[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] Continue

[Assistant]
The idea is so repugnant to you that you can't even bring yourself to even lie about joining him. It probably wouldn't work anyway; you've never been a good liar. You breathe deeply before speaking again.

"Kane, I am NOT going to help you. Now you do what you must, and I shall do what I must."
"Told you this was a waste of time, let us be done with this." Cyrus says and points a small crossbow on his wrist and fires it at you, though Kane knocks his hand away causing the bolt to just hit your shoulder.

You fall back in your chair and grab the battle mage who was still standing by. He falls to floor on top of you and you break his neck. You feel a little dizzy though; whatever was in that dart is putting you to sleep fast.

You hear Kane and Cyrus arguing as large orcs stomp into the office and begin kicking you as you fall unconscious.

When you wake up, you hear an unexpected familiar voice, though the most unexpected thing is that you woke up at all.

"Hey, get up. Good thing that weak ass poison doesn't work on us very well." Edgar says helping you up.
"Edgar? What's happened here?" You ask looking around and finding yourself stripped of most of your clothing and in a cell.

"I knew he wouldn't be able to convince you. I told Kane that, but he kept going on about how you'd understand, just like how in time I would come to understand. He said that siblings may have their fights, but in the end they always make up."
"Is that how come he hasn't killed us?"
"I guess so, though I don't think Cyrus would have such sentimental feelings and would have us killed if he had more say in the matter."
"Well, Cyrus at least seems to be thinking like an Eternal in that respect. Kane has apparently gone completely mad though…how the hell did this happen?!"
"You got time for a story?" Edgar asks rhetorically before explaining from the beginning.

Edgar says that when he and Kane first arrived they were met with a little hostility from everyone else and while their prowess in battle earned them respect, they still were never really "accepted" by anyone.

Edgar says he didn't care of course and was content with the respect that he had earned and getting accolades for slaying giants and such. Kane wasn't handling the isolation as well and was becoming increasingly more withdrawn. He did his job, but he behaved in a manner that even the orc soldiers found a little unnerving. Nobody wanted to even eat with him, got to a point where the captain of the fort had to send him out primarily on scouting missions by himself.

Edgar believes that Kane must've really taken the split of the team harder than any of you could've known. He suspects that might've first lead to his quirk of referring to other Eternals as siblings. He would often mention to Edgar sometimes about how much he missed spending time with you all and couldn't wait for the day when you all would be together again.

"(Sigh) All he needed was for me to interact with him on a regular basis, but I was too busy concerned with my own glory. Time in this cell has really given me time to reflect on a lot of bad choices I've made in the present and the past."
"What's done is done now, but where does Cyrus come in?" you ask.

Edgar explains that Cyrus was transferred here four years ago as part of a replacement Shadow Guard detachment to help with the latest giant incursion. He knows Kane was sent on a mission with the Shadow Guard during that time and that's probably where they started to talk more to each other. Normally Shadow Guards don't interact with anyone other than other Shadow Guards, but Kane hung around him to such a degree that Cyrus eventually began to talk with Kane on his own accord.

"I don't think Cyrus' Shadow Guard buddies approved of it too much, but he was their leader so they didn't say much." Edgar says.
"So how did they control over the whole fort?"

Edgar explains again that Cyrus and Kane must've cooked up this plan in secret for years, as in time various changes began to occur.

The only initial thing that Edgar began to notice was the increase in orc troops being sent here. Granted there was always some stationed here, but now they were starting to out number the human soldiers, and he thought they were mostly going to the front lines on the Felkan border. However, this area was still very dangerous, so ultimately more orc troops here didn't raise any immediate alarms.

The next thing he noticed was that there were less and less attacks by giants and ogres, but Edgar chalked that up to him killing so many of them that naturally they would probably have less members to spare now. Not to mention with all the orcs here now, the giants were having a tougher time of it.

The third thing he noticed was Kane becoming less introverted and more aggressive towards the orcs. He witnessed several fights that Kane himself started with various orc leaders. He won with ease of course and it appeared as if he was just being combative out of boredom, but in retrospect there was very real purpose. To establish no doubt to as who is the "real leader." Captain Ian wasn't fond of this sort of behavior in any way though and reprimanded Kane several times, but it was obvious he didn't care.

