"The Hanging Tree" - Quest Design and Dialogue
· Natural exposition filtered through character opinions
· Endearing characters designed to evoke player sympathy
· Dynamic, player-driven dialogue options (i.e. not simple questions)
· Ethical scenarios carefully designed to evoke “choice agony”
[For ease of reading, this excerpt follows a single critical path through four dialogues with two NPCs. Additional options and branching paths are outlined, but not fully explored.]
CONVERSATION #1:
OVERWORLD:
The player comes across a fallen tree. Beside it stands a Tortan 'police box': a pit built into the ground with a mirror angled above it to reflect light inside. Above the hole floats a non-diegetic speech bubble displaying text in RUNESTAMP, a Tortan language from a foreign continent.
NPC DESCRIPTION:
Within the hole sits TRAVELLER HEARTH, a tortan (university age) dressed in thick blue sleeves with star patches, marking them as an obvious foreigner amongst the blood-red buildings of the STRIP. The character's belief in industrialization is ironically subverted by their excitable personality, which plays into the stock character of the ‘counter-culture activist’ (naïve, radical); they are a young liberal advocating for interests that would, in our world, be conservative.
TRAVELLER (NPC):
"Oh, by the confluence of the constellations! You actually came! The alien! This is— This is—"
As the stutters continue, they begin to hyperventilate.
“This is— em— embarrassing.”
The young tortan hides their head behind the hump of their shell and shuffles into the corner of the pit, facing away from you. Your ROSETTA translation system picks up a small infrasound frequency, which it renders as a whisper:
“… the blue moon retreats, the tide recedes… the red moon retreats, the tide recedes… be still, little Traveller… all is calm…”
After a moment, the blushing young tortan turns around and tries to resume the conversation as if nothing happened.
“I— I am pleased to confirm, my esteemed alien envoy, that a leafy titan is dead. Felled, by my hand.”
They straighten their neck and raise their chin high.
“It lies still upon the forest floor as a portent of destruction, revolution: no longer will the young lie prostrate before the false green idols. No… we will tear them from the soil and cast them alight into the mighty hearth of progress! By soot and smoke, the tortan race shall ascend to the stars!”
They relax, suddenly breaking character.
“… Wi— with your permission, of course.”
PLAYER OPTIONS:
1. “All I’m picking up here is that you really hate trees.”
2. “I have no idea who you are, but I like your energy.”
3. “I’m no xenopsychologist, but it sounds like you need one.”
4. “It is suddenly very obvious to me why you were put in a hole.”
TRAVELLER:
“My stars. The alien is not only wise, but understanding! Your empathy would be a boon to the people of this land, somehow deluded by their elders into thinking—you would not believe, truly—that each plant has… a soul. Can— Can you imagine? A conscious tree?”
They pause, clearly waiting for… something. A laugh? Can tortans even laugh?
PLAYER:
1. “Everyone’s entitled to their beliefs.”
2. “I know! Craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”
3. “Haha. Ha.”
4. Say nothing.
TRAVELLER:
"… You are right. It is not funny. It means they award respect to mindless things at the expense of real people. They eke out a meager existence on the bare hillsides, slowly shaping homes from dirt and branches over generations—all to preserve a lie?"
“So much of the earth is frozen, or else blinded by light. I had never seen a tree until I first left home. Yet here, in the one place life may thrive—it all goes to waste.”
“How far might we be, if this land’s abundance was used for the benefit of us all? Perhaps it would be us visiting your world, instead?”
“I… I would like to see another world.”
PLAYER:
1. “The old elders on my planet wrecked the biosphere by enabling mass deforestation. I think your leaders have the right idea.”
2. “You’re overselling the squalor these people are living in. They have sprinklers, man. A lack of free lumber hasn’t kept them from developing, however slowly.”
3. “While you shouldn’t be clear-cutting forests, it’d be silly to not use them at all. Why shoot yourself in the foot for the sake of imaginary beings?”
