[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 regroup

[Assistant]
"We need to get our shit together first, look, we got people all over the damn place and wounded everywhere." You say surveying the damage.
"You can't be serious! We need to attack NOW! Or don't you remember what they nearly did to our son?" Lisa exclaims.
"Christ Lisa, I'm aware of ALL the shit they've done! What I'm saying is we need to organize here, and not just throw people at them until something happens! I understand that's the Shadow Horde way of doing things but…"

At this point Lisa slaps you, and while your skin is tough, it still manages to sting.

"Oh fuck you; if it hadn't been for YOUR duplicity we wouldn't even BE in this situation!"
"Look Lisa, we NEED to at least regroup. I'm sure that hospital is going to be their last stand and we can't go in attacking half assed. We need to attack from all sides and cut off all avenues of escape so we don't have to deal with guerilla hold outs after the main attack is over. We want to kill them ALL in one fell swoop; we don't want the fucking Savior to escape to cause trouble later!"

After a little more debate, Lisa finally agrees and you quickly gather your troops and implement a plan while Lisa takes care of her own end of things. Within a couple days you're ready, but Lisa still being strong willed sort she is, jumps the gun and begins before you.

"Goddamn it Lisa…"

The battle to the hospital is a slaughter on the Glow Children's side. They still haven't recovered from the battle of Downtown and they've been losing many to the Shadow Horde. The Zeropolis Legion doesn't lose too many troops, though the Shadow Horde is taking a beating due to the fact that they're taking the brunt of the Glow Children's hospital defenses. That needn't had been the case had Lisa not attacked so soon. By the time you make it to the hospital most of the heavy fighting has been done. Dead bodies of both Glow Children and the Shadow Horde are littering the streets. Lisa stands outside the hospital seemingly unconcerned.

"What the fuck Lisa? I told you to fuckin' wait! You look like you lost your whole goddamn Horde trying to storm this hospital!"
"Who cares? If they aren't strong enough to survive then they can die like the rest. They're meant to serve me anyway, and the Glow Children MUST pay for what they nearly did to my son, no matter what the costs. Now go in and PROVE you're a father by doing what needs to be done. Should be easy…I did most of the work for you."

You shake your head trying to reason with Lisa's recent volatile emotions, and head into the hospital with your own people. Sounds of battle are heard and body parts are all over the place. After a few shoot outs with the few wretched hold outs, you eventually track down the infamous Savior. Yet another old face that looks a lot different from when you last saw it.

A severely burned female cyborg attempting to fix up one of her Glow Children on an operating table throws her scalpel down in frustration when she realizes nothing more can be done and sees you enter the room.

"Mutants! Fucking goddamn back stabbing mutants…you're no good for anything!" she shouts.
"Wow, AVA that's a lot of emotion for a cyborg." You say calmly.
"Let's see how emotionless you remain when you see YOUR future destroyed before your eyes. This is all your fault! YOU caused all this! You did this to me!"
"Yeah, yeah, I've been getting that line from everyone lately. It's getting old."
"Fool. We would've brought unity to the world; mutants would've been incorporated too. All you had to do was help, but instead you betrayed us to those who hate you!"
"Yeah and that incorporation would've been the total loss of free will I'm sure. No thanks, I'd rather take my chances with some disjointed puny humans than an army of unified cyborgs."
"Ah, of course. You mutants think YOU are fit to rule the world. Huh. You're little better than humans. You still act on emotion rather than clarity. Look at your wife…she sacrificed hundreds of her own people who she claimed she looked after all for a mere child. Don't look so surprised that I know about that act of total illogic, I could hear her screaming her rants of vengeance when I first saw her approach the hospital with her mutant rabble."
"First of all she's not my wife. And what about what you did? Are you saying sending in multitudes of brainwashed mutants was so different?"
"YES! Yes it was! My purpose was NOT based on emotion! I was trying to kill as many as mutants as possible! I had a clear goal! A clarity of purpose! What do I care what mutants died on who's side? I am not one of them!"
"Uh…yeah. Well sounds pretty emotional to me. Sounds like good ol' fashioned revenge. And I suppose those assassination attempts on me was just business to eh? Nothing personal?"

AVA shakes her head in dismay and looks up at the ceiling. Tears stream from her non-cybernetic eye.

"You'll never understand mutant…it…it should've been us…we…I'm sorry Alex…I'm sorry my father…I have ended up like you…trapped and surrounded by my enemies with only death awaiting me…forgive me…"

Strangely, you almost feel sorry for AVA, putting her out of her misery is probably an act of kindness at this point. And so you do with a couple of well placed bullets.

"(Sigh) Well AVA, if it's any consolation, you did a lot of damage to us, a lot of damage…"

When you exit, Lisa is still waiting outside, she looks like she's deep in thought.

"Yeah, the Savior's dead and from what I can tell so are all the other Glow Children as well as most of your Shadow Horde…" you say to Lisa
"Given the temporary mistrust both side had for each other, perhaps its for the best…perhaps this alliance needs to be dissolved and simply unified under one banner, one name, we are all mutants, no one is better than another, but we are all better than humans."
"So what're you saying exactly?"
"I'm saying we should be joined officially…with this latest annoyance out of the way, Zeropolis will soon be under our total control and then it will be time to handle the humans. I'm already a Queen, and you shall be my King and Adonis…shall be a Prince…heir to our new mutant dynasty."

You're a little surprised by this sudden suggestion

"Whoa! What the hell? You want us to get fuckin' married?"
"Yes, do you not have feelings for me?"
"Well uh…yeah I guess…I mean…"
"Am I not the mother of your son?"
"Well of course."
"Do you not see the wisdom in this action?"
"I suppose, but…"
"Then it's settled…and be honest wouldn't you like to be able to spend more time with your son? Spend more time with me…and be closer to you…"

Lisa's manages to convince you in that way she does through her seductive embraces and strong commanding will. You swear she has some sort of mutant ability to control minds.

A festive wedding is soon held after the celebration of the Glow Children's destruction.

Ten years pass…

Twenty years have passed and the unification of Zeropolis is complete. One City of unified mutants and you are their KING. What was once a warehouse has now been turned into a palace.

