Paper-Mache


By Jster02

You start

The pain is the first thing you notice.  It feels as though someone's poured an entire vat of hot coffee over your entire body.  Somehow, you get the sense that you've been asleep a lot longer than normal. You open your eyes to find yourself laying in a patch of grass, staring up at a clear, starry sky, interrupted by the branches of nearby trees.  You don't move for a moment. How did you get outside? You don't remember going to sleep out here... as a matter of fact, you don't remember going to sleep at all. Or anything else, as a matter of fact.


The pain is fading fast, so you sit up and take a look around, pulse racing. The shadowy forms of trees surround you, the sounds of the night bombarding your senses.  It occurs to you that you're hyperventilating. Is this what it feels like to have a heart attack? No this is a panic attack of some kind. Instinctively, you find yourself focusing on a single blade of grass in the field.  With shaking hands, you pluck it from the dirt and study it, taking note of its shape, the feel of it in your hand, the nearly indistinguishable pattern of little veins running through it. Mindfulness. That's supposed to help with Panic attacks.  Somehow, you remember that. But you can't remember where you learned it.  


Slowly but surely, your breathing normalizes.  You wipe the snot from your nose and the tears from your eyes as your body stops convulsing.  For the first time since you woke up, you notice the cool night breeze. You're going to be fine.  If you just keep your wits, you'll find a way out of this eventually. You take a quick inventory of everything you can remember.  Random bits of knowledge surface in your head, facts about whales, mathematical formulas, the steps to changing a tire. But no memories of the people, or events, or books that taught you those things.


As you contemplate these things, you notice a few items laying in the grass around you.  Namely, a small backpack and an odd metal disk, with a glowing screen on one side. You pick up the disk first and examine it.  "Insufficient power," flashes across its face over and over in red.  Something about it tugs at something in your memory, but you can't quite put your finger on what.  Confused, you slip it into your pocket and turn to the bag. You unzip it to find a lighter, a knife, a sleeping bag, a pillow, and... a whole mountain of Cheez-Its and Mountain Dew?  Just what kind of person are you? Still, it's better than nothing, so you slip it over your shoulders.


As you try (and fail), to take your bearings from the waning crescent moon, (not that it really matters, it's not like you know where you came from), you become aware of a strange noise in the distance.  You stop and listen. Is that yelling? Wait, yelling is a human noise, right? So, where there's yelling, there's humans. Before you can even finish processing that thought, your feet are carrying you towards the source of the noise.  You didn't know you could run this fast on pavement, much less over the uneven turf of the forest, but then, maybe you're a famous football player or something and just don't remember it.  


The yelling grows louder as you draw nearer.  A dim light shines in the distance, growing brighter.  You slow down a little, these shouts don't sound like happy ones.


"Stop struggling or it'll only hurt more!" a gravelly voice says.


"Help! Stop! Let me go!"  An extremely high pitched voice this time.


You've slowed to a tip-toe now.  Whatever this is, you're not sure you want to be a part of it.  Still you creep closer until you can just make out the figures involved between the trees.  They look small from here, no bigger than children, but then, it's a little hard to tell from this distance.  It looks like they might be wearing some kind of cloaks, green ones, if your eyes don't deceive you.  


"Gag her before she draws someone to us!"  Says the gravel tongued shadow to two others holding down a third, "Get her in the bag and tie it tight.  The last thing we need is another escape."


Your palms are soaked with sweat.  You should do something, anything, to help, but whoever these people are, they certainly don't sound like the kind of folks you'd like to mess with...

You creep closer and attack

You drop into a crouch and creep closer, stopping behind trees whenever you can.   Now that you're closer, you can make out more details, and boy are these people weird.  They're even shorter up close, they'd probably only come up to your waist.  But that's the least strange thing about them.  They're skin resembles Paper-Mache, all folded over itself.  And then there's the ears, so long and pointy.  Almost as big as they are, and yet still they point straight up.  Forget whatever you thought about only humans yelling.  You must've forgotten that too, because these things are no humans.


The two biggest creatures hold down a smaller one, (perhaps that one is only a child), while the one that appears to be the leader stands and watches.  Like you thought, all but the one on the ground are clad in green cloaks, reaching nearly to their feet, with a strange symbol of something like a broken goblet embroidered on their backs in brown.  


