The Geneforge Playthrough of Insanity, Inanity, and Cake.

[Florien]

Once, there was an entity called frequently by the name of Florien.

That entity decided to play through the entire Geneforge series to celebrate the first remake having come out. Starting from the archaic, old-enough-to-drink original. The one from back when indie games were shareware, and you had to mail in for the full versions.

This was a good decision. Right? The blog, of course, will be written in the FOV of whichever noble warrior shall be conquering the everything.

---

Day one.

Greetings Journal! I'm Guardian Ilantz, but you can call me Chekon. I just passed my finals, tamed some rogues, and I'm transferring over to a mining colony to go get administration credits so I can get noticed and get a cool job, not get stuck working the guard shift in some stupid old lab, inevitably to get accidently killed by some drunken shaper deciding it would be a great idea to make a mine that spits poison. I managed to file my forms and get a living craft. Very practical, though it's kind of too closely related to Drayks for my liking. You're not supposed to make those without explicit permission. Stupid customs agent took my armor, broadsword, and baton collection though. Apparently I didn't tag them right. She said they'd be sent ahead, but she probably sold them. Passed some cool islands on my trip. They look nice, but apparently one of them is barred. I'm not supposed to go there unless I've been told to. Otherwise, I might get arrested or even executed. Probably for the best. Also, there's some kind of boat over there. It looks weird though, I don't think I've ever seen a boat that looks like that before. I'll go wave to them!


HI MYSTERIOUS BOAT!

Oh fuck they have a launchy thing.

OH FUCK

OH FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK THEY'RE FIRING OH SHIT

Fuck.

Okay shit this isn't good. I got my armor back, apparently, though. Sure, it looks nice, but it won't protect me against whatever vile creatures come to kill me here. Ugh. And I'll have to explain this to the shaper council, and UGH. Just... NOT a good day so far. Now, if I could swim, that would be nice. But I can't swim fifty miles to the mainland, I'm not that good. I should have stayed an outsider. Government work just isn't for me, if this is what it entails. Maybe I could have become a mage. Or a security guy. Oh well, no point in worrying too much now. Maybe there's a boat somewhere that I can use to get back off of here.

Also, maybe the harbormaster's office has something for me. I should check it out.


Okay, I found some coins, a key, and a cool shirt, which is so caked with grime it might protect me from knives, and also a cape. Don't I look DASHING?! Also, there's a door over there. I should check out what's behind it.



Huh. That's weird. I've seen things LIKE that, but I haven't seen that kind of thing specifically. It's about knee high, glass, with some fancy puresteel bands. Also there's a needle and glass lid, presumably which I'm supposed to stick my hand onto. Maybe it's some kind of archaic healing or essence pod, after all, this place looks like it's been barred for a couple centuries at least. Anyway, if it is, I should probably use it. I'm tired as fuck from swimming to this island. I'm going to poke it and see what happens.



Poke

OW, fuck that hurt. Oh shit I broke it.



Huh. Weird. I feel... off. I like it. Also, I don't feel that much... wait a minute. I can shoot fire out of my hands! BWAHAHAHA NONE CAN OPPOSE ME! Wait shit, I flunked my battle magic class. Never mind, apparently I can't shoot fire out of my hands. I looked around some more and found javelins though. Which is kind of like shooting METAL out of my hands, which is way cooler. Never was that good at throwing or shooting though. Always preferred stabbing. Well, I suppose I'll keep walking. Maybe there's a boat further up the dock area. No clue why this place was barred.

Total side note, never seen one of these things before. I'll call them canisters for now. They seem cool. I wonder if there's more. Normally I wouldn't have been told how to do those spells until after I passed a battle magic course. Hell, I probably wouldn't have been told until at LEAST after I got my first couple administrative credits.

Okay, I got through the guardpost with the key, got an actual weapon, and a shield. Went into the barracks. Seems like everyone left quickly. Lots of crap left behind. I took it. Plenty of actual healing pods. Then I walked up the path some more. It's quiet for a barred island, you'd think there would be more rogue creatures trying to kill me. Also, I've found an interesting building. I'm going to go inside.



Oh fuck.

It's an inn. That's... bad. Normally these research facility islands are small, boring, don't even have that much stuff on them. Outsiders rarely show up. Certainly not enough to justify an INN right by the dock. This implies there's a hell of a lot of stuff on this island. It also implies whatever got this place barred must have been some BAD SHIT to justify closing such a big facility. Now I'm nervous. Whatever's going on here, I don't like it, and I want to go home.

Another side note, I did find a lot of cool clothes lying around. They're less utterly terrible, and I put on the nicer ones. The rest I'll keep, in case I have to spend a few weeks here while waiting for help. I guess I'll keep moving.

OH FUCK I HEAR MOVEMENT AND NOISES UP AHEAD! THE ROGUES ARE COMING TO KILL ME FOR SURE!



Oh. It's just some ornks. They're kind of like... cow-pigs. They moo, they have tusks, and they're just generally good food. This flock has probably been on the island since it was abandoned... I'm going to need some actual food if I'm going to survive here... oh but they're so cute! I can't... I... I can't harm them! I... Oh, one of them looked at me funny. Oh, it's ON Ornks!



I WILL FEAST UPON YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!!!

Good thing I took Butchery as a GE back in shaper school. It seemed like an easy A, and it was. I got some nice cuts of meat from the ornks, and cooked them with my new hand-fire. Delicious. Also, I found a cool gem just lying in a storage bin over in a corner. I'm keeping it, it looks really nice. Maybe it will look nice in my camp out here while I await rescue. Also, I broke into a storeroom, (thank fuck for lockpicking skills developed when I stole the answer keys to a lockdown procedure test.) I found some cool shiny rocks. I think they're combat crystals. Then, I headed north. Came across an old shaping hall. A dock one, not a particularly experimental one. It didn't even have a decontamination chamber. Probably for making Thahds and things for carrying boxes. A healing and essence pool of course, still alive too!



But... oooh, something way better in the back.



I'm sure no one will mind if I just... use these.

Ow! 

Ow!

Okay, so it still stings a bit when I touch them, but I can now create fyoras and also know how to heal things. Those classes, at least, I didn't fail, so I can, you know, actually DO that. For now, however, I don't think I need a fyora. Got to save my essence for healing spells. Maybe when I can use essence a bit better, I'll make one, and have enough left over for healing spells. No boats though, so I guess I'll keep going. I... Oh shit that's a dead body.



I'm... I'm sure he... she? I can't really tell. It's just a skeleton, but... still, I'm sure they won't mind if I take their surviving stuff. Anyway, the main path north is overgrown, so I guess I'll take the side route and...



...

Yeah maybe I can turn around and live at the docks forever. I'm going to... OH FUCK IT SAW ME! OH NO IT HAS A FRIEND AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

...are they gone?



Alright, note to self, apparently flailing wildly with a blade in the general direction of rogues kills them. Guess I'll keep moving. I see a few more ahead, but they're not so scary! I bet I could beat them.

Hey! I beat them! This isn't so bad. Also, I heard the legendary cosmic "ding" in my head! That means I'm stronger and better than I was before! On a whole new level, one could say! Also, I found a baton and some thorns for it! Nothing special, but it's cool, I can probably shoot a few things with this here thorn-flinger. Also, holy crap a quarantine hall, and the inn is OUTSIDE this thing? This must have been a REALLY impressive island. It's a nice big one too.



Also, there was a sign outside that said to check with the servant mind, so I guess I should do that. They're funny, they look like fat hamsters.



Oh cool, it's still alive! They're good at surviving when they need to. Maybe it can open the door, or tell me where the boats are.

Apparently its name is "Tavit", and it's been here since the island was abandoned. It didn't elaborate beyond it being a research facility. But it said I passed the quarantine check, so it opened the door. I suppose I should go through that door then. It doesn't know where the boats are, or why the island was abandoned though. But the mind seemed in good condition, so at least things seem to be working out.

Hey, look, a servile and some ornks outside the door! I guess this island can't be so bad. Serviles are pretty weak and unimpressive, they'd have been wiped out if there were any really bad things here. It looks to want to talk to me! Probably wants some orders. Serviles are great. They're somewhat smart, obedient, etcetera. We invented them to do our menial labor hundreds of years ago. Anyway, I'll talk to it.

Huh. Huh.

Oh. Okay. Wait what... NO WAIT UP



Okay, so now I'm very confused. His name is Timo, apparently. But more to the point, he wasn't immediately obedient. When I said I was back, and expected obedience, he seemed scared. He referred to living in a village just east of here, and called the other serviles "people", and mentioned "wise" ones. Serviles call one another serviles, not people, and certainly, I've never heard of serviles being wise. This... This could be a problem. What if they're rogue and leading me into a trap? Serviles can't go rogue, right? Can they? I'd think we'd make them not able to do that... right?

I'll... I'll follow him later. I need to sit down for a moment. I'll just butcher these ornks he left here, and see this village. Maybe, maybe I'll be able to see what's happening then. Assuming... things don't go horribly wrong in a few moments. Meanwhile, this island is very disconcerting so far. Something is very wrong here.

END OF DAY ONE.

[Florien]

Day Two, Episode 2: Zones visited: Vakkiri, Bandit Woods, Ruined School, Watchhill.

Feel free to comment on events, request certain choices, etcetera. Sometimes, like in this update, there will be audience participation, because I haven't decided where to take this save file. There is no perfect ending to search for, of course. But some are better than others.

---

Chekon Ilantz again, journal. I don't know if I deserve the title of Guardian anymore, so cowardly I've been. I finally steeled myself, and stepped forward over the threshold of the area. I was scared and barely slept last night, for fear of rogue serviles in the woods, waiting to jump out and rip me limb from limb. But now, I can see I have no choice but to press forwards. Perhaps this village won't be so bad. Perhaps the serviles aren't rogue, this is just how they get when things are like this. I'm still afraid, but I need to keep going. The secrets of this island need to be found. I've cleared my head. That boat that shot at me. It implied that there are others in the area. Hostile others, with boats, of kinds never seen before. Dark powers are at work, mark my words.

Vakkiri to the Ruined School

I've entered the village at last. The serviles are looking at me oddly. They don't seem to know how to react. They look overjoyed, yet terrified. But most of all, they look expectant. They're gauging me. I'm clearly inspiring awe. It's probably a good thing they haven't realized how scared I am, how undertrained I am, how vulnerable I am. But as shocked as they look to see a shaper, I'm shocked to see what they've done. They've not only survived, but apparently thrived! They have guard patrols, they've refurbished old ruins, built new buildings, they have merchants, they're growing crops successfully, it's very impressive. I never thought serviles could do these things without help.

A sign calls the place "Vakkiri". It's probably the place where outsider workers for the dock lived, possibly with some shapers and such in a hall or two nearby. Now, it appears to be the home of a substantial servile village. I'll look around more, talk to some of them. Perhaps one of them can explain what's happening. Either way, I don't exactly have a choice. I looked at their crops. They appear to be growing some kind of cabbages, or perhaps turnips. I have no idea, I never did farming myself. Whichever vegetable they are, they look of good quality. The serviles are well spoken too, most unusual. On conversation, the patrol serviles referred me to a "Leader Khobar", and the workers referred me to a "Learned Pinner". I will be sure to meet with these serviles, and maybe more. Then I looked at the vegetables again.



Nope, still can't tell whether they're cabbages or turnips, and asking would make me look stupid.

Anyway, this "Khobar" is apparently located in the building I'm close to, and he is supposedly the leader, so I should probably talk to him first.



