Chapter 11 - "Soul-lution"

Chapter 10 < Chapter 11 > Chapter 12

Chapter 11 - "Soul-lution"

   I'm starring at the screen with the list of souls, not sure what do. At some point, I'm curious what this is about, and would like to proceed and see what I can do with them, but on the other hand ... [Should I really?] Messing with someones soul ... this is not something one would call "ethical". [If something, than it's the exact opposite of that!] ... But what if I can bring them back? After discovering all these powers on mine, it wouldn't even surprise me.

After struggling with myself for a bit, I decide to at least check my possibilities. For that, to make sure I don't do anything I may regret, I choose one of the rats souls. [No one would miss that one, right?] And like expected, a new window appears:

){}---------------------------------{}(

Soul:

Creature: Rat

Soul: Weak

Absorbed Amount of Dungeon Points: 5

Options:

Convert to Soul Core - 10 DP 

Destroy - 5 DP 

Release - Free 

Go back

){}---------------------------------{}(

It gives me more information about the deceased creature. [Let's see ...] The first weird thing that occurs to me is the "Absorbed Amount of Dungeon Points" line.

["Dungeon Points" ... I'm sure it refers to the DP, I'm using. But "Absorbed amount"?] Is the Soul absorbing DP from me? It would explain some of the fluctuation in the DP amount over the last days, but ... [What would be the benefit of capturing souls, just to feed them with DP? This is not very...]

... And then it clicks in my mind!

[It's not "the soul absorbing my DP", but more like, "the DP absorbed from it, when it died"!] I let the thought spin around in my mind for a while. [It must be! ...] It would even explain why the Ashrani killed that ape in my trap. They knew, I need it! I should ask Orsha about it, just to make sure. Why haven't I thought about it earlier? ... [Why should I?!] Turning dead creatures into some kind of currency is not an overly rational or logical thing to do ...

Now, this is again leaving a bed taste behind. [What does that mean? That I need to kill stuff to grow?] Speaking it out loud, is suddenly making it sound not that ridiculous at all. [Killing to survive ...] That's the way of nature, after all. And if I need to eat to survive, then I can't be that godly, too! For some reason, this thought make me feel relieved. I guess, I'm not ready to take on the responsibilities of a god. Right now, I'm barely carrying the responsibility for ... what ever I am now.

[Well, enough of that!] There's an option beneath the stated information, that begs to be noticed: "Release"! [So, I can release them after all!] I wonder what will happen to them, if I do ... Are they going to heaven, or something? Or will they be reborn? [Hmm ...] I decide to release that rat, to see what happens, but the only notifiable thing is, that it disappeared from the soul list. [I hope, it's not haunting my dungeon now ...]

Since there where some more options to check, I choose another soul to inspect. A harpy this time:

){}---------------------------------{}(

Soul:

Creature: Harpy

Soul: Weak

Absorbed Amount of Dungeon Points: 104

Options: 

Convert to Soul Core - 10 DP 

Destroy - 5 DP 

Release - Free 

Go back

){}---------------------------------{}(

The first and only difference I notice, aside from the souls name, is the amount of absorbed dungeon points. [104 DP, that's not a small amount for a single creature!] Now I find it sad, that the one Harpy, which is lying outside now, was not absorbed. It feels like, some DP have gone to waste.

Next, there's that option, called "Convert to Soul-Core". It makes me think of my dungeon core, maybe it's something like that? ... Nah, if it really will create another dungeon in my domain, with the mentality of a Harpy, that would just cause trouble. [I don't even want to try that!] But, couldn't it be, that I was created in the same way? Isn't it possible, that another dungeon spawned me? ... Well, there's no way to be sure at the moment, but that's the best explanation I got so far. I should keep my eyes open for traces of other dungeons in the surrounding. But there is also the price ... [10 DP, that's rather cheap, to create a whole new dungeon.] Still, I don't intend to fool around with that, until I have more information about it.

The last option is to "Destroy" a soul. Compared to releasing it, which is free, this one even costs DP. Not much, but still ... [What, in all world, would I do that for?] What possible advantage could I get from destroying a soul? [Wait ... could there be a disadvantage in keeping one? Even then, why not just release it? ...] Even for a hated enemy, like the Harpy, destroying it's soul is quite radical. There are some more portions of the menu to explore, so I may get an answer elsewhere. I'l ignore it for now.

With this, I conclude my inspection of the soul management for the moment, and turn back at the main menu, to decide what to check out next.

The next thing that catches my eye is "Achievements". This intrigues me, because it sounds like a goal to reach. [Maybe it will finally give me a hint on my purpose, or the meaning of my existence ...]

... But it doesn't.

Upon selecting it, another new window opens, with another new list. An awfully long one at that ... Scrolling through the list, I randomly read some of the entries.


Achievement: "Alert!"
Condition: The Alarm activates at least 10 times (5/10).
Reward: 10 DP, New Item: "Alarm Crystal"


Achievement: "Tightly shut"
Condition: Place at least 10 Doors (1/10).
Reward: 20 DP, New Trap: "Trap door"


Achievement: "Hit it!"
Condition: Kill at least 10 creatures with traps (2/10).
Reward: 100 DP, Auto reload option


Achievement: "Learning to learn"
Condition: Research at least 5 Projects (0/5)
Reward: 50 DP, Research cost and duration is reduced by 5%

... ... ...

(A.N.: To view the whole list, click here: "Achievement List")

While it's not giving me a direct answer on what I "should" be doing, this list begins to fascinate me more with every entry I read. The structure is easy to understand; there's the Achievement name, the condition to fulfill it, and a reward. A reward seems to always involve DP, together with something else; an item, new options, etc. I'm really glad to make this discovery, because this gives me a clear source of income. It tells me what to do, and what I get for it! I'm still not entirely sure about the "get DP for killing stuff"-thing. Though, a lot of the achievements involve killing creatures and collecting souls and such. But there are enough others too ...

Most of the conditions are colored red, which seem to indicate, that they are not fulfilled. But there are a few green ones too. [Looks like I finished some of them already.] I take a closer look at the first fulfilled challenge I find:


Achievement: "Soul Phisher"
Condition: Have at least 10 souls (10/10).
Reward: 100 DP, "Absorb Soul" Option


Without doing much I already acquired enough souls for that one. The reward promises me 100 DP as well as a new option for souls. ["Absorb soul" ... I haven't seen it anywhere in the souls menu, so does that mean I didn't get it yet?] I try selecting it, and get a small window, that asks me if I want to finish the Achievement. As I accept it, it disappears and a new entry comes in its place:


Achievement: "Soul Catcher"
Condition: Have at least 50 souls (30/50).
Reward: 300 DP, "Create Soul Crystal" Option.


[Ah, so I need to confirm it first!] The Conditions for the new one are higher, as is the reward. But did I really get the reward? [I have to check that!] Without delay, I inspect my DP balance first. [2156 ... It really increased by 100, awesome!] As for the new option; I open the screen for the Harpy again, and there is really a new option to absorb the soul. I have no clue what that means though. What will happen if I absorb it, will it become part of me? Or is it just like eating? Will it make me stronger?

Thinking how this could make me stronger and more powerful, I can't withstand the urge to try it, but for that I choose a rabbits soul. Not that I feel sorry for the Harpy in any way - it's just, if I really somehow melt together with its soul, I want it to be something less violent. I choose the "Absorb" option, and get a confirmation screen, which says "Absorb Rabbit soul for 10 DP?" [Ah, I see, it's just converting it to DP ... simple, but still not a bad thing for emergency's.] This makes the "destroy" option look even more useless then before. And the "release" option as well! I already regret, that I released that rat ... [Still, experimenting is necessary, so it served the purpose!] For a moment I consider to absorb more souls, but they may have more purpose elsewhere. At least I need 50 of them to get the next achievement, which allows me to make "soul crystals" ... what ever that is.

Back to the Achievement list, I search for the next finished one:


Achievement: "Your Soul belongs to me!"
Condition: Collect a total of at least 10 normal Souls (10/10).
Reward: 200 DP, "Absorb Knowledge" Option.


This one needs souls too, but it counts "Normal Souls" only. Gladly I have enough of them too. [This is all thanks to the Lizard-Man ... well, most of it.] If they haven'd been around, I wouldn't have this reward. [I should probably reward them too ...]

But then I look at what the reward actually is [... "Absorb Knowledge" ...] If I would have a heart, it would now skip a beat. This may be the answer to all my begging for more information. If I guess that right, it's supposed to allow me drawing information out of a soul ... I accept the achievement right ahead!

But which soul to absorb?

The Ashrani are out of the question! I will not mess with their souls, they didn't deserve that. Aside from this, they are so cooperative, that they will probably tell me everything I ask for anyway. Orsha even seemed happy about my interest in them, and gladly answered all my questions.

[Should I go for the dark elves then?] They may have important information about, what happened before my arrival. This could answer some serious question about myself. [No, this can wait!] They will not run away or anything. Right now, I'm afraid of an attack from the humans. So, going for the soldiers would be the most rational decision. Maybe this will give me Intel on what I should expect. [It's decided!]