War against the humans is also in full swing. Lisa made sure that was the first thing on the agenda the moment Zeropolis was completely unified. The Combine wasn't even prepared for the first few attacks, as entire towns were taken over with relative ease. Never before had mutants been so organized, and are now the greatest threats to them since the Cybernetic Evolution, worse even, since you can breed, and not just with other mutants…

The Combine and The Zero Dominion (That being its new name) fought for a long time, but The Combine lost mainly due to its own internal turmoil. After a couple years of your attacks the government collapsed and splintered into several factions. Some of those factions willingly surrendered to you. Human traitors were not unheard mainly because rule under The Combine was little better. It was a corrupt and decadent organization that bullied its citizens, while human subjects living under your occupation are treated fairly well as long as they know their place and they are certainly well protected from other humans like the outlaw scum who lurk in the wastelands. With the Combine completely destroyed, mutants now rule everything within the area ranging from towns to even the Ground Zero Shelters still containing their inhabitants. (Actually many of those genuinely thanked you for releasing them from those underground coffins! Lisa of course wasn't surprised by the shoddy workmanship that went into most of them given that she used to work for the corporation)

Now eyes of conquest look ever further, but despite all this, you're a relatively benevolent dictator.

Though Lisa often thinks you're too lenient on the humans, and claims you must set a better example for Adonis who shall take over from you one day. Adonis is only a teenager, but has the arrogance of a god. The tests and training Lisa insists that he engage in continue, and have produced a superior specimen of mutanthood thus far. Already he is eager to shed the blood of humans, you sometimes have to tell him that he shouldn't let something like that dominate his thoughts as it can lead to recklessness, but he's very much like his mother despite the fact that you've had regular contact with him now.

Your daughter Venus on the other hand is different. She's still young, but even now you can see that she will be a very dissimilar person than her brother. While you'd think Lisa would want to spend time with her own daughter, she still concentrates only on Adonis. Leaving you to take up that role, but even that is only minimal as Venus often prefers spending time by herself. She reminds you of…well you. Over the recent years, you've often wished you could spend time by yourself like you used to, but that's a rare luxury nowadays…

But heavy is the head that wears the crown and you have a host of concerns as of late to attend to and they only stack up. Hell, you don't even know where to begin anymore. You begin to wonder if any of this is even worth it. You know you're better than humans, but is constant ongoing warfare REALLY what you want?

[User] You continue the war

[Assistant]
You think back to when you first entered Zeropolis and how you hoped that you'd somehow be as lucky or as radiation resistant as your grandfather was when he witnessed nuclear blast tests back when he was in the army. As it turns out you were, well lucky that is, the radiation resistance came later.

During your entire stay in Zeropolis, you've always tried to do what you thought was best for you, but many times you've felt like you were railroaded into this path, and indeed sometimes you had little choice in some of your major decisions.

However, ultimately they were your choices and even you have to admit you've done far better than you could've expected. Lisa's a better wife than you really could've hoped for before the bombs turned the world into nuclear ash, let alone after the bombs. You son Adonis is obviously going to be a fine ruler someday, he certainly has all the necessary traits and if Venus is as much like you as she appears to be, she'll do just fine. Their future is what's important, and as such you have come to the realization that making sure they have a great empire to rule is the best thing you can give them. Not just for them, but for their children as well. You finally understand Lisa's dedication to conquest and why she's always pushed you to be a little more enthusiastic about it.

Sure she gets a bit intense as far as the human thing sometimes, but that's just part of her personality. You never quite understood why she's exactly so obsessed on the whole mutant superiority thing (Whereas you just take it for granted that you're better and just leave it at that) especially given that she herself has never even had contact with another one since her transformation. (You have though, one thing that always seem to get her hot is when you recount your time when you were doing raids on Combine town during your alliance with the Cybernetic Evolution) You've always had a strange sort of relationship with Lisa, but it is love though, a weird form of it, but love nonetheless.

People have been fighting wars and taking shit from others since the beginning of time, and from what you can tell they're still doing it. All for various reasons. So your reasons are for love and family. There's certainly more selfish and worse reasons.

After coming to this epiphany you finally have eliminated any lingering doubts and reservations about anything you've ever done or will do in the future. You immediately go find Lisa who's watching Adonis train against one of the few former Shadow Horde mutants left. He's managed to take the giant down with his bare hands too, not many can make that boast, let alone at the young age he has. When you arrive in the gym, Lisa approaches you.

"Well, I didn't expect to see you until tonight. I know how you like to spend long periods of time by yourself… I always found that strange for someone in a position of leadership."
"Not really Lisa, people who rule are often isolated, however I have come to the realization that I'm not alone. The future of our dynasty is important, I see that now and I'm going to ensure what we've built doesn't end."

You think it's the first time you've seen overwhelming joy in Lisa's face, but she immediately hugs and kisses you. You think this is also the first time you've actually heard her say "I love you." to you. Adonis stops his training and wonders what's going on and that's when you turn your attention to him and point your finger directly at him.

"And YOU, you will be the next ruler! But if you want ANY chance of it, you're going to have to beat the me first!"
"Hah! You're kidding right? I just beat an Ex-Shadow Horde mutant with my bare hands! I can easily take you on old man!" he laughs.
"Think so? Show me what all your training has done then, don't worry I'll go easy on you, wouldn't want to mess up that pretty face of yours, you sure you're not my daughter?"
"You're going down old man!"
"Not likely, now stop talking and hiding behind your mother's skirt, mama's boy!"

That one had the desired effect.

Unsurprisingly your minor taunts make Adonis angry causing him to charge at you hard and you immediately drop to the ground and trip him. When he falls on his face you grab his arm and twist it behind him while putting your knee in his back.

"See? You let yourself get too emotional and it threw off your game. You need to learn more about fighting than just the basics. I'll make sure I'll teach you that. Now get up."

From that point on you take a more active role in training Adonis. Particularly in the more psychological and strategic aspects of it. He learns quickly, and in time learns to reign in the arrogance and some of his mother's views on humans, but he always retains his desire to fight. In the years to follow he joins the Dominion army and quickly rises through the ranks. Lisa is very proud and you are as well.

As for Venus, she of course remains her usual quiet self, though she does surprise everyone when she later joins the Dominion army as well, as a scout though. She turns out to be an excellent sniper.

As always there is resistance, but for the most part the Zero Dominion only grows larger under your rule.

Thirty years pass…

Fifty years have gone by since you first set foot in Zeropolis and you're eternally glad you did. It could've only been destiny that guided you to what you thought was most likely a death zone, only to turn out to be the place where you would achieve greatness.

You remember how humans used to shoot mutants on sight mainly to discourage them from venturing far from Zeropolis, but now mutants now control a vast portion of territory, their population has grown much much larger, and half-breed mutants from humans are in large numbers as well. A new era is being ushered in for a newly evolved being that will eventually replace humanity.

Never did you think that you'd actually live long enough to die peacefully in your own bed. But that's what is occurring now, you feel the approach of death occurring and you have no regrets. Right now you're surrounded by your family. Lisa, Adonis, Venus and their children as well. You can die knowing that you've made the world a better place for them.

You've made all of this happen and as you pass your throne to Adonis, while holding on to Lisa's hand who sits by the side of the bed, you say your last words:

"I love you all and finish what I started, my children …"


[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 your staff (Current status)

[Assistant]
Wendy: Head barmaid/cook

She has more responsibility and has higher pay, but she's steadily not feeling like it's worth it. The fact that you're not there for most of the day means she has to oversee most things. Same is true if you have important school work you need to do. She's basically doing most of the work your mother used to do, but the major exception is she is NOT your mother and has her own kids to worry about. This fact has been brought to your attention directly several times during one of her many rants at you due to her dissatisfaction.

Rita: Barmaid

Rita doesn't have it nearly as bad as Wendy, but she complains just as much if not more. It is true she's overworked more than she used to be however. Rita is always arguing with Wendy or you. If she isn't then she's taking out her frustration on Eliza or Alan if he gets in the way. She's still trying to find that "sugar daddy" type to take her away from all of this, but the inn doesn't get many merchants anymore and those it does aren't interested in an obnoxious serving wench as a trophy wife. Her threats of quitting are a daily routine.

Eliza: Barmaid

Eliza is more or less her usual quiet self, though it is evident that even she feels overworked since every once in awhile she'll make a couple of minor grumbles about things.

Alan: Janitor/Handyman

This is your prized employee. He never complains and follows orders. The best thing is he has managed to save you money in repairs since he's good at that sort of thing. You don't really know what you'd do without him. Part of you feels a little guilty about making him sleep in the basement and generally treating him like a second-class citizen, but he doesn't seem to mind. The only problem you have with him is due to his slow mindedness in most things you get frustrated in explaining more complex stuff to him. However you usually tell Wendy to tell him so you can avoid all of that trouble.


[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 help load the supplies on the ship

[Assistant] You sensibly stay with the ship while the others contract malaria from mosquito bites obtained while working on the river. Elphinstone and Linkletter die before even leaving Bavaria while Lamb and Ledward succumb on the journey home. Your ship is finally ready to depart on the first day of December and you reach Cape Town in February of 1790. You stay there for one month before sailing on, finally arriving back to England in the summer after two and a half years away. It seems like a lifetime… but your trials are not over yet.


[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 rat them out to the principal

[Assistant]
Fuck this! You're just faking this shit; you don't really have the balls to actually kill anyone!

You decide to play along with your friends and claim that you're with the plan, but rat on them out to the principal later.

Sadly things don't really go as planned for you double crossing ass! The stupid ass clueless principal doesn't entirely buy your story and thinks you're just trying to play some sort of sick joke, in fact he thinks YOU'RE the problem and punishes you by calling up your parents and telling them he's sending you home and that they need to put you in counseling and how they're lucky that he's not pressing criminal charges.

You get the riot act from your parents, who don't want to hear your shit either. They make you get rid of all your black clothing, video games, horror movies, and the like. You spend the next week having to listen to some hippy dippy psychologist who keeps saying you're in denial about your feelings.

The biggest fuck up about this is everyone eventually found out about this in school. Your trench coat buddies were not amused that you nearly ruined their plan, so the "day of their revenge" they make a quick trip to your house first…

Your Dad was blasted on his way to his car and then Mom met the same fate when she went out to check the noise. You're shot several times in the limbs after you were pulled out from hiding under your bed. Your former friends laugh at you as you beg for your pathetic life before they land the killing shot.

The moral of the story?

Don't be a fucking rat. Seriously, nobody respects a goddamn rat and look what it got you: dead. Seriously you were the fucktard that insisted on acting like a psychopath for attention, so you only had yourself to blame when you attracted people like that. If you really wanted to avoid trouble you could've just played along and then on the "day of revenge" you could've disappeared and hid out somewhere until it was all over. Your trench coat buddies would've probably thought you just wussed out (Which they'd be right) and they'd go shoot up the school anyway.

People still would've died and you wouldn't have gotten killed. A win-win situation really.

And now you know!


[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] Continue

[Assistant]
Best to start a new life with a clean slate.

"Yvette, if we're going to be together I fell like it's best if I tell you EVERYTHING." You say.
"Oh?" Yvette responds.
"Yeah, okay where to start…"

You go into your past, though you still leave out a few details. (Like having to leave your town for murder instead of theft) In general you're truthful though. You're rolling the dice here and while you're explaining, you aren't sure how she's even taking it.

"I just wanted to lay it all out there because I'm ready to turn over a new leaf. I want a life with you and I want that life to have no secrets between us."

Yvette still says nothing; her face just has an expression of shock on it.

"Yvette?" you say.
"Um…yeah. Well…yeah…" she starts to say.

This isn't good.

"Yvette, please say something." You say.
"What do you want me to say? This is pretty damn serious! I mean how CAN I trust you? Up until THIS moment you've lied about everything!" Yvette responds.
"But I'm not lying now! I'm telling the truth here. I'm no longer going to be a thief, I'm going to go look for real work and…"
"Look, I can't deal with this right now. I've got other things on my mind and running into you was a surprise to begin with. Obviously it was a mistake to even admit I had some faint feelings for you at one time. I have to go."
"Well can we talk about this again later?"
"I don't think that's a good idea. Look, if you ARE serious, then by all means turn your life around and become a productive member of society. I don't even think you're that bad of a person…but I can't be with someone I can't trust and I can't trust you. Goodbye."

And there it is again. Doing the right thing and getting no accolades, just a kick in the fucking face.

Disappointed with how this entire miserable day has turned out you head back to your place Joachim's church (With the militia following you the entire time of course).

You spend the next few days on your usual routine of sneaking around trying to lose the militia as you perform your work at the university. You might as well considering you can't leave the city. If things actually been different with Yvette, you probably would have tried to find a real job, but now? What's the point?

You figure it's free to sleep and eat at the church so you might as well just endure it until the Crimson Talons finally get busted and the militia backs off your ass so you can leave this fucking city.

One day in your corner of the church sleeping area, your light sleeping reflexes kick in and you grab a little arm reaching at you.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing you little thief?" you say to the little girl who you've just grabbed. She looks at you with wide eyes, but doesn't scream surprisingly.

"Nothing! I'm not a thief and I wasn't reaching for you, I was just trying to pet Pink Eyes!" she says.
"Pink Eyes?" you ask.
"Yeah, the funny rat with big teeth by your head."

You turn your head slightly and see Elana sniffing near you. It would seem she located you. You release your grip on the girl's arm who stands back as you slowly sit up rubbing your eyes. Elana squeaks a few times and finds a less open place to be.

"You're lucky I stopped you kid. Elana here isn't just a regular rat, she's a qweepa and she also doesn't tend to let people just pet her. In fact she's more likely to eat your fingers." You say.
"She didn't do that with me. When I saw her, I gave her a little piece of bread I had from breakfast and she nuzzled my hand a bit after she ate the bread. Then I played with her a bit before she ran over to you. Is she your pet?" the little girl asks.
"Yeah I guess you could say that. Though apparently she's a little traitor if she's being nice to anyone that feeds her. Guess I'm no position to speak ill of rats though. Wait, did you say you already had breakfast?"
"Yeah, it's almost time for them to serve lunch now. I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and see you creep in here. Do you have some sort of night job?"
"Something like that. Where are your parents?"
"My mom's out looking for work. I…um don't know who my dad is."
"Oh. Well I got stuff to do, so off you go kid."
"Can I play with Pink Eyes while you're gone?"
"Um…yeah sure I guess if she isn't chewing your face off. I wouldn't call attention to her though, not sure what the animal policy is in this place. And if she doesn't want to be fussed with, then I'd leave her be. Like I said, she isn't usually this friendly to other people."

You leave the little girl and Elana and step out of the church before Virgil or some other Joachim follower can ask you to do anything. You head to the university seeing as you don't have anything better planned at the moment.

Of course as soon as you start heading that way, militia is on your ass already and this time they don't just follow you, they actually come up to you and start throwing their weight around.

"Hey criminal scum, we're on to you." One of them says.
"Yeah I know that already. Been through all this with your captain." You reply.
"No, I don't think you fucking understand!" he says again, pushing you hard this time.
"What the hell? I'm not doing anything!" you exclaim.
"Bullshit! We know where you've been going even though you THINK you've been eluding us. You go up to that fancy university. Whatcha going up there for? I know it ain't to take any fucking classes. We haven't caught you in the act yet, but it won't be long."
"Aren't you supposed to be taking down the Crimson Talons?"
"Don't you worry about that. They'll be facing justice soon, just like YOU will be. Seein' you soon asshole."

And there it is, final proof that the militia consists of a bunch of unyielding dicks that are not going to EVER leave you alone. You truly have to get out of this city.

Your original plan was to wait until they finally took out the Talons, but they seem to be taking their sweet ass time about it. You suppose if you really wanted to get out, you could take the sewers and leave through the secret exit that the Talons use to get in and out of the city with no fuss.

Yeah, seems like a plan, though you figure you'll wait until it gets darker. In the meantime you head back to the church.

When you arrive back to your sleeping area you see that little girl playing with Elana and giving her some of her food. Looks like even your pet has abandoned you. Though considering you're leaving soon, it's just as well she seems to have found a new owner.

Lacking any more motivation to do anything until tonight, you decide to get some more sleep.

Later…

You suddenly grab a little arm reaching for you.

"Girl…you REALLY need to stop doing that!" you say waking up and letting the girl's arm go.
"Please, my mom is missing and I dunno who to ask for help!" the little girl says frantically
"What?"
"My mom, she hasn't returned! She ALWAYS returns before now! She promised she'd never stay out late like this again and I know she wasn't lying!"
"Alright, alright, calm down. What the hell happened?"
"My mom…"

At this point the little girl starts breaking down in tears and some nearby folks trying to sleep start shushing you.

This certainly wasn't anything you had in mind to deal with right now. From what you can tell it's pitch black outside. You slept way longer than you intended to and now you've got a little girl begging you for help.

[User] You help the little girl

[Assistant]
This really goes against everything you tend to believe in, but maybe due to a combination of several bad things you've experienced lately, you're still hoping that MAYBE somehow doing something half way "decent" that the gods or fate or whatever will reward you in some way. (Even though you don't really believe in a lot of that anyway)

First thing you do is calm the little girl down and ask her name since this will be a whole lot easier if you know what to call her.

"Mara." She says.
"Okay, first question. Do you know where you mom might have went or where she goes to look for work?" you ask.
"I dunno, mostly the taverns?" the little girl asks.
"…that really narrows it down…(sigh) alright, I guess I can just try the closest ones in the area. I'll also need a physical description of her."
"She's real pretty. She has a flower name too, Violet. Her hair is black like mine and she…um…her chest is sort of large."

Well you weren't expecting her to give that description of her mom, but you suppose it does help narrow things down a bit more.

"Okay, that helps a little…hey wait a minute. Did you ask Virgil to help?" you ask.
"The friendly old priest that smells funny? Yeah, I went to his room, but he wouldn't move no matter how much I pushed him. He just kept snoring." Mara replies.
"Well this is important, and I'll go wake him up. He's supposed to be doing good deeds anyway. In the meantime you just stay here and Elana will keep you company."
"Will you come back with her?"
"I promise that I'll come back." Is all you can say to her before you bid her goodbye.

Of course before you leave, you head to where Virgil sleeps in this church. Sure enough he's snoring soundly. Not excessively loud, but he's definitely flat out. You don't bother with the pushing or yelling to wake him up; you just drag him out of bed by his crusty feet.

He wakes up just before he hits the floor.

"Hey what the…OW! Shit! You?! What the fuck are you dragging me out of bed for?!" Virgil exclaims.

You actually sort of smile since that's more along the line of the old Virgil that you were familiar with.

"Aren't you supposed to be cutting down on the vulgarities now that you're all holy again? You've woke me up plenty of times in the past banging on my door, so consider this payback. Besides, a little girl needs help and you're supposed to be doing this sort of shit anyway." You say.
"Little girl? What's going on?"

You explain the situation to Virgil, who slowly starts becoming more alert. As you explain, he seems to remember Violet quite well. (Or her tits at least)

"Yes, yes, I know who you're talking about. I'm not sure what to say though. Violet is a prostitute or at least she was trying to get out of that life for the sake of her daughter as far as I know. I mean I know she was trying to get a job as a waitress with little success, but if she's disappeared during the night, she might have sadly gone back to her old ways and strayed from Joachim's path." Virgil remarks.

Raven haired beauty with big tits and worked as a whore, now you're wondering how the hell you never noticed her before.

"Well let's try the taverns first I guess." You say.
"Why am I going with you?" Virgil asks.
"Because isn't it your damn job to help the downtrodden and innocent? Besides, you being an ex-drunk, I figure that you know where ALL the closest taverns are. Also the militia is on my ass constantly, and if they catch me walking around at night, they'll probably just beat my head in and throw me in jail. I figure if I'm walking around with a priest I shouldn't get harassed as much. Not like you have anything better to do anyway."
"Um…yeah, but…you're talking about going to several taverns…I'm just not sure I should be around that much temptation."
"Oh for…just come on! If you start getting thirsty, I'll slap you in the back of the head to remind you of Joachim's light or something."

Virgil reluctantly agrees to help, and soon the pair of you are off to go tavern hopping, but not in the good way.

You go to several taverns and while a couple people say they remember seeing her or even interacting with her, they tell you they haven't seen her today. Virgil meanwhile looks longingly at every mug, glass and bottle containing alcohol. It isn't excessively hard to pull him away, but it's obviously a struggle.

"I beseech you, no more taverns! The temptation is getting to me and it's taking all my faith in Joachim to give me strength to resist!" Virgil begs.
"Okay, okay…(sigh) might as well give up anyway. We've covered a lot more ground than I thought we were and still haven't found shit. I guess we can start trying to brothels." You say.
"Um, I don't think so."
"What? Are the whores going to be too much temptation too? I thought your weakness was the booze, not the women."
"No, it's not that. It's just I doubt very seriously that she's working in one of the Klyton brothels. At least none of the legal ones. If she was back to whoring, she'd be doing it illegally and who knows where."
"I don't understand, Mara said her mom was pretty and you even seemed to confirm that. Wouldn't she be good enough of one of those places? She a Yellow Devil addict or something?"
"No, nothing like that. In fact she used to work at Madam Moonlight's place, but she did something that severely pissed off Moonlight. I dunno what, but it was bad enough to get her fired and Moonlight apparently pulled strings at every other sanctioned brothel to not hire her."
"Hm, I guess that makes sense, I've seen Moonlight get pissed at unruly customers and makes them sorry they got out of line. Guess the same goes for her employees. Still surprised I've never bumped into this woman before. Well I'm out of ideas, I mean we can't realistically go to every inn or back alley, to look for her."
"I think the only thing that can be done is to go back. Sometimes we must just place faith in Joachim that he will influence events to a positive end. I'm sure the girl's mother will come back, she may already be back for all we know."
"Yeah maybe…"

You suddenly remember something terrible.

"SHIT!" you exclaim.
"What?" Virgil asks.
"In all the rush to help the girl, I left all my shit at the church and I didn't even bother to hide it before I left! My savings!"
"I doubt very seriously that anyone is going to ransack your belongings and steal what you have. All of those folks are Joachim fearing and righteous."
"Oh? Then what am I doing there then?"
"Erm…well on the other hand it would be quite amusing if Joachim balanced things by taking away your wealth."
"What the hell? Why are you condoning theft just because it's me?!"
"I'm not, but I'm just saying there would be a kind of justice if it did occur, considering your own profession…speaking of which…Brother Thadius has expressed concerns about you continuing to sleep in the church. I've tried to assure him that you're looking for real work, but I think we both know that isn't true and I hate lying to the man. I'm already under scrutiny for…"
"I can't discuss this right now, I gotta go!"

You run off to leave Virgil behind and race back to the church.

Unfortunately along the way you nearly bump straight into two militiamen who happen to be patrolling. They see you running and jump to their own conclusions.

"HALT!" one of them shouts.

You haven't done anything wrong and you don't even have anything stolen on you since you left all your stuff at the church. Legally they can't really do anything to you…however that's never stopped the militia from severely fucking with you before.

[User] You halt

[Assistant]
They've already seen your face and probably already know who you are, so running is just going to get you into more trouble. Might as well deal with this head on.

The militia approaches and you make no sudden moves.

"Thought it was you. So where the hell are you in such a hurry in the middle of the night? Up to your usual thievery no doubt." one of them says.
"I'm going to church." You say.
"Very funny asshole." He replies pushing you.
"I'm serious! If you're aware of who I am, then you also know I've been living in a Church of Joachim for days now. I'm not lying."
"Or maybe you're not exactly telling the truth either…seems very fishy that you're lurking around."

Suddenly another one of their number runs up to them.

"Hey! What the hell are you two doing? You're supposed to be down in the sewers helping with taking out those Talon bastards. The captain's been looking all over for you and he's pissed!" he remarks.
"What? We got assigned street patrol duty tonight!"
"Well you've got new orders then, come on let's go. Who's this one?"
"This is the sneak thief who ratted on the Talons in the first place to save his own hide. Claims he doesn't have anything stolen on him, but I KNOW he's been up to something!"
"Let's just quickly throw him in a cell because we need to get into the sewers before the shit goes down. He can be dealt with later."

Just as they're about to grab you, another figure arrives. One you'd never be so happy to see.

"Hey! Ask this guy! He's a Joachim priest and I've been walking around all damn night with him searching for a missing woman!" you exclaim.
"Is this true?" one of the men asks.
"Yes, it is true. A little girl asked us to seek out her mother. In fact she specifically asked THIS man first! He has done nothing wrong and I would urge that you leave him be lest you anger Joachim for attempting to impede good works." Virgil says.

One of the guards must be a bit religious since he takes Virgil's warning a little more to heart than the rest of his fellows.

"Okay, we'll let you go this time, but for your sake you better hope that Captain Branik finds out that all your information was good, because if not, you're gonna wish for a quick execution instead of what we will have planned for you."

As the militia leaves, you think to yourself that it's probably good that you didn't try to escape through the sewers and the abandoned tunnel outside the city tonight. You might have gotten caught in the raid.

"I don't normally just tell anyone this, but thanks Virgil." You say.
"No problem. I'm just surprised they still let you go and listened to me at all. If I were a gambling man, I'd wager half of the militia have done worse things than you ever have. Hopefully as Joachim's teachings spread, so will his influence though and perhaps one day Klyton's militia won't just consist mainly of thugs with city sanctioned authority." Virgil says.
"I doubt it. People are just rotten by nature. The only time most do good deeds is when they have no other choice."
"I don't believe that, and I don't even think YOU really believe that either. If that really were the case, you wouldn't be trying to help a little girl find her mother tonight. I mean what's really in it for you? Nothing. You're not getting paid for it, you're just doing it because you felt sorry for an innocent and it was the right thing to do. You're better than you think you are, we all are. Joachim always tries to make us see that, even if you don't notice that he's doing it."

Rather thoughtful comments by Virgil even if you don't totally see things his way on the whole religious thing. Still, he might have a bit of a point.

The pair of you returns to the church where upon you immediately go see if any of your stuff is gone. Instead what you find is Mara sleeping near your belongings with Elana curled up next to her. Doesn't look like anything has been disturbed other than Mara using your pack as a pillow of sorts.

"See? All your stuff was fine. It was being guarded by a little girl and her pet." Virgil remarks.
"No sign of the girl's mother though." You say.
"Yeah, I admit, I'm a bit worried about that. Mara is going to be upset, but I'm still hoping that maybe she'll show up soon. Maybe in the morning?"
"Maybe, but it'll be morning in a few hours and I don't quite have the faith you have Virgil."
"You'll get there eventually. I suppose I better reclaim some sleep before Brother Thadius shows up here in the morning to give me his plans for the day's events."
"Doesn't he sleep here too?"
"Him? No, he lives in a proper house. Pretty nice one around the government district."
"Hmm, guess all the donations to Joachim are blessing Thadius pretty well. In any case, I'm going to try to get some sleep as well and for what comes next, I guess I'll figure that out when I wake up."

You and Virgil part and since Mara has taken your sleeping spot, you sleep on the mattress that presumably was where her and her mother slept. It's a lot more comfortable than sleeping on the floor for a change.

Later…

A little hand reaches out to you; this time you only gently grab it.

You actually were awake long before she reached for you since you heard her placing all your belongings on the mattress. Not to mention Elana is currently scurrying on the mattress and sniffing about.

"Hello Mara." You say fully waking up and let go of her wrist.

As you slowly sit up from your slumber, and look through your belongings that Mara has brought to you. Everything is there and you're finally relieved to know for certain.

Mara watches you with a mixture of concern and sadness. She looks like she might have been crying earlier.

"I didn't take anything." Mara says.
"I didn't think you would, but I couldn't be sure if anyone else didn't. Anyway thanks for bringing me my stuff and guarding it yesterday." You say.
"You didn't find my mom did you?"
"No, unfortunately I didn't, but Virgil said it's still possible that she'll show up this morning."
"It's the afternoon."
"It is? Oh."

Mara looks down wiping her eyes. This is awkward for you and if she starts crying in front of you, it isn't like you know what to say. You ask Virgil for help, but he's likely to just spout a bunch of shit about Joachim.

"She promised she wouldn't…(sniffle)…not anymore. Not after last time." Mara says.
"Last time?" you ask.

Mara tells you about how some man roughed up her mom once and nearly killed her in the process a few months ago. She mentions that it sometimes happened before that too, but that was the worst time. A lot of coin went to the apothecary and the clinic and they eventually wound up here while Violet was looking for steady work that didn't require sex.

It's obvious now that Mara isn't exactly a naïve child and she's well aware of the grim realities of this shitty world…still though…she's a nine year old girl that misses her mom.

"She's probably dead." She says, trying not to cry.

You still can't think of anything that's going to make her feel any better. You were planning on leaving this city, but…

"Hey Mara, why don't we wait for your mom a little longer okay? I mean let's not jump to conclusions, maybe she got some job that wanted her to start right away and it was so tiring that she fell asleep somewhere else."

Mara doesn't look convinced, but this sliver of hope wrapped in a boldfaced lie seems to at least cause her to agree.

"You'll stay with me?" Mara asks.
"Sure, until your mom gets back. Now let's go get something real to eat. No more of this slop that they serve here." You say.

Mara seems to cheer up slightly during her time with you. She mentions her mother a few times, but in happy reflections on better times she had with her.

You didn't think you would, but you sort of don't mind your time spent with Mara either.

You spend the rest of the day with Mara and the next few days after that. By the end of the week, she hasn't even mentioned her mother anymore and is more interested in you. Again, not exactly being naïve (and probably overhearing Virgil's conversations with you at times) she knows that you're not exactly a "working" man.

"Do…you kill people?" Mara asks.
"Is that what you think I do?" you ask back.
"I dunno. Virgil says that you're a good man who just does bad things sometimes."
"Hah! Said that did he? No, I don't kill people…well not usually anyway. I'm more into acquisitions."
"What's that?"
"I find stuff that I need."
"Oh…you're a thief."
"Well yes, it's not very impressive when you say it like that."
"It's just I sort of wished you did kill people."
"Really? Why?"
"Because then you could track down who killed my mother and kill them."

Mara at this point walks away from you, leaving you a little speechless. It's at this moment that Virgil comes over to you.

"I see you're still spending time with Mara. I knew you were a good man. I think it's wonderful that you've been trying to be there for the child." Virgil says.
"Yeah, I suppose so." You remark.
"Of course seeing that her mother is most likely gone, the only thing to do now is to take her to the orphanage."
"Orphanage?"
"Well yeah. I mean the child can't stay here."
"What would it hurt if she did stay here?"
"This place shelters the poor and families down on their luck for short periods of time, but unattended children should be in an orphanage and I know you can't look after her."
"Wait a minute, who says I can't?"
"Look, I know maybe you've gotten a little attached to Mara, but really this is a matter for a place that's capable of looking after a little girl."
"Virgil, I've passed by those orphanages and half of them are completely neglected ragamuffins and the other half get beaten all the time and are most likely going to become vicious scoundrels. After all your bitching at me about being a thief, you REALLY think that's the best place to put her?"
"Those places aren't as bad as you say! I'll have you know, I grew up in one of those places!"
"And that's supposed to convince me that it's a good place to send her?"
"Oh and because you had both parents, you're such a good example that it isn't? I mean I'm trying not to judge, but your parents obviously failed in their duties."

And you're done.

"Fuck you Virgil. Just fuck you, and your Joachim preaching bullshit. My parents were fucking great." You say and gather up your belongings (And Elana) before walking off. Virgil starts to follow you trying to apologize until he realizes what you're about to do.

You find Mara who is sitting quietly against a wall, looking at the floor.

"Come on Mara, we're leaving. We're done here." You say.
"What? Where are we going?" Mara asks.
"Dunno yet, but we're going together."
"You can't just take this child!" Virgil exclaims.
"Why not? She's an orphan right? I'm adopting her. Cuts out the need for her to even go into an orphanage."
"You…your emotions are letting you cloud your judgment! How are YOU going to take care of this child? Please, we must put this in the hands of Joachim and…"
"Mara? Do you want to come with me or go to an orphanage? If you don't want to come with me, just say so. I won't be mad." You say.

Mara is silent for a half second before: "I want to come with you."

You turn to Virgil and raise your hands.

"There's your answer." You say.
"Of course she's going to pick you, but that's not a realistic choice!" Virgil exclaims.
"How do you know that this isn't Joachim's will? You don't and neither do I. Only Joachim knows. Praise be to him or whatever it is you say." You remark and push Virgil out of the way.

You ignore Virgil's protests as you leave and make your way to the carriage station. You know you're allowed out of the city now given all the Crimson Talons are dead and the restriction for you to leave has been lifted.

You suppose you'll head to Hessla first and from there you'll figure out a more long-term plan. You just need to get out of this city, especially before you're wanted for kidnapping along with anything else the militia decides you're guilty of. You start to think about your situation and realize it's really fucking crazy. You're now a fugitive from TWO places and have little girl to look after. (And an oversized rat, but Elana is pretty self-sufficient)

Still, you're convinced that you're doing the right thing and you don't even know why. What you do know is you're going to have to step things up because it's not just you anymore.

"Hey Mara." You say.
"Yes?" Mara answers as she continues to look out of one of the windows, fascinated by it all.
"Come over here for a moment." You say pulling out your small locked container containing what's left of your savings.
"What's that?" Mara asks.
"Something I hope we can both fill up eventually. For now though, it's practice."

You pull out a lock pick.

"I'm going to teach you something useful."

[User] You time passes…

[Assistant]
Chapter 3B1: The More They Get Complicated

Year 30

A hand reaches for the pouch on your side; you grab it and open your eyes.

"Damn it." Mara exclaims.
"I keep telling you, you're not quiet enough and you make more noise than a clumsy orc. I honestly don't know how you don't get caught more often by your marks." You say sitting up.
"Well if I do, that's only because I'm doing it like how you taught me."
"If you really think that's how I've been teaching you, then you haven't been paying attention and we need to spend even more time training. What time is it?"
"Afternoon. You slept through the morning as usual."
"Sounds about right. So…early bird, what have you been up to this morning?"
"Nothing much really. Just wandering around the city and doing stuff."
"Hmm, wouldn't be with that little gang of hoodlums you hang out with sometimes would it?"

Mara does answer immediately.

"Figured." You say shaking your head.
"Why are you so against me having friends?" Mara asks.
"I'm not. I just think those idiots are a bad influence."
"You're joking right? YOU think other people are a bad influence on me?"
"Oh trust me, the irony isn't lost on me, however I would propose that I am at least a bad influence in an efficient way. You keep hanging out with that group of losers and well…you remember what happened to the Crimson Talons?"

Mara rolls her eyes.

"This isn't Klyton, and my friends aren't the Crimson Talons!" she exclaims.
"No they aren't. The Talons were more organized and they STILL got completely wiped out due to being reckless. And while maybe the Jicol Watch isn't as overzealous as the Klyton Militia, but it's only a matter of time before your friends get into a whole mess of trouble that they're going to bring down on their own heads because they think punching old ladies in the street and grabbing their coin pouches to be the height of thievery." You reply.
"Only a couple of them do that! And Marco has been telling them not to do it anymore. He said as the Black Hooks, they should be…"

You start chuckling.

"Black Hooks? They gave themselves a gang name? Oh that's precious. Truly a name that will stir fear into everyone. And you're telling me Marco is the leader? The gang already sucks."
"…why…why are you being such an asshole?! Marco's a great guy and he's trying to put it all together with my help! He's a real thief! Just like me and you!"
"PFFT!" you say with a mixture of contempt and genuine amusement.

"I've met Marco when you first introduced me to all these idiots last year and that boy is NOTHING like me. He wasn't even me at that age. And as for him being like you, I like to think I'm a way better teacher than that despite your previous criticisms."
"You don't know what you're talking about, you're just an cranky old man who doesn't want me associating with anyone except you!"
"Okay first of all, I'm only fucking thirty. Second of all I do know what the hell I'm talking about. I understand your need for friends your own age, but I'm telling you this is the fucking wrong crowd. I've seen some of these dumb asses in action when I'm going about my own business and they're all going to wind up in a bad end."

At this point you stand up and continue your rant.

"And as for Marco, of course he wants your help, because out of ALL of them, you're the only real thief there and he's hoping that at least SOME of that shit that I've taught you will rub off on him. Well that and the fact he also wants you around to get in your pants." You remark.
"Y'know, sometimes I wonder if that's why you want me around." Mara retorts.

You stop for a split second at this outrageous accusation

"Wow. You're REALLY going to go there? Y'know, if you really think that, then just fucking go. Go off with your little friends. Well? Go! GET THE FUCK OUT!" you shout.

Mara jumps back a bit by your yelling and then without another word, she leaves slamming the door behind you. You slump back down on the bed already feeling drained even though you just woke up.

Things were getting a bit tenser with Mara for a couple years now. You chalked it up to her being a teenager, but this latest argument has made you start to wonder if it's worse than just the need to rebel against you.

As you try to calm yourself down, Elana jumps up on the bed and very slowly walks over to you. You give her a pet and she curls up to sleep. She does that a lot more nowadays. She's so old, and right about now you're feeling the same way.

"(Sigh) It's really damn bad when I'm already missing the old days. Just me and sis against the world. Been downhill ever since that split. Certainly hope she's doing a lot better than I am right now."

You continue to brood, thinking about what you should have done or shouldn't have done in your life. Eventually you stop since it's not doing you any good, so you go back to sleep instead.

A few hours later you wake up and find that it's nighttime. Mara isn't home, but then maybe she won't ever come back. Still, you can't help but be concerned about her.

You can only hope that she knows what the hell she's doing and that you taught her well enough that she doesn't get caught or can get herself out of trouble.

In the meantime you decide to get some of your own work done and leave your humble dwellings to go accomplish just that.

A few days pass and Mara still hasn't come home. However, you've still been keeping an eye on her from afar. You mostly know where she is and all her hang outs. She spends most of her time in the city district where docks of lesser importance are located. It isn't the best area, but given that she's with her Black Hook friends, you assume that she at least has people to watch her back. (And you figure Marco is especially, but you'd rather not think too much about that)

As for the Black Hooks themselves, they're still pretty low as far as Watch is concerned it seems. When the city is more concerned with keeping a strong naval force to ward off any potential pirate attacks, a group of juvenile delinquents that still haven't done much more than petty theft, assault and vandalism, just doesn't rank very high.

Honestly, you're more surprised that Mara hasn't gotten bored by them all yet since you know she's a lot more talented than any of them. You know you'd be bored. Then again you suppose you just weren't very social and never wanted to hang around with too many people. Just one that you could trust.

Weeks pass and while you continue to keep an eye on her, sometimes you start to wonder if maybe you should let go. Of course if you did let go, you'd have to leave the city altogether, because you just couldn't stick around and NOT look out for her.

[User] You leave Jicol

[Assistant]
Mara is still young, but in this sort of world that's really no measure of being sheltered from the harsh realities of the world. The girl lost her mother and was mentored by a professional thief. She's probably more ready to be on her own than most her age.

You need to move on though. It's apparent that your good intensions have been less than successful. That's fine though, because you've learned that more than ever that you should only worry about yourself.

You pack up all your stuff and get ready to go. You're sure you can book passage aboard some ship heading to Hessla. Who knows, maybe you'll go elsewhere.

You get half way to the transport docks and stop. You can't leave like this. As much as it would be easier to do so, you can't. You have to apologize to Mara before leaving.

She might very well tell you to go to hell. In fact if she's around her friends, she's very likely to do that, but still you have to try.

You head down to where the Black Hooks usually hang out. These young idiots like to pretend they're all going to be pirates one day. You can only imagine how they'd really fare if they were in a pirate-dominated town like Hessla instead of this well fortified and more lawful city.

Eventually you arrive at the small beach area where there you see the "Black Hooks" all lingering under and around a boardwalk. Up to their usual bragging and bravado of course.

"And so I said to that bitch, you're either giving me your necklace, or I'm gonna take it after I cut off your fucking head! She was pissing her knickers after that hahahaha!" one of them says.
"Who's this asshole coming up?" asks one of them.
"Hey dumb fuck, don't you know this is Black Hook territory?" one of them shouts.
"Oh no…" you hear a quieter voice say and you already pinpoint that it's Mara trying to unsuccessfully hide behind a couple of her friends.

"Mara, I know you're over there, come on out, I want to talk to you." You say.
"Hey old man, Mara ain't got shit to say to you. She's with US now and she doesn't have to worry about you molesting her anymore! Now you better get outta here before we…" Marco says stepping forward before you grab him by the collar and throw him down face down in the sand as hard as you can.

Marco spends the rest of his time spitting out sand and rubbing his eyes, while his gang does nothing except look at you.

"Is that what you've been telling these dickheads? Do you REALLY hate me that much that you're going to make up stories like that about me? You know, I came to apologize and say goodbye, but if this is what you want, then fuck it. Have a nice life." You say and turn around to leave.

You get a couple steps, before Mara calls out to you.

"I never said he molested me! Why the hell did you say that?!" she says to Marco and then calls out to you "Wait! Hold on!"
"Mara, what the fuck are you doing?" you hear Marco say as you turn around.
"I'm just gonna talk to him, I'll be back."
"No! He's just gonna trick you into going back to him!"
"Marco, it'll be fine, let go of me!"
"No! I'm the one who loves you!"

"Marco, you better let her go." You say as you approach.

He isn't listening though and once again you grab him, however this time he manages to pull out a flintlock. You would have easily took it away from him had some of his boys not grown a pair and stabbed you in the side and back.

You fall to the sand making it red with your blood. Mara is now screaming at Marco to not shoot you, but he's too committed to care. He's been waiting a long time to do this to someone and it's just a bonus that it's you.

You take a shot directly to the chest and the life is already leaving your body. Marco's gang scatters at this point and Marco himself tries to drag Mara with him, but she manages to pull away until he just swears and values running from the scene of the crime more than her.

It's a shitty way to have it all end like this by some snot nosed kid and in front of another who apparently did care about you in the end as she kneels down beside you crying as you die.

You comfort yourself in your last moments with the fact that you weren't completely alone.