Planescape: Torment
Planescape: Torment is a 1999 computer role-playing game (CRPG) which takes place in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Planescape campaign setting. It differs from similar CRPGs by placing an emphasis on conversation and storyline, as opposed to an emphasis on combat.
And that's supposed to be an incentive? We get to do this all *again*? Gee, I can't wait to be a floating skull all over again. Whee! Pike him. What a tard. Spoken just like someone who hasn't died before, huh?
The Nameless One
- (After hearing Morte read the tattoos on his back) No wonder my back hurts; there's a damn novel written on it.
- Updated my journal. (Quest log update)
- Um... has anyone seen a floating sarcastic skull around here?
- Stow it, Morte.
- Another comment like that, and you'll be wearing your ass as a hat.
- I wonder what it was I said that made Death reject me.
- One foot in the grave, the other in Hell.
- No good comes of evil roots, I fear.
- It insults the dead when you treat life carelessly.
- If there is anything I have learned in my travels across the Planes, it is that many things may change the nature of a man. Whether regret, or love, or revenge or fear - whatever you believe can change the nature of a man, can. I’ve seen belief move cities, make men stave off death, and turn an evil hag's heart half-circle. This entire Fortress has been constructed from belief. Belief damned a woman, whose heart clung to the hope that another loved her when he did not. Once, it made a man seek immortality and achieve it. And it has made a posturing spirit think it is something more than a part of me.
- I HAVE COMMITTED MANY CRIMES ACROSS MANY LIFETIMES. I GO NOW TO A PLACE OF PUNISHMENT. YOU CANNOT COME WITH ME.
Dak'kon
- Hail, traveler. Your eyes have the weight of someone who has traveled far to be in this place.
- Your reasons for your incessant clicking are not known to me.
- Strength lies in knowing oneself.
- I may be bested in battle, but I shall never be defeated.
- Endure. In enduring, grow strong.
- There cannot be two skies!
- It was known to me that you would return; is it your will that our two paths be one?
- Steel marks flesh, but flesh cannot mark steel.
- When a mind does not know itself, it is flawed. When a mind is flawed, the man is flawed. When a man is flawed, that which he touches is flawed. It is said that what a flawed man sees, his hands make broken.
- Your path is mine.
- I have been here before. This time I shall never leave.
- Balance in All Things.
- In knowing the teachings of Zerthimon, I have become stronger. [Level up]
Annah
- Looks like the Dusties lost one of their deaders! (upon first seeing the Nameless One)
- Pike off.
- Yeh ever get the feeling yeh're bein' watched? Yeh are.
- If yeh keep bobbin' about, skull, I'll mount yeh on the end of a pike!
- Yeh like me wee tail? I could wag it for yeh.
- Get yer eyes off my arse!
- Aye, now what yeh be wantin' to know about me for? Are yeh jest bored? It's not some grand tale, it isn't, so if yeh're expecting some epic yeh'd best go rattle yer bone-box at someone else, jig?
Fall-From-Grace
- I'm afraid that if you are to remove that... I would be naked. [When trying to remove her bodice]
- I must confess that Nordom is the cutest little rogue modron I've ever seen!
- A ring without a proposal? How improper! [When given a left ring]
- Oh! Does this mean we are engaged? [When given a right ring]
- Simple minds, simple pleasures... [When being clicked repeatedly]
- Time is not your enemy, forever is.
- So, you are the spider that lies in the center of it all.
Morte
- Hey Chief, you okay? You playin' dead or you puttin' the blinds on the Dusties? I thought you were a deader for sure.
- I'm Morte. Like Latin... for Death.
- I am both happy and miserable, without the happy part!
- Women were the reason I became a monk - and, ah, the reason I switched back...
- What's eatin' you Chief?
- We should get some female zombies to join our party, right Chief?
- Come on! Let's shake a leg... Well... YOU shake a leg...
- Oh sure. I'll just... swing it with my arms! [When trying to equip him with a weapon other than teeth]
- Unless you've suddenly become a dentist, hands off! [When trying to take his teeth]
- You know, if I could click you, you wouldn’t know a moment’s peace!
- Flies wouldn't even land on your carcass! [Litany of Curses]
- Graaaace... you wanna put ME in your inventory?
- Graaaace... I need your sensory touch!
- You know, it wouldn't kill you to say a few words to me, fiendling... or hug me... or KISS me! [To Annah]
- Chief, we're being followed! Just look natural - uh... casual.
- This place is locked up tighter than a chastity belt!
- I-I feel like I'm in a cuckoo clock...a cuckoo-cuckoo clock! [In the Modron Maze]
- This is the worst place we could be in Sigil at the worst possible time.
- I'd just like to interject here and point out that I'm not going to say anything to spoil the mood, chief. I'll just float here and watch. Don't mind me, just sitting here, floating and watching, that's me. [Interjecting a moment between Annah and the Nameless One]
- Alas, poor Dak'kon, I knew him well. [When Dak'kon dies]
- How many times must this fool die? [When the Nameless One dies]
- Talk about beatin' a dead horse! [When the Nameless One dies]
- Looks like that beauty sleep didn't help YOU any! [When the Nameless One dies]
- Well, looks like another trip to the Mortuary... [When the Nameless One dies]
- (When told by a philosopher that life does not end in death, but that one merely embarks on a new life)
And that's supposed to be an incentive? We get to do this all *again*? Gee, I can't wait to be a floating skull all over again. Whee! Pike him. What a tard. Spoken just like someone who hasn't died before, huh?
Nordom
- I think, therefore I am... I think.
- I'm a little modron, short and stout.
- The issue no longer equals total logic.
- Nordom and crossbows wish to go in search for trouble!
- I sleep in a drawer.
- Said desire will begin immediately.
- I estimate that Fall-from-Grace would be 51% more effective as a modron. Give or take 5.2%.
- I estimate Fall-from-Grace to be found attractive by the male sex of over 321423 separate species. Give or take 5.
Ravel Puzzlewell
- There is no room for "2" in the world of 1's and 0's, no place for "mayhap" in a house of trues and falses, and no "green with envy" in a black-and-white world.
- The past is past, and histories care little for a-speaking the truth of it.
- I am but a woman who has sorely... soarly? Soarly missed her beloved creation. Some have named me crone, gray lady, Yaga sister, night hag -- but MYSELF is my name, Ravel, Ravel who puzzles well, providing conundrums to decipher and laying impossibilities low.
- I have forgotten more of the Art than you shall... EVER... KNOW.
- It is a cruel, jagged world beyond the edges of this maze, and Ravel has pulled enough of its shards from her skin.
- You have forgotten your PLACE, HALF-man. Humility is in order.
- The *tiefling*. The FIERY one. No choice. At. All. When you *feel* instead of *think*, there is little room for choice.
- *Rattle-rattle* goes the hollow man, a baby's plaything, with naught but a tiny stone that a-clatters and clacks in your frame.
- What can change the nature of a man?
- The question is also asked by others in the game, but was originally asked by Ravel.
Coaxmetal
- START WITH A FRAGMENT OF THE ENEMY. A DROP OF BLOOD. A CRYSTALLIZED THOUGHT. ONE OF THEIR HOPES. ALL OF THESE THINGS TELL THE WAY IT CAN DIE.
- METAL IS LIKE FLESH. BOTH CARRY POTENTIAL IN THEIR VEINS. WHEN TEMPERED WITH HEAT AND PRESSURE, THE POTENTIAL SURFACES.
- ENTROPY HAS UNMADE THEM.
- IMMORTALITY IS ONLY A WORD. ALL THAT EXISTS CAN DIE. EVERY LIVING THING HAS A WEAPON AGAINST WHICH IT HAS NO DEFENSE. TIME. DISEASE. IRON. GUILT.
- I FORGE THE WEAPONS BY WHICH THE MULTIVERSE WILL BE UNMADE.
Ignus
- Ignus wishes to BURN.
- When the Planessss burnnnn and all life is but torchesss, then Ignusss ssshall at lassst... be at peace.
- RI-KA-SHA!
- One day, Ignus will kill you all.
Vhailor
- I have AWAKENED. I am VHAILOR.
- Who goes there?
- Justice is not blind... for I am Her eyes!
- Mercy is a shield used by the weak!
- While we await, mercy and evil seep into the hearts of more victims!
- You will not escape my axe again!
- Your crimes cry out for justice!
- Perfection through punishment.
- Let my words carry you: JUSTICE is a TEACHER. In your PUNISHMENT, gain STRENGTH. Through your PUNISHMENT, achieve PERFECTION.
- He no longer LIVES. He only EXISTS. It is not the SAME. (when speaking of Ignus)
- JUSTICE shall be served. You shall FALL beneath my blade, immortal, even if I have to stand over your struggling remains for ETERNITY. (when he discovers the true identity of The Nameless One)
Trias the Betrayer
- A Man's mortality is a compass that points his way in life.
- I will not be judged by you mortal; not when you have lived the lives you have. Let me tell you of Betrayal: betrayal is cowardice... selling weapons to your adversaries out of fear that they might stop killing each other and turn upon you. Betrayal is refusing to lead by example. Betrayal is letting the Fiends run rampart through the Planes until evil has corrupted all hearts.
- How is it that you believe that you have earned the right to any truths in this life or the next? Such arrogance.
The Pillar Of Skulls
- Meaning and death is what you seek... Two separate things they are for a normal man. But for you... one and the same.
The Transcendent One
- THE WEAK SUFFER. I ENDURE.
- I AM THAT WHICH WALKS WITH ALL LIFE. MY VOICE IS A DEATH RATTLE, A LAST BREATH IN THE THROAT, THE WHISPER OF A DYING MAN.
- YOU ARE UNWELCOME HERE, BROKEN ONE.
- I SHALL BREAK YOU A THOUSAND TIMES, THEN BUILD YOU ANEW... SO THAT YOU MIGHT DIE ANOTHER DEATH.
- I CAN FORGE PLANES WITH MY POWER! I CAN UNMAKE YOU!
- SO YOU HAVE COME. THEN YOU SHALL DIE AGAIN.
- NO. I HAVE KILLED ALL WHO COULD HAVE LEAD YOU TO THIS PLACE. THE WALLS OF THIS FORTRESS SHALL BE SILENT AGAIN - YOU WILL TROUBLE ME, NO MORE.
- ASK YOUR QUESTIONS. BUT KNOW YOU SHALL NEVER REMEMBER THE ANSWERS.
- A NAME IS A CLOAK OF LETTERS THROWN UPON A MAN. IT MEANS NOTHING.
- THEN THIS IS MY ANSWER AND YOU ARE THE PROOF: NOTHING CAN CHANGE THE NATURE OF A MAN.
Other
- You truly know very little, about very little. Have you bashed your head against every rock that has fallen from the Mountain of Ignorance?
- Lothar, Master of the Bones
- I'll bet ye've got all sorts o' barmy questions! (She mimics your heroic stance) Greetin's, I have some questions... can ye tell me about this place? Who's the Lady o' Pain? I'm lookin' fer the magic Girdle of Swank Iron, have ye seen it? Do ye know where a portal ta the 2,817th Plane o' the Abyss might be? Do ye know where the Holy Flamin' Frost-Brand Gronk-Slayin' Vorpal Hammer o' Woundin' an' Returnin' an' Shootin'-Lightnin'-Out-Yer-Bum is?
- Elderly Hive Dweller
- They do not possess the true fire. They speak of creation and they boast of their potential but they do not create anything beyond the mundane. Their imagination is poor, obsessed with the small details. A true Dreamer, I say, creates a grand scheme and then concentrates on the details. Starting with the details is for the ants of the imagination - the small insects who aspire only to be fed.
- Nihl Xander, Godsmen Engineer
Unbroken Circle of Zerthimon
- Know that we are the First People. Once all was chaos. The First People were thought drawn from chaos. When the First People came to know themselves, they were chaos no longer, and became flesh.
- The first line of the Unbroken Circle.
- A divided mind is one that does not know itself. When it is divided, it cleaves the body in two. When one has a single purpose, the body is strengthened. In knowing the self, grow strong.
- The final line of the Unbroken Circle.
- Strength lies in knowing oneself. I learned that once someone does not know themselves, they are lost. They become tool for others.
- The Nameless One, reflecting on the lesson of the first circle.
- I learned that not knowing something can be a tool, just like flesh and steel, if upon encountering it, you attempt to know its nature and how it came to be.
- The Nameless One, reflecting on the lesson of the second circle.
- Endure. In enduring, grow strong.
- The Nameless One, reflecting on the lesson of the third circle.
- When one chooses to see only what is before them, they see only a part of the whole. They are blind. And just as Vilquar was blinded by his promised reward, so were the *illithids* blinded to the true Rising. For when they heard Vilquar's words, they turned their sight outwards again, didn't they? And the Rising was free to strike?
- The Nameless One, reflecting on the lesson of the fourth circle.
- There is great strength in numbers, but there is great power in one, for the strength of the will of one may gather numbers to it. There is strength not only in knowing the self, but knowing how to bring it forth in others.
- The Nameless One, reflecting on the lesson of the fifth circle.
- I know that Zerthimon's devotion to the People was such that he was willing to protect them from themselves. He knew the *illithids* had come not to know themselves in their obsession with control and domination. So he chose to stop Gith before she carried the People to their deaths. There must be balance in all things, or else the self will not hold.
- The Nameless One, reflecting on the lesson of the sixth circle.
- It speaks of time as an ally, not as an enemy. It says that patience can sharpen even the smallest of efforts into a weapon that can strike the heart of an empire. Your victories may be small, but over time, a greater victory may be achieved.
- The Nameless One, reflecting on the lesson of the seventh circle.
- It speaks of focus and discipline... about how not knowing oneself can physically divide the man. It also speaks of the weaknesses that division causes. It seems to me that it tells one to not only know themselves and take strength from that, but that your focus can reveal weaknesses in your enemy.
- The Nameless One, reflecting on the lesson of the eighth circle.
Narrator
- (on the opening of the Bronze Sphere) The sphere wrinkles in your hands, the skin of the sphere peeling away into tears and turning into a rain of bronze that encircles you. Each droplet, each fragment that enters you, you feel a new memory stirring, a lost love, a forgotten pain, an ache of loss - and with it, comes the great pressure of regret, regret of careless actions, the regret of suffering, regret of war, regret of death, and you feel your mind begin buckling from the pressure - so MUCH, all at once, so much damage done to others... so much so an entire FORTRESS may be built from such pain. And suddenly, through the torrent of regrets, you feel the first incarnation again. His hand, invisible and weightless, is upon your shoulder, steadying you. He doesn't speak, but with his touch, you suddenly remember your name. ...and it is such a simple thing, not at all what you thought it might be, and you feel yourself suddenly comforted. In knowing your name, your true name, you know that you have gained back perhaps the most important part of yourself. In knowing your name, you know yourself, and you know, now, there is very little you cannot do.
Conversations
- Nordom: Attention, Morte. I have a question: do you have a destiny... a purpose?
- Morte: Is Annah still wearing clothes?
- Nordom: Affirmatory.
- Morte: Then, the answer is yes.
- Nordom: Attention, Fall-From-Grace. I wish to address your body.
- Fall-From-Grace: I beg your pardon?
- Nordom: Your body. Your form. Your reason for selecting it. Why?
- Fall-From-Grace: Why..? I suppose I find it comforting. Besides, I rather like the wings.
- Nordom: It would be more practical for you to assume the form of a modron. It is 13.27% more efficient; give or take +5.2%.
- Fall-From-Grace: (gently flirting) Why, Nordom... are you trying to court me?
- Nordom: It was not my intention to initiate legal action against you.
- Nordom: (sharing his story with Yves) In the 13.7 Revolution, we were required to fix gear and cog subset 31 in the fifth ring of Mechanus. We removed the obstruction and the gear turned as per its normal speed. Upon completing our task, we were then returned to the Source.
- Morte: What in the Hells was that, you stupid polygon?! That's the most boring story I ever heard!
- Nordom: It was what took place. With embellishments, of course.
- Morte: Embellishments?
- Nordom: I thought the return to Source was a particularly fitting image to close the tale.
- Fall-from-Grace: Morte, with a vocabulary like yours, you should spend some time at the brothel...
- Morte: Hohoho! The gods are merciful!
- Fall-from-Grace: Morte, I'm curious... what happened to your body?
- Morte: It's a long story involving the Head of Vecna. I don't want to talk about it.
- Fall-from-Grace: (Laughing) That was you?
- Morte: Could we *please* change the subject?
- The Nameless One: Can you speak?
- Ecco: [She shakes her head at you and smiles sadly]
- Morte: I love this chit already!
- Nordom: Attention, Morte. Did you know I have six sides?
- Morte: (sarcastic) I noticed. Why don't you go and share your insight with the Chief, huh?
- Nordom: Annah, does your tail assist you in maintaining your balance?
- Annah: (sarcastic) No, it's fer scratchin' me back, yeh soddin' box!
- Nordom: Yes... that is quite logical.
- Annah: (sighs)
- Hive Dweller: (Referring to Morte) Oh, look! A floating skull!
- Morte: Oh, look! A talking turd!
- Fall-From-Grace: Your mastery of discipline is impressive Dak'kon.
- Dak'kon: In the eyes of Zerthimon, I am nothing.
- Fall-From-Grace: Surely, you are being too harsh on yourself?
- Dak'kon: A long road must I still travel. This... is but the beginning.
- Ravel Puzzlewell: Life swallowed you and spit you out!
- Morte: It swallowed him, but I don't know if he came out of THAT end!
- The Nameless One: Where can I find this angel?
- Ravel Puzzlewell: In a-leaving this prison, to another cursed prison will you arrive... though it may not appear as such to casual glances. Step a-lightly, and find the golden link in the ever-shortening chain. The light shall give the dark of the matter, and new paths shall open to you.
- The Nameless One: Delightfully cryptic... though not surprising. Thanks.
- Vhailor: When the injustice is great enough, Justice will lend me the strength needed to correct it. None may stand against it. It will shatter every barrier, sunder any shield, tear through any enchantment and lend its servant the power to pass sentence. Know this: there is nothing on all the Planes that can stay the hand of justice when it is brought against them. It may unmake armies. It may sunder the thrones of gods. Know that for ALL who betray Justice, I am their fate... and fate carries an Executioner's Axe.
- The Nameless One: I see.
- Vhailor: No, you do NOT see. Pray you NEVER will.
- Nordom: Plane: Negative Material. Location: Fortress of Regrets.
- The Transcendent One: (entering scene) AH... THE ROGUE CONSTRUCT.
- Nordom: Sense of closure: imminent.
- The Transcendent One: SUBMIT.
- Nordom: You intend to harm one who has aided Nordom at cost to himself. Nordom will attempt to stop you. Prospect of success: slight.
- The Transcendent One: (casting) THE BODY IS A SHELL. INTENSE PRESSURE MAY FRACTURE IT. SHALL I CONTINUE?
- Nordom: You intend to harm him. Nordom will stop you.
- The Transcendent One: (casting) SO BE IT.
- Fall-From-Grace: It is difficult to seperate shadows from the darkness here. This is not a place meant for the living.
- The Transcendent One: AH... THE TANAR'RI.
- Fall-From-Grace: So, you are the spider that lies in the center of it all. I have many questions that you could answer. Your goals in this matter have not been entirely clear.
- The Transcendent One: MY GOALS ARE NOT FOR YOU TO KNOW, FALLEN TANAR'RI. MY INDULGENCE IS ALL THAT KEEPS YOUR BLACK HEART BEATING IN YOUR CHEST; YOU MAY LEAVE WITH YOUR LIFE NOW... IF YOU WILL.
- Fall-From-Grace: My heart is neither black nor do I fear for my life. My companions, my friends, are here in your Fortress. I shall not leave until we are rejoined and the man we follow has resolved this matter to a satisfactory conclusion.
- The Transcendent One: THERE IS *NO* SATISFACTORY CONCLUSION TO THIS FOOL'S ERRAND. YOU WILL LEAVE THIS PLACE, AND YOU SHALL LEAVE YOUR UNDYING COMPANION HERE. FEAR NOT FOR HIS LIFE. THE ONLY PRICE HE SHALL PAY IS THE LOSS OF MEMORY.
- Fall-From-Grace: As gracious as your offer is, I must refuse your offer to abandon my friends. As for the 'small' price he will pay at your hands, it is the equivalent of death to him. I have traveled with this man for some time, and there are many things I do not wish him to forget.
- The Transcendent One: HE WILL FORGET. IT IS HIS FATE TO REMAIN IGNORANT. HE WILL FORGET YOU, TANAR'RI, JUST AS HE HAS FORGOTTEN ALL WHO HAVE WALKED THE PATH OF MISERY WITH HIM. HE EXISTS TO DIE, FORGET, AND DIE AGAIN. HE IS *NOTHING*.
- Fall-From-Grace: That is *your* judgment. The fact remains that I do not wish him to forget me, nor all that he has struggled for to reach this place. He has suffered much, and I find my sympathies lie with him rather than the arrogant creature that postures before me and fights as a *coward* fights, preferring to kill from a distance where his opponent cannot reach him. You shall torment him no more.
- The Transcendent One: TANAR'RI... PERHAPS YOU DOUBT MY POWERS HERE, IN THIS PLACE. A DEMONSTRATION MAY SILENCE YOUR DOUBT.
- Fall-From-Grace: You have done enough harm - prepare yourself! (casting)
- The Transcendent One: YOU ARE NOTHING. I CAN FORGE PLANES WITH MY POWER - I CAN UNMAKE YOU.
- The Transcendent One: DOES HE REALLY MATTER TO YOU?
- Annah: He matters MORE to me than life!
- The Transcendent One: THEN... DIE.