Original Questant - Interactive Fiction - Exploring a Non-Euclidean Reflection, Traipse your way to the SafeRoom

[Meridian]

This oneshot involves a loose pov of experiencing delusions brought on by psionic causes.
All three are gonna of these are gonna be along the lines of horror theme-wise, and I'm doing my best to tag them appropriately.
Feel free to let me know if something else would have been a better tag

🛑 Content Warning 🛑
Mild xenophobia, murder ideation
🛑 Content Warning 🛑

It had been a pretty good cook all things considered when they'd made camp. He could down some pretty big cognions caught grazing while on a traipse, but cooking? Being stranded out in the void had some ways of reminding him of his homeplanet.. as he always needed someone else on a hunting trip to cook what he caught without burning the best parts.

Only problem with it was that he was still adjusting to.. well just about everything about it.

VerdanDeLyon wasn't a monospecial demiplane in makeup, but he could easily be accused of being a stranger to the myriad species of the void. It had been what.. a couple weeks? That slime chick who'd been showing him around had found someone who could play "navigeer" for the newfound trio while she was doing the 'seer' shit, and as it turned out it was pretty good at the role of a trail quartermaster as well.

What bothered him was that it just didn't fit in.

At least to him, he thought as they trudged through the marshes. The water was tinged red like blood, but the air smelled sweet.. he wouldn't be surprised if when they got back and he touched his boots they'd be sticky. The shit looked less the consistency of blood (and wasn't warm from what he could feel through the boots), and more like what results when you try and make fake blood at home.

That was probably what it was from the smell... but that's... that's a lot of fake blood since it's as far as he could see around him.

What she'd said a couple weeks back was "If you were in a videogame I'd just say that" when he'd asked about shit like this.

So sure, maybe it did fit in with all the weird shit he found himself putting up with... but this 'new friend' shined like it had a carapace along its body... and he knew from how it shined back that it was definitely made of metal... but it ate.

Always asked him to look the other way or let it do that in private, and sure he'd let go, but that wasn't normal.

The whole time he'd known it... he'd never seen its head connect to its neck. Always floating just out of reach, but it clearly was supposed to connect. Sure it tapered but that was a fucking neck, animals have necks.

The slime chick was an amoeboid colony or something right, or she'd somehow turned her (probably human, he hadn't asked, who knows maybe she was an elf first) body into that slime gunk.

He was a primate.

And this thing? Aliens didn't have to fit into taxonomies, and he knew this.

It still annoyed him.

Same went for the magnetic field power shit it tried to explain away what questions he had for it to answer... at least until it looked uncomfortable.

It always seemed afraid of actually getting into a fight.

As it lead the way the moonlight caught the edges along it's pentagonal pyramid body, and he could swear there was a gap.

If it couldn't stop him, the thought came, he could just rush it. Bowl it over, unsheathe his hunting knife, and pry open the seams to see how it worked on the inside.

Learning about any animal was done through dissection sooner or later, and all of us were animals when it came down to it-

It had turned around.. for the least part, but also what mattered. Its body was still facing their route, but its head had spun about to face him, and was saying something from the way it's head flapped open and close...

"Are you hearing me?" It said, clank-clanks happening as it's hinged jaws closed back again, "Declan, do you feel alright?"

He answered with a frustration in his voice with little need to think further before he said aloud, "What color comes out when you bleed?"

That trio of eyes tilted back to widen at him, "Something has gone.. awry.."

His hand went to where his knife had been sheathed on his belt, "Yeah.. and I'm wondering if all this is really worth not working retail.."

The knife wouldn't come free, as if held in place, as he heard it say "I'm sure you're wondering a lot right now. That is the problem."

"Like you wouldn't do the same to me-"

"In the right mind I would not." It said, and it spun its head about to sweep, "We are alone, yes, but how long will that last? Do you have any idea what follows when you act on those thoughts?"

His breath hitched as he wondered if it had been reading his thoughts the whole time.

"I won't blame you." It said, all three bead-like eyes locked on him, "We are within the sway of something horrid, and whatever misgivings you may have are that much worse for it.. and I can promise you that you will only feel worse if you succeed." And it raised one of its three legs to take another step across the marsh, "If you can control your impulses long enough for us to break free, I'm sure Lysojenni can explain to you.." it waved its disembodied metal hands about as if to gesture to whatever the fuck it was on about, "Look. Just. Keep moving, and start thinking about why you feel this way."

🛑
Mild xenophobia, murder ideation
🛑

 

[Meridian]

This oneshot involves a loose pov of experiencing delusions brought on by psionic causes.
All three are gonna of these are gonna be along the lines of horror theme-wise, and I'm doing my best to tag them appropriately.
Feel free to let me know if something else would have been a better tag

🛑 Content Warning 🛑
Butcher's Workshop stuff? Borders murder ideation, this one's probably the most tame.
🛑 Content Warning 🛑

She looked around at the bloodsplattered tiles. The space practically spoke to her about how the same beige and dirtied tiles were once white and pristine. "We're in a fucking Nest!" Tess practically hissed out as she received yet more.

"Cmon, I know it looks weird-" One of the other party members, a spooper, said in earnest to reassure her.

"You don't feel the opportunity to skewer one of us on a hook, Gourdie?" She cut them off and gestured to one of the bloodstained hooks hanging from the racks around them, as the segpock spoke to her about how the hooks were cleansed, renewed, and polished.. but only to keep up the appearance of a maintained space for inspections.

