[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]
It might be a bit a more complex than what you first envisioned, but it probably would be well worth it to try. You agree to Theo's plan and put it in motion.

Theo says that the first thing he should do is to directly contact Sam Jowin, one of the major warlords in the area. He's fairly sure that Sam will agree to help out the shadows especially if it means stomping out the remaining pathetic remnants of the Empire. Plus it'll be one less warlord to worry about if he's on the side of the shadows.

"Just like the old days eh?" you say.
"Yes, I suppose so." Theo answers.
"I don't see why we can't still send our Blades in to cause some problems yet. I mean we know they can do it without being detected." Cyrus remarks.
"We'll get a chance, don't worry. Just have to wait a bit longer for the right time." You remark.
"Hm, I suppose so." Cyrus answers.

You get the impression that Theo is more than a little excited about doing this and Cyrus is a little disappointed that he doesn't get to do more at this time. Looks like it wasn't just you getting bored with peace either after bringing this plan up. Though Yvette is looking a bit concerned mainly for her husband most likely, she really shouldn't though given how skilled he is, let alone the fact that it's part of his duty as a shadow anyway.

While you aren't actually getting into any action, it still feels good to be planning something more than the daily prayers to Dendrin.

Year 50

"Ackerson's men were seen at the edges of the Delerg borders again. Pretty sure they're preparing for an attack this time." Brother Gannon remarks.
"(Sigh) Call for the Blades to do double patrols." You say rubbing your head.
"I told you we should've just assassinated him when we had the chance, now that bastard's not only really entrenched, but he's also gained ground in Quala! What the fuck is Theo DOING over there, we haven't heard from him in months!" Cyrus exclaims.
"He's serving Dendrin and the shadows as he always has! Thanks to him, we've gotten converts and making our ranks grow! And don't you think I'm just as concerned about him not having reported in for a long time?!" Yvette snaps.
"Yes, I'm sure you are Yvette, but the converts we've gained haven't really strengthened us to any great degree and in fact they may have been a hindrance as it just brought more attention to ourselves." Talia remarks.
"And how would've Cyrus' plan of assassinating everyone not called attention to us? You don't think if leaders just started dropping dead people wouldn't have suspected us? Everyone knew were located here in Delerg and could've attacked us eventually anyway. At least now we not only have a few extra human converts, but also one of the warlords on our side." Yvette says.

Yevette's "human" remark gets your attention, despite everyone else missing it. What is she getting at?

"For now. How the hell do we know this Sam nutter isn't going to turn on us when he gets strong enough? Ever since he decimated Anu's forces, he's gotten into a position where he could attack us in force just as easily as Ackerson could, probably more so. Which brings me to the question of why the hell hasn't he been pushing Ackerson a lot harder? I mean, he's supposed to be our ally, move in man! Attack!" Cyrus shouts.
"Well from last reports months ago, Theo says Sam was having problems with the western front and to the south from Brenda." Talia interjects, in an attempt to keep Cyrus calm, it doesn't work.

"Oh that's bullshit Talia and you know it! Those assholes in western Quala are so disorganized they're barely a threat to each other, let alone Sam. And as for Brenda, I don't think so. I've got some of my OWN people spying down in Nalin and they say the place is pretty damn peaceful apart from the raids that Sam sends down there. Even the kobolds are mostly contributing members of society now. Shit, if Brenda wasn't on the wrong side I'd say she'd make a better ally than Sam would.

Now Cyrus' remark gets your attention, in fact it gets EVERYONE'S attention.

"Cyrus who and WHEN did you send people to the Nalin province? I didn't order such a thing!" you remark.
"I sent a few Blades last year and you're right you didn't tell me and if I'm in violation of the shadow code, then you by all means you're well in your rights to have me executed…but I felt like we needed to know what the hell Brenda is up to! I mean she's potentially the biggest threat to us military wise, not to mention she IS the last true remnant of the Empire."

You shake your head not so much at what Cyrus did, but the fact that you didn't catch it. You think back to when you first came up with this plan and now you wonder why you just didn't leave well enough alone. You wanted to be free of boredom and now you've got it in abundance.

"What's done is done now, but I'd like to know why the hell you didn't at least report what you found immediately considering that you said you send them a year ago!" you remark.
"They were still gathering intel and I wanted to make sure if this was going to cost me my life, it was going to be worth it at least!"
"Cyrus, stop being so damn dramatic, nobody's killing anyone here." Talia says.
"Maybe they should though…" Yvette says.

Another statement that causes a pause in the arguing.

"What was that Yvette?" Cyrus says in a challenging way, Dravin who has been quiet the whole time now gets up and attempts to hold Cyrus back. Yvette is obviously upset about more than a few things, her husband's disappearance being one of them, but she doesn't back down from Cyrus despite she'd be no match for him.

"I said maybe you should be killed! You directly defied the Shadow Master AND Dendrin's will! You know according to the ancient ways of the shadows, you would've been subjected to having your hands and feet cut off followed by your eyes ears and nose before your mouth was fused shut and you were dragged out to the swamp where the Sul Monkeys could feast on what was left!"
"In case you haven't noticed sister, these aren't the old days anymore." Cyrus says almost daring her to attack.
"Yeah, don't I know it." Yvette says, looking at him, Talia, then you before storming off.

"Well if you're going to have me killed, I'll be in my room waiting for your decision seeing as I can't break any rules there." Cyrus remarks dryly and walks off as well. Draven follows in an attempt to calm him, giving you a few worried glances as he leaves.

You and Talia are left in the room by yourselves. Sometimes you wish it was always like that.

"You can't seriously be considering executing Cyrus for this." Talia says.
"Probably not, but it's really not a good sign of what he did. We're supposed to be sneaking around against other people, not each other."
"His intentions were for the good of the shadows."
"Yeah and you know what they say about good intentions. Ugh, how the hell did I let that slip by me in the first place?"
"It slipped by all of us, Cyrus is skilled."
"Yeah and that's the problem. Call me paranoid, but in an order where everyone can cloak at will, dropping your guard for one moment could lead to a quick death if someone wanted to do it."
"Now, you can't start thinking like that! We're all Dendrin's faithful, we don't hurt one another."
"Forgotten about Brother Seminai and Sister Grace huh? Yes, I know that was a different situation, but the problem still stands. In fact it's the same original problem with just a few minor differences."
"What do you mean?"
"Didn't you notice Yvette? It's obvious that she doesn't like our kind, meaning Eternals. I dunno if this is a new thing or if she's always harbored these feelings. Besides getting the new ones under control, I was also hoping it would prevent any possible conflict we might have had between the pure human shadows and Eternal shadows, but apparently not."
"Well what are we going to do about that?"
"Good question, I'm going to have to think on that and Cyrus' recent behavior, because while he might not be deserving of execution, I can't just have him going off and doing his own thing like that. Especially since it was only due to me showing him mercy and a hell of a lot of trust that I allowed him to live in the first place. Pulling a stunt like this is making me regret that decision."

Talia leaves you alone at this point, she just gives you the usual if you find yourself lost, to seek Dendrin's guidance. The funny thing is maybe you should've considering Dendrin warned you that Cyrus would still be a potential problem years ago.

You sit by yourself thinking and going back and forth on what to do about Cyrus and after an hour you're still no closer to a solution. At this point you don't even want to bother thinking about what to do about Yvette, though getting someone to seek out her husband would be a good start.

As you're about to leave the council chamber, Draven appears in the doorway. He looks like he's even more worried than when he left. He's even shaking a bit.

"Uh…um Shadow Master. I…"
"What is it Draven? And why are you shaking?"

He doesn't answer and just starts sniffling and trying not to cry. He looks like he's going to have a complete breakdown and then suddenly he breathes deeply and exhales.

"Draven what happened? Where's Cyrus and what's he done?" you ask sensing that this is the cause of his behavior.

"Nothing. And I'm sorry." Draven says and he suddenly speeds himself up and attempts to shoot you with his armbow!

Being more powerful in the ways of shadow magic now, you easily speed yourself up and dodge this attempt on your life. You react with a shadowfire bolt to his head, Draven falls back and drops dead instantly.

You briefly wonder why Draven would attempt such a thing, knowing that he couldn't have won, but you don't dwell on it too much since you figure that Cyrus was behind it in the first place.

"ASSASSIN! SHADOWS BLOCK THE ENTRANCES! LET NO ONE LEAVE!" you yell as loud hoping the whole temple heard it as you can and run out of the council room looking for Cyrus.

In the chaos, you continue bellowing orders to everyone while still looking for Cyrus and telling others to find him as well. Talia rushes to you asking what's going on and you explain that Draven just tried to kill you.

"WHAT?!"
"Obviously Cyrus put him up to it. If this isn't proof that he is not only disobedient to Dendrin's laws, but also willing to betray them, I don't know what is!" Yvette says overhearing the conversation.

Just as you're about to tell some of the shadows to go scouring the swamp for Cyrus, he suddenly pops up running into the gathering hall directly towards you. Thinking that he's trying to finish the job himself you immediately order him to be stopped and then create a small barrier around yourself. Several of the Blades, along with Talia gather around you as well. You're glad that the Blades' loyalty seems to be on your side, even if a couple of them did obey Cyrus' orders to go into Nalin.

Cyrus is practically tackled to the floor though he's confused to as why it's happening.

"What the…why is everyone holding me down?! What is this? Where's Draven?" he says.
"You know damn well where he is, you sent him to kill me not a few minutes ago!" you answer.
"WHAT?! I did no such thing! He was upset about went down in the council chambers and…wait where is he?"
"Where do you think? I'm still alive to confront you on your treachery aren't I? I mean you had to have known that I'd easily dispatch Draven."

