Survival

''Narrator'': As you step into the clearing, the sounds of shouting and sobbing echoing through the swamp suddenly ceases, and three figures rush towards you: a lizard woman, fine clothes soiled with muck; a Magister, armor dented and dirty; and a teenage girl, face stained with tears. 1. [[(Continue)|A1]]

''Harglin'': Thank the Divine – help has arrived! I- 1. [[(Continue)|A2]]

''Narrator'': The man attempts to reach towards you, but leaps back with a cry as a gout of acrid green smoke hisses through the air in front of him, forcing the three to stumble backwards. 1. [[(Continue)|A3]]

''Zhraza'': Please – food – we’re starving – help us! 1. {(if:$has_food is 'true')[[[``*Offer them some food.*``|HAS FOOD]]] (else:)[[[``*You regretfully shake your head, as you have nothing.*``|SMOKE]]]} 2. [[``*What was that strange smoke? Ask them what’s going on.*``|SMOKE]]

''Narrator'': You hand a piece of food to the teenage girl, who grasps it gratefully – then cries out in horror as it rots into mold a moment after it touches her hands. 1. [[(Continue)|SMOKE]]

''Jua'': It’s no use! It wants us to eat each other or we’ll all die here! It’s so horrible! 1. [[(Continue)|FEED]]

''Narrator'': The girl covers her mouth and seems to pinch back tears. A voice, disembodied and terrifying, booms from all around you, uttering a single word: 'FEED.' 1. {(if:$is_class is 'rogue')[[[(Continue)|ROGUE]]](else-if:$is_class is 'mystic')[[[(Continue)|MYSTIC]]](else:)[[[(Continue)|B1]]]}

`[ROGUE]` ''Narrator'': You squint at the weeping girl a moment, confused. You’re not proficient in the technique yourself, but you’ve seen someone throw their voice before, and you *swear* she just did that. 1. [[(Continue)|B1]]

`[MYSTIC]` ''Narrator'': Something acrid touches your senses, cutting through the awful stench of the swamp. Something arcane, but twisted, *dangerous*... and it is emanating from the girl. 1. [[(Continue)|B1]]

''Harglin'': Forgive us, we're just exhausted. We've been trapped here for... none of us knows how long. We're starving, and any time we try to leave this clearing - we're driven back. I don't know how much more we can take. 1. [[``*What attacks them, exactly?*``|ATTACK]] 2. [[``*Ask how they came to be here.*``|HOW]] 3. [[``This is confusing. Who are they?*``|WHO]]

''Zhraza'': The culprit is unclear. Sometimes a voice screams at us - but if we go too far from this clearing, gouts of poison appear, forcing us back. 1. [[(Continue)|ATTACK 2]] {(set:$asked_attack to 'true') {(if: $asked_set is '0')[(set:$asked_set to '1')](else-if: $asked_set is '1')[(set:$asked_set to '2')](else-if: $asked_set is '2')[(set: $asked_total to 'true')]}}

''Zhraza'': None of us know. Harglin was on duty in Fort Joy. I was in my shop. Jua says she was on her farm. We each remember a green fog, and horrible laughter – and woke up here. 1. [[(Continue)|Q SET 1]] {(set:$asked_how to 'true') {(if: $asked_set is '0')[(set:$asked_set to '1')](else-if: $asked_set is '1')[(set:$asked_set to '2')](else-if: $asked_set is '2')[(set: $asked_total to 'true')]}}

''Harglin'': I'm Magister Harglin. The lizard's Zhraza – knew her from, ah, some trade deals. The girl's Jua... we never saw her before we got here. 1. {(if:$is_undead is 'true')[[[(Continue)|UNDEAD]]] (else:)[[[(Continue)|WHO 2]]]} (set:$asked_who to 'true') {(if: $asked_set is '0')[(set:$asked_set to '1')](else-if: $asked_set is '1')[(set:$asked_set to '2')](else-if: $asked_set is '2')[(set: $asked_total to 'true')]}

