"Excellent, my pupils. I will be back to absorb what you have learned in the future. Good luck."
They Call Me Doctor: Opportunistic Orderly
Time to go back to the real world.
An interesting proposition - can any world be said to be properly real? What exactly makes the world in which you are on a ship more real than the one in which you run a mountain temple filled with subservient monsters? Perhaps they are not different worlds at all, and you are merely occupying a different part of it while you operate your mindscape? Truly, if you examined the proofs you suspect the results may surprise you - maybe all things are simulated, mere illusions generated by some kind of terrible intellect possessing an unknown purpose?
One thing is for sure - you don't actually care and instead return to the real world, where you see that you are still in the hold and, in what was clearly a wise move by any potential passersby, utterly undisturbed. Now you only need to remember what else you wanted to do today.
"Oh, my apologies if I frightened anyone," I say to the guard. "The speaker asked me to hunt the ghoul that was lurking in this building. So I did. I was just about to report back to her - do you know the way?" If the guard gives me directions to the speaker, I head over to tell her that the ghoul has been killed.
Oh man, says the stoat-guard. Oh boy! You got the ghoul! His terror appears to instantly evaporate and he grins toothily, clapping his hands together. The ghoul's been got!
He leans out the door - hey, boys, that monster hunter lady got the ghoul! The ghoul is dead! You hear a murmuring, followed by a cheer. Turning around, the stoat bows deeply - can't thank you enough, miss. To tell you the truth he had been scared to go out in the streets the entire past week - you could sense something was off, was the thing.
[Turning In Your Quests: 6]
You shrug modestly and ask him again if he knows how to get to the speaker real quick-like - great idea, he says! He'll tell everyone you've gone and got the ghoul, he begins to gesture, and you go let the speaker know and make sure nobody else has to. Perfect allocation of duties right there!
He spends a moment relaying a vague set of directions to you - head toward the center of town, right past the new library and the new courthouse (
not the old library or the old courthouse, he takes special care to tell you) and it'll be there, real serious looking house. You just go right in there and tell her what you told him, maybe put a few more dramatic touches on to- well, anyway, he's got to be off now. Thanks again for getting the ghoul though! Hoo boy, he was not looking forward to running into it on a dark night, let him tell you.
Having said all that the stoat-guard vacates the premises jauntily, and on your way out you pass by his unit as they discuss where exactly they'll be celebrating for tonight. They seem to head in the direction of the Nuts & Humphrey, and soon you find yourself followed by a wave of good news - shouts about the ghoul being got spread as readily in this city as they would in a small village, the stoatman population apparently ecstatic with relief at the news. Impromptu parties ensue just behind you as bakers and brewers alike are suddenly struck by fits of generosity.
At last you come into the speaker's house - they do not appear to have been expecting you, and indeed look quite surprised as you explain that you've gone out and successfully solved the ghoul trouble. The speaker's brow furrows a little before resolving itself when you clarify that you mean you've killed the damn thing. You think you perceive the faintest hint of a smile.
Pretty good work, the speaker nods as you conclude a brief account of the perils you've faced. And prompt as well, which is the important bit. Suppose you've earned a reward then. They think a second. Don't have much of a budget at the moment, mind. They lean forward, rubbing their smooth chin.
Aha, they figure, you need any papers written or stamped? Could write up a proper monster hunting license in the names of you and your friend, maybe. Put their stamp on that and nobody with at least half the sense goodness gave a cabbage is likely to give you any trouble from here to the southern coast.
Keep poking around. Literally as needed.
You start to comb through the school in search of strange secrets and also whoever the heck is also in here.
[The Chamber of Secrets: 1]
And sure enough, you do pick up a trail as you have everyone fan out - you see a shadow run along a hallway in the dormitories and begin to give chase. They seem a little faster than you, but you manage to not lose them as you turn corners and burst through a set of dormitories, politely asking them to stop and maybe tell you what exactly they're doing around here, but they don't seem eager to respond. You carry on a shouted one-sided conversation with the figure as you explain, perhaps as much for your own peace of mind as their information, and eventually make your way down the stairs to the basement, where you know for a fact they'd be almost certainly cornered.
Sadly they appear to have planned for this, as the only response as you slip down the stairs is a slam of the heavy door behind you, followed by it being bolted. Maybe you shouldn't have told the shadow about that part, on reflection.
"So, what, did you create me? Am I dead? I have some questions that remain unanswered here."
Probe madwoman for answers while I wait.
She definitely didn't create you, Peaks says, it just seems to have happened as a result of some of her manipulations - maybe an accident, maybe something else? Basically you grew out of a chunk of muscle she extracted from that Daniels guy she mentioned pretty much spontaneously, and while she might have some vague idea of why that might be, she can't really say for sure why you seem to have manifested at that exact moment or circumstance. It was, however, pretty cool to watch and try to puzzle out what was going on.
As for whether you're dead, that's kind of a muddy question to get into. Guess you're kind of dead - just like Mr. Daniels you seem to be made after a template of an actual person, complete with identity and mostly uninterrupted memories. On the other hand you're still walking around and talking and for all intents and purposes don't remember ever dying unless you haven't been telling her everything, so you could just look on the bright side and say that you're living a different kind of life rather than being a mock-up of a human being covering up a terrifying construct of nether-flesh that only barely obeys physical laws. Peaks notices the way you're looking at her as she says this and laughs - believe it or not, she says, but even if you were human once, you're definitely something else now. Mostly in a cool way though, not in a terrible and dangerous way. You don't come with any Words, do you? Didn't think so.
