“Hey Phil?”

“Hmm?”

“I’ve been having some strange dreams lately. Have you ever had that problem?”

“....now and then. Sometimes it helps to talk about it.”

“Yeah, in my dream I’ve been stuck in this strange inn that keeps moving around.”

“Hmm… might be trying to tell you something.”

“Yeah, but I will have to say that the service is great. I order a dessert every night in my room. You could even say that the situation is pretty… suite?”

“...”

“Get it? Room, dessert…”

“....Why are you like this?”

– Conversation between two Guards, Lenorian Dungeon. AC 1621.

‘Ding

***

Fragments remaining 4/23

***

I slowly fade out of my mental space, returning to the swamp. No time has passed, the mental fight lasting a single moment. My thoughts roil, churning as I try to organize and sort the memories I now possess. I receive flashes of images, strange creatures that I don’t have names for. Minutes pass, and as I start putting things together, I start to get a clearer picture of who I am.

I… am…

Hmm.

Well, I was alive. And then I did… something… to save… someone important. There is a bit of regret mixed in with that decision too. Because by saving the one, I seemed to have given up on a promise to meet… someone else.

Whew.

This is all very confusing.

The nice message says there are four fragments remaining, and if I’m one of them, then that means there are three more to find. Maybe those pieces will be able to give me more context? I mull over the idea before deciding to go with it. What’s the worst that could happen?

Ominous wind blows through the swamp.

I suddenly feel weirded out and shake myself. The light I’m emitting dims and then returns to its normal multi-colored hue. I’ve never been a ball of light before, well… not that I can remember anyway, so I decide to check my new body out now that nothing is trying to eat me. Moving is strange, but with an effort of will, I can make myself float through the air. I wonder if I can control the brightness of the light? With an effort I find that I can dim myself all the way down to almost nothing, and then double my luminescence. A weird desire flutters within my core and I think to myself,

Light on!

And I’m bright.

Light off!

Sneaky.

Light on!

And I’m shiny again!

Light off!

Can’t see me.

A couple of minutes pass, just me having fun before an idle thought comes to mind. Maybe I shouldn’t be signaling that I’m here to whatever might be looking this way? Even though the light I’m emitting isn’t much, I’m sure something might be able to detect it. I look around at my environment once more. I’m floating in mid-air, right above a patch of muddy ground. I look upwards into the sky, and as far as I can see there’s roiling cloud cover that extends far into the distance. I can’t figure out where the source of the ambient light is coming from, I don’t see a sun or moon. The strange thing is the overall color of the light. It’s a dim purple, almost fading to black and it serves to deepen and lengthen every shadow it interacts with. Between that and the gnarled wet vegetation, there is one thing I can already tell about this place.

I don’t like it much.

I keep myself dim and focus back on the matter at hand. I remember the message from earlier. I wonder if I can see my status now? I think [Status], and a strange series of boxes appears.

Name:

[REDACTED]

Age:

[REDACTED]

Level:

0 *[50+]

Class:

*[SHARD]

Race:

*[FRAGMENT]

Skills:

Eyes of Intent, Summon Mount

Okay…

I see small indicators next to each of the unfamiliar categories, so I focus on them. A series of windows appear which explain what they are.

Level: Currently 0. There is deferred experience that is currently not-available due to status limitations.

Class: [SHARD]

Description: An independent soul form, you are a shard of a greater being. Abilities and skills entirely dependent on existent memories or development of the independent shard. Warning! Other pieces of you may have divergent desires to your own. Memory restoration is only possible after full reintegration.

Race: [FRAGMENT]

Description: A fragment of a spirit body. You do not currently possess stats. Reconstitute yourself to regain access to stats. Warning! You are exceedingly weak. Any ‘damage’ that you take will result in discorporation of your form. This may lead to dispersal of consciousness until you are able to merge together once more.

Hmm. I feel disappointed at the lack of a name. I can’t go around calling myself [REDACTED]. That would just be silly. Who thinks of themselves in capital letters anyway? I struggle for a moment, trying to figure out a system that would work. Unable to find a good solution, I place it to the side for the moment, close the screens and take stock of my situation. I try to filter through what sparse memories I have, but though there are hints of echoes in regards to that [REDACTED] word, I can’t come up with anything more concrete. I don’t need to pull up the description for eyes of intent, but the summon mount skill… for some reason it still feels pretty new to me. I bring it up and take a look at it.

Skill:

Summon Mount

Lvl: -

Effects: Call forth a mount

Current Bonus: Relative to caller

Cost: Variable

Lore: "This is my horse. My horse is amazing.” - Pinniped

I read through, and the description doesn’t help me much. For some reason I feel a flash of anger at the bit of lore at the end there, my attention hyper-focused on that name… Pinniped. Hmm, to have such an effect on me, he must be a great enemy. I’ll have to make sure I remember him for later.

It’s only with a little bit of reflection, that I realize that my floating, moving and illumination changing all has to do with the Eyes of Intent skill. Which, when I think about it, makes sense. I’m essentially a floating portion of a soul right now. All I really have is my will remaining.

Hmm.

That, and this other skill.

Summon Mount.

I don’t have any mana or any other resources… I wonder if I can still use it? I concentrate, focusing on activating it, and I can feel the Eyes of Intent skill give me a boost. It’s almost as if there’s a thin film there, resisting my efforts, and I struggle… until it gives way. As it activates, I dim with immediate exhaustion.

There’s no immediate effect, and I try to recover, floating there in an almost mindless haze. One, then five, then fifteen minutes pass before I recover enough to bring my attention back to my surroundings. I can tell the skill did something, but there is no change that I can detect and I slump a little bit, sad that my efforts didn’t seem to work.

For some reason I thought there was going to be an equine creature of some sort. Or maybe a serpent? A serpent horse? My memory of that was a bit hazy. As I take a deep mental sigh, a distant noise catches my attention. Off to my immediate side, some reeds rustle and a thumping sound has my full attention. The reeds continue to move, each thump equating to that same noise and rustle.

I dim my light as much as possible, and try to find some cover to hide in. I already don’t know where I am, and now something is heading this way!

Seconds pass as I hide behind some marshy fronds and the source of the disturbance moves closer. I hear something, a rumbling noise, and before I can figure out the context, the source of the sound comes into view.

With a triumphant leap, a swamp frog leaps over the marsh reeds, landing on a small patch of semi-dry land. He’s little, and as I look closer he seems to just be a regular frog in every way.

Slimy brown skin?

Check.

Warts?

Check.

Yep, looks like he’s a regular frog. I try to keep vigilant though. This is a strange place, and there’s no telling what dangers could be lurking. As I continue watching the frog my tension ratchets, before slowly ebbing away. I chuckle to myself, and a light tinkling noise along with a small flash of light ripples from my core.

It’s just a frog, I don’t know why I was so worried about…

“Who do ya think yer laughin’ at twinkle-ball?”

I freeze, motionless as I stare at the source of the angry question. The frog is staring right at me, with a single eye closed, head cocked with a glare on its face. I try to slowly dim and fade from sight as he says,

“Oh no ya don’t!”

And hops right at me!