They've nearly got the child into a big sack now, but she (he? It?) still hasn't given up.  


"Please!"  She cries, "I just wanna go home!  Let me go home!"


"We're giving you a new home."  Says the leader, "A better home!  Don't you want to help make your old home better?"


"No!  I want my papa!"


Just watching this makes you nauseous.  This has got to be stopped, there's no way you can sit by and let it happen.  Before you've even so much as thought of a plan, you're on your feet, charging the creatures with...

The knife!

You flick your knife open and tense for battle.  It feels so small in your hand, so weak.  If only you had a gun, or a hatchet at least.  Still, it's better than using your fists. 


Before you have the chance lose your nerve, you charge one of the creatures holding down the... other creature.  (You're really not sure what to call any of these things, you've never seen anything quite like them before).  You slam into it, knocking it to the ground before it has a chance to react.  It's eyes go wide as you plunge the knife into it's stomach, (or what appears to be it's stomach).  It penetrates easier than you expected, the knife.  Feels a little too easy.


But before you have time to fully contemplate the moral ambiguity of your actions, you see, out of the corner of your eye, the other creature charging you with some kind of sharpened stick.  You act faster than you ever thought you could, rolling to the side, just as it brings it's stick down in a stabbing motion.  The stick buries itself into the chest of the first creature, (the one with the knife still stuck in it's chest).  If it wasn't dead before, it certainly is now.


The creature with the stick stares at it's fallen friend, stunned.  You should strike now, while it's distracted, but all you can do is stare at the dead creature.  You did that.  Even though it's not exactly a human, something about the whole thing just feels wrong.  Slowly, the surviving creature turns towards you.


"Why would you do that?"  He asks,  "That was my friend!"


"You were attacking that... other creature!"  You say.  Even as you say it, the words feel hollow.  "He... had it coming!"


"You have no idea what you've gotten yourself involved in!"  He says, "You're messing with things you shouldn't you crazy monster!"  With that, the creature charges you once more, wrenching it's weapon from the chest of its dead friend.  Perhaps you should let him strike you down.  Maybe you're the monster here.  But then, what about that other creature?  The one he was tormenting?  What does that make him?  No, you were just acting as any good person should when they see someone in danger. Just as the creature reaches you, instinct takes over and you slam your fist into it's head.  


These creatures don't just look like Paper-Mache, they tear like it too.  As soon as your hand makes contact, his face crumples inward and he staggers back, falling to the ground, dead.  You stare at your hand, stunned.  Either you've got some sort of hidden superpowers, or these creatures are weaker than most.  That doesn't seem normal.  Even with your broken memory, you can be pretty sure of that.


As the adrenaline wears off, you remember that there were three creatures involved.  Two doing the heavy lifting and one giving orders.  You take a quick look around you, but see nothing.  It must've run off somewhere; the only other living thing left in the area is the creature you came to save in the first place.

You check on the fallen creature

The creature lays in the dirt, staring at you.  It trembles as you approach, inching away on its back.


"Who are you?"  It asks with trembling voice, "What do you want?  I want my papa!"


"I'm not going to hurt you,"  You say, trying to sound as soothing as you can,  "I'm here to help."  


"You're... not gonna hurt me like those other guys?"


"No, I was saving you.  That's why I hurt them."


"Oh... Okay..."


You stare at each other wordlessly for a few moments, unsure of what to say.  Finally, you extend your hand to help the creature up.  It stares for a second at your arm, and asks,


"What are you doing?"


"I'm helping you up."


"How does holding your hand out help me up?"


"You grab it and... oh, never mind.  Do you know how to get home?"  (Does this thing even have a home)?


"I think so..."


"Alright, can you walk?"


The creature struggles to its feet.  "Yes."


Another moment of silence.


"I'm Pila,"  the creature says, "...thanks."


"You're welcome.  Come on, let me walk you home."


"Okay."


You set off down the path, Pila leading the way.  For a few minutes you travel in silence.  The hooting of owls and the howl of the wind are your only company as you trudge through the trees.  Finally, you can't help but break the silence. 


"What are you exactly?"


Pila looks at you, her ears twitch slightly.  "I already told you, I'm Pila."