This remark causes silence in Cyrus. He looks down, as you demand to know who else is involved in his little conspiracy. When he looks up again to address you, his face shows a mixture of anger and anguish.

"There is no conspiracy you paranoid fuck! Don't you think if I had planned one some of these people would've been trying to kill you right now? I would've thought that you would've at least thought higher of me that I could've come up with a better plan, which I wasn't doing in the first place! I mean if I had, I certainly wouldn't have allowed myself to be caught like an idiot like this. I thought we settled all this years ago when you first became Shadow Master. I pledged my loyalty and I meant that! I see my words mean nothing after all though, so do what you want. I submit myself to Dendrin and your final judgement as I always have."

Such in-fighting of the shadow leaders in a public display hasn't probably been seen since Brother Shade tried to kill Master Ebon. Cyrus seems resigned to whatever fate you have in store for him, but you're wondering if he's trying to stall for time somehow. He claims that he doesn't have others working for him, but for all you know they're just staying quiet so that they can't get into trouble and their courage to go through with your assassination has failed them completely.

Or perhaps they just want Cyrus himself out of the way so that they can take power at a later time.

[User] You question him further

[Assistant]
Something doesn't quite add up about all this. Cyrus' position isn't looking too good right now, but he's right in that he certainly would've come up with a better plan than something like this. You're willing to at least hear him out.

"Cyrus, you convinced me once before that I should trust you. Convince me again." You say.
"I can't, you'll have to make that decision yourself. All I can do is explain what I think might've caused Draven to behave in the manner that he did. (Sniffle) Okay first of all I didn't send any of the Blades to Nalin secretly…Dravin did. I didn't even know until a couple months after he did and he confessed everything to me. Naturally I got mad about it, but what was done was done and I just told him to keep his mouth shut about it to anyone else. This didn't come out again until our earlier council meeting where I claimed I sent them because I didn't want Draven to get into trouble for it."
"Right Cyrus, you expect any of us to believe that? Draven's dead so you're just using him as a scapegoat right now in a miserable excuse to escape Dendrin's justice!" Yvette exclaims, but Cyrus just ignores her and continues with her story.
"After the meeting, Draven got very upset and was worried that you were going to have me executed. I told him that, that wasn't likely, but he just kept claiming it was all his fault. I tried to calm him down, we argued and he eventually left the room. That was the last I saw of him…I knew he was distressed, but I just never thought that he'd…(sob)."

At this point Cyrus breaks down into tears. There is an awkward silence followed by some whispering and then your own decision.

"Let him go. He's innocent. Well innocent of attempting to kill me anyway."

This judgment comes to a bit of a surprise to everyone, even Cyrus. A few shadows obviously don't agree and Yvette makes her voice the loudest.

"Have you left all your senses? This…traitor just tried to kill you and you're letting him off the hook?"
"You would be wise to watch and remember who you are speaking to!" you snap. "I believe Cyrus. You know why? Because he was so damn in love with Draven that's why. I believe that he would've covered up for his mistakes and I also believe he wouldn't have willingly set up Draven on a suicidal assassination mission. His grief is proof of that."
"It's all an act! He's faking those tears!" Yvette exclaims.
"So I should believe that your tears for your lost husband Theo are also fake then?"
"That's different! My husband Theo is a loyal shadow! Draven AND Cyrus are obviously both traitors and have no loyalty to anyone save themselves! I cannot believe that you would show this much leniency, but I suppose even a treacherous one of your kind is better to have around to keep us humans in line huh?"
"Yvette, we're all shadows, whether we're human or eternal. Nobody here has been shown preferential treatment." Talia says.

And now it all comes out.

"SHUT UP! I won't listen to your lies any longer! I had to listen to your rationales for YEARS when I helped you in that freak lab where they grew those eternal monsters you misguidedly call your children. You don't think I knew about all the messed up shit you allowed to happen within your own kind? Theo knew it and I know and I can't stay silent anymore! You Eternals have twisted this order into your own caste system! The Empire may be dead, but its obvious its creations are still around to carry out its will!" Yvette turns to the crowd around and makes the rest of her point. "A true shadow is human and all are equal in the eyes of Dendrin, but these Eternals can't see that, so they always seek to be tyrants no matter how benevolent! We must not let this go on! We must appeal to Dendrin's sense of justice and change the way things are!"

Yvette has gone beyond the usual disagreements now and is basically declaring open rebellion you can't help but notice the pattern. Also makes you realize that Theo most likely isn't dead, but rather attempting to get reinforcements in Quala to bring back to attack you. Didn't see that one either, but even at this point it isn't too late to curb the damage. It's not going to be easy though.

In the meantime you'll have to do damage control right here at home. You just hope that it doesn't involve killing your entire human population.

You don't bother arguing with Yvette, instead you just perform the same spell that Master Ebon once did to stop Brother Shade from killing him. Her ranting turns into groans of pain as she clutches her head. She begins bleeding from the ears and gasps.

"You…will…not…w…win…" she manages to utter before her brain explodes inside her head. Yvette's body lies motionless on the floor and you address the crowd.

"I'm going to make this quick. I am Shadow Master, the chosen one of Dendrin, for good or ill, you ALL will follow my orders. This is how it has always been for centuries. Now I'm giving a moment of leniency as of right now…anyone who has problems with that for whatever reason, should leave this temple now and never return. I cannot stop you from continuing to worship Dendrin, but you will no longer be a member of this order.

At this point a few shadows do indeed start to leave.

"Very well, for those that are leaving, you will have until dawn to gather your belongings and take whatever families you may have out of this temple. Any attempt to approach us in the future will result in death."

As the disgruntled shadows leave, you continue your speech.

"As for the rest of you, I expect NO disloyalty from any of you lest you suffer the same fate at Sister Yvette AND Brother Draven. Which brings me to you Cyrus, what am I supposed to do with you? While I do believe you didn't have anything to do with what Draven did, you basically covered for someone who disobeyed orders regardless of their intentions and then later attempted to assassinate me."
"I have no words Shadow Master…the last few moments have been…interesting. All I can do is put my life in your hands and hope Dendrin will find mercy on me."

Cyrus looks even more defeated than the last time you spared his life. Besides being a shadow, Draven was one of his main reasons for living. He'd probably consider it a mercy if you did kill him at this point. You do consider it, but ultimately you decide living is a more fitting punishment.

"Cyrus, you are also banished from this temple. You have until dawn to gather your belongings. Never return or the punishment will be death." You say.
"Very well. I shall obey your decision and I will take my leave now as I will have no use of anything where I'm going." He says. You almost ask him where he intends to go, but given his grim remark you can take a guess that he seek out death via combat.
Just as Cyrus gets up off the floor to leave, Talia speaks out.

"Cyrus! Don't you want to see Draven's body before you leave?"
"No. The man I loved is long gone; it's just an empty shell now. Dispose of it as such." He says and leaves.

And that's that. Draven dead, Yvette dead, Cyrus exiled and Theo is still hiding in Quala somewhere. It's just you and Talia now…just like you wanted, though perhaps not quite like this.

You spend the rest of the night with Talia talking about how to go about finding Theo and also tracking down any and all other shadows currently stationed out in Quala. You're going to have to determine just how many people he's turned against you and anyone "new" is going to be under the most suspicion. Even the people in this temple who stayed aren't completely out of clear, but you can easily perform a ritual that will allow you to root out any potential traitors still in hiding here.

About the only ones you can trust completely are…well the eternal members.

After the last of the disgruntled shadows leaves the temple, you contact one of the Blades that Cyrus or rather Dravin sent to Nalin. Glen is his name. He probably wonders if he's in trouble, but you dispel those concerns immediately when you say that you know he was just following orders of a superior and meant no subterfuge.

"Shadow Master, how may I serve?" he asks.
"I want you to take some of the Blades and follow the exiled shadows for a while. See where they go and what they're doing. Now if you see any of them making contact with other shadows in Quala, I want you to find out all you can, then I want you to kill anyone and everyone there that is plotting against us."
"Yes Master, it will be done."
"Good. Oh and for this mission pick your ranks from other eternals. Let's just say that after all that has gone on today, some of our human members might be slightly uncomfortable about killing other human shadows even if they are exiles."
"Very well, but what if the exiles do not contact other potential traitors?"
"Continue to have them followed for a few more miles, then find a quiet spot to kill them as well. Can't have them potentially starting a new sect of Dendrin worship after all. We have to remain united if we're going to continue to survive this set back."
"Understood Master."

It is at this moment you appreciate having these new eternals with you now. Their dedication to you (and Dendrin) is so certain now that you could tell them to massacre the entire town of Sinkhole and they'd do it without any arguing. You never concerned yourself about it before but you're beginning to sympathize a bit with Talia on the fact that they can't breed, because you sure could use a few more of them.

Glen asks one more question before carrying out the order.

"Shadow Master, are we to follow the exile Cyrus as well?"
"No, he's probably long gone by now and despite his crime, he was still ultimately loyal. Don't bother."

You're fully aware that with these last couple of orders, you've probably just supported Yvette's argument. The irony is though; you weren't trying to create any sort of caste system initially, and it's only due to current events that you're having to resort to a bit more preferential treatment because you don't know who to trust right now. Eternals are naturally better warriors so you made them all part of the elite fighting group and let the less skilled human shadows tend to their families. Theo, Yvette and Dravin were all human and made up half the council, they all had a voice that could be heard. Yes, it's true that an Eternal is in charge, but that's hardly your fault when at nearly every turn you've been the one to rescue the shadows from destruction whether it's from external or internal forces.

"And Dendrin chose me to lead, so it must be right." you laugh to yourself, though you imagine Dendrin's probably having the biggest laugh of all as usual.

[User] Continue

[Assistant]
Year 55

"Theo I know you're here I can sense your presence, you might as well come on out and take your punishment with some dignity." You say looking down the dimly lit stairway.

