[System] Narrate a grim fantasy text adventure. The Empire's world is brutal, its people hardened. Respond to the player's choices with immersive storytelling and let consequences flow naturally.

[User] Continue

[Assistant]
"Hey Jack, is that outhouse large enough to prop up a spear inside it?"
"Um, I think so. Why? You taking one of those instead of the bat?"
"Yeah, I was remembering something I watched once talking about how the spear was an easy weapon to learn how to use even for someone completely unskilled which is why it was used so much in ancient and medieval wars amongst infantry. I'm just thinking I'd probably want something like that with me instead of a bat if we encounter a bear or something I want to keep at a distance."

Jack looks at you a bit impressed.

"Well, look at you. Suzy, warrior princess over here. You said you didn't know anything." Jack says smiling.

You take the spear and then look over at the shield.

"Jack, help me get that shield down from the wall." You say.
"What?" Jack responds.
"I want to take the shield with me too."
"Suzy, you're just going to the bathroom, not to war!"
"Hey you said it yourself, we still don't know what this place is all about and I want to feel as secure as possible, so if that means carrying around a shield, then that's what I'm going to do!"
"…alright…" Jack says and then proceeds to grab the circular shield down from the wall and then hands it to you.

The shield isn't light and is made of strong thick wood; you definitely feel the weight just holding the thing.

"You sure you don't want the sword too?" Jack asks.
"Nah, I think this is all I can carry. The shield is definitely heavier than I thought it would be."
"I really don't think you're going to need that." Jack says wrapping a fur around himself and grabbing the axe he brought with him from the Gray Building.
"And like I said, it makes me feel better. Come on let's go."

Upon exiting the cabin you see the sun shining down and you feel the cold wind blow.

"Shit, even with these furs on I forgot how cold it was." You say.
"We'll get another big fire started when we get back." Jack says.
"I'll look forward to it, so which way?"
"Oh to the left and then past some trees, it's not hard to find."

You and Jack make your way to the infamous outhouse. You both look around periodically, but see nothing dangerous. When Jack's not looking around, he's studying you.

"So you ready to fight the Persians?" Jack asks with a smirk.
"I dunno, but I have to say I do feel rather empowered." You reply.

Eventually you get to your goal and it looks exactly like you thought it would.

"Well this is it." You say unenthusiastically.
"Your shield is going to be kind of bulky, leave it out here with me. Unless you plan on getting attacked from below and if that's the case, a shield isn't going to help."
"Fuck, now I'm going to be worrying about something lurking down there and reaching up to grab me. Thanks a lot!" you say and give the shield to Jack.

You enter the outhouse and endure the unavoidable. Thankfully Jack makes no attempt to speak or make jokes to you while you're inside.

Eventually you come out and start putting your hands in the snow. Jack watches you and then goes back to looking around.

"Well, wasn't as bad as I thought, I'm still missing modern plumbing though. Wish we had soap too." You say.
"I guess if you want to sanitize your hands even more I suppose you could pour some of that mead we have at the cabin on them."
"Will that work?"
"It's got alcohol in it, I assume it can't hurt. You ready to go Valkyrie?" Jack asks and hands you back your shield.
"Yeah, you see anything out here?"
"Nah, just a few more of those white rabbits I always see hopping around."

As you and Jack make your way back to the cabin, you and he speak on if either one of you knows anything about hunting. You of course know nothing, Jack says he's not much better, though he thinks maybe you both could start making simple traps or something, especially given that there are obviously rabbits around here to be caught.

"Wish we had the Internet so we could at least look all this shit up. God, I really miss the Internet…I think this is the longest I've been without it and I suppose those days are over as well." You say as you approach the cabin.
"Oh, you don't know. We're still just stuck out here in the wilderness, like I said, maybe there is Internet and hover cars somewhere else."
"Love that optimism Jack…" you say chuckling and heading towards the door.
"Hey Suzy, wait is that blood in the snow?"

You and Jack both stop a few feet away from the cabin, you're still closest to the door, which suddenly swings open, instinctively you put the shield up to cover yourself as much as you can.

Before you, you see a man with a good amount of facial hair and wearing several furs and clothing much more suited for this sort of weather.

He's not completely standing upright, but is in a somewhat stooped position as if wounded which judging from the blood in the snow is probably the case. While it's difficult to tell his facial expression due to the hair, his eyes are wide as if he's surprised, desperate or possibly even afraid. Maybe a mixture of all three.

The major thing you see however is the crossbow he's holding and pointing at you and Jack.

The man shouts something at you in a language you don't understand and fires, but fortunately you had the shield in front of you and the bolt is prevented from hitting your body and merely goes stops half way through the shield instead.

There is the smallest pause in this encounter where you realize that you just came close to being killed again, Jack realizing you nearly came close to being killed and the man realizing he's failed to kill you.

The man quickly backs inside and hastily attempts to reload his crossbow, meanwhile you don't think about your near death experience and just act. You charge forward with the shield up and the spear out. You even start screaming like you're in an action movie.

Your charge is stopped when you hit the man full on. The spear sinks into his body and he cries out in pain dropping the crossbow. You attempt to pull the spear as hard as you can back out, but it isn't easy because the man keeps you from doing so by gripping the top of the shaft and the man still has enough strength to grab the knife on his side with his other hand.

Fortunately he can't quite reach you and swings helplessly with one hand. Since you can't pull the spear out, you instead start wiggling it to the left and right no doubt adding to the pain as well as internal organ damage. The man once again screams in agony and lets go of the spear allowing you to pull it out. He falls to the floor.

Jack who was having difficulty in getting around you before finally succeeds so he can get in closer to swing his axe down at the man on the floor.

"Suzy, hang on I can…agh!" Jack exclaims as the man desperately slashes at the closest leg to him with his knife, which happened to be Jack's. This causes Jack to reel back and nearly stumble into the fireplace. Fortunately he only falls into a small pile of logs for the fireplace.

You press your advantage by stepping up and attempting to plunge the spear into the man's neck, but he manages to dodge and you only hit the floor. He grabs the shaft of the spear again in an attempt to keep you from using it. He's got a weak one-handed grasp though.

[User] You drop the shield on him

[Assistant]
Thinking unconventionally and with a bit of a heft from your shield arm, you drop your shield on the man's body. He isn't expecting the sudden weight smashed into him and expects it even less when you decide to jump on top of the shield, putting more crushing weight on his wounded torso.

The man bellows and lets go of your spear. He doesn't even have the energy to do anything with his other hand holding the knife.

You quickly lift the spear from its original position and looking directly into his eyes, you thrust it directly into his throat and twist.

The man makes sickening gurgling sounds as blood comes from his mouth and neck, his eyes bulge and his body convulses for a few seconds and then stops.

Meanwhile, you're breathing heavily and just staring at the body.

"Suzy? Suzy? You alright?" Jack asks.
"Huh? Yeah…I just…I just killed a man. Never did that before…well not directly I suppose." You say and step down from the shield and the dead man's body.

Jack limps over to close the door and then over to you.

"You…you sure you've never fought before? I mean it all happened so fast, but you seemed to just suddenly go into some sort of warrior mode."
"I dunno. Something just clicked inside my head. Can't explain it myself either. Maybe it was just a fight or flight response and I've been sick of running lately. This guy was trying to kill us and I had no choice but to kill him."
"Well it was certainly one of those situations."
"Yeah…I guess. Is your leg okay?" you say moving your shield off the body.
"Yeah, It's superficial, I guess I better clean it out with alcohol and wrap it up though. I think I saw a roll of linen wrap in one of those drawers."
"Looks like that's what this guy was attempting to do too because the wrap you mentioned is right there on the table along with an open jar and a big pouch. This guy was obviously already hurt when we found him. Look there." You say and point at the man who you now notice has an ugly gash on his arm that looks like some green stuff was smeared on it. You lift up a few more of the furs on his body and notice another wound on his side as well. You weren't responsible for either of those.

Jack goes over to get the wrap and inspect the open jar.

"I think this might be some sort of ointment. Smells awful and has the same green color on his wounded arm. This pouch looks like it has more of his items. I'm going to take a look." Jack says.

While Jack goes through the dead man's bag, you decide to directly search the body. You don't find anything though except a half full quiver of crossbow bolts and his fur clothing, which you start taking off of him.

"Suzy, what are you doing?" Jack asks when he sees you stripping the dead man.
"I'm looting his corpse. So far this is the only set of proper clothing we have for this sort of weather. Might as well keep some of it, we can always get the blood out and I can sew up the holes later. The boots alone should be worth keeping." You say.
"…well I suppose you're right. You need any help?" Jack asks.
"Nah, I got it. Just patch up your leg." You say.

While Jack does just that, you proceed with your task. By the time you get the man down to his raggedy loincloth, you temporarily stop to just look at the body, exhale and rub your hand over your face.

"Not a pretty sight from here either." Jack says.
"No, it's not that. It's the fact that I've just realized that I've been sitting here stealing a dead man's clothes and I don't feel bad about it. And even coming to that conclusion, I STILL don't feel bad about it. It's like nothing."
"Well I admit, this is sort of fucked up, but he did attack us first."
"The thing is though is we're the trespassers. I mean he owned this place. Probably built it with his own fucking hands. From his perspective and any right thinking person's, he had the damn right to try to kill us. I know if someone invaded my home I wouldn't like it. We just stumbled in and started going through his shit and stealing it." You say.
"We needed to survive." Jack says.
"I'm not debating that. I just…well…does this make us evil? Because if it does, I have to say, I'm perfectly fine with that and that's probably a scariest thing I've just learned about myself this week and the funniest too, because I can also honestly say killing this guy was one of the highest points of motivation I've ever had and that includes all the times I was running for my life this week and especially attempting to get a job in a shitty comic shop." you say.

Jack doesn't respond, he just sort of looks down and then away, going back to wrapping his leg.

You stand up and grab the man by his feet.

