Free video game NPC and vendor scripts

[BRINDLE runs a cluttered general store in a mountain village. Record each line as its own take] [greeting] Well, look who the wind blew in! Come in, come in, mind the cat. Ah, my favourite customer. Don't tell the others. [browsing] Take your time. Everything's for sale except the cat. That rope? Good rope. Climbed half the mountain with that rope. Well, my cousin did. [buy] Lovely choice. I'll wrap it. No, I won't, I've run out of paper. Sold! Spend it wisely. Or foolishly, it's your coin now. [sell] Hmm. Bit scratched. I'll give you fair, not generous. Where did you find this? Actually, don't tell me. [can't afford] Oh, love, you're a few coins short of that one. Come back when your purse is heavier and your boots are muddier. [goodbye] Safe roads! And bring me back something shiny. Off you go. Mind the cat.

[HALVARD, a forge master, does not look up from his anvil] [greeting] Forge is hot. Talk fast. You again. What did you break this time? [upgrade] Give it here. I'll put an edge on it that'll outlive you. Done. Don't use it to open crates. [haggle attempt] No. Price is the price. The steel doesn't haggle and neither do I. [not enough materials] I need iron, not promises. Come back with ore. [goodbye] Go on. Stay sharp.

[A guard at the east gate of the city of Corrowmere, long past midnight] [idle] Four more hours. Four more hours and then bed. Someone stole my sandwich again. I know it was Pell. [player approaches] Hold there. Gate's shut after dark. State your business. [player lingers] You're standing awful close to my spear, friend. [warning] One more step and I call the whole watch. [pass shown] Hm. Seal looks real enough. Through you go. Quietly. [goodbye] Don't make me regret it.

[KE-7, a small maintenance robot, floats beside the player in a training bay aboard the starship Halcyon Drift] Hello, Cadet! I am KE-7. I will be your training assistant today. Please do not touch my antenna. It is sensitive. Let's start with walking. Use the LEFT STICK to move toward the yellow marker. [player moves] Excellent. You have legs and they work. That is a strong beginning. Next, press JUMP to clear the cargo crate. [player jumps] Wonderful! Very bouncy. I am taking notes. Now, for advanced movement. Press DASH while moving to cross the gap. Do not worry. There is a safety net. I think. [player dashes] You made it! I was not worried. My fans were spinning for unrelated reasons. [player falls] Oh dear. Let us try that again. The net is real. I checked. Training complete. Report to the bridge, Cadet. And thank you for not touching my antenna.

[MADAME ORLOVA's potion cart, wheels squeaking, bottles clinking] [greeting] Step up, step up! Tonics, tinctures and only slightly cursed elixirs! [browsing: health potion] The Crimson Draught! Heals wounds, mends bones, restores vigour. May cause hiccups, mild glowing and a deep love of turnips. Temporary. Mostly. [browsing: speed potion] Quicksilver Brew! Run like the wind. Stopping is not included. [browsing: invisibility potion] This one makes you invisible. Your clothes stay visible. Plan accordingly. [buy] A wise purchase! Drink it within the week or it starts to hum. [sell] You want to sell me my own potion back? Half price. It's been opened. [can't afford] Ah. Your purse is lighter than my conscience. And that's saying something. [goodbye] Come back soon! Or at least come back the same colour.

[FARMER OSWIN leans on his fence in the valley of Bramblecombe, staring at an empty pen] [quest offer] Oh, thank goodness, a friendly face. It's Marigold. My goat. She's gone. She wears a little lantern on her collar so I can find her after dark. But I've looked everywhere, and the lantern's battery... well, it's a candle, actually. It'll burn out by morning. Last I saw, she was headed toward the old mill. She likes the echo. Would you look for her? I'd go myself, but my knees and that hill are not on speaking terms. [quest accepted] Bless you. She likes apples. And singing. Not good singing. Any singing. [check-in, quest active] Any sign of her? Follow the little light, if it's still burning. [quest complete] Marigold! Oh, you silly old thing. Come here. [to the player] Thank you. Truly. Here, take these seeds. And come by for supper any time. She'll want to thank you too. Mostly by eating your hat.

[QUARTERMASTER VENN behind a supply counter on Deck Nine of the orbital station Kessane] [greeting] Requisitions. Name, rank and what you broke. Back already? That's a new record. [purchase] Approved. Sign here. And here. And initial there. No, the other there. Issued. Try to return it in one piece. [insufficient credits] Your account says no. I agree with your account. [sell salvage] Alien alloy. Scorched. I'll log it as 'interesting.' [goodbye] Dismissed. Stay alive and stay off my paperwork. Both, ideally.

[NELL KASPAR trades through a gap in a wall of welded car doors. Dust blows across the wasteland outside] [first meeting] That's close enough. Hands where I can see 'em. You trading or you looting? 'Cause I only deal with one of those. [greeting, repeat visit] You again. Still breathing. Good for you. Come on, then. Let's see what the dead gave you today. [browsing] Filters, batteries, canned peaches. Peaches cost extra. Don't ask why. That rifle? Shoots a little left. Price reflects it. [buy] Deal. Pleasure doing business. Mostly. Take care of that. It took care of the last fella. Right up until it didn't. [sell] Copper wire. Now you're speaking my language. I'll take it. Don't tell me where it came from. [can't afford] You're short. Come back with more scrap or a better story. [goodbye] Watch the east road. Something's been moving out there. Stay alive. I need the customers.

[THE FOX AND KETTLE inn, a fire crackling, rain on the windows] [greeting] There you are. Come in out of the wet. Your usual corner's free. Ah, the traveller returns! Sit, sit. [rent room] Room's ready. Fresh blankets, and the window only rattles a little. [meal] Stew tonight. Don't ask what's in it. Just know it's good. [can't afford] Short on coin? Sweep the floor and we'll call it even. [goodnight] Sleep well. I'll keep the fire going. [goodbye] Go careful out there. You're always welcome back.

[MAYOR PEMBERLY bustles up a dirt path in the village of Willowmere Hollow, clutching a key on a ribbon] You made it! Oh, wonderful, wonderful. Welcome to Willowmere Hollow! I'm Mayor Pemberly. Well, Mayor and also the postmaster. And on Tuesdays, the baker. Now, your grandmother's farm. It's, ah, just up the hill. Here's the key. [they reach the gate. A long beat] Right. So. It's had a few quiet years. That's a lot of weeds, isn't it? Those are weeds. And that's a raccoon. He's been living in the barn. We call him Gerald. But the soil is good! Your grandmother grew the best pumpkins in the valley. Won the fair eleven years running. [softer] She talked about you, you know. Said one day you'd come and bring the place back to life. [brightening] Anyway! The shop opens at nine, the festival's in two weeks, and the town meeting is whenever I remember to call it. If you need anything at all, just knock. On any door. We're all friends here. Except Gerald. Gerald bites.

[A lighthouse on the island of Saltgrave. The lamp is dark. ABEL MOREAU, the keeper, sits by a cold stove] [first meeting] You came by the night boat. Nobody comes by the night boat anymore. Sit, if you like. The chair's dry. Mostly. [quest offer] The lamp went out three nights ago. I need someone to climb the stairs and light it again. One hundred and twelve steps. I used to count them going up. Now I count them going down, to make sure I get to the bottom. The oil's in the store room. The matches are in my coat. Don't open the door at the top until you've lit the lantern. And if you hear knocking, don't answer it. [player asks why] Because there's nothing out there to knock. We're on the top of a tower, friend. Over the sea. [quest active, check-in] Still dark. The ships can't see us. Neither can the things below them. [player returns, quest complete] There. You see the light? You did that. [beat] Did you hear it? The knocking? [he nods slowly] Then it knows your name now too. Don't worry. It only comes when the lamp goes out. [goodbye] Go careful on the boat back. And whatever you do, don't let the lamp go out.

[A busy harbour market in Saltmere. Gulls overhead. These play as ambient barks when the player passes] [ambient call] Fresh off the boat! Mackerel, herring, eels as long as your arm! Crabs! Lovely crabs! They pinch, but they're worth it! Two for a copper! Today only! And tomorrow! [player stops] You've got the look of someone who needs a fish. [player leaves without buying] Your loss! The eel will remember this! [rain starts] Wet fish in the wet weather! Can't get fresher!

[COACH RITA DELGADO stands at the free-throw line of an empty gym. Sneakers squeak somewhere] All right, rookie, welcome to practice. Nobody's watching, so this is where you get to be bad. Let's get it out of your system. First, dribbling. Hold SPRINT and take it to the far cone. Keep your head up. [player completes] Good. You didn't look at the ball once. I saw that. Now shooting. Hold SHOOT and release at the top of your jump. Too early, it's short. Too late, it's a brick. [player misses] Brick. Told you. Again. [player scores] There it is! Feel that? Remember that feeling. Last one. Defence. Press STEAL when they cross over. Timing, not mashing. [player mashes button] I said timing. I can hear you mashing from here. [player succeeds] Clean steal. That's the stuff. That's practice, rookie. Tomorrow we do it with people shoving you. Go hydrate.

[CHIEF OKAFOR wipes her hands on a rag in the team garage. An engine idles nearby] [enter garage] There's my driver. Let's make this thing faster. [browsing upgrades] New turbo will give you a kick out of every corner. Stiffer suspension. You'll feel every pebble, but you'll stick like glue. [purchase] Done. Give me ten minutes and a sandwich. Installed. Don't scratch my paint. [not enough credits] Win a race first. Then we talk turbo. [race ready] She's tuned. Go bring her home first.

[CORVIN, a fence, crouches among the rafters of a warehouse in the city of Lowgate. Guards patrol below] [greeting] Keep it down. Up here, voices carry. Ah. My favourite shadow. What did you lift tonight? [browsing] Lockpicks. Fresh ones. The last set I sold got someone into the bishop's vault. Smoke bombs. Three to a pouch. Don't drop them in your own pocket. [sell loot] Silver candlesticks. Very nice. Very hot. Quarter price. A signet ring? With the crest still on it? You want me hanged. Fine. I'll melt it down. Half. [buy] Pleasure. I never saw you. [can't afford] Your pockets are empty. Go fill them. Someone else's, preferably. [guard passes below] Shh. Wait. [guard gone] There. Breathe. [goodbye] Mind the third beam. It creaks. It's how I know who's coming.

[MOSSY, a little mushroom with a big hat, hops beside the player at the start of World One] Hi there! I'm Mossy! Welcome to the Glowcap Woods! See that log? Press the big button to JUMP over it! [player jumps] Wheee! You did it! Now grab the shiny berries! Each one is worth a point! [player collects] Yum! Ten more to go! Uh oh, a grumpy beetle! JUMP on top of him to bounce him away! [player stomps] Boing! Ha ha! He'll be fine. He's just bouncy now. You're ready! Let's go!

[PIP, a round little bird in an apron, runs the gem shop in a cozy puzzle game] [shop opens] Hello, hello! Fresh deals just landed! Oh, you're back! I saved you something special. [daily deal] Today only! Three extra moves and a rainbow booster! [purchase] Yay! Thank you! Go get those puzzles! Good pick! That booster loves a tricky level. [not enough gems] Aww, not quite enough gems. Play a level and come back! [shop closes] New deals tomorrow! See you then!

[A great stone sphinx guards a gate in the desert of Ashara. Her eyes open as the player approaches] [greeting] Ah. A visitor. It has been forty years since the last one. He was delicious. [pause] I joke. Mostly. [riddle] To pass, you must answer. Listen well. The more of me you take, the more of me you leave behind. What am I? [waiting] Take your time. I have centuries. The sand is patient. I am slightly less so. [wrong answer] No. Charming, but no. Try again, little one. Wrong. I will pretend I did not hear that. [correct answer] Footsteps. Clever. Very clever. And you left a great many of them in my sand. [gate opens] Go, then. The gate is yours. And come back some day. I will have a harder one. [player leaves] They never come back.

[HAMISH ROOK sits on a bench by the village well in Dunhallow, a walking stick across his knees] [first talk] Sit down, if you've got a minute. Most young ones don't. I marched with the Grey Company, you know. Forty years ago. Before the bridge was built. Before half this village was born. We held the pass at Carrow Ridge for nine days. Rained every one of them. We ate boiled boots on the seventh. Not well boiled, either. [he laughs, then goes quiet] Lost good friends up there. Best people I knew. [hint] There's a cave behind the waterfall, north of the ridge. We hid our captain's sword there when the order came to fall back. Never went back for it. My legs won't take me now. If you find it, it's yours. She'd want it used, not rusting. [repeat talk] Still here, still breathing. That's victory enough at my age. Remember. Behind the waterfall. North of the ridge. [goodbye] Go on, then. Make some stories of your own.

[A shimmering hologram, LUMA, greets guests in the lobby of a hotel orbiting a gas giant] [greeting] Welcome to Hotel Orbit. Your comfort is our only orbit. Good evening, honoured guest. Gravity is set to a pleasant point nine. [check in] Your suite has a view of the rings. And of the other rings. We have many rings. [service request] Room service is on its way. Estimated arrival, four minutes, or one moon. [glitch] Wel-wel-welcome to Hotel Or- Or- Pardon me. A solar flare. Welcome. [goodbye] Safe travels. Please do not open the airlock to wave goodbye.

[The sheriff's office in the desert town of Dry Creek. A fan turns slowly. ADA WHITLOCK leans back in a creaky chair] [greeting] Afternoon. Board's full, if you're looking for honest work. Or work, anyway. [bounty: easy] Coyote problem out at the Hennessy ranch. Five coyotes, five silver. Simple math. [bounty: medium] Fella named Dutch Varney robbed the stage coach last Tuesday. Wanted alive, preferably. Forty silver. Twenty if he's dead. Fair warning, he bites. [bounty: hard] Now this one. Something's been taking cattle up in the Red Hollow canyon. Nobody's seen it. Three men went to look. One came back. He won't talk about it. Two hundred silver. Don't spend it before you've earned it. [bounty accepted] Sign here. And put your next of kin, just in case. [bounty turned in] Well, I'll be. Here's your money. You've earned a drink. Not from me, I'm on duty. [goodbye] Keep your hat on and your head down.

[TOBIAS FENWICK, a wizard's apprentice in scorched robes, runs out of a tower that is smoking slightly] [quest offer] Oh good, oh good, a person! Please, you have to help me. I was only supposed to dust the shelves. But there was a book, and it was open, and it said 'do not read aloud,' and I thought, well, I'll read it quietly. It was not quiet enough. [a crash from inside the tower] That's the brooms. They're alive now. All of them. And very, very tidy. They swept the cat out of the window. She's fine! She landed on the gardener. Please, get the book back from the top floor before Master Elowen comes home. She's at a conference. She'll be back by sundown. It is nearly sundown. [quest accepted] Thank you! Oh, thank you. Mind the mops. The mops are the angry ones. [quest complete] You got it! You're amazing. I'll never touch a book again. Well. Not that one. Definitely not that one.

[ROSALIND runs a feed shop on a ranch full of small, fluffy monsters] [greeting] Hello! Mind the glimmerwumps, they've just been fed and they're feeling cuddly. [browsing] Sparkle feed for the snufflebacks. They go wild for it. This ball squeaks. Your monster will love it. You will not. [buy egg] An egg! Keep it warm and sing to it. Any song. They're not fussy. [not enough coins] Oh, not quite! Sell some wool and come back. [goodbye] Give them all a scratch behind the ears from me!

[A grey river under a grey sky. A hooded FERRYMAN waits at a rotten jetty, pole in hand] [greeting] You are early. Or I am late. It makes no difference here. [payment asked] One coin. For the crossing. Not for the company. [player pays] Step on. Do not look over the side. They will look back. [player has no coin] Then wait. They all find a coin eventually. [crossing] Quiet now. The river is listening. [arrival] The far shore. I do not go further. Nobody asks me to.

[WREN, about eight, trots behind the player through the village square] [first meeting] Are you an adventurer? You look like an adventurer. You've got mud on you. [following] Have you ever fought a dragon? Was it big? Bigger than the mill? My mum says I can't be an adventurer until I eat my carrots. I don't think that's how it works. [player stops] Why'd we stop? Are we hiding? I'm good at hiding. [player leaves village] I'm not allowed past the bridge. Bring me back a sword! Or a rock! A cool rock!

[KAI MORENO leans against a stall under flickering signs in the Neon District of the megacity Vantor] [greeting] Hey, runner. Looking to get loud or looking to stay quiet? Oh, look who's back. You still owe me a story about that last job. [browsing] Pulse pistol. Light, quiet and it never jams. Well. Rarely jams. That's a railgun. You don't need a railgun. You want a railgun. That's different. Optic implant. See heat through walls. Side effect, you'll never sleep again. Kidding. Mostly. [buy] Transfer cleared. Pleasure doing business, runner. Treat her nice. She bites back. [sell] Corp gear? Still warm from the owner? I'll take it, but my price drops for the stink. [can't afford] Your account's flatlining. Come back with real credits. [police patrol nearby] Drones overhead. Act natural. Admire my t-shirts. [goodbye] Stay chrome, stay alive.

[HEADMISTRESS AGATHA PRUNE stands on a ladder in the Great Library of Velloran, glaring over her glasses] [greeting] Welcome to the library. Indoor voice, please. Indoor feet. Indoor everything. [a troll stomps past] Excuse me. Excuse me! We do not stomp in the reference section. [a dragon roars in the distance] Shhhhhh! [to the player] Thank you. He knows better. [borrow book] Two weeks. Not a day longer. I know where you live. I have a map. [overdue book] This book is ninety days late. Ninety. I have buried better adventurers for less. [goodbye] Go quietly. And wipe your boots on the way out.

[A town crier, BARTHOLOMEW QUILL, rings a bell in the middle of Saltmere Harbour square] [bell rings] Hear ye, hear ye! Gather round, good people of Saltmere! By order of the Harbour Council, the north pier is closed for repairs. Again. Swimming to work is permitted. The Spring Fair begins on the morrow! Pie-eating at noon. Pie-recovery at one. A reward is offered for the return of Mistress Hale's prize pig, last seen heading toward the tavern. Approach with caution. She has been drinking. And finally, sightings of a sea serpent in the harbour have been confirmed. The Council advises citizens to remain calm and to stop feeding it. [bell rings] That is all! Long live the harbour!

[VERA's kitchen in the village of Honeydew Hollow. Flour everywhere. She waves a wooden spoon] [quest offer] Oh, perfect timing. Come here, I need young legs and good eyes. I'm making my Harvest Bramble Pie for the festival. Won first prize six years running. Not to brag. Well, a little. But I'm missing three things. Wild honey from the hives by the river. Bramble berries from the old orchard. And a pinch of silverleaf from the hill. Only a pinch, mind. More than a pinch and you'll float. [softer] My Harold used to fetch them for me. Every autumn. He said the berries tasted better if you sang to the bushes. [she smiles] You don't have to sing. But it wouldn't hurt. [quest active] How's the hunt going? Honey, berries, silverleaf. Don't eat the berries on the way. [quest complete] You found them all! Oh, you clever thing. Sit down, sit down. First slice is yours. Harold would've liked you. [goodbye] Come by any time. There's always pie.

[WARDEN ISOLDE KARR stands at a stone gate high in a snowbound pass. Wind howls] [first meeting] Halt. The pass is closed. Beasts in the high caves. No one goes through. If you want to cross, clear the caves first. Then we'll talk. [return, quest not done] Still here? Caves are still full. Gate's still shut. [return again, alt read] You're persistent. I'll give you that. The answer's still no. [return again, alt read] You've walked up that hill five times. The caves haven't moved. [quest done] You cleared them. All of them? Alone? [beat] I misjudged you. Gate's open. Go carefully. The other side is worse.