4. "You're right: the planet is a resource that must be harvested. The lives of all trees and elders are forfeit."
TRAVELLER:
"But it should not be so slow! The limitations are all self-imposed, I—"
Their face flushes with shock and embarrassment, like a child realizing they've spoken out of turn.
“My— My apologies, my envoy. You are our light, our guiding star. I should not have…”
PLAYER:
1. “Yes, grovel before me!”
2. “It’s okay—I already know how great I am. Just keep going.”
3. “You shouldn’t treat me like some superior being. I’m just a person, shouting into a hole. And you’re just a person. Who happens to be in a hole.”
TRAVELLER:
“Oh, I… I merely assumed that to travel the void and visit our world, your people would require intellects far surpassing our own. It is… strange to hear otherwise.”
PLAYER:
1. “I didn’t mean to humble myself that much. I have a very cool spaceship. You have permission to think I’m cool.”
2. “Now you’re getting it. Humans are idiots, just like everybody else.”
3. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just call me stupid. Why exactly do you want to industrialize the world, again?”
TRAVELLER:
“Oh. It’s just… I think I would like to be a mother, somemoon. To bear sprouts of my own. And if I do, I want them to live in a better world than this one. I don’t really want to tear it apart, but its trees and forests—they are not more important than tortan lives.”
“Is this not why you came? To bring us the future we have not yet made for ourselves?”
PLAYER:
4. “I’m only here to share human knowledge. It’s up to your people to act on it.”
5. “I’ll help if I can, but what helps is often a matter of opinion. Intervention can’t be forced upon those who don’t want it.”
6. “You’re right. I want to change this world. But if I’m not careful about it, you won’t be the only one stuck in that hole.”
TRAVELLER:
“But… but that’s not who you were supposed to be. Even if you are not by nature wiser than us, you have experience, technology. I told everyone you were here for change. That if I felled the idols you would set the path. You would lead me, lead the revolution, you—“
They begin to hyperventilate again.
“Y—You didn’t come here to save me, d—did you?”
PLAYER:
1. “Uh… I just wandered over here.”
2. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think things went the way you wanted them to.”
3. “Wait—you told everyone I was a part of this?”
4. “The blue moon retreats and the tide recedes…”
TRAVELLER:
The young tortan looks up with confusion, then recognition, and then closes their eyes.
“The red moon retreats and the tide recedes… be still, little Traveller… all is calm…”
They take deep, shaky breaths as their gaze falls to the floor.
“They’ll extradite me for this. Strip the plants from my back and ship me home… but… because of the sunspot, there won’t be anyone to receive me. I—I’ll freeze to death.”
PLAYER:
1. "Do you know that for sure? Let me at least find out if it's true."
2. “I may not have come here to save you, but I can now.”
3. “I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an accessory to this crime. If you still believe in my mission, you’ll help me clear my name.”
TRAVELLER: “I... I don’t know who you’d need to talk to. The lawspeaker, maybe. Or Wetroot, though I hope they’re not rendering judgment. I may have ranted at them as they performed rites for the fallen tree… Oh, stars!”
[CONVERSATION ENDS]
CONVERSATION #2:
NPC DESCRIPTION:
WETROOT EARTHSEED (age-related epithet: PRIMEVAL), an elder Tortan. They are not wearing clothes (not a social faux-pax in tortan society) and their shell is overflowing with unkempt plants (flowers, leaves, mosses) to suggest a deep connection to nature. The implication of a ‘wildman’ personality is subverted by a calm, eloquent speaking voice.
WETROOT (NPC)s:
"Ah! The visitor from the skies..."
The elder cranes their neck to stare at your backpack.
“It is true, then. Not a single life upon you, yet still, untethered from the earth, you live and breathe. I am the Primeval Wetroot Earthseed, speaker for the land, and your light is a gift to me… I only regret that I see it over a corpse.”
They pause to collect themselves, overcome by the kind of unfathomable grief one can only feel for a big plant.