You can't believe after all these years; it's come down to you personally tracking Theo hiding in the cellar of a simple abandoned farmhouse. Several of the Blades stand behind you asking if they should go in and get him, but you decline. You can handle this yourself, in fact you'd rather do it yourself.

"Just stand guard, I'll be back soon." You say to Glen who nods and has the Blades guard the perimeter.

You walk down the stairs without any worry about your safety. Even if Theo does attack you, and you're fairly certain he isn't going to be in any condition to do, you'll easily be able to defend yourself.

The cellar isn't large and add the fact that there are several stacks of boxes and barrels here make the cellar seem even smaller than it is.

"Supplies. Supplies still here from the Empire rebellion. Never did get around to using them." Theo's voice says from the corner of the room. You see him in his torn and tattered robe and sitting against the wall. Between his missing hand and half burned face, he's a mess.

"Didn't get around to using them for this one either." You say.
"Honestly, I'd forgotten about this place until recently. Had so many old safehouses, I was bound to forget some of them. Don't know why I forgot about this one though…it's rather peaceful. Serene even. I guess its remoteness helps. Yeah, this would've been a good place to settle down…maybe another life. Right?"
"I don't think Dendrin does reincarnation. Least of all for traitors."
"Yeah, I suppose so I guess. Good thing I stopped believing in him years ago." Theo laughs weakly.

"You know, if you stopped believing in him, you could've just left rather than cause a whole lot of unnecessary fighting. It's not like I would've stopped you."
"And tell me Eternal, would you leave if your own wife still believed in Dendrin?" Theo asks accusingly. You don't know if he's just asking hypothetically or if he is actually implying something.
"No, I suppose I wouldn't."
"Of course not. Besides…I did still believe up until I found out you killed her. From that point I knew that Dendrin truly didn't support my cause, so why bother worshipping a god that doesn't? Of course had to still keep up the charade since I had managed to hold sway over some of the new converts in Quala."
"And that's when you decided to just kill Sam, declare yourself in charge of his forces and repeatedly tried to invade the temple?"
"Well seemed like a good idea at the time. Honestly if that bastard Ackerson had just allied with me, I believe I would've had a good chance at winning. Didn't expect him to make a separate peace with you though."
"The fool has still got his sights set on Rask and doesn't want to expend any military effort that isn't focused on that endeavor. You might've done better trying to get help from Brenda in Nalin, heard she's not too fond of shadows having caused the death of her husband and all."
"Believe me I tried, she sent my messengers back without heads and a note saying she wasn't helping even if I wasn't really a shadow anymore and as far as she was concerned she hoped that we all killed one another."
"Well thanks to you, this was certainly another set back for the shadows. Sort of makes the whole original rebellion rather pointless."
"No…not for me. I think those were the happiest days of my life. I had a purpose, my enemy was clear and I knew I would win because Dendrin was on my side. Then I won, and that's when it all started to slowly fall apart."
"Hah. I can certainly understand where you're coming from on that perspective. Part of your behavior in all this probably stemmed from being a rebel for so long that you never knew quite how to adjust and when the opportunity presented itself, you immersed yourself in the role again because it was comfortable. Really, any of your other reasons were all secondary and just an excuse."

Theo doesn't answer he just looks down and nods a few times in a rocking motion as he clutches where his left hand used to be. Eventually he staggers upward sliding his back against the wall in an effort to stand up. You're guessing he's ready to die now.

"Just one question Eternal, does Dendrin really speak to you?"
"When he feels like it, but if it makes you feel any better he hasn't cared about the shadows for a very long time and the only reason why he takes an interest in them at all is due to me."
"…well I guess I was doomed from the very beginning then."
"So was I Theo…so was I." you say and hit Theo with a powerful shadowfire bolt which burns directly through his chest leaving a big hole and a black mark against the wall. Theo slumps down and the leader of the "new rebellion" is dead.

The damage he's caused isn't so readily repairable. In addition to losing many shadows he's also created a separate faction of them (Something you were trying to avoid), which are still located in pockets across Quala. The beliefs are basically the same (and without the indoctrination ritual obviously), with the exception that YOU or any other non-pure human for that matter shouldn't be a shadow, let alone in charge of the order.

Your first thought is that you should probably hunt them all down and wipe them out before they become a problem, but then again this little conflict has been taking a toll on the shadows you have left. Some of the children don't even have mothers and fathers anymore. It might be time to pack up the gear and attempt to rebuild again.

As you think on this, you make your way up the stairs and wince at a couple of the aches in your joints in doing so. You might be an Eternal, but you sure as hell aren't starting to feel like one in the past few years as old age is becoming a little more apparent to you. Makes you sort of glad that you don't have to rely solely on regular combat anymore thanks to your increased magic abilities gifted to you by your "dedication" to Dendrin no doubt.

In any case you're tired and you tell Glen that Theo is dead, but you're going to stay here for the night before heading home again. Glen as usual nods and says he'll keep everyone on watch.

You find an old bed that probably has been slept in years, but it doesn't look infested with bed bugs so you use it. Doesn't take long for you to slowly drift off to sleep, but you get the impression that you're not going to get a peaceful rest.

"So another enemy falls before you, keep this up and you'll outlive everyone." Dendrin remarks.
"Figured you'd show up eventually. Any words of advice on what to do next?" you ask.
"Not really, you seem to have it under control. So…still bored?"
"No, but I hate set backs."
"Come now you should be used to such things by now."
"I am, but that doesn't mean I have to like them. Especially when I feel like packing it all in because there's little point in going on."
"So you don't intend on destroying the heretic shadows?"
"I almost don't intend on going back to the temple. I feel like just leaving altogether."
"You've said that before, many times. You won't though."
"Of course I won't, but I feel like no matter what I do something severely sets back the shadows. Against all odds I've taken it upon myself to be their leader and protect them better than you ever do and I'm still lying about being a true believer."
"Oh you're a believer, a cynical one, but you're a believer. If you weren't you would've left a long time ago because it's a little bit more than just Talia keeping you here."
"I don't see what else there is, because it sure isn't to bask in the glory of your voice."
"It's power pure and simple. It's being in charge. It's telling others what to do and ruling them like a king or emperor if you prefer."
"I might agree with you if I actually thought I was in charge of anything so grand. Besides, it's really you they're all worshipping not me."
"And is that what your problem is? That you're doing all the work and not getting any of the perks? And here I thought all that nice magical power I've been granting to you was a fine way of rewarding you."
"Well it hasn't hurt. You're right though, I don't mind being in charge and I do thrive on a bit of conflict, but sometimes it just gets a bit tiring that's all."
"Ah, and now you see why I stopped directly leading the shadows altogether!"
"Yeah, well I don't have that luxury unless you can elevate me to godhood."
"Ha ha, even if I could, obviously I wouldn't want the competition."
"Too bad, maybe if you could you wouldn't suffer from boredom either."
"Hmm, interesting insight as always Eternal. Well, I'll let you get back to it. Oh and just in case you did want my advice, I'd rather you not destroy the so-called heretic shadows. They might not be following you, but they do still worship me."

And once again you wake up, with more dubious advice from your "god." You sometimes wonder whenever he does give you any of his wisdom if he wants you to do the exact opposite of what he says, because you practically do every time.

In any case, you can't dwell on the nature of the divine at this moment. You're still left with the decision about how to fix the mess you have to clean up.

[User] You go back to the temple and focus on rebuilding

[Assistant]
What few heretical shadows still remain isn't many and they don't exactly have any type of leadership anymore. Hunting them all down seems like a waste of your time and possibly manpower, especially since Quala is more hostile and destabilized than ever now. Chances are the heretics will eventually resort to the typical banditry that goes on here and they'll get wiped out by one of the warlord factions. Even if they manage to join up with any of the factions, they'll likely abandon their newfound religion in the process.

Rebuilding what you have left seems like a better idea at this point, so you send a message out to all your people to leave this war torn land and head back to Delerg.

When you arrive in Delerg, your temple seems so much emptier now. Well certainly empty of more adults. You don't have many Blades left either anymore, only about a dozen from what remains of the original amount you had. Not counting all the ones that never made it out of their tanks or failed Talia's training when she was trying to bring them into the fold of course.

Orphaned children that are fairly young have so far been taken care of in more communal way as needed, though you ask if Talia wants to take charge of all them in the same way she did the eternals and eventually train them to be Blades. She declines though and says the children should probably start being assigned to a more permanent family arrangement starting with volunteers first.

You're confident that the numbers will build back up since there are always people in Delerg that are drawn to join the order. Assuming you have no further major conflict, things should go back to their previous "boring" ways of simple temple routine in no time. This time though you're looking forward to a bit of boredom. This last major clash has somewhat made you realize that maybe you should be taking it easier in your later years. Not that you're ready for the grave, but you just aren't young like you used to be and you can't single handedly fight entire wars for the shadows anymore even with your increased magical powers. It's a strain and you've got so much on your plate in general.

Maybe Dendrin knew this too and that's why he suggested that you not hunt down the heretics in that cryptic way that he tends to do. You think back to how you said to him that you couldn't afford to not be directly involved and relax in the way that he does, and while that is true, there really isn't any reason why you couldn't start following his lead just a little. It also makes you start to wonder if he's been right about a few things.

Weeks and months pass as you go through the motions of temple routine, though it's been a little different for you somehow. Like you've actually started to attempt to find a deeper reason behind the words of all the texts you read from. You don't know if it's because you're trying to embrace this new moment of peace within the shadows (as opposed to the fidgeting boredom you usually suffer from) or if it's because you're becoming genuinely interested in the stuff.

Are you finally becoming a "believer?"

