“Bella!” Sally called out and raced down the path.
The prone figure rolled over and sat up. Blood matted her black hair and soaked through her clothing. Despite the macabre sight, a wide smile beamed out from behind the gore.
“Are you… okay?” Sally stopped and knelt beside the girl.
“Adventurers are full of these warm squishy bits!” She held up a handful of what looked to be intestines.
Humphrey caught up and glanced over the area. The trail of blood led off to the side, over the outcropping. He peered over before returning to the pair with a nod.
Chuck sped past them, tripping and sliding almost a dozen feet down the path before striking a rock wall.
Sally winced and then picked up a rather bloody dagger from beneath where the goblin had been lying. “So the bad person tried to make off with you, and you gave them a… little stabbing until they dropped you?”
“Only for defence,” the goblin nodded.
“Neat.” The zombie Boss sat down on the floor and crossed her legs. “A full Party of Rogues, huh?”
“It has advantages,” the Death Knight leaned against the rock wall to watch over them. “Lots of very high damage attacks and evasion. No tank or healer though - you could see how easily they came undone without any support.”
Sally nodded. It could have gone much differently though. It was perhaps only by luck that she had noticed the breeze being blocked by the invisible figure beside her - it set her on edge enough to avoid what was possibly a certain death blow. Once the element of surprise had worn off, she quickly overpowered them with her strength. They had made the mistake of attacking the zombies and focusing on Humphrey first. Either they had anticipated the assassination would have been easier to pull off or underestimated who was the true threat.
“You got rid of the mean adventurers? They won’t come back?” Bella’s red eyes looked up into Sally's own.
“Players don’t come back.” She nodded, giving the girl a pat on the head.
“Good.”
Sally smiled sadly. It was good, but being the final end to someone was a weight. To kill a Monster was bad enough when they may respawn in the future and be real again - regardless of if their memories were retained - but for a Player it was final. It’s what made potentially eating Theo all the sweeter.
“Let’s have a look at this satchel, huh?” She brought up her Inventory and drew out the small brown sack. It was roughly made out of some kind of hessian fabric, a leather strap running from one stitched side to the other. Sally flipped open the small flap and peered inside. From within a sheet of paper and an odd rock was retrieved.
The writing on the page did not make sense to her - and not because this one was actually a drawing. She thought what were possibly words seemed to be disjointed and incomplete, leaving the page looking like a gathering of cut grass. The stone was smooth and almost flat, with a series of lines carved onto one side.
“Oh! I know this one!” Bella beamed and reached for both objects as they were easily relinquished. “Momma used to play this with me all the time!”
Sally watched as the goblin lay down on the floor with the paper in front of her, humming a tune as she placed the rock onto the paper. Her feet gently kicked at the air as her brow furrowed, her hand twisting the rock and changing its place between the mess of lines.
“It says,” Bella hopped to her feet, “there is some kind of village hidden nearby, and there is a password.”
Sally raised an eyebrow at the Death Knight.
“I… know of no other villages in this area,” he shrugged, scraping his armour against the stone wall.
“It’s a secret,” the goblin whispered, “that’s why there is a password?”
“That’s where your Momma is?” The zombie stood up and stretched out her back. Although she had healed the damage from the attack, there was an uncomfortable ache where the blade had struck.
The little girl nodded enthusiastically. “The note says the entrance is at the Fountain; you have to speak the word to enter - and it takes you there!”
“Convenient. Hey, Chuck! We are going back up.” She waved at the slumped heap of zombie still mashed against the wall further down the path. Reluctantly he heeded her call and shambled his mangled body into a walking position.
“I hope we eventually put him out of his misery,” Humphrey shook his head. “Perhaps he will just respawn back at the diner and live a simple life of getting killed by low Levels until none remain.”
“Nah,” Sally shook her head, “you’d be crazy to assume there would only be one… wave of Players? Is that what it was?”
“Everyone did come at once, pretty much. Perhaps you are correct. Certainly, as Players die off there might be a need to replenish them - why not also to back-fill some of the earlier zones?”
Sally nodded but just looked over to the sea of green. Three or so weeks wasn’t really enough time to establish a new normal. What would this place look like in a couple of months or a year or two? It wasn’t likely that the Architect would just let the Players run dry and leave the world inhabited by aimless, System-created Monsters. What even was the purpose of all this? She exhaled through her nose to push the thoughts away.
