Going in for the quill.
Emma’s Adventureswas a monthly column created for Eurogamer Supporters that ran throughout 2023.
And there are always unexpected twists in her tales.
We’ll open a new one each month.
She integrates herself with society and soon begins performing her work.
And I do mean performing: she does dramatic readings for them.
Will they like it, will they not?
Read on, dear reader, read on.
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When I’m not playing it, I’ve been thinking about it.
(I ignored the expressions of mild concern on their faces.)
Which brought me, somewhat unexpectedly, to Minecraft.
As usual, however, things didn’t go exactly to plan.
Somehow, I ended up becoming the town poet instead.
And the story gets as ridiculous as you would imagine.
Excited to start, I took my first steps forward.
“Balfour these NUTS” was the first message I saw in the out-of-character chat channel.
The adventure was nearly over before it had even begun.
With my feet once again firmly planted on the floating island, I returned to the teleportation poles.
Instead, a merchant called Tuvya greeted me.
She quickly shut down my idea of becoming a messenger.
“Ea am afraid ea would not have much work for vy.”
“Ea have an idea though,” Ileana continued.
“Vy could become my scribe, if vy wish?
Not one to miss a party, I eagerly agreed.
Later in the evening there was even a ‘best-dressed’ competition where spaniels were given out as prizes.
“Hmm” was his response.
“Eeeer it’s called Anstruthe?”
He seemed to buy it, or at least, he didn’t ask again.

The next day, all seemed quiet in the city - perhaps because everyone was nursing a hangover.
There, I bumped into Haylene again, who was absorbed in her notebook.
“I’m writing notes about herbs,” Haylene explained.
“We’re heading out on a foraging trip shortly - you should come!”
So, naturally, I joined in.
So I decided to spice things up.

“Let’s head to the clinic.”
“We want to build a new orphanage, will you make a contribution?
With every donation comes a chicken nugget made directly from our kitchen.”

The doctor seemed rather suspicious of these nuns, and frankly, so was I. Scratching my head, I considered the several ridiculous events I had already witnessed on the server.
Perhaps I could simply write about those?
And so once again I decided to pivot my character towards another profession: becoming a part-time poet.
Surely, this would provide financial security.
In true medieval fashion, there may also have been a couple ofembellishmentsto the truth.
Hopefully the latter would be subtle enough that I wouldn’t get in trouble for blasphemy.

Pleased with my initial efforts, I decided to branch out into some more serious subject matter.
And so I wrote a poem about Grisell’s hidden sadness at leaving her homeland.
But this is all just fairy tales and fiction.

Along with everyone else in the city, I piled into the public gallery to watch the proceedings.
Even when he was found guilty and told he would lose a hand as punishment, he seemed unperturbed.
“Ay he’s got the devil en him!”
I made sure to yell out from the crowd, as we watched the scene unfold.
It was most disturbing to witness.
Clearly, this was part of some ongoing storyline.
Talinn was led away to the royal palace to be “tested for darkspawn”.
I did, however, spare some of the gory details.
I also changed Talinn’s name to Toby Spouth, simply because this would work with the rhyme scheme.
Inspired by the sing-song quality of the rhyme, I then penned one final poem.
These child characters would typically be exceptionally annoying.
I recorded a vocal version, and turned it into a musical round.
With all my poems complete, it was time to start promoting myself.
“Young Grisell, this is fascinating,” said a fortune teller.
“I will see to it to spread the voice among other folk about you!”
“The prose is beautifully writ, as far as my eyes have seen.”
Royal recognition would surely be the fastest route to fame and fortune, I surmised.
But alas, when I arrived there, I discovered that they were not taking petitions that day.
Thankfully, I had another plan.
You see, Lord of the Craft has its own forums where users can share in-character messages and creations.
So I’published' my book there, along with therecording of the musical round.
We’ll pretend that the book was enchanted to project my voice, or something.
And low and behold, this actually worked.
(Hidden under a spoiler tag was an out-of-character remark: “this is so cool!!!
You have talent my friend.")
This was brilliant news: if I wished, I could now receive a place within the royal court.
And so ends my adventures as a medieval fantasy poet - for now, at least.
I’m intrigued to see what happens with that ongoing darkspawn plotline.
I also learned that, somewhere deep down, I am a medieval bard at heart.
The next step for my character?
Travelling between cities and writing poetry on behalf of Haense’s royal court.
This poet is Gawain places.