A New NPC And More

It’s been a long couple of days for me. As most of you know, I found the map key a few days back, and it’s been taking a toll on my weary body and mind. I wasn’t able to muster the strength to get out of bed long enough to do anything productive, let alone plop myself down in front of the computer and play this mentally exhausting game. But I’ve been recovering slowly; I’m keeping solid food down again, and today I thought I would try a little writing. No promises, though; another discovery like that one, and I may be comatose for a while.

So my latest playing sessions began swimmingly, as usual. I began it by talking to an angry man named One-Ear who did nothing but yell at TNO and hurt his immortal feelings, and then throw some money at a collector who wasn’t able to tell me anything about Pharod I didn’t already know. He did mention something about Ragpicker’s Square being his boss Sharegrave’s territory, and something about a fight, but ultimately I’m still not exactly sure where Pharod is, since I’ve gotten quite a few potential locations.

Things get even better when I come across a towering monster known only as the Black Abishai. Against Morte’s warnings (and my better judgment), I continue to pester the monstrous creature until he well, kills me. Although tempted to reload, this time I just shift-clicked my way out of The Mortuary and returned to The Hive the long way. Yes, I knew I was immortal, damn it; I’m just lazy. So it’s safe to say the first five minutes of play went just about how the rest of my PS:T experience has, which is to say poorly.

TNO's in store for a quick return to The Mortuary.

But then I actually accomplished something. Something genuinely noteworthy, for once. Utilizing my newfound map key (alright, let’s move on now, please, or I’ll just make a whole entry with the word ‘map’ repeatedly until everyone decides to let it drop), my next destination once back outside is to the southeastern portion of The Hive, where I then make my first appearance at The Smoldering Corpse Bar.

Nine hours later when I was finished talking to everyone inside, I’d learned several interesting things and found another member for my strange wandering group. His name is Dak’kon, and he’s a member of the githzerai race. After a long conversation with the (man?) creature in which we discuss the history of his people, our favorite cereal, and debate about the finger points of existence, Dak’kon wants to come along, and seeing as how he looks pretty formidable in battle, I happily accept his request to tag along, netting 500 experience points in the process of talking to him.

Dak'kon was so impressed by my debating skills (something about the city being flawed) that he decided to join me!

While in the bar, I also have an important conversation with Candrian, an experience traveler who knows all about the planes, gives TNO tons of information about them, and agrees to help Ingress, the woman scared out of her wits about portals and such. Additionally, I help settle a matter for Barkis, the bartender who just so happened to be holding my eye from a previous life. While I don’t have enough to buy it back yet, I do agree to collect a tab from a patron who hasn’t paid up in a while in exchange for free drinks.

Investigating into this matter, TNO comes across a timid lady in Dustman robes, and my interest is piqued immediately. It appears momentarily as though I’ll be settling Barkis’s problem as well as completing one of the quests for the Dustmen faction. After conversing with her, though, TNO establishes that while she isn’t a true Dustman, she isn’t the thief, either. After being firm with her but not threatening, I order her to pay up, but she doesn’t have the money, so TNO agrees to loan it to her. Aside from several other lengthy conversations that don’t yet have any noticeable impacts on the game, there’s little else to share about the bar. I was unable to interact with the guy in the flames, for what it’s worth.

Outside, I decide TNO should probably stop in at the tattoo parlor; maybe the owner can shed some light on his numerous tattoos. On the way I chat with a man who devotes his life to trees and agree to help him (?) and also come across a desperate woman who tries to convince me that her sister’s in trouble. TNO, ever the observant one, doesn’t immediately rush to her aid, but asks her a few questions first, and then realizes the blood on her is old and dried. Suspecting something suspicious, TNO bluffs and tells the woman he’ll kill her if she doesn’t come clean. She confesses at that point, admitting that some nearby thugs in the alley ordered her to bring unsuspecting victims down to them so they can rob them. It’s worth mentioning that after agreeing to help Mourns-for-Trees, TNO leveled up, although it doesn’t seem to mean much in this game, at least so far.

Mourns-for-Trees helped me level up by agreeing to care for some plants.

Inside the tattoo parlor, TNO has a conversation with Fell, who indeed remembers him but is unable to enlighten us on what the nature of the last visit there was, or what history is between the two of them. After taking a quick look at the tattoos Fell offers and attempting to have Dak’kon translate just in case it leads to other conversation options, our group departs, and I’m feeling more than a little disappointed.

My next stop is the Mausoleum, where the Guardian Spirit appears at the entry to yell at TNO for intruding. After gently probing the spirit for details, it is established that something has been disturbing the dead inside the Mausoleum; this must be exactly what the Dustmen warned me about. After getting permission from the spirit to rid the Mausoleum of the intruders, TNO marches ahead through the narrow passages, searching out the source of the problem. It doesn’t take long to come across some resistance in the form of skeleton workers. While I still despise the combat system in PS:T, the battles are a little more interesting with the help of Dak’kon, who helped us make short work of the skeletons while sustaining very limited damage. Continuing to explore, it isn’t long before we come across some more combatants, which this time includes a giant skeleton who is a much more challenging kill. I attempt to use a clot charm to resist the damage a little better, but the giant skeleton is nonetheless devastating to TNO, who has to repeatedly run away and heal with bandages in the process of fighting. Finally, after several attempts, we manage to bring our worthy opponent down, followed by a few more of the smaller sized skeletons afterward. At this point, the only of us who isn’t severely injured is Dak’kon.

These were a lot easier to beat when examining them in a specific order made them disintegrate...

Advancing farther into the Mausoleum leads us to a showdown with Strahan Runshadow, who proves to be a very annoying enemy. While TNO helplessly hacks at the repeatedly spawning skeletons, Dak’kon is smart enough to go to the heart of the problem and fight Strahan directly. This is a very fortunate development, as my poor combat skills and decision-making has completely drained my healing supplies, and there was no way I was going to be able to defeat the skeletons without reloading and trying again. When Dak’kon deals the final blow to Runeshadow, however, every remaining enemy turns to dust and I’m awarded 975 experience points. On the way out, the spirit thanks us for our work, and I feel like I’ve just done my first meaningful quest in the game. I miss that feeling.

Before calling it a day, TNO decides to take care of one more quest by finding Ingress and telling her to be prepared for Candrian to help her get out of The Hive. I conclude the quest by paying another visit to The Smoldering Corpse Bar and talking to Candrian about the experience. He tells me it was a success, and Ingress left me a pair of teeth as a reward. Gross? Thankfully, I have the presence of mind to equip them on Morte, upgrading his bite just a bit. That’s enough for now. I feel like I may be getting somewhere.