Recruitment dialogue for the game The Merlies. In The Merlies, the player finds birds scattered by a tempest (« the Airquake ») and brings them home to the flock. There, they need us to upcycle objects abandoned by humans into buildings for them to use. Here are a few examples of recruitment dialogue.
Let’s Play
The Merlies has yet to be officially released, but examples of recruitment dialogue can be found in their context thanks to this let’s play of the game demo.
Sprouter
| Explo_Meeting (We find Sprouter in the desert, where they tried their best to take care of a flower. They were so docused they didn’t hear us come, and we game them a jump. That’s why they worry they might have hurt the plant.) | Oh! Is she okay? Is she… She doesn’t look hurt. I’ll still give her a little something… Just in case. You gave us quite a fright! Please don’t stand too close to her, the heat from your feathers could disrupt her… It’s been tough to keep her alive… Not a lot of water to come by. And don’t get me started on the soil!! But look at her. Isn’t she the bravest of plants? Yes, you are! Yes, you are! We’re in this together… right until the end. |
| Explo_Reminder (Sprouter won’t leave without their Flower; they need help to get it outside of the Desert safely.) | A place of abundance… Rich soil and water… That sounds like quite the dream. But leaving her here? Alone to fend for herself? No, my good friends. I’ll go back to the raffle with my new friend… or not at all. Will you help us? |
| Explo_Recruited (We brought the Flower at the edge of the Desert. Sprouter can manage the rest of the journey by themselves.) | Thank you for your help! We’ll meet you at the *Stump*. And the Flower will be a proper flock member! |
| Nest_Meeting | My friend is blooming more than ever thanks to the fresh air! I’m glad we found our way back to you all. |
| Nest_WaitingForBuilding | I was thinking… I could help more Flowers bloom here, so my friend could have her secret garden. I’d need some seeds… And a place where I could tend to them. |
| Nest_Activity_FirstTime (The first time we talk to Sprouter after we built their dedicated building. From then on, talking to Sprouter will trigger either of the ActivityIntro dialogue, depending on gameplay conditions.) | This is perfect! As colorful as a Flower, this bodes really well. Now what Seeds should I care for today…? |
| Nest_ActivityIntro_Variant_NewFlower | I hear new Flower Eggs have made their way to our lovely Stump. Where do you think they’d best thrive? I’m sure you’ll pick the right spot. |
| Nest_ActivityIntro_Variant_NoFlower | We planted all I had in my care… What a fine day to smell Flowers, don’t you think? Or maybe you’d rather admire them? Pet them? Listen to them swinging in the wind? Or perhaps… play ball with her? Her favourite! |
Inventor
| Explo_Meeting (We find Inventor in a workshop they set up in the desert. It’s remote and peaceful enough to focus on important inventions, but the heat is really difficult to bear) | Shhhhh! Don’t bother me! I’m studying! You found shelter? Good for you. I’d join you, but I’m very busy here… There’s so much to learn and, more importantly, so much to come up with! … Huh? What’s that round wing? A glider, you say? Bet it breaks all the time. Since you already disturbed me, I might as well enhance it for you… I’ve got something around here that would help. Three bits (the colour of cobalt)SIMPLEBLUE, I think… |
| Explo_Reminder | So? I haven’t got all the time in the Overground! Triangle bits… They’re (cobalt-colored)SIMPLEBLUE… Three of them… My workshop is not that messy! |
| Explo_Recruited (We collected 3 fragments of a credit card that was cut with scissors by its previous owner. Inventor will use them to make a sturdier umbrella for the glider Merlie.) | See? You found it! This, I can work with. Give me your glider. This here… Bit of that… There! Pretty neat, huh? This I would trust my feathers with! Ah, fine. I’ll come to the Stump and pursue my research there. You could use the brains. |
| Nest_Meeting | It’s a nice change of scenery, this Stump. I’ll admit my brains were sometimes melting in that torrid place. Now I can actually feel myself think! |
| Nest_WaitingForBuilding | You don’t meet brilliant minds like mine everyday, you know? I could enhance a lot of things… given the right place to work. I’m just saying… |
| Nest_Activity_FirstTime (The first time we talk to Inventor after we built their dedicated building. From then on, talking to Inventor will trigger either of the ActivityIntro dialogue, depending on gameplay conditions.) | Now this is something else! A proper workshop for a proper inventor! |
| Nest_ActivityIntro_Variant_CanImprove | I see you’ve found interesting pieces for me to dabble with! I should be able to improve one of your tools… Let me see… |
| Nest_ActivityIntro_Variant_NoImprove | I hope you’re okay. I’m too busy to care either way. I’ll make time in my schedule if you bring me pieces I deem to be of use, though. I always have time for progress! Upgrade! Improvement! |
| Nest_Activity_Exit (Plays after the animation of Inventor improving the tool) | There! This should make life easier. The wild just got a little friendlier, you’ll see! |
| Nest_Activity_AllToolsAlreadyImproved | Now that all your tools are enhanced, maybe you’ll leave me to my important, essential, own work? Yes. I thought so. |
Bard