"...wtf" another party member, a kilon man who began to reconsider the impulses that had begun to play out, and why he was having them, said. He'd only recently joined.. and of course now would be when she forgets. It had to have started with an 'e' right?

Gourdie shifted from one vine entangled skeletal leg to the other as they replied, "-no? I know I've got some aura resistance but-"

They were too loud for this to be safe.

What would a pumpkin-headed skeleton that celebrates a grisly farce every day of its life think was wrong with this place? She didn't normally have contempt for them.. but this was the exact situation where they'd be blind to what was going on, wouldn't it?

She'd already tried to keep her volume down when she'd first started, but she needed to ensure the point was made, "Please tell me I'm not wrong here." she said, looking to a fourth member of their group, and this time in hopes that someone not running seerage would know what's wrong without the segpock having to tell them how warm the embrace of blood was.

"I.." The fourth started, a hadrophont, she'd been told.. they varied a bit but this one clearly looked to her like an upright parasaurolophus. "I'm.. I'm uh.." She always struggled to get a word in edgewise in a normal situation, but now? Fretting with the bow at her neck with one hand..

"Just fucking say it for once."

"Uh.." She mumbled again, and the hand at her bow swung down to take the other grip of her stave into the free palm she had to spare, "Uh.. I just... I dont..."

"You don't have to be an ass about it-" Gourdie snapped, and reached out to pat the stuttering mahou, "It's okay, we have time.."

Knowing she was beat, and that sure it really doesn't help any to upset someone anxious without a pursuer's miasma clouding the senses, Tess groaned "Can we just leave??"

"I don't.." The mahou continued to stutter, "I dont think she's wrong?"

Tess wanted to shout 'HA' at that. She wanted to.

At times like this it was important to balance that with not pissing off the other people... who probably had been provided the same intuited weight limit for the meat hooks surrounding them.

"Is.. is this.. is this what they're all, y.." she said, and tightened the grip on that stave like her own personal worrystone, "You know, like?" She said, and turned her head back and forth around as though she was sensing the same bullshit.

"Yeah." Tess said.

"Yeah.." The kilonnese man said, "A lot of them are just fucking like this."

"I want to get out of here now." Tess whispered pointedly once more.

"Everything's been fucked up since the shuffle.." Gourdie groaned.

"So we're fucked?" The kilonnese man asked with what Tess wanted to call a displeased look, but she could never be sure when only so much of that intertwined sigil-like head actually had eyes to emote at her with.

All she had to offer was, "Not if we keep moving."

"I'd.." The mahou said, and began to take steps with the combat boots that clashed with the rest of their frilly ensemble, "I'd like that.. I can't stop thinking about.." The hadrophont tipped their staff to drag the back end through a pool of congealing blood, "Uh.. the stains look like they'd taste good, right?"

Gourdie stiffened up and moved pass Tess, "Hallow's sakes.. okay you're right.."

Dangerous as it was, Tess's own face became plastered with a grin.

🛑
Butcher's Workshop stuff? Borders murder ideation, this one's probably the most tame.
🛑

 

[Meridian]

Spoiler: Used Commands

Well, I was and am intrigued by the sign, but... for whatever reason I really want the flowers more at the moment, lol. Can never have too many pretty flowers. Let's do it.

[X] Klevas: Pick Flowers

[x]Klevas: Collect buttons
[x]Klevas: Collect fallen sign
[x]Klevas: Pick flowers

[x]Klevas: Ask Korite if putting oneself in their own inventory is a bad idea.
[x]Zippi: Attempt to climb the rest stop
Depending on the outcomes of both of those, i.e. a go-ahead from Korite and actually climbing the rest stop,
[x]Klevas: Put self in inventory and then remove self.

Aww, heck, then let's take the sign, too!

[X] Klevals: Collect fallen sign

🛑 This update contains animated glitch distortions.
🛑 This update contains music.

Music is playing
​

[x]Zippi: Attempt to climb the rest stop​

Depending on the outcomes of both of those, i.e. a go-ahead from Korite and actually climbing the rest stop,

Spoiler: transcript

Vae realize it's going to be difficult for vaem to climb up, so Klevas calls out a whistling note to get Zippi's attention.
If vae can't climb easily, vae can always give vaer starter a boost up right?

Vaer starter is a bit heavier than vae had expected... but once they were overhead it became a matter of stamina holding the position while they got a grip.

Their tail swung back and forth the same way it did when vae called them over, and it gave vaem the sense that if Zippi wasn't careful that oversized clip could take a chip out of vaer instrument!

Vae did find it awfully cute the way they swung it about while trying to get a grip on the ledge. Limbs made out of wrapper foil, animated or not, didn't exactly make for the best ones to grasp objects with vae supposed..

​

[ Zippi attempts to climb the rest stop ]​

The tail though... that presents a thought to the forefront of vaer mind..

[x]Klevas: Ask Korite if putting oneself in their own inventory is a bad idea.​

Spoiler: transcript

If vaer inventory links to vaer inner world, and zippi's tail can open pretty wide... Could vae just hop in?
"So.. weird question.." vae starts, and the look Korite gives vaem does not fill vaem with an excess of confidence as vae continues "but I can just put myself in my inventory right? Would that be a bad idea?"

[ Zippi needs a 65 or higher to succeed ]​

Spoiler: transcript

"Yes." They say immediately.
Several seconds pass before the acolyte fills the silence once more, "Yes, it would."
"Most sophonts, in fact, would advise against you doing that."

[ Rolling . . . ]​

Spoiler: transcript

[ curious ]-ity sparked, Klevas feels the need to ask, "Okay, but Why?"