“I’ve noticed all the Players so far have been human.” She tried to distract herself from the big questions.
“Yes. Any human you see is a Player; there are no System-created humans and no other choice when Players… enter the world.”
“So who runs all the towns?”
“It’s usually other humanoids with different ancestries - dwarven, elven, gnomish and the like.”
Sally scratched her head, undecided on whether that was cool or made no sense. It was certainly an odd choice, either way. At the least, it would make it easier to spot potential enemies or those that were less of a threat.
They reached the summit once more and strode over to the Fountain, not paying much heed to the corpses or crimson marring the area. Bella hopped onto the marble wall with a little struggle before turning back to face the group.
The goblin cleared her throat and then glared at them. “You have to be touching it?” She waited as they each stepped up and did so, Chuck just slumping against the side. “Alright, and the password is .”
Sally’s ears dulled with a whining pain as the word struggled to parse. Unlike the System trying to fix itself, there was no pop of released pressure - just a lingering ring that reverberated throughout her skull. What followed was intense vertigo as a blue light fully encompassed her vision.
There was the brief feeling of falling - and then just as quickly, it ended.
She opened her eyes to a polished black floor. As she pushed herself up, she could see slim lines of turquoise running along every foot or so in two cardinal directions. A grid. Some source of light shone her way as Humphrey groaned and righted himself.
“Momma!” Bella hopped to her feet and ran off to a group of shadowed figures.
As Sally’s eyes adjusted, she could see the handful of figures were also goblins - albeit older ones. As one with long choppy hair cradled Bella, a second goblin in dusty leather armour came closer.
He was pale, his normally green skin instead almost fully white, and his eyes were dense pools of obsidian that barely reflected the red of Humphrey’s flame.
“You are safe here, Outsiders.” His voice was uncanny - a smooth and comforting tone where you would perhaps expect something scratchy or vile.
“Where… are we?” Sally rubbed her face. The almost limitless expanse of darkness surrounding them was nerve-wracking.
“You are in a place where the System cannot reach, I have carved this space from under its watchful gaze. We are all Outsiders here.”
Sally blinked a few times. The goblins in the background all looked… alive? Not constrained to their designated paths - free.
“You are all glitched, Unique forms shunted by the error of the System?” The Death Knight echoed her conclusion; his voice steeped in curiosity.
The goblin shook his head but smiled. “We prefer not to use those terms as they have negative connotations. Despite the fact we only have one life to lead now, we see our new existence as a blessing.”
“Same here,” Sally smiled, pointing a thumb back at herself. “But with your new free will, why hide away - are you just scared to die?”
“We seek to exist without the threat of adventurers, who are an ever-present threat. What would you have us do? We are but a handful of goblins only recently formed.”
Sally sucked in a lungful of empty air and raised an eyebrow at Humphrey. “Well… how would you like a village? If you want a place in this world, you have to take it, live it, and defend it just like anyone else.”
“This… is our village,” the white goblin gestured to the featureless expanse.
“No. This is a den of selfishness, thinking you can hide and covet your precious lives lest you lose them and what you deem makes you different.” She wagged a finger towards him. “You follow me into battle, and you prove how much value your life has by how willing you are to die for it.”
The goblin spluttered, black eyes darting around the nothingness as if an answer lurked hidden away. “L-let me confer with the others.” He scowled and made his exit with a short bow.
“A surprisingly rousing speech,” Humphrey titled his head towards her to murmur his approval.
“Pretty sure I just stole that from somewhere,” she shrugged. “Imagine not only taking the village but setting it up as a home base for Monsters like us.”
“I have my concerns, but I am willing to see how it plays out, ha-ha.”
After a brief muttering of conversation, the pale goblin returned, a tired look on his face.
“We have agreed that we will assist you take the village, whatever that may entail, Bella seems to think very highly of you.” He cast a nervous glance over at Chuck, who stood completely still, dazed by the dark expanse.
“In that case, we should head back out of here and meet up with Theo!”
[Bella has left the Party]
Sally pouted, but her dead heart warmed slightly to see the little gobbo so happy to be back with her mother. A bright blue light flashed into view again, pain flaring at the back of her sockets - before a cool breeze made her realise they were now back outside the Fountain.
She slumped against the marble wall of it as notifications popped up on her STAR.
[Quest Complete]
[Daily Reward Available]
“Huh, I always forget about that one.”
