[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 buy the Special Shelter

[Assistant]
Experimental or not, it sure sounds better than being crammed into a shelter with a bunch of other people like sardines. At least you don't have to worry about having to share anything, and if something goes wrong well you'll deal with it when the times comes like you normally do.

Or maybe you won't. You aren't going to dwell on it to much.

"Okay I'll take the Special Shelter."
"You will? I mean, that's wonderful sir! You won't regret this decision! Now I'll need to know some vital information about yourself before I can direct you to our nearest experimental shelter in your area where upon you shall pay the automatic teller just inside the foyer of it so that the main door can open and you will be able to enter your new residence during Armageddon! Okay let's start with your name sir."

You give out your name, address and such. It's all pretty routine stuff.

"Okay well that's about all the information I need. I'll give you the price and the location of the shelter sir."

You are given the location of the shelter which you are surprised to find out is closer then you think, it shouldn't take too long for you drive there. You are then given the price, which is pretty steep, quite frankly its going to break you. However if the world is ending it's not like you're really going to need money anymore. Which makes you wonder why GZS is in business at all. What's the point of going to the trouble of building bomb shelters for Armageddon if all the profit they make is most likely going to be useless in the aftermath?

Oh well that's not your concern, you're just glad you managed to get a shelter. The voice gives you some last minute information.

"Okay sir, you are now in the system and registered. You may move into your shelter at anytime as long you pay the fee required to the automatic teller as previously described to you. If you don't pay, you can't get in obviously. Cash, check, or debit card are acceptable. NO Credit Cards will be accepted! You may take whatever you wish with you into the shelter; it will be your new home after all. There will be an owner's manual provided inside your new shelter. Any problems you encounter you should be able to troubleshoot yourself if you read and follow the manual. I'm sure any problems will not be life threatening sir, and there has been a back up system also installed in the unlikely event of total shelter failure since your survival is our foremost concern at GZS! Now then I trust our transaction has ended. If you have anymore questions please contact our customer service line. Good day sir, may you maintain relatively stable mental health and thank you for choosing Ground Zero Survival!"

That's it, all you have to do is get what stuff you want to take with you and move in. You might as well pack your things now, no sense in waiting until you see the nuclear cloud. You pack up some extra food and water, a repair kit (since it sounds like you'll probably need one) some basic medical supplies, and a few other useful items.

Oh and your pistol.

Still, part of you is reluctant to leave the "real world". You wonder if you shouldn't stick around a bit longer to see if the climate changes…you'd hate to spend your life savings and the world not be bombed into a nuclear wasteland.

[User] You leave immediately

[Assistant]
You leave immediately; things aren't going to get better you know that, in fact you're glad, because in a strange way the idea of not having to live in the world as it exists today anymore is weirdly appealing to you.

After a couple days of driving you finally arrive at the location that you were given. It's in a fairly desolate place with a single solid metal structure with a door standing there. You park your van and enter the structure with the items you brought with you. You're in a small foyer with an elevator door and ATM like machine; you're guessing that's the automatic teller you were told about.

You press some buttons on the machine, where it proceeds to ask your name and how you're going to pay. You type in your name and insert you debit card where upon it completely drains your account.

"You have been allowed entry, the elevator doors will now open, thank you for choosing Ground Zero Survival!" an  emotionless electronic voice remarks as the elevator doors open.

You enter with all your belongings and take the long elevator trip down.

When you get to bottom the elevator door opens to a sterile, but obviously large and well equipped living area. As soon as you enter, the elevator doors slam shut and you hear it going back up, you also notice there aren't any buttons to call it back…before you're able to worry about that little detail you're met by another electronic voice…it actually sounds a lot like the female voice you were talking to on the phone…

"Welcome to Ground Zero Survival Shelter Number 23! You will find that this shelter has been equipped to serve your needs in the event of total World destruction! Due to power saving design and money back guarantee concerns, fully functional shelter facilities will not be available until Armageddon occurs. Until then you will find all other doors firmly locked, please do not attempt to open them. I have detected that Armageddon has not yet occurred as 84% of the countries on Earth still maintain a stable centralized government system and 70% of the land surface is still habitable. However the world conflict rate is 92%. Prediction that Armageddon will occur in a month or less. This shelter will become fully functional at that time.  In the unlikely event that Armageddon does not occur and the conflict rate drops to an acceptable level, the elevator will return and you will be able to leave this shelter and receive half of your money back from the automatic teller in the foyer on the surface."
"Wait a minute didn't I talk to you on the phone?" you ask the voice, not really knowing if it's going to answer back.
"…I don't think so, as far as my databanks are concerned this is the first time I have been in contact with a human since I was built sir. Is it okay if I call you sir?"
"Sure, go ahead." You answer.
"Wonderful sir!"
"Hey, so I can't explore this damn shelter even though I paid for it? I have to stay in this living area?"
"Not until doomsday sir. As I said this is to conserve my power and also to prevent buyer abuse in case of non-Earth destruction. Do not worry sir; this living area alone can support your needs until the appointed time. There is a basic food and water dispenser on the right wall."
"Buyer abuse?"
"Yes, think about it, here you are using up all the wonderful facilities that this shelter has to offer for months on end while the Earth teeters on the brink of destruction then suddenly through a miracle hostilities cease. You then would be able to leave, get half of your money back and go about your life. You think it would be fair to GZS if we let you get away with basically having a luxury vacation on our dime? Just because we are in the business of your survival, does not mean we in the business of being exploited sir"
"But…I paid for this!"
"And so you did sir, and you will be able to use ALL the facilities when the time is right, until then you can enjoy the living area, oh and the bathroom sir."

One of the metal doors opens up to reveal a normal (And again sterile) bathroom.

"Gee thanks."
"You're quite welcome sir! After all I'm here to serve you!"
"You kept saying I would be able to leave if the world doesn't blow up…can't I just leave at any time?"

The voice doesn't answer for awhile.

"…I'm sorry sir I'm puzzled by your inquiry."
"Can't I leave anytime I want?"
"Why would you want to do that sir? I have been designed to keep you safe from harm as soon as you paid and entered the elevator. The current world situation is very grim and most likely terminal sir. Allowing you to leave at this point would be a severe violation in my programming."

You suddenly realize you're here now regardless of whether you're having second thoughts about this situation. You can see why these shelters were "experimental" now. You try not to think about the potential waist high shit you might have gotten yourself into, and instead try to think about how you might've just avoided becoming a statistic in a nuclear exchange. You resign yourself to your current fate and start unpacking your stuff. You could do with a little distraction from your current predicament, so you turn on a TV monitor that has been provided. The fact that the world's situation hasn't gotten any better seems to cheer you up.

You spend most of your time on the couch, watching TV and exploring what you can. You're glad you brought some of your own food, because the dispenser food doesn't taste all that great. You're guessing it's just supposed to keep you alive, nothing more.

 As the days blur into the next, the shelter and TV you apprised of the world situation, which is only getting worse. It looks like you've made the right decision…

Monday 8:00 AM

"…BEEEEEEEEEEEEEE…"

You groggily wake up and see a test pattern on TV.

This is it.

Suddenly the TV turns itself off.

"Armageddon has arrived sir! This shelter is now fully functional! Please explore and enjoy all the things this facility has to offer!" the voice beams.

At this point all the previously closed metal doors in the room unlock and open (Except for the elevator ones of course) After taking a quick check, you find you now have a small library, a computer room and a proper bedroom. When you return to the living area the voice chirps up again.

"Sir, I highly recommend that you read the manual to familiarize yourself with everything properly first, so you aren't just fumbling around."

A small panel in the wall opens up to reveal a hefty owner's manual. You were wondering where the hell that thing was, since you were told you were going to be provided with one when you talked to the voice on the phone.

[User] You read the manual

[Assistant]
Maybe it's because you've gotten so used to the idea of being in the living area, you're more willing to lounge about there. You take the manual and start reading. While you're in the middle of it, the voice suddenly pipes up again.