"It was at this point I finally started to talk to Kane on a serious level, just to figure out what was going on with him. All he said to me, was you'll see in another year brother, with a great big grin on his face. Of course when that year came I found out everything. His private orc army. his alliance with the neighboring giant and ogre tribes, his plans to unite this land completely under him and take on the Empire itself. As you can see I didn't agree with his plans. I know I have my faults, but disloyalty isn't one of them."
"He's allied with ogres and giants? So wait, how long has Kane taken control of this place?" You ask. "We were still getting reports from here from Captain Ian up until last month."
"Hah! Captain Ian's been dead for more than a few months now! Kane's just been going through the motions of sending reports and messengers, probably to make sure you or nobody else sent anyone to investigate before he was ready to openly defy the Empire."
"By the Emperor I can't believe I was so close and never suspected anything wrong going on up here, let alone treason!" you say.
"If it's any consolation, you weren't the only one. Besides like I said, I was here and I should've been the one to do something before anyone. Instead I got myself captured. Tried to bust out a few times, I figured I'd either escape or die trying. There's just too many of those tough orc bastards though. Even when I managed to get a weapon the blasted battle mage would cast some sort of spell and I'd go completely weak and groggy. Then I'd end up back here again. Heh, Kane's so crazy now that he still believes that I'll eventually side with him."
"Did you say battle mage? As in one?"
"Yeah, used to have two and they probably would've liked to get more stationed here before unleashing their plan, but they had to make due with the ones that cooperated. I killed one of them before my first capture."
"Well they don't have any now, because I killed the other one before I got sent here."

Edgar tries to contain his enthusiasm.

"That's great! I mean with you by my side and none of that magic shit to complicate things, you've given us a much improved chance to escape for good!"

Never thought you'd hear Edgar to be so happy to fight along side you, and normally you might even be a little happy too, but right now you're concerned with escape. The longer you're gone, the more likely Lieutenant Verant will send someone up here to investigate. They'll be killed of course and then Kane will undoubtedly push a full attack on to Fort Destiny ad you don't have the highest hopes that they'd survive an attack by a combined army of orcs, ogres and giants without being prepared at least.

You waste no time coming up with a plan. Simplest ones often work the best, Edgar tells you that it'll be feeding time soon and that you should remain "unconscious" and he'll do the rest.

You get into position and eventually hear the footsteps of your orc jailer.

"Here's yer food, Ed!" one of them says carrying a bowl.
"Hey! Why'd you dump a dead body into this cell with me?" Edgar says.
"Wha? He ain't dead he's just knocked out! I should know I was one of guys that kicked him in da head! Har har har har!"
"Well he died in his sleep then from your kick to his head. I recognize him as an Eternal and Kane's gonna be pissed that you killed him!"
"He ain't dead! He sleep!"
"I'm telling you he's dead! Don't believe me, you better check yourself."
"Oh no, I know you Ed. You gonna try bash my skull in as soon as I open door. If he really dead, then I just say you killed him."
"And you really think Kane's gonna believe that? He knows Eternal don't kill each other, that's why he's keeping me alive even though I escape!"

The orc pauses for a moment and decides he can't take the chance.

"Bah, alright, I'll check, but I'm tellin' you he's just still unconscious! That shadow guy hit 'im with one of doze bolts of his. But YOU are gonna do something first."

The orc tells Edgar to turn his back and get close to the cell bars, at which point the orc shackles him so her is unable to attack him. Thank the Emperor that most orcs are still not the brightest lanterns.

The orc approaches you and that's when you spring into action. You struggle with the orc jailer until you manage to grab his dagger and repeatedly stab him in the throat with it to the point where you nearly decapitate him.

After kicking the dead orc in the face you grab his keys and release Edgar.

"Okay I know of a route we can try to escape through, nearly made it the last time, but again the mage showed up. That won't be a problem this time and they probably won't think I'll try it again." Edgar says.

The obvious thing to do is to concentrate on escaping the fort, though another part of you wants to go back to find Kane and Cyrus to kill them.

[User] You fine Kane and Cyrus

[Assistant]
"We can't leave yet, we have to take care of Kane and Cyrus." You say.
"What? You don't think it wouldn't be a better idea to escape and then come back with an army or something?" Edgar replies
"It would be preferable yes, but by that time they'll be entrenched and possibly already on the move with their own army of giants, ogres and orcs. That's less likely to happen without Kane or Cyrus here."
"You don't think someone else will take their place?"
"I KNOW someone else will take their place, but by getting rid of Kane and Cyrus that shaky allied army that they've built up will fall apart. It will then be far easier to handle seeing as it won't commanded by Eternals."
"Well, that's true…okay let's do it."

Edgar suggests getting some basic armor with helmets to disguise and protect yourselves in and mentions the supply room in the human section of the fort should have some. It takes some sneaking around, but Edgar's knowledge of the layout gets you there with relative ease. When you do get to the room you have to kill a couple human guards, and get dressed in some armor without raising an alarm.

At least not an obvious one.