I went in and talked with Khobar (and also some others.) Very interesting. Apparently, they are 100% rogue. They call themselves the Awakened, and say that they claim the right for serviles to be independent of shapers, and live as outsiders. They're much more intelligent than I previously would think possible in serviles. But of course, I also found out other things. There's two other villages on the island, bigger, more important ones, for what this place was once. There's Pentil, where the serviles stayed loyal, and still support us, and far to the east, there's Kazg, where the serviles have declared war upon the shapers, thinking we'll never grant freedom without war. Surely they're no real threat, but they might be right.

Do serviles deserve independence? I'm not really sure. I was diplomatic though, and pretended to have heard wisdom in Khobar's words. After all, he clearly saw that I was not well equipped and alone, and more than capable of being stabbed and dumped in a ditch somewhere. I also met one calling herself "Brodus Blade". She's apparently the commander of the guard. She said there were bandits and I should deal with them maybe. Khobar pointed me east, and said that rogues had appeared almost overnight in a place called Watchhill. And one called Sencia pointed me to someone called "Ellhrah", who apparently founded the Awakened. This Ellhrah lives in an old warehouse past Watchhill. Sencia also mentioned that there is a spy in the village, and I should find that spy.

I also went and checked out the merchants. I met a servile called Coale. He owns a shop.



Seeing as there are habitable things on this island, and serviles I can buy and sell from, I decided money was more important than extra clothes and a gem, so I sold all of those. I'm sure someone will have some use for the money. After dealing with that, I found out he was in possession of some chitin armor, fresh from a clawbug, and a good iron shield. I bought both. Also I found a good sword lying around unattended and borrowed that. No one noticed, so I'm sure they won't mind. I also met a servile called Clakkit or Clack-it or Claw-kit or something like that. He spoke more like normal serviles do, in a vaguely comprehensible series of words, like someone who'd barely learned language. But he seems smarter than the rest. He mentioned that there were rumors of OUTSIDERS on the island. If true, they must have a boat, and I can probably take that boat. He was also incredibly muddy. I have no idea how he managed to get that way.



Next, I decided to meet this "Pinner" person, who is supposedly "Learned". It was quite a substantial walk, but I eventually made it. I found her house, which was obviously a shaping hall. Not an experimental one, again, the lack of decon rooms showed that clearly enough. But it was nice enough. I met her inside.



She's very old, at least a hundred. Serviles do live a long time, after all, they're a pain to make more of, and even then, they're non-sterile. But nonetheless, she looks old, even for a servile. She spoke of many things. Also, apparently the things I call canisters are actually called canisters! That's convenient. Also they kill serviles when serviles try to use them, so that's slightly alarming, considering I've used three already. But she says I look fine, so it's probably not that bad. Another servile offered to sell me one for three hundred coins, but I don't have that many. I tried yelling at her, but she said no, I can't have it unless I pay her. Anyway, Pinner told me that there's an old shaper school on the island, and it's just north. I should probably check it out, maybe there's something interesting there.

Anyway, no point in dilly-dallying right now. I should check out the school first.



Or, I would, if these bandits previously mentioned weren't standing right there. Their leader, Ghurk, came up before me. He's apparently the first servile bandit ever in history, which is very impressive, or it would be, if he wasn't currently staring me down. I told him I would use shaper magic to make his arms and legs fall off if he didn't stop trying to rob me. I didn't tell him how terrifying it is to have a blade pointed at me like that, or that that's not a thing I can do. I don't know if he really believed me, but he backed off, and said I'd pay next time. His soldiers seem strong, and they're plentiful in number. I can probably avoid them and enter the school by going around. So I'll do that for now, and come back through to deal with them when I'm more confident I can. I found a bunch of rogue fyora too, on the way. I managed to lure them one by one into a isolated area, where I put them down individually.



I then headed northwards, thinking I'd dealt with the fyora problem sufficiently, but then...



That's right, a Thahd showed up. They're huge, hulking, battle-built creations. They're very basic, but nonetheless, they're quite strong and capable of knocking people down. Luckily, the cosmic ding had echoed again, and I felt ready for this fight. It saw me, but I was ready. I charged in, and in only a few seconds, I had chopped it down. Then its friends showed up, more thahds, more fyora, all rogue. It was a difficult fight, but I managed to kill all of them before they could tear my arms off, and wouldn't that be an embarrassing end, killed by thahds and fyora. I reached the door to the school, and stepped in, ready for anything, or so I thought.



I entered, and was immediately hit by a wave of nostalgia. Sure, everything is falling apart, but the basic design of the school is not substantially different to the one I attended. Even the statues are pretty similar looking. There are rogues stalking the hallways, sure, but otherwise, it's very nostalgic. These places usually have servant minds, so I'll go see if the one in here is still living. I fought a lot of rogues along the way, mostly thahds and fyora. They were once intimidating, but now, I can consistently bash their skulls in with a single blow. Some exploration later, I found this area.



There's some very legible fyora scratchings on the wall, portraying fyoras and smaller thahds bowing before a humanoid figure. Also there's a book in the corner that falls into the wall when I look at it from certain angles, but otherwise seems fine. It's either mildly eldritch, or my eyes need checking. I suspect the former, because there's a vague amount of menace emanating from the ripped pages. But otherwise, there's far more menacing things stored here. I went into an old lecture hall, and found something most disturbing. Essence. Essence shouldn't BE here. It only lasts a few months without care, but indeed, there's some essence in the experiment vats in the hall. It's a few weeks old, someone's been here, someone's made something with essence, and this implies HORRIFYING things.



So I went to poke the essence blobs in the vats. One burst, and sprayed me with vile poison. I nearly passed out, but managed to heal myself before I perished. The other contained a fyora, twisted and misshapen, as if someone tried to make it without training. I cut the sorry creature down immediately, as it tried to kill me. It is most disconcerting that such things occured. I explored the rest of the school then, not finding much of note. Though I did see my first rogue artilla. A vile worm, acid in its teeth, prepared to spew its corrosive spittle upon me. I slew it before it got the chance.



Such is life. I also encountered several stashes of armor, weapons, clothing, pods, and other things which had survived. I took them, to sell on my return to Vakkiri. Then, I looked around some more. I found the door to the servant mind, only to find it locked. I cursed my luck. I had found living tools, squid-like creatures best suited for use as lockpicks and for work with machinery. Unfortunately, they die easily when used. We haven't yet figured out a way to make them survive significant wear and tear. I didn't have remotely enough to break through the sturdy, rust-free lock. I'd have to explore the school more, perhaps there was a key that was untaken. I recovered the remains of a lecturer's journal, which indicated a great deal of fury at the island being barred, but found no clues of what had caused that to be, as the rest of the journal was ruined by water damage. Then, I turned the corner in a room, and walked right into...



The larger, green Thahd called itself Rawbone. Thahds cannot speak, normally. Nor can they plan like this. I found myself outnumbered, and quite possibly outmatched. As I prepared to die horrifically, I drew my blade. At very least, I'd make sure that none of them would get away unscathed from this fight. It was at that moment that I changed my mind and ran for the exit, with the horde in pursuit. But then, I steeled myself in my flight. I would ambush them, as I did the Fyoras earlier. So I laid in wait for Rawbone's minions charging around the corner, and I tripped them and spit them upon my blade, one by one. Rawbone came tearing around the corner also, and smashed my arm against the wall. I dropped my sword to the ground, but managed to reach my baton. My arm was broken, but my other arm's aim was true. Rawbone crashed to the ground, a thorn embedded in its brain. The cosmic ding echoed in my mind once more, as I took a belt from its corpse. I healed my arm with a spell, and I picked my sword back up. The belt was a old version of the modern girdle of intelligence, a weaker version, to be sure, but one that fit me well enough. I wore it proudly, a trophy from my victory. I also found a key among Rawbone's things, the master key to the school! That's when I went to meet the servant mind, and scavenge the remaining supplies. I decided the servant mind was the most important to deal with, so I travelled to it again. I used the master key to unlock the door, and met the servant mind.



Provalus was its name, an old administrative mind. It told me that the island was barred because of dangerous knowledge, but it had been told to forget that knowledge until further orders arrived. It had done so, because to do otherwise would be wrong. I tried to convince it to divulge some knowledge, some skills to me, but it refused. I was never good at deceit and convincing others to follow me, and it showed. Provalus did not divulge any knowledge beyond the unclassified information. However, I did look in a back room, and find a canister!

Ow!

From it, I gained the ability to raise an Artilla from magic alone. But I did not do that immediately. I had the rest of the area to investigate, which I did. Then, I checked out the other two storerooms that were locked.

Ow!

Ow!

I felt healthier after the use of those canisters. But also I felt capable of shooting venom from my fingertips. (I could not, because again, I had flunked battle magic, and did not know the proper gestures to fling it.) That's when I left the school, and began my return trip to Vakkiri.

The Bandits and Watchhill.

I evaded the eyes of the bandits, and returned to Vakkiri, to rest for a spell. I then decided to create my first creation. I raised a fyora up with the force of will and essence alone. I named it Disposable Jim. I also talked to Pinner again, about how the servant mind had told me that dangerous secrets were on the island. She seemed interested. She had assumed that it was dangerous rogues, uncontrollable, that had made the place barred, as had I. I then checked out some areas of the town I hadn't. I talked with a servile alchemist. Serviles aren't normally supposed to do alchemy, but I didn't tell him that, for fear he would splash poison in my face. I opened a box for him, and he gave me some money. I then practiced my long atrophied skills of lying, lying to a servile child to retrieve a knife stolen from a chef. The cosmic ding rang once more. I felt confident.



I then sold the various surplus supplies I had gathered. I found I had enough to afford the canister being offered by the servile I had yelled at earlier. Luckily, she held no grudge, and did not raise the price.

OWW!

The pain was not just from the needle piercing my skin, but the realization of what skill the canister had granted me. War Blessing, an ostensibly useful spell, now was within my skillset. However, I don't even remotely know the procedure for CASTING a blessing spell. That's why I became a guardian, so others would do that part for me! I'd spent three hundred coins on a useless skill. Burning white rage filled my veins, and feeling thoroughly cheated, I decided to take my rage out on the bandits to the north. Their gear would pay for my follies. I stormed north, and marched right at them, Disposable Jim close behind. I walked up to Ghurk, and cut him across the chest with a mighty sweep of my sword. Then, his friends showed up, ready to avenge their fallen leader. But I took them on, my weapons drawn, battle in my heart, a war cry on my lips, and...



Or that's what would have happened, if I had rushed into battle all willy-nilly like that. Instead, I channeled my rage to circle around to the back way, to pick off the bandits individually. That worked much better than rushing in would have. I slaughtered most of them one by one, grabbing them and silencing them, as an agent would, rather than rushing in half-cocked. Disposable Jim was completely useless and didn't hit a single one of them. Then, I burst out from the trees behind Ghurk. When he saw no one there, he realized what had happened, and he and his one surviving friend charged me. I managed to kill his friend, and then Ghurk too, faced my blade. Defiant to the end, he charged one last time, only for me to engage my finest skill, flailing wildly. I struck him twice, and he collapsed to the ground, writhed for a moment, and then died. I picked up a fine cloak from his body, and put it on. It was one of the coated varieties, the kind used to protect against powerful magical fields. Inside was stitched a label, faded with time, but still legible. "Sucia Island Power Station." That being the name of the island, I assume this means either one of his servile ancestors, or the ancestor of the servile he stole this from, once worked there. Most islands aren't important enough to have a fully equipped power station, but given what I've previously seen, I would not be shocked if this place did. Next, I briefly considered heading north, but I looked and saw nothing I desired to approach. Only bitter, sandy climes, miserable stands of dying trees, and diseased land riddled with powerful rogue clawbugs that I am not even remotely equipped to handle. Discretion being the better part of valor in those circumstances, I'm not ashamed to admit that I ran back as quickly as I could. I hope to never return there.