''Jua'': I...I once tried to run, and the gas made me fall down. Harglin and Zhraza dragged me back to safety. I-if you can call this safe... 1. [[(Continue)|Q SET 1]]

''Narrator'': The sad trio stares at you, desperate, waiting for what you have to say to them. 1. {(if: $asked_attack is 'true')[~~``*What attacks them, exactly?*``~~](else:)[[[``*What attacks them, exactly?*``|ATTACK]]]} 2. {(if: $asked_how is 'true')[~~``*Ask how they came to be here*``.~~](else:)[[[``*Ask how they came to be here.*``|HOW]]]} 3. {(if: $asked_who is 'true')[~~``*This is confusing. Who are they?*``~~](else:)[[[``*This is confusing. Who are they?*``|WHO]]]} {(if: $asked_total is 'true')[4. [[``*Ask them carefully how they think you can help.*``|HELP]]]} {(if: $asked_total is 'true')[5. [[``*You don't want any part of this ``-`` time to get out of here.*``|ESCAPE]]]}

''Harglin'': Don’t hardly matter, though. Whatever brought us here will see one of us dead before it lets any of us leave. 1. [[(Continue)|Q SET 1]]

<u>''DIALOGUE TEST: Survival''</u> //This section is meant to set up the triggers and tags within the dialogue. If you wish to start the dialogue without setting up the reactivity from these tags, it should flow normally.// 1. [[Set Rogue tag.|SETUP ROGUE]] 2. [[Set Mystic tag.|SETUP MYSTIC]] 1. [[Set Undead tag.|SETUP UNDEAD]] 1. [[You have food in your inventory.|SETUP FOOD]] 3. [[''Start the dialogue''.|START]] (set: $is_class to 'false') (set: $is_undead to 'false') (set: $has_food to 'false') (set: $asked_attack to 'false') (set: $asked_who to 'false') (set: $asked_how to 'false') (set: $asked_set to '0') (set: $asked_total to 'false') (set: $q_harglin to 'false') (set: $q_zhraza to 'false') (set: $q_jua to 'false') (set: $q_set to '0') (set: $q_total to 'false')

(set: $is_class to 'rogue') You have the Rogue tag. 1. [[Set Undead tag.|SETUP UNDEAD]] 2. [[''Start the dialogue''.|START]]

(set: $is_class to 'mystic') You have the Mystic tag. 1. [[Set Undead tag.|SETUP UNDEAD]] 2. [[''Start the dialogue''.|START]]

(set: $is_undead to 'true') Your player race is Undead. 1. [[You have food in your inventory.|SETUP FOOD]] 2. [[''Start the dialogue''.|START]]

(set: $has_food to 'true') You have food in your inventory. 1. [[''Start the dialogue''.|START]]

`[UNDEAD]` ''Narrator'': Something about the girl’s face seems – //wrong//. Wrong in a familiar way, as you did when you first learned to affix them to your own skull – just tilted enough that you know she’s one of you too. 1. [[(Continue)|WHO 2]]

''Jua'': It wants a sacrifice, a sacrifice! I can’t... I have a family, my mother, my brothers – I just //can’t!// 1. [[(Continue)|HELP 2]]

''Jua'': Yes, you should run! Run now, before they kill each other! Run and save yourself! 1. [[(Continue)|ESCAPE 2]]

''Harglin'': I won’t kill an innocent girl! But //you//, Zhraza – you contracted with grave robbers, with defilers - you sold stolen goods and gambled away everything! 1. [[(Continue)|HELP 3]]

''Zhraza'': How dare you accuse a kin with such disrespect! Especially when you yourself relied on me to resell that which you stole from the collared prisoners on your ships! A youth should not die for you! 1. [[``*Yell for quiet.*``|Q SET 2]] 2. [[``*Glare at them until they stop.*``|Q SET 2]] 3. [[``*Clear your throat politely.*``|Q SET 2]]