Spoiler: transcript

"Your inventory rather directly links to the interior of your Self." They say, "Being within your own metaphysicality is by no means the problem, countless people do it all the time. Your's Truly prefers slumbering within the comfort of my innerspace, for instance."

Spoiler: transcript

"Where the bad part of this idea comes from is doing it without any precautions." They expand, "Where I work allows and encourages us to have an altered version of the memory of our office cubicle to enlarge and personalize the space. This office may not be perfectly private, but it is not open to the public nor do cognions wander it."

The space Korite worked in did seem to be an office cubicle of sorts, and from what Klevas could remember they didn't tend to be so spacious.. vae would wonder if everyone worked in such a setup in the same place as Korite, but that seemed the case from what they'd just said.

The sound of a soft thudding and sand being displaced from behind vaem makes Klevas say "One moment."

Klevas can hear Korite sighing and saying "yes, do as you will, my expositories will await you." as vae turns about..

[ Zippi rolled a 53. ]​

[ Roll Failed. ]​

Spoiler: transcript

It seems Zippi fell while trying to climb atop the shelter..

Klevas considers checking them out thoroughly, but Zippi rolls over to upright themselves fairly readily and shakes off the dirt without too much delay. Vae can clearly see that vaer starter has some dented and dirtied glazing, but Zippi doesn't seem particularly injured or upset about their fall.

"Sorry about that.." Klevas says, as vae realizes that they probably fell because vae got distracted, "You okay?" vae asks to be sure.

Zippi's tail swings back and forth as it did before and they hum a couple notes at the chriilth'tyn as if to confirm they are fine... and steps closer so that they can nuzzle Klevas. It seems to vaem like vaer starter isn't mad at vaem either.

Well, I was and am intrigued by the sign, but... for whatever reason I really want the flowers more at the moment, lol. Can never have too many pretty flowers. Let's do it.

[X] Klevas: Pick Flowers​

It comes to mind that while vae're on a break from Korite's explanation, vae could collect flowers for later.

Klevas holds vaer sleeves out and takes a good look for any spots where vaer coat weave has grown in long enough, and sets to tugging free strands of fiber vae'd be shedding anyway from vaer hoodie. After this vae sorts through the flower bed at the bathroom to find points where the plants diverge so that vae're not taking the whole plant, and constricts a tendril around the base to weaken the connection before breaking it off. All vae has to do is repeat the process enough times, and then bind the collected sprigs with shedded strands.

[x]Klevas: Collect buttons​

As Klevas is about to get up vae takes another look at the entrance to the button staircase, and begins to group some of vaer digit tendrils to form a holding space, and the others to funnel the buttons to scoop handfuls to fill vaer pockets. The way the magenta and mint tinted buttons caught the light told vaem that they'd make a good accent for whatever project vae worked them into. Vae only gets the single scoop from the doorway, and has to take from the landing where the stairs turn about from the doorway to scoop more out.. though it doesn't take much more effort to grab a few more scoops for vaer bag, so they opt for that as well.

It's almost a shame vae didn't get to pack away the buttons before they changed colors in the NER's restructuring, but vae feels accomplished in doing that now rather than having to backtrack for it.. from the sound of things there wasn't any guarantee that the stairway would be here linked to the bathroom if vae came back again. The magenta and mint buttons are vaer's now, however, so it's some consolation that vae wont miss out on this version of them.

Klevas turns vaer attention back to vaer conversational partner and waves a couple unoccupied tendrils poking out the side of vaer instrument to signal that vae're ready for the acolyte to continue.

Korite readily picks up from where they left off, "Voidtraipsers, those who delve into and traipse from NER to Demiplane to Folded Worlds and beyond alike.. if for whatever reason they deem it worthwhile to explore themselves while out in the open, often observe a more layered 'buddy system'." The alien acolyte brought up a visualization of an individual walking into a free-standing doorway through which elsewhere awaited. "If one person is within, another is without and watching guard." They state, as another figure stands with what looks like crackling electricity orbiting them.

That same visual changes to one of the portal standing idle while the other fends off a tripedal wolf-like beast, "The idea is that no uninvited guests begin to explore one's innerscape.."

They shudder before saying "and I want you to understand that there is something uncomfortable about visiting a cherished memory to find things are not as you left them.. this is also why a common piece of ettiquette is that you shouldn't leave your innerscape standing wide open in the middle of a public space." The visual cues up to be one of a more populated environment as more placeholder people pass by the same open door, "It's all well and good to take a nap or to retrieve something, so long as you don't find some stranger has wandered in and decided to go through your things.. let alone if an antagoniste wanted to ply their trade upon you."

The word 'antagoniste' comes off with a twist in how it's said that keys Klevas into it being another of those 'void things', that Korite isn't talking about a book's plot, but vae opts to not derail and smooth the moment over by offering "Have you ever heard the phrase 'an open door is an invitation' ?"

Korite blinks their glowing eye at the chriilth'tyn from across the telepathic conduit, "I.. I think I understand the expression?"

"I think if I left my memory open to others and someone took something they needed I dont think I'd mind too much?" Klevas says, "But, hm, if I needed it.. but I guess if I'm doing that 'in public' like you said, I'd know then?" Mulling it over, Klevas turns about towards the picnic table to look over things. The segpocks vae'd traipsed through weren't the same as someone's personal memories, "I was unsure of taking things back when I woke up even when I hadn't seen anyone around for.. it felt like I might never run into anyone right?" Vae says with the answer clearly being otherwise now "Sometimes that's how it could be on the surface, but.. it still felt like I was being watched, or like I was in someone's nesting site. I know other species build on the surface and stuff.." and vae couldn't always count on others holding the same values, and begins to find vaemself rambling..

