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

[User] You keep Gannon with you

[Assistant]
Cyrus isn't likely to help you no matter what so the most help you're going to get is Gannon and while that won't be much it'll be better than nothing.

"Gannon I want you to go back to the town and do what you shadows are supposed to be doing, stirring up the people and getting them organized."
"What? I'm not doing that! When the Empire army arrives with or without Kane, the whole place is going to get leveled anyway!"
"Look you either help me now and have a chance to make a difference or return to Cyrus and try to explain why you aren't at your post. I'm pretty sure he'll be able to sense if you're lying given how nervous you constantly are. Now what's it going to be?"
"Oh alright I'll help, but we're all dead men anyway!"
"Really need to work on that confidence Gannon. Maybe you should pray to Dendrin for some."

And with those words you head back to your campsite to get prepared. You check up on the town the next day and see they're already starting to barricade the place. Gannon's even taking a bit of a leadership role. If they're lucky, you figure they'll only lose about a half of the town before the battle is over. A couple days later you scout a little further south of Volgst and that's when you see a large group of soldiers approaching. Several on horseback, many more on foot and unfortunately a single catapult as well. If Kane is actually with them, you'd guess he'd be on horseback, but then you can't tell at this distance.

You find a good elevated spot in some trees and when the mass of troops get in range you do a little sniping with your bow which you've gotten a lot better with over these past five years thanks to your need to hunt on a regular basis (And certainly a lot better than your single shot armbow which you practically never use anymore) You fire at the ones on horseback first, you don't get Kane, but you do find out he's the one that starts shouting the loudest about getting that sniping sonofabitch. Turns out he was walking the entire time. You try to aim for him, but now the chaos is so great within ranks that he wisely takes advantage of getting lost in the mass.

Doesn't take long before they figure out where it's coming from and start responding in kind. You immediately dash from your position and retreat deeper into the wilderness. A group of soldiers are sent to look for you though you dispatch them with relative ease as you use the terrain to your advantage.

By the time you're done with the goon squad that was sent after you, the rest of them are hastening their way towards Volgst. You hope Gannon's done a decent job in rallying the people.

When you make it back to the outskirts of Volgst, you see that it's prepared for a frontal assault. You watch from distance for about a half hour before Kane's company arrives. He doesn't bother with any sort of diplomacy and orders the catapult to fire. A rock smashes through the barricades and the make shift wall that was set up in front of the town. They're wide open for the Empire troops to pour in now, with the Butcher leading the way.

You make your way towards town and jump into the battle, which naturally isn't going well for the citizens of Volgst. When you arrive it gets a little better, but even you can't stop the carnage and what will probably be the utter destruction of Volgst. You haven't seen Gannon at all, he's either dead already or more likely the coward's run off. Right now though all you're trying to do is seek out Kane and kill him.

And as luck would have it, you bump into him, or rather the pair of you catch sight of each other in the middle of the chaos. He doesn't dodge you or even make any sort of threatening war cry, he just walks straight towards you and you to him.

When he stands before you, he certainly displays the signs of a battle-hardened warrior, but there's something more to it than just his size, armor and scars. It's his eyes. Not like a hate filled wrath behind them, but more like he's experienced something that's caused the light in them to go out. Almost soulless.

"The Butcher of Rask, himself. At last we meet." You say.
"Yes, and you would be the shadow outcast and it will be a pleasure to finally bring you to the Emperor's justice that you've evaded for so long."
"Hmm, guess you better get to it then."

Kane swings his axe, which you dodge and the battle is joined.

"You're weak. You cannot hope to win this battle." He says preparing for another swing.
"Right now, just getting rid of you will be sufficient." You reply.
"You think you can best me? This isn't Mistress' class anymore and you're no Eternal. When I look at you, I see the mockery of what is supposed to be an Eternal. You're not even a shadow. You are a pariah that has no honor at all. You're part of the sickness that has infected the Empire. A sickness that will be cut out and purified like all others."

While Kane tells you what he really thinks about you, he's also matching you in combat skills. To be quite honest you might've been a little too over confident in your abilities because he's really putting you to the test. It doesn't help that in the midst of this one on one fight you also have to dodge other attacks. You use a little shadow magic to speed yourself up and it helps, but it isn't nearly as strong as it once was not to mention you feel the drain a lot quicker. You land a couple of good hits on Kane before you have to stop from fatigue. Kane however has no such problems and isn't slowed at all by his wounds

"Is that the extent of your precious shadow magic outcast? No wonder you were kicked out." Kane says and catches you with a glancing blow across your chest followed by a hefty to your left knee, which causes you to lose balance and fall. You barely roll of the way of his next swing.

You stagger back up only to get your sword knocked out of your hand when you attempt to block another of Kane's axe blows. Becoming desperate you fire your armbow and a bolt flies into Kanes chest. It doesn't stop him and he charges into you knocking you back onto the ground. He doesn't follow up with his axe this time, instead he puts all his crushing weight upon your chest by sitting on it and attempting to choke the life out of you with his own hands.

"You're going to die here today, because you believe in nothing and that makes you nothing and when I'm finished choking the life out of your pathetic body I'm going to eat your fucking heart because I can." Kane at this point pauses with a deranged little smirk. "Heh, maybe one of those wendigo bastards did get to me just a little…" then his face becomes deadly serious again.

As you struggle to remain conscious all you can see are the souless eyes of Kane looking down upon you as he intends to make good on his threats. You punch him several times in the face to no avail. You even take out one of his eyes and he's still not deterred as it dangles uselessly from its bloody socket. You'd probably be a lot more scared if you weren't teetering on passing out. Eventually darkness envelops you and Kane finishes you off with a brutal snap to your neck.

For what it's worth he doesn't eat your heart afterwards.


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

[User] You ride shotgun

[Assistant]
Like there was any other choice?

You slide in next to Marina who guns the engine and screeches off. Considering Harry's hatred of you and the fact that this is considering going AWOL and stealing Combine equipment, you aren't just going to get away with this.

You don't get far when you're soon pursued by other vehicles. You tell Marina to concentrate on driving, while you attempt to do some road warrior shit. Luckily you're still an excellent marksman, and you manage to either shoot the tires or the drivers of the cars and motorcycles in pursuit of you. Eventually you escape.

After a few days of driving you and Marina start wondering where you're going to go. You can't drive forever, you'll run out gas eventually and you don't relish the idea of walking.

However, once again luck is with you and you find a small place called Ashtown where you stop. Fortunately the people seem to be friendly. You immediately make yourself useful by helping with eliminating some bandits and raiders (A bit like the old days actually). You and Marina decide to stay and make a new life here, though in the back of your mind you're always expecting some sort of arrival of the Combine, maybe not coming to look for you specifically, but you know they're probably still expanding.

About a year passes and nothing unusual happens, until a wandering traveler passing through decides to talk to you for some reason while you're sitting in the local café.

"Hey friend." The traveler says.
"Hmn." You reply still reading a book.
"This place is a pretty well organized town. Pleasant too. Glad I found it."
"It's better than most places." You say still without looking up.
"Hey, I know what you mean. It's a crazy fucking world out there. What with the Cybernetic Evolution and all."
"Cybernetic Evolution?" you ask finally looking up.
"Yeah! You never heard of them? Well I guess I should warn you then. It's this group of killer cyborgs that want to remake humanity or exterminate them if they don't comply. They're supposedly from some sort of secret military base that was doing high tech experiments. There are robots too, but mostly cyborgs. I'm surprised they haven't headed this way, but then again, they've been pretty busy trying to combat the Combine. Never thought I'd be glad that the Combine exists, but I gotta say if it weren't for them, the CE would've probably expanded all over the fuckin' place by now and I guarantee we wouldn't be sitting here having this pleasant conversation."
"Hmm, so the Combine is winning?" you ask.
"Well, I wouldn't say that, it's more like a stalemate. Kind of a good thing too, since I don't really want them winning either. Those Combine bastards are a bunch of bullying fascists. Especially with that fucker Damon in charge."
"Damon? Who's that?"
"Damon, is the newest leader of the Combine. Thinks he's some sort of military genius, but all he is, is a common desert thug who's a little more intelligent than his buddies, probably still more competent than the last leader Harry who Damon killed to get the job."

