Before I did anything else I searched my newly inserted memories for valuable contextualization regarding one specific aspect of my “life” here in the Forgotten Realms; information regarding my party! 

I gave myself an attosecond to comb my mind-palace for all of the information I could extract that was new and had been implanted to help me make sense of the “Jump” I was in. As I did that I turned to face the back of the wagon and dexterously grabbed onto the back end of the thing. I effortlessly hoisted myself up and onto the top of supply-covered wagon-bed. 

My companions turned to glance at me curiously and looked a bit surprised at my sudden and considerable movement. A dwarf and a halfling, both men, turned to look at me. They had been driving the wagon back when it was moving and looked at me curiously. 

I could hear the horses groan in annoyance as they felt my addition to the weight they assumed they’d be tasked with pulling, even though we had stopped and were taking a break. 

Off in the distance I could sense more of the simulation’s simulation that I was trapped in beginning to load into being and my senses immediately adjusted to identify the new stimuli they were getting. 

I frowned as I smelt the smell of deceased, rotting horses, and as their distant figures began to pop into being in my vision, though not in the vision of the members of my party. Their senses were less sharp than mine and so they couldn’t see what I could see. 

The deceased horses that marked where the goblin ambush was supposed to take place were closer to three quarters of a mile away than a measly fifty feet ahead of me. I studied the scene and began to speak as I did. 

“Grem, Tarry, get ready. I can see… something ahead of us, on the road.” I cautioned, speaking to two of my allies. They turned in the direction I was looking at, and couldn’t see anything. 

“It’s too far ahead for you to see it but trust me it’s out there. There are two horses in the distance, but they are dead. I can see them sprawled out on the road, to block further travel.” I explained, causing both of my companions to shudder. 

“Aye… Laddie, grab your bow.” Growled Grem, the dwarven warlock who was the party’s newest member. He was speaking to Tarry, who was one of the first people to extend an invite to anyone else to band together. The other two people in the party were human women who were watching the sides of the wagon and were listening to the three of us from the ground.

All of us wore light armor, which was one of the identifying features of our party. My companions turned their heads in the direction of the deceased horses, and internally I chuckled. 

One of the things that made the upcoming encounter so dangerous was that the goblins were sneaky fucks and they were supposed to surprise the party. This encounter could easily result in a player character getting iced, if luck is on the side of the goblins, provided the nasty little buggers actually get to sneak up on the party. I was eliminating the possibility of that, by warning my party about them.

My companions trusted me, having known me to be a reliable part of their party who was attuned to music and life in ways that had often surprised them. They tensed and after a while turned to me, watching me and waiting for me to make a call. 

“Andrew… What do you think we should do?” Asked Sophie, our party’s druid. She was one of the humans who was on the ground, alongside Rachel, who was a barbarian. Rachel, like the party’s ranger was one of two of our group’s non-magic-users. Rangers could use magic, but Tarry was level one and wouldn’t be able to use even the simplest spell until we finished this part of the adventure. 

“It’s a trap, but so long as we know that we can do something about it.” I explained, ready to pretend that I was just putting two and two together regarding the positioning of the deceased horses in the distance. My party members paled when they heard me say it was a trap, but no one questioned me. I was the party’s bard, cleric, and in this simulation of a simulation also the most experienced adventurer in the party, they knew to trust my intuition. 

“Right… Well, lads… Ladies… Prepare yourselves.” Grem grumbled, the crotchety old fellow clearly annoyed by all of this. I chuckled at his proclamation, and motioned for my companions to get the wagon moving again. I also jumped off of the back of the thing and landed beside it. 

I also grew aware of something that felt strange… With each glance at my companions I grew intimately aware of every moral and immoral act they had performed to date. Every virtuous moment was as known to me as every sinful indulgence was. This was a powerful manifestation of my divinity, and it was also just generally a lot to know all of a sudden.

The wagon began to slowly come to life a minute later, and we began to move again. As we did I felt my body continue to grow in strength and my mind continued expanding. The divinity within me was continuing to swell and grow, and that was about to start having an effect on me in the next few minutes…

As we continued our trip, closing in on the ambush point, my senses continued to expand in range. And more than that I began to feel my supernatural senses expanding as well. 

I was a god of death and the afterlife. And that came with certain… perks, that were only just now beginning to make themselves fully known to me. I could see the goblins ahead of us, hiding in the dense growth of the forest that grew closer and closer to the road the deeper one progressed along the Triboar Trail. 

I turned my vision on the goblins and in doing so I felt my mind’s eye begin to see a twisted vision of the lives of the creatures I was staring at. The visions were quick things that displayed, in a blur, every good deed and every sin performed by the goblins. 

I was gaining knowledge of a summation of the lives the creatures had led, so that I could judge them. This power was an especially potent and nasty one since with it, in other circumstances, I could easily blackmail someone. I could also provide comfort to those who deserved comfort by reminding them of every good deed they had performed, if that was something I felt like doing. 

These creatures were simulations of a simulation but they had still led full lives until now. They were adults, by goblin standards, and they had been living violent lives so their lists of sins were quite extensive. 

As we began to close in on them I raised my hand into the air and with a thought manifested my “Iconic Item”. My “Iconic Item” was a possession of mine that would become symbolically associated with me in the years to come, and was one of the boons that came from drinking the “Essence of the Afterlife Elder God-King” potion I had drank earlier today. 

The actual item I was manifesting was a shapeshifting object but for now it took the form of a masterwork staff through which I could channel my magical energies and strengthen my spells. The thing came into being with ease, responding to my will effortlessly and manifesting beautifully. 

The staff I had in my hand looked like it was somehow carved from bronze. It was a solid, several feet-long instrument through which I could channel any amount of my arcane fury. At this point we were less than three hundred thirty feet, or just under one hundred meters, from the slain horses. Now my allies could see the things off in the distance and they were grimacing at them.

The horses were being used as roadblocks and as bait for curious travelers. They were positioned so that in order to get anywhere past them one would have to move the poor things, or go around them, either of which took time and energy. A few moments after investigating the corpses the goblins in the woods on either side of the road would ambush would-be investigators and fire arrows at them. 

In the distance the goblins could faintly see us approaching. I heard their excited, murderous whispers and the sounds of their footfalls as they hid behind the trees that marked the edge of the untamed woods. 

Before they even got the chance to ambush us, I pointed my staff at one of them and watched the creature. He was one of the goblins who’d pepper his foes with arrows from a distance, though it was rather unfortunate for him that the range of my arcane powers far eclipsed the range of his bow and arrows.  

“Goblins! I can see them and hear them in the distance. They’re hiding in the woods.” I proclaimed, causing my allies to scowl in anger. Grem studied the horses in the distance and I could feel the gears in his head moving. Eventually he spoke, curious to hear the extent of my capabilities. 

“Andrew… Do yew think you can do something about them?” He asked, his accented voice hitting certain words harder than others. I chuckled and felt some of my other powers beginning to awaken within me, as my body further acclimated to the sparks within me and to the potency of things like The Force. 

I could sense every lifeform for miles around me thanks to the powerful life-sense I possessed as a force conduit. Even lifeforms far beyond my ability to sense through my raw divine senses were not able to escape my awareness. I’d need to train to truly master my own powers as a force conduit, but minor acts such as telekinesis were all too easy even in my capacity as a force-sensitive. 

I could also have utilized my powers as a thief to steal their weapons if I wanted to. I paused for a second and studied the weapons possessed by my foes. They had simple arms, such as old wooden bows and a few unenchanted knives. I turned to Grem and nodded at the dwarf. The humanoid smiled at me, a touch savagely, and nodded back.

“Aye, when you’re ready we’ll go ahead and proceed.” He told me, before turning back to face the path ahead. I turned and faced the goblins, and decided to claim what they felt entitled to with one of my sillier powers; the power of the thief. 

I focused on their weapons, picturing the things in my mind with a sharp smile on my face. Once I had the objects pictured in my head I willed them out of the possession of the goblins and into my possession. As I did that I watched the goblins cry out when they felt their weapons vanish from their possession, in some cases even disappearing right out of their little hands! 

The weapons were teleported to my feet. I heard them plop down in front of me and glanced at them, before almost jumping back in surprise. I had been expecting them to appear in the little dimension I was granted as a consumer of the “Essence of the thief”, so seeing them here was a bit surprising. As I noticed that I heard Ben clear his throat in my mind to get my attention. I mentally “turned” to let him know that I was listening.

“I see that you’re having fun! Having a bit of meta-knowledge is really helpful isn’t it? Anyways, I came here to let you know some stuff that you’ll no doubt find relevant.” The figure informed me. I grabbed the weapons and began to put them in the wagon, so that my companions and I could sell them later. Tarry grabbed them and nodded at me, helping me to store them in places where they’d more easily stay put till we got to Phandalin. 

“You should know that since this is a simulation of a simulation, things you steal won’t be sent into your private dimension. You CAN still access this dimension, which I am currently modifying to be a fusion of the warehouse jumpers get to store their stuff, and the realm you are given since you drank ‘The Essence of Home’ and ‘The Essence of Relaxation’.” Ben revealed, casually. 

“This place is also, very decidedly, not the afterlife you are the god of, nor is it part of the bazaar you will lord over. It is a personal home dimension the size of the moon, for now, for you to run as you see fit. It is supposed to be where you live, the closest thing you have to a true home, but that is only how it’s designed.” The figure explained. 

“Oh, and since this is a simulation of a simulation, you won’t acquire power from worship here. You can still gain essence and you can still gain power from fear and stuff, just not worship. During the actual Generic First Jump that restrict will be lifted, but for now this is supposed to be… a vacation of sorts.” Ben uttered, as though he were enthralled by watching me run around.

When he was done talking I chuckled and I turned my gaze back at the goblins. I pointed my finger in the direction of one of them and activated one of the powers I possessed as a “Demon Emperor” with power over the eight deadly sins. I filled the tiny creature with an incredible amount of blood-curdling wrath and listened as he roared in anger. 

He surged across the road and to the other side of the woods, fists closed and fury visible in his gaze. He leaped at one of his comrades, ready to beat the man to death. The resulting commotion made me smile at my own comrades and motioned for us to continue. 

I sensed my allies exhale in relief, having seen me somehow pull random, shoddily made weapons out of nowhere and then motioning for us to continue our journey. They were all smart, they knew what was going on. As I thought that Ben’s voice once more interrupted my thoughts. 

“You should know that I programmed these guys myself. They won’t question your powers, though when you’re actually jumping into real universes some people might wonder how you do the things you do, unless the powers are fiat-backed to not seem weird to onlookers.” Ben explained, causing me to mentally nod at him. 

That knowledge was actually quite helpful, since it allowed me to be more informed about whether or not I ought to be stealthy with regards to my powers. I’d need to consider that in the future, since at times subtlety could be helpful and at other times it’d be good for me to be blunt about the nature of my powers. 

Tarry drew his bow as we closed in on the deceased horses and the carnage I had unleashed. The goblins, for the most part, remained hidden behind the treeline of the nearby woods. That was impressive since they were currently fighting, thanks to the one goblin I had filled with rage.

The horses in front of us laid sprawled throughout the road ahead. The thin, only loosely maintained dirt road wasn’t all that wide to begin with, and the horses that blocked it were thick things. I stepped forward and examined the horses for a second. They wore bloodied saddles and I lightly touched the red liquid and brought it to my nose to sniff it. 

This was all an act, I had meta-knowledge on my side thanks to the books I had absorbed knowledge of earlier today. That said the blood smelled good, and it made me feel almost thirsty. I stealthily turned invisible for a second, all while my allies focused on the loud noises of the fighting goblins, and brought the blood to my mouth. 

I licked it and shivered in delight as the life-containing liquid entered my mouth. I swallowed it, gluttonously drinking the scarlet liquid. In drinking it I gave myself my very first, miniscule portion of essence and I also felt my mind fill with alien knowledge! 

My mind filled with knowledge about a warrior named Sildar Hallwinter, an escort that Gundred Rockseeker, the man who hired my party, had hired to take him to the small trading town we were to meet him in. My mind-palace expanded and I gained a section filled with alien memories, a section that was immediately constructed to help organize the growing part of my mind that was made up of foreign memories. 

The man’s blood was eerily delicious, though I knew that this was entirely due to my nature as a sanguinarch. The tiny amount of essence that was now flowing through me also felt good, like a cool sip of water on a hot summer day, but also applied to every part of my body. 

I allowed myself a second to luxuriate and enjoy the new sensations I was feeling before lifting my head from the saddle and turning my gaze in the direction of the lone goblin who hadn’t been drawn into the brawl occurring on one side of the road. The goblin was watching the party and so he hadn’t noticed me since I was invisible. I rose a hand in his direction and yanked it back towards me, all while willing the goblin towards me. 

The goblin yelped in surprise as he was forcefully dragged out of his hiding spot. He almost spun head over heels towards me, and he spent the whole time that he was being pulled in the direction of the party screaming in fear, since these young goblins were not brave creatures. 

It took the goblin a few moments to be forcefully dragged out of his hiding spot and placed flat on his back at the feet of the party’s wagon. A wagon wheel was dangerously close to his head, and he looked up at the wagon’s drivers with fear in his large, amber-colored eyes. My allies looked down on him and smiled wickedly.