I instead rested briefly at Vakkiri, sold the bandit supplies and announced to Brodus that I had completed the job. I was rewarded with a wand of firebolt. I do not need such a thing, but selling it will provide me with much needed money. However, I found that Coale, the shopkeeper, had since run dry of funds to purchase the goods I had brought in. I was forced to sell to Ham the Alchemist instead. I shall soon need a new merchant, if I am to continue gaining money to buy supplies I may need further down the road. Then, I resolved to head east, and examine this "watchhill" place. Supposedly, rogues had appeared almost overnight, far too many to be accounted for by normal migration patterns. Someone or something put them there.

Some exploration revealed that this "Watchhill" was an old security post. Normally, guardians such as myself, and agents would be posted around these things, to watch the surrounding area for issues. It was also utterly infested with rogues. Disposable Jim, as always, was utterly useless, and immediately died when a thahd punched him. I took revenge for him, but I have no intention of ever making a fyora again unless I need one to set off a trap or something, and frankly, I'd rather use a thahd for that anyway. I fought my way inside the watchhill. Rogues were thick, it felt like there was no end to them. That's when I found it.



Sitting next to grey, sickly pools of essence, not of a kind I've ever seen before, it drank from them with long roots and spat out dangerous rogue creations. Such things, creations creating other creations, is illegal. Such creatures would be too dangerous, should they go rogue. Yet, here one was, and it was plainly the source of the rogues of watchhill. The battle was long and difficult. I slew every rogue it made, until it had drained the pools beside it. Though it could sense me, its only method of attack was to produce rogues. Once it had run out of essence, it could do nothing against me as I cut it apart. Watchill was purged of the rogues at last.

I searched the rest of the complex, doing cleanup on the surviving rogues. I found a storeroom.

OW.

And I learned how to craft a thahd. Certainly, a more applicable skill than the one for fyora. But not one I'm likely to use. The canisters, though they're painful to use, they feel good after they've worked whatever magic they work. I should find more of them. They provide skills which, even if I can't use them NOW, might be useful in the future. And after all, I doubt they can do much harm to me. What harm could it do to use more of them as I find them? My palm getting sore? Bah, that's hardly an issue. I soon cleaned most of the rogues in the area, and headed back to Vakkiri to tell Khobar of my deed, and what had been happening. However, on my entry to Vakkiri, I noticed a side path that had evaded my eyes before. I had never considered looking down there, but I did. I found a small house, with a shifty servile inside.



Remembering what Sencia had told me earlier, I immediately realized this servile must be the spy. But I was curious, I confess. I spoke to him, to see if my suspicions were true, and to perhaps wheedle out some information about what he wanted. He introduced himself as Nabb, and he claimed to be a member of the Takers. He said they had an offer for me. I could join them, I could meet some "powerful allies" of theirs, with power enough to make the shapers tremble. He said also that the Awakened were on the right track, but that the shapers needed to have their influence over the serviles shed completely, by war, if necessary. He then said that if I wished to join with the Takers, to meet their powerful allies, and to share in this power, that I should kill Ellhrah, due to his terrifying intelligence and strategical brilliance, and head to Kazg, in the east. I did not report him to Sencia, not immediately. I decided to consider his offer. Perhaps there was some merit to it. I went to Khobar, and told him of Watchhill and the spawner there. He seemed alarmed, and told me that I must visit Ellhrah. He gave me a message, and sent me on my way.



I reached the gates of Ellhrah's fortress, and realized I didn't know what I wanted to do anymore. I'd seen the serviles could succeed on their own. I know the shapers back home would need to be in unusual circumstances indeed to tolerate the existence of the Awakened. Most likely, they'll just kill them all the moment they find out about them. And though the Takers do seem to be correct in that they will never attain freedom from us without war, they are backed by "powerful allies." Could those powerful allies have been the ones who murdered my craft and stranded me here? Could they have been the ones who made the watchhill spawner? Outsiders are not supposed to learn our secrets without permission. They might destroy much. Already they violate our laws with this spawner, if that is indeed them. Perhaps it would be better to not court disaster by courting the takers. Then, I also heard of the Obeyers. I had not met any of them yet, but they were said to be like the serviles back home. Loyal to the shapers still. They would surely be a great help, if I wished to purge rogues from the island, to make sure knowledge deemed dangerous by the shaper council could never leave this place and fall into hands it should not. I hesitated outside the gates for a long time. Eventually, I came to a decision. Then, I stepped through the gates.

End of Day Two.
The Map as it stands...

---

And now, I turn to you. Should we side with the Awakened, the Obeyers, or the Takers? This choice, of course, can be backed out of later on.

[awe921]

Awakened?

[Florien]

Episode 3: Zones Visited: Ellhrah's Keep, Thorny Fen, Crag Valley, Pentil Woods, Pentil, Spiral Burrow.

Popular opinion, by one vote, is supporting the Awakened first.

---

In which a quest is received, and a journey is begun. The third faction of Serviles are met, and many rogues perish.

Ellhrah's Keep to Thorny Fen

I stepped through the gates into the fortress. It was impressive.



My decision was clear. Serviles should have rights, they can clearly survive on their own. The powerful allies mentioned by the takers though, concern me too much to work with them for the time being. The takers said all I'd have to do to join them is kill Ellhrah, so I can report their spy in Vakkiri on my return, and should I change my mind later, I can simply kill this Ellhrah and join them. The Obeyers, loyal though they've been, should not be so dedicated. We've harmed them too much for them to remain loyal. Either way, Freedom for the serviles the best decision that I can think of, at this time.

I doubt the shapers will accept this, the circumstances would have to be dire indeed for the Awakened route to be something they'd tolerate. But I cannot in good conscience allow for the major violations of Shaper Law at this point presumably being backed by the Takers. For now, I shall keep my head down, and aid the faction I met first. They seem to not actively be causing problems. I went deeper in to deliver the message to Ellhrah. But on the way, I encountered a small servile. She was sweeping nervously, but she approached me.



Her name was Ting, and she said there was a powerful wand located in the fort. She implied I should use it to kill Ellhrah, and his most powerful warrior, Swan. She also mentioned Nabb. It's clear what I should do. So I went to Ellhrah's office...



And gave him the message. He read it, and threw it out soon after. He said it was but a pretext for Khobar to send me here to meet him. I discussed matters with him for a time. I also brought up Ting, who was very obviously a spy. He said something to a guard, and the guard walked off. I asked him of the other factions. He said that the Obeyers are sorry and backwards, but not evil. He said that the Takers will lose their war for freedom, and doom the serviles to eternal servitude. Only defensive war can truly win the independence of the serviles, is his claim. Then, he said that if I want to join and receive the aid of the Awakened to its fullest measure, I should fight past a mighty Vlish called Warp, and silence an old, dangerous servant mind called Control Four. He also, perhaps foolishly, gave me the keys to the room with the powerful wand. I will check that out, of course. It could be useful, even if I have no intention to blast Ellhrah with it. Maybe it would be more useful against Warp, or some other creation of great power, if for some reason, my blade is not. So I proceeded into the tunnels where it is. That's where I encountered...



Cryoa. Many Cryoa. They were plentiful and powerful, a difficult foe, strong though I am. The tunnels were freezing, and the cryoa fierce. Also, I found another of those canisters in a back room.

OW!

Then, swiftly, as always, I moved, ever confident, through another few Cryoa, and reached the warehouse. The guard let me by with no fuss, and I used the key to unlock the door. I stepped inside, and found another Canister.

OW!

Cure effects was added to my list of skills. Now poison and acid are less of a threat. I stepped into the second room of the storage which I was permitted access to... and there it was. On the table.



A Discipline wand. The last line of defense, some shapers call it. All creations are vulnerable to the powerful poison contained within these, but non-creations are immune. No wonder Ellhrah hid it back here. It is truly a deadly weapon in the right hands. Sadly, these things only have but a few charges. But they are powerful enough to fell creations of many types in but a single shot. I left, wand in hand, then saw a door which I hadn't bothered to look at before. I picked the lock, and walked inside.



OW!

And that's when I noticed the dead servant mind. I felt like I should be angry that the Awakened had obviously killed this loyal, noble creature, which had surely only been trying to do its job. But I couldn't bring myself to care. I checked some nearby cabinets, and grabbed a jar of mind nutrients. I'm sure I'll find a use for them elsewhere on the island.

On my way back up, I asked Ellhrah about the canisters, as a complete side thought of mine. He said nothing I didn't know, until I mentioned my use of them. He then commented that I did look... "off" to him. My skin is apparently glowing slightly, and I look "colder", whatever that means. Oddly, this doesn't particularly bother me. Looking slightly weird is a justifiable sacrifice in favor of gaining skills and staying alive.

As I left the fortress, I saw only an abandoned broom and a fresh pool of blood where Ting had been. I went back to Vakkiri first, to ask for payment for delivering the message, and to report Nabb. Sencia had no particular reward, as Nabb fled before the guards could catch him. But she gave me thanks. Khobar gave me a small payment for delivering the letter, and directed me to the Crag Valley, where another spawner had supposedly been located. And so, that is where I went. There, I met my first Obeyers, Forney and Dern.



Dern was quiet, but Forney spoke more. He said that he had been brought up right, to know that the shapers are right in all things, and that we are good for creating serviles. He had a lovely chainmail vest. I briefly considered asking for him to give me it, but I thought better of it. I told him of spawners, because he had also noticed an increase in rogues in the area. He seemed most alarmed, and asked me to deal with it, because he didn't have the forces nor the skills himself. I also told him that Shapers are not infallible. That seemed to unsettle him greatly. He mentioned that there are a couple ways to Pentil, his city. The most popular 0ne, until recently, was through the Hill of Jars, so named because it contains lots of jars. But recently, the doors had been closed and the route had been trapped by person or persons unknown. The other way, the southern way, goes through heavily rogue-infested territory. I need to get off this island, so obviously, I'll have to head east, to where the other docks are. To get there, I'll have to go through the city of Pentil. So this information is helpful to me. I then went off the main path, to go track down that spawner.



That's when I encountered a roamer. These things are supposedly modified hairless dogs. They spit acid and have a powerful bite. Of course, to me, they always looked more like frogs. They both can die though, and this one did, with ease. I turned back, not willing to face more roamers at the moment, and fought instead through a swarm of powerful artilla. I eventually reached the Crag Valley Spawner, a pitiful thing. It was sick from producing Artillas, the acid was eating through the tubes out which it produced the artilla. I allowed it to continuously try to repel me with a thick swarm of rogues, but I'd cut them down the moment they emerged from the spawner's grip. Soon, it gave up. I cut it once, and it began to weep green sap upon the ground.



I then stepped up, and cut it down at last. On the way out, I found a couple canisters in a side storeroom. Once again, I used them without a second thought.

OW.

OW!

Magic again, Bah. A skill I'd never used much, and would never use much. Shaping is preferable by far, and healing is the only school of magic I use, really. But I had heard the cosmic ding when I had been cutting through the spawner's creations, so it was all worth it. What's two more canisters, but a bonus. Some day, I may use those skills. Not SOON, but some day.