A smile forms across your face when you hear that news, while the traveler continues his story

"Anyway that's partly one of the reasons I'm traveling. I don't want to be around when the war finally ends, either way the people who live nearby are going to lose…speaking of which I gotta get going, nice talking to you."

After the traveler leaves you do likewise and tell Marina what you just heard. She asks you if you think if it would be a good idea to leave as well. Perhaps you haven't made all the right decisions in this new harsh world, but if nothing else you've at least been able to make good decisions concerning your own survival and you're about to make another one.

You and Marina pack your belongings. Its time to move on again, you figure you should get out now while you can.

You say goodbye to the few acquaintances you've had since your time here and warn them about the CE-Combine War before leaving. It's up to them what they're going to do.

And once again, you and Marina are off, with the unknown future ahead of you.


[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 put Rita in her place

[Assistant]
Rita's bluffing. Despite her high opinion of herself, she still needs this job.

"Rita, you're out of line. EVERYONE busts their ass around here and I'm not going to show you some sort of favoritism just because your looks are bringing in more people!"

Rita bickers with the rest of you for a while and after threatening to quit several times during the argument she finally agrees to stay, but you still have to give her a small raise. Nothing pocket breaking, but enough to shut her up and keep Wendy from rebelling in the process.

The next few weeks go as well as can be expected, though Rita's constant complaining is an ongoing problem. Eventually you learn to tune her out, but one day she's "tuned out" permanently.

While Rita was still more or less doing her job of bringing in more people, her attitude got a lot worse. This sometimes resulted in her driving away people as opposed to enticing them. This still wouldn't be so bad considering how many losers are willing to put up with abuse from pretty girls.

The problem was when she eventually pissed off the wrong person and this deranged individual decided to "teach the whore a lesson" and waited for her after work. The gruesome details involved rape, the removal of several of her vital parts and death (Not necessarily in that order).

You can't say you exactly liked Rita's personality, but she didn't deserve that. You even feel partially responsible for putting her in that position in the first place. Your mother tries to assure you that it wasn't your fault, but it still doesn't make you feel any better.

You feel even worse when the inn begins to feel the loss. While several regular customers offer their condolences many of the others brought in by Rita in the first place stop coming. You also don't have Rita to help bring in any new people either. Eliza also quits because she's so shook up about Rita's death that she feels it isn't safe to work at the inn anymore.

You manage to pay off Mr. Reynolds, but it's just barely again and you're not optimistic about future payments since he's hinted that he's going to need larger payments in the future. It would seem he realizes that you've almost paid him off and he wants to keep the money flow a little longer. You're so disheartened by this, Rita's death and the other headaches that you've had to put up with that you decide maybe it's time to just give up.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You'll never know.


[System] 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 die

[Assistant] She kills you and you die, you do not rise from the grave either.


[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 await death.

[Assistant]
Seeing your stunned silence, Gideon just closes his eyes, "Best get comfortable then. They'll find the hiding place soon, don't you worry."

Hopeless, you take a seat beside Gideon, and wait. Minutes turn to hours as you wait. After a long while, you hear footsteps approaching.

"They're here." You whisper to Gideon, who is unresponsive.

Suddenly, a small ball is tossed from the hatch, and it rolls near your feet. The last thing you feel is heat, the last thing you see is a mixture of fire and shrapnel, and the last thing you hear is the heavy grunts of Churchmen and the crackling of flames.

Death was actually quicker than you expected.

You have been killed by the hands of the Church.


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

[User] You ask to get out of the car.

[Assistant]
"Let me out of the car!" you demand.

Although it's dark in the car and you can't see the man's face, you know he is looking at you. After a quick pause he says "I'm not slowing down 'til I get to Gold Flake."

The man guns the engine and soon your way past Goblin Valley toward the town of Gold Flake.


[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 take of your clothes

[Assistant]
You follow her command as she details step by step what you should do.

"Ok now remove your tunic. Good, throw it on the floor and put your pants on top. Great job!"

She tells you things along the same lines until you're completely devoid of any clothing.

"Now here comes the fun part, get on your hands and knees."

You've already come this far, might as well comply. You get down and have to arch your back to stare up at her. The uncomfortable position does not bother you as all you can focus on is her figure. Damn she sure is beautiful. Especially when she says incantations. Hey, that's what she's saying right now!"

"Sarahkahnar Hor zeef narze taf!"

When she finishes you have a out of body experience. It's like you're having an orgasm all over your body. Yet, it's so much more than just that. Your whole room is having an organism and you feel it all. The walls, the table, the bed, and even clumps of dust experience this sensation along side you. It's magical and you don't care if she's a so called demon, she is a blessing to this world. You can't keep this feeling inside and whisper,

"I love…"

You pass out before finishing from pure ecstasy. When you regain consciousness you feel utterly cold. You're naked as Catia towers over you.

"Saying the word 'love' after our first night together tells me all I need to know about you."

"What's that?"

She grows quiet and says in a pitiful tone,

"You're too weak-willed to be of any real use to me. Best I throw away the trash before it makes my presence known."

You try to question her but find yourself unable to move. A white spirit begins to flow out of your body.

"Don't think I'm taking your soul or anything. I'm merely releasing you from your human form."

Soon everything turns black as you find yourself floating in infinite space. Other floating spirits whiz around, but you're unable to communicate with any of them. You never escape this purgatory and soon forget how you got here. The weak-willed guard from Ashton is remembered as nothing more than a victim of the demon invasion.


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

[User] You stay put

[Assistant]
Nope, you just can't get into it. Its all too much for you. You decline her offer and continue to just observe.

Pretty soon, you see your sister stumbling around, she's not drunk enough to pass out, but she is drunk enough to be acting like an idiot. You notice other guys attempting to take advantage of this fact, you step in, and start escorting her out. When you get outside, you half expect her to start yelling at you for ruining her fun, but she doesn't. Instead she starts getting all weepy. Stating how you've been looking out for her all day and that no guy has ever done that, since they all treat her like shit.

You tell her to just calm down and take her to the car. Since she's in no condition to drive (Though that's never stopped her before) As you put her in the back seat, she kisses you on the lips, with full tongue. You recoil back a bit in surprise.

Surely its the alcohol...or is it?

[User] You drive her home

[Assistant]
Alcohol definitely! You know that she gets pretty friendly after she's been drinking. You dismiss it. You can't possibly believe that she'd have that kind of interest in you. She may be a bit wild, but not to that extent!

As you drive back home, she falls asleep in the back, thanking you for looking out.

You get back home, unfortunately you're carrying your sister back in and you wake Mom up. She's pissed and iching for a fight. Normally her tirades would effect you more, but not after what you've been through. You're tired of her ordering everyone around, she has no idea how to REALLY look out for someone. If she did, your sister wouldn't be the mess she is.

You put your sister on the sofa, and yell at your Mom telling her she needs to stop acting like a fucking dictator and to start acting like a mother, because she's going to drive away the both of you if she keeps this up.

Your words seem to have somewhat of an effect. Your Mom still doesn't want to admit defeat though, she says you're ALL going to talk about this tomorrow. You're tired, and don't want to argue anymore tonight, so you agree.

You head up to bed, realizing that your actions today have worn you out! Being a defender isn't easy. Its very taxing, but somehow you like it. Its much better than being the emotionless android you were acting like before. Its like you have a purpose in life now.

Another day breaks, and you feel fulfilled...


[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 give Mrs Jackson's money back to her

[Assistant]
You refuse to desecrate the dead and give Mrs Jackson's money back to her, she returns silently to her cabin. Almost stubbornly you continue to survive, holding yourself together and then, finally, a wonderful thing happens. A party of seven men, backpacks bulging with food, reach the camp at Truckee Lake. They have been sent from California: it seems that at least some members of the Snowshoe Party made it through and now rescue missions are being mounted. While some of the settlers travel down to visit the Donner Brothers the others remain at Truckee Lake and provide what medical treatment they can. It is too late for little Catherine Pike, an infant child in the care of her grandmother Levinah Jackson. Unable to even cry the child had been reduced to moaning feebly until one day it just passes away.

The rescuers re-gather and prepare to leave. They have decided they can take twenty-one people with them: weak teamsters Noah James and John Denton, women Margret Reed, Philippe Keseberg, Doris Wolfinger and Eliza Williams and fifteen children. The remaining men (George Donner, Patrick Breen, Louis Keseberg and Donner wagon-driver Jean Trudeau) have chosen to stay so that the women and children can leave in safety. More help is on it's way to rescue them but if you truly insist you will be allowed to accompany the First Relief down.

