When the prisoner didn't react, the two guards fnking him forced his hands onto the surface of the white crystal sphere that stood at over twice his height. The milky white interior of the sphere rippled like water with the contact. Then from the depths bck ink flowed forming words.
Prisoner 24601
Crimes against the Seventh Empire: Wanton Destruction of Military Property, Assault of a Military Officer, Trespass on Restricted Area, Resisting Arrest, and 23 other major crimesSentence (waived): Conversion to Soulless (Destruction on Soul, Repossession of Body by Aggrieved Parties)Crimes against the High Heavens: Aiding and Abetting the First Foe, Treason, Possession of Demonic Soul Fragment, Possession of Celestial Soul Fragment, Possession of Fey-Touched NumenSentence (waived): Destruction of Celestial Soul Fragment, Mind Rip, DeathFinal Sentence: Tribute in the Great Game (Extreme Risk Prisoner)
[Cims]: [Major][Seventh Empire], [Extreme][High Heavens]
Analyzing [Body]…Body analysis complete
Analyzing [Mana]…Mana analysis complete
Analyzing [Numen]… Warning unsanctioned influences detected Purging influences... Warning critical quantity of Lethe numen detected. Moderate memory damage detected. Purging completeNumen analysis complete
Analyzing [Soul]… Warning Severe soul damage detected.Soul analysis complete
Finalizing analysis... Severe memory damage detected. Moderate soul damage detected.
Conditions for temporary [Companion] met. Granting [Boon: A Helpful Hand [Temporary][System][Boon][Companion][Silver Rank]]. Pending.
Conditions for [Cultivation][Immortal Skill] met. Granting [Boon: Random Cultivation Technique [Temporary][System][Cultivation][Immortal Skill][Access]. Pending.
Cimants have 128 cantas to use cims against pending [Boon]s.
Please wait… –{128 cantas}–
As I came to a great confusion gripped me.
Where am I. Who am I. What am I.
I was greatly disoriented as unfamiliar sensations assaulted my mind. I saw only a bright white light and my body felt heavy and distant, irresponsive to my command.
The dissonance faded until only one nagging sense that I had forgot something remained. A distance memory of a memory danced at the edge of my mind. I knew it was something important but as I reached for it is only grew more distant before vanishing. I was left with a profound feeling of loss, sorrow and sadness.
Slowly I came to grips with myself as I adjusted to my senses.
I was standing in the center of a circur room; matte bck wall was made of some unknown material curved around me. The floor under my feet was a solid but slightly reflective polished bck stone. The ceiling was arched far above me; reflected of the ground is formed a perfect sphere that I almost floated in. A hallway that cuts a straight path through the room, so the entrances to the hallway lies just to the right and left of me. I faintly remembered coming from the hall on my right. In the center of the room, submerged halfway into the ground was a white crystal sphere that towered over me. The surface was polished and felt smooth, like touching gss.
On me was a set of loose fitting, grey clothes; pants and long sleeved shirt. On my wrists and ankles were heavy metal shackles connected together by a rge chain. The shackles on my wrists where connected to two quarterstaffs which two guards used to hold my hands in pce against the crystal sphere.
The two guards at first gnce seemed to by humanoids in heavy armor. Then unbidden it came to me automatons. These were not people in armor but rather self-actuating machines made in the form of a human. Both were had powerful humanoid builds cd overtop with heavy, reinforced armor. There were no gaps anywhere; the face pte was an intricately carved mask of a proud warrior, the joints of the armor were mechanical works of art that flowed between the ptes of armor.
As I finally centered myself and what was before me.
I noticed my hands; they were an ashen grey meaning I was a... I am a... what am I? Most races have skin of colors with primarily warm hues, humans, dwarfs, elves and so on. And races with skin of a colorless hue are... I can't remember. No matter how I approached it I drew a bnk. Something to remember, I don't remember my race.
My eyes continued to the lines dispyed between my hands on the white crystal sphere.
On the first line instead of a name a prisoner identity code was dispyed. "Prisoner 24601" As for my name, I drew another bnk.
With a sigh I continued reading through the rest of the dispyed information. Then using what I had read I drew a rough estimation of my situation.
I am a prisoner, who had committed some pretty severe crimes, my final sentence for all my crimes was to become a tribute for something known as the "Great Game". In front of me is some sort of device that measures me. Body, Mana, Numen, Soul. Something else to figure out. The prisoner suit and what seems to be the first analysis would point to me being somewhere in transit before the game.
The st line on the white crystal sphere "Please Wait..." was still fshing but otherwise unchanged in the time it took for me to gather my surroundings. As soon as I noticed, more outputs were printed.
Cimants have 128 cantas (1 nelde) to use cims against pending [Boon]s.
Please wait… –{99 cantas}–Cimant [Seventh Empire] wishes to use maximal cims to remove [Boon: A Helpful Companion].Cimant [High Heavens] wishes to use maximal cims to remove [Boon: A Helpful Companion].
