Dialogue & Chatter | Hildi de Chérin

Excerpts from dialogue written for Hildi de Chérin, a playable character for a stealth / RPG set in French Medieval Times. Hildi is a girl born in nobility who left it all to search for her vanished father. Along the way, she teams up with Jan, a modest-born young man who becomes a friend of sorts, and faces men sworn to her number one suspect in her father’s disappearance, the Count of Burgundy. Her character sheet can be accessed here.

An argument between the two main characters

Context: Fleeing from the soldiers of the Count of Burgundy after a near confrontation, Jan and Hildi finally reached an abandoned solicitor’s study. Hildi wants to search for clues concerning her father’s disappearance, whereas Jan wants to move on. This dialogue takes place while Hildi is searching the office, ignoring Jan’s wish. As the dialogue (and the search of the office) unfolds, noises suggesting that their pursuers haven’t given up start to be heard. The noises and the dialogue accelerate the pacing of the room search, enhancing tension and encouraging the player to accelerate their actions.

Speaker	Line	Tone/Intention
Jan	Come on, we need to be on our merry way.
Hildi	A moment, please. This could be important.
Jan	It could, but is it?
Jan	Personally, I prefer my throat uncut to old papers.
Hildi	They’re actually not this old… This is dated from last week.
Hildi	Apparently, this… Étienne… demanded an account of all my family’s properties…
Jan	Must’ve taken a while. Now can we go?	In a sigh, annoyed
Hildi	Do you have better things to do? Robbing a merchant perhaps?	Claps the book she’s reading closed, snaps at Jan
Jan	Actually, no. And you know why? Because there are no convoys to be robbed anymore, because everyone is fucking dead from the Plague. Or from your little friends out there.
Hildi	They’re not my friends!
Jan	No? You sure talk a lot about them.
Hildi	Don’t you see what this means?	Re-opens the book
Jan	Seeing is one thing, reading is another, not everyone is all “educated” and fancy.
Hildi	They lost him! My father must’ve escaped somehow, and…
Jan	And I really couldn’t care less right now.	Focused on the noises outside.
Hildi	That changes a lot of things. Oh, I might need to sit.	Scoffs
Jan	What’s that supposed to mean?
Hildi	Remind me, who alerted the guards in the first place? You did. And for what? For some gold! So, coins are worth risking our lives but my father isn’t?	Disdainful
Jan	Gold, I’ll have you know, can be very useful for staying alive. But I don’t expect m’lady to understand that, given she probably doesn’t know the price of a loaf of bread.	Ironic
Hildi	You may go if you’re so afraid. I never asked for your company.
Jan	Great! You and your fat pigeon can get lost. I’m out of here.
Hildi	Esme’s a falcon, you wally!
Jan	I hope she shits on your sheets!	Opens the door, catching a glimpse of soldiers down the hill

Following this sequence, Jan escapes in extremis but Hildi is captured. He considers going on on his own but changes his mind and goes back to try and help Hildi. They meet again later, after Hildi (the player) has almost freed herself from the Burgundy soldiers.

Reflecting on a character’s backstory and relationship to his family

Jan and Hildi progress in a seemingly tranquil patch of meadow. Jan is initially a bit further ahead, but starts to walk more slowly. Past a certain point of the map, he starts scratching his own wrist, somewhere we know lays a distinctive tattoo worn by his former gang members. A way to ensure nobody ever truly leaves the gang.

Object discovery / Reminiscing

Item name: Galba Truncatula

Item description: The Galba is a type of mollusk that’s also known as the Pond Snail. When he was little, Jan dreamed of scouring the seas, and so he would collect anything related with the sea. He traded this particular shell a long time ago with a merchant who claimed he had visited faraway lands. But later on he discovered from a local fishmonger that this shell couldn’t have come from the sea and he felt betrayed.

Context of discovery:  During Jan and Hildi’s visit at the farm of Jan’s mother , Jan revisits what little childhood memories he has around the house. In the common room, where all children sleep next to the hearth, his old bed is still here, though occupied by a younger sibling. But a carving he’s done here remains, along with a shell that Jan used to treasure.

Speaker	Line	Tone/Intention
Hildi	What’s this?	Curious
Jan	I remember this. It’s… it’s actually a snail shell.	Disbelieving that it’s still there after all these years.
Jan	I used to love everythin’ from the sea.
Jan	So this… This was my treasure, the promise that one day, I’d go on an adventure.
Jan	I traded a knife for this. Mum was… not pleased.
Jan	And guess what? Probably came from the pond nearby. This is no sea snail.
Jan	It’s… strange, to think it stood here all this time.
Hildi	Will you take it with you?
Jan	I mean… Not like it’s of use to anyone around here, right?	« Playing it cool », like it doesn’t mean anything to him.