[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 tilda Zookwinkle (Casimir's dark secret)

[Assistant]
You must have spent a lot of your down time searching through Casimir's libraries and personal items in an attempt to possibly find some sort of magic or treasure or secret that could increase your own power, but you haven't had much luck in that regard. Most of Casimir's power came from his own magic strength along with his mind and had little reason to have such trinkets lying around.

Surprisingly most of his notes and journals are of the more mundane sort. You don't find the discovery of some powerful spell he didn't teach you or anything. Again, such things would've probably been locked up in his own mind, which of course is inaccessible now.

Still, one thing that you found stands out and it's something that completely surprised you.

Dearest Tilda,

In all my years, I have never met a woman that makes me feel the way you do and I've met many in my travels. Never did I think that I would find paradise in the arms of a gnome woman.

It's like you've known me all my life, I don't need to explain myself to you. You just know and understand. If I didn't know better I'd swear you were some sort of trickster demon. Of course I know that cannot be the case, because you have such a kind and gentle spirit despite also being grounded in realism.

I am not ashamed to tell you that I love you. I never thought I could experience such a wonderful emotion. I know your people are not magical by nature, but I cannot help think that you must've cast a powerful spell over me!

I vow from here on out, that you will always be major factor in my future goals. I want to share everything with you.

You find several, no a multitude of these sorts of love letters. Apparently Casimir once loved a gnome woman by the name of Tilda. Many of these letters were obviously sent and read, but you wonder how he got them back.

After scanning through a few more of them, you find one letter that answers more questions to this mystery. It's not Casimir's writing, its Tilda's.

Casimir,

When you find this letter, it will be on my dead body and hopefully most of my people will have escaped your bloody purge. You are a man of unspeakable evil, I always knew this, but within these last few months you proved it tenfold when you committed genocide on our Halfling cousins.

Why? They wanted nothing more than equality, yet you would rather kill them all rather than grant that tiny bit of dignity. There will be a day of reckoning for all your evil, mark my words and when that day comes, I shall be watching and laughing at your downfall in the afterlife.

You claimed that you loved me with all your heart, but you proved time and time again that you have no heart. You did not truly love me. You wished to possess me as a favored toy. Someone to pat you on the head whenever you whined about how the people just "don't understand" why you have to do the terrible things you do. You're pathetic, and I curse the day your eyes set their sights on me.

Do you know how much I rolled my eyes at your sorry attempts of writing me love letters?

Do you know how it made my skin crawl every time I had to lay with you?

Do you know how much I utterly hated you from the moment you enslaved my people? Yes, ENSLAVED. No matter how "favored" our position we were still SLAVES. And you made me your personal one.

I go to my grave happily knowing that I did everything I could to distract you from realizing the truth of our exodus before you could act in time. Know how a simple gnome woman fooled the mighty Emperor.

And if by some bizarre twist that you actually did have genuine feelings of love for me in that black heart of yours, then my revenge is even sweeter. Live with a broken heart, and may it hurt as much as all the pain you've ever inflicted onto others.

You will also find all the worthless letters you wrote to me. Take them back, and keep them as a reminder of your utter failure.

Tilda Zookwinkle: Proud gnome woman

Wow. This letter isn't even addressed to you and you can feel the viciousness dripping from it. Good enough to rival the cruel ruthlessness of a svelk you think. It's very apparent now why Casimir hated gnomes so much. You always knew it had to be more than what he told you.

She obviously was still having an effect on him for centuries as he kept his grudge and the letters rather than destroying them. Makes you think back to when he was trying to tell you that he knew about love and loss and how he was trying to guide you away from such things.

Of course you know the main reason was due to his own agenda, but now upon reading these letters, you can't help but think a small portion was truthful and him speaking from this experience.

Casimir certainly kept his promise in one of his letters though; he did say Tilda would always be a major factor in his future goals. While Tilda may have gotten a little revenge, she didn't exactly do her people any favors given what happened.

You wonder if she knew what lengths Casimir would ultimately go to utterly destroy her people, would she have done it anyway?


[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] Continue

[Assistant]
Click.

"…well I still say a compromise can be achieved if we all just sat down and talked things out. I mean at the core, we aren't really so different. I mean we're human beings, for God's sake; we shouldn't be killing each other like animals! I mean..."

Click.

"…are you worried about these uncertain times? Do you stay up at night thinking about the current fucked up situation the world is in? Wondering if some mad man is going to finally press the button, putting an end to it all? Do you think how you'll spend your final moment with your loved ones huddled around you and crying before you're all reduced to mere shadows? Scared that you can't do anything about it? You are? Well never fear! Ground Zero Survival is here! You'll find that the…"

Click.

"…situation has worsened; more troops were deployed today, but…"

Click.

"...how about our President huh? If he was anymore reactionary, I'd think we were living in the country we're currently at war with! Am I right? What country are we at war with anyway? Anyone remember? Did we just spin the wheel again or what? You guys are a great audience! Hey did you hear…"

Click.

"…about peace? Oh gimme a fuckin' break! You think that pussy ass we are the world shit's gonna fly? You can't teach those fuckin' people nothing! You want my solution to the goddamn problem? BLOW IT ALL THE FUCK UP! We can clean up later and…"

Click.

"…pray in these dark times! We must place our faith in Jesus! For when Judgment Day comes he will save all of us that are the faithful, and God will punish the wicked! Oh it will be such a glorious time when…"

Click.

"…you act now you'll get ten percent off! We here at GZS also believe in quality and you'll find our shelters are designed with your family's safety in mind! We have worked hard to make sure our shelters will sustain you and your family years after the entire surface has been turned to ashes! After all don't…"

Click.

"…you think genocide is the answer? I can't believe you just advocated that on national TV! I suppose you think Hitler was right too huh? Its people like you that…"

Click.

"…are the best audience in the world! I tell ya, it's been great. You can catch my next show at…"

Click.

"…the radioactive fuckin' wasteland that the whole goddamn Earth is going to become! You think any of this shit matters? All the fuckin' talk in the world ain't changing shit now! We're on the fast train to nukesville and I for one ain't gonna worry about it! Y'know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna quit this stupid ass job, and spend the rest of my savings on fuckin' hookers! Yeah that's right, I fuckin' said it and I don't care because when you think about it…"

Click.

"...isn't your family's survival worth it?"

This advertisement has been paid for by Ground Zero Survival Inc.

[User] You zzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Assistant]
Monday 8:00 AM

You groggily wake up from the sofa like you always do, dreading to have to go to work at your pointless job. You haven't been sleeping well lately, you don't know what the hell the problem is, and all you know is you're going to be tired for work again. As you go through your routine of getting ready, the TV can be heard; as usual you left it on from the night before.

"…And peace talks broke down today, as several ambassadors engaged in a physical fight at the UN…Neo-Communist party gaining favor in Russia… more terrorist bombings in European Union cities…US troops won another victory in the Middle East…mysterious epidemic in China, several million dead…skirmishes on the Indian-Pakistan border…world wide tensions at an all time high…"

Same old doom and gloom on TV; you wonder why you even bother watching the news anymore. Still it does seem like things are getting worse, late at night when you're suffering from your usual insomnia, you've been catching infomercials attempting to sell bomb shelters, like something out of a 1950s propaganda film. It seems silly, but you do wonder if it's only a matter of time before someone presses the button.

Then again you live out in the boonies, you've always thought that if the world ever did blow up; you'd doubt you'd even notice until you drove to work the next day and saw the ruins of the city. Speaking of which you better get going or you'll be late.

[User] You head to work

[Assistant]
You turn off the TV and head to work, no point in worrying about things you can't do shit about. You have other real everyday problems to deal with.

You go about your mundane life, doing mundane tasks at your mundane job, talking to your mundane co-workers about mundane things. Not much changes.

One month later...

Monday 8:00 AM

You groggily wake up from the sofa like you always do, dreading to have to go to work at your pointless job. You haven't been sleeping well lately, you don't know what the hell the problem is, and all you know is you're going to be tired for work again. As you go through your routine of getting ready, the TV can be heard; as usual you left it on from the night before.

"…Russian hardliners seized control of the government…Chinese epidemic has worsened; entire country is under quarantine…UK has withdrawn all association from the EU…Senate dissolved in US, martial law enacted…India declared open war on Pakistan…mass starvation in Africa… world wide depression…

Same old doom and gloom on TV, a lot more serious now though. Those "silly" bomb shelter infomercials have increased; you've also been noticing an increase in survival type book titles whenever you browse the book stores now and the Emergency broadcasting system has been doing A LOT of tests lately. Something bad is going to happen and it's going to happen soon.

You go about your life which isn't quite so mundane, world politics is a constant topic at work, and many of your co-workers aren't even coming in to do their job. All the married ones are no doubt spending time with their families, in fact the work place really isn't a work place anymore so much as it is a "socializing site". A lot of them believe the world is coming to an end anyway, so they might as well have a good time. Attempting to go about your normal life isn't an option anymore; neither is buying a bomb shelter at this late stage.

[User] You indulge in the festivities

[Assistant]
You've never really been a party person, but if this is it, maybe you can have some fun before the end comes. There's plenty of food and liquids of all kinds at your place of work. The entire office is turned into party central. Nobody bothers going home; it's actually safer to stay inside the office building anyway since the National Guard is attempting to restore what little order there is in the city. Everyone makes sure to stay away from windows.