Anyway, she's going out to check on her friend, Two Shores. You wanna come with or are you gonna be all right in here?
Eileen Minett, Vinyl Collector
- Distilled alcohol (in flask, partially depleted)
- Spirits of salt (in clay jar, partially depleted)
- Soaps of elk, bear, bat and snake
- 3 flasks of lamp oil
- Oil lamp (unlit)
- Linen stoat shirt (worn, plasma-scorched)
- Stoat trousers (worn)
- Comfy slippers (worn)
- Tooth-handled hunting knife
- Black leather boots
- An assemblage of amber and amethysts
- Silver thread-necklace
- Onyx spiral earrings
- 2 oaken rings
- Rusty, bloodstained knife
- A Word: HUNGER
- A Word: SYNTHESIS
- A Weapon: Explosive Cysts
- A Weapon: Nightmare Blade
- Grenade Jumping: A Solid Technique
- The Good Doctor: Secret Histories
- Sword of the Sand People: Cleaning Supplies
- Sword of the Sand People: The Services of a Minder
- Higher Tonight: There And Back Again
- The Old Mistress: Like A House On Fire
- Our Old Bridge Is Falling Down: A Monster Hunter
- She Who Fights Monsters: The Ghoul Vanquished
Jack Daniels, Karate Man
- Linda the peg-legged manikin (lively, disappointed)
- Red and gold vest and breeches combo (worn)
- Leather boots (worn)
- Rubber mattress (filled with water)
- 14031 gp (in sack)
- Poor Unfortunate Soul: Forever Captive
- The Queen's Guard: Actual Asset
- Powers of the Beyond: Gardener of Thoughts
- Garden of Thoughts: the Stoat-Magistrate
- Dusty Wooden Speaking-Trumpet
- Crossbow Bolt (in throat)
- A Word: REND
- A Word: SILENCE
- A Word: EXECRABLE
- A Weapon: Murder-Thought
- Uncoupled: Strength
- Wooden Door
- Induced Lucidity: The Silent Garden
- Elongated Affairs: Enemy of the New State
- 2 rats, crushed
- 1 rat, strangled
- 1 rat, live
- Doomstones: So High Up But Such A Bitter View
- The Majordomo: A Great Divide Between Us Now
- The Voracious Dark: Decreasing Demand
- The Voracious Dark: More Specific Requests
- The Vault of Heavens: Special Treatment
- Scars of Time: Meticulously Analyzed
- Process of Elimination: Pounds of Flesh
- The Night Sky: How Very, Very Quaint
- Fires, Pines & Day, Minions At Law: Dipper and Dan Double Duty
- They Call Me Doctor: Opportunistic Orderly
- Body Count: 3
Thomas Minstep, Insurance Agent
- A Word: ABSENCE
- A Word: GOODBYE
- A Word: WORM
- A Weapon: The Sword They Fear
- Insurance contracts, signed in triplicate: 12
- Nobody Cares
- Helen Clampitt
- Lily
- Undine and Prosper Eke
- Silver
- Tabernacle, treefisher scout
- Treefisher elder
- 4 treefishers
- Make A Man Out Of You: Battle-Tested
- The Grip of Tharn: Insurance Against The Storm
- Ranging fork
- 2 feet of sinew-thread
- Tooth-needle
- A Bowl, Black and Knobby
- Tight Leather Pants (worn)
- Incredibly Tight Blue Dress (worn, mutilated, mildly provocative)
- The Queen's Guard: A Reward Well Earned
- The New Queen: Lasting Gratitude
- The Box: Absolutely Delightful
- The Voracious Dark: The Place of Lost Souls
- The Voracious Dark: Testing Run
- Proof of Concept: An Interesting Student
- Clans of the Northern Wilderness: A Distraction
- The Living City: A Guest In Elizabeth
- Body Count: 12
Oscar Wilde, Chemistry Teacher
- Wounds: 2
- A Word: REVELATION
- A Word: THANKS
- The Wicked King's Missive On Economic Reform (in massive silver scroll case)
- Traces of Mischief: Glowing Facial Rift
- The Serpent's Egg: Dissemination
- Body Count: 4
- Cornerstone Helm (worn, out of light, collecting)
- Bottle of aspirin
- Time-ender's measure (wrapped, processing? stopping?)
- 10 m of rope
- Half a candle
- 1 rat, skinless and smoked
- 4 gp
- Lock of Hair (unidentified)
- Iron nail, unused
- An Inauspicious Key
- Moth-Eaten Hat (worn)
- Old Brown Waistcoat (worn)
- A Wealth of Burlap Ribbons
- The Winding Path of Inspiration: The Less Dangerous Friend
- The King's Court: The Greatest Gift of All
- The King's Court: The North Wind's Gift
- The King's Court: Makala's Old Glory
- The King's Court: The South Wind's Gift
- The King's Court: The West Wind's Gift
- The King's Court: A Gift For The Wicked King
- Wizzards Bargins: Copper Springs from Old Bobbleparts
- Wizzards Bargins: A Roll of Your Finest Sticky Tape
- Wizzards Bargins: Styli of Ancient Plumbago
- In High Spirits: But Not Very Useful In The Lab
- Traces of Mischief: Missing Finger
- Wall-Breaker: A Generous Tab
- No Rest For The Wicked: Broken By The Light
Rindle Fischgartner, Evolutionary Biologist
- High quality gilded paisley bathrobe and matching slippers (worn)
- The New Flesh: The Best Kind of Accident