Dendrin claims you already are and it seems impossible, but you have noticed yourself having slightly more civilized conversations with Dendrin as the years have gone on, even agreeing with him at times. You remember practically ranting at him when you were young, in retrospect it's amazing that he didn't kill you given his power. He pretty much put up with you and he didn't have to. He hasn't helped you in probably the most direct way most of the time, but really would you have wanted him to? Your insistence on always forging your own way was always paramount to you and he probably saw that and acted accordingly by letting you make your own choices.

You've only really prayed genuinely once to Dendrin and that was back when you wanted help with getting the new eternals under control. Even then it was a last ditch reason and you did it more out of selfish desperation rather than any genuine belief. You begin to wonder if it couldn't hurt to just sincerely pray to him once in a while. Not in the hopes of getting anything out of him, but just…well to show a little bit of gratitude.

It is probably due to your new found attempt at piety that attracts more people to the temple and restores some of the hope that the shadows will overcome this set back like they have so many before in the past.

Year 60

"One of the heretics was caught near the temple. He claims that another group stand at the border of Delerg. We confirmed this and most of them haggard and tired looking. This speaker claims that he wishes to speak with you about making peace and an urgent matter." Brother Gannon says.
"Hmm, have to say I didn't think they'd last as long as they did. They didn't mention what this so called urgent matter was about?" you reply.
"No, just that it was of great importance to anyone who reveres Dendrin."
"Probably a trick of some sort, you should just have all of them killed." Glen remarks.
"Yes, that would be the safe bet, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to listen seeing as I'm not particularly worried about them. Drag him in, but keep a tight hold on him."
"Very well Shadow Master." Glen says.

The heretic is brought in and he certainly is a miserable looking wretch. It isn't due to any roughing up by your own shadows either, as he was confirmed to be in the same state as the rest of his fellows waiting for him. He's very nervous and looking around as much as he can while two of the Blades grasp his arms and several other shadows look on at the proceedings.

"Well? We don't have all day. Out with it heretic scum!" Talia demands before you can say anything.

"Oh! Right…uh…Shadow Master I beg you in Dendrin's name to call off your assassins! We have seen that Theo's teachings were the improper doctrine! We submit to your rule as the rightful chosen one of Dendrin himself and ask for mercy by allowing us to merge with the true and only temple dedicated to him!" the heretic whines. You certainly weren't expecting this, and you're also wondering about these assassins.

"Assassins? We haven't sent anyone to seek out your destruction. If that were the case we would've done it years ago."
"You…haven't? But that seems impossible."
"Why? It isn't like shadows are well accepted anywhere else except Delerg as you surely know. What makes you think it isn't General Ackerson or any of the many other warlords in the area?"
"No, he is too busy fighting Mog, Son of Flog's orc and ogre horde in Rask. Rumors are he's sick as well and his underlings are already squabbling over who is going to take power when he's gone. As for other warlords, they aren't a threat to us, at least not in any meaningful way, and most of them are too direct and unsophisticated to engage in the terror tactics that your assassins have. Your assassins tell us that they are the hand of justice in Dendrin's name."
"As I said we have sent no assassins. I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but I'm not falling for it."
"No please wait! Maybe you didn't send the assassins, but if that's true then this is more alarming news! Because they're using shadow magic to accomplish their tasks! If it isn't you or anyone in your order as you say, who are they? And will they attack you as well?"

This does give you a bit of pause though it's hard to tell with someone that's supposed to be your enemy. He does look quite sincere in his words and his fear.

If it wasn't any of your people, then who would it be? It's quite possible that it's just another rogue group that split off from the original heretics and formed yet a third faction of shadows. Of course if that was the case, they should know about it instead of jumping to the conclusion that it is you.

Of course this could all still be just an elaborate trick. Perhaps an attempt to make you suspicious of people in your own group carrying out tasks that you didn't order. There's also the other urgent matter that they said they had to tell you, which you question the heretic on.

"So what is this other urgent matter you had to tell us?" you ask.
"Oh, yes that, well there are rumors that Warden Matron Brenda of Nalin is planning on invading Delerg."
"What? I know she hates the shadows, but reports have always established that she has never set sights on anything north of the Nalin province. She doesn't even have an established presence in Quala." Talia remarks.
"Well, I didn't say she planned on holding the territory, just that she was planning on invading it. I don't know. It is what we have heard in our travels to get here."
"Could be Brenda that's sending the assassins then and using something similar to shadow magic that these blasphemous fools are taking as the real thing. Maybe we should prepare ourselves, after killing these heretics of course." Glen remarks.

"But we're sincere! I'M sincere! How…how about we prove ourselves by being judged directly by Dendrin himself? You could perform the initiation ritual to open the portal to his realm. If he accepts our forgiveness then surely that would be proof that our hearts and souls are truthful, right? If he doesn't then we won't survive the process anyway." The heretic exclaims.
"Well, that would be one way of ensuring their dedication I suppose." Talia says to you.

[User] You perform the initiation ritual

[Assistant]
"Very well, you and what remains of your people may come back to the true temple of Dendrin if he sees fit to forgive you for your transgressions. Glen, get the rest of this miserable lot back here and I'll prepare the ritual."
"It will be done." Glen says and gathers some of the Blades to help him.

"As for you, what is your name?" you ask the heretic.
"Remi, Shadow Master."
"Remi, you're going to be held outside, I don't want your heretic ass befouling the temple until it's time to throw you into the portal."

The two Blades holding him take him away and you head off to go get yourself prepared.

"So what do you think about the potential invasion business?" Talia asks.
"I'm going to deal with this first and worry about that afterwards, but I don't think there's anything to it. Just rumors."
"I agree. I'm surprised that you're giving the heretics a second chance though."
"I'm not. Dendrin is. Well maybe he is, for all I know he'll still see them as potential troublemakers and do away with them. I'm wondering who is killing them though, because while I don't think its Brenda behind this, I'm not convinced that we're necessarily safe. For all we know after they're done targeting these heretics they could be coming after us."
"Wait, so do you think it was good idea to allow them to join?"
"As I said I'm putting this in Dendrin's hands. Whoever has been targeting the heretics will most likely show themselves to us a lot sooner. Besides I'd rather they did, since they're also performing acts that weren't sanctioned by this temple or masquerading as shadows."

As you gather up the components needed to perform the ritual from your room, you hear a lot of noise coming from the ground floor. An alarm has been raised. It would seem that the assassins have decided to show themselves right now. You quickly run up stairs and find mass chaos and

"We're being attacked! I was standing outside watching the Blades guards the heretic and then all of a sudden five shadows materialized right beside the three of them and killed them! I didn't even sense them! None of us did!" Gannon remarks.
"I was inside, but he's right I didn't sense anyone cloaked. You have the best abilities in such matter, did you sense an intruding presence of any kind?" Talia says.
"No…but how many did you say there were?" you ask.
"At least five! Maybe more!" Gannon answers.
"Odd, I'm only sensing one hostile presence in the area. Where are the rest of the Blades?"
"Most of them are still out with the heretics, I've had the temple doors locked tight so whoever they are can't get in, but we're going to have to fight this one out. We'll all go out there together in a show of force and…"

You raise your hand up and shake your head.

"No Talia, I don't think that'll be necessary. I know who the attacker is." You say and head towards the main temple doors.
"Wait where are you going?"
"I'm facing the attacker myself. They deserve that much."
"Wait! You can't go out there alone! We don't know how many there are and…"
"As I have said. There is only one, they're just really quick and probably using some sort of mirror image. Trust me. Better yet, trust in Dendrin." You tell Talia with a smile.

Talia says nothing else; her mouth opens to do so, but realizes that you won't be swayed by anything. Instead she just looks a bit upset.

"Talia, whatever happens, know that I love you." you say before exiting the temple and closing the temple doors again.

You walk down the steps and on to the soft ground and look around at your surroundings. To the left you see the bloody bodies of your two Blades and Remi. One clean cut to each of their throats.

"Cyrus, you might as well come out. I know its you." you say.

Within a few moments a figure materializes in front of you and it is ideed Cyrus. He's much older looking now of course, but it's him. He's also much paler, unnaturally so. You notice his right hand is also sporting a couple missing fingers. Whatever he's been up to has taken a toll on his body.

"Remember the days when you couldn't cast a simple cloak spell without tiring yourself out." Cyrus asks. "Now look at you with your superior extra sensory abilities. You even knew who it was."
"Well, given the heretic's story and the fact that I could only sense a single attacker, I sort of figured it would be you. Why have you come back Cyrus?"
"It was not my intention I assure you. I merely wanted to punish the rest of the heretics. I had thought that their plan to come here was going to finish the job for me, but I was surprised to learn that you have decided to show them mercy. When did this happen? When did the great Shadow Master become so lenient against those that have defied him?"
"It was decided that the heretics are going to be judged by Dendrin himself. If he sees them as a threat or unforgivable then they will presumably die for their crimes. If not then they will be accepted back. I see no leniency."
"Oh no? That was more of a choice than I got."
"Well perhaps you are right…perhaps you should also get a chance to come back. Did you want…"
"What I want is for YOU to hand over the rest of the heretics or kill them yourself! They are traitors and deserve to die!"
"Cyrus, you've dispensed enough of your brand of justice on them. So much so that they've run to back to us pleading for help and willing to submit to Dendrin's judgment, is that not justice?"
"They need to die! THAT is Dendrin's justice! Justice that wasn't being pursued until I took matters into my own hands. You know. I accepted a lot. I accepted the fact that you were a better warrior than me. I accepted that you were the chosen one of Dendrin. I even accepted it when you killed my Dravin. I accepted exile and a life of wandering. But never once did I think you weren't up to the task of being a good Shadow Master, until you failed to finish off the heretics. And now, you're accepting them back into the fold? This is a bigger blasphemy than what Brother Theo pulled! If you continue to protect them I will see to it that you suffer the same punishment!"
"So now you know better then Dendrin?"