"I told the others that you wouldn't try to escape. Glad to see I was right." A man's voice says from somewhere. You and Edgar both grab weapons and look around putting your backs to each other.
"Knew it was too easy." Edgar says.
"It still can be." The voice remarks.
"Who are you? Show yourself!" you demand.
"And have you possibly kill me? Oh no, I know the skill and ruthlessness of the Eternals all too well having served with Cyrus for years, not to mention seeing Edgar in action. And your own reputation speaks on its own, Bane of Rask. There is no need for animosity however, I am willing to help you."

"It's a Shadow Guard, he's using his blasted magic tricks to stay invisible to us." Edgar whispers.
"If you're here to help, why have you allowed this to treason to happen in the first place?" you ask still keeping your guard up.
"Oh various reasons, but let's just say the major reason is that Cyrus is a very convincing fellow. He probably doesn't seem like it to you, but he has a certain charm about him. It's how he's managed to convince Kane to go along with all this I imagine."
"So this was all Cyrus' idea." You say still scanning the room.
"Eh, it's a little more complicated than that I think, even I'm not privy to all the details. I only know as much as I do because Cyrus is a little more talkative after sex…"
"Okay, I didn't need to hear about that!" Edgar exclaims.

"Look we could stand around and talk all day until the guards realize something is wrong, or you can accept the help of me and the rest of the Shadow Guard. We have come to realize for a while now that this plan is not in our best interest and will only lead to our destruction." The voice says,
"You do realize that you have already participated in treason and this attempt at switching sides because you know you'll lose anyway, will not save you?" you say undiplomatically.
"Ha ha! Yes, I would expect no less from the Empire and especially not from an Eternal such as yourself. You Eternals, you think in such absolutes and that's why you'll be the death of us all…not YOU of course, but for the rest of us. (Sigh) I think the Shadow Guard should've broken away from the Empire years ago before you lot popped up. Anyway it hardly matters now, I'm still offering my help…"

Before the man can complete his sentence you have managed to locate his whereabouts in the room and grab him. His invisibility disappears to reveal a mundane looking man in a gray cloak. As you hold your sword to him, Edgar does likewise.

"I hate to burst your ego, but this isn't the first time an Eternal has managed to detect me, you took longer though." The gray-cloaked man says.
"How can I trust someone who has defied the Emperor and participated in treasonous acts?" you ask, ignoring the Shadow Guard's flippant nature.
"You can't. And being a Shadow Guard probably makes me even less trustworthy. The only thing I can say is you'll have to make a leap of faith Eternal. I will confess this though. The Shadow Guard's loyalty to the Empire is starting to be less than absolute. Granted there are still debates about this within our order and not everyone can decide on how we should do it. Personally I felt we should all just leave and not make a big mess about it. Obviously some, like Cyrus feel otherwise. Now I have just relayed perfectly good intelligence on a potential major threat to the Empire. You will be able to warn others after you take care of Kane and Cyrus."

[User] You trust the Shadow Guard

[Assistant]
You still don't trust the Shadow Guard, but if what he's claiming is even partly true then it is indeed something you need to warn others about. This idea of mass treason by the Shadow Guard is troubling to you as their reputations for loyalty to the Empire are impeccable…but then Eternals were supposed to be without disloyalty either.

There will definitely be a reckoning after this immediate problem is taken care of.

"Very well, we'll accept your help, if only because there's nothing you can do to stop us anyway." You say releasing the man.
"Spoken like an Eternal. Okay while you track down and face Kane, my brother and sister shadows will create chaos with the orc troops. That should give you plenty of time to kill him and escape."
"What about Cyrus?" you ask.
"He'll probably be with Kane discussing strategies as usual, at least I hope he will be. I don't relish the thought of having to face him myself even with the rest of the shadows behind me. That would be a rather bloody break up and probably not in my favor. But I'm sure you two will have no problems. Let's get to it shall we?"

At this point you and Edgar reluctantly leave the Shadow Guard to carry out his part of the plan.

"You don't really trust him do you?" Edgar asks.
"Of course not, but if there is the chance that he'll help it's a gamble I'm willing to take. We're already severely outnumbered and in hostile territory if he was lying then nothing was really lost. Let's get to Kane's office, that's probably where he'll be."

You manage to walk through the halls of the fort without difficulty thanks to the face covering helmets. Everyone just assumes you're just two soldiers going about your routines. When you arrive near the office there are several heavily armored orc guards milling around there. You and Edgar briefly wonder how quickly you can kill them before more come running, but fortune strikes, when another one comes running for a completely different reason.

