> “Build high the walls,
> build strong the beams.
> A new life is waiting,
> but danger’s no stranger here.”
> - “Two Worlds,” Phil Collins
> Tarzan Soundtrack
It didn’t take long for Sophia to discover her other gear. With a thought, she could summon up an inventory window which held 5 rows of 10 spaces each. All but four of the spaces were empty. The first slot held the image of a loaf of bread with the number 5 in the corner. The second was the image of a water skin. The third held the image of a small knife or dagger. And the fourth looked like a crooked staff of unworked wood. By focusing on each of the images, Sophia was able to pull up descriptions of each.
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Item: Traveler’s Rations (5 uses)
Restores health while eating. Fends off starvation. Slightly increases thirst.
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Item: Waterskin (refillable)
Can be filled with various liquids.
Contains: Water (5 uses)
Decreases thirst. Also good for washing.
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Item: Simple dagger
1 handed (light, off hand)
Attack: +2 (Power)
Durability: 10/10
Stick the pointy end in the other person.
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Item: Simple staff
1 handed
Attack: +1 (Power)
Durability: 15/15
Common among shaman and witchdoctors. Can be used as a walking stick or to bonk heads.
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Sophia considered a moment, then tried to think about drawing the simple dagger. In the next moment, she was holding a small knife that was sharpened on both edges. The blade was simplistic and made of an unimpressive metal - Sophia guessed it was either iron or steel. Probably iron, since it was part of her starting equipment. Sophia tested the dagger with a few slashes, but then she frowned. She had never gotten into a physical fight in her life. She had no idea how to use a weapon and she doubted it was as simple as sticking the pointy end into her enemy. She’d be lucky if she didn’t stab herself with the blade.
Swapping the dagger to her left hand, Sophia summoned the staff and it appeared in her right. It was about 3 feet long and looked like a well-used tree branch, sturdy and polished with use. It was lighter than she expected, but still had enough heft that it could probably bonk a few heads without cracking. With a nod, Sophia placed the dagger back into her inventory. Surely whacking someone with a large stick was easier than stabbing them with a tiny blade, right?
Sophia decided not to inspect the rest of her gear, but left it in her inventory and turned to study her surroundings instead. The fort wasn’t a building as she had originally thought, but seemed to be an enormous open-air gazebo, except with thick, solid walls instead of decorative pillars. The outer walls seemed to be the only standing structure, and there was no sign that there had ever been any inner walls. The space inside was filled with what Sophia assumed to be benches made of the same coral as the walls, except this coral was clearly worn down from years subjected to rain and wind. The floor wasn’t more coral, but was covered in wide tiles of smooth gray stone, and Sophia could now see that the entire eastern third of the structure was missing, with nothing but a cliff dropping down 30 feet into the ocean. Looking up, Sophia noted that she had been correct in her earlier observations - the walls ended cleanly about 15 feet up, with no sign that there had ever been a roof or ceiling. The only other clue as to the purpose of this strange structure was a deep circular hole cut into the center of the floor, stretching about 5 feet across.
Stolen story; please report.
Hesitantly, Sophia stepped up to the edge of the pit and looked down and her eyes widened in surprise. The hole dropped well below the 30 feet to the ocean and, in fact, she couldn’t even see the bottom. Carefully, Sophia took a step away from the edge, then started when something crunched beneath her boots. Beneath her feet, Sophia saw the sunlight reflecting off of hundreds of tiny shards on the ground. The largest pieces were barely larger than Sophia’s pinky fingernail, and she picked one up, turning it in her fingers. “Glass?” Frowning, Sophia looked back to the pit and could spot the miniscule shards of glass all the way around the open pit.
Sophia was starting to get a sinking feeling in her stomach. The deja vu had intensified and it had turned into a pointed feeling of familiarity. She was almost positive that she had been here before, but if she was right, she didn’t like the implications of what she was seeing now. With a growing dread, Sophia stood back up and turned towards the open eastern corner of the structure.
She had only taken a single step towards the opening when Sophia caught a dark shape out of the corner of her eye. Whirling around, she barely had time to raise her free arm to protect her face before a creature of fur and teeth and claws slammed into her face with a vicious screech, and Sophia felt the sharp pain in her forearm and scalp as blood began to flow.
Sophia let out a squawk of pain and instinctively threw out her arm, hoping to throw off the creature. It worked to a lesser extent, but the pain as the claws and teeth that had pierced her were torn free caused her to stumble. Her attacker landed lightly on one of the benches and quickly regrouped before leaping at Sophia again, but this time, she was slightly better prepared. She ducked to the side and swung at the creature with her good arm. It hit, but Sophia’s first priority had been to dodge the sharp claws, so her arm had been outstretched, leaving the blow without any strength behind it. Nevertheless, the creature squealed in pain and surprise as it was tossed aside again, this time with just enough force to hit the wall before it dropped to the ground, landing on its feet.
For a moment, Sophia and the creature stared at each other, and she finally had an opportunity to see what had attacked her. The thing looked like a squirrel, with dark red fur and glowing amber eyes, except it seemed to be the size of a small cat, and it had a long prehensile tail, like a monkey’s.
Sophia couldn’t take any more time to stare, though, because the creature screeched at her, then bunched up, clearly preparing to leap at her again. This time, Sophia snarled back and took one step to the side, gripping the staff with both hands. She channeled all her high school softball skills and when the mutant squirrel flew at her, she swung for the fences.
The sickening crack was followed by a thud as the squirrel flew back and smashed into the wall once more, but this time when it landed on the ground, it did not get up.
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You have killed: Level 1 Kisq
You have gained 30xp.
You have looted:
Damaged Kisq Pelt
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Quickly dismissing the window that had popped up in front of her vision, Sophia stared at the body of the creature for a moment longer, before she slowly lowered her staff, swallowing hard, then collapsed onto one of the benches before her knees, suddenly weak, could give out on her. She pressed her fingers tenderly at her temple where deep gouges had been scored into her scalp, and hissed at the pain of the contact. She didn’t have any bandages, though, so all she could do was try to wipe the blood away before it could drop into her eyes. Her arm wasn’t much better, and Sophia took out her waterskin and poured some of the water over the scratches, gritting her teeth against the pain. Still, Sophia figured that it could have been a lot worse, and she figured that as long as she could avoid any infections, she would recover quickly. Relieved, Sophia closed her eyes and let herself relax. For a long time, the only sounds in the ruins were Sophia’s heavy breathing and the pounding of the waves against the rocks below. When another sound came, it startled Sopha so badly that she let out a scream and fell over backwards, landing on the stone floor with a grunt.
“YOU KILLED ME! HOW COULD YOU?!”