[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 stay

[Assistant]
Chances are, you'd not only have drag Julie's ass to Peter's car, but you'd also have to load up all the bags yourself as well. Since you don't particularly want to spend much time outside at night, you figure you'll stay here, rest and figure out exactly what you're going to do tomorrow.

Besides if you still want to leave, you'll have time to pack more supplies you can get from here too.

In the meantime, you still have to search the rest of the house because it's still entirely possible that it isn't safe here.

You exit the garage and check on Julie again. She's not quite asleep yet, but is heading in that direction. Fortunately you don't have as many windows in this house and your doors are a lot stronger so you're confident that if something tries to break in, you'll hear it and be able to react in time.

You head upstairs and cautiously search with your pistol drawn. Much like the downstairs though, you find that there isn't anyone lurking up here. You even manage to find the courage to peek your head into Kelly's room, but given how messy her usually room is, you don't know if she's ever returned here. You get the idea to call her up, but predictably there isn't any answer. Who knows what's happened to her.

Finally you end your search of the house by heading to the place where you started from, the basement. Again, not much looks different and fortunately there isn't anyone down here either. Your own room is about the same as you left it. You shake your head that the though of all the bullshit you went through this week, only to end up back here. Makes you wonder why you bothered.

Still, there is a part of you that realizes that it's probably best that you did break your habit of hiding out in the basement. Chances are you wouldn't have developed the courage to do some of the things you are able to do now. You also saved Julie's life and while she's certainly been needy and a bit of a wreck during all this, you're a little glad you don't have to go through this crisis entirely by yourself.

After a bit more perusal of your room, you head back upstairs to secure the ground floor as much as possible. Still not risking turning the lights on, you put chairs in front of the front and back doors. (As well as the one leading to the garage)

You also move a bookcase in front of some of the windows. It's not the most fun thing to do in the dark and you bump and bang knees and elbows in the process, but it's secure enough that you're confident that if someone does try to get it, they'll make such a loud noise in the process that you'll at least wake up first.

"Suzy? What's going on?" you hear Julie ask in a sleepy tone. You figured she'd be fast asleep by now.
"Nothing, just securing the area. Nothing for you to worry about, go to sleep." You say.
"I'd like to, but I want you with me on this sofa.
"Julie…(sigh). Look I'm not sure if there's room for both of us to stretch out on that sofa. I'll be right here you know. I'll be in the recliner."
"No, I'll move over as far as I can, and you can squeeze in next to me. Please, I just want your body next to mine. You make me feel so safe." Julie says.

You put your hand to your head and start to wonder why you're becoming more comfortable in even entertaining ideas like this especially with all that's going on right now.

Though maybe that's the reason. This is the end of the goddamn world for all you know and at this point you've lost everyone that's been remotely close to you. All of your family is dead (or in Kelly's case missing). Your boyfriend is also gone. They were all dysfunctional, but it's what you knew and you still miss it.

So maybe even as dysfunctional as Julie is, you still feel that need for her companionship because it's familiar. You have no one else close to you except Julie and she's going to be "it" if the dark future is any indication.

"Okay, Julie, scoot over." You say placing your pistol on the table in front of the sofa and start to squeeze in on the edge of it.

There actually is enough room, it's snug, but you aren't quite in danger of falling off the edge. Julie puts one arm and leg over your body almost in an attempt to make sure you don't fall off, but it's just her being affectionate as usual.

"Suzy…" she says and she starts to drift off.
"Yeah?" you say still trying to get comfortable.
"I love you…"
"I know Julie. I know." You answer in a non-committal way.

You sort of wonder exactly when she began to feel that way. Adulthood? High school? Middle School? Whenever it was, you guess it makes sense since even when you were little you were helping her out of trouble when you could. You probably were the one constant in her life that was genuinely a friend and also not looking to fuck her.

You still haven't quite sorted out all your "feelings" yet on this, but you do realize that if you didn't care somewhat about Julie, you wouldn't have been making the effort to save her as much as you have.

You guess at least someone is appreciating you and that's definitely been a rarity in your life.

You're up for a little while longer so you just lie there in the dark going over in your head some of your possible choices of what to do tomorrow. The more you think about it, the more you think that probably leaving is the best solution. You'll gather some more items from here and load up Peter's car and tomorrow you and Julie will be heading somewhere else. You still aren't entirely sure where though.

You eventually do get sleepy and slowly drift off.

[User] Next day...

[Assistant]
FRIDAY

"I got your call. Wakey wakey sis." You hear a voice say.

You slowly open your eyes and at first see what looks to be a man standing in front of you holding a shotgun. Then after the blur of your eyes clears a bit, you see that it's your sister Kelly.

Unfortunately it looks like not all your family is dead after all and of course it had to be Kelly that survived. Judging by the fact she's pointing a shotgun at you she's still hostile as well. You don't know why, but then has she ever needed a reason?

You look at the pistol on the table and Kelly just shakes her head.

"I guarantee you wouldn't make it sis. I suggest you don't even try…heh I doubt you'd have the balls to go through with it anyway. I have to admit when I came up here to get something from my room, I didn't expect to see you here."

At this point Julie wakes up.

"Suzy what's going…oh my god…" she says upon seeing Kelly.
"Shhh, it'll be okay." You say trying to reassure Julie.
"So when did you turn dyke Suzy? Always sort of figured you might be down for the rug munching. Guess that's why things didn't work out with Bobby eh? Still though, Julie? I have to say even I think you could do better than some used up party whore. Now the pair of you lesbos sit up."

At this point you and Julie move and shift on the couch until you're both sitting upright. In the meantime Kelly grabs your pistol from the table and places it in the front of her pants. She continues to focus the shotgun on you.

Given that you barricaded all the doors and searched the entire house last night you wonder how the hell Kelly got in. If she had been lurking inside, she definitely would've made her presence known and ambushed you yesterday and if she broke in, you definitely would've heard something before now.

You're also a little concerned not just because Kelly's pointing a shotgun at you, but you think back to what you saw in the garage. Peter and the other man's body. Their bodies were beaten and their necks were broken. Kelly certainly has the strength and the skill to do such a thing. Kelly's always been hostile to you and barely civil to your other sibling, but to actually kill one…

"Kelly, our siblings Peter and Donna are dead." You say.
"Peter's dead?" Julie says.
"Oh? Didn't know that about Donna. Can't say I'll shed any tears. The spoiled little whore wasn't much better than your girlfriend here."
"She was fucking chopped up by a goddamn serial killer, you bitch!" Julie exclaims.
"Hm, interesting. So how did you two survive?"
"I shot him."

Kelly's a little taken back.

"Wow, I'm impressed. Guess you would have the balls to use this pistol then. Tell me, was that the only person you killed this week little sister?"
"No… I shot one of those rabid people too. Ran over a couple as well."
"Well, well, well aren't you the bad ass now? Heh. Funny what an extreme situation like this can do to folks isn't it?"
"Yes."
"Yeah…so I'm guessing if you know about Peter, you've probably figured out by now what happened or at least have a strong suspicion. You're a lot of things Suzy, but I'd never call you an idiot."
"I appreciate that. So why'd you do it?"

Kelly chuckles a bit before answering.