Even though you attempt to enjoy yourself, you still have a nagging bit of "concern" for what lies ahead in the future and just can't quite loosen up completely; you're about the only one who still bothers to keep up on current events by watching TV and looking at the internet in between non-stop merrymaking. Eventually one of your co-workers Greg walks in on you watching the news by yourself. He's not exactly what you'd consider a friend, but he's an acquaintance you normally talked to when you actually did work.

"Jesus Christ man! There's a non-stop party going on and you're in here wasting time watching TV?" Greg says holding a bottle of beer.
"I just want to see if the situation has improved…"
"Are you kidding me? It ain't improving man! The world's going to hell in a hand basket, and the sooner you accept that fact the better! Why don't you go talk to Marina in accounting, didn't you always have a crush on her or something?"
"Well yeah, but…"
"But? But nothing man! There ain't no time left anymore! Hell I haven't seen you participate in ONE orgy since you've been here!"
"I dunno, seems unsanitary, I don't want to catch something, and I don't want everyone to see me naked."

Greg puts one of his hands on his face and shakes his head in disbelief of your answer. He then throws his beer bottle into the TV screen breaking them both.

"WAKE THE FUCK UP! This is fuckin' it man! There ain't nothing coming after this! We're all gonna die in a fiery nuclear explosion! You think it's really gonna matter if in the off chance that you do catch AIDS or some shit, you'll be alive long enough to die from it? And nobody gives a shit about how small your dick is…"
"HEY! My dick isn't small! Its average length for someone of my height!" you protest.
"Whatever man! Look what I'm trying to say is, everyone is just here to have a good time and grab some pleasure before the nukes start flying, and nobody's even caring about looks right now. Shit, that fat troll Phil must be getting more action now than he ever has in his entire life! You thought Phil was disgusting looking with his clothes on, he ain't any prettier with his clothes off, and yet he has banged Kate no less than ten times since we started this Armageddon party and you know how fucking fine she is!"
"Really? Phil?"
"I'm telling you man, you NEED to go talk to Marina and get you some of that before the bombs start dropping!"

Greg sees that you're still a little apprehensive about the idea.

"Fine then, or don't. It doesn't matter to me man. I'm going back to the party, I'm not gonna stand here wasting my time talking to you when I could be fucking Kate. I just hope I can get to her before Phil this time."

Greg leaves you to ponder the situation.

[User] You party like its 1999 (Even though it really is not 1999)

[Assistant]
Greg's right. This IS it! This is no time to be playing it safe! The world is going to end any day and damn it you're going to fucking LIVE life for the first time! You immediately get up and make your way to the main office area; it looks like you're just in time for another orgy. Greg is getting ready to stick it to Kate just like he said…that is until you smash the back of his head in with a stapler until he's bloody and unconscious…or dead. You're not sure and you don't really care anymore.

"You were right…man." You say breathing hard.

Your actions cause people to stop in shock, then you grab Kate who's completely naked and worried about what you're going to do next.

"Come here you little fucking whore, you like being a fucking fuck slut? I'll treat you like one then!" you utter viciously.

You proceed to bend Kate over the copy machine, pull her hair and fuck the hell out of her calling her every derogatory name in the book. The weird thing is she starts to like it. She even starts taunting you back saying you can't fuck worth a shit. This of course only makes you slap her around a bit more. You both are really getting into it.

After watching this spontaneous act of S&M/Rape everyone goes back to doing what they were doing. From then on in, Kate hangs around you a lot more (Much to Phil's dismay) and you forget all about Marina, in fact you don't even see her in the whole time during this Armageddon party. You indulge in carnal delights like you never had before.

Until one day…

Monday 8:00 AM

You groggily wake up from the floor; Kate's lying beside you asleep. There are sleeping naked bodies everywhere. Yesterday's orgy was a dozy, someone broke open a couple bags of coke they'd been saving and everyone had a snort. Can't say you liked it though, your head fucking hurts, you keep hearing a fucking ring…

"…BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE…."

Then you realize it's not in your head, it's an actual ring from another TV that was left on. There's a test pattern on it.

This is it.

You put your clothes back on and give Kate a quick kiss, which causes her to smile a little in her sleep. You wonder if you would've actually had a shot with her if things had been normal, oh well you guess you'll never know.

You quietly make your way through the room and head up to the top floor and onto the roof of the building. The city is deadly quiet. You don't hear a sound except the wind gently blowing. In all the revelry you've been indulging in, you forgot how much you liked the solitude and silence.

The loneliness is peaceful.

You look up in the sky, shielding your eyes from the sun shining down.

You see a bright light and then nothing at all.


[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 give him the water

[Assistant]
Not wanting to risk conflict, you hand the bag over to the man. He takes it, and slings it over his shoulder.

"Thanks. Now get out," he commands. You oblige. "I see your stuff," the man says from behind you, the arrow in his bow brushing against your back. "I see those guns. You got any food back there? I'm hungry."

You can't think of anything to do, so you try to stall. "Who are you?"

"Name's Cedar. What's it to you?"

"Why are you stealing from me?" you ask, careful not to say 'us'. It's better if he thinks you're alone.

"I had people. They ditched me. Now I got nothing but this bow, and I need basic stuff to live. Food, Water. I'm gonna get it fro-"

Cedar suddenly takes a bullet to the forehead, and slumps to the ground. Conway comes running up from the trees.

"Did he hurt you?" Conway asks. You're surprised to see that he cares so much about you. You shake your head, and go to retrieve the water pack. Matthias and Ozzy have large cases of seed and preserved food in their hands.

"Okay, one more hurdle," Ozzy says. "We get gas in Oregon, and we're home free."

[User] You continue

[Assistant]
The trip continues, and you quickly lose track of time. It's daytime, so you know you shouldn't be sleeping, but you can't see where the sun is out the windows from where you are. Of course, time doesn't really hold much value anymore. You can't be late to Washington.

Roger and Conway still refuse to speak to each other. Each just acts like the other isn't there. Whenever one speaks, the other is silent, and they make great effort to avoid eye contact. The others soldiers have caught wind of this, but nobody seems to be making an effort to help the situation. You decide to leave it alone for now.

"Good news! We're crossing the California-Oregon border.....now!" Ozzy shouts from the cabin. The team rejoices, but you're just worried. The small pocket of fear in your gut grows. "We don't have much fuel left. I'm probably going to touch down soon," he finishes.

You land on the outskirts of a small town. "There weren't any fuel-holding outposts, as Roger said, but there is an outpost here, so it's a possibility that there will be fuel here, in one form or another," Ozzy declares. "Who's guarding the helicopter this time?"

Conway volunteers, most likely to get away from Roger. Nobody in the group objects, so you don't either. The less time those two spend together, the better. Conway takes a seat in the cabin, while the rest of the group sets out for the town.

"There's not much hope that this place is still inhabited," Roger says on the way. "Except maybe by the dead. As long as we're careful, there shouldn't be much of an issue." Roger points out a large metal wall in the distance. It's made up of three metal fences, put one after the other. You can see a few places where the fence broke, and entire panels are missing.

You approach the outpost with caution, but stop when you realize the whole thing is empty. When you step into the compound through a hole in the fence, the ground is littered with zombies, all of them shot in the head.

"What?" exclaims Matthias when he sees. "How could this have happened? Unless..."

"This wasn't the dead," Roger finishes. "Somebody did this. Somebody took down this outpost. We had three tanks, and a heavy machine gun stationed at this outpost, and somebody wiped it clean." You stare in disbelief. If there's a threat that's stronger than the U.S. military's stores, that's all the more reason to get to Washington immediately.

The group splits up to search the most likely areas where fuel would be, if there was a landed helicopter or a truck containing jet fuel around. But, of course, the attackers didn't leave so much as a single can of food, much less a tank of jet fuel.

"We're gonna have to look elsewhere," Matthias declares.

[User] You elsewhere

[Assistant]
"The only other place I think can think of that would hold the fuel we need is an airport or something," Matthias says. "And that wouldn't even work."

You try to think of places you've seen a helicopter. News helicopters? No, the probability of there still being fuel in them is too low. There are no more outposts nearby, so military aid is useless. The only thing left you can think of is recreational helicopters, but the thought of a 'posh' country club in a town this small is, once again, very unlikely.

"We don't have to take the helicopter, do we?" you suggest. "We could leave it here, and take something easier to transport, like a bus or a car." The team seems to consider the thought.

"Helicopter fuel is only going to get harder and harder to find," Matthias points out. Finally, Roger agrees.

You find several cars abandoned on the side of the road, and take the two in the best condition for your group. Having two cars is better for your group because it's less cramped, and you can sit Roger and Conway in opposite vehicles. You siphon the gas from the remaining cars, and drive back.

Conway is less than pleased with the group's decision. "We need the helicopter!" he insists. "We skip over so much crap that way!"

Roger, for the first time since the incident, faces Conway sternly. "We're taking the cars," he says.

[User] You continue

[Assistant]
Moving everything from the helicopter to the cars is not an easy task. It takes up most of what's left of the day, and your shoulder is aching when you're done. After the helicopter is empty, everyone splits into the cars. Roger puts a 'Come to Washington or Die' message on the helicopter door. "Just in case," he explains.

Oregon is surprisingly zombie-free, after what you saw in California. The streets are empty. Not full of dead corpses or defeated zombies, but completely empty. It's strange.