''Narrator'': The eyes of the trio bore into you, intent on your words. They've decided you have a role in this now, and you're certain they will initiate a desperate violence upon you if you attempt to leave before they're satisfied. 1. {(if: $q_harglin is 'true')[~~``*Harglin seems suspicious. Needle him for details.*``~~](else:)[[[``*Harglin seems suspicious. Needle him for details.*``|Q HARGLIN]]]} 2. {(if: $q_zhraza is 'true')[~~``*Zhraza is hiding something. Demand answers.*``.~~](else:)[[[``*Zhraza is hiding something. Demand answers.*``|Q ZHRAZA]]]} 3. {(if: $q_jua is 'true')[~~``*You want to know more about Jua. Ask her questions.*``~~](else:)[[[``*You want to know more about Jua. Ask her questions.*``|Q JUA]]]} 4. [[``*You’ve heard enough – time to suggest a victim.*``|VICTIM]] 5. [[``*You don't want any part of this ``-`` time to get out of here.*``|FIGHT]]

''Harglin'': Easy, Jua. Nobody’s going anywhere. Not without making a choice... 1. [[(Continue)|Q SET 2]]

''Narrator'': The group stares at you, intense, eyes sunken from hunger and exhaustion, waiting for your decision. 1. [[``*The Magister is at fault. Harglin should die.*``|V HARGLIN]] 2. [[``*The lizard should go. Zhraza must die.*``|V ZHRAZA]] 3. [[``*It seems harsh, but you choose Jua.*``|V JUA]] 4. [[``*You draw your weapons – they should be answer enough.*``|COMBAT]]

''Harglin'': Oh, no. We don't know if you're just another part of this, meant to torment us. Give us hope, and then leave. If you wanna go, you must cut us down. Otherwise, //decide//. 1. [[``*Sigh deeply. Fine, you'll help. If you can.*``|Q SET 2]] 2. [[``*Draw your weapons. He asked for it...*``|COMBAT]]

''Jua'': Me? Ah... I live with my family on a farm, with my mother and sisters. We grow... all kinds of things, fruits and vegetables, I tend the goat... I just want to go home! 1. [[(Continue)|Q SET 2]] {(set:$q_jua to 'true') {(if: $q_set is '0')[(set:$q_set to '1')](else-if: $q_set is '1')[(set:$q_set to '2')](else-if: $q_set is '2')[(set: $q_total to 'true')]}}

''Harglin'': I’m a //magister//, are you blind? I serve the Order, and- 1. [[(Continue)|Q HARGLIN 2]] {(set:$q_harglin to 'true') {(if: $q_set is '0')[(set:$q_set to '1')](else-if: $q_set is '1')[(set:$q_set to '2')](else-if: $q_set is '2')[(set: $q_total to 'true')]}}

''Zhraza'': I hardly knew the glorious empire of my kin. I was a merchant – a merchant, with no slaves or finery! – and I worked my way up through my skills and my cunning! 1. [[(Continue)|Q ZHRAZA 2]] {(set:$q_zhraza to 'true') {(if: $q_set is '0')[(set:$q_set to '1')](else-if: $q_set is '1')[(set:$q_set to '2')](else-if: $q_set is '2')[(set: $q_total to 'true')]}}

''Harglin'': //Cunning?// Ha! You worked on what your thieves and cutpurses brought you... and when you had no more use for them, you sold them out! 1. [[(Continue)|Q ZHRAZA 3]]

''Zhraza'': ‘Sold out’?! I was doing my duty to protect others from the vileness of Sourcery! And your accusation leaks like a gut wound since //you// were the one doing the buying! 1. [[(Continue)|Q SET 2]]

''Zhraza'': And steal whatever you can from your charges, and use them as your trap-feelers! You can talk big about grave robbing – but you kill more collared souls than //ever// lay in graves my contacts plundered! 1. [[(Continue)|Q HARGLIN 3]]

''Harglin'': //You’re// the one who mentioned your adventurer friend – that she was a Sourcerer, that she could help me – you knew exactly where she was going. You might as well have put the collar on her yourself! 1. [[(Continue)|Q SET 2]]

''Harglin'': No – no! I’ll kill you first, I- 1. [[(Continue)|V HARGLIN 2]]

