[System] Narrate an interactive dark fantasy adventure. The world is brutal and unforgiving. Respond to the player's actions with vivid, immersive descriptions and let their choices carry real weight.

[User] You just head to Klyton

[Assistant]
After all you've been through, maybe some time away from Holgard is exactly what you need right now. Plus you're not exactly anxious to go pissing off the Ebony Claw Syndicate again after they basically left you off with a warning.

So you write a letter back to the Klyton magic university and explain that you'll be heading that way as soon as possible. You also write a letter to your agent there saying that you want her to meet you and make arrangements for when you arrive next week.

You then pack a few things and give notice to the baroness that you're leaving for Klyton making something up about rumors that her brother Peter is potentially working with the Klyton government in order to form his next invasion.

Being the paranoid sort she is, she's perfectly fine with you going there personally to check things out. Of course as you predicted, you still have to stick around a bit to take care of some of your current business.

After a few days of taking care of your mundane tasks you catch the next carriage out of Klyton and you're soon on your way.

The trip to Klyton is uneventful, but it gives you plenty of time to think and even appreciate the countryside somewhat. You haven't left the city in so long, you almost forgot what wilderness looked like.

A lot of the wooded area that used to surround Holgard is gone now thanks to years of Ludmilla expanding the roads and building the fleet to protect the city. Just as well as Warts runs his trading post now as he won't get many offers as a guide anymore.

By nightfall, the woods disappear completely and become more open field. It's at this point you drift in and out of sleep a bit. You see a few random homes and eventually you see the city. Much like Holgard, great walls surround it and the tops of tall structures can be seen looming above, though such structures already look fancier than any in Holgard.

When you're within the gates it's dawn and you can see that the city is a lot cleaner and organized looking than Holgard. Granted since you've risen in status, Holgard has gotten a bit better about this, but this is definitely a city that has never undergone the same struggles Holgard ever has.

Also unlike Holgard there are a lot more carriages not only going in and out of the city, but also within it. Public transportation was never a high priority in Holgard for various reasons, you're wondering though if it should start.

Your parents differed on speaking about their old home to you and your sister. Your mother sometimes would talk about fond memories in Klyton, but your father not so much. As far as he was concerned the best thing about the city was meeting your mother.

Makes you wonder though how things might have been different if you'd run to Klyton instead of Holgard. In any case, you're not here to sight see; you're here in the hopes that your condition can get cured or dispelled or whatever they have to do.

You exit the carriage and your agent is soon there to greet you.

"Hello sir. Your trip was without trouble I trust?" she asks.
"It was." You answer.
"Good to hear. I have you booked at the Galloping Mare Inn. It's one of the better places in this city."
"That's fine. Just as long as it isn't infested with vermin. I'd rather get a bit of rest without potentially getting bitten. (Yawn) So how far is it…apologies what's your name again?"
"I'm Claire, and it's not far sir, we can take a carriage to there quicker. It's also fairly close to the university so when you're rested I can take you over there."

You nod and soon the pair of you are in another carriage and heading over to your inn. You arrive at the Galloping Mare where Claire leads you to your room and you immediately head over to the bed and get some rest. You figure you won't sleep too long since you already slept a little on the ride to Klyton.

You wake up in a few hours and fortunately its still light outside. Probably afternoon by now though. After preparing yourself, you leave your room and find Claire downstairs having a drink with some merchant type. When she sees you approach she excuses herself and immediately goes to see you.

"You're awake sir, are you ready to go?" Claire asks.
"Yes, who was that?" you ask.
"Oh just one of my contacts for information sir. I can give you a full report of what's been going on here after you've completed your business with the wizards if you like."
"Sure, might as well. Okay let's go."

Doesn't take long for you to get there and soon you're at your dad's old place of higher learning. You never thought you'd ever be here.

Claire then takes you to the magic school area of the campus and that's where you part ways with her. She tells you she'll be back at the inn.

You step inside one of the magic university buildings and expect to be stopped or "greeted" much like how you were in Holgard by Heather's underlings. Instead you encounter nobody and walk down several empty corridors almost wondering if the place has been abandoned.

Eventually you see some old guy in a robe and figure he must be someone of importance. You call out and he slowly turns to you and making motions with his hands.

"Hold on! Hold on! I'm not here to do anything sinister! I'm the director of Holgard security and I'm here about a curse. I have one on me. I sent two letters to this place and my agent gave them both to your people. I was told you agreed to meet me and could help."
"Hm, must have been High Mage Thomas. He tends to like to speak for the rest of us whether we want him too or not. The man for some reason believes magic should mainly be used for altruistic reasons. The man might as well be a Joachimite Priest if he's going to believe such nonsense." The grumpy wizard says, but puts down his hands.
"Isn't this a school? Where is everyone?"
"It is a school, but I'm not sure what you were expecting. Magic isn't exactly a common force in the world that it used to be so you're not going to find with place overflowing with people. If it were, things would be severely different in this city. Not to mention the government isn't exactly the most keen on supporting it. If it wasn't for one of our own on the Klyton Council, I dare say this place would have been shutdown entirely."
"That's rather short sighted, wizards can be useful allies in case of an attack."
"Hm, well glad to see you have some sense at least from a pragmatic standpoint, which is more than can be said for those fools on the Klyton Council. Though there's currently a man running for a spot on there. He seems to be more in favor of relaxing the magic restrictions in this city. I might actually vote for him. Anyway you said had a curse or some such bother?"
"Yes."
"Well, I guess since you're here, might as well take a look at you. Indeed I'm currently the only one here to do so. Come with me."

The old wizard motions you to follow him and mentions that his name is Ahmed. When you ask where are all the other wizards, he says that most of the staff are at some conference and as for any students, the few that they do have are currently out performing their field assignments for classes so they wouldn't really be lingering around here.

"I'm sure there are a couple of other staff actually around, but probably locked up in their labs either performing experiments or reading. That's how it usually is for us nowadays though. Seems like we're all just studying magic rather than actually using it for any real purpose."
"But you said you send the students on field assignments."
"And depending on the wizard, even that could be fairly easy. Personally I send them to at least bring down a beast of some sort, but many staff member have gotten so complacent they usually just tell them to go hunt down various plants. Honestly it'll probably be the most excitement they'll ever get if they stay in Klyton. And if they do stay, they'll probably become staff and they'll send their students on some piss easy task, because hey that's what they had to do so why break the cycle? Feh, it's really fucking pathetic of what this institution has become."

Ahmed sounds really bitter. Makes you wonder why he's still here

Soon you enter a small lab and he motions you to sit in a chair and asks you to tell him exactly about your condition and how it's affecting you and how you acquired it.

You go into your story about Tanya and most of what that entails. While you're speaking Ahmed occasionally holds up a glowing magic object to you and mumbles a few incantations. He just ignores you whenever you ask what he's doing and finally he speaks.

"You don't have a curse on you." Ahmed says.
"What?" you say.
"I detect no curses. Infernal or otherwise."
"Are you sure?"
"I'd take that as an insult if I actually thought you knew what you were questioning. However, yes I am quite sure."
Well maybe it's not a curse, maybe it's a magic disease like demon crotch rot or something."
"Trust me, if THAT was your problem, you wouldn't even be here right now."
"But…but all those girls. They all died."
"Yeah, well shit happens. Look, I can't explain that since I wasn't there. All I can tell you is you don't have any curses on you. As for the girls, well it sounds like you weren't exactly going with the most morally upstanding ones and violent death is usually a common one amongst the lower class and lesser born. I'd chalk it up to bad coincidence."

Well this is a bizarre outcome. You almost can't believe it.

"However, there IS something." Ahmed adds.
"Shit, I knew it." You respond.
"Well calm down it's not actually bad, or at least not actively bad."
"What is it?"
"Your relationship with a succubus is extremely unusual and while she didn't curse you, she DID leave a mark on you. Now most of the time when this happens, the victim usually dies after the succubus finally tires of them and kills them personally or in a much rarer case, the victim falls into a deep depression and commits suicide after an extended period time of separation because the succubus has abandoned them."
"So is that going to happen to me?"
"Well, you've already lived much longer than someone marked by a succubus. Now I imagine in your case it helped immensely that you developed a loving relationship with this Tanya before she fully changed, but I'm sure you still feel the loss correct?"
"It is still there from time to time. Yes."
"Mm. Well I wouldn't want to assume that you're going to be fine just because you've severely beaten the odds. You're still marked and who knows what that could do if it ever really kicked in. However, we can purge that from you. If we did you probably wouldn't feel as bad and a great weight would be lifted."
"That can be done? Wait, do I have to have sex with some girl in a circle while you perform the ritual to summon Tanya?"
"What?! No! Where did you get that idea? We don't need to summon anything, but it's still going to take a little prep work on my end first. I would like you to come back here in a couple days and see me if possible."

You think about it at first wondering if you should go through with it. Then you think that that's pretty much why you came here in the first place and it would be good to finally rid yourself of all of Tanya's "presence" even if you were fond of her. Plus now this sounds even less risky than it did before.