“Bella!” Sally called out and raced down the path.
The prone figure rolled over and sat up. Blood matted her black hair and soaked through her clothing. Despite the macabre sight, a wide smile beamed out from behind the gore.
“Are you… okay?” Sally stopped and knelt beside the girl.
“Adventurers are full of these warm squishy bits!” She held up a handful of what looked to be intestines.
Humphrey caught up and glanced over the area. The trail of blood led off to the side, over the outcropping. He peered over before returning to the pair with a nod.
Chuck sped past them, tripping and sliding almost a dozen feet down the path before striking a rock wall.
Sally winced and then picked up a rather bloody dagger from beneath where the goblin had been lying. “So the bad person tried to make off with you, and you gave them a… little stabbing until they dropped you?”
“Only for defence,” the goblin nodded.
“Neat.” The zombie Boss sat down on the floor and crossed her legs. “A full Party of Rogues, huh?”
“It has advantages,” the Death Knight leaned against the rock wall to watch over them. “Lots of very high damage attacks and evasion. No tank or healer though - you could see how easily they came undone without any support.”
Sally nodded. It could have gone much differently though. It was perhaps only by luck that she had noticed the breeze being blocked by the invisible figure beside her - it set her on edge enough to avoid what was possibly a certain death blow. Once the element of surprise had worn off, she quickly overpowered them with her strength. They had made the mistake of attacking the zombies and focusing on Humphrey first. Either they had anticipated the assassination would have been easier to pull off or underestimated who was the true threat.
“You got rid of the mean adventurers? They won’t come back?” Bella’s red eyes looked up into Sally's own.
“Players don’t come back.” She nodded, giving the girl a pat on the head.
“Good.”
Sally smiled sadly. It was good, but being the final end to someone was a weight. To kill a Monster was bad enough when they may respawn in the future and be real again - regardless of if their memories were retained - but for a Player it was final. It’s what made potentially eating Theo all the sweeter.
“Let’s have a look at this satchel, huh?” She brought up her Inventory and drew out the small brown sack. It was roughly made out of some kind of hessian fabric, a leather strap running from one stitched side to the other. Sally flipped open the small flap and peered inside. From within a sheet of paper and an odd rock was retrieved.
The writing on the page did not make sense to her - and not because this one was actually a drawing. She thought what were possibly words seemed to be disjointed and incomplete, leaving the page looking like a gathering of cut grass. The stone was smooth and almost flat, with a series of lines carved onto one side.
“Oh! I know this one!” Bella beamed and reached for both objects as they were easily relinquished. “Momma used to play this with me all the time!”
Sally watched as the goblin lay down on the floor with the paper in front of her, humming a tune as she placed the rock onto the paper. Her feet gently kicked at the air as her brow furrowed, her hand twisting the rock and changing its place between the mess of lines.
“It says,” Bella hopped to her feet, “there is some kind of village hidden nearby, and there is a password.”
Sally raised an eyebrow at the Death Knight.
“I… know of no other villages in this area,” he shrugged, scraping his armour against the stone wall.
“It’s a secret,” the goblin whispered, “that’s why there is a password?”
“That’s where your Momma is?” The zombie stood up and stretched out her back. Although she had healed the damage from the attack, there was an uncomfortable ache where the blade had struck.
The little girl nodded enthusiastically. “The note says the entrance is at the Fountain; you have to speak the word to enter - and it takes you there!”
“Convenient. Hey, Chuck! We are going back up.” She waved at the slumped heap of zombie still mashed against the wall further down the path. Reluctantly he heeded her call and shambled his mangled body into a walking position.
“I hope we eventually put him out of his misery,” Humphrey shook his head. “Perhaps he will just respawn back at the diner and live a simple life of getting killed by low Levels until none remain.”
“Nah,” Sally shook her head, “you’d be crazy to assume there would only be one… wave of Players? Is that what it was?”
“Everyone did come at once, pretty much. Perhaps you are correct. Certainly, as Players die off there might be a need to replenish them - why not also to back-fill some of the earlier zones?”
Sally nodded but just looked over to the sea of green. Three or so weeks wasn’t really enough time to establish a new normal. What would this place look like in a couple of months or a year or two? It wasn’t likely that the Architect would just let the Players run dry and leave the world inhabited by aimless, System-created Monsters. What even was the purpose of all this? She exhaled through her nose to push the thoughts away.
