afterthefire joined the game

It's... a forest, but it's not like any other forest he's ever seen. For one thing, it's a lot more... cube-shaped?

And there's someone else there.

Mei Changsu often hallucinates when his fever rises, but it's usually simply reliving memories. This is unusually creative for him.

He considers shouting for help and dismisses it immediately. If he's ill, someone will have already found him. If he's not ill, he suspects Fei Liu is too far away to hear.

What else can he do but fall back on manners? He bows.

"Good evening."

"Good evening!" Here, have 32 cobblestone and 32 oak logs. "--Don't tell anyone I was here? I'm not actually supposed to be around here right now, I should probably head out soon."

That was generous of him, but Mei Changsu makes no promises.

"I understand, thank you. I won't keep you, but do you know where where we are? Where might I find the others?"

"Sure." He'll show Mei Changsu to the nether portal and point towards a wooden path. There... appear to be buildings? And farms? And the mostly-destroyed ruins of buildings, which are mostly partially floating. "All the stuff is that way."

Floating? The possibility that this is a fever-dream is increasing. Still, it's no excuse to be rude.

He will say "Thank you" and follow the path.

Observers will note that he walks slowly and gingerly, as if he is in pain.

There aren’t any observers. There are… buildings? Most of them are empty but a couple seem more house-like. There’s also a really big one made of black bricks, the purpose of which is kind of unclear. If he turns right then there’s a giant crater!

Well, that certainly is a very large crater. Disconcerting.

He's going to head towards wherever it looks like there might be people.

There aren't really many other places that seem particularly people-centric unless he wants to go through a tunnel or a portal, or try entering one of the buildings. That said, his quest for people will be fulfilled anyway, in the form of a very loud blond teenager running up to him.

"...HELLO?"

It was hard to tell for sure with the man he spoke to before, what with the mask, but it seems like he's somewhere foreign. The style of architecture is certainly different enough. It raises the question of why everyone appears to be speaking perfectly comprehensible Chinese.

"Hello," he says, at much lower volume. "My name is Su Zhe. May I ask you some questions?"

"...Okay...? What the-- who are you????"

"Su Zhe. I'm a scholar from the jianghu."

He squints at the label floating above the boy's head. It may be his name, although he's never heard of anyone named "Tommy" or "Innit," much less the combination. He'll just ask. It's good to show children you're engaging with them.

"May I have your name?"

"Well I'm the big man TommyInnit himself and I've never heard of no scholars. What's a--jianghu? Is that the server you're from? I haven't heard of it."

"The jianghu is the area where martial artists groups have the primary political power, not the emperor. If a server is like a country, then I'm from Da Liang. The jianghu is the part of the country I'm from."

He pauses. "A big man? You are very tall."

"Oh. So the jianghu is, like, what Technoblade and Dream or whoever the fuck want? That sucks. Words over weapons, that's what Wilbur always said. We don't have an emperor either though, the only one who was an emperor was Schlatt and he wasn't really the emperor, he just cheated and then he died. I am so tall all the bitches want me I am 6'3" and I am the biggest man. Dream is scared to do a height check with me because he knows I will win."

Badmouthing the former emperor, even if he was only nominally the emperor, so publicly is admirably brave, if also unwise. He is rapidly becoming more interested in the local political situation. Is the dead emperor related to the devastation he passed on his way here?

"I see," he says. "If you don't mind, what country is this? Or, server, if that's the local word. And if you don't have an emperor, how is your country run? Why has his heir not replaced him, or some general not initiated a new dynasty?"

Blink. Blink. Blink. 

“Dream SMP, I guess. We don’t have a country anymore because the last time we did it got fucking blown up and if we make more they’ll just do it again. No leaders or else the Blade comes with all his dogs and TNT and shit and I gotta say I kiiiiiiind of like not dying! Not dying is poggers. Also I’m busy getting ready for the fight with Dream so it would be kind of awkward to also be president or whatever. I’m actually grinding and not just stealing, you know, like, who knew I could even do that. I’m all sweat, baby.”

"Your entire country was blown up?"

Every time this child speaks he raises more questions.

Originally Mei Changsu thought there wasn't a language barrier, but it's looking more and more like there is. That crater was enormous, but still smaller than an average village. Poggers? President?

Wasn't the man who gave him materials before labeled "Dream"? Is he named after the "server" or is the server named after him? If they're planning on fighting him... well. Mei Changsu knows that sometimes seemingly kind people can be the cruelest.

He shakes the thought out of his head.

"I apologize for asking so many questions, I'm not at my best today. Is there a settlement near here? Do you happen to have a doctor?"

“Sorry Su, this is about as settled as it gets around here. —Doctor! We have a doctor. PONNNNK. POOOOOOONK.”

<TommyInnit> PJNK

<TommyInnit> *PONK

<TommyInnit> VC2

"Instantaneous letters? Incredible. How did you do that? Will you teach me? How private are letters sent in this manner?"

The small part of him that is still Lin Shu gets a little overexcited. In his defense, he could do so much with this.

