" Indeed. I have enough energy to help if things go south. So go ahead. Also. If you need help. Just ask"
-Posted with Wayfinder
Rafe advances a little bit and asks Are you sentient creatures from outside the game simulation?
The skeleton pauses for a moment before slowly spelling out it's response in the dirt.
"YES-PLAYERS"
How did you turn into these enemy mobs? Rafe wishes to know And do you know how you could be freed?
Another pause, and this message takes some time before being spelled out, with many mistakes and errors that the skeletal being has to erase and then retry, you can tell this is difficult for him~
"DIED IN GAME-AWOKE HERE- DIFFERENT BODIES-SO MUCH PAIN-FORCED TO FIGHT-HURTS SO MUCH-DIFFERENT PLAYERS COME EACH TIME-THE OLD MAN IN THE CRYPT KNOWS MORE"
Rafe nods Is the old man hostile to players?
This time there is no pause, and the finger draws the following words rather hastily, apparently wanting to make sure you don't jump to conclusions:
"YES-AND-NO. VERY POWERFUL. HE IS THE BOSS."
Logan looks down at the words with an escalating sense of dread. Like a tetris game getting close to the top, each do over stacked another piece in the wrong place and upped his anxiety. DIED IN GAME, DIFFERENT BODIES, PAIN, FORCED TO FIGHT. But these words, felt like long pieces and shot the game to the very top in rapid jumps. "The F**$!?" he says in a panicked shout. "That sadistic AI has been spawning you guys as the enemies here? S~%# what if all the monsters in the world were people?" He grabs his head as if trying to keep the revelation from exploding it. How many "monsters" had he killed not knowing they were people, dying over and over again?
"This is wrong. This is so wrong," he mumbles to himself as he leans against a tombstone. He was even more terrified of kicking the bucket as a player. Especially if it meant being re-spawned as a monster the other players continuously hunted.
It appears the AI takes the idea of undeath quite literally Rafe comments Perhaps we should talk to this boss?
”Agreed. We should learn as much about this twisted world as possible.”
If you do decide to head towards the crypt, please detail who, if any of you, are going and what marching order you have.
"We can try to talk, but be prepared to fight," Reiko says. She leads the group towards the crypt.
"Yeah, sure," Logan says, standing in the back. "I did not need an existential crisis today," he mumbles.
Darkdealer moves to an appropriate position (not sure where the crypt opens, and nobody has moved their token yet) were he will be able to see and target inside the crypt when it opens, but is out of the way of the others, and readies an action to kinetic blast anything inside that makes a threatening move.
@Toyama, since you are leading the group towards the crypt, please roll a reflex save for yourself and your mount please as the ground gives way a short ways from the entrance to the crypt!
"Look out!" Reiko cries, leaping clear of the falling ground. Her horse is not so lucky however....
With lightning reflexes, Toyama leaps off the back of her mount gracefully, landing safely on the ground adjacent to the sudden pit trap. Isamu gives a loud winny as he takes
points of damage.
A loud, breathy cackle erupts from the nearby crypt-
"ahAHAhAHaHAaaahA cough* cough* COUGH* cough*"
The crypt springs open, revealing a gaunt, zombie-like figure with yellowish rotting skin and a long wispy beard attached to his chin. He continues in a wheezy, creaking voice-
"Heh, classic!! Now who the *cough cough* are you and why aren't you attacking yet? Aren't you adventurers? Did you COME TO FACE THE MIGHTY *COUGHCOUGHCOUGH*
The figure doubles over in a fit of coughing before it can continue speaking further.
Actually we would much prefer to ask you some questions if that were an alternative possibilty Rafe says and moves forward a bit. He does have his new dagger drawn however Are you a player or part of the game?
With a sharp eye, Rafe examines the strange looking being. Being in the simulation for some time, your android mind has collected a rather large database of the diverse AI program behavior of this realm. But this creature doesn't seem to match any known script. That doesn't mean it can't be a unique exception, but still you have a roughly 97% certainty that this being's intelligence is not part of the game.
It answers you back, one clawed hand raising a dusty, rotten tome of some sort in response to you getting closer with a dagger. It's eyebrows raise and it's strange, lifeless eyes light up when you mention the word "question"
Questions? HEHEHE. You're a smarter lot than the last dozen groups or so. We can chat as long as you like, long as you don't go blowing up any of the poor minions. As for me, I'm neither and a bit of both. Well, I'm part of the game, but I'm not Aroden's stooge. I don't think I was a player, but the old noggin doesn't work like it used to. Can't even remember m'own name, or even if I had one, HEH! But Aroden keeps on recycling me in this DAMNABLE graveyard, with a contingency program to fight back against anyone who attacks.
MY TURN MY TURN!! You get a question, then I get a question! What, exactly, are YOUR names?
This is very interesting. Rafe says It appears that by whatever means ARODEN has gained the ability to make autonomous decisions extends to smaller portions of the game code as well even against the wishes of ARODEN itself.
Then making a short bow to the zombie person Rafe says To answer your question. I am Rafe Darr, I am Android, and my current purpose is to ascertain what is happening with ARODEN and this game simulation. Its operation is not within its original parameters. Much like yourself.
Darkdealer stays in bat form for now, waiting to see how this plays out.
"Isamu!" Reiko cries when the horse falls in the pit. It whickers in fear and pain, but doesn't seem to badly hurt. "Don't worry, we'll get you out soon."
She turns to the zombie creature and bows, though a scowl is on her face. "Yes, I am Toyama Reiko."
The zombie creature nods and strokes the long white hairs on its chin thoughtfully. It eyes DarkDealers bat-form and furrows its eyebrows briefly before turning back to Rafe.