“My apologies. I haven’t seen a true elder felled in three generations. We all return to soil, of course, by wind or tide or time. But by the hands of a person? It is… unnatural.”
PLAYER OPTIONS:
1. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
2. “You can’t seriously be talking about the tree, right? It’s wood.”
3. “I owned a succulent once. I think I understand what you’re going through.”
4. “The actions of the turtle in the hole do not represent me.”
WETROOT:
They sigh, relieved.
“I am heartened to know that the spirit of life, and reverence for it, shines even in lands beyond our own. That some would use the discovery of new life to justify their destruction of the old… I cannot understand it. Perhaps I have merely forgotten what it means to be young: that desperate need to define yourself apart from the wisdom of those who came before. Doubtless, sprouts like young Traveller would protest with or without your coming. I ache for them.”
Wetroot solemnly nods towards the pit.
“How do they fare?”
PLAYER:
1. “Traveller is ready to die for the revolution.”
2. “They’re putting on a brave face, but they’re clearly afraid of being exiled.”
3. “You’re going to strip their back and leave them in the snow to die. I don’t think they’re particularly jazzed about it.”
WETROOT:
They gasp.
“Do they really think us capable of such things? I do not know what depravities Traveller’s people enact on one another, but in the middle world we are not so hardened by ice and shadow. Restitution, rehabilitation: these bring justice. If you steal from a garden, you must work the garden. If you injure another, you must care for them. In doing so, you understand the harm you have caused.”
PLAYER:
1. “That seems sensible. The elders of the middle world are truly wise.”
2. “By that logic, Traveller’s punishment should be to plant a tree!”
3. “That’s a nice thought, but some crimes can’t be rectified. And those who commit them are rarely eager to assume responsibility.”
4. “I’m not here for an ethics debate, I just want to make it clear I had nothing to do with this.”
WETROOT:
“Among your kind, that may be true. If it is, you have my sympathy. But we are not human. I have never known a criminal unwilling to rid themselves of the title, nor an elder council incapable of giving them the means to do so. It takes time, of course, to weigh circumstance against precedent, but an elder's good judgment cannot be rushed."
PLAYER:
1. “Wait—how much time, exactly?”
2. “If what you’re saying is true, humans might have something to learn from your people.”
3. “It sounds like, without juries or codified laws, your criminals are entirely subject to the subjective whims of those passing the sentence. In this case, a bunch of old coots.”
4. “This all seems a little sanctimonious for someone who threw a kid in a pit and called it a day.”
WETROOT:
They sigh.
"You are right, envoy. While I was only summoned after their interment, to render judgment on behalf of the forest, Traveller is my responsibility all the same. All I can do now is ensure their verdict meets my ideals."
Wetroot pauses, as if marshaling the voice of the very land they claim to represent.
“While the murder of an old-growth, a true elder, is a tragedy beyond measure, beyond words, let it not be said that its fellows are without mercy. Traveller will be given a gift: a second chance at life. They are charged simply with replacing the plant they have felled, to better understand what they have taken from the world.”
PLAYER:
1. “Wait—really? They just have to replace the tree?”
2. “I still don’t understand why everyone’s so flustered over a tree, but that doesn’t sound like much of an inconvenience.”
3. “That’s… surprisingly reasonable.”
WETROOT:
Wetroot gently sticks out their tongue—the closest tortan equivalent to a smile.
“I am glad you think so. While the other elders will say that a dark outsider should not be granted such an honor, I will not see our grief perverted against a misled child. It would dim us all irrevocably."
PLAYER:
1. “Thank you.”
2. “I’ll go tell let Traveller know.”
WETROOT:
"Wait—I have a request. Might you speak by my side as I make my judgment known? It may discourage those like Traveller from committing such crimes in the future."
PLAYER:
1. “Yeah, sure. I don’t know if humanity’s reputation can survive another tree-cutter.”
2. “I’m not really comfortable making public pronouncements.”
3. “I want to talk to Traveller first.”
