Call from the Deep (Grimdark Urban Fantasy Quest)

You do not know for how long have you been running for. All you know is how you are fastly approaching your limits.

Can no longer run

Light after light passed you by. Each coming out of the few flickering lamps still functioning above your head. Barely illuminating the narrow path ahead of you. One that looks very old, and unused for decades. With no doors nor a single piece of furniture to be seen anywhere.

Can not even hide

You can hear the sound of your frantic footsteps echoing loudly inside this decript corridor. Matched only by the sound of your ragged breath amidst the deafening silence of the structure.

Pointing out exactly where you are

"Gakh!"

A single misstep, and you fall roughly into the floor. Smashing your teeth, and nose painfully into the hard, dusty concrete. Adding more wounds to your body, one which is already full of it. You tried to ignore the salty taste in your mouth, instead focusing more on the clouding agony that you felt consume your entire being.

Slowing you down

You let out a painful groan as you pushed yourself up to your knee. Your body protesting weakly from the amount of injury, and activity that it had taken. Demanding you to stop, and take a rest. Even if only for a minute or two.

They will catch up

But you can't. You need to get out of this place. To get to somewhere safe. As quickly as possible. Where nothing can't find you. Some place where you can find help.

You felt so tired

You paused however, at the sight before you. Something that breaks the dreadful monotony of this place. Something else beside broken walls, decayed paints, and pieces of rubble scattered haphazardly into the floor.

Something that can give you hope

Which is why you felt nothing but dissappointment after getting a clear look of what it is.

There, laying in front of you, is a mirror. Cracked, and full of smudges, but a mirror nonetheless. Inside it you can see yourself. See the reflection of your sad, sorry state.

You see....

[ ] A Sniveling Child. Looking absolutely terrified, and wanting to go home. (Age 8-12 Years Old)

[ ] A Haggard Teenager. Looking completely exhausted, and lost on what to do. (Age 14-18 Years Old)

[ ] A Panting Adult. Looking very angry, and desperate to escape. (Age 20-24 Years Old)

You closed your eyes, and shake your head with a grimace. Not liking your current appearrance in the slightest. Something that you will never see in any normal day.

But this is not a normal day is it?

You gnashed your teeth, and withdraw a sob. Feeling miserable at what is happening to you. Not even remembering how you could have ended up here in the first place.

You wanted to cry

This is wrong. Wrong, wrong, Wrong, WRONG!!! Why is this happening? It shouldn't be like this. Nothing should be like this. Why is this happening to you? You don't deserve this. You-

You snap your head to behind you. Feeling your stomach drop from what you can feel is coming from the direction where you had come from. From how it is closing in.

They are here!

You quickly stand up to your feet, and recontinued your run, leaving the mirror behind. Almost falling over a few times due to how panicked you are, but you don't care. You can sense them! Coming in closer, and closer. Rapidly shrinking the distance between the two of you. You need something to lose them!

You do not realize since when did the path become a dizzying maze of twist, and turns. With every sources of availabe light becoming fewer and fewer the deeper in that you go. Leaving small areas of deep shadows between them where little if anything can be seen. You can only hope that they slows down what is chasing you. Giving you time to get away. To escape. To get out of this place!

You then saw something new in the distance. Something that eventually becomes clearer and clearer the more that you approached it, and with hope rising up from within your chest you recognized it as the way out! You can see the end of this dark corridor straight ahead of you, where a rusty door made out of iron is placed. One that is slightly opened, allowing a small glimmer of sunlight to slip through it's gap. Thus, with a smile blossoming on your face at how the goal is literally within sight, you rush towards it with all of your mi-

Too late. You realized suddenly in horror. None of those twist and turns had hindered your pursuer in any meaningful way. You can feel them right behind you as you continue to futilely ran towards the door. How you are practically within their arms reach while the door is still so far away from you.

Full of despair, you turn your head around to face them, and you see....

[ ] Nothing But Darkness
- Barest of Intelligence: Attack everything within range.
- Bounded: Travel is very restricted
- Low Attack Power

[ ] A Roaring Flame
- Low Intelligence: Capable of determining time to attack, and selecting targets
- Destructive Path: Travel will leave obvious signs of passage
- Highest Attack Power

[ ] A Wide Ferocious Maw
- Middling Intelligence: Capable of simple planning, and understanding of spoken words
- Messy Trails: Travel will leave recognizeable signs of passage
- High Attack Power

[ ] A Cruel Knife Stained With Blood
- High Intelligence: Capable of complex planning, speech, and creative thinking
- Controlled Steps: Travel will leave almost no signs of passage
- Middling Attack Power

Name: Thomas 'Tom' Kawakami
Age: 18
Sex: Male
Occupation: Assistant Librarian

Fund: 2

Health: 20 - - 20/20 (Healthy)
Sanity: 10 - - 10/20 (Exhausted - - Subtract 1 Weekly Action)

STATS:
Force: I (0/100)
Heart: I (0/60)
Mind: I (0/30)
Will: I (0/100)

TRAITS:
Creative: You are someone whose mind is always swarming with ideas. When committing an action related to creation of an object, add 1 dice. Give 15% reduction to Mind Stat Experience requirement.