"Sorry to bother your reading sir, but would you like to meet some of your new neighbors?"
"Neighbors?"
"Yes sir, I'm sure as you have already read, this shelter is equipped with a very high tech computer with loads of storage, information and…"
"Yeah, yeah, what does that have to do with this neighbor business?"
"In an effort to cater to all its customer's needs, GZS is well aware that socialization is vital to human mental health. Studies have shown that humans in long periods of isolation often go mad, so that is why this facility has been linked in communication to other ones within your area. You might think of it as a chatroom type form of communication commonly used on the old world internet! If you wish there is also a camera type device if you wish to show yourself to your new neighbors. We have found humans feel someone is more real to them if they can actually see who they are talking to and thus have a greater connection."
"So how many people are there?"
"This shelter merely has been fitted with a basic communication system to other similar shelters, and only then those in your area. For example this is Shelter number 23. Your neighbors are only numbers 20 through 25, those being the closest ones to your location. While obviously there were other shelters of this type built, it was not cost effective to link all the shelters together in such a manner given our timeframe to finish these before Armageddon, so only a few were linked together at a time. Do not worry sir; it has been found that six people are sufficient to sustain enough conversation to prevent mental failure due to isolation."
"Wonderful, so does this make me the Professor?" you ask rhetorically.
"Pardon sir?"
"Nevermind, look I don't have to talk to these people do I?"
"…well no sir, but I fail to see why you'd intentionally want to stay isolated."
"Duh, that was kind of the point of buying a shelter for myself."
"…I see, well I can't force you sir, but I would like you to reconsider…I'm just trying to look out for your physical as well as mental welfare as per my programming…"

If you didn't know better the voice almost sounds a bit hurt by your decision.

"Oh alright, I'll go talk to them. Can't be any worse than the idiots I used argue with on the internet."
"Wonderful sir! I trust you know your way to the computer room. You will find that a designation name has already been chosen for you."

You make your way to the computer room and take a better look at it this time. It's filled with lots of multi-media entertainment. You're glad they gave you a wide variety of movies to chose from. You sit down in front of a fairly wide computer screen which has already been turned on for you; you guess the Shelter is really keen on the idea of you being social. You don't turn the camera on though, in fact you turn it away from you completely, you're not quite ready for THAT level of socialization yet.

You log on and begin typing.

OmegaMan23: Hello? Is there anyone out there?
RockerChick20: Hey! I'm here!
OmegaMan23: Oh. Okay. Hi.
RockerChick20: Hi yourself! This is just like a chatroom! Isn't this great?
OmegaMan23: Uh yeah real great.
Job24: Hey I'm here too; um do you guys have any movies or something?
OmegaMan23: Yeah I got a shitload of movies, DVDs and VHS. Most of them I even like.
RockerChick20: That's weird, I don't have too many movies, I have a lot of music CDs though.
Job24: What kind of music?
RockerChick20: All types, but I have a lot of them. Why?
Job24: I don't have any movies except those with Pauly Shore in them! He fucking sucks! And all my music CDs are New Age Yanni type shit! Thank god I have some games to play!
OmegaMan23:  I've got some games too, but for some reason I have nothing but Gangsta Rap and Hair Metal as far as music goes oh wait I also have some Classical. Weird. What the hell I thought these Shelters were all stocked the same?
MissKitty25: Apparently not, I have nothing but porno and not all of it is regular porno either, some of it is quite…bizarre.
Job24: Lucky.
CaseyJones22: Hey guys when do the Shelters become fully functional?
OmegaMan23: What the hell are you talking about?
CaseyJones22: I mean when do the rest of the doors to the place open up, besides the bathroom I mean.
RockerChick20: What do you mean? The doors were all open to begin with.
Job24: Yeah they were always open.
MissKitty25: Yeah.
OmegaMan23: They weren't open for me! I was stuck in the living area until the nukes hit! Wait a minute how are you using the computer if you're stuck in the living area? In fact if the doors were all open for you guys haven't you been in contact with each other before?
Job24: My computer didn't link up to you guys until just now. I could use it to play games and such, but I couldn't do anything else with it. When I turned it on today I got a message saying that the communications to you guys was operational and it said I could take the opportunity to say hi to my five new neighbors.
RockerChick20: Sounds like what happened to me.
MissKitty25: Same here.
CaseyJones22: Me too. Oh and you guys must have different shelter designs because my computer is in the living area.
OmegaMan23: The Shelter never told me anything about this stuff and it's been quite talkative since I've been here let me tell you.
CaseyJones22: The Shelter talks? Now what the hell are you talking about?
OmegaMan23: I'm talking about the Shelter, you know the overly chipper voice that tries so hard to please you?
CaseyJones22: You've lost me dude. You been smokin'?
OmegaMan23: NO! I'm talking about the Shelter voice! It's a computer or something that talks to me! It's always trying to be friendly! Don't you guys hear it?
RockerChick20: Um, no.
Job24: No talking computer here.
MissKitty25: You sure you're feeling okay and aren't imagining things? I mean we all were isolated for a long time before we were able to talk to one another. I know sometimes I would talk to myself, maybe…
OmegaMan23: Look, I'm not fucking crazy alright?! The damn thing even insisted that I talk to you fuckers!
CaseyJones22: Okay dude calm down we believe you! Maybe you got some sort of extra special shelter; I mean from the sound of it we all don't have the same things.
RockerChick20: Hey shouldn't there be one more person here? The message said five new neighbors on my computer; so far I've only met four of you guys.
OmegaMan23: Yeah we're missing number 21, whatever his or her name is.
Shadow21: I'm right here; I've just been reading the conversation.
OmegaMan23: Oh really? Well you mind announcing your presence next time?
Shadow21: I only speak when necessary, besides if any of you bothered to check you would've seen my name listed on the active list.
Job24: Hey what kind of movies do you have?

Well you've met your neighbors, the question is if you want to bother talking to them on a regular basis or not. You did find their information interesting though.

[User] You continue to talk to them as frequently as possible

[Assistant]
Your curiosity is peaked and you take the opportunity to talk with the others whenever you can. The Shelter is certainly pleased you are being social. Months pass and you all learn more about each other more or less. (Though only RockerChick has even hinted at turning on the cameras to see each other visually) You have to admit though you're a little more interested in what's going on their shelters.

From what you can tell RockerChick has a shelter similar to yours with just a few differences in equipment. Her personality is damn near as "chipper" as the Shelter. She likes talking with everyone, but seems to like speaking to you a lot more. Must be your "winning" personality.

Job's shelter is a lot like yours too except he's constantly complaining about various things breaking down and he has to fix. Last time he said he damn near got crushed by his own bed when it suddenly rose back up into the wall when he was sleeping. He doesn't have much in entertainment either, so he's always glad to talk with anybody. Mainly to complain.

CaseyJones' Shelter STILL hasn't become fully functional! He's effectively trapped in the living area and bathroom. He has his computer to talk to everyone but little else. He doesn't really seem to care though; apparently he brought a shitload of weed with him and has somehow created a small hydroponics pot farm in his bathtub (He doesn't see the need to bathe since he's not in contact with anyone) He says he plans on spending the Aftermath completely stoned. Job can't understand why Casey isn't freaking out about his situation.

Apparently MissKitty has a more "homey" type shelter. From the description it sounds like it's bigger than any of yours and not quite as "sterile". She has a hot tub in her bathroom and some other luxury type items. MissKitty tends to brag a lot and is rather an uninteresting person other than the weird porn she watches and describes sometimes. Job often complains that it's wasted on her.

As for Shadow, he or she barely ever talks. Shadow makes his presence known, but then just lurks and doesn't say anything. Most of the others forget he's even there, but you always keep it in the back of your mind and will address him when you feel the need. So far the only thing he's mentioned about his shelter is how dim the lighting is.

One thing that you've been tempted to do is use the private feature and talk to one of the others in private. The only ones that interest you are RockerChick and Shadow though. The first because she seems friendly with you. The second because you're kind of suspicious of Shadow and you're hoping to learn more.

[User] You talk more in depth with RockerChick

[Assistant]
No point in spending the Aftermath worrying about shit you can't do anything about, you might as well focus on what little chance you're going to have of female companionship again. You take the opportunity to ask to talk to RockerChick more privately one day, unsurprisingly she agrees.

RockerChick20: Hey! You're the first person to want to talk privately to me!
OmegaMan23: You're kidding; I would've thought the other guys would've been jumping at the chance to talk to you.
RockerChick20: Well I see you're the charming type, that's alright though I like that. But sadly no, the other guys haven't. I think Casey's so busy getting stoned most of the time that any extra effort on his part would be too much for him and Job is too busy complaining about his latest shelter problems. And if Shadow is a guy, he's been pretty tight lipped as usual…although MissKitty has been talking with me a lot lately. I get the impression she's been wanting to see a lot more of me if you know what I mean, but she's a bit too self-involved and doesn't seem that interesting. Maybe if I didn't have any other options, she might have a chance.
OmegaMan23: Wow, I guess it's a good thing I made my move then.
RockerChick20: Guess so. So! Are you just going to continue being a faceless entity or do I finally get to see you and learn your real name?
OmegaMan23: Well, okay, but only if you do it too.
RockerChick20: Well of course, we'll do it together! On the count of three! One, two…

And true to both of your words you turn on your cameras and see each other for the first time. After telling her your name, she tells you her real name is Becky. She certainly is attractive, but she seems a lot younger than you, like barely out of her teens, if that! You wonder how the hell she could afford one these Shelters since you're probably at least ten years older than her and with your salary you could barely afford the damn thing.

