The Trader
The Trader is an NPC found in multiple parts of the facility. They can be found in secret rooms and occasionally in the Hub.
In Normal Gameplay
The Trader's only appearance in a normal run is in shortcuts. Occasionally, they will appear in a shortcut and offer the player either; +2 Max HP, +10 Damage, or a Cartridge. All options offered by the Trader will cost 25% max ammo to buy. If the offer is declined, they will disappear when you exit the room.
In the Hub
Occasionally, the Trader will appear as an NPC in the Hub, near the trophy table. They have quite a lot to say, so it will make up the rest of this page.
First Interaction
"You are a visitor, no?
One of my old, foolish master’s handiworks.
Oh how I would love to disassemble and learn your secrets.
But that would be a grave disrespect towards him."
Second Interaction
"Like my master, I ponder the nature of beings that transcend life and death.
So great is my knowledge, when the new council formed,
They would invite me to take the seat of grand warlock.
Of course, I declined.
It was a court of fools.
And like fools they perished, while I persisted.
This world was full of fools, visitor.
Don’t let any of them tell you otherwise."
Third Interaction
"I long, one day to leave these dreary ruins.
And give myself over to the phantasmal void.
Truly, such an experience would likely consume me.
But such is the price of ultimate truth
To travel the realm of pure potential... unshackled.
This freedom. In our own ways, don’t we all seek it?"
Fourth Interaction
"You seek to claim power eternal, no?
The glorious source of our misery.
Like those before us.
We thought we fully understood the dangers inherent in dealing with it.
Yet even among the powers that be, the eternal one is cocooned in mystery.
It’s true aspect uncertain.
Bereft of shape or intelligence.
We communed through its peculiar hunger for our living past.
And knew how to exploit and contain it.
For power eternal is not a force for good or evil
And if unchecked, consumes mindlessly and indiscriminately."
Fifth Interaction
"Our forebearers lacked our sophistication, our know-how.
They wasted time and effort on ornate rituals and barbaric sacrificial pacts.
One day, they went too far. They sought to match the greed of their patron
And were stripped from the pages of time, like we are.
We deduced as much from their own writing, during the excavation.
We knew the looming threat, should we ever loosen our vigil.
My old master thought it could be tricked, countered, defeated.
He bargained most of his considerable power away in this pursuit.
But it was a foolish endeavor.
No force can penetrate it, no grand weapon can destroy it.
The name says it all.
IT CAN NOT END."
Sixth Interaction
"In the end, my master may have inadvertently doomed us all.
But his goals were noble.
Should the infernal machine have been given life and mind.
Should the new council have retained their grip on it…
War has driven them to create a living god.
One they hoped would match the Star of Providence itself.
Would our world really fare any better?"
Seventh Interaction / Story
"You are a patient listener, little one.
…
Would you like to hear a story?"
The Player is then given the option to either accept or refuse the offer for the story.
Eighth Interaction / Story Accepted
"Ah. Long ago, before this facility,
Long before the folly of our ancestors.
This world was said to be advanced,
Rivaling even the golden age of our times.
It is then, that we made contact to people, not unlike us.
And where our technology was great, their magic was yet greater.
We exchanged these gifts. A gesture I can wholeheartedly support.
And it is with their knowledge, that we have built the gates of this place.
The gates to anywhere…
But this was not to last.
With no warning, they passed through the gates
Wielding arms of total destruction.
And with them, they brought strange powers over time,
Denying any hope of victory.
Somewhere in the carnage, the passage of souls through the gates of death
Must have the roused the attention…
Of the powers that be themselves.
The sky shattered.
And from it fell the Star of Providence.
An emissary of Power Eternal.
Unaffected by the temporal magics, it laid waste to the invaders,
But of course...
Such are powers that be, that even their barest touch destroys.
And their presence, corrupts.
When the dust settled, there was not much left of anything.
Yet, we survived.
This is how Power Eternal came into our world.
And perhaps, to this day, we are paying out our debt to it."
During this sequence, a special song will play.
Ninth Interaction
"I admit... much of this story is merely speculation on my part.
Lines between sparse, ancient dots.
But the survivors of this story,
those who saw past the shattered sky, into the void itself.
From their accounts rose a concrete prophecy.
That when our debt is squared, the Star of Providence will rise again.
It will finally leave this world.
And take us all along with it."
Tenth Interaction
"Mmmmmm. I thank you for listening, little ship.
It is not every day I get to indulge myself with a little bit of lore.
You surely understand."
Eight interaction / Story Declined
"Ah. I see, you are busy.
You are the last legacy of my master, I will not hold you.
Whether you know it or not, your actions here are not those of a simple scavenger.
Should you be able to reach the bottom of this place...
The world will change in ways none of us can predict.
Are you truly this confident in your actions?
Or is there something even I don't know?
Hahaha. You declined my offer of a story, but see how I talk your ear off.
I know I must be boring you.
We have no need of living faces for our spirits to communicate.
Now hush, you must be on your way.
And... do take what my master said with a grain of salt.
There is virtue in perseverance."
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