Cyrus is exasperated by your remark and takes a moment to form his new arguments inbetween his huffing and puffing.

"Do not twist my words! And you stand there as if YOU know Dendrin? Hah! You don't even fucking believe in him! Yes, I know you. I know that you're just playing a role that you don't even believe yourself! Even back when we were just fresh out of training I always sensed that your heart and soul was never truly dedicated to the cause! Your whole life has been a fraud!"

Your calm demeanor begins to crack at this remark.

"Not dedicated? After all the countless battles I've engaged in personally and the leadership roles I've taken to keep the shadows alive and you question my dedication? Cyrus, I'm not going to deny that you are right in that I wasn't always the strongest of faith. I'll stand here and shout it in front of the fucking temple and throughout this forsaken swamp that I was practically a heathen most of the time. But people change. I changed. Perhaps I have been a fraud for most of my life, but are you just so damn jealous and bitter that it wasn't you?"

Cyrus gets in your face, but you make no defensive move. You don't even flinch. Though several of the shadows and Talia are watching from the temple. You sense they want to move in, but you wave them back without looking in their direction.

"YES! YES I AM SO DAMN JEALOUS! WHY WAS IT YOU?! WHY WASN'T IT ME!? I WAS THE LOYAL ONE! I WAS THE ONE WHO ALWAYS BELIEVED! I (Sob) WAS THE…(Sob) Why, why, why didn't he ever speak to me again?" Cyrus crumples down to the ground and breaks down in tears. You crouch beside him.

"Cyrus, I don't have an answer. Dendrin does what he wants because he's more powerful than the rest of us. That's the cynical answer and that's the answer I've believed for years. I probably still do a little bit, but in recent years I've come to the conclusion that maybe there is a plan of some sort even if I don't understand all of it. If there wasn't Dendrin wouldn't have chosen me at all and guided me in the unique way that he does right from the start. Cyrus, you can come back to us too. It isn't too late. You don't even need to submit to the ritual, I know that you're more dedicated to Dendrin's true teachings than anyone."

You smile and extend your hand to help Cyrus up. He wipes his face and looks at you for a moment. He attempts to smile back, but it turns into a pained expression.

"Sorry Shadow Master, but I can't play second fiddle anymore. At least I'll be remembered for this!" he says grabbing your hand to pull you forward and with lightning speed he plunges a dagger into your heart.

The last thing you hear as your body collapses to the ground are several screams followed by a lot of yelling. Then everything goes black and you feel numb.

"Am I dead?" you ask floating in the void.
"Well it's not good." You hear Dendrin say.
"I don't imagine it is. I suppose you're going to say I should've listened from the beginning and that Cyrus was going to be trouble again."
"No, it worked out better this way."
"What, you wanted him to kill me and take over?"
"Not at all, in fact Cyrus didn't live long enough to enjoy killing you. He was riddled with bolts by the Blades who were just returning when this happened. Though I think he could've easily avoided the attack and he actually let them kill him…just like you allow him to kill you. Why? Were you finally tired of life?"
"No…I just…I dunno I was really attempting to get through to him. I knew it would probably fail, but I had to try. When his eyes gave away his intentions, I knew that he wouldn't be happy unless he killed me. He was either going to succeed or fail, but I decided to put it in your hands. Seems hard to believe that I'd do anything like this."
"Well as you said in your speech to Cyrus, you changed. Unfortunately Cyrus never did, though I say unfortunately for him. You'll be fine. Off you go and thanks for believing in me."

With those last words from Dendrin you suddenly wake up exactly where you fell. You find yourself surrounded by shadows and Talia weeping over your body, though she stops when you appear to be alive again.

"He's alive!" Glen shouts and tells some of the others to back off.
"Look! His chest wound is gone as well! Truly this must be Dendrin's work, to bring our Shadow Master back from the dead like this!"

While several of the other shadows begin to cheer, fawn and act generally awe stricken, Talia merely holds you tightly happy that you're still alive. As you hug her back, you're glad to be alive as well.

[User] Continue

[Assistant]
Year 75

"Seems hard to believe that we haven't had any major conflict in over a decade." Talia says.
"What is harder to believe is that I stopped missing it. But I imagine the major powers are too busy fighting over the Quala region to worry about us as usual. I mean you've got the Empire of Nalin, Drog Son of Mog's Horde and even the Felkan Kingdom all annexing portions of it."
"Who do you think will win it?"
"The Nalin Empire will probably take most of it. Their new ruler Tarna is very ambitious as she started laying groundwork to invade Quala soon after Brenda's suicide…which was pretty suspicious anyway. I'm sure Drog is ambitious too, but predictably his son Og will soon challenge him for leadership and they'll resort to infighting as usual. As for the Felkan Kingdom, I believe the only reason why they started eating up land from Arat to Quala is to initially stop the on going anarchy that was starting to cross over into their borders. I think when they finally reach borders with Nalin, the expansion for them will halt and then it'll be a long stand off…history repeats itself again."
"You sound a bit concerned."
"Well, I'm fairly confident that we won't be attacked anytime soon, but as I said, history repeats itself and you're always going to get that one leader that's determined to prove themselves no matter how foolish the odds."
"Even against a chosen one of a god?" Talia chuckles.
"Especially against a chosen one of a god, even if only to claim they defied the divine."
"Is that what you would've done?"
"Of course." You laugh. "But as I said, I do not believe an attack will come in our time. It's going to come after us, I don't know how long, but the shadows are going to have to be prepared."
"Dendrin, will look over them as he always has."
"I sure hope so, because I can't do it forever. I may be an Eternal, but I'm not eternal. I've been studying some of our members as a potential successor, but I'm still not sure if any of them are up to the task."
"You have? I didn't know."
"Well unless Dendrin tells me himself who he wants as his chosen, it's sort of up to me and nobody has told me they've been speaking to him on a regular basis either."
"Actually you never told anyone either until years later."
"Yeah, but that was a little different…besides I'm also pondering a more permanent solution to our potential safety issues."
"Oh? What's that?"
"The Ritual of Ascension"

Talia is a little taken back by your statement. The Ritual of Ascension was supposedly passed down from Dendrin himself to the first Shadow Master, telling him that it was only to be used if he felt the shadows were ready for it.

The results are not entirely clear on what it does, but what Dendrin explained is that it would unify the shadows to his own realm forever. Not just in a spiritual sense, but in a very real physical sense. The shadows essentially would become REAL shadows. Incorporeal and no longer susceptible to the weaknesses that most beings suffer. At least that's what you think happens.

Obviously no Shadow Master ever felt this way for any reason. Even during the time under the Empire, it was never seriously considered as a solution to the problem, which gives an indication to how this ritual is viewed with more awe and fear than anything else.

Still, the procedures of the ritual do exist and they have been written down. Dendrin passed them to the shadows obviously believing that one day it would be used so you don't see why you shouldn't consider it as an option.

In the meantime Talia has gotten over her surprise.

"Well, if you believe that we are worthy and ready, then I will certainly follow you in performing this ritual. I believe everyone will, there is no question about that. You have lead the shadows through some of the toughest conflicts in our long history. You've even returned from death itself because Dendrin believed your work here was not done. Perhaps this is why."
"Heh, I never thought about that before. Still, perhaps I should consult Dendrin about this before making a final decision." You say.
"Of course. Obtaining his guidance in this very important matter would be essential."

Later that night you pray to Dendrin and go to sleep fully expecting him to see him soon…

But nothing happens.

You do this night after night until four months go by, and still you get no sign. Dendrin not speaking to you for month or even years on end is nothing new to you, but in every instance where you've directly requested his guidance he has always appeared. Not this time.

You start to wonder if him not appearing is a sign that maybe you shouldn't go through with this ritual. Of course maybe this is one of those decisions that's so important that you need to make it for yourself. Are you ready? Do you consider the rest of the shadows ready?

You know everyone now is a loyal worshipper of Dendrin and have an equal amount of faith in you as well. You really don't see how they could be any more ready than they are now. They won't fear the unknown no matter what it is, as long as they trust in Dendrin. Becoming one with Dendrin seems like it would be ideal to most in the order, though perhaps you have a few reservations about it for a few reasons, but then maybe that's why the ritual has never seriously been considered in the past by other Shadow Masters.

Maybe it hasn't been just you. Maybe they all had their doubts about Dendrin's plan. Maybe it's just a natural thing when it comes to being "a leader."

You don't fear death. You've always accepted it from the first time Mistress put the boot to your chest and demanded that you beg for your life to the time when you stood your ground against Cyrus without fighting back. You always believed you were going to die (well permanently anyway) either in combat or through some sort of violence, but it's starting to look like you'll end up dying as an old man in your sleep. Nothing wrong with that.

Your concern is what exactly happens to you after you perform this ritual? Are you dead? Are you alive? Are you something else? Will you still be on this world? There are so many questions and one of them is will you be better off in this form, or is death better?

You already assume that when you die, you'll be in Dendrin's realm. That being your understanding of how death in the service of a god works. What makes this different? Would you just be speeding up the process in some sort of mass suicide?

The fact is, you won't know unless you go through with it.

[User] You perform the ritual

[Assistant]
There were a lot of things you didn't have full knowledge on and you risked going through with your ideas anyway. Seems to have worked so far, and since you've never been one to play it too safe, you'll go through with the Ascension Ritual.

After another couple days of being completely sure of your dedication, you make the announcement to everyone. Many of the shadows immediately cheer at the news, others aren't entirely sure what you're talking about which isn't surprising since the Ascension Ritual isn't common knowledge to the newer shadows. Still when you explain it, they all seem excited about the plan. The ritual takes a bit of planning on your part, but eventually you've got everything in place.