OmegaMan23: If you don't mind me asking how old are you?
RockerChick20: Nineteen! How old are you?
OmegaMan23: Probably old enough to be considered a pervert to be talking to a girl as young as you. How did you afford one of these shelters, I went broke getting into this thing, not that it matters now.
RockerChick20: Oh my parents had a lot of money and they gave me a lot of it. I registered about one during one of my spending sprees; I didn't actually expect to ever use it. I even thought it would be a cool place to gather all my friends where we could party one day.
OmegaMan23: So if you didn't expect to use it, what changed your mind? The slow realization that the world was going to shit on TV?
RockerChick20: Not really, I barely paid attention to the news. I ended up getting into a fight with my parents and ran away from home for the umpteenth time. I usually didn't go far and stayed with friends, but I really wanted to try to worry them, so I figured I'd use this shelter for a little while! Little did I realize that I'd be trapped down here, I couldn't even get my cell phone to work to call out. After panicking for a few days, I resigned myself to thinking that my parent's might figure out that I came here since they knew I registered for one of these and were pissed off about it. As I watched TV in the passing days that's when I started seeing how bad things were then one day the TV displayed nothing but snow and I knew what had happened. The world blew up. Sometimes I wonder if my parents were still looking for me…
OmegaMan23: I'm sure they were.
RockerChick20: Maybe. It got really bad the last time. They were control freaks anyway…they didn't really care about me; they just wanted to run my life. I don't wanna talk about them, so what about you?
OmegaMan23: What about me what?
RockerChick20: What's your story silly! Surely being as old as you are, you have some interesting stories to tell! All you old guys do.
OmegaMan23: Talk to a lot of old guys do you? Is that before or after they buy you candy?
RockerChick20: Lol. ALWAYS after! I'm not a slut! No, I like older guys they know so much more about everything.
OmegaMan23: Not really, we can just bullshit better than younger guys.
RockerChick20 Lol! You're really funny.
OmegaMan23: See I told you.
RockerChick20: Ha ha! Okay let's be serious for a moment. Tell me about yourself.

You proceed to give some information about yourself, which probably isn't nearly as interesting as some of the stuff she's told everyone when you were talking with her in the public network. Becky seems to be a bit of a free spirit which doesn't really surprise you and the fact that she's into older guys doesn't really surprise you either as most girls her age go through that phase, and given she didn't really have a good relationship with her parents, she's probably sub-consciously looking for a father figure.

About a month passes and you and Becky get comfortable enough to start having "sex" in a fashion. It's not exactly the same being cyber and all, but you'll take a hot naked chick touching herself and typing dirty words to you over nothing. The Shelter is pleased that you are finding a healthy way of releasing your sexual tension, but it really creeps you out that it keeps track of such things.

A few more months pass and it's obvious to the others what's been going on between the two of you. Casey thinks its "cool". You get the impression MissKitty is a bit jealous, but doesn't really say anything. Job, sensing he missed his chance keeps unsuccessfully directing his attention to MissKitty now, and Shadow actually becomes more talkative in general.

Soon you all learn each others names. Casey's is Paul, Job is Mark, MissKitty is Miranda and Shadow (who you finally find out is male) is Xavier. Everyone actually sees what each other looks like except for you who continue to refuse to show yourself to anyone, but Becky in private and Xavier who's a bit hard to see since his lighting is very dim.

In general things are running smoothly and you and Becky have as close of a relationship as you can over a computer. Even you're surprised that such a thing is possible.

A year passes...

Suddenly you all get a distressing message from Paul. He says his food and water dispensers have ceased working and he can't even get his bathroom facilities to work anymore. He says he knows he doesn't have much time left, so he logged on one last time to tell you all good bye. Xavier states how fucked up that is. Mark naturally freaks out worrying that he'll be next to suffer total shelter failure. Miranda gives her sympathy and you ask if he has any tools to fix the problem, but he says he didn't bring any of that kind of stuff with him and there don't seem to be any tools in his shelter either, at least none that he has access to. This incident gets Becky pretty upset, but more so in private with you. She always liked Paul since he was a cool guy. You do your best to try to comfort her. You however are starting to get paranoid again.

While it's certainly possible Paul's shelter failed on its own, lord knows these things are supposed to be experimental and his wasn't working right from the beginning. However, you're starting to wonder if it's possible for someone to maliciously hack into the other ones. When you first started all this "meet the neighbors" shit, you were wondering if Xavier was up to no good when he was being all silent in the beginning, but maybe he was sizing you all up and is beginning his strike now though.

Picking you off one by one.

[User] You are being paranoid, forget about it

[Assistant]
You stop yourself from imagining conspiracy theories. There doesn't need to be some mysterious "hacker". Paul's shelter was fucked up from day one from what you know. It's most likely just shoddy GZS workmanship. It's bad what happened, but there's no point in stressing over it. You're just glad you got a good shelter that seems to work properly. Besides your Shelter has a pretty active AI, you're sure that at the first sign of trouble it would warn you verbally.

You continue your life as normal with Becky.

Another year passes...

Mark stops logging on for two months which is strange, because he always made an effort to get online whenever possible even when he was in the middle of fixing something. You know he also thought he was "getting somewhere" with Miranda as well.
Everyone doesn't say too much about it. While it's possible he's just lost network connection and can't access the rest of you, it's a given that probably the worst has happened. He was also having shelter problems from day one, so again you chalk it up to GZS fuck ups, after all the Shelter did tell you there were budget cut backs in the construction of these things. Again it's bad, but there isn't any point in dwelling over something you can't do anything about. The world technically ended years ago, all that's important is that you get what enjoyment you can out of life and that's what you're doing with Becky.

Life continues as normal, except you notice the Shelter isn't as talkative anymore and then ceases speaking to you at all. You don't think too much about it until a couple months later…

You wake up to an angry female sounding voice and it's definitely not the Shelter and it isn't Becky either.

"Well it took me awhile, but I now have complete access to your systems. Good thing I practiced on Mark and Paul first. You know I didn't believe you had a talking shelter, but I'm glad you did, it gives me a chance to verbally tell you about how you're going to die."
"Miranda?"
"Got it one, but then again the choices were pretty limited. Soon after you're out of the way, Xavier will be next and then it'll be just me and Becky. She'll have no choice, but to come to me."

You're so caught off guard that the only reply you can come up with is…"You're fucking nuts."

"Maybe, but I'm not going to be dead and that's the important thing here."
"Wait! How about I just break up with Becky? I'll be a real dick to her, that way there's no chance she'll want to get back with me…or better yet how about I just disconnect myself from the network?"
"Sorry, no. I can't take that chance. Even if you disconnected from the system what's stopping you from fixing all the damage I've done so far, fortifying and then reconnecting to get revenge on me later? You gotta die, it's the only way."
"Wait! If you do have access to all my systems, how about you just bring the elevator down and let me leave the Shelter? I mean I'd have to go outside, I wouldn't be able to do anything to you or Becky then, not to mention topside probably isn't hospitable."
"Nice try, but no…for all we know life topside could be paradise now. A few years have passed you know, a lot can happen in that time."
"Oh come on, you don't actually believe that?"
"Not really, but I just want you to die by my hand…I REALLY don't like you. You stole Becky away from me and now I'm going to get her back. No more talk, goodbye."
"WAIT!"

All power shuts down in your Shelter leaving you in complete darkness. You fumble around and head towards where your food and water dispensers are and predictably they don't work. You're left to the same agonizing fate that Mark and Paul were. Oddly you don't panic as much as you might think in the face of imminent death. In some ways you had a good run after the world ended. You cheated death for a longer time than most folks did and you got to spend time with a pretty girl at least during most of it. Again, no point in worrying about shit you can't do anything about. Kind of wish you got to say goodbye to Becky, but you can't have everything.

You do have one advantage that Mark and Paul didn't though; you can still choose when to die. You feel around in the darkness back to your bedroom and go into the bag you brought with you when you first got here.

There it is; your pistol.

You position it to your head…


[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 help Greusim

[Assistant]
You whip the axe, the blade burying into the archer's shoulder blade.  He screams in pain as he stumbles to the side, almost tripping over Greusim.  He tries to pull the axe out, but Greusim gets a hand on it first.

