CHAPTER 2: NOT a Fallen Star
Did I say it was 'roughly' spherical? Because it has more than a dozen sides – each one is a perfect little flat triangle bigger than my two hands, and has some sort of rune or symbol carved into it that I don't recognize – and each symbol is different. The green light didn't seem strange to me until now, and I suddenly realize that I'm standing so close that I should feel the heat coming off of it, but I don't. Part of life as a member of the church is study – mostly religious study, of course, but I've read about falling stars, and always been fascinated by them… maybe that's part of what drew me out here. I know that when they fall they heat up as they burn through the sky and then crash into the earth. This thing, though… it wasn't burning. That was just the glow it still has now. As for crashing? Maybe I was too distracted with getting here, but I didn't hear anything. I listen to the night around me and still don't. The forest is quiet, and the gentle breeze gives me a chill as it hits the sweat on me. I should have at least stopped for boots! These house shoes are ruined, and didn't protect my feet much anyway. As my eyes are moving around, I wonder how far into the woods I am – but my eyes move back to the giant 'star' in front of me.
If it's not hot… I should be able to touch it, right? It can't hurt, right? It's so beautiful, and amazing, and I'm already all the way out here…
I dumbly drop the candle and the stick that I've been holding onto until now, and lean forward. I can see my own hands reaching forward to the smooth, flat side of the star closest to me. I'm watching my hands, but it's like they're further away from me than they should be. I feel like time is going very slowly, as I reach forward. I feel disconnected from myself as I almost touch the star.
Almost.
Suddenly I snap into attention as something is glowing right in front of my face! I stumble backward and it follows me – some sort of sprite or wisp. It's making a noise like metal hitting metal, or a bell, or a windchime, and it's coming at my face! I wave my hands in front of me to wards it off or protect myself. If I knew spells, I'd use them, but I don't. My flailing arms pass right through the glowing light. That's when I realize that this glowing light is the same green as the star. I didn't recognize it at first, but it says something. I understand the words, but they don't make any sense.
As I pause to consider them, I can hear the noise again, and I somehow know that the sound, like a bell chimes, is linked to these floating words. Right on time, I hear a voice read the jibberish out loud. The voice is … familiar somehow. I can't put my finger on it.
*ting!* "Congratulations on discovering the dd20 System!"
"Uhm, Thank you." I say. I stand up and brush myself off, and the words float with me. They float as I walk over – still mystified by the star, I place a hand on it, unafraid for some reason. It's not hot, not cold, just a little warmer than my skin, and smooth as glass. Then the bell chimed again.
*ting!* "Congratulations on discovering the dd20 System!"
"Yes. Thank you Very much.", I say, feeling even sillier. "Is that what this fallen star really is? The dd20 system? Is this the voice of the star? I can't see anything moving, but is this some sort of magic mouth spell?" The questions are coming to me faster than I can ask them, but as I'm speaking the chime happens again, three times in a row.
*ting!* *ting!* *ting!*. I frown, feeling as though I've been scolded for asking too many questions. That seems a bit rude. I have studied a little bit of arcana, and a magic mouth spell seemed perfectly reasonable! I focus away from the star and onto the words in front of me, to read them more carefully for answers. 'Congratulations on discovering the dd20 System!'. Below that, though, there are three words glowing. It says, 'Accept or Decline?'. I feel a little worried. This is all extraordinary, but I have no idea what I'm getting into. I'm curious, so I voice my concern.
"What happens if I 'Accept'?", I ask. But the answer is all too clear. At the moment I say the word "accept", the word flashes for a moment. In front of my eyes, faster than anything I've ever seen, the fallen star flew high into the air to rejoin the stars. It's fading into the background of the night sky as I stand dumbfounded, with the glowing words disappearing from view. "No, that's not what I –"
*ting!* "Loading. The 'fallen star', among other things, carries the dd20 system. The dd20 system replaces and improves the leveling system of the new user. This 'voice' is part of the user interface. The user Interface is modeled after the user, not a magic mouth spell."
"That's … a lot of information.", I manage. "So when you say, leveling, do you mean like educational levels?"
*ting!* "Levelling will add to knowledge learned, but also add to your skills and basic attributes."