When the time comes you stand outside the temple in front of the several hundred shadows with their heads down in prayer. From the ones nearly as old as you to the ones that are barely out of the crib, all shadows are lending their own energy and faith to your own in the effort of pulling off this historical moment.

Talia stands by your side as always. You look at her and wonder if you would've even come this far if you hadn't fallen in love with her. Of course maybe that was part of Dendrin's plan too.

"Dendrin, we are your shadows! We have served your will for centuries no matter what the struggles. From before the Empire and through it, and after it's inevitable demise. We will always be your faithful servants in the years to come. These forms however are limited and we would wish to continue serving you in a less restrictive one. We feel we are ready. I feel we are ready. This is the destiny of the shadows! We will become one with you forever at last!" you say and then begin the incantations.

Most of your people recite what you say in unison while others stand at the far ends and chant supporting verses, which are essential to the ritual. Talia is also chanting yet another portion of it while making gestures with her hands to begin the first part of opening up the portal to Dendrin's realm. This part is is almost like the initiation ritual, but of course much more complex and involved.

A large portal opens up above all of you and darkness spreads across the sky, even beyond your own area. There is no wind or lightning or anything that most would connect with such a grand attempt altering reality. Instead, it remains true to Dendrin, and it just gets very dark and you start to feel a tingling numbness.

You begin to see some of the shadows fall to the ground. You don't know if they've died or just fainted. None of them are deterred though; they all continue to perform their parts for as long as they are able. This is like one of your personal encounters with Dendrin when you've slept, but instead everyone is experiencing it in the real world. You begin to feel all five of your senses becoming non-existent and the numbness is close to complete at this point.

Eventually you can't even see most of the shadows in front of you and you can hardly hear them anymore. Still you know you're on the right path, the blackness is engulfing everything. You briefly look over at Talia who is barely visible now. She continues to chant like a true believer that she's always been.

A few minutes pass and you soon can't hear anything except your own voice now and even that is very faint, though you can't be sure it's due to losing your hearing or your voice. Probably both. You look over one more time at Talia who you see start to teeter from exhaustion. You see her look over at you as well before you lose sight of her completely to the blackness.

You continue to silently chant while your mind fights the fatigue you're experiencing. It feels like you've been doing this forever, but you have to finish. You wonder what's happening to everyone else. You wonder if they're still alive. You wonder if Talia is still alive.

"Eternal, do you know what you do?" you hear inside your head. It's Dendrin, he's made his presence known at last. You can't talk to him though, you need to focus.

"Eternal, once you complete this ritual there will be no going back. Things will never be the same and I do not believe the results will be what you envisioned."

He's testing you. He is always testing you. Of course the results won't be what you envisioned! For one thing you went into this not knowing what was going to happen exactly. Second of all when it comes to Dendrin you know that nothing ever happens the exact way it should. That doesn't matter though, because things always work out in the end.

"Eternal, are you sure this is what you want?"

Of course it is. You want the shadows to be free of anymore harm. You've been their shepherd for over decades now. They would've ultimately been destroyed without you. When you're gone the shadows will fall prey to something else, whether it be from external forces or internal ones. Dendrin still cares very little for them despite his fondness for you. Dendrin knows this as well, that's why he had the plan to make YOU care.

You see that now. You see it all so clearly no.

By directly uniting the shadows with Dendrin, the problems of the past will no longer apply. The shadows will be an extension of Dendrin himself and he'll have no choice but to care.

You begin the finishing lines of the ritual.

"Very well, I can see you have made your decision…an interesting one and you'll get your wish. Farewell Eternal, I shall always remember you as you were and your deeds, even if nobody else will."

With those last words you succumb to absolute numbness. Your mind however is being bombarded with the voices of hundreds of voices. Many of them confused and scared, you can't help but feel similar, you don't know where you are. Are you still at the temple? Are you dead? Are you in Dendrin's realm?

Your mind calls out to the rest of the voices to cease, but it's of little help. You keep trying until you hear one familiar voice in the crowd.

"You've done it my love. We have joined with Dendrin! Join with the rest of us!"
"Talia? Where are you?"
"Am I everywhere! We are everywhere! Do you not sense it?"
"I can't sense anything. All I hear is the noise of voices."
"Ignore them, eventually all of them will be silenced and it will soon just be one voice. I was singled out by Dendrin to help guide you though."
"I don't understand, are we dead? Where are we?"
"You will understand everything when you let go. You once told me to trust you, now I'm asking you to trust me…better yet trust in Dendrin."

Talia was your link to the shadows for the longest time and now she's your link one last time. You let go and eventually the voices become quieter and quieter and then silent.

Then nothingness…

In the days following the Shadow Rift of Delerg, several of the super powers fighting over the Quala region actually stopped fighting for a moment out fear that something much worse potentially threatened them all. A united group of explorers eventually traveled into the shadow covered Delerg province to see what was going on.

They returned unscathed, but said the swamps were now completely devoid of life. The largest settlement Sinkhole was now a ghost town and the Shadow Temple was completely gone. As if it had never existed. Nobody knew what to make of this so for awhile there was an uneasy peace.

ed and eventually the same lusts for power started cropping up again and eventually it was business as usual. Delerg was still off limits to most people, but not considered particularly dangerous. Every once in awhile a group of adventurers would explore it, in some attempt to find hidden treasures of the mysterious shadow order, but these always ended in failure.

Within a century the shadows that once blanketed Delerg began to disappear and once again life started to flourish there. People even started moving there to live again and as with all things, another government eventually placed its flag in the area declaring the land as its own.

As for the shadows, they lived on as a memory and in time that memory faded into legend and then forgotten completely.

Except by one being, who had long moved on from this world to seek out a new one to with which to entertain itself.


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

[User] You challenge The Craxil To Take On Other Corporeal Forms, Then Infect Her With The Poison

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

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

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

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

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

As she's talking, she starts by taking the corporeal form of Brandolf the Bray and you seize upon the opportunity.  As rapidly as you can you grab a poison coated arrow, notch it in your bow, drawback the drawstring, aim, and release.  The poison arrow lands in her forearm and she promptly removes it and tosses it aside.  You fear she was unaffected by this arrow and she begins to laugh.

"It seems I misjudged you, you haven't surrendered at all have you?  Attacking me in my corporeal state... that does sound like you.  But I have the ability to reform my corporeal state just as easily as I formed it in the first place.  This is a simple matter of..."

She stops midsentence as if she somehow came to the realization of what you've done.

"That arrow..."

"The same stuff you gave me on day 1.  It looks like I managed to complete this quest after all"

The Craxil bursts with laughter as if somehow impressed with your creativity or perhaps the irony of the situation.  She doesn't stop laughing even when the nausea and vomitting come.  You can tell her power is waning because you sister suddenly regains control of her facilties and runs to your side.  The Craxil laments that the beastmen will no longer maintain unity after her death and expresses genuine concern about their well-being.  You aren't sure why, but you promise to try and convince the human leaders in Mihtana and Lima to recognize the importance and advantages of peace and even integration of beastmen into civilization.  She smiles and then the light that made up her corporeal being goes out.

[User] You continue The Story

[Assistant]
Unfortunately, this story takes a tragic end for your sister, who remains a carrier for the plague even after the Craxil's death.  You explain to her what the Craxil was and what it planned to do.  She backs away from you immediately as if not wanting to infect you.  In fact, it dawns on both of you that she will never again get to experience the physical touch of another person in any way ever again without killing them.  In a deep state of sadness, she decides to remain in the wilds as a hermit, embarking on a quest to find a cure for this condition.  You want to stop her but in all honesty, you cannot possibly think of anything better for her right now and bringing her to civilization would be a bad idea right now.  You wish you could hug her or comfort her somehow, but you both understand why you can't.  Instead, you wish her the best of luck and hope she one day finds what she's needs.  From this point on, there is not a single night that goes by for the rest of your life that you don't pray for her.

With the death of the Craxil, the doors that sealed behind you are no longer fixed.  The infighting amongst the now disunified beastmen makes it easy for you to get through unnoticed on your way back to the village.  Along the way you see grippli attacking goblins, kobolds fighting amongst themselves, and the orc patrols seem to have raided numerous humunculi settlements.  The large, unified force they once represented is now thinned out considerably, and although the journey is long and your rations are low, you eventually make it back to the village.

The villagers are shocked to hear that the Craxil is dead and you tell them all about it.  Some believe you are full of it and think the Craxil still lives.  Others admit they bet good money you would die.  You were right to assume they'd have redistributed your property under this very assumption and it takes some doing getting it all restored.  Unfortunately, they decided to slay your friends Oinky and Snout for ham while you were away and for the first time in your life you chose not to take it lying down anymore.  If this journey taught you anything, its that you are going to have to demand respect if you hope to get it.

However, this journey has taught you a lot more than that.  As promised, you travel to meet with leaders in both Mihtana and Lima so that you can try to convince them why peace between the humans and the beastfolk might actually be beneficial.  You explain how the Craxil was able to rally them together and organize them and how some of them demonstrated a higher level of intelligence than you originally thought them capable of (i.e. - the kobolds extensive mining techniques and the goblin's tinkering).  Unfortunately, despite your best efforts, the world is just not ready to view them as anything other than dangerous savages to be on guard against and you realize that this is how it is going to stay.

Eventually you return to your farm and begin shoveling out all the pig dung that had been piling up in your absence.  As you are working, a girl you took notice of at the local tavern looks over to you.  You smile with confidence and she smiles back and suddenly you think... this might not be so bad after all.

CONGRATULATIONS!

You've found real ending #2 of 2.


[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 defy the god with all your strength

[Assistant]
You aren't going to compromise your beliefs. Not even to a god.