"Sure. Might as well have a clean slate."
"Good, glad to hear it. Okay, you can leave now, I should start preparing."

You part ways with Ahmed and feeling slightly more upbeat you rush out of the magic school and head back to the inn where you find Claire speaking with a couple people.

"Claire! Where's the nearest brothel in this city?!" you ask.
"Um, a couple blocks south of here sir. The Fancy Tickler" Claire responds.
"Thanks!"

Before she can even respond back, you're gone and already on your way. When you get to the Fancy Tickler, you immediately start throwing coin around so that the ladies can start throwing their pussy your way.

You spend practically the whole night at the place.

Then the next day you do it all over again. It truly is a wonderful thing to be free!

Third day in Klyton and you figure Ahmed should have his shit together by now and you're ready to get this taken care of completely.

You enter the magic school which is still relatively empty and head to Ahmed's lab. When you arrive, you see Ahmed speaking with a very well dress man with a goatee. They both turn towards you.

"I'm here. What's going on and who is this?" you ask.
"This is Mr. Reynolds. I believe I mentioned him the last time we spoke. He's running for a spot on the Klyton Council." Ahmed says.
"Oh."

Mr. Reynolds begins to move closer towards you, studying you even.

"You…you look very familiar. Almost like someone I once did business with…tell me someone in your family ever own an inn here?" Mr. Reynolds asks.
"Um…yeah my grandparents, though my dad also worked there." You say.
"Hah! Yes! That's where you looked familiar. I loaned your grandfather money which your father ended up paying off. Well, this is a nice coincidence, or perhaps fate?"

Searching your memory, you remember in one of your mother's stories about the inn she mentioned a Mr. Reynolds before. You never knew much detail though since you never really paid much attention.

Mr. Reynolds flashes a smile at you, which really puts you at unease. In fact you're starting to smell something not unlike brimstone. And that smell can only mean one thing.

"Fuck! Infernal!" you shout and before you can even get your pistol out, Ahmed's already cast a spell that's frozen you in place.

Mr. Reynolds sniffs the air around you a bit and then speaks.

"Yes, this one certain does have a tether to the infernal realm and I can certain use such a thing for the upcoming election, though hardly need the entire body, just the heart will do."

You look on helplessly as Mr. Reynolds slowly puts his hand into your chest and pulls out your still beating heart. He then thanks Ahmed for this and says he will definitely honor his agreement to push magic as a greater force in this city.

As for you, your body slumps lifelessly to the floor and will play no more role in world events whatever those may be.


[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 destroy the phone

[Assistant]
Refusing to make any deals with the enemies you hunt, you drop the phone onto the group, watching it bounce along the hard concrete as it breaks, plastic splintering. You raise your shotgun, firing at it as it explodes in a shower of lead, magnesium and plastic. You step back, shaking your head. No use leaving any potential evidence for the fire department investigating this place.

Your job done, you quickly set apart eradicating the evidence this place ever existed. 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. 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.

You don't feel like watching it, 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.

You head back to your truck, 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. How have your two hunts been?" he asks.

"Successfully," you say simply.

The next man is Father Féval, a tall, gaunt figure with spectacles dressed in black. His lips turn upwards in the barest facsimile of a smile as he looks at you. You know he's only trying to be polite, his professional, cold nature means he rarely takes joy, and lives of a live of abstinence and religious duty. You retreat to the car, calling into the Lodge. They report back that they've a spare Hunter to send out, one who is only acting on stand-by. Father Paul Féval. You know the man well, and have worked with him before. The man's a representative from the Vatican, a priest even, and as adamant in following the laws of the Bible as you are in never leaving the Lodge without a spare, but the man's a professional and an experienced Hunter. The man's permanent cold, professional demeanor means you'd be hesitant to call him a "friend", but you feel it'd be disrespectful to like anything.

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."


[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 sit here and drink

[Assistant]
"…sit here and drink," you say.

"Doesn't seem like much of a plan," Victoria replies.

"The rum helps with brainstorming. A few more of these, and I'll come up with something. Always do," you say with a grin.

"Far be it from me to question the captain," she replies raising two fingers toward the bartender.

Three more later...

"Ha-ha-ha and that's when I hid under the horse carriage and tried to find where I left my clothes! Luckily, I still had my hat to decently cover one side of me!" you finish telling the story to Victoria.

"Ha, Captain! Her father, the magistrate, would have hung you."

"I still have my life...and my hat!" you say plopping the hat onto Victoria's head. She instantly takes it off disgusted by its involvement in your story.

Suddenly, a man sits down next to you and says, "Buy you a drink, Captain?" The antique arquebus upon his back immediately catches your eye.

"You're free to do as you please," you answer. "Might want to buy yourself a modern weapon while you're at it," you add on.

"I assure you, no musket any of these street peddlers sell can compare to ol' Shelly," the man replies tapping the rifle affectionately.

"Fair enough. Thanks for the drink. What's your name, friend?" you ask.

"Dampier," Victoria butts in. "He's one of Rogers' men."

The man, Dampier, nods, "That's right. I've actually been looking for you. My employer, Woodes Rogers, has been looking for a captain of your caliber. He graciously offers an invitation to meet at his estate tonight to discuss business."

You look to Victoria and silently agree there's no choice but to see him out. At least that's what your intoxicated senses tell you.

"Tell Rogers I'll be there," you answer.

"He'll be expecting you. And please try to sober up before then," Dampier replies.

"Excellent idea," you say. "Bartender, two beers please."


[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 tribal Necklaces (Tribal Orks)

[Assistant] "The tribal necklaces? Boy, show some respect! Those are the Chieftain's necklaces, that show who's the boss of this tribe! Us Orcs have always been a hot-headed folk. Lots of fighting, drinking, eating, fucking and some more fighting when you're finished. We stick to the tribes, each led by the great Chieftain. It's a good life, boy."


[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]
You all send a Native to Thompson telling him all is forgiven and he can return and a suspicious Thompson dutifully returns to Tahiti. About a week after his return when Thompson is elsewhere Churchill sneaks into his hut, takes his weapons and hides them in his own hut. Thompson is absolutely furious when he discovers the theft and unfortunately a Native man with a grudge against Churchill tells Thompson who stole his weapons. Thompson recovers his musket, walks up behind Churchill one day and shoots him dead.

Thompson again flees into the jungle interior and again you all meet to decide what to do. The Tahitians are furious over the death of their friend and intend to tell Thompson all is forgiven before jumping on him and beating him to death with rocks. It is a cold-blooded plan.

[User] You stay out of the whole affair

[Assistant]
You stay in the village while a large band of Tahitians leave and return later with Thompson's bloodied and battered body. After the killings of Churchill and Thompson things settle down and the remaining fifteen of you live peaceful lives on this island paradise for one more year. The calm is broken again one spring morning by the terrifying sight of a large Royal Navy vessel sailing steadily towards the island. It anchors offshore and several boatloads of heavily-armed sailors are soon rowing towards shore.

Some of your companions, notably the Bligh Loyalists who were detained against their will, are in favour of surrendering at once while others propose hiding out in the island interior and on other nearby islands in the hope of eluding capture. You know if captured all of you will be taken back to England and tried for piracy: if found guilty you know you will dance on the end of a rope.

[User] You surrender to the sailors

[Assistant]
You and three other men promptly surrender yourselves to the first sailors who reach the shore, clapped in irons you are swiftly brought back to the ship where, to your surprise, former Bounty shipmate Midshipman Thomas Hayward is waiting to identify you. You are imprisoned in a makeshift prison on the ship's quarterdeck and over the next month all of your remaining companions are captured.

You learn that after the Mutiny Bligh sailed his overcrowded boat to safety and returned to England with eleven surviving companions out of the eighteen who were in the boat with him. He reported the Mutiny to the Admiralty who dispatched this ship, the HMS Pandora, to Tahiti to arrest you all. You and your fourteen companions are questioned on the whereabouts of the other nine Mutineers and the Bounty but you can only tell them that you last saw them sail away in the autumn of 1789.

The Pandora leaves Tahiti that May and spends the next three months scouring the Pacific for your remaining companions but finds no trace of them. One day the Pandora suddenly runs aground off the Great Barrier Reef. Despite desperate efforts that go on for twenty hours the damage is too severe to be repaired and the ship starts to sink increasingly fast. Finally, in desperation the order if given to abandon ship.

For a few moments it seems that you and your fellow prisoners will all be left shackled to the quarterdeck to drown but as water washes over the main deck a sailor remembers you all and runs up to unlock your leg irons. He gives the keys to you and orders you to unlock the rest. You have managed to free ten of your fourteen companions when the Quarterdeck vanishes beneath your feet into cold clear seawater. Your remaining trapped companions shout for help.

