The Cyclopean Gambit (closed for JadeKnight and Cherubian)

[Cherubian]

[OOC: I am currently looking for one (or maybe more, depending where we want to take this) writers to continue the below introduction in the most exciting and interesting ways. Ideally you are willing to put on the mantle of DM and manage multiple characters as the protagonist explores that new world.

If you are interested, please do not post in this thread but contact me via PM first. I can and will also give out more background information, or at least my thoughts on the background, that way]

 

[Cherubian]

Any minute now.

I lean back in my comfortable chair and watch the progress bar on the screen. It currently hovers at 98%. Any minute now the download will be complete.

'Cyclopean' it was called. Considering what it promised it was surprising the game had not been hyped more. 'Fully immerse yourself in an antique world of barbarism, wonder and grand adventure'. 'Highly advanced next generation AI custom tailors the game experience to each individual user' I had stumbled upon it by pure chance on Vapor's online store. The screenshots looked amazing, and since Vapor had a generous reimbursement policy I had not hesitated with my purchase. I could afford it.

I might not look like much, a thin and flat chested wallflowery kind of person in her thirties, wearing my brown hair in a practical short cut. But on the plus side I was smart which got myself a well earning job that could easily pay for the high end rig I am currently using and whichever game I would want to feed my escapism with. And this one seemed right up my alley.

There, the download was finished, and the red 'Downloading' button changed to a bright green 'Start'.

A quick click.

An intro starts playing on the screen. It shows a large dimly lit hall, and at the center six males in long black hooded robes standing at the corners of a Hexagon inlaid in the floor. Thier hands are outstretched and they are chanting unintelligibly. As they do, a shimmering globe of light begins to coalesce in ther midst.

The trailer pauses itself then and the camera zooms into the glowing sphere. The completely nude model of a man appears on the right side of the screen. He is joined by a woman to his left in an equal state of undress. Not surprisnigly the game asks me to chose whether my character would be male or female. Looking at the freely exposed private parts I am surprised how openly X-Rated this game seems to be. Then I click on the female.

That brings up another menu showing sliders for literally every single body part. Literally every single one, it seems. This is impressive. Not only the detail level of the sliders, but also their range. Breast size for example. Usually games are a bit limiting there, since properly rendering a pair of large jugs would require quite the polygon count and processing power, not to mention how all the clothing models would heve to be adjusted. But here ... everything is possible. For fun I enlarge the paperdoll's breasts to near comical sizes. Thrilled by the possibilities, I then start to build my avatar in earnest.

It takes me more than 30 minutes, but eventually I am satisfied with the result. A gorgeous blonde bombshell stares back at me from the screen, swaying slightly in her idle animation. I have chosen a fair skin complexion, bordering on pale, and hairless except for her scalp. The facial features have a delicate beauty, almost angelic. For the body I had chosen a lithe build of slightly above average height, slender toned limbs and a small but firm behind. The standout feature, though, are the breasts. Hanging heavily from her chest crowned with thick puffy nipples. I had long debated how far to push the size slider and finally settled on the very upper bound of what I still considered biologically possible for such a thin and athletic build, somewhere between an F and H cup.

Time to click 'Accept'.

Once I do another screen pops up. Now my character is wearing a medium length white robe held together by a simple cloth belt.

On top of that it shows an array of stats:

Vigor: The ability to move with speed and force
Control: Ability to use strength without sacrificing precision
Endurance: Ability to perform taxing physical activity for a long time.
Cunning: Ability to predict what other people will do and to outwit their plans.
Social: ability to understand people's motivations and to sway them.
Intelligenc: Aptitiude for reading and theoretical learning.

All of which have certain subskills which get points based on my choices. And I have 21 points to divide as I see fit, but no more than 7 in a single stat.

Only 21 points? How am I supposed to build an awesome alter ego that way?
Fiddling around a bit I am simply not happy with the results. It all feels a bit lacking in the end. But I am a smart girl, am I not? And I know a thing or two about programming, after all that is how I earn my living.