Vae comes to realize vaer point probably isn't any clearer, and that vae're not quite sure what the point of this was.. trailing off as a consequence.

Korite seems as though they aren't sure what to say either, but tilts their head as if to ask if vae had more to say on the matter, as if to ask if it was rude to interrupt vaem..

So vae says, "It's not important.. please, continue"

Spoiler: transcript

"Your innerscape is anchored to You and Zippi alike. When Zippi is ensouled within you, your innerscape is still attached to you, and so they can return wherever you traipse. When within your Self, Zippi remains an anchor."

Spoiler: transcript

"You are in a NER presently, and not within a segpock intended for sheltering. This introduces such problems: How will you know if another cognion, hunting, thinks Zippi looks delectable? What happens should Zippi perish while you are inside yourself?"

There's a pit growing at the core of vaer skeletal system.. the chriilth'tyn is at a loss for what to really say here to the idea of Zippi being hurt while vae weren't around..

That contemplation isn't given long before Korite continues to press by asking "What happens if both you and Zippi occupy your innerscape? And what of the NER's layout shuffling once more while you occupy yourself?"

Vae mostly wants to say that vae understands the concepts being talked about.. but this one.. "I'd still be in the NER?" Klevas asks as to offer something so that there isn't another silence left to sit.

The acolyte merely shakes their head, "What fragile connection you both had occupying the NER comes undone and you come unmoored. This is the same were your Zippi to perish, were you both to occupy the innerscape, or the NER to shuffle its layout once more."

That phrase... 'unmoored', it's connected to how they talked about an anchor.. but ensouling, was that the same?

Vaer inventory is something vae can use with Zippi's help, and Zippi's core thing is connected to vaer core memory.. which is the innerscape, Klevas thinks, but wonders if vaer assuming anything there.. and that when Zippi is within vaer inner world, Zippi is inside them? Klevas figures the 'ensoul' thing is about being inside vaer soul, probably?

Klevas realizes Korite has been looking at them waiting for some acknowledgement, so vae asks, "Ensouling?"

Spoiler: transcript

"I believe I.." They say, pausing, and you can see their eye repeatedly bounce back and forth from the top to the bottom of the bounds of their incense cloud, "Wondrous... .... .... I had not explained that.."

Spoiler: transcript

"I had however shown you this visualization of a keeper, their cognion, and their innerscape." They say, "This is ensouling.. You'll probably want to do that before traipsing down the stairs all things considered, but.." They pause again, and hum to themselves, "It sometimes phrased as welcoming something into you? Think of it like putting Zippi in your inventory.."

They huff, and look back to their end of the telepathic conduit, "Now, to return to what I was saying.. we will assume you were to add yourself to your own inventory, to ensoul yourself, to visit your innerscape, and all was fine..." They say, and shrug, "All is fine, of course, but I will remind you: NERs are not static in their composition or layout. At any time the NER may decide it would be best if two segpocks were not connected to each other," Korite adds onto their explanation yet further, "And were Zippi to be within either segpock while you were traipsing your innerscape, there would be a risk of You coming unmoored from the NER all the same."

Klevas decides now would be best to interject, "when you say unmoored..."

Spoiler: transcript

"I mean that you would not be within the NER. You would be nowhere... and everywhere at once. Complete and total immersion within the void itself," They say, and sigh, "Well the good news is that you'd likely just get spat back out into another NER, the same as if you were to die and not embrace oblivion.."

Korite seems to understand now is an alright time to speak, "It is only a bad idea in the wrong circumstances. If you were at a dormitory, a safehouse, or somewhere else that offered both stability and privacy.. both you and Zippi could co-occupy your innerscape swimmingly."

"Frankly, I will be distraught if you were to vanish, but it would not be the first time some acolyte was working on a questant call from a shrine, only for the questant to vanish from the NER entirely." They say, "So while I may caution you... it is always your right to act on bad ideas... ill-informed as they may be."

Klevas tilts vaer instrument to the side to show a touch of confusion, prompting the acolyte to say further, "I don't see any merit to exploring your singular accessible memory at present. At best you could move some chairs around manually, or manually retrieve tablecloths." They say, and lean back into the cushions of their office chair, "It isn't as though you could be breaking down the contents into their component noemes and doing any sort of crafting with them, nor do you have a need to retire and rest within your innerscape. The Safehouse is close enough that you could traipse there before you tire out."

Spoiler: transcript

Vaer left to hum as vae considers everything Korite's been saying, and decides to voice that "I won't be in there long?" vae says, "In and out isn't that much of a risk it sounds like.."

The corner of their mouth curls as they say "This came off as condescension and a scolding hasn't it?" The chriilth'tyn isn't sure vae'd go so far so vae only shrugs as the acolyte continues, "My response may seem odd.. Im sure for folded folk the idea of visiting and rifling through cherished memories, places that no longer materially exist on your folded homeworld.. I'm sure that is a gland stimulating experience," They say with a mock wonder to their voice, and Klevas is glad vae cannot 'frown' the way a creature like Korite can..

Their attention drifts as they look off as though distracted by something on their end.. but they still look back to Klevas and rounding off what they'd said, "But in-and-out, a short while only, well that is your risk to take."

They sit back up enough to look at Klevas, "Sometimes it is best sophonts learn from doing, so please continue at your leisure. I will await you when you finish."