"No, I mean, what are you.  As in, what species are you?"


"What's a species?"


You struggle to come up with an explanation.  "It means, what kind of creature are you?  I don't know how else to explain it."


"I'm confused."


"Well... I'm a human."  You point to yourself, then look around for something else to name.  You spot an owl sitting on a branch, "And that's an owl,"  You point at the creature, "But what are you?  I've never seen anything like you before."


"I still don't understand... human?  Is that what you said your name was?"  


It's no use trying to get anything out of her.  You sigh, and say,  "Never mind, it's not important."  


"Okay!" She says


As you're talking, you come to the side of a hill, with little stairs carved into the side for you to climb down.  Lights twinkle a little ways below; must be some kind of village.  


Pila points at the lights.  "That's where I live. It's also where my mama and my papa live.  And all of my friends.  Let's go!"


With that, she dashes down the stairs.  They're the perfect size for her little feet, (if a little big).  As for you though, you may as well be going downhill on gravel.  You nearly slip at least three times as you descend, but in the end you make it to the bottom unscathed.  


"We're almost there now,"  Pila says, running up the path.


You follow as quick as you can, it wouldn't do to lose her again.  If that happened you might as well have never saved her at all.  As you jog along the path, you pass a strange plant, just taller than you are.  It grows on a thin, blue stalk, straight up, until it droops over at the top, opening into a strange, orange bulb.  The bulb glows in the dawn, lighting the whole path beneath your feet.  Just a few moments later, you pass by another on the opposite side of the path.  The entire trail leading up to the village is lined with these plants, lighting the way like streetlights on an old city road.

You pila's house

It soon becomes apparent that you are closer to the village than you thought.  Is it just you, or are those buildings smaller than they seemed from afar?  You come to the edge of the village to find that the smallest of the houses are about your height.  Everything is half the size it should be, from the road through town to the stones that pave it.  Stranger still, it all has the same Paper-Mache quality as Pila's skin.  


You follow the little creature through a twisting maze of streets, just a tad bit too small for you.  You begin to see other creatures like Pila milling about.  Most stare at you, terrified, a few even run the other way, screaming.  But every time that happens, Pila shouts after them,


"It's okay, he's nice!  He saved me from bad people!"


After about five minutes of walking, a high pitched whistle cuts through the air.  You try to ignore it, but it persists.


"What is that?"  You ask.


"Oh that?"  Pila stops and turns,  "That's the alarm.  People sound it whenever there's an emergency.  Then the watchmen come and help whoever sounded it.  My papa is the leader of all of the watchmen."  She beams with pride. 


"Shouldn't we be worried."


"No, this happens a few times every day.  My papa will take care of it, whatever it is."


"Well, alright."


You walk for a few minutes more, then the alarm stops, leaving you in complete silence.  


"See?"  Pila says, "Everything's going to be-"


A voice from behind interrupts her, "What in the name of the water-pit are you?"


You and Pila turn in unison to see a whole squadron of creatures, all pointing little wooden spears your way.  But before you can do or say anything, Pila runs straight up to them.


"Papa!"  She cries, flinging her little arms around the one who appears to be their leader.


"Pila?"  He says,  "What are you doing with this... thing?  Did it hurt you?"  He turns his gaze on you.  "What were you doing with my Daughter, you monster?"


"No, Papa!  You don't understand!  This is human, he saved me from a bunch of really mean people.  They tried to put me in a big bag, but then he came out of the forest and beat them up!"


Pila's father is quiet for a minute.  Then, he turns to the creatures behind him and says, "You can relax.  Looks like we won't be needing spears."  He turns back to you, and takes a few steps in your direction.  "I apologize... human, is it?  It's just that no one's ever seen anything like you before.  So it was only natural the alarm was sounded.  They all thought you were some kind of monster!"


"I thought the same when I first saw creatures like you."  You say,  "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you?  I've never seen anything quite like you either.  At least, I don't think I have."


"You stand in a village full of Oalkwardners."  The Creature says,  "I am Merk, head of the Watchmen of Arrorn.  I help to protect this place from any sort of outside invaders or natural disasters.  That's why I came when I heard you had arrived.  By the way, thank you so much for rescuing my daughter.  If you ever need anything at all, just come find me and I'll do my best to make it happen."   He stops and thinks for a moment.  "Are you planning on staying here a while?"