I press the 'Back' button and thankfully there is an option to save that visual model I spent more than half an hour to create. Whew.

Quitting the game, another thirty minutes are spent scouring the game files. At first I am overwhelmed by the sheer volume, but the developers were very disciplined, with clean folder structures. And they did not use any fancy decryption or compression, so eventually I find a file named characterCreation.json. Inside there's attributePoints: 21 and maximumStartingAttribute: 7.

I quickly make a backup, then change that measly 21 to a more generous 100 and the 7 to 30 for good measure.

Holding my breath I start the game again.
The first relief comes when I can indeed load my visual model without hitch.
And then ... it worked, 100 points to spend! Yay, much better!

In the end I settle on
Vigor: 25
Control: 25
Endurance: 15
Cunning: 15
Social: 10
Intelligence: 10

When I am done and click 'Continue' the game starts the intro video again only to eventually stop halfway through. Then something strange happens. The whole screen blinks a few times and then freezes. A loading bar had appeared but that didn't seem to be moving either. In fact now that I look around nothing seemed to move. The kids running around in the playground that I could see through my window seem to have frozen and before I know it the whole world goes dark.

Once I awake and look down at myself I have to shake my head. At first I can not even comprehend what just happened. Because ... that is not my body I am looking at. I am wearing the robe from the character creation screen. And prominently in the center of my vision is a mountain range consisting of two massive udders. Now I also can feel them tugging at my chest, quite the novel sensation. That realization makes my loin tingle for a moment. I am that sexy bombshell now? I have no idea how the game did it, but that is hot!

If this were a VR game, It'd be amazing, but I do not remember putting on my VR goggles. Also, it's not just that I am seeing things, I am also feeling them. Like the thin silken robe on my bare skin. Which makes me acutely aware that I am wearing nothing underneath. Not even any kind of footwear.

Finally focussing my attention on my surroundings I realize immediately that I am in the hall from the intro. More specifically in the center of the Hexagon, with the six robed looking at me. Is that a satisfied smile on their lips?

One of them, the oldest by my guess, takes a step forward towards me, extends a hand and asks in a rasped voice that seems to make an attempt to be friendly: "Come on, please introduce yourself to us!"

Usually games don't rush you, like ever, unless in action sequences, but when I do not respond immediately these 'cultists' seem to grow irritated and impatient. No testing out the controls, is there. Well, what controls anyways? So I straighten myself, take a deep breath, and do as requested:

"I am Aeliana"

 

[JadeKnight]

The one addressing her put his hands together in front of him and gave a slight bow, which the others followed suit a moment later. They straightened up as the first one began to speak.

"Welcome Aeliana. We called you forth because the great Land of Arthena has come under threat of an unknown evil. We ask you to take up the mantle to rid the land of this coming darkness. Do you accept this great burden?"

Three of robed figures part behind her, opening the way to a glowing portal a few feet away. There is no further discussion as they stare at her, waiting for her question.

When she moves forward, she will find herself teleported to a empty street on a moonlit night. There seems to be little activity around her, but a loud cluster of voices can be heard from further up the street. Light spills from the windows of a large two story building, a steady milling of patrons in and out. A large sign can be seen which reads "The Golden Goblin" arched over a large golden painted wooden cup.

 

[Cherubian]

Now that was rude.

No nice welcoming speech beyond 'Go, get the big bad evil', just shoved through the next portal. Those game developers definitely have to work on that intro. Did they splurge all of their budget on the VR stuff so they could not invest into a proper intro sequence?

Well, maybe I am just to harsh and the good stuff is yet to come. Now, though, I am in the middle of a city at night, and my only possession is the robe I am wearing. At least the ground is stamped and dry, so my bare feet don't sink into mud. I desperately need some cash - and proper equipment - now, the looming evil can wait until later.

So with a heavy sigh I head towards that tavern door, hoping the game put me here for a good reason.

