nowhere, Humps. Give me the facts.”
“The nearest town will have a Bounty Board with a general description of you. It will update once you get closer to a big enough town. Adventuring Parties can accept the task, but it's a formality and doesn't confer them any further benefit other than knowing you left the area.”
“How do I get rid of the Bounty?” Sally waved a hand in the air as if to shift away the target on her head.
The skull said nothing, blankly staring back at her.
“Humphrey… how do I get rid of it?” She stood to her feet now; fists clenched at her side. Red eyes glared at the Observer.
“Once the Guild has issued a bounty…” the skull began to float away slowly, “there are only two ways in which it can be rescinded - if the original placer of said bounty removes it… or, well…”
“If the bounty is completed?” Sally growled back at him. The Cleric must have done it, and he didn't seem like the type to have a change of heart on such matters.
“Yes.”
“You forgot a third way,” she punched her fist into an open hand, “We need to beat up the Guild.”
“Ill-advised,” Humphrey visually recoiled from the suggestion, “the Adventurers Guild is basically the foundation of the System. You would have to be-”
“I'd rather be crazy than dead!” Sally winced after raising her voice, the brief echo rolling down through the woods and spooking away a couple of birds—no Badgunk for this already-dead whiner.
“I'm… sorry to upset you.” The Observer looked down at the floor slightly.
“It's not you,” Sally sighed and looked at her Party still lying prone, “I've just been feeling the System is unfair, and I've been getting the short end of the stick.”
Humphrey said nothing once again, content to wait for the zombie to fill the silence.
“Perhaps I shouldn't complain so soon, though. Just because I have a glitched existence and a bounty on my head - doesn't mean it's all bad, right?” She slumped as if hoping to be told otherwise.
“Normally, killing a few Level Threes would net you slightly more bounty. Either the Cleric cheaped out on you, or the Guild wasn't convinced of your proficiency.”
Sally stretched out her jaw muscles. So quickly had her whining been glazed over. Was this intentional due to the Observer's directive, or was he just being a jerk-head? Yes, she thought, in a tone mocking the floating skull.
“Sally?”
“Mmm? Oh, so the Guild has the final say?”
“Yes.” Humphrey nodded, unaware of the internal scream inside the woman's head.
“So if I dismantle the Guild, then-”
“Shh!”
“Don't shush me; you know that-”
“No, I mean - listen!”
Sally paused, her red-hot rant cooling off in the chamber as she focused her hearing. There - rustling in the bushes.
An odd tempo of movement, but it was definitely getting closer. As silently as she could, she sat down on the floor, nary a couple of feet from the prized dagger sitting inert on the tree stump. A dead-blank expression crossed her features while her eyes subtly stared over at the bushes where the sound was coming from.
Her grip tightened on the Taming Lure as her arm tensed, ready for it to shoot forth like a magic wand.
She could see the movement now - bushes and leaves shaking as the creature approached.
And then, with one bounding movement, the small beast lept across the gap towards the bait.
With one swift motion, Sally rose from position and levelled the Taming Lure, activating it with her intent.
Her mouth hung open as the end of the lure started flashing between red and green glow.
That did not look like a Badgunk.
If there was one thing that you could say about trees, it was that they were pretty consistent. Indeed, each had their own individual knots, branches at different angles, or different slants to their growth - but after a few dozen of them, they all looked like big brown rods that just got in the way.
Sally growled as she stumbled over another scarcely visible tree root hiding in the grass. The Basic Boots she had received from the chance box obviously were not enchanted to protect against making a fool of oneself. She only fared slightly better than the rest of the Party, who moved slower but were just as clumsy.
“Where badgunk?” she grunted at the floating skull.
“Beats me. No, that still wasn't an invitation.”Humphrey floated out of reach, just in case. “From what I can tell, we have managed to scare off any living critter way before you've even gotten a sniff of them. Partially because they get a sniff of you.”