"That little faggot found out where Ben's old shelter was and thought he was going to hide out from the current shitstorm in it with his boyfriend or whoever that other faggot he was with. Had to convince him that he had to go, he didn't listen and tried to resist and well you saw how that turned out."
"So you know where Ben's old shelter is then." You say.
"Oh yeah. I've always known where it was. Crazy old Ben thought he was being so sneaky moving the goddamn entrance around all the time, but I knew where the fuck it was nearly every time. He had just moved the entrance again a few days before he blew away his family and himself. I'm just surprised YOU never accidently found it given that you lived practically right near the fucking thing for years. If the entrance was any closer you would've been sleeping in the damn thing."

Well that explains how Kelly got in without alerting you. Still, if she's actually admitting the entrance to the shelter is somewhere in the basement and what she did to Peter, then that pretty much confirms she has no intention of sharing.

"So what's next Kelly? You gonna kill us too?"
"Don't know sis…don't know…severely thinking about it. I've never like you. You've been a thorn in my side since you crawled out of mom's vagina. Always having to be compared to how good and pretty you were and how bad and rotten I was despite the fact I was the one who was shouldering most of the responsibility in this fucked up family. What did you ever do except hide in the goddamn basement? Even now you left the house only to come crawling back here. Yep, I've thought about killing you on many, many, MANY occasions."
"Actually that wasn't my initial intention. My initial plan was to drive out of this forsaken town. I only stopped here because our own car was badly damaged and I had hoped to maybe get Peter's car and some extra supplies before heading out again." You say.
"Oh? Hmm, you're just full of surprises today aren't you? Well if that is true, you may have just bought yourself a bit of a reprieve sis…okay. What the hell, I'm in a good mood. I'm gonna let you and your whore walk outta here alive and you're going to be thankful."
"I don't suppose you'll allow us to gather our bags or give me the gun back will you?" You say.
"Heh, no I don't think so. Wouldn't want you getting any ideas of attempting to come back here. Leave with what you got on you or die, those are your choices sis. I'm being very generous here. Take my offer."

You stare at Kelly, but it's not with fear. It's with anger. Anger at all the past abuse you've had to endure from her. While she may have a minor point that you were the favorite and she did a lot for the family, she still had no right to bully and torment you for the majority of your life and she certainly had no right to murder Peter.

"Come on Suzy, let's go…" Julie says wanting for the both of you to be out of danger.

[User] You leave now

[Assistant]
As angry as you are, making some foolish attempt to stand up to Kelly while she's holding all the advantages is not going to help anyone. You'll have to re-supply elsewhere, at least you have a better car now.

"Okay, okay, we're leaving Kelly. You got all the advantages and you win." You say.
"Damn straight I win." Kelly snorts.

Julie removes the barricades the front door and cautiously looks around.

"Come on, come on, if any of those crazy fuckers were out there, they would've been beating down the doors and windows by now." Kelly says motioning the pair of you to leave quicker.

Julie exits and when you step up to the entryway, Kelly speaks up.

"Hey Suzy."
"Yeah?" you answer turning around.
"Changed my mind. I fucking hate you too much."

And with those words Kelly blasts you in the chest with the shotgun. Julie screams and Kelly laughs, but you make no more sounds at all other than your body falling backwards on the cement.


[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 lie

[Assistant]
It's probably better not to tell him your real name. He's not only a stranger, but also a grownup and grownups think they know what's best for a kid even if they don't. The more people who know who you are, the greater the chance that they'll send you back and the next time Mom gets her hands on you she'll probably kill you like Jane's mom did to Jane.

You look him right square in the eye and say "I'm Tommy."

"Nice to meet ya, Tommy. I guess we're gonna be here a while so might as well find a spot to get comfortable." He sits down between two of the implements—putting his back to one and props his foot up on the other—where he can't be seen from the ground.

You bring your bag over and find a nice comfy place out of view from the side. You sit down beside it—leaning on it with your elbow—with your walking stick laying across you lap while keeping a wary eye on Harvey.

"I saw you a ways back down the line and can't believe you made it this far. You've really covered some miles in the last couple of days."

"Yeah. It's a long ways to where I'm going."

"Where's that? If you don't mind my asking."

You study his face. You're still not sure if you can really trust him or not so you make up something on the spot. "I have to find my uncle in Arizona so I can live with him."

"Hope everything turns out okay for ya. I kinda like to keep moving. Don't like to stay in one place too long. Figured I'd head for the coast since this area is mostly played out now. It's not a bad place to Winter."

Your belly starts growling so you reach into your bag and pull out what's left of the pack of crackers you've been eating on for the last couple of days. You only have one more pack left and they're mostly crushed, but you won't mind that a bit when you get hungry again. You stuff one in your mouth and grab a few more for good measure. You consider putting the pack back in the bag, but decide you ought to share so you offer Harvey the last of the package which he quickly accepts.

"Thank ya," he grins, "I haven't had anything on my stomach since early yesterday."

You both eat in silence and after a while you drift off to sleep to the sounds of the clacking rails.


[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 leave her alone

[Assistant]
It was best to just leave the girl alone. She had her own problems, and if she wanted to keep them to herself until she left this world for good, then it was on her. It would only cause problems if you tried to get involved and she started freaking out or something, besides everyone seemed to be having a happy day today, best not to ruin it.

The hike continued late into the night as Owen was the one who kept on asking to stay longer. It seemed since they guys didn't get fatigued, the only thing that was stopping them was boredom, which they didn't seem to have any of.

That was a very enjoyable night, one you wish they would remember.

[User] You day of Ascension

[Assistant]
Ever since the day in which you all had fun. You had decided that it would be best to continue this as much as you could, continuing to take suggestions from everyone to places in which you could go and have fun. Each time everyone enjoyed themselves as all tensions seemed to fade off, except for Ashley's dilemma.

It wasn't until the day that Ruby had said everything would be ending that you realized you would be missing everyone here. The time in which you've spent with them made you mad sometimes, yes. But on the other hand, they had become sort of like family.

While Ashley herself seemed pretty happy as you all entered the abandoned warehouse in which you would be doing the ritual, Owen himself seemed pretty down.

"Bout time you guys showed up, haven't you ever heard of being early? I thought you guys would be hurrying here with how much you wanted to leave." Ruby complains as she sees all of you enter the warehouse.

"Why are we even doing it here?" You ask, getting really creepy vibes.

"There are some cases in which ascension rituals get sort of.....unpredictable. They're really rare occurrences but it's best that were in a place in which nobody would bother to visit."

That really didn't make you feel all that comfortable, but not like you could call this off or anything.

"So what does this ritual entail then?" You ask.

"A very simple process. Each spirit here stands before you, and they each shake your hand. Depending on their attitude, fulfillment's, regrets, it decides whether or not they ascend, a lot of things are taken into the factor."

This explanation immediately made you look over at Ashley, as did everyone else who was there.

Ashley's eyes were wide open, as her head shook a little.

"What happens if it doesn't work..." She lets out with a hoarse voice.

"Simple. You don't ascend." Ruby says matter-of-factly.

Ashley's mouth dropped open as Ruby continued to smile.

"Alright, everyone in line! Let's get this show on the road!" She states gleefully.

Everyone does as she says, with Gwen's knees trembling as the ritual begins.

"Alright let's make this quick, I got shit to do," Ruby says as she claps her hands.

The first person to step up to you is Baron.

You're about to speak first but he cuts you off.