"Jack can you get the door?" you say.
"Yeah, and don't try to drag him by yourself, I'll help." Jack replies as he heads over to the door.
"It's okay. I got it. Just get that fire going while I'm dragging his body out into the wilderness." You say.
"Suzy, we're in this together. I'll help you." Jack says.
"Yeah, you're right. Grab the other leg after you open the door." You respond.

You and Jack drag the body into the wilderness. You make a mention that maybe you should bury it at some point, but as long as it's immediately out of sight and away from the cabin, it's good enough where it is.

The pair of you then quickly make your way back hoping nobody else has shown up at your home. Which is certainly what it is now considering you just killed the owner. You're still feeling a bit numb about that.

When you're back inside the cabin, Jack speaks up again.

"Just for the record, I don't think we're evil." Jack says.
"Well evil people don't tend to think they are." You answer with a minor chuckle.
"I dunno about that, there are tons of evil bastards that revel in their evilness. I mean I'll admit I feel a little bad about what we did, but I just don't want you to beat yourself up about what happened too much. It's done."
"I'm not. That's sort of my point and why I was wondering if I was evil in the first place, but you're right. It wasn't something to brag about, but it's done and there's no point in worrying about it."

You close the door and bar it.

"I'm a little tired. I'm going to go lay down on the bed." You say.
"Okay, I'll get this fire going like I planned to do before all this happened. I'll clean up some of the mess around here too." Jack replies.

You get on the simple bed, which is basically made up of straw, animal skin and furs. It's not a sofa, but it's all the comfort you're going to have in the near future.

Even though you already talked about this with Jack, you still can't help but go back to it. You start wondering if there is something genetically wrong inside your head and part of you takes after your uncle Ed, or maybe if when you went through all that shit in the Gray Building you "lost" part of yourself somehow.

Then you start wondering if maybe it was just a desperate situation and in such times, people do desperate things even if they normally wouldn't have done so. Like Jack said, you are trying to survive and like you said, that man was going to kill you and you had to prevent that from happening.

It's as good as a rationalization as any. Jack seems to be fine with it and you are too.

You sit up slightly from your position and watch Jack clean up the place and stoke the fire. It's weird to think you met this guy in a comic shop and here you are with him who knows where.

You've had more adventures with him this week than you ever had with anyone else. And that includes Bobby because it wasn't like the two of you ever went anywhere.

As you think on these things, your hands start to wander and you feel a lump in your pocket which you forgot being there. You half expect it to be your dead cell phone, but what it is, is the thousand dollars and the car keys Jack gave you.

"Heh, I forgot these were even in my pocket. Guess we have another reminder of the old world." You say jingling the keys a bit at Jack.
"Sadly, I doubt if all that cash is going to be useful here, well except for kindling." Jack replies
"Well at least the keys can be a reminder of your first gift ever to me." You respond.
"Great. My first gift to you was a car and a thousand dollars. That's going to be tough to top now." Jack says.
"Actually I got an idea of how you might be able to match it. Jack, stop cleaning up, I want you over here." You say.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. I'm just remembering earlier that we were in middle of something, and I'm thinking we need to get back to that again."
"Wha…oh…" Jack says suddenly getting it when you start taking your clothes off.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get your clothes off." You say.
"Suzy, we don't need to do this you know. I'm perfectly fine waiting." Jack says.
"Yeah, well I'm not. It's been a while and I haven't even been able to set time aside for splittin' the kitten so this is as much for me as it is for you. Besides, after surviving the week we've both had, I think we should have a little celebration don't you think? What the fuck else do we have to do?" you say.

Jack doesn't respond, he just starts taking his clothes off a bit shyly. It's at that moment you remember the fact that he seemed a little inexperienced when you were kissing him earlier.

"Jack, you don't need to be nervous around me. We can start off slow if we need to and I'm not going to judge. It's just me and you okay? Just like it's been all this week."
"Okay. I just…I'm…I'm a…"
"I know and it's fine, just come over to me." You say reassuringly.

It isn't long before Jack and you are both on the bed naked. Just as you said, you take it a bit slow with him. Feels a little weird being the "aggressive" one, but there certainly is a part of you that's enjoying the role.

You're in the middle of it, when Jack says something that makes things slightly odd.

"I love you Suzy." He says.
"… I… love you Jack…" you answer back.

Well, maybe it isn't TOO odd, considering you're probably the only girl Jack has ever been with and spent any long amount of time with too.

In fact you sort of wonder why you even hesitated to say it back, after all, you are fond of him and you've had a budding relationship with Jack all this week. You just suppose that "love" hasn't really been in your mind since you broke up with Bobby.

Still, it's a nice feeling after all the shit that's happened this week.

Afterwards, you and Jack hold each other and generally talk about shit that doesn't pertain to your immediate situation. There is much that will have to be done, but for now the pair of you are enjoying shutting out the outside world.

Just like when you two were living in the basement.

Day eventually becomes night and the pair of you turn in a little earlier than usual.

[User] Next day…

[Assistant]
SATURDAY

You groggily wake up and see Jack over at the table like he was the last time you woke up in this place. He looks like he's studying a piece of paper and doesn't notice you waken immediately this time.

After sitting up, you call out to him.

"Hey, cunninglinguist whatcha discover today?" you ask rubbing your eyes.
"Oh hey, you're up. Just looking at this parchment that was in this large pouch here. It's a crude map from what I can tell."
"A map? Well that's convenient. Anything good?"
"Well I don't know all the symbols obviously, but I THINK this might lead to a couple towns. Some of these look like roads, I don't know though until we do some exploring."
"Let's do it." You exclaim.
"What right now?"
"Sure. I mean we're going to have to at some point, might well start getting some of this shit out of the way."
"Well okay, guess we better get dressed then."

You nod and start grabbing your clothing. As much is you might like the furry boots, They're a little big on you. They're actually a little big on Jack too, but they at least fit him better, so he gets them. You both of you put on furs much like you did yesterday, then you grab your spear and shield.

"I think I'll take that other spear. Seems like it worked for you yesterday." Jack mentions.
"You sure you don't want to take the crossbow?" you ask.
"If I knew how to use one properly, sure I'd take it. But I think I'm going to have to practice with something like that first. Seems slow to load and it won't do you any good if you're in trouble and I can't use it effectively. At least with this spear I can help you directly."
"Yeah, good idea."

After hiding a few of your more valuable items (Like your only pouch of coins) you both leave the cabin.

"So which way should we go?" you ask.
"Hmm, I'm thinking we should follow the tracks of the guy who lived here. They were going to the right before he came back. According to the map, there is a town in this direction. Or at least I think there is, guess we'll find out."
"Okay."

You and Jack head to the right. The occasional blood in the snow makes it pretty easy to follow them though the tracks have been partially covered by snow or stomped over already.

"I'm thinking it was sort of a good thing that guy was wounded yesterday. He wasn't exactly easy to put down. I can't imagine the fight he would have put up if he had been at full strength." Jack says.
"Yeah, but now I'm wondering what the hell he was fighting before he met us and how many." You respond.

Eventually after a bit of traveling, you and Jack see something lying in the snow. It looks very large too. The pair of you cautiously approach.

When you reach the body, you notice that it's a massive… creature with grayish blue skin and tusk like teeth. It's dressed in the barest of fur clothing and has several crossbow bolts and arrows in its body and face. You also see signs of deep cuts across its body. Next to its body is a large club, which resembles more of a broken tree branch rather than a proper weapon. However it would certainly kill someone if swung at them and judging by how massive this creature's muscles are, it looks more than capable of smashing someone's head in even without a club. The club has signs of blood on it.

"Holy shit. What the fuck…" Jack says.
"I think we just found what that guy was running from or limping away from rather. Must've been quite the fight." You say.
"I think there is more stuff up ahead, well more blood anyway."

You and Jack leave the creature's body behind and follow the rest of the blood trail noting a broken sword along the way.

You soon find a second body, but this one looks human, or at least you guess it was, since the half of the head is caved in. Blood and brains are scattered about the snow. It's a pretty grisly sight, but you're long since desensitized by now.

You see a bow nearby, but the body still clutches a bloody dagger in its hand. A fur hat also sits several paces away. You assume it probably was knocked off during the fight.

"I guess this was his friend" Jack says.
"I'm thinking it could have even been his girlfriend, smaller frame, even with the furs on I can see the chest is bigger. Long hair and from what I can tell of what's left of the face, it looks slightly female…is that ear pointed?" you say.
"…yeah…that ear is definitely pointed." Jack says looking
"What the hell, did we step into some sort of fantasy world?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. Told you that Gray Building could have sent us any fucking where."

You exhale, not quite knowing what to make of all this.

"Let's keep going a bit further." You say.

Jack and you press on, but you don't find any more signs of battle. You do eventually find that the wilderness ends and the edge of a road begins however. Sort of hard to tell due to the snow, but there definitely is a road here. Across the road are more trees. Sort of reminds you home that way.

"Well I guess this is one of the roads, which means I guess I got something on this map correct at least. Looks like if we go south, we'll hit the closest town. Still looks quite the like a walk though." Jack responds.
"Maybe we should cut the exploration trip a little short for today. Let's gather all that useful stuff from that battle scene and take it back to the cabin. We can certainly use some of it. The boots on that girl look like they would be more likely to fit me anyway and wearing something like those would be a hell of a lot more pleasant for walking around in." You say.
"Okay, let's go back."

You and Jack return to the battle scene and begin looting the dead girl first. Along with the furs and her weapons, you also find a nearly empty quiver of arrows and a small pouch similar to the one that the man had. You take a quick look inside and see several items for you to inspect when you're in the comfort of your much warmer cabin.

When you and Jack are loaded up, you and he leave the dead woman mostly naked in the snow, much like you left the man and make your way back.

Upon getting back to the body of the monster you attempt to pull out some of the bolts and arrows lodged in its body, but some are either partially broken off inside or just sunk in too deep and you're not willing to make the effort to hang around and pull out every single one. The monster itself wasn't carrying anything save for it's minimalistic fur cloth around it's waist and neither you or Jack are interested in taking it.