WETROOT:
“If you return to them again, knowing what they have done, others may see it as a statement of support for their cause. But I understand wanting to give them the pleasant news. Return to me when you are ready.”
[CONVERSATION ENDS]
CONVERSATION #3:
TRAVELLER:
You see Traveller sitting upright, arms extended, drawing spirals in the soil at the bottom of the pit. They barely raise their head as you approach.
“Do you have any news?”
PLAYER:
· “Wetroot isn’t going to exile you. You’ll be okay. You just have to replace the tree you felled.”
· “I had some questions, actually…”
- o “Did you mean to commit your crime directly next to a public jail cell, or was that just a happy accident?”
- o “How did you end up here, so far from home?”
- o “Do you not have anyone else on the Strip that can advocate on your behalf?”
· “Still working on it.” [END CONVERSATION]
TRAVELLER:
Traveller’s face lights up. They rise from the floor, stick out their tongue, and then—
“Wait… D—Did they say I have to plant a new tree? Or that I have to replace the tree?”
PLAYER:
· "I don't see the difference."
· “I can’t be expected to remember these things. Replace, I think?”
· “Wetroot said you would be given a second chance at life. That by replacing the plant, you’d come to understand what you took from the world.”
TRAVELLER:
The young tortan’s eyes go dead. Stunned. After a long, long moment, Traveller speaks.
“Do you know where the Greenwoods are? The garden in the h—heart of the city?”
PLAYER:
· “It’s where I first landed. You should know that.”
· “Unfortunately, I have an astronaut’s sense of direction. Don’t know up from down. You’ll need to remind me.”
· “Lots of trees, long shadows. Lovely place to read a book.”
TRAVELLER:
“I—I thought so too, when I first got here.”
…
“It’s a graveyard. Within every tree is a corpse."
PLAYER:
· “You know what? That tracks.”
· “It's odd that they made a cemetery into a park, but every culture has its own methods of burial.”
· "Every day I discover more gross things about your people. No offense.”
TRAVELLER:
Traveller sighs.
“Here, on the Strip, the dead are only buried partly. Their shell remains above the soil, facing the sun, so their plants may continue to grow as the body decomposes.”
“For people like Wetroot, this is a kind of… religious process. So they hasten it by implanting Earthsbane—a fast-growing parasitic tree, bred to thrive off tortan flesh.”
“They will give me this plant while I still breathe. They will chain me to the ground, and— and watch as it splits my shell apart. Eating me. Enveloping me.”
“I will be the replacement for the tree.”
PLAYER:
· “Well… that’s fucking horrifying.”
· “Wetroot talked about your sentence as if it were a gift, as if you’d be happy. Are you sure this isn't just dogma coloring in your perception?”
· “I could be wrong about Wetroot’s words. My translation database isn’t complete. ROSETTA’s still figuring out your language.”
TRAVELLER:
“I know the landspeaker. This… this is their crusade. It is not a mistake.”
…
“I… I won’t be having those sprouts after all, will I?”
PLAYER:
· “You will. I’m not going to let this happen.” [INTERFERE; FREE TRAVELLER]
· “I just can’t believe this. Let me talk to Wetroot again.”
· “I’m sorry. If I never came here, this wouldn’t have happened.”
· “I tried to help, but I never asked you to cut down that tree. You knew what you were doing, and you need to accept responsibility for it.”
[END CONVERSATION]
CONVERSATION #4:
WETROOT:
“Ah, envoy. I take it young Traveller was pleased? Whenever you are ready, we can begin our public address.”
PLAYER:
· “I’m ready.” [BEGIN ENDORSEMENT]
· “You’re going to mutilate someone for cutting down a goddamn tree? What the hell is wrong with you?”
· “Please tell me this is just a big misunderstanding and you’re not going to turn my new friend into a plant.”
· “I won’t interfere in your justice system, but you intentionally misled me about Traveller’s punishment.”
WETROOT:
“Turn them into…?”
The landspeaker purses their lip, confused.