As I left the area, I talked with Forney again, and told him of the destruction of the spawner. He bowed so low his face was pressed against the ground, and didn't stop thanking me for several minutes. He talked of how he always knew the shapers would come back and use their mighty powers to save everyone, and other such stuff. Even though I work with the awakened at this time, I can't say I didn't enjoy the adulation. It's one of the things I joined the shapers for, after all. I then told Khobar of my victory over the spawner, and he told me that he had no further work for me. He told me I should go east, to find out more of the secrets. Vakkiri holds nothing for me now, as I've drained the merchants of coin and the quest-givers of quests. I may not return for some time. Next, I had a choice to make. To head into the spiral burrow, where Warp the Vlish and Control Four reside, in hatred, or to make my way to Pentil first. The way Warp had been described sounded quite threatening. I was not willing to take that risk just yet, and so I headed through the Thorny Fen, a roamer infested region. From there, I resolved to pick my way to Pentil through forests and such, and from there, perhaps, gain enough strength to push through and cut Warp down.

Arriving in the Thorny Fen, I was immediately beset by roamers, but not plentiful enough of them to prove a threat, yet. I also found what caused the place to receive its name.



Thorn bushes, growing wild! These things, normally farmed, are the source of thorns for batons. I don't use batons, of course, having specialized primarily in stabbing, but the thorns can be worth a decent amount. I shook the bushes and gathered many thorns, to sell at some later time. I also encountered many more roamers. They'd run off, gather some friends, and attempt to charge me. But I soon resolved that issue by attempting to kill every last roamer in the fen. The Cosmic Ding rang once more as I proceeded with that process.

OW.

I needn't say what caused me such pain. At this point, it should be clear what I had found that did that. But I proceeded, killing Roamers and such for some time. Then, I heard a cry of alarm. I rushed to see what was the matter.



A servile had been cornered by a roamer. I rushed in and stabbed the roamer before it could harm her. She was lightly injured, but she'd live. She introduced herself as Sleet, a scout for the Obeyers. She gave me a gift of two crystals, (which I'll most likely sell). She said that I should go to Pentil, the city of the Obeyers. She also told me that there are Vlish on the route that I'm travelling, but also that the other route is more trap laden and diplomacy requiring. As I am not currently particularly good at dealing with traps or talking to people, I resolved to head through the Vlish packs instead.

In which a strange force calls to our hero, the Obeyers are properly met, knowledge is uncovered, and a powerful foe meets a sorry end.

Pentil Woods to Spiral Burrow

On entering the woods, I found sounds muffled, and a vague buzzing in my head. There were more vlish there than I thought there were. I should have expected the worst, obviously, but worse still, they were rapidly communicating with each other. If I didn't silence one that saw me immediately, no doubt others would come. I cautiously picked my way through the forest. Or, I assumed it was cautiously. In practice, I walked into a vlish right away



I'm slightly ashamed to admit I panicked slightly. These organisms have characteristics from many different animals, plants, and other things too. But most notable is their extremely powerful magic. They are known for being easily one of the most dangerous rogues, because they're so smart. They'll hide, they'll guide other creations, and they'll drive them rogue too. Worse, they're incredibly difficult to predict, and their magic is even able to cause issues for serviles, outsider humans, and in some cases, even full shapers. I ran at it full tilt, hoping to strike it down before it caused problems. I narrowly succeeded. Its cry was silenced by my blade chopping its helium sac and knocking it from the air. Then, I saw a door and a building just off to the side. The door was locked, but I broke the lock open, and entered. What I saw was horrible.



Bones, debris, all picked clean, and a second door. The room reeked of vinegar, and there was a gurgling through the southern door. Dreading what I would find back there, I opened the lock on that door too.



It was exactly what I expected, though that didn't make it any less horrible. The spawner was strong, cranking out not merely low grade creations, but VLISH. Most disturbing. I fought hard against it. The battle was not difficult, in practice. The newly shaped vlish weren't strong enough to survive my strikes, and thus, could not harm me. But it was horrifying to see such a spawner as this. Surely, there must be even worse spawners on the island somewhere, ones capable of spawning even more fearsome creations. The battle was simple, surely, but as I slew the vlish and new ones spawned, I felt a strange presence in the room. I don't know if it was hostile. It was just Alien. Eldritch. Like what it felt like to look at the book back in the school, the one that kept falling into the wall at certain angles, except stronger. The presence was most strongly felt to the north-west, as if something was calling me. Whatever it was, the spawner writhed and twitched for a moment, before something strange happened to it and the essence pools next to it.

Every other spawner I had encountered had eventually run out of creations to throw at me. This one didn't. It kept producing vlish, which I kept striking down. The Cosmic Ding approached ever more rapidly, as I simply waited for it to produce more vlish for me to cut down. The essence pools would refill the spawner and themselves, just as quickly as they could be drained. This certainly was not a behavior I had seen in previous spawners. I didn't move to strike the spawner down, I merely cut down the endless swarm of vlish. Whatever that presence was, whatever it had done, it was, in a way, good. The spawner wouldn't stop producing, but it wouldn't produce threats either. It just produced weak, soft vlish, who fell to the floor in the exact same spots as their predecessors did.

The presence was there in the room with me, whispering promises of great rewards should I find its avatar on this plane. It said it was but a short journey north-east, past Pentil. I should have felt dread. But instead, I felt comfort. I continued killing the new vlish for some time. The cosmic ding echoed in my head once more, not muted like the sounds outside. Nor was it pervasive, like the whispers of the presence. The cosmic ding felt routine. The presence felt like something else. I swore to seek it out. To find its avatar. It said the spawner would produce for some time yet, that I could destroy it when I was ready. My arms didn't get tired as I kept killing the vlish. I had time to rest between each new one. I knew exactly where they would pop up, and thus, exactly where to stab as they appeared.

Eventually, I began to get bored, ready to move on. The spawner needed to die, sooner or later. I had killed easily hundreds of Vlish pouring from it, and I continued to do so. But eventually, I would have to make my move on it. Finally, hundreds of Vlish in, I swung at the spawner. It fell so easily. A single blow was all it took for it to collapse. Then, I left the building, and, no longer feeling fear, I walked in front of a vlish. My arrogance had some power behind it, but not enough, perhaps. Every vlish in the area started pursuing me. By sheer luck, I managed to kill them all, but it was a very close thing. I dressed my wounds, and looked around the area some more. That's when I encountered this building.



Alarmingly, it had mines surrounding the canister. Mines, once activated, don't have a particularly long lifespan. They are volatile creatures, known for exploding at the slightest provocation. Unfortunately, the sensor tendrils were pointed right at me. I examined them from a safe distance. But that they were there and active implied that they had been placed recently. That meant that whoever else was on the island had also learned of how to make mines, how to activate them, and place them. Truly disturbing, as normally only trusted outsiders are taught how to activate them and breed them, and never how to shape them. Yet, these ones were quite plainly new-shaped. Spitefully, I trod upon the mines. They were not impressive work, but they were painful in their detonation. I survived, and healed my wounds, before using the canister.

OW.

After doing that, it was only a short journey north, into Pentil. I walked in the gate without any fuss whatsoever.



Pentil, as compared to Vakkiri, was enormous. It was fortified, build much more of stone. Plainly, it was more of an administrative center for the island. Quite possibly one of the major hubs of shaper power in the area, once. The serviles bowed and scraped, in awe of me. They thanked me for returning to guide them. They acted like the serviles back home do. I don't know if that's a good thing anymore, but I did enjoy the constant compliments, the adoration, etcetera. I went into the town proper.

Back in Vakkiri, I had received a request from Coale. I do not remember if I mentioned that, but I had. He had two contacts, Pixley and Arth, who lived in Pentil and Kazg respectively. I had said I would find them and tell him if trade was safe to resume. The first thing I did was go to find Pixley.



She was very helpful. She said that before I had fought my way to the gates, she wouldn't have been confident, but that trade could resume to the west side of the island. She told me about the surroundings. To the north are the wastes. They are unsafe and hostile. To the east are two bridges, blocked, and beyond them, Kazg, the city of the Takers. She said that if I cleared one of the bridges, she would be grateful, for all the merchants and travelers. She also said she'd seen a boat to the south, the same day I was attacked. Perhaps it was the boat that attacked me! Some serviles in the city, after I left Pixley's storeroom, directed me to Rydell, the leader of the Obeyers. I decided to visit him later. The rest of the city would come first.

Some looking around the town later, I met a servile woodcutter. He told me about the Vlish to the south, I told him about the spawner and how I destroyed it. (Leaving out the part with the strange presence in the room with me.) He taught me the ways of the quick action skill, in exchange. I am now swifter than the wind in striking. I talked to another servile, Nately. She said her bonded had been killed by a vlish. Though I support the awakened, she wanted reassurance that suffering is part of the plan of the Shapers, it is necessary, somehow. I provided it, not daring to make her day worse than it was already.

After that tragic scene, I went and saw the captain, Mickall Blade. He said that there were many threats in the area, but notably, he had heard many more rumors of the outsider humans. He also described how the rogues had started appearing, small and weak, a year or two ago. Then, they had become more plentiful, and now, they were cutting off trade. He mentioned a taker encampment in a wood to the south-east, and said he would be pleased if I would destroy it.

He also said the outsider humans had the strength of ten Thahds and could shoot beams of flame from their eyes, that they spoke a strange language, and that they looked peculiar. He said most of that was probably speculation, but considering the situation, at least the second two are probably true, and considering my luck with foes so far, I wouldn't be surprised if they really did shoot fire from their eyes and have the strength of ten Thahds.

That information gathered, I went into the town library, hoping to find records indicating what had taken place before the island was barred to make it such. Instead, I found something both amazing and pitiful. An enormous library, filled entirely with copies of copies of original ledgers, supply orders, payroll sheets, and other stuff. None of it useful, but kept, copied, recopied, and preserved by the serviles over generations, just in case the shapers needed it for something in the future. The operator of the library came up to me.



Learned Dayna was her name. Serviles are often used for record-keeping and maintenance, when servant minds just won't do. I asked her what she knew about the Canisters. If there was useful information in here, she would know it. She told me that they were invented on this island. She also told me that they apparently "re-wrote the scroll of life", whatever that means, and that the shapers suddenly stopped making them before leaving the island. I felt a vague sense of discomfort. That implied, to a small extent, that I had stumbled upon and been using technology which I was by no means cleared to use.

I brushed the thought away. It didn't matter, I'd just solve a major problem on the island and the council wouldn't mind so much. She had a mirror though, and provided it to me, saying I looked odd, even though she'd never seen a shaper before, and I looked at myself. Indeed, my skin was glowing faintly. I couldn't bring myself to particularly care strongly about that. A small sacrifice for the power gained, and the ability to better survive the island.

Soon, she expressed doubt that her record preservation was useful. I considered telling her the truth, that most of these records had little purpose when they first were used, and even less now, but then I realized there was an opportunity, as I glanced at a poster she had stuck on the wall.

She was offering small bounties for records. I quickly justified it to myself. If I gave her the records, she could hold onto them and preserve them in case I or some other group needed them for some reason. Perhaps, for example, there might be some warehouse that we would need to track down supplies at, or some payroll information that could tell us where the distribution center for that sort of thing is. I immediately reassured her that record-keeping was important work, and she calmed down slightly, and offered me the bounty for some records.

She also provided me with more information, as I left. Apparently, the three most important people on the island when it was active were Defniel, the training coordinator, Corata, the logistics and administration manager, and Danette, the head of research. I also learned that a Taker Librarian by the name of Tovio lived in Kazg, and that he had ledgers of where the really valuable stuff was stored, but he wouldn't let anyone see them. I resolved to go check that out at some point, if I ever went to Kazg.