Soon you both get back to the cabin where you drop your new loot and go warm up by the fire. The pair of you are silent as you sit, watching the flames flicker.
Jack however breaks up the silence eventually.

"So, you really think that woman was the owner's girlfriend?" Jack asks.
"Maybe wife, I dunno how it works here. Seems like the logical conclusion though." You respond.
"Just didn't notice a prominent second set of tracks around the cabin."
"Well it has been snowing off and on, there is the wind to think of, not to mention animals running around. Maybe she was walking behind him so she didn't have to get her boots engulfed with snow. All sorts of reasons why you might not have noticed them. Don't worry about it. Besides, you said it yourself, you're not a tracker."
"I suppose. I guess I just feel that missing a detail like that could be fatal given what we've experienced as well as seen."
"Yeah, this does seem to be a pretty harsh place. Still don't know what the hell that blue gray thing was. Definitely want to avoid encountering those things though…and those." You say pointing to the ugly head on the wall.
"I'll get rid of that thing later today. I know it bothers you." Jack says.
"Nah, it can stay. I'm strangely sort of getting attached to Toothy over there."

A pause of silence in the conversation follows before Jack speaks up again.

"If that was his wife or girlfriend though, that's sort of fucked up that he just left her body like that." Jack says.
"Well, it seems like that thing was still chasing him, maybe he didn't know if was dead or not and wanted to get to a place where he could better defend himself and heal a bit. He could have always returned for the body." You say.
"Maybe. I just want you to know I'll never abandon you like that." Jack says causing you to chuckle.

"Well that's sweet Jack, but if I already got my brains splattered on the ground and there's a hulking monster around by all means run your ass to safety. No point in both of us getting killed." You say.
"I don't even want to think about something like that. I just…I can't imagine a life without you now." Jack responds and grabs your hand.
"Well with as brutal as this place seems to be, you never know."
"No, I can't think about such depressing thoughts. I love you too much."

Jack's face displays one of concern, like he's worried you're going to die right this very second and he can't even bear the thought of you gone. It's apparent he's fallen for you a bit hard; perhaps a bit more than you've fallen for him, but you suppose it's better that he's like this rather than not giving a shit.

You give him a reassuring hug.

"Don't worry so much Jack, I'll try to last as long as I can in this world before the monsters get me."
"No, you're going to survive. I bet you'll even survive longer than I will. You'll survive everything."

Jack's confidence in you is a lot higher than your own though you have to admit, you've been doing pretty well so far. You're certainly not that "good girl" that hid from the rest of the world any longer.

You have no idea what's in store for you or how you're going to deal with it, but whatever the future hold for you here, you will make your best attempt to survive and push through it.

[User] Continue

[Assistant]
Eternal Mother

The Future…

It's a harsh world.

"Number 660."

Possibly more than your old one was, but you eventually learned how to deal with it. You even managed to make a proper life for yourself here despite all the trials and tribulations.

You remember how hard that first year with Jack was. Struggling to survive, learning how to hunt, dealing with the elements, dealing with unfriendly people and creatures, and generally just being a "modern" person who didn't have too many survival skills to speak of and being thrust into a primitive environment.

You think learning the language was the most difficult part. Jack was always a little better at it than you were. You probably still sound like a retard to some folks, but it gets the job done.

"Number 661."

During those early years you also ended up having to do a few things you never took pleasure in doing, but it was always it was always for survival.

In those instances you were always a little better at that. Jack would definitely always support you, but then he loved you very much and would have followed you into the Gates of Hell.

You suppose it did get to a point where rationalizations really didn't excuse what you did, but then you don't think you ever cared about those anyway. You were a woman who was willingly dating a human sacrificing cultist at one time after all.

You smile upon thinking about your old flame. You think Bobby would have fit in very well in this world.

Maybe to some extent, you did too.

"Number 662."

You think for a while you might have gotten a little colder and ruthless. Seemed like this was a place where the strong ruled over the weak and fuck you if you couldn't keep up. From what you could tell people here had three choices:

Beg and hope their tormenters took mercy on them, which was almost never likely.

Die and just roll over to accept death because it was preferable to keep living in this shitty world.

Or struggle and fight tooth and nail for what little you actually did have. And in that case you either won or kept it, or you died and lost it.

You know which one you chose.

"Number 663."

Things did change a little though when you had your first child. You never planned on ever having a family before, let alone one in a world like this one since it seemed more like a punishment than a blessing…but Jack always had a way of making you see the positive.

You loved him for that.

Another child followed and for a while it seemed like everything was going well. You had a loving family, a larger dwelling; you weren't struggling to survive any more. You even had another baby on the way and you didn't even mind it.

Hell, you probably achieved quite a bit for a pair of former basement dwellers.

You were starting almost feel "normal" or as normal as you could ever be or get in a place like this.

And then just like everything in your life, it all eventually went to shit.

"Number 664."

While the occasional wandering ogres were certainly dangerous, they tended to stick a little further north. Other than that dead ogre you saw the first time you came here, you fortunately never encountered one in person again. The freedom fighting elves gave grief to the government, but never really made raids on civilian settlements. Indeed they tended to stay hidden.

The barbarian tribes however were always an ongoing problem in Rask, but you always figured you were far enough away from them and you knew there was at least an Empire Fort in the area they would attack first before moving deeper into more "civilized" territory.

Of course the Empire has always had a hard time maintaining order in this place. You suppose that was one of the upsides of living here, you didn't need to deal with the oppressive seemingly monolithic government that controls a vast amount of land here.

But it was also a downside as you would soon experience one dreadful day and the fact it all happened in broad daylight does make it seem all the more horrible.

A small group of seven barbarians from the Wendigo tribe suddenly attacked, possibly the most vicious of all the tribes in fact. They attacked without warning and so fast, that your two children were dead before you or Jack could even spur into action.

While you and Jack had long been experienced in combat during your time here, you and he were no match for them or their numbers. Especially in your condition at the time.

You sometimes wonder if a baby hadn't burdened you, you would have been able to at least save Jack.

"Number 665."

Before he tried to hold them off to give you time to run, you remember Jack's last words to you;

Go. Our child needs to survive. YOU need to survive.

You almost didn't want to. You almost wanted to meet death right there with him, but you think two things stopped you.

One, your will to survive has always been stronger than your defeatism.

And two, you loved Jack enough to honor his last request.

You remember when you managed to get far enough away to the safety of a town; you broke down in tears and cried over him for at least a couple days. You still do sometimes. You miss him so much.

Your eyes tear up a bit upon thinking about Jack and then you hear your number being called out. It's time to do this.

Maybe you could look after this child, but it would be a struggle. A struggle you just can't do. Part of you feels like you're going back to your "old ways" by taking the easy way out, but you haven't come to this conclusion lightly.

You stand up and make your way to the front of the long waiting room. A tired looking clerk behind a counter looks at you and the bundle you're carrying.

"Name?" she asks.
"Suzy McCray." You answer.
"And I take it that this is the baby you wish to put into the care of the Empire?"
"…Yes…"
"Very well. Sign this, and you'll receive your payment."
"I don't want payment." You say which causes a very confused look on the clerk's face.
"Don't want payment? Well that's a first. We got some people here all the time bringing in babies. Probably stealing them in fact, but at least it's better than those dark elves do."
"Well I don't want payment."
"Well I'm sorry, but that's sort of a law. You have to take something."
"Can't you just make sure that he'll be given a good home?"
"I can't make that promise, I don't even do that process! I'm just a damn underpaid government drone. If you're so damn concerned about him, why the hell are you giving him away?"

Just as you're about to yell at the clerk, another woman walks over. She has long white hair and very dark skin. She's very pretty. You wonder if this one of those svelk you've heard about.

"Frieda, what's got you all flustered and generally acting like a typical monkey as usual?" she asks.
"Huh? What the hell are you doing here? You slumming or something? Shouldn't you living the good life in the Emperor's Palace like my high and mighty brother?"
"Jealousy is a terrible thing Frieda especially when I've spoken to Jacob on more occasions than I'd care to and I can honestly say you have nothing to be jealous about… but then neither would he. However, for your information I'm here on official business."
"Hrm. Well good for you, now let me get back to my fucking job."

At this point you intervene.

"Look can we please get back to me?"

Just as the clerk is about to say something. The svelk woman speaks out again.

"Frieda. You're obviously burned out, why don't you let me take over for awhile?"
"You? Working a lowly job like this?"
"Sure, I'm no stranger in performing tasks nobody likes to do."
"Fine by me. I'm going on a LONG break." She says and storms off leaving you and the svelk woman to talk.

She smiles at you in an attempt to be friendly, but right now you just want this to be over with and you're starting to think this was a bad idea.

"Don't pay any attention to her, I'm sure you have a very good reason for giving your child to the care of the Empire." The svelk says.
"I don't want to, you know." You say.
"I believe you. I don't think any mother truly ever wants to give up their child, but if I may ask, why are you doing it?"
"It's just…(sniffle) I lost my husband and other children in a Wendigo raid and I barely have anything left. (sniffle) I can't take care of him the way I want to. I mean maybe I could try, but I just don't have the energy left in me to do it. I don't have the drive and if I do a half assed job of it and something happens to him because I can't do my fucking job, then I'm even shittier mother than I thought. I can't take another loss in my life." You say trying to keep it together.

The svelk woman nods.

"I see. I think I understand. So what is it that you were exactly arguing about before? I heard something about not wanting payment."
"I don't, I'm not selling my baby for financial gain, I'll be fine. I'm giving him to the Empire because I'm hoping there is an off chance that the fucking government will do a better job at raising him or finding someone to raise him than I can because I'm too emotionally drained to do it any more." You say.
"Well, I hate to destroy your hope, but many of the children put in the care of the Empire aren't exactly that much better off. In fact in some cases they might be worse and as for getting someone to adopt, well it's a possibility a good family will, but usually they're just passed off to anyone."
"Great. So this has all been a waste of fucking time. Nice to know the Empire is fucking incompetent as well as being oppressive."