"Actually,"  You say, "I have no idea how I got here in the first place.  So, I guess I'm kinda stuck till I figure out how to get back home."


"That's strange indeed,"  Merk says,  "Come with me, if you need, you may stay with me and my family while you're here. You did save Pila, after all.  It's the least we can do."


"I guess I have nowhere else to go,"  You say.


"Yay!"  Pila says,  "It'll be like when we have all the family over for a feast!"


And once again, you set off through the streets.  As you walk, you explain to Merk how you woke up in the forest with no memory and found Pila in trouble.  


"What were you doing out there, Pila?"  Merk asks, "Why on earth did your mother let you go out so late?  And why on earth did you take this long to come back?  From what Human said, it doesn't sound like you were too far from town."  Merk frowns, "In fact, you'd better come up with a pretty good explanation as to why you were out so late, or else you're in hot water!"


"It's not my fault!"  Pila says, "I went out to play hide-and-seek in the woods with my friends.  The sun was going down, but we knew it would still be light outside for a little bit, so we thought it would be okay.  But I really wanted to win.  I never win at hide-and-seek, so I needed a plan to make sure they'd never find me.  So I went really far away on the road.  But then it started to get dark, and I got scared.  And then, the ground started shaking, and I got really scared.  So I ran away into the trees.  But then I got lost, so I was really really scared.  It took me a long time to find my way back to the road, and then when I was walking back, the mean guys came and tried to put me in a bag!"


"You said the ground started shaking?"  Merk asks, "But I didn't feel anything here.  I was on the night-watch, so I know."


"But it's true, Papa!"  Pila says, "There was a really bright light in the sky too!  It was like lightning, but it stayed there for a looooooong time."


"Don't make up stories, Pila."  Merk sounds a little irritated now, "When we get home, you're going to have to do some chores."


"But Papa-"


"Let's not do this in front of our guest, alright?"


Pila sighs,  "Yes Papa..."


"Good girl.  Oh look, we're here."


The streets are a bit wider here, and the houses a bit bigger.  They're all spaced apart, each one with a good five-or-so acres of space.  You've stopped in front of a beautiful yellow one, that looks like it might be two stories high, (though it's hard to tell what with the strange sizes of everything).  


"We have the best house in the village!"  Pila beams, "That's because Papa has the best job.  I wanna do it when I grow up too, so I can have this same house."


Merk laughs.  "I'm glad you think this house is the best.  You've never told me that before.  Come on, lets go inside."


You follow Merk to the front door, where it becomes apparent that you might have a problem.  


"I'm... not sure I can fit,"  you say, staring at the door.  It comes up only to your chest and looks just a little too narrow for you to fit through.  "I don't want to mess up your house."


Merk thinks for a moment, wringing his hands.  "That really is a shame.  We might have to figure out somewhere else for you to stay, I'm sorry."


It's then that you remember, you've got camping supplies in your backpack


"I can just sleep outside,"  You say,  "I've got a sleeping bag and a pillow, I'll just lay it out in your yard somewhere, if that's alright.


Pila's face brightens,  "Papa, can we eat outside with Human too?"


"I guess we may as well, so long as it stays nice outside,"  Merk says,  "Now you'd better go get some sleep.  I'm not sure how you can be this chipper after staying up all night like that.  Besides, you'll need your rest if you ever want to get done with the massive list of chores you're gonna get once I figure out just how much trouble you're in."


Pila sighs, and starts towards the door.  "Yes papa..."


You spend the rest of the day on Merk's property, not daring to re-enter the village for fear that someone might see you and sound the alarm.  ("Just until we get the word around that you're not a threat," Merk says). For a while you talk with Merk, trying to figure out where exactly you are.  Eventually, Merk pulls out a map of the area, and you find that you don't recognize any of the landscape.  (Though, you can't quite remember any other landscapes either).  You just can't make heads or tails of the situation.  


Once evening rolls around, Merk's wife, (who you quickly learn is named Fila), brings you dinner in a bowl, much too small for you to properly hold.  It's filled with some kind of goop that smells like burning rubber, and doesn't taste much better.  But you don't say anything, and just choke it down best you can.  You know you can eat some of the Cheez-Its from your bag after everyone else goes to bed.


