This time we didn’t return to the empty space like I thought we would. Things faded and then I found myself sitting in an overstuffed leather chair next to a crackling fireplace. Across from me David sat, a platter full of food perched somewhat precariously in his lap and his face buried in “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” Ah, Julia Child, that book was an old favorite and a lot of the recipes we made together were from it. Looking more carefully I was fairly certain that beef burgundy on mashed potatoes was among the items on his plate.
Since David hadn’t started talking yet I read the prompts from the last session, made note of the questions I wanted to ask, and looked around the room. The fire was warm even as I could feel the underlying coldness of winter in the room and across the room a window had heavy drapes covering it. Still, they didn’t conceal the iron-grey light that shafted weakly from behind onto the carpet. A buffet table with covered silver platters lined the wall behind my chair, and the smell of various foods hung fragrantly in the air.
Getting up I saw that most of the foods were things that David and I had made together, though I saw some variations that I had either forgotten to mention or had never tried. The broccoli salad in which the broccoli had been switched out for diced cooked asparagus looked especially tempting. I served myself up a plate of a few different items and decided I was right, the salad was really good. As the lingering taste of poppy seed dressing and dried cranberries faded in my mouth I said, “David, did you make these?”
He looked up. “Nope, they are pulled from the memories of a few people that were doing testing. They seemed similar to what you made, so I put them out for you.”
I nodded, “Yeah, they are pretty good. I guess I am not surprised that there are other cooks in the game. Oh, I wanted to ask. I really liked the little world and house that I made, can you put a copy of it in my pods lounge?”
“Sure, that is no problem, and I am glad you liked the food. Since I am not doing a surprise session this time do you have any questions?”
“Actually yeah, I read over everything from the last session and have a few. So I was looking at the stats. I obviously don’t know what the standard starting average is, but just looking at what I am getting it seems really high. So, if I am correct, why are the stats rewards so high?”
“Okay that is a fair question, but let me see if you can figure it out, you will get more out of it that way. I will simply give you a small hint. The stats bonuses you are getting are based on how you are right now.”
How I am now? Hmm, what does that mean exactly? I looked at myself, I didn’t think I looked any different than usual… wait. I am not any different. I have been receiving all these bonuses to strength, and dexterity, and everything else. Shouldn’t I feel different?
I got up for a moment and looked around the room. I was about to look silly but I didn’t care. I jumped up and down for a few minutes until I was exhausted. I felt no different than I did in the real world, and I jumped no higher. I lifted one side of the chair I had been sitting in with a grunt, nope I was definitely not stronger than normal at the moment. I looked back over the windows that had popped up. My strength was a good 20 points or so apart from my endurance and dexterity. Unless the bonuses were practically nothing, then I was still in my normal body at the moment. That meant that all the tests were testing me, the real me, and even as I accrued bonuses to my stats they didn’t mean anything yet, and since the results of this test would determine my starting stats… it was likely treating me as if all my stats were zero. If getting stats became harder the more you had, and that was a pretty safe assumption in most games, then this was the ultimate place to train and gain stats since that difficulty curve would not exist until after the test.
“I think I figured it out.”
“The system will let you know in a minute anyway, so I will just tell you that you are correct. You will gain the effect of your stats once you enter the full game. Depending upon how this goes with your group the beta testers coming in a week or so may not be able to do the same. Of course, very few people will even notice, and they can only make use of it when making a new character, so it has limited use.”
Well, that answered my initial question and explained the stats, especially the absurd amount of luck I was getting. As far as the system was concerned each beneficial thing that happened to me was a singular event to be rewarded. It looked like I was probably going to start the game with some high stats, though it might be difficult to raise them for a long time because of that.
That brought me to my next question.
“Who were the people you invited to my party? I thought that they might be representations that appeared to other players, like you, but the way I received an entire 30 luck for not offending them, and minuses to my intelligence and wisdom too. I am guessing they are very important in some way, and that you set me up a bit.”
“Me? Set you up? Would I do that?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Judging by the twisted sense of humor you seem to have picked up from someone, definitely not me, I would guess you think it’s hilarious.”