[User] You work underwater to free the remaining men

[Assistant] Waist-deep in water you wade across the deck and taking a deep breath you plunge underwater to try and untie more leg irons. In the strange underwater world you can barely see and are unaware when the Pandora's mainmast gives way, breaks and falls on you, pinning you to the deck beneath its vast weight. You desperately try to free yourself but there is nothing you can do: the last bubbles escape your lips and you share the watery grave of the four comrades you died trying to save.


[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 send a fireball hurtling towards your enemy

[Assistant] You fire a massive, burning fireball directly at the guardsmen. Unfortunately, you over-estimated the distance between the two of you. The guardsman is engulfed in a fiery explosion, but unfortunately you are as well, your skin turning to ash and your bones quickly melting, your soul expiring shortly after.


[System] Narrate an interactive dark fantasy adventure. The world is brutal and unforgiving. Respond to the player's actions with vivid, immersive descriptions and let their choices carry real weight.

[User] You just kill them all and be done with it

[Assistant]
As much as the idea of ruling over this miserable lot like a king appeals to you on some level, the fact is you don't really want to be bothered micromanaging. You imagine it's why Isabella doesn't bother directly controlling Dert. It's much simpler for her to just let them live their own lives and only intervene when absolutely necessary.

Would have been nice to have killed the bandits before they fucked up the village, since then the peasants wouldn't have known about you. Now that they do, you can't very well just let them live. One of them would surely blab at one of the other villages and the whole point of this, was to lay low in the first place.

"Rise." You tell the man groveling before you.

He does so slowly before you.

"Your terms…" you start to say.
"Yes?" he asks with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

You grab him by the throat and break his neck with ease. The light goes out of his eyes and he slumps to the ground.

"Are not acceptable." You add.

The rest of the peasants are paralyzed with fear or crying. Most of the crying comes from the children though. This gives you an idea.

"Listen up sheep! Do not attempt to escape, I guarantee you will not make it. I'm fast and strong enough to kill and catch everyone here! Your lives are forfeit this night. If I had not come here, the bandits would have finished you off. You have nobody to blame but yourselves for being so weak. However, I have a counter proposal to make this necessary deed at least somewhat less horrific."

You stare at the peasants for a bit, making sure you've got their full attention, though they really aren't going anywhere at this point. Actually you aren't sure if they ALL decided to run and scatter if you actually would be able to catch and kill all of them, but so far they're so scared they believe anything you say.

"Provide no resistance, and I will make your deaths quick. Also, some of you have children. I will spare the children and take them away from here so they won't be defenseless against the bandits or the surrounding wilderness. This is the best offer you're going to get."
"How do we know you're telling the truth and that you'll not harm the children?" one asks.
"You don't. But think of it this way, resist me and I'll make sure the children die FIRST before your eyes. Comply and at worst you can die wondering if I kept my word."

That certainly got most of their attention. In typical fashion, most of the parents are more than willing to sacrifice themselves for their children. Even some of the ones who don't have any are compliant.

Amusingly some beg if you can turn them into a vampire instead. You respond that none of them are worthy of "the gift." You of course aren't going to tell the truth that you can't make any of them into vampires if you wanted to anyway, since Isabella has explained that you have to be much older than you currently are before you could even attempt it. You might be able to make them into ghouls at best, but from what Isabella has told you about ghouls, you'd rather not have such disgusting creatures fawning all over you all the time either.

Parents attempt to calm their children, but it's a lost cause, most of them are too upset. You push the parents aside and have them group the children together. You speak in a calming voice to them all. It's hard to focus on all of them like this, but fortunately children seem to be more susceptible to vampiric suggestion.

Soon, the children are in a dazed like condition.

"See? Now they won't even experience the horror of watching me kill you all. Shall we begin?"

Without another word, you unleash terrible violence upon the peasants. Despite their promise to comply, most of them try to run anyway. Human instinct you suppose. Though it doesn't matter much since they stupidly don't scatter very far you easily catch the lot that do run anyway.

Others do thankfully comply. Some of these are the parents who are tearfully spending their last moments with their children (even if they are currently hypnotized).

After you finish off the last mewling mother and drink her dry, you turn your attention to the children who are thankfully still under your suggestion.

"Okay then, let's go children, we've got a lot of ground to cover and unfortunately you lot don't run as fast as me…hmm. Maybe that cart will do…"

You load all the children onto an undamaged cart and push it as fast as you can. It's slower than if you were by yourself, but then its also faster than if they all had to follow you on foot.

Difficulty comes when you reach the forest since you have to start maneuvering between trees, eventually you have to stop, but it's not too bad since you're almost at your destination anyway.

"Come on kids, we're running from here."

It's a tedious task of herding these children and having to slow down for them, but eventually you reach your destination. Just in time too since it's almost dawn. You're just glad you haven't attracted any unwanted attention during this whole thing.

You make your way down the steps and probably due to all the footsteps, Isabella comes to meet you. She looks like she was prepared for a fight too.

"What the hell?! With all the footsteps I heard, I thought it was some group of hunters or something!" Isabella remarks.
"Well this should make you a bit happier." You answer and present the children behind you.
"What's all this then? Children? Where did you get them from? Not Dert I hope."
"No, not from Dert, not from Holgard either. They're from a place that actually no longer exists."
"Did you finally lose control and wipe out an entire village? So much for laying low."
"No I only wiped out half of one. Bandits already fucked up the place before I even got there. Killed them and the remaining villagers. The only witnesses are these children, which I thoughtfully brought home to you."
"Really? Just for me huh?"
"Well I know you really like child blood and it isn't like I'm going to have the patience to stretch the little bastards out like you do, so they're all yours."

Isabella is very happy with you right now, she embraces you lovingly and gives you a playful bite which you return.

"Mmm, I knew I picked you for a reason…"
"Just one request though. Could you keep the kids hypnotized? I mean I know you tend to do that with your food anyway, but uh, I sort of promised that no harm would come to them."
"What? What deal is this? I thought you said you didn't leave anyone alive."
"I didn't, and I mean officially I'm NOT harming the kids since I'm giving them to you, but… I dunno…I'd feel a little less like a liar if the kids don't feel any pain while you drink their blood."

Isabella smiles a bit at your odd sense of "morality."

"Aww, that is so adorable. You have a twisted code of honor. Very well, but you didn't really need to worry about it anyway, last thing I need to hear are children caterwauling throughout my crypt. I know some vampires love to hear their lunch beg and scream and claim it makes the blood taste better. Not me. I prefer my food to just be silent so I can eat in peace. In any case, let me get these lovelies locked up and I'll be meeting you in the bedroom. I hope you aren't too tired from your earlier actions, because I suggest you prepare yourself."

Whether you were tired or not, wouldn't make any difference to you anyway.

You make your way to the bedroom thinking that while you might not be a king over some groveling peasants, you'll certainly be king in here and that's a whole lot more fun.

When Isabella comes to the bedroom, she stands in the doorway just staring at you for a moment. At first you think she's just taking in all your manliness, but then she beckons you off the bed.

"You come with me, I got something else in mind. Something special…but don't worry we'll still get to that."

You do so and soon realize that she's taking you to her garden. She's NEVER done that.

When you enter, the garden is quite sizeable and bathed in a glowing blue light. You always knew there was a light source in there due to the glow you could see whenever Isabella exited it, but now you know it comes from some sort of luminescent fungus that is all over the walls and ceiling.

"It's not sunlight, but it works well enough. Come walk with me." Isabella says and takes your hand to enter her garden.

The garden is unsurprisingly very well cared for. There are all sorts of flowers, though you've never been an expert on such matters, but you're fairly certain there are types of plants here that don't normally grow in this environment. You weren't aware there was a small reservoir of water here either, almost like a pond, but then you imagine that would make having a garden here a lot easier with a water source.

Isabella doesn't say anything and just takes you through the garden. She begins pointing to the various plants and giving small histories of them. She also starts to tell you about her own memories of when she first saw these various plants and flowers.

It becomes a very intimate history of her life and who she is. It's actually all very enlightening mainly because even after all these years you STILL didn't know much about her past.

All these years you believed her to be some sort of royalty. Perhaps even a princess of some sort of long lost Empire. But no, her beginnings are actually very humble, possibly even more humble than your own.

She was a simple peasant girl that worked in a flower shop. Then one night she caught the eye of a vampire who was of minor royalty (Though trying very hard to keep it secret from the general public). He revealed his true nature immediately to her, but insisted that he had no intention on hurting her.

Isabella explains that she at first complied with him out of fear, but eventually she didn't mind spending time with him. She says she doesn't know if it was because he was working his dark charms on her, or that she was young and foolish, but she said whatever the reason, she did come to love him.

She says she never really knew why he chose her. She suspects her looks helped initially, but it wasn't like she was special in that regard. He could have easily had any upper class lady, but then perhaps he knew that marrying one of them would have drawn more attention to himself while marrying a lower class girl might just be grateful for the uplifted standing and if he had to silence her, well who would care?

Still, marrying someone of such lowly birth raised eyebrows anyway. Didn't take long before everything started to fall apart and those that would seek to harm him started focusing on various eccentricities, oddities and other things that caused people to start to wonder.