"Oh man, if you think chat is cool--" Tommy tosses him a stone button with the number "2" scrawled on it and then takes out a matching one from his inventory so he can yell into it: "HELLO?"

Tommy's voice comes out of his mouth, but also of Mei Changsu's new button.

He is calm and dignified and not at all excited about this.

He raises his own rock to his mouth and says, "Hello?" into it, too. He was expecting to hear his own voice from the other button, but it's still exiting. 

He has so many questions. He will limit himself to three.

"How do you make these? Is there a distance limit? Can anyone with a stone like this hear us?"

“No distance limit! All you need is a stone button and some ink, my friend, and you too can join VC 2. Or, like, other VCs, but VC 2 is the best one, trust me, I’m a fuckin VC expert. They could hear us if they joined VC 2—”

<TommyInnit> VC2

<TommyInnit> VC2

<TommyInnit> VC2

The fact that anyone can hear is... disappointing. It limits the usefulness rather significantly. Still, this is almost unbelievable -- just a stone button and ink? The things he could do with this...

"I'll take your word for it," he says. "How many VCs are there?"

Normally he would not ask so many questions, but TommyInnit seems pleased to answer them, and he is curious.

"Ten? Ish? You can also call people but then you can only talk to one person. Which is like good in a battle or something but usually what is the point. --Oh and--heh, you're going to love this--"

TommyInnit whispers to afterthefire: BTICH

TommyInnit whispers to afterthefire: BTICH

TommyInnit whispers to afterthefire: BTICH

He's a little taken aback by the insult, but it doesn't seem intended to offend. It's okay. Fei Liu bit him a lot for the first few months.

More importantly, private messages!

afterthefire whispers to TommyInnit: Private messages? Amazing!

He wouldn't normally be so openly expressive with someone he'd just met, but... well, his information gathering is going extremely well.

“You know, most people are not that excited to be called a bitch. I think you are weird.”

He has not smiled this much in weeks. "Oh, people have called me worse."

He considers, and decides to just say it. "I have a guard, Fei Liu. He's about your age. He often greets people by starting a fight -- I was just thinking at least you weren't punching me."

“I could totally punch you! I could even hit you with my sword. I am not going to be outshone by some bodyguard. I bet I am cooler than him and have so many more women and primes.”

"I would prefer to not be hit with anything, thank you, but I'm sure you could. You almost certainly have more primes, as I don't know what those are."

He is just going to ignore the women comment, and politely not mention that unless TommyInnit is a once-in-a-lifetime fighting genius, Fei Liu would probably defeat him almost instantly.

"Primes are fuckin' great, man. Mmmmm, gotta have my primes! ...Are you, like, a YouTuber, do you have channel memberships instead, or what?"

Primes: Money? Food? Some type of culturally important object? This is all so much. He's not used to not knowing things!

"What is a YouTuber? Can you show me some of your primes?"

...Okay, Tommy is going to have to take a minute to laugh at those sentences. "--Hoooooo. Sorry, I just--it's, like, a religion? Do you have religion in the jianghu?"

Oh, religion! Understood.

"Yes, we do, although most people who dedicate their life to temples and spirituality are Taoist or Buddhist. Are primes more like qi, or more like gods?"

"What's qi?"

"Your life force -- it circulates throughout your body. I thought you said you had doctors? Understanding of qi forms... well, the entirety of medicine."

Do these people have real doctors?!? Mei Changsu has been remaining calm, because he knows it's his best chance of a way back to Jinling, but this is honestly a blow to his composure. He can't die here.

"So, like, HP? Primes are definitely more like gods than like HP."

"HP... I see." An important word to know. It's good Tommy at least recognizes the concept.

"You collect these primes? Do you have temples?"

He is going to sit down, because this seems like it will be quite a long conversation and otherwise he will faint.

“There’s Church Prime! I built it, you know. With my own two fuckin’ hands.”

"You're a carpenter?"

"...No? The fuck?"

The strangest things are stumbling blocks here. He knows he's seen wooden structures.

"Where I'm from 'carpenter' refers to someone who works with wood, either making furniture or structures. Do you not know the word? Or did you not build with wood?"

He pauses, and adds, "I'd ask to see Church Prime, but I should probably speak to your doctor first."

"I guess I'm kind of a carpenter then. ...Actually, wait, I built the fucking Prime Path baby, I'm the best fucking carpenter there is!!!" The VC2 buttons make a noise. "HELLO???????"

"Tommy?"

"PONK!!!!! Ponk, my friend!!!!!!"

This is still incredibly exciting.

"Hello, Ponk? My name is Su Zhe. Are you the doctor?"

They don't seem to use titles here, which feels rude. It's likely ruder to refuse to follow cultural conventions though.

"Yes! I am the doctor! Would you like to buy some essential oils, Su Zhe?"

Well, that sounds like a scam, as Lin Chen would never offer anyone medicine before even taking their pulse, but he's willing to be proven wrong.