[x]Klevas: Put self in inventory and then remove self.​

By the bench Zippi trots about the rest area idly. They prod at the grill a few times, and if they had a nose or muzzle Klevas expects they'd be sniffing for whatever might be inside it.

Zippi turns about when they hear Klevas play a couple notes to grab their attention, and as they come over Klevas asks them to open up their zipper.

The starter's tail flicks from one side to the opposite, and they tilt in some seeming of confusion.

You decide to try out another gesture, and Klevas this time raises up one of vaer arms and asks them to open up their zipper as vae lowers vaer arm. Vae repeat the command, and this time Zippi's zipper moves a bit as though to confirm what Klevas is asking for. Vae tilts vaer mask and torso in a nodding motion and plays a couple notes, and the starter opens further.

The chriilth'tyn isn't terribly concerned whether the bench will hold vaer weight as vae climbs atop, but vae are concerned about if vae'll be able to hop into the cognion's aperture..

Vae makes the leap anyway, and feels the wisp-like membrane separating the NER's space from vaer inner world spread like a mist as the tendrils poking out the bottom of vaer jeans.. a sudden shift in the humidity to something less arid, and a stable temperature compared to the muted warmth of a desert approaching midday.

Music is playing

Spoiler: transcript

Something goes here about Klevas finding the room familiar, albeit a bit cluttered

Well.. this is messier than Klevas remembers the place.
With a memory as an inventory system vaer head could get cluttered fast, vae realizes..

The clutter could be worse, but Klevas has a hunch sorting it all out would take a little more time than they have to scope the area about... it isn't particularly well-lit in parts, and it feels like there's a literal brainfog clouding those areas as well. Klevas finds vaemself wondering if this is just a normal part of amnesia, but vae also knows being able to actually explore a memory isn't normal for most people at this point. Well at least people they would've known back home, as it sounds like the people (sophonts?) Korite knows do this sort of thing regularly.

Vae doesn't delay in playing out a few notes in hopes of getting Zippi's attention.

It takes a couple tries, but eventually vae see a zipper open jsut a bit in front of the doorway, and vae ducks to step through and back into the desert.. yeah it's definitely a little warmer out in the segpock.

Aww, heck, then let's take the sign, too!

[X] Klevals: Collect fallen sign​

There wasn't much left to stick around for Klevas reasoned. Vae could maybe gather some of the other things within the segpock, but otherwise? Vae had a safehouse to find.

The sign did stick out though.. so vae looked to Zippi and played out a couple notes, lifting up an arm. Zippi wags their tail out and up to let the zipper keychain slide down it's length and over to the front of their body, opening up to vaer core memory.

The sign is definitely a long piece of metal vae supposes from the weight, and vae manages to lift it up over the opening before dropping it down and watching it disappear into vaer starter.

Zippi tilts themselves to 'look' up at Klevas expectantly, and vaer left to think what else vae could do before moving on..

---

The [ Party ] can be given commands
They could Investigate their surroundings, Examine what may stand out, or even use Abilities they may have.
They can also always Talk with those around them, and Traipse Elsewhere when the time comes.

Klevas will Traipse down the stairway next update.
You can read the mirrored update on Sufficient Velocity, and see commands voted for there.
Voting closes June 5th at 3 pm PST.
​

---

Spoiler: Author's Note

WELP. I was hopeful I could get a few updates out in May, but various things had other plans. Whether it was a series of errands needing to be run during the time I set aside for working on this comic, or personal life / mental health needing attending to, or getting sick with strep again... I was able to work on this update over the last month, buuuut not as much as desired. This is about a normal update's week or two's worth of work that got spread out over a month.
This update got reworked a bit here and there. I realized I'd hit the image limit for a single post on SV during planning and went from "nah I dont need to split this update" to "no, this update needs splitting"... soooo I'll be trying to get a shorter update out next week. The voting choice I'd planned for this update will be in the next one.

Current pipeline will range from

• Finally setting up the new profile page for Klevas
• Prologue update 5 (part 1), whenever it happens
• Rough drafting models for Act 1's opening animation / the background art for that
• Background images for the next few updates
• Character and Cognion designs, whether for the extras I'll be uploading to SV or updates.

Hope you're looking forward to summer! Happy pride!!

 

[Meridian]

hey there, I'm unlikely to get an update out this week due to a mixture of factors.
Due to existing plans for next week, I dont think I'm going to get an update out next friday either.

Due to my pacing issues, I'm not confident I'll be able to get things to where they need to be before the 1 year anniversary. I've had plans for a while to try and animate an intro to Act 1, but as it's looking right now I'd need to juggle trying to work on weekly updates, the prologue updates, and animating while juggling everything else in my life.
There's a chance this is the depressive episode talking, but I am otherwise concerned making further updates may be a matter of sunk cost fallacy thinking. I may cancel the project and move onto something else in the same setting, idk.

 

[Meridian]

Depressive episode seems to have passed, kinda frustrating that I'll be pretty deep in it until suddenly I'm just not, but hey, I got some work done today.

This is a test post. The actual content is an animated webp I'm testing out on both forums, but I'll be redacting it due to update spoilers.

Spoiler: boop

nothing here anymore

and it worked!

 

[Negrek]

I'm glad you're feeling better! The last update was a lot of fun. Love that someone asked to have Klevas put vaemself into vaer inventory, lol.

 

[tomatorade]

Here for catnip. Covering pro-logue numero uno.

