I re-materialized in my t-shirt, skort and wildly inappropriate little heels back in the middle of the plains. At least my hair was back. I stepped out of my shoes and started walking.
After killing the first lanperanas, I solved the mystery of the extremely bad rep with the ground squirrel community. I found that they were labelled ground squirrels by my HUD. I guess when I killed them enough of their brethren watched me do it, and survived to remember it.
Thanks to a number of well aimed rocks I had levelled up by the time I got to the entrance to the path. I was tempted to walk beside the path, to see if I could cross back and forth across the barrier. Was it to keep threats out or if it kept everything larger than a bug out.
Actually, I hadn't tested if things could leave the path. I eyed some rocks at the entrance. I picked one up in each fist, I could try tossing them out when I was on the path and see if they bounced or passed through.
The Ruath showed up again. This time, chasing a rabbit along the path for a bit until it made a sharp turn, and it got away. The largest Ruath paced along beside me. Jumping at me, growling and trying to scare me. I couldn't get past the thought that it was not just hunting me, that it was toying with me. The Ruath seemed smarter than the other beasts. It watched me with what I swear was amusement in its gaze.
I squinted, took aim and threw the rock in my right hand as hard as I could. The Ruath was not expecting it, and I got it right in the eye.
Who was laughing now? I smirked at it.
Not me, it turned out.
The massive wolf creature lost it and attacked the path. It bit, snarled and foamed as it tried to get to me. I could see down its maw, all down its backward-facing serrated tongue. Five of its yellow eyes rolled with rage as it repeatedly went for me. The sixth was squeezed closed, and a trickle of liquid wet the fur around it.
Had I actually hurt it? My strength stat was still pretty low, but I had scored it directly in the one eye. Even when they had ripped apart that rabbit before me, there hadn't been this much.. Emotion.
The beast wasn't letting up. It's teeth soundlessly hitting the invisible wall, its fur pressing flat as it tried body slamming its way onto the path.
The barrier held—the Ruath kept bouncing off, but I caught movement above me. Every time the Ruath crashed into the barrier, the branches moved as if the barrier they were pressing up against were shaking. I started to back away. This was stupid. I didn't want to have to do this over again right away. I turned and ran for Wendel's cottage.
This time, I let Wendel greet me, and I acted like it was my first time. I was surprised how good it felt to see his silly, bland, yet not unattractive face. It stung, knowing he didn't remember me. But that was the game's rule, wasn't it? Reset after death. I wasn't allowed attachments. No continuity for me, other than my memories.
And was there really anything to know about Wendel? He was simple, even by NPC standards. I wouldn't be surprised if no one had bothered to program him a backstory.
The next morning, when he ladled out the gruel, I asked, "Wendel, do you have bees in your garden, like a hive?"
"Yes, traveller, I have a hive in my garden."
"Then can I have some honey on this porridge?"
He blinked, as if the idea of honey on cereal had never occurred to him. "Yes. One moment"
He left and came back with a small pot of honey. I took it and drizzled an unhealthy amount over the gluey grains. I took a spoonful.
"Wendel. Do you have any milk? Or cream?" Again, he looked confused. "For my cereal." I said miming a pouring motion over it.
This time, he went down to his cellar, which I hadn't known existed, and came back up with a jug of cool cream.
"Thank you," I said, and meant it. I poured it into my bowl until there was only a tiny island of honey-covered grains visible. "Where do you get the cream?" I hadn't seen any cows around.
"A trader comes and we trade cream and cheese, oh, and flour for what is fresh in my garden."
That made sense. I took a big spoonful of my breakfast. It was delicious.
My brain was still going as I ate and actually, it didn't make sense. If a trader stopped by, then why didn't he send the vegetables to his mom with them?
My guess was it wouldn't be a player quest then. Game logic and real-life logic were often two very different things. We ate in silence. I noticed he too had added honey and cream to his bowl as well.
"Come to the shed with me. I have something for you," He stood as I finished my bowl.
"What's your hurry, Wendel?" I asked him and motioned for him to sit back down.
His big, round face pinched in confusion. "Doesn't my lady have to get going?"
"I have nowhere I need to go right away." I held up my mug for more tea.
He sat, and we had more tea. I asked him about his home and how long he had lived here. It all seemed a little hazy, even to him. His time here seemed to have an endless quality that made a kind of sense when you looked at it from a game point of view.
He tried to get me to go to the shed again.
"Wendel, what were your plans for the day? Like for after I left."
"After I see you off, I will work in my garden untill evening. Then I will make dinner. Mayhaps another traveller will come."
"What if I were to stay and help you in the garden. Just for one day?"
His mouth hung open, his eyes blank. I worried I had short-circuited him, but then he slowly started nodding his head.
"If you want to, I think you can. There is nothing forbidding it. I have two guest rooms. Even if another traveller shows up, I will be able to offer you both rest." He gave me a big grin that made him almost look real.
I helped him weed his garden. The weeds looked as fake as the fruits and vegetables did. The bug bites felt very real, though they only seemed to bother me.
Every now and then, I caught glimpses and flashes of silver fur through the trees. The Ruath were watching us. Or were they watching me?
Remembering this was supposed to be a tutorial area, I asked Wendel questions as we worked.
"What do you know about the monsters in the area? I have run into rabbits and the slimes. And of course I have seen the Ruath."
"The rabbits are good eating if you get one," He said as he inspected some carrots, pulling a few. "There are deer, they are pretty harmless as long as you don't bother them. Though we have fewer of them than we did in my youth."
"Oh, did you grow up here? Or in the village?"
"Neither, I came here when I was 18"
"But you didn't grow up in the village your mother lives in?" I asked watching a bird hopping along one of the rows looking for insects.
"I grew up in a village that doesn't exist anymore."
I waited for him to continue. But all that happened was he added five carrots to his basket and the bird flew off.
"Why? What happened?" I prompted.
"There was a bridge that connected it to the road to the capital. The Ruath destroyed it."
I sat up. "They destroyed the village?"
"No, the bridge."
Again I waited for him to elaborate but he just moved on to the tomatoes.
"Why would they do that?" This was like pulling teeth, but I was interested in this story. It might be related to a quest someday, or just be useful information.
"No one knows. One day, they just came and destroyed the bridge. They didn't harm anyone unless they tried to repair it. Eventually, we all left. The village was abandoned."
"What was the village called?"
"Southbridge."
"So how long have you been here at this cottage?" I was trying to figure out how old Wendel was supposed to be. His mom looked very old, as if she could be his grandmother.
Wendel stopped and looked up at the sky. I could see his lips moving as if he were counting something. "I have been here a while," he said, looking back down at me. "At least twenty rainy seasons"
"That is a while," I agreed. Assuming rainy season came once a year then was supposed to be at least in his late thirties. I cocked my head, looking at him. I could see it. Healthy living and all. Then I shook my head. He wasn't real, just what he was programmed to be.
"What can you tell me about the slimes?" I asked to get us back on track.
He shuddered, "Nasty creatures. There are a variety of types of slime. Water slime, Mould Slime, Earth Slime, and that is just in this area. I have heard there are other types in other regions. They aren't dangerous if you keep your distance."
That was good advice, if a bit late. Don't go sticking your head in slime-infested streams.
"They all attack by trying to attach to you. They release a poison to start digesting you if you don't remove them. The types mostly refer to where you find them."
Wow, Wendel was a veritable game wiki. I had done a disservice by ignoring him during my first two runs.
Maybe I should take more time in Scott's Hill this run. What other treasures of knowledge did the local NPCs hold?
We worked the rows until the sun tilted and the shadows of the big trees stretched long fingers across the soil. The weeds were weird to pull—they resisted for exactly the same amount of time and pressure and then popped out, surrendering their perfect little taproots.
Beyond the fence, saplings along the stream had been chewed down to cones where something had gnawed them. "Beavers," Wendel said when I pointed. "They take the thin ones first. They like the taste of new."
"Great," I said. "Can't wait to meet them."
He didn't smile. "Don't meet them Miss Elizabeth. They are very large and terrible beasts."
I tucked that away next to slime varieties, bridges destroyed, and NPC hidden depths. The Ruath ghosted the tree line twice more, just long enough to let me notice them noticing me. Each time their heads angled toward me, not the Wendel.
Night fell softly. Wendel lit a few candles, and the cottage took on that warm, generated coziness again—herbs hanging, kettle sighing, the exact right number of crackles in the fire.
Dinner that night was a vegetable soup that was filling, if a bit bland. I asked him for salt, but he apologized and said he was too poor for more than the tiniest bit of salt. I said that was fine and just had more bread. I had asked him about food in terms of energy and nutrition. Like in this game did I have to eat? And if I did, did it matter what I ate. Wendel had apologized for not knowing.
The next morning, I let him take me to the shed, where this time I was faced with a club, a sling and a sword. Of course, I tried claiming the sword. But only the club responded to me. Why couldn't this stupid game have offered me the sword on the first round?
Also different was that this time the quest basket for his mom was herbs and honey, and not vegetables. I wonder if my asking for the honey affected that, or if it was just part of the randomness generated for this run.