"Listen, kid, I know I didn't talk all that much when I first came with you. I think I was just a little shocked that I had lost during my last fight. Thanks for giving me the time to enjoy life without having to worry about all that other shit that I had to deal with for most of my life, I really enjoyed it." He says raising up his hand.

"Thanks for being so cool with us, I hope you end up somewhere good Baron, you honestly deserve it."

He laughs at that. "That's debatable."

You raise up your own hand as the two of you lock onto each other, and before you know it, he's gone.

Nick is next, and again he's the first one to speak.

"Thanks for getting me out of that house kid, coming from the stories of everyone else here I was probably the one who had to stay in their death place the shortest amount of time. I probably would have started going crazy if I had stayed there any longer, due to some personal reasons I've been trying to forget all this time. Thanks for taking the time to take us to different places so we could enjoy ourselves before we left, it was probably one of the best months I can recall in years, you take care of yourself kid, and keep on helping those who can't help themselves."

"You really helped me a lot with everyone, you made things a hell of a lot easier then they would have been if you weren't there. You kind of honestly normalized everything, thanks for that, I hope you find your peace."

You both smile as your hands meet, as he too ascends in a matter of seconds.

Veronica and Owen step up next, wanting to do the ascension together.

"Bout time I got you out of my hair." You joke at Owen, who smiles in return.

Though the smile itself does not last, as it starts to quickly quiver as Owen runs up to hug your abdomen.

His muffled voice covered by your shirt begins to speak.

"I'm going to miss you."

You place a hand on top of his head while another one wraps around his back.

"Wherever you end up, make sure to stay out of trouble kid. Either way, though I'll know everything is going to turn out good for you. Thanks for making everything so fun, and I'm sorry If I ever got too mad you."

Fuck, you were actually about to tear up a little bit, though were able to stop yourself as Owen reluctantly let go of you as you gave one last firm hug, wiping away at his eyes.

"Don't worry about it too much kid, we'll meet again someday. I'm sure we all end up in the same place." You say to raise his spirits.

He smiles. "I'll be waiting for you so I can mess with you again."

You both laugh as you take his tiny hand into yours. After a brief pause, you turn your wrist as you see Owen leave your eyes for good.

You really hope that kid ended up somewhere nice.

Veronica's ascension was much shorter, you two really never talked all that much. So you gave her your best wishes and she did the same, she ascended without any worry.

Last but not least was Ashley, who slowly made her way up to you with trembling knees.

You two didn't really bother saying a word to one another as both your hands raised up.

You felt pretty bad for her, but then again it was her own fault for her attitude.

You locked onto her wrist and gave it a twist.

She was still there.

"D-Do, it again!" She cries with panic.

You do as she asks and still, nothing.

"Well it looks like that's all the ascending that'll be needed today, come on dipshit I'll give you a ride home. My treat since our quota is done."

"Wait! What about me?!" Ashley yells at Ruby.

"Simple, you'll ascend the next time we do this when you get a better attitude and feel fulfilled. Though you're going to have to wait awhile since our quota is done for the next few months, I'm sure that's plenty of enough time to reflect on yourself." Ruby replies to her without looking back.

Man Ruby could be really fucking venomous when she wanted to be. You followed after her quickly since you didn't want to get the bus home and you doubt she would wait up for you with her offer.

Ashley followed from behind defeated. It was going to be pretty hell living with her for the next few months, but maybe in that time, you could help with her emotions until she was ready to leave. Maybe talking to her that one time would have helped, no use thinking about it now though, what's done is done.

As Ruby drove the two of you home, you thought about what had happened in the last couple of months.

All the spirits you had met, all the fun times you had spent together. Would it really be OK for you if it just kept on resetting every few months or so, having those you've gotten to know just be completely erased from this existence?

Would you become numb, or just really pissy like Ruby?

No, you wouldn't fall that low. You would continue to help spirits to the best of your ability until you were no longer capable. Maybe after your time in this world was over and done, maybe you could have one big meeting with everyone that you had met and helped, that would be so cool.

Or maybe everyone just reincarnated, and everyone you had just helped had already been reborn into this world.

Whichever way it was, you knew something was waiting for them. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here doing this.

and when your time came, something would be waiting for you too.

Until then, you had a job to do.


[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 go back.

[Assistant]
Convinced that you have been wasting your time, and having found no other exits out of the lava tube, you decide that the sensible thing to do is backtrack down to the entrance. If the Wobans are still there when you get back, then you'll just have to wait for them to leave.

Therefore you turn to follow the little stream back down the angled cave, feeling a little bit like you are walking down an overgrown waterslide in an amusement park. The flow is little more than a trickle at first, but as you pass through the tunnel a second time you notice small seeps at various spots along the wall where additional rivulets are adding to the volume of the stream. In places, the running water fans out into an apron of moisture running down the slanted floor of the lava tube.

What you fail to appreciate is that some of this wet rock can be slippery, especially when you are walking downhill. On one patch of smooth rock, your Vibram soles fail you, sending you on a wild butt-slide down for a distance of about twenty feet. The flashlight flies out of your hands as you try unsuccessfully to stop yourself, but there is nothing you can grab onto. You come to an inelegant stop in the gravel bar at the bottom, unharmed except for a few scrapes on your legs and the palm of your hands, as well as a wet behind.

The plastic flashlight has come to rest in a pool of water, its light gone out. But you are not in the dark. You look up and see someone is standing over you, the light of their headlamp illuminating the scene of your embarrassing fall.

"You look lost," the person says — a woman, her familiar voice distorted by the reverberation off the rock walls. "I would have expected someone with your reputation to be more sure-footed."

The headlamp is blinding you, and the echoes are distracting, but you would recognize Meredith's voice anywhere.

"What the hell are you doing here?" you say. "And why did you take my stuff?"

Instead of responding to you directly, Meredith extends her hand to help you up. When you are standing beside her, she says, "Oh, right, the headlamp." She takes it off and holds it in her hand so that you can see her without being blinded by the light. Yet again she has changed her wardrobe; instead of a dress suit or a bikini, she is now clad in a khaki shirt and a pair of khaki shorts, with a white pith helmet to top it all off. The air about her is heavy with the smell of a scented bug spray. She looks like a model from an old Banana Republic catalog, before that chain went downhill.

"I've been looking for you," she says. "I knew you'd be the only person who'd understand!"

You notice she's wearing your brand-new backpack, holding your brand-new headlamp in one hand and your brand-new trekking poles in the other.

"Funny, Berringer asked me to keep an eye out for you, too. He even gave me a gun to use in case I found you."

Her eyes widen in alarm at the news. "You don't plan to shoot me and take me back to Walter, do you?"

"We'll have to see," you say. No, you don't plan to shoot her, but she's not exactly someone towards whom you feel much warmth at the moment, though.

"The last thing I want to be is one of his trophies. You saw the way he treated me, right? You know I had to get away from him."

Meredith is trying to play on your sympathies. You remember well the remark that Berringer made back on the yacht last night, when he boasted that he had "acquired" her and that she was too dumb to realize it. So she may have a point. Still, something doesn't add up; why bail on Berringer here, when she could have slipped away at any time she wanted back in Boston?

"So why were following me up this lava tube?" you say. "You got yourself off the boat, you could go anywhere you want. What do you need me for?"

