Chapter 21: Moral Degeneration

Ricky spun around, taking in his surroundings as quickly as he could.

*Quest 030 complete: Find a safe way out of Doomstar. +30XP

It was no comfortable home that he now found himself in, that was for sure. He was outdoors, on a sandy plain, with sporadic dry-looking trees dotted around the area. There were no buildings nearby. It was flat, but there were hills in the distance, and the sun was coming up in that direction. West, he supposed?

At least he could say two things for sure. He was no longer in the Doomstar (the notification had told him as much, as if it wasn’t obvious), and no longer surrounded by korapta lizards. So that was something.

All the same, there could be any number of threats around, and he didn’t know which way to go, or where to find shelter.

Map!

“You don’t have a map of this area, Ricky.”

He had expected as much, but it had been worth checking.

Which way to go now? Even assuming the sun did come up in the east, he didn’t know what direction Imperialis was from here. But the one thing that he did know was that his guild’s city was on a coast, the eastern coast of some kind of landmass. That suggested that it might at least be worth walking east until he reached the coast – on the optimistic hope that he was still somewhere close. Then he could begin to make his way either north or south until he came to something he recognized.

*Quest 026 update: Return to Imperialis. (This quest is now level 8).

Well – that was a clue, of sorts. The path ahead must be either longer or more difficult. Or both.

Now, Ricky began walking, staring at the ground for the most part to avoid being dazzled by the morning sun. The ground was very sandy with very little greenery at all. In fact, it was almost like a desert, with a few sparse trees nearby, and small clusters of trees in the distance, each looking as dried out as the next.

As he moved, Ricky took a moment to check his equipment. His satchel was still there, as was his armor. He looked inside the bag, and was relieved to see that the orb was still there too, nestled inside the map.

Then he recalled the ’inventory’ command that the Guide had previously mentioned.

Inventory!

***

Personal inventory:

bronze neckchain

canvas satchel, containing:

bale leaf

broken small metal component (3)

half-dragon claw

magical orb (green)

map of Barrowdale

silver tankard

yagga root tea (2 servings)

crossbow (small)

hoplon shield

peasant clothing

platinum neckchain of the Tooth and Claw Guild

ring of illusion

standard crossbow bolt x 12

***

Well, that was certainly a useful command, Ricky reflected. At a glance he could see that his weapons and the contents of the satchel were all safely in place. He even had the trinkets that he had picked up from the tower floor. Everything he was carrying had moved through the portal together.

As the words began to fade from vision, he focused on the second-to-last item, stopping walking in his surprise.

A ring of illusion – what the hell?

He now looked at the ring again, which had been on his hand since the tower. It looked just like the real thing, down to slightly blackened color around its edges. The software had somehow recognized the object, and reproduced it perfectly. But why? And had it – as it appeared – ascribed magical powers to the thing? If so, that was great, though he had no idea what exactly the thing could do, or how to activate it.

The sooner he could speak to a trusted ally about this, the better.

Dismissing the thought for the time being, Ricky now glanced around again. It had occurred to him that he had seen no sign of the dagger that had entered the portal. It certainly wasn’t lying on the ground where he arrived. Why? Had someone else passed by and taken it? Or could there be an element of randomness in terms of where the portal led to?

With a shrug, he walked on.

The first tree he passed had leaves of rich dark-green color, but he didn’t know the species. It was spindly and tall, but it didn’t look like it would be too hard to climb. There, however, was no sign of fruit, or anything else he could eat. Perhaps there would be something he could hunt.

As Ricky thought about this, he thought back to how he had been tempted to feed on the unconscious Blastor. He had done a good thing, he supposed – one that had been recognized by the game – when he had resisted, had turned away.

On the other hand, he had stolen the crossbow from Blastor. For it was stealing – there was no denying it.

Patting the weapon as he walked, he spent a moment trying to tell himself that it was necessary – there could be any manner of threats that he needed to face before getting to safety. Besides, he had left the little strugan’s backpack alone. Raiding his supplies and backpack felt different from taking one of the adventurer's several weapons.

But was it?

Again and again, he found himself picturing the little creature trying to make his way out of Doomstar, and being overrun by koraptas. Ripped apart, limb torn from torso, blood and flesh strewn across the ruined streets...

Finding himself drooling again, Ricky shook his head with a growl.

Had his judgement been distorted by the transformation into a shapeshifter? It hadn’t been that long, after all, since he had lapped up a dead man’s blood. And the very first thing he had tried to do after shifting into wolf form was see a knife and thought about stealing it.

Guide – is there some way of keeping track of my level of... uh, I don’t know. Of morality, maybe?

“Ricky, your thoughts and emotions are your own. The Dark Framework doesn’t set them for you.”

Right, but still. There isn’t like, a personality test that I can do? Just to check that I not going crazy or becoming... too cruel.

“Ricky, I am not designed to carry out psychological evaluations. Perhaps you should speak to... a licensed psychologist.”

Right.

Ricky couldn’t help but chuckle; the guide seemed very hesitant when talking about things outside of the Dark Framework. This felt like an in-built safety feature, or even a disclaimer. And it didn’t seem like the Guide knew much about the real world after all.

But then again, how could she?

And what kind of world had existed when she and the Dark Framework had first been designed? It seemed possible – likely even – that she had been set up before such time as The Catastrophe had destroyed much of Europe, and left most of the surviving people from his homeland as wandering refugees, hoping for a boat to take them to more fortunate parts of the world.