What you've got here is veeeeery interesting. Honestly, this is a little bit out of my wheelhouse as I've never really interacted with this sort of experimental, interactive text multimedia thing before.

Thankfully, that happened to make this very exciting. Surreal is a great word for it, though it was still more grounded than I expected. The prose was generally very easy to read, it flowed and let into itself and the multimedia stuff very well. You've got a good use of image here, too. Great integration. I was a little worried at first, but You've got enough description to make sense of the prose without the image without making it bloated or repetitive. The images are very good in general. I like the subtle changes you make in response to the story and the kinda grainy found footage-esque nature of them. Very grainy and fittingly surreal.

Another brave choice is second person. Kinda necessary in this format, but it's always fun to see how authors use it because of how difficult it use to get a handle on. In particular, I think fanfic authors tend to lean too far into the blank protagonist thing when they really should be leaning more towards strong personalities. It's a little early in my reading journey to make too much of a read on... me, but I was pleased to find that the mc/reader/protag/whoever definitely has some stuff going on. Sly little asides like 'yep, that's a wall' are great. Feels very reactive to the audience choices, makes me think this might become some kinda stanley parable meta thing where the mc starts rolling their eyes at the narrator lol.

Anyway, I like seeing the glimpses of personality, here. On to the vote, I've missed the boat a little bit so it's hard to say how much audience decisions affect the story and character, but that' something to keep my eye on.

It's difficult to say how this will go, which is both a strength and weakness of the format, I think. Exciting if you're in the moment, but a little confusing on the outside. There's no real action needed to take on this, but I thought that was worth mentioning. I did end up glancing at some other parts and saw the beginnings of a pokemon-like system of catching lil guys and getting a starter and such, but this chapter doesn't really hint at that so I wonder where that fits into this puzzle. Beside that, one thing I picked up on was the reaction to the pen and notebook. Interesting. It feels like there's some significance there, but how that fits in, I can't say yet.

Anyway, I think that's all my thoughts for now. This definitely feels like something I'll have to return to to get a better understanding of ,but I did enjoy this chapter and my vague, confused scrolling of some of the others lol. Keep it up!

 

[Meridian]

Whether here for Catnip or not, let me give you an idea of 'where to start'​

New readers are encouraged to choose one of three options:

• start with Questant itself
• start with Questant Prologue
• start with some Oneshots in this setting

when I start "act 1", new readers will be invited to start from Act 1's first update!

Remember to pace yourself.
Given the review windows for catnip there's the opportunity to look at the wordcounts and spread your reading out over a day, or even do only one update per day.
whether you binge read or just piecemeal things, I wanna hear what pace you read at.
If this ends up being easy reading, feel free to read more than listed as well.

---

Questant​

Questant started 'in media res' within a tutorial environment.
An individual reaches a safe place to rest for a moment, and has been told that if they seek help from a 'shrine terminal' they will be granted it.
What follows is an extended character creation sequence.

The main route here would be to read at your comfort what comes close to 10k words.

• The Initial Vignette - In Media Res - ~2.5k words​

• Cognion Ritual for the Uninitiated - ~2.25k words​

• Who Are You? - Character Creation ~4k words​

I've blocked out the options so that it's easily divided, as sadly the threadmark index lies due to text elements in panels not being counted (despite the image descriptions being Right there)

Character creation doesn't end until NER Exploration - The Desert - 1.
You could theoretically skip ahead and start reading there if that's more your speed.
You'll miss some worldbuilding passages until I make a proper place to encompass lore, but The Desert Exploration passages near about 10k for 1 through 3 combined.

---

Prologue​

I decided I wanted to run a "here's how to play" prologue of what happened 2 or so hours before Questant's first update.
It's a little bit silly of an idea. Questant's prologue is unfinished at 4/8 updates I have planned out.

You'll want to start with one, but here's the links and wordcounts.

• Prolo 1 - ~1.5k words​

• Prolo 2 - ~1k words​

• Prolo 3 - ~2k words​

Overall under 5 k words.

Due to pacing issues, I won't be doing Prologue Updates again until I'm done with Act 1's opening.

---

Oneshots​

Standalone oneshots within the same setting.
These were written for the TR Fic Bingo. All are under 1.5k words each.
🛑Content warnings are at the start of each entry🛑

• Delusional Parasitosis​

• In-Group Out-Group Bias​

• Abattoir​

Due to lack of images they have an accurate wordcount on the threadmark index.

They each take a lens on an in-universe concept: a [ Pursuer ], a sort of entity that exists and behaves along a series of compulsions and constraints.
In order to safely traipse a [ NER ] one will want to avoid the potential [ Pursuer ] lurking inside.
The horror is intended to not go past pg-13 mild, but I also know each probably focuses on something that might squick a reader enough to pass on reading them.

Characters in these oneshots may reprise as recruitable background non-player characters

---

Other Info​

Questant's origin started as a sketch experiment posted to a discord server to get some commands for the first update. This happened early september 2023, and then I posted the thread in early october 2023.

