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"The name of Scumbag Jin resounds through the cultivation world. Master of illusions, killer of downed enemies," the bard sang beneath Jin's balcony in the house their sect had rented.
"Does he really exist?" a childish voice asked the bard performing on the street. It was a girl, and she sounded rather afraid of the possibility.
"He does," the bard stage-whispered. "In fact, he is in this very city at the moment. Perhaps he is even listening to this tale."
Jin sipped his tea.
A cough from the crowd.
"But I wouldn't worry too much," the bard quickly corrected himself before pausing. "Unless you refuse to finish your vegetables at dinner? And don't listen to your parents?"
A crowd of children squeaked in fear, like an orchestra of little mice.
"But now listen to my song about the life of Scumbag Jin and his dastardly deeds, for ever since he was a small child like you, yes, you, he was the scummiest of them all! In fact," dramatic pause, "I saw it with my own eyes, for I was his neighbour!"
A chord was struck on what seemed some sort of asian-style lute before the bard began singing.
"In a reeking bog by a tanner's stall,
There slithered Jin, the worst of all.
With lice on his head and rot in his grin,
Folks crossed the road for Scumbag Jin.
He'd pinch thy pie and call it fate,
Then blame thy mum when she threw a plate.
He'd rob a monk, then fake a prayer,
And sell the robe for maiden's favour!
Oh, Scumbag Jin, with breath so vile,
Could sour milk for half a mile.
He'd charm thy purse, then bed thy goat—
And brag about it in a note!
He'd gather children, sweet and small,
With promises of sweets and all.
Then snatch their toys and flee the square,
Screaming, "Children dear, strangers beware!"
He'd sell them frogs in walnut shells,
Claiming they were magic spells.
One lad cried, "It bit my thumb!"
Jin laughed, "Then ye've been chosen, lil' bum!"
Now Jin once fought a monk so bold,
For slighting him with truth untold.
He bowed, then stabbed him in the thigh—
Before the gong could even cry.
In duels, he'd hide a second hidden dagger,
Or steal his opponent's weapon with a swagger.
He'd feign a limp, then jump and soar,
And swear out loud, "All's fair in love and war!"
He'd sell fake maps to buried gold,
That led to swamps and graves gone cold.
Then mock the diggers from a tree,
While throwing mouldy bread for fee.
So raise a boot and kick his shin,
The wormy wretch, old Scumbag Jin!
If ever he comes knockin' here,
Bolt thy doors and guard thy near!
-A dramatic lute solo, think Through the Fire and the Flames but 100x faster and better
But one fine eve the town grew bold,
They'd had enough of Jin's fool's gold.
They caught him drunk on stolen gin,
And cried, "It's time, it's time to cure this sin!"
They stuffed him in a woollen sack,
And swung him thrice 'fore tossing back.
Then every lass and lad in town,
Took turns to knock the scumbag down.
With rotten fruit and fish heads flung,
They sang the songs he'd once foul-sung.
'Til one last turnip struck his dome-
And Scumbag Jin went stiff as stone.
So raise a cheer and let bells ring,
No more we fear that wretched thing!
The streets are clean, the goats are safe—
For Scumbag Jin now feeds the chafe!
The song finished to the general applause of the audience and the cheers of the children.
"Now scumbag Jin isn't quite feeding the fish yet, but tomorrow he will face the honourable young master of the purple cloud sect and finally meet his match. I shall enthusiastically compose another song upon his defeat to tell the tale of his doubtlessly dishonourable defeat!" the bards promised. The clink of coins resounded from below as the man collected his fees and said his goodbyes to the crowd.
The sounds of a strumming instrument and some select lines from the epic poem about Jin's moral failures distanced themselves slowly while the scumbag in question continued sitting on the balcony and enjoying the tea while looking at the slowly setting sun.
It was a reddish colour, the sun over Koncho, the volcano. Perhaps it was all the sand in the air. Or the heat trapped in the dunes being released upwards.
"That was, uh," Hashimi muttered awkwardly from across from him. "Something."
"I'm surprised they were able to write such a complex poem so quickly," Jin said while rummaging in the memories of the body's original owner.
"They?" Hashimi asked.
Jin threw her a reproachful look. "Do you really think a bard singing a song about the wretchedness of a cultivator would do so in front of that very same cultivator's balcony?" he asked. He shook his head. "No, the semi-finals. People are starting to employ different sorts of tactics to win. Elder Flower told me to not leave the house and to not let anyone provoke me."