"I will never serve you! My loyalty will always be to the Emperor!" you communicate with your mind. You feel absolutely drained even having this thought.

For a long time there is a silence and you're just floating in the void, with only a sense of impending doom ever growing within your head.

"So be it. I respect your dedication Eternal. May you serve your Emperor in whatever afterlife finds you, because you won't be doing it in this life." The voice whispers and then you feel the numbness that has invaded your body, now invading your mind.

It isn't painful. It isn't anything really. Your brain shuts down along with the rest of your body, which is then enveloped by the void. You completely cease to be and are explained to have died during the Shadow Guard ceremony to Mr. Mol when he asks for an update on your progress.


[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 treachery (Year 32)

[Assistant]
"We're going to have to clear out of here soon, the Empire is finally getting their ass in gear to retake this camp. Captain Roldan himself is supposed to be on his way and he's been pretty efficient in squashing shadow cells as of late." Talia remarks.
"Yeah I know. He's proven as hard to kill as ol' butcher Kane. Both have survived several assassination attempts. Heh, this war would've been a lot easier had they been put into the Shadow Guard too."
"Well, what are we going to do about him? Because while we can clear out the camp and collapse the rest, it doesn't stop the fact that Roldan is our biggest potential threat. He's proving to be the most competent Empire commander they have."
"Yeah I know…I'll have to think on it. So how many of the new eternals can we save?"
"Well there are still hundreds in those tanks and quite frankly I dunno if half of those are even functioning properly anymore. Some were empty to begin with too. I know we've open up at least a hundred or so of those tanks and some of the children had to be…dealt with immediately. I'd say we got around sixty or seventy that are still undergoing re-education. And of those? I'd say only about nine that have taken to it completely."

You exhale deeply; you knew it was going to be tough, but only nine? That really puts a crimp in your plans for a potential army of loyal eternal shadows on your side.

"Those tomes I gave you didn't help open a portal to Dendrin so you could do the indoctrination ceremony?"
"I couldn't find anything in them about it. The best thing I found was in one of the Empire mage's spellbooks. A mind control spell which has helped in the conditioning process. Not shadow magic, but whatever works right?"
"You'll get no argument from me. Might as well take those with you, what about derro equipment?"
"Mostly hand weapons that we don't need or machinery that we can't use. However there were schematics for stuff laying about. Mostly on those explosive weapons they were using during the troll fight. Sister Yvette has mostly been studying those since I believe it troubles her less than indoctrinating these new eternals. There's a lot of that explosive stuff unused too. We'll use that to destroy this complex."
"Maybe we could use it to set up a trap as well." You say forming a plan.
"How so exactly? I mean I sort of get where you're going with your thought process; when Roldan arrives we could blow up his army, but there's no guarantee we'd get all of them or even him and we'd have to stick around which would most likely be suicide as his army is reportedly the best around and we severely lack in numbers. Hell, I'm not even sure some of those kids we're educating wouldn't help the Empire."
"Except those nine right?"
"Well yes, except them. What are you suggesting?"

You explain to Talia that you all will evacuate this camp as planned, taking with you spellbooks, derro tech schematics and those children that are in the process of being re-educated. What's staying are the explosives and those nine children…

"Wait, wait, you seriously want these children to sacrifice their lives?"
"It's not like they're doing it for no reason. They'll be striking a blow against the Empire, and dying in the service of Dendrin. You told me they were loyal didn't you?"
"Well yes, but…"
"Well when the army comes through Roldan will have it searched from top to bottom. He'll probably even do a little wandering himself when everything appears to be in order. Then when he's got his guard down, these nine you've told me about will come from their hiding spots light the fuses in the strategically located areas. Just to make sure they accomplish their missions, they will also be carrying explosives on their person. They probably aren't expecting the new eternals are indoctrinated and some aren't going to expect finding so called helpless children at all. In fact maybe we should tell one to play up the victim role about the terrible shadows and when Roldan wants to hear their story…BOOM! He's no more."

While this seems like a solid plan to you, Talia once again is showing reservations about your ideas.

"But these children have worked so hard to devote themselves to Dendrin. The odds were so against them, yet their trust and faith helped them overcome their Empire brainwashing. It doesn't seem right for them to die when they have only just awakened. There are other shadows here. Adult ones who would also gladly sacrifice themselves, could we not use one of them instead?"
"Normally I'd say yes, but an adult shadow is of much more worth in case of a major battle in the near future. Now I'm aware these children are eternals, but they are still children. They are not even the same age that we were when were first exposed to the shadow way. I can't wait for them to grow and I can't use any of ones you're still in the process of educating because I can't risk any of them not following through with the plan. Talia, I know this is grim business and I know you may have even gotten attached to them…like any mother would. But there comes a time where even a mother has to let go, and really, you knew that something like this might be a possibility. Take comfort in the fact that their actions will save other shadows and their siblings."
"I know the reasons. I know the stakes, but I won't take comfort in it. And I can't be the one to send them to their deaths. You'll have to do it." Talia says and looks away from you, obviously trying to hide her eyes, which are tearing up.
"Very well. I suppose I owe them that much." You say and ask where they are.

When you go to the room where they're located, they are all in prayer to Dendrin. They don't even stop to notice you until they're finished. Well they're definitely loyal to Dendrin that's for sure.

They recognize you as a shadow and ask who you are. When you tell them your name, their eyes get wide and they suddenly start to get very excited.

"You're Mother Talia's husband!"
"You're the one who speaks to Dendrin!"
"You're the scourge of the Empire!"

Looks like Talia's been speaking about you in high regard to these children as well.

"Are you here to send us on a mission to kill Empire soldiers?" one of them asks.
"Oh yes. I am here to send you all on a mission. Possibly one of the most important in the war against the Empire. We haven't much time though and I will have to explain quickly, are you all ready to serve in Dendrin's name?"
"Yes! For Dendrin!" they all shout in unison.

While everyone else starts evacuating the camp, you start taking the children through the plan. Sister Yvette briefly shows you and the children where she's placing the explosives to collapse the underground complex. She also shows the children how to use the explosives. She's noticeably unnerved by the fact that these children are going to sacrifice themselves. She never agreed with saving the eternals to begin with, but apparently she has now grown a little more used to the children and isn't happy about seeing them going to their deaths.

You haven't been around these children long enough to get so attached to them, but you can understand it. Even within the short time you've spent with these nine you can appreciate their enthusiastic potential. It is sort of a shame since who knows what they would accomplish if they were to grow up, but there are still several dozen more that will be saved and hopefully they will eventually become just like these nine.

Towards the end of the evacuation, you wave good-bye to the nine and remind them of their duty and how Dendrin will accept them when their work is done. Talia also sticks around to say her farewells.

"Children, remember all that I have taught you and remember that Dendrin loves you…and that…(sniffle) I love you…(sniffle) and will always do so."
"We love you too Mother Talia." They all say in unison and go up to hug her.

After a couple seconds of this, Talia tells them good-bye and leaves with you. The pair of you travel behind the rest mostly in silence. No sooner have you traveled out of sight of the camp, Talia breaks down and cries. A few shadows turn around wondering what's going on, but you tell them all to go on ahead and that you'll both be along shortly.

You stand beside her during her sorrow, but you offer no words of comfort since there are none. In fact chances are you'll make her feel worse as it was your decision after all. Eventually after she lets it all out, she pulls herself together. Still sad of course, but ready to put it behind her. You continue your journey to Brother Theo's hideout that he's prepared for the evacuation.

A few days later you get word from contacts of an Empire army being nearly wiped out by a series of large explosions. For a brief moment the Empire first thought it might even be a Felkan attack due to their use of gunpower weaponry, however it was confirmed by the few survivors that it was another shadow ambush. Naturally you are painted to be the lowliest of villains due to children being used, but Empire propaganda has always been so over the top that you doubt if people will even believe it, and those that do…well they were probably never going to be on your side anyway.

The best news is when you hear that a funeral will be held in Captain Roldan's honor as he died during one of the blasts.

You have won a great victory and confirms that your decision to save the eternals was a good one. Even if all the others prove to be untrainable, those nine were more than worth it.


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

[User] You explore by yourself

[Assistant]
You start briskly walking ahead, Roger suddenly notices.

"Hey what's your fucking hurry?"
"I'm not waiting around for your slow asses, you're taking too fucking long with all the goddamn talking. I'm gonna scout out ahead, I'm supposed to be on point right? I'm taking the risk, so what the hell do you care?"
"But…oh fuck it, go on ahead and get yourself killed then, we'll be right here. Better be back by nightfall though, because we'll assume you're dead and leave without you."
"Yeah, yeah."

You leave the three stooges to their idiotic conversation, and proceed to go about your way, amongst the ruined buildings. It's weird to walk through the city and it being so quiet with no other people around. Ah, by yourself again, it's been awhile since you've had any private time to yourself. The Compound doesn't really allow for it. In fact with all this time to finally have to yourself gives you the opportunity to seriously consider leaving the Compound like you were thinking about earlier. It would be easy, all you have to do is wander off, and Roger did say they would assume you were dead by nightfall. You think about Marina though, you do like her…but you also like not having to have an asshole who hates you barking orders at you all the time too.

While you're struggling with the delimma of your current living situation, you suddenly hear a gravelly voice nearby and some slow shuffling.

"Meeeeeeeeat...(Wheez)"

You turn your head to see a walking horror. A man with badly distorted features and limbs hobbles in your direction. One of the bomb victims no doubt. You knew you had to run into them eventually. The problem is now more of them are starting to appear, and they look like they can do more damage. Many of them have a half-crazed appearance and severe radiation burns. Apparently their minds have damaged along with their bodies.

These ones aren't even making an attempt to speak; they're just looking at you menacingly and growling. They're beginning to encircle you.