After an hour-or-so more of small talk, everyone decides to hit the sack.  As the Oalkwardners head inside, you spread out your sleeping bag and lay down, staring up at the stars.  The moment your head touches the pillow, all the energy you spent today hits you at once.  You're asleep within minutes...

A living nightmare

Your dreams are a confused mass of pictures and images.  Lots of formulas and numbers, the strange disk you found in the woods, a violet light engulfing you...


A whisper in your ear breaks you from your slumber.


"Wake up, strange beast.  I need to talk to you."


You open your eyes so find that it's still dark.  The face of an Oalkwardner stares down at you, blocking out the moonlight.  It startles you so much, you sit straight up; if it wasn't for the creature's swift reflexes, your head would've smashed right into it.  That's when you get a good look at it in the light of the moon.


"What the heck do you think you're doing here?"  You ask, "You were the guy that ran away after I saved Pila!"


"Not so loud," He hisses, "Do you want to give me away?"


"Yeah, actually.  I should call Merk right now, or better yet, do you in myself!"  You take a deep breath to let out a shout.


"Don't!"  


Something about the creature's tone stops you, if only for a moment, from alerting the Oalkwardners in the house.  What would drive any intelligent creature to walk into the lion's den like this in the first place? It just doesn't add up.


"At least hear me out."  Pleads the creature, "I need your help."


"What makes you think I would help a kidnapper?  Seriously, are you crazy?"


"It's not just me you'd be helping, but them too!"  he gestures towards the house, "In fact, you'd be helping every Oalkwardner in this village."


"Is that a threat?"  You ask, "Are you going to kill them or something if I don't cooperate?"


"My word, you must really think I'm some kind of monster, monster.  No, I'm not here to hurt anyone. Like I said, I'm here to help."


"How does kidnapping children help anyone?"


"I was getting to that.  This village, Arrorn, I believe it's called, is not as peaceful as it seems.  It is under the rule of King Faerdalm, a cruel, ruthless tyrant."


"Sound like something a teenager would come up with for a writing contest,"  You say, rolling your eyes.


"Will you let me finish?"  The creature glares at you, "He takes their food, says they owe it to him for getting to live in such a 'great and powerful country.'  It's all a load of bull, of course. He takes so much that a good many of the villagers die every year from starvation. I'm part of a resistance group trying to stop it.  We've been working on a way to get rid of Faerdalm once and for all, so everyone can be free, just like in the good old days. That's why we've needed to take children, to run tests on them.  We're developing a way to make ourselves stronger, so we can finally stand up to him. But we're still a ways out from perfecting it. It's going to take a lot more people, a lot more deaths, to finally perfect it.  To be quite frank, I'm getting quite sick of it."


"So, where do I come in?"  You ask.

"Never in my life, have I ever seen a creature as powerful as you." He says, "If you were to join us, we would be able to achive our goal much quicker. And the quicker we achive it, the less needless deaths must occuer." He extends his hand, as if to shake yours, "So, are you in?"

You shake his hand

The Oalkwardner smiles as you shake his hand.  


"Very well then,"  he says, "We must go at once, there are many preparations to be made."  he stops for a moment and looks at you,  "You may call me Bolard, by the way." 


With that, he makes a single clicking noise with his mouth, and a whole hoard of Oalkwardners dressed in the same cloaks as Bolard step out from the shadows, surrounding the two of you.


"We're heading back to base,"  Bolard says,  "Better get moving if you wanna get any sleep tonight!"


"Hold on a second!"  you say, "Were you planning on ambushing me if I said no?"


"Of course not!"  Bolard says,  "They were just here in case you were... unreasonable, and decided to attack me."


Something about his tone puts you on edge, but you can't exactly do anything about it with all these guards around.  You follow the pack into the forest...


 

Bolard leads the group back up the path you came from, past the place where you witnessed the attempted kidnapping.  You walk for hours, never stopping for even so much as a five minute break.  As the sun's rays begin to peak over the horizon, the leaders of the pack turn off the trail abruptly and lead you into more densely wooded area.  


As the sun grows higher in the sky, you notice that there is still a sort of trail here, just fainter and harder to see than the one you left.  It seems this way has been traveled a few times before, the vegetation trampled underneath it.  After a few more hours of walking, the group stops abruptly, and you nearly trip over the Oalkwardner in front of you.  


