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.