"Ay! Ay! You guyz! The prisoners have escaped and doze shadoze are in on it! They snuck up and attacked us in our own quarters! Come on!" the orc yells.
"Wha?! Never did trust dat lot! We can't leave, da boss is in his office!" one of the guard says.
"We gotta tell 'im anyway!" another guard adds about to enter the office.
"Hey we'll tell the general and you take care of the shadows. You orcs are tougher so you'll be able to handle the situation better than we would. Besides you should go get yourselves some payback for what those bastards have done." You pipe up and say.
"Yeah! Da humie iz right! Okay, you tell da boss and we'll take care of doze shadoze!" one of them says and they all going running off without realizing a thing.

"You know I've been serving along side these orcs for years and it still baffles me how Captain Gruz was so articulate and intelligent when compared to the rest of his kind." Edgar remarks.
"Wonder about it later, we've got more important matters." You say opening the door, and stepping into Kane's office.

Kane steps out of his private quarters wondering what's going on.

"What the hell is going on out there, I heard all this…you're not my bodyguards!"
"An Eternal shouldn't need them, but then you're no Eternal, you're a traitor!" you shout.

Kane draws his weapon and the fight commences. Kane always was one of the more skilled fighters when he served under you, but it's obvious that he's improved even more when he manages to disarm Edgar within moments and knocks him into the wall.

"Why are you doing this brothers!? I'm trying to help us! We could join forces! We could all be a family again! It's not too late!" Kane pleads while defending himself.
"It is too late for you! You've been a fool to believe Cyrus' lies, where is he?" you yell narrowly missing Kane.

Kane ignores your questions and fights back with less reluctance. Edgar attempts to help you again, but Kane once more proves to be the better fighter, smashing him in the face and stabbing him in the leg. Edgar falls to the floor.

"Cyrus was right, I wasted my time with you! And you never were the great warrior you thought you were!" Kane says almost landing a killing blow on Edgar, but you manage to save him by deflecting the sword blow.

Kane attempts to counter attack but fails and you land a blow across his chest and then another across his face, blinding him in one eye. He drops his weapon and staggers back holding his hand on the gaping bloody wound.

"(Pant) Why…you…I can't…" he wheezes and tries to escape past you, but you stop him completely by running him through. You wrench the sword upward to slice further into his internal organs. Blood spills out from the wound and onto the floor and your feet. He looks at you with his remaining good eye. Surprisingly, he smiles.

"I…forgive you…broth…" he gasps and dies.

It's strange; you feel satisfaction for killing a traitor to the Emperor, yet a small part of you feels something else. Sadness perhaps? You turn and see Edgar recovering from his wounds.

"Thanks. Saving me again, must feel like old times." Edgar says.
"Old times didn't involve me killing one of us, speaking of which we need to go find Cyrus."

You and Edgar leave Kane's office and hear the sounds of chaos filling the halls. A human soldier turns the corner and you nearly decapitate him before he shouts at you to stop. He doesn't recognize you since you still have the helmets on.

"Hey hold on! I'm human! Man, looks like you guys must've fought some of those orc fuckers as well. Have you seen General Kane? He's supposed to be keeping these idiots under control and they've completely lost it!"
"General Kane's dead. The orcs killed him." You say.
"He's fuckin' dead? Great, he and Cyrus got us into this mess and he's dead and the other one is missing!"
"Where is Cyrus?" you ask.
"I don't know, but what I do know is all those Shadow Guard assholes caused all this strife by attacking the orcs in the first place! Then they just took off! At this point I don't know why I ever listened to this idiotic scheme of breaking away from the Empire! If we get out of this alive, we'll be lucky if the Empire doesn't hang us all for treason!"
"You needn't worry about that, I'll take care of that right now." You say and strike down traitor before he can act.

You curse the fact that Cyrus and the rest of his shadows got away, but there's no way to track them now, so you and Edgar decide to make your escape from the fort.

Your escape is fairly easy. When you and Edgar arrive back at Fort Destiny where Lieutenant Verant says he was just about to send someone up to Fort Defiance to see what happened to you. Your own command is to raise every soldier from Fort Destiny and march upon Fort Defiance.

By the time you arrive, the fort is half in ruins and burning. All the human soldiers have been killed and the surviving orcs have reverted back to their uncivilized nature. It's a bloody battle, but after it's all said and done, every orc is slaughtered for their lack of loyalty.

You report the events to your superiors and tell them everything that happened and Edgar backs up the story with his confirmations as well as his own experiences at Fort Defiance. The news is devastating and drastic measures are taken in an attempt to maintain order.

The first thing is Fort Defiance is completely abandoned with no plans to rebuild it. The area falls back under the dominion of giants and ogres once again. The small villages that do exist up there are soon destroyed, as they have no protection at all anymore. Fort Destiny takes up the duty of driving away the monstrous tribes that do wander further south now. The lives of the Empire citizens in the Rask frontier are now as hard as they were when you first arrived at the place.