Sally stopped and watched the zombies shuffle noisily through the short shrubbery and grasses of the woods. She had tuned it out, but on reflection, they weren't exactly a subtle group, even without the stench of decay about them.
She pinched the bridge of her nose. All this walking about in the daytime was making her cranky. Perhaps wandering around aimlessly, hoping you would just stumble into a clue was a terrible idea. The Party paused around her, and she allowed the silence of the place to sink into her once more.
Birds chirped in the distance. The canopy leaves shook gently in the breeze, a low rustling that rose and fell as the ripples of air ran through into the distance. There was the faint glimmer of… running water? A steam or small brook that bubbled along, somewhat nearby. Speckles of sunlight danced through the shifting gaps of the overhead cover, with the occasional block of illuminated earth to traverse where a gap in the trees allowed it through unabated.
Beautiful, perhaps. Were Sally not a living corpse, this would be relaxing. But it wasn't; it was a mess of things getting in the way of her intended Quest. It was a maze of potential hiding places for things that wanted to hunt her down and kill her. She clenched her sharp teeth, wondering if the frustrations she felt were a side effect of the heat - or her need to eat once more. She had been able to resist at first, with the Novices, but once she had tasted the blood of the Wizard…
“What do Badgunks like to steal?” Sally relented and pointed a question at the idle Observer.
“Mostly food and the like, but they are known to covet adventurer items - they have the [Pickpocket] skill.”
Sally grunted and withdrew the spare dagger, walked over to a tree stump and placed the weapon upon it. She then took out the Taming Lure - a strange object that looked like a fishing rod but with a red bobble on the end instead of a line.
“Alright, everyone… play dead.”
The Party stood for a second, taking a brief moment to process the command. Slowly, one by one, each zombie collapsed to the floor and lay there unmoving. Sally did the same, slumping against a tree a few feet away from the stump in a sitting position, head lolled to the side with her tongue out.
“Allow me to perform recon,” the skull offered to the corpse, “I am sure this is not against protocol - but I will float up and observe for approaching creatures. And then notify you appropriately.” Humphrey hung in the air, waiting for a response. But the dead body remained unmoving. “Wow, you are too good at that,” he relented and floated up into the air.
Sally couldn't resist the smallest of smirks curling up at the side of her mouth - before she quickly reset to her blank expression. With the Taming Lure hidden in her hand under a short bush, she realised that she should probably have looked more into how the blasted thing worked. Did she have to remove a Party member first? Was it just point-and-click? Did she have to weaken the target first?
She blamed Humphrey for the lack of information.
Time passed. For the lack of care she had for the idyllic beauty of nature previously, now that she had cooled down and the stress had passed - it was pretty relaxing. The sun had scooted its way across the sky, and thankfully the positions the Party chose to lay in remained shaded for the most part. Bugs and flies had gathered to see what the hubbub was about with the group of newly dead - but seemingly had no luck in accelerating the natural process.
She tried not to think about the fact that she was also a living corpse. At least she had some of the facets of one - for the most part, other than quickly overheating, she just felt like an average but very stiff and achy human. The brain fog was a little concerning too, but in comparison to her Party, she couldn’t really complain.
Instead, Sally took this downtime to try and make sense of the jigsaw puzzle pieces in a big pile in her brain. Why was she here? What was before this? The diner was familiar, and her uniform hinted that she perhaps worked there - and knew Chuck in some fashion. She could imagine doing daily chores. Serving customers, pouring coffee, and cleaning up after closing. Were these actual memories or just false ones she was placing?
She cursed the System, whatever it was. This constructed reality was unfair. Not only because she had a glitched existence between Monster and Player, but being dragged from her previous life and being set upon by who knows what-
The STAR blinked red, illuminating the shaded patch of grass in a crimson glow.
“Ohh, that’s not good,” Humphrey sunk down from his lookout point.
“Whah?” She tried not to move or make much sound, but her eyes darted towards the skull.
“Red means bad. Usually.”