Still on the ground, he wrenches the axe out, swinging it back around and slamming it into the Imperial's stomach.  He doubles over as the chief rips the axe out, and the Imperial falls to his knees clutching the wound.  With a savage cry, Greusim arcs the weapon back around, burying it into the Imperials neck.  He falls twitching and gurgling as his blood seeps out into the earth.

Panting, Greusim pulls the axe out, tossing it to you.

"Thanks," he says, and you nod at him.

The other orcs seem to be wrecking the column pretty well, even though several orcs have been shot down by the deadly volleys.

"Well, let's get to i-" Greusim says, almost stumbling as an arrow rips into his back.

You ride over, looping around the tree and lopping off an archers arm.

Several more materialize from the trees, firing at you.  Ducking you circle back around, hopping off your horse.  Sliding behind a tree, you and Greusim ready your bows.

Stepping out, you don't realize the archers were trying to creep up on you.  You slam your notched bow into his, causing his arrow to hit the dirt, before bringing yours back and shooting him in the throat.  He gurgles as he staggers to the ground.

Before you know it, the archers are charging you.  A couple arrows flying by you as you draw your axe.  To your right, Greusim cracks a couple of skulls with his club.  You deflect a sword, chopping into an Imperial's shoulder.

One jumps onto you, grabbing you and trying to restrain you.  His friend tries to run you through with his sword, but you step to the side.  The soldier's sword plunges into the tree, and as you raise your sword he desperately tries to yank it out.  He screams as you spill his blood onto the grass, specks hitting the tree.

The archer on your back grips your forearm, trying to turn your sword into you.  You chuckle and jab the sword back, the tip stabbing him in the face.  He cries out and you throw him over your shoulder, stomping on his neck to silence him.

You look up, ready to take the next one, but you see them laying crushed and bleeding around Greusim.  He pants as he kneels, deep cuts and gouges all over him.  Three arrows protrude from his back, side, and hip.  The archers must have thought the other two were going to kill you, and decided to all focus on him.

"Chief!" you cry out.

He stands up, waving you off.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he says, "let's go find the rest, Nolazir."

You nod and go with him to find the rest, mounting your horses.  As you ride out you see that both columns of archers have been destroyed.  The lawless orcs on the hill must have swept down and fought the knights, as evidenced by the butchered corpses on the ground.

Greusim climbs onto his horse as you ride forward.  Before you can do anything else, a loud cry rises up from the forest behind you.


[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 find another ship

[Assistant] You decide to resume service at sea and look about for whom to serve. William Bligh is now Captain of the HMS Calcutta, you could serve with him. Sailing Master John Fryer is now serving with the HMS Britannia. Lieutenant John Hallett is with the HMS Penelope. Lieutenant Thomas Haywood is the Lieutenant Commanding of the sloop HMS Swift. Lieutenant Robert Tinkler is aboard the HMS Isis. Sailmaker Lawrence LeBogue is serving aboard the HMS Jason. You can choose who to follow.

[User] You captain William Bligh

[Assistant]
You join William Bligh and serve with him for the next twenty years. You are with him at the Battle of Camperdown in 1797 and fight for him under Nelson at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801. In 1805 you accompany him to Australia to rule as Governor and stick with him when he is deposed in yet another mutiny, a Rum Rebellion in 1808 in which he is imprisoned for two years before returning to England. He is cleared of blame once more, serves at sea for three more years before retiring, a Vice Admiral. He dies in 1817 at the age of 63.

You live on, well into your sixties and in your later years you finally learn what happened to the Bounty and its missing nine Mutineers, including Fletcher Christian. In 1808 an American ship, the Topaz, happens upon isolated Pitcairn Island. There the sailors are astonished to discover a thriving Tahitian Community ruled over by one man: John Adams. He is the sole survivor of the nine Mutineers and six Natives who landed on that island and variously killed each other or died of illness leaving Adams patriarch of a thriving community of forty-six people. The Admiralty decides against taking any action.

John Adams, the King of Pitcairn Island, dies in 1829.


[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 be a musician

[Assistant]
This is all you've ever wanted. Just play music. You'll be able to do it now for all eternity if possible. You'd be a fool to turn down such a chance.

"Lord Rostov, I wish to play music."

Lord Rostov smiles at your response.

"Ah yes, I was hoping you'd chose the way of the artiste rather than the warrior. Your talents will be better served here. In the meantime you will be shown to your new room. Ladies, I think you two should escort our new bard. Don't have too much fun, you've got a performance tomorrow!"

You are escorted by a couple of female vampires to your room. They say their names are Glasya and Natasha. They seem to make a fuss over you on your way there which you don't find completely unwelcome, but you're still getting used to the whole idea that you're a vampire just like one of them now, despite also being excited over getting to play music on a steady basis with no hindrances.

The two vampiresses get even friendlier with you when you get to the room. Natasha begins to take a more aggressive stance and kisses you as the pair of you get on the bed. As the two of you are undressing, Natasha who is on top of you nods to Glasya who leaves the room.

Ten minutes later as you're fully engaged in physical pleasure, Glasya enters the room again with what looks to be a captive human girl. She doesn't look very old either. Probably a teenager. Her mouth is gagged so she can't scream out properly.

"Wha…what's all this?"
"Shhhh, your passage to true vampirehood…" the Natasha says continuing to grind into you.

The human girl is dragged over to the bed with fear and tears in her eyes the whole time. Glasya draws out a blade and holds it to her throat.

"Would you like me to cut now or would you prefer I prolong the fear? Perhaps remove her gag first so that you may hear her screams? Or maybe you'd even like to sink your teeth into her yourself?" Glasya asks and licks the side of the young girl's face.
"What? Shit! No wait!" you say stopping Natasha, and sitting up. "I thought we were just having some fun here! Not killing young girls!"
"Why do the two need to be mutually exclusive? Broodling, you have been favored by Lord Rostov, I suggest you count yourself lucky and get with the program…besides you're one of us now, you will need to feed on blood to survive." Glasya says with a frown.

You look at the girl and you shake you head briefly realizing what else it means to be a vampire.

"Alright, alright, I got it. But can't I like feed on animals first and uh work my way up or something?"
"Squeamish broodling! You will take the blood of this girl or Lord Rostov will hear of this weakness! While he may be impressed with your music abilities, he will not tolerate weaklings!" Glasya continues to scold.
"Besides, why do you care whether this…mortal lives or dies now? You do not know her and you are now superior to her in everyway. It's your right…" Natasha says while kissing on your body."

You don't really have any choice in the matter. You almost curse yourself for getting yourself into this situation. You stay silent for awhile and then speak.

"Very well. Slit her throat, but do it quickly." You say.
"(Sigh) Very well." Glasya replies disappointedly.

The young girl's throat is slashed and blood sprays over you and Natasha who greedily opens her mouth to catch it. Glaysa tosses the girl's dying body onto your chest and begins to undress as well to join you and Natasha in this blood feast.

The night is definitely long, memorable and decadent. A little piece of you has "died" namely the vestiges of morality.

A few months pass and you don't even hesitate anymore. You enjoy the blood as well as your playing for Lord Rostov's court.

A year passes and you've become completely oblivious to the worsening of the "outside world". (Which you don't even think about since you're so rapped up in your own pleasures) Each day the Necromancer Lord and Velzix get stronger and you stopped worrying about your family's future. You don't even write to them anymore. You've become so corrupted in such a short amount of time its actually amazing.

Another year passes and you're basically a hedonist. This is what Lord Rostov's "secret fortress" is all about for the most part. Sure there's discussion on what should be done about the outside problems, but pleasures of the flesh and blood are mainly the orders of the night. You don't even realize it, but you ARE literally a "leech" now. All vampires have ever done is leech off of the mortal world. Sure there are the "active ones" but there are far more hedonists. Ironic that the ones who choose to be professional killers, assassins or "heroes" tend to still retain more of their mortalhood.

Lord Rostov eventually mentions in passing that he's finally come up with a perfect plan to kill the Necromancer Lord. He's managed to come to some sort of deal with that old outcast The Ghoul King to betray him sometime in the near future. The goal is to lure the Necromancer Lord to the fortress itself and kill him directly.

Again you could really care less, and you've become little more than just another hedonist in Lord Rostov's court. Lord Rostov has it all figured out, you don't need to worry. You're safe in this little "world."

A few months pass and the plan swings into action. One night while you're playing for the court as usual a loud noise is heard in the foyer and the sounds of shouting and crashing is heard. Lord Rostov takes a few of his concubines and tell everyone else to stay put, though everyone is a little curious. Even you.