Update Schedule?
I'd love to do weekly, but you'll probably only see twice monthly updates except for when everything's already drawn and I can get everything done in a timely fashion.
My goal was to have weekly questant updates, and weekly prologue updates... and that quickly went awry.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Heya, back for another round of Catnip, with the same reviewing format that I used as last time. This time, I just went in order from where I left off last time and read up to the first part of the Prologue. Not fully sure if that’s the intended reading order, but I figured that it was good enough:

I am Klevas Mil’zante

Spoiler

- Oh, so the PC is an instrument maker, huh? Though I wonder if he, or I suppose “vae”, can actually play them as well as vae makes them.
- Just filing away that note of there apparently being an “elder diaspora” for Chriilth'tyn, since I’m sure that that’s not the last that we’ve heard of this
- Trippy speech text on the image is trippy
- Ah yes, there’s our PC’s name there. Though the mention of ‘tendrils’ kinda gives me vibes akin to the Hugarok from Halo. Though be mindful that you had a ‘their’ instead of a ‘vaer’ for a pronoun there
- >Your instrument, your mask, and your face. Ogerpon would like to know your location
- Huh, kinda trippy how those tendrils extend and retract based off consciously thought commands
- Korite sure seems giddy that we’ve plopped a PC in front of him. I suppose that’s a sign that he hasn’t dealt with this a whole lot. Maybe.
- “cone incense”, huh? I wonder what that’s for, since that feels like a very specific thing to specialize in making
- Wait, Korite has an inner world? I realized that time and space were a bit trippy here, but clearly I underestimated just how non-Euclidean things were going to get. .-.
- And now we’re asking Korite if he’ll share the love secrets of making those incenses
- Huh, that’s a bit more openness than I was expecting, but Korite more or less has stated that we’re not going to learn too much from him, so that’s probably our sign to move along
- >burning voidclams . Well, that got ever so slightly unhinged there. Maybe. I do feel the topic of voidclams coming up feels a bit sudden here relative to the earlier conversation about incense
- Oh, so voidclams are basically the “fast travel” cognion given how they apparently have uses for crossing planes… which I’m pretty sure that is as big as clue as any that the audience didn’t pick one for Klevas
- >”phantom qualia” . Not sure what that is, but I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ve heard of it
- NERs are apparently unstable and unpredictable spaces. Kinda reminds me of Mystery Dungeons from the various series that incorporate them, dunno if that was an inspiration here
- Oh, so voidclam smoke also can be used as some sort of indicator of stuff that’s around us. Sounds like that’d be handy for warning of incoming hostile encounters
- And they’re apparently used to seal off parts of NERs that degrade too much to be safe. Definitely handy
- Oh, so Korite straight up advises us to get a voidclam. I mean, they certainly did sound handy earlier, so…
- And it’s time to pick a core memory, and just like us, Klevas’ reaction can basically be summed up as:

- Aaaaand it’s time to pick a core memory. Let’s just go ahead and move on to see what that entails.

Core Memory Selection

Spoiler

- Oh, so that’s why we had that diversion into the scrapbook last time. Those pictures sure are familiar-looking
- Also, Klevas sure put a lot of emphasis on that bird. Wonder if it’s a sign of something deeper with him, or if he’s just a bit ADHD
- And Korite apparently finds our own memories a bit weird given that they’re raising questions for him
- >"How peculiar.. you have a tautologically infinite memory going on here." Korite states, and continues to inform you that a self-sustaining setup could be easily built within.

- >the skybox of the memory . Oh, so these memories we’re navigating are meant to have finite dimensions… I think, anyways.
- Oh, so we’re basically picking an environment to go looking for our first thought buddy/Pokémon thingy. I suppose that’s why this is called Core Memory Selection here
- Oh, so whatever memory gets used as a core can’t be explored later? Or at least I think that’s the implication behind Korite’s recommendation to use the memory of the workshop as a nest and not a core
- >”ensouled wild cognions”. Wait, so what are unsouled ones like then?
- And Korite is apparently quite taken by the dumpy office space option. Might have been priming the audience a bit, but I suppose that from the perspective of someone reading this after the fact, that it’s a good way to keep suspense… well, mostly, since there’s a result post like two right after this.

Prolo 1

Spoiler

- Ah yes, time for something completely different. Though if this is not meant to relate to the main plot thread, it probably makes sense to say so a bit more bluntly in your author’s notes
- You’re missing some apostrophes for your “don’t”s in this opening bit here
- IMO, for these sample choices, it probably makes more sense to show the full range the players would’ve gotten to choose from since this is effectively serving as a tutorial for the game
- >”There are more important things, right? Such as whether you're somewhere safe or not.” Which is as sure a sign as any that we’re not safe right now
- Lotsa exits, even if only one is passable at the moment. Though I suppose that it’d be on brand for a tutorial to be a bit more linear than normal
- Ohai, messenger bag. Let’s see what’s inside.
- Ohai gel pen and scrapbook. Though did you doodle these figures yourself? Since they have a nice style to them
- I actually wonder if this is the same scrapbook that was posted earlier in this RP, since that can’t have been a coincidence, right?
- Whelp, looks like we’re not repeating the contents of whatever’s in that thing if it really is the same scrapbook
- >”Write on the wall ‘SOS’” . Bruh, this is a room with only one functional exit at the moment? Who on earth is going to see this thing?
- Wait, was it already mentioned that we had protein bars prior to this point? Since this feels a bit sudden
- >”All you need to do is play the waiting game.”

- Well, that’s already something going wrong in live-time, even if it wasn’t quite as dire as I assumed
- Wait, wait, so did we put up a new message? Or was the SOS strikethrough what our message was supposed to be? If this is meant to be a mockup a player playthrough, it might have made sense to include some sort of “pick a message” stub prompt or something like that
- That… doesn’t look like a normal air vent, just saying.
- Bruh, how many times have we gotten jerked around thinking we were out free only to discover we weren’t? Why are you so reflexively convinced the light at the end of the tunnel is going to be different?
- >tunnel with stars visible in it . Just what on earth are we tunneling through? .-.
- Oh boy, we’re apparently in SPAAAAACE. And somehow still have gravity, but let’s not think too hard about that
- And we seem to have stepped outside into some woods near a sketch-looking bunker. In broad daylight. Looks like we’re going through all the trippy non-euclidian travel in this RP
- >[X]Go around and greet the voices . This is either going to be a really good, or really, really terrible idea
- >these messages on this image . Yeah, I’m leaning towards the “really, really terrible” end of the idea scale right now
- And we’re apparently headed off towards those ominous voices in the background… somewhere. To be continued whenever Prolo 2 rolls around.

Alright, that was a bit of a trippy ride, and I’m not fully sure what on earth just happened here. But given the thread name, that was probably the point. The dreamy and surreal experience is back as firmly as ever, and the parts of the RP I read did a good job at selling the sense of there being a big world with more stuff out there for the audience to want to get to learn about and discover. Klevas as a PC seemed to have some interesting character quirks to him, though I’m wondering if and when the players willl actually get to do something with that instrument-making skill of his.

As for flaws, I’m not sure if it was fully intentional or not given that Klevas is meant to be a proxy for the audience, but I found myself getting lost with a lot of the jargon. It might make sense to maintain some sort of glossary of terms introduced by the RP for players to cross-reference, especially if they’re coming back to the RP after a bit of a hiatus. I felt that while Prolo 1 worked in the sense of a narrative, that as an update that is meant to have “example commands”, that it probably would’ve made sense to include full mock-ups of the commands and choices that players would’ve selected, even if they’d ultimately have been hidden in spoilers for the sake of visual neatness.

But altogether, I thought that things were a fun ride @Meridian , even if I didn’t fully understand what was going on sometimes. But you clearly put a lot of work and effort into this RP, and even just reading back what’s there of it is a bit of an experience of itself.

Hope the feedback helps, and best of luck with your writing and GMing.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Oh, an interactive fic? I'm curious, and also a bit confused.

What stickers? You mention them but don't tell us what they are. And if we missed an exit how do we know that?

You did these pictures? They're neat.

I don't understand the point of crossing out the SOS message.

How long are we in the underground?

Ooh I really like the way you convey the idea of corrupted and hard to hear speech. Though I almost...wouldn't use the transcript. Not being able to make it out is more impactful, especially since we aaaaalmost can, so it's tantalizing! I wonder why the people can't hear us.

Hmm I was trying to read the full prologue but the second link is broken and it says you won't be updating until you're done with another part so I assume that's intentional.

I'm curious where this will go but it's also very hard to wrangle without pages to turn through. Then again, it doesn't seem as if it's going to let us choose our own adventure despite giving the presentation of one of those books, so I'm wondering if the rest of it will turn out that way. As I said at the top, I had thought this would be interactive, and yet it was just straight down. The multimedia is a nice touch though!

 

[Meridian]

hey there 💃

I've been busy in real-life and otherwise. The usual "life keeps going faster and faster" trying to keep up with any number of things.
Questant definitely could've been paced better, and the track I'd wanted to get things on by the 1 year anniversary were a bit different than the latest accidental hiatus.

The plan so far is to get 1, maybe 2, very loose updates put out.
They'll be different, however:

• The next couple updates will be 'on-rails', so there wont be any choices.
  • I really wanted to give yall a narrative puzzle, but I designed it assuming I could get all the prologue updates done in-time. I got a bit too in my head about drafting those last four updates, and work on them hasn't happened in a while, so while I may go back to them, the 'prologue' is a perma-hiatus
  • Questant as it stood was meant to be a tutorial dungeon before opening into a sandbox. The tutorial dungeon hasnt panned out as intended, and while I could keep doing sporadic updates, it truly is something I struggle to put my adhd attention into even with medication, caffeination, and a couple supplements intended to work with my adhd meds.
  • All that together? these updates will be messy. they might be 'clip show' with scene skips.
    • "here's that lore talk, some light setup, the puzzle, the puzzle solved" - Klevas takes the shortest route, and gets a new usable item.
    • Caestellau rejoins the party, interaction with The Cleric (talksprite will be... placeholder sketch =w=;;), interaction with Caestellau's friend (may reuse the panel sketch). This one will host the only choice, if I manage it
    • Loose animation prelude to what comes next
  • So that's 1, maybe 2 updates. A lot lower quality on any account for my standards, but this sometimes feels torturously slow of a narrative to run, and I expect for readers it's about the same. This was meant to be gradual, but oh boy weekly updates weren't something I could manage.

What comes after this? New thread. I want a cleaner slate for newer readers to be introduced to, and less of a slow-burn.
If people want the vibes, the backstory, they can check this thread out, but otherwise? I'll have a loose recap.

What creative time I've had has gone into either Bioship's prep (which is nearly done, so that'll resume sometime october / november - I may cancel it, but optimistic right now), and chipping away at how I want to open Act 1
I'm not 100% sure I'll manage it for the oct 1st deadline, but we'll see.

edit: I was in a rush to get these posted before a date night, so oops. "bioship" is a side-project on sufficient velocity that took a bit of my time back in late june through mid august. I may do an Act 1 thread on this forum, but I may keep it in the same thread.

 

[Negrek]

Thanks for the update! Good luck getting everything wrapped up here--I know you're excited to get on to other things.

 

[Meridian]

Anniversary post to wrap things up may not happen. If the abnination happens it wont be until end of october at earliest.
Swapped to a new med, not doing well / havent been able to work