Next a full investigation is made on every Shadow Guard member, at least the ones the Empire manages to get a hold of. Many openly resist, while other still just make their escape when they can. After a series of major decisions, the Shadow Guard is purged, even some of the ones who claimed their undying loyalty. Their number, while small to begin with, is reduced to zero and bounties are placed on the few that escaped. Including Cyrus.

As for the orcs, their kind is spared from any sort of major investigation, though it might be because most of them are serving on the front lines of Felkan War and enough of them are getting killed there to thin out their ranks. Not to mention they're generally not seen as intelligent to be as much of a major threat and it was only due to the manipulation of Cyrus and Kane that they turned. Still, they are watched and they are never to be stationed in such a way that they outnumber human troops again. Questions still abound to as who allowed such orders to transfer so many to Fort Defiance in the first place.

Oddly even though Cyrus and to a lesser extent Kane were the leaders of this attempted secession, no Eternal is investigated. If anything you're rewarded with a medal for your service to the Empire. Edgar isn't though for some reason.

You maintain your post at the Rask frontier though Edgar is transferred to the Felkan front. You say your goodbyes to him on a friendlier note this time, which after what happened with Kane, you're glad to do.

Your position at Fort Destiny is less monotonous now, but its a thankless one as always. The citizens in the area still complain and protest even though you're protecting them. And despite all their precautions and attempts to crack down on order, the events at Fort Defiance are just the beginning of what the Empire has yet to experience in the years to come.

[User] Continue

[Assistant]
Year 30

"This place won't be the same without you sir. I don't know how I'll be able to run this place as well as you." Lieutenant Verant says as you finish packing your things.
"You'll do fine lieutenant, or should I say captain. You'll probably get an official promotion soon. Just remember, when the citizens protest I've found that flogging one family with children at random keeps the rest in line. Can't really afford to execute them like we did in the old days, too many ogre attacks already doing a good job of that. Well at least you don't need to worry about the giants as much anymore."
"You always did know best sir."
"Well, I tried to do what I could up here. I don't know why I'm being stationed to Delerg Province. It's one of the more peaceful places of the Empire next to the Nalin province. I would prefer to be here or on the Felkan frontlines where I could do more to serve, but I suppose the Emperor knows best where my skills will be used."
"Oh well I've heard the war with the Felkans is coming to an end soon."
"Yes, I've heard that as well…and it concerns me the things that I've heard why it's ending. Mass riots in the major cities of the Empire, soldier shortages, even heard about some of those traitorous shadow criminals carrying out terrorist tactics. And because of these problems what do we do with the Felkans? Another non-aggression pact! We should be butchering them and burning down their cities, not making peace with them again. If all of the Emperor's enemies had one neck, I would sever it with one sword swipe."

Verant says nothing after your rant. Indeed over the past few years he's heard you rant about the troubles of the Empire a lot more and knows to keep quiet. But if you're making more outbursts than usual, it's only because the Empire has more problems than usual.

Lately you've been questioning how "great" the Empire is supposed to be. This is not the place you heard about when you were being trained by Mistress or Captain Gruz. In fact, during your first assignment in the Nalin province you encountered decadent officers and disobedient citizens even then.

This questioning of the Empire then makes you question the Emperor which causes you great concern for that it treasonous thinking. But still…how is it he has allowed this to happen to his land? He is supposed to be all wise and all-powerful, but you've not seen much evidence of either. Never mind the fact that you've never seen him at all.

It's a rare thought, but there have been even a few times where you wondered what would've happened if you had joined Kane when he asked.

You leave Fort Destiny without another word and board the carriage to the Delerg province.

A few days later you arrive and Delerg is everything you've heard about, very swampy. The town you're scheduled to arrive in looks like it's sinking into marsh, which might explain why it's even called Sinkhole.

While you don't know why you're here, you do know you're supposed to meet with a contact here, though you don't know who that is or where you're supposed to meet.

As you take in the sights of this dismal town, the villagers look like they can barely contain their fear of you. You aren't sure if it's because they've heard of your reputation, or if it's due to their natural suspicious nature. The swamp folk have always been known to be that way. They were one of the few people that didn't resist Empire dominion at all when they first came to this land, but despite this submissiveness the swamp folk still maintained their wary ways.

"Well if isn't the Bane of Rask! It's been a long time!" a voice calls out to you. You turn around and see not one, but two familiar faces.
"Roldan? Gerald?" you say seeing how much older they've gotten. It makes you realize just how much time has passed.
"Of course it's us!" Roldan says.
"Yeah, we didn't know you'd be the contact." Gerald adds.
"Contact? I'm not anyone's contact. I'm supposed to meet someone here, you guys aren't it?" you say.
"Erm, no. In fact when Gerald arrived I thought he was the contact and vice versa. Well this is odd. I wonder who we're supposed to be meeting?"

You reply that you don't know and then begin to feel slightly uneasy. With all your past experiences, you start to feel like this might be a trap, then another carriage comes into the town. When the passenger steps out, it's an old, but still tough looking orc in battle armor. It's Captain Gruz! He sees all three of you milling about in the open and shuffles over to you.

"What in blazes are you lot doing out in the open like this? Any potential assassin could strike you down! I thought I taught you better than that! Come on let's get into the tavern, we can talk there." He scolds and then heads towards the tavern, you, Gerald and Roldan follow.

The tavern is dark and nearly empty. The patrons inside see you four sit at a table and then move as far away as possible.

"You thirsty? I sure am. Four ales!" Captain Gruz says.
"I'm not thirsty captain." You say.
"They're not for you, they're for me! You guys order your own drinks! Anyway I imagine you're all wondering what this small reunion is all about. Well let's just say the Empire finally saw fit to take me off the sidelines and place me in charge of something worthwhile for a change. I'll get right to the point and tell you, the Shadow Guard is here, or at least what's left of them. For awhile we thought that they might be working with the Felkans, but they're just taking advantage of the war."

This news causes you to sit forward and then look around.

"Oh don't worry, they're not right HERE, lad. They're in this province though; and you might be interested that Cyrus is the one leading this miserable little band of shadows. I imagine you and he got some unfinished business. In fact that's why you're here, since you've had a lot of experience in dealing with this situation before. As for you two, your own records are excellent and you're Eternals. The only ones that are going to be skilled enough to handle this situation I think are Eternals."
"How come Edgar isn't here? He also had experience with the Shadow Guard and was with me during the Fort Defiance incident."
"Eh, Edgar's skills are best served on the Felkan frontlines right now. I know the war might be coming to an end, but there's still quite a bit of fighting going on. Besides best not to have all you guys in one place."
"That's a different perception than I remember you having when you were arguing with Mr. Mol fourteen years ago." You say.
"Heh, remembered that did you? Well, as I'm sure you know things change, ideas change. You get older and see things differently. Wouldn't you agree?"

You pause before answering, which causes Gruz to study you for a moment.

"Yes, I suppose so." You reluctantly reply.
"Of course you do, lad. You'd be a bleeding idiot if you didn't." Gruz says taking a drink of one of his ales.
"So, where are these Shadow Guard fanatics anyway?" Gerald asks.
"An old temple deep in the swamps. Used to be their old place of worship back before their Empire days apparently. Looks like Cyrus really bought into that dead religion, though it's also arrogant of him to try to hide right underneath our noses. Hell, who knows? Maybe he knew he'd get discovered eventually and was just itching for a fight. Anyway, we'll have some extra help when we arrive there. Trust me, I've got it set up."

The remainder of the time is playing a little catch up with your former team members while Captain Gruz enjoys his ale. It's interesting to see how vastly different their experiences have been.

Gerald says his time was initially boring until the war broke out. From then on he and Warrick were constantly paired up to perform commando mission deep into Felkan territory. Dangerous work, but he says they were treated pretty well by everyone and held in high regard among their fellow soldiers. Even the citizens were less troublesome in the Arat province and the local women threw themselves at him and Warrick every night he laughs.

Roldan mentions his time was mostly spent cleaning up the rest of the kobolds in the Nalin province, breaking small bandit rings, and ultimately trying to keep the peasants in line. No problems from the usksha again though. When Captain Anu was promoted and sent to the Felkan frontlines, Brenda got promoted to command Fort Glory. The most surprising thing though, he and Brenda apparently married. Wasn't anything fancy and there was paperwork that had to be filled out (A lot of it) but it was completely approved of by the Empire.

Your own tales sound remarkably grim when compared to theirs.

The strangest thing about all this is how they've all had contact with each other either directly or through messages. Gerald and Roldan even mention how they got letters from Kane years ago before his actions at Fort Defiance. They both confirm how the letters sounded very longing of the "old days" and referring to them as "brother." Warrick and Brenda apparently got similar ones too.

You ask Gerald if he met Edgar when he was transferred there. He replies that he did, but said that he was mostly sent to fight Felkan armies directly right along side most of the orcish detachments.