For a time, Isabella mostly stayed on his castle grounds spending much of her time in the gardens. She said it was the only place that put her at ease since she knew even with as much power as her husband had, there would be no way he could fight all the forces gathering against him.

Of course he wouldn't leave either. He would fight and die. Isabella was prepared to die with him, but he realized that none of this would be her concern if he hadn't dragged her into this life in the first place.

So he did the only thing he could think of to save her, he gave her the gift of immortality and told her to live her life as she saw fit. She didn't want to leave at first, but he insisted and perhaps to some degree Isabella did love her own life more than him.

Isabella left in the middle of the night, just before the siege of his castle started. A few months later she had heard that he had died and they had a priest of Joachim dowse his burnt corpse in holy water after removing his head.

Isabella goes on about a few other bits of her life, but her origins are what are most fascinating. Makes you wonder why now all of a sudden she's decided to tell you.

"Because I'm finally comfortable with you. Sure, you mess up every now and then, but ultimately you listen and do something special for me. I know living with me hasn't been easy because you probably were always wondering where exactly you stood with me. Well tonight I revealed my soul to you…so to speak. You must understand that this was very difficult for me. I've tried this before, and it's never ended well." Isabella says.
"Well, I guess you have probably had a very eventful past." You reply.
"You only know a minor bit of it, but enough about the past, I want to embrace the future. Embrace me here in the garden, in the soil and amongst the plants. Maybe we're dead, but I want to make love with life surrounding us."

Rather poetic. You can't say all this doesn't emotionally move you somewhat.

You and Isabella proceed to be intimate in the garden and it's definitely the most positive experience you've ever had.

You might have thought in the past that you were in love before, but now you truly know it.

[User] You time passes..

[Assistant]
Year 34…

The more Holgard changes the more it stays the same.

It's a good thing everyone has such short memories here. Then again, hard for anyone to worry about vampires when nobody actually found you. Most of the real hunters have moved on. There's still the Joachimites, but they're more likely to go burn a poor old woman as a witch before they actually go hunting for a vampire. Lot easier for one thing.

Nowadays Holgard is back to being under the plain old paranoia it normally suffers from. You've heard rumors of that the Delantium Kingdom is going to try to reclaim this city, but that's about the only major thing and it's not likely true anyway.

Still, laying low in the backwoods and only coming here occasionally was a good idea. Of course you tend to spend more time with Isabella now since the two of you are a proper couple now. You find stories about her old life fascinating (Though you tend to want her to gloss over any bits about ex-lovers) though you know who would really find them interesting, your sister. You bet she could make an entire opera or something out of Isabella's life. Probably a couple of them.

You've sort of been thinking about your family lately and how they might all be doing. You assume that they're all still alive of course. You sort of miss them all as strange as that may seem given what you've done and what you are now. Your last shred of humanity you suppose.

Regardless, you'd never be able to visit them even if you weren't wanted for murder in your hometown. Or rather, you could go back because nobody could stop you or you could be stealthy about it, but you don't think you should. It's a closed chapter in your old life and going back in person would just cause more problems.

Still, you wonder if you shouldn't get a message to your mother. You're sure she'd at least like to know if you were doing okay. You'd send one to your sister, but who knows where she is.

Maybe you could write a letter and send it off via one of those courier services. You suppose you better put a quill, ink and parchment on the list of shit you need to get along with the items Isabella sent you to get at the flower nursery here.

Funny that after everything that's occurred in your "life" you still have to do a little roguery the occasional store every once in awhile. You guess the more you change the more you stay the same as well.

You of course find it much simpler now. It also no longer gives you the rush that it once did, but then that's no surprise, you've come a long way since those simple rogue days.

You head to the nursery and easily break in like you've done many times before. You imagine the old couple that run this place wonder where they've misplaced their various seeds, supplies and such on many occasions.

After grabbing the things Isabella sent you to get, you start rummaging through the small office there to find potential writing supplies, then you suddenly sense something living nearby and it's not the plants.

At first you wonder if it's one of the old couple that runs this place because if it is, you'll just stealthily sneak out as you've done before. (No point in killing a business owner of where you do most of your "shopping")

However, you can see that this figure is not carrying a lantern of any sort and is actively trying to stay hidden in the darkness. The form is definitely female and they haven't noticed that YOU'VE noticed them yet.

This person is obviously following you and while it would be a simple matter of just killing her, you'd like to know why first.

You maneuver around behind furniture and aisles a bit and then just when you get behind this person, they turn around and attempt to dodge you. Quick, but not quick enough to avoid your grasp. You easily disarm them and finally get a good look.

The face is older, but you'd still be able to recognize it anywhere. You're still taken aback though.

"Lisa?" you ask.
"Long time no see." Lisa says unruffled.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"I might ask you the same. Even when you weren't a vampire you weren't exactly stealing flowers."
"Long story, but I've questions of my own. Like why you were following me. However, I'd rather continue this discussion elsewhere."
"Sure, but are you going to let me go first? Your grip is like fucking iron and it's obvious that if I wished you any harm, I'm far outclassed."

You remember a similar situation like this with another "ex" however that was a little different. You didn't really have a proper relationship with Heather like you did with Lisa and also that was when you were a bit of a "wilder" vampire. You've started having a little more restraint since those earlier years.

You release Lisa who heads outside and you follow her out before relocking the door.

"You re-secure the places you break into now?" Lisa asks.
"Not usually, but this place is a bit different. Alright, let's get in that alley and you can tell me everything." You say and start motioning Lisa to follow.
"An alley? I thought we'd go to a tavern at least if we're going to catch up."
"Yeah, I don't really mingle with the crowds unless I have to anymore. Besides, I actually feel safer in an alley than a tavern given how many eyes are in those places."
"Understandable, I guess it makes sense for you to lay low given that there's a price on your head."
"What?!"
"Yeah, but I figured you knew that already. I mean it's not on your head personally; it's just on the Vampire of Holgard. I was very surprised when I found out that might be you."
"Wait, what?! I thought all that shit had been forgotten about and you're a hunter?!"
"No, of course not. I'm an Ebony Claw assassin. Maybe the general public forgets shit when it dies down, but the ECS NEVER forgets."
"But I haven't even been targeting ECS members."
"Yeah, I've been getting that impression, but so far you're the only vampire I've been able to track in this city."

This is nuts. Lisa is an Ebony Claw assassin. You always wondered if she joined while you were away, but she took a very different path than you thought. You guess she learned how to take care of herself all too well. Strange to think that she was once just a simple peasant girl that longed to see the world. But then Isabella was once a simple peasant girl at one time too.

And the fact you're finding out you have a contract on your head is even more of a shocker. Though you suppose that you may have very well killed some of their members during the religious faction war, but you haven't been killing any of them recently, at least not that you know of.

Is someone setting you up?

"Wait, how long have you followed me and how the hell did I not know it before?" you ask.
"Heh, well I AM a very skilled assassin and I kept my distance for a long time. In fact it wasn't until I figured out it was you that I decided to get close like I did. Had you been any other vampire, I would have been executing you from afar. No way I'd really want to tangle with a real one up close no matter how good I am. As far as how long I've tracked you, well I've noticed you come here over the course of a few months now. I know you must have a lair somewhere nearby but it's probably not actually in the city. In any case since I'm fairly certain it isn't you, I can only imagine it might be another one. Someone you know?"
"I doubt that, I only know one other and she's a bit…reclusive. Look are you even sure if it's a vampire?"
"Well from all the information I've been given the ECS leadership here seems to believe it to be the case. Hmmm, maybe a new approach is in order. I think you should come with me so we can straighten this all out."
"Wait, you seriously expect me to go walking into an ECS hangout? You just told me I got a contract on my head!"
"You mean to tell me you're worried? Judging by your skills, you'd be able to wipe out everyone there. Honestly, the Holgard branch of ECS is hardly anything for you to worry about, that why they got me from the Delantium Kingdom. I'm just suggesting though that maybe it still might be a good idea to clear this all up directly. I mean after all I'm not the only assassin and as good as I am, I'm nothing compared to a Fel touched shadow blade assassin. Now someone like that might actually give you problems. They're also less likely to bother getting down to the truth and just carry out a hit. Better to clear things like this up, trust me. The ECS is not an organization you want on your ass."

While you're sure Lisa has a point, you really aren't sure about all this.

"Look, I know this is pretty strange for you seeing me like this under these circumstances. I know it's been a long time and we've both moved on in very different life directions, but I still remember the good times we had. So for old times sake, will you trust me on this?"

You look at Lisa and despite the fact that the years have taken their toll on her and cynicism has taken root in her demeanor, that last bit she said reminded you of the young girl you once were very fond of. Once again some things remain the same.