You go back to playing a little bit and things are starting to return to their "original state" since everyone figures Lord Rostov has the matter well in hand.

Soon another noise is heard which sounds like the shrieking and screaming of multiple people.

"AAAAAARRRGH!"
"LORD ROSTOV! NO!"
"GET HIM!"
"KILL THE NECROMANCER!"

Everyone for once goes into a battle mode to rush to Lord Rostov's aid. A deformed and ugly creature runs into you, while you're trying to wrap your mind around this chaos.

"Get outta my way broodling! He's gonna kill us all! I've fucked up…heh, but at least the rest of you fuckers are going to die!" he growls at you while desperately looking for a place to hide.

You don't know what to do, but suddenly you feel a presence overcome you. Like someone is controlling your mind. This isn't even like Lord Rostov, its even more powerful and its growing stronger…

You continue to hear the screams of vampires as you can't help but approach the way to the slaughter. You see vampires killing each other in the hallway! How is this possible? But you know why, it's HIM…

The Necromancer…or whatever he is now has managed to enforce his will even over vampires. You see him in the distance. He's not even dirtying his hands killing all of you himself. You can feel his loathing for your kind and then you're completely pulled into his domination.

"And now little blood leech you shall join your brethren…" you hear him whisper in your mind.

Another vampire suddenly punches you in the back of the head. You attempt to get up, but then feel a foot to the face followed by a sword going through your back. At this point you feel a something you haven't felt in a long time, fear.

Then your head is ripped off in the ensuing bloodbath. Later after total victory has been achieved, the Great Lich Lord burns your body along with the rest of the truly dead vampires.


[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 memories (Van Helsing)

[Assistant]
The Hunters: The Van Helsings

No group of humans ever actively caused as much trouble for the bloodsuckers than the Van Helsings. You'd actually like them, had they not hunted Werewolves as well.

The Van Helsing family had a long standing tradition of hunting Vampires, they eventually stretched out to hunt other monsters as well, but Vampires were always their main target. They first got their start sometime during the medieval ages and each generation just continued the tradition.

Oddly just as monsters had to adapt to the changing times, so did the Van Helsings. No longer could they just barge into a house and kill someone because they were a Vampire, indeed most of the people who were bitten by Vampires claimed it was consensual and there for the Van Helsings had no right to intrude on what two beings did in private. Subterfuge abounded as Vampires in high political offices or positions of power manipulated laws to encourage more "liberal" policies. This still did not deter the Van Helsing family, but it did cause disillusionment and less of them enthusiastically took up the tradition of monster hunting.

Abraham Van Helsing is probably the best known one for his continual hunt and battles with Dracula. Despite his best efforts he could never defeat him and ultimately lost all his friends and his life in the finally confrontation. (Yes, the movies like to give the "happy ending" to the tale, but reality is always much darker) His son Ishmael Van Helsing took up the mantle next, but fearing to follow in his father's footsteps he didn't pursue Dracula. Instead he hunted less powerful Vampires and other monsters, including you. There were a couple times he attempted to assassinate you, but the last time he tried, you managed to catch him and rip him limb from limb.

Jacob would be the next one to take up the mantel, but he showed little interest in it, and that would seem to be the end of Van Helsing tradition.


[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 head back to Aftermath

[Assistant]
You can't go in and kill Velzix just by yourself. This wasn't one of your best ideas, you decide you better head back before you attract anymore demon attacks.

Catalina meets you when you get back and tells you that The Ghoul King has been iching to strike against the Vampire Clans and that he's going to do it, with or without your direct help.

You're too tired from your recent ordeal to even argue or do anything about it. You tell her that he can do what he's gotta do. If he wants your help, Hessan and whatever pitiful army he can muster up is his to command. You don't care.

You retire to your study where you reflect upon what will come next.

Five years pass…

It's been ten years since you took control of Aftermath and now it looks like that's all finally coming to an end.

The Ghoul King's assault upon the Vampire Clans was a failure, though it was damaging enough for them to never again bother you again. You have to move some necromancers into the Drozz region to take command there, which stretches you out a bit, since you didn't need to worry about it so directly before, having the Ghoul King there and all.

After years of fighting a three way stalemate, at last one side makes progress and unfortunately it's Velzix. Without your Dad's constant meddling and sabotaging, Velzix manages to permanently open up a large portal to his home plane. He declares all out war on the entire world determined to turn it into the same hell he once called home.

The Grand Alliance attempts to stop him, but is soon crushed. You hear that your sister died defending the capital of the Zalan Empire during its last days. You can only presume your Mom suffered the same fate, seeing as she lived there as well. You hope that the pair of them have gone some place better

With the last bastion of "good" out of the way, Velzix turns his attention towards you. You won't go without a fight though. For every bit of land he takes, you make him pay for it in demon blood tenfold.

It's no use though, the hordes of hell are without end and while the dead are certainly just as numerous, you're the only necromancer powerful enough to command epic armies of them and you are only one standing against hell itself.

Aftermath is besieged and ultimately falls to demonic armies. Catalina is killed during the attack and you disintegrate her body before escaping through a portal to Drozz as you refuse to let it be desecrated by demon scum.

You wage a guerilla war in Drozz for months, and you can't help but realize you've become much like the Ghoul King; hiding in a hole while demons take over the world. For awhile you actually have some peace as the demons soon outnumber their "enemies" and begin to follow their natural instincts of in-fighting and you're forgotten.

When the next winter comes you're caught out in a heavy blizzard while foraging for food. You're not going to make it back to your hiding place.

Exhausted, you fall in the snow thinking about the hell that the world has become and how you're partially responsible. Eternal sleep is welcomed.

You embrace the blessed death that you once held mastery over.


[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 crawl away from the immediate area

[Assistant]
You're in the middle of a danger zone right now and you're still feeling woozy from that gas, you need to get out as quick as you can.

You crawl away just in time for the chimera to try to sting you again, though now that one of its faces isn't on fire anymore the creature is advancing along with the bull. Summoning all your energy you cast a cone of frost at the pair of them. You actually get a few other enemies and several allies in the blast as well, but whatever gets the job done.

The chimera and bull try to advance despite being slowly frozen solid and they actually make a few more steps, but you keep up the spell ignoring the drain its taking on you. You soon have several ice "statues" in front of your area. Grabbing the mace of a dead soilder nearby you take several swings at the frozen chimera smashing its body parts into frozen bloody chunks. You then turn your attention to the bull.

"A shame this couldn't have been a fair fight. You were certainly worthy of one." You say and with one mighty swing you smash the bull's head in and kick the rest of the body over. It's going to be a mess when it all finally thaws out.

A quick glance up displays several winged bodies falling out of the sky, some of them on fire. The Storm is holding so far, but you can tell by the thick black smoke emanating from it that it isn't without damage. The second airship however is coming along and already engaging the enemy.

In the distance ahead of you, you see that your kobold teams have successfully dug underneath the battlefield and started to flank the Torites. Even with the element of surprise most of them are probably going to end up getting stomped on by the minotaurs and centaurs, but they'll at least be in a position to disrupt the satyr mages.

The confrontation rages on for the remainder of the day and you find yourself all over the battlefield, either giving commands or doing battle. At one point you even find yourself fighting side by side with Decena. While it is no doubt a big thrill for her to actually fight along with you, you actually enjoy it as well. It reminds you of when you fought along side Alison as Decena also has that instinctive knowledge of complimenting your fighting style, but then again she should considering you trained her.

Day becomes dusk and finally to night though the sky lights up spectacularly when the Storm gives out its final service when part of it explodes turning the entire ship into a blazing wreck dropping to the ground fast. Both sides run for cover and out of the area while attempting to avoid the burning shards already hitting the surface.

Still even with this loss, your side is definitely winning. Most of the centaurs are dead, the one who aren't, have long since galloped away. Most of the satyr troops are dead as well with the few remaining starting to retreat. All their large beasts such as the manticores and chimera have all been slain. The harpies still alive from their assault on the Storm have flapped away. The only ones still putting up any resistance are the minotaurs and that's because they're too stubborn to retreat, but eventually they'll be overwhelmed.

By the time the clash is finally over the moon is hanging high above the battlefield causing a minor luminescence over the numerous dead on the battlefield. This is definitely going to be one that the scholars and historians are going to write about.

While you stepping over the dead and passing by soldiers taking well earned victory celebrations (or just taking well earned rests) Decena comes running up to you.