"Because you're probably the only two-eyed person on this island who knows what they're doing. I stand a better chance getting out of here alive with you than I do on my own."

"I usually work alone. And besides, I'm not overly fond of people who steal my stuff right out of my cabin while I'm sleeping."

"Ah, yes, your stuff. Well, I won't insult you with an apology; you know as well as I do that the rules of our little game don't reward morality. But I'll make you a deal: you can have your 'stuff' back if you let me come with you."

"And if I don't?"

"I hardly see how that would even be a valid option," Meredith says. "Would you really just leave me here alone on an island full of cannibals, just because your pride was wounded? I mean, come on here. Let's be adults."

__________________________________________________

[User] You let Meredith come with you.

[Assistant]
This is one of those moments where you feel like closing your eyes and silently counting to ten. But you know that even if you did, when you reopened them Meredith Nowitki will still be standing in front of you. Arguing with her will be pointless, and it just so happens she possesses something that you really do need right now: that headlamp. With the watery demise of Captain Mark's cheap flashlight, it is now the only source of light in the cave.

"All right, fine," you say. "You can come with me. Now just give me back my pack."

Meredith shrugs off the green backpack you bought at REI and plops it down on a rock beside the stream. "This thing is effing heavy," she says. "How do you move so fast carrying all this weight?"

You take off Captain Mark's black book bag and give it to her. "Here, you can have this. It's not much lighter, though. All of my stuff better still be here."

"Don't worry, I didn't touch a thing," she says. "All I took were a couple of those Clif Bar things and some water."

Judging by the feel of the pack, she's probably right. This is no place to conduct a thorough inventory, though, so you hoist the pack onto your shoulders. Actually, the weight isn't that bad at all, maybe about thirty pounds or so. But Meredith can't weigh more than 100 pounds soaking wet, and nothing about her prior life chasing Walter Berringer around Fenway Park would have prepared her for this kind of physical effort. So yeah, she probably would think a thirty-pound backpack was the heaviest thing ever.

"I'm going to need that headlamp, too," you say.

"But how am I supposed to see without it?"

"Just don't get too far behind. It's the only light we have."

The only item you let her keep — for the moment — is one of the two trekking poles. Considering how you just slipped and fell down the wet rocks, you know life will go more smoothly if she gets to use one of the poles for balance.

"So why are you going back down this tunnel?" she asks a few minutes later.

"I didn't think this lava tube was going anywhere. I got to a point where it started to branch, and I just didn't feel like getting lost in a maze. Now you tell me something: when you jumped ship this morning, where exactly did you think you were going to go?"

"To find the Stone of Vul-Kar, of course. Why else does one come to Woban Island — for the piña coladas?"

"So in other words your plan was to get the stone before I did and collect the reward? And now you want me to help?"

"Settle down," Meredith says. "Walter was going to pay you a million dollars, right? Well I know someone willing to pay two million."

"Who?"

"Another Boston collector. One of Walter's rivals, actually."

"And what makes you think you can find the stone?" you ask.

"Let's just say I know something about it no one else knows," she says.

"And what would that be?"

"I have reason to believe that the Stone of Vul-Kar is not where everybody thinks it is."

"And how could you of all people possibly know that?" If nothing else, Meredith's company as you descend the lava tube is proving to be entertaining.

"Remember how Walter previously hired Beatriz Paya-Vallejo to find the gem? What he didn't know was that I helped her out with a particular dilemma she had. Bea was confident she could find the stone, but what worried her was that it would make her a target for the Wobans once she took it from the temple. So I tracked down a large geode with a purple crystal inside, and then had a guy chip away the outer layer of rock so that she would have a decoy to leave behind when she ran off with the true Stone of Vul-Kar."

"Did it work?"

"I have no idea," Meredith says. "All we know was that she called us on the satellite phone and said she had found the gem. But she was having difficulty of some kind and needed to find an alternate route off the mountain. So Walter moved the Big Papi to the far side of the island, but we never heard another word. I think she found the stone and made the swap, but that something happened to her anyway."

"That is interesting," you say. "So who is this other collector, anyway — the one willing to pay two million dollars?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Her story is rather… complicated. But if I'm not mistaken, she sent someone to try and make contact with you on your flight to Boston."

"By any chance, does he own a plaid suit?"

"Dozens of them, unfortunately."

You admit to yourself that you are thoroughly confused. This tale Meredith just told was fascinating, but is any of it believable? And how can it possibly be to your advantage to pal around with someone dressed like a movie extra from Gunga Din? Where does one find an actual pith helmet these days, anyway?

"Well, our first challenge will be getting out of this cave unseen," you say. "Hopefully those three Wobans standing guard near the entrance have moved on to other pursuits, or else—"

"Oh, those guys won't be giving anybody any problems," Meredith says.

"Why do you say that?"

"I shot them. Yeah, I know that's not your thing, but what else was I going to do?"

She delivers this bit of news just as you are a minute from the entrance. Light from outside is now reaching your position, so you switch off the headlamp and tuck it away. Quietly, you step closer to the mouth of the cave, worried about what you might find outside. You never use guns in your work because your M.O. is to move stealthily, drawing as little attention to yourself as possible. But if your new "partner" fired off at least three shots to kill those Wobans you snuck past earlier, who knows who else was drawn to the scene by the sound of the gunshots?

Indeed, you can tell right away that the small clearing is now crawling with three-eyed natives. Keeping to the shadows as much as possible, you inch toward the opening. The brush that concealed you earlier prevents you from seeing everything, but you can see Wobans scouring the surrounding jungle, as if investigating the killing of the three guards.

"E 'imi i ka po'e lapuwale i hana ia hana!" a voice booms.

Meredith creeps up behind you. "Ugh, not more of these goons." She intends this as a whisper, but some people simply aren't that good at keeping their voice low. Adding the fact that you are in what amounts to an echo chamber, she might just as well be speaking into a megaphone.

A young Woban turns toward the cave. "Eia lakou, e ka haku!" he shouts, pointing to you.

Within moments you are captured by the Wobans.

__________________________________________________

[User] Next page.

[Assistant]
You curse the name of Meredith Nowitki as the two of you are marched up the trail as prisoners of the Wobans. Your hands are not bound, and your captors have even let you keep your packs for the moment. But with three spears each pointed at the two of you, you estimate your odds of escaping are pretty much zero.

At a junction of trails about half a mile past the cave entrance, the Wobans turn left and descend a long hill back toward the shoreline. They are in a celebratory mood, singing boisterously like Boy Scouts marching to summer camp:

Hele mai na mea hele waho no ka pohaku o Vul-Kar

Aka 'a'ole makou e 'ae ia lakou

Malama makou i ka pohaku a pale maika'i

Ma makou e 'ai ai i na 'aihue e hele mai e 'aihue!

It's a primitive form of music to be sure, lacking the civilized innovations of both meter and rhyme. But boy, do they sure seem pleased with themselves singing it!

"Why are we putting up with this? Didn't you say Walter gave you a g—nnh!" Meredith starts to say, but the Woban behind her shoves her to shut her up. You decide it's best not to respond. Whatever your captors have in store for the two of you, you doubt it will be anything good.

You are led to a small village of thatched huts, with about two dozen dwellings. One larger structure stands atop a mound of earth, making it elevated about five feet above the rest of the settlement. Your guards march you through the center of town, and then stop you at the foot of the mound.