 

[JadeKnight]

Just inside the main doors are two sultry beauties scantily clad and wearing faux bat wings, devil horns, and tails play the part of alluring succubi. Both are employees of the Gold Goblin and they cheerfully register contestants for a tournament and
process entry fees. Armed guards stand nearby to either side of an immense treasure chest into which each patron’s entry fee is added. The guards are on hand to not only protect the money, but to prevent any overzealous admirers from trying to dare the infamous touch of a succubus. Beyond the registration table is the hall’s game floor. Dozens of gamblers, waitresses dressed as succubi, and bouncers mill about the room, wandering amid tables that offer various games
where dealers shuffle cards, roll dice, and spin wheels. Moving through this throng are a dozen more of the barely clad, bat-winged vixens serving drinks and batting coal-black eyelashes flirtatiously for tips. In the center of the chamber is a short
podium atop which sits a massive gold chest affixed to the floor by similarly gaudy chains. On either side of it stands a bare chested bouncer in the exotic garb of some foreign sultan’s court. Each stands with muscled arms crossed over his chest
and with a naked scimitar of prodigious size tucked through his waistband. High above them, from the hall’s cloth-draped
ceiling, hangs a brass birdcage within which crouches a small, bat-winged, pointy-tailed devilish creature that sulks as it gazes
over the room and occasionally rattles the bars threateningly. As you begin to enter, you can feel a slight weight in one of the pockets of your robe, a small stack of fifty gold.

The ladies see you enter and offer you a quill pen and a parchment of paper. It lists the various rules patrons have to abide by during the tournament, listing the entry fee as five gold. "Just sign your name and we'll take care of your gold. Good lucking on winning."

 

[Cherubian]

"One moment, dear ladies." Mostly I am just buying time. This is not your typical fantasy tavern, way to high class for it. But I probably will have to wait until later to find out exactly I ended up in.

What I am doing righ tnow is taking the parchment and starting to read. "Allow me to first check what excatly I am signing ..." I tell the two as my attention is already on the writing. What kind of tournament is this, and what are the rules?

 

[JadeKnight]

The lady who had given you the parchment smiled and nodded. She motioned off to the side where a small pile of weapons had been neatly laid.

"Please leave any weapons with us for the duration of your stay. It's not a requirement, but we do ask you refrain from drawing any weapons to avoid injury to yourself or other patrons."

The writing on the parchment is an old english font, but easy to read:
I,_____________, do hereby sacrifice my immortal soul and the worldly sum of 10 pieces of silver to the Devil to hold in escrow against his own stake of 10,000 silver coins in the gambling tournament being held at the Gold Goblin Gambling Hall of Riddleport on this Oathday, 14th day of Arodus, 4708 ar.
I understand that my soul will be placed on deposit in the Hells’ deepest pit of Nessus. Furthermore, I understand that all winnings shall be catalogued in concordance of souls, to be represented by teeth, eyes, and hearts of the damned. By participating in the gambling tournament and beginning in the first pit of Avernus, my winnings shall earn my way deeper through the Hells on the following schedule:
Dis—1 gold eye
Erebus—3 gold eyes and a Badge of Dis
Phlegethon—5 gold eyes and a Badge of Erebus
Stygia—10 gold eyes and a Badge of Phlegethon
Malebolge—25 gold eyes and a Badge of Stygia
Cocytus—50 gold eyes and a Badge of Malbolge
Caina—75 gold eyes and a Badge of Cocytus
Nessus—100 gold eyes and a Badge of Caina
I understand that if I should lose my stake in the tournament I shall receive the Devil’s Mark and my soul shall be cast upon the rocks on the shore of the River Styx. I understand that if I elect to cash in my winnings before reaching the pit of Nessus I shall forfeit my soul and 50% of the cash value of my winnings for said early departure. If I am the first player to reach Nessus, then I am granted the redemption of my soul and the right to Cheat the Devil and Take his Gold in addition to collecting my winnings. In such a circumstance, all other players shall receive the Devil’s Mark and forfeit their souls.
This is I do swear.
Witnessed by: __Old Scratch

As you continue to look over the parchment, a handful of other patrons get taken care of by the other female and continue into the gambling hall.