''Zhraza'': This is madness! I will not submit to this, I- 1. [[(Continue)|V ZHRAZA 2]]

''Jua'': Wha... what? No... //no!// 1. {(if:$is_class is 'rogue')[``[ROGUE]``[[``*Accuse her of throwing her voice earlier.*``|REVEAL]]](else-if:$is_class is 'mystic')[``[MYSTIC]``[[``*Demand to know what her power is.*``|REVEAL]]](else:)[[[``*Insist on the sentence.*``|REVEAL]]]} 2. [[``*Reconsider your judgement.*``|VICTIM]] {(if:$is_undead is 'true')[3.``[UNDEAD]``[[``*You point out that she's undead, and ask why she's pretending she needs to eat.*``|REVEAL]]]}

''Narrator'': Before he can do anything, a swipe from the lizard’s claws tears open his throat. He gasps, clutching at his ruined neck, then collapses. The girl covers her mouth with her hands and stares. 1. [[Continue|V HARGLIN 3]]

''Zhraza'': You decided. Now I will survive. //Go.// 1. ``*Leave the clearing as quickly as possible*`` ``[END]`` [[//Restart from trigger set?//|INIT]] [[//Restart from beginning?//|START]]

''Narrator'': Her insistence is cut short as the man clubs her in the back of the head with a twisted tree branch. She topples, and he follows, smashing her head until only a mess remains. The girl covers her mouth with her hands and stares. 1. [[(Continue)|V ZHRAZA 3]]

''Harglin'': She brought this on herself. Now get out of here. 1. ``*Leave the clearing as quickly as possible*`` ``[END]`` [[//Restart from trigger set?//|INIT]] [[//Restart from beginning?//|START]]

''Narrator'': The girl’s face grows dark. A horrifying power twists her features, and the man and lizard scream in terror as her face melts away, a poorly-fitting mask over a human woman’s skull, glowing with arcane power. 1. [[(Continue)|REVEAL 2]]

''Sian'': //You fool//. Clever for seeing through my disguise, through my lies, but a fool all the same. Don’t you care what they did to me? What they put me through? How I //died?// 1. [[(Continue)|REVEAL 3]]

''Sian'': This lizard was my friend – my //friend!// I raided so many old ruins for treasure, for riches she and I shared. And when debt collectors came calling, she sold me for a bounty to this cad... who unleashed the curse of the tomb we robbed and fled, leaving me for dead. 1. [[``*How did she survive that? Well. Sort of survived.*``|REVEAL SURVIVE]] 2. [[``*Ask about the child she killed for her face.*``|REVEAL KID]] 3. [[``*Enough talk. Destroy this monstrosity.*``|COMBAT]]

''Sian'': That collar… whatever magic released when the trap went off, I came back stronger than before. Whispers of powers were now //screams!// 1. [[(Continue)|REVEAL SURVIVE 2]]

''Sian'': A sadness. But necessary for my ruse, which you destroyed. In a way... her death is on //your// conscience too. 1. [[(Continue)|REVEAL LEAVE]]

''Sian'': And I knew, as I came into this unlife, that Harglin and Zhraza... they had to suffer. To tear each other apart. To be betrayed and destroyed as I was! 1. [[``*Ask about the child she killed for her face.*``|REVEAL KID]] 2. [[``*Ask if you're included in her revenge now.*``|REVEAL LEAVE]] 3. [[``*You've heard enough. Time to kill this monster.*``|COMBAT]]

''Sian'': As furious as I am at your... //interference//... you aren’t a part of this revenge. I give you this one chance to walk away, to leave these horrible creatures to their fate... or die with them. Believe me... they are neither worth your pity nor your aid. 1. [[``*Draw your weapons. It's time to end this.*``|COMBAT]] 2. ``*Waste of your time. You walk away from the clearing.*`` ``[END]`` [[//Restart from trigger set?//|INIT]] [[//Restart from beginning?//|START]]

''(Ends dialogue and begins combat.)'' [[//Restart from trigger set?//|INIT]] [[//Restart from beginning?//|START]]