"Wait, so when you say the 'New User', you mean me! So then the voice that I'm hearing, modeled after the new user is…"
But for an answer, the user repeated the question just as I'd asked it. "So then the voice that I'm hearing, modeled after the new user is…"
"My voice does NOT sound like that!", I said.
*ting!* "My voice does NOT sound like that", the interface echoed.
I can't help but feel like I'm being teased, but fine. I'm starting to feel like this whole thing is a dream, anyway. "So, I just talk to you and you're like a teacher?"
"Speaking to the system interface is one method of interaction. Mental commands and interaction with the screen are another." The voice answered, without it's standard chime. Good. That's interesting information, and I was getting tired of hearing the chime anyway.
*ting!* The system chimed and the screen opened up in front of me. An unfamiliar word, 'Tutorial' was at the top. What followed for a few minutes, was the voice explaining itself, that as I accomplished more, I would be rewarded. That sure sounded nice. Somehow other people could not see the pages in front of me or hear the voice and its chimes. The voice Explained how to mentally bring this 'Book' of my statistics up, as well as how to change pages. But the pages were blank except for a few titles. The System Interface explained that certain 'features' would need to be unlocked or earned. It seemed like it could hold so much information, but was so easy to use… Being 'modeled after the user' must mean that it was tailor made for me, so I suppose it only makes sense. The voice had gone quiet and I was acquainting myself with the pages when I thought I heard a soft rustling sound, interrupted by the system.
*ting!* "Loading complete! Level 0 titles are now available. Level 0 quests are now available. Backgrounds are now available. Congratulations on earning a new background! Congratulations on earning a new title!"
The display was up, hovering in front of me, with all of these messages. But where do I start? I turned to the page labeled, "Backgrounds". There was a long list in front of me, with columns marked NAME and REQUIREMENTS. In the NAME column, there were rows of words like "Folk Hero" and "Charlatan" and "Sailor". It was all so much so fast. In the first row, though, at the top, the word 'Acolyte' was glowing. Next to it under 'Requirements', it said, 'Spent 10,000 hours in ceremonies for a religion.' Focusing on the screen in front of me, the 'Acolyte' section expanded in detail.
Acolyte. Spent 10,000 hours in religious service and observance.
REWARDS
Shelter of the Faithful. Can seek refuge and assistance from members of a religious order.
You are now skilled in Insight, Religion, and two additional languages.
You gain: A holy symbol, a prayer book or wheel, 5 sticks of incense, vestments, a set of common clothes, a belt pouch which is containing 15 gp.
Accept rewards? YES / NO
Reading along, I was ready to say 'yes' when I saw that I would be rewarded with clothes – the excitement of the night had long died down, and I was getting cold out here in the woods, in what was left of my torn clothes. But then, 15 GOLD?! That's more money than I've ever seen in my life! Could it be real? "Yes! I Accept!", I said eagerly. I realized that I was suddenly wearing a backpack. Amazing!
*ting!* "Please choose a new language to learn." This was too amazing. Everything was going so well… and that's when I saw it.
It had matted black hair, and beady eyes. It was small, maybe a few feet tall, looking like a mix between an intensely dirty child and that same child's own nightmares. It's exactly what I thought a goblin would look like, except it's not green. I thought it would be green. Where it's nose should be, this one had a nasty scar over misshapen flesh – it's two nostrils are like pinpricks in it's face – maybe that's why it's breath sounds like someone snoring. It started making gnashing sounds with it's mouth as its beady eyes fastened upon me. My own eyes widened in shock, seeing the rest of the goblin's small form step out from behind the tree while it peered at me, making those unintelligible grating noises the whole time.
"Goblin!" I cried in surprise, and ran. I'm no adventurer, believe me. Folk say that where there's one goblin, there's usually more, but there is no way that I can take out even one of them. There were rumors of goblinoids a few miles deeper into the woods, where caves were. But that was far from town. And this one was right behind me. These thoughts are running through my mind as I flee the scene. Goblins are cowards, people say, and maybe it's as scared of me as I am of it. With any luck, it ran the opposite direction that I did. That's when I hear it's footfalls behind me. It gnashes its teeth again, but this time I could understand it's words, clear as anything.
"Give the bag! Give the bag and we let you live!"