"Hey, I've been looking for you. We got split up after those manticores attacked. I mean I knew you weren't dead, but I just wanted to know you were okay." Decena says.
"A few minor wounds, probably some new scars to look forward to, aching muscles and joints, extremely tired, but other than that I'm fine. How many in your army left?" you ask.
"Quite few. I don't think my side recieved the brunt of the Torite attack though turning our golems against us was certainly a surprise. Galen managed to rectify that though, even if it did cost us the use of them."
"Oh, survived did he?"
"Yeah, thanks to Captain Flevas. I know a lot of people don't like elves, but he was invaluable on the battlefield."
"I wouldn't have promoted him and transferred him to your command if he wasn't. So besides Galen did any of your other wizards survive?"
"Unfortunately none."
"Same here. The Torites were successful in that regard. (Sigh) Successful in that endeavor as well." You say pointing to the still flaming wreckage of the Storm in the distance.
"Well at least we still have the second airship." Decena says.
"Oh we'll have more of those, no doubt. Wizards, not so sure about. I'm thinking the age of using battle mages on any large scale might be coming to an end. Better keep what talent we still have left at home in case of an emergency." You reply.
"I wanted to ask you about something else, did you ever find out more about the traitors in our ranks? Only a few hours before the conflict with the Torites and it was all over my own camp about how you executed General Ackerson in front of his command and warned everyone that you know others were involved in a conspiracy against you."
"Oh that. No, but given that the only ones trying to kill me today were the Torites I'd say I squashed it, but I still will have Warrick do a full investigation to anyone close to Ackerson though I can guess a few of them now. I have to believe that Sini who I replaced Ackerson with was involved, being his second in command and all, however Sini has redeemed himself by dying in battle loyally. Saves his family the embarrassment and saves me the need for another execution later."
"I'm just glad you're okay, but then I shouldn't have worried I suppose, you're the Emperor and nothing can ever destroy you."

At this point the pair of you have entered your tent and Decena grabs your hand. Decena looks at you with a mixture of concern and adoration. The same adoration she's had since you took her as your student. While it's definitely true your actions and position have probably molded her into these feelings, she's also not a naive babe in the woods.

"Emperor, I need to ask. Now that we have this time together are we ever going to pick up where we left off or are those days over?" she asks.
"Did you want to continue that sort of relationship? I don't want you to feel obligated that you have to because of a loss of self control on my part in the past." You say.
"Do you regret it then?"
"I regret that I have made things unnecessarily complicated for you. I probably just should've had you enrolled into the Eye training camp or even the regular army. Would've made things a lot easier for the both of us."
"But then I wouldn't be as good as I am. I wouldn't be able to serve to my fullest capabilities. You managed to bring out my full potential. I doubt if I would've survived this very battle without your personal training. You are my Emperor and I will loyally continue to serve the Empire no matter what. But I need to know how things are going to be in the future so that I may conduct myself accordingly towards you."

A reasonable request.

"Decena, it would be a lie to say I don't feel something for you, but those feelings are tainted with a lot of negative past experiences of my own. Most of which I don't even want to get into right now, but rest assured my reasons for initiating the more intimate nature of our relationship was more than just simple loneliness and weren't exactly positive motives. In fact they were downright twisted at times and I don't think you're quite aware of some of the things I thought about doing to you. This isn't even counting the fact that you're in competition with a ghost to a certain degree and that's hardly fair to you."

Decena of course knows you're referring to Alison. She's probably always known that you still have never completely gotten over her. Not with the way she's seen you stare at her portrait for long periods of time back when she was at the palace.

Decena has her answer.

"I…see. Very well my Emperor. I understand that it is time for me to grow up and put aside the silly emotions of a young girl. I shall no longer trouble you with my immature displays of affection or letters but… know I shall continue to… (sniffle) love you in the way that a…"

Decena can't even complete her sentence. She might've even known this was a long time coming, but it still doesn't make things any easier. She reaches out to hug you and you embrace her. She tries to stop herself from completely crying, but she's struggling with this a lot.

"You'll grow stronger from this and move past it Decena. I know you have it within you to do so." You say in an attempt to be reassuring, she looks up at you with tears in her eyes.

"Can I just make one request, (sniff) my Emperor?" she asks.
"What is it?"
"Can…for just tonight. I lie with you one last time? We…don't even have to do anything…I just…if this is going to be it…I want to experience your body next to mine one last time."

While you're not exactly sure if this is going to make things harder or easier for her, you don't have it in you to say no at this point.

"Of course Decena."

With those words the pair of you lie together one last time.

The next day when you wake up Decena is already gone. Not gone from the area, just from your tent and back at her camp probably giving her soldiers orders to move out and head back to the nearest settlement for supplies.

"She'll be fine." You say to yourself though you don't know if you're exactly convinced of it. You suppose you'll see in the future.

And while you know it probably was the "healthiest" thing to do, you'd also be lying to yourself if you aren't going to miss that part of your relationship with her completely.

Who knew that between an army of rampaging beastmen, traitors in your ranks, and a visit from Semra, breaking up with a young woman would be the most emotionally draining?

[User] Continue

[Assistant]
Year 45

"…and even with your natural gifts and after your training is over in six years, your true service to the Empire will have only just begun. You will all be expected to perform to your fullest capabilities because as Eternals you are to be the very best that the Empire has to offer. And out there you will need to show that to our many enemies so that they never forget it. Duty, loyalty, valor and the will to survive, these are traits I expect to see in all of you for I am always watching. Remember this." You say as your parting words to the new Eternals.

"YES EMPEROR! LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!" they all say in unison.

Brenda tells them to take a brief break while she follows you out of the training center.

"You've done a very good job with them Brenda." You say.
"Thank you." Brenda remarks.
"No, really. I know I sort of dropped this in your lap, but you've really taken the reins on this. I mean I couldn't have done it better. From what I've seen they're well on their way of becoming an effective fighting force AND you've managed to keep most of them alive in the process. Had it been me two thirds of that class probably would've been dead by now under my harsh training."
"Ah, but those left alive would probably be more lethal than the ones I've trained." Brenda points out.
"Perhaps, but they don't need to be put through similar rigors that I faced, I just need them to be better than our enemies and loyal to the Empire. From what I've seen, I have no doubt that will be the case when they finally come of age."
"Well despite my less unforgiving and more cooperative training methods, I can't take all the credit for keeping most of them alive, their increased regeneration rates help in that regard. There was many times where I even thought a few of them had suffered fatal injuries only for them to get better given enough time. I believe whatever magic you infused during their tank time increased their regenerative abilities greater than our own."
"Their reflexes are definitely better too. Even at this age, I could see that during the training demonstration. At the very least, they should be on par with Decena in that aspect when they grow up."
"How is your one time pupil doing anyway?" Brenda asks.

You hesitate a moment, since you've sort of wondered that yourself. You no longer get the letters you once did from Decena which were more expressive. Now she only sends you official battle reports. Obviously she's dealing with the termination of your intimate relationship in a professional manner and is keeping your current relationship that way.

That being the case, you give Brenda the safe answer because that's genuinely all you know.

"Oh, she's still mostly combating the Torites. While the Battle of the Beasts three years ago pretty much broke their strength in the area, they still aren't out of it yet. I'd push forward to eradicate them, but with the need for consolidation of our winnings as well as last years purges, we've had to halt expansion for the time being. That's not even counting that the next place I want to turn my attention to are the city states south of the Broki province. I've had Eyes infiltrate most of them and they're infested with svelk." You say.
"Really? Like entire cities of them? I thought they were nomadic." Brenda says.
"Not anymore apparently, but it isn't actually entire cities, more like key positions of importance in the cities, but even one svelk is an infestation as far as I'm concerned." You answer.
"Surprised you're not just sending airships to bombard them."
"I'm fairly sure I wouldn't get them all if I did that. Airships while powerful are slow enough that any svelk would probably get the hell out of there before they even arrived. Besides, I'm not really looking to level the cities. Bombing one perhaps as an example, to get the rest to fall in line, but not all of them."
"Assassination?"
"Assassinations would probably work better since the svelk direct such actions against each other on a semi-regular basis, would take a bit of time though since if a lot of them start dying suddenly, they're going to know something is up and they'll relocate from the cities. Still, I suppose if we timed it right…hmmm, maybe I'll talk to Warrick about setting something up; in any case we still need to track down Eldolith. We know she is making her home in the cities, but she is proving to be completely elusive as far as pinning her down. Probably using a system of secret tunnels. Might be time to send in the kobold commandos to start digging around."

You and Brenda finish up your conversation with a couple of off topic subjects, but before you leave she says one last thing.