The leader of your guards is a fierce-looking young man with a painted face and a tattooed body. He steps forward and shouts: "E ke ali'i nui a mahalo 'ia, e hele mai e 'ike i ka mea a makou e lawe nei ia 'oe!"

A grizzled old giant emerges from the elevated hut, with wild locks of graying hair and what looks like claw marks just above his middle eye. His face is painted with bold stripes of white, black, and yellow, and despite his obvious advanced age the tattoos that adorn his entire torso are still sharply defined.

Beside the chief stands a woman who appears much younger than he is, with long black hair and a necklace adorned with seashells... and a shrunken head. All three of her eyebrows are furled in an obvious expression of scorn as she regards you and Meredith from her elevated position; by contrast, the doll-sized head dangling at her chest only has two eyes forever set in a blank, horrified gaze. You try not to stare too closely, but you're curious whether the head belongs to anybody you know.

Looking around at the inhabitants of this village as they emerge from their daily routines, you can see now that grass skirts are the only garments worn by any of the island's natives, male or female. And this answers another question you never knew you wanted to ask until just now:

Eyes are the only anatomical features that Wobans possess in threes.

"'O ka'u Manu-'opio-i-hana-me-ka-Pohaku, he aha kau e lawe mai nei i mua o ko 'oukou ali'i i keia la?" the chief says. His hair may be gray, but his voice is still forceful.

"Lawe makou ia 'oe i 'elua mau 'aihue, e ka Haku!" barks the captain of the guards. "'Elua mau holoholona i hele i ka makou 'aina e hana i ka 'aihue a me ka pepehi kanaka."

"He aha ka mea a lakou i 'aihue ai? He aha na kanaka a lakou i pepehi ai?" the woman says. Is she the chief's wife? His daughter? You can't tell.

"Pepehi lakou i ka makou mau kia'i 'ekolu me ka lakou la'au ahi," the guardsman says, "a laila laila holo i like me na daimonio weliweli i loko o ke ana!"

"A laila ua na'auao 'oe i lawe mai i keia mau daimonio i 'ane'i," the chief says, descending from the mound. "E 'ai makou i ko lakou 'i'o a luku i ko lakou 'uhane 'ino."

"'Ae, 'o ia ka makou ala," the woman says, joining the chief.

"I don't get it, what is this about?" Meredith says to you.

"E noho malie ka mea pio!" the chief spits in her face.

"'O kela holoholona ka mea like 'ole na iwi!" the woman says, looking Meredith up and down. "'Oiai 'a'ole keiki e lilo i momona ma ka 'aina i kona 'i'o."

"No laila he mea maika'i ka'u i ho'iho'i ai i 'elua mau holoholona," the guard says, gesturing to you.

"'O ke 'ano keia, e loa'a no na holoholona 'ekolu no ka makou 'aha'aina," the woman says, "e helu ana i ka mea a He-kanaka-ho'omake-i-na-Manoke i lawe mai nei ia makou i nehinei."

She points to your right, and reflexively you look in that direction even though you have no idea what she's talking about. There, tied to a tree, is a young man — a two-eyed outsider like yourselves — who looks not only terrified, but also gaunt, as if the Wobans have been saving him for something special.

The chief returns to the top of the mound, with the woman close behind. He turns and decrees, "E lawe mai i keia mau daimonio i na kanaka o ke kauhale. 'Ae i kela me keia kanaka e koho i kahi o na 'apana a kana 'ohana e 'ai ai."

Then something strange happens. Your packs are removed, and you and Meredith are each grabbed by the shoulders by one of your Woban guards. Your shirts are ripped off, and you are forcibly walked to the entrance of each hut in the village. There, one member of the household makes a mark on your bodies with a piece of charcoal, often making a show of licking his or her lips right in front of you. You can't help but notice that you are getting more interest than Meredith. It is only towards the end, when your body has been all marked up, that the last of the Woban families reluctantly place their marks on your diminutive companion.

When this ordeal is completed, the two of you are brought to where the other foreigner is tied up. You see that his body has been marked in a similar way.

Bound with your hands behind a tree of your own, you watch as the Wobans rummage through the backpack — the same backpack you bought just days ago, and which Meredith stole, and which you've barely had the opportunity to use. The three-eyed villagers toss about packages of freeze-dried meals, extra clothes, your stove and your cook set, the water filter, and so forth. The down sleeping bag explodes into a cloud of goose feathers when one unappreciative fellow digs his long fingernails into it. None of these items mean anything to these primitive people, and probably confirm their belief that you are evil spirits of some kind.

"They're going to eat us, you know," the young man says, his voice frail.

"How do you know for sure?" you say. "Can you understand that language of theirs?"

"A little, I think," he says. "My mother was a linguist, and so am I. They speak a dialect that is not unlike others in this region. The more they talk, the more I understand, I fear."

Meredith has clearly been traumatized by the ordeal of being shown around the village, and she is now slumping against her bonds. You need to keep your mind clear so you can figure a way out of this. Therefore you talk.

"A linguist, huh? That's interesting. What brings you to Woban Island, then? Studying the natives, hoping they'll help you find the Stone of Vul-Kar?"

"Heavens no, not Vul-Kar," the man says. He makes a spitting motion, but you see no saliva come out. "That's what my mother came here for, Dr. Cynthia Bolt. Just up and left one day, decided that's what she wanted to do. We never heard from her again. I came here to look for her."

You are struggling against the leather thong that binds your wrist, trying to reach your hip pocket. "Did you find her?"

"I only just arrived a few days ago. I thought if I just approached the Wobans and showed them my friendly intentions, they would help me. So that's what I did, and here I am."

Almost there! you think to yourself, trying to ignore the burning pain as your wrist strains against the leather. "You must be Dr. Brian Bolt, then."

"I am. I feel like I should be flattered you know my name, although I doubt that my academic career has made me a famous person. Or that you are here to come to my rescue."

Your fingertips can just touch the metal item in your pocket. "Before I landed on the island this morning, I received some intel on who else might be present. Your name came up."

"I will let myself feel flattered anyway," he says, but without much enthusiasm. Everything about Dr. Bolt seems defeated: his forlorn posture, his reedy voice. He is convinced he is about to die, and all your presence has done is assure him it won't be a lonely death.

"So when is the big dinner?" you say. You're finding that the trick to grasping the item in your pocket might be to jerk your right hip upward to meet your fingers halfway, thus extending the reach of your hand.

"Big dinn— Oh, you mean us," Dr. Bolt says. "I don't know how you can be so flippant about such a horrific act."

"I don't mean to be flippant, I just—"

"My family has never been very lucky," Bolt says. "My Great Uncle Ben died when he fell into a sinkhole in Florida. Aunt Lydia got run over by a cement truck crossing the road to her mailbox. But I think getting eaten by cannibals will be the most gruesome death in my family's history."

Success — the jackknife is now in your hands! If you don't manage to cut your own wrists in the process, you now have the means to free yourself from your bonds. You feel grateful that those grass skirts the Wobans wear have no pockets, and that it therefore never occurred to them to check your pockets for contraband.

But you may have another situation on your hands: Bolt's pessimism is starting to feed Meredith's anxiety.

"No, no no no no no! This can't be happening! This can't be happening!" she says.

"I'm afraid so," Bolt says. "Do you know what those marks on our bodies mean? Each household gets to claim their cut of meat."

"Oh this is so insane, I never should've come to this effing place, I just wanted to do something for myself for a change, now I'm just going to get eaten by a bunch of effing cannibals—"

"Meredith!" you say softly, trying to get her attention without attracting the Wobans. You have just finished slicing through the strip of leather at your wrists, and are now free to make your escape. But you remain in place, pretending to still be tied while you make up your mind what to do.

"—but no I had to follow this idiot, and look where it's gotten me—"

"Meredith!"

"What the eff do you want?" she finally says, as if she is about to burst into all-out rage any moment now.

"Your gun. Where is it?"

"Now all of a sudden you care about that? It's in a side pocket of that little book bag you gave me, not that it's going to do us any good way over there."

Both backpacks are about fifty feet away. You watched carefully when the Wobans were emptying your pack, but they never found the pouch on the hip strap where you stuffed Berringer's pistol while you were back inside the lava tube — nor did they even touch Meredith's bag. This means both weapons are right where you stowed them, just a short sprint away.

But now you have a quick choice to make: do you free your companions, race to retrieve the two guns, and then hope you and Meredith can shoot your way out of this pickle? Or would you be better off fleeing into the jungle on your own? Sure, yes, the moral thing to do is to free both of your fellow prisoners, but Meredith looks like she is on the verge of an outburst; the Wobans haven't been paying close attention to you since they tied you up, but if she freaks out before you can get away, then the show will be over.

At least if one of you gets away, it would be better than if all three of you became the main entrées at tonight's dinner.

__________________________________________________

[User] You free the others and make a run for the guns.

[Assistant]
"Meredith," you say, "if I get the guns, do you think the two of us can manage to shoot our way out of this?"

"What, are you mad?" she says. "Do you think those beasts are gonna just—"

For the first time you remove your hands from behind the tree, the remains of the leather thong dropping to the ground, the jackknife in your hand.

"Oh my god, you had a knife!" she says, demonstrating her inability to whisper. "Why didn't—"

You slice through the leather strap looped around her wrists. "Just shut up, or you'll get us all killed. Here, take the knife and free Dr. Bolt. I'll get the guns. Wait for me in the woods."

There is no time to see how well she executes your instructions, as you calculate you'll have just a matter of seconds to reach the packs before your captors inevitably notice their meals are getting away. You sprint as fast as you can, going to your pack first since you know exactly where you stuffed Berringer's gun. How ironic that you're about to use it to save Meredith, when he gave it to you with the opposite intentions.

The hitch, however, comes when you try and find Meredith's gun. She said it was in a side pocket, but the little black book bag given to you by Captain Mark has multiple pockets on the outside. Some industrial designer's obsession with organization might be your undoing if you have to stop and open each pouch, so instead you grope the pack frantically until you feel the gun inside a long zippered pocket running down the right side.

"Pakele ka mea 'ai! Pono kekahi e hopu ia lakou!" You don't look to see what the Wobans are doing, but you recognize the voice of the woman with the shrunken head on her necklace — and you're reasonably certain she's noticed you're no longer tied up.

With both guns now in hand, you turn back to where you left Meredith and Dr. Bolt. They are no longer there, so you run as fast as you can into the jungle beyond. As you pass the three trees where you had been bound, a seven-foot-long spear lands with a quiver in the tree that a moment ago held you in place. In the corner of your eye, it looks like a giant pub dart landing just to the left of the bullseye.

"This way!" You hear Meredith, but you don't see her until she grabs at your arm from behind a bush. Dr. Bolt looks somewhat dazed behind her, like he is still trying to process all that is happening.

"Did you get them?" she says.

"Here," you say, handing her gun over.

"No bullets?" she says, her hand still out like she's expecting you to give her something else.

"Bullets? I was lucky I found anything at all."

"Well I only have two shots left then, so let's not get ourselves into a shootout."

"In that case, we need to get out of here," you say. "I think our gracious hosts are upset their meals are running away."

And so you flee into the deep jungle, with Meredith and Dr. Bolt following you as if you know where you're going. You haven't really had that much time to think that far ahead, though. Probably the best place you could be is back in that runabout you hid on the shore, speeding away back to the Big Papi. So you head downhill, assuming that is the direction back to the shoreline.

But if the world is a big playing field, just like Berringer told you that day back in Fenway, then the three of you clearly do not have the home field advantage. You are all running as if your lives depend on it, but you can hear the Woban hunters gaining on you quickly. One doesn't need to be a math whiz to figure out a seven-foot Woban can outrun a mere human without even trying very hard.

"Why are you stopping?" Meredith says as you examine a small clearing in the forest you have just stumbled across.

"They're gaining on us too quickly," you say.

"Yes, we are no match for the Wobans, I'm afraid," Dr. Bolt says.

"We'll hide in the bushes, and when they enter this clearing we'll open fire," you say.

"It was a valiant effort, and I appreciate your thinking of me, but I knew that escape was impossible," Bolt says.

"If there's more than two of them, I can't help you," Meredith says, taking your lead in ignoring your defeatist companion.

"I should have a full chamber," you say.

"Then that gives us eight," she says. "Let's not miss."

The Wobans are just seconds away from bursting into the clearing, so you gesture to your two companions to back into the nearest patch of tall grass. It's the best cover you can find in the time that you have.

Two of your pursuers enter the meadow, apparently clueless that you are lying in wait. They are sprinting straight ahead, as if intending to continue the chase back into the jungle. But in so doing, they are coming directly at you.

Meredith fires right, you shoot left, and with grim economy the two of you eliminate these Wobans from the chase. The twin shots ring out across the evening air, though, lingering like a peal of thunder that hangs over the jungle and fades away much too slowly. It might as well be a neon sign pointing out your location.

"Run?" Meredith says.

"Wait," you say, but there is no need to wait for long. The two Wobans that you just killed were just the advance scouts; the shouting that erupts from the jungle makes it sound as though the entire population of the village is coming to avenge their deaths.

"Yes, run," you agree, but even as you say the words you know your situation is hopeless. You have bought yourselves a few seconds perhaps, but you remain at a disadvantage: the Wobans are still so much faster than you, the shore is still miles away, and now you have only six shots with which to defend yourselves. It is hard to picture any way in which this will end well.

Dr. Bolt gives you a look of dismay, as if you have just proposed the most pointless action ever. You'll never admit it, but you know he's right.

THE END


[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 convince Brenda to help Warrick

[Assistant]
Maybe it isn't the most tactically sound decision, but he's still an Eternal and you feel like you should give him a fighting chance. It takes some convincing, but Brenda eventually agrees with you, but she still thinks this isn't one of your better ideas. You both go back inside to tell Warrick the news.

"Okay, Warrick after talking it over, we'll help you indirectly by breaking trade with the Eternal Dominion."

Warrick's face doesn't show a great degree of happiness, but one more of relief..

"Thank you. Thank you both, my friends. This might not seem like much, but it still helps. I'll never forget what you've done here."
"Yeah, yeah, you better go before I change my mind." Brenda says.

Warrick, not wishing to wear out his welcome he bids you both goodbye and takes his leave. Brenda remarks again that she sees no good coming of this, but what's done is done and you've all made your choices now. The pair of you go back to bed and try to get some sleep.