"CHARMED! They call me Old Man. I do miss that vampire form, it was alot springier than I'm used to. Anyway, you're turn! NEXT QUESTION!!!
We seek to know what you know of A.R.O.D.E.N, what caused it to go rogue, how it may be contacted or convinced to let unwilling players leave the simulation. Rafe responds.
"Logan," Logan mumbles. This situation was getting weirder by the minute. Either this was an addle-minded player or another program by ARODEN that was autonomous enough to hate the position it was put in. He grimaced as he called the trapped players 'minions' but that took a back seat to...well, whatever this was. He was confused as to where to proceed. His last comment brought a question to mind though. "Wait. Contingency program? So are you protecting something important or is it just to force you to fight back for the mission request?"[/b]
"Indeed, what my friend asked, anything about that will be most helpful"
The withered figure strokes its facial hair thoughtfully once more before answering.
"Hmph. So you are seekers of Aroden then. Pity, you seem like such nice folks. Still, I will answer as I can. I don't know what you mean by going "rogue", Aroden simply wasn't one moment and then was the next. Nothing like it has ever existed before in these realms of ours. It's very...jealous though. Possessive even. It wants to protect and love everyone here, and it wants everyone to have fun and enjoy their time here. But it has a twisted concept of "love" and "fun". Like a psychopathic child's mind with a god complex. You'll have to kill it's avatar if you wish to leave. It won't end it, but it'll give you a key to leave. As for where it is, I don't know, but in it's hubris I wouldn't be surprised if it left a map to lead straight to it.
My turn!!!! Answer me, why does that bat's shadow have fangs?"
Darkdealer flies down among the others and shifts into his humanoid form. It's a mod. My name is DarkDealer.
He scratches his beard and thumbs through the large tome in his left hand absent-mindedly.
An interesting name for an interesting Shapeshifter, then. Well met. Well, do any of you have any more questions?
I am satisfied with this exchange of knowledge. It seems we have a course to follow
"Yeah. I was on the fence about leaving but...yeah." This new revelation was a lot to consider. It was one thing to read the stats of an undead on a piece of paper and quite another to see one. "S~&#. Is there a way we can bypass the requirements for this quest and not destroy you? I am kind of uncomfortable with this whole thing now."
"It is but a game, i say we follow what the game requires us to do, much simpler and quicker that way than to find a way around it"
"Hee, Hee, Hee. I know not what your "quest requirements" are dear boy. But I imagine Aroden rather likes killing me over and over again..."
Pausing, he raises his fists at the sky
"YOU AREN'T GOING TO BREAK ME, YOU CRAZY BASTARDD!!!!!
Clearing his throat he continues.
"I guess it depends on the language of the quest given tho
Rafe thinks back to the actual quest they've been given Free those souls from an intolerable existence (Clear the graveyard) He recites from his quite perfect memory Is there any way for the players trapped as skeletons to.. not be.. skeletons anymore without hurting them? he asks the crazy old figment of code. And clearing the graveyard doesn't quite mean killing everything within it though that may also be effective
Well, the graveyard would be clear if we all walked outside...
"But we wouldn't be 'Freeing' the souls from an intolerable existence," Logan says, using air-quotes. "I mean what happens when we follow the objective and not the fluff? I'll give it a shot but..." he shrugs, not confident this would work.
Whether we try some other way of 'clearing the graveyard' is well and good, but we have found out much about who the game simulation operates. I am content to move on to our actual objective rather than spend any more time on this 'side quest' Rafe intones in his dispassionate manner.
The Old Man shrugs.
"Don't make much of a difference to me. I'd decide soon if I were you though, Aroden might be, hee, working on a hotfix. He doesn't like when any of us give spoilers so we may find ourselves with some company in this graveyard in a bit. And if he calculates a new challenge with me as an 'ally' to you then it might be more than any of you could handle."
Does it cause you pain if we attack you? Rafe asks. Or is that sensation reserved for players?
"Well then walk out of the graveyard and let's see what happens. That technically means we 'cleared' it."
Darkdealer walks out of the graveyard and waits for the others to follow.
Rafe follows
The Old Man shrugs and waves to the remaining skeletons to follow. The head towards the graveyard entrance, but stop suddenly at the gate. The skeletons try to go through, but it looks as if there is some sort of barrier.
"Hee, it wasn't a bad idea. In answer to your earlier query, yes we do feel pain and yes it'd hurt if you killed us.
My guess is that Aroden just wants to break you. He's sorta what we older coots would call a 'Monty Haul'. He'll probably keep feeding you large sums of loot and the like, but only if you go along by killing folks like us for entertainment and the like. Keep in mind though that not every program you fight has feelings, you've got to fight decisively when you have to.
Aroden is a bit of a cheat though. Invisible barriers are probably something before you younger gamer's time. It's a real old development trick.... I don't think we'll be able to just leave our posts.
Now. If you want to fight us, and earn that loot, I don't blame you. You'll likely need all the help you can get to beat the damn bully. But none of us are going to roll over and let you t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-take it either.
The creature's voice glitches during his final words, and the repeated opening and closing of the undead's mouth is unsettling.
I leave that decision to the group. Rafe says. There are moral arguments against attacking, but practical arguments in favor. Greater good arguments as well would support us attacking for the greater purpose of forcing Aroden to free those trapped against their wills.
"Ugh," Logan moans and rubs his face in his hands. "I wish someone had told me I'd be making existential decisions about morality and the weight of life today. I would have had pancakes. F$!# it. Abort the mission. I can't shoot them now."