Compassionate: You are someone whose heart is able to easily reach others. When committing an action related to expressing yourself, add 1 dice. Give 15% reduction to Heart Stat Experience requirement.

Bookworm: You are someone whose mind is filled with many knowledge. When committing an action related to knowing certain facts, add 1 dice. Give 15% reduction to Mind Stat Experience requirement.

????: ????

SKILLS:
Passive:
None

Active:
None

Inventory:
-A Plethora of Simple Crafting Tools: They are the tools you used to make simple homebrew crafts. [Add +2 to dice result related to crafting while in your home, Unlock New Actions]
-A Room Full of Various Musical Equipment: It's a room where you store various equipments that you have to play music. [Add +2 to dice result related to expressing yourself while in your home, Unlock New Actions]
-A Bookcase Filled With Books: It's a bookcase containing many informational books where you usually go to refresh your knowledge. [Add +2 to dice result related to knowing or learning something mundane while in your home, Unlock New Actions]

Equiped:
-Long Lived Flashlight: A Flashlight that you always carried with you. It has a long battery capacity.

GOAL:
Pay Your Tax: Collect 5 Fund for your Monthly Tax. Second Failure: A visit from your parents.

Dream of Peaceful Dream: Figure out a way to stop your nightmare, now! Failure: Insanity, and ????

"Guaakh!!" You loudly screamed yourself out in fear. Being utterly petrified by the incoming tide of Darkness headed rapidly towards you. Unable to do even a single thing as it reaches you in seconds, and swallowed your body whole.

You reacted with your mind being full of terror. You swung your arms and legs wildly in every direction, thrashing yourself around like an animal, desperate to push off the Thing smothering you entirely from head to toe. You can already feel yourself choke from it's hold. Feel yourself being tossed around by it from all sides, yet never being given a release from it's cold, firm grip. Making you wish, and beg for someone, anyone to come and save you from this torment.

Then, as if by some miracle, you felt one of your arms somehow managed get through it to reach open air. Giving you an opportunity to frantically shove a part of the Thing away from you, and allowing you out to see....your room?

Still gasping for breath, you felt yourself blink for several times in confusion. Eyes rapidly moving from side to side. Unconsciously scanning every single inch of your room for any signs of that Thing being present. Absently noting how every single light bulb that you have around the room is still on, and how you are halfway through from getting out of the blanket you had slept in the night before.

For some time, you just sat there staring blankly at one of the white colored wall of your room, with your mouth wide agape, and your back completely drenched with cold sweat. Mind still struggling to process what had just happened, until everything suddenly clicked. Making you drop your face into your palm with a heavy breath of realization.

"Just another nightmare." You said softly to yourself with relief evident in your voice, and a subtle shake of your head. Feeling completely helpless by how many times had you uttered those words in recent memory.

You had always feared the Dark.

It's childish, you know, but it was just something that you had already accepted about yourself a long time ago, no matter how much you hate yourself for it.

Everyone told you that there is nothing to be feared, that there are nothing sinister where the light doesn't touch, how everything is just a product of your imagination.

You tried to listened to them. Tried to take the advice to your Heart, and convince your Mind of it as fact.

It never worked. No matter what you do, who you talked with, or what methods you used, you just can't seem to just Will yourself into believing it as true. Neither did using Force work. You always buckled before long, and runs off to nearest source of light.

To you, there is just something about the Dark, about places where nothing can't be seen, that had always unnerves you.

You don't know whether it's because of the inability to see without light, or the belief that there is something hiding just barely out of sight, or just something else entirely. What you do know is how you do not want to be anywhere near someplace without any illumination, and how you resolved yourself to avoid situations where you will be needing to be inside one.

For the most part of your life, you succeeded. Of course, there are some hiccups here and there, but you handled them pretty well if you have to say to yourself. You live off in a well developed area of the town where street lights are plenty, always carrying around a flashlight around where ever you go, and in situations where you were absolutely needed to be in a dark place, you managed to do what you needed to do pretty quickly before the pressure of being there started to become too overwhelming.

At the time, you genuinely believe that you can live off your days that way. That continuing your life the exact way you are then is fine.

Everything is perfect.

Until it wasn't.

You still remember it pretty clearly even to this very day. How could you possibly not? When the memory of it practically Lodged itself deeply inside your brain?

It just happened so fast.

To you, it was the worst day of your life. Something that marked the end of your childhood.

At that place, where you do not want to visit ever again.

Where did it happen?

[ ] At an elementary school in your home town.

[ ] At the edge of the Town of Hullane.


"Haaah...."

You let out another depressed sigh as you sluggishly come out of the bathroom. Feeling disappointed by how a refreshing bath just doesn't seem to cheer you up like how it used to be. In the past, a nice warming drizzle like what you just had is enough to brighten up your day, even if only for a little bit.