I open the screen of one of the human soldiers:

){}---------------------------------{}(

Soul:

Creature: Human "Tamani"

Soul: Normal

Absorbed Amount of Dungeon Points: 189

Options:

Convert to Soul Core - 100 DP

Absorb knowledge - 50 DP 

Destroy - 50 DP 

Release - Free

Absorb - +100 DP 

Go back

){}---------------------------------{}(

It's the first time that I look at a "normal" soul and there is an obvious change here: the prices! everything just costs 10 times as much as a weak soul would. Also, seeing the growing list of options makes me proud in some way. It gives me the feeling that I'm getting somewhere, a feeling of progress.

I take a moment to calm down and clear my head ... I wonder, how will the new knowledge be presented to me? [Will another screen open? will I get it directly into my mind?] I'll see in a moment! I nervously select the "Absorb knowledge" option and await the result. The effect starts immediately with light particles coming together from thin air. After a few seconds, they begin to form some kind of block that hovers in front of me. [Is it a box?] After a few more moments the glowing fades away, and the item falls to the ground. As I look what it is, I'm surprised by the result. It's not a box, it's ... [A book!]

It's a rather thin book, but with a heavy light-bluish cover which even has a name: ["The happy horse" ... What the ...] This totally sounds like the name of a fairy-tale! I'm rather disappointed! Not only, that I have to manually read it, which I don't have time for. It also seems to be some childish good-night story ... That's really not what I expected!

I shortly flip through some of it's pages, before placing it on one of the crates in the corner. For a child's book, it should have some pictures ... [50 DP for ... "that"?!] I am really disappointed. For a moment, I consider repeating the process with another soldier, in hopes of getting something more interesting, but if it ends up being something useless again, it will be just a waste of DP...

I just realize, that I'm back at the soul list-screen. When I look for the Soul, I just absorbed Knowledge from, I can't find it. [It's not there anymore!] The soul of the poor man was turned into a child's-book ... [Honestly, how much more disappointing will this get?!] Another soul wasted ...

Instead of grooming about it, I go back to the achievement list and look for another finished one.


Achievement: "Eat to survive"
Condition: Kill at least 10 omnivore creatures (10/10).
Reward: 20 DP, New Item: "Cord"


An achievement for killing a specific kind of creature. The reward is 20 DP and a "Cord" ... [Just one?] No info on how long it is. I also have no idea what I should use it for. Well it doesn't matter, I'll just accept it ... but nothing happens ... I expected the item to appear in front of me, like the book did, but ... nothing. [Now this is bugging me!] I open up the item list, to see if it's there, but I can't find it there either. [Strange ...]

Not willing to give up, I look closely around the room and through some other menus, to see if I miss something, until I finally figured it out: The cord is now registered in the item creation section! [It's not an item, but a blueprint for one!] Now, that's more useful! Even if I still don't know what I would need a cord for ...

Then, without further delay, the next one:


Achievement: "Light it up"
Condition: Excavate at least 100 m² underground.
Reward: 10 DP, New Item: "Torch"


[Yes, torches!] now I can light up the underground. Aside from Orshas "fire-to-carry", which not lasts forever, I don't know what other lighting tools the Ashrani use, so this may come in handy. Like expected, the torch got registered as a spawnable item too.

The last accomplished achievement is this one:


Achievement: "Poke it"
Condition: Kill at least one creature with a trap.
Reward: 10 DP, "trigger delay" option.


["Small-burning-man", your sacrifice has not gone to waste!] This gives me a new option for trap modifications. I remember there being a grayed-out option in the traps info screen, that I couldn't access. [Let's see if that changed.] I open the boulder trap, and look at it, but there's no change. [Ah, it's a "Trigger delay" option.] I open the info on the pressure plate and ... [There it is!] By paying additional 5 DP, I can set a delay in effect for a trigger. Especially for this pressure-plate, it should be a good idea. With a delay of one or two seconds, the victim will feel save after stepping on the ground. This way, the dropping boulder would be even more unexpected ... [Another devilish idea for killing people] ... Can I be called sadistic already, or is it still considered "self preservation"? [As long, as it is for protection, I guess it's fine to think like that.]

When I have some more time to my disposal, I'll check the other achievement and see, if there are some easy to accomplish ones. Some time has already passed since I started this, and I don't know when Orsha will be back. I want to learn more about my possibility before she returns.

[So, therefore, let's see what else there is ...]

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A.N:
The whole list of achievements was not implemented here, because it's not ready yet (And because it's too long). There are constantly new achievements added. You can find the current list here: "Achievement list"
Be aware that it's subject to change, though.
If you have a good idea for an achievement, let me know in the comments and I will consider adding it.

Chapter 10 < Chapter 11 > Chapter 12

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