"I know you already thanked me for my work with the new Eternals, but I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you. Thank you for giving me a new sense of purpose. I know these Eternals' purpose is to loyally serve the Empire, but I feel like…I dunno…it's silly."
"No, what?"
"I sometimes feel like I'm their mother. I mean I'm not developing attachments to them or anything, but I feel like I'm doing all I can to make sure they survive in this world, because I really DO want most of them to survive. They represent the future of the Empire, and it will fall to them eventually to defend it."

You nod at Brenda's remark and touch her arm.

"And that, is why you were the best one for this job." You say.
"I suppose another reason I've been feeling a little more positive lately is the fact that there are now more of us. Eternals, I mean. Our numbers were always so few, but now with these new ones, I don't feel so alone I guess."

Brenda's feelings on this are probably related to the loss of her husband as usual, but you can't fault her for it. If this is something that helps her through the pain, then more power to her. Really you never gave it too much thought that there would be more of "you" around because as far as you're concerned, "you" were always unique to begin with. You weren't even supposed to be an Eternal, but here you are.

The next bit surprises you though.

"Oh and one more thing, the next time you see Warrick tell him, I'm sorry for being angry at him." Brenda says.

You smile.

"I'm sure he'll be glad to hear it." You answer and leave.

The next few days are actually spent working alongside Warrick to see if some sort of mass assassination attempt of the svelk would actually work. (You also relay Brenda's message and just as you figured, he's glad to hear it)

"Wait, so some of the inhabitants in these cities are actually former Felkan citizens?" you ask Warrick.
"Yes and it looks like some of them have been willingly working with the svelk out of revenge. In fact I now believe that the saboteur that tried to destroy the old Storm was from one of these cities. A couple of the other tight-lipped dissidents we've had killed during the last purge I believe were from there too originally."

You shake your head.

"Maybe I should just have the cities bombed out of existence after all." You say with a sigh.
"What I don't understand, is why we're bumping into them only now. I mean these cities are so far away and the refugee Felkans would've not only had to travel through gnoll AND Torite territory at the time, but also the Broki Kingdom. Surely it would've been easier to put down roots there." Warrick says.
"Well, who is to say some of them didn't? You're only coming across the more radical ones obviously. There may have very well been Felkans that just wanted to get away from the Empire and live a normal life. Granted if those individuals had just accepted Empire rule in the first, they could've done so anyway with little change, but that's a different topic."

You continue.

"Also the Broki Kingdom was fairly backwards and having strife of its own, I get the impression that the Felkans just wanted to get as far a way as possible from such things. This journey probably wasn't without its hazards. Combine that with losing your homeland and anything else that might've been personal, it's not hard to see where their hate would've festered to the point where the svelk took advantage of it. The ex Felkans are the tool that the svelk are manipulating. Maybe they don't have a nation proper anymore, but it's obvious that the svelk are definitely building the skeleton of one out of these cities states and they see us as the biggest threat to their new endeavors."
"It isn't just the svelk and these militant ex-Felkans we've discovered though, we recently came across something new. Something I know you're going to want to hear before proceeding with any plan." Warrick says.

Warrick tell you that there is another community but far enough away to be fairly isolated from the rest of the city-states in the area, in fact the community makes its home in a lone mountain.

"So…what they live in a cave?"
"Well not exactly. The Eyes have not been there, but apparently there is a whole city built into the mountain. Basically similar to what the derro do underground I guess, but they aren't derro. They're gnomes."
"Gnomes?"
"Yes, and from what information we have gathered, they're also from the former Felkan Kingdom. The funny thing is, they don't seem to have much contact with the rest of the city states. We know that the gnomes trade with the various cities from time to time and we know that there must be humans living in this mountain since those are the ones that do the trading. The place is called New Dessle."
"Hrm. Name of the former Felkan capital. So do you think they're working with the svelk in this conspiracy?" you ask.
"We don't know. Like I said, all we know is that they trade sometimes, it seems to be mostly minerals and it's fairly infrequent. If they are in league, they're keeping it fairly secret from anyone."

Gnomes. That puts a slightly different spin on everything. Between the svelk and the gnomes, you've got two of the most manipulative and smartest races working together to possibly destroy you.

Regardless of whether or not the gnomes are actually involved, it still would be best to gather more information, perhaps even more so.

"Until we've got more information, we're going to assume the gnomes are just the occasional trading partners. While MAYBE they're indirectly helping by trading material to these svelk influenced cities, I'd rather we deal with the immediate suspects first. Besides attacking a damn mountain isn't exactly in the budget right now." You say.

So you proceed with your plan. You keep the Eyes spying and gathering information and keep your own internal security tight. You also start having kobolds digging tunnels under the cities.

A few weeks pass and you receive a message. A human rider dropped off a box in a village in the Broki province. Before riding off he stated to the nearby peasants that they needed to deliver that to their Emperor. The box was obviously leaking blood and when one of the braver soldiers opened it, there were several eyes inside. A bloody note attached stated a warning from "Domina" Eldolith that all spies from the Empire will be killed and any further unwanted aggression on the "Confederacy of Free Cities" would be an act of war.

Never mind the fact that Eldolith started this by trying to assassinate you in the first place.

"She can't possibly be serious in taking us on. She may have discovered some of our spies, but we already know full well what her strength is and even with our reduced manpower right now we could take on the entire force of this so called Confederacy of Free Cities." Warrick remarks.
"Oh I'm sure she know that. She's backed into a corner and is doing typical svelk grand standing hoping it will work. To be quite honest I figured she'd eventually discover some of our spies eventually. The svelk aren't stupid, but they served their purpose in information gathering and they probably distracted the svelk from possibly discovering our kobolds running around underground. You can start pulling out the rest of your Eyes, we'll be attacking the cities soon. With any luck we won't let a single svelk escape and we can wipe out the remainder of the ex-Felkans as well." You say.

Kivan is nearby probably waiting to get your attention for some domestic issue. Normally he just waits patiently, but this time he speaks.

"Forgive my presumption my Emperor as I know war is your area of expertise, but what about the gnomes?" he asks.
"What about them? Our spies still have not uncovered anything that would suggest that they're helping. Even the material that they're trading couldn't be considered dangerous for the most part." Warrick answers.
"The gnomes will be dealt with later, Kivan. No need to worry." You say.

Kivan puts aside his scrolls and addresses you directly.

"I have no doubt that will be the case my Emperor, however it is my concern that the Empire not take any more potential unnecessary losses. The Felkan War took a heavy toll on the Empire. A toll that was not necessary had our former Emperor acted more quickly on the matter. The same could be said for the Shadow uprising."
"Watch your tone! YOUR current Emperor AND I both served to quell those incidents! Where were you? Counting beans? I suggest you stick to what you know advisor!" Warrick says raising his voice.
"You are correct Sightmaster, I AM an advisor. And as I said it is true, I am more of an expert in the mundane domestic affairs that keep the Empire running, I also have to deal with the effects these wars have on such things. If you attack now there will be hardship on the people, BUT our people are used to such things. What is a little more troubling is when unexpected problems pop up or long drawn out affairs."
"So what are you exactly saying Kivan?" you ask.
"I'm saying that the gnomes can't be trusted to live. When they rebelled against the Empire and ran away they managed to manipulate a collection of simple villages and towns and turn it into the Felkan Kingdom. Not only that, but they managed to build it up to the point where it actually surpassed the Empire technology wise and all of this was done in a fairly short period of time."

You continue to listen while Kivan expresses his point of view on this matter.

"Perhaps the gnomes aren't working with the svelk, but that's not to say they aren't still working against us. I can't believe that they wouldn't harbor some sort of revenge. I mean the ex-Felkans obviously do and all they lost were their homeland. The gnomes were systematically exterminated. I just believe that leaving the gnomes for later is going to give them more time to build up their defenses and just make it harder for the Empire to wipe them out in the future. Why take the chance?"

Kivan does actually make a pragmatic point. While taking the city-states isn't going to be too much of a problem, it's still going to take time and manpower. Your main concern with them is making sure you get all the svelk (especially Eldolith) inside. Consolidating, settling, and rooting out problem people will all take time as well. And while you're doing all that, the gnomes could be sitting in their mountain building some weapon (or weapons) of imaginable power.

They already built an entire city in a mountain, who knows what the escaped gnomes have been working on since their exodus?

[User] You attack the mountain

[Assistant]
The gnomes do need to be dealt with, the sooner the better. You agree with Kivan.