Nursing a slight headache, you slowly make your way into the living room of your house to cook some breakfast. Only feeling a slight apprehension by how silent everything is. Something that you need to get used to in a quiet town like Hullane. Especially this early in the morning.

Currently you are living only by yourself. You wanted to show to your parents how you can be independent from them despite your crippling issues. You can't be under their protection for forever, and you thought Highschool to be a good time for you to get some experience under your belt.

When you told them of your thoughts, they gave you this two storey house for you to live in. It's quite cozy, and the neighbors aren't a bunch of assholes. So all in all, it's a good place to move in. It was also just a few blocks away from where your distant uncle lived in where he can help watch over you.

You faintly smiled at the memory of your parents trying to talk you down from your decision as you fried several eggs on a frying pan. It's comforting to know that they cared about you enough to fuss over you. It's something that you are thankful for.

Even though it only reaffirms your course of action from then on.

It had been a year since then. You thought as you prepared your meal on the table, a simple fried rice with eggs. You are not a master chef, but from the taste you had from taking the first bite of your cooking, you like to think you were pretty decent.

As you continued to enjoy your breakfast, your mind began to wanders back to what you are thinking moments before. Now that you had completely settled in, you can honestly say that you like the place. You hadn't gotten close to anyone beside maybe one or two people, but you are confident that you can make something for yourself here.

Then the memory of what happened this morning resurfaces from within your mind, and you take your next bite with more force than what you had used before. "If it wasn't for the nightmares." You grumbled lowly with a taste of bitterness slowly creeping inside your mouth.

By all accounts, what happened to you That Day had totally ruined you. Your paranoia of all things dark had gone through the roof, and you can't go in one for more than five minutes without risking a panic attack. Your childish fear had basically evolved into a full blown trauma from your past ordeal.

But. You thought with a scowl more akin to a grimace as you push your unfinished plate away, no longer having an appetite. It was in the past! Time should have make it better right? More bearable? It has been years. It shouldn't have gotten worse!

But it did get worse. You don't know when exactly it had started, but recently all of your dreams had been plagued by nightmare after nightmare. It was only once per week at first, but you got them for almost every single day now! Can't it give you a break!?

Just what am I supposed to do? You thought dejectedly as you lean heavily on the table. Suddenly feeling all the tiredness from days without proper rest at once. I can't go on like this. I am almost at my limit. Can I just go, and ask my parents for help?

You really don't want to. The whole reason of living alone is for you to learn to take care of every problem by yourself. You can't just go, and quit from it only after one year of doing it.

You guess you can go to your uncle instead, but uncle is....uncle. Never mind his behaviour, you just don't want to bother anyone with this for now without thinking things through.

"For now, I'll just look for something to distract myself with instead." You simply said to yourself while glancing to the side. Viewing the entire content of the room for a minute or two, and making plans to exhaust yourself to unconsciousness with them.

What do you see? What kind of people are you?
Pick Three:

[ ] A few sets of used up medical supplies: It's not a really healthy way to cope, but you found the feeling of adrenaline coursing through your vein as you fight someone to be a great release.

[ ] A door leading to a room full of music equipment: You do not want to be anywhere quiet whenever you have an episode, so music is usually your escape. They let you really able to express what is digging you inside.

[ ] A shelf completely filled with various kinds of informational books: Fear of the unknown is the most likely reason for your condition. Thus it's just logical for you to fight it off by stockpiling as many facts about the world around you.

[ ] A box filled with various kinds of new outfits: You do not really like your current self. So even if it was just for a moment, you wanted to be someone else. Acting in ways you thought you couldn't in your real persona. It's something that you can do very well surprisingly.

[ ] A set of expensive gaming equipment: It's pricey, and makes you look like a vampire in a good day, but you like to make your brain work in an enjoyable way without having to move your body around too much.

[ ] Several unopened bags from various stores: Spend, spend, spend, spend! When feeling down, you like to have something new for yourself, and will not hesitate to chat up to some people when something managed to caught your interest.

[ ] A case containing a well cared crossbow: A gift from your mother. You aren't quite sure what to make of it at first, but the excitement and the feeling of accomplishment from a successful hunt might be what you currently need right now.

[ ] A shelf completely filled with various kinds of fictional, and historical books: You like stories of any kind. Reading what the characters do, what motivates them, and what they feel is something of a guilty pleasure for you. Letting you able to witness their strong personality as if you are close to them.

[ ] Various kinds of scattered exercising tools: What is the better way of removing cold sweat than by replacing it with a warm one? A six pack you got out of using them reguraly is also a pretty nice bonus.

[ ] The latest version of a mirrorless camera: You want to feel included, but you never have the courage to actually interact with people. With pictures, you at least would be able to observe any ongoing camaraderie without actively participating in one.

[ ] A desk full of personally hand crafted creations: You wanted to be productive, and before long your itchy fingers just started to move on it's own. Expertly making what you desired like paintings, knitted clothes, sculptures, and etc.

[ ] A new diary: A completely blank book you had just bought. Soon to be filled with your experiences from day to day just like it's predecessor. Where you can get a closer look of who you are.