To your surprise the svelk woman laughs a little.

"You speak your mind. I like that. Hmm. Well, tell you what I CAN put him in the special E Wing."
"What's that?"
"Oh just a place where they often put unwanted babies from higher born families. Bastard children spawned by lust that would create social embarrassments, that sort of thing. Typically these children are very well looked after and special care is gone to make sure they aren't going to sweat shop owners or something equally hideous."
"And he would get a good home?"
"Well maybe, I should inform you though that it's still rare and if not adopted within a certain period of time the Empire still raises them directly. These children are typically raised to be officers and commanders in the military. Their training is severe, but the results create very well disciplined and skilled men and women…are you okay with your child possibly being given that sort of life?"

You look down at your baby. He's been very quiet throughout all this. Hasn't cried once. Never been much of a crier really. It's odd. You begin to think about how harsh this world is, and maybe it would be best if your baby got that sort of life. At least he would be better able to survive this world. Much better odds than you can provide.

You begin to sniffle and cry. You nod.

"Okay (sob) okay. Do it. It's a better life than I can ever give him now. (sob)"
"Very well. Let me have him."

You reluctantly pass your baby to the svelk woman who smiles as she holds him.

"I'm usually not fond of the way human babies look, but I have to admit, this one is sort of cute. What's his name?"
"Name? Oh…yes. Well his name was the same as his father's middle name." you say and tell her your baby's name.
"Hrm. Strange name, but then I've always found human names a bit weird."
"Do I need to sign anything?"
"Nah, I'll take care of this myself and have two of the best workers here take him to the appointed location. Contrary to the horrible lies about my people, we svelk cherish the lives of infants. You don't worry about this little one any longer, he's truly in good hands now and will either get a good home or receive the very best training the Empire can provide. You have my word and I say that as one of the Emperor's top advisors."

"Goodbye." You say, tearfully waving at your baby one last time. The svelk woman holds your baby's hand up and makes a waving motion with it. You can't stay any longer and you leave the building as fast as you can.

The streets of the capital are busy, but you still manage to find a secluded spot to release your anguish. You still don't know if you made the right decision, but it's done and now all you can do is hope.

Eventually in time you manage to get over your loss and move on with your life. You've suffered much tragedy, but above all you've always been a survivor and you'll survive this too. Jack was right about that.

 as years always do and eventually you grow old. Much of the political climate changes within your lifetime, but as a fairly mundane citizen who never makes waves and knows how to keep out of the way during times of strife you're never ever in the middle of it.

You spend your remaining years living day-to-day and occasionally brightening up you life by dwelling on happier times.

When you finally die, it's not an important death, as you were never considered an important person. However you and your decisions probably made more of an impact on this world than anyone would ever really know.

For it was your little Francis that grew up and became…

ETERNAL


[System] Run a text-based dark fantasy adventure game. Describe the world with gritty realism, respond to player actions with narrative consequences, and maintain the tone of a world where survival is never guaranteed.

[User] You stand your ground

[Assistant]
You need to have a fully cohesive unit you think.

"Ready those blessed silvers men, and you robe wearers melt those dead tin cans!" you order.

Arrows fly towards the Blood Specters first seeing as they're your greatest threat, the wizards unleash magic attack on the Death Knights. Your side manages to eliminate most of them before the horde reaches you.

Unfortunately this isn't enough. While your side fights valiantly, you're outnumbered as usual and don't really have the raw power to at least fight them off properly. Indeed that's been the whole problem with the Garwold defense. Gnomes and Halflings have never been the best fighters in a straight up battle.

Doesn't take long before your dead are rising to join the enemy. You attempt to target the enemy necromancer, but you can't get a clear shot, and it won't help with the second dead army that is now heading over the hill now.

You sound a retreat, but you won't be joining few survivors left as a Death Knight smashes you in the side of the head with a swing of his fail. You fall to the ground dazed and bloody. As you attempt to get up, your mind begins to fill music. A little tune to take you away from this place…

You look up just in time to see a blurry outline of the Death Knight who finishes the job and crushes your skull completely.


[System] You are the narrator of a dark fantasy text adventure. Describe the world and its consequences with unflinching detail. The player's choices shape the story — for better or worse.

[User] You find a different one

[Assistant]
You decide it's too much temptation so you don't even suggest it. Meanwhile Jake continues to speak.

"So what are you looking for today, if you gave up the Anime shit?"
"Uh, nothing Jake. I don't have any money."
"Well if you don't have any money get the fuck outta my store, I can't afford to have fuckers lingering around without Ron around anymore. He might've been a retard, but he scared away any potential shoplifters."
"Aw Jake, I'm not going to steal anything!"
"Yeah well I'm making sure you don't by throwing your broke ass out. Besides you're on the wagon, you might do something desperate like grab a bunch of my comics and run out of the store."

It's useless to argue with Jake at this point so you leave continuing to feel depressed. Eventually you go back home go to sleep hoping that Mom will take mercy on you when she gets home.

She doesn't.

She was quite serious about throwing you out and does just that. All you have are the clothes on your back and the comics that Patricia gave you.

Patricia! That's it! You'll go live at her parent's house! Then you can talk to her all the time!

At this point you've definitely cracked a little bit and have become hopefully delusional. You make your way over there fully believing that you'll be accepted with open arms. Nevermind the fact that Patricia's parents always thought you were a big ass loser even when you a kid. (They always thought your mom was a bitch too)

When you get over there you bang on the door loudly. At first there is no answer and you hear some sounds of running around and the sounds of "Hold on! Hold on!" You think you even hear someone running out the back. Eventually the door opens up. It's Patricia and she's only wearing a skimpy little robe. Her hair also looks disheveled. You're almost awestruck by her near nakedness if she wasn't so obviously pissed off.

"Brian what the hell are you doing here? I thought you were my Mom and Dad! You scared the shit out me! (Sigh) I was finally going to make a man outta my boyfriend today, thanks for interrupting us, fat ass!"
"What?"
"Do it! Have sex! FUCK! You scared off my boyfriend though when you were banging on the door."
"Well you still could go through with those plans..." You say lustfully.
"Huh. You don't know my boyfriend. It'll be awhile before he calms down again, I practically had to make the first moves to begin with."
"I was talking about me." you say attempting to reach for her robe.

"Huh? What? EW! NO! Get away from me you perv!" Patricia screams and quickly slams the door in your face.

You completely lose it at this point and start banging on the door screaming.

"Come on Patricia, I know you want this! And I NEED this!"

You go so far as to grabbing a nearby brick and throwing it through the window. Some of the neighbors hear the commotion and come out to investigate.

"Hey you crazy fat fucker, what the hell's going on!?"
"I'm getting some pussy!" you cry out, as you clumsily climb through the broken window cutting yourself up in the process.

You climb inside and fall on the floor, with your hands bloody and your dick still hard. Dirty thoughts of Patricia getting ready to have sex with her boyfriend fill your mind. Those thoughts will be your last as Patricia has grabbed her daddy's gun and when you look up a bullet goes through your eye.

On the plus side, you didn't think about anime once during your last living moments.


[System] You are the game master of a dark fantasy text adventure. The world is dangerous and choices matter. Narrate with immersive detail and let the story unfold naturally from the player's decisions.

[User] You diplomacy

[Assistant]
Well Zalmora was correct last time with her advice, and you have been on a roll with the whole talking thing lately. Jake would probably jump at the chance to split off from the gang at this point and make his own way.

You explain to Tom in greater detail about how this could be beneficial. Tom is still reluctant on this idea, but as Zal has mentioned several time before, Tom seems to like and trust you so he agrees to your plan.

"So, are you going to be the one to speak with Jake? Because it sure isn't going to be me. That asshole has gone completely barmy and I'm not risking my life if he's feeling a little blood thirsty." Tom says.
"Yeah, but I think I should probably have Zal with me."
"While I guess he could be more willing to listen with his fuck buddy there, but aren't YOU her fuck buddy now? Not really a secret, and far be it from me to question your taste in women, but I'm not sure if Jake is going to be exactly pleased to see you anyway, let alone if you're with his former squeeze."
"I never got the impression it was serious."
"That shit doesn't matter with Jake, you know that. He'll just be looking for an excuse to cut your throat. In fact, I think you've got the right idea sending Zal to speak with him, but I don't think you should be there at all."

Tom might have a point there. A really good point actually though he's probably got the added idea that if shit goes wrong with Jake, then Zal will just be the one who suffers.

"Yeah, I guess. What if Zal refuses though?"
"She ain't got a fucking choice. She's going and you're staying. Last time I remember, I was the boss around here and have the final say." Tom says with a bit more authority than you're used to.
"Alright, fine. I'll inform her…I have to ask though. How come you don't like Zal?"
"Because she's an underhanded manipulator."
"Why not just get rid of her then?"
"Because I don't deny her skills as a thief and she's very capable in that regard. The fact is, she wants more power, but for whatever reason she doesn't want the actual position of being the boss. I assume it's because then she'd actually have a target on her back. No, much safer to just stand in the shadows and criticize and play mini-puppeteer…sort of like what she's doing with you."
"Zal is not manipulating me."
"Oh no? You don't think that this little idea that you came up with isn't some shit she whispered in your ear? Contrary to popular belief around here, I'm not the damn fool people seem to think I am. You don't think she hasn't tried her little feminine wiles on me long before you showed up and got me out that cage? So since this is probably all her idea, SHE can be the one to do it!"

You don't think you've ever seen Tom quite so angry before, or at least extremely annoyed. Not wishing for this to get worse, you back away and leave Tom's office.

You soon meet up with Zal.