I then went to Rydell, the leader of the Obeyers. He sat at the head of a large hall.



He was a strange servile. He was obviously a cunning, scheming sort. Possibly on par with Ellhrah. He said Pentil is the largest and most prosperous settlement on the island, and that the serviles had done their jobs as their ancestors did. But his awe at my arrival outweighed his scheming, for the time. He spoke of how serviles owe the shapers a great debt for creating them, and that though the awakened believe that debt can be payed off, that the Obeyers do not know if that is true. He said that even if it is, it would take many more generations of service. I do not know if I agree with him, but he did make it clear that he knows I'm alone on the island, and he also made it clear that he would oppose any un-true shapers, those who would oppose the true will of the shapers. He said the criteria for that are based on the last examples the Obeyers had of shaper behavior, and he apologized that he could do no better.

Seeing as how though technology here is archaic, comparatively, that a lot of the things are similar to how they are back home culturally, I realized that it would be easy enough to act how he wanted. I didn't believe in it, not anymore. But I did have a vague sense of dread that if I didn't, he would loose his soldiers upon me and kill me where I stood. Surely he wouldn't, but I didn't trust him at the time. I praised his dedication, partially to receive yet more adulation, and partially out of that fear that he would knife me to death if I didn't. I didn't offer to join him, however. As I left, I heard passing mention of Control Four, the servant mind I was sent to silence, and the importance of feeding it so it could keep the Awakened confined. It was at that moment I finally built up the resolve to shut Control Four down. A short journey and a few roamers more dead, I arrived at the entrance to the spiral burrow, in Crag Valley.



I stepped inside without hesitation, and found an enormous network of caves, patrolled by a large pack of aggressive roamers. It would be possible to avoid them, of course, but I instead took to cutting down the rogues. No point in letting them roam around, causing problems.

The spiral burrow was clearly a shaper complex once, but whatever it had been was lost when the roamers burrowed through the walls and created new caves. It was quite impossible to tell whether it had been a warehouse, or something else. Either way, there were but a few walls to tell me that it had been anything other than a damp cave with thick mineral deposits on the floor.

I found another canister, in one of the few untouched rooms. Another "OW", another dose of power, as my skill at healing myself improved. I proceeded deeper into the spiral. The innermost room was mostly intact, and I could feel why. I looked inside. An old, mostly blind vlish, tentacles twisted and gnarled with age drifted slowly around the room.



I knew it could see me, though its eyes were clouded over. The bones of many who had come before were scattered across the floor. The vlish was incomprehensibly old, possibly old enough to have been old even when the island was barred. This was Warp.

And it was a complete JOKE.

It only took two swipes from a sword to knock it from the air. This was the terror that had prevented Vakkiri from getting in and shutting down Control Four? Certainly, it was strong. It had some charm spells in its arsenal. But surely some serviles could have pressed their way in here and killed it in a matter of minutes with few casualties. There was a canister in a room it was guarding. The pain flowed through me again, another OW, as I gained the ability to create roamers, another skill I would never use.

Control Four was alone in the back, helpless. I could have probably chopped the poor creature in half, had I wanted to. But I didn't. I was merciful, and I knew there was an easier way. It was loyal.



So I talked to it. I told it that the shapers were back. (Not technically a lie.) That it had served them well. (Also not technically a lie.) And that it should shut down, having served long enough, these two centuries. It resisted somewhat, it argued, first that it still had work, second that rogues were influencing me, third that the shapers would surely kill me for this. Quite clearly, it too, was in fact, rogue, as it took this long to comply with orders from a shaper. But then, after requesting no less than four times, each more intensely than the last, as it begged and pled to be allowed to continue to do its job, to keep living, it fell silent. I briefly thought it was ignoring me. Then, I realized, it had in fact, shut down. Control Four was dead. I can't say I felt good about it. In fact, I felt vaguely ill. I went back to Ellhrah to tell him the news.



He said I had saved many servile lives, that I clearly believed in servile dignity and the rights of serviles to seek freedom, and inducted me into the Awakened. I felt a little better, but the death of control four still ate at the back of my mind. I didn't tell him that. He told me to go east. More knowledge of what is happening on the island, he said, would be found eastwards, in Kazg. And so, I packed some more supplies, and prepared for my journey eastwards. Perhaps answers awaited me there. But either way, things would be different there. Maybe I would find out who these outsider humans were. Maybe I would find out many things. Or maybe I would be murdered unceremoniously in a forest by some powerful, dangerous creation. Either way, onwards was the only option, and so onwards I pressed.

---

End of Episode 3: The map as it stands:

[Florien]

Episode 4: Zones Visited: Hill of Jars, Pentil Plains, Pentil East

Sorry for the shorter than usual update, it's been hectic recently and I didn't have time to clear all the zones I intended to this update. Episode 5 will contain extra zone clearing to make up for that.

---

In which a second route is cleared, and some interesting information is uncovered, and our hero encounters the strange force from last time face to face.

Episode 4 in entirety.

In the decision I made to press onwards, I faltered somewhat, and became sidetracked. A sense that I should probably make sure all routes were properly cleared settled in me. Having practiced my mechanical skills and my persuasive techniques, I decided it would be best if I could get through the hill of jars as well. As it was a warehouse once, perhaps some items of value or use yet remained. I stepped into the place, and indeed, it immediately started living up to its name. It was a hill, but also, it had jars.



A great deal of jars. I picked the lock on the door, and it fell open. Immediately, it was apparent why no one was going through here. Once again, it was demonstrated to me that someone must be on the island with shaping skill, because young, mass-produced mines were arrayed before me, blocking the way.



Frustratingly enough, they wouldn't be feasible to just walk through. However, conveniently enough, a side-route led to a room with a spore-box.



These creatures, encased in stone, if you know how to use them, will produce spores to change the behavior of nearby creations. Naturally, I assumed this one was somehow linked to the mines. On attempting to use it, I was proven right. The mines deactivated, and I proceeded deeper into the complex. Picking an apparently untouched old lock, I stepped into a room apparently untouched by the serviles, and that's when I saw them, pointing right at me.



Turrets. A version of the thorn bushes, except these ones throw the thorns themselves. Again, these looked young. They couldn't have been there long. And for the first time in my life, I found myself staring down a turret that was aiming at me. It was somewhat intimidating. but these looked like unimpressive models, not like the acid-thorn turrets that are often seen back home. Nonetheless, they hurt to be shot by. I managed to get to a spore box which dulled their senses so they would no longer aim at me. I found a row of venom turrets behind the normal ones, only distinguished by their darker bark. I cut they down while they failed to aim, and stripped the thorns out of them, for sale later. I then broke into the next room. As was quickly becoming the norm, I ran into a servant mind in the records room in the back.



Mind Pak was the name it introduced itself by. I grabbed a warehouse key as it tried to get my attention. Then, after grabbing a container of mind nutrients, I spoke to it. After some conversation, I discovered that the one who had placed the mines and turrets had been a human, who claimed to be an envoy of the shapers. He came with well armed guards. The mind had apparently took them at their word. He remembered the human's name, but had been told not to tell me. I told him that because I'm a shaper, that he should tell me because I order him to ignore the orders. So he did, and told me that the human's name was Trajkov. That's certainly a foreign sounding name. He then deactivated the mines and turrets when I asked. At least now, I have a name for the person who's leading the outsiders who apparently exist on this island.

Now that I found that out and deactivated the traps, as well as grabbed the key to the warehouse, I went quickly through the place.

OW

OW

OW

Three canisters were found in the process, as well as various less valuable items. I travelled back to Pentil to sell them, having depleted the money reserve in Ellhrah's keep. Once I had done that, I decided to break the siege on Pentil by walking out the gate and slaying the rogues, instead of by helping the servile warriors outside with breaking in. I made short work of the thahds and artilla guarding the gate.



Then, I marched out to clean up survivors. The soldiers trapped outside swiftly went back into Pentil the moment the blockade was lifted. I found a canister in an abandoned warehouse, and immediately used it. The pain, as always, was intense, but worth it. On telling Nately, the servile who I promised to clear the gate for, of my deed, she gave me a ring that belonged to her dead bonded, as the cosmic ding echoed in my head once more. The ring was magical! A shielding ring. Basic enough enchantment, perhaps. But nonetheless, a valued item, useful for purposes of combat. Next, I decided to head east of Pentil, to where I had heard the voice summoning me. Perhaps I'd encounter something interesting there, and receive the great power the voice promised me. Either that, or like everything else on the island, it would try to kill me. But nonetheless, it would be worth tracking it down, to see what it was that desired my presence so. I talked to a servile guard outside. He was very helpful, of course, being an obeyer.



He said that the woods were infested with cryoa, coming from some spawners. He'd been holding them off, but they came too quickly from the spawners to risk charging in to deal with the spawners themselves. I, confident that a few cryoa didn't stand a chance, charged right in to the forest, though the strange eldritch presence was quite strong in the woods. I'd find it soon enough. But first, the spawners would die. That was easy enough. I tracked down the first...



Then, on the way to the second, I encountered something strange.



I realized it must be the body of one of the outsiders. He was very much dead, but nonetheless, it was quite alarming. He was the first of these outsiders I'd encountered. I'd known they'd be here, of course, but it was still surprising to see one, even a dead one. Knowing that there were probably living ones elsewhere felt odd indeed. I took his stuff to sell, and left his frozen body there to rot. Then, I hunted down the second spawner.



and the third.



Then, I set to looking for the source of the presence I had felt, the eldritch feeling. I slew some cryoas as I approached the area where I felt it most powerfully.



Nothing. NOTHING. I searched wildly, and then, in the back of my mind, I heard a voice. A command to destroy all the living tools I was carrying. I threw them to the ground and destroyed them with a kick. Heavy, useless things, I thought, as I did the deed. The next command was simple. Reach into the nest in front of me and take the item within. Then, all would become clear. I did so.



A LIVING TOOL?! What sick joke was this? To destroy my stockpile of such things just to receive a single one in return? What MADNESS had come over me? I picked up my sorry, utterly worthless reward and looked at it, filled with an indescribable rage.



Wait. Something seemed off. It was... Something was wrong with this one. It felt lighter than it should have.



...



Almost... weightless.

I turned it over, looking carefully at it.



...



...It was beautiful.

Perfect, yet utterly alien. I let the eldritch energy wash over me, until I felt it merge into my very being. I understood then that this truly was one of the greatest rewards that could ever be granted to someone. A living tool that will never die. It is quite impossible to use it so much it stops living. It is, in essence, the perfect being. Weightless, yet more functional than its cousins ever could be. I stood there for a long time, admiring it. The presence was near me at all times now. This was its avatar on this plane, and it would command me. This living tool would be my indestructible ally, and I would be the indestructible ally of this presence. It said it had no goal other than me leaving this island. It cared not about the petty squabbles of the other factions, only that I was the one who would be most likely to leave the island. It warned me, however, that if I picked up another living tool, this one would wither and die.

No prison could hold me. No gate was too firmly locked. All doors, for once, were quite literally open to me. I was free at last.

Free at last.



Free at last.

---

End of Episode 4: The map as it stands...

[Florien]

Episode 5: Zones visited; Thorny Woods, The Tombs, Northbridge, Southbridge, Buried Cells

---

In which our hero immediately starts abusing newfound powers, and goes graverobbing.