[User] You run back to your team

[Assistant]
You hastily make a break for it back to where your team is situated; unfortunately, "the survivors" are in your way and attempt to stop you. You shoot a couple of them, but not before a few of them manage to wound you. A couple of them manage to tear through your suit with their ragged and jagged, dirty nails (Which are almost like claws at this point) You suffer some scratches to the back and shoulders, but the worst is when one of them actually bites through your suit drawing blood.

"Motherfucker!" you shout shooting your assailant in the face and breaking away from the cannibal mob.

You run like mad with the horde chasing not far behind. When you finally reach your team, they all finally pay attention for the first time and start running back to the car!

"HEY WAIT FOR ME YOU BASTARDS!" you yell, stepping up your pace.

Eventually you just barely manage to get inside the car before Steve drives off. A couple of the city dwellers jump on the back of the car, but a shotgun blast through the back window gets them off.

"Holy shit Albert! What the fuck?! Was it necessary to destroy our back window?" Roger shouts.
"Oh I'm sorry I didn't know we were taking back survivors to the Compound, oh shit you're wounded man!" Albert says looking at you.
"Ah I'm alright, there's medical supplies back at the Compound."
"No man! I mean you're bit and shit! You're gonna turn into one of those things!"
"For fuck's sake Albert, this ain't a low budget zombie film. It doesn't work like that!"
"I dunno, I mean how do you know? I mean you saw them, sure they were still alive, but radiation might do all kinds of weird shit!"
"Yeah, Albert's got a point. We don't know what the hell was in the air either and your suit was ripped. For all we know there was some sort of biological agent in the air too. Who knows what was dumped on the place. You could bring back some virus and infect everyone." Roger says.
"If you think these suits protected us from everything, you're a goddamn idiot in the first place…"

Suddenly you feel the butt from Albert's shotgun smack against the side of your skull, while Roger tells Steve to stop the car. You're too dizzy to fight back properly so you just pull the trigger on your rifle which results in you shooting Steve through the back several times before you get another smack in the head and getting your rifle taken from by Albert.

Roger then gets out of the car and opens up the door on your side to drag you out. Giving you a few kicks before pointing his gun at your face.

"Now I'm not killing you because you might be infected, I'm killing you because you just murdered my friend you sonofabitch!"

Roger then shoots you in your half-conscious state.


[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 pick them off one by one

[Assistant] "We need to attack," you whisper.  "What?" Lucy asks in surprise. "They have a gun!"  "It's dark, we can sneak up on the sheriff and take him out with our knives, and get the gun. Then, we stop this and free our friends."   Lucy nods, and you edge out of the door, heading towards Sheriff Buckly. You stay low, immersed in the darkness. You slowly edge forward, before you're less than a dozen feet away from him. Then, Sheriff Buckly turns, noticing you.  "Ah, shit..." he sighs, raising his gun.

[User] You charge him

[Assistant] You charge forward, slashing your knife. Sheriff Buckly backs up with a yelp, firing randomly. Although he's firing without thinking or aiming, the amount of lead he puts in the air makes it sure that one finds it's way through your skull, killing you instantly.


[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 demand to know where Steve is

[Assistant]
You need to tell me where Steve is," You demand while rising your voice a bit.

"Now there's the Ben I know, but I don't think it's a good idea to have you go to his house while you're acting like an asshole, maybe when you learn proper etiquette I'll tell you," Moira says while clearly have too much fun with this conversation.

"Why are you doing this, you know going out and talking to people is not an easy thing for me to do and yet you decide to make it worse for me."

Moira seemed slightly bothered by this remark as if noticing she was beginning to take things a bit too far. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you what, you go home and in a bit I'll swing by Steve's house and let Victoria know you're concerned," She says in a softer tone.

"Fine," You reply as you turn around to head out.

Once back in your house, you sit at your kitchen table staring at your phone waiting for Victoria to respond. You're beginning to get impatient as you want to put this ordeal behind you and return to your regular routine. After waiting for almost an hour there is finally there is a knock at the door, it must be Victoria, you wonder why she didn't call, still you're glad this is over with. You walk up and open the front door only to find it's not Victoria, but Moira. Tears are flowing her eyes and her sclera's have turned red.

"Ben it's terrible," Moira bawls as she lets herself in your house. She puts her head on your shoulder as she begins sobbing uncontrollably.

"Moira, you need to calm down and explain to me what's wrong," You say, dreading finding out what caused Moira to act like this.

Moira lifts her head up off your shoulder and wipes her tears with her sleeve. You grab the mug that is the least dirty from a cabinet above the kitchen sink and fill it with water. You hand it to her as she sits down at the table, you take a seat opposite of her.

"Now Moira, I need you to tell me in a calm manner what happened?" You say politely but firmly.

Moira takes a sip out of the mug and begins to explain "I went to Steve's house and the police, they were...they were taking his body out, I think, think someone killed him," Moira begins crying again as you too begin to become overwhelmed with fear.

"What about Victoria?" You shout, instantly realizing that yelling at someone overcome with grief isn't the kindest thing to do.

"I don't know, she wasn't there if that's what you're asking," Moira answers before taking another sip of the water.

You take out your cell phone and call the police, hopefully they will able to find Victoria. "911, what is your emergency?" The voice on the other end inquiries.

"Yeah, um, I recently found out my sister's boyfriend has been murdered and I can't find her anywhere," You reply hoping that you don't come off as suspicious.

"What's your name, sister's name and her boyfriend's name?"

"Uh, my name is Ben Higgins, my sister is Victoria Higgins and her boyfriend's name is Steve."

"What's his last name?'

You have no idea, it most likely would've been smart to know this before you called. You turn your attention to Moira. "I need to know Steve's last name," You say rather impatiently, still the not best way to talk to someone who is somewhat traumatized.

"Upton," She informs you while still weeping a bit.

"His last name is Upton," you tell the operator.

"So your sister Victoria Higgins is missing and her boyfriend Steve Upton has been murdered?"

"That's about it."

"I need your address."

"219 Okonedo Street."

"Alright, I'm sending someone over." The operator hangs up and you really hope they don't think you're behind this. Moira has somewhat calmed down.

"Will they find Victoria?" Moira asks sounding worn out.

"I sure hope so" you say with obvious uncertainty in your voice.

Several minutes later a police car pulls into your driveway shortly followed by a knock at the door. You open the door to find a women slightly older then you with light brown hair in a bun and matching colored eyes. You would find her pretty if wasn't for the serious look on her face.

"Hello, I'm detective Carla Northcutt are you Ben Higgins?" She asks you with a no non-sense demeanor.

"I am, come on in," you respond in a direct way.

Carla walks in and sees Moira sitting at the kitchen.

"Who are you?" Carla begins questioning as if doing an integration

"I'm Moira Estacado, Victoria's my best friend you need to find her," Moira pleads while beginning to cry again.

Carla sits down at the table and turn her attention back to you, you figure she thinks you'll be easy to get information from. "So start from the beginning, from when you noticed your sister was missing to when you called the police."

"I woke up, found Victoria wasn't home, I tried to contact her phone, got no response, I went over to Moira's place, she said she was at her boyfriend's and would go over there to let her know I was worried, then Moira came over here saying Steve, Victoria's boyfriend is dead and then I called you."

Carla looks back at Moira with suspicion. "When did you notice Steve was dead, you called the police not long after the incident was reported and the news hasn't picked up the story yet," Carla quizzes in an accusing manner.

"After Ben came into my restaurant looking for Victoria, I offered to see if she was at Steve's house, about twenty minutes later I headed over there and saw police at the place and they were taking his body out on a stretcher, there was a sheet but a hand was sticking out and was wearing a ring that Steve always wears, I knew it was him," Moira explains before sobbing again.

You walk over to Moira and put your arm on her shoulder to comfort her. Carla stops looking at Moira with distrust, you guess she could tell Moira isn't the killing type. "Ben why didn't you just go to the house to check on your sister yourself?"

"I had recently found out Victoria had a boyfriend in the first place and Moira thought she should do it since she's better with dealing with people."

Carla doesn't look at you with same suspicion she had given Moira, you figure she knew you were telling the truth. "From what I know, I believe Steve was killed by Westfield's gang and it is most likely the gang is connected to Victoria's disappearance as well," Carla mentions.

"Who's Westfield?" You ask, completely puzzled.

Carla and Moira look at you as if they are unsure your question was serious or not. "You're telling me you've never heard of Westfield? The most wanted man in county if not the state," Carla's queries as her disbelief overpowers her seriousness.

"I don't get out much" You confess.

"Trust me he doesn't" Moira confirms.

"Westfield is a crime lord, illegal gambling, drug dealing, prostitution, armed robbery, human trafficking, extortion  and of course outright murder, Westfield's gang has done it all, the worst part is we don't know his real name, what he looks like or even if he is a he at all" Carla explains.

[User] You say "What makes you so sure this Westfield guy did it?"

[Assistant]
"What makes you so sure this Westfield guy did it?" You ask Carla.

"His MO is that his gang carves a 'W' on their victims, which Steve had, Westfield wants people to know when he has someone killed." Carla reveals to you. Moira sobs upon hearing about this brutality.

"What's to prevent someone from doing the same thing and having look like Westfield has done it?" You continue with your questions.

"That would piss Westfield off and only an idiot would that" Carla says confidently.

[User] You say "What does this crime lord want with my sister?"

[Assistant]
"What does this crime lord want with my sister?" You ask with grave concern.

"My theory at this point is Steve was the target and Victoria was at the wrong place at the wrong time, hopefully I'll be able to figure out why Steve was killed in the first place, I don't know what Westfield plans to do with her, rest assured I will do everything I can to find her," Carla says rather sure of herself.