Design Notes
July 18, 2013
Incursion
The Void comes to ancient GreenGuard...
I see you going about your life. I’m just outside. There isn’t a lot to do out here but watch. So that’s what I do. I watch. I’m always watching. I watch you quest and slay, I watch you gather and laugh with your friends. I watch you explore and grow. I watch you eat, and breathe, and live, and die. I watch you go to sleep, wondering what tomorrow will bring. I’m always watching. I’m just outside. It’s cold out here. Cold and so, so lonely.
Let me in.
I can feel that maybe, deep in your heart of hearts, you’re lonely too. Let’s be friends. We’ll quest and slay together, laugh together, eat, breathe and live together. Die. Forever and for always. Until the end of all things. You and I. Just let me in. Let me in. Let me in. LetmeinLetmeinpleaseplease
PLEASEPLEASELETMEINLETMEINLETMEIN-
There’s no specific date for when the Void Incursion began. Spirits and elementals from that eldritch place had been materializing in GreenGuard for quite some time. No one can say when they became organized. It was I who first theorized the concept of a unifying intellect. I took the Elk Clan into hiding. Finding this intellect would be our way of fighting off the invasion.
The Eagle Clan dropped out of contact on the day that I tapped into the hive mind. I have lost count of the days since then. Every waking moment is a battle against the intruder in my head. When I sleep the dreams come, and sometimes, when I wake, the dreams stay. I am left walking through the nightmarish, rotting corridors of my own mind.
I have to stay secluded from the rest of my tribe. To see their Elder in such a state at such a trying time may be too much for them. Now that I have seen into the consciousness that is commanding the void forces, I know that this is a task that must be shouldered, no matter the cost to myself. There are more living, sentient beings besides the druids living on this fragile world, and I would not wish the fate that the void has in mind on any of them.
I can’t confront my tribe until I can keep the dreams under control, or at least competently pretend that I am in good health. But so often these days my mind is not my own. Sometimes I can feel this presence looking at me. It makes me feel cold. Cold and lonely. Sometimes I hear it talk, and I can’t distinguish the sound of it’s voice from my own. The only way for me to fight is to watch it back.
And so I say to this voice, this consciousness, I know you’re out there. And I’m watching you. I’m always watching. There isn’t a lot to do but watch.
Authors note: It isn’t often that I get the chance to speak personally to you all. The support and feedback that I’ve received from this community is nothing short of staggering. Words can’t describe the depths of my gratitude. So thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Tomorrow will be the advent of my first in-game release, and without your comments on the forums and on twitter, the AQ Worlds team would not have let me out of my cage for long enough to write it. Also, if it does well enough, they’ll actually feed me this week. Here’s hoping!
Yours,
Notsgnal
(P.S: To those who want to know how to pronounce my name, don’t worry about it. Just call me Nots or something.)