Processing cims...[Boon: A Helpful Companion] cannot be removed by Cimants. As per Section 57(2) of Tributes Processing and Cims: Temporary companions granted to tributes for severe injuries caused during the custody of any Cimants cannot be revoked.
Please wait… –{96 cantas}–Cimant [Seventh Empire] wishes to use maximal cims to remove reduce valid companion rank of [Boon: A Helpful Companion][Silver Rank]].Cimant [High Heavens]' wishes to use maximal cims to remove reduce valid companion rank of [Boon: A Helpful Companion][Silver Rank]].
Processing cims...Cimant [High Heavens]'s [Extreme][Cim] takes priority over [Seventh Empire]'s [Major][Cim][High Heavens] exchanges cims for reduction in companion rank:Cimant [High Heavens]'s [Extreme][Cim] has been reduced.Cimant [High Heavens]'s [Extreme][Cim] had downgraded to [Severe][Cim].System [Boon: A Helpful Companion [Silver Rank]] has been downgraded to [Boon: A Helpful Companion [Iron Rank]]
Please wait… –{90 cantas}–Cimant [Seventh Empire] wishes to use maximal cims to remove [Boon: Random Cultivation Technique].
Processing cims...[Seventh Empire] exchanges cims for removal of boon:Cimant [Seventh Empire]'s [Major][Cim] has been reduced.System [Boon: Random Cultivation Technique] has been removed.
Please wait… –{0 cantas}–
A rush of anger welled up in me after I read those lines. I didn't have a deep understanding of the situation but even from a cursory gnce it wasn't hard to see that these "Cimants" acted in opposition to me. I quashed the feeling, there was nothing anger could do at this time and pce. Unless I wanted to punch one the automatons there was nothing I could do but bide my time.
Duration of 128 cantas has epsed [Boon]s are now final.Prisoner 24601 has been granted: [Boon: A Helpful Companion [Iron Rank]].
Analysis finalized.Proceed to cell.
Warden: "Prisoner, head down the left hall."
I took a moment to think, which was apparently a moment too long. The automaton behind me podded me with it's arm. The was little force behind it but it snapped me from my stupor.
With the shackles limiting my movement to the length of the inner connecting chains I hobbled my way down the left corridor. The guards held their staffs loosely allowing some modicum of difference in movement. At the end the path turned left and widened up with a row of doors on the right. Near the end of the hall, past the many closed doors, I could faintly see an open door.
"Prisoner, head down to your cell." The voice of the warden boomed out.
I complied to the commands, there was little I could do in the situation with how little I knew. I needed more information and to form any sort of opinion.I didn't have time to register that the guards suddenly stopped at the entrance of the cell, before the heavy shackles opened releasing me. The sudden change in weight and increase in motion caused me to lurch into the cell. That and the hard shove from one of the guards.As I spun around to face the guards the door closed behind with a hiss and click leaving me alone in the cell. Then silence.
Looking around I took in the room. The cell was a square room of moderate size, with walls six paces apart. The walls were the same as those of the halls outside, a matte bck with white gss strips along the edges of the walls meeting at the corners. The gss let of a soft white light that lit every part of the room. In one corner y a bed and in another a small table and chair. The other two were occupied by a bathroom and a vertical tube-shaped capsule. Lastly in the room was a rge crystal ste that took up the entire width of one wall and two thirds the heights and in front of it, a crystal sphere on a pedestal, a miniature to the one that had first greeted him. Both were made of a simir material as the rger sphere from before, a murky white crystal partially translucent.
I breathed out a sigh trying to loosen the tension I was feeling. The situation and my ck of knowledge and control was stressful. I tried to calm myself in preparation, to clear my mind, and to organize my thoughts. I should be cool and rational before I try to analyze my position. Emotions will only serve to cloud my judgment and generate bias.
Out of the blue a voice interrupted my train of thought.
She spoke out somewhere behind me in a tone feminine, carefree, and bubbly. "Hello, my name is Drifts Slowly on Forgotten Shores, the 8th fragment of The Forgotten Shores of Cicadia Weeps, descended from the North Wind, and... Uh... The best!" The voice then hurriedly continued as though afraid I would interrupt. "I'm also your temporary companion for the Great Games. And if you are lucky a permanent one in the future."
I looked around trying to locate the speaker but found only the same room. Cautiously I asked: "Is someone there?"
"What do you mean is someone there??? I'm right here!" Indignation colored her tone as she almost shrieked.
Her voice seemed to be moving around but I saw no sign of any presence in the room. "Are you in my walls?"
There was a long moment of silence. So long that I started to wonder if I had imagined the voice.
Then in the same voice rang out again. "Oh. I completely forgot that you can't see me. Don't worry if you would just give the data ste your fullest attention."
Seemingly out of the depths of the white crystal ste a maiden materialized. A high elf with skin a fair ivory and warm undertones. Bountiful silky smooth hair a pitch bck flowed down to her waist. Pointed tips of ears could be seen peeking out over her hair. Her eyes were a pattern of greens and blues with the faintest hints of gold. Her body was an almost unnatural hourgss, with fat in all the right pces. Over it she wore a shimmering golden gown made of small scales that tried and failed to hide her fine physique. Her entire figure gave off a faint golden glow.