"So you think it's the Purple Cloud Sect?" Hashimi asked.
Jin nodded. "I imagine that the Burning Flames Sect would actually prefer I win the next match so that their last disciple still participating in the tournament has a softer persimmon to crush."
"Pinch," Hashimi corrected idly.
"Of course," Jin replied. "It doesn't help that the purple cloud sect has a grudge against us due to their, uh, doubtlessly righteous sect leader getting unfortunately penetrated by a monkey."
"Very unfortunate that," Hashimi agreed with a nod.
"Well, I'm sure the bard was actually a plant from one of the sects. Had I rushed down there to confront the man, I surely would have been beaten up by a group of purple cloud cultivators lying in wait. Potentially even disqualified for dishonourable conduct in foreign territory. Anything to disrupt me before tomorrow's match," he analysed coolly.
"You seem somewhat blase about it," Hashimi pointed out.
"I primarily wanted to get revenge on Xiao," Jin explained while gently running a hand over his still sore left arm. "The purple cloud sect disciple, I don't care much for him."
"I'm sure Elder Flower would prefer it if you win."
Jin shook his head. He'd gathered more spirit stones than he knew what to do with from the last few victories. He was bruised, tired and was currently having his character assassinated by his competitors. Elder Flower obviously didn't care about that and had told him to win the next match regardless. Although she had, in a somewhat begging tone, asked him to not further dishonour their sect.
"I just want to go home," he whispered. "The purple cloud guy is going to try to kill me. I know it." The boy was way too angry not to at least try.
"He didn't show many of his skills yet," Hashimi said while biting her nails.
"His opponents just weren't strong enough," Jin agreed. "We know he uses a sword and that he can cut things on a spatial level somehow." He shook his head. "But that's it. Elder Flower didn't have much information, just that the purple cloud sect focuses on formations and space, so he might have access to the ability to create zones which enforce certain rules. Might be stronger inside it."
"Do you think you can…?" Hashimi asked quietly, nervousness apparent in her brown eyes.
Jin was simply going to get himself knocked off the platform and lose hideously, but preserve his life.
Unfortunately, he couldn't say that part out loud.
"I will defend the honour of the sect," he thus said righteously.
Hashimi looked at him dubiously. "Uh uh."
Jin waved her off. "That's a problem for future Jin," he determined. "What do you think about the dark brotherhood?"
He'd worked on Skyrim after returning from the arena to distract himself. For some reason, the dark brotherhood quest line had drawn him in the most, and he'd managed to finish the overall sketch of the situation and the characters to give to Hashimi.
The girl pulled a complicated face at the question, glancing down at the jade slip the information was inscribed. "It's good," she eventually said. "The characters have some depth, and the fact that they get their just desserts in the end because of the moral cowardice of their leader is fitting for a demonic sect."
Jin nodded along.
"Astrid betraying the dragonborn to Penitus Oculatus but then being betrayed in turn is a good ending. The sect leader of a demonic sect, feeling threatened by an up-and-coming disciple, here expressed through the potential of the dragonborn being a 'Listener,' it's basically exactly how I heard it in the tales. Then, when they try to retain their position, they make a fatal mistake and destroy everything they've built up until that point." She paused.
"But?" Jin asked.
"Are you sure the entire Skyrim Dark Brotherhood shouldn't just be killed by the Empire in that raid?" Hashimi asked. "It would be a more fitting end for them."
Jin steepled his fingers and leaned back in his chair.
The difference between Skyrim as a game meant to entertain, and a scenario meant to train and reflect certain moral values, brought up these conflicts of adaptation in almost every longer quest-line.
In a world where Skyrim was seen as just a game, being the leader of an assassin guild was simply considered cool and a fun bit to role-play. In a more ancient world where the game was not quite a game anymore… Well, allowing the experiencer to head an assassin's guild, a demonic sect, basically, was not quite the most palatable choice to most.
Jin had wanted to sketch the original scenario, where several of the members of the dark brotherhood remained alive through the purge, before coming to Hashimi, who represented the sensibilities of this new world, to see what needed to be altered.
"To have this discussion is exactly why I gave it to you," he reassured her. "As for certain members surviving…" He paused. "It would be unrealistic if it were that easy to eradicate a demonic sect chapter. That's too simplistic an answer and doesn't explore the true moral dilemma at hand."
He tapped the jade slip on the table with his pointer finger and thoughtfully looked at the sunset again.
"The experiencer has many opportunities to simply kill or betray the dark brotherhood long before the assassination of the emperor. Assuming they have gone that far without doing so must mean that they want to hold a position of influence within the brotherhood for some reason. To gain more power? Curiosity? Access to their information network? Their skillsets? A lack of moral values? We must think of the consequences of these actions."
"Consequences?" Hashimi asked.
The original Skyrim hadn't been very big on punishing the player and having their immoral deeds have particularly large consequences. After all, that would have interrupted the gameplay and the enjoyment factor.
However, if Jin carried over that fact into his Illusion Room, he'd probably get a reprimand from the elders of the sect for promoting demonic thinking.
No, for Skyrim to function in the cultivation world, there needed to be real consequences to bad deeds and real rewards for good ones.
"Let them join the brotherhood," Jin said. "Let them even become the leader. Even if they did so to gain access to the organisation's resources in an attempt to better combat Alduin or to restore peace to the region's political conflict, there would be consequences. If they are discovered to be a member, they can forget about entering cities with their actual identity. There will be a bounty on their name. Some quests will become unavailable, and certain companions will betray them out of moral or financial reasons."
"Wouldn't that make the scenario…" Hashimi muttered. "Unplayable?"
Jin shrugged. "They can return to a previous point."
"Also, if we allow someone in our scenario to become a criminal, then have them gain experience running from the law. Wouldn't our Illusion Room simply become a training room for demonic cultivators?" Hashimi asked, which was a more valid question.
Jin crossed his arms and hummed. This was exactly the reason why he even held these discussions with Hashimi, to get to the bottom of such questions. He was rather unwilling to neuter Skyrim too much. Mostly because he liked the game, but also because if he changed everything, he might as well make something original.
Blegh.
"There are already Illusion Rooms in which one can practice sneaking, escaping prisons and fighting off human opponents, such as the guards will be. We are simply combining everything into one large world. Could someone accuse us of glorifying or enabling demonic ideology? Potentially, however, Illusion Rooms have never been used for ideological messaging, so even the potentiality of that accusation is somewhat low. Additionally, it is obviously necessary for us to mirror every facet of the human experience, even the criminal sides, if we are to create a world in which one can practice one's interactions with the world. Any argument would be made in bad faith, and even without an argument to make, those in bad faith will create a reason."
Hashimi rubbed at her temples. "I never thought there would be so many political implications to creating what are essentially training scenarios."
"Every story, if taken to its logical conclusion, is a political narrative at heart," Jin parroted before waving the discussion off. "But let's discuss some other things too." The sun had set for a few minutes, and in a few hours, Jin would have to turn in for the night, although his ability to sleep remained in question.
"It's not like we'll come to a fruitful conclusion that easily," the girl replied with a sigh. "Otherwise, one complaint I had was that, well, for an assassin guild, the missions were something lacking in actual assassinations?" she asked more than stated. "On the boat mission, you simply walk onto the boat, no questions asked, walk up to the target and shank them in the face."
"I agree," Jin replied. "We'll add the complexity later. Add a few windows and guard rotations. Have the experiencer sneak in and jump out. Things like that. Just getting the basics down for the moment."
Or rather, copying what he knew and having others offer suggestions so that he didn't have to come up with everything himself.
Hashimi nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Well, that's good. Other than that, I finished the ruins and started working on the caves. I noticed one little error. There is a mine that contains ebony, but the quest thread connected to it claims that it is primarily a source of other ores. Should I relocate the ebony to another mine that would fit the choice more?"
Jin paused and looked at her with wide eyes. PTSD flashbacks started resurfacing in his mind.
"It's alright to leave in a few small mistakes," he eventually said through clenched teeth. "Please let's never talk about this topic again." He paused. "Ever."
Hashimi blinked at him in confusion before eventually shrugging. "I don't really think it matters, just wanted to bring it up," she said eventually. Then she sighed. "Probably have to get back to work now. Those caves won't make themselves."
Jin nodded. "And the bears also won't make themselves. Can't forget the bears. And spiders."
His colleague grimaced in distaste. "Yes, well, I think everyone will struggle to forget the spiders once they see them up close…" she muttered.
"That's the point," Jin replied before closing his eyes and disappearing from the conversation.
Time was dilated in his workspace.
That meant that his match tomorrow wasn't 12 hours away, but rather several days if he worked deep into the night.
That was nice.
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An: If you want to read ahead and see the conclusion of Scumbag Jin's tale earlier, consider supporting the project on Patreon! Next game has been voted on already!