| Explo_Meeting (We find Bard stuck in an abandoned toaster in the Forest) | Hear, o hear, cruel destiny, Have you naught in store for me? I went in search of lost friends Yet here my pitiful tale ends. |
| Explo_Reminder | Ohh… Won’t anyone hear my soliloquy? |
| Explo_Recruited (We solved the puzzle and got Bard out of the toaster.) | Finally free! Thank you, my friends, for hearing my plea, And in outmanoeuvering the trap, thus saving me! Spirits are high and the sun does shine When one can rely on allies most divine. Let’s never again part ways; Whether rain or wind this quietude betrays, You’ll find me in the Nest, spinning our tale for days. |
| Nest_Meeting | Inspiring! The tree died, and yet we live. One by one gathered, with stories from across the land, Past to future… and I receive them on demand! |
| Nest_WaitingForBuilding | More friends each morning, just like back in the day. Still, had we… a place where all of us could stay, I could sing your stories, there you’d listen and play. |
| Nest_Activity_FirstTime (The first time we talk to Bard after we built their dedicated building. From then on, talking to Bard will trigger the ActivityIntro dialogue, followed by one of the ActivityMain_Variant options depending on gameplay conditions.) | Gather round, gentlebirds! Let me regale you. This is no faraway tale, but the fable of how Tunnels turned to mud, a dead tree to a home. Birdies lost, birdies found, birdies ever parting. And like a wave, their way forward – ever carving. |
| Nest_ActivityIntro | Gentlebirds, gentlefriends, here I sing of journeys So small you’d lose them… and yet they are we. Will you listen to our story? |
| Nest_ActivityMain_Variant_PostPrologue | Oh, these nights, these days! With their homes dissolved, The birds trudge on as they race to build a new one. The world above, rife with possibility yet security undone; They stand together all the same, ever united. Trials they shall face, the world less of a stranger. Take heart, companions. We are here, and hope grows stronger. |
| Nest_ActivityMain_Variant_PostForest | The world above ground is bigger; bigger than birds. You feel small; but birds we are, and stubborn at that. A barrier before us. We took flight, and lo, it fell flat. A lesson here – never underestimate smaller herds. |
| Nest_ActivityMain_Variant_PostCanopy | This is a tale I heard from our cousins in the Crown, ever windy; Nothing this thrilling happened in all of memory. An Eggling was playing With a samara seed When the wind took part In that game with art. The seed twirled and twirled, Soon joined by leaves, (coppered)ORANGE and curled. Our Eggling was laughing and jumping, Until, under their talons – branch no more! The baby even forgot to scream in horror, Opening tiny wings in vain, stil falling, falling. But — what was that? The fall stopped. Like a bud, the eggling dangled, Between Crown and Ground. The baby felt a bird’s claw As they flew back to the Nest, and the whole raft saw The Magpie that saved the child. Their new friend took flight — with a smile. |
| Nest_ActivityMain_Variant_PostDesert | Have you ever heard this tale, of which I’m fond, From beyond the Salted Pond? Truth or dare, recollection or fantasy, It tells of a land without Ground, water circling it. If you were to dig, no tunnels could be. Water from below would soon drowning thee. A land without land, of floating vestigial artefacts, A wave, and the vestiges no longer hold; talons stumble. Yet between it all, roots take hold in gaps. How did it came to? None know, so remain humble. |
| Nest_ActivityMain_Variant_PostSwamp | One tentative day, trembling birds went and cured The beast in the Swamp, if you believe this bard. But sitting on its head, they glimpsed A giant so tall the first one was dwarfed. It was but a silhouette in the haze With sharp claws of light tearing through the fog. Its shrieking mesmerized them even to the bog, Its threatening voice had an enticing edge. Talk of a bird who walked through the mist, They were reminded, never to return. But what of our brace? Would they succumb or resist? And was there, under its influence, a thing to learn? |
| Nest_ActivityMain_Variant_PostJunkyard | Here’s to a place and a tale No bird ever sang about; Beyond the Swamp we went, our hopes frail To find something besides monsters and drought. If monsters they were, their breaths were long gone. If it was a treasure trove, it was abandoned. Memories enough to cover the whole Underground, Towering as if daring us from where they’re bound. Who could grow so tall as to take them all? How deep shall we dig to find the soil? |
| Nest_ActivityMain_Variant_BeforeEnd | A tale of old, for today; For our story began far away. In the Ground, there lived a birdie Who didn’t belong to any family. No charm saw that bird hatch; No flock knew from where it was snatched. The Ground had strange ways then; Knocked one on the head, mocked the rest of them; With no memory left, our bird lived as a hermit Until, no far, word started to drip Of a realm that laid eggs, which never opened; Of Egglings, ever waiting, as mystery deepened. Our solitary fledgling went to visit; a mystery itself, The bird liked to investigate. Memory came back; a groundslide; forgotten and forgetting, And a bird and its mischief, separating. On that day, the flock went whole again, And the eggs hatched, chirping welcome and riffling pen. |