You sigh with relief.  This must be some kind of break.  Thank goodness, your feet feel like they're about to fall off.  But instead of dispersing and finding spots to sit down and talk, the Oalkwardners stay where they are.  There's motion at the front of the pack, someone's doing... something, you're not sure what.  Then, a great wooden hatch opens up from the ground, revealing a spiral staircase descending down into the earth.  You didn't see it because it was camouflaged by dirt and leaves, somehow stuck on top of it. 


The assembly moves forward, down the stairs, and you follow at the middle of the pack.  You reach the bottom and find yourself in a hard packed dirt tunnel, with a few paths branching off from it.


"To your barracks, everyone!"  Bolard says, "I must speak with the monster for a moment."


The crowd disperses, heading down various tunnels, chattering amongst themselves.  Bolard turns to you.


"I'm not going to have you stay in the barracks with the others,"  He says, "You're a might too big for the beds there, and I don't want you rolling over and crushing someone or something.  Instead, I think you ought to take one of the private suites, which are usually reserved for our highest ranking officials.  Thankfully enough, we've got a few to spare.  Come, I'll take you there now.  I'm headed that direction anyway."


You follow Bolard through the tunnels, trying your best to remember how to get back to the hatch.  Thankfully, it isn't too far.  After a few minutes, the dirt walls become wooden, which feels a little nicer.  It's like being in a regular hallway, (if a bit cramped, due to your size).


"This is your room,"  Bolard says, opening the door at the very end of the hallway, "Take some time to get acquainted with your new surroundings.  I will return shortly,  there are a few matters of grave importance which I must discuss with you."


He shuts the door, leaving you to explore your new accommodations.  Not to say there's all that much to explore, the room is quite barren.  The only furniture is a sleeping pad that looks like it's woven from grass and a little table on the far side of the room.  It's all too small for you, but you'll just have to make do. You take off your backpack and sit on the mat. It feels so nice to take a rest after all that walking. 


While you sit, you begin sifting through the contents of your bag, laying them out on the floor in front of you.  You stop when your hand touches the strange metal disk you found in the forest when you woke up. The screen still flashes, "insufficient power," over and over again.  Maybe if you can get it charged up again, you might be able to uncover some clue about your past.  You flip it over and look at the back. There's a little tank strapped to this side, with a tiny bit of green fluid inside.  Is this the stuff that powers it? If you fill it up, will the disk work again?


As you ponder all these things, the door opens and Bolard walks in.


"Come, monster,"  he says,  "I need to relay the plan to you, so that we're ready."

The plan

Bolard leads you back out into the hallway and through another nearby door.  This room is less barren than the one you sleep in, and it's set up more like an office.  


"Sit,"  Bolard gestures towards a stool, too small for you, in front of a desk in the middle of the room.  You obey, sitting uncomfortably low, as Bolard walks around the desk and sits on a stool of his own on the other side.


"Monster," Bolard says,  "You have displayed great strength.  Strength enough, perhaps, to take out an entire army single handedly."


"What do you mean?"  you ask, "I've never fought anyone in my life since yesterday.  At least, I don't think I have."


"Training will be provided of course,"  Bolard says, "With your great strength, and the proper training, you may lead us to victory."


"You're crazy!  What kind of insane thing do you want me to do anyway?"


"I want you to storm the king's palace.  In two weeks time, there'll be a banquet, and all his advisors and officials will be there.  If you attack then, you'll be able to cripple his regime, creating a power vacuum with no one to fill it.  That's when we'll step in and take over, creating a new era of peace and prosperity."


"But why just me?  Why should I do this alone?"  


"Because if you don't, more innocent Oalkwardners will die!  They'll keep doing experiments, stealing more children to use as lab rats!  We've got someone inside the palace who can get you inside.  There's no turning back, you agreed to this when you shook my hand."


You open your mouth to argue, but then close it.  It's useless to argue.  If you refuse to do as he says, he'll probably have you killed or something.  


"Any questions?" Bolard asks.


You don't say anything.


"Good.  You may spend the rest of the day as you wish.  Go explore the facility, if you want.  Get to know your way around so you feel more comfortable here."


