technical problems resolved, time for an update!
CHAPTER TWO, OR WE'RE NOT IN kansasTORONTO ANYMORE
The previous chapter ended when our mighty heroes crash-landed onto an unknown desert planet. What will happen to them now? Let's see!
Oh, dear.
Well, there's no purpose in delaying it.
Let's go.
Oh, dear.
Well, there's no purpose in delaying it.
Let's go.
MY GOD! So this is the desert world! I must be out of my mid! Just look around!
Fantastic! Just smell! Listen! This is humming with life!
How could the probe have sent such data? This is a real sensation!
First, let's get away from the shuttle. In this oxygen-rich atmosphere it could...
...explode!
A short reprise of intro video here...
I have to discuss it with Chris sometime. Time to wake up. I must prepare for the flight.
The flight.
The shuttle.
Was already there.
Has already happened.
Pain.
Something is wrong, something isn't right. More pain!
What happened?
God, the crash!
What happened? ooh, the pain, why don't I wake up?
Hofstedt and I are going out...
All full of plants and animals. The planet is alive! The colors, the greens, everything is green...
MOVE ALONG, NOTHING TO SEE HERE.
What in the world...
WHERE AM I?
WHO, WHAT IS THAT?
I thought I was AWAKE!
I have to get up and...
Ouch! Damn!
Quite a clear sign of recovery, I'd say. Welcome back among the living!
Rainer, ever the smart-ass.
Hofstedt!
OK, OK. I will try to put it simply:
WHAT- HAPPENED?
Do you remember the crash landing and our getting out? Good. Shortly after the shuttle exploded like in a bad American television show. My first memory after that is being transported on a stretcher. When I saw who was helping me, I immediately passed out again.
Driscoll, these beings are INTELLIGENT!
I can see that this... house didn't grow out of the ground. Although, if you look at it more carefully...
You don't understand, there is intelligent life here. We've made contact with the third non-human race! their culture is fantastic and...
Hofstedt, please! My head is spinning even without your attempts at explanation. Start from the beginning for goodness' sake. How could the instruments be so wrong? we set out with breathing masks expecting a Mars-like world, and end up in a damned jungle more dense than anything on Earth!
I have no idea what went wrong. You can feel most of the facts with your own body. We find ourselves on an oxygen-rich, warm world with an enormous variety of flora and fauna. The gravit, as expected, is a bit under 1G.
Up to now our immune system has handled the local microorganisms. The explosion got you more than me. You've been unconscious for almost 30 days.
Stop! Don't even try it! You shouldn't try to stand for at least another 30 days!
I've noticed! Is anything else wrong with me?
I don't think so. So broken bones, burns, and probably minor internal injuries. The head injury gave me the most concern, but you appear to be completely coheren. Your prosthesis is operational.
Thank you. Continue.
I was back on my feet quite quickly and have made contact with our hosts. Where shall I begin?
You're a scientist! just stick to the facts!
I will try my best. The people here call themselves Iskai. As you've seen, they are built like humans only taller and thinner. Also, they still have all their body fur.
They appear to have descended from beasts of prey, as you can tell from the shape of their head. Otherwise, their history runs somewhat parallel to that of homo sapiens.
The Iskai are mammals with two sexes jsut like us. Their technology isn't too advanced, yet they are quite capable of astounding architectural feats.
The people that live here have taken good care of us and they've helped me keep you alive.
Does that mean some kind of medicine man cured me?
No. On the other hand, who knows? I was completetly out of it our first day here. The only thing I can remember is that one of these fellows was in the room and fumbled around with us a bit. I don't think he was trying to impress us with some kind of hocus pocus. He was working with glittering plant seeds. I was too weak to protest against it, but apparently it didn't hurt us. Then I used threee of our medpacs to get you to your current state.
Drenis bat ardriiba na gendi?
Kriidak na grrina, ah, strokiri. Badri?
Frji wan drobia. Lanarii!
Well, I can see you haven't wasted your time. You've learned their language in just four weeks.
I only know a couple of words. Ecept for the pronunciation, the dialect is astoundingly easy to learn. I'll give a basic course during the next few days so that you can catch up.
The ship! I'd be surprised if it is still in orbit.
I think it will land at the predetermined point. From there, we can build a research station instead of a mining structure. That way our company can at least make some money on the exclusive rights to the first documentary.
We must find out where are we and how we can get to the landing point. Since our shuttle has been destroyed beyond repair, the trip to Toronto could take a long time.
That's right. But, first, we have to learn to communicate. Sleep for a while, and then we'll begin the first lesson.
O.K. And Hofstedt...
Yes?
Thank you for everything.
Nobody likes sandboxes it seems.
Your nurse surely won't be happy about that. But, please, take it easy - it looks as if you will be walking again shortly.
I'm doing o.k., aren't I? It's time to finally leave this room.
O.K.
But YOU talk to Giria!
Our heroes on their feet at last.
This is Rainer. In short - he's total crap. He's weak, slow, can't hit shit neither in hth nor shooting. His main role in fights is trying to survive. And we'll have to carry him on through most of the game. Weeeell, he can do lockpicking, but that's not a very useful skill.
He get our shit from these containers.
And get out.
Yes. I think he is the head of this family. He must be very old if I understand her correctly.