What do you do?


[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 wait for the rest of your horde, you have time before the guard change and it will be safer to swarm everything at once.

[Assistant]
There is no point in rushing now, you're horde is climbing up and will soon be strong enough to swarm over the sleeping areas while you took the fastest ones to help with the other balconies. It's only a few minutes before the balcony is getting full and you do a quick check ahead, trying to sense out the best targets you send the horde after.

You immediately realize something is wrong, there is an awful lot of movement going on down there for the middle of the night, you edge through the doorway and carefully keep to cover while you let your eye adjust and look out.

You quickly realize that there is something large in the middle of the previously empty space in the stadium and there are a lot of men out with guns, all in a nice big semi-circle around the stairs you were about to walk down.

"They must have had someone still keeping an eye on me" You think as you back carefully back onto the balcony. It really doesn't look like you can do much more here, you're going to have to escape.

You take more immediate control of the infected on the balcony, packed in as they are you have two dozen up here and more still climbing so you send they rushing down at the defenders, maybe they will be surprised and get over-run, worth a try after all.

You almost instantly feel them getting torn apart as you hear what sounds like a heavy machine gun open fire. Punctuated now and them by a single boom which always co-insided with one of the infected dying from a huge wound to the chest.

You swear to yourself as you realize that every one of them was killed in seconds and didn't even get close to the defenders. You quickly climb down outside the stadium and set off at a run to try and put some distance between you and it. You leave the infected trying to climb inside as a distraction so you aren't followed immediately.


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

[User] You leave in Peter's car

[Assistant]
After pondering it several times over, you think it would be best to just get the hell out of this town. You're not wasting your time looking for Ben's hidden shelter, and after finding your brother's body in here, you don't think this would be a safe place to stay the night.

"Julie, come on get up, we're not staying here." You say jostling her.
"Mgh, can't we just rest here? I'm so tired and it's safe here." She says.
"No it isn't, I just found my dead brother in the fucking garage along with his boyfriend or whoever that guy is…"
"Holy shit, seriously?" Julie says waking up a bit.
"Yeah, so let's get the hell out of here! Come on, grab your bags."

With some effort, Julie rouses herself from her drug induced exhaustion and grabs her bags. You get your own and make your way to Peter's car.

After loading it up as quickly as possible, Julie slumps into the passenger seat and you get into the driver's seat and start it up. So far nothing has come running to attack you, but certainly don't want to stick around for it happen.

You make your way towards what you believe is going to be the quickest way out of town, but instead you come across more National Guard barricades. Naturally they tell you to stop, but you don't and once again you're making U-Turns under a hail of fire.

"Holy shit Julie! We just got out of being shot at once before, do we really have to do this again?! Can't we just go back…"
"JULIE SHUT THE FUCK UP I'M TRYING TO GET US THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!" you scream and serve down a side street. Julie of course starts crying.

You're so harried and frustrated that you barely even know where you are. This town might not be the largest, but it seems like a maze when you barely leave the house for years.

You drive into an area that is literally swarming with the rabid. From the abandoned military vehicles it looks like the National Guard lost its battle here. A crowd of rabid see and hear your car and start immediately running towards you.

"Julie we can't run them all over! The car will overturn! Turn back! Turn back!" Julie screams, but you don't listen.

You slam the gas pedal and go full speed ahead.

You run over several of them and then their bodies begin to get stuck in the wheels causing the car to skid and spin. You attempt to maintain control, but you fail to do so and the car flips over lands against the wall of a building upside down.

You're hurt, but since you had your seatbelt on, you're still able to move, but unfortunately, you can't open the door on your side because it's crushed against a wall.

You look over to Julie and she's not moving. In fact she's half way through the windshield. She's obviously dead, but that isn't what concerns you at the moment. What concerns you is the rest of the rabid running over to the car.

After a few moments of struggling, the rabid eventually pull you out of the car and sink their teeth into you and gnaw straight through your bones. You die screaming as they eat you alive.


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

[User] You stay

[Assistant]
Nah, Nina's probably right, you might get radiation poisoning or some shit if you go to the surface. Probably nothing left up there for miles anyway. You're just a little bored and were trying to figure out some way of relieving the boredom and going to the surface isn't it. You'll think of something less dangerous. You go back to doing your duties and putting up with Charles and Todd's chatter.

A few weeks later, Nina tells you she's pregnant. In nine months your son Jack is born. You also begin to notice how many other babies are being born or on their way of being born, you start to wonder if there will be enough supplies and room if the population keeps growing like this.

Oh well surely something will be figured out by then. Still, you do wonder if you shouldn't have tried harder to convince Nina that it isn't a completely terrible idea…

Five years pass…

Ten years have gone by and the shelter is starting to get a little crowded. After all there isn't too much to do in the shelter that hasn't already been done, so sex is always (as it always has been) a popular way to pass the time. The result of that fun activity is too many babies.

At this point now you say something to Nina about the surface, she's a little reluctant about the idea, but sees that it might be necessary. Unfortunately the rest of the council doesn't see it that way. Many of them have been here so long now that going to the surface is almost unthinkable. Despite great protest Nina overrides the council's advice and goes ahead with the plan anyway. This doesn't make her too popular.

For one reason there's the decision of who is suppose to live on the surface, many people have full blown families now, they're a little unwilling to risk taking them up. So that means the single or childless people get the boot upstairs since they have less to "lose". That doesn't go over too well either. People start protesting loudly about being kicked out of their homes since they have as much right to stay too.

One day, you're in the computer room at the time arguing with Charles who happens to be single, and giving you shit about Nina's new policy. Todd is pretty much indifferent to the idea since even though he's single he doesn't mind the idea of going to the surface, he just thinks you should've said something to Nina a long time ago to implement this plan sooner before everyone had a whole mess of babies.

That's when you get the word.

Kyle comes in to tell you that during one of Nina's speeches William (Who would've been one of those kicked up to the surface along with Ron) attempted to assassinate Nina with a scalpel he stole from the medical supplies. Leon managed to stop him with extreme prejudice by breaking his neck. But its not ending there, people are starting to riot and call for someone new to be the shelter leader.

You're pissed off now, you storm into the conference room ready to kick everyone's ass who DARES to try to hurt Nina again. You fire your pistol into the air causing everyone to take notice. When you get over to Nina, she's pleading for you to not shoot anybody. The assassin was already taken care of, there isn't any more need for killing.

While that might be the case that still doesn't solve the problem of everyone hating Nina (And probably you too as well) if she gets thrown out of her position, the next step might be to try to throw you guys out of the shelter.

Part of this you feel is your fault, you could just roll the dice here or you could attempt to take the hard line approach.


[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 speak to Father Wilfrid

[Assistant]
You decide to pay father Wilfrid a visit. The man has served your family for nearly forty years, and he has served you personally as teacher, mentor, and adviser. As a person, you harbor a vague dislike for him, and the feeling is mutual. However, you can trust him to give good advice, and for that reason you set off in the direction of the huge stone church that towers above every other building within York's walls.

The church, St. Peters, was built nearly three hundred years ago, and it has stood against the tides of half a hundred bloody wars. Staring at the immense building of hard cut stone, you are overcome with a sudden monumental certainty; that one way or another, the church will outlive you, and everyone else. Something about its towering austerity lends to its aura of chilling weariness, like the pressure of an invisible hand.

You never really liked churches, and a career as a soldier has done little to improve the situation. When you enter the building, you can feel the judgment, the guilt, bearing down on you. You have defended your kin and country with the ruthless efficiency of a trained warrior, and for that you have been condemned, deemed impure. No one says this, of course; the priests are always tactful and subservient, listening to your confessions with dull faces, but you sense their fear. They watch you like a caged animal, one that could at any minute turn on its companions. Whenever you touch one of the priests, you see the undeniable flicker of disgust that bolts across their faces for the briefest of instances.

To them, you will always reek of blood.

Shouldering your emotions, you push open the thick oaken doors that bar your entry to the church.

[User] You enter the Church

[Assistant]
Father Wilfrid kneels at the far end of the church, prostrate before a towering sculpture of Jesus upon a cross. He is dressed in a plain woolen robe that drapes loosely across his skeletal form. His hands are spotted with age, and his left shakes incessantly. His lips are thin and chapped, and they move loosely, muttering prayers in Latin. As he whispers, his head bobs slightly, shaking the wisps of white hair that sparsely cover his head.