Her eyes narrowed. The STAR stopped blinking but remained a dull red as it awaited her to check the notification. It didn’t look like a Badgunk was coming, but should she blow their cover - just in case one could be on the way?
The Observer bobbed in the air expectantly.
Sally sighed and reached over to press the notification, sitting back up straight. “If I miss out on completing my Quest because of this, I’m using the Taming Lure on you.”
“I don’t think that would work.”
A screen flashed up as the STAR was pressed, large letters looming over the zombie woman.
[Bounty Taken Out: 250 Gold]
She tilted her head back against the tree and exhaled at length.
“Do… do you want me to explain?”
Sally put her hands over her face. “No, I want off this wild ride, Mr Bones.”
“It's a pretty low bounty, considering.” The Observer ignored her muffled wails. “The Guild underestimates you.”
She let her arms flop back to the floor and tilted her head at the skull. “Flattery will get you nowhere, Humps. Give me the facts.”
“The nearest town will have a Bounty Board with a general description of you. It will update once you get closer to a big enough town. Adventuring Parties can accept the task, but it's a formality and doesn't confer them any further benefit other than knowing you left the area.”
“How do I get rid of the Bounty?” Sally waved a hand in the air as if to shift away the target on her head.
The skull said nothing, blankly staring back at her.
“Humphrey… how do I get rid of it?” She stood to her feet now; fists clenched at her side. Red eyes glared at the Observer.
“Once the Guild has issued a bounty…” the skull began to float away slowly, “there are only two ways in which it can be rescinded - if the original placer of said bounty removes it… or, well…”
“If the bounty is completed?” Sally growled back at him. The Cleric must have done it, and he didn't seem like the type to have a change of heart on such matters.
“Yes.”
“You forgot a third way,” she punched her fist into an open hand, “We need to beat up the Guild.”
“Ill-advised,” Humphrey visually recoiled from the suggestion, “the Adventurers Guild is basically the foundation of the System. You would have to be-”
“I'd rather be crazy than dead!” Sally winced after raising her voice, the brief echo rolling down through the woods and spooking away a couple of birds—no Badgunk for this already-dead whiner.
“I'm… sorry to upset you.” The Observer looked down at the floor slightly.
“It's not you,” Sally sighed and looked at her Party still lying prone, “I've just been feeling the System is unfair, and I've been getting the short end of the stick.”
Humphrey said nothing once again, content to wait for the zombie to fill the silence.
“Perhaps I shouldn't complain so soon, though. Just because I have a glitched existence and a bounty on my head - doesn't mean it's all bad, right?” She slumped as if hoping to be told otherwise.
“Normally, killing a few Level Threes would net you slightly more bounty. Either the Cleric cheaped out on you, or the Guild wasn't convinced of your proficiency.”
Sally stretched out her jaw muscles. So quickly had her whining been glazed over. Was this intentional due to the Observer's directive, or was he just being a jerk-head? Yes, she thought, in a tone mocking the floating skull.
“Sally?”
“Mmm? Oh, so the Guild has the final say?”
“Yes.” Humphrey nodded, unaware of the internal scream inside the woman's head.
“So if I dismantle the Guild, then-”
“Shh!”
“Don't shush me; you know that-”
“No, I mean - listen!”
Sally paused, her red-hot rant cooling off in the chamber as she focused her hearing. There - rustling in the bushes.
An odd tempo of movement, but it was definitely getting closer. As silently as she could, she sat down on the floor, nary a couple of feet from the prized dagger sitting inert on the tree stump. A dead-blank expression crossed her features while her eyes subtly stared over at the bushes where the sound was coming from.
Her grip tightened on the Taming Lure as her arm tensed, ready for it to shoot forth like a magic wand.
She could see the movement now - bushes and leaves shaking as the creature approached.
And then, with one bounding movement, the small beast lept across the gap towards the bait.
With one swift motion, Sally rose from position and levelled the Taming Lure, activating it with her intent.
Her mouth hung open as the end of the lure started flashing between red and green glow.
That did not look like a Badgunk.