Year 56

"Great that's all we need a war with the Eternal Dominion while we have a fucking epidemic going on right now!" Brenda shouts throwing a paperweight against the wall in frustration.

When the trade routes were broken with the Eternal Dominion, Edgar did not take it well, and while it was always a risk, you didn't think he'd actually wage a two front war over it. He immediately suspected you both were in league with each other and declared war on you both.

You would probably fare better against the ED, but a terrible plague has hit Nalin pretty hard around the same time. Nobody knows exactly where it came from or how it spread, but the common thought is that the Eternal Dominion has something to do with it. You on the other hand entertain another idea, one that you'd rather not believe and that's Warrick had something to do with it.

Destabilize your country and weaken it to a point where the Eternal Dominion can destroy it completely while they also waste their own manpower at the same time. Possibly even spread the plague to their own lands too. It's a good plan.

If that really is the case, you question your judgment and beginning to wonder if you're even fit to command anything anymore. You know Brenda has been a little distant towards you lately, however to her credit she has not blamed you for the current situation. Though she wouldn't since she'd only blame herself as well for agreeing to break trade with the ED to begin with.

In any case, right now is not really the time to second guess or lament possible past mistakes, a serious situation rears it's ugly head right now and it must be take care of.

"Well, the plague hasn't hit eastern Nalin yet and we've drafted every healer, medic and hedge wizard we can find to help cure this blight. We've managed to quarantine the towns and cities that have been hit the hardest. The problem with that though is we've had to redistribute soldiers to those places where we could desperately use them on the northern borders." You explain.
"Yes, I'm aware of the situation, what's your solution?" Brenda demands.
"Kill everyone in the quarantine and cleanse it with fire. No more people, no more plague and we can focus on the war."

Brenda chuckles.

"Figures you'd suggest something like that."
"Well I'm coming up with the most efficient plan, waiting around for the docs to come up with a cure isn't really time we can afford." You say.
"And massacring entire settlements isn't going to endear us to anyone. You know what? To hell with it, I'm leaving this up to you, I'm sick of running this fucking country anyway…" Brenda says and walks out the room.

You aren't exactly sure of what to make of that response, but you go through with your cleansing plan since you can't afford to wait around for some cure that may never come.

Killing everyone has worked for you on several occasions in the past, no reason to change tactic now. First thing you do is get every remaining "old guard" officer that's still serving since the days of the Empire and have them put in charge of this operation. You know they won't even question this command coming from you. Then you tell them to go through their personnel rosters to see who is going to be up for this grim task. You personally suggest including all of those elves you made into orphans years ago. While they may all be good indoctrinated soldiers now, you think they wouldn't hesitate at a chance to kill some humans and would be good candidates for this job. Besides, elves seem to be more resistant to the plague anyway.

Three entire towns are put to the sword, gun and torch until there is nothing left, but burned corpses and hollowed out buildings. In keeping with non-humans being seemingly less affected by the plague, you have kobolds remove the bodies and clean out what they can. They're more than happy to do this as they get the chance to loot some stuff for their own impoverished reservation you've set aside for them.

This action causes a great outcry and you even have to execute several soldiers who took up arms against you during the cleansing. Many Nalin citizens aren't happy with the fact that you've implemented several non-humans in helping with this massacre as well. Indeed some begin calling you their inhuman "Eternal overlords" and wonder if they aren't already under the rule of the Eternal Dominion.

As far as the plague goes, you did successfully wipe it out from being an ongoing danger. Medics, healers and the like are able to focus their attentions on the places where it's less of a problem and eventually it is gone completely.

As for everything else, western Nalin, is in horrible condition and soldiers from eastern Nalin have to be brought in to reinforce the northern borders which have now changed hands a bit as the ED army has pushed you back. Eastern Nalin is in good shape as it was spared the plague and isn't in any immediate danger from the fighting, but there are rumors of the population aren't happy.

With the plague gone though, you dig in ready to focus on the Eternal Dominion invasion.

[User] Continue

[Assistant]
Year 60

"Fort Glory has fallen sir." A disheveled messenger tells you while you look over a map of Nalin in your tent.
"Doesn't matter, it was no longer a priority anymore." You say not looking up.
"So you're still going through with the plan involving the kobold sappers?"
"Yes. I figure it'll take a few days for those eternals get settled in their new conquest and then that fort crumbles right underneath them. A shame, I used to like that fort, but this is war."
"Sir, I don't mean to question your orders, but how can you trust those little scaley bastards? They're little more than animals."
"That may be, but they're animals that are more scared of me than anything else, and that's all that's important. Speaking of which how do things fare in eastern Nalin?"
"All major settlements are under martial law, lots of structures destroyed, several dissidents executed and there are reports of rebels in the wilderness, but most of it is still under our control."
"Good enough for now I suppose. Tell Captain Yasil, that I want her to mount an attack on Camp Conquest in a tomorrow. We're going to make our major offensive soon and I want her to weaken that camp as much as possible."
"…you mean that large eternal camp in northern Nalin? The main one? That's suicide! Her company is only at half strength from the last mission you sent her on!" the messenger exclaims.
"Her sacrifice will be remembered. That will be all." You say still not looking up.

The messenger sounds like he would like to say something else, but realizes he better not and just leaves. Smart move on his part. You would've killed him. You have little patience for hesitation nowadays, especially since you've got nothing left to lose.

You rub your eyes and stop looking at the map of Nalin and sit down to take a short break. You're tired, but you don't remember the last time you had a good night's sleep. You look over at a portrait you had made of Brenda a long time ago before this war ever broke out. An image of her in happier times.

You often speak to the portrait, during times like this and tonight is no different.

"You were right, shouldn't have broken that trade agreement with the ED (Sigh) just wish I would've been the one that paid for that mistake instead of you. Though I suppose I paid for it, when some suicidal asshole shot you in the head two years ago."

You focus more attention on the portrait

"Maybe you're better off…I mean you were getting increasingly unhappy. Heh, who knows maybe you would've just left altogether. You were right about ruling not being any fun too, I've been trying to do your job and mine, but I find myself just not caring about much lately. I'm half ready to just get up and leave it all behind, but I still feel the need to control and regain what has been lost. Maybe it's that old Empire syndrome popping up again. I dunno. Recently I've just been focusing on the war. It's about the only slight pleasure I get anymore. Sometimes I wade into battles, bones creaking, joints aching and five times slower and weaker than I once was, yet do it anyway. I guess I'm hoping to at least die a warrior's death, but somehow I still manage to survive. The war's not over yet though, so maybe there's still time right?"

You pick up the portrait and look directly into Brenda's face.

"I don't know if you still loved me near the end of everything, but I still loved you. Still do. Maybe I'll be with you soon." You say.

You put down the portrait and lie down on your bed. You won't get a good night's sleep, but you don't need it. You just need a quick recharge before you go back to the business of war.

The next couple of day pass and you're ready for your final push. You have no idea if you'll actually succeed in driving out the Eternal Dominion, but you're ready to put an end to this one way or another. You lead the battalions to the north.

When you arrive to the frontlines, you receive a report that Fort Glory completely collapsed and killed a couple of companies of eternals that were planning their next move from there. Kobolds took advantage of the chaos and finished off the wounded. Captain Yasil's mission was also somewhat successful, you see the smoke in the distance from the main ED camp. The smell of gunpowder from the cannons lingers in the air; hundreds of trenches are filled with the living and the dead on both sides.