"Are they medicinal oils? I know the general ingredients I usually take for medicine but I'm not used to making or dosing it myself."

“They can be medicinal oils!” It is definitely 100% a scam, but Ponk sounds excited about it. (He’s also got a different accent than either Dream or Tommy.)

"Thank you, but I'll have to decline. I also suspect we don't share a currency system, so I probably couldn't pay you anyway.

Can either of you explain HP to me more? Can you change the amount or location or flow of it?"

“What’s a currency. Is it like currents.” Pause. “You can change the amount of total HP by eating golden apples or notch apples, and you can change the amount you have by eating food or hurting yourself. Dunno what you mean by location or flow. If you get stabbed your blood flows out of the location if that’s what you mean.”

“Are you sure you don’t want any essential oils? I’ll give you a first time customer discount!”

"Currency is money, you exchange it for goods and services. We use round discs of metal, I don't have anything else on me to trade. Thank you for the offer of oils but I'm afraid even with a discount I probably can't pay."

He could pay with favors but he's only going to offer that once he knows more about the political situation here, and who all these people are.

"I'm pleased to know that blood is at least the same here. Any food can change your HP? How quickly?"

“Well, it depends on the food, doesn’t it. What kind of metal, is it iron or gold or netherite?”

(There is a noise of Ponk leaving the call.)

"They're usually a mix -- iron, yes, sometimes gold, also copper and tin. I haven't heard of netherite. We melt them down and then put them in molds.

What's the range of time for different foods -- a few hours, a day, a week? If you're starving you can't heal wounds well but it seems like HP is distinct from just being injured or not, food can't cure serious injuries on its own."

“Seconds, minutes, hours, wait longer than that and you’re hungry again so you need more food.” Fuck it, he still has some golden apples from Techno; he pulls one out of his inventory and hands it over. “Try it.”

Is this actual gold? He is revising up his estimation of Tommy's wealth.

"Thank you."

He eats the apple. He does actually feel better! It doesn't seem like anything is healed -- this might only work for actual wounds, but he does feel more energized.

He'll have to tell Lin Chen. He'll hate this.

"Do you just cover an apple in gold for this?"

"Pretty much, yeah." Pause. "Or you can steal 'em from Techno, that's mostly what I do."

"... you're advising me to steal?"

He will not be doing that, especially by himself.

"What, are you a pussy? Hey, give me your stuff, bitch." He hits the man--Sue something?--'s shoulder, light enough that he's clearly intending to be teasing with it.

He likes this kid so much. He wants to introduce him to Fei Liu.

"I don't think I will! I prefer to keep my stuff."

He won't steal because he's not sneaky and he doesn't know anyone here, so he would be caught immediately and have more trouble than usual talking his way out of it. He suspects the concept of "sneaky" is not particularly of concern to Tommy, though.

"That's what I thought you'd say. It's always, oh no I'm being robbed, I prefer to keep my stuff, never hey Tommy how are you enjoying your new possessions I bet you will use them so much better than I would. Everyone is so ungrateful."

"I'm very poor here, I need everything I have. Would you steal from a poor man?"

He's saying this in a way that makes it clear he's joking. He himself would steal from a poor man if the situation called for it, or at least send someone else to steal from them.

"I'm poor too! I'm not a fuckin' Tory, I need this shit to fight Dream. I might die this week, you know. Two can play at this game."

Does he ask what a Tory is? No, he's going to prioritize other types of information gathering. What he really needs is to find some books.

"Dream? Are you at war?

... I noticed the crater, back there. I can't imagine the amount of gunpowder it would use."

"I bet he fuckin' duped it. We're--sort of at war? I mean, it's just us now, everyone else gave up. And Tubbo. I guess that's how it all started, though, too, so, yeah, I guess we're at war. Won't be much longer, one way or the other."

Well, he understands what that's like.

"I see. Well, I don't have many resources and I can't fight, but I would be glad to offer any assistance I can."

It's even only somewhat a lie! He needs more of a sense of the source of the conflict to say for sure, but he's never had a promise problem loyalty before.

"I don't think I've heard of Dream. Is this more a civil war or is he from a different country?"

"Different country. He's all--green and smiley and shit--fucks with your head. We had our own country before he and Techno--" He points at the crater, then shakes his head, lets his hand drop back to his side. "I bet your stuff is all shit anyway. This is why we do a little r to the obbery, hmm? Techno's got enough potions and gaps he doesn't even notice unless he catches me at it, that's how rich he is. I'm a right proper Robin Hood, I am. Have a pity carrot." He hands Su a carrot.

"My stuff is shit. You steal regularly from someone who helped blow up your country?"

He really should not be surprised.

Pause, consider. Then --

"About how frequently does he catch you? Is it easy to steal from him?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's Techno, innit? It's pretty easy for me, but I'm me. I never get caught, I'm like Spiderman if Spiderman stole shit." This is a blatant lie, Techno catches him like half the time maybe more but who's counting, but it's not like Su has any way of knowing.