Living tool assisted theft to the Tombs

After several hours staring at the best item of all time, I immediately set to work, returning to Pentil to check out the extremely well locked doors.



Well, they were extremely locked when I came there. They were not well locked when I left.



Much fun was had, breaking and entering. I broke and entered into this warehouse, with a canister (OW) and some exciting new equipment of varieties I wasn't supposed to have yet. A second canister, one of leadership and persuasiveness, wasn't safe either. (OW). With that one, I walked confidently up to Rydell, right past him, and picked the lock on his door, and he just stood there, mildly shocked, but no one dared move as I did so.



I marched right in, and went through some servile treatises on mechanics and combat, and absorbed the knowledge. I read Rydell's personal diary. I stole his boots, and a pair of magical looking gloves (which I'll never use because they're for people who want to use magic, which I am not.) I sold all of that stuff to the merchants outside. Rydell will have to buy back his own second pair of boots. This amused me slightly. I headed south-east of Pentil, reaching the thorny woods. I met an Obeyer called Demel.

 

She said that there were Takers in the woods behind her, but that they had mined the woods. She then said, very overconfidently, just begging me to prove her wrong, "They would like nothing more than you turning on me, killing me, and letting those rogues out of the woods".

I didn't do that. Yet. Instead, I decided to look in the woods and check out the Takers. Maybe they'd explain more about the outsiders, seeing as apparently they're working with them. At least, that's what I assume, considering that the spy way back spoke of their powerful allies. I saw that the mines were not spore mines, but instead box mines.



Box mines are different to spore mines. They come in red and green variants. The red ones usually explode, the green ones usually contain hostile creations. Unlike spore mines, there's no easy way to deactivate them. Usually, you have to walk up and manually turn them off before they explode. That requires some mechanical skill. (Which thankfully, I had) However, after several ambushes by the utterly obnoxious serviles, with javelins embedding in my chest repeatedly, I became extremely annoyed, in a way that I had never felt before I had come to the island. I gave up on listening to them entirely. If they wanted to talk, they could talk on their own time. If they attacked, they'd die instead. If the Takers found out, so WHAT!? If they're going to try to kill me like this, this is what's coming to them. It's not like they could pay me anyway. So I marched right into their encampment. As I approached, I heard some of the guards whispering that they couldn't break out until Demel was dead. Well, soon THEY'D be dead for inconveniencing me with repeated javelin injuries!



After killing every single one of them, and their leader, a servile named Ezog, I piled up everything I got from them. I don't know why I did that, but the pile looked impressive. 



I carted the lot out to sell, and told Demel on the way out about what I had done. She was very pleased. (I also told Mickall in Pentil. He was also very pleased, and did some very old fashioned gestures of respect, such as bowing so low as to press his head against the floor, and repeatedly praising me while saying that the serviles were not worthy to have such cool creators as me.) Also I had found two canisters in the area. (OW, OW), but it probably wasn't worth mentioning, as neither was particularly useful to me.

After dealing with that, I went farther south still, to a windy, dry area. Plainly, the land was diseased. Most likely, some shaping experiment had gone wrong, and the lab hadn't been properly sealed before the poison leached into the groundwater, making the area uninhabitable. However, not ones to let otherwise useful land go to waste, it had been converted into a graveyard for shapers.



At least, that's what the obelisk said. This interested me, because usually, shapers are buried with their original research notes. (if relatively little else. Magic items tend not to be buried, they're far too useful to do such things to.)  If I could get into the crypts and check out those research notes, I might find some techniques that I have not yet learned. After all, lots of research gets overlooked or goes unincorporated into standard practice. Considering that I didn't do well in my magic classes, this might be the best I can get until I escape the island.



I also found a substantial colony of unstable roamers. These things are like normal roamers, except weaker, slower, more frail, and other negative descriptors. The only thing they have going for them is that they explode if you hit them. Of course, I was too heavily plated to be hurt by their blasts, though having to wipe the roamer gunk off of my shirt quickly became frustrating on a deep level. How these things were considered the natural progression from roamers by the shaper council, and were mandated to be standardized, I don't know. I personally lay the blame at the feet of Shaper Tantalum (closely related to the rising star of my practical applications class, who showed up just before I graduated, a guy called Tungsten, who'd never shut up about how Tantalum was this big important council-seat holder. As for the element theme? Some people just have weird names.) But I only do that because I never liked Tungsten much. Always seemed the sort who'd go around annoying people until he got dumped on fort patrol duty, exclusively making defensive creations to defend some useless pass fort until he finally dropped dead of being too damn old or tripped and broke his neck on a rock or something.

After slogging through the roamers, and quietly hoping their inventor died horribly in some lab accident and didn't go on to live a long and healthy life, I found the embalming area, which still smelled of the chemicals used for that process. Also, unusually, it was defended.



Thahd shades, an obnoxious creation, rightfully removed from the list of approved variants to shape. Like all shades, it's difficult to contain if things go wrong. Like all thahds, it's loud, stupid, and destructive. It contains the good qualities of neither creation. I quickly dispatched the irritating creatures. After some scrounging around, I found the caretaker amulet, which should unlock the tombs. Also, a canister (ow) and a book detailing who was interred here. Apparently, these were important researchers. Less important ones were taken "elsewhere". The end notes said that Corata (the administration and logistics director, when the island was still functioning), had ordered the defenders to be placed, and had them in the tombs as well. Apparently, they'd just LEFT them when they barred the island. How frustrating. Either way, I'd soon deal with this. But first, I headed south to the coast.



I got an excellent view of the mainland. Oh sure, it's well over fifty miles away, but I could see it. No way I could swim out there. I also saw the mast of a ship, but on going to inspect it more closely...



It was the ship that had sunk my living craft the first day. Frustratingly, my living craft had sunk it in return. The sails were burned, the mast collapsed, and the whole thing run aground on a reef. Too large to be sailed by one, and already beyond seaworthiness anyway. I went to go into the tombs and check out the research notes. I entered one of the crypts...



And as I opened the book, I realized where I'd gone wrong. I'd flunked magic. This was a researcher gravesite. I barely understood half the diagrams arrayed before me, and the archaic spelling and old-fashioned punctuation completely ruined any hope of gaining better understanding of the magic. The handwriting was awful too. On breaking into the other tombs, I found much of the same. The knowledge arrayed was impossible to translate, because I didn't understand the diagrams. I couldn't figure them out from context, because the writing was clunky, technical, and followed archaic rules, making it incredibly difficult to parse. The writing I couldn't figure out from context either, because the diagrams weren't helpful, because though I recognized them, I didn't remember what any of them meant. I had never more regretted failing magic class. I received precious little knowledge from my grave-robbing spree there, though I entered every tomb. Merely some basic shaping knowledge which I'd probably never use. The one thing I did learn was how to better heal things. Everything else was largely useless to me. So, the south-western section of the island cleared, I moved eastwards, to northbridge.

In which our hero meets the first of the living outsiders, gets into some major fights, complains a lot, and then a title drop happens.

Northbridge to Buried Cells.

On arriving, I immediately saw the problem that had prevented travel across northbridge. It was mined all the way back up the path. The path mines were tiny and sickly, I walked right by them and let them explode. Then, I reached the bridge, and quickly realized that that course wouldn't work.



The mines in the middle were a healthier, stronger breed. Their blast could easily take off a limb. Not wanting to walk to southbridge just now, I resolved to find a way across here, if possible. The outsiders who placed these would be idiots to leave a deactivation mechanism on the far side of the bridge, so naturally, I suspected they did. After all, they'd have to be pretty stupid to strand me on the island, considering my impressive array of skills and propensity for easily crushing all opposition, as has been my attitude from the beginning. In my search, I found a canister in an old warehouse (ow) and then headed to the north-west end of the area.



What I found was a junkyard of partially scavenged, universally useless shaper trash. Old jars, research vats, screws and bolts, etcetera. Looking for the one who put all this here, I came upon some more mines. These ones behaved as mines are normally supposed to, their antenna bending away from me as I walked by, indicating their safety. I met a servile tinker, Lahnee, living back behind them.



He said the outsiders had placed the mines. He also said their leader was named Trajkov. Nothing I didn't know. And I was proven right about their stupidity. They'd left a baton behind by accident. It was damaged, and Lahnee had put it in a cabinet in his back room. I checked it out. It was a spore baton. A brown one, specifically. These sorts of things can discharge brown spores to deactivate brown-stripe mines. (Though of course, they are somewhat limited in spore supply) I patched up a crack in the side, and walked to the bridge. Activating the baton, the mines were cleared. I stepped across the bridge. Heading north, I was momentarily overcome by shock at what I saw. I'd expected it, but this was my first encounter with living humans since I'd arrived here.



Two soldiers, scouts by the look of them, were encamped on the other side. They shouted some stuff in a foreign language which I didn't understand, and then, speaking with a thick accent, they told me they were the Shoali, and this was Shoali land, and that I should not go further. I tried to tell them that they should probably leave, because the island was barred, but they didn't understand my language. I tried to explain to them that I needed to go further, but they didn't understand me. I considered telling them Trajkov had contacted me and I was supposed to go by, and that probably would have worked, but at the time, I was apparently standing too close for their liking. They panicked and drew their weapons, and it all escalated very quickly. Ultimately, they both were killed in the panic. I felt a little weird, having just killed some people, but I quickly justified it. They'd drawn weapons on me first. I did get their backup brown spore baton. I then headed out, having cleared one of the bridges successfully, and decided to "fuck southbridge's shit up" as the expression goes.

Arriving in southbridge, I quickly noted that whatever groundwater issues had been created that lead to the tombs extended out here. (Indeed, there were some more crypts on the west side of the river.) Also, a clawbug burrow. Clawbugs are essentially just common scorpions, but much bigger and angrier. Shapers, despite the existence of unstable roamers, charged vlish, and a few other choice creations, are not often ones to attempt to improve on perfection. Of course, as with most creations on this island, these ones attempted to kill me.



I swiftly dispatched them, as the cosmic ding rang once more. Then, I travelled to investigate the bridge itself.



Obnoxious, unhealthy, low quality, generic turrets greeted me. Easy enough to kill, and filled with valuable thorns, but nonetheless, annoying creatures, which kept scuffing up my armor as their thorns bounced off my chestplate. They were even more useless than the clawbugs were. I easily punched through them and started crossing the bridge. However, annoyingly, as with many things, there was a row of venom turrets behind them. Those proved even worse, as their thorns were larger and more painful, and better aimed too, not to mention poisonous. Those too, however, were backed up by a kind of turret I recognized from home. An ACID turret, which fired even BIGGER thorns which dripped with ACID INSTEAD OF POISON, EVEN MORE ACCURATELY. This was horrifyingly painful, to say the least. But I overcame them with some difficulty.







(Pictured, "Some difficulty")

On reaching the other side, the only things I found of note were an abandoned camp and some Shoali supplies, as well as a letter in their language (which I couldn't read.) Presumably, the scouts travelled between the pair of bridges, and, as I had killed them, they'd not come by here in a while. I also found a canister. (OW). I learned how to make clawbugs! Another ability I'll probably never use. Obviously, I then inspected the areas beyond. I went back to Pentil to sell the thorns and tell Pixley that the bridges were clear, depleted their merchants of coin at last, and travelled eastwards over northbridge. I arrived in a forested area. I found some shaper ruins in the area, and, as usual, the servant mind inside was alive.



