Chapter Thirty-Four: Don't Panic
[Wait! Don't touch him. Your notoriety has fallen to neutral, and you are no longer a target for any guard, but it's illegal to kill or touch a guard. It is also illegal to loot a guard. The captain of the guard will likely be here in moments. He probably knows or at least thinks you did this since he saw you earlier, and if he has line of sight, you will never leave this zone again. Go back up to that room and hide!]
“But my arrows—”
[Now! Before that captain comes back.]
I scrambled back to the strange room without having to be told a third time. I crouched down below the window line and risked a glance down to see the blue plume poking above the crowd.
I considered my options; the guard captain had likely been told by now about a crazy half-naked man kicking a guard, and I knew Mr. Plume had seen me. If this were anything like the real world, he would likely see the open window and send a search party for me, so I did the only thing I could think to do. I climbed back out of the window, and I hesitated as my right foot slipped. I caught myself on the edge of the window pane with my right hand, struggling to maintain my balance. I let out a small gasp and, terrified, looked down, certain the guards had heard me.
No, I shook my head. Focus. I didn't see a way up, and my mind panicked. Focusing on the eventual reality where I would be forced to clear the first floor, only to die the second I set foot up here until I spotted it. There were ridges in the adobe material like someone had carved out a ladder, and I climbed up to the very top of the building. I rolled over, sighed in relief, and let my body relax, my breathing heavy and adrenaline still pumping through me.
I peeked over the side of the building at Mr. Plume. He was inspecting the corpse of his friend before he stood and clicked his fingers. Like magic, 15 guards appeared around Mr. Plume. He clicked his fingers again, and a smoky but lifelike image appeared. I could barely make it out. But I could see the faint outline of a bow and multiple colors on the man. It had to be me.
“Crystal,” I whispered frantically. “What are we going to do?”
[Don’t panic!] She said. [If we can return to your corpse at the entrance, you can equip armor and hide your bow, and you won’t look anything like that shade he summoned. You should be free to explore the zone at that point.]
"Zone? Crystal, you keep using these terms I don't understand. At some point, we need to talk about where you are from and the strange, strange words you use."
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
[The guards won't recognize you if you can disguise your face and chest. Alternatively, you could move on to the next zo– room and clear the floor, but you won't survive without being better prepared. And it would be best if you put that amulet in storage. It's useless on this floor, as it is perpetually daytime. In fact, you should put a lot of stuff in storage, and we should spend your death boons.]
I paused, looking at the building next to this one and then back at the guards below. “How much damage will I take if I fall from this height?”
[It will be a d20 minus your defense.]
“So really bad or not even noticeable. Well, I can't do anything about it either way.”
I rolled up into a crouch, glancing over the roof again. From my vantage spot, I could see the entire city, and it was massive, and this was just the first 'zone.' Whatever that meant. I hated feeling like I was in the dark. I really wish Crystal could have a normal conversation now and then. I glanced through the rows and rows of purchasable wares, food, spices, and clothes. I couldn't make out most of the people from this high up. But I could spot Mr. Plume and his friends just fine. They were all gray blobs with red and blue feathers standing out in a sea of color. I was wondering how to return to the actual entrance from here. The sheer size of the place overwhelmed me. Navigating back to the entrance seemed like deciphering a maze without a map— “That’s it, a map! Crystal, can you summon a map of the zone? Will it show fine detail?”
Looking to my right, the terra cotta buildings continued to be uneven in size. However, the jumps seemed manageable.
"Crystal, I know the map doesn’t have fine detail, but can you, I don't know, lead me to my body?" I glanced over to the side again and noticed that the guard's corpse was still there. Plumey and his friends hadn't touched it. Not waiting for Crystal to respond, I followed up with, “And what about that corpse or mine, can anyone else loot them?”
[Only the Penitent may loot, or even touch, corpses in Penance, and only you can loot your own corpse. You'll be fine if you get back to the entrance. I can create a waypoint for you to follow… but only if you buy the perk while back at the entrance and you don't have access to it yet. All I can do to help you is suggest you look for the spice stands you knocked over; they were in the first part of the area.]
I had half a mind to jump down now and retrace the steps I ran, but I felt pretty safe from up here and didn't want to lose that.
I found myself sighing yet again, a habit that seemed to have become more frequent lately—Maybe that was something I used to do before? I shook my head. I had wasted enough time; I needed to go get my stuff, but short-lived as it was, this had been the first real break I'd had since entering the dungeon.
I got up from my crouch and started running; I leaped from the first rooftop to the second, and the dice rolled. I didn’t even see the die as I rolled upon landing and, thankfully, didn't fall screaming to my death. Instead, I rolled and flailed as I kicked up dust and landed painfully on my stomach. I was like a deflating bellows. But a second later, I got to my feet and kept running. Dice rolled, rooftops passed before me, and soon, I was at the entrance again. I was panting and gasping, but I took note of everything below.