It seemed that the only way I was going to get answers was to read the book. Sitting down on the dirt, I slipped the book out of my bag. Holding it in my hands, I studied the cover: devoid of markings, and of a substance similar to leather, but different enough to be unnerving.
Well, I thought, Here goes nothing. I flipped it open to the first page.
The book wasn't in English.
Furthermore, I was unable to read it. The script appeared to be based stylistically on Arabic, though its characters seemed fairly Roman and appeared to be written in a left-to-right and top-to-bottom format. Though I was sure this was a true language used in Ether, it was not one with which my character was equipped.
I sighed and slipped the book back in my bag. This is just perfect, I thought sarcastically. My girlfriend thinks I'm evil because of some book I've never seen before that I can't even read!
Closing my eyes, I tried to think this through rationally. It was clear that this book was somehow connected with the mythology of the established culture. It was prominant enough for Suzie, a relative newbie, to become aware of it. Its meaning was evil according to some, and not according to others.
Okay, just like any controversial political ideology, I supposed. Was this book the "abortion" of Ether? Only, it was a book, so perhaps a comprehensive reference guide of some controversial ideology was more accurate. Okay.
So, why am I a darkling? And why does the book belong to me? The question, a supposed, came down to whether or not the mysterious woman was an NPC. If she was a construction of the game, then I was randomly selected for some weird quest or something. However, if she was another player... I didn't have an answer for that.
In any case, I had too many questions that needed answers. The first thing to do was to figure out what the book was and what it said. Because I was unable to read it myself, I needed to locate someone knowledgeable enough to tell me what it meant, but who wouldn't consider me "evil."
I figured my best bet was to find someone a bit shady, a thief or mercenary perhaps. Shifting the book out of sight, I stood once more.
Time to end this...