He hadn’t even heard of the software company whose name had appeared at the start. What was it again? Cerberus Games, that was it. Hmm.... Cerberus. A mighty, monstrous dog – which was just what some of the citizens of Imperialis had called him when he was in wolf form. But no – Cerberus was the guardian of the underworld, right? Was that what this was supposed to be? Some version of hell?

Come on, he told himself. It’s just a name.

Looking up, Ricky paused. So far he had passed nothing but more of the dark-leaved trees, and had started to think that he might need to sleep out in the open, despite the obvious risks. Even try to climb one of the trees. But now, as he had rounded a small cluster of trees, a building came into sight up ahead. It was a two-level house, and through it looked ruinous, it did appear sound.

Certainly a lot better than most of the buildings in Doomstar.

*Quest 032 (level 1): Search the ruins for a place to rest.

He hurried on.

Guide – what time now?

“It’s 07:43, Ricky.”

Hmm...

He had mere minutes left.

The building stood alone in the sandy plain, though having arrived within a few yards of it, Ricky could now see a cluster of further buildings off towards the hills. They looked to be constructed in a similar way.

This was frustrating; he had the orb, but he was short of time, and didn’t know how to get back to Imperialis and to the Tooth and Claw Guild. The notification had summed up what he had rapidly realized – he was going to have to sleep in this building, for better or worse.

Then, after a day of work in the New Baravian swamps, he would return to action. Imperialis was a huge and famous city – surely it couldn’t be too hard to find his way back there?

He moved around the building, and quickly saw that while it had looked largely intact on his approach, the gable end that he had seen was the best-preserved section. The back of the building was completely missing, with only a pile of scattered stone bricks to suggest what might have once been there. There were a couple of pillars that led to nothing at once side, an entrance way that was only half there, and no roof to speak of – although half of the floor of an upper level was still intact, providing a modicum of shelter.

*Healing report: You have gained 1 hit point (48 remain).

Ricky moved closer, sniffing the air as he went. He had a feeling – a sense – that someone or something was around, but he couldn’t put his finger on what. He spun around and reached for his morning star, in case something or someone had sneaked up behind him, but so far – nothing.

Walking through the ruinous entrance way, Ricky began to poke around in the debris. He could see the remnants of a couple of wooden barrels, as well as what looked like bedding – for human or animal, he couldn’t be sure. However it was badly decayed, now forming a coating of rotting organic matter that covered whatever kind of stone or flooring that lay beneath.

Stepping forward into the shadow provided by the partially-surviving upper level, Ricky pressed both hands against the brickwork. It was rough, cold stone, and felt solid enough. At one point it would have formed a very sturdy wall of a well-built dwelling.

He turned around again, glancing over the ruin from a different angle. At some point, he reflected, this place had been a well-constructed and cozy home. Or had it? Had this ever been an intact building, or had Cerberus Games set the location up this way? He recalled Xarok and Gabriella telling him that the goblin caves would ‘respawn’. Perhaps this was a similar kind of challenge.

But if so, what did that mean? Perhaps something that was waiting to be discovered – or a threat to face down. But he couldn’t currently see anything. So that probably meant...

Leaving his thought unfinished, Ricky crouched down, looking at the ground level. Sometimes buildings had basements, he was thinking to himself.

He reached for his dagger – only to remember that it was no longer there; the goblin scabbard was empty.

Hmm.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the metal trinket from the tower with the two prongs protruding from it. They were sturdy enough, he decided, like the tines of a fork. Kneeling, he began to use this to scrape away at the rotting matter that coated the ground. And sure enough, he began to reveal the stonework beneath – more large, rectangular and dark-colored slabs.

*Game mechanics alert: your improvised tools skill has been applied.

Finding the edges of these slabs using the trinket, Ricky gradually cleared a couple of entire slabs. But as he worked, he became conscious of time pressing on again.

Guide – what time now?

“It’s 07:57, Ricky.”

It was going to be an issue if he did find a hidden monster.

Standing and grabbing at the debris, he began to pull at it with both hands, and as he had been fervently hoping, it came away in chunks, now that he had cut it apart and got the process started. Before long he had pulled away several square yards of debris; it came away in his hands like sheets, and he flung them quickly towards the back wall.

And there, in the cleared area, was a trapdoor.

*Achievement: A deeper level! You have found a hidden part of your surroundings. +10XP

*Quest 032 complete: Search the ruins for a place to rest. +10XP

He hurried forward, again using the improvised trinket to clear away the debris, but this time focusing on the four edges of the trapdoor and its handle – a rusted metal loop. When this was clear, he hooked two fingers under it, squatted with his legs bent, and pulled upwards as hard as he could.

*Game mechanics alert: your hiding bonus (+2) has made the difference between success and failure.

The trapdoor was stiff, but after his initial effort, it swung back and leaned over at an angle just past the vertical.

Guide – what time now?

“It’s 07:59, Ricky.”

Shit.

“Mind your language, Ricky!”

Uh-huh.

He had clambered down, his legs now dangling down into the trap. It was dark, and he could see very little. He dearly hoped that there were no ravenous monsters down there.

But again, there was much of a choice that he could see. He could either jump down, trusting that the surface below wasn’t too far, and that the concealed nature of the trapdoor implied that no nasties, monsters or enemy adventurers regularly came this way

Putting one hand on the trapdoor in order to tip it shut after him, he jumped.

He fell...

And just at that moment, Ricky found himself sliding out of the sleeping pod, and back into his building in the New Baravia refugee camp.

Accumulated XP: 1360 (unspent: 360)