You wait patiently for him to finish, ignoring the suspicious glances of the other priests. Your eyes drift upwards, where a lengthy tapestry occupies the farthest wall. You spend the next five minutes perusing it idly, watching grotesque caricatures of heathens smolder in the depths of woolen flames.

At last, father Wilfrid finishes his prayers and struggles to rise, heaving awkwardly against a weathered can that shudders under his minute weight. You offer a hand, and he regards it with unhidden distaste, as though you had presented him with a human heart as opposed to an offer of aid. You withdraw the hand tactfully and Wilfrid gets shakily to his feet.

He looks you up and down, as though he expects you to suddenly dematerialize.

"You're back"

You nod, trying not to think back on your less pleasant schooling days.

"How fare the people?"

Father Wilfrid looks at you with grudging respect. His teachings of angels and gospels have long since faded from memory, but his teachings on the importance of a lord's people have remained steadfast in your mind.

"They fare as well as one might expect. They grieve, and you cannot deny that their grief is largely your fault"

You exhale tiredly, Wilfrid grabs your arm

"We have our differences, you and I, but we agree on one thing; a lord should never forget about his people"

You nod and begin to speak, but Wilfrid cuts you off

"I know you must hate the Normans, but if you rebel, you will lose, and it will be the people, your people, who will suffer because of it. You cannot rebel against King William"

The old priest coughs harshly, his battered lungs quivering. He spits out the last sentence

"If you rebel, we will all die"

[User] You say "I won't rebel"

[Assistant]
You laugh bitterly

"If I wanted to rebel, I would have done it in the throneroom. It's too late now."

Father Wilfrid looks at you strangely, overcoming a momentary hesitation; he places a scrawny arm on your shoulder

"You are making a wise choice, lord Aethelwulf"

You want to say something, and for a moment you just stand there, staring at your old tutor. Father Wilfrid breaks the silence

"You should go, doubtless you have work to do"

You nod and turn to depart, as you leave Father Wilfrid offers one last comment

"I am proud of you, Aethelwulf, even if it doesn't seem like it"

You push open the heavy church doors and step out into the crisp December air.


[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 no! You'll make the team on your own! Determination is all you need!

[Assistant]
Drugs are for losers! You saw that movie, about that guy, who had a lot of heart or something! And you saw that other movie about that other guy, who had a lot of heart or something! In fact you've seen A LOT of movies about "that guy, who had a lot of heart or something" you can't remember any of their names, but if they can all do it, you certainly can!

You turn down the drugs and start training a lot harder and trying to focus on the prize. You get that fuckin' eye of the goddamn tiger! Yeah! Ain't nothing going to stop you! You're gonna get on the team, become popular, and date the head cheerleader because if there's anything you've learned from movies it's that NOTHING can triumph over the human spirit!

Though the better thing to have learned would've been that real life ain't a fucking movie!

The next time you go to tryouts you're so fucking cocksure that you end up not protecting yourself as much as you sure and when you get hit hard by one of your team mates you get SERIOUSLY injured.

Like really bad.

No, seriously, you get really fucked up…A LOT.

In fact you're a damn vegetable.

Of course you don't stay that way for long, as your parents aren't religious and as such don't feel your life is worth anything to them anymore so they authorize the doctors to pull the plug. Its kindest thing they've ever done for you.

The moral of the story?

Don't try out for a team that you have no business trying out for in some inane quest to be popular. All the "heart" in the world doesn't mean shit when you got a 400 pound asshole slamming into you with the power of a small bull elephant and your own body frame is more like that of a half starved pigmy marmoset!

Now the chess club? Yeah, maybe that's not gonna get you the head cheerleader, but you probably could've at least gotten to third base with the asthmatic girl who drools when you kiss her!

And now you know!


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

[User] You go for the gun

[Assistant]
Obviously all this rolling on the floor and hand to hand shit isn't getting you anywhere with her. She's tougher than you thought and you need to just shoot her and put an end to this.

As hard as you can, you do the same trick Diana did to Helen and use her weight against her and shove her as hard as you can while letting go of the bat. Diana ends up falling on her ass and you turn to run towards the stairs.

You get half way down the stairs when you feel a hard smack against your lower back when Diana throws the bat at you, causing you to lose your balance and you take a full tumble down the stairs. Not only do you break your arm in the process, you also end up hitting your head hard on the steps several times to the point where you've probably got a concussion, but that's the least of your concerns.

Dizzy and moaning in pain from your arm. You're in no condition to fight Diana when she hovers over you with the gun you were trying to get in hand.

"Y'know, under ideal circumstances, I'd take my time with you and enjoy dishing out the pain over the course of days, but I suppose I'll just have to do that with my sister instead. Tiamat truly blesses the strong, all hail her glorious chaos!" Diana says and blasts you several times.


[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 call in the horde to swarm them and feed, the fresh human flesh boosts your healing so maybe your powers too.

[Assistant]
You decide that this is simply too good an opportunity to pass up and call the little horde forward to surround your team. You simply have to eat and test if their flesh can increase your powers faster, you also need to get the taste of their rations out of your system, the more of them you eat, the worse they make you feel so it will be good to get some real food again.

You carefully begin positioning your horde to ambush the group. You've never actively tried to control this many at once and you begin to feel the strain after just a few seconds. However you force yourself to keep going, fighting off a splitting headache until you are all half way back and you have the horde move it, fast ones followed by the shamblers. You feel your nose bleeding again and your headache becomes nearly unbearable but once the attack has begun you releases some of the control knowing that they can finish the job themselves.

The team is almost instantly overwhelmed and you quickly join in the feeding, just controlling the ones nearest you to ensure they don't attack you like they normally would. You rest for a few minutes after and can almost feel the fresh human flesh refilling your energy, the headache even passes a little and finally you clean off the blood and begin heading back to the stadium trying the same act as before.

Sadly the Capt. is there this time and they don't seem to believe your story.

"It seems to me that a lot of our problems began right when you arrived here and now two entire teams get wiped out with you untouched. You can understand how this looks can't you?"

You try and profess your innocence but your headache is back in full swing having brought your horde closer in to the North of the stadium and you find it hard to think straight never mind sound convincing. You finally get control of yourself and begin to try and reason your way out of this when you feel a sudden pain like a whip in your mind and you vomit at your own feet.

Sadly you have been eating a reasonably amount of human flesh and skin and blood is clearly still recognizable in the mess.

You don't even get a chance to run before all the shots ring out and you fall backwards riddled with bullets.


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

[User] You change the plan

[Assistant]
"Hold on Pervus. I got a better idea." You say stopping Pervus from entering.
"Geek, that's the second time you've interrupted my dick from finding happiness. If you do it again, it's gonna find happiness in YOU!"
"Um…well look, I was just thinking that it would be better if you got the book, I dunno if I'm up for it. I'll distract Madam Orbec instead."
"The ONLY reason why I agreed to this, was because of the possibility of getting some Granny pussy, and now you're fuckin' sayin' no? Fuck you Geek! I'm doin' this shit now!"

Pervus knocks you to the ground and enters Madam Orbec's tent. You begin to hear some weird noises. Some of it sounds like screams, but not of the human kind. You sit in shock unsure of what to do, and then soon Pervus comes back out with the black book. There's blood all over his clown costume.

"I'm not sure what the fuck you wanted this for, but you ain't gettin' it now Geek. See ya at show time."

You don't want to check, but you do anyway. You go inside Madam Orbec's tent and see a gruesome sight. Something else is here though. You feel a force hit you several times. You see sheer depravity in your mind! It overwhelms you, you begin to cry, and laugh at the same time. You immediately run back out to hide somewhere utterly mad from what you saw.

You run off to the nearest town hoping nobody comes looking for you, and nobody does due to what happens at show time…

With the black book in his possession, Pervus goes back to his own tent and begins reading it, wondering what you wanted it for. Soon he begins to discover the power contained inside. The reason why Madam Orbec never wanted Randal to use it is due to the evil contained within and didn't want that evil unleashed lest it destroy him. Of course Pervus isn't a choir boy like Randal, he embraces the evil and the evil embraces him. It's a match made in hell.