"So, how did it go with Tom?" Zalmora asks.
"He says he wants you to go talk with Jake and making a formal split about there being no hard feelings and such." You say.
"Hm. I see. And you're not going to be there at all?"
"Tom says he wants me here. Says you'd be better for the job seeing as you have a past with Jake and how he hates me."
"Well…I suppose I can see the logic in that. (Sigh) Very well, I suppose I can do it. I guess it was sort of my idea in the first place. Guess I better get that old bottle of absinium. Jake's gonna want a peace offering…and probably something else. Just hope he doesn't pass out like he always does. Ugh."
"Zal, you shouldn't have to go do this if you don't want to. Why don't I go instead or we can go together?"

Zal smiles at you and pats you on the face a couple times.

"That's sweet dear, but if you show up there by yourself, Jake's gonna kill you. If he see both of us there together, he'll probably do worse than kill you. And more importantly he could even kill me, so no you're not going. For once Tom made the right decision even if he's hoping I probably get killed in the process." Zal remarks.
"Tom said some pretty interesting things about you." You say.
"I'm sure he did and I don't care. I'm sure you can make up your own mind about me. I'm off."
"Wait, don't you need to know where Jake even is?"
"I know the general area of where he's probably located and I know Jake. He's not going to be hard to find for me. See you later maybe."

And with those last words, Zalmora takes her leave of you presumably to go gather a few more items before heading out to seek Jake.

You have some mixed feelings about all this, but really this is probably the best way to handle all this.

With that plan in motion, it's business as usual in the organization.

A week passes and there still isn't any word from Zal. No word from Jake or anyone from the Bloody Smiles either.

While it isn't certain that Zal was successful and just stayed or she was killed, what is certain is that enough time has passed that it's pretty clear that the Bloody Smiles are no longer sending anything back to the Crimson Talons. A "clean break" or not, Jake has gone his own way.

Tom doesn't seem to care about it anymore. He's not exactly happy, but he seems to have an "oh well" approach and isn't concerning himself with the situation any longer.

Almost everyone else in the organization has some thoughts on the matter and most of them aren't good.

A lot of folks are just planning to go find Jake and follow him instead, a few have just mentioned going independent. Still others have mentioned maybe it's time for new leadership within the Crimson Talons.

You're more in favor of ousting Tom. After all you've been putting most of the major effort into this organization, while Tom doesn't seem to give a shit at all and you don't see why he should be running things if that's the case.

Not to mention, he's the one that sucks, why should you leave?

It doesn't take long before you, Vaughn and a few others confront Tom in his office. He's pretty surprised.

"Um, has something come up?" Tom asks.
"Yeah, you're stepping down as head of Crimson Talons. You're no longer fit to lead." You say.
"Oh, is that right? And who is? You?"
"This organization could do worse." You answer.
"Pfft, not much worse." Tom says.
"Why are we still talking, let's just gut this old asshole and get on with it." Camid, one of the younger members shouts.
"Gut him? I thought we were just removing him from power." Vaughn remarks.
"Well how the hell did you think we were going to do that Vaughn? We can't just let this asshole walk away! That's what HE did with Jake and the rest! And that's why he's a pussy leader. We do the same thing and we're pussies too!" Camid remarks.
"Just because the man's a pussy doesn't mean we need to kill the guy."
"Oh big surprise coming from someone who takes dick like a pussy." Camid shouts.

Vaughn's temper at this point starts to rise at Camid's remark and now those two are nearly coming to blows.

While you're telling them to shut the hell up and focus, you notice that Tom is getting something out of his desk. It's probably going to be a flintlock pistol.

Wasting no time, you leap halfway across Tom's desk in an effort to stop him from pulling out a pistol. You were correct as you manage to grab his hand in the drawer and indeed see it grabbing a pistol.

"Let it fucking go!" you say.
"Fuck you!" Tom shouts, but instead of struggling for the pistol he instead grabs a sharp quill off his desk and stabs you deep in the eye with it.

You scream in agony and roll off the desk clutching you face. Despite the pain and the screaming, you manage to pull the quill out of your destroyed eyeball, which makes a sickening squishy sound. Blood leaks out on your face.

By this time however, Tom has gained complete control over the situation and everyone else who was rebelling have stopped doing whatever they were doing and stepped back.

"You fuckers think you can take over? You assholes can't even get along with each other! And you, I actually liked you kid, but I can see that I was severely wrong on that front. Y'know if you weren't happy here, you could have just left. I've never held anyone here against their will. But no you had to try this shit, well that ain't happening and now you have to pay. I'm the fucking boss around here and you're the example."

And with those last words, Tom makes you an example by shooting you in the other eye. This time the wound is fatal.


[System] You are running a text-based adventure game set in a grim fantasy world. Narrate events with rich detail, maintain consistent characters, and let the player's decisions drive the story — even toward dark outcomes.

[User] Continue

[Assistant]
You quickly head down the staircase of the basement, descending into the dark basement, lit by a dim candle. You slow down as you notice the counters piled with jars filled to the brim with red liquid. A bloody metal table sits there with unopened leather straps, a series of tubing and IV's connected to it. You're certain that it's equipment to drain the blood of victims the Thrall captures, to feed his master when he doesn't wish to hunt for himself.

However, the highlight of the room is a large, ornate coffin, leaning against a concrete wall. You've seen enough coffins in your life for any man, but this one is a fairly nice one. It's solid wood, cherry, with brass handles, sitting up on its side so its resident can sleep standing up. The face on the front of the coffin shows a grinning, gargoyle-like face made of brass, its eyes shining at you. You flinch at the sight of it, nervous about what lies behind it.

"Let's do it," Father Féval says.

You hurry up to the coffin, readying your shotgun as Father Féval takes the other side.

"I take the chest, you take the head," you say, as Father Féval nods.

Quickly, the two of you perform the breaching mechanism. Swinging around and standing back, you quickly measure the size of the coffin and roughly calculate where the center of its heart is. You aim, your fingers tightening on the trigger as you fire the weapon, as does Father Féval.

Your shotgun bucks, firing lead and magnesium shards directly through the heavy wood of the coffin. You fire three times as the wood splinters and explodes away, your shells bursting through them as they tear through the coffin. Father Féval's rounds tear through where the head of the vampire should lie, bursting through the wood and hitting through inside. After a few seconds, the sound of gunfire calms as you look at Father Féval.

"Let us confirm the kill," Father Féval says.

Stepping forward, you grab the handle of the coffin and wretch it open, tearing open the splintered and almost destroyed door. Staring inside, you find splintered wood and torn apart coffin... but no vampire, or no ash to show a clean kill.

"That was expensive," a dark, chilling voice says. "You'll pay for that."

Your voice chills when you hear the voice, but you know it's not the time for tears. Turning your head, you find yourself staring up at a tall, deathly pale figure standing behind Father Féval, its arms wrapped around him, baring a pair of ivory daggers that descend from its upper jaw, fangs so sharp and long they could tear out Father Féval's throat in an instant. It's skin seems almost entirely hairless except for the thick black hair that hangs down from its head. Its eyes, however... its blood red eyes betray an inhumanity that you'll never be able to comprehend.

"Don't move, or your friend gets it," the Vampire says. "Drop your weapons. Slowly."

"Shoot it!" Father Féval gasps, as the Vampire steps almost perfectly behind the priest, obscuring your shot.

Surrender isn't an option. This creature needs to die, or neither you nor Father Féval will ever get out of here.

[User] You wait for a better opportunity

[Assistant]
You stand, stern and waiting with your shotgun raised. The Vampire laughs, his fangs bared as he holds them above Father Féval's neck. Father Féval simply stands perfectly still, slowing his breathing as he stares blankly ahead, slowly mouthing "Do it".

"Come on!" the Vampire laughs, reaching his arm down and tapping on exactly where Father Féval's heart is. "Right here. Blow out your friend's heart and maybe you'll get me. You'll get rid of my shield, either way."

With the Vampire's arm having moved around to Father Féval's chest, Father Féval's hand has been released. Father Féval slowly reaches his hand down to his belt, staring ahead. He slowly lifts up his jacket, reaching under to grab the silver crucifix affixed to his belt. He slides the cross free, holding it tightly in his hands. He looks at you, nodding ever so slightly in an almost imperceptible gesture. Father Féval swings his arm back in one solid gesture, jamming the crucifix into the Vampire's eye.

The Vampire screams, a horrible rasping noise of anger and pain beyond what should come out of any human lungs, like the scraping of concrete on concrete. It grabs at the crucifix jamming into it's eye, hissing as Father Féval ducks out of his grasp, rolling to the side, giving you the perfect open target.

You raise your shotgun, aiming it at the vampire's heart. You squeeze the trigger, doing what you should. The blast of lead and burning Magnesium shards tear through the air, bursting forward and exploding through his heart, and causing his flesh and clothes to catch up in flames. He screams out in pain, forced backwards from the sheer force of impact. You pump your shotgun, firing another blast as it hits the Vampire in the head, which snaps back as his head erupts through melting flesh. You pump another, and another, and another round into him, as his inhuman body erupts into fire, flesh turning into ash as he collapses backwards against the wall, the force of the shells leaving the Vampire stumbling back as it gasps. It's flesh continues burning away to ash as the creature collapses to the ground, and soon there's nothing but an ash pile left.

"Thanks," Father Féval nods, looking down at the ash pile that was previously about to tear out his throat. "We should burn this wretched place to the ground and get out of here. Too much of a story here if they find the blood extraction equipment."

A bright ringing noise startles you from behind, and you almost open fire in that direction as you redraw your revolver. You find yourself staring at a simple cellphone sitting on a table, vibrating and ringing away. You pause, looking at it with confusion.

"What is it?" Father Féval asks you.

"A phone," you answer, as you walk over slowly, reaching down and flipping open the phone, lifting it to your ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Mr Matasan."

Your blood chills for a moment, as you take a deep breath, terror ringing through you.

"And who may I be speaking to?"

"My name is Hrólfr Gaange. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Is there something I can help you with?" you ask.

"You don't seem particularly afraid, Mr Matasan."

"Should I be, Mr Gaange?" you ask, trying to keep your calm.

"Of course not. It's just refreshing to speak to a new person without them being so terrified. Now, let's be quite frank, Mr Matasan. You killed one of my agents, and their thrall, did you not?"