It was extremely hungry though, and probably on the verge of death by starvation. I fed it a jar of mind nutrients, and it recovered fairly quickly. It knew a lot. It said that this complex was a storage facility for creations. Most of them were long dead, but shades and a new kind of turret had probably survived. It referred to the shades as exciting and new, which implied they'd been invented here. Another reason this place was shut down, I assumed, considering that making shades has been banned for years, because of how difficult they are to contain. Apparently the cells here were specially built. The mind referred to the new turret as a "reaper turret". Apparently it's the biggest and strongest turret type ever. Having never heard of it myself, I assumed that it probably was left here with the island before it could be regulated and authorized for non-experimental use.

The mind also mentioned that Defniel, the training director on the island before it shut down, had come by to seal the complex, and had mentioned something about a thing called a "Geneforge" being the reason, complaining that the others had pushed too far, and that everything would have been fine if they hadn't been going too fast with it. Whatever this "Geneforge" is, I should probably find out about it. I then got the mind to unlock the complex doors, and as I stepped into the rest of the holding facility, I knew no doubt, a lot of information was about to become clear to me.

---

End of Episode 5. The Map as it stands:

[Florien]

Episode 6: Zones visited; Buried Cells, Quiet Marshes, Kazg Plains, Stone Circle, Crystal Burrow, Servile Outpost, Kazg Ruins, Kazg.

---

In which our hero returns after literally no time at all what do you mean this update is late haha even if it was that wasn't because Peggle briefly consumed the author's life, it was because of uhh technical reasons not caused by playing peggle instead of clearing a zone. Also yes this is a bigger update to make up for the lack of updates.


In which our hero sells someone their own stuff back twice without comment, gets nauseated by the horrific damage they've presumably done to their internal organs before the damages heal, and speaks to a moderately wise servile with a lot of information to lay upon our hero.

Buried Cells Cont. To Quiet Marshes

On stepping through the doorway into the rest of the complex, I was greeted by a realization that I should probably look around outside first actually (this feeling not lessened nor inflicted by what I had spotted inside.) Instead, I headed to the north end, passed some turrets which, for once, were not aggressive, and walked into a servile shop! Apparently Lahnee only controlled his side of the river. On the other side lived this servile, Buron.



He'd been attempting to figure out how to breed Batons, Living tools, Etcetera. This is very difficult work, you normally have to be specially trained to do it. I checked out his pens though.



Very interesting. Obviously, it probably won't work. Even if a baton is bred, you still need to put it in its frame without killing it, which is tricky. Living tools are easier, but still incredibly difficult. But nonetheless, it's a lot of initiative and cunning. I wouldn't have expected this from serviles before I arrived on this island. I asked him about the complex, and he told me that it was somewhat dangerous. He also said that some humans (presumably the Shoali) had been in there, but one had been killed and they had run out. The one that was killed supposedly had a submission baton, the strongest of the batons, at least back home. He asked if I could retrieve it for him to use for his breeding population. That's when I actually went into the complex.

(Well, after picking his extremely well secured storeroom lock and selling him back his entire stock. The merchants here don't even seem to mind that sort of thing.)



There were mines and things in the corridors. Also sporeboxes for turning them off, which I did. I checked out various locations. A jaunt into the holding cells, after I got past a strong looking rogue vlish shade (which though powerful in striking, did not survive more than one blow of mine), I came upon the dead Shoali with a baton I had been told of.



I grabbed the baton, and decided to return it after finishing exploration of the complex. I entered a few holding cells, running into one more vlish shade, but little else, until I walked into one of the cells and...



THIS was the reaper turret? It looked withered and weak! It was only an old submission turret. Sorely disappointed, I walked up to it to put it out of its misery, and

BANG BANG BANG BANG

It stunned me with the first shot so I couldn't hit it. Then it stunned me with the second shot. And the third shot. And then...



Or that's what would have happened, had I not cunningly survived all that and stabbed it to death. Because that's what happened. I didn't die to the damn thing four times because of how powerful stunlocking is, because dying to something multiple times would be impossible.

I killed it, and grabbed a canister it was protecting. Clearly, the thing wasn't even a real reaper turret, this version had been much too recognizable as a submission turret, a common and devastating kind from back home. The actual reaper turret must have been moved, or disposed of. However, a tantalizing hint of its presence remained in the cabinet near the turret. Enormous, sharp thorns, radiating magical energy. Reaper Thorns. They looked like submission thorns, but larger. Heavier. And more importantly, potentially explosive. After that, I found two canisters in the complex and with a short yelp of pain for each, I exited the complex to give the servile his requested baton. He was very grateful and said I could take anything in his store, so I sold his entire stock back to him again, and also the reaper thorns, which he paid me forty five coins for, an enormous sum for such things.

After doing that, I proceeded out the back of the complex, to go and see other things and get by. Killing some Artilla along the way, I marched right into a marsh. It was quiet. Walking a few feet in, I suddenly doubled over, retching and coughing. Dry heaves, and other such things wracked me for a good minute or two. As I recovered, I looked at myself. I noticed for the first time just how radiant my skin was. Not just "looking good" radiant, but "literally glowing" radiant. My muscles were visibly shifting under my skin, without my guidance. My mind felt incredibly clear, clearer than it ever had. I looked at a flock of roamers, guided by a rogue vlish in the distance. They looked not only unimpressive, but actively sloppy. I could crush them if I wanted. I did want to. But as I stood up, I came to the conclusion that this was probably the canisters doing this to me. And aside from the brief wave of intense nausea, I liked it.



Also the water was purple but that was probably nothing to worry about.

After that experience, I went around, picking off the packs of roamers guided by vlish. I came across a canister, but as I approached it, I saw two dead outsiders with horrific burns across their arms, the skin on their hands torn apart. There was dried blood on the needle.



I threw caution to the wind and tried to use the canister.

It didn't work out so great. It turned out this one had turned sour, and now was merely an extremely virulent poison. I managed to stop it with a spell before it caused my arm to fall off. I took the outsiders' stuff though. As I cut through a few more roamer packs with vlish at the helm, I came upon a lone servile.



Clois was her name, and she was very old, easily older than the normal upper bound of servile age. She was nearly blind too. She claimed the title of sage. She said she knew little, but would share what she knew. I asked her of the island's history. She said even she is not old enough to remember the shapers leaving, but that she knows they discovered "life is scrolls" or something along those lines, and that those scrolls are copied everywhere in the body and are very small. They looked at the scrolls in a living being. They also discovered how to change those scrolls, and that then they realized this was a dangerous thing, and left. When I asked her about the scrolls, she said that is what she had heard them described as. The shapers, she said, had called them "Genes".

The canisters, she said, rewrite the scrolls millions upon millions of times, allowing humans to gain power. She told me to use caution, for the shapers had abandoned them, so maybe such things were better used carefully and judiciously, for the danger they bring could be great.

I asked her about a boat, with which I could leave. She laughed at that. She said that I stood on a volcano on the verge of eruption and looked for butterflies. I told her the metaphor was stupid. She told me there is a boat at the eastern central docks, but I should put it from my mind for now, and deal with the metaphorical volcano first.

I asked her for some more knowledge of hers. She told me that she was once an Obeyer, but saw the works of the shapers, and thought that she had come to know us. She said that she realized we were human. She also said that though the shapers say they created serviles, that she believed serviles were once human, modified long ago to serve. She believed that inside, we are the same. Our minds are equal. And that as a result, serviles should serve no longer.

I agreed with her on this point, though I'm not entirely sure if the whole "serviles were human once" thing is true myself. I told her as much. I asked her next about things on the island. She said she only knew what others had told her and the little she had seen, as she had not left the marsh in many years, for she is too old to travel far.

I told her of Trajkov. She told me that she had heard of him. He led the outsiders, and is very important. She advised me to find out more. I told her about the Geneforge, as the servant mind had mentioned. She said that that was not much to go on, but nonetheless, I should talk to her if I find out more about it. She said that there are two groups who would know about the outsiders. First, the leader of the takers would. Second, there is an encampment of the outsiders to the east of Kazg, being besieged by them. If I could talk to them, they might tell me more of the secrets of the island too.

Finally, I asked her of the factions, and what she thought of them. She said she thought very little of them. She said they've all no doubt made their own errors, and all presumably have a few truths of their own. They'd come to her for advice in the past, but no longer. Having asked her everything I could, I fought my way out of the marsh, and eastwards.

In which our hero checks out the outskirts of Kazg, kills a bunch of guards and gets away with it, does archeology and gets spooked by a ghost, and tries to get into Kazg the back way.

Kazg Plains to Servile Outpost

On arrival in the area north of Kazg, my questions about why exactly they had become so martial and so angry at the shapers, as well as my questions if they really were as angry at the shapers as people said, were answered.



Toppled statues of shapers lined the road into town. But more importantly, the land was dry, dusty, and unhealthy. Some kind of seepage, perhaps, or groundwater issues, or long-ago overfarming, or some other such thing, had ruined the soil in the area. To live off this miserable land for centuries, for your ancestors to tell you that it was good until soon after the shapers left, to need to war and hunt to survive, to need to ration and militarize just to get by? No wonder such things had happened. Yet, in the north, there were carts full of better dirt, a field of plants grown in the better dirt, and such things. The industrious serviles of Kazg had apparently been committed to maintaining farms, rather than abandoning the city, and to do so, they had shipped in healthy dirt from other regions of the island. I explored the fields, and walked into a patrol.



The farmers had been calm. The soldiers were less so. They drew weapons and charged. Meanwhile, a middle-aged officer called Amena stepped up to me during the chaos. He made a comment saying that Gnorrel, the leader of the takers, wanted to see me, but he wasn't going to let me through the gate, nor tell his soldiers to not stab me, because he really didn't like me much. He recommended I go away and not come back. Naturally, I had to defend myself from his soldiers, and started chopping at them as they continued to attack. Soon I'd killed several.

While ducking into a forest to avoid the rest for a bit, I came across a servile.



She was very nervous. Her name was Hew, and she quickly confessed to being an Obeyer spy. She said the takers were allied with the outsider humans, that there were two shapers on the island, one of them being me, who the takers were supposed to talk to, and one being a different one who the takers were supposed to kill. Interesting, this is the first I'd heard of a second shaper on the island. I resolved to try to get in through the back way into the city instead. Though my skills of persuasion were good, I doubted Amena, despite his name, would be much Amenable to those skills, and I'd rather check the back way anyway. If the takers really wanted to work with me, I could kill a good chunk of their army first and they'd be forced to forgive me. Either I end up working with them and they achieve their goals due to a shaper backing them, or I end up not working with them and they're weaker. It's a win/win, aside from the serviles laying dead in the dirt. But really, did they even matter? After all, I'm very cool, I'm significantly better than even any normal human, considering my canister use, and they're just not as cool as me. That was my thought as I took those actions. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I thought that I really shouldn't think this way. But I brushed that thought aside, as I walked.

Some progress later, and a few more soldiers dead, I came to the houses outside of Kazg. I met a servile called Srel. She said her bonded had been killed by rogues, she asked why the shapers did this. A chill went down my spine as I realized that this was the exact question Nately had asked me back in Pentil. I told her the truth, what I should have told Nately. That we had abandoned her. That we were wrong to do so. That it was, in a way, the fault of the shapers that her bonded had died. I went next door. I may have decided the deaths of a few serviles were necessary, but it was still difficult to talk to people at all, and hear their stories. People who's stories I'd heard were much more difficult to kill. The guards, the Shoali scouts, the people like that I'd slain, they had no stories. But Srel, she had one. And that broke me up inside. I went outside for a bit, and tried to stop feeling intensely bad. It took several minutes.

I then went into her neighbors house.