When show time comes around he and his whole degenerate clown crew begin chanting from the book unleashing horrible powers. Many in the audience are killed as they attempt to escape, the Ring Master attempts to restore order, but with one utterance by Pervus, a burning black light annihilates her. The next blast destroys Atlas.

Randle attempts some sort of cheap magic defense, but he's powerless against the sheer destruction Pervus is wreaking. Eventually some of the clowns surround and capture him and do unspeakable things to him until he's literally an empty husk.

Charley and Ajax attempt to escape, but are run down and torn apart by strange shadow creatures that were summoned up.

The ones that manage to survive that terrible night become part of this twisted new Carnival that now travels the night seeking to pull more victims into its dreaded den of wickedness and suck their souls dry, with Pervus as the new crazed ring master.

And while you weren't there for the event, you SAW it all, in your mind back at Madam Orbec's tent. One last curse by the spirits for your involvement in the death of Madam Orbec.

You are doomed to forever see the on going horrors committed by Pervus' Carnival, and yet can do nothing about it. You're eventually picked up off the street while during one of your screaming jags and thrown into a mental asylum, straight jacked and doped up with morphine.

But it doesn't help.

You still see.

And you can't stop the screaming.


[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 take a stand, open the door, and attack. The police!

[Assistant] You decide that if they are going to take you down, you are going to go down in a blaze of glory. You take a moment to rig a quick explosive on the back of the door and step away from the door. You take cover behind the corner of the bathroom and wait. When they strike the door one more time, the explosive goes off, blowing the door off the hinges and towards the hallway. You step around the corner, staying low, gun at the ready to fire at anything that moves...

[User] You continue...

[Assistant]
Looking over at the door, it takes a moment for the dust to clear. You don't see anything moving, so you stand up and stare into the dust. You step towards the door, trying to make out the figures in the dust cloud when suddenly guns open up firing in your direction. You turn and twist and attempt to get back under cover as a bullet finds your back, spinning you around. A second round hits you in the chest and you crumble to the ground, as everything quickly fades to black.

Sorry, it would appear that you have lost. Please do try again, especially if this is your first time. There are lots of different options and possibilities. Be sure to try acts that you have trained, as you will have a much better chance of success if you do!

You had a 10 percent chance of winning that battle.


[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 but this did happen. You want Kit to know.

[Assistant]
So you picked this on your first try? Maybe you just used the actual go back button instead of the one I gave you on either of those two choices. Oh well, it doesn't matter. The point is you're here now, and I'm about to round out this ludicrous fourth wall break path.

Hey Kit.

You look around. This voice is... Different. It doesn't sound like anyone you know. "W-who are you?"

I'm the man who created you.

This causes you to jerk back. "What? You can't be! You're lying! Just leave me alone!"

I'm feeding you these words. This isn't a conversation between two people. This is me trying out an artistic experiment. People are going to rate me a 1 if they find this wannabe avant-garde bullshit path.

"You can't be telling the truth! I'm real! I'm as real as any man!" He can't be telling the truth. You're a real person. This is getting to you too much.

I'm not sure why you're in denial, Kit. In fact, I'm not sure why I'm writing you as in denial of this. I can make you do anything. I can make you dance if I want. Though I suppose that would fit better in a visual medium.

As if on command, you begin to hop up and down and wiggle around. It's a very entertaining sight, and the writer has stopped bothering with italicizing your actions. Because you know the truth, Kit. I created you. I can end you. I can take things back. Have you gone insane? That's for me and the reader to decide.

"What did you do to me?"

I got a prompt and I figured I could take this path in an interesting way. I was having trouble with this specific part of it. I remembered a comic I read once, Grant Morrison's Animal Man. It ended in a similar manner to this path: author and creation meeting each other. It touched me in a way I don't think any other story has, yet.

"You created me?"

Yeah, Kit. You're a figment of my imagination. If I want, I can hit delete on this story right now and you'd be gone forever. Just a shadow of what could have been in my mind. I've come close to wiping this story a few times. I wasn't sure I could ever complete it. I'm not sure if I ever wanted to. Writing this story has taught me a lot and I feel like once I finish it, I won't be learning anymore.

"Everything that happened to me... You did that?"

Yes, Kit. Your friends, they're not real. They're playthings. I've written a handful of lines for each of them. The only one that got any semblance of characterization was Lilith, the priest girl. Did you know that I went into this story without a name for any of them? I went into this story without a name for you, too. You were going to be Victor, once.

"What are you saying? Can't you turn everything back?"

Sure I can Kit, but it would be hollow. I'd go back to writing a story instead of rambling on incoherently, and it would end right as it got to the good part. That's how this entire story has gone; I have an idea, I write a few pages for it, I get bored, then I cut it off before it branches out too much. There's so many things in here that could make a full game, yet I only dedicate a handful of pages to those stories.

"Why can't you just stop that, then? Make everything as long as it needs to? Why couldn't you make a story about myself and my friends, let us choose our fates, let the reader choose our fates?"

Because that wasn't the story I wanted to tell. I wanted to be "edgy". I wanted to be "realistic". Cursing, and drinking, and violence, and a broken protagonist. You were never a hero, Kit. In fact, I could say that you killed countless men and women, and no one would bat an eye. They'd want to play as you more, if anything. The people here are drawn to villains.

"What the hell do you want from me?"

Me? I don't know. I'm writing this because I'm bored. Later I'm probably going to eat breakfast and pass out. Maybe watch a movie. Go for a walk. Something. But right now, it's me, and you, and the reader. I haven't forgotten you, reader. Why don't you exercise your "free will" and decide how this story ends for me, huh?


[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] Continue

[Assistant]
Stealing from a vampire just seems like a bad idea even if you were properly prepared. No, you're going to follow the rules to the letter on this one.

Time passes and eventually the sun starts setting and you begin looking for the secret button on the right wall. As it turns out, this uses up plenty of time because you have a hell of a time finding the damn thing since it's in a near inaccessible place behind a solid stone sarcophagus.

After stretching and reaching for the thing, you hear a click and a section of the floor on the left side opens up. You look down, but only see a dimly lit stairway, which you hope leads immediately to Isabella since you don't really want to potentially work your way through some catacomb maze.

You walk down a few steps and then call out to Isabella.

"Isabella?!" you shout.

A few seconds later you get a response.

"A visitor that knows me? This is a surprise. Your voice doesn't sound familiar however, so I can only assume someone who knows me must have sent you and I can guess who that might have been." You hear Isabella call back.
"Um, Ral sent me." You say.
"(Sigh) I thought so. He's too cowardly to face me in person, yet he probably wants something from me. Well come on down, I promise I won't bite."

You're still a bit nervous about all this, but this is the task you've been given, so down you go.

When you get to the bottom, you find a better-lit crypt that is fairly clean all things considered. You see several sturdy coffins lining the walls and you can also smell a faint whiff of some sort of flower. Nobody is here, though you see another entryway, which looks like it leads further into the bowels of this place.

"Stay in the foyer! I don't want you wandering about my home! I'll be there in a moment." you hear Isabella shout from that direction.

You aren't kept waiting long when a woman appears from the crypt entryway. Ivory skin and long raven hair, beautiful and young looking though certainly older than you. Isabella is the exact idea of what people have in mind when (and if they bother to) think of a vampire, the only thing that's missing is the royal or elegant clothes which isn't wearing. In fact she's not wearing clothes at all.

You might be more inclined to look at her naked body if she weren't a vampire, but since she is, you aren't sure what the etiquette is.

"Okay, you can stop adverting your eyes, I'm a vampire not a medusa. Besides, you know you want to look anyway."

Well that answers that question.

"Well? You going to tell me what Ral wants or are you going to just stare at my tits all night?" Isabella asks.
"Is this a trick question?" you ask.
"Look, I'm going to give you exactly one minute to tell me what the hell Ral wants or I'm going to start getting angry."
"Apologies, I just wasn't quite expecting this. Ral wants some of your gray blossom and in exchange he's given me this, to give to you." You say and pull out the jar of sprite blood from your pack.

Isabella walks over to you and when she's right in front of you, you feel very anxious as she stares at you. You know Ral said she can't charm you, but you feel like she's doing SOMETHING to your mind.

She takes the jar from your hand and opens it, giving it a sniff. Her nose turns up and her demeanor becomes more annoyed.

"Ugh, what is this shit? Is…is this sprite blood?" she asks.
"Yeah, Ral said you liked it." You say.
"Then he's a forgetful fool or deliberately trying to insult me. I hate sprite, it was brownie blood that I liked! Either way it's apparent he cares nothing for our time together and just wants something as usual. Biggest mistake in the recent century was going out with him."

While that's a bit of interesting information, you're far more concerned about your own ass now that Isabella seems displeased.

"Okay, well I guess I'll just leave and let him know then…" you say.
"Wait, where are you going?" Isabella suddenly grabs your arm. It isn't a hurtful grip, but it is strong and cold. Her expression is predatory and you feel like you're about to become dinner. Maybe she isn't able to control your mind, but she's doing a good enough job of putting fear into you anyway.

"I…don't suppose it wouldn't do me any good to beg would it?" you ask.
"No. However, I can see by this symbol on your arm, you are magically enslaved to Ral and despite him being disrespectful to me, I shall not act in kind and kill you since I know how hard good servants are to come by. I haven't had one in decades. However, YOU have to make up for Ral's failings." Isabella says.
"So, what do I need to do? Go collect some brownies?"
"Hah, well that would be ideal. But you'd have to travel all the way to Gnarlwood to even find a population of them and even then I doubt you would have the means to even capture one, let alone enough to fill a jar. Not to mention that would take far too long and we need a quicker solution."
"And what would that be?"
"You need to go get me dinner and the closest location is Dert obviously."
"So you want me to go bring someone to you?"
"Ah, no. Not just anyone. I want you to bring me a child. Girl, boy, doesn't matter. Youthful blood is always the best when it comes to humans."

While you probably would have had some difficulties even bringing in a regular Dert citizen, you believe you could have justified it if you brought in one that tends to be an asshole towards you every time you visit. But a child? You're a little hesitant on that request.

"I…I um…I'm not sure…" you say.
"Why not? If Ral told you he needed you to kill a child you'd do it." Isabella remarks.
"And that's only because this fucking spell would compel me to, it wouldn't be like I'd enjoy it."
"Tch. That's an excuse. You could easily kill yourself rather than kill a child. The geas doesn't prevent that."
"Can't you just do it?"
"Sure I could, but I'm asking YOU to do it. Now if you want the gray blossom, you're getting that child for me, although…"

Isabella at this point presses her entire body against yours and sniffs you, particularly your neck.

"You're a teenager, so I suppose your blood would do. It doesn't smell like you've been befouling it with a bad diet at least."
"I thought you said you weren't going to kill me?"
"I'm not. I'm just going to drink a little of your blood and I'm not even going to bite you unless you ask me to. I'm giving you an out here. You can either let me feed on you, or go round me up a kid from the village."
"How do I know you won't just kill me or get so excited that you won't stop feeding on me?"

Isabella chuckles a bit.

"You think your blood is going to be just so tasty that I'm going to lose all sense of control? You certainly have a high opinion of yourself! But honestly? You don't know. But isn't the mystery of the unknown making it all the more curious for you?" Isabella asks with a cold touch of her hand to your cheek.
"Not really." You say.
"Well tough shit, because those are your options."

[User] You let her bite you

[Assistant]
"I can't do it. I mean I'm flexible on a lot of shit, but yeah I just don't think I can go get a kid for you to chow down on. I mean I'm not judging since I know that's what you have to do, but I can't be a part of that." You say.
"Hm, how wonderfully moral of you. So does that mean I have your invitation to bite you?" Isabella asks.
"I…I guess so. I'm just going to roll the dice here and hope to Yag that you're honest."
"Oh I'm honest."

Isabella smiles and at last you see her perfect white teeth complete with the slightly large fangs. You just hope this isn't the last thing you see.

Isabella pushes you up against a wall and presses up against you in a half seductive half predatory fashion.

"So…are you ready?" she whispers in your ear.
"As much as I can be I suppose." You answer.
"I want to hear you say it. I want you to beg me to penetrate your skin with my teeth and feast upon you like the chattel you are." Isabella demands.
"Wha…what?!"
"Say it!"
"Okay! Okay! I want your fangs inside me! I want it so badly! Give it to me!" you exclaim.

Without another word, Isabella bites down on you and you feel her fangs enter. It hurts at first and then it's uncomfortable, but after a few seconds of Isabella sucking, you're starting to just feel weird. It's kind of sexy really.

As she's doing her thing on you, you start to feel dizzy and light headed. You think you might collapse, but Isabella is holding you up so you don't fall.

Oddly despite believing that you're very likely going to die, you decide to at least get one thrill out of the situation and wrap your arms around Isabella's lovely naked body and grab her ass in the process.

Then you pass out.

The next day you wake up in the middle of the graveyard. Your neck is sore and you've got a letter in your hand. You read it soon after you realize you're not dead.

Thank you for a lovely evening. Your blood was quite delicious; I suppose you were right to worry that I may not be able to contain myself, however I resisted much to your relief no doubt.

In your pack, you will find several gray blossoms from my garden, I hope Ral finds that adequate because he's not getting any more from me and you can tell him he's still an asshole.

I have also kept the sprite blood. I don't like to drink it, but I know of other uses for it.

May your servitude to Ral end soon.

Isabella

P.S. Don't be a stranger, now that you know the way.

A dubious offer to be sure, but at least she seems to like you, or your blood at any rate.

It's a little sad that vampire violation is the best thing that's happened to you since leaving Teckleville.

At least you didn't kill a kid you suppose and you got to touch a vampire's ass. So, that's something.

After checking your pack for the gray blossom, you get up off the ground, rub your neck a bit, and set off back towards Ral's place.

When you arrive, Ral is in his lab so you just go lay down since you still feel a bit lightheaded from the blood loss.

Eventually Ral finds you.

"You're back. Well?" he asks.
"There are a bunch of gray blossoms sitting on the table over there." You say.

Ral looks and goes to gather them.

"Hm, didn't expect to get this much. Guess she really liked the blood." Ral says.
"I'll say." You snort.
"You didn't have any trouble?"
"Not really. She was very accommodating."
"I am very surprised to hear that."
"Oh, she did tell me to tell you that you're still an asshole."
"Ah, well that does sound more like her."

Ral, satisfied with your explanation and quite frankly just happy you got him what he sent you to get, takes his leave.

You suppose you could have told him the whole story, but would it have even mattered or would he have even cared? No to both.

Besides, you figure what happened between you and Isabella was "special" enough that it should just remain between the two of you.

[User] You time passes...

[Assistant]
Year 19

"…and stay away from my daughter, mage minion!" you hear the angry farmer shout as you run away and still attempting to get your pants back on.

You soon make it out of Dert and take a breather.

Ever since the citizens of Dert finally realized that you were "working" for Ral, (Nobody ever really bought the herbalist story) their attitude towards you hasn't gotten any better. If anything they're even less friendly.

Good thing for you they're a bunch of ignorant cowards at heart because they're reluctant to just string you up since they think it might draw Ral's ire somehow. A few even believe you're magical. You aren't really going deter that sort of thinking despite the reality that Ral could probably give a shit if you got killed or not.

Of course some (like bored wayward farmers' daughters) find your "mysterious aura" enticing. Another type of thinking you aren't exactly going to deter either.

Still, you probably shouldn't push your luck. Fear and hesitation can easily be overridden in a quick moment of violence. Then again, it's not like you've got much else to do with your time.

You return to Ral's home and find that he's actually expecting you AND he doesn't have a menial task for you for a change.

"I need you to go get me a blood gem." Ral says.
"Blood gem? Gee, that sounds like it involves vampires again." You answer.
"No, no, no. There aren't any vampires this time around, just a lot of sotakians or lizard folk as you might call them."
"Didn't know there were any sotakians in the area."
"There aren't, you'll be going to Sotak Swamp. The sotakians use blood gems in their idols, so just seek out one of those and you should be good."
"Uh, not that I don't live to serve thanks to the spell that forces me to, but isn't that pretty far away? I don't think I'm making it back in a week and that's if I even knew how to get around there in the first place."
"Don't worry about that, you're going to have a guide and you're going to be teleported to a relatively close to where you need to be. When you get the item and back to the original location, you'll be teleported back here."
"Hm, well I guess that makes things slightly easier, who is this guide?"