You turn and walk out the door, back to your room.  There's nothing else to say.

The note

You return to your room to find a note, laying on your pillow.  


"Come to the mess hall at midnight.  There's something we must discuss."


Confused, you turn it over to see if there's anything on the back, but there's not.  For a moment, you stand there, staring at the piece of paper in your hands.  What's going on?  You've hardly met anyone yet, and already someone wants to talk with you privately?  Is it some kind of trap?  But what if it's important?


Curiosity burns within you.  You have to find out what this is all about.  If things go wrong, you'll just have to find a way out of it.  


 

That night, you creep out of your room and head to the mess hall at what you think is about 11:30.  (It's hard to tell, the Oalkwardners use a complex system of hourglasses to tell time. It's nothing like what you're used to).  Luckily, you explored most of the tunnels beforehand, so you find your way easily enough, with ten minutes to spare.  


You enter the mess hall to find... nothing out of place.  There's not another person in sight. You're not surprised, you are early after all.


Something touches your shoulder.  You whirl around to see a cloaked Oalkwardner with a wooden mask over their face, standing behind you.  


"What-"  you start to say, but the Oalkwardner puts a finger to its lips.  It beckons for you to follow, and scurries down a tunnel at the far side of the room, one of the few you have yet to explore.  You follow behind as best you can, trying your best not to lose them in the twists and turns of the passage. Soon, you reach a staircase, leading up to a hatch.


The Oalkwardner leads you through the hatch and into the cool night air.  You hadn't realized how much you missed the surface until now, and you cherish each breath of fresh air.  They lead you a little ways into the forest, then stop.


"So,"  the Oalkwardner says,  "You're the one Bolard was talking about.  The one that's gonna save the entire rebellion."


"I... guess."  you say, confused.  "What did you want to talk about, exactly?"


"Do you want to know how Bolard sees you?"  The Oalkwardner asks. 


"What?"


"When he looks at you, he sees only a pawn.  A monster which he can bend to his will and use for his own gain."  The Oalkwardner turns to face you. "But you are not the only one. He treats everyone that way.  All of the high ranking Oalkwardners do, at least in this rebellion."


"What does this have to do with me?"


"If their plan succeeds, and they manage to take power, I fear they will estate an even worse government than there already is.  You are the key piece in their plan. But if that key piece were to fail..."


"What, you want me to die on purpose?"  


"No, of course not!  But I want you to fake your own death.  Me and some others are ready to desert this crazy rebellion and take whatever the king has to throw at us.  It can't be worse than what they've got planned. Not only that, but we want you to tip the king off about their plans while your at it.  We'll write a note, and we want you to leave it somewhere they'll find it once you're inside the fortress."


"Wait, so am I going into the fortress or am I faking my death?"


"You're faking your death at the fortress.  They'll just think you failed your mission, but you'll actually have run away, with me and the others."


"I hardly know you!  Why should I trust you?"


"I'll give you until the day of the attack to think it over, alright?"  The Oalkwardner says, "I get that this can be hard, but I'm begging you, please don't fail us."


You sigh.  "I'll think about it."


"Good.  Now, go get some rest.  You've got a long couple of weeks ahead of you."

The choice...

The next two weeks are a blur.  You train for six hours a day, preparing for the big day.  Before you know it, it's nearly arrived.  The night before, you find another note on your pillow, this one a little longer than the last.


"Enclosed is the note you must plant in the fortress," It reads, "I hope you've decided to help us, as we desperately need it.  Meet us in the woods behind the fortress once you've done the job, and we can escape."


There's another piece of paper, this one explaining everything about the rebellion, where to find their headquarters, and how best to stop them.  You skim it, then shove it in your pocket.  You're still not sure whether to go along with the rebellions plan, or join the defectors.  Whatever you do, you'll have to decide now...

You tell Bolard about the defectors and end this right here and now

There's no point risking complications during the mission. You'd better tell Bolard about this right now.  You stand and head to his office.  He's still in there, organizing some of the books on his shelves, as you enter.


"Hello, monster."  He says, nodding to you.  "What can I do for you?"


"Defectors,"  you say,  "They've been trying to get me to help them, I've got proof!"  


You show him the note.  He reads it, his eyebrows rising higher and higher with every sentence.


