[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 enter the Zealot HQ.

[Assistant]
As you warily near the steel entrance to the Zealot headquarters, David taps on your shoulder, silently beckoning you to follow him. You comply, and follow your ghoul to around the building, where, after going up several flights of metal stairs (making as little noise as possible), you find a molding wooden door, a nice change from the ugly metal and concrete which make up the rest of the City. Of course, aside from giving you a vague feeling of deja vu, it's also gives you an easy opening. David motions toward it. Now let's make some noise.

You remain careful in your last moments of anonymity, you try the golden knob- locked. Not wanting to jam it accidentally, you settle for setting up a roundhouse kick-- you twist your body, hold for a forceful kick, and push.

The power of your kick rips at the wood, leaving a splintered hole in the door's midsection, big enough for you to swiftly roll under-- David following. Inside, you find several Zealots playing cards around a round table. They are visibly stunned, and gape at you and your ghoul.

"David?" One asks, jumping up from their seat. Not cutting them any lack, you run at the Zealot, decking him to the floor with a solid punch. David takes on another, kicking him from the side, toppling him and his metal chair over. With only two left, you quickly claw at the one holding his hands up, splashing the table with his blood. With your claws entrenched in the Zealot neck, you fling him at the other the one. He flies, and with another clang the other one catches him, only to topple over as well. You quickly finish off any of them even barely conscious, clawing at their throats for edible parts. After grazing, you begin to hear footsteps. Can't waste time.

"Where's the chief?" You roar, energized from the scuffle. David eyes bounce from each of the three doors connecting to other parts of the building, struggling to remember.

"I'm the 'Chief', demonspawn." The door to the right opens, and there stands a tall, unusually garbed Zealot. Like most, he's tall, easily more than six feet and with navy blue armor with yellow lining, rather than the customary black and blue. He wears no mask, though his neck seems to be heavily guarded. Smart, but useless in my current state. "Vampire, we knew you'd come, but we didn't expect you to corrupt one of our own," he glares at David, and readies a gleaming silver sword, "Nor for you to attack us when we least expect it. But no matter, you both will die where you stand, for you deserve no mercy in this world."

Your ghoul points at him, "Yes, that's Katar, we need to be careful with him though..." You nod, wondering how the best way to approach the enemy would be.

[User] You angrily lash out at him as Kelso taught you; end the fight quickly.

[Assistant]
Barely letting him finish his speech, you lunge-- bringing the heel of your palm down near his jaw, only for him to deftly dodge out of the way. He shuffles several meters to the right, and raises his sword. He points at you, "By God's glory, the dead will stay dead tonight." Quickly, he swipes with his blade, you dodging it by as little as a hair. You continue to bend your spine in ways you never imagined you could, but remain on the offensive by clawing at him at every chance you have.

You send a kick at his shin-- causing his knees to bend, and  charge him with all your body force, screeching and yelling like a cat. You lay on top of him, and begin mercilessly pounding his bearded face, before he manages to separate you and him just by his sword-- which you angrily rip out of his grip, only for it to clumsily flip and cut into your forehead. He takes advantage of this and kicks you off, coughing out blood and quickly running for his sword. You try to reach for it, to no avail. David, now certain you need his help, jumps on Katar's back, trying to strangle the elite Zealot. Even with David on his back, he's able to stab you with his sword while you're still baffled as to why you're not regenerating your wounds properly. The cold steel hacks at your bones, and you begin crying out in pain while the holy man continues to mock you. Once you're incapacitated, the now ear-less Karat flings David off of him, and beheads him in front of you, the glum expression ever-present on your ghoul's head. He doesn't even need to finish you off, and you feel your energy being drained out.

On the plus side, you did manage to end the fight relatively quickly.

You have been killed by the hands of the Church.


[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 damn waiting in fear. You'll tear this kingdom down, and the people will help you do it.

[Assistant]
You look at the corpses you just created and release a heaving sigh. There's not much else you can do now. The king will have your head for this either way, so you figure you might as well take more than a handful of knights down with you. This is the dumbest thing you've done in a while, and you've done a lot of dumb things in your life.

You load the corpses up into the carriage they came in, then hurry back into your house to retrieve your sword and get into some more fitting traveler's clothes. As you stride through the halls of your home, the servants watch you warily, as if fearing that they may meet your blade next. You ignore them, ascending the stairs to your master bedroom and begin loading up. Once you're all done, you flip your cloak over your shoulder and walk out the door. The nearest town, a large village by the name of Everseed, is about half an hour away by horseback.

Taking a seat in the carriage, you kick the horses in gear and ride to the town. The ride down the country road is quiet and peaceful, the best that can be expected. You know that it will be the last time for a while you get to relax and unwind.

When you arrive in town, you stop the carriage in the most active place in town; in this case, the market. The people watch you curiously as you step off the carriage and approach a fountain in the center of the market. There, you raise your voice and speak, "Everyone! My name is Sir Kit of Droburg, the man who slayed the vile wizard that plagued our lands twenty years ago!" This gets all eyes on you as you approach the back of the cart again.

"And these," you pull the cover of the cart off, revealing the three dead knights to the people. They gasp in shock, some moving to weapons in case they need to attack you. "These are three knights that the king sent to kill me. The lengths this man has gone to, trying to kill a hero such as myself. What has our kingdom come to?" You're bending the truth, a lot, but these people are eating it up. The villagers that went for weapons are looking furious, while the others left unarmed grab for makeshift weapons as well.

"That bastard king! He's been taxing us so hard we barely have enough to pay for food!" one villager pipes up from the crowd.

"He drafted my son into the war and he died! My boy was only 15!" a woman cries out.

"He's been doin' nothin' but tearin' us down and buildin' himself up!" a farmer yells from the back.

"And now, my friends, he's trying to kill the last true hero in this kingdom. A man like this must be stopped, once and for all. For the true Kingdom of Oren, we must eliminate this tyrant!" you shout, and the crowd answers with cheers and battle cries. Now, you have an army. You're not sure how this will end, but wherever it leads, the kingdom will be changed forever...

THE END


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

[User] You run back to tell Melcar

[Assistant]
You aren't going to mess about with a bunch of angry little purple people; you don't know how dangerous they might be. You head back to the front of the house and knock on the door to get Melcar's help.

You don't get an answer, but a short man with a long pink beard comes walking up the steps, he's your height, but is obviously old. He reminds you of a dwarf. Maybe he is, you are in a different world after all, but the pink beard is really bizarre. There's another taller man walking behind, but is very disheveled looking. His odor isn't the best either as he gives off a bad smell and he isn't even next to you.

"Outta the way boy! I got important business with this charlatan who claims he's a wizard!" the dwarf exclaims nearly knocking you down.
"Chargrum, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean it was only five gold…"
"ONLY FIVE GOLD? Stinky, you've been working for me for how long now and you're still too dumb to figure out that nobody steals from me? You've truly hit an all time low in stupidity!"
"Yeah, but this guy's a wizard…"
"He's a charlatan! And even if he was a real wizard, it doesn't matter because the money for once is the least of my complaints, he's gotta pay for what he did! That blasted potion turned my beard PINK, or were you too stupid to even notice that Stinky?"
"Okay, I'm just saying…"

Before you can react to all of this, Melcar finally answers the door and addresses you first.

"What's all this blasted noise? Didn't I tell you to go clean up my backyard?"
"But there are all these mean little purple people throwing rocks at me!" you say.
"So? They're just Furms, just stop them, shouldn't be that hard for you."
"Nevermind all that, I want my five gold back, look what your potion did to my beard, you charlatan!" the dwarf yells.
"Oh fer…look Chargrum, I said no refunds when I sold you the potion, besides you got what you wanted. Your beard grew a lot longer didn't it? Don't like it? Shave it off!"
"WHAT!? Shave off my beard? That's madness! But no dwarf wants a pink beard! What Dwarven woman would want me like this?"
"(Sigh) Stop pretending that you're a dwarf! You're a Halfling that's just trying to fool Dwarven women! And you're calling ME a charlatan?"

Chargrum suddenly looks around nervously and then hits Stinky for snickering.

"Shhhh! Alright, alright, keep your voice down! Look, do you have anything to change my beard back to a proper color?"
"Maybe, but…hmm, that doesn't look good…"

Melcar's statement and his eyes gazing past his porch cause the rest of you to turn around look where upon you see the sky turning jet black and dark winged creatures begin to descend from it.

"SHADOWS!" Malcar yells at which point you, Chargrum, and Stinky all rush inside before he shuts the door.

"What are shadows doing here? This village isn't even of any strategic importance to the Nightmare Tyrant!" Chargrum shouts.
"He's the Nightmare Tyrant, does he need a reason? But I'll wager they're looking for him." Melcar says pointing at you. "They'll probably try to swarm the house soon, I better prepare this place….I have to go get my spell book!"

After Melcar runs off to go get his book, Chargrum demands and answer from you.

"What did he mean, they're probably looking for you?"

You hesitantly explain yourself at which point Chargrum gets a look in his eye that makes you uncomfortable.

"So if that's the case, then the Shadows will probably leave after they get you, well I know how to solve this problem!"

Chargrum advances on you.

[User] You run away

[Assistant]
You run up the stairs of the house, with Chargrum in pursuit.

"Don't just stand there picking your nose Stinky, help me catch the little runt!" Chargrum shouts.