"Sheesh. He's gotta love that considering his experiences with orcs at Fort Defiance." You say.
"Edgar's an idiot. Always has been. I saw that even when I was training you guys. He's a good warrior, but lacks vision. Surprised he's lasted this long." Captain Gruz suddenly replies.
"Well, I agree he's always had a tendency to act without thinking, but after my last dealings with him, I think he's improved a bit. Changed his outlook. You know, got older and sees things differently now." You reply.
"Hmm. Maybe, but as far as I'm concerned being a meat shield is about the best thing he's ever been good for, just like all the rest of dumb fuckers on the Felkan frontlines."
"Hey, I'm on the Felkan frontlines!" Gerald protests.
"Yeah, and you're not marching straight into those Felkan shooty weapons either. You're being a lot more than just a meat shield like the rest of those stupid ass orcs."
"Rest of those orcs? Not to point out the obvious, but you're an orc, I mean aren't those your people?" Roldan asks.
"Yeah and? Does that make us all relatives or some shit? Fuck my people! I got no patience for any of them anymore…" Captain Gruz begins to get loud and cause a scene.

"Okay captain I think you've had enough. I think I saw an inn across the way, let's get some rooms there and make plans to deal with the shadows tomorrow." You suggest.
"Grrm, maybe you're right…" Captain Gruz replies and then promptly falls to the floor. Gerald tries to pick him up.

"Somebody go get the rooms and the other person help me carry the captain." Gerald says.

[User] You help carry the captain

[Assistant]
"Go get the rooms Roldan, I'll help Gerald." You say.
"Okay." Roldan agrees and leaves.

You and Gerald help the Captain Gruz up who is mumbling things the whole time.

"Fucking idiots. It was perfect…who I am kidding? It was futile to begin with."
"Just settle down sir." Gerald says trying to calm him down.
"Or what? You'll kill me too? Hey I'm not tryin' ta put the moves on ya, you got your arm around me!"

Gerald gets quiet really fast and even you start looking around.

"Oh what? You think I didn't hear about that incident? Ha ha ha! Relax, ya did the right thing, fuckin' degenerate deserved it…" Gruz laughs.

You're just about to get to the door and that's when you hear yelling and an explosion coming from the outside followed by screams. The force of it is enough to cause you all to fall back a bit.

"Shit!" you blurt out and leave Gerald to tend to the captain.

You look around and see a couple of damaged buildings, more than a few dead bodies in pieces. Your heart sinks though when you see Roldan lying on the ground in front of the damaged inn.

When you rush over to him, his insides are clearly visible and one of his legs is gone. He struggles to breathe as he looks up at you. You can't do anything for him.

"Fuck. Damnit…" you quietly say and kneel down towards his bloody body.
"…tell Brenda that I love her."
"I will."
"That's good…that's good…hey if we're all…all siblings like Kane said…that…that doesn't make Brenda…my sister…does it?" Roldan asks with a small smile.
"Heh, I don't think so, and even if it did so what? You found happiness with her." You smile back.
"Yeah…you're right. You… usually were." he says and then drifts away.

This time you do feel sadness at the loss of one of your own. Especially when you had just gotten to know him again. Gerald dashes over to you and even captain Gruz has sobered up a bit from this incident and is now interrogating the nearest hysterical citizen.

"Who the fuck did this?! Answer me woman!" he demands and slaps her a few times, but she just pathetically cries and begs him to stop.
"Captain! Stop it! It's obvious she doesn't know anything!" Gerald shouts.
"Maybe not, but someone here does." You say. "Alright, listen up! I am an Eternal and the man laying dead next to me was also an Eternal! My wrath for his death shall be the likes you've never known and you don't want to know. One of you saw something, so someone better start talking or else this little town you call home is going to get a whole lot bloodier."

Nobody says anything for a while and there's just dead silence, but eventually a little girl comes out from behind a barrel and speaks up.

"I saw something Mr. Eternal."
"Good, glad to see this town isn't completely infested with cowards. You're coming with me." You say and take the girl to a room at the inn and proceed to question her.

The girl is still a little nervous at first, but soon opens up quite a bit. She mentions that she was walking home from the general store and she saw Roldan leaving the tavern. He was almost to the inn when she saw these two figures shimming like they were almost invisible. She then says what happened next was very quick. The figures ran up to Roldan and then these two men appeared in gray cloaks. They both stabbed him several times before he could defend himself.

Despite his wounds, he managed to stab one through the neck and grabbed the other when he tried to escape. She said at this point she had been hiding behind the barrel, but saw that the man in gray produced a gas sphere plant from his cloak and he yelled something she couldn't understand. A blackish field started to emanate from the man, Roldan then fell to the ground and then the large explosion occurred killing several people that didn't have the sense that the little girl did to get the hell out of there as soon as possible.