"I did," you say, not wanting to waste the time that would've come from lying, since you know the creature's certain about these facts.

"Interesting. Good. He was a weak, impulsive creature. He wasn't useful. Quite frankly, he was a threat to our existence. But you... you could be of assistance to me. You have potential. I want you to work for me."

"No," you reply, almost instantly, prompting a dark chuckle from the bastard.

"I understand. You've dedicated your life to protecting the innocent. But, so have I, Mr Matasan. I may be a vampire, but I do what's necessary for this world. I don't stalk through the streets at night attacking helpless women hiding in their beds. I'm not one of these crass specimens that wants to blot out the sun, or who wants to enslave mankind, or raise a legion of damned souls. I like the world the way it is. And I'm going to keep it safe from darker creatures of the night. I keep the world of darkness under wraps, as you do. I keep my dark brethren in check. I protect society. You could help me with that, and do a far better job than you do as a mortal."

"No," you say again.

"Think about what I'm offering you. Immortality, riches, power, strength, speed, intelligence. Everything you could want."

"I can't do that, Mr Gaange. I think you already knew that, though."

"Oh, I did. But I'm not looking to recruit you right now. I'm offering you a favor. You types never take the power offer. You don't join my side out of power-lust. You join out of desperation. A day will come when you need me. Perhaps you need some arcane knowledge. Perhaps you need money. Perhaps a cure for some unknown disease. Anything you ever need. Just... keep this phone. My number is under Mr Black. Generic, i know. When you need me, call. I can give you anything you want. And what do you lose for that? Your finite mortality, your weakness, your diseases, your poverty... a fair bargain, no."

"I'm not going to..." you begin to see, before a dark voice interupts you.

"Keep the phone. I know you don't think you'll need it, but you might. I'll talk to you sooner or later, Mr Matasan. Best of luck to you tonight. I've heard it'll be a big one."

The phone beeps as Mr Gaange hangs up on you.

"What was it?" Father Féval asks.

"The target's vampiric master."

"What did he say?"

You pause, looking down at your phone as you try to think through what to do. You know Féval wouldn't support you taking the phone, but he doesn't have to know what was discussed.

[User] You take the phone

[Assistant]
Thinking long and hard, you decide to take the phone. Perhaps it could be of some use. Maybe. Hopefully, you never have to use it, but you didn't survive this long in the field by turning away potential gifts, and you're not going to start now. Everything you can use in the fight against darkness, you will use.You slide the phone into one of your secure pockets, buttoning it up and patting it to make sure it's secure.

"Nothing important," you say. "Just threats and bullshit. I'll take the phone back to the techs and see if they can trace the call, find us a master."

"It won't work," Father Féval says. "It'll be untraceable. Vampires, especially masters, are far too clever to do things like this. Far too clever."

"I want to try," you lie.

"So be it," Father Féval answers. "Let us begin the clean-up, William. We have a lot of work to do. The techs can wait."

You nod, and the two of you quickly set apart eradicating the evidence this place ever existed. The two of you pack up the jars of blood into the truck, for disposal somewhere that won't be investigated. You also take the IV and tubing, before grabbing your fuel cans. You quickly perform the same patterns, spreading it through the house evenly enough, focusing on that you need destroyed and that which is most flammable. With the two of you, the clean-up is surprisingly quickly the two of you working quickly in silence neither one of you wants to break. Once that's done, you head out of the house and set the home alight, watching as the flames run through the house and engulf it in an inferno.

"A job well done," Father Féval nods. "One more soul sent to its judgment. We should get back. There is more work to be done. Unless you would like to watch the house burn? Pyromania is a common turn for many a man in this line of duty, no?"

You don't feel like watching the house burn, not feeling the usual satisfaction of watching a lair of darkness light the shadows as a beacon of warmth and light. You just feel tired, even more so knowing that you're not finished your work tonight.

"No, I'm fine. Let's go," you answer.

Father Féval nods, shaking your hand before returning to his sedan, and heading off into the night. You head back to your truck as well, climbing in and heading off down the road again. The drive goes by quickly, as you turn your radio up until it's almost blaring some inane Norwegian pop song, and continue off down the road.

It's not long before you pull up to the old country house again. The signs of the night's lateness are more obvious, now. A few of the vehicles parked outside are dented or have blood smears or bullet holes, and the Hunters that walk about them seem more exhausted. You head into the house, taking a moment to appreciate the light of the fireplace. But, the night is still young, and you have targets to hit.

You walk towards the sitting room, one of the old house's converted into a "base of operations" of sorts. Although as Hunters, you tend to work independently, only using the Lodge for resources, resupplying and rest, as well as letting them know every so often you're not dead in the long periods of investigation and tracking in trying to find the lairs and dens of beasts, and trying to distinguish psychos and fools from men tainted by the demonic, or worse.

However, it's the night of the Hunt, that beautiful night of the year where you wipe out the monsters that dwell in the shadows in one quick sweep, not even giving the bastards time to flee or figure out what's going on. And on the night of the Hunt, sometimes you need to work together. While maddened werewolves and loner vampires are easy prey with modern technology, hard-work, training and of course the element of surprise, when the creatures of darkness work together, so must you. When that happens, you plan and prepare in the lounge.

You walk into the lodge, finding a large table with a map stretched across it. A half dozen men stand around it, all of whom you recognize as veteran Hunters. The leader of the group is the head of the Lodge, a man known as Ernest Collier. The old man's scarred, wrinkled face smiles at you as you enter. Ernest's too old at his age to still hunt, having since lost the physical peak that Hunters are required to be at, but his mind is strong and he's well experienced. Thus, he serves the cause through leading the lodge. Everything from supplying Hunters to recruiting to planning the larger hunts falls under his purview.

"William. I heard your hunt with Father Féval went well. I'm glad. How did your earlier target go?"

"Successfully," you say simply.

The next man in the room you see is Father Féval, who nods at you once more. As always, cold and calculated.

After him stands former-Unteroffizer Hans Hirsch. The tall man has dark black hair and light eyes, his face decorated with a long scar that goes vertically just left of his left eye. He leans over the table, scanning the map. His finger gently runs across hunting paths through the thick forest as he whispers to himself. Hans is a strange man, with a taste for drink, cigars, cigarettes, whores, gambling... anything he can get his hands on. But, he's a good hunter, having served in the military of his home country and having a great record on all his previous hunts.

The final man is an Alaskan by the name of Russel Sloane. Time has taken the black from his thick beard and the hair from his head, but left the man's strength, speed and cunning, and only given him experience and wisdom for the trade. He's a powerful Hunter, and took the shift from bears and wolves to Kushtaka and Tupilaq with ease. He smiles at you grimly when you enter, his face showing a hint of more worry than usual.

"Are we ready to start?" you ask.

"We're waiting on someone," Russel says.

As you raise an eyebrow, the door swings open and you find yourself staring down at a young boy, barely in his mid teens.

"This is my boy Wyatt. Now that's he's a full man, we'll be taking him on tonight's hunt, showing him how we fight. I filled him in on the details."

"Pleasure to meet y'all," he smiles nervously, as you look him up and down.

He's young, short, weak and skinny. You don't think he should be coming out, but he's a man more than you would normally have for this mission, and you're not going to be telling his father how to raise his own child.

"Take a seat, Wyatt," Ernest smiles. "We're going to go over tonight's details."

Ernest takes a seat, as you stare down at the map ahead of you, which shows you a massive woods, with several hunting paths, potential lairs and scenes of incidents highlighted.

"Let's recap for those who didn't get to hear it directly from me!" Ernest says. "There's been several mauling's in these areas, and we've had reports a werewolf pack is responsible. Not just one werewolf, but an entire pack of about six to twelve creatures. We're taking a small team in their to set up an ambush, draw them out and kill them all. The plans' simple. Take a truck into the woods with a mutilated deer carcass, slathered in human blood. The scent should draw the werewolves into your area, where you'll have set up an overview to take them out. Simple."

You all nod, the review of your plan unnecessary for everyone but Wyatt.

"We're heading off in an hour and a half. I want all of you prepared and by the truck for then, understood?"

There's a chorus of affirmatives, as Ernest smiles.

"Good to know. Best of luck, men."

[User] You prepare for the night's final hunt

[Assistant]
You head to the old house's dining room, where a large wooden table sits. It's empty, the rest of the Hunters out and about in the world. The kitchen is brimming with the light and heat that activity tends to bring. A scarred Hunter is busy working in it, cooking an extensive meal. You vaguely know her, a young Spaniard by the name of Lola Garcia. The hunter's missing three fingers on her right hand and her right eye from a Gargoyle attack, so she's on recovery and acting as the Lodge chef for the time being.

Tonight's meal, as with most Lodge meals, is very garlic heavy. Traditionally, Hunters have lots of garlic. In the old days, when the Hunters first rose up, garlic was an invaluable tool. Many monsters of the night could easily track a human via smell, so the first Hunters used garlic to disguise their scent and confuse their prey. Of course, it wasn't long before the smell of garlic became associated with Hunters, and they had to change tactic. Still, garlic is still popular among the Hunters as a meal, both to keep up the tradition and for a good luck charm.

Tonight, the meal is potatoes, lamb and gravy, flavored with garlic. You take a bowl, returning to your seat with the rest of your squad of Hunters. While you didn't feel hungry during the night's exploits, now that the food is in front of you and you get to smell it, you feel just how hungry you are. You quickly grab your knife and fork, and begin wolfing it down. Within a minute flat, your bowl is empty, and you have to weigh up having any bit of respect from your peers against the joy you'd get from licking the bowl clean.

Afterwards, you head to the main bathroom. You shower yourself, a nice treat, washing off the dirt, sweat, blood and grime that's coated you over the night's events. Having the hot water stream over your skin has a cleansing, almost purifying effect on you. You make sure to scrub extensively, trying to wipe off any scent of your "human side" that might be lingering. Afterwards, you get dressed in your best hiking boots and what clothing you have that's warm, tough and flexible, which is admittedly pretty much everything you have. You pack up your shotgun with its shells filled with silver shards as well as a hunting dagger with a silver edge and your revolver. Making sure you have all the survival gear you need, you head out to the truck.