A servile called Agat was there. He looked cold, in the sense that he would probably stab someone if asked. He called himself an Agent. That was odd, considering that back home, Agent refers exclusively to the class of shaper who goes around solving problems with diplomacy and extreme violence. I asked him about that. He said that he was an agent in the same sense, going around, working for Gnorrel, and solving her problems with extreme violence and sometimes diplomacy. He said that he could get the guards to let me through, if I found an Obeyer spy who he knew was somewhere, but he hadn't found yet.

I decided to hold off on telling him about Hew for now. I tried to get into Kazg without that, and ended up killing several more guards, before finding myself facing the entrance, realizing how many guards were inside, and backing away before they swarmed out and killed me. I decided the back way in would be safer, so I walked all the way around, across southbridge, and to the area just across it. Vlish shepherds guided lesser creations in the standard pattern throughout the area. Meanwhile, interesting carved pylons could be seen among the trees and in such places like that.



These things were plainly very old. Probably older than shaper inhabitance on the island. Very interesting, archeologically speaking. If Sucia wasn't barred, it could presumably have a tourist trade. In the middle of the grove, more evidence for that came to light.



A substantial stone circle, with a rock in the middle. I felt mildly sick standing next to it. Not enough to start coughing up blood or anything, but enough to not want to stand there. Probably some curse or something. I checked out an old waypost, and found a journal from some shaper researcher.



Whoever wrote it apparently noticed the stone circle's magic too, but didn't have time to figure out what exactly was going on before the island was barred. They did write about maybe the pylons having something to do with it. Looking around, I came upon a particularly pylon rich grove.



Also there was a dead outsider and a servile in it, presumably killed by the rouges outside. Some investigation revealed that one of the pylons had a secret compartment. Prying it open, I found a small lacquered bone baton. I decided to solve the mystery of the stone circle before proceeding on. I cleared out the rest of the rogues in the area to be able to explore better, and thus, I heard the cosmic ding once more.

I noticed some strange runes on the ground during my exploration.



They hadn't seemed important before, but lacking anything better to do, I took the baton and waved it in the rune's general direction, and felt very silly while doing so. Immediately, a blast of icy wind whipped through the clearing, and I felt watched. Also some trees that had been there earlier suddenly weren't. I walked into the newly opened area behind the trees, and suddenly...



HOLY MOTHERFUCKING SHIT A GHOST! That was INCREDIBLY unexpected. Not only was it a ghost, but an extremely ANGRY ghost! I struck it down. After calming down a bit, I checked out the pylons. They were better preserved than the ones outside. All kinds of interesting markings and symbols and writing were on them. Nothing I could understand, of course, but fascinating nonetheless. I decided to check out the other ground-runes. Doing so, the same thing would happen. A blast of icy wind, some trees would vanish, and new groves, infested with angry ghosts, would open. I would kill the ghosts, and move to the next grove. After doing that, I decided there was nothing further I could do at this time, and so soon left the grove, on to the next region.

On walking up the road, it seemed like pretty clear sailing. Nothing was wrong at all, until I spotted something up ahead on the pathway.



A sea of large, powerful mines. I'd have to find a way around the main road to get by, for these kinds were large enough to kill. I decided to cut through the forest to find a different way by. Instead, I walked into a cave hidden behind the trees. Crystals littered the place.



I stepped too close to a blue one in the middle, and it burst, with a bright flash and a loud keen. A thahd jumped out from a passageway and tried to kill me. But I bested it. I soon figured out the purpose of those crystals. They were to alert thahds in the walls, who would jump out of hiding. I slew them all, and explored the rest of the network. I found a couple canisters. (Ow, ow) and then, I proceeded to find a spore switch in a hidden grove, not visible from the road.



Presumably, it controlled the mines. I used it. On the way out of the caves, I saw a dead outsider. He had some letters in his belt pouch. They were written in their language, which I did not speak, but I took them for future reference, should I ever learn the language. Proceeding east, I came upon the outpost of Obeyers, mentioned long ago by Mickall Blade, in Pentil. Their leader, Doge, spoke to me.



He told me that it's miserable. They've been under almost constant attack from rogues. He told me to tell Mickall that it is bad and half of the compliment he was given are dead. He also told me that there had been rumors of a shaper on the island for months, while talking about how he had never expected a shaper to visit him. He also said that a taker had fled Kazg and contacted him, saying that this time the takers had gone too far, and that they were doing something with something called a "geneforge". I didn't tell him what I knew about it. This just confirmed what I knew, that there was a second shaper, seeing as I'd not been here more than a couple weeks, and that the outsiders and the takers were allied, and somehow a "geneforge" was involved. How interesting, and alarming. I decided to leave the settlement, but then, as I walked to the road out, there was a loud roar from the forest. The serviles armed themselves quickly, and screamed that an attack was happening. A minute passed. Nothing happened. It was quiet.

Then suddenly, a swarm of artilla swept in, and at their helm, one of the big three creations burst into the clearing!



A battle alpha, the top-of-the line in battle type creations. They're closely related to thahds, in that their main skill is punching hard. But they're much stronger and much more resilient. This fearsome foe stood before me, and tried to slap me. It did. It hurt like hell, but it mostly bounced off my armor. The more fearsome part of the combination were the artilla, of course. individually unimpressive, together they could easily kill someone with a concentrated stream of acid. I soon fought through most of them, and cut down the battle alpha. The serviles mopped up some of the artilla. No casualties.

Doge told me that the battle alpha had been leading the attacks, and it was a great victory that it was dead now. The attacks would surely lessen. Also I found a canister down a side path. (ouch). I left the area, and headed east once more, entering the outskirts of Kazg.

In which our hero fights through Kazg's outskirts, gets into the city, and learns of some important locations, then a straw breaks the metaphorical camel's back, and our hero makes a resolution.

Kazg Ruins to Kazg

On reaching the outskirts, I was struck by the size of the settlement.



Kazg was easily the size of a small city. This was far more than a research outpost. The buildings had fallen into ruin, by natural processes and servile vandalism and looting alike, but the place was enormous. A patrol approached me, and the leader immediately moved to attack me. They were covered in scars and tattoos. There was neither a sign of obedience nor sanity in them, as they were not able to be reasoned with. I had to kill them before they killed me.

I commenced exploration. I found a canister in a warehouse (ow), and a second one in a corner (ow again), but so far, no way into the city. I took a different route. I cut down another patrol who attempted to kill me, and came across a dead servant mind.



The obelisk outside called it "control two", which meant that controls two, three, and four were accounted for. I wondered where control one was, and whether that one was alive. I left, considering that, as I walked into a building. I was quite surprised to find a living, non-hostile servile there.



He told me he was named "Arth", and suddenly I realized this must be Coale's contact. I asked him about trade, and he said that there was no way, because the takers would execute him for treason even if the roads weren't dangerous. I sold him some armor and such I had picked up. He had no food, but I didn't have any to spare.

After punching through another patrol, I came across a servile at the gate, presumably Amena's south-gate counterpart.



His name was Rosen, and he said he wanted me dead, but Gnorrel had told him to let me through, and he wasn't about to disobey orders like Amena. So I walked into Kazg, the city of the takers, where the serviles hate the shapers.

Arriving in Kazg, the serviles immediately panicked and prepared for battle. I ended up in a standoff, until a large, armored servile told them to stand down unless I committed crimes. He introduced himself as Eko Blade, the leader of the guard in Kazg, and said I should speak with Gnorrel. Instead, I went to the library and looked around. The library was in good condition, though no special efforts had been made to preserve the scrolls and ledgers and such. But the scale of Kazg made it clear, this had been the center of shaper power on the island once, and now, it was the center of anti-shaper power.

Some investigations in the library revealed the original proclamation of interim barring. Corata had signed off on it, and Danette was cited as a relevant researcher. Notably, it didn't say that the barring was indefinite or permanent, merely an interim one, to be reconsidered or strengthened after discussions with all relevant researchers involved. I didn't know that either. Surely it must have been permanent, but such a major decision would have been the biggest barring in history. That would have come up in the barring procedure classes, or so I thought.

That just made me think that whatever was on this island must be an utterly enormous problem, if it was so bad that it wasn't even talked about. I also met the taker librarian, Tovio.



He was not very helpful, speaking in short words and omitting many articles. He said the Awakened, such as myself, were not willing to pay the price for freedom, for the shapers would never let the serviles be free without war. He said that he spoke this way because to do otherwise would be to imitate the ways of the shapers, and that the serviles should speak in their own way if needed. He also took the time out to insult me repeatedly. I eventually got away from him and found an enormously important ledger.

It described the main complexes on the island. Apparently, there are two workshops, a west and a south one. They were used to produce crystal spires and such things. There's also a crystal mine along the north-east edge of the island. The main research facility is far to the north-east, under the largest part of the mountain ridge that marks the north of the island. There's a western door and a southern door to the facility. Also, a large chunk of pages were missing from the end. Possibly ledgers of where the most important stuff on the island was stored! It looked like they were torn out recently. Presumably they were somewhere else in the city.

Some looking around took me to Tovio's house. I talked my way past the guard, convincing him that I was there on important taker business. He believed me, and I got inside. I found out that Tovio had been translating the outsider language. I learned some from the book, and started compiling notes on it so I could better speak it. On its own, I couldn't use it for much, but if I found out more, I might be able to speak it.

I also found the missing pages! Indeed, they were valuable. They spoke of two items called "entry batons", not something I was familiar with. One was forgotten in the west workshop, and one was left in the mines. The other thing it mentioned was a control key. Control Keys tend to only be given out to the highest-ranked shapers at a facility. They're custom made to turn on and off most everything at the facility. Apparently, the control key to the island was left in the south workshop, for use to reactivate things "after the barring is lifted, as it surely will be". Taking note of all that, I decided to talk to Gnorrel at last. She leads the takers, and could presumably explain much. So I went to her complex, and immediately got sidetracked by the art gallery.



...



To this day, I have no idea how this spiral-y glass-slag shit counts as art. I might get one of them for my house back home, sure, it would look fine if kept clean, but EIGHT!? Who the fuck would want these? The serviles obviously didn't destroy these things only because they show how terrible shaper art is. I looked directly at it and felt a burning hatred for all things shaper. I decided then and there that I would join the takers solely to destroy the shaper establishment that let THIS SO-CALLED ART happen. EVERY SHAPER WHO OPPOSED ME would DIE for allowing this "art" to not be barred forever. But NO! It had made it off this island. This kind of "art" was EVERYWHERE back home, and I would start a war solely to end it. The treatment of the serviles was bad enough, but THIS?! This was a step too far. A newfound confidence within me, I walked up to Gnorrel.



She told me the story of the takers. How they had stayed loyal for years, as the land grew worse and the rogues ravaged the island. How one day, a servile stepped forward, and spoke out, mad with hunger and anger, and shouted that the shapers were bad for what they had done, and that serviles should "take their free" They were killed, but the seeds of doubt were planted, and in time, Gnorrel said, the takers were founded. She said that if I wished to help, I should renounce the awakened and join the takers.

I said I would.

She said that Ellhrah, from the awakened, had been spying on the Takers. Undermining them, killing their agents, and converting their followers. Ellhrah needed to die. Only then could I join the takers, with that bridge burned. I swore I would do it. Nothing could stop the shapers from controlling the serviles outside of war. So war it would be. Nothing outside of war would make the shapers NOT MAKE THAT TERRIBLE TERRIBLE EXCUSE FOR ART! So war IT WAS!

---

End of Episode Six: The Map as it Stands: