A Serious Infodump

The mysterious beauty waves his hand, and sure enough, pain lances through your head as information floods your brain and body.

“Ah! Fuck!” You scream, before opening your eyes to a floating prompt.

Congratulations! You have reached levels 1 through 5 in History! You are now a Novice of History; your ability to correctly recall dates and names you’ve previously learned is improved by 50%.

Congratulations! You have reached level 1 in Oneiromancy! You are now Unskilled in Oneiromancy!

Congratulations! You have learned the ritual Clear The Canvas!

You have earned 50 experience points for advancing a Skill to Novice rank.

What in the Nine Hells was that? And how do you know there are Nine Hells? The game shouldn’t be able to directly implant knowledge in your mind like that: VR technology can only feed you stimuli, not raw data. Panicked, you try everything you can think of to end the program or exit the game, and when that doesn’t work, you scramble to your feet and try to look for a way out of the room. There’s a door behind your guide, and you make a faltering step towards it but are intercepted. For being so slender and delicate looking, the fairy’s fingers are like stone shackles around your wrist and chin as he holds you in place and forces you to meet his gaze.

His beautiful, endless green gaze. Your mind finally slows down enough for you to realize how much you were panicking, and you try to calm down and figure out what is going on.

“Easy kitten, easy. This is a lot to take in, I know. Try to focus on my lips again, and on my words, and on your breathing.” Breathing, right, you should do that. You take a few long, slow breaths, and lower your gaze from his eyes to his mouth as he continues to speak, “You’ve been given some knowledge of the world around you, as well as a means to communicate with your Patron, more or less. It’s not much, but it will help you out in the long run. For example, you now know what that little icon in the upper left corner of your vision is, don’t you?”

You nod. That’s your status screen, of course. And if you have notifications, they’ll be in the upper right. You even know how to open or dismiss these windows and prompts when they come up, and how to learn more about any of the skills, traits, or attributes you have. You know so much more than that, too: you know how to recognize most sapient species on sight, and even what year it is (Year XX of the Age of the Chosen).

Mostly, you know that this is not a game. This is all very real, and wholly terrifying.

“I see that you’re still a little unsettled, which is good, but that you are now coming to grips with reality.” He releases his grip on you, gives a comforting scratch behind your ear, then returns to take his seat. You follow, then take a seat on the ground in front of him, continuing to watch his mouth as he begins speaking again.

“My time here is running short, but I’ll try to contact you again later. I'm obligated to deliver a few messages and get you started, though, and your Patron would be quite cross if I were derelict in my duties. You have a very special and unique trait in Last Cut, but it’s in your best interest to keep it a secret. Your Patron has placed you on a very specific path, and while it’s ultimately up to you to walk it, trying to carve your own path will lead through thorns and pain.” Suddenly, the echoes and his words were one and the same, and a pair of notifications popped up.

Congratulations! You have reached level 1 in Lipreading! You are now Unskilled in Lipreading.

Congratulations! You have learned to speak and understand Sylvan.

Congratulations! You have learned to speak and understand the Imperial Common Language.

“Wait,” You ask, dismissing the notifications, “How many languages are you speaking at the same time?”

“Ah,” He smiles, and the echoes fade away, “Only three, including your native tongue. I technically wasn’t required to teach you a language, but I’m a bit more soft-hearted than your Patron. Imperial Common is the primary local language, and Sylvan is my mother tongue… I’ll confess that it might not be very useful in your near future, but it’s nice to hear you speak it. You don’t have to keep watching my lips anymore. Unless you really can’t help yourself, I suppose.” He flashed a toothy grin, and you blush easily, your tail curling around your leg.

“Next, in addition to knowledge and guidance, your Patron has a single material gift for you.” He reaches into the air and plucks a sheathed dagger from nowhere. He very carefully puts it on the ground, “This is a dark and unique weapon, and it is eternally Soulbound to you. It will return to this sheath if you ever lose it, and you can summon it to your hand anytime it’s sheathed. I would suggest leaving the sheath here: this room is also Soulbound to you. Nobody can find or enter it but you, and you’ll always be able to find it, provided you are in a large enough town or city. If you ever die, this is where you will return to life. I would recommend familiarizing yourself with your weapon before you leave, though. Death is not pleasant, even when you survive it.” You stare at the sheathed dagger, but decide to let him finish before getting your hands on it.

The sound of a low pipe fills the room, and your guide sighs. “Ah, that’s time, then. I wish I could stay longer, but I have other commitments. I will give you one last gift before I leave, though.” Reaching down, he taps the top of your head, and suddenly you are dressed in a cute, if somewhat simple, dress. You had almost forgotten that you were naked this whole time!

“It will vanish at midnight or upon contact with certain metals, so try to find something else to wear before then. Or don’t. I certainly wouldn’t mind.” You blush again, your cheeks burning painfully, but you do appreciate the compliment. A shimmer starts to obscure the beautiful fairy, and he sighs again.

“Wait!” You call out, “I don’t even know your name!”

“Eladar Liekeeper,” He says, smiling one last time, his body becoming transparent, “Farewell, Lucia.”

You wave a shy goodbye, and say “Thank you! For everything. You have given me more than you needed, and I sincerely appreciate it. If there’s ever anything I can do to pay you back, let me know!” Eladar’s smile finally fades. He opens his mouth to speak, but he is gone before he can get any words out. The low sound of a pipe once again sounds through the room, and then it is perfectly silent once more.

Congratulations! Your relationship with Eladar Liekeeper has advanced from Cordial to Friendly!

He now views you as someone he can relate to, and expect to treat him with fairness and respect.

Congratulations! For gaining a new Friendly relationship, you have earned 500 experience. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.

Know this! You have acknowledged a debt of deeds to the fairy Eladar. Refusal to acknowledge or repay this debt will have grave consequences. Always remember, words have power.

Know this! The Fae, more than most, feel the weight of every debt and promise they keep, and draw power from them. Until you repay your debt of deeds, Eladar Liekeeper will have permanent knowledge of your physical and astral location, and you are incapable of telling him an untruth.