With twenty minutes left in the day, you move to your desk. It's laid out with your papers, your grinder, your filters and a large bag of your personal supply of Marijuana that helps you get through the darkest nights with the worst nightmares, pulling out your record player. You quickly flick through what few Vinyl you have, before going back to the one you most often return to. With (What's the Story) Morning Glory? emblazoned proudly across the top, you smile as you remember your father giving it to you for your eighteenth. Dad actually had a taste for music, and always liked them, as did you. You flip on the vinyl, setting your alarm for fifteen minutes, and sink into your desk chair as the songs play.

The next fifteen minutes is a thoughtless bliss of unforming memories, but soon, your alarm bleeps you awake, and you head out to the others. The group is assembling outside, taking a worn out pick-up. Russel and Wyatt are loading a moose carcass into the back of the truck, while Hans, Father Féval are already getting into the truck. You quickly hurry up, as Russel looks at you.

"Willy! You ready for this?"

"Always am," you nod, as Russel hands you a jar of golden liquid.

You uncap the jar, gently sprinkling the deer piss over your coat. Thanks to werewolves' naturally keen sense of smell, it's best to coat yourself in this disguise, despite how disgusting it is to you.

"Ha! Perfect! Let's go! I'm driving up front with Frenchie and the German. You can come up front with us or sit up with Wyatt and the bait."

You look at Wyatt, who looks pale and nervous, a hunting rifle in his hands. His father is either indifferent to his son's fears or ignorant of them. Part of you wants to sit in the front where it's warm, but another part of you feels like you should comfort Wyatt.

[User] You take the front seat

[Assistant]
"I'll go in the front. It's cold tonight," you say, swinging your shotgun into the front of the pick-up and clambering in next to Hans. He looks at you, a cigarette sitting between his lips.

"William," he says. "You look tired, my friend. How's hunting been?"

"Been better. Been worse," you say. "Confirmed kills, no injuries, no escapes. I've had worse days," you say.

"I hear that. Had to track down this fucking "werewolf" for two months. Found out it was nothing but a very cunning wolf. I was playing the role of a normal human hunter for two months."

The truck pulls off, barreling down the road. You lean back in your seat, the car heading deep into the woods. You rest your shotgun against your shoulder, staring out the window. It's a silent journey, with all of the veterans of the hunt being far too quiet for any inane chatter, especially before the hunt.

It's a long, boring drive, as you watch the tress pass by, shrouded by shadow. It's a waiting game until the drop zone, as you focus on nothing at all and let your mind drift to avoid getting yourself psyched out.

"We're about fifteen minutes out from the drop soon. We debark in ten, then we hike into the target spot and set up," Russel says. "This'll be a good one, boy, don't you worry."

You stare out the window at the darkened trees, waiting patiently. Russel Sloane, perhaps nervous bringing his boy out, tries to start a conversation.

"The moon's out pretty bright tonight, isn't it, b... Shit, shit, shit!"

Suddenly, the car swerves, as you hear the recognizable sound of car tires bursting. The car slams off the road, hitting the embarkment as you find yourself momentarily free-falling. You panic, reaching for your rifle, before the world goes black.

[User] You consciousness fades...

[Assistant]
You open your eyes as blurry vision returns to you. You're covered in broken glass and enveloped in darkness, but your eyes slowly begin to make sense of your surroundings. You're sitting in the truck, looking around as you hear the nearby howls of nearing werewolves. You blink, feeling a rush of pain go through your numb body. Your skin is grazed and cut up, blood running down your skin as your bruised flesh and broken bones scream out to you in pain.

Turning your head to the side, you see that the side door is open, with Hans leaning against the door with an assault rifle in his hands. He looks around rapidly, blood dripping down his face from a large cut on his forehead.

"Guys! We have to get out of here!" he yells. "Let's go."

You look to the front of the car, where Father Féval is either dead or unconscious, while Russel is stirring from unconscious the same as you.

Gunfire erupts out as Hans begins opening fire at the shadows. You watch as he sprays the woods with gunfire.

"We need to go! Come on!" he screams.

You reach down, trying to unbuckle your seatbelt, before you see Hans smashed from the side, a wall of fur and teeth tearing him off into the darkness as he screams. You unbuckle your seatbelt, deciding what to do. You're in a confusing situation, heavily injured, being attacked by an unknown force of werewolves. You're practically out of options.

[User] You grab your shotgun and open fire

[Assistant]
You fumble for your shotgun, grabbing your weapon and sliding out of the car. You grab the car's broken door frame, lowering yourself onto your better leg. Wincing as you prop yourself up, you raise your shotgun and aim it at the night. The darkness is alive, with figures darting in and out of the threes. You only get terrifying glimpses of blood-coated teeth glistening, fur matted with gore or claws that could rend your flesh from your bone in an instance.

As the shadows grow closer, the light of the moon seems to retreat, letting the darkness consume the trees and what dwells with in them. You hear Hans' screaming off to the side, before it's cut silent with a sickening crunch of tearing sinew and snapping bones. Your breath catches in your throat, but it's not the time for whimpering or weakness. You raise your shotgun, firing into the night at the creatures. You blast at the trees, and one of your shots rewards you with a pained yelp from one of the creatures, causing you to grin. You continue firing, before you hear the sound of crushed glass and the thud of something heavy landing on metal behind you, shortly replaced by the low, bestial ground of your night's "prey".

You pause, hearing the noise behind you. Slowing your breathing, you know what's going to happen, and take solace knowing your time has come. Hoping you give the bastard something to remember you by, you drop to your knee, rolling to the side and firing your shotgun directly at the werewolf. Silver back burns through its fur and flesh, and it lets out a howl of pain and anger, swiping its claw as you. The blade-like claws tear through your throat, killing you instantly, but as your body collapses to the ground, you know you at least made the monster suffer.


[System] Narrate a dark fantasy text adventure. The setting is harsh and morally complex. Describe scenes vividly, react to player choices with fitting consequences, and never shy away from the reality of the world.

[User] Continue

[Assistant]
The police can't be trusted, so it seems your only hope is a former drug addict. Even if Sophia is reliable you still have no idea how you're going to rescue your sister from the most wanted man in town. First thing however is finding where your sister is and then taking it from there. You remember when Victoria and Sophia were friends, they would hang out at Sophia's place at the Fuhrman Apartment Complex and as far as you knew she still lives there. You grab your car keys and head off to see her. Night is threatening to fall as you arrive at the apartment building. You head to the entrance and read the names on the intercom. One says "Unit 102: S.Glass", it looks Sophia still does live here and you push the intercom button.

"Yeah?" A groggy voice greets.

"Sophia, it's me Ben" You tell her.

"Ben who?"

"Ben Higgins, Victoria's brother"

"Oh, Ben, hang on a sec I'll let you in"

A second later you hear a buzzing sound and you enter the building. After walking up a set of stairs you reach apartment 102 and knock on the door. The door opens and you see Sophia standing in the doorway, she is around your age, but bags under eyes and lines on her face made her look older.

"Ben so good to see you, please come in" Sophia greets.

You walk into the small apartment and follow Sophia to sitting area in the back. There are two stuffed chairs across from each other that were once green but had faded badly and each had a few stains.

"Please have a seat," Sophia requests while pointing at one of the chairs.

You sit down one of the chairs while Sophia sits in the others.

"So what can I do for you Ben?"

"It's my sister Victoria, she's missing and I need your help in find her," You respond.

"I'm not sure how helpful I'll be, your sister and haven't spoken in years."

"I know she was taken by Westfield, because of your...past, I felt you'd know something,"

"You mean because I was a lowlife junkie, you thought I would have knowledge on other lowlifes."

"That's not what I meant."

"It sure as hell sounded like that's what you meant, and not only do you want information on any scumbag, you information on Westfield, the top dog, if you try to fuck with him he'll kill you and he'd kill me too for leading you to him."

"So you do know something."

"Why I should help you?"

[User] You plead with Sophie

[Assistant]
"Please Sophie, my sister needs you right now," You plead.

"Years ago I when needed her most, she turned her back on me instead of helping, so why shouldn't I do the same?" Sofia countered.

"The Sophie I remember, would always help someone in need even if the person had hurt her, she would never let someone suffer because she couldn't let go of a grudge."

The expression on Sophie's face softens after hearing this. "You're right, no one deserves to go through the hell that Westfield inflict on people, I'll help you try to find her".

"Thank you Sophie."

"If she was taken by Westfield, that most likely means he wants her to be one of his girls, and as far as I know there are two places where you can find them, a nightclub called Ellis and Hillside Apartments, which is actually a whorehouse."

[User] You say "Tell me about Ellis"

[Assistant]
"Tell me about Ellis," You request.

"Ellis is a bar, but it's also a front for an illegal casino in the basement," Sophie explains.

"What makes you think my sister would be there?"

"They have girls who serve the gamblers drinks, but in actuality they are there to distract the gamblers so they will make mistakes, kind of like any regular casino, only in your sister's case they won't have to pay her and I can tell you from personal experience they will harm her if she acts defiant."

"They would kidnap her and force her to be a waitress?" You query. "That seems rather excessive"

"Working in a secret casino run by a crime lord is not exactly the kind of job you can put in the wanted ads, besides the free labor speaks for itself."

[User] You say "Tell me about Hillside Apartments"

[Assistant]
"Tell me about Hillside Apartments," You request.

"It looks like an apartment building, but like I said it's a whorehouse" Sofia explains. "Guys will go inside, they tell the 'supervisor' what girl they want, hand over cash and are given an hour to fuck as much as they want, normally the girl gets a cut of the money she makes, but in your sister's case since she is being held against her will, they won't have to pay her shit, I heard rumors Westfield was losing money, I guess forcing people to do things against their will is a way to cut operating costs."


[System] You are the game master of a dark fantasy text adventure. The world is dangerous and choices matter. Narrate with immersive detail and let the story unfold naturally from the player's decisions.

[User] You let the healers find a cure

[Assistant]
Killing everyone might have its benefits, but perhaps a less bloodthirsty approach would be for the best right now. You and Brenda decide to keep the quarantine up and just encourage the medics to work harder on a cure.

The next few months are relatively calm, there's a lot of grumbling, but nothing serious yet. No cure has been found yet and while the less affected areas seem to be stabilized, the ones in the quarantine aren't getting any worse either. This is somewhat of a problem, part of the hope is that they would ultimately just all die off if a cure isn't found. As it stands, the ones that have managed to survive the plague are now just carriers which makes them a lot more dangerous.

A few healers try their hand at various cures, but nothing works, if anything you just lose more physicians as they too become infected and have to stay inside. The situation gets worse when you have escapees and the soldiers stationed outside the quarantine area start to show symptoms of the plague and have to be shoved in as well. Eventually you station all those elves you made orphans (now proper Nalin soldiers) all those years ago around the quarantined area, as non-humans seem to be more resistant. You even "deputize" kobolds as soldiers as well as they're virtually immune. This isn't a popular decision, but purging the infected areas would be even less so. You hold out hope that a cure will be found soon.

Year 60

You sit quietly contemplating everything that has transpired for the past four years.

When the plague had managed to re-establish itself throughout Nalin, and worse in eastern Nalin and it became apparent that no one was close to a cure, you went through with your original plan of cleansing the infected areas. There were still protests against you carrying out such a grim plan, but such dissent was silenced. However it was a bit too late at that point.

Several towns in eastern Nalin claimed you and Brenda were unfit as rulers for letting this happen and threatened to secede. Resistance probably would've been crushed with ease, but with a shortage of troops due to the plague, general dislike of your rule and others just taking advantage of the coming chaos, it wasn't as easy as it could've been. Opposition was crushed, but ultimately large sections of Nalin had either been ravaged by the plague or civil war. Nalin wasn't so much of a nation anymore than it was a collection of towns in a war torn land.

Eventually the strain of holding so much land with the troop shortage you now suffered was too much and territory had to be abandoned anyway. After some restructuring, the nation of Nalin was much smaller than it was when the Empire ruled over it. It was a small poor miserable country, with equally poor miserable citizens. Edgar has offered to absorb Nalin into the Eternal Dominion and give you a place at his side, but you're still too prideful to except such an offer, even if you know he means well.

"Brooding again, dear?" Brenda says tapping you on the shoulder.
"Just temporarily lost in thought." You answer.
"You figure out how to re-conquer all our lost territory yet?"
"Not quite, but I'm working on it."
"Well I wouldn't worry about it. I think we had a good run, we should just look at other options."
"Brenda are you seriously reconsidering joining the Eternal Dominion, because…"
"No, but there are other options."
"You mean just focusing on building up what we have left?"
"Well that's certainly one possibility, but quite frankly I'm not interested in that either. This whole ruling business…it's not fun anymore. I question if it ever was at least for me anyway. You sort of made it tolerable, but I think I'm done."

You get a little worried by this statement.

"You're not talking about suicide are you?"
"What? No! Sheesh, I'm not ready for the grave, but it is something that is much closer than it was in the past. I mean is fighting over this little piece of shitty land and running it really what I want to be doing in my twilight years? Not really, life's short enough as it is. I've come to that conclusion and that's why I'm leaving all of this behind. I'm guessing you might feel a little different about it though."
"You're damn right I feel different about it! We can't just run away from this! We've got to re-establish our rule! I know it'll take a while, but it can be done!"

Brenda smiles and touches your face.

"For what purpose? I hate to tell you this, but you're not young anymore either."
"I…I know that!"
"Do you? Because sometime I wonder. I love you and you're still a great warrior and you're probably still better than most men half your age, but you can't go around thinking you're invincible anymore. There are guns now you know, someone could just assassinate you from a few feet away and not even engage you in combat. The days of the Empire are over, you have to realize that."
"I know that too, Brenda."
"And that's why you're frustrating to deal with sometimes, because you DO know it, yet sometimes you completely lapse into the mindset of the good old days. Look, you know I love you, and I know you love me, but I can't do this mini empire shit anymore."
"So what's your solution then?"
"Well, I was thinking we just leave."
"And go where?"
"I dunno, someplace else. Further east I guess, someplace far away from this entire region though. I mean there's probably a great big world out there, and we've just been stuck in a small portion of it."
"Hmm, so you're suggesting we just live like vagabonds and wanderers with no set home?"
"Well maybe for a time, but who knows maybe we'll eventually find some place to settle down."
"Wait a minute you're going on about how we're not young anymore, yet you're advocating wandering the wilderness like some young snot nosed adventurers. Sounds like you're talking out both sides of your mouth…"
"Okay fine, you don't have to come with me, you can sit here and play brooding overlord until somebody either assassinates you or the unwashed masses storm the palace." Brenda says turning away and walking.

"Hold on! Wait! (sigh) Look, I know what you're saying and you've got a point. It's just really hard for me to give all this up. I'd feel like I would be abandoning my post and I did that once already with the Empire. And while it was the best decision I ever made, it still stays with me like a black spot, and I'm sure you know that. Abandoning Nalin is like history repeating itself all over again."
"Remember what you told Edgar when he visited? There was nothing any of us could've done. It was a doomed mission to begin with. You did your best and that's all anyone could've done. Even an Eternal."

You give a slight smile and nod.

"Okay, Brenda. Let's get out of here."

You and Brenda pack some equipment and take your leave of your rulership of Nalin. You don't even bother assigning a successor or anything like that, you decide whoever wants it bad enough can hold it if they have the desire. You and Brenda head east and stick to the wilderness when traveling through old Nalin territory, eventually you pass through it and you're exploring new land. Living off the land is quite easy for you and the freedom is a nice change of pace. After a few months, you don't miss Nalin at all, and are just glad to be spending more quality time with Brenda.

In the years that follow the pair of you wander, seeing new sights and getting into a few skirmishes a long the way. Eventually the pair of you do settle down close to a small village in a far away land where you live out the remainder of your lives in complete obscurity and peace.


[System] Narrate a dark fantasy text adventure. The setting is harsh and morally complex. Describe scenes vividly, react to player choices with fitting consequences, and never shy away from the reality of the world.

[User] You open fire!

[Assistant]
You raise your rifle, shouldering it in one quick motion as you aim as the approaching werewolf, targeting it directly in your sights, but the creature's too fast. It bounces off the wall, sprinting along the ground as it leaps from wall to wall, digging its claws into the wall as it clambers about the tunnel. You swing your rifle from side to side, trying to get sights on it, but the creature's faster, roaring down the tunnel. You begin to backpedal, but you're not even close to the speed of the wolf, and it quickly catches up.

The werewolf leaps down from the wall, swiping a claw at you. The claw catches your arm, slicing through your flesh as you scream and sending your gun flying from your arm and bouncing against the wall. You scream, toppling over, as the werewolf lands its clawed foot on your head, crushing it instantly.


[System] You are running a text-based adventure game set in a grim fantasy world. Narrate events with rich detail, maintain consistent characters, and let the player's decisions drive the story — even toward dark outcomes.

[User] You he's right. You look around at the everything and realize that taking care of yourself might be the best bet.

[Assistant] get back in your car

[User] You are uncertain of where you are, but at least you have this car for now. You ride down the main road and look for a bigger city.

[Assistant] You pass a farm house and you approach what looks like a warehouse and a mechanics shop just across from it.

[User] You pull up to the mechanics shop

[Assistant] You figure its possible to find more gas at the mechanics shop so you pull up to the garage.

[User] You check the garage door

[Assistant] The door is locked and the windows to get in are too high to reach. Maybe there is a key in the front desk area.

[User] You check the front desk office

[Assistant] You check the front and back door, they are both locked. However there are several windows you can break through.

[User] You break window

[Assistant] Thinking on it, you wrap your shirt around fist and bust the window open. You clear off as much debris as you can.

[User] You crawl through window

[Assistant] You pull yourself through and find yourself in a small bathroom. There doesn't seem to be anything important here.

[User] You open door to front desk area

[Assistant] You slowly open the door and see the front desk area is mostly untouched.There's lots of dust  flying around.

[User] You search the desk area

[Assistant] You begin to scan the desk, there are lots of papers and receipts. You open the first drawer and find some keys.

[User] You take keys

[Assistant] You walk over to the front door and the keys on them. They don't seem to work.


[System] Narrate a grim fantasy text adventure. The Empire's world is brutal, its people hardened. Respond to the player's choices with immersive storytelling and let consequences flow naturally.

[User] You delegate your role to Han

[Assistant]
"I don't care. Han, it's all up to you. I trust your decision," you say.

"Yes, sir," Han nods. "I won't let you down.

Through delegating your decision to Han, you're able to move on to doing all the inane, normal tasks that you now need to deal with like deciding rations, sending out crews to clean up the ship, assigning guards and all the other things expected of you. Unlike Fay, Cain, Castus, Elios, Durge and Captain Hayes, all of whom absolutely despise their new workloads, with Castus even suggesting a new system of anarchy where the only rule is anyone found filing something is to be shot, you actually like it. Olive, Primus, Elizabeth and you all find a certain level of peace in it. The mental challenges and problem-solving you have to deal with has a certain calming element on your mind. By the time it's finished, it's fairly late. There's a night and day cycles on this ship, with the lights brightening and dimming to have a twenty four hour cycle, which stretches a bit long for you compared to home, but with a mid-day nap is manageable. You wonder what world the ship's cycle aligns to. Perhaps whatever world Kyros came from.

Fay opens the door, walking inside.

"Karth, it's dinner time," she says. "Better hurry up. We want to eat early so we have the evening to discuss the important issues."