He just smiled innocently at me.
“So?”
“So what?”
“So who were they?”
“Ah, yeah not going to tell you, but you will meet them soon. Any other questions?”
I shook my head and the world dissolved once more.
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You have been awarded stats:
* For paying attention to your surroundings and noticing subtle flavors in food, and paying attention your own body: +5 Perception
* For careful analysis and formulation questions based on available data: +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom
* For doing strenuous exercise until tired: +5 Strength, +7 Endurance, +4 Dexterity
* For analyzing and figuring out one of the rules behind how stats function in testing with only a small hint: +4 Intelligence, +4 Wisdom, +2 Concentration, +4 Luck (Bonuses to luck for learning game mechanics given pregame only)
* Blave of the System bonus, all rewards from learning game mechanics doubled: +4 Intelligence, +4 Wisdom, +2 Concentration, +4 Luck
Stolen novel; please report.
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I found myself in some kind of temple. The floor was raw stone with faint traceries of metal, and looked to have been carved away. The central aisle that I was standing on was smooth and slightly indented into the stone. Either it was finely polished, or the passage of many feet had gradually worn the stone down. Columns of polished grey stone were evenly spaced on both sides. Windows with stained glass stood between each column, but seemed to be random with no particular design. The colors and shapes of each piece were different, and some did not even seem to be glass at all. I could see obsidian, jade, and other stones, and some were not even transparent.
The light and shadows of the windows played over plain stone benches and simple pots with plants in them. Wooden doors stood behind me, though the supporting studs in the wood looked to be gold or bronze. I walked forward, and saw that some of the pots were empty, or broken, or had withered trigs. Others were meticulously perfect, while still more had plants so overgrown the pots or even the floor disappeared from view around them.
As I neared the back a hole in the ceiling cast light into the back of the temple and just touched an alter that stood there. Behind the alter in a space that looked like a natural cave stood a man in plain robes. His hands were on the alter, one in the light, the other in shadow.
I came to stand before the alter. He remained silent and his eyes were closed. I waited for a while, unsure if I should say anything. Eventually I spoke.
“Excuse me?”
His eyes opened but he remained silent.
I gestured with my arm to encompass the room. “This looks like a temple, what god or gods is it dedicated to?”
He replied, his voice slightly gravelly. “The more important question is who you want to dedicate yourself to.”
I thought for a moment. “No, I really cannot answer that question. The more important question than that is who can I dedicate myself to. If I do not know them, how can I dedicate myself to anyone?”
His lips pursed and still covering his teeth, he smiled. “You would be surprised by how many dedicate themselves to causes they do not understand. Would you like some examples of what you might choose? I assure you, most anything you can think of has its representative.”
He made a gesture and I could suddenly see people standing throughout the temple. They didn’t just appear there though, it was as if they had simply been there all along. I saw one standing in the central aisle and thought back for a second, I had gone around that spot because I had wanted to inspect a pot closer… or so I thought at the time. I shook myself, I cannot let the game get to me, even if it is literally in my head.
I turned to the first figure I could see, and started. He was a man made of shadows that looked suspiciously familiar. He had sat beside me at dinner. If these people, if that word even applied, were who I thought they were, then I had had dinner with the gods of this realm. I tried not to think how badly that could have turned out.
I tried to think of his name and nothing came to me. Surely I had gotten his name… I stopped for a moment as I realized that I did not remember getting the name of anyone at the party. That should have made me suspicious at the time. It was obvious now that someone or something had literally messed with my mind.
I opened my mouth to ask his name and then stopped. It was possible that whoever messed with me had done me a favor. Maybe I was not supposed to know their names, or it was rude to ask. I thought for a moment and asked a slightly different question.
“What would you like me to call you?”
Standing in the shadows I could barely see his mouth move as he spoke.
“Enderiag. Before you ask, I am the god of shadows and concealment.”
Not knowing the proper way to respond I simply inclined my head in a nod of respect and said thank you.