You heard that this is how the battlefield looked when the Empire fought the Felkan Kingdom, seems like this is going to be standard for war, until something else changes in the way people kill others. You remember when things were much simpler though. The funny thing is that the Felkan Kingdom is despite being accustomed to this sort of fighting and more technologically advanced, they're apparently having a much worse time holding off the Eternal Dominion than you have, though you imagine that they're getting more of the brunt of the combat.

You are approached by several of your officers; they say their respective companies are ready to advance, if you give the word. You nod and tell them the attack will commence.

You watch as thousands of your soldiers run forward to kill and die for you. If there has always been one consistency with you, is you ability is muster up a shitload of people to do that, even when you're not popular. And you're REALLY not popular with the average Nalin citizen right now.

But ungratefulness is something you're used to. You experience the same thing in Rask, after you destroyed all the barbarian tribes. Peasants complain and know nothing of real sacrifice. Not like you do.

The battle is going strong and a cannon ball from the other side even crashes a few feet away from you. One of your majors advises that you should step further back from the battle so you stay out of harm's way.

But maybe you don't want to; in fact maybe you want to just end it all right now.

[User] You walk into the battle

[Assistant]
You look out at the battlefield from your horse and get off of it. This is it. The time is right. The major is screaming at you to take cover and asking you what do you think you're doing walking forward into the battlefield like you're doing, but you ignore him.

No sooner have you taken number of steps forward and large explosion occurs behind you causing you to fall forward. You push yourself up and look behind to see a small crater where the major and your horse once stood. Your head hurts and seems to be bleeding, but you shake off the cobwebs and crawl into the nearest trench.

The stench of death fills your nose immediately. You see several dead soldiers with various fatal wounds. A few living ones are looking for their next opportunity to crawl forward to the next trench. They see you and are quite surprised.

"Gen..general?" one of them says.
"What are you lot waiting for? There's a great big war out there just dying to be won!"
"Uh, well the enemy cannons are…"
"No excuses! Come on, follow me! I'll lead you to fucking victory!" you shout excitedly and crawl out of the trench.

The soldiers are a little reluctant to follow you at first, but they do so anyway. Explosions and gunfire are all around you as you crawl forward. The danger you've put yourself in right now is giving you a rush. You make your way to the next trench where you encounter even more of your soldiers who are in close combat with the enemy eternals. You help out with your own superior swordsmanship.

"That's how you do it!" you shout as you run your sword through the neck of an enemy. "Eternals my fucking ass! Back in my day, a single eternal could've killed the lot of you! And that Eternal would've been me!" you tell your men who are a little unnerved by your remarks.

"But fortunately I'm helping!" you shout with a slight giggle and motion them to follow you forward.

You crawl from trench to trench through mud, blood, guts, bodies, and all around nastiness and you love every moment of it. The soldiers you've "picked up" along the way believe you've gone completely mad, but they continue to follow since you're actually making progress and your combat abilities still surpass their own.

You don't even know how many eternals and "regular" soldiers you've killed so far, but you aren't keeping track. All that you do know is that you still haven't reached your goal. Along with completely disregarding your safety, you start to become a little delusional as well, you end up shouting at your men that they need to watch out for possible wendigos in the area confusing the hell out of them.

"Why isn't there snow? There's usually snow in Rask." You mumble to yourself.

You see the enemy camp in sight and there is already some fighting going on there, but by the Emperor, you are NOT going to miss this fight!

"For the Empire!" you shout, which at this point your soldier aren't even surprised by whatever you yell about now. They're too busy thanking their gods that you managed to lead them to the enemy camp with no losses.

Camp Conquest is in chaos. There is fighting everywhere and you jump right in the middle of it. You proceed with your bloodthirsty adrenaline crusade. You suffer several wounds that probably would've stopped a normal man your age in their tracks and even you're starting to feel the effects. Fortunately you've still got your small personal troop behind you to take up the slack.

"Look general there's the commander's tent!" one of them shouts. It would appear your enthusiasm has finally rubbed off.

With sword cuts across your face, a bleeding gash on your left arm, your armor half destroyed and a bullet in one of your legs, you continue forward. You're starting to feel a little wobbly though.

"These Eternals will pay for their betrayal of the Emperor!" you mutter.

The enemy commander with some of his own staff stands around several dead bodies and upon seeing you he pats his mace in his hand waiting for you to arrive. As you get closer, there's something somewhat familiar about him. Like you knew him, but he's older now.

He bashes the face in of one of your soldiers before clashing with you. He starts to babble about how he's wanted revenge on you for killing his friend twenty-five years ago. He kicks you to the ground and tries to crush your skull, but you roll out of the way.

Your head is really starting to hurt, and you're feeling a little dizzy. Images of the past and present begin to mix together and you have a moment of clarity of where you are, and it isn't Rask and you aren't serving the Empire.

The bleeding from the back of your head was actually caused by shrapnel from the explosive cannon ball that nearly killed you at the beginning of the battlefield. You've been suffering from a mild brain injury the entire time, hence your delusions. This fool that's trying to kill you now is one of those eternals that was under your command when you left the Empire and killed private Felding in the process.

You dodge another mace swing as you try to regain your wits. You're stating to feel your strength really ebb. This is what reality feels like and it sucks, you were enjoying yourself up until this point.

You don't know if you're actually going to survive this, but you'll be damned if you're going to give this asshole the satisfaction of getting his revenge. You hack at his foot causing him to fall to one knee. You then strike out against one of his soldiers trying to sneak attack you. Before the commander to get back up, you hack his arm off at the shoulder. Blood spews from the stump and he screams in agony. He stops screaming when you kick his teeth in and sever his head from his body.

You look around and see that your soldiers are winning the day. You know that the Eternal Dominion presence is still in Nalin, but it has now been greatly reduced with this victory. The war isn't over yet, but maybe it is for you.

You stagger to the asshole's tent you just killed and lie down on his bedroll. You head hurts something fierce and you're starting to feel like you're about to pass out. One of your soldiers says he'll go find a medic or healer, but really you don't care anymore.

You're going to die here and that's okay. You've had your last win and really even if you did survive to see final victory; you'd rather not go through the drudgery of ruling alone anymore. You're too old and too tired and now that Brenda's gone, you just don't have the motivation anymore.

"Brenda, I'm coming to join you." You say and close your eyes.

You never wake up.


[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 take out the chandelier

[Assistant] You look at the Troupe, before flexing your hand and grabbing hold of the chandelier and sending it hurtling into the staircase. Most of the Troupe dodge, but a few are too slow and crushed by the chandelier. You take a deep breath as the chandelier's candles go out, leaving you in total darkness. You focus, and you can still vaguely see the Warp presence of the Troupe. You need to wipe them out, and quickly.

[User] You fire a jet of flames

[Assistant] You fire a jet of flames out, engulfing a pair of Dancing Blades. Unfortunately, this has the side-effect of illuminating the room, and now being able to see, the Troupe strikes. Immediately, three of them are upon you. You fly out of the way of one and set the second alight, before the third leaps at you. You back out of their way, avoiding a sword blow, before you're stabbed through the back, and you collapse to your knees, before a blow takes your head off.