[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] Continue

[Assistant]
You are sorely tempted. You are really sorely tempted. However, there are a couple factors at play that are preventing you from doing so. One, you're dubious about trusting a bunch of gnome souls. It isn't like they still aren't your enemy no matter what form they take or the situation at hand. The enemy of your enemy is still YOUR enemy as far as you're concerned. This could be a trick to get the upper hand on their part.

Second and most importantly, this is still a mission for the Emperor. If he wanted you to work with Mistress to send a bunch of gnome souls to oblivion then that's what you're going to do regardless of your personal feelings towards her.

You begin to concentrate and try to mentally shut out the voices. Its extremely difficult, in fact you don't actually succeed in doing so, but you do stay focused enough to keep up Mistress' energy. An unearthly howl invades your head as a jet-black orb appears in the center of the room. You feel like its sucking the life out of you and you instinctively start to back away.

"NO! Don't move! You'll ruin the spell! It won't be much longer, look its already working!" Mistress shouts and points to the jars, which are now growing dimmer again. You then see one of the wisps completely disappear; followed by another and another, until they all begin fading away. As the souls vanish, the voices begin to get quieter and more desperate sounding as they beg you to stop. Eventually you hear nothing at all and the orb in the room disappears as well.

"There, that should do it for a while, until the next batch." Mistress remarks as she wipes her forehead and fixes her hair. "Whew, that was a little more strenuous than I thought it would be, it was very helpful for you to be here. We make a pretty good team…"
"Stop. Just stop." You say interrupting.
"Stop what?" Mistress asks as if she doesn't know what you're talking about.
"You know damn well what. I told you that this attempt to be pleasant isn't going to work and its totally transparent."

Mistress smiles, but it isn't that cruel smirk that you're used to, its one more of admiration.

"I guess I deserve this hostility. However, I'd rather you hate me than be weak, though I suppose in some ways you still have a few flaws common to your race…but I can overlook those because I know that they will disappear in time. I just wish you'd recognize and shed those flaws soon, because you may need to do so. As I have said before, I have always tried to help you and I won't stop just because you can't see that or harbor thoughts of ill intent on me. Like you briefly considering listening to those desperate gnome souls. You don't think I don't know how tempted you were to sabotage the ritual just to get a chance to kill me? I could hear everything they said to you."
"And I didn't because my main duty was to see this mission done for the Emperor, do you have a point?"
"My point is you have so much more potential than you realize. You just fended off a psychic assault by hundreds of souls. Hundreds of vengeful souls feeding off your already strong desires to do me harm and you still resisted. Not many can boast such will power even if they've had superior training by the best teachers. Now your former classmate Kane? He struggles right now with just one miserable wendigo spirit within him and it's half taken him over already."
"What are you talking about?"
"He's a wendigo now or rather possessed by one. It's a spirit that possesses a living host and usually turns them into a slavering beast that is constantly looking for meat and flesh to quell its everlasting hunger."

Well this is a new twist on whatever angle Mistress is attempting to pull.

"If that's the case, why hasn't he been going around eating everyone then?" you ask.
"Who's saying he hasn't? Wendigo's may have poor impulse control, but they can be cunning when necessary. I imagine he's only managed to hide it so well because he's been associating with the savages and unsophisticated trash in Rask and turned his bloody deeds into the reputation of a ruthless warrior that could be feared and respected. Here? He's overseeing a death factory with a steady supply of meat. Who's going to miss a few dead gnome bodies or living gnomes for that matter? The wendigo probably hasn't completely taken Kane over because it's gotten lazy and happy with its current arrangement."
"And of course you're the only one who knows all this."
"Perhaps Jacob suspects something amiss, but I guarantee I'm the only one who knows that doesn't fear the thing that wears Kane's skin. The beast knows I can destroy it within a blink and it would rather continue to enjoy its current arrangement."
"Hmm, excuse me if I'm having a difficult time believing you. In any case, it doesn't change my own opinions on you, so I'm not sure what you're trying to gain by telling me all this."
"Look, believe me, or don't, but I assure you there is no gain in this for me by telling you. I merely used him as an example of how you continue to be superior to your former classmates. (Sigh) Sometimes I wonder if I should've showed you just a little more intimacy during our sessions together. Perhaps then you would've at least known to trust me." Mistress says and tries to touch your hand. Once again you recoil at her advances and step backward.

"Do that again and you'll pull back a stump. And the next time you need to banish gnome souls or whatever else you can do it yourself."
"Well that's ultimately not really your call now is it? If the Emperor wants you to help me, then you'll have to right? Isn't it a shame that you can't just do what you want, when you want?" Mistress says with one of her more familiar smirks.
"There it is. I was waiting for one of your sneering comments."
"Sneering comments? But isn't obeying the Emperor what you WANT to do? Aren't you glad to follow his every command because he is as you say infallible? How is my comment a sneering one? It just points out the facts, that's all. Your problem is you think I'm your enemy when I've done nothing but try to help you despite yourself."
"Sure, whatever, I'm tired of your fat musings." you say and begin to leave, but Mistress gets in your way.

"I see you've still got my dagger. Still can't completely get me out of your mind even though you have your little shield maiden fluff on the side?"
"The memories I associate with this dagger are something you should be wary of, lest I share them with you."
"Oh? Well why don't you use it right now, if you hate me so much? I gave you a chance to kill me once before and you didn't take it…but it wasn't because you were a coward. It wasn't even because you knew you weren't strong enough to do it. It's because deep down YOU know that you love me and I will ALWAYS be the only woman for you. ALWAYS." Mistress says and with a sudden quickness she grabs your head with both hands and kisses you hard on the lips.

And for a split second that twisted part of you enjoys it. Without thinking you nearly begin to put both of your arms around her, then you come back to your senses and push her off of you and draw out the dagger. She backs off.

"Ohh, you know how I like foreplay! Come on, stick it in mommy!" Mistress says with excitement.
"You…you…you're one fucked up bitch and I'm not playing your game!" You sharply remark and make your way quickly back upstairs.
"Remember Eternal, always AND forever! The sooner you learn that, the better off you'll be!" Mistress shouts and begins laughing.

As you're storming out of the furnace building everything is a bit of a blur. You know you knock aside a couple of guards pushing big wheeled containers full of bodies, but you don't really notice anything else until you see Kane again outside in the yard bellowing orders. He looks different though, like more bestial. You look again he doesn't even look human anymore. His mouth has become enlarged with several rows of razor teeth and his hands more like claws. The strange thing is nobody else seems to notice this.

You walk over closer to him and now he looks more like he did. You feel like you're having a hard time focusing. What the hell is going on? As you begin rubbing your eyes you don't notice Kane walking over to you.

"Hey you're still here. I trust your business with Mistress went well?" Kane asks you as you open your eyes and there you see it again. That THING instead of Kane. Between what Mistress told you and this, you justifiably feel threatened.

"Get the hell back! I know what you are!" you say and point your dagger at Kane, which was still in your hand.

Kane's ogre guards look unsure of what to do, as do other nearby guards, but Kane raises his hands up.

"Its okay! Its okay! Nothing to see here, get back to work!" Kane says and then gives a nervous smile, but it isn't a nervous smile to you, it seems more like he's barring his fangs. In fact to you he looks like he might even attack.

You don't know what to do exactly. Obviously you're seeing something odd with Kane, why you weren't before is the strange part though. You don't know if you're really in danger here or if Mistress did something to you to make you see this and possibly do something rash.

[User] You leave

[Assistant]
Kane isn't making any move against you and you aren't going to kill him based on suspicion especially with all the weirdness going on here in general. The best thing you feel you can do is just get the hell out of here.

As you order the gates to be opened you continue to keep an eye on Kane and he does the same to you. You aren't seeing the monstrous traits like you were anymore which makes you believe that Mistress did do something to you. Possibly when she kissed you.

Then as you begin to leave, Kane calls out to you.

"Are you going to tell the Emperor?"

You turn around and face Kane who now isn't even looking you in the eye. In fact you'd say he even looks ashamed. The funny thing is Kane just gave himself away, though maybe he wanted to.

Since you aren't exactly sure what the situation is except what Mistress has told you, you ask Kane a simple question.

"Are you still loyal to the Emperor?"
"Yes." Kane says looking up, straightening himself a little and making a major effort to look you in the eye.
"Then he already knows, otherwise I would've been sent here to kill you."

Kane nods and begins to form disjointed sentences. You imagine he's probably going to try to explain his side of things, but quite frankly after the day you've had here, you don't care.

"I don't need to know how it happened. I don't need to know why it happened. I am not your judge. Just continue to serve the Empire and the Emperor with distinction and loyally as you have been. However the moment that thing inside you takes over completely, the moment you stop doing your duty, the moment you are considered a dangerous liability to the Empire… I will be your executioner. Remember this."
"I will." Kane says.

Kane steps forward and raises his hand in a salute. You return the salute, which seems to make Kane happy. You get back on your horse and ride away eager to put as much distance between you and Gnome's Home as fast as possible.

When you arrive back at your own war camp, your two main commanders Captain Ackerson and Battlemage Galen are arguing over the battle plans as usual. They're competent men its just too bad that they can't get along if you aren't around to bang their heads together. You learned very quickly why Roldan was quick to shove them on to you.

"Sir, I'm glad you're back, I have tried to reason with this hedge wizard, but the man is being an unreasonable asshole. He doesn't see that sending in our remaining golems on a suicidal run on Fort Tinker will result in a much quicker collapse of its walls and allow the rest of the troops to just pour in and overrun the place. The quicker we take this fort the quicker we can march on the capital." Captain Ackerson says.
"And do you realize the waste you're suggesting? What if we need those golems for our assault on the capital? You think golems are easy to make? No of course you don't because you're a muscle bound moron who just thinks brute strength and numbers are going to win the day!" Galen remarks.

You're in no mood.

"Will both of you idiots shut the fuck up, I'm sick of your petty arguing! Look, use half of the golems to bring down one of the walls and back them up with a couple cannon units. The golems will probably be destroyed and those cannon crews are probably going to get hammered by whatever new gnome invention the Felkans have, but it should be enough. Or come up with something else, I don't give a shit right now, just get it the fuck done and don't bother me again until you've made more progress!" you yell and leave the war tent to make your way to your own private tent.

As soon as you open your tent, you have another unexpected encounter in your long line of unexpected encounters lately, however this one is much more pleasant.

"Alison? What're you doing here?"
"I figured I'd surprise you. The eastern front has been pretty quiet ever since we destroyed the majority of the gnoll horde you know. It's not like I can't sneak away every once in a while. I was actually surprised when I got here that you weren't around, so where did you sneak off to?"
"Orders from the Emperor. Special mission. It was…ugh…it's done and I really don't want to talk about it right now, I'm just glad to see you. You're a welcome sight right now."
"Aren't I always?" Alison remarks with a smile.

You and Alison speak a bit, but you both know not to waste an opportunity like this and the pair of you get to doing what lovers normally do. It's a good feeling, but its not just the sex (though that's certainly good too) its just the fact that you still can't believe someone can make you feel this way.

You wouldn't admit to this openly, but sometimes when you're with Alison you feel a bond there that might even rival your bond with the Emperor. There have even been times you've briefly worried if there will come a day where you'd have to outright choose between the Emperor or Alison. The concern though isn't that you'd have to do it, your concern is that there is the possibility that if it came down to it, you might choose Alison. You try to dismiss such thoughts however, after all when is a situation like that ever going to occur? Better to focus on the pleasant present rather than the possible grim future.

As the pair of you lies together, Alison starts to drift off in your arms and says something a little strange.

"Thank you."
"Thank you? For what exactly? The orgasm?"
"For this night. I just feel so loved right now. And I love you too. You do know that don't you?" Alison asks looking into your eyes.
"Of course I know that, I love you too."
"Just laying here with you makes me feel so safe." Alison remarks and cuddles into you even more.
"I suppose, but I'd hardly think you'd need me to protect you when you're more than capable of doing it yourself. Is there something wrong? You don't normally talk like this."
"Nothing's wrong. I guess I just felt a little girly there for a moment. Still, it's nice to hear you say it to me and it's nice to know this side of you." Alison says and begins to drift off.

You briefly wonder if you lived a "normal" married life, most of your nights would be like this. Lying in bed holding your significant other. Getting up in the morning to do your mundane peasant job. Would you also have children? That's something you've never even considered, though given your several intimate encounters with Alison you're a little surprised you haven't gotten into possible baby complications. Perhaps you've just been lucky, or maybe she's been taking Stillness potions bought from Empire alchemists. Of course she might just be barren, or maybe you're sterile. abort

Whatever the case she's never brought up the subject and you certainly don't intend to since it isn't a priority and as far as you're concerned, never will be.

With these final thoughts you join Alison in sleep.

Hours pass and you are awakened by the sounds of cannons and warfare in the distance.

"Ugh, I guess they've started…(Yawn) I suppose I better get up and see what's going on before Galen and Ackerson start arguing over how to best execute the survivors. Hey did you need to…" you say and then realize that Alison is no longer laying anywhere next to you. She's not even in the tent. What you do see is a piece of parchment nearby.

You pick it up and you feel something is wrong as soon as you do.

Your first thoughts are perhaps it is some sort of "break up" letter. You have heard of such things occurring with soldiers that have been far away from their wives or husbands sometimes. Perhaps Alison sees the futility in your current arrangement since you have such a significant duty to the Emperor and doesn't want you to have to "choose".

However, after you read the words on it you WISH it were a break up letter.

The words merely say:

Always and forever. Remember this.

Your heart sinks. You just slept with Mistress.

She must've magically disguised herself as Alison. You don't even know how to react. Your normally reserved emotions are all over the place. You feel a little sick, you definitely feel rage, but more at yourself for not being observant and falling for Mistress' tricks once again.

You end up nearly destroying everything in your tent in rage screaming incoherent obscenities not giving a damn about what the soldiers or officers walking by might be wondering what's going on. In fact it's a good thing none of them pop their head to investigate since you're so angry you might've killed them.

After you're spent, you fall to your knees feeling defeated.

"I'm sorry Alison…I'm sorry…" you say over and over again in between catching your breath and looking at your portrait of her.

And worst part of all this, is you still enjoyed your night with Mistress. Even if it really wasn't your fault, you briefly wish you hadn't allowed yourself to grow so attached to Alison so this wasn't even an issue. You should've just been concentrating on your duty to the Emperor and now you're paying the price for not staying focused. You're focused now though.

With the battle of Fort Tinker already in full swing, you make your way into the war torn fort and unleash the rest of your renewed energy there. Your enemies suffer greatly that day.

By the time its all over you feel slightly better even though you know you'll probably still have to deal with Mistress' shit later. Until then though there are important tasks still at hand and the major one being that the Felkan Kingdom needs to be destroyed and you intend to see that through.

[User] Continue

[Assistant]
Year 30

The day has come at last, the Felkan capital; Dessel has been broken wide open. Its defenses have been shattered and all that's left now is to scoop out the soft underbelly within.

"How long do you think they'll hold out?" Roldan asks.
"A few more hours, perhaps even a day. No more I suspect. I have to admit that I thought the remaining Felkan ruling class would've surrendered long before now, let alone fight to the bitter end. I suppose they were still carrying out the will of their gnomish masters even though most of them are dead or soon will be." You remark.
"I know they had a lot of influence and were responsible for the technological inventions along with running the merchant guilds, but do you really believe the Felkan Kingdom was run by gnomes?"
"Of course. Its what the Emperor believed and ultimately that's been the purpose of this whole war, to eliminate the gnome threat. Happily with this final nail in the coffin, that's been accomplished."
"You know some of them probably escaped long before the war started going badly for the Felkans."
"Perhaps, but I'm sure in time they will be found. The Emperor's domain has already been extended much within the past few years alone, I'm sure eventually it will cover the entire world and in the long run all those that oppose the Emperor will be brought to justice. Either by me, or by someone else loyal to his service."
"Well, until such time I'm just wondering where I'll be assigned after all this. Personally I'm hoping to get a little free time so I can see my wife Brenda again. It's been so long and I miss her. I'm sure you feel something similar about Alison."

You pause for a moment before speaking.

"I will go where my duty takes me after this assignment. Alison understands that, she is a military woman after all." You remark.
"Well of course, but I was just stating that it would be nice to take a break from duty for a moment to enjoy the company of someone you care about."
"We're Eternals Roldan. So is Brenda for that matter. Our existence is duty. You would do well to remember that."
"I am aware of it! I was just…oh forget it." Says and walks away from you.

You and Roldan have been a little less cordial to each other lately, then again the two of you never have quite "clicked" with each other for some reason. Actually there are probably several reasons on your side as well as his, but you aren't going to waste your time pondering them since you are both able to work together in a professional manner and never engaged in anything other than the low level disagreements. As long as the respect is still there between you two, why bother analyzing it?

Besides this mission is nearly over now anyway. You're fairly certain you'll be reassigned somewhere else. You do wonder if you'll get some down time as Roldan mentioned though.

If you do, you're more than likely going to try to spend some of it with Alison, though you've still been going back and forth on how well that's going to go when you tell her what happened two years ago. You certainly couldn't tell her something like that in a letter and from what letters you've received from her she still doesn't know. Mistress probably wouldn't tell her to stir up chaos because it would be more fun letting you worry about it for all this time. You're just glad you never had to help assist Mistress at Gnome's Home again, though now you're even wondering if that was ever a real order from the Emperor when it did occur.

You haven't spoken to the Emperor directly or even indirectly in quite some time either. That's actually been a little concerning to you as well. Still, you figure you soon will be when this is all over and the Felkans have finally been crushed once and for all.

You watch the capital smoke and burn in the distance. Occasionally a small explosion causes pieces of the already breached wall fly into several directions.

"Well I'm not going to miss out on all the fun, before it's over." You say to yourself and head towards the city.

As it turns out you don't miss much. The city's defenders consist of mostly children and elders at this point. They don't provide too much resistance now that they have no walls to hide behind. The royal guard is still around but quick work is made of them. As for the royals themselves most of them took the coward's way out. You find several of them lying dead at their lavish dinner table with several knocked over empty wine cups.

Upon further searching you find what you guess to be the royal bedroom and who you guess to be the Felkan king and queen lying dead in the bed. They must've taken the same poison since you see the same cups near the bodies. As you study the pair of them and how they are holding hands in death, you notice a crib in the corner of the room. While you're inspecting this, Warrick walks in.

"Oh there you are. We've found that some of these rooms lead to a system of secret passages. We've already started to explore them, but we haven't found anyone yet. I don't even think they lead outside the city, just to other portions of the palace. Looks like we won." Warrick remarks.
"Looks that way. Sort of a disappointing climax given how the Felkans insisted on dragging this out. Continue your search though; someone still might be hiding in them. You find any gnomes?"
"No and I don't believe there are any in city either. At least no reports have popped up about any."
"Guess we got all of them then. The Emperor will be pleased to hear that. Carry on."

For the next few days you observe the destruction of Dessel. Roldan remarks that the city shouldn't be destroyed, but rather appropriated by the Empire as it wouldn't take much to rebuild the damage and would be easier than building a brand new city here. Orders are orders though. While the Emperor might've relaxed his zeal on burning every Felkan city to the ground, he was still pretty clear about the capital. You imagine he sees it as the last symbol of gnomish defiance.

In the middle of this process Jacob unexpectedly visits you.

"Didn't expect to see you here." You remark while sharpening your weapon.
"Well the Emperor wants to see you, plus I also have to speak with Roldan and Warrick about their next assignments, so I figured I might as well come here in person." Jacob says looking around at the destruction. "So, it's finally done. The Felkan Kingdom is no more. I have to admit, I was worried about this war on more than one occasion."
"You don't need to tell me, you told me on more than one occasion. You should've had more faith in the Emperor, he knew its destruction was inevitable."
"Well, thanks in part to your actions no doubt." Jacob says with a brief smile.
"I am merely the weapon which does the job. If you're looking for Roldan, he's in the large tent on that small hill over to the east. Warrick's probably with him. I need to get going if the Emperor wishes to see me…is Mistress going to be there?"
"I don't believe so."
"Good, don't really need the negativity ruining this moment." You remark and begin to leave.
"Um…there's something else I need to talk to you about before you leave." Jacob says hesitantly.
"What?"
"It's about the Emperor, he's uh…well…"
"He's what?! What is he?! Jacob, just spit it out."
"He's sick."
"What? Sick? That's ridiculous! I've never known him to ever show illness."
"I know it may seem hard to believe, but I'm telling you last time I spoke with him, he didn't look well. He seemed very tired and just really pale."
"He runs the Empire! Of course there's going to be times he's going to be tired! It has to be taxing keeping track of everything. As for being pale, he doesn't exactly go skipping about in the sunlight you know."
"I know all that. Look, just when you see him you'll know what I'm talking about. I mean I'm sure the Emperor will live a very long time, but we should prepare…um…just in case…"
"Just in case what Jacob?" you ask beginning to get angry at the insinuation that the Emperor may die. Jacob sensing he's overstepped a boundary quickly shuts up.
"Erm…nevermind. Forget I said anything. I'm worrying too much as usual…but still…(sigh) forget it. I'll let you get on your way."

You shake your head and begin to leave again, when Jacob once again stops you.

"Oh one more thing. Before you go see the Emperor, you're supposed to make a visit to Gnome's Home first."
"Are you fucking kidding me? Aren't all the gnomes there dead by now?"
"Maybe, I dunno. Something to do with souls I think. I never did know exactly what went on there, and I don't really think I want to know. All I do know is you're supposed to assist."
"Assist who? Mistress? I already assisted her once there and let's just say what transpired wasn't pleasant. She hasn't needed my assistance for the past two years since that time, why does she need it now all of a sudden? Fuck that, I'm not helping her anytime soon. In fact if I saw her again, I'd probably kill the bitch after what happened last time!"

Jacob begins to step back from you.

"Easy now, I'm just the messenger here. I don't even know if she's there. It's what the Emperor told me to tell you. I mean if you don't want to do it, I suggest you take it up with him personally."

At this point you might just do that. Nobody can question your loyalty or your dedication to the Emperor, but this request…its just asking too much. You thought he spoke with her about leaving you alone and she's already ignored that. How long must you put up with this svelk bitch?

[User] You head to Gnome's Home

[Assistant]
An order from the Emperor is an order from the Emperor no matter what. If you have to go to Gnome's Home, then you have to go. If you have to assist Mistress then that's what you'll have to do. Doesn't mean you have to like it though.

You get on your horse and make your way to Gnome's Home. On your way you think about how you're going to handle the situation if you have to assist Mistress. Then you realize that the time has come.

You're going to kill the bitch. This has been a long time coming anyway. You aren't sure if you're just going to attack her if you see her or if you'll do something a little more subtle, but one thing is certain, she's going to be dead by the time you leave that gnome murder factory.

When you arrive at Gnome's Home the outside looks about the same the last time you were here and when you're let inside the gates, it smells about the same as well. Probably even a little bit worse.

You step inside and see a lot less living gnomes and lot more dead ones. A few pathetic examples lay half dead outside their dwellings covered in their own filth. Whatever attempts at keeping this place slightly clean have long since stopped. The entire place is disgusting and you feel like you're going to catch something just standing here.

"Hey, I heard you were coming, welcome back!" you hear a voice shout. It's Kane. He's a bit unkept and wild looking, but still friendly. You notice he doesn't have his ogre friends with him any more.

"Hello Kane. You're looking…well."
"Thanks. I've been feeling well. Been keeping very busy what with all the gnome killing and all. As you can see, we're almost finished. Figured we'd speed up the process by cutting back on the clean up portion, I mean this whole place is going to be shut down after we kill 'em all anyway. I'll be sort of sad to see it go, but nothing lasts forever right?"
"Right, so my assignment was to assist in something?"
"Oh yes, sorry. I don't get to talk to many people nowadays. Anyway Mistress is waiting for you down in the soul obliteration chamber. I'm not actually sure if that's what it's called, but given what happens there, seems as good a name as any."

You thank Kane and make your way to where Mistress is located. Along the way you see the usual piles of bodies being tossed into the large furnaces by bored guards. When you get down to the chamber you see that Mistress is already in the process of preparation. You see more jars containing souls than you did last time and that gives you the idea of how to kill her.

"Hey lover, you're here right on time." She remarks.
"Yeah, let's just get this over with." You say.
"Well, I'm certainly glad you didn't feel that way during our last encounter."
"You tricked me during that last encounter!"
"True, but didn't it feel so good? Besides its not like anyone knows so what's the harm?"
"You know what? I'm tired of fighting it, maybe you're right." You answer.

Mistress is a bit surprised to hear you say that.

"Er…of course I am! I've always had your best interest in mind. That's what I've always been telling you."
"And I think I finally realize it after all these years. I mean you were the one who practically taught me everything I know. Who would know better for me than you?" you say and walk over to Mistress.

You grab Mistress around the waist and give her a passionate kiss. All part of the act of course and part of you hates it, but the other part is definitely getting excited.

Afterwards Mistress looks at you with a glee that you've only really seen when she's torturing someone. (Which was usually you).

"Okay, down boy, we've still got business to take care of here. Glad to see you're finally seeing things how they really are though. After this bit of business perhaps we can talk more about the future. Our future."
"Looking forward to it." You say and slap her on her ass before taking your position on the circle line.

Mistress goes on to tell you that the process will be just like before, but will require even more focus than last time. She says one of the reasons why she wanted your help this time (Other than wanting to see you again) was because she wants to dispose of more gnome souls than usual. She says that while she enjoyed the torture, suffering and extermination of an entire race she absolutely hates the smell and general dirtiness of the place and the sooner she's out of here the better.

Your plan is simple. You're going to sabotage the ritual. You're fairly certain the gnome souls will try to convince you to do it like they did last time anyway.

Mistress begins chanting and soon the spell begins to take effect. You begin to hear the whispers of gnome souls in your head. More than last time and saying the exact same thing.

"Break the circle! Save us! Kill the svelk! Save us from oblivion!" you hear and you begin to do just that and stop focusing your energy towards Mistress. She of course realizes what you're doing, but doesn't say anything, instead she just shuts her eyes as if to concentrate harder.

You decide a blade through her body should really take her off her game plan, since she's either going to have to stop you which will expose her mind to the vengeful souls or not stop you and get stabbed which will have the same effect.

You draw your sword and then suddenly your own mind shield is completely shattered and multiple souls assault your mind. The pain is excruciating and you collapse on the floor and begin convulsing.

"Did you really think I couldn't see through your charade?" Mistress shouts as your mind continues to be destroyed by the gnome souls. You don't know why they're not attacking Mistress, but you see why they're attacking you. You aren't innocent in all this as far as they're concerned. Your involvement in the Felkan campaign has probably resulted in most of the gnomes being rounded up and sent to Gnome's Home in the first place.

For the first time you not only see the horror that has been this place, but you also experience all of it. Your mind can't take it and neither can your body which begins to lose all control of its functions. You're leaking all manner of bodily fluids out every possible place you could be leaking from.

Eventually you're nothing more than an empty shell, but not quite dead. The souls have stopped attacking and Mistress stands over you.

"I really had hoped you were serious, but I just couldn't take that chance. I reinforced my own mental shield and cast a repulsion spell. Of course the souls have now completely escaped annihilation, but what the hell, that's the Emperor's obsession not mine."

You continue to stare upward and slack jaw in a comatose state.

"(Sigh) I suppose the malicious svelk thing to do, would be to continue to keep you alive in this state for a little while longer, but I think you're probably too far gone for me to even get any enjoyment out of that. Besides, even I couldn't do that to you. I'm just a fool for love I guess."

Mistress kneels down and takes her dagger that she gave you a long time ago and holds it to your throat.

"Well at least I got to kiss you one last time." She says and ends what remains of your life.


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

[User] You say "What if we figure out a way to get your family back without me dying?"

[Assistant]
Kralmer lowers his spear ever so slightly.  "What, you got some kind of master plan that'll get the king outta the way?"

"Well..." you say slowly, your mind racing.  You've got a half formulated idea already, if only you had more time to think...  "Don't you get an audience with the king or something?  To show him my dead body?"

He thinks for a moment.  "I suppose, but if you're thinking of trying anything, you best be aware that the king is heavily guarded.  And he wears this enchanted armor, made by his dark sorcerer, Maeldral.  While it's on, he's practically immortal!  That's why no-ones ever, you know, killed him before!"

"But it must have some kind of weakness, don't you think?"

"I dunno... his Maeldral might have something in his notes or something, but I have no idea where he'd keep something like that.  I mean, that's really dangerous knowledge.  I'm sorry, but I have to kill you."

He raises his spear once more, ears drooping.

"But I'm super strong, remember?"  You say, "At least compared to you guys.  If we find a way in, I can take out the guards.  I took out fifteen or so of the king's men just the other day in Arrorn.  Then you won't have to kill me, because your family will be safe!  I could go after the king by myself, if you don't want to get tangled up in all this."

He seems to think it over for a moment.  Then, he sighs and steps off your chest.

"Stand, monster..."  Kralmer says, "I'll accept your terms on the condition that we break my family out before anything else.  And after that, you're on your own.  I have my family to think of."  He's quiet for a moment.  "You're lucky the king has a reputation for making bad deals.  I'm not the first to be roped into something like this by that soggy bag of water, and from what I've heard, he doesn't always follow through.  I certainly hope you're more honorable than he is.  Now, let's find a better spot to camp."

[User] You to the palace!

[Assistant]
Thankfully, Kralmer has enough food for the both of you, so you go to bed with a full stomach.  But you just can't get to sleep.  After a half hour of tossing and turning in the dirt, you sit up and take inventory of your supplies, (for lack of anything better to do).  It's then that you remember the strange disk you found on the night you first woke up in the woods.  You must've forgotten about it after seeing the kidnapping.  It's been in your bag this whole time, waiting to be rediscovered.

You take it out and examine it.  Something about it tugs at your memory, but you just can't place it.  For a while you stare at the screen, flashing "insufficient power," over and over in red.  Tapping at the screen does nothing, and there are no other buttons to speak of.  On the other side is some kind of clear plastic tank, with a little bit of green fluid sloshing about inside.  You can't make heads or tails of it.  Soon, you're fast asleep, the disk resting on your chest...

Your dreams that night are filled with visions of the disk.  You see yourself putting it together, building it, tweaking it.  It's the most important thing you've ever created, more important than your family, your friends, the outside world.  The disk consumes your entire life, you work on it day and night.  And then, one day, there's no more work to be done.  You fill the tank with the green liquid, harvested from the core of a meteorite, tap the screen a few times, and suddenly find yourself surrounded by a brilliant, violet light...

"Wake up, monster!"

You open your eyes to the sight of Kralmer's wrinkly face.

"Eat something, we've got a long trek ahead of us."  he pushes a bowl of black goop into your hands and walks a few paces away as you attempt to choke it down.

"So,"  he says as you finish,  "You're still here."

"Yup,"  you say, running your tongue over your teeth to get the last little bits of your breakfast off.

"You really are honorable then...  I suppose I should call you something other than 'Monster.'  What are you anyway?"

"I'm a human,"  you say.

"Good to know, human,"  Kralmer grins,  "Now, like I said, we've got a long ways to go, so let's get going."

For the next two days you walk on, stopping only to sleep.

On the evening of the second day, Kralmer says "Look! It's just over this hill," and dashes ahead.  You follow, quick as you can.  When you crest the hill, you can just see the outline of some sort of fortress, sitting on a hilltop on the horizon.

"We ought to make camp a little ways off the trail, and soon."  Kralmer says,  "Just in case some of the King's guard happen to pass."

You follow him off the trail and into a nearby thicket.  For a good ten minutes, you push through the brush, covering yourself in all sorts of scratches.  Finally, you come to a clear spot, right at the heart of the thorn bushes.

"There," Kralmer says,  "No way they'll think to look here.  Now, we'd better come up with some kind of plan before we get any closer."

"Do you know if there are any secret entrances?"  You ask.

"The only way in, so far as I know, besides the front gate would be through the moat.  It runs right through the dungeon, so the king can drown his subjects in it."

"Great!"  you say,  "We'll swim in that way!"

"Swim?"  Kralmer asks,  "What does 'swim' mean?"

"You've never heard of swimming?"  You ask,  "You know, where you paddle to stay afloat in the water?"

"Human, you are far more powerful than I ever could've imagined,"  Kralmer is clearly awed,  "We Oalkwardners cannot touch the water.  If we soak in it, it seeps into our skin, making it weaker and weaker, until it simply dissolves into mush.  I imagine it's a horribly painful way to go, hence why our lovely, benevolent King uses it to dispose of anyone who so much as looks at him funny."

"My word!  That's why I never found any sort of well in the village!  I had to suck the moisture out of mud to survive!   What do you do when it rains?"

"I've heard of this 'rain,' you speak of.  Thankfully, such a calamity has yet to befall this land."

"But what about all these trees and plants?  How can they grow without water?"

"I don't know what you mean!"  Kralmer says,  "All plants need is a little sunshine and they'll grow just fine.  But we're getting off topic.  The best way to get into the palace may just be for you to sneak in through the moat."

"But what about you?  How will you get inside?  What about your family?"

"I... don't know.  But the moat could be our best shot.  You may have to go in without me."

"You trust me that much?"

"I trust you more than I trust the King, I'll say that much.  There'll be no-one to guide my family out of the dungeon, should you decide to go after the King.  If you feel the need, you can disregard my earlier request for them to be let out first.  Should you manage to take the fortress, you'll then be able to set them free."

"Alright..."  you agree, "I'll do it."

"Great."  Kralmer says, "We'll think of some kind of meeting point.  I really appreciate this, Human.  You are quite possibly the most courageous creature I've ever met."

"You're welcome,"  you say.

After a moment of silence, Kralmer says,  "Well, we'd better make camp.  I have a feeling it's gonna be a long day tomorrow."

"You and me both,"  you murmur, as you stand up to start getting the camp ready.

[User] The moat

[Assistant]
You reach the fortress at about noon the next day.  It's really not much of a castle.  Instead of stone, like you would expect, it's made completely out of wood, with a few rickety looking towers poking up from behind the wall. Once you're only about a hundred feet off from the moat, Kralmer stops you.

"Send my family out this way, when you get out." He points at a spot where the moat goes under the wood.  "You see where the water crosses under the wall?"

"Yeah?"

"That should take you into the dungeon."

You don't say anything.  This is all happening so fast, you're not sure you're ready.

"Thanks again, human."  Kralmer says, "Whatever happens, I'll make sure your legacy lives on."

"Right," you say, "Thanks."

There's no point in stalling, so you start running towards the moat, fast as you can, so no one sees you.  Once you reach the edge, you don't hesitate to dive right it.

The water is warmer than you expected, and murky.  It's hard to stay afloat with a backpack on, but you still manage to keep your head above the water.  Luckily, it doesn't seem to be flowing in any particular direction, so you have no trouble with current.  You swim for the opening Kralmer pointed out and duck under it.  Suddenly, the sunlight from above is gone.  You're in a sort of dirt tunnel, with just enough space at the top for you to breathe.  It's fairly short, and before you know it, the river opens up into a sort of pool at the edge of a huge underground room.

You swim to the edge of the pool, out of breath.  Are you really this out of shape?  For a moment you sit on your hands and knees, panting.  Then, you look up and get a good look at the wall on the other side of the room.  You suck in your breath.  It's lined with cages, set into the wall, dirty and disheveled Oalkwardner eyes staring out at you from behind wooden... well, they're not exactly bars...  more like fat wooden sticks.

It looks like this part of the fortress is built into the hillside, as half of the walls are wood, and the other half, dirt, hard packed.

Thankfully, there are no guards down here, at least not right now.  You need to decide if you're going to free the prisoners now, or wait until after the king is dead.

[User] You go after the king first

[Assistant]
"I'll be back for you all later,"  you say, as loud as you dare.

There's an opening in the wall with a spiral staircase going up, so you head through it.  At the top of the stairs is a wooden door.  You can hear voices from the other side, probably guards.  Quietly, you turn the handle and push it open.  Two guards stand on the other side, their backs to you.  They don't notice you, because they just keep chatting about the weather.  You creep closer, and closer, and then you put a hand over each of their mouths and drag them back through the door before they even realize you're there!

They struggle in your grip, but their flailing is no match for your strength.  You carry them downstairs, still covering their mouths, and toss them into the nearest empty cell.  You steal the keys off their belt while you're at it, and lock them inside.

"What's going on?"  one of them cries.

"What the heck are you?"  Asks the other.

"Shut up, both of you!"  You say,  "I need to know where the Dark Sorcerer lives."

"Why would we tell you that?  You're kidnapping us!"  the first guard says,

"Because if you don't, you die!"  You say, slamming your fist against the bars.

"I'm not talking."  The first guard says, crossing his arms.

"Well, I am!"  The Second one says, trembling,  "He's in the tower opposite us, at the very top!"

"What the heck is wrong with you?"  The first guard says, "If you tell it that, you're breaking your sacred oath to protect the king!"

"I'd rather stay alive, thank you very much!"

"Shut up, or I'll kill you both!"  You say, feeling a little guilty.  (Threatening lives isn't exactly the most fun thing in the world).

They go quiet after that.  There's no way to know how long they'll stay quiet though, so you'd better be quick.  You head back up the stairs and slip out the door.  Luckily, the courtyard isn't all that crowded, but there are still a few Oalkwardners milling about here and there.

A line of bushes sits in the shadow of the wall, wrapping all the way around, so you crouch behind it to avoid being seen.  As fast as you can, you crawl around the perimeter until you reach the tower the guards were talking about. There's no-one there to guard the door, it's almost too easy.  Quickly, you slip inside and find yourself staring at yet another spiral staircase.

You take the stairs four at a time, as they're smaller than stairs for humans.  The tower has multiple levels, with rooms branching off on each one, but you don't stop to look in any of them until you reach the very top.  The stairway ends in a trapdoor. You press your ear up against it, but hear nothing. Pushing on the door reveals that it's locked, with the same type of wooden lock that was on the cells in the dungeon.  For a moment, you panic. What are you going to do if you can't get in? It would be a defeat on the whole purpose of this mission!

Then, you remember that you stole the keys off the guards you trapped in the dungeon.  Checking over your shoulder to make sure no one's coming, you pull out the wooden key ring and try each one of them on the lock.  The key slides in on the fourth try, and the door swings open freely to reveal something like a cross between a bedroom and a laboratory.  One side of the room has a big table full of all kinds of odds and ends, different materials and chemicals. The other side has a bedroll, woven from grass and stuffed with... well, more grass.

You start looking around for anything that looks like it might do away with magic armor.  You look through the contents of the table first, but don't find anything remotely useful. (Though, there is a cage of yellow rats on one corner, which is quite entertaining to look at).  You're about to turn elsewhere when you spy something else. Hidden behind a stack of books is a bowl of a strange green substance, glowing slightly in the dim light.

This is the same fluid that's in the back of the disk you found in the forest when you first woke up!  You pull it out of your backpack to confirm.  Maybe, if you refill the tank on the back, it'll work properly again, and you can find out more about what it does.

[User] You fill up the tank and see what happens

[Assistant]
You pull the disk out of your bag and examine the tank on the back.  There's a little cap you can take off to open it. It comes off in two twists, and you fill it with the goo from the bowl.  As you screw the cap back on, a little beep sounds. You flip the disk over and find that the display at the front has changed.

"Power Restored."  It flashes, "Ready for dimensional rift generation.  Please set coordinates or choose a preset."

Two options appear on the screen, one reads, "set new preset"  and the other simply says, "home."

For a moment, you forget all about your mission.  This thing can send you home? Impulsively, you tap the button, and a message pops up.

"Warning:  Dimensional travel may disrupt certain brain functions, including cognition, memory, and vision.  Continue at your own risk."

You hesitate, but curiosity gets the better of you and you push "Continue" on the screen.

It'll just be a short trip, you tell yourself.  Just to jog your memory a little, then you'll come right back.  A violet light envelops you, burning your skin. You shut your eyes as it becomes too intense to look at.  It's like you're spinning, being stretched in fifteen different directions at once. That's about the point at which you lose consciousness.

The pain is the first thing you notice.  It feels as though someone's poured an entire vat of hot coffee over your entire body.  Somehow, you get the sense that you've been asleep a lot longer than normal.  You open your eyes to an overcast, gray sky.  You're laying on the lawn of someone's house, in the middle of a quiet suburb.  You sit up and look around.  There's a backpack a few feet away, with a strange disk beside it.  How the heck did you get here?  You try to remember, but find that you simply cannot.  If you really concentrate, you can just remember a strange violet light...


[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 refuse

[Assistant]
"No, I'm not getting involved with pirates. I'm getting out of this game of fighting and plotting, not stepping down to meddle in it," you say.

"So be it..." Captain Lipton sneers. "But remember me when you're starving on your little dirtball before a man not as charitable as me takes over."

"I'm sorry, I've almost already forgotten you," you say, waving your hand to Lipton's anger as he storms out.

Ah, you're a smart and powerful psyker, you'll make short work of any who try to fuck with you. All you want now is an easy retirement.

[User] Three Years Later...

[Assistant]
Unshattered Paradise

You lie in a hammock, a canteen of water in your hands. You watch as Goliaths drag a net filled with shrimp-like creatures. A good catch, you think to yourself. Life on the planet requires hard work, but it's satisfying. You work hard, cutting down trees for firewood, gathering fruit and plants for food, hunting, fishing and doing the other hundreds of jobs required to keep going. You have a large facility just under the ground, where you can quickly head down to avoid a tsunami. Down there, your equipment is kept safe from the elements, with a functioning school, hospital, kitchens, library and dormitory there.

The pirates cause relatively few issues. There's a few more attempts to negotiate none of which you agree to, and a few raids, but between your orbital cannons and your planet side force of killing machines, you make short work of them. Soon, they learn to fear you, and rightfully so.

Your relationship with Fay goes well. You have a wedding, a small, humble little event. Soon, a child is conceived, a beautiful daughter with her mother's body and her father's powerful mind. You know she will do great things some day.

Although your life is pleasurable and risk-free, you do have one major issue, one problem that has driven you to grow fat, drink and laze around: boredom. The only fights you get to take part in are stopping the occasional drunken scuffle or fending off a raid, which the orbital cannons make an ease. You feel you've wasted your potential here. Still, you're happy. You've a daughter to carry on your legacy. What more could a man want?


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

[User] You pull organs down from the trees

[Assistant]
You move towards the branches, attempting to pull the organs down. When that fails, you wrap an arm around the tree trunk, lifting yourself up somewhat and shaking a branch. Several bloody organs plop down into the dirt.

Suddenly, the soil begins to morph, as it cracks open to reveal small, human-lie mouths. The creepily human-like teeth bite and tear at the meat as they swallows the meat, devouring the organs.

[User] You attack the mouths

[Assistant]
You quickly look around for a bone chunk, grabbing it and shaking the bugs off it. Quickly, you smash the chunk of bone into a mouth, knocking bloody and broken teeth out. The mouths gnash soundlessly as you smash the chunk of bone into them repeatedly, smashing out countless teeth. The mouths shut closed, morphing back into the ground.

Cautiously, you collect a handful of broken, bloody teeth, but the mouths don't make a reappearance.


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

[User] You accept Kyros' decision

[Assistant]
"Fine," you say dejectedly.

"Jeez, Karth, your stubbornness will serve us well in time," Fay says, looking annoyed at you.

You arrive at the doors to your cell, and Kyros opens it.

"Very well," Kyros says. "Inside."

You look at Fay, who smiles at you despite still looking annoyed.

"Bye, Karth," she says, giving a short little wave.

"Bye, Fay," you reply.

The doors are shut, and you walk over to your bed, collapsing on it. Only now do you realize how exhausted you are. You've spent all day walking, which again isn't exactly your specialty. You close your eyes, and soon sleep takes you. Thankfully, the twilight stage where your soul can rest and your exhausted mind can find peace, lasts extra long. Of course, it doesn't take long before the nightmares hit.


[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 who are you?

[Assistant]
"Who exactly are you?" You text him, as he never really got around to answering your question.

"You can refer to me as Nick, that's the name I use to go by online so that's the name you can call me. As to who I am, I'm someone who is need of your help, but in return, I can offer you something you want, and maybe also save your life if what I think will happen is true."

Well at least he was forward with his name, but the second part only stirred more questions into your head.

[User] No more questions

[Assistant]
You didn't have any more questions to ask Ned, so you said you were done.

"Don't be too frightened, I'll tell you everyone you need to know in due time and when the situation comes to it. Now, tell me are you in contact with a ghost as of now?"

You didn't really see any reason to lie to him, and a bit of you thought that he would know if you were doing so.

"Yes, I'm talking to a girl that's been bound onto a street, and I've been trying to get her out of there." You text back, giving him the general idea of what you've been doing."

"Hmm, well that would probably fall into the caretaker class. Lucky you to have gotten such a thing, that class is generally rare to come by. That also seems to answer a few of my questions. So let me ask you, do you really want to get this girl out of her set boundary?"

"Yes. more than anything."

"Well then, let me help you with what you need. You were smart enough to find one of the correct ways in order to get the spirits out. Normally most caretakers go the other route instead of this ritual, but this could be relatively easier and faster than that riddle shit in which we would have to go through. Alright, I'll get you all the materials you need, they should come in by the weekend."

"What's the catch?"

"No catch, just hurry up and do the ritual."

You didn't really trust what he had just said, there's no way someone could buy this much stuff for that price just from the kindness of their hearts, but then again who were you to say no to free help.

"How did you know that I could really see ghosts? That I wasn't lying?" You ask, a bit curious.

"Our eyes are more....open than others. It's apart of our hierarchy, so don't you go worrying about it."

After you and Ned had finished exchanging messages, he had again said the date in which the materials would be coming, didn't even need to ask for your address which freaked you out quite a bit when he told you that he already knew.

Nevertheless, you felt extreme joy for finally being able to get Gwen out of that boundary.

---

Ned started messaging on your phone for the rest of the time that you were in contact with him with how the deliveries were going. You were getting the ingredients on separate days individually. They each came in some pretty sketchy looking packages, ignoring this though you started storing everything in your room closet for future use.

Ned was actually be pretty fast about all of this, more than you were expecting him to be considering that this was all free. You just know that there was a catch to all of this, but you didn't know what it could be, hopefully he wasn't the devil or something and you had unknowingly signed away your soul for bird droppings and crushed ants.

It took about two weeks for the final ingredients to come in, to which Ned already knew without you having to tell him.

Ned- Alright listen here. I'm going to tell you how to mix these ingredients carefully. All you really need is a stove and something to mix everything with, you might want to throw away the pot after or just thoroughly bleach it or something but that's all on you.

"I thought the website already gave instructions on how to do everything?"

Ned- You're really going to trust instructions that are run by nerds who think they know our craft? I'll give them credit they got some stuff right, but only about 60% of it, and you need the whole process and ingredients to be perfectly accurate if you're going to make this work. Normally ascending someone would be a snap, but with what we're doing, it's going to be a little more tricky than that.

Ned then sends you a list of instructions on how to prepare the potion or drink it was that you would be making. The number of steps was pretty big, though reading through it a couple of times it didn't seem all that hard, just combining a thing or two and stirring for periods of time.

Ned had told you to get it done as soon as you could, though you were planning on to anyway.

You were lucky that your mom had gone out to go do some things were a friend and your dad was still at work. You could get the first quarter of the list done before any of them were to get home and see what you were doing. Unpacking the ingredients you needed, you got straight to work.

---

Jesus, the temperature that was emitting from the pot kept on fluctuation from hot to cold. You didn't even fucking know pots could let out a cold temperature, though will all of this ghost and stalker shit that you have come across you couldn't really be all that surprised. It must have been no joke when Ned said that the other faux ingredients wouldn't do, to combining these to make such concoctions took someone who knew what the fuck they were planning on making.

You were secretly hoping though that this wouldn't explode in your face and destroy the entire house if you did something wrong, Ned didn't say such things would happen, but then again he didn't bring it up.

The process was slower than you expected it to be as some of the ingredients took awhile to be stirred before they look as if they needed to be going by the instructions. Still, you think you would be able to finish in time before your dad was to get home since he would probably be here first.

Though as time went on, you got more and more worried that he would catch you in the act, and you had no way in knowing how he would react, and it wasn't like you could just stop what you were doing midway into it.

You could skip on stirring all the way, and only do it in half the time. The materials were already mixed enough as they were, it wasn't like they needed to be stirred to perfection.


[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 challenge The Craxil To Take On Other Corporeal Forms, Then Strike Her Down With Your Sword

[Assistant]
"It is clear that I have neither the means nor the ability to complete my quest, so as a dead man I ask that you grant one dying wish" you proclaim.

"Throwing in the towel already?" she scowls, obviously disappointed that you didn't have some clever trick in mind.  "From your past exploits in my territory I thought you'd at least think of something to try.  What do you want?"

"I want to know how you were able to keep tabs on me during the journey.  What other forms did you take besides Brandolf and the old man?"

"I took many forms.  From birds, to rocks, to the very water you swam through to get past the orcs."

"Show me" you demand, "I want to more fully understand how I was bested before this ends.  Let me die with that peace."

The Craxil takes the form of Brandolf the Bray first and you seize upon you opportunity.  Walking forth with feigned curiosity you unsheath your sword and charge at her with a firm sense of purpose.  You bring the blade down through her collar bone and into her chest while she's still in the Brandolf form.  She looks surprised, and the look of disappointment is replaced with a smile and a laugh.

"So that's it eh?  Not bad.  But you see, I can reconstitute my form."  You withdraw your blade and watch as her flesh comes back together and restores itself anew.

"It was not a bad idea, it really wasn't.  The kind of thing a guy like you would probably try.  But this is where it is going to have to end.

While your attention is focused upon the Craxil, your sister springs forth and grabs your arm.  The significance of this move is lost on you until you realize she's the carrier of the new plague.  You shirk her off and back away but it is too late.  The Craxil and your sister then leave, discussing various ideas for disseminating the plague, leaving you to spend the last few hours of your life in complete darkness.

THE END


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

[User] You unleash a blast of psychic energy

[Assistant]
You fire a bolt of energy, smashing into Kyros chest. Kyros howls in pain, as his chest explodes. The rest of his body begins to glow, before it begins to be absolved by the purple glow emanating from him, turning into light. A portal begins to form, absorbing Kyros. Seconds later, you see a clawed red hand emerge from the portal, holding a sword of red hot burning steel.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" you yell.

"You fool! Daemons are pouring through to this realm, and I'm not leading them because my energy was focused on... Fuck!" Meliodas cries.

You watch as holes begin to be torn in the fabric of reality, as more Warp portals begin to open, powered by the last sacrificial pulse of Kyros' energy. A horned cyclops with a rust and bile-encrusted blade steps through, letting out a wet growl. A strange, horse-like creature with a long tongue eagerly jumps through another portal. You watch as an endless horde of daemons begin to appear, coming through the portals, straight into your reality.

They overwhelm you in less than a minute, claws and swords cutting you apart. The rest of the ship lasts longer, taking three hours before the horrible daemons have wiped out the fortunate, and captured the less fortunate to give them... a much less enjoyable fate. Soon, the Gloriana-class Roar of the Vortex is little more than a daemon-filled hellhole. Your last gift to the world is a horrible, daemon-filled vessel drifting through existence. So ends the legacy of Karth.


[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 scout ahead

[Assistant]
One of the reasons you brought her along was so she could help and you already had the idea of letting her scout ahead so you might as well let her do it.

"Lisa, while we're asleep, I want you to scout ahead. Don't go too far, but don't attack anything, no matter how tasty it may look to you. Unless it's a random animal I guess. In any case I want you to come back when you're done and just wait here until we wake up." You command.
"Yes, my love." Lisa responds.
"Okay, I'll see you this evening." You say and kiss Lisa before digging yourself a shallow hole to sleep in. (Lisa helps pat down the dirt to make sure you're completely covered)

Later…

You are forcibly pulled from your sleep and into the sunlight!

You weren't pulled out by hands either, it was some magical force that dragged you out. You're still mostly covered in dirt and partially asleep but the sun is burning your face and eyes.

"ARRGHAGH SHIT!" you shout and start trying to scramble for cover, but only get a ball of flame in your face.

Several mages stand around you, but making very sure to stay out of your way. You try to lunge for one of them, but are magically shoved to the ground

"Destroy that lesser one before the greater one wakes up. I want to speak to her personally and she's going to have an even less pleasant reaction when she's up." The oldest one says.

You have no idea what is going on besides the fact that you're being attacked and are fairly helpless against your assailants. The sunlight is burning you and sapping your strength, you're near blind and you're struggling against a magical force that's trying to keep you pinned to the ground.

Despite your decreased vision, you make out the shape of Lisa standing among the robed mages. It can be surmised that these mages did something to her to cause her to lead them all back here. You try to re-enforce your will upon her so she helps you again, but with all the pain you're in, it's very hard to concentrate.

You feel a sharp spike go into your chest. It's some sort of magic blade that you see glowing a bright purple when you look down at your chest, then it disappears and two more appear to finish you off through decapitation.


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

[User] Continue

[Assistant]
You open your eyes and see the sun out of the open window. You watch it for a second trying to feel its heat on your body but after a moment you give up. Its winter and its perpetually cold here anyway. You get up and wander over to take in the view, you've been staying in this room for a while now. Your not sure exactly how long but it feels like around 5 months, long enough to become used to it at least.

You lean out through the window and take in the sights, There are still some skyscrapers to the east looking in good condition, the stadium to the North isn't doing so well though, the roof has caved in and taken a small part of the wall down with it. Looking around you get a sense of general decay, between the points of interest are just fields of broken buildings and rubble. You know the couple of decades since the infection couldn't have done it alone so you decided it was the military. They had actually held out for years with relatively few casualties before it became airborne, after that it was chaos for a time until a 'vaccine' was found and sent world wide in an attempt to end the spread of the infection.

You take one last look around then head for the door. You picked this room since it not only had a working lock on the door but actually had glass in the window, seemed like a nice touch of normality. Sadly the food has run out and you've scavenged the entire surrounding area until nothing is left, you have to move on. At least now you have a destination. Just last week you had found a decrepit old survivor mumbling to themselves in a fever and learned that somewhere to the far east past the skyscrapers there is a thriving colony, THOUSANDS of people actually living and forming a good community. The dying old man didn't have much of value but at least you got enough food to keep you full until now.

[User] Down the Stairs

[Assistant]
You head down the stairs to check on your trap. Its a simple pitfall at the base of the stairs but it's sometimes good enough to catch a wild animal or two. Sadly no such luck today. Seems like the dead have finally managed to make the city free from even rats now.

You start heading for the door when you hear a small sound outside, just a piece of wood being disturbed but your senses are attuned to listening for these things. Your now stuck, there is a back door but you don't keep it or the alleyways back there clear so just about anything could have moved in, however your pretty sure there is something out the front doors.

[User] The Front Door

[Assistant]
You sling your pack over your shoulder and take out your metal baseball bat before edging slowly closer to the door, you need to know what's out there. It could just be a shambler who is about as dangeous as a child unless they are in a large pack. Then again it could be one of the other types. The Fast types are tricky to handle if not too smart. The mutant types, animals who got directly infected, are very dangerous. The Crazies, humans who got the vaccine too late or were bitten after getting it, they retain some semblance of intelligence but only that of a stupid  flesh craved psychopath. Then theres the 'Heralds' or 'Harbingers', Nicknamed as the 'Harbingers of the apocalypse', they look nearly completely human but the infection somehow bonded with them making them stronger and faster than normal humans while retaining all of their intelligence, of course they still feed on living and partly decayed flesh, you avoid them at all costs.

Once you get close you very slowly open the door a crack and peek out. Nothing immediately visible, your going to have to open it and look properly.

[User] You outside

[Assistant]
You slowly open the door until its wide enough for you to fit through the gap, you have your bat ready and slip out into the sun. You carefully look around as you creep into the street, still nothing...

'CRACK'

You hear the noise from behind you and whirl around to see something stepping out of a pile of rubbish very close to the door you just came out of.

You panic for a moment and consider just running away as fast as you can... when you see it more clearly.

It wasn't hiding to ambush you, it's just a shambler. The slowest and least dangerous of all the undead. It was probably lying in that heap for days and only moved because of you walking nearby. You walk up to it and even take the time to do a little impression of a pro-hitter before a single clean strike caves its skull right in and it crumples into a heap on the ground. You briefly reminisce about when the outbreak first happened and it would take several hits to the head to stop them, but now you're a lot stronger and faster than an average human and sport a physique that would have belonged to a professional athlete... if there were any left alive in this messed up world.

You wipe your bat clean then begin walking East to the cross-roads a couple hundred yards away, your kill-count on shamblers must be over a hundred by now but you lost count somewhere in the fifties.

You now face the choice of which way to go.

You intend to reach the far east side of the city and investigate if the survivors are real  however the skyscraper district was the most inhabited before the plague hit, which means it still is, only with less welcoming residents. To the North you could head up to the area around the stadium, some people tried to make a stand there and thinned out the undead but there isn't much in the way of food there since they were overwhelmed leaving the area stripped clean. South could probably take you along the highway to the suburbs which has a mixed chance of food and dangerous monsters.

Deciding on the North as the safest choice for now you go that way.

[User] You heading North

[Assistant]
You jog a couple of blocks North before finding a large blockade of crashed rusted cars, you know the area fairly well and slip into a side alley to bypass it, cutting North again through the first intersecting alley.

You quickly make it out onto a main road again when you realize something is moving pretty close by to the east, you carefully edge up to a car and climb it to get a clear view. There's one of the wandering hordes that frequent the area working its way down the road. They look like mostly shamblers, but you never know.

The other directions look clear leaving you the choice of heading into another ally North, heading down the road West and trying to loop around on a different road or fighting your way through the mob to the east, looks like 6 of them spread out on the road.

[User] You north, back into the alleyways

[Assistant]
You're already heading North so why not continue and see what the old stadium district has to offer? The alleyways always have a chance of hiding a lurking undead but at least you're not out in the open and visible to anyone who wants to look.

You easily slip through several alleyways before hearing a noise behind a closed door. Listening closely you hear some mumbling. mumbling can be very good or very bad. It means it isn't a full undead, so you've either located a survivor or a crazy, theres always a small chance its a harbinger but you highly doubt one would be hiding out in a dingy alley in this area.

Of course you could just bypass it and not take the risk, keeping nice and quiet you can easily slip past and maybe even make the stadium district by nightfall. Then again finding an actual survivor is never to be passed up.

[User] You take it Slow and Careful as you Open the Door

[Assistant]
You carefully test the door and almost have it open enough to slip inside when the hinges squeak, this also causes the mumbling to suddenly stop. Well its took late to go back so you quickly open the door the rest of the way and duck in, moving quickly to the side incase of gunshots.

Nothing happens and you aren't hearing movement so whatever was in here is now hiding. You edge forward and take in you surroundings. A dingy small damp room with equipment caged all along the far wall and piles of trash and random looking objects strewn everywhere. Some sort of access room for the air-con of the building behind it you think to yourself as you ready your bat.

You decide that the careful friendly approach might work best since you can't see anyone in the room "Is someone there?" you softly call out. Theres silence for a few moments before you hear a quiet chuckle from the pile of trah nearest your left side.

"Thats just great, its a crazy after all." you think to yourself. You ready your bat and carefully walk forward until your just past the pile when they jump out at you, bursting into a loud gleeful cackle as they swing their pipe at your head. Luckily this is just what you were counting on and as they jump you spin  and land a solid blow to their ribs, sending them crashing to the floor.

You move to check if they were really a crazy or just a traumatized survivor but you see dried blood around their mouth and they are still trying to get up to attack with shattered ribs so either way they just need to be put down.

You're kind and finish it quickly and cleanly before checking the room and body, packing some food for later and heading back out. "Only a crazy but hey, I have more food in my pack now than I did before so I count a win." you think to yourself as you head further North.

[User] You night in the Northern Alleys

[Assistant]
You travel until dusk is well underway before trying to locate a good place to rest, the ground is dangerous as the monster types are more active during the dark hours this close to the city centre but its difficult to find secure high up rooms since they are usually magnets for the walkers and crazies.

Theres a nice building up ahead though, maybe an old hotel. You can se the fire escape is still standing and could use it to get into an upper room or you could see about the basement and lock yourself into a secure area there since basements usually have nice heavy doors and solid walls.

[User] You hotel basement for the Night

[Assistant]
The basement is closer and a solid door should hold off anything that comes by, you can always rely on the stupidity of shamblers so even if they follow you, they can't tell the difference between a door and a wall if you keep quiet.

You force the lock on the entrance door and head down a short flight of stairs and through another door at the bottom  to find yourself in a small square room with the buildings power and heating equipment in it. nothing is working so you wont have to worry about the noise at least.

You close both doors then use the two wooden pallets you find to lightly barricade the inner door. looking around you find the rest of the room completely empty so lay down your sheet and begin to rest for the night.

Its not too long before you hear the howling some distance off and reach for your bat. Howling means mutant types and most likely dogs, your really don't want to fight a dog pack again. Last time you did that nearly nearly left you ripped into pieces and eaten.

You hold your breath but when the howl is heard again its much closer, close enough to be on your scent. You swear and jump to your feet, you can make a mad dash outside and try and get somewhere up high where they can't follow or you hope they pass you by/the doors hold out.

[User] You run for higher ground

[Assistant]
You grab your things and wrench the flimsy barricade away from the door before sprinting outside, the howling is loud enough now that you're certain they are after you. Seeing a lumbering mass of teeth and muscle turn into the alleyway from the South just confirms your fears as you sprint up the fire escape, pulling the bottom section up after you. You know that the virus has made the dogs stronger faster and much much more dangerous than they were before so you keep sprinting up the fire escape only pausing briefly to see what is coming after you.

Its hard to see in the dark but theres defiantly 3 or 4 smaller shadows following the larger one and they are moving at speed now towards the building. You resume sprinting until you close to the roof which you find is a single ladder to the top. You scramble up then lean over the edge to see what is going on below.

You see a lot of movement punctuated by barks and yelps when you think you make out one of the dogs leaping off a dumpster onto the fire escape, it creaks lower under its weight allowing more to jump on and within seconds its on the ground with the dogs surging up after you.

You stand and ready your bat. You assume the big one is the alpha and wont be able to jump high enough to reach you due to all the muscle it carries, you think it must weigh as much a a small car. The smaller ones however could probably get up to you if they were persistent so you going to have to fend them off.

You glance round the rest of the roof and see no movement so prepare for the attack.

The first dog to reach the top it pretty lithe compared to the others meaning it still looks like a Doberman on steroids and makes a jump at you, scrabbling at the ladder to try and get purchase. its head lines up nicely at your waist height and you meet it with a solid blow to the skull crashing it down onto its companions as they arrive. They ignore it and all start jumping at you keeping you fully occupied taking swings at them as they start to get purchase on the roof but not landing any more definitive hits.

Your starting to get concerned when you hear glass smashing and see several windows are being broken out by undead inside. the dogs quickly loose interest in you in favor of the easier option of readily available food and launch into an all out attack on the shamblers trying to get out towards the noise.

You take the opportunity to rest and watch the fight unfold. The Shamblers are clearly just trying to reach the source of the noise while the dogs are actively attacking and trying to rip them apart. The shamblers only seem to fight back after an attack is aimed at them specifically, ignoring the others being taken down.

The mutants do easily the most damage at first, tearing several undead completely apart before they get too frenzied and start lashing out in all directions. One leaps in through the window and you hear lots of barking and growling before finally growing quiet and a shambler missing its left arm drags itself through the window. "One got itself overwhelmed" you think to yourself. You see another getting its rear leg bitten into by a shambler on the ground and hear the snap of the bone breaking before it pulled it away but it stays up and fighting until the huge muscled mutant and last smaller one tore the last of the shamblers apart.

You watch the three surviving dogs feast on the shamblers before heading back down the fire escape and disappearing South again out of the alleyway.

You finally relax and rest until first light when you head down into the alley again and start off North, you've got to be within a few hours of the stadium district now.

[User] You into the stadium district

[Assistant]
You can tell by the changing architecture that you are nearing the stadium, just a few hours walking at most before you'll reach it. You aren't too confident about finding food and supplies there but between the holdouts and the military trying to keep the stadium safe, as a refuge you think there shouldn't be many dead up here. They do wander, though but you get the odd impression that they never wander too far from where they died, circling endlessly for months before their flesh gives up and they become prey for the others.

As you get closer you begin to see the signs of battle everywhere, buildings collapsed, old craters, and burnt out cars. They had lasted a really long time in that stadium. You never went too close yourself but you occasionally saw the lights and the signs from tall buildings or when you were scavenging nearby.

Over-confidence had been their end, just as you had predicted. Their regimented daily armored patrols, scavenging squads and clearance teams had, over the years, given way to weekly lightly armed excursions and missed guard duties. Their initial efforts probably cleared 95% of the infected in the area so they rarely if ever spotted one.

You heard from a few survivors you ran into right after what had happened.

"The patrols were just for show and guards rarely bothered to turn up to their shifts by the end. One patrol team went out to do a mix of scavenging and clearing but they were all young had no idea what the early days were like. They went right inside some store on the outskirts of their territory without even checking for infected. A couple got bit when they found a shambler in a locked office. One turned right away and took two more down because they weren't ready to kill their friends. The two survivors finished the rest off and headed back to the stadium with their tails between their legs and covered with gore. Of course they immediately brought back all the old rules and regulations about ensuring the guard was always there and sending out veterans with the new kids but it was too late, one of the survivors had ingested some splattered blood during the fight and turned a few days later, sadly into a fast bugger. Went on a rampage biting everyone it saw. The people panicked and ran for the roof but it had been neglected for years and a strut failed, bringing the entire thing down, including part of the wall. Between the panic, the dead and the spreading infected inside it was all over and the survivors scattered and ran. No idea where they came from but a large number of dead swarmed them, as if they had been hiding and waiting all that time just to appear at the worst moment. Most probably died in the first few days to the infected or mutants."

You keep going as far as you can but the alleys become tighter and clogged with debris, you can keep to the alleys and clamber through them carefully to keep a low profile or you can head out to the main streets and move quickly.

[User] You keep to the Alleys and move carefully

[Assistant]
Keep to the alleys and clamber through them carefully to keep a low profile

You don't want to risk getting fully exposed right now and decide to risk the alley ways. You make difficult progress at first and have to slow your pace a lot. The alleys are half blocked with trash and even the occasional human remains. Finally you start to find entire alleys blocked by rubble from collapsed buildings and have to climb over it all. It's not as if you find this level of exercise difficult or anything but the more you climb and clamber over rubble and trash, the more chance of you stumbling right into infected.

Unfortunately this is exactly what happens as you climb over a rubble pile a few minutes later. you just reach the top of the pile which is roughly level with the first floor of the buildings either side when a shambler lurches out from the building to the side and tries to grab you.

You manage to shove it away and avoid its bite but now you aren't in the best position.

[User] You bash it with a bat then continue, it's just one shambler afterall

[Assistant]
Bash its head in then continue, one shambler won't even slow you down.

You sling your bat out of your belt loop and dispatch the shambler with a brutal efficiency, no time for playing around right now. You quickly wipe your bat off on its shirt and continue climbing down the rubble pile on the other side.

"Got to pick up the pace a little." You think to yourself as you climb the next rubble pile, trying to be more prepared of surprises. You are however getting the impression that the rubble is too regular to be an accident. "Must have been the holdouts trying to block the infected and funnel them" you decide as you continue.

It's only a short time later when climbing a particularly steep pile that the fast type makes an appearance. Normally you can outpace a single one, but halfway up the rubble it comes leaping down at you from above and manages to latch onto your arm before your punches knock it free and you finish it with several good blows with the bat.

"Gorram thing ripped my arm open!" you complain to the air, and indeed you now have an obvious bite wound to the flesh of your left arm which needs binding up.

You pause there to bandage it quickly with strips of cloth. It's not nearly the worst wound you've had and so long as you keep eating enough you heal fast. After a brief pause you continue without further incident until you climb the last rubble pile and see the Stadium ahead of you.

[User] You approaching the stadium

[Assistant]
"Now what?" you mumble to yourself as you look around. The streets behind you are either completely clear or blocked entirely by rubble. "Probably the hold outs work." you think. The area in front has barricades and ditches leading up the stadium seemingly to prevent groups or vehicles from getting close.

"Guess forward is the best option if I want to get inside that ruin, all the buildings around here are rubble so not much else around." You decide that your only choices are to try and get inside the stadium or bypass it North, either way you're going to have to cross some barricades so you might as well take a closer look

Scout out the stadium carefully

[User] You scout the area out

[Assistant]
You begin slowly approaching the stadium, checking every ditch and barricade before crossing them, just incase there are any more surprises lurking there. You make relatively quick progress and are halfway through the blockades when you hear something ahead.

You quickly pause and hunker down, taking your time to look ahead to try and locate source of the noise. If your hearing wasn't so good and you weren't being so careful you know you would have missed it entirely.

There doesn't seem to be anything close by and the area right in front of the stadium doors is flat and cleared so nothing there. You are about to put the noise up to your own paranoia when you catch a glimpse of movement on a balcony over the door. There's a man lying on it, watching you through a rifle scope.

"Gorramit, this place isn't deserted and now they have me scoped before I can find out what's happening." You mumble to yourself. The man with the gun however has clearly realized he was spotted and stands up, along with 2 others to call out to you.

"We know you spotted us so you may as well come out now. Move slowly into the open area in front of the stadium and show us that you aren't an infected and there will be no problems."

You've been through this drill before, you show you aren't an infected and they lower the guns. You get inside with the survivors.

[User] You might as well go along with it again since they haven't fired yet and your currently goal is to find survivors after all.

[Assistant]
You know the drill so you may as well go along with it and get inside with the survivors to scout it out at least.

You carefully finish getting through the barricades as they assure you that there are no infected ahead and reach the open ground below them. "Right, drop the weapon and show us your skin!" They call down. You lay the bat and your pack down and even start undoing your shirt before remembering that you have a large bite wound on your arm that really isn't going to go over well with the men holding the guns. You have little choice left now and finish taking off the shirt revealing your skin and the rough bandage on your left arm to the men above.

Quite predictably you hear the guns being cocked above you. "What's the bandage for friend?" You hear called down in a distinctly unfriendly tone.

[User] You can lie about it and just say it was a cut. You arenÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t showing any other signs to make them suspicious after all

[Assistant]
You lie about it and claim you cut it climbing the debris in the alleyways, no point in telling them about the infected biting you. "When I was climbing through the alleyways back there I lost my footing and injured it on some old broken pipe. So I bound it up, as you can see I can still talk normally and show no symptoms! I've taken the vaccine after all!"

They quietly confer and lower their guns slightly, so far so good. "Alright, the rest of your skins clear and the right color and you can talk normally. The vaccine doesn't always protect from direct exposure so can't be too careful. Just show the wound then we can let you inside."

You pause and try and think of a way out of showing it but there isn't much option here. You slip your shirt back on and roll the sleeve up before taking the bandage off. You try and think quickly about what to say if they challenge your story but you are suddenly stopped short.

You hear the loud crack at the same moment as you feel your clavicle disintegrate as if hit by a professional boxer, unfortunately you feel the damage continuing inside, finding when you try to breath, blood comes out of your mouth instead.

You collapse back and vaguely hear the man arguing before everything turns black.

"He lied; it's a bite, look at it!"

"He has no symptoms you idiot, he's probably immune and was just wor…"


[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 don't know

[Assistant]
Hidden by the dense screen of trees, twelve thousand Norman warriors wait. Each one is battle ready, and battle hardened; professional killers. Within your camp waits fewer than eight thousand men, but of those eight thousand only three thousand can be trusted. The rest are just farmers, weary and ill-disciplined. These are long odds, and even with the high ground, this will be no easy victory. Acwellen is still looking at you, waiting for a response. You shrug grimly.

"I don't know Acwellen. I don't know."

Behind the screen of trees the town of Hastings roils with flames and the Norman William's horde assembles.