"Very well, since this is you, I'll go, but as soon as I sense I'm going to get attacked, I'm killing everyone there. I mean if I'm already on a contract list, I might as well give them a reason at this point."
"Fair enough, but I don't think you'll have anything to worry about. Mantis is the current ECS leader here. He's a sonofabitch, but he's pretty reasonable."
"Mantis…that name sounds familiar. I think I spoke to him once when I tried to ask the ECS for help with an affliction I had."
"Oh? You tried to cure your vampire condition?"
"Uh, no. This actually was a different condition I had due to Ral on top of being geased. The vampirism ended up curing me of it actually…yeah things got a bit complicated for a while after we parted ways. In any case, I don't remember him being that high up or all that reasonable."
"Well the original old leader, Rook moved on to bigger things and well, the ECS tends to have enthusiastic violent promotions so to speak and eventually Mantis made his way through the ranks. Still with all the extra responsibility he's learned to be a little more patient I suppose."
"Haven't we all…"

You and Lisa make your way to Mantis's hang out which apparently is still the Poisoned Blade Inn. She mentions he prefers to stay at the "hub" of things

Along the way, Lisa asks why you never met her again since she waited a long time for you; you explain Ral's experiment and what happened exactly to you. Lisa listens intently and offers her sympathies.

She says that during that time you were out of action she had to deal with the Holgard civil war. She mentions this was when she joined the ECS. She said after it was all over, the ECS transferred her to the Delantium Kingdom and there is where she learned to be an assassin.

"So…you've been in the Delantium Kingdom all this time huh? Guess that's why I never ran into you." You say.
"You looked for me?" Lisa asks.
"Initially I did, but as I said, I eventually figured you moved on or were dead. Not to mention I didn't think you'd want me anyway by that point."
"Oh…I dunno. I was falling in love with you even when you were forced to work for Ral. I'm certain I might have been able to look past what you are now. It isn't like I'm in any position to judge you morally after all. Well looks like we're getting close to it."

Before you can reply, you sense several figures lurking nearby.

"You've got some balls showing up here!" a voice shouts and before you know it a person literally materializes in front of you and Lisa.

It's enough to catch you a bit off guard, but you react quick enough to attack your assailant, though apparently not enough to land a hit. This person cannot possibly be a normal human. You wonder if this is one of those Fel touched Lisa mentioned.

You then hear a shot of a pistol, followed by a burning sensation in your upper back. You collapse to the ground on one knee in pain and feel like part of you is on fire.

Good thing you aren't human. However, Lisa's the only one behind you, and it's obvious that she just shot you in the back. You aren't sure if it was an accident or if she's just lead you into a trap.

[User] You accident

[Assistant]
Considering that Lisa is supposed to be a well trained assassin that knew what you were before you even met her, seems like if she was going to do any real damage, she would have at least loaded her pistol with silver shot or something similar.

You're going to chalk it up to an accident for now, besides you've already got someone right in front of you trying to kill you.

Your attacker in front of you attempts to stab you in the face while you're still hurt, but you dodge, grab his wrist and make him stab himself in the stomach while breaking his arm at the same time.

Standing up again, you sense another person nearby and sure enough they once again appear right in front of you.

"Get out of the way!" you hear Lisa shout and you hear several more shots fired off. Seems like Lisa has herself one of those fancy repeating pistols.

This time however you avoid getting hit, but dodging to the right while your attacker is hit twice in the chest.

"Shit!" you hear Lisa shout and another Fel assassin materializes in front of her. She's not quick enough and you see her fall to the ground when the assassin shoots her with crossbow.

You're about to run over to help, but another assassin with a shock of white hair appears and throws a lit firebomb in Lisa's direction before running off.

You jump to catch it and throw it to the left, and it ends up going right through a window of the Poisoned Blade Inn.

"Well…so much for diplomacy…" you say and run back to avoid the upcoming blast. Lisa is currently struggling with her attacker, but by the time you get the both of them, the bomb finally goes off.

The impact of the blast knocks you down and the three of you are rolling on the ground on top of one another. At some point in the chaos you feel a blade in your ribs from the person who is on your back. Since this person isn't very heavy and you can feel the tits on your back, you're assuming this person is a woman.

For Lisa's sake, you hope that this is a female EC assassin…

You smash your head as hard as you can backwards into the assassin's face. It's enough for her to lose her grip. You notice that he other figure crawling from underneath you is indeed Lisa, so happily you know she didn't just accidently wound you again.

The female assassin tries blink away or whatever it is they do, but you catch her arm just as she turns herself invisible. Well not invisible to you though. You pull the blade out that she shoved in your rib and shove it into her ear, then you drop her.

While all this is going on, a few EC members have been running out of their now fiery hang out screaming and burning. Lisa is leaning up against a nearby wall looking down at the bolt in her thigh.

"What the hell happened?" she asks.
"Well after you shot me in the back, it all became pretty chaotic." You answer.
"I'm sorry about that…shit…I need to take this…" Lisa says and takes out a vial of something and swallows the contents, and then pulls out the bolt.
"You alright?"
"Yeah, come on, we gotta get that bastard…the Watch is probably coming anyway."
"Wait, what bastard?"
"Mantis, of course. He probably got away through a trapdoor to the sewers, come on there should be a sewer entrance around here. Maybe we can still track him."

Lisa starts limping away as fast as she can, but stumbles.

"Shit…that poisoned bolt is still fucking me up…I'll be alright. I just…"
"No you won't. Here." You say and just pick Lisa up over your shoulder and get out of the immediate area before you have to massacre the Holgard Watch.

After ducking into alley a couple blocks away from the chaos, you finally put Lisa down who is looking slightly better. While you don't think she set you up, given all that's happened you are getting the impression that Lisa has not told you everything.

"Alright Lisa, out courtesy for what we once had, you got ONE chance to explain yourself." You say.
"Or what…(ugh) you gonna drink me dry?" Lisa says wincing at the pain of her wound and unconcerned about your tone.

You pick Lisa up by her shoulders and your more monstrous threatening face becomes visible. She tries her best to not look scared, but you can sense the fear.

"You need to drop the tough girl act, right now. Because I've done a hell of a lot worse than kill an old girlfriend since the last time you saw me." You say.
"Oh yeah? Well maybe you'd be doing me a favor if you did. At least it would be you then."

You can see the desperation now in her eyes and it's enough to calm you down.

Well you guess not all of the "human" has left you.

"Lisa, just tell me what the hell is going on already, because I'm getting the impression that I'm not the one that needs to worry about a contract on my head." You say.

Lisa keeps it together and tells you the story.

The contract is actually on her head, specifically Mantis put it on her a few years ago, or at least set it up. She mentions he's been a thorn in her side shortly after she joined the ECS. At first he would constantly hit on her when she was stationed in Holgard.

Then when she got transferred to the Delantium Kingdom to become a better trained assassin, she thought she was done with him, but eventually he was also in the DK for awhile making upwardly mobile moves of his own. For whatever reason he continued to harass her and trying to make things harder for her.

He eventually returned to Holgard when another member, Rook, was promoted. Mantis took over the ECS in this city and now had direct ties to Fel Temple as well. With all this extra influence and power, he set things in motion to set her up on some job that resulted in the death of another high ranking ECS member.

Since then, she's been on the ECS hit list. She knows it was Mantis though that was behind it all and she fully intends on killing him.

You take all this in and ask one question.

"Okay, so where did I come in on all this?" you ask.
"You didn't. Not initially anyway. You might have missed me, but I actually was in Dert for a brief period of time. I was sort of hiding, pondering my next move, along with making peace with my father since I didn't exactly leave that village on good terms. It's funny; when I got there I actually missed how boring it all was. At least I didn't have a crime syndicate trying to kill me when I lived there. Didn't know there was a vampire living in the graveyard nearby though."
"Wait, you saw me? I'm usually so careful."
"You were careful, but you're also probably used to the people in Dert not wandering near there at night. I was actually there lost in thought about my own situation and that's when I saw someone skulking out one of the tombs. It was actually a little unnerving since while I've experienced some out of the ordinary shit in my life, undead was not one of them. I couldn't quite make out your face at first, but for a very brief moment I saw it in moonlight and the resemblance was unmistakable. I couldn't believe it. I mean I thought you were dead, but not like this!"

Lisa holds on to her side and pauses for a moment before continuing.