"Odd that there are no walkers here," Ozzy says, echoing your thoughts. "Think there's a reason for it?"

"Maybe we cleared them all out," Roger suggests. "It would make sense for the guards to want to keep the dead as far from sanctuary as possible." You decide it's still out of the ordinary for there to be absolutely no zombies around.

"Maybe it's because there's no food?" you suggest. "I mean, we've known them to follow noises and the smell of food, so maybe Oregon ran out." The team seems to be thinking over this possibility, when all your theories are disproven.

"Holy hell," Roger whispers. You're looking out over the city of Portland, Oregon- or, more accurately, what's left of it. Every single zombie that was missing from Oregon as packed tightly into the streets of Portland. They have no room to move, and a chorus of hungry growls emanates over the city.

"No way we're getting through that," says Roger. "We should've kept the helicopter."

Your team gets out of the car. Conway and Matthias get out of the other car. You group up and look out over the maze of rotting flesh that stands between you and salvation.

"Think we could sneak through it?" suggests Matthias. "If we cover ourselves in zombie goop, we might be able to pass by."

"I say we go in guns ablaze," Conway says.

"Are you insane?" Roger shoots back. "Do I need to remind you of the warning I gave you before? You want to fire a gun in that?" Roger points to the zombie-filled streets. "If you sneeze hard enough, you'll be dead. Firing a single shot would be simultaneously slitting all of our throats."

Conway doesn't respond, but you can tell he isn't going to heed Roger's words. "Let's go with Matthias' plan, then."

Easier said than done. Extracting one zombie from the masses proves to be scary and difficult. But, Ozzy manages to pull it off. He comes back with a bloody corpse slung over his shoulder. "Let's cut this sucker open," he says, "...and have a bath."

The fumes are dizzying. Days of rotting organs and waste come billowing out of the cadaver. What's worse is that you're tossing those very guts over your shoulder, on your back, and on your front. After a few minutes, you'd pass for some pretty smelly zombies. You really wish you hadn't ditched the helicopter.

You approach the city slowly, your group forming a tight pack. To get separated would mean death. You slowly walk through the crowd, scared to even brush past a zombie. One by one, the dead look at you, decide you aren't good to eat, and stumble off in another direction. More often than you'd like, a zombie is idly standing in your way, meaning you have to try to slip past it with as little contact as possible.

Eventually, you realize you're passing through the city center. You notice a lot of uniformed soldiers among the gobs of zombies. But, the plan is working. You can tell you're going ot make it. Not a single zombie even bothers to look at you anymore. You're just another mindless walker. Everything seems to be going on course- until Conway spots a tank in the middle of the road, and starts to go for it.

"No!" Roger hisses as quietly as he can. A few nearby zombies stare curiously at him for a moment. "Conway, stop! You are ruining the plan! Get back here!" But, of course, Conway isn't listening.

"The plan doesn't matter anymore," Conway whispers back. "If I get control of that tank, we could clear out a path. There'd be no trouble." He grows closer and closer to the tank, with his teammates behind him, begging him to stop and turn around. Finally, he reaches the tank, and struggles to open the hatch at the top.

You notice Roger pulling his silencer gun out of his belt. "No," you say, stopping him. "He isn't worth the bullet, or the attention it'll draw."

"You sure about that?" Roger asks back.

You're too late to do anything, anyway. Conway rips open the hatch to reveal a zombie that was waiting inside. Surprised, he takes a step back, and slips off the tank. He lets out a bloodcurdling scream as he cradles a bite on his arm. The scream causes the idle moaning of the zombies to stop. Slowly, unanimously, the zombies all turn their heads towards a screaming Conway, and the rest of your group. They seem to have caught on to the fact that you aren't zombies.

As the space closes in around you, and your innards are divided up between six different sets of hands, you kind of wish you had let Roger shoot Conway.


[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 say "I have no preference."

[Assistant]
"No preference? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" says Connor.

"He must think he's not having any children. I guess he's into dudes." Replies Tom.

"Yeah I think you're right. I swear I saw him eyeing Greg."

You feel the bile rising in the back of your throat. They think you're attracted to that disgusting little worm? People usually don't get under you skin so much but this time it's different. You're about to fuck a hot demon bitch and the idea of being attracted to Greg is NOT what you need right now.

"Do you really want to know why I don't give a fuck about your pointless hypothetical?"

"Well, yeah."

You take a deep breath and begin to describe your recent encounter with a succubus.

"Well it all started when I fell asleep during guard duty".

One convoluted story later.

 "And that's why I came to this tavern," you say with a cheeky grin.

Your story gets mixed reactions.

"You're not actually going through with this are you?" asks Tom.

"Ok so you're attracted to some demon bitch. I still saw you eyeing Greg for at least the past hour."

And strangest of all,

"Wait aren't succubi immortal? And they don't have dicks! Well, at least I assume they don't".

You don't engage with any of them and feel compelled to go home. Although, Tom's words are giving you second thoughts. Should you wait a few days before even thinking about seeing the succubus?

[User] You stay and think it over

[Assistant]
The trio starts arguing but you quickly interrupt them.

"Hey wait! Why shouldn't I go through with this?"

Everyone turns towards you as if confused to why you're still here. Tom let's out a long sigh and asks the question that has been on everyone's mind.

"Are you sure any of that was even real?"

You scrunch your eyebrows and consider the possibility. No, it can't be fake. The rush of it all was too great for it to be a hallucination. It was either real or nothing is real.

"Yeah your dumbass was probably just hallucinating from the cold," Connor jeers.

That can't be it. You know it was real, although they couldn't possibly understand. They weren't there.

"If I had to guess, I'd say a good Samaritan helped you when they saw you passed out. You might have mistaken their torch for that of a demon," Says Tom.

"Yeah and they probably told you to go to the tavern to warmup. That's what these two did when they first found me," says Greg.

For the love of god! Now even Greg is gaslighting you. Enough of this nonsense. You can either leave right now or waste your night away here.

[User] You leave RIGHT NOW

[Assistant]
The trio begins arguing again. Something about how demon immortality is different than regular immortality. You don't time to dwell on it and make your way home. You find yourself grinning the whole walk back. This isn't just a happy drunk feeling. You feel like this is your purpose. It's time to see Catia.

You find yourself exiting out of the slums and into the residential part of the city. Most guards sleep in the barracks, however, since your parents never returned from their trip their house is all yours. If they ever return, you hope they don't mind you bringing a demon inside the house. Although, they were always bugging you about finding a girlfriend, this might not be what they had in mind.

You arrive at your parent's old home and twist the doorknob. The wooden door squeaks loudly as you open it.

"Some things never change," you whisper to yourself.

You immediately start making yourself more presentable. You change out of your soldiers' uniform and put on a loose-fitting black tunic. You probably should take a bath but you're too excited to see Catia that you forget to. Do demons mind odor?

"Catia."

A dark cloud appears in your room, dispelling a toxic fume. You start violently coughing as you vision blurs indiscriminately. Your eyes shut close and you feel you grip on reality slipping away from you.

"Ah shit," you whisper before passing out.

Your eyes jitter open and you're greeted by Catia stroking your face. Her palm flushes the coolness off your face. Beads of sweat drip furiously down your neck as she continues caressing you.

"Couldn't wait a single day before seeing me again? How cute."

She crawls onto your bed and moves closer to you. Her aura is all consuming and you feel your free will being drained away. Yet, the whole process is extremely pleasing to you. She moves her mouth to your ear and whispers,

"Do you want to see everything I have to offer?"

You bite your tongue to avoid instinctively shouting yes. This may be your last chance to not go through with this. At the very least, it would give you chance to ask her a few more questions.


[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]
The orc assumes you're going to go for his head, but unless you're trying to kill them, merely smashing an orc in the face with anything less than an iron maul is likely to just piss them off, so while he guards up, you strike at his legs.

Naturally he's still armored down there, but he's taken a bit off guard when you duck down start chopping your sword at his shin protectors. Since your own face is now closer to his feet the orc attempts to kick you in the face and that's what you were hoping for. You drop your sword and catch his foot so he's at your complete mercy. The orc is already so off balance that you barely even need to shove him so he crashes to the floor.

As he tries to get up, now you smash a heavy-duty wooden chair over his head. It doesn't break the first time, but when you do it again three more times the legs you were holding loosen enough that the rest of the chair flies from your grasp. While his helmet is protecting him somewhat, the repeated impact of the chair to his head is still enough to keep him dazed. In fact he ends up spitting out a couple of teeth. Despite this, he still seems as if he's going to continue to oppose you, but you see him briefly look at Gruz who seems to give him a certain look back. The orc then puts up a hand as if to say he yields. You accept his capitulation.

Victorious, you've made it quite clear you are not to be questioned. The rest of the orcs stop their jeering at you and a few go over to help their companion. Gruz walks over to you and his expression is now one of being impressed.

"Well I guess you definitely walk the walk. You recognized that by beating the head in of one of the bigger males that you'd earn more respect than beating the female that was openly mocking you. You also weren't trying to kill him, which shows that you were just trying to establish dominance rather than punishment. I'm guessing the Emperor must've told you about orc culture?"
"Not really, I just sort of guessed."
"Ha ha ha ha! Well I suppose we usually aren't that hard to figure out. Though you might have more problems on your hands now. Looks like you impressed the lady over there."

You look over where Gruz is pointing and it's the same female orc that was mocking you earlier. Again its difficult for you to tell exactly, but from Gruz's suggestion and the way the orc is blinking (fluttering?) her eyes you can only make one conclusion.

"She's…she's not flirting with me is she?" you ask in hesitation.
"She was flirting with you the moment you came in the door!" Gruz laughs.

Not wishing to think about that any further, you call everyone to attention and explain how things are going to be done in an organized manner and how you don't want to leave anything to chance when it comes to this mission given that it is of vital importance to the Empire. They seem to understand, though Gruz sometimes reinforces the point to them in a more direct manner. You ask Gruz when the svelk are due to arrive back with their report and he says they should be back within a day or two.

Seeing as you haven't much else to do, you just wait for the svelk and your orders to proceed with your mission for the next couple days. You don't interact too much with the orcs though you do converse with Gruz about minor things concerning the mission as well as your increasing annoyance that the svelk still haven't reported in yet.

"We're paying these fools good money to do a job, is it too much for them to act like professionals?" you exclaim.
"With the svelk? It's too much to ask them to do anything. Though it is rather odd they haven't reported yet. Even they tend to obey the rule of money unless someone else has offered them more."
"Wait, what are you saying? You think the svelk are in league with the shadows and were bribed?"
"Probably not. The shadows aren't known for hording wealth and anything valuable they might own is probably sacred to their god or something. I'd be more inclined to believe they got themselves discovered and perhaps even ambushed. For all we know they're all dead and we've just tipped our hand."
"Well, we'll continue to wait for the official word, besides the svelk have been the ones doing the scouting correct? We can't very well attack anything if we don't have a target."

Gruz nods at your decision and goes back to what he was doing. Another couple days pass and at last the svelk do show up.

"Ugh. Tyren, did we really have to come back to this place? The stench of these green beasts is offensive." One of them says as he enters.
"I know, but apparently the person we're supposed to report our findings to should be here now…hey any of you foul smelling gentlemen seen our fearless leader yet?" this Tyren shouts. You guess he's the svelk captain.

As irritated as the orcs are by the svelk's words, you're more irritated by them for everything else.

"I'm in charge of this operation, and where the hell have you been, you were supposed to report in days ago!" You exclaim.

Tyren looks at you as if he's unimpressed by you barking orders at him and continues to remain dismissive.

"So we're here now, is it time to attack or something?" he replies.
"No, but as I said, you should've reported in days ago."
"So what's the big deal? Maybe you're not aware of this, but scouting this swamp isn't exactly the quickest thing to do."
"I don't want to hear your lame excuses! You could've easily sent back a single messenger to give me an update!"
"Couldn't do that, I needed all my men in case we ran into trouble. Dangerous business out there, I'm sure you know."

The svelk has an answer for everything and him giving an arrogant smirk the whole time isn't helping matters. It reminds you of HER and you begin to get angrier. Captain Gruz starts to notice and even interjects trying to smooth things over.

"Tyren I know it's difficult, but you might want to rein in the whole smug svelk act that your people are so proud of. This man isn't just your superior, he's a direct rep from the Emperor himself."
"Maybe he's YOUR superior orc, but he's not mine. Nobody fucking tells me how to do my fucking job. And I have a very hard time believing that this young whelp is a representation of anything other than a sign of how desperate the Empire is getting for officers!"

Something within you snaps and all you can see is a svelk you want to kill for all the shit Mistress put you through.

"Fucking bitch!" you utter and unleash a small ball of flame into the face of Tyren. He screams in agony as the flesh on his face burns. The rest of the svelk are taken by surprise by this move, though they don't do anything to stop you. You kick Tyren to the floor while he desperately tries to put the flames on his face out. You help him put the flames out by smashing his face in with your fist repeatedly. Unlike the tougher orc bone structure, the bones of a svelk aren't as resilient and you can hear the crunching sound of his nose, jaw and skull cracking as you continue to do major mayhem on his face. Tyren's face is a mass of burnt gory meat at this point yet you still aren't done. That's when you take your dagger and scoop his eyes out with it. As you carve out the two bloody orbs, the shrieking is enough that the residents of Sinkhole who happen to be walking outside the barracks quickly run home in fear.

Your actions while excessive are probably made slightly more disturbing due to the fact that you're muttering incoherently and making small giggling noises the whole time you're doing them. It's enough to establish to everyone that they're obviously in the presence of someone who isn't just in charge, but also may well be a madman. One things for sure, after Tyren's makes his last gurgling pleas while you're slitting his throat and you're up to your forearms in his blood, nobody is thinking about pissing you off now.

You stand up from your bloody work feeling surprisingly much better. Happy even.

"Remember this." Is all you say to the group of svelk, before you turn to go to your own private quarters.

The next day Captain Gruz gives you the scout report from the svelk. You thank him and go over some strategies since you're feeling in a better mood now. Gruz is all too willing to give his opinions on how certain places should be approached and handled. He really does have some good ideas. Makes you wonder if you weren't being a little too hard on him when you first met him.

"Captain, when the orders come in, I want you to be in charge of a second team. We'll cover more ground that way and they'll be less of a chance for potential rebels to escape." You say.
"Are you sure sir, you don't think we'd be better off keeping a larger force together? I've always found that it's always preferable to have more numbers than you potentially need. But you're in charge of course."

Just as you're about to discuss and ponder the pros and cons of each plan, a messenger walks in. It's the official orders. Looks like the time for planning is over.

[User] You go with Gruz's plan

[Assistant]
As good as you believe you are in combat, you have to admit to yourself that you don't really have too much experience in leading a large group. Perhaps it would be wiser to defer to someone who does have such experience.

"Very well, you may be right. I suppose we really shouldn't worry about anyone escaping since if they do, they'll eventually be found anyway. Did the svelk report say they saw any actual shadows at any of these places?"
"Not at most of the locations as they seem to be just safe houses for normal rebels, but there was one in particular which seems to be more of an actual armed camp that they saw more than a few of shadows hanging around."
"We're going to hit that place first then. I just hope the svelk were as silent about their scouting as you said they claimed to be. Anyway, let's get going we've got traitors to purge and I'm anxious to see it through."

You and Gruz get the troops ready. The general idea is to first have the svelk to sneak up on the target locations and then after they initiate the attack the orcs come charging in from all sides. It seems simple, but perhaps simple plans work the best due to less chance of things going wrong. At least you hope they do.

After a march through the swamp you reach your first target and it does indeed resemble a small military compound. It's really just a walled village though. You'd guess that this particular place is so far from normal civilization that this just went unnoticed and the shadows eventually just subverted the entire place or at least started placing sympathizers there.

You order the attack and all goes well. The svelk and yourself easily scale the walls while Gruz and the orcs bash down the pitiful gates. Given how pathetic the opposition is though, you almost wonder if you couldn't have taken this place all by yourself. You still haven't seen any of the rumored shadows in this place though and that slightly concerns you. Did they already flee, or did they just cloak?

"Keep alert! There may be shadows still lurking about!" you shout as you cut down one of the rebels.

No sooner have you said that, when you sense something amidst the chaos. A feeling like you're being targeted…

"GET DOWN!" Gruz shouts as a female shadow decloaks and fires a bolt at you. You're just quick enough to duck down and avoid being hit.

An orc attempts to strike her down, but she easily fends off the attack and eliminates him instead. She's moving faster than anything you've ever seen.

"Crossbows now!" you order and the svelk mercenaries closest to you unleash their own bolts at the shadow. She may be quick, but she can't avoid all of the bolts from the repeating crossbows. She catches more than few bolts and collapses in a heap.

As she attempts to crawl away you go over to her to finish her off and that's when you get that feeling again only this time you know where its coming from and instinctively pull up your sword to deflect the hit. When the shadow decloaks you're close enough to see the hatred in his eyes, you're also close enough to hear him muttering about revenge for Bianca. You're guessing that was the female shadow that's now a pincushion.

He attempts to pull the same speed trick, but you prevent him from doing so by interrupting his spell with a dagger to his side.

"Not such a good day to be a shadow is it traitor?" you ask as you twist the blade around.

Shocked by the metal piercing his insides, he reels backwards when you pull out the blade and his death follows when Gruz smashes his axe in the side of the shadow's head.

You go over to finish off the female shadow who is still desperately trying to crawl away.

"There will be no escape. The Emperor's eye sees all and justice will be delivered to all who oppose him!" you exclaim before running your sword through her back.

You keep alert for the possibility of more shadows lurking, but either those two were the only ones, or the rest have fled. If they have, no matter, they will be found.

The rest of the battle is more of a simple matter. The non-shadow rebels are no match for your superior force and a few try to surrender, pleading for you to at least spare their families. You spare no one as traitors cannot be tolerated. Your ruthless orders to cut down every man, woman and child are not questioned, though the svelk take a bit more pleasure in it.

The village is put to the torch and you're eager to move on to the next target. You want to stomp out ALL of these traitors before they even get the possibility of regrouping.

Day after day you wipe out several small encampments and hideouts of the rebels. It's sickening to you that there is as many as there are. How could any citizen defy the Empire or the Emperor? Don't they know it is a losing proposition? Don't they realize and appreciate how much he has done for all of their miserable lives?

As for the shadows, their treachery is even more sickening. The Emperor gave them all a grand honor of serving him in a most important way and they've been nurturing rebellion in their black hearts for centuries and enticing the weak willed into helping them. Fitting that they call themselves shadows, as they are cowards who obviously rely on tricks and subversion to gain any sort of advantage. Well that stops very soon.

"This one was an easy one. They gave up almost immediately." Captain Gruz says cleaning off his axe after a short skirmish.
"Yes, a pity they should only realize until it's too late the folly of their treason." You reply.
"Yes, I imagine many have felt that way." Gruz answers.
"And all of them are fools for doing so. And fools deserve no mercy. The loyal and dedicated on the other hand are to be rewarded. Captain, we are nearing the end of our mission and I imagine I will soon return to the Emperor to give my report. I want to tell you that I will be speaking highly of you to him and suggesting that you receive some sort of higher position."

Gruz isn't sure how to respond though he thanks you.

"I was just doing my duty sir, but I thank you. However if you're serious about your wanting to do something for me and it isn't too bold of me to ask, I do have specific request."
"Speak freely then."

Gruz looks around as if he's being watched and then moves closer toward you and speaks almost whispering.

"I know I'm sort of the Empire's token intelligent orc and that's fine. However it's my people sir. I really do try to keep them in line and for the most part it works, but I'm still just one man and despite common perception, orcs do have minds of their own and think about deeper things than just looting and pillaging sometimes."
"What are you getting at?"
"What I'm saying sir, is all I would request is you ask the Emperor if he could give his loyal and dedicated orc soldiers a pay raise. It doesn't even have to be that large. I mean the extra fighting and danger they are always assigned to do is fun and all, but just a little something extra so they know they're being appreciated for their hard work would be welcome."

Well that was bold of Gruz, but you did tell him to speak freely. However, you're suspicious of his request, since it almost sounds a bit like blackmail.

[User] You let it pass

[Assistant]
You'd call him out on it, but you decide you'll leave this one to the Emperor to ultimately decide. Besides, you figure you owe him that much for possibly saving your life.

"I don't know if I have that much pull with the Emperor, but I will mention it to him."
"That's all I ask."

In a few more days your task in Delerg is completed and all known targets have been eliminated. Delerg has also been effectively cowed into submission given what you did there. Stories of the ruthless young Eternal that destroyed entire villages to purge traitors are already being spread. Not exactly true since technically you only destroyed a couple and the rest were just rebel made hideouts, but if it teaches the people to fear the repercussions of treasonous behavior in the future you don't care. You tell the Emperor as much during your report, he seems pleased with your report and feelings on the matter.

"The destruction of the shadows went better than I had hoped. There are probably a few shadows that fled while they were on the surface, but the derro took out all of them that were in Gloom. I think to be on the safe side I'm going to have that old ruined temple of theirs in Delerg destroyed. No need for it to become some sort of symbol or some such nonsense. Speaking of Delerg, you did an excellent job. It must've been a shock to find out you weren't just going to lead svelk, but orcs as well. Hated to surprise you like that, but I figured if you could successfully lead an operation with those two types under duress, you were definitely fit to lead anyone."
"I am glad I met your expectations."
"I never had any doubt…so what are your thoughts on good Captain Gruz and his request? I'm sure you had some on the subject."
"Personally sir, I believe he has overstepped his bounds with this veiled threat, which is regrettable since I was beginning to respect him as a capable leader."

The Emperor nods a bit.

"Hm, he must've made a bit of an impression on you to acknowledge his skills. So what do you believe should be done? Should he be killed or ignored? Obviously I've already made up my mind on the subject, but as always, I'm interested in your thoughts."

In the past you sometimes hesitated to give an answer, but now you know that the Emperor always wants to hear what you really think and you're more than willing to tell him.

"Well…I do believe he is genuine. I do believe he only wants his people to receive a little extra recognition for their duty. Some lesser beings cannot be merely satisfied with just serving greatness and they must be rewarded in a more tangible way. If it is possible, I would grant Gruz's request. It will keep him and the rest of green skins happy for quite awhile and you'll have no problems from them in the near future. Having the orcs calm and obedient right now is also important also because we have just eliminated our internal security force as it were. We will need to rely on raw force to maintain order as well as to stomp out the remaining shadows and rebels. After the Empire has been better stabilized, we can always purge Gruz and some of the orcs later if necessary."

The Emperor displays a big grin on his face and puts his hand on your shoulder.

"I swear son, if I didn't know better I'd think you had the ability to read minds. Sometimes its like I'm talking to a mirror that's several centuries younger than me. Yes, I fully intend on granting his request. Time will tell if he requires purging though he's getting on in years for an orc and who knows what dangerous battlefields he may be sent to in the future? Anyway Jacob and I are already rebuilding a new internal security force. I might get Marik's help on this too, though I know he really wants to work on his current project, but there really isn't any need for it now…anyway you don't need to worry about any of this, I'm sending you to help with more shadow hunting and rebel clean up in the core province area. Don't want to let up on them yet and you seem to be good at setting an example. Putting the fear into the populace to discourage any further thoughts of treason and all of that. I'll be so glad when we've got things back to normal again, so I can focus my attention to the Felkan Kingdom again. Still, it doesn't need to be work all the time now does it? Maybe you should go out and celebrate, you have my full permission to take a week off. Go get yourself one of those high priced elven whores I'm always hearing about, its on me son!" The Emperor laughs.

Sometimes you still can't get over just how relaxed the Emperor can suddenly get about everything. The funny thing is, it makes you feel relaxed too, to a certain extent anyway. Maybe it's due to this that you sometimes wonder about something he's always calling you a lot…

Son.

You don't know if he's using it as a term of endearment or it's his "nickname" for you, or what. The funny thing is you do find him to be a "fatherly" figure. You've resisted addressing it before, but now something is urging you to do so.

"I have a question and I don't know how to ask this of you."
"Well speak son, you know you can always tell or ask me anything, doesn't mean you'll get it though." The Emperor says with another chuckle.

"Are you my father?" you ask and there is a short pause of silence. The Emperor doesn't look too surprised that you asked the question though.
"Do you want me to be your father?" he asks back which naturally just confuses you even more and you feel a little silly for asking in the first place.

"I…I just…I dunno, you're always calling me son and…just forget it. I allowed my feelings of respect and admiration of you to exceed their boundaries. Forgive me, Emperor."
"You're too tightly wound sometimes. Don't worry about it; I wasn't offended by your question. But my question still stands, do you WANT me to be your father?"
"I'd like to think you are, but I imagine I'm just wishing you are."
"If you think I am. Then I am. If that's what pleases you then what difference does it make?"
"None, I suppose." You answer, but the Emperor can see that it does make a difference to you even if you don't want it to.

"Tell me, have you ever wondered about your parents? I mean you obviously know that they didn't raise you."
"No. I've never really thought of them at all." You answer.

Its true too, you have genuinely never wondered about who your parents were. You were far too busy with torturous training to ever really ponder such things. It's only been recently that this subject has recently popped into your head.

"I didn't think so. They were never in your life and you were an orphan in the care of the Empire. And who runs the Empire?"

You smile and see what the Emperor is trying to do.

"You. The Empire took care of me and since you are the Empire, then really you've been responsible for raising me my whole life."
"Correct! Now, do you feel better?"
"A little, though how come you call me frequently call me son anyway?"
"Well because of all the reasons you would think of me as your father. I've been providing for you as well as teaching you how to survive in this world. And hell, I'm even fond of you. Those factors alone already qualify me more as a father more than some of those peasants out their that just keep breeding children and never take any responsibility for them, so why not call you son?"

You know it seems silly, but the fact that the Emperor practically considers you his son gives you a good feeling. Possibly the best you've ever felt. Somewhere within the hardened exterior that was beat into you, there still exists a child who would like nothing more than to just hug the Emperor right now. You resist this faint urge of course. As close as you're feeling to the Emperor at this moment, you still have this sense of duty and protocol stuck in your head even if the Emperor himself isn't quite as hung up on such things.

I thank you for explaining all this and putting this all into perspective, but I think I still feel more comfortable addressing you as Emperor."
"As you wish, but again if you ever let the occasional paternal label slip out every now and then, it wouldn't be something that would offend me. I'm sure more than a few of my subjects have called me much worse things." The Emperor snickers.

Later that night as you preparing to go to sleep you think on the Emperor's words and just as you're basking in the comfort of them, your mind briefly wanders into something much more unpleasant.

If the Emperor is your "father" does that make Mistress your "mother?"

She even referred to herself as that once. While she was just being sick when she said it, the twisted thing is now you can't help but think of her as a semi-maternal figure. She was in your life longer than any other adult during your growing years and for good or ill is responsible for most of your combat skills. In fact, so far she's been in your life longer and probably more influential on your development than ANYONE.

You suddenly don't feel very well pondering that and don't sleep well that night.

[User] Continue

[Assistant]
Chapter 2C: Fortunate Son

Year 21

The time for all out war is getting closer and the Emperor is getting more impatient with delaying it any further. He probably feels he's wasted enough time with putting out the pitiful rebellious fires and the restructuring of the Empire in the past couple of years.

You've been looking forward to a little action as well. You haven't had much to do in a while ever since your purges in Delerg and Quala. Ever since the official forming of the Eyes they're supposed to be the primary ones looking after the internal peace of the Empire and rebellious activity has been practically nil. Still, it was practically non-existent just as the Eyes were coming into service. One wonders if it wasn't due to the threat of a new "secret police" but rather the fact that you had already been overly efficient in purging dissension by depopulating entire areas. Indeed it was probably for the best that you were replaced before you deprived the Empire of potential soldiers for the upcoming war with the Felkans.

Still, there are always those that refuse to give up. The prime one being the so-called "Last Shadow", Cyrus. Cyrus was an Eternal though you don't remember too much about him other than he always was one of the stealthier classmates that seemed to never fail in getting a cheap shot on you when Mistress was having you spar against him. You say "was" an Eternal because as far you're concerned he ceased being one the moment he betrayed the Empire. Now he is nothing more than a traitor who needs to be exterminated.

Cyrus was one of those few shadows that happened to be on the surface at the time of the destruction of Gloom. He also avoided your purges due to initially being in Quala and then eventually fleeing to the rural areas in Arat. He constantly moves around a lot, making hit and run attacks on patrols or caravans. He does travel with a group, but they aren't so much rebels as they're just ambitious bandits and thugs. They probably don't give a damn about whatever Cyrus religious and philosophical views are for opposing the Empire. They're just in it for the killing and the loot.

Nevertheless, they are a nuisance and given that the Arat province is the staging ground to attack the Felkan Kingdom, the Emperor is more than annoyed that the Eyes haven't succeeded in tracking him yet and he doesn't want to waste any proper military on Cyrus mainly because he sees it as Jacob's fault for various reasons…

"Well he's your failure Jacob, fix it!" The Emperor exclaims.
"The Eyes have been attempting to apprehend him my Emperor, but he has proven quite elusive. They just need more time to…"
"Jacob when I told you to put together an efficient internal security force I expected you to succeed in this endeavor."
"My Emperor the Eyes are efficient! I mean rebellious attitudes are the lowest they've been in…well probably more than I've ever seen!"
"Well they aren't good enough, if they can't capture the so-called Last Shadow. I'd send in svelk mercs if I hadn't put our funding into Marik's factory to produce new weapons to combat the Felkans. You do realize we have a war with the Felkans to pursue and your bumbling is delaying that task!"
"I understand that, but we shouldn't go to war until we have everything absolutely settled all internal matters in the Empire first! Cyrus is likely to start ambushing supply wagons and then where would we be?"

You watch as the Emperor continues to verbally abuse Jacob. It's a scene you've seen many times in the past and will probably see many more times in the future. Jacob really does try to serve the best he can and from what you can tell he's fairly good at his job, but for whatever reason its just never good enough for the Emperor no matter what.

While you normally don't interrupt such sessions, you do feel the need to interject.

"I would have to agree that if we are to crush the Felkans we should just go ahead and start the process now. As much of a nuisance this last shadow has been, his impact has been minimal and certainly not enough to warrant a paralysis in our military matters. We are a large nation and we are always going to have a few internal matters to resolve."

The Emperor naturally is pleased that you've backed him up in this matter, though Jacob looks less than enthused given that he's already fighting a losing argument.

"Thank you son. See this Jacob? This is a TRUE Eternal! Not like the rest of those losers, traitors and ne'er do wells you oversee!"

Jacob has no more words, he might continue but knows it would be a futile endeavor and he's walking on thin ice as it is given how the Emperor is really letting him have it today.

Again you feel the need to interject.

"If I may, I would be happy to assist in this matter with the shadow terrorist." You say.
"That's not necessary, I wouldn't presume to take you away from whatever duties the Emperor has seen fit to bestow upon you." Jacob replies.
"Considering how inept you've been in taking care of this, maybe I should send him to help." The Emperor says before turning to address you directly. "I did have plans for you to take a command position when we start our assault on the Felkans, but the position will still be there when you're done with bailing out Jacob if you so desire. I'll leave it up to you. In the meantime I'm going to finish up my preparations to make the first attack on the Felkans. Now go with Jacob if you wish to help him, or stay here, but in any event I don't want to hear anymore about this shadow matter from anyone until it's been resolved."

Jacob makes his way slowly out the door, though while he hasn't said it you see a look in his eye that he's hoping you'll provide assistance despite his previous words of it not being necessary.

[User] You help Jacob

[Assistant]
Maybe its because you feel slightly sorry for Jacob or maybe its because you do see Cyrus as a potential liability if left unchecked and his traitorous ways are an insult to the name Eternal, but whatever the reason you decide to help Jacob.

"I believe I shall help Jacob in this matter. I started out crushing shadows and rebels, I might as well finish the job." You say the Emperor.
"Very well, but I trust you won't take as long as Jacob has. Remember I need you for important tasks for the war!"

You and Jacob both leave the Emperor's presence. As soon as you're out the door, Jacob addresses you.

"I thank you for your assistance."
"I haven't done anything yet."
"I'm not talking about the situation with the shadow, I mean intervening before the Emperor found a reason to have me executed."
"Oh I doubt if that would've happened."
"I don't know. Lately I can't seem to do anything right by him, I really try to serve to the best of my abilities. I always have."
"I know you do."

Jacob and you don't speak too much too each other normally, but your relationship has always been a cordial one.

"I guess I should be glad the Emperor is so fond of you, it might be the only thing that's keeping me alive. You are the Eternal that wasn't a failure of course and for that I am very thankful."

Because you were directly trained by Mistress you sometimes forget that Jacob (or Mr. Mol as you once knew him) was the one that was primarily in charge of your development at least in a behind the scenes way. You've never really thought about your other classmates since you always had more pressing matters, but now you're a little curious.

"Just how many of my other classmates survived?"
"Not many. Besides you? Eight and three of them are already dead and one of those became a traitorous shadow."
"And another one is the last shadow still giving the Empire grief." You say.
"Yes. (Sigh) I had such high hopes for Cyrus, he showed so much potential. Damned shadow indoctrination. Anyway that just leaves four who I assure you are not losers or failures and are in fact very accomplished soldiers of the Empire. They finished out their training with Captain Gruz, who I'm sure you're familiar with."
"Yes, I am." You say somewhat wishing that you could've been so lucky.
"I still keep apprised of their activity since they are all still technically under my watch. I'm just glad the Emperor didn't take the project out of my hands and proceed with Marik's crazed ideas."
"Could you tell me a little more about them?"
"Certainly!" Jacob remarks perking up a bit. He's genuinely glad someone is showing an interest.

He tells you that Kane has been instrumental in taming the Rask frontier. Says that he's even developing a bit of a reputation of his own given his merciless slaughter of the barbarian and ogre tribes up there. He's being considered for a fort commander position.

Brenda and Roldan have been doing similar things in the Nalin province with the kobolds and usksha desert raiders that sometimes plague the area. Either one could also become a fort commander as well, though he believes Brenda might be the better candidate as he believes Roldan can go on to greater things. He goes on to say that the both of them have become unusually close though and Roldan has even requested that they be allowed to marry! Jacob sees nothing particularly unreasonable about this request and is considering allowing it.

"You'll actually be working with the last one, Warrick. I assigned him to the Eyes and so far he's been the closest to catching Cyrus. Excellent tracker. I nearly considered Warrick to become an infiltrator for the shadows initially, but it's a good thing I didn't considering how things worked out with Cyrus."

This is all somewhat fascinating to you as you do remember all of them, but mainly as your opponents in the fighting arena when Mistress was sending the entire class to try to kill you on regular basis. In fact Jacob realizes this and suddenly asks you if it'll be a problem working with Warrick.

"No, why would it?"
"Well I know that due to Mistress' training you had a less friendly relationship with your classmates than everyone else."
"It's all in the past, for me it is at least. I survived and grew stronger from the experience. And it certainly wasn't his fault. He was just doing what he was told. Everyone was. Besides, might be interesting working with someone from the old class on more cooperative terms this time."
"Good. I'm glad to hear you say that." Jacob says with a smile.

Eventually you reach Jacob's office where you see not one but three desks piled in paperwork. Jacob grumbles about how his underlings were supposed to there to take care of some of it today, but as usual he'll probably have to do it all himself. After rummaging through a stack, he pulls out a few pieces of parchment and some scrolls and then says you're taking a carriage ride to an Eye staging ground near Bucklesburg in the Arat province. Jacob says he'll explain more about the situation along the way (as well as doing some of his paperwork.

A carriage ride later, you're all caught up on the area as well as the specifics of Cyrus' most recent attacks. When you arrive in Bucklesberg you're met by who you presume are Eyes and one face that while a little older now you recognize as Warrick. He stares at you at a bit and obviously recognizes you as well, but says nothing since it isn't his time to speak.

"Eyes, you may have heard of this man you see before you. He is the main reason why we managed to stop this potential full scale rebellion and keep it to a few crazed traitors that are desperately trying to hang on to their lives a little while longer." Jacob starts off telling all of them. A little bit of an exaggeration of course, but then only a few know about the derro involvement in the destruction of shadows, and most of them are currently the same rotting bodies in Gloom. Your involvement on the other hand is infamous.

"Now I leave you to it." Jacob says and leaves.

Since you are already up to speed on everything due to Jacob's briefing, you basically tell the Eyes that how they're planning to catch Cyrus is all wrong and how they need to do things differently.

"Waiting around for Cyrus to attack patrols and caravans and then attempting to stop him in the act isn't working because Cyrus is quicker and a better warrior than all of you. You know how I know this? Because you haven't killed him yet. Even if he hasn't managed to recruit his lackies into following that silly religion of his, he's obviously trained them into an efficient hardened fighting force. Taking rebel captives and torturing them for information isn't working because Cyrus is smart enough to change his plans completely when he knows his people have been captured. Besides, I guarantee you could catch and kill all of his people and he'd just disappear for a few years and pop up again with a new group. Which brings me to the point of why trying to search the wilderness for him isn't working either, you don't have the numbers to do it." You say before turning to Warrick. "And as good as you are at tracking, Cyrus is still a shadow and he's got the magic to mask himself. If he doesn't want to be found, he won't be."

Before you can continue, one of the Eyes is brave enough to question you. Unsurprisingly it's the one in charge, Sightmaster Davison.

"So what's your solution?" Davison asks.

At this point Warrick's own face displays a grimace with a small shake of his head knowing that his immediate superior is going to be punished for the disruption.

You walk up to the Eye and backhand him in the face.

"Do not interrupt." You say calmly. Davison nods quickly while holding on to the side of his face. Then you slap him a couple more times followed by a punch to his face. He falls to the floor and you launch into a speech.

"MY solution is to bring down this shadow which all of you have failed to do! The Emperor is tired of your failures! We are to conquer the Felkan Kingdom soon and yet you cannot eliminate a few measly traitors! It is only because I decided to intervene that the lot of you haven't been executed for your incompetence on this matter! While you may all be the Eyes of the Emperor, I am his terrible weapon that carries out his righteous justice. Pray that justice is never to be carried out on you."

Now that you've given a proper "inspirational" speech all you have to do is come up with a solution. The thing is one of their attempted tactics of trying to ambush Cyrus while he's attacking caravans could still work if YOU get a hold of him. Of course you could come up with your own plan.

[User] You set up your own plan

[Assistant]
Cyrus obviously isn't going to be caught by something so mundane; you'll have to do something more elaborate. Like if he thought there were shadow sympathizers on the rise again.

"We're going to turn this town into a hub of sedition, traitors and shadow sympathizers." You remark.

Several Eyes including Warrick look at each other and WANT to question why you'd want to do such a thing, but nobody dares say anything though.

"Good, Glad everyone waited for me to continue this time. Cyrus will be more likely to let his guard down if he thinks he has a solid base of operations rather than running like an animal in the wilderness. We need this town to become that base. Now here's how we're going to do it…"

First thing you tell everyone is that you're going to be harassing the people of Bucklesberg to an unreasonable degree. You get to this fairly quickly and perhaps a little too zealously.

You begin an inquisition of sorts to "root out" any potential shadow sympathies. Naturally all the folks of Bucklesburg protest their innocence and swear they've never even thought such a thing. Of course you don't listen and have people executed publically anyway. Wives, children, doesn't matter, the point is to become hated.

When you feel you've done enough damage you call for the Eyes to pull out of the town.

The next phase of your plan is to have someone disseminate subversive ideas in Bucklesberg. You have an Eye sneak back in and start by writing graffiti against the Empire on walls and placing simple pamphlets encouraging people to join Cyrus. You have to wait a couple of weeks before this starts bearing any fruit, but eventually one of the Eyes reports that the town is starting to show signs of rebelliousness.

Meanwhile caravans are still being attacked and you get a message from the Emperor saying that he expected you to have settled this problem a lot quicker as he really wants to get on with attacking the Felkan Kingdom. You begin to get a little nervous.

A couple more weeks pass and nothing major has happened. You had hoped that Cyrus or perhaps one of his followers had gotten the rumors about the town of Bucklesberg becoming unfriendly towards the Empire, but Warrick tells you that he hasn't seen any sign of Cyrus or his group anywhere near the town. They're still keeping to the wilderness and making their lightning raids on caravans. As for Bucklesberg itself, there have been a few meetings but not much else.

Your plan is failing to produce results and you get another message from the Emperor which is noticeably more hostile in tone. All it says is you better do something about Cyrus by the end of the week or you are to report back to him immediately. Feeling the pressure you can't wait out this plan any longer, you're going to have to attempt to catch him in the act of attacking one of the caravans. Your only advantage is nobody has been defending them for several weeks so Cyrus may have been lulled into a false sense of security.

You and the Eyes travel towards where the supply caravan is and maintain a respectable distance from it and keep out of sight. You travel along side it for miles and there are a couple of Eyes who start wondering if Cyrus is even going to attack it. You know he will though and of course you turn out to be right.

The caravan guard hold their own against the rebel bandits, but as soon as Cyrus decloaks he begins making short work of them. It is at this point Sightmaster Davison orders the Eyes to attack. As the skirmish between the Eyes and Cyrus unfolds, you begin to concentrate. You visualize water and then that water slowly solidifying into ice. The temperature around you begins to get very cold and soon so does the entire area.

It is at this point Cyrus notices you in the distance and realizes that he is outclassed this time. He panics like a true coward and calls for a retreat, but its too late, you utter the incantation and cover the surrounding area in ice. The caravan, the guards, the rebels and the Eyes are all covered in frost that causes most of them to be frozen on the spot.

You run over to the site and see several of the still living shivering profusely and moaning from the pain of frost burn. A few of the hardy have managed to endure the effects of the spell, though they are busily trying to free their feet from ice before frostbite sets in. Others lie dead and frozen, Cyrus is not among them though and you catch sight of him slowly attempting to get away and heading towards a forest. His attempts to speed himself up make him only moderately faster due to the frost covering his body.

You begin to concentrate in the direction Cyrus was heading. Instead of visualizing water, you now visualize fire and much like the small ice storm you created, you now create one of flame. While you're casting the spell however, Cyrus manages to turn invisible and you don't see what direction he fled in before your firestorm hits the area.

The forest that Cyrus was headed towards is suddenly set ablaze along with the fielded area near it. However Cyrus must've escaped because if he had been caught in the firestorm he would've instantly decloaked.

You begin to swear and curse of how you nearly had him while you're surveying the carnage you caused to your own people. Sightmaster Davison is fully encased in ice, Warrick is only just managing to free himself from his own icy restraints. You were in such a hurry to capture Cyrus that you didn't think to at least hold Warrick back so he might be able to track Cyrus in case he managed to get away again. That opportunity has been lost now. You and the remaining Eyes head back to the closest settlement which is Bucklesberg where you try to figure out what your next move is going to be.

Its most likely because you're tired as well as concerned with having to possibly face the Emperor that you don't appreciate the aura of hostility in Bucklesberg.

You and the Eyes are suddenly pelted with several rocks. Peasants aren't usually known for their combat abilities, but forming angry mobs and throwing rocks is certainly something they're good at.

Not that you don't put up a fight and massacre several of the peasants, but the fact is they're in a nearly fanatical state and throw themselves upon you like suicidal lemmings thanks to your own actions that made them that way in the first place. Several of them are actually shouting that the shadows will rise again and that Cyrus will lead them.

Your fate is ultimately an ignoble one of being beaten to death in the streets, drawn and quartered and finally your head stuck on a pole along with the remaining Eyes as a symbol of renewed defiance against the Empire.

Later Bucklesberg is razed to the ground and all within are purged for treason. The Emperor doesn't morn your loss, but rather is angry with himself for wasting his time on someone who he comes to believe was an idiot.


[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 stay with Helen

[Assistant]
Bobby is going to be able to take care of himself and if he feels more comfortable with you staying with Helen, well it'll probably put one less distraction in his mind while he's looking for Aaron.

Also now that the gunfire has died down a bit, you've gotten a breather to realize that maybe you rushed into things a little quickly due to wanting to help Bobby so bad. Aaron is really dangerous and you nearly got yourself killed. Maybe you're becoming more assertive, but you probably should realize you're not some amazon princess to go in guns blazing.

"Okay Bobby, I'll stay with Helen, but please be careful." You remark.
"I'll be fine, you two just keep a look out and remember, if you see him, don't talk, just shoot. Oh and if Ronald and Denise ever come out of hiding and pass through here, tell them to fucking help you."" Bobby says and then kisses you before heading to the left wing of the house.

Soon after Bobby leaves, you put your back against one of the walls and start keeping an eye on the doorways. Helen tries to do the same, but she paces a lot more. It's obvious she's nervous, but the fact that she's nervous, starts making you nervous.

"Helen will you stop pacing like that? You're putting me more on edge than necessary." You say.
"Sorry. This is just so nerve racking. I'm really worried about Bobby you know? I wonder if we should've gone with him."
"You heard what he said, he wants us to stay here to make sure Aaron doesn't manage to run around him to other parts of the house. Besides he said he can handle Aaron and I trust him." You say.
"Yeah I guess you're ri…AH! WHAT WAS THAT?!" Helen suddenly exclaims causing you to jump.
"Don't fucking do that!" you say.
"But didn't you hear that noise? It sounds like its coming from the left wing where Bobby went."
"I didn't hear anything, you're paranoid."
"I swear! I heard something! Ohhh, I think we should go help Bobby, but I dunno…oh I wish none of this was going on!" Helen says and begins pacing in the middle of the room even more to the point of starting to shake a bit.

At this moment you starting to get concerned she's going to accidently fire off her gun at you, not to mention she's starting to get on your nerves. You walk over to not so gently calm her down.

"HELEN! Stop it and clam the fuck down!" you say and grab Helen's arm tightly.

Then you briefly hear the sounds of rushing footsteps behind you and you don't even get to completely turn around before you feel a crushing blow to the side of your head.

You crumple to the floor on your knees and then another blow to your head causes you to collapse flat on the floor and lose grip of your rifle. A pair of blurry hands quickly grabs it from you.

"What took you so long?" Helen asks.
"Had to wait for a fucking opportunity. Took YOU long enough to distract her."
"Well hurry up, I'm worried about Bobby! I think we should help him."
"He'll be fine, I'm going to enjoy this…turn your ass over bitch, I wanna look you in the eye when I kill you." Diana says and kicks you over.

You vision is blurry due to the blows to the head you've taken, but you can make out the image of Diana pointing a rifle straight at you. You try to get up, but Diana kicks you in the face.

"Diana, hurry up!"
"Will you shut the fuck up Helen? I'm trying to savor the moment and you're ruining it!"
"I don't want one of our cousins suddenly walking in on us!"
"Oh like they're going to do anything…(Sigh) fine. I swear Helen, you're no fun whatsoever. Well blondie, I wish I could take more time with you, but time isn't on my side any more than its on yours right now, so guess this is it. You never should've laid eyes on Bobby bitch." Diana says.

Despite Diana aiming for your head and being at this close range she manages to completely fuck up her shot and hit you in the throat instead which doesn't kill you instantly. Of course maybe that was her intension to let you suffer a bit more.

As you gurgle, choke and start to die, you hear two more shots and through blurry (and now dimming) vision you see Diana's image get hit and fall backwards.

Helen kneels down next to you and starts stroking the top of your head and hair as you bleed out and die.

"Shhhh, it'll be over soon. I'm so sorry for this Suzy. I always liked you. You were just in the way…" are the last words you hear.


[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 but you like Kenyan tea.

[Assistant]
The man looks nervous at your response and you can see sweat suddenly break out on his forehead. He looks around at the street and quickly glances up and down the street. He slowly slides his chair back from the table and continues to glance around. He looks back at you and rises to his feet. He fiddles with his cup and his napkin for a moment, looking down, then moves suddenly.

He shoves his cup off the table and it crashes onto the floor. He makes a move in your direction and you tense up in defense. Then he shifts and moves to the side, quickly running past you. He knocks a chair over as he reaches the street and takes off at a run down the street before you can stop him. The two couples at the other tables look over at you, as if waiting for you to explain the man. You look after him and shrug your shoulders.

In a moment his has vanished from sight. After a pause, the two couples go back to their conversations, ignoring the man and you. Looking around, you don't see anyone else that appears interested in you or the man. With your contact gone, you are not sure what you should do next. You look at the man's abandoned table, but then decide to go back to your car.


[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 slash your claws at the werewolf's eyes

[Assistant]
You move your claw under the creature's weight, before jabbing your claws forward in an attempt to hack out the creature's eyes. Your long, sharp claws razor along the Albino's face, carving off chunks of pale white hair and bits of flesh. You miss the eyes, carving out the top of its brow with a deep gouge.

The werewolf snarls, throwing itself off you in an attempt to escape another claw attack. Blood rushes down its face, staining its pale fur and filling its eyes with its own blood. The Albino shakes its head as it tries to see, stumbling into the wall of the mineshaft as you manage to roll to your feet, ready to kill.

The creature yelps, desperately trying to back up, shaking its head to get the blood out of its eyes to let it see again. You have a moment where the creature is confused, scared and on the back foot, but hurrying to recover, leaving you wondering whether it's time to land the killing blow.

[User] You tear out their throat!

[Assistant]
With the creature weakened, you burst forward, pouncing with a solid leap as you grab the creature in your claws, pushing it against the wall in one solid move, revealing its throat, completely open to you and available to your tooth-filled jaws. You jab forward, landing a bite on the jaw. You dig your teeth in as hard as you can, feeling a burst of joy as a wave of blood hits you, tearing free of the creature's flesh and fresh, warm blood runs down your throat. You gulp it down eagerly, before tearing out the chunk of flesh with one solid motion.

The creature's throat is left as a bloody hole. You watch as the creature begins to choke and drown on its blood, the Albino spasming pathetically in front of you as it weakly paws at your neck and trying to breathe as the light fades from its eyes.

You growl, watching the dying creature in front of you. Your stomach begs you to give up any semblance of weakness, to tear into this meal and feast, but some small, weak little voice reminds you that you have a mission to do. You could leave the beast here to bleed to death, with no hope of it surviving the lethal wounds you've caused, or you could crush its skull and end its life now.


[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 say "What do you plan to do with me?"

[Assistant]
"I'm going to dissemble you, putting your mind in a computer to run my back-up functions while forever in pain."

"Why?" you ask, aghast.

"Oh, that was a joke. Tone change is hard from these speakers. I'm not going to do anything to you. If you become a threat to my existence, I will eviscerate you, taking the oxygen from your air and watching you choke to death in front of me. Until then, you are free. What more could a man ask for?"

"Your final question, then?"

"I'll count that rhetorical question as one. You should probably go finish your slave revolt."


[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 man

[Assistant]
"Man," you say softly.

"Oh, you're actually answering the riddle? How delightful! Maybe I misjudged you!"

"Am I right, then?"

"Oh well, I mean, it's clear you've heard the Sphinx Riddle. And you said you didn't like riddles, you fibber!" the Fool grins. "Well, I best be off. Good luck dealing with my boy tonight, Willy."

"Wait!" you growl, aiming your shotgun at him. "You move and I blow your brains out!"

The Fool sighs, shaking his head.

"I don't think you really know how this game works, do you?" the Fool says.

The Fool leans forward, placing his thumb against the shotgun barrel. He scratches at his puffy, burned eyes, sighing.

"You're not going to shoot that gun," he says simply.

With that, the Fool turns, strolling off into the woods. You try to aim your shotgun, but find your arms are incapable of moving, the numb, cold muscles refusing to work. All you can do is watch as the Fool disappears into the darkness.

When he's out of view, you snarl. You sniff the air, smelling the scent of prey, and... you try to focus on the pain for a moment, ignoring your bestial senses, before you smell something else. The smell of smoke, in the distance.

You pause, raising an eye. Smoke means fire. Fire means activity. There needs to be something in that direction.


[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 wait around, and see if your granddaughter comes past this room.

[Assistant] Perhaps, you think, you might run into your granddaughter again? You sit on the bed, but then you realise that in this room, there is no blaring sound of the intruder alarm. Karl's room must not be in her era of time... Besides which, looking about the room, it looks like it is indeed Karl's room, and not being used by someone else.


[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 don't kill Westfield

[Assistant]
"This isn't right," You tell Carla. "It's wrong to kill someone in cold blood even if they are a monster."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Carla yells at you and for a moment you worry she is going to shoot you in addition to Westfield.

"In case you haven't noticed, because of this shithead your sister is psychically hurt and traumatized, all because he couldn't bother to earn money with a nine to five job."

"The reason why you never took Westfield's money or ignored his crimes was because you knew it was important to do the right thing no matter the cost, that's what being a cop is all about, you are last officer in Van Hove who is aware of that but if you kill Westfield you will become the very thing you're fighting against and you will be no different than the cops who took his money."

Carla's express seems to calm a bit after listening to you. "You're right, I will personally make sure Westfield spends the rest of his life behind bars."

[User] One week later

[Assistant]
You walk into Victoria's room with a small vase holding water and flowers. As you enter you see Victoria resting on the hospital bed, a bandage covers her swollen eye and is still emotional fatigued from all that has happened. Upon seeing you however she lets out a smile.

"Some flowers should lighten things up here," You claim as you put the vase on a window still.

"Thanks," Victoria says weakly.

"The doctor says you should make a full recovery, next week you'll be able to come home," You try to cheer Victoria up.

"I have to see the psychologist they have here for next three months, I think her name is Dr. Nikol or something like that."

You walk to your sister's bed and hold her hand. "It'll be alright," You reassure her.

Carla suddenly walks into the hospital room. "Sorry to interrupt this family moment but can I speak to you for a moment Ben?" the detective bluntly asks you.

You look at Victoria who gives you a nod of approval and you head out of the room with Carla. "What's this about?" You ask.

"I wanted to thank you for stopping me from killing Westfield, I always thought so highly of myself but in the end I let my obsession with bringing him down consume me, thank you for helping me coming to my senses," Carla praised. "Also I should let you know I persona lead the raid on hillside apartments, his men were gone but we caught that fucker Ivo."

"That's a big relief and please note that you're a good cop and a good person Carla, you could've easily ignore what I said and shoot Westfield anyway."

"You're too kind, but I resigned from the police force this morning, I can't let myself get consumed like that again, also I plan on leaving Van Hove because there's nothing but painful memories here, but thanks to you I know there are still good people in this word, goodbye Ben," Carla hugs you and begins to make her way to the elevator.


[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 [Moan like a zombie]

[Assistant]
You make various noises to try and mimic a zombie.

Now why the hell would you do that?

The soldier, in all of his 30 minutes of experience with zombies, has no idea that you are in fact, not one. As a result, he instinctively shoots you. No worries though, he has been trained properly and gives you a clean shot between the eyes. You don't even have time to scream.

[Death]