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Angel Killer: A Hard Mode Quest

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Scraped from here.

There are times where one must acknowledge the depth of their situation and...
Ars Poetica

Ars Poetica

ULTIMA RATIO NEMO OBLIGATUR
Location
The Kingdom of Fiore
Pronouns
He / Him / His
Scraped from here.

There are times where one must acknowledge the depth of their situation and accept it for what it is. Sometimes, willing yourself out of a deep hole or off the top of a mountain will only will you to waste time willing for something better. And willing for something better, no matter how much you'll will for it, will yield nothing.

In a time like this, the situation becomes clear. No matter if it is a deep hole or a high mountain, to do nothing is to accept suffering as a permanent, terminal fate.

So to avoid such a permanent, terminal fate as suffering, what can one do but examine their resources and plan accordingly?

Now, let's see. What's here? Well, there's a book in the sand… and you're wearing clothing. So, that's sort of good? It's better than nothing… Ah! And there's a grey windbreaker jacket with lots of pockets. So that's very good in case it gets cold or if you want to store things. What else? Hmm… no wallet, no phone, but what else is present?

A gust of wind blows through to make you shudder. May as well go for the jacket…

You keep the outer layer unzipped. It's too warm to zip up fully, but cold enough that the inner shell is needed. There are a lot of clouds, so it might rain soon…

Let's see. What else, what else?

That's everything? That's everything.

Checking the surrounding area… it's a small island. Three trees are over there, to the north… Oh and there's a hill going up towards the east. Probably leads to the side of a cliff from the sound of those waves. Looking west… that's the other side of the island. Mostly sand. Looking south mostly leads to grass. After a short bit, it just stops. So… that's another cliff.

The situation, at least, could be worse. Searching through the sand yields the discovery of a simple trench knife and its sheath… That's useful… It's a shame you don't have a belt. You resolve to acquire one later.

You look around again. You've no phone or means of communication. Should you call for help…? No predators on the island, so you won't attract any lions to tear you limb from limb…

…meh, it's worth a shot. You try shouting for help.

"Hello! Is there anybody there?!"

A few of the leaves in the trees swish and move to the wind. This is the only sound in response.

A person could go insane pretty quickly on an island like this. It's too small. There's no food. There's no life.

Going insane is a bad idea right now. That is as off the agenda as panicking. You can't distract yourself with insanity! No distractions. No! They can't be afforded.

…

……

………what's this?

Until now, you ignored the book and instead focused on nearby objects that could help you in the immediate future. Stuck as you were, however, the book almost forced itself to become interesting.

"Your Friendly Grimoire: _______ Edition"

It was written in golden letters on a black, hardcover book. It was about half an inch thick with blank white pages, four inches wide and about seven inches long. The book itself looked new. There were no pictures on the front or back. What Edition? You don't know.

Opening it revealed a message on the inside cover, placed there via a yellow post-it note. Scrawled unto said note was a quick and sloppy message written with simplistic, blue ink.

It said "Sorry."

You were left with only a knife, some clothing, and a book. This is an island too small to live on without assistance from the outside world. It is likely unchartered. If the island were a little bigger and had food, this whole thing would probably be kind of cool.

……well, not cool, but decent.

"Let's see," your voice is the only one on the island. You speak out loud for personal benefit. "I've got nothing but the clothes on my back. I'm on an island that can't be more than about a thousand feet across, and my only evidence as to how I got here is a little, apologetic book… that claims to be magical."

A sigh escapes you.

"Okay," a nod, "That's fine. That's workable. I'm not sure what the magical book means, but apology at least shows I wasn't supposed to be here… and I was given a means of getting out. But magic… That's awesome and all, but it's not very helpful in getting off an island. And I'm not so haughty as to think I can just teleport away…" you click your tongue, "I'm getting thirsty. I've got until nightfall to make a raft out of these trees and paddle out of this place."

Your run your fingers across the smooth surface of the book again before flipping it open. You flip through the book… all the pages are blank except the very first one. That sucks. It doesn't deter you from flipping for information… and flipping… and flipping…

You stop and stand up; opening the book to let the top cover drop… and the pages flip from top to bottom without stopping. Ten minutes you did this and the pages kept turning. It was a Grimoire with an infinite number of pages where only the first was marked.

Regarding the book again, you frown. The situation is dim, grim, and unpleasant. But there must be some reason behind giving you this book as an apology for a cosmic accident. With nowhere to go and nothing that can be done, you open the book.

The first page is mostly blank except for a little text scrawled at the top and a brief list. Already, you know that every single page except for this one is blank. On the top and center of the first page of this book, a little letter sits and waits.

You read further down.
~i~​

CHOOSE 2, REMOVE 2​
-The Sword
-The Shield
-The Staff
-The Grail
-The Rifle

For a moment, you stare incredulously. A black pen slips out of the inside of the binding and falls to the sand. You pick it up and scowl. This… This is odd. The selection of items is familiar, but even then one of these things is different. Thrown for a loop, for the first time since this all began you ask yourself not if this situation is real but if the island is real.

…Another sigh escapes you…

It does not matter if the island is real or not. It only matters that you know you're on it… and you know that you've got to get off of it. So, that in mind, you raise your pen and aim to mark the page. You'll cross out the ones you want to remove and mark the two remaining that you prefer. The instructions seemed simple enough.

What could go wrong?

[ ] The Sword
[ ] The Shield
[ ] The Staff
[ ] The Grail
[ ] The Rifle

There is no Write-in option.
 
Hmm, reminds me of the opening to Kingdom Hearts.

[X] Choose the Sword and Rifle, remove the Shield and Grail.

Because the best defense is a good offence!
 
I love how everyone immediately assumes "Oh, it's Hard Mode! We'd better defend ourselves!" and they proceed to discard all manners of offense.

The title says it all. Unless you intend to get drunk and wield a mighty smashing board against enemies who are aiming to kill you at every turn, I'd highly suggest being a little more varied in your approach to selections. But, then, I'm just the GM. I don't get a vote. I can only warn you guys how bad an idea disarming yourselves is.
 
Ars Poetica said:
I love how everyone immediately assumes "Oh, it's Hard Mode! We'd better defend ourselves!" and they proceed to discard all manners of offense.

The title says it all. Unless you intend to get drunk and wield a mighty smashing board against enemies who are aiming to kill you at every turn, I'd highly suggest being a little more varied in your approach to selections. But, then, I'm just the GM. I don't get a vote. I can only warn you guys how bad an idea disarming yourselves is.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Hmm..sword and shield, gun and shield, sword and cup, gun and cup, or a staff variation?
..
[/] Staff
[/] Rifle
[X] Sword
[X] Cup
 
Hmm... It's been a few hours, let's see where the voting stands.
 
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