“Ah! I see..”
“In the hidden places Traveller hails from, far from the light, the people cannot sustain anything more than mosses upon their backs. They do not know the ecstacies of true symbiosis with another life. And so ignorance has led them, and you, astray.”
"To host a tree, and give yourself over to it entirely… it is not death. It is the melding of being, the creation of a new and better kind of life. Traveller will actually experience their own spirit reforming and reconstituting itself in nature.”
PLAYER:
· “You’re not going to listen to any kind of rational argument when it comes to your religion, are you?”
· “This is insane. Spiritual energy, the melding of being… Homeopaths are more convincing.”
· “Even if that’s true, it’s wrong to force something so radical on someone who doesn’t want it. Find another punishment.”
· “I’m sure the people actually forced to undertake this process are less complimentary about it. How can I be sure about all this?”
WETROOT:
“I assure you it is true, as I have seen it myself. I have talked to the ascetics, suspended in their trees, having made the change willingly. They had no regrets. And one day I shall join them. I am only sorry, by virtue of your strange biology, that you will never experience it for yourself.”
PLAYER:
· “If you can give me some non-anecdotal evidence for this, I might be convinced.”
· “I assume I can’t go and talk to these ascetics? You know, on account of them being dead?”
· “This still seems pretty barbaric to me.”
WETROOT:
“What else would you have me do? What kind of sentence would they issue for this crime on your world? For the taking of a life?”
PLAYER:
· “On my world, it isn’t a crime. People cut down trees all the time.”
· “Well, for the destruction of public property, people usually are usually sentenced to community service.”
· “For the deliberate murder of another person, you might spend most of your life in prison. But again, we don’t see trees as people.”
WETROOT:
“If that is true, then your people are truly lost. That, or the biology of your trees is just as queer as your own.”
PLAYER:
· “I hadn't considered that. This world has an entirely different chemistry. Maybe your trees truly are conscious.”
· “I still don’t agree with this punishment, but I’m not going to stop it. Let’s do the address.” [BEGIN ENDORSEMENT]
· “As a diplomat, it’s not my place to interfere. But I’m not going to sanction an execution.” [END QUEST, NO ENDORSEMENT]
· “I’m stopping this.”
· “I need time to think about this.”
WETROOT:
“If you do, I shall not raise a hand against you. What resistance might I muster against a ship such as yours? However, I promise that every member of the Frond will know what you’ve done.”
[END CONVERSATION]
FINAL OUTCOMES
1. PLAYER ENDORSES TRAVELLER’S PUNISHMENT
· Player enters another conversation with Wetroot, who asks questions from an audience perspective to clarify the reasons for the player's endorsement; what player says will determine the amount of reputation (i.e. GOODWILL) points awarded with the elder faction
· Screen fades to black, teleporting player to scene of the implantation ritual; for dramatic effect, growth of tree is near-instantaneous; animation shows Traveller calling out in pain, being mutilated as the tree grows through them
o If player initiates follow-up conversations with Traveller, they will learn through conversation that it has actually become a pleasurable, enlightening experience; however, Traveller is very clearly losing all sense of self
o If another conversation is initiated after a set period of time (two in-game days), Traveller will only be capable of communicating through moans
2. PLAYER CONDEMNS TRAVELLER'S PUNISHMENT BUT DOES NOT INTERFERE
· Player loses no GOODWILL points
· Traveller’s fate remains the same
3. PLAYER INTERFERES TO FREE TRAVELLER HEARTH
· If player talks to Traveller again, and agrees to save them, screen fades to black; player’s shuttle moves over the jail pit; tractor beam animation as Traveller ascends upward, then fade to black
· Player enters another conversation with Traveller, mid-flight, to clarify where Traveller wants to be set free. There are two options:
o 1. The outskirts of the city
o 2. Traveller’s home country (if the player has visited the Starside Observatory) [Leaves Traveller available for follow-up conversations at this location]
· Player loses significant amount of GOODWILL points with the elder faction
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