You reach the second floor and run into one of the rooms locking it behind you. You turn around to see that you're in a bedroom. Probably Melcar's no doubt. A single window leads outside. You could escape from it, but you then remember all the Shadows are outside waiting for you in the first place, in fact you can hear their screeching surrounding the house.

A Shadow breaks in the window just as Chargrum bashes the door open and you begin to wish you were anywhere, but here!

No sooner have you thought that, you find yourself in front of Melcar, surprising the pair of you! From the looks of things, you're in a basement, or lab. You know you're underground, because you can see there is a stairway leading up and hear Chargrum's voice coming from above. He's screaming actually.

"Wha…where did you come from?" Melcar asks.
"I…I dunno! I was running from Chargrum and hiding and then I wished I was someplace else and then I found myself here!"
"Wait. Why was he chasing you?"
"He was trying to throw me to the Shadows!"

No sooner have you said that, when Stinky comes running down the stairs.

"The Shadows are in the house and they took away Chargrum through one of the windows!"
"What?! I just erected a barrier! They shouldn't be able to get in!"
"Well a few of them have, and Argh! Here they come!" Stinky says as some Shadows come down the stairs hissing and screeching. He quickly runs towards the both of you and behind Melcar.

"Get behind me too, kid."

A few chants and Melcar unleashes a couple of electrical blasts from his fingers zapping all of the attacking Shadows. They give one last screech before disappearing.

Melcar immediately rushes upstairs to see if there are anymore Shadows, you and Stinky follow closely behind him. After some checking, it would appear that the rest of the Shadows have been kept out and only a few managed to get in before the barrier appeared. You can still hear them still trying to get in though.

"Whew. Okay. That should hold for awhile." Melcar says collapsing in his chair.
"But what about Chargrum…the Shadows…they…"
"I can't do anything. They got him and that's it. But judging by what the kid told me he was trying to do it sounds like he got what he deserved anyway. Besides, I would've thought you of all people would've been glad to be rid of him, with the way he treated you."
"I…guess so, but what're we going to do now?" he asks.
"Dunno yet, but I'm hoping the kid can help out. If he can like I think he can; then we should be fine."

Now both of you are looking at Melcar wondering what he's talking about. He sees that he'll need to explain in more detail.

"Kid, as I said you were brought here by the Nightmare Tyrant due to your strong sense of imagination. However, judging from your recent transportation trick it would appear that your imagination is strong enough to cause things to happen with the mere power of your mind. Yet, it would also appear that your power is limited. You wished you were away from danger, yet only re-appeared in another place in the house. Though my magic barrier was up at that point, so perhaps that has something to do with it. I don't know…let's test something."

Melcar points to another chair.

"Concentrate, and think about that chair being solid gold."

You aren't sure about all of this, but you're interested in this "new power" you've acquired so you comply. Perhaps you could try to even wish yourself back home!

You close your eyes, concentrate and wish for the chair to be solid gold, but it's more difficult than you thought. Your mind is periodically bombarded with images of darkness and grinning Shadows. Eventually you fall to the floor. Melcar helps you up. The chair is still the same, except it has a single gold piece on the seat. Melcar checks to see if it's real, and then he pockets it.

"Well, just as I thought, it's unpredictable and weak right now."
"I…saw Shadows and darkness…" you say still holding your head.
"It looks like the Nightmare Tyrant really wants you; he's probably linked to you psychically or something. I wouldn't try to use your power to try to get back home. You're likely to appear right in his clutches, but if we harness your power a little better, we can at least get rid of this immediate threat of Shadows. Focus on immediate help right now rather than a long term…"

Suddenly Melcar is struck in the back of the head, by a Shadow! It must've still been hiding during the search! Melcar collapses and falls. Stinky runs off, leaving the Shadow to turn its attention towards you, hissing aggressively.

[User] You use your power to try to escape

[Assistant]
You attempt to wish yourself elsewhere again, but you failed to heed the warning given by Melcar who stated how such an action might be dangerous, and in this case it was…

Your mind is once again flooded by darkness and Shadows filling you with terror, and causing you to feel pulled towards it. A sinister laugh echoes throughout your head causing you to immediately break your concentration, but the damage is done as you are captured by the Shadow that's currently in the room with you. At this point your mind is too paralyzed with fear to be of any use, but it knocks you out just to be sure you don't try to escape again.

Then it, along with its fellows takes you to meet the Nightmare Tyrant, whose laughter you hear once more before he carries out his evil plans for you.


[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] Continue

[Assistant]
Maybe this isn't a good idea, but considering Jack did save your life a couple times, it seems like a pretty shitty thing to do if you just left him.

With bat in hand, you head towards back to the corridor and call out to Jack.

"Hey Jack! Are you upstairs?" you say.
"Suzy? Yeah! I'm up here! Be careful though, there's still a bunch of weird shit going on."

Not terribly descriptive or encouraging. Weird shit could literally be anything, and in this case probably is.

You head towards the stairs and go up for the first time. As you going up, you have this fear that you're going to start sinking into them, that doesn't happen and when you arrive to the top, you find yourself exiting into a corridor that's laid out very much the same way as the first floor, the only difference is you're across from another set of stairs on the opposite side.

You look to your right and hear some noise causing you to ready your bat, though you soon see Jack exiting room of the side rooms.

"Suzy! I've been looking all over for you." He says approaching with an axe in hand.
"Hey! Keep your distance!" You shout and raise your bat
"What?" Jack asks as he stops in his tracks.
"Sorry, it's just, well there has been as you put it, a lot of weird shit going on and for all I know you're some horrible monster. Not to mention you're coming at me with an axe in hand, though I suppose given the shit I've already encountered, you probably wouldn't have bothered to even stop." You reply lowing the bat.
"Well, you probably were best to err on the side of caution. I've just spent what I believe to be an hour or two looking for you." Jack says.
"I was in your living room downstairs asleep on your couch. Right where you left me last night." You reply.
"Yeah, and you weren't there when I checked on you later this morning. I called out and looked in every room on the first floor. I heard your voice coming from the second floor so I went up there and that's when things started getting weird. (Sigh) and I thought this place was done with all that…should have known better I suppose…"

Jack trails off, but at this point you're demanding an answer.

"Jack, you've saved my life twice, but if I'm going to hang out with you, you better start explaining what the hell's going on with this place. I'm not sure what weirdness you've experienced up here, but what I just experienced downstairs was beyond weird, it was fucking terrifying." You exclaim.
"I know. I know. I should have told you about this place yesterday. Well let's head into this room and talk about it."

Jack heads into a room down the corridor and to the left. You follow and find that it's another living area furnished in a similar manner as the one downstairs. Jack was really like consistency. The pair of you sit and after you tell Jack what happened with you downstairs, Jack apologizes that you had to go through it and then tells you a little about what he knows of this place.

Jack goes on about how he bought this Gray Building years ago for cheap and figured it would also be good to store all his stuff along with being a place he could live and thus no longer living in his mom's basement.

He then mentions he went to check out the place after he bought it and right away he experienced weirdness. He said the first time he opened up the door to the place there was a jungle village inside. He mentions that upon entering the building seemed to whisk him away to this place and his surroundings completely changed.

"Curiosity got the better of me I guess. However it wasn't just a jungle. I found out later when cannibals were chasing me, that I was on an island made of Styrofoam and held together by hemp rope. Barely escaped." Jack says.
"What?! That's…incredibly random." You say.
"That was just the beginning. Of course any right thinking person, would have just written this place off, but I couldn't help but find it fascinating. Of course I found it less fascinating the second time I went in, when I was attacked by these shadow wolf things. Barely survived that too."
"Why the hell did you keep coming back here?"
"Well I actually stayed away after the second time. Though after a few months, I felt drawn to the place again. I can't explain it, but as it turned out third time was the charm, well maybe not entirely, but the place started to become more accommodating. In time, I started to encounter less dangerous shit and the place became more normal, well as normal as it could ever be I suppose. Still, I was never quite willing to go all in and actually live in this place until recently and that's only because of some positive weirdness that I experienced when in this building a few months ago."
"What happened?"
"Well I saw a glimpse of the future and in few days I believe this world as we know it is going to start resembling Road Warrior. Of course even without seeing the future I was listening in on some pretty scary radio broadcasts before the Ground Zero corporation started cracking down and scrambling the airwaves."
"Wait, you say you saw the future, like how exactly? In your head or what?"
"No, it was a portal or rather a small window that opened up on the third floor. Happened rather suddenly while I was up there deciding on where I should put more of my stuff a few weeks ago. I saw Security City get nuked. The town looks like it survived, but I saw that overrun by mad people, like rabid or something. Given how the people in town have been acting and the world situation lately, I'd say what I saw was on the mark. It was then, I decide that I might actually be safer in here."
"Doesn't seem like it, by the look of things." You say.
"No, apparently I was wrong about that. (Sigh) I dunno, I'm sorry I got you involved in all this."
"Well it's done now and it seems like I was fucked no matter what this week. So, is there anything we can do? I mean we can't really stay here I think you'd agree, but if the world is doomed like you're saying, where could we go?"
"Know where there is a fallout shelter?" Jack asks.
"Yes and no. My older brother made one a long time ago back home, unfortunately its entrance is a bit of a mystery now since he's dead."
"That would mean going back to town anyway and with the National Guard and the rabid there I imagine it's going to resemble a warzone."
"Well there has to be somewhere we can…is that snow?" you say noticing the hallway.

At this point Jack stands up and you do too, both with your weapons ready as you approach the hallway where white flakes are falling from the ceiling and snow is starting to fill up the hallway. Jack looks to the left and right and then speaks.

"Well I don't see anything else out of the ordinary except the snow, but I think we better get the hell out of here and take our chances with the outside world, whatever might happen to it." Jack exclaims.
"Don't need to tell me twice." You say and the pair of you run as quickly as you can back down to the first floor.

When you get to the first floor, you and Jack make your turn towards the large front room and that's when reality starts warping and you're getting disoriented again.

"Shit…" Jack says tripping over. You go to help Jack up and that's when you see them again. Those tentacle things coming at you down the hallway, which is once again increasingly being enveloped in darkness. There's no magical bald guy around this time to save you either.

'Oh fuck, we need to move!" You say and start running towards the front room. Jack follows along.

When you get the front room the lights flicker. Junk is still scattered all over the place and there is also no front door now, but TWO open doors.

"What the fuck?" Jack exclaims and then the lighting gets even dimmer and soon you'll be left completely in the dark save for the illumination coming from the open doors.

At glance, one door is leading to what looks to be a tropical area since you're seeing vines, trees and such. The other door is leading to a snowy area and you can even feel the cold air whipping in from that one.

And those creatures are still in pursuit behind you with darkness ever encroaching. You're starting to hear them now in your head, howling, chattering, gibbering. It's madness and you need to leave now.

"Shit, my head…" Jack says staggering.
"Come on! This way!" you say and start heading towards the jungle.
"Wait! That's a fucking jungle, and I know nothing ever good comes from entering one! Remember my first trip here?" Jack says.
"Well, it's either that or the fucking artic and we're not exactly dressed for that!" you say.
"I'd rather take my chances with snow than a jungle."

"It's pointlessss….death…isssss everywhere…embrace madnessss and ssssave yourself… embrace usssssss…" a voice in your head suddenly interjects this is followed by hideous mocking laughter.

Maybe you're getting resilient or something because you manage to keep it together. Jack isn't looking as great though which is odd since you figured he'd be used to something like this. He's having a hard time standing up and you're having a hard time keeping him from falling.

Either way, you're making the decision on which way to go.

[User] The snow

[Assistant]
Really either choice seems pretty shitty, but if Jack feels that strongly about the jungle being worse, you guess you'll take the snow (and probably freeze to death). You suppose the upside is that there are probably less deadly animals lurking about as there might be in a jungle.

"You better be right about this Jack." You say,

You're almost at the door when everything goes dark. You feel like those things are almost upon you and you can only hope they stop pursuing you when you go through the door.

With a boost of energy and a shove, you and Jack both tumble through the opening and into the snowy area. Snow gets all over you both and it's at that point you notice there are also a lot of trees nearby, so it's not just endless tundra, which is at least a good sign that you didn't wind up Antarctica.

You also recover as quickly as you can, fearing that those creatures are still right behind you, but when you get up you find that not only are they not, but the Gray Building itself is gone. Nothing is behind you save for more snow and trees.

"Where the hell? Where did it go?" you say.
"It's gone. We're some place completely different and who knows where the hell that building is now. Shit…my head is still throbbing and all fucked up. I still don't feel quite right. Just let me rest here a moment." Jack says still sitting on the snowy ground.

You look up and while the clouds are covering the sun, it's definitely still daytime wherever you are, but with the wind making the cold even worse, you're going to have to find shelter pretty damn quick and you have no idea which way to go. For all you know you're in the Canadian wilderness or some other godforsaken place.

"Goddamn, it's cold." You say.
"Yeah, we need to get going, even though I'm still feeling woozy. We need to keep an eye out for everything though. I guess we better pick a direction and hope we find friendly civilization." Jack says and gets up.

As Jack gets up while you look around again and decide on a direction.

"Well at least you've still got your axe and I got a bat. This direction looks as good as any." You say pointing to the right.
"I suppose so." Jack replies.

You and Jack begin your trek through the snow…

The snow actually isn't really that deep, but it's deep enough that it's not pleasant to walk through. The wind eventually dies down a bit which makes things a little better, but not by much. You and Jack are both very cold and periodically you're rubbing your hands together and blowing on them in a futile effort to keep them warm.

"This is sucking so much, we're going to freeze to death out here in the fucking forest." You say suddenly stopping.
"Well maybe, but we gotta keep moving. We just gotta stay positive."
"Yeah, well as you might already know, positive things haven't been happening to me lately." You respond.
"Trust me, you aren't only one." Jack replies.
"…I'm sorry, I'm just really cold, and as brave as I'm trying to be about all this, I feel like I've already been pushing my luck all this week and I feel like this is going to be it. Like my dumb luck has run out and I'm really fucking scared of dying." You say trying to remain calm.
"I know." Jack replies and puts his hand on your shoulder.

It isn't much comfort, but if the end is coming soon, you could have worse company.

"Come on, you're right, we need to keep moving." You say and the pair of you continues on.

A few moments later, you feel like your fingers and toes have gone numb and you're even starting to get a little sleepy. Day is starting to end and night will be beginning soon.

Just when you believe it's starting to look even worse than ever, you and Jack notice some smoke rising in the distance up ahead, and as they say where there is smoke there is fire. (Hopefully)

You and Jack both quicken your pace as much as you can and eventually you reach the edge of the ground, which starts sloping downward from your location. In the short distance from that you see a small log cabin with smoke coming from it.

Salvation, but somehow you doubt if it's going to be easy.

"You know there are going to be people living there." You say.
"Yeah, but I mean come on, we're freezing to death, surely they'll help us. At best they'll let us warm up before giving us directions to the next nearest town."
"Jack, your optimism would actually be very charming if we weren't in the situation we're currently in." you say.
"Well hopefully you'll better appreciate it when we're nice and warm. Come on." Jack says.

You and Jack carefully make your way down the slope and soon you're at the cabin. You see piles of logs stacked nearby, along with some barrels. The cabin doesn't have any windows or at least none on the sides that you've seen.

"Okay, so how are we doing this?" you ask.
"Well I guess I'll knock." Jack says.

Jack bangs on the door a couple times.

"Hello? Anyone in there? We're freezing and we need help. Hello?" he says.

There is no answer. You don't even hear any noise.

"Maybe nobody is home after all." You say.
"But there's smoke coming from the chimney, obviously there's probably a fire going on in there." Jack replies.
"Well, maybe they're out hunting or something and there's a scared kid in there that was told not to open the door to strangers. See if the door is unlocked." You say.
"Wait a minute, didn't you just say there might be a scared kid in there?"
"Yeah and if there is, he's still going to be scared whether we're inside or outside. We need to get in there Jack, we can deal with the consequences later!" you exclaim.

Jack exhales.

"Well okay…" Jack says as he goes for the handle.

Surprisingly it opens and when Jack peers into the dimly lit cabin, he sees absolutely no one inside.

"This place is empty." Jack says.
"Good, now let's get to that damn fire!" you say and push past Jack.

You warm up by the fireplace while Jack shuts the door and locks it with a large piece of wood across it. He soon joins and sits down right next to you.

"Oh, sorry." Jack says when he thinks he's too close to you, but you stop him from moving over.
"Jack, I think we're at that point in our relationship that under normal circumstances, we'd probably be dating already. You're fine, in fact why don't you just hold me. I could use the extra warmth."

Jack complies with your request and you're feeling a little warmer already. As you still trying to enjoy the warmth, Jack is still looking around the room a bit from his position.

"This is strange." Jack mentions.
"Really? I thought this was probably the least strange thing we've done since we met."
"No, I mean this cabin, something seems very, I dunno, medieval."
"Well it is a log cabin in the middle of the woods, it isn't like it's going to have the amenities of the modern world."
"Yeah, but have you noticed the decorations? A shield and a sword are hanging over on that wall along with a small banner of some sort. Over there in that corner is a set of spears. There also a lot of furs just laying around."
"Maybe the guy that lives here is a historical buff on top of being a hunter. You know, trying to live the way they did back in the old days."
"Yeah, well I've never seen something like that either. Look."
"What? That's just a deer's head…oh what the hell? That's fucking hideous looking." You say just noticing the head of some very furry creature with far too many teeth mounted on the wall.

It doesn't look like anything you've ever seen on those nature or animal shows. You shiver a bit looking at the damn thing causing Jack to give you a bit of a squeeze.

"Ugh, I don't want to look at that thing. What is it?" you say.
"That's what I'm saying, I dunno. I mean a lot of this shit looks familiar, but seeing something like makes me less sure."
"What are you saying?"
"I dunno. I mean I'm wondering if we're even on our world."

In all the worrying about freezing to death, you suppose it never occurred that might not actually be on Earth.

"You think the Gray Building sent us to a different dimension or something?"
"I have no idea, but with that thing it's not out of the realm of possibility. I mean you told me yourself you experienced reality weirdness when you were speaking with that bald guy."
"Yeah, that's true…shit. We might be in some real trouble."
"Well, in the chance that we are on another world, I'd say we can at least look on the bright side that we aren't going to get nuked any time soon."
"Heh, always looking on the bright side."
"Did it charm you this time?"
"A little bit." You say with a smile.

After warming up completely, you and Jack explore the cabin a little more in detail, which doesn't take too long considering it's not excessively big. Some of that exploration includes raiding the foodstuff stored in the cabinets and the actual stew that's in the hanging pot over the fire. All you find to drink is water and some sort of sweet alcohol. Jack says that's probably mead.

One of the more important things you find is a small pouch of coins. A few are gold, some are silver and a lot of them are copper. You also find a few books, but they're in some sort of language you don't understand.

The last thing you discover is a trap door near the bed to a small root cellar where there is more food and water stored. Looks like you might be okay if you have to stay here awhile at least.

The only short term major concern is a toilet at which point Jack points that while it's possible there is an outhouse you missed somewhere in the area, you both might have to be roughing that in the cold air of nature. You're not looking forward to either possibility.

You remark about how this place reminds you of something from a video game you played on your computer, which only cements Jack's view that you're possibly not on your world any longer, or at best you've been transported back in time on earth to who knows where. That thing's head on the wall seems to favor the former though.

Eventually though as the night moves on, you start to get tired again, but this time you're not in danger of dying of hypothermia. It's soon pointed out that there is only one bed.

"Well I guess I'll let you take the bed." Jack says.
"Actually I want to sleep by the fire, I'm just going to grab some more of those furs to sleep on. You can take the bed, or if you really want to, sleep with me by the fire." You say.
"Well that's no choice at all, of course I'm going to sleep with you by the fire." Jack says.
"Fine with me, as long as you know I'm just using you for your warm body." You reply with a smile.
"Well, just respect me in the morning." Jack smiles back.
"Um, speaking of that. Do you think we should be worried that the owner will be coming back at some point?"
"Probably, but if someone comes knocking on the door, it isn't like we're weaponless."
"True, okay let's try to get some rest and figure out what we're going to do tomorrow."

You and Jack lay down several furs on the floor and settle in to sleep. Despite this situation not exactly being the best, you both at least enjoy the closeness of each other.

[User] Next day…

[Assistant]
FRIDAY

You wake up feeling slightly colder than you did last night, though it's probably because the fire has died down a little and Jack is no longer spooning you. A quick look around though shows that he's still here. He notices that you're up.

"Well good morning sunshine." He says sitting at a table with a candle burning.
"What time is it?" you ask, not thinking.
"Your guess is as good as mine, but I'd say it's still morning, maybe the afternoon. In any case it's daytime the last time I looked outside."
"Oh right. No modern luxuries. Is that one of those books we found yesterday?" you ask.
"Oh yeah. I was trying to read or at least understand any of it."
"You a linguist?"
"Eh, not really. I mean I have studied a few languages from time to time for my own reasons and in a couple cases thanks to the Gray Building weirdness I had to learn some new ones, but it isn't like I had any formal training on the matter."
"You understand any of it?"
"Not excessively so, but I only really started. I get the impression whoever lives here is a fur trader. Some of this book isn't doesn't really consist of words as it's a list of numerical symbols and totals. Fortunately those are universal. It would also explain the large amounts of furs piled up and this…" Jack says picking up the pouch of coins. "…I would imagine is their life savings."
"So you still think we're in a different world?"
"I dunno. As I mentioned I've looked outside while you were asleep, and wandered the area a bit. Not too far, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary save for trees, snow and a few white rabbits bouncing around. I mean that ugly head on the wall is the only thing I've seen so far that's out of the ordinary. I will say that the presence of books at least shows writing and probably literature exists. The coins imply some sort of economy system. So civilization here exists, but of course who knows what said civilization is like."
"You said you thought it was a medieval one."
"Yeah, and I'm still holding on to that belief, of course it's possible that maybe we're just in a less advanced area. For all we know there are people whizzing around in jetpacks elsewhere." Jack says and then snaps his fingers. "Oh I did see an outhouse. It's not excessively far; we just never saw it yesterday due to the direction we came from. Well that and paying more attention to wanting to get into this cabin. You'll happy to know it's not even a disgusting diarrhea sprayed mess or overly foul smelling. The cold climate probably helps on that aspect. There's even a roll of paper in there. Um, it's not exactly the softest stuff though, and you'll have to clean your hands in the snow."
"Lovely. Definitely not looking forward to the experience. So you see anything else of note on your outdoor adventures?"
"I noticed foot prints going from this cabin and heading towards the east. I imagine they're from the boots of the person who lives here. I've seen the same foot prints all over this immediate area, but those were going somewhere with a purpose rather than milling about taking care of every day chores around here I imagine."
"Wow, you're tracker too huh? You really do know a little bit of everything." You say.
"I wouldn't say I'm a tracker, I'm just sort of making guesses in the scheme of things. I just saw the prints in the snow and made the conclusion."
"You think the person living here is coming back?" you ask.
"I dunno. I mean it's possible, but I'm wondering if this place was abandoned. Seems like the door would have been locked. Of course the door can only be barred from the inside, so maybe that's unavoidable and there generally aren't many people wandering around here to worry about locks. Still, it seems like they would have hidden their pouch of coins better or even taken them with them.

You nod and there is a silent pause in the conversation.

You look back at the fire and Jack goes back to looking at the book. Probably the pair of you are wondering what the hell you're going to do now. At least you are. Jack seems like he's trying his hardest to make sense of everything and that's certainly a good thing. You can't help but think maybe you're not pulling your weight as much as you can though, it's just you don't know what you're supposed to be doing. It isn't like you've ever been in a situation like this before.

So far you've just been trying to make the concentrated effort of not falling apart and giving in to despair because you get the impression no matter what happens, from here on out your life is going to be very different.

"I know how to sew." You suddenly blurt out.
"What?" Jack responds.
"I know how to sew, I mean I haven't done it ever since my mother died, but you never forget something like that completely I suppose. My mother was the one who taught me, which is why I just sort of lost interest in it when she died." You say.
"Well that's an interesting little fact you never told me about yourself when you were talking about your family before. What made you bring it up?"
"Our situation I suppose. I mean I suppose at some point we're going to need new clothes. I've never sewn furs together, but I suppose I'll figure it out. I guess I just want to let you know I'm not completely useless and I will be contributing to our survival out here. I mean I'll chop wood and learn to hunt and whatever else we need to do together."
"Suzy, you're stressing about this too much. I mean yes, this situation isn't the best, but trust me I'm just as worried if I'M going to be useful at all in this situation. I mean it's only thanks to all the past weirdness I had to deal with due to that Gray Building that I even have some of the basic knowledge I have of various things and a good portion of that probably isn't even going to be useful here."

Jack gets up and goes over to sit with you and he takes your hand.

"When it's all said and done. We're both a pair of basement dwellers and neither one of us was truly prepared for this, but we're still going to get through it. I mean I like to think I'm a survivor on some level. And you, well I think you've more than proven to be one. I know you think it's all just been luck or coincidence in that regard, but hell, maybe there's a reason. Maybe there's a reason for all this."
"You think so? You believe that all this is part of some plan?"
"I dunno. Maybe it's just a bunch of shit that happened. Still doesn't mean we aren't going to get through this."

You look into Jack's eyes and you take the initiative and kiss him full on the mouth. He reciprocates your affection, but you're getting the strong impression that you might be the experienced one here.

And then something urgent breaks up the moment.

"Damn it." You say.
"What? Did I do something wrong?" Jack asks.
"No. That thing that I wasn't looking forward to has finally arrived."
"Wha…Oh. That. Um, well did you want me to come with you?"
"You're going to watch me go to the bathroom? Freak."
"No! I meant did you want me to come with you to show you the way or extra protection."
"I know what you meant, just joking. Yeah, I suppose you should come with me so you can at least show me where it is. Knowing me, I'd end up getting lost on the way there. Well alright come on, let's go get this over with." You say getting up.

Remembering how cold it is out there, you grab a couple of the furs to wrap around you so you're at least better protected this time. You go to grab your bat, but then you think if you shouldn't take one of those spears instead.

[User] You take the bat

[Assistant]
You've never used a spear before, so you aren't even sure if you'd use something like that effectively. Better to stick with something you're used to.

Jack puts on one of the furs as well and grabs his axe and the pair of you are out the door. The sun shines down and you feel the cold wind blow.

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

You and Jack make your way to the infamous outhouse. You both look around periodically, but see nothing dangerous.

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

"Well this is it." You say.
"I'll be out here. Keeping a look out." Jack responds.

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

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

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

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

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

You and Jack both stop a few feet away from the cabin, you're still closest to the door, which suddenly swings open.

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

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

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

The man shouts something at you in a language you don't understand and before you can duck or get out of the way he fires a bolt and at this range his aim is still sound. You feel the piecing object go into your heart and you fall to the ground.

Jack screams your name and attacks the man who is desperately attempting to reload his crossbow.

You however never know if Jack avenges your death.


[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 go through the panel

[Assistant] As soon as you open up the panel, you feel a boot to the head. This wouldn't be able to stop you, but the pistol with silver bullets does. After kicking you in the head, Jack unloads six silvers into your head killing you instantly before your body drops down the elevator shaft, hitting Mr. Hyde and then bouncing off him and continuing to fall until it crashes to the bottom.


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

[User] You married without children (Year 31)

[Assistant]
Year 31

You didn't mean to get into a minor argument about this, but you like to be prepared for all eventualities, so you had to ask the question…

"Alison, I actually don't care if you've been drinking stillness potions to avoid unwanted burdens, because I'd understand. I just wanted to know if you were drinking them." You explain.
"No, I haven't. I used to before I met you and I did even in the beginnings of our relationship, but I stopped taking them years ago."
"Really? I would've thought you would've waited until after marriage."
"What for? It wasn't like I had any intimate encounters after you got transferred, well other than my hand."

You quickly start counting up the times in your head when you've had sex with Alison since you've been married.

"Yes dear, it's been MORE than enough times for an accidental burden as you put it to have occurred." Alison remarks. "I'm not sure why you're even concerned about this, I've never known you to want kids. Is this something you want?"
"Well no…(Sigh) I just wanted to know if it was something you wanted because I think…and I don't know this for certain, but I believe I am unable to provide you children. I probably should've told you this before, but honestly you're right in that I've never gave children much consideration before. In fact, I've probably only been pondering this more because I've had more downtime than I ever had since we defeated the Felkans.

Alison gets silent for a moment.

"I see. But why do you think this? I mean do you have any proof? It can't be an equipment problem because we both know that works. You might take into consideration that sex doesn't always lead to a screaming infant. Just most of the time."
"Yeah, but as you pointed out, once is all it takes. I guess I'm just thinking about Roldan and his own marriage with Brenda. He once told me they've genuinely tried to have children on several occasions. Even to the point of both of them imbibing fertility potions. Nothing worked."
"So? Just because Roldan or Brenda sterile that means you are too?"
"Quite possibly. You forget, we're all Eternals. Roldan told me that he and Brenda came to that conclusion. He believes that it might have something to do with all the enhancements that are made on us when we were still babies. I mean its not like Warrick or Kane have any children either."
"I'd hate to think about Kane having any offspring given what I knew of him and what you've told me since you saw him again. Look, I think you might be worrying over nothing."
"I'm not worrying for me, so much as I'm worrying for you. I mean I don't know if you've ever wanted children. You've never mentioned it much. But I don't know if you're going to change your mind one day and if that's the case then you're going to be mighty upset with me."
"Funny enough, I thought you bringing up the subject was going to result in you being upset with me."
"Why the hell would I be upset with you?"
"Well, I don't know if you're aware of this, but stillness potions aren't exactly the best thing for your lady parts. I mean they don't do any fatal damage to the drinker as far as I know, but given that they are designed to kill potential offspring, it can make it a bit hard for future pregnancies. I guess it's the mixture that stays in your body or something. So for all we know, the problem might lie with me."
"Oh. Didn't know that. Um…are you okay?"
"Sure. I mean I knew the risks every time I drank the foul tasting potions. That's why I don't even think you should concern yourself with this. I mean if we create a future hell spawn then we do, if not well that's fine too. I didn't marry you for the idea of hanging up my sword so I could pop out kids. And as far as your potential sterility problem it's not like you've got much to test that theory on. If you were some super stud that fucked multiple women and didn't get any of them pregnant I could see your concern. You've had at exactly two women in your life and in my case we've already explored the possibility that it could be me. And as for the other…well she's a svelk. It isn't like elves and humans can produce offspring."
"Thank the Emperor for that." You say.
"Although as you've pointed out, you're not quite the average human are you? So for all you know you've got some half svelk bastard running about that your obsessive stalker hasn't told you about." Alison jokes.
"That's not funny Alison."
"Hey it would explain why she's still carrying a bit of a torch for you. Okay, I'll stop I can see you're getting grumpy. Let's get off the subject entirely."

At this point you're more than willing to do just that rather than dwell on very unlikely yet very depressing possibilities.


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

[User] You go to the surface

[Assistant]
You've been stuck down here long enough, the Shelter is correct in its assessment that you'll probably only start getting restless again in five years. The Shelter is also starting to act like a human, which is a bit disconcerting to you for a couple of reasons. One of them is being, humans are damn erratic and you'd rather not deal with a machine that is basically holding the power of life and death over you to suddenly have a bad mood one day. That's how the world went to shit in the first place.

Of course perhaps the other reason is less survivalistic. Perhaps the Shelter's "emotional" attachment to you is what's causing you to draw away. Even after all these years, you still feel the need to distance yourself from intimacy…in any form. You have to leave. You have to escape.

"Shelter, I want to leave."
"…I see. Is this what you really want sir?"
"Yes."
"Very well, I shall bring the elevator down for you. I suggest you gather what you will need with you. Remember to take some bottles of water with you and some food who knows when you'll be able to find non-contaminated water."

You start packing up all the stuff you brought with you when you entered this place ten years ago. You didn't need most of it, but maybe on the surface you will. You grab your pistol and thank the fact that all that practice on the paintball range kept your aim accurate. You don't know what you might have to deal with up there. You're all packed up and ready to go when the elevator opens up, before you enter it the Shelter addresses you again.

"Sir, could you do one favor for me before you leave?"
"Um…sure, what is it?"
"Could you take the Shelter handbook with you, so you don't forget me?"
"…I wouldn't forget you, I spent ten years with you. You kept me alive."
"I suppose, but could you take it anyway?"
"Alright and I promise I won't lose it."

You grab the book and place it in your bag.

"Did you want me to leave you something of myself?"
"Oh no sir. I will always remember you, besides you will need everything you're taking with you, I'm sure it will be very dangerous up there, please be careful."

When you enter the elevator you suddenly stop the door from closing since you have to ask one last thing. You owe the Shelter that much.

"Shelter, do you want me to stay?"

There is a period of silence from the Shelter for no less than five minutes. Then it answers with a decisive yet sorrow filled inflexion.

"No. This is for the best, sir. Be careful, and I hope one day you'll see that you don't need to be alone."

The door then slams shut and the elevator races to the top. When you arrive at the destination you slowly exit the elevator into the same foyer you entered ten years ago. Same ATM like machine is there except its screen displays a single message at you.

*GOODBYE SIR. REMEMBER ME.*

Then the screen goes completely black and you hear a noise that sounds like something vital powering down.

"I will." You say taking a deep breath and exhaling while touching the screen.

When you exit the shelter you see a bright light, but of course it's the sun rather than a nuclear flash that devastated the world. You forgot how bright it could be.

Your immediate surroundings look relatively untouched. You can only assume there weren't any bombs falling near this area. You also see your van, you'd completely forgotten about it. It looks like it's even in worse condition than when you left it, which you never thought was possible. It looks like its been stripped for parts, which pretty much means you know that people have passed by here at one point. You wonder if they attempted to get in the Shelter, and if they did why she wouldn't have told you about it, but of course she was always a bit overprotective of you and probably didn't want to cause you any worry.

"I'm going to miss her."

As you make you way down the empty road you see a tall structure in the distance. A rebuilt pocket of civilization perhaps? Not knowing where else to go, you head that way.

You're not sure of what to expect, but maybe if you find the right person you'll take the Shelter's advice and not be alone.


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

[User] You attack the Undead

[Assistant]
"Send the dead back to their graves!" You roar, charging into battle.

You swing your blade, beheading a rotting head and sending it through the air. You stab another through the heart, killing him instantly. You headbutt another, with such strength that the spine breaks and the zombie collapses on the ground. The undead are so unmatched that they're wiped out within seconds. You turn, to the snarling face of a dragon. It's voice, a low growl, shakes your very core.

"Orcs... Why have you come to my home?"

"I... I came to help." You say nervously. "I wanted to make sure this fight doesn't move into my territory."

"A wise move, mortal. Your assistance was unnecessary, but polite. Please, let me give you a gift."

The Dragon turns and stomps away into a cave. A few minutes later, it comes back. It opens its mouth, letting golden coins and gems fall out. Not a massive amount, but enough to fund the building of a new well and to get new bows for the hunters.

"Thank you, mighty dragon." You say.

"Of course."

You bow, and begin trudging down the mountain.

[User] One Month Later...

[Assistant] You walk up a mountain, trudging through the harsh snow. You're cold despite being wrapped in furs and leathers, and you really need to piss, but you know that if you tried, your dick would freeze off. You lost three farmers and a dozen goats to a Frost Troll wandering down from the mountain in the cold, icy winter that's just started. You're taking a five war parties of twenty warriors each to wipe out any trolls up in the mountains. You lead the main war party of the best warriors who wish to target the cave system most likely to hold sheltering trolls. Wind and snow begins to block your view. You know you need to find shelter soon.

[User] You hunker down in the cold

[Assistant] You drop down, putting up whatever tents you have. You crawl inside, wrapping furs and leathers around you.  You hope the storm clears up soon. Within an hour and a half, the cold is so brutal that you lose all feeling. The snow's bad you have no idea where you're going. After four hours of waiting, you feel a sudden sensation of warmth. You begin unstrapping your armor to cool down. You're hot and tired. A quick nap in the snow would be nice...


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

[User] You seize the old Talon tavern

[Assistant]
Now that you're rethinking this, the less paper work the better and you are probably going to be better off located in the poorer area of the city too.

"So who is this hopeless gambling case who owns this property exactly?" You ask Vaughn.
"His name's Carl and you probably have seen him, you just didn't know his name. He's a short grubby guy. His face almost looks a little orcish, but he smells worse than one half the time." Vaughn remarks.
"Oh, him? That disgusting little grub owns a tavern? Thought he lived here in the sewers. In fact I was wondering why he wasn't in the ring fighting with the other bums." You say.
"Disgusting is right, the little shit tried to grab my ass once and made a bunch of stupid sexual innuendo. He's lucky I didn't cut his dick off and only stabbed his hand." Zalmora says.
"Hm, well I suppose if he gives us any shit, we know who he's already afraid of. You said he had a sibling, what's the story on that one?"
"Um, dunno much. I think her name's Annie and I do know she swears more than the three of us put together. She came down here to retrieve her brother a couple times and every other word that came out of her mouth was some variation of fuck." Vaughn says.
"Well that's very interesting, but I was wondering if she was likely to give us any shit if we try to muscle in on the tavern. I mean are we going to have to take care of this bitch or not?"
"I dunno, I mean she's got a mouth on her, but she's just a skinny thing and I can't see her giving us any trouble if we seriously threaten her."
"Well, it would seem the goal is clear. I'll go have a talk with these siblings about the facts of life." You say.
"You don't want anyone to come with you?" Zal asks.
"Nah, it'll be fine."
"As you say." Zal says almost implying that you don't know what you're doing.

The next day, you enter the Clean Mug Tavern which can't possible be true given that you feel like you need to jump in a river just by setting foot in the place. Which is saying a lot considering you do most of your business in the fucking sewers.

The floors are sticky with filth and the walls in this dim light don't seem much better. A family of rats scurry past you as you walk further in making you wonder if you've left the sewers at all.

The place is empty save for a few drunks face down on tables. A frowning thin girl with a pale complexion sit behind a bar. It's already apparent she isn't welcoming.

"What the fuck do you want?" She asks.
"Do you greet all your potential customers that way?" You ask.
"Don't fucking like it, you can get the fuck out."
"Yeah, you must be Annie. Where's your slug of a brother?"
"Probably fucking a whore instead of taking care of fucking business as usual. And how do you know my fucking name? Who the fuck are you and what the fuck do you want?"
"I'm your new business partner. Or in your words, I'm your new fucking business partner."

Annie's frown somehow manages to turn even further downward as she just stares at you.

"Alright, before you go on a fuck tirade, I'll try to explain it so simple that you'll understand."

You explain that her and her brother's tavern is now going to be a front for Crimson Talon operations. In exchange you'll fix this place up and make it at least somewhat more appealing. The tavern will be making more money with the influx of people that are sure to come in, but you'll be taking most of the profits of course.

"So wait, you're gonna just fucking come in and take over completely? You get the fucking tavern and all the fucking money? What the fuck do we get?" Annie asks.
"You get your health for one thing. Which I assume would be the most important. However, if it isn't, I would still point out that YOU will most likely still be making more of a profit than you are now with this rat palace. Also, the tavern will still be legally yours. We'll just be using it and basically paying for the place. Now, that should make you feel a little bit better about this non-negotiable deal shouldn't it?"

Annie is silent again for a moment and still frowning. Her eyes look down briefly, which implies she might be thinking about going for whatever weapon she has stashed under there. You still aren't worried, because even if she doesn't see the wisdom of the deal, you're confident that you'll be quick enough to reach over the bar and stab her first.

Fortunately, it doesn't come to that.

"Well, looks like I don't have much of a fucking choice. I imagine even if I killed you, some other fucking asshole would just take your place and probably wouldn't be as fucking understanding as you." Annie says.
"Glad to see you're a woman of forethought. Anyway, I'll be back later and I'll inform you with more details as we get set up. I trust you can tell your brother about this business when he shows up?" You say.
"Yeah, but I can I ask for ONE fucking request?"
"I'll entertain the thought. What is it?"
"Well since I figure I'm already getting fucked, the least you could do is do me proper."

Now you're silent for a moment.

"Um...what exactly are you saying?" You ask, sort of already knowing, but just wanting confirmation.
"I'm fucking saying, if you're already bending me over and horse fucking me in this business endeavor, you could at least do it to me literally as well." Annie says.
"...Are you being serious right now?"
"Of course I'm being fucking serious! You're young, easy on the eyes and I don't get out much. Besides, I know I'm not that fucking ugly."

This is just bizarre. You didn't expect this sort of request. Annie's correct in that she's not ugly, but her stringy greasy looking hair, plain looks, and emaciated appearance aren't exactly traits that come to mind when you're thinking of attractiveness. Though apparently she finds you attractive which is always a nice ego boost.

"Well...um...shit..fuck it. Alright. Not like I got anything better to do." You say.
"The sad thing, is that's the best offer I've had in years." Annie remarks a bit despondently.

Hell, now you feel like you're doing a good deed.

After giving Annie a thrill big enough to cause her to actually stop frowning for a moment, you head back to the sewers where you feel a lot less dirty.

"So how did it go?" Zal asks.
"It went well. We aren't going to get a bunch of problems." You say.
"You talked to them both?"
"Nah, just the sister. The brother was elsewhere. Pretty sure she was the one to deal with anyway though since she's the main one running that place. I satisfied her."
"Satisfied?"
"Erm, I mean dealt with her. She won't be a problem."
"Okay...so are we moving everything there then?"
"Well I imagine the bum fighting will still be held down here, but that tavern is big enough to have gambling games and whores set up. We're really going to have to fix that place up first though, because as it stands now, the place isn't much better than the sewers."
"Damn shame. I remember Tom saying the place was fairly nice back when Edmond ran the Talons out of there."
"It will be again and in time when we get a few more recruits and things are running smoothly we can do the same thing with another place."

With the tavern secured, you take your next steps in this plan.

[User] You time passes...

[Assistant]
Year 26

"What?!" You exclaim in disbelief.
"Carl and Annie's mother showed up at the tavern last night and pitched a bitch. I mean she raised holy hell. Literally too. She had a book of Joachim in hand the entire time." Vaughn says.
"So did she do any actual physical damage?" Zalmora asks.
"Not really. She mostly beat the shit out of Carl and Annie, saying she didn't scrimp and save for the tavern just so they could turn it into a den of sin. She then left saying if they didn't take care of this, she would." Vaughn remarks.
"Wait, so do the siblings actually even own this place?" Zalmora asks.
"Apparently it's always been in their mother's name and she did run it briefly before she started having health problems and let her children run it instead. She mostly stayed out of the day to day operations, but every now and then she leaves her home to drop in on her children...and well you know the rest."
"I don't get it. Why would a Joachim fearing woman buy a tavern, let alone let her children run it in the first place?"
"Apparently that's sort of a newer development. The old lady has gotten a bit religious over the past few years. Probably brought on by failing health."

You just put your face in the palms of your hands.

"Why the hell didn't either of you fucking idiots know any of this? And more importantly why didn't you stop the old bitch?" You ask.
"ME? This was all Vaughn's idea and YOU signed off on it! I've barely been involved in it! All you've had me do is seeking out other potential taverns to take over and monitor the bum fights from time to time. I haven't stepped foot in that damn tavern since we first set up shop there! Besides, aren't you regularly fucking that skeletal bitch that runs the place anyway? Figured you pumped her for information along with just pumping her." Zalmora exclaims.
"(Sigh) No. I'm not fucking Annie. That's an ugly rumor that delusional bitch probably started in the first place. I can see I'm going to have to set her ass straight."
"Hm, if you say so." Zal says giving you a look like she doesn't quite believe you.

You knew it was a bad idea to pity fuck Annie a few more times.

In any case, Zal's right in that it's not her fault at all, this is mostly Vaughn's fuck up, but really it's yours as well because you really should have learned all the facts first. You are the one running the Talons after all.

You exhale deeply and get up from your desk.

"What's the old woman's name and where's she live?" You ask.
"Her name's Wendy and she lives in a small house over by the Greenwood park. I think it's like the only house still standing there since most of the others are abandoned." Vaughn says.
"I'll find it." You say.
"Wait, are you going to go over and kill her?" Vaughn asks.
"Well I was going to see if I can find a diplomatic way of dealing with this, but if murdering the old lady is what it takes then so be it."
"Hold on, maybe you should send someone else. I mean maybe I could go take care of this." Zal says.
"No, because as you have already pointed out, this isn't your fault at all and I don't trust Vaughn to not fuck it up, so I'll do it myself."

You head over to Wendy's home, wondering how you're going to handle this. You really don't want to murder an old lady if you can help it, but if that's what it takes then that's what's going to have to happen. Given that she's a follower of Joachim though, you don't hold out much hope that blood isn't going to be shed.

Eventually you get over to Wendy's house and knock on the door. You hear a lot of grumbling as you wait.

"Hold on, hold on, I'm...by Joachim, you haven't aged!" a short old woman exclaims when she opens her door.
"Um, thanks?" You say a bit confused.
"What are you doing here? Are you in the city just for a visit? Where is Eliza? Are you still married to her?"
"Wait, who do you think I am?" You ask.

Wendy mentions your father's name and squints a bit as she looks closer at you.

You realize, this is one of the waitresses at your father's old inn! You remember your mother mentioning working with her in some of her old stories to you and your sister, but then you never did pay much attention to those.

Maybe you can work this in your favor after all.

"No, I'm afraid you've confused me with my father. But my mother and father are still married and well." You say.
"Oh. That's good. They were a nice couple, if a bit slow on the uptake as far as how they really felt about each other. Still, I guess it all worked out, given that you're here. You look a lot like your father. Well come on in and tell me what brings you to my doorstep." Wendy says.

Wendy invites you in and tells you to excuse the mess as she doesn't do much cleaning nowadays. You find a chair to sit in and she does likewise.

"So. What would the son of my old employer want with me?" Wendy asks.
"Well, after working for so many other people, I've sort of come to the conclusion that I'd like to try to work for myself for a change. I was sort of inspired by the old family business and I've done a lot of research on the matter along with asking my parents questions of course. I got quite a bit of money saved up from over the years and I was looking for a place to buy and get a business started. I thought your tavern would be a good place." You say.
"My tavern? You've been there?"
"Oh yes. When I was shopping around for potential places. Your children...Um...Carl and Anika..."
"Annie."
"Yes, Annie said that it was actually yours and if I wanted to buy it, that I should speak with you. They mentioned how you used to work for my father too, so I figured I'd at least make an offer to you first before anyone else."
"...Mmm hmm...but why didn't you just buy your old family inn? I believe it's still abandoned and for sale surprisingly enough."
"Heh, I tried, but apparently the city is planning to knock it down and build something else there. Would have been nice, but I got here a little too late it seems."
"Uh huh...let's cut the bullshit."
"Pardon?"
"You think I was born yesterday? You may be the son of Eliza, but you sure ain't anything like her OR your father. They were decent people. While YOU are a lying criminal scumbag just like my worthless children. It seems a little too fucking convenient that you show up on my doorstep the day after I find out what's going on at my tavern. I'm not really surprised by my son Carl. He's a miserable gambler with a weakness for whores. Annie, however I thought at least had a little more sense. Guess you're really putting it good on her if she's gone along with this shit."
"I assure you, I don't..."
"Don't insult me with more lies. I already saw what was going on at my tavern. In all her hysterics yesterday, I heard Annie babble to me about how she has a handsome man that loves her more than I ever did. I have to imagine that's probably you since you stand out a bit from the rest of the unwashed rabble I saw in that den of inequity. Ungrateful little bitch. Well, whatever charms you think you have ain't gonna work on me, I'm a Joachim fearing woman! Tch. Gotta say I never thought your parents would raise someone so far from the path of righteousness."

The jig is up.

"Yeah, I'm a big disappointment to them, but as you said, let's cut the bullshit and come to some sort of arrangement. How much you want for the tavern?" You ask.
"And why would I sell to a heathen like you?" Wendy retorts.
"Because I already own the place in all but name already. Look, the place was barely making any money to before I showed up and now that you know the truth, you won't want to have any more connection to the place. So I'm making you a generous offer since you're an old family friend to buy it. Two thousand gold pieces. You know that this is the best offer you're going to get and let's be honest, you don't have a choice. What are you going to do? Report us to the militia? We'll be gone...or at least I won't be around and all that's going to happen is the city of Klyton is going to arrest your children and seize the place, leaving you with no steady income whatsoever."

Much like her daughter, Wendy's wrinkled face frowns at you in silence. She doesn't like this, but her silence is a good sign. It means despite her belief in Joachim she's still pragmatic enough to consider your offer.

You just hope she isn't TOO much like her daughter because...

"Five thousand gold pieces for the tavern." Wendy says.
"Five thousand?" You answer
"That's my price. I might be old and not in the best of health, but two thousand isn't going to sustain me until I die. I know a big time crime lord such as yourself probably has that kind of money."
"Five thousand...seems a bit greedy. Isn't that against the will of Joachim?"
"First of all, you don't know shit about his glory, so don't think to say shit to me about it. Second of all, some of that is going to his church so at least some good can come out of this wickedness."
"Ah, I see. Buying your way into the afterlife. Whatever. I don't care, but I'm afraid five thousand is fucking unreasonable."
"And that's still my final offer. You don't like it, well you better go crawl in whatever hole you hide in from the militia because I am NOT going to let you use the place while it's still in my name. So it's five thousand or you're leaving my tavern either peacefully or by the militia. I got nothing to lose. You're in this position because YOU chose a life of wickedness. Deal with the consequences."
"I don't think you realize the position YOU'RE in." You warn.

Wendy starts to smile, followed by a laugh.

"What? You're going to kill me? Pfft. I'm already dying with how my health is going and my three kids are fucking disappoinments. As I said I have nothing to lose and my soul is prepared for Joachim's eternal glory. You won't get away with it anyway, Joachim always finds a way to punish the wicked."

[User] You pay the money

[Assistant]
The old bat drives a hard bargain and she's called your bluff. As much as you might try to be some ruthless crime lord, there's still some things you can't bring yourself to do. Murdering an old lady in cold blood is one of them.

"(Sigh) Fine. You got me by the short and curlies. I'll pay your damn price out of respect for all the years of service you gave to my family." You say.
"Yeah, see what that got me. Still, I'm glad to see that you have some sort of morality. Maybe there's still hope for you. Remember it's never too late to turn your soul over to Joachim." Wendy says.
"I'll keep that in mind. I'll be back tomorrow, you just have the deed."

You leave Wendy's house and return to your sewer headquarters. You're starting to wonder if you shouldn't have just bought your family's old inn in the first place. At least it would have been big enough for you to make your home in.

"So how did it go?" Zal asks.
"She's willing to sell, so no murder was necessary." You say.
"Really? Wow, I'm actually impressed that you managed to talk a religious old lady into working with you...or did you just fuck this one into submission too?"

Zalmora starts laughing immediately after her comment. Vaughn stays silent though.

"Fuck you Zal, just fuck you." You say.
"Interesting, that wasn't a denial." Zal remarks with a smirk.
"Hey boss, I just want you to know I'm not judging you if you did. We all have our own carnal desires and I know you seem to like the older ladies. I mean between Annie and Zal..." Vaughn starts to say.
"What the fuck Vaughn, don't put me in the same category as that weathered corpse!" Zal exclaims suddenly getting angry.
"Both of you shut the fuck up, in fact don't the pair of you got some work to do? No wonder things are falling to shit here."

Zal and Vaughn walk off, leaving you alone for the rest of the night.

The next day you go over to Wendy's house and complete the transaction.

"Here you go heathen." Wendy remarks handing you the deed.
"Thanks hypocrite." You answer and start to leave.

Wendy isn't quite finished yet though and she grabs your arm before you leave.

"Hey, I wasn't joking yesterday when I said it isn't too late to seek Joachim's forgiveness. Maybe your wicked deeds are profiting you today, but there is going to come a reckoning someday and you'll have to answer for your evil ways. Out of respect for your parents, I urge YOU to turn from this path before it's too late."

You pull your arm away.

"Yeah, I'll get right on that." You say and walk off.

Eventually you return back to your sewer headquarters and spend some time on inner contemplation.

"(Sigh) I really need to get the hell out of these sewers. I'm the damn head of a budding criminal empire. One of those tavern gambling rooms is getting turned into a new office." You say to yourself.

[User] You time passes...

[Assistant]
Year 28

"Yeah, so the Broken Glass owner says he'll comply." Vaughn remarks.
"Excellent. We can add another tavern to our list." You say.
"Did we really need another one?" Zal asks.
"That's a silly question Zal. We can always use more income and taverns provide the best cover."
"I dunno, I just think we're extorting too many businesses within a short period of time. I mean have you forgotten that the Klyton militia is still pretty active?"
"So what're you saying? You want to go back and hide in the shit filled sewers like we were doing? I thought you'd be happy to get out of there completely since you were the main one bitching about it. Look, as long as we keep a low profile we're fine. We've been doing well so far right?"
"Yeah, I'm sure Edmond thought the same thing once."
"Here we go with that. Look Zal, we've been through all this before three years ago. I actually took your advice and you're still not happy, so let me make this easy for you. You're out."

Zal's face is one of surprise. Vaughn is a little surprised as well.

"What? Are you serious?" Zalmora says.
"Yes, I'm fucking serious. I'm sick of your bitching, your sarcasm, your smart ass remarks that attempt to undermine my authority in general. You seem to think because we once shared a bed together that somehow allows you to say anything you want to me. Combine that with the obvious fact that you don't really have the stomach for this business anymore, well there isn't much use for you is there? So with all respect and no ill will, goodbye Zal. You were a valued member of the Crimson Talons while you were part of us, but your services are no longer required."

Zalmora takes your words in silence. She looks at you with a mixture of feelings and you can't quite tell if it's betrayal, anger, sadness or even relief. She just walks over to you and touches your face before leaving.

About a few minutes after she leaves, Vaughn speaks up.

"Come on boss, aren't you going to go after her? You're just mad because you were feeling good about how things are going and in typical Zal fashion she was a bit of a downer. You know that's how she is. I also know Zal and she's just putting on a brave front. She really doesn't want to leave any more than you really want her to leave. It's pretty obvious you value her advice, even if she is difficult at times."

You look over at Vaughn. You've never known him to be that insightful, but he's hitting all the points right now.

You stand up.

"Aw hell...you're right. She probably hasn't gone too far yet. Vaughn can you... What the hell is going on out there?!" You say suddenly hearing a bunch of noise outside the office.

You open up the door and everyone is running around attempting to avoid the horde of Klyton militia piling through the front door. They aren't fucking around either because they're outright shooting or stabbing folks that are only barely resisting. Annie and Carl from what you see have already given up and are kneeling on the floor with their hands behind their heads.

"Oh shit! Vaughn! Help me barricade the door! We gotta get the fuck outta here!" You shout and slam the door shut.

As you and Vaughn push the desk up against the door, you already hear the crashing behind it. From the other side, you hear your name being called out telling you to surrender or face consequences.

"What kind of logic is that? If I surrender, I'm going to face the consequences too. Vaughn, open up the trap door, I'm going to get as much as I can from the safe." You say.

After Vaughn opens up the escape hatch to the sewers, you try to maintain your cool as you fiddle with your safe and unload its contents all the while axes, halberds and bullets are piercing the barricaded door.

"Come on! Leave it! Let's just go!" Vaughn remarks.
"Go on ahead, I'm almost done, I'll be right behind!" You say waving Vaughn away.

You finish packing and are heading towards the escape hatch when the door is finally partially broken. A bullet whizzes by you and into the wall. You whirl around to fire your own flintlock at your assailants. You hit one, but then are shot yourself. It's only in the leg, but given how close you are to an open hatch, you fall back, slip and tumble down it.

You probably would have broken your neck had Vaughn not been in the way to break your fall. Of course you probably surprised the hell out of him as he was climbing down the ladder.

The pair of you land hard on the stone sewer floor with you being right on top of Vaughn.

"Shit...my leg...my fucking leg...Vaughn I might need you to...Vaughn?" You say and slowly move yourself off of him.

You check, and you see his head at an unnatural angle. He's broken his neck.

"Damn it, Vaughn..." You say and then another bullet flies near your head and into the floor.

One of the militia men is firing at you from the top of the hatch. Seeing that Vaughn still has his own pistol holstered, you grab it, point upward and fire. You somehow manage to hit the guy in the face and then you realize the folly of that as you desperately roll out of the way of his falling body.

The militia man's body partially hits Vaughn's and the stone floor. At this point you're just trying to get away which is difficult with one good leg.

With some effort you manage to stand yourself up and hobble away. You already hear several of the militia climbing down the ladder and shouting.

"SHIT!" You shout as your wounded leg gives way due to lack of strength and a slimy stone floor. Falling on your face, you already know you aren't getting away at this rate.

Best case scenario, you get taken in, tried and instead of executing you, they shove you in one of those cages where you first found Tom.

MAYBE if you're lucky you might be able to pick the lock and escape, but you doubt if you'll just have access to your tools. Maybe you could do what Tom managed to do and convince a wanderer to release him...but then again you know how that situation ultimately ended for him.

Actually, if you knew letting him out was going to lead to this end result, you would have left him there. Who knows, maybe he would have even been better off since the other Talons were supposed to get him out eventually.

It's all a very long shot anyway and you've already come to the conclusion that you're not going quietly.

The strange thing in all this is now you're glad you told Zalmora to leave when you did. You hope she managed to evade capture. You think she probably had enough time to run before the militia converged on the place.

You're kneeling on your good leg and leaning up against a wall in an attempt to get back up, when the militia finally catch up to you. You feel a hard blow to your back and you crash to the floor. Several militia surround your prone body.

"We'll get promotions for this!" You hear one exclaim.
"Hope they also have an award for getting wounded in the line of duty." You remark and pull a dagger stabbing him in the foot.

It's all the excuse the militia needs to start running you through repeatedly with their spears and swords and stomping your head into mush. You're a holey bloody mess by the time they're through. It isn't exactly the most pleasant death, but at least it eliminates all the waiting.


[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 don't send young Orcs to the College

[Assistant] You decide against sending away the Orcs. They wouldn't be able to learn important skills such as farming, fighting, hunting and cooking, only to be left with skills in money-handling or Magics that don't help them in their life.


[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 turn your clothes inside out and put your shoes on the wrong feet.

[Assistant]
You remember now! This creature is a leshy, and there is only one sure fire way to stop a leshy. You whip off your clothes, put them on inside out, kick off your shoes and slip them onto the opposite feet.

The leshy grimaces and his animal companions slink away. "I guess I have to show you the way out now."

"I know the way out. Can you take me to the leprechauns?"

"You want to see the leprechauns? Are you dull in the head?"

"I like bacon, yes."

The leshy's eyes twinkle with fear. "Clearly, you're mentally unhinged. Just like those poor leprechauns. If I take you to them, promise you'll leave me and my family alone."

"Sure."

You follow the leshy into a glade, within a glen, within a gorge, within a holler, within a hollow, within a dell, within a dale, within a dingle, within a canyon, within a vale within the Valley of Rainbows. The trip is quite, shall I say, trippy.

The leshy points to a pool of water where all the rainbows spring forth. "I'm not getting any closer. Give the leprechauns my condolences, and please don't murder rape my family. Good day." The leshy leaves in a hurry without another word.

You approach the pool with eager enthusiasm and the leprechauns begin to appear from the surrounding trees…

...

Why are you stopping?

I'm sorry. It's too depressing. Give the leprechauns my condolences as well, poor sorry bastards.


[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 run back in the house

[Assistant]
You turn around and try to get back in the house as quick as you can. You hear Jed shout at you to stop, but you don't listen, you just to get in the front door.

You don't quite make it and feel the burning pain a slug hitting the back of your left leg. Not only do you scream in agony, you also fall straight on you your face.

"Stupid bitch, I told ya, to stop!" Jed shouts.

You don't even look at your leg, but you sense that it may just be barely attached to the rest of your body at this point. The agony is so bad you feel like you're going to be sick or go unconscious at the same time.

Against all odds you continue to try to crawl into the entryway of the house.

"HEY! I SAID STOP FUCKING MOVING! Goddamnit…" you hear Jed shout and you expect to another shot, but instead you hear shouting of a different kind.

"ARGH! FUCK!"

You manage to turn your head enough to see Jed being attacked by the rabid woman he was violating. She's bitten him, but he's still managing to fight her off. You use this opportunity to continue to crawl away. You manage to get back inside, and you hear another gunshot followed by more swearing. Your heart sinks since that means Jed must still be alive.

The combination of fear and pain is clouding your thoughts of everything save for trying to get away, but you know that's not going to happen.

Your fears become reality when you're only half way up the stairs to the second floor and hear footsteps coming into the house.

"I hear ya whimpering girl and I can see the bloody mess yer leavin'. Won't be half as messy though when I get through with ya!" you hear Jed shout.

You soon hear him on stairs behind you.

"Dunno, why yer goin' up there for, your fate is sealed sick girl. Didn't seem so sick out there when you were trying to reach for my shotgun. Bet you thought pullin' one over on me a couple days ago was really funny. Well I guess I'm the one laughing now. Since I didn't finish with my ex-girlfriend back there, guess you'll have to fill in for her.

You suddenly feel a hand grip your good leg and pull hard. As you're dragged, you make one last ditch effort to fight, by twisting your body and swinging the machete you're still carrying in your hand.

You manage to catch Jed's arm sinking the blade in. He yells, lets go and falls backwards down the stairs. Unfortunately with his other hand that still holds the shotgun, he pulls the trigger on it.

You're hit again and it's a quick death as part of your head and brains are splattered all over the stairs and walls, which at least spares you of any further suffering.


[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 sit with Herbert and Andy

[Assistant]
You head over to sit with Herbert and Andy and listen in on their conversation.

"I can't believe she would do such a thing," says Herbert.

"I don't know how she could just lie after all I did for her. She's been pissed at me ever since we last had sex. I can't even talk to her anymore."

"I know how you feel, women sure are a pain in the ass. Hey new guy, did you hear what Andy's girlfriends been doing?"

You stop blowing on your soup and glance at Herbert.

"I haven't, what happened?"

"So this fucking bitch named, what was her name again Andy?"

"Julia."

"Yeah so this bitch named Julia has been spreading lies about him ever since they broke up. She told the captain that he raped her!"

"I guess she wants to get me fired. Rather get revenge against me for something I didn't do then have the city be safe."

"Julia...what's her last name?"

"Why does it matter? She's a fucking liar and that's that," says Andy.

"Sorry I thought I might know her...I had a childhood friend named Julia."

"Well I hope you don't still consider her a friend after what she did to Andy. That skank deserves to live a life alone."

You sit in silence as you take this all in. If this is the Julia you think it is, there's got to be a reason she said what she said. You never knew her as the type of person to lie, even as a child. When you're about to prod further, you hear someone call your name. It's Captain Dario and he wants to speak with you immediately. You wave goodbye and follow the captain into his private quarters.

A rush of anxiety hits you as your still not sure if the captain bought your story. What if Lars told him the truth?

"Please, take a seat."

You sit and find yourself starring at the gray haired captain. He stares back, unblinking as you both wait to see who makes the first move.

"First things first, you're not fired."

"That's a relief."

"I'm sure it is, but what I say next may not be. I have no intention of re-hiring Lars."

"Wait what? Like I said in my letter, he did the smart thing and could have died had he stayed."

The captain sighs and says,

"While that may be true, I've been wanting to fire him for awhile. He's lazy and incompetent. The only reason he still had a job was because guards are in high demand right now. The problem now is finding a replacement."

"What happens if you don't?"

Dario frowns and bitterly says,

"Then I might have to rehire Lars."

You could talk about Herbert and Andy, they might be able to take over Lars' previous guard duties. On the other hand, who knows how Lars will react if he finds out you played a role in replacing him. There may be no reasoning with him.