“I’ve noticed all the Players so far have been human.” She tried to distract herself from the big questions.
“Yes. Any human you see is a Player; there are no System-created humans and no other choice when Players… enter the world.”
“So who runs all the towns?”
“It’s usually other humanoids with different ancestries - dwarven, elven, gnomish and the like.”
Sally scratched her head, undecided on whether that was cool or made no sense. It was certainly an odd choice, either way. At the least, it would make it easier to spot potential enemies or those that were less of a threat.
They reached the summit once more and strode over to the Fountain, not paying much heed to the corpses or crimson marring the area. Bella hopped onto the marble wall with a little struggle before turning back to face the group.
The goblin cleared her throat and then glared at them. “You have to be touching it?” She waited as they each stepped up and did so, Chuck just slumping against the side. “Alright, and the password is .”
Sally’s ears dulled with a whining pain as the word struggled to parse. Unlike the System trying to fix itself, there was no pop of released pressure - just a lingering ring that reverberated throughout her skull. What followed was intense vertigo as a blue light fully encompassed her vision.
There was the brief feeling of falling - and then just as quickly, it ended.
She opened her eyes to a polished black floor. As she pushed herself up, she could see slim lines of turquoise running along every foot or so in two cardinal directions. A grid. Some source of light shone her way as Humphrey groaned and righted himself.
“Momma!” Bella hopped to her feet and ran off to a group of shadowed figures.
As Sally’s eyes adjusted, she could see the handful of figures were also goblins - albeit older ones. As one with long choppy hair cradled Bella, a second goblin in dusty leather armour came closer.
He was pale, his normally green skin instead almost fully white, and his eyes were dense pools of obsidian that barely reflected the red of Humphrey’s flame.
“You are safe here, Outsiders.” His voice was uncanny - a smooth and comforting tone where you would perhaps expect something scratchy or vile.
“Where… are we?” Sally rubbed her face. The almost limitless expanse of darkness surrounding them was nerve-wracking.
“You are in a place where the System cannot reach, I have carved this space from under its watchful gaze. We are all Outsiders here.”
Sally blinked a few times. The goblins in the background all looked… alive? Not constrained to their designated paths - free.
“You are all glitched, Unique forms shunted by the error of the System?” The Death Knight echoed her conclusion; his voice steeped in curiosity.
The goblin shook his head but smiled. “We prefer not to use those terms as they have negative connotations. Despite the fact we only have one life to lead now, we see our new existence as a blessing.”
“Same here,” Sally smiled, pointing a thumb back at herself. “But with your new free will, why hide away - are you just scared to die?”
“We seek to exist without the threat of adventurers, who are an ever-present threat. What would you have us do? We are but a handful of goblins only recently formed.”
Sally sucked in a lungful of empty air and raised an eyebrow at Humphrey. “Well… how would you like a village? If you want a place in this world, you have to take it, live it, and defend it just like anyone else.”
“This… is our village,” the white goblin gestured to the featureless expanse.
“No. This is a den of selfishness, thinking you can hide and covet your precious lives lest you lose them and what you deem makes you different.” She wagged a finger towards him. “You follow me into battle, and you prove how much value your life has by how willing you are to die for it.”
The goblin spluttered, black eyes darting around the nothingness as if an answer lurked hidden away. “L-let me confer with the others.” He scowled and made his exit with a short bow.
“A surprisingly rousing speech,” Humphrey titled his head towards her to murmur his approval.
“Pretty sure I just stole that from somewhere,” she shrugged. “Imagine not only taking the village but setting it up as a home base for Monsters like us.”
“I have my concerns, but I am willing to see how it plays out, ha-ha.”
After a brief muttering of conversation, the pale goblin returned, a tired look on his face.
“We have agreed that we will assist you take the village, whatever that may entail, Bella seems to think very highly of you.” He cast a nervous glance over at Chuck, who stood completely still, dazed by the dark expanse.
“In that case, we should head back out of here and meet up with Theo!”
[Bella has left the Party]
Sally pouted, but her dead heart warmed slightly to see the little gobbo so happy to be back with her mother. A bright blue light flashed into view again, pain flaring at the back of her sockets - before a cool breeze made her realise they were now back outside the Fountain.
She slumped against the marble wall of it as notifications popped up on her STAR.
[Quest Complete]
[Daily Reward Available]
“Huh, I always forget about that one.”
