Adventures in Lunightia Singleplayer

Faith woke the next morning to the sound of arguing. She was tempted to roll over and go back to sleep, but the way Chat was hovering above her, attention transfixed as if they were watching a soap opera gave her pause. Chat rarely took an interest in much besides Player affairs. Maybe she ought to do a bit of eavesdropping.

“Lexi!” came an unfamiliar voice, “Did you seriously bring home a random child last night? Where did you even find her?”

Ah, so Lexi was the name of the kind stranger who had hauled her out of the river. Good to know. She hoped she hadn’t upset Lexi’s apparent roommate too much with her presence.

“Well, um,” came a more familiar voice- that must be Lexi. “She was swimming in the river alone and told me she wasn’t staying with anybody…”

Faith decided to make herself known now that she knew what the conversation was about. “I was just looking for a nice spot, to be honest,” she mumbled from her spot on the rose-colored bed. “I mean, normally, I’d at least have a dirt house by now.”

Faith finally sat up and turned to look at Lexi and her roommate, pulling the blanket over her shoulders like a cape. It was a chilly morning, so sue her, Chat.

Lexi’s roommate was a moobloom moblin with wild, cheerful sunflowers blooming in place of hair. She was also wearing a bright yellow knitted sweater and one earring with three hanging beads on her left ear. It matched the one Lexi was wearing on her own left ear.

In the light of day, it suddenly occurred to her how odd Lexi’s outfit was. She was wearing a cowboy hat and matching brown poncho that both looked fit for a trek through the desert, with a red-and-white plaid button-up underneath. Both hat and poncho had star-shaped badges pinned to them. It looked as if she was about to attend a costume party, really.

Faith, of course, didn’t have any armor yet, having only just come into this world, but seeing the outfits of her hosts, she momentarily considered investing in a nice woolen sweater for herself. It didn’t take more than a moment for her to discard the idea, though. It would only impede her ability to swim.

She wasn’t unaware that as she was examining the pair standing before her, she was being examined right back. Perhaps this newcomer would be able to tell that she was a Player. She wasn’t sure how Lexi still hadn’t caught on yet, even now, a full eight hours later.

The moobloom didn’t disappoint. She quickly turned to Lexi with an incredulous expression. The comment about a dirt house might have sped things along- most people wouldn’t bother even trying to construct such a thing, but Players were a special breed.

“Lexi. Darling. Light of my life,” she said, sounding exasperated, “She’s a Player. It’s obvious as the sun in the sky.”

“Well, how was I supposed to know that?” Lexi asked, squinting harder at Faith, “she just looks like a normal kid to me!”

“Okay, wait, you guys are great and all, but can I get going? I need to build a house,” Faith cut in, not wanting to dally any longer than she already had. A dragon needs a home, no matter how briefly she’ll be staying in it, after all!

The moobloom hardly spared her a sideways glance as she gave the affirmative, seemingly absorbed now in trying to explain to Lexi how to spot the numerous subtle differences between Players and villagers.

Faith left her blanket cape folded on the bed and slipped out the door while they were distracted, before they could try to shower her in more hospitality. They seemed nice enough, though, so she resolved to build nearby and visit often.

Conveniently enough, there was a wide, relatively flat bit of land just a short swim away from the village. The river was even narrow enough that building a bridge would be easy, if she wanted one. She could build her house here, and she’d be able to visit the village anytime she wanted. It was perfect.

She tossed down a crafting table and a couple of chests to stake her claim, and then got to work building the foundation for where her house would soon go. A tower sounded nice. She’d make a proper one this time, reaching high up into the sky and down deep into the darkest reaches of the earth.

It would be a dwelling fit for a dragon such as herself! She could even put something worthy of guarding up at the top, if she wanted to go full cliche with it. Or down at bedrock. It could be bigger if she stowed it underground, but she could make it flashier if it was out in the open. Decisions, decisions! She’d have to ask Chat for their opinion later.

For now, though, that was still all just potential directions to take her home. For now, it was just a wooden circle in the ground. She grabbed some terracotta she’d smelted from riverbed clay and got to work building up the ground-floor walls.

Of course, night had to fall before long. Luckily, she had dirt walls built up by then, although she didn’t yet have a roof to keep out spiders, nor any windows to speak of. Still, it was a shelter, now, so she hunkered down and planned out a place to put the entrance to her strip mine while she waited for the sun to rise.