Was it speaking before? Does this thing actually speak the common language? Is this thing telling the truth? Is there any way that I can trust it? No way. As soon as the thought came to mind, I dismissed it. The goblin was probably waiting to ambush me, knowing that I had no weapons, but got greedy when it saw the bag. There is no way this thing would let me live. But sprinting through the woods, I can feel my aching muscles ready to give. The goblin seems to match my speed exactly … or is it just tormenting me, playing cat-and-mouse? In either case, I can't run forever, but I put my head down and keep going. There must be some way to escape. Dodging between trees, I decide on a plan. I'm going to drop the bag and keep running, and hope the goblin stops to pick it up.
And that plan *might* have worked, too, if not for the trap.
Head down, I spot something spiked and unnatural in the undergrowth, and hastily try to jump over it – I feel my foot graze something as I sprawl – more falling forward than jumping – but I cleared it. Too bad the goblin didn't see what I saw. Rolling on the ground after falling, I can hear the creature cry out – in hunger? Or anger? Either way, it's brandishing a rusty curved blade and already raising it to strike as it scampers the last few feet. I can feel my face frozen in terror as I can only focus on one thing. The blade. Dull moonlight is glinting off the less-rusty parts of the misshapen sword, as it arcs down towards me. I close my eyes to shut everything out, and hear the sound of metal on metal, and a chilling scream of pain.
*CLANG!* "RAAAGH!" The goblin keeps screaming. After an incredibly long second of wondering if I'm dead, I open my eyes. The screaming goblin is clutching its leg – which is caught in the trap. On my back, I scramble on all fours away from the bloody spectacle, and back into a tree. To my horror, I see the goblin prying apart the jaws of the trap around it's leg. If this thing gets out of that trap, I'm dead. Making a whimpering sound, the small creature slowly, slowly pulls apart the jaws. I feel myself stop breathing as I watch in terror. Suddenly, I look around for a stick, and find the rusty blade. The goblin must have dropped it when it got caught in the trap. In my hands, instead of the hands of the diminutive goblin, it looks more like a big ugly knife than anything, as I hold it pointing straight out in front of me, pointed at the struggling goblin. But the creature is still struggling with the metal trap that is biting into it's leg. Shifting my focus back to the goblin, I realize, to my horror that it has almost gotten the trap open far enough to escape! Suddenly, the goblins shaking hands slip from holding the jaws of the trap. *CLANG!* The metal snapped back shut! The creature howls in pain as the shining teeth tear back into it's leg.
I've never heard anyone mention goblins without mentioning that they were evil despicable creatures without remorse. Yet my horror turned to pity when the scene replayed before me.
*CLANG!* "RAAGH!" The creature failed again, and again. *CLANG!* This time, with more of a groan than a scream, he fell flat onto the ground. I couldn't take it. I dropped the sword, and my bag and walked over. I could see that he was going nowhere. His leg was a mess, and still caught. The trap was connected to a chain about three feet long, which attached it to a tree.
"I'm going to let you out, but when I do, you have to promise not to hurt me!" My words stunned the goblin. They even stunned me. We were both silent, from the shock, because when I opened my mouth, what came out was a harsh gritty sound. I was speaking Goblin! But I've never heard the goblin language before tonight. I've never even seen a goblin before tonight.
The goblin was gritting his teeth, and he nodded. One word was all he spoke. "…agreed"
"I'll try to get the trap off. First, I want your word that you won't try to hurt me."
"My word as Goblin.", he said. For some reason, that made me a little uneasy, but the goblin stayed still as I leaned closer and closer, until I was within touching distance. Still, he was motionless, except for his chest heaving quickly to the rhythm of the snoring sound of breathing. I reached over with shaking hands to grab the trap. His little hands slowly reached over, and we pried at the steely jaws, forcing the mouth of the trap away from his wounded leg. Seconds passed like hours as a fresh coating of perspiration streaked down my face, and into my eyes. I tasted the salt from my own sweat, as my sore arms cried out with fatigue. Tears were streaking down my face, as the metal half-circle of the trap, slick with blood, slipped from my grasp, and from the goblin's. *CLANG!* with foam coming out of his mouth, he reached for me. I stepped back, seeing him writhing in agony. It was all just too much for me.
"I'm sorry" I said, through sobs. "I'm so so sorry." And I ran. I ran with the goblin's blood on my hands, and tears streaming from my eyes. All I remember is the running now, lost in the woods, and frightened and alone.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone