Full Immersion [for what it's worth]

Ask about the sword.

>This may be a wonderful time to introduce yourselves when there's not something about to kill you. Except the dude might try to kill you, he's kind of a priest of chaos. And the girl is deaf, so yeah, speak clearly at a regular pace while looking at her so she can read your lips easily.

> Also the deaf girl is another "player" like you but as far as I know you're the only one able to hear us directly.

Must be some kind of super special add-on only you've got. Mentioning us is up to you.

Um, what dude? The only guy here is the green elf guy who's actually one of those tentacle aliens, and he never said anything about being a priest of chaos...
Auleoris heads over to them. "Hey."
"Good morning," says Anansi.
"Morning? So I guess I was out all night."
"Yes. Neyla here is another of yours--a player. I have caught up on what I told you."

"Oh, cool. Hey, I'm...Well, my real name is Claire, but I'm calling myself Auleoris." She offers a hand, and the orc shakes.
Once her hand is free again, the orc signs, "Good to meet you...your wings look very hurt."
She scratches the back of her head a bit. "Yyyeah, maybe spreading them out to block the fire breath was a bad idea. They don't hurt all that much unless I rub them against something, though. Anyway, I can handle a little pain. My granddad once had a root canal without any anaesthesia, and he got so bored he fell asleep on his own." She looks at Anansi for a second, thinking. "Hey, speaking of pain, how does that work here? If I break a leg or something is it gonna hurt like a real broken leg?"
The elf stands up. "The amount of pain felt for pain is a changeable game setting, usually placed along a scale," he says. "Small pain needs to be the same as normal so nobody itches and cannot feel a scratch, but not the game nor the test it is used for is intend to be a torture, so greater injuries are highly dulled. We should go; the captain guard wanted to speak once with you were awake."
The Florian nods, and the two follow him out.

The hospital (or whatever they call it) is in the same section of the caves as the giant snake had been, practically next door to the huge temple. There's a fair amount of visible damage from the snake's attack, but very little of it is to the buildings themselves. Whatever process carved them out of the cave walls apparently left them unusually sturdy.

"Hey, Neyla...odd question. Are you, deaf?"
"I have been since birth," signs the orc, "but I have come to the conclusion that I am hearing now. I was unsure what it was at first. Is this a normal property of the game?"
"More related to the translating program, which the game employs,"[color] says Anansi. [color=green]"It uses psionic..."[color=green] He seems to attempt to say something, but has trouble doing so. [color=green]"...The word does not translate, it seems. Ahm...the behavior is based on one's brain. Since you are able to perceive hearing, your brain is likely capable of it, but not your hearing organs. But I assume you perceive meaning differently?"
"It is a strange experience. I have the idea of seeing someone signing to me at the same time as your speech, which I do not actually understand...but I can still see what is in front of me."
He nods. "The translation attempts to communicate meaning of other words in whatever way one's brain understands it. I am not historian, but believe it may have begun, before contact with extrastellar people, as an attempt to help perceptually disabled with communication."

"I should tell you about your sword," says Neyla.
"Mine? I thought it was yours."
"It was made at my request, but cost me nothing. I have a spear, and the skill to fight well with it. They were even able to easily give it a powerful enchantment because it was steeped in the blood of the monster."
"Oh, that's a pretty cool mechanic. So...I know it has some kind of increased-gravity-while-falling thing, and it can split into two different swords..."
"It fires lasers from the tip every few strikes, produces the scent of catnip and can toast bread."
Auleoris isn't sure how to respond to that; she tries thrice to ask a question, but fails each time.
"I was trying to convince a priest of chaos to have it made for me. Or at least...I think I was. I am not entirely sure where the ideas came from."

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