I continued in this fashion, meeting various gods for light, fire, death, and more abstract concepts like freedom, glory, and diplomacy. I recognized several of them and even ran into the lady, or more appropriately goddess, with the leafy clothes. It turned out that she was Mosinia, goddess of living plants and natural decay; guess that explained the teeth, dress, and hair.
The suspiciously normal man from before was Hatkak, who was the god of balance. I thought at first that he might be my choice, but on further inquiry it turned out that he was about perfect balance rather than the looser balance that I was looking for.
I eventually returned to the priest. “I don’t suppose you are a god of something too?”
He smiled the same tight lipped smile. “No. Have you made a choice?”
“Are there more gods than are here right now?”
“Yes, many many more.”
“Okay, then I want a god who gets along well with all the other gods. A god that values individual choice to follow different ideals at different times and as the situation calls for.”
The priest in front of me thought for a moment. “There is no such god. Will no other god suffice? Will you have no faith in any other?”
“It’s rather the opposite problem. At times I will need the shadows, and in those times I will not hesitate to call on Enderiag for help. If I need fame and to be seen by all I shall ask the appropriate god for that. My needs and values are not fixed, and very few gods represent something that I will reject completely. The god of chains I met, Itwemata, who is the god of prisons and slavery. I may hate slavery, but if I meet someone terrible and evil and manage to get them put into prison, I may well pray to her in thanks. What I am trying to say is that I have yet to meet a god who I will not identify with sometimes.”
“Could you not simply choose one that you identify with the most, and then pray to others at need.”
I thought for a moment. That did sound reasonable, but I felt like there was some kind of trick in there somewhere.
“I could do that. If I chose Enderiag, as an example, would Rigiatha be offended, or not like me as much?”
This time the priest was clearly unhappy. “Yes.”
“Well I don’t think it would be wise for me to offend any of the gods. If there is no appropriate god for me can’t I simply worship them all?”
The priest looked like he had bitten something sour. “So be it.”
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You have gained a trait:
For acknowledging the validity of all the gods you have gained the trait:
Polytheist
You freely worship all the gods and in turn they respect your limited devotion.
* All gains and losses in favor to any god are reduced by 75%
* Gains in favor to one god do not reduce favor to another.
* Priests of all gods start with at least neutral relationship to you, unless you have specifically offended their god
For becoming a Polytheist in The Temple of All Gods you have received a bonus:
* Favor gains and losses will only be reduced by 50%
For entertaining multiple gods at a single dinner without offending any of the attendees you have received a bonus:
* (+10 x .50) = +5 to favor with all gods
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You have unlocked a hidden stat:
By acknowledging the place that gods have in your view of the world you have revealed:
Faith
Faith is a measure of your ability to tap into the power of the divine. Faith is needed to learn and cast spells with a divine origin. Faith may also have special effects on blessed ground.
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You have been awarded stats:
* For taking careful notice of your environment and all the little details: +4 Perception
* For politely waiting to talk and then asking considered questions: +3 Charisma, +3 Intelligence, +4 Wisdom
* For understanding that your perceptions and mind were altered: +5 Perception, +5 Intelligence
* For not asking a being of extreme power their name when you were about to do so: +10 Intelligence, +10 Wisdom, +20 Luck
* For being polite to all the gods and seriously considering which would be appropriate for you: +4 Charisma, +7 Intelligence, +8 Wisdom
* For making carefully reasoned arguments in the face of distraction and animosity: +4 Intelligence, +4 Wisdom, +4 Concentration
* For acquiring the trait Polytheist: +5 Luck
* For unlocking the title bonus for being in The Temple of All Gods: +5 Luck
* For unlocking your first title bonus before the game starts (one-time bonus): +5 Luck
* For unlocking the title bonus for hosting the gods: +5 Luck
* For unlocking the hidden stat – Faith: +20 Faith, +5 Luck
* For unlocking reputation – Favor: +5 Luck
* For unlocking reputation before the game starts (one-time bonus): +5 Luck
* For obtaining 5 favor with the appropriate gods: +5 All Affinities (retroactively applicable)
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