That doesn't mean much compared to us. The Iskai apparently only get to be about 30 to 40 years old.
No wonder they are so frantic. They always seem to be running a top speed. Just look at Giria now. I wanted to thank her for her care, but she's already disappeared.
Never mind, let's take a look around the house.
Yes, let's do that.
The conversation menu works only for some npcs, most have one-liners like this.
No wonder with this heat.
This, my friends, is a toilet. There's even an option to "manipulate" on the hole, but - not surprisingly - nobody in the party wants to do that.
Of course, we'll be glad to talk with him.
Don't be ungrateful, Driscoll. But we probably shouldn't talk with each other in our own language in the presence of this Sebai. It would probably be considered impolite.
THIS little bugger is the head of this family? WTF?
Dsarii-ma, Sebai-li Wrinn. You and your clan have saved our lives, we'd like to thank you for it.
The South Wind Clan is famous for its hospitality. We're glad to have helped you.
Is there any way we can show our appreciation for your generosity?
Walls of texts ahoy! I'm too lazy to write all of them down, so I'll just upload screenshots. Shorter ones of course hand-typed.
Anyway, we agree to his proposition. We could decline, but that would throw us out of the house, which means no free rest and losing many items and cash, so it's dumb.
I'm the one who has to thank you. You are helping the Sound Wind Clan during a time of scarce funds. Please place your name and your mark on this document, Tom.
What do you mean by mark?
Ahem, pardon me, Sebai-li Wrinn, but Giria told me about your old age and yet you seem to be quite young...
well, well, that is definitely something.
My god, Driscoll! that is absolutely unbelievable! Fantastic! think of...
And Rainer seems to agree with me.
I know! However, try to remain courteous and speak Iskai!
We thank him again and finish our conversation.
Let's move.
Some further Rainer's ramblings.
We get some stuff from a storage room.
This is our first dungeon, the dreaded SUPPLY CELLAR. However, we'll visit the city first.
Upon exiting the clan's house, we are greeted by a guard.
We accept and find ourselves somewhere else - in the council chambers.
This Sebainah appears to be the chief here. I am anxious to see what she wants of us.
Here's the chief.
Moar walls of text!
We are surprised by your generosity. Of course, we will be pleased to accept your offer.
Very well. Use these two days to get to know the city and our people better. Of course, I wouldn't recommend your leaving the city without an escort, the forests can be very dangerous.
Do you have anything else that you'd like to talk to me about?
Nope.
The concil haven't got much to offer us, apart from these nice sofas.
We get out.
First stop- South Wind Clan, where we rest till dawn.
Next stop - Shop of Useful Curiosities or sth like that.
We notice a nice chest.
A real bargain! These are some nice weapons, which humans can use. Other shops sell Iskai-only stuff, goddamn racists.
Funny thing, we now could sell all the stuff back to the shopkeeper, for about 200$. But we won't.
Tom gets the sword, shield and helmet, while we pass armor to Rainer.
Now, with weapons and armor, we can backtrack to the STORAGE CELLAR.
It's really dark in here, even with a torch enabled.
We check some chests and barrels, finding lotsa food and a sword, which goes to Rainer (not that he'll hit anything)
We find the sad remains of our shuttle. Rest in peace
.
Oh goody!
While exploring the southern part of the cellar, something happens!
It's a trap!
A collapse! And what kind of animals are these? they look aggressive. Pay attention, Driscoll!
Our first battle!
This is the battle screen. Starting positions are configurable on the character screen. We give orders (move, attack, use item, flee) to our PCs, press start round, and all participants do their orders in order (pun not intended) depending on their speed. This is really important for shooters and spellcasters. When their target moved before their phase, they won't hit him, because they targeted his previous position.
These little fuckers are pretty weak, so we dispatch them without any problems.
Great going, Conan.
The minimap. Really useful with this not really clear first person view.
We explore the cut-off part of the cellar.
Some stuff. The armor is useable only for Iskai, however.
A pickaxe! The only way to get the hell out of this place. But not yet.
We find a destroyable wall in the southern end.
And then again, in the western end of the newly found chamber.
THE FUCK IS THIS THING?
It's a krondir, a really hard opponent. We don' really stand a chance in melee, so it's time to use our pistol.
Our reward. The fire ring is pretty good for Rainer, as it conjures a fireball.
We continue exploring.
Some more critters.
Damn. Too much phat loot, Rainer's can't carry that much.
Having finished exploring, we go back outside, only to find the head honcho.
You have a serious vermin problem in your cellar, Wrinn!
Tom gives a thorough report on what happened in the cellar. Wrinn seems a bit embarrassed.
How terrible this had to happen to you! This house is very old and the cellar has just been rebuilt. Apparently, we have now came close to older areas which are animal infested.
Has any one of you been injured?
I'm afraid so, Wrinn.
I'm really sorry about that! here' take this medicine, Tom, it will help you!
Wrinn hands Tom a flask.
I'm glad you have survived this adventure, friends. We didn't nurse you back to health so you could then be eaten by the animals in our house! Don't let it upset your plans any further, but be careful in the cellar! Who knows how long it will take before we find all of the uninvited visitors there?
And that's the end of part two! In the next update, we'll explore the town some more, take part in the celebration, and get through a main-plot dungeon!
Anyway, back to the game.