I took a long wordless moment to appreciate her ethereal beauty. But I couldn't help but notice that there was a stark contrast between her filled out body and her childish demeanor.
"You like it?" The elven figure in the dispy spun giggling.
I frowned, now the voice was coming from the dispy; the voice seemed to be attached to the figure. "Is that you? I asked.
"Oh this? This is just my avatar that I am controlling. I'm a wind spirit, here in the confines of the Great System I have no physical body only a spiritual one... cause I'm a spirit... get it spirit? a wind spirit?"
When she didn't get a response, she began to pout and even mime crying.
I was starting to have a growing premonition that the handler has no idea what she was doing. Pinching the bridge of my nose I resolved myself to go through with trying to communicate with her and try to understand what was happening. "Hello, Drifts Slowly on Forgotten Shores, could you tell me what is going on?"
The elven character winced upon hearing her name. "Oh, actually could not call me that?"
Why would you introduce yourself with that name then? "Sure." I responded. "What should I call you instead?"
"Octavia. I got that as my real name because I was the st fragment to mature out of the thousands of siblings. My siblings that were still around when I finished stabilizing decided it would be funny to call me slow." Octavia sighed melodramatically. "What should I call you then?" Octavia adopted a far-off look, her brows furrowed as she read something I couldn't see. "You don't have a name registered."
What a strange, existential problem, I can't remember my name either. For a moment I considered making a name up on the spot to hide the truth before discarding it as pointless. Something as minor as being unable to remember my own name would likely pale in scope and impact to other things I had no recollection of. I spoke the truth. "I can't remember my name either."
"Then can I name you?" Octavia blurted out excitedly.
"No." My response was blunt and quick.
"Come on. Please? If you don't let me pick a name how would I even address you?". Octavia pestered me trying to change my mind.
"No." Unfortunately for her I was completely unmoved. There was little chance I would let someone else come up with my name and no chance that I would let someone I had known for less than a nelde to do so. I tried to steer the topic back to the situation at hand, namely the prison and why I had undergone an analysis. "Can you tell me where I am right now? and what is going on?"
As soon as I asked, she perked up completely distracted from the situation with my name. She cpped her hands "You are in the Great Game. Fortunately for you, you asked right before the game is about to start. The introduction to the game is going to start any moment."
Octavia's avatar floated to the side of the of the crystal ste and stared expectantly at the screen.
Bck ink like clouds flowed turning the dispy pitch bck for a moment before receding. Left on the dispy was ink formed into words upon the dispy; they were of the same style and font as he had just seen in the circur room moments ago. On Octavia's avatar inky splotches stained her clothes which she patted making them disappear.
System (Great Game)ID: 5837935.2835069.SMM-DS2120.5
Welcome Prisoner 24601You are a Tribute in the Great Game. For you there are only two ways out of the Great Game, reach the Heavens or die trying. Success will bring you rewards beyond your wildest dreams, the power of a deity, absolute clemency of past deeds and a cim on a new world. But less than one in a million will reach the Heavens. You will compete alongside and against prisoners like yourself, hopeful volunteers, and desperate nobles. You will be tested, by beast, by nature, by knowledge and most of all by man.Now you are all equals within the System bound by its Laws and Rules. How will you py this Great Game!?
I stared at the dispy, momentarily stunned as I processed its contents. It seemed that I was in a rge scale death match, one with particurly bad odds. If this wasn't bad enough, the name of "Great Game" only made it worst, suggesting that this bloody affair was entertainment.
The dourness of my situation unpleasant, a loss of memory, an identity as a criminal, and now to pile on top of that a deadly game with miserable odds and for the entertainment of others.
But still I had to press forward, there was no point to dwell on the unchangeable.
I stared at the "
I stepped up the the dispy and put my had on the
Octavia perked up seeing what I did. "Did you forget how to use a manual interface? I thought..." Before I could respond to her question she stopped. "Actually never mind that we will get to your memory ter. Here I'll just press the button for you."
Her avatar, which was overid on top of the message, moved next to the
Epoch of New BeginningsLike the turning of the seasons every year, the Epochs of the Great Game's Cycle too do change. The ebb and flow of these Epochs, like the world, begin with a time of new beginnings.This is the Epoch of New Beginnings, the prelude of the Great Game. As a Convict you have the unique privilege and burden of being in the first wave to enter Crownfall a returning continent of Pandora.
Selection PhaseChoose from one of the following [Starting Scenario]s to begin your journey upon Crownfall. This scenario will determine your starting location as well as an initial challenge to overcome.You are in Selection Group 25 which consists of 1024 Pyers in total. Your group will have 5 neldes to each choose your own decisions on a scenario. You can reserve one slot in one of the scenarios; other pyers cannot take the reserved slot. The reserved scenario will be chosen at the end of If you have not made a choice by that time.
DreadFae