"So I followed you since you seemed to have purpose about what you were doing. You're very quick of course so I probably caught up to you in Holgard just as you were getting ready to leave it. From there I got a good look at you and knew there was no mistaking who you were."
"So wait, why didn't you contact me then?"
"Because I saw you bite some hooker and drink her dry, that's why! I sort of figured that it might not be the best idea to confront you. I didn't even follow you back to the Dert cemetery, I just stayed in Holgard since I figured I needed to get on with my revenge. That was a couple months ago."
"Seems like you should have gotten on with it before now."
"Well I still had to do some reconnaissance. Get myself prepared and all that other shit."
"Seems like it would be very dangerous being here in the manticore's den and all."
"Actually it seemed like it was easier. Mantis may have security up the ass, but he tends to keep it all around himself. Sort of makes other parts of the city under less watch by his people."
"Yeah, but still seems like something you'd want to do quick and get the hell out as soon as possible."
"Unfortunately, there was no easy way to do it. If I tried what we just did, I would have gotten cut down easily and Mantis himself is a Fel worshipper or at least he pays enough lip service that he has powers of his own. He's never alone either in the rare moments he leaves his place. I couldn't reliably ask for any help on this, but then I randomly noticed you enter the city again. So I followed you again and every other time you came here since despite how stealthy you are, you tend to follow a routine. Always saw you go into that plant nursery and tonight…well I thought I'd risk getting your help."
"Well okay, but why didn't you just tell me that? Why all the subterfuge?"
"Wasn't sure if it was going to work at all first. Second, I got the impression that maybe you'd be more willing to help if YOU were in trouble rather than me. Third, I've relied on subterfuge so much in life now, that it just comes naturally."
"I suppose I understand, but this really would have been easier had you just told me. I mean I would have helped if you had just asked flat out."
"Truly? Even though you have a special vampire lady in your life?"
"How do you know I have a special vampire lady?"
"You mentioned you only knew one other vampire and that SHE was reclusive. I'm willing to bet she's the one that also made you. I'm sure it's an interesting story."
"It is. She really helped me out and in time it became more."
"Hmm, I'm not looking for a rekindling or anything, but is it possible that you could…"
"Ah…no. I mean trust me, I would if I could since I think it would make shit a whole lot easier for you, but yeah, I can't transform anyone into a vampire. Not old enough yet. Best I can do is ghoul and trust me, you definitely don't want that."
"I see. Well figured I'd ask, shit…I've spent so much time resting, Mantis is probably long gone by now."
"Would he have left the city?"
"No, but he's probably at one of his many safehouses or even the Fel Temple. And even with your help, I realize I'm in no condition to assault any of these places. I'm going to have to heal up and try again. It's going to be difficult staying low now that I've made my presence known. Look, I appreciate the help even though I tricked you into it, but this really isn't your concern. You have your own concerns and our paths split long ago. You are under no obligation to help me any further."

[User] You help Lisa

[Assistant]
While you don't like that you were lied to, there's not much for it now. While you aren't sure if someone saw your face, at least one of those assassins got away and is probably undoubtedly going to say that Lisa had help.

You might as well help Lisa, if only to potentially save your own ass trouble in the future. Plus, you'd be lying if you didn't feel a little something to actually want to help her.

"While I wished you had told me the truth immediately, I'm not going to just leave you hanging because honestly, I think this is a suicide mission for you. You can't take down this Mantis without some help."
"Well I'm not going to turn down your help and I will fully appreciate it, but you helping me isn't going to be a problem is it?"
"Oh, you mean with my special lady vampire as you put it? Well, I'm inclined not to tell her, but I probably shouldn't since she's not an idiot and will find out anyway."
"Won't she be upset with you?"
"You might think that, but I dunno she's been around a long time and certain things don't necessarily bother her the way you might think they would. I mean I'll explain the situation…and well I guess I'll think of something."
"Hey, I don't want to mess your shit up so if you can't do it. That's perfectly fine. I mean this is my problem and we aren't together anyway. However, if you can help, meet me in five days at the Holgard graveyard at night. I need to heal up a bit and probably track down where Mantis is actually hiding out at now anyway. Who knows, maybe if we're really lucky that firebomb killed him after all."
"Well, I guess I'll leave you to it. Take care in the mean time and hopefully we'll meet up later."

You take your leave of Lisa and get out of Holgard as quick as possible.

When you get home, Isabella immediately notices you look a little battle worn.

"You run into trouble dear?" Isabella asks.
"Ran into an old…acquaintance. It was a mess and uh...well there's still unfinished business." You answer awaiting the storm.

Isabella looks at you for a moment.

"Okay, first question. Did you at least get my supplies?" Isabella asks.
"Yes, I have them right here." You say handing over your pack to her.
"Good. Second question. This acquaintance, wouldn't happen to be a girl would it? Possibly even an ex from your mortal life?"
"She is. Or was. She was a girl from Dert that I was with during my time enslaved to Ral. I lost contact with her during my time getting experimented on by Ral."
"Truly? Odd that you've never mentioned her before."
"I didn't want to talk about my old flames with you."
"You really think I'd get jealous about that?"
"No, I just felt it was respectful not to bring them up."
"Hah…nice answer. You always do know how to say the right things. Okay, so I guess my next question would have been are you fucking this mortal, but I'm going to guess that's a no, so just tell me what's going on and why you're involved."

As short as you can, you explain your entire night; you also add that part of the reason you want to help is you think that in all the chaos one of the assassins got away and while probably not recognizing you they will definitely know there was another helper and the last thing you want is to bring chaos home.

"I see. Well under normal circumstances, I'd say kill this little mortal bitch for lying and present her head to the Ebony Claw since she got you into this mess in the first place. However, I get that you probably don't want to do that and knowing the ECS, that might not help anyway. Pftt. The Syndicate. I remember when they were still just a petty gang of thugs in the fledging Delantium Kingdom at one point. Okay, you're supposed to meet her in five days right?" Isabella asks.
"Yes, in the graveyard there."
"How original. Okay, since this is potentially going to impact our home and life together, I'm going to help you and your little human ex out. However that means I'm going to do some of my own investigation."
"Um, okay! That's great! I mean this will definitely make everything easier. I guess we can…"
"We? Oh no no no no my dear. I'm going to do this by myself. I work better alone in situations like this. You are going to stay as far away as possible from Holgard."
"Wait, you're not going to attack the ECS yourself are you?"
"Of course not, I'm just going to do my own reconnaissance because I haven't been to the city in decades and it might help if I knew the lay out. Not to mention I can probably gain information that you or this Lisa girl would not be able to. You just take a break and I dunno, collect dinner from Dert while I'm out. Then in five days we'll meet up with your human."

Isabella's reaction to this wasn't at all what you were expecting. You thought that maybe she'd be mildly annoyed and maybe she'd be fine with you taking care of this due to potential repercussions. You didn't however expect her direct help. You guess it makes sense as you are mated after all, but the fact she doesn't want you to get in her way is puzzling.

Well in any case, she trusts you, so you trust her and if this is how she wants to do it, then this is how its going.

You spend the next four nights basically hanging around the home. You go to Dert once to lure a couple of people to the cells, but for the most part that's it. Meanwhile Isabella nearly leaves immediately when the sun goes down and then stays out until it's nearly time for it to come back up.

She never elaborates on what she's doing except to mention that Holgard has only gotten worse since the last time she was there and says the whole city should be cleansed from the map for the good of everyone.

On the fourth night she comes home a little earlier and is entirely in the mood to have a round of wild rough sex. You aren't sure what's prompting this, though it could be the potential idea that you'll all be going into battle soon. Either way, you've never complained before so why start now?

Finally the fifth night arrives.

"Get up my love. It's time to end this." Isabella remarks.

As you and Isabella make your way to Holgard, you start to ask her questions about what she was doing during her time in Holgard, but she just smiles and says to not worry about it since she'll reaveal all when you get to the graveyard.

"You trust me don't you?" she asks.
"…well I trust that you aren't planning anything sinister for me, but I must admit all this secrecy is a bit concerning." You answer.
"You worry too much."

Eventually you get to the graveyard. Lisa isn't really hanging around in plain site, but you can sense she must be around, Isabella on the other hand calls her own immediately.

"Little human, come on out from behind the fifth tomb from the left with the broken statue on top of it. Don't worry it's safe, nothing but us vampires out here." She says.

Reluctantly and very cautiously Lisa steps out from her hiding space. Her guard is up causing Isabella to roll her eyes.

"Honestly, your ex offers to bail your ass out after you lied and you give this sort of welcome? And please, if I wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead so put that away." Isabella remarks.
"I take it this is your better half? Didn't expect her to actually help. Where are her clothes?" Lisa remarks putting her weapon away.
"Isabella has long since abandoned the desire to wear such things." You answer.
"I thought maybe it was just her way of bragging of how beautiful she was."
"Hm. I'll take that as a compliment, human. And I suppose you were probably pretty back in your younger years. I can see how he would have had a fondness for you."

This is getting weird, so you step in before it turns worse.

"Okay, you're both pretty princesses, now let's get on with this. The both of you have been stalking these city streets so what's the situation?" you ask.
"Honestly, I'm not sure. I mean I've interrogated a few EC members and done what investigating I could without alerting the EC of my presence. All I know is Mantis is indeed alive and he's either in a safehouse down in the sewers under Dagger Row or he's hiding out in the Temple of Fel. I'm really hoping it's the safehouse, because I don't fancy the chances of attacking a Fel Temple and I doubt if we'll even be able to sneak in. I mean these are followers of the God of Shadow."
"Oh he's definitely in the Fel Temple, in fact we should go make our way there now." Isabella remarks.
"Wait, you're saying he's there for certain? How do you know that?"
"Because I'm better than you human, that's why, now are we settling this or what?"
"Isabella, you have been fairly mysterious about what you've been doing here."
"And that's because I don't want to ruin the surprise for you dear. Both of you just follow my lead in all this and we'll all get home before the dawn."
"Okay, I know you're probably old and…"

Isabella glares at Lisa for that remark. Meanwhile Lisa looks like she just pissed herself.