"So much for the shadows not being here." Gerald remarks.
"Shit, I fucked up. I should've known that they might've realized that we we're coming." Captain Gruz says.
"Doesn't matter anyway. It's obvious they're prepared for a last stand sort of fight, if they're willing to blow themselves up. No sense in depriving them of that, though I'm hoping they don't start favoring blowing themselves up. It's going to make fighting them more dangerous than it should be." You say.
"Mmm, I know what you mean. Serving on the Felkan frontlines I had to experience several of their own explosive type weapons first hand, but from what I've heard those gas plant spheres aren't common and grow rarely even in this area. Even then, they aren't explosive on their own. The shadow probably used some sort of magic to make it explode like that. Is that right little girl?" Gerald asks to confirm, to which she nods.

"Alright enough talk, we all need to get some rest before wiping the bastards out tomorrow." Captain Gruz says and lies down on his bed.

At this point you send the little girl away and tell her she's served the Empire well and leave with Gerald.

"Do you really think Gruz should be coming with us tomorrow? I mean with his leg and his age and all." Gerald asks.
"If he wants to go on one last mission then I'm not going to deprive him of that. Don't worry, he'll keep up. I get the impression this is sort of personal to him."
"Personal to him? I imagine it's personal to you a lot more."
"True, but I'm trying to not let it."

Of course that's pretty hard to do when you have to put Roldan in a casket and sent back to Brenda. Gerald writes the letter to her. You can only imagine what her reaction is going to be about this news. This makes you wonder about the whole scenario that they were in love and got married. You know you briefly spoke to Roldan about this back at the tavern, but a lot of it still baffles you. How did it first come about? What was it like? Who initiated it? Was the attraction always there, even back when you were all in training? Could something like that ever happen to you?

You think about the time you were with Captain Krozer and that's the closest equivalent you have, but you know that wasn't anything like love. You did respect her though and you're pretty sure the feeling was mutual. Perhaps that's how it started, but Brenda and Roldan were just in contact with each long enough to develop it further.

Eventually you dismiss all these meaningless thoughts and rest up to prepare for your mission tomorrow.

The next morning, you Gerald and Gruz set off on your journey. The trip through the swamps isn't an easy one; it actually makes you long for the days of stomping through ice and snow. The whole time you're traveling you're constantly alert and feel like at anytime you could be attacked, which turns out to be true with the oversized insects and other minor hostile swamp animals dwelling here, but they aren't the enemies you're expecting.

"So how many Empire troops are we going to have as back up?" Gerald asks Gruz during the trip.
"Empire? I'm lucky I managed to get them to accept my request to go on this mission! They didn't send me anyone, not that they'd be much help anyway. Most Empire soldiers would stick out like a sore thumb and get themselves killed before they even reached the place. No, I'm relying on the ones that found these ruins to begin with. Dark elven mercs. If anyone can hide out better than the shadows, it'll be them." Gruz replies.

Dark elves. You hated having to work with them back in your early years on the Rask frontier, but you can't deny their effectiveness.

"Shh! Do you hear that?" you ask.
"Probably another Sul Monkey. Those things are all over the place. Just glad it's not mating season for them, otherwise we might be in big trouble. Hey, aren't you humans related to them in some way?" Gruz asks.

Gerald is about to reply, and then you hear a whizzing sound followed by a "thunk" sound. You then see Gerald with a large crossbow bolt directly in the center of his head. A single trickle of blood comes from the wound and drips off his nose.

"I…been hit…" Gerald says and his eyes roll back as he falls into the soft mushy ground.

"Shit!" Gruz shouts and ducks down into the mud.

[User] You duck down into the mud as well

[Assistant]
You instinctively duck down into the mud like Gruz did; regrettably the hidden assassin anticipated that and begins shooting downward.

You and Gruz both receive several bolts to the back. Gruz manages too shake off these annoyances partly because he's wearing heavy armor and the other because as an orc his skin is pretty tough to begin with, especially with his experience.

While you're certainly wearing protective gear as well and an Eternal to boot, the bolts sink into your flesh a lot easier and deeper. The pain is great, but you manage to get back up in an effort to find better cover. Gruz spots the shadow assassin and engages him unfortunately two more shadows jump down from the trees to finish you off. Under normal circumstances you'd easily be able to handle the pair of them even with bolts in your back, but in typical shadow fashion, the bolts were dipped in some sort of poison, not strong enough to kill you, but enough to make you sleepy.

And it's this drowsiness that is your downfall. You swing at the two shadows a few times before they manage to land their own attacks on you. A quick slash to your neck releases an arterial spray and you're dead before you even hit the ground.


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

[User] Continue

[Assistant]
You awaken on the cold, stone floor with a shiver running through your body and a pounding earache from sleeