[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]
Another day home from school…

"I'm telling you Ms. Zelamoyer is a witch, there's no way she could know what we did unless she read our minds!" David says.

"Yeah maybe she's even a demon in human disguise!" Tom adds

"Or maybe you two looked guilty as hell and laughed the loudest when she sat on the thumbtacks you put in her seat." You say. "I told you guys that was a bad idea. I'm surprised she only paddled you and didn't have you kicked out of the school permanently."

"Yeah well it didn't even hurt. My dad beats me harder than that. Though I guess Tom thought it hurt with the way he cried! Hahahaha!" David taunts.

"Shut up David!" Tom exclaims.

"So are you playing Smash Sphere over in the park today?" David asks you.

"I hope so, but my dad's been on my case about me studying harder. Says he wants me to make something of myself when I grow up."

"That sucks. My dad is always either at the mines or drinking at your dad's place. The only time I have to worry about him is when my mom tells him about something I did, then I get a beating. I don't think I'd survive it if he was always around." David replies.

"My mom doesn't beat me, but she'll yell and throw me into a small dark closet without food if I do something bad." Tom says.

"Your mom is one scary ass dyke, Tom. My dad said he saw her scare away a mountain troll in the mines once."

"Shut up David! My mom's not a dyke!"

"Yes she is! What about that other lady that lives with you then?"

"That's just mom's roommate! She needs a place to stay so she helps around the house, like cook dinner or clean up. Mom is at the mines all day, so she can't do that stuff, so it works out. She's kind of like a live in maid!"

"Sounds more like a second mom…"

As much as you enjoy Tom's naïve defense of his lesbian mother and David's taunting of it, you arrive at the Inn where you say goodbye to your friends and tell them you might see them later.

As soon as you get in, you dad calls you over to the bar.

"So do you have any homework?" he asks.

"Yeah, but it's not due until next week."

"Hmm, well if it's not due until next week it must need a lot of attention, better get started on it."

"It's really not that much dad, I can do it over the weekend. I'm going to go out and play smash sphere with David and Tom."

"Is that what you think? Better cancel that idea. You're hitting the books, besides I vaguely remember you mentioning you were also going to have test next week too."

"But dad!"

"Don't dad me! You've been letting your school work slide lately and getting into trouble at school with those two little hoodlums you hang out with."

"They're not hoodlums, and I didn't get into trouble today!"

"You aren't supposed to be getting into trouble in the first place! Look son, I know you think I'm being hard on you, but this really is for your own good. Your little friends don't have fathers that give shit about them, I should know because David's dad is in here all the time and as for Tom, well the less said about his situation the better."

Doesn't look like you're getting out of here today, but you make one last attempt.

"But I really don't have that much homework, I really can do it quick over the weekend!"

"Well if that is the case, you can help me out here instead."

"What?"

"One of my barmaids is sick and I'm expecting a full house here tonight due to it being one of the miner's birthdays today, so you can carry food and drinks."

You certainly weren't expecting that.

"What? Can't mom do it?"

"Your mother is going to have her hands full attempting to cook the giant cloudspeak ram in the kitchen for the celebration, in fact you can start off by helping her chop up the beast."

As usual your dad has given you no "choice" at all.

[User] You resign yourself to doing your homework

[Assistant]
Well, you'd rather not do any real work and lying and sneaking out is probably just going to get you into more trouble.

"Alright, I'll do my homework!" you say.

"Good choice son. Make sure you lock the door to the private quarters as usual."

You head upstairs to the third floor where your family has their own living space and lock the door.

You get started on your homework to get it out of the way so you'll at least have the weekend to enjoy. As you go through it, it's a little more difficult than you thought it would be and it was probably good that you have given yourself a lot of time to work on it.

A few hours pass and you're finally finished. Your dad might be right; if you'd paid more attention in class your homework wouldn't have taken as long. It's too late now to go out and play even if you were allowed, but that still doesn't mean you have to do anymore studying tonight.

You spend the rest of the night playing with some of your toy soldiers and reading a few of your copper dreadfuls. You sometimes can hear some of the louder drunk miners using a bunch of curse words in an amusing way. Eventually you fall asleep.

The next day you wake up early, your parents are still asleep so you grab some cookies before you go out to play. You run into Quincy on the way to David's house.

"Hey, where were you yesterday? You missed all the excitement!" Quincy says.

"Yeah, I had to go my homework. Damn, I knew I was going to miss a good game of smash ball!"

"No, not that! David and Tom got arrested!"

"What!?"

"Yeah! After we played a few games, we all went to the sweet shop. Well David and Tom tried to steal some of the candy and when Mr. Blek saw them, they ran off with it! They didn't get far though. From what I know they spent the night in Juvie Hall!"

This is surreal to you. Your dad was right again. You wonder if you would've went along with them and gotten in trouble as well if you'd snuck out yesterday. You can always say now that you wouldn't have, but who knows at that moment?

One thing is for sure; you're not going to hang out with those two on a regular basis anymore.

…

The day is finally here and you're heading off to Klyton University. All your hard work has finally paid off and your parents couldn't be happier.

"Now remember, I've been saving for your tuition since you were born, but remember why you're there. To learn! I don't want you getting caught up in wild parties and failing your classes. Maybe the upper class kids with super rich parents can afford to, but you can't."

"I know dad."

"Oh, don't mind your father, have some fun when you can. We know you'll do the right thing."

For the most part you do, accomplish the right things in your days at Klyton University. You study, you make contacts, you make friends, and in your free time you have fun.

You initially thought you might be "looked down on" due to your working class background. While there are a few like you here, a university education is still expensive and generally only the rich can afford to send their children there. Still, you managed to get here, you (and your family) must have earned it, and so you're treated with respect.

Your years at Klyton University are busy but happy ones. You can only imagine that when you just started you pre-med courses that more of the same would've come about, however that's not to be…

You're in your dorm when you get the message from a courier.

Your father has died of a heart attack. Happened suddenly last night while he was working and by the time a physician arrived nothing could be done to save him. You sit down in shock for a brief moment and when you finally gather your strength, you catch the next coach to the Miner's Mug Inn.

When you arrive the Inn is closed, so you let yourself in to find your mother who is unsurprisingly upset. You console her as best you can for the time being and help make the funeral arrangements.

Your father didn't want an expensive funeral, so it's a small one. The Inn's staff is invited along with a few of the miners that were genuinely friends with your dad. Everyone pays their respects before dear old dad is put into the ground.

On your way home with your mother, you suddenly realize you've missed a couple classes during all this. You then start to wonder about your future college plans and while it's still a fragile time for your mother, you need to ask her about it when you get home.

You don't know it yet, but you're in for more shocking news…

[User] The long talk

[Assistant]
"You're selling the inn?!"

"I have to! I can't run this place myself."

"Well that's what you have staff for!"

"Oh son…(sniff) I don't think you know the entire situation. You haven't been around as much over the years."

"Mom, I always meant to visit more, but…"

"No, it's not that. In fact I'm glad you had fun at college. You at least had some enjoyment. I'm just sorry you won't get to have any more."

"Mom, I don't like where this is going."

You mom at this point begins cry again until you eventually get her to calm down. What comes next almost makes you cry though.

While your father did indeed save for you, it wasn't enough to put you through college completely. Costs were higher than he thought and even though business was okay, he had unexpected expenses such as making fixes to the inn and price hikes in his alcohol supplier.

Your father was determined to not pull you out of college though, so he found another way. He borrowed money from a moneylender.

"WHAT?! Why didn't you tell me? I could've taken less classes or gotten a part time job at the university!"

"No, he didn't want you to worry or get distracted."

"Well I guess that's good since all that worry can go to this now! By the gods, why didn't he at least go to a bank to get the loan!?"

"He tried, but didn't get approved. They wouldn't even take the inn as collateral. I pleaded with him not to borrow money from criminals, but he claimed it would be fine as long as he opened the tavern earlier, found a cheaper supplier and made a few cuts here and there. And for a while things were running a little smoother, but I could see the stress taking a toll on him. It's what ultimately killed him. I'm just so sorry that we failed you. We wanted so much better for you. Now I'll have to sell the inn off to pay off the moneylender and hopefully I'll be able to find a job as a cook elsewhere."

You just sit in silence and try to wrap your head around all of this. Your bright future in medicine as you know is gone. You still have quite a bit of education, and you're fairly certain you could still find a job to support yourself, but it's going to be hard initially and you probably won't be satisfied with it. You're also worried about your mom, what if she can't find a job? You won't be able to help her much.

You can only think of one solution.

"Would it help if I ran the inn?" you ask.

"What?" your mother replies.

"Would it help if I helped you run this place. I mean granted I don't have excessive experience, I have watched you guys do it while I grew up here. I think I can manage the basics. If we managed to keep this place running at least long enough to pay off the loan, maybe then I can save enough to finish my education."

"I don't know son, I mean…I would love to see you finish your education, but it's a lot to take on. Would you have time? I don't want you getting burned out and suffering a pre-mature heart attack like your father because of the stress!"

"Well, I'm going to have nothing but time now, if I drop out and focus on this place. I think the main concern is getting us out of debt…just how much do you owe?"

"Uh…about ten thousand gold coins."

You really hoped it would be significantly less than that.

"Okay, well I'm guessing he takes smaller payments to buy you time but then charges more interest with each passage of time. We'll have to get this place whipped into shape so it's making enough profit that we'll be able to pay the entire sum as soon as possible. After that, we'll have some breathing room."

Your mom looks apprehensive about all this and then shakes her head claiming she can't let you shoulder this responsibility especially with the risk of physical danger involved if you anger the moneylender in some way.

She says that you should go on with your life and forget about the inn, she'll be able to sell it and pay off the debt with no problem. And as for her, she also tells you not to worry about her either, but she hopes that you'll forgive her and your father for failing in giving you the life you deserve.

It is true you could walk away from all this. You don't really have any great desire to run the inn. It was just a solution you came up with to help your mom and possibly help yourself. But there's no guarantee it's going to work, just like there's no guarantee that you can't still achieve your goals on your own.

[User] You take over the inn

[Assistant]
You shake your head; you can't walk away from this. Your mom might be in serious trouble because this loan. Selling the inn might not even be enough to cover it and even if it is, she probably won't have enough to fall back on.

You aren't angry with her, but you do feel a little anger towards your dad for getting her in this position (and you indirectly). You realize he still had the best intentions for you, but those don't really help right now.

"Alright first things first, who is the name of this loanshark?" you ask your mother.

"Mr. Reynolds. He'll be coming next week to pick up a collection. He's not a member of the Crimson Talons, but he does have a couple of their goons working for him."

"The Crimson Talons? Oh geez, this just get better…okay how is this place doing for business?"

"It's doing about as well as it always has."

"That won't be enough, we'll need to get more people in here, or cut costs somehow."

"Well your father was going to have more work done on the rooms in the hopes that it would keep adventurers and maybe even merchants to come back whenever they travel through here. I'm not sure if it's worth it though. Adventures don't care where they sleep half the time and it's not always a sure thing that they're going to live long enough for repeat business. As for merchants, I think this place is a little too blue collar for them most of the time."

"You said something about getting a new liquor supplier?"

"Yeah, the one here raised their prices, it would actually be cheaper to get the stuff shipped in from Hessla. Your father was supposed to meet with the new potential distributor in a couple days, so I'm not sure how that's going to go through, if at all."

"How about the staff?"

"The staff is working on minimum wage as it is, we've got three barmaids, Rita, Eliza and Wendy and they're all disgruntled about their jobs, but they all still work well.. We can barely pay them though, and we might have to fire one of them.

Grim stuff, but you're determined to see this through. Since the liquor supplier from Hessla won't arrive in two days you're just going to focus on what you can do now.

Fixing the rooms is still a good idea to keep potential returning wandering adventurers happy. Spending a little money now could increase potential profits later. Who knows, maybe even a merchant will show up and spread the word that this place isn't just some place where miners get drunk.

Firing people sounds like it might save you money, but all it's really going to do is create more work for the rest of you, so you decide to hold off on firing anyone for now.

Your mother doesn't agree with your idea of fixing the rooms, but seems relieved that you're not firing anyone.

Things go as normal at the inn. Several of the miners still offer their condolences about your father and are surprised to see that you're taking up his mantle as it were, but other than that they don't say to much to you. They probably don't know what to say since while some of them might know you since you were little, but you're not really "one of them" in terms of education level. Not to say they're all a bunch of grunting idiots, but they probably figure you're used to talking about things of a more cerebral nature. You don't mind though, after all your main concern is getting your mom out of debt.

Two days pass and the supplier from Hessla arrives. He's a grungy shady looking individual, but considering he's from Hessla that's hardly surprising.

He immediately says his name is Calwin asks for your father at which point you tell him he died recently. Calwin shows no sympathy and merely complains that he's made a trip up here for no reason. You show a little restraint and call your mother to speak with him, but after five minutes with him she's ready to throw him out the door for hitting on her, and you're not exactly thrilled with him either at this point.

"Look folks, if you want good quality alcohol at a low price I'm willing to deal wit ya, but I'm gonna need some incentive for my troubles because y'all seem like a buncha uptight prigs. Now I was invited here by the man who ran this establishment, so you called me here, if my help ain't wanted, I'll be on my way…" Calwin says.

While you're tempted to just have him leave, you decide it would be best to at least see if his stuff is any good.

"Alright prove it. Surely you've brought some of your alcohol here so we can test to see if it's any good."

"Well I do have some with me, but I can't just be givin' this stuff away for free."

"Don't worry, you'll be compensated."

You call attention to the miners in the room and ask them if they'd like to try some new beer, naturally they're all for it. A few of the miners take their fill of Calwin's beer and they say that it's different from what they usually drink, but it's just as good.

Calwin looks a little put off that they claimed his alcohol is "just as good", but still maintains that it's better than what you already have. He states his price, and also mentions that he wants a free room whenever he comes here since he's apparently got a harpy of a wife at home and he likes to stay away for a couple days before having to go back to Hessla.

Your mother obviously isn't thrilled with having to deal with him, and in the short time he's been here; he's also hit on every one of the barmaids. Granted they're used to such behavior, he's particularly revolting. (Plus he's from Hessla)

[User] You deal with him and agree to the free room

[Assistant]
If it's only for a couple days, what can it hurt and you're getting a good deal on his alcohol, so you figure it's a good idea. This does not go well with your mother who says you're going to get the pair of you further into debt. It takes some time, but eventually you manage to convince her that the money you're saving will be worth the couple days out of the month that he actually comes up here.

Meanwhile Calwin calls his lackeys to unload his cart and take the stuff down to your cellar. Calwin then states he's going to retire to his room and that if any of your barmaids want to join him his door will be open.

The next couple days aren't exactly pleasant, Calwin is a complete lecherous slob and leaves not only his room a disgusting mess, but hangs around the bar all day trying to grope the barmaids. (Rita in particular) You have to warn him several times to leave them alone, and eventually one of the miners who has a crush on Rita punches him in the face resulting in a minor scuffle in which Calwin is not the winner.

You fully expect Calwin to claim that he's never dealing with you again, but as it turns out he doesn't think anything of it. Indeed he claims if it had been a bar in Hessla he probably would've gotten a knife in the eye instead, so he considers himself lucky. Eventually he leaves and everyone is glad, but there's the sickening feeling that you know you're going to have to put up with him a few times every month.

By the end of the week you haven't saved any money. In fact you've barely broke even.

While you're sweeping up the inn early morning, a non-descript man of medium height enters with two bigger figures. One of them is unmistakably an ogre while the other guy is just a tall muscular human. Either one could break you in half.

"Are you are Mr. Reynolds?" you ask, knowing that it has to be him.

"That would be me. I take it you're the son of my late debtor? I do hope you realize that the debt doesn't end with him dying…" Mr. Reynolds says

"No, no of course not. I've got some of what my father owed."

You hand over the most you can under the circumstances, but Mr. Reynolds looks insulted.

"My boy do you take me for an asshole? Your father used to pay me much more than this pittance!"

"It was a rough week…"

"No, no, I don't give a shit about your excuses, you've chosen to take on your father's debt so you are expected to fucking pay up like he did! (Sigh) Look, since you're obviously new to this, I'll let you off with a warning. Olaf."

Suddenly the ogre steps forward with a smile and punches you the stomach. You temporarily lose the ability to breath and collapse on the floor. When you finally do catch your breath, you promptly vomit.

"That was my warning, let's hope I don't need to do it again. Be seeing you again in a few weeks kid. Let's get out of here."

As Mr. Reynolds leaves, your mother comes running up from the cellar wondering what's going on. She helps you up when she sees you.

"Oh no son I can't let this go on. We're selling the inn right now!"

"No, no mom, it's alright, you'll see. We're going to make this place profitable and payback the loan and after that we'll be able to take the next step."

"Son, I love you, but you've made a lot of questionable decisions as far as business is concerned. I mean if this keeps up, I'm stepping in before this place goes to hell so I can actually make money selling it to the city."

"You won't get enough for it!"

"Well I'll get enough to pay off the debt, and if worst comes to worst, I'll leave Klyton and live with my sister in Teckleville"

"You can't live with aunt Enora, you always said she's crazy."

"She is, but that still doesn't mean she wouldn't help me out."

"Look, we've still got time, I know my ideas are going to help us out soon."

"Well, I hope all your fancy schooling you gained some sort of insight that I'm not privy to. Alright we'll give it until the next time Mr. Reynolds comes around for payment."

You agree and start wiping up the floor before customers come in.

The next few days are uneventful; the miners seem to be enjoying the new Hessla ale though so that's a relief. They even seem to be talking to you a little more, one in particular Ular has been chewing your ear quite frequently. He's the one that has an obvious crush on Rita, but you've never seen him actually talk to her on any serious level. Strange that a big tough miner would be too shy to speak to a girl, but there it is.

"So how long have you known Rita?" Ular asks.

"Me? Well she started working here just before I left for college so I didn't speak to her too much back then, and I haven't really spoken to her too much other than about duties around the inn since I've got back here."

"She's so beautiful, you know? I always wonder if she isn't a Delantium Princess hiding out or something."

"Yeah, she's a pretty girl." You reply.

"Can you speak to her for me?"

"What?"

"Just speak to her for me. I try, but I…dunno I don't have the words! I get all tongue tied an' shit. I mean you're a smart guy, you went to college an' shit. Maybe you can tell her better how I feel than I can."

"I dunno if should get involved in this…"

"Please man, just do it…oh shit here she comes!"

At this point Ular stumbles over his own feet trying to get to a dark corner before Rita arrives for more ale. Feeling a little sorry for the guy, you talk to Rita.

"Hey Rita, this is going to be strange question, but…"

"Oh gods, you're not going to start hitting on me too are you?"

"What? Uh no! But well, there's a miner named Ular who's sort of nuts about you."

"Yeah, he's nuts over me like every other miner here trying to get under my skirt."

"Heh, I don't think so, he's so damn shy he's practically afraid to speak to you, and surely you've noticed."

"Yeah I suppose I have. I will admit he's a little different than the rest of these ale swilling pigs."

"So are you interested in him?"

"Eh…I dunno. I mean from what I know of him he seems respectful and he did punch out that fucker Calwin when he groped me, but that's not really enough. I need a man that's going places. I mean he's a miner; where's that going to lead me? Not in fine Selkie furs and a big house, I'll just be barefoot and pregnant and still living here."

Same old Rita. Still, you can certainly understand her desire to move up in the world. However, a miner still makes a decent living. A lot better than her that's for sure. She'd still be "moving up."

[User] You tell Ular she's not interested

[Assistant]
There's no point in trying to convince Rita, she's obviously looking to marry into money, though there's a lot better ways she could go about it. Ular seems like a cool guy and probably should know the type of girl she is anyway.

As Rita walks off, you look for Ular and see him slowly coming out of his dark corner. You explain to him how the conversation went, he's obviously upset about it, but thanks you nonetheless.

"Well, I guess it's true about that old saying. You can't judge a book by its cover. Give everyone a round for the house on me, everyone else might as well be happy even if I'm not. Just don't have Rita serve my drinks anymore okay?" You understand and carry on with your duties.

The remaining days until the next payment go as normal and Mr. Reynolds is satisfied with the payment he receives, and you still have a little saved over. You have hope that in time you'll get out of this debt eventually.

However, trouble rears its ugly head when Calwin shows up on his monthly delivery. He says that he's decided to bump the price up on his alcohol. You furiously ask why, and he says that the last time he was here he noticed how nice the rooms were and that if you can afford to fix them up, you must be able to afford to pay him more for his product.

It doesn't need to be said that your mother does not want to deal with him at all at this point.

[User] You comply with his demands

[Assistant]
He's got you over a barrel, you agree to his price. Your mother throws up her hands and rolls her eyes in disgust. Calwin smirks and calls his lackeys to take his alcohol into the cellar, while he "retires" to his room again.

Like last time, Calwin is a lecherous slob and Rita doesn't have Ular defending her "honor" anymore. This time she quits when Calwin practically molests her when she takes food up to his room.

Deal or not, your mother isn't going to put up with his shit any longer, grabs your dad's Troll Gun from behind the bar and kicks him out of his room. He screams at you saying that you'll regret reneging on the deal like this before leaving.

Now you're a barmaid short and you'll have to go back to the old Klyton supplier. While it's true you don't have to pay Rita anymore, you end up losing a couple of customers that liked looking at her. That's not even counting the extra work that Eliza and Wendy have to do now who are now miserable to the point of wanting to seriously quit. You and your mother take up some of the slack, but it's a drain on the pair of you.

And while you have enough to pay Mr. Reynolds this month, you're not optimistic about the future. The problem is you won't be saving money like you were going to while Calwin was your supplier. Your nice rooms haven't really been helping like you thought they might and while you can keep on this way, you're never really going to get ahead.

The thought of continuing to work here any longer is disheartening to you. Maybe you're just being impatient, but after all the problems and headaches you've encountered you really don't feel like dealing with this job anymore, especially not when there is potential danger constantly looming overhead. You're ready to tell your mother to just sell the place.

So you do.

You fought the good fight for as long as you could, but maybe it just wasn't meant to be. You're not going to finish this one, which is a familiar theme to you since you dropped out of college. You tell your mother what you think and she seems just as eager to sell the place off too since the past few months have been pretty stressful.

During the remaining week the inn stays open to make a last bit of change before closing for good and selling to the city. Some of the miners seem a little sad by it, but there were so many changes within such a short period of time that most seemed content on finding a new place since the old one wasn't like how it used to be anymore.

When the inn is sold off, you barely make enough to cover the debt, but at least you and your mother aren't in any immediate danger now.

Your mother finds work as a cook for a short time, but eventually decides she can't really stand living in the city without your father anymore. She leaves to go live with your aunt Enora in Teckleville, which is to the east on the outskirts of the Delantium Kingdom.

After a long time of the inn just sitting untended and forgotten due to the council having more pressing matters and red tape, it's broken into by several homeless people who use it as a place to sleep. The homeless are soon ousted by a local gang who use it as a safe house. Eventually though they cause enough trouble that the Klyton Militia has to take severe action and storm the place, resulting in a small fire.

At this point someone in the council finally notices it, decides that the place isn't worth salvaging and proposes that it be knocked down to build a medical clinic in its place to try to uplift the area. The motion passes.

As for you, you find a job thanks to your education level, but it isn't anywhere in the field that you would've liked. You're a clerk in tax office, filing away items, straightening out reports and such. You never really move up and you never make enough money to save away to get ahead either.

You don't really have a bad life so much as a mind numbingly mundane one. You do have your good days, but ultimately you never really achieve your goals and always have a sense of dissatisfaction with your life.

Sometimes you look back and wonder where you exactly went wrong with the inn and how you could've done things differently.

You'll never know.


[System] Run a text-based dark fantasy adventure game. Describe the world with gritty realism, respond to player actions with narrative consequences, and maintain the tone of a world where survival is never guaranteed.

[User] You go for your rifle

[Assistant] You grab for your rifle and go down, grabbing it by the barrel and tossing it into the air. You grab for the trigger, before Mihrab slices his claws across your throat and pressing his mouth against it. You gasp as blood spurts into the monster's mouth, dropping the gun and letting out a pained grunt as you're drained of your life source.


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

[User] You stay for the night

[Assistant]
You've come this far, you might as well go a little further.

"Alright…alright…I'll stay around, but just direct me to your spare bedroom or something because I refuse to be in the same room with Oliver. His mere presence sickens me."
"Very well, just go upstairs turn left and straight ahead. It's a blue room. I hope you're in better spirits tomorrow, I want to talk with you some more."
"Yeah, well I hope you heed my warning Lawrence. See ya tomorrow."

You head to the bedroom, which is a fairly large one. You stretch out on the bed thinking about everything that's happened today. It was going pretty well until fucking Oliver showed up. He just makes you want to rip his guts out and hang him with them until his tongue turns purple and sticks out. You've never had to hold in your anger like this before, but you're trying to change. For the sake of Lawrence you're trying damn hard to change.

An hour passes and Mary enters the room.

"So you can't sleep, or am I correct in assuming you're just isolating yourself so you don't kill someone? Lawrence told everyone you were tired, but I knew better. You don't like Oliver."
"Can you fuckin' blame me? I mean come on Mary, you fuckin' saw how he acts and how he is! Tell me you don't find SOMETHING wrong with the fucker."
"Yeah, I know what you mean, I've been down there talking with everyone, and assessing him as well, and he is creepy. Especially with Irena."
"That's what I tried to tell Lawrence, but he thinks I'm just a bigot."
"Well…you are, but that doesn't mean you're wrong."
"I just want to fucking do massive harm to that fucking cat…"
"Whoa, easy there. We don't actually know anything or have any proof of anything, he could just be harmlessly weird."
"I don't need proof when I've got instinct! Arrgh! Why the hell isn't Lawrence using his?!"
"Calm down, you're pretty tense, I think you need to work off some of that excess energy. Come on we worry about this tomorrow, for right now let's continue to discuss those movie rewrites."

Mary seductively hops on your lap and begins to kiss you all over.

"Mmm, I was wondering if you still wanted to be with me after what happened back at the studio."
"What you mean that little argument we had? Please, I've heard worse from you remember? I know you were just doing a lot of prideful macho posturing, which is kind of sexy actually. Beside I know damn well you want to be with me again, your actions of changing your views on Lawrence have proven that, not to mention your body is telling me right now."

Four hours later, Mary is fast asleep, but you're still wide awake. This pleasant diversion still hasn't calmed you down. You slide out of bed to get a drink and go for a walk. On your way to the bathroom, you hear to whispering and mumbling from another bedroom. You listen closely.

"You know Isis, you're growing into a pretty young feline, thank God you take after your beautiful mother."
"Thank you Uncle Oliver, but why'd you wake me up?"
"Just to tell you that and to play a game with you. You see me and your mother used to play a game when we were younger, but it was a secret game. We didn't tell anyone, and you can't tell anyone either, especially not your Dad."
"Um I don't like the way you're rubbing my leg Uncle Oliver..."
"But that's how the game is played, now let me just…"

You immediately burst through the door; Oliver's fat frame is lurching over Isis when he turns his head in your direction. His eyes wide open like a deer caught in the headlights.

"YOU'RE DEAD, YOU SICK PIECE OF SHIT!" you bellow and grab Oliver and throw him against the wall. Isis goes running and screaming from the room while you pound Oliver's face into a bloody pulp. He tries to bat you with his claws, but they don't even phase you, you're too angry and you've been wanting to do this all fucking night. You throw him out of the room and into the hallway where you kick the hell out of him as he coughs up puke and blood. Mary arrives wondering what's going on.

"WOLF! STOP!"
"NO! He was trying to molest Isis! I caught him right in the fucking act! I knew I was fucking right!" you bend down and speak in his ear. "And I'm gonna make sure you don't ever try that shit on my granddaughter again, you fuck!"

You begin shredding his balls and dick into pieces and howl of pain is sounded throughout the house, Tom at this point has woken up, but Mary takes him back to his own room and tells him to stay there.

Now you're lurching over Oliver's bloody body ready to deliver the killing strike, when Lawrence and Irena arrive from downstairs. They look at you, they look at Oliver, then Irena says something you don't expect, but the look in her eye doesn't entirely surprise you.

"Do it Wolf."

And you do, you drive your claws deep into his throat effectively decapitating him. After the deed is done, you and Lawrence dump the body (and head) in a nearby woods where nature can take care of it. Lawrence then speaks.

"When Isis told us what happened exactly, all I could think about is that I should've listened to you. I'm a fucking idiot, and failed you and my children."
"Look nevermind all that now son, what's important is the problem has been dealt with. YOU, just be on guard more in the future. Remember, you're the protector of this family, you have to suspect everything and everyone. If something doesn't feel right, trust your fucking instinct, its never wrong. Let's get back home, I gotta wash this cat blood off of me, I think he pissed on me too, ugh."

The following day you decide to leave, Lawrence wants you to stick around, but you tell Lawrence he needs to spend time with his family right now, not you. This time he listens to you. You and Mary get on your Harley, while Lawrence, Irena, Isis and Tom all say their good byes to you.

"Bye Grandpa!" Isis and Tom say in unison.
"Bye you two. Remember, if someone starts trying to do something you don't like to you, scratch their eyes out!" you reply patting them both on the head.
"Thank you Wolf, for what you did…you don't know how much it means to me…"
"Think nothing of it, Irena, but you're welcome."
"Bye Dad, I do hope we'll see you again."
"You will."

You start up the cycle and you and Mary zoom off.

On the trip home Mary rests her head on the back of your shoulder while holding you and giving you a bit of a hugging squeeze every now and then.

"So are we going to actually get to those rewrites when we get back home, or are we going to just fuck our brains out again?" you ask Mary jokingly.
"How about we do the latter, I don't think the movie needs any rewrites now."
"What?! Dammit I told you I'm not playing that cranky old grandpa part!"
"Why not? You do an excellent job of it in real life." Mary taunts.
"Hey don't joke like that! I got a public image to maintain!"
"Ha ha! Don't worry; we're still making the changes. Your image of being a distrusting combative asshole will be maintained…and don't ever change that trait." Mary says while kissing you on the cheek.

"No need to ever worry about that Mary, some things will never change."


[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 jog your damn memory to remember who the hell you even associate with (Cast of Characters)

[Assistant]
Just because you're all Carneys and united against the Rubes doesn't mean there isn't division in the ranks. You're all like a big dysfunctional family, and you're the scapegoat black sheep, you lucky Geek you.

The only good thing about being the GEEK, is that nobody considers you a threat or even a person! Plus you're usually sprawled out someplace either drunk or asleep. This means while others assume you're out of it and not competent enough to do anything except eat disgusting things, you've over heard some interesting information in your half conscious state of mind. Things that will probably come in handy in the ensuing power struggle you're about to become embroiled in.

So if you keep your head down, use animal cunning, watch your ass and you might just come through this alive.

And maybe, just maybe you'll finally get some respect.

Maybe…

[User] You cast of Characters (The Main Event)

[Assistant]
The Ring Master

Nobody knows what his real name is and if they do nobody's telling and she's certainly not volunteering any information about himself. Of course everyone assumes she's male, but there's an "air" of androgyny about him leading to rumors that he may actually be female…or possibly both. He's very pale, his voice has an unnatural melodic tone and he wears a traditional ring master suit with a top hat. The only thing she wants people to know and remember is that he is definitely in charge. Her main concern is to keep his carnival running and turning a profit; he doesn't really care what any of his employees do in their spare time unless it interferes or hampers the carnival.

The Ring Master is known for being "Freak friendly" after all not many would have jobs at all if it weren't for him, but by the same token he pays them fairly. Many see her as somewhat of a savior since he's given many of them a place in the world where they can be useful. She doesn't hold their hand or overprotect them he just gives them a chance. A chance that they can either succeed or fail in, but a chance they might not have had otherwise without him.

He tends to stay in his trailer until show time allowing her assistant Charley to do all his leg work. She's rarely seen walking around anywhere; instead he just suddenly "appears" and he's never seen outside at all during the daytime. There have been the hushed rumors and semi-jokes that she's really a vampire, but most people just think he's just weird and suffers from albinism which makes her less inclined on wanting to be exposed to the sun.

While not sadistic, (He doesn't appear to get off on it like say Charley) he will make examples out of people that displease him and you'll definitely feel it. Oh how you'll feel it. When you have to see the Ring Master personally it's usually not a good thing.

You met him when she found you wandering and vomiting near his trailer at night while in your usual drunken states. She saw how utterly hopeless you were. You had no job, no home, no loved ones, no future prospects, yet he saw potential where there literally was none. He made a deal with you. Become the GEEK for a place to call home and all the liquor you could drink.

Well gee how could you not pass up a deal like that?

Charley the Midget

Charley was a criminal long before he joined the carnival. The carnival just allowed him to flourish in those activities. He's in charge of most of the illegal activities that go on at the carnival as well as making life miserable for anyone who displeases the Ring Master. Of course he takes great delight in making people miserable whenever it suits him. He has found a like minded partner in Ajax the Strongman who acts as his muscle when the need arises. He's a first class sonofabitch, but he probably makes the carnival more profitable than it is.

Midgets represent most of labor workforce in the carnival and being the "Biggest" and toughest midget at the carnival makes him their unofficial leader which the rest of the midgets have mixed emotions about, but with all his connections and power there is little that they can do about it even if they wanted to. Charley constantly reminds them that they are the real backbone of the carnival and also reminds them how townies and rubes would often pick on them for fun and ever since he arrived they don't do that anymore lest they suffer the consequences. Gruesome consequences.

Charley definitely harbors secret plans to take over the carnival completely one day, he likes to think of himself as the "Real Ring Master" and dresses like his boss except his suit is checkered and has an especially tall top hat. (To extend his height no doubt) He feels that with Ajax and "his people" behind him he'll be able to launch a take over when the time is right. All he needs to do is get a few more of the others to side with him.

As for you, Charley likes to take any free opportunity he has to humiliate you, which seems rather pointless given you don't have any self-respect to begin with, still it makes him laugh. Chances are if he did take over the Carnival you'd still have a "job" since Charley wouldn't want to get rid of his favorite whipping boy.

The Remarkable Randal

Randal is the appointed spokesperson for the "normal" Carneys such as the acrobats, tightrope walkers and other performers that rely on their genuine skills rather than their genetic conditions. Randal himself is a magician, but makes no pretense that he actually has any kind of real magical powers, but he believes magic exists. He's constantly acquiring old books hoping that someday that he can learn how to perform real magic one day. Randal is a bit of an optimistic dreamer, he believes the carnival is supposed to be a place of fun and wonder for the whole family. He IS that boy that ran away to join the circus in a sense as he did run away from his family who were fundamentalists that believed him to be dabbling in Satanic worship with his magic tricks.

He doesn't really like the idea of the carnival having "freaks" for the sake of having them. He feels its pandering to the lowest common denominator and cheapening the other Carnies who actually have to rely on a learned skill and he really doesn't approve of all the illegal activity that goes on (Especially in a place which is supposed to be for the children) he blames the Ring Master as much as Charley for this, since the Ring Master turns a blind eye to it when he should be stopping it.

Randal is a little more open about his rebellious nature than Charley and complains to the Ring Master whenever he gets the chance, (One of the few that gets away with it without consequences) to which his last response was if he doesn't like the way things are being run, he can either leave or make his move. So far Randal hasn't gone anywhere, so maybe he's going to take the Ring Master up on his challenge. Charley thinks he's a lot of talk and doesn't think he really has the balls to do it so he's not worried about him.

Considering Randal's views, you might find yourself out of a job if Randal got things his way. Shock value and Freaks wouldn't really have a place in Randal's carnival. Unsurprisingly Randal finds you and your act disgusting and completely unsuitable for anyone, especially children. (Even though the kiddies really like throwing chickens at you)


[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 slaughter them all

[Assistant]
You let out a fearsome roar, bursting forward with a roar. The Hunters balk at the sound, as you dive forward, claws raised and teeth bared.

The Hunters are used to dealing with werewolves, but you're no mere werewolf. You are the champion of Fenrir. You have his strength, his speed, his abilities, his ferocity. They don't have a chance. You swing your claw, tearing through a Hunter's neck and nearly beheading him with a spurt of blood, sending them flying aside. Your maw snaps onto a Hunter's arm and tearing it off with one motion, throwing it across the earth. You dive aside, dodging a barrage of bullets. You lunge forward, tackling a Hunter and crushing her under your weight and crushing her lungs. You reach your jaws down, tearing out her throat with ease, as you stare over towards the survivors, blood dripping from your maw as you let out a low growl.

The last two Hunters turn, fleeing back towards their truck, running desperately as if they have some hope of escape. You easily race down to catch them, knocking away one of their legs and crushing his skull, before tackling the last one and slashing through her neck with your claws. Victorious, you howl towards the moon, laughter racing through you.

You look at the scene around of you, slaughtered Hunters lying dead on the ground, blood sinking into the ground. There's no place for you hear. Prey, all slaughtered like lambs.Too weak for you.

You hear a few scattered howls through the forest, the answer of the surviving werewolves to your call. You howl once more, calling them to you. You have no need for Hunters anymore. You have your own predators now.


[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 scram before anyone else sees you?

[Assistant]
Deciding that it is smarter to pick your battles rather than have them pick you, you decide to leave the corpse alone and head for the nearest cover. Sure enough several men, three swordsmen and two crossbowmen curiously round a corner of a destroyed building and begin to investigate the area.

You are skilled but you'd rather not risk being put to the test against such ruthless men. You shiver when you consider what they do to women they take captive. Crouching, you duck out of sight and move quietly out of their range. A few tense moments later you are in a less damaged part of the city. You look around and you see two likely routes of escape, the sewers and the twisting alleyways that run through the slums.

Going through the main thoroughfares would be suicide so you decide to risk them. Normally both the alleys and the sewers are dangerous because of brigands, disease, and wild animals but for now, they might make for safe havens in the otherwise fallen city.

Which do you choose?


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

[User] You remain in England

[Assistant]
You remain in England while the HMS Pandora sets sail and continue to rest for another year. To your amazement you soon get word that William Bligh is setting sail to Tahiti again to fulfil the mission he failed at last time: gather breadfruit and transport them to Jamaica. This time he is traveling aboard the HMS Providence, a much larger and powerful 10-gun sloop-of-war with a crew of one hundred. Among this crew is Lawrence LeBogue, a sailor who survived the open boat voyage to Coupang and Batavia with you and Bligh.

Bligh sends a letter to you asking if you would like to join him on this voyage.

[User] You accept

[Assistant]
Against your better judgement you agree to sail with Bligh again. To your surprise this voyage goes absolutely smoothly. After leaving England in August of 1791 you reach Tahiti the following April. There you learn that the previous summer the HMS Pandora arrived in Tahiti and captured fourteen of the Bounty mutineers (two having previously been killed in violent altercations). Nine of the mutineers had sailed off aboard the Bounty in the autumn of 1789 but the Pandora left in search of them and Bligh is confident all the Pirates will be tracked down and captured.

You stay in Tahiti only three months, leaving that July and sailing onto Jamaica. You reach Jamaica in January of 1793 with the breadfruit for the plantation slaves where you discover something that makes you laugh. The slaves can't stand the taste of breadfruit and refuse to eat it. The whole breadfruit expeditions and everything that arose from them were, fundamentally, pointless.

You stay in Jamaica for five months, enjoying the Caribbean and all it has to offer, before sailing onto England, arriving that September. There you learn more news of the Pandora: at the same time you set sail she was wrecked on a reef and many of the crew, including four of the captured pirates, drowned. The remainder struggled back to England last year and after trials three of the mutineers were hanged, of the others four had been the detained loyalists while the last three escaped execution due to extenuating circumstances.

The Admiralty now feels that enough justice has been done. The whereabouts of the Bounty and the nine mutineers who sailed from Tahiti in the autumn of 1789 must, it appears, remain a mystery of the sea.


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

[User] You fire some psychic bolts

[Assistant]
You fire dozens of bolts of psychic energy, which smash into the beast's stony exterior as it fails to even damage it. The creature seems indifferent to your attacks, instead charging forward and swatting at you. You float to the side, as Hayes quickly arrives, raising his rifle and firing. As expected, the las beam has no effect.

"Ha! It's good to be killing again!" Castus yells.

"Fuck, we're not getting through this. Maybe we up the armament?" Fay says.

"Go for the eyes and the inside of the mouth!" Hayes yells, firing his gun.

Well, that didn't work. Time for something else.


[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 allow

[Assistant]
"Allow it," you say.

"Alright then," Elizabeth says, looking down at her notes. She fumbles through her pockets, pulling out two packets. One of a white, granular powder, the other is a brown one, looking like grinded up dirt. "Here we have Zap and Dirt. Zap can be snorted, eaten or drank with alcohol to perk up energy levels and increase reaction time, while Dust is inhaled to improve your senses. These drugs DO have a few negative effects. Mood swings and some minor mental problems with the former, respiratory issues with the latter. There's not very popular, but only as it's fairly new and we haven't stopped at ports recently."

"Thoughts?" you ask.

"I don't have enough research to formulate an opinion," Elizabeth admits.

"Allow Zap! That shit's good!" Castus says, finally paying attention, before getting distraction by a smudge of... something on the table.

"Perhaps its effect on mental health are really serious. I mean, look at Castus," Olive says.


[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 continue your attack

[Assistant]
She's doing a lot of bluster, but your Shelter has detected just how bad of shape she's really in, if you continue your attack she can't do anything about it. You send your attack and finally give her a last reply.

OmegaMan23: Sorry Miranda, but as much as you'd like to be one, only I can be the Omega Man in this little war.

You completely destroy what's left of Miranda's systems and you see her name disappear from the screen.

That's it. You've won, but there was a high price. Your Shelter's AI has been severely damaged…

"I fffffear that I ccccannnnnnot corrrrrrect…it wwwwas a pleasure serrrrving you ssssssir…."
"Thank you Shelter." You say before it dies completely.

You manually do an in-depth scan, and its definite, Miranda's shelter is powerless. Xavier's as well. You then proceed to start fixing some of the stuff that got damaged in the fight, and you're not sure you can. While you're doing this, someone appears online, you almost go into battle mode again, but then you see its just Becky.

RockerChick20: Hello? Is there anyone there?
OmegaMan23: Yeah, I'm still here, the others aren't though.
RockerChick20: Are they dead?
OmegaMan23: No, but without power they soon will be. Is your shelter working alright?
RockerChick20: Oh yeah, it's working fine. What about yours?
OmegaMan23: I dunno, it's not in the best condition…I might be able to fix it, but…well I can figure something out.
RockerChick20: So…I guess you were right about the hacker…I should've listened to you. I was even starting to fall for Xavier's charms. I feel really stupid about all of this.
OmegaMan23: Forget about it, it's all over now anyway.
RockerChick20: I can't believe you were still willing to fight for me even after I broke up with you…why?
OmegaMan23: Cause I'm an idiot obviously. Lol. Come on after all that time we spent together, it wasn't like it didn't mean anything to me, and Miranda was a killer that needed to be stopped. She might've even hurt you, if you didn't give in to her advances.
RockerChick20: Nobody's ever done anything like this for me before…I never want you to leave again.
OmegaMan23: Well unfortunately I might have to for awhile, my Shelter is fucked. I'm looking at it more now and I don't trust it lasting too much longer. The AI is completely fried, and I can only access the most basic things. I have to leave this shelter. It's not safe to stay.
RockerChick20: No! I can't lose you now! I've just realized you're the best thing that's happened to me in my life, pre and post apocalypse!
OmegaMan23: Calm down, I got an idea. I'm gonna track the location of your shelter, and then I'll just travel over there.
RockerChick20: But…that's crazy! You don't know what's up top!
OmegaMan23: Well I already took one crazy chance for you; I might as well take another, besides like I said I gotta leave anyway, at least this way I got a worthwhile destination. Now you just be sure to read up on your Shelter's internal operations in the meantime and try to see if you can access your elevator's controls so it'll open for me with no hassle, of course if you can't I'll figure out how to open when I get there somehow. Now I need to access your systems for a minute to get the location…and I hope I can still print out shit.

You access Becky's shelter and get the coordinates and print out a crude map. It's not the most accurate, but you're pretty sure if you follow it, you'll be heading the right direction.

OmegaMan23: Alright Becky, I'm calling my elevator down, and I'm leaving now.
RockerChick20: You'll come looking for me won't you? I mean you won't get sidetracked once you're up there right?
OmegaMan23: Of course not. And don't worry, I won't get killed either. We will meet in person sometime soon, I promise.

A single small heart shape emoticon appears on the screen, before Becky logs off.

You access the elevator controls (One of the few things working right and undamaged) and call the elevator to continue it's decent. You go back to your room and pack up all the things you brought with you when you first got here. You didn't even need most of the stuff, but maybe you will above ground. You then go to the water dispenser which is thankfully still working and fill up to empty bottles with water.

The elevator door finally opens up and you put your bag to block the door from closing and head back to the computer room where you access the system to tell the elevator to go back up and then run back to the elevator where you gather your bag and enter.

On the ride up you get a little nervous and even fearful. Not so much of what might await you on the surface, but of hoping the damn elevator doesn't suddenly stop, fortunately that doesn't happen and you eventually reach the ground once again. The door opens and you enter the same foyer you arrived in five years ago. Same ATM like machine is there, except its screen is flashing a single message at you.

*NO REFUNDS*

"No shit." You mutter and take a deep breath before opening the door to the outside.

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

Your immediate surroundings look relatively untouched. You can only assume there weren't any bombs falling near this area. You also see your van, you'd completely forgotten about it. It looks like it's even in worse condition than when you left it, which you never thought was possible. On a lark you take out your long unused van keys and try to start it up, naturally it doesn't even make a noise.

"Looks like I'm walking."

Looking at the map, you've got quite a ways to go. You're not sure of what to expect, but you know you've got a worthwhile destination to keep you going.