"My word!"  he cries,  "We must do something about it before it's too late!  I'll initiate a surprise inspection, we'll catch those filthy traitors yet!"


He rushes out of the office.  You head back to your room and sit on your bed.  Did you do the right thing?  There's no stopping it now, so you'd best try and get some sleep.  It doesn't come easy though.  There's a lot of yelling and screaming from the other tunnels, probably the defectors.  You try your best to ignore the conflicting feelings in your stomach as you drift into an uneasy sleep...

The attack

The next day, you begin the journey to the fortress, escorted by a few rebels, and Bolard himself.  It takes several days to get there, and you get to pass by Arrorn on the way, so that's fun.  (Though, you don't get to actually enter the village.  Too much risk of being recognized or something).  


Finally, you spot it, sitting on a hilltop just on the horizon.


"Alright," Bolard says, "There's a little side door you're going to be let in through.  It leads straight to the great hall.  Once you get inside, kill as many people as you can, alright?  Especially the ones that look super regal, because those are probably royalty."


"Anything else?"  you ask, dryly.  


"Actually, yes.  The king wears this magic armor all the time.  He doesn't get hurt by physical attacks."


"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"  you protest,  "What do you want me to do about him if I can't hurt him?"


"I'm getting to that!"  Bolard sounds annoyed,  "I do have something that'll kill him."


He reaches into his bag and pulls out a glass bottle full of... water.


"What's this for?"  You ask.


"What do you think?  It'll get through the cracks in his armor, and kill him!"


"It's water."


"Exactly!  Water kills people!"


"I don't follow."


"Didn't anyone ever tell you that water disintegrates people?  The skin soaks up too much and it just falls apart."


"That's not how it works for Humans," you say,  "We can touch water, no problem."


"Really?  Well, that sure makes things easier.  This way you can cross the moat, no problem!  I was wondering how we'd do that."


"Yeah... Okay."  You roll your eyes.  "Just give me the bottle.  I'll smash it over his head or something."


As you get closer to the fortress, you start to make out more detail.  It looks like it mainly consists of a bunch of towers, surrounded by a wooden wall.  By the time the sun sets, you're within a hundred yards of the walls. 


"Perfect!"  Bolard says,  "Look, all the nobles are already inside."  He points to the closed drawbridge, as if to prove it.  "The doorway is just around the back of the fortress.  Good luck, monster."


"Thanks," you say, rolling your eyes.  You grab your knife and hop into the moat, making it across in less than a minute. You rush around the side of the wall and find a door, carved into the side.  Just as you reach it, it flies open, and a female Oalkwardner beckons you inside.  


As soon as you enter the fortress, the nauseating smell of Oalkwardner food hits your nose.  You ignore it best you can and take a look around.  You're in an alcove at the edge of the great hall, which consists mainly of a bunch of wooden tables lined up together.  Over fifty Oalkwardners sit around it, laughing, eating, getting drunk...


This is perfect!  If they're tipsy, you can strike much more easily.  Quickly, you locate the king, (his armor sets him apart from the rest quite nicely), and sneak up behind him.  Then, in one quick motion, you bash the bottle over his head, shattering it into a million pieces.  The water splashes everywhere, (it definitely wasn't a small bottle), and the entire room goes silent.  Then, the king begins to scream, and the room erupts into chaos.  


Quick as you can, you start punching, kicking, stabbing right and left.  Oalkwardners go flying everywhere, most dying the instant you touch them.  You manage to take out about half of the nobles before they get wise and start running for the door.  At the same time, some of the guards seem to be getting ready for a counter attack.  You'd better figure out what to do next, and fast...

You get out now, while you still can. (You've already killed the king, and that's all that really matters).

You dash out the door before the guards can strike back.  Soon as you make it to the moat, you know you're home free.  The guards can't follow you here.  Before you know it, you've reached the other side.  


"Bolard!"  You call, "I got the king!"


He and the other guards come running from around the corner.


"Great!"  Bolard says,  "That should be enough!  Worst comes to worst, and we have to launch another assault.  They're crippled without a leader, it should be easy."


"Good to know.  Now why don't we get out of here before they come after us?"


Bolard laughs.  "Yes, let's get on that."  And you run off into the forest together.