"Well Kivan, if this turns out successfully you may get promoted to be a war advisor." You say.
"I'd certainly be honored, but I believe my talents are still better served on the domestic issues. This was just an extension of those concerns." He says.
"Okay, so how do you want to handle this? Because if we are going to attack that mountain, we're going to have to still deal with those city states." Warrick asks you.
"Those are still going to be no problem, we're going to overrun those and then move on to New Dessle. We probably won't need the airships at all for the city-states; we'll just handle it conventionally. And while we're taking care of those, I'll send the airships to attack New Dessle. Attacking a mountain is going to be no easy feat, but with the airships we could at least blow enough holes in it to cause not only external damage but more importantly internal structural damage that could hopefully cause portions of it to come crashing down on their heads. Soften them up at least until our armies to arrive."

Warrick goes on to ask which offensive you're going to be personally overseeing and if you want Decena's army called in to help. You tell Warrick that Decena still need to concentrate on mopping up Torite resistance lest they somehow regroup. And as you said, you don't anticipate many problems from the city-states anyway.

As for which offensive you're going to oversee, you're not sure. Before this gnome business came up you were going to just oversee the fall of the city-states, but with the gnomes now being attacked, you wonder if you shouldn't be there to oversee that instead.

You then remember Warrick wanting to be involved in some of the frontline stuff recently.

"Well Warrick how would you like to over see the destruction of the city states? You've always said you wanted more work outside that office and get back in the middle of things, well here's a big thing to get right in the middle of Warrick." "

Warrick is surprised and honored by your decision.

"I…I thank you my Emperor and it will be my honor to command such a task. Does this mean you'll be travelling to New Dessel?"
"Yes, I mean as much as I'd like to personally see the destruction of the svelk and ex-Felkans I believe the gnomes are a bigger threat and as such my attendance in our first attack against them is in order. I do request however that if at all possible, bring that bitch Eldolith to me in chains if possible. If not, dead is just as good."
"I think that can certainly be arranged, my Emperor."

Invasion of the Confederacy of the Free Cities. (Which you didn't even know that's what this little group of city-states was even called until Eldolith's message) is prepared. You know Warrick has the skill to lead an army and will not falter at this task; you just hope that he will indeed be able to capture Eldolith alive.

As for you, this will be your first time boarding one of these airships. Since you had that purge of traitors (and potential traitors) you're not so apprehensive about boarding one of them now.

The Storm II is a grand ship and equipped with the best and latest weapons. The other five ships coming with you are equipped in a similar manner. You figure while the gnomes will certainly have cannons of their own, you'll at least be able to protect the Storm II with your magic somewhat.

Eventually you are on your way and the first thing you fly over is your army on the march toward the Confederacy's territory. The next thing you fly over is the Confederacy's territory itself where you see small groups of troops desperately preparing for the invasion.

When you fly overhead you can only imagine the excessive fear they must feel followed by the confusion when you by pass them entirely. The fact that you didn't attack might even worry them more, since now they'll wonder if you'll be coming back.

Your air fleet continues to fly towards New Dessel which looms in the distance. Part of you wonders just how much of a fight the gnomes will put up and how much damage you'll actually be able to do. You have it set up though for the airships to signal each other on where to fire so coordination will not be a problem.

When you arrive before the mountain, all the airships stop and prepare for your next command. To be quite honest, while the mountain is big enough that peak still looms above your fleet's current height the mountain is far from being something as impressive as the ones you've seen in Rask. Concentrated fire in a few locations should probably have the desired effect you want, and if all goes well, you might get closer to drop a few bombs.

"Well we didn't come here to sight see this marvel of nature, let's get on with it blowing it up." You remark and tell your crew to start signaling the other ships.

Within moments, all the airships are concentrating their fire on particular place on the mountain. Take a while, but you definitely start causing damage as boulders, dirt, rocks and debris all begin to rumble and fall causing the start of a rockslide in one area of the mountain.

You manage to do this on two more sections of the mountain before you actually start encountering any kind of resistance. Several "windows" in the mountain open up revealing cannons, which fire upon your ships. It really isn't too bad though.

"Start telling the other ships to fire at the cannons. Even if their mountain city seems to be holding up from the inside, we can still deprive them of their defenses." You command.

A few minutes after you give this command you sense a change in the air. Almost like that of lightning storm. You even begin to feel a little static…

Suddenly a flash of light eminates from the top of the peak and huge bolt of lightning hits one of your airships to the left causing it to explode spectacularly.

It didn't get hit and slowly make a fiery descent towards the ground, it actually exploded.

"SHIT!" you suddenly shout, probably along with several of your crew. You then turn your attention to the shining piece of metal on top of the mountain peak where the lightning blast came from.

"EVERYONE TURN AROUND! RETREAT!" you shout and tell your crew to signal the remaining airships to do likewise.

You're a sitting duck and you know it right now. You can't put up a barrier large enough to cover the entire airship, so as your airship begins to turn you attempt to directly aim your own magic bolts in the direction of the gnome's apparent "lightning rod" weapon.

Your magic hits around and even directly on target, but it just isn't enough to destroy it. You then have that feeling of electricity in the air again. Your hair begins to stand up and this time thanks to your attempt to destroy the rod, the gnomes direct their next blast towards the Storm II.

You see a bright flash and feel a brief sizzle throughout your entire body and then nothing at all.

And you never do get the pleasure of executing Eldolith yourself when Warrick captures her alive.


[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] The girl at the other end of the club

[Assistant]
You barely managed to choke out a "Hi" before she immediately grabs you and runs out of the club with you, By the time she stops you're quite a ways from the club.

"Oh thank God that we got out of there."
"Uh mind if i say what the fuck just happened?"
"Oh yeah, you must have a strong will buddy, that blonde chick was about to make you her next meal."
"I just don't like blondes all that much, besides what do you mean by next meal, and who the hell are you and why did you drag me out of the club like i was luggage?"
"Alright i guess you at least deserve an explanation"

The girl, who says her name is Alice, tells you that the woman at the bar was a vampire and that she was going to turn you into a blood milkshake. Alice then begins to tell you that she is a vampire hunter and that she was keeping the vampire from eating to weaken her and slay her when the sun rose in a few hours. She mentions that you might have potential as a vampire hunter seeing as how you resisted the bloodsucker but then she asks you to come with her to help her kill the vampire.
Decisions, decisions.

[User] You follow her

[Assistant]
Going with what you feel is right you follow Alice as she leads you to her hideout. The hideout is located in a shabby looking tenament that as far as you can tell has no obvious residents. She stops at the door and turns to face you. Look i need to ask you before we go in, how do you feel about vampires in this world?

Well? How do you feel about vampires existing?

[User] You vampires must die

[Assistant] "Oh well that's too bad." She states and near immediately tears off your head and begins to suck the blood spurting from the stump where your head was. Seems that vampires lie a lot.


[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 wait Behind The Tree And Cut Him Down As He Comes Along

[Assistant]
You prefer to keep things simple and avoid the convoluted.  Besides, a barbed trap would likely make him scream out before you kill him would it not?  You hide behind a tree and wait for the next goblin to make his usual round.  As he comes about you plunge your sword into his chest and immediately grab him so you can hide the body before the next patrol arrives.

You wait for the opening to come again, then quickly maneuver into position to stab the tent's sentry before the next patrol goblin comes around.  You peek inside to see the shaman sleeping (lucky you) and drag the sentry's body inside where it won't be detected.  You've reached the shaman, and he's still asleep, but you can't very well interrogate him here.  You pick up a candlestick from the nearby table and as he's coming to you clock him over the head with it.  You check for a pulse to see if he's dead or unconcious and thankfully, he's just knocked out.  You gag him and bind his arms behind his back because he won't be able to cast spells without his tounge and hand movements.  You use the same patrol opening to escape the camp and return to a spot distant from the camp.  You rouse the shaman to wake up and realize you are probably more scared than he will be.


[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 say "I am sorry for your losses"

[Assistant]
What can you say? The truth, you suppose.

"War is brutal, it is horrific and ungodly. It is savage and barbaric. That your son and husband died is tragic, but it is also a reality, and it is a reality that we fast approach. William will come here, and the killing will continue, because that is war. And in the world of today; war is life. It is terrible and tragic, but it is the life we live and I cannot shield you from that."

You search for more words, but none come. None are necessary. The woman exhales heavily, fixes you with a mixed stare, and then departs, melting into the crowd. Did those eyes hold forgiveness? Maybe. The crowd is equally divided; some seem unmoved, but many others look at you with a new appraisal.

Satisfied, you turn your horse homewards, and your escort follows.


[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 refuse

[Assistant]
"Fuck you! Becca, don't...!"

The cold metal of a blade slices open your throat as before you can get out another word as cold steel mingles with hot blood.

"Dumb bitch."