Ral points to a small winged being flying in from the next room. You guess he's a fairy of some sort, but you couldn't guess what kind. He doesn't look happy.

"This is Tych, your sprite guide. He'll be able to direct you to where you need to go." Ral says.
"Sprite huh? Weird to see one alive this time rather than just the blood." You say.
"Yes, Tych you could say was most inspired to save his own life when I first encountered him. In return for his servitude rather than death, it was he who gathered twenty of his kind in one place and made that process a whole lot easier."
"Wait, how long has Tych been here and where's he been? This is the first time I've seen him."
"Oh he's been here maybe about as long as you have and you haven't seen him because I tend to keep him in my lab where I can keep a better eye on him. Sprites, like most fairy folk tend to be tricksters and Tych in particular is one of the more treacherous of his kind. In fact you may find him to be very friendly towards you since he'll probably be trying to convince you that you two should work together to escape. I of course advise you not to listen to such nonsense that will only get you into more trouble."
"Great, and you're sending this little devious bastard to guide me?"
"As long as you insist on sticking to the task I've given you, he won't be able to resist helping. So don't listen to anything else he says and you'll be fine. Think of it this way, you're his direct superior and what you say goes."

You're not sure about this, but as always you have little choice in the matter so you gather up what equipment you believe is going to be useful and return to Ral who says a few words and before you know it, you're blinded by a flash of light.

As you're still shaking off the effects of temporary blindness, your guide is in no hurry.

"Take your time plivik. It's been awhile since I've been outside so I'm going to enjoy every moment we're out here." Tych says in a high pitched squeaky voice that almost makes you want to laugh.
"Where exactly are we anyway?" you ask finally getting over your condition and finding yourself in new surroundings.
"Oh we're in Gnarlwood Forest, not too far from the border of Sotak Swamp. More specifically we're in a fairy circle or an old abandoned one at least. Of course even abandoned ones have magic to them, probably why Ral sent me with you too. Makes the teleportation connection easier for him to cast. He's not nearly as powerful of a wizard as he thinks he is."
"Hm, well he's still got the pair of us doing his dirty work."
"True plivik, but that won't last forever. If we work together we'll be able to overcome his magic that's binding the both of us to him."
"Oh? How so?"

Tych giggles a bit.

"Ral has made a big mistake in letting me come back here! We fairy folk as you may know are magical by nature, but I cannot break our magical chains by myself. However, my village isn't too far from here and it would help the both of us plivik. With their help, Ral's spell could easily be overcome." Tych says.
"Why would they help me? I'm not a sprite." You ask.
"What does that matter plivik? You're still a being in need of help. I can see you're not a bad person, and just like me, you are just forced to serve a bad master. If you tell me to guide you to the other sprites, we can go right now."
"You keep calling me plivik, what does that mean?"
"Oh, it's just a word in my native tongue. Just means friend."
"We're friends all of a sudden?"
"We both don't like Ral and wish to be free of his chains correct? I'd say that already makes us have enough in common to be friends even if we just met, plivik."
"Ral said you would be friendly towards me to do something underhanded and that I shouldn't pay any attention to what you have to say unless it directly involves the task."
"Well of course he's going to say that, plivik. He wants to keep us divided. He also told you that I lead twenty of my people to be ground up into into blood paste. I guarantee that I would never do such a hideous thing even to save my own life! He used a spell to capture us all and it was only by pure luck that he decided to keep me around as a pet to torment. You know he keeps me in a glass jar on his lab desk and shakes it around?"

You can see how this is going to go. You're going to have to play "Who's the liar?" the whole time during this task.

"I think we should stick to the task for now." You say.
"Oh I understand your hesitation. How about this, we go get the blood gem first and when we return here then you can decide to return to Ral or go to the sprite community I mentioned. That should give you time to decide whether I'm trustworthy or not. Just think about it okay?" Tych says.
"Hm, I suppose that's reasonable."
"Great! Now let's get this task underway then."

Tych goes on to tell you due to his own capture, he's hoping that his information about the area is still the same. He tells you that from your position he knows that there should be a sotakian place of worship within a day's walk.

"Now if we head north and then west there's a clearer path to where we need to get to. We're going to have to be careful to avoid elven patrols though. Just hope they aren't on heightened alert because that's going to make sneaking around a lot harder." Tych says.
"I don't suppose the fact that we're planning on desecrating one of their enemy's idols would make them friendly?" you say.
"A good idea, but it wouldn't make any difference. Elves are a bunch of territorial assholes. They think EVERYTHING in Gnarlwood forest is under their control. As a human, you'd still be seen as an interloper and most likely killed. And as for me, well let's just say it wouldn't be much better than Ral's magical enslavement."
"Sounds like it would just be easier to immediately go west and bypass the patrols."
"You would think that, but chances are it would take just as long due to all the high marshes and sinking bogs in the area. That's not even counting whatever creatures are lurking there. Not even the sotakians make their homes that way and consider it sacred ground due to the daquala population in the area."
"Wait, what's a daquala?"
"Oh, they're a creature about the size of one of your dogs but a whole lot more vicious and meaner. They can also camouflage themselves to practically be invisible. However, I don't think they would necessarily be a problem, they tend to sleep a lot and most of them should be hibernating this time of year. You're more likely to get swallowed by quicksand or a giant swamp serpent honestly. Still, I suppose if we got lucky it would cut our time by half. Up to you, plivik."

[User] You go through the swamp

[Assistant]
Either way sounds dangerous, but if one way is going to be quicker, you might as well take that one though you have one major concern.

"You sure these daquala things are hibernating?" you ask.
"As I said, most of them probably are this time of year, but that's not certain. I still say the quicksand and sinkholes are more of a hazard, since I'm going to be able to tell you if daqualas are in the area. Their camouflage doesn't work so well against Sprite eyes." Tych remarks.
"Good, then you keep a look out for those things and let me worry about where I step."
"Very well plivik."

Before you set off, you break off a piece of a low hanging branch so you at least have a good sized piece of wood to test solid ground with.

Doesn't take too long before you and Tych get to the edge of the forest where the ground is starting to become more noticeably wet and softer. You start using the branch as well as relying on Tych to scout ahead.

Tych goes on to say, he's fairly certain that there is a smaller sotakian village if you keep heading west. He also mentions that it should still have some sort of idol since the sotakians are pretty serious about their worship.

As you and Tych travel through the swamp, you find that Tych is a bit overly talkative in general. He even acknowledges that he is, but he's just so happy to talk to ANYONE who isn't Ral. Most of his talk concerns Gnarlwood and Sotak swamp and how elves are a bunch of assholes, so it isn't completely useless banter though you're more concerned with his chatter calling attention to you what with the invisible monsters possibly around.

"Hey look, while I get that you like to talk, I also like to live. I'm already not happy about being ankle deep in water, so cut with the chatter and keep an eye out for those invisible things or whatever your magical pixie eyes show you." You snap.
"Pixie? I'm fucking sprite, not a fucking pixie you fucking plivik!" Tych angrily responds.
"…fucking friend…what? Wait a minute, what does plivik REALLY mean?!"
"Take a guess asshole! Fucking pixie…"
"Alright! Alright! I fucking apologize! Shit, I didn't realize there was that much of a damn difference!"

Tych sputters for a moment, as he's too angry to even speak about your ignorance on the matter.

"There are a shitload of differences!" he exclaims.
"Well how would I know, both of you guys are tiny and fly around with your little wings right?" you say.
"How would you like it if I called you an orc instead of a human because to me you're both big, ugly and stomp around on your feet because you're not blessed enough to even have wings in the first place?!"
"Ah, but orcs are green and that's a very obvious difference!"
"And pixies have less shiny wings! Have you even SEEN a pixie? They're not as pretty as we are and live around fucking fungus! If they didn't have wings they'd be as low as brownies!"
"Okay, keep your voice down, you're getting all excited and the whole point I was trying to make in the first place was for you to shut the hell up."
"No! I'm not going to shut the hell up when it comes to…"

And then right before your eyes, you see the side of a large reptilian face pass right in front of you as it swallows Tych whole. The rest of its long legless body follows as it splashes back into the water.

It might not have been a daquala, but Tych did mention large water serpents in the area.

The serpent makes a second pass and while you block with the branch you have, you still get knocked down.