"Um… powerful, but…"
"Dear, tell your human to stop speaking before this act of kindness becomes for naught." Isabella remarks in an annoyed tone.
"I think you better just keep quiet Lisa." You say.

The three of you make your way to the Temple of Fel. Isabella gives exactly zero fucks as she walks naked through the streets of Holgard. As expected she gets more than a few looks by the few folks still out at night, but nobody says anything. Not lewd comments, not protests, nothing. Not even the group of watchmen that you walk by say anything. Isabella's powers of mind control are in full affect.

"Your girlfriend isn't exactly subtle." Lisa whispers to you.
"Yeah well when you're that powerful, you tend to not give a shit about things. I'm actually less concerned about the Watch and more concerned about EC assassins, Fel touched or not. I feel like being so obvious like this we'd be getting attacked by now given that they've been looking for you."
"And they won't, I told you, all will be revealed when we get to the temple now cut the chatter and keep up." Isabella snaps.

The rest of your journey is uneventful until you get close to the Fel Temple and that's when you see a group dressed purple and blue robes. Dornans? What are they doing here?

An old man steps from the group when the three of you approach.

"Isabella, always a pleasure to see you." He remarks with a bit of a upbeat tone.
"Yes, yes, Flynn I know you love me, but we're here on important business. Is all the shit sorted out with the Felians? Because I was planning on getting this done with quick." Isabella remarks.
"Yes, The Felians are more interested in keeping the religious peace rather than protecting one of their Ebony Claw associates. So yes, they are completely willing to turn this Mantis character over and apparently his treachery has been exposed by whatever limited process that their shadow magic does anyway, so this appears to be a settled affair as soon as you meet with them." Flynn remarks.

You and Lisa are overwhelmed with surprise. You can't believe this.

"Wait. That's it? We're not fighting anyone?" you say.
"Mantis is just being turned over? Just like that? I'm actually cleared?!" Lisa adds.
"Yes, you may provide your undying thanks to me later, for now though let's continue." Isabella remarks eager to get on with it.

As the three of you start to leave, Flynn calls out.

"Isabella…" Flynn says, causing Isabella to turn around exasperated.
"Flynn, look, I thanked you for this already, but that's all it was okay? Nothing more."
"But I just thought…"
"Yeah I know what you thought and you were wrong as usual. This is why I always went for Ral instead of you back in the day. You were a spineless worm that thought just being a compliant was good enough for me. Goodbye Flynn."

Isabella looks at you.

"What?" she asks.
"Didn't know you went out with the leader of the Dornan temple." You say.
"Yeah well I used my ex to help out your ex. Come on."

The three of you head to the Fel Temple, which you see a single cloaked figured looming at the bottom of the steps of it. Near him is a crumpled figure. You notice that this is the same assassin with the shock of white hair throwing around firebombs last time. He nods at the three of you.

The crumpled figure on the ground is Mantis, he's alive, but he doesn't look too good. He's pale and emaciated looking and he's shivering the entire time while mumbling nonsense quietly. Certainly looks different than the last time you saw him years ago.

"Greetings again. I am here on the behalf of the Master of Shadows as he has other important matters. As I remember you are the one called Lisa?" he asks, pointing to her.
"I am…what did you do to Mantis?" Lisa asks.
"Only what was required to keep order and peace. This man attempted to use Fel to hide his actions, but he didn't realize that he can't hide his actions from Fel who sees all things hidden. Things might have gone better had he not resisted. Perhaps even a compromise could have been reached, but as you can see he chose otherwise and by the time he begged for mercy…well it was far too late."

Lisa steps forward.

"And what about me?" Lisa asks.
"Your name has been cleared…well more or less. I'm sure thanks to your actions, you have most likely angered other EC members and you will most likely still have to watch your back, such is the nature of the business. However, the general order of elimination will be lifted and more importantly, Fel is not seeking retribution. Still, you may want to watch yourself for awhile." The man says.
"So that's it then."
"That is indeed it for this situation. I leave you with your revenge, though perhaps it may be a mercy now. And since you have caught the attention of Fel, perhaps if you ever feel you're up to the challenge, you would be more than welcome to join the shadow of Fel. You will find that being obedient to him, will make you much more efficient in your tasks."
"I'll keep that in mind."

The man then turns around and then suddenly cloaks into invisibility, though you can still sense him until he goes back into the temple.

"Okay, looks like that's done. Let's go." Isabella remarks.
"Wait. I don't know how to thank you." Lisa says.
"You can't mortal, think of this as your lucky night."
"Actually I can think of a way." You say.
"You best pick your next words with care." Isabella remarks.

"No, not that! It's just before all this shit happened, I was thinking about home and getting a message to my family. Lisa, do you remember my stories to you about Teckleville?" you say.
"Yes, I do remember." Lisa remarks.
"Well, do you think in between your assassinations, you could go see my family and assure them that I'm doing okay? I mean I'd do it…but…"
"Say no more. I'd be more than willing to relay a general message of your happiness."
"Thanks Lisa."
"No, thank you. I mean that and will never forget this."
"Alright now we really are going. Say goodbye to your little human and for her sake she better never cross your path, let alone mine ever again." Isabella remarks.

You and Isabella leave Lisa to her revenge on Mantis. You turn to look one last time and see her finish him off.

Odd night, you were expecting a huge and very likely deadly battle, but it all worked out very easy. In any case, you follow Isabella who probably is anxious to get back to her garden. She's been away from it for far too long for her.

You know she went out of her way to help you and you also know that she's annoyed that she had to, but you also know that she must care about you very much that she did.

And that's why you love this woman.


[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 will concentrate your magical assault on the ugly creature.

[Assistant]
Somehow you feel more threatened by the presence of the twisted being than of Farhan Brownhand himself, though both leave tremendous damage among the remaining wolves.

You form a powerful weave to destroy the creature, and, still unseen by Farhan or the goblins below, you launch it at the giant goblinoid, going for speed rather than for finesse.

The mental strain hits you like a hammer, and you sway, but it is worth it as you see the big ugly thing implode with a deafening scream. The goblins, already panicking, are going frenzy and stab themselves as much as the wolves, and Farhan screams in rage at the death of the creature.


[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 take Fay's suggestion

[Assistant]
You walk forward, your voice dropping to a whisper.

"Look, we need to be practical. We can cause some minor trouble, a riot or two, kill a few guards at best. That leads to them just shutting off our dorms and pumping these rooms full of chlorine gas. We stay seemingly loyal, do what we're told, and wait. Eventually, when we have the chance, we strike. They won't expect it, and we'll have waited until the perfect opportunity. Then, we escape. Then, we gain freedom. Then, we gain a future. Got it?"

There's hushed responses, as the tribals take a hopeful, inspired look. They won't rebel. They'll follow orders... for now. As soon as the chance rises though, you'll have a loyal group of soldiers to fight alongside you.

"Tell the other tribals. We need to stick togther" you say to the tribals, before turning to Fay. "We should go."

You walk out of the room, with Fay at your side, holding your hand.

"Well, I'm glad you took my suggestion," she says, smiling sweetly at you.

"Well, you're clever, so I should listen to your advise every once in a while," you reply.

"Stop teasing," she says, lightly hitting you. "We all know how this relationship works. You're the brains, I'm the brawn. Not the other way around."

"Well, how come I can easily push you around?" you say, flicking your wrist and sending Fay onto her rear.

"Hey!" she says.

"Sorry," you say, laughing.

"You're a massive dick," she complains, as you lift her back to her feet.

You stop, the smile going from your face as you see Kyros walking quickly towards you.

"Ah, here you are. Is the issue resolved?"

You nod, trying not to let him see you gulp nervously.

"Good. Now, we need to visit the last of your soldiers, the gladiator-slaves. They're always an interesting crew. Shall we go?" Kyros asks.

You look at Fay, who nods, smiling at you.

"Yes, let's," you reply.


[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 say "I will rebel"

[Assistant]
You lean in, forcing the old priest to take a half step backward

"Who do you give your loyalty to?"

His answer is immediate and unequivocal

"God"

Your snarl, taking another step forward

"Well, my loyalties lie with England. Always. You would be wise to develop a similar mindset"

Father Wilfrid watches you coldly

"Get out of my church"

Livid with anger, you storm out of the church, pushing open the heavy oaken doors and breathing in the calming December air.


[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 insist on leaving with the Second Relief

[Assistant]
You are incredibly relieved to join the other survivors who are leaving, which consists of Elizabeth Graves (Franklin Graves's widow), her four children, Patrick Breen, his wife Margaret and their five children, two of James Reed's children and three of the Donner's children. Your group sets off and initially makes good progress before disaster strikes.

Just a few days into the journey you are struck by a fierce snowstorm on open ground and are forced to huddle down below blankets: James Reed nearly collapses from the effort of making sure everyone is safe. Huddling together against the fierce cold you do your best. At one point during the storm it is discovered that Isaac Donner has died, slipping away so silently that the two girls huddled either side of him did not notice his death. In the midst of the cold the thought strikes you that the child must be buried.

What do you do?

[User] You dig a grave for Isaac Donner

[Assistant] Against Breen and Reed's protests you carry the Donner boy's body out of the group and try to dig a grave in the snow. It is hopeless in the midst of a blizzard and the grave becomes your own when you collapse into it and do not move again.


[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 morning in the red silo

[Assistant]
You wake up bright and early and realize it is still well before dawn so you make a start of eating the second guard, the hunger is never gone for long. You make good headway before finally seeing light through he cracks around the hatch and wrench it open to let it all flood in and wake the woman up. You expect a startled sound but hear nothing and look down into the silo and see she is missing.

You swear and check everywhere you can see but you can only see the pieces of fencing, the half buried shambler and the dead man. You leap down, knowing you can get back out easily enough and start looking for the woman "If she killed herself I will tear her corpse apart before eating it" You think as you wrench up one of the pieces of fence while standing on the second one.

You realize too late that it is a little too heavy and you just lifted the woman up too as she held onto the under side.You might be faster than any normal human but when you loose several seconds to shock you can still be taken off guard and the woman lashes out with a knife, managing to plunge it into your chest before you can get away. You stumble back as you lash out in return, knocking her aside, but your usual strength is not in the blow and she quickly pulls herself back onto a piece of fence and gets to her feet.

"I'll kill you!" You manage as you take a step towards her but your one lung is already full with blood and it is leaking into the other. You can definitely survive this but you need to eat more flesh and rest very very soon to stand a chance.

The woman snarls back at you, a terrifying counterpoint to the smiles she gave you the morning before "Oh, you will? like you killed the others, leaving me alive? Did you think the woman would be the weakest?" She lunges at you repeatedly, slashing and stabbing. You could so easily defeat her normally, she wouldn't even be a threat, but you can't breath and you are getting weaker.

You land a punch as she cuts your arm and she goes down, but she staggers back up, dazed but still fighting and you know it is over. You don't have the strength any more and when she stabs again you cannot stop it. You simply watch as the knife plunges into your chest twice more before you fall to the ground.

The last thing you hear is the woman crying again.


[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 have a handful of fast ones and a handful of shamblers, strike now as the others make their way up. You can take out most of the other guards as the rest of your horde gets inside.

[Assistant]
You gather your ready infected and head right back down the stairs from the balcony; from here you can send the fast ones to one front side balcony while you attack another then re-group to attack the rest, by that time a large number of infected should be ready to sweep down over the living areas.

You make it half way down the stairs at the front of your group before realizing that something is wrong, there are far too many hazy areas moving around in the center of the stadium and ahead of you. You try and concentrate but can't make out more details of what is going on in the near complete darkness of the interior.  You wait a few moments for your eyes to adjust so you can see what's happening when you realize your mistake.

You hear a barely audible whirring noise as your eyes adjust enough to realize that there is a huge armored jeep parked right in the middle of the stadium's open area and its gun is both spinning, and pointed your way.

They had taken the obvious follower off you but they must have still been keeping an eye on you, you think as the Jeeps gun opens fire. You dive to the side into a row of seats as you feel your small group of infected getting torn apart by the high caliber bullets. You try and think of where to run when you hear the separate boom at the same time as a hole appears in a seat in front of you and you feel a huge impact in your side. The dam 50cal. Sniper just shot you right through your cover.

You try and run back to the balcony but you are already wounded and barely make it two feet before the second boom rings out and a hole appears in your chest.


[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 attempt to climb over the gate before Igor can get off a shot

[Assistant]
In your prime you would've been able to scale the gate, climb the tower and rip Igor's head off all without getting hit.

Unfortunately you aren't in your prime anymore. Igor's having trouble aiming his awkward arm-gun, but with as many bullets as it pumps out he doesn't need to be completely accurate. While you're attempting to climb over the gate he hits you several times.

Naturally those bullets are silver.

You crash to the wet ground with a loud CLANK! sound, as the rest of the pack go running away with their tails between their legs.


[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 go back home

[Assistant]
If this how it was on your first day, you'd hate to think about if you had to deal with this on a regular basis.

"Uh…no, maybe I was wrong. Bye." You say and quickly take off.
"Heh, pig farmer don't have no stomach for it…Dibs on Foremeli's shit!" you hear Dimitri yell.

When you get back home, your family and mom in particular ask what happened, you explain it and say you don't want any part of that life. You apologize that you couldn't go through with it, but your mom looks more relieved than anything.

"Well son, I'm just as glad you didn't join up with that lot anyway. You'll be helping us out plenty just by working on the farm like always."

You're glad to hear that. Over the next couple days you fall back into routine again. You still wonder about the future though and you briefly consider the army plan again, but given your short lived experience with mercenary "life" you don't think you're cut out with battle on a regular basis. Plus the Zalan Empire is currently having really bad border skirmish with the Tulan Kingdom right now.

You resign yourself to the farm life. You play your lute to yourself (and family) when you have the time to do so. It's a simple life.

A year passes and a terrible incident occurs at a far away city known as Nuro. A group of rogue wizards summoned an army of the dead to take it over. They also summoned a lot of demons that have broken free and running rampant now in the Tulan Kingdom. It's all far away from you, but something like this is pretty serious. Necromancy and Demon summoning is strictly forbidden throughout the land.

Meanwhile life on the farm is going the same as it ever did. Hard sometimes, but manageable.

Another two years pass and things have gotten worse. The Necromancer Lord (as he's become to be known) has expanded, even to the point of taking over the Brot Kingdom. The Tulan Kingdom has been totally conquered by a demon army. A Grand Alliance of nations has been formed, but so far they don't seem to be making much progress.

Meanwhile life on the farm is a little harder. Your youngest sister Makana becomes gravely ill during the winter months, but there's not enough money to pay for a healer and most of the clerics have been summoned to battle with the undead or demon hordes. Sadly she dies making the overall mood of the farm a little more depressing. You don't even play anymore, your enthusiasm for music died along with the grim realities setting in.

Another three years pass and things are down right miserable. War is everywhere. The Demons have been taken care of, but the undead are stronger than ever. Reports even speak of the Necromancer Lord becoming The Great Lich Lord "reborn". You remember hearing tales by your father of such a being that existed centuries ago. They scared the hell out of you then and the fact that you're living in a time where he's returned makes you feel doomed.

To make things worse, the Zalan Empire has been becoming increasingly tyrannical. In order to help with the war effort they've started bringing back the draft and the talk of ceasing private property to be used for the good of the government. While they say owners will be able to live and still work on their lands and businesses, it will be owned by the Empire.

You know it's only a matter of time when you get a knock on the door by Zalan army troops coming to take you and your brother Mallack away to the army and your family's farm.

Another two year pass…

You're on the eve of battle in a land known as the Garwold Confederacy although it's steadily becoming a giant graveyard now. The undead hordes have been sweeping relentlessly across the entire landscape. Your own company has had to fall back several times. Morale is low. Not that yours was high to begin with. You don't even know how you've survived this long. You didn't even have that much military training when they threw you into you first battle a year ago. It was a terrifying experience and you still have nightmares about it. The undead…you'll never get used to fighting such emotionless creatures that are the embodiment of death and all that's unnatural.

You briefly wonder if your brother Mallack is alright where he's stationed, but it hardly matters at this point.

Battle comes as it always does and you are not so lucky this time. Horrible and powerful creatures known as Blood Specters and Death Knights utterly destroy your side.

You fall to undead blades and chilling touches only rise up and join them in their goal of global genocide.


[System] You are narrating an interactive fiction game in a dark fantasy setting. Bring the world to life with vivid prose, react meaningfully to player choices, and don't pull punches when the story demands it.

[User] You tell Him

[Assistant]
"I bended fire."

"Really!" She looks up, and he smiles. "You bent fire? Now, you're like me!"

But Mommy loves Zuzu but not me. Zuzu is not like me.

"No." She points to the tapestry. "I bended fire and burned that. Mommy was angry."

"That was Mom's picture of her mom and dad."

"I didn't wanna." She crosses her arms.

"I didn't say that. Was it an accident?"

"Yes, but I do better. I won't burn more things."

"Good. Maybe we can practice together?"

"Yes!"

Zuzu will help her. She never got to do big kid things with him before.

They hear a new set of footsteps. She turns and sees someone she only remembers seeing twice before besides their nightly, tense dinners. Mommy stands behind him. She looks angry.

"Daddy?" she asks. Zuzu takes three steps backwards.

"Azula, you bent fire."

"Yes." She clenches her tiny fists. Will he be angry too?

"Good job." He smirks. At this time in her life, it scared her. Eventually, she will learn to desire such approval.