Now that you're in a more prone position, he serpent attempts to coil around you. You pull out your short sword at this point and give it a few hacks, which is enough to cause it to swim away though you aren't entirely sure if it's gone. Not like the water is transparent enough to see through given how muddy it is.

You stand up and make your way out of the area as quick as you can. You dropped your branch somewhere in the water when you got knocked over and with Tych dead, you try to go back the way you came because you certainly aren't going to be able to navigate through the swamps this way.

Your only hope is get back to the forest and follow the road into the swamp and hopefully from there you'll be able to find a better path to a lizard village. This isn't a good situation.

And of course it only gets worse when it gets darker and you're jumping at every unfamiliar sound thinking that it's some beast ready to pounce. Naturally you end up going thigh deep into mud thanks to being preoccupied.

You curse and struggle at first until you remember that you're not supposed to struggle when in this situation. Of course you're waist high by the time you remember.

You stop struggling and try to find something solid to grab on to so you can pull yourself out. For once you get lucky and manage to slowly drag and twist yourself so you can grab ahold of a rotten stump.

"Okay. Okay. I can get out of this…" you say to yourself.

It takes awhile and sometimes it feels like you're being pulled in deeper by some force other than just nature, but eventually you make it and drag yourself out. You're soaking wet, muddy and tired, but you're out.

"Shit…thank Yag…damn…" you pant.

Not wishing to be in this part of swamp by the time its pitch dark, you get up using the stump once again as leverage, along with a nearby soft rock.

Soft rock?

And that when you find out your left hand was not on a "soft rock" at all, but a sleeping daquala who completely drops the camouflage when you wake it up.

It's so quick that you don't quite see what it really looks like except that it has many teeth.

Many MANY sharp teeth.


[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 don't drink the bottle

[Assistant]
"I don't think so Jack. I've never trusted you and I'm not about to start now. You can shove your invention up your ass and give yourself an enema with it, because I ain't drinking the shit."
"Always with the colorful and inventive vocabulary Wolf. (Sigh) Very well, it's your funeral. You'll see." Jack says and walks away.

When you enter the arena area, it's just a big empty white room with another door on the other side of it. High above you can see Henry on an upper floor with a clipboard behind some glass. He waves to you and speaks into a microphone.

"Okay Wolf, we're going to start off slow, this subject hasn't been injected with as much of the formula so I'm guessing you shouldn't have any problems with him. Try not to kill him though, since we DO want some of them to survive!"
"No killing eh? Well I suppose there's a first time for everything, alright Henry send in the victim."

No sooner has the human entered the room, and you've already run up and drop kicked him in the face! You don't allow him to get back up, and end up breaking one of his legs by totally destroying his knee. He's in extreme pain and expresses it vocally.

"Damn Wolf! What the hell!?" Henry shouts.
"Hey you said not to kill him, you didn't say anything about not breaking bones."
"Alright, drag him out, and bring in the next one."

This goes on for the next five fights. The subjects are getting tougher, but so far you haven't had too many problems. You've notice a severe change in the subjects though, mainly being bigger and more vicious, they're starting to not even resemble humans anymore, and in fact they resemble "Mr. Hyde" but even more out of control. You look up where Henry is located and you notice he seems to be laughing and joking with Jack. He addresses you again.

"How are you doing Wolf?"
"I'm a little tired, but I'm okay."
"Okay Wolf, you've been doing well against one opponent, let's see how you do against three."
"Hey, you're supposed to be testing their fighting skills not mine."
"Well you're kicking their asses, so I need to see them at least on equal footing."
"Who are they supposed to be fighting? If they're fighting other humans then you've succeeded, there's no way a normal human can beat those steroid freaks I've been fighting. I don't even think most of the alien races, humans have come in contact with could stand up to them. I'd say your formula is a success."
"Wolf, I'm the scientist here, just a few more tests."
"Fuck that, I'm done. I'm going home and getting some sleep, I'll be taking my money now."

When you try to go out the way you came in, a solid metal door slides from a hidden panel to block your way.

"Don't think so Wolf, we're done when I SAY we are!" Henry then begins to laugh maniacally and when a Mad Scientist does that, well it's never good. And it's really not looking good when three lumbering hulks come through the opposite door all intent on doing you massive harm.

[User] You fight

[Assistant]
They're already upon you, so there's nothing else for it, you'll have to fight, but you still have a plan to escape.

As soon as the first hulking freak is trying to bash your head in, you dodge and rake him across the eyes. This earns you a flailing backhand to the wall as it roars in pain, but you've effectively taken him out of the fight. Now the other two attempt to take advantage of you while you try to recover. You narrowly miss a punch that puts a large crack in the wall.

"Goddamn it, kill the fucking mongrel!" Henry screams.

You run up to the blind subject who's still wailing and lumbering around swinging at anything. You jump up on its back and hold on as it tries to grab you. The two other freaks decide to tackle the both of you. As soon as the first one lunges into the blind one with a sickening crunch, you leap from him and on to the back of the second freak and then with all your might leap again through the glass of observation area!

"Sucks to be you Henry!" Jack says and runs off in the corner and takes off his clothing in a vain attempt to hide. Henry doesn't say anything, he just reaches into his lab pocket for something; it's a vial which he fully attempts to drink from.

Not wishing to deal with Mr. Hyde, you quickly knock the vial out of his hand and grab him by the throat. Henry looks helplessly over at the vial which falls to the floor and shatters leaking out all its contents.

"Got any last words before I rip your fucking spine out?"
"Urg. (Choke) Wait! Don't you want to know why? See it from my point of view?"
"Fuck no! Besides Jack tried to warn me before all this shit went down, I thought he was lying though. Looks like you turned out to be the treacherous one. Too bad, I thought you were one of the few alright humans I knew."
"Hold on, we can still work this out, I mean maybe I…"

You silence Henry's pathetic pleas for mercy, with a quick snap to his neck; you don't bother doing anything else, since you don't really feel like wasting any more effort on him. You look down into the arena area where the three subjects have now turned on each other in a spectacularly bloody way. You can still sense someone in the room you're in.

"Jack! I know you're here! I might not be able to see you, but you know damn well I can smell your scent!"
"Hey, calm down Wolf, I did try to warn you!"
"Yeah I know and that's why I'm not trying to kill you too, well that and the fact that I'm too damn tired, maybe later."

Jack quickly changes the subject away from his possible death.

"Well I suppose you'll be wanting your payment. You might as well have it, since you did me a favor by killing Henry anyway. Now I can test my own serum, and I won't have to share the credit with him. There's a briefcase under the table over there."

You go over to pick it up, check it and head home where you collapse on your bed. You'll be feeling the pain from all of this for days.

Still, it beats being a "guest speaker" at a comic convention.


[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 check out the Barn, They often have second levels and old hay makes a comfortable enough bed.

[Assistant]
You wander over to the Barn, may as well check it now that you are this close, though you are disappointed. The entire place is picked clean and the second level where you hoped to rest for the night has been collapsed down onto the floor. This place will be useless for shelter.

You head back outside and head over to the house to see what might be left behind and are quickly disappointed there too. The entire place has been ransacked with whatever was left destroyed, you do find human remains in the basement though. "looks like this is where they tried to hide from the infected or looters, had no idea that a single old trapdoor was not a good defense against attackers" You think to yourself as you examine the smashed in wooden trapdoor. This place will be useless for shelter, there isn't a single whole door in the place.


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

[User] You go with George to the Miller Farm

[Assistant] You and George set off towards the Miller Farm but you never get there. One evening you reach the little town of St Joseph and as you are trotting your horses down the street two lawmen armed with rifles emerge from an alleyway to your right. "Hold up your hands men, you are under arrest!" one calls out. George immediately raises both his hands but the thought crosses your mind that rather than surrender you could lean down your horse's left flank and try to spur it into a gallop for safety. That would be far more dangerous than just surrendering however.

[User] You surrender

[Assistant] Slowly you raise your hands and allow the lawmen to take you into custody. You and George are swiftly imprisoned and put down for an early trial, around the same time both John and Ol are shot and killed while trying to escape arrest. Your trial is a simple affair: you and George are both found guilty of armed robbery and both receive a fairly lenient sentence of three years imprisonment. You serve your time and when you are both released George decides he is done with crime and is ready to go straight. You have no such intention and immediately arrange to meet Cole Younger, Frank and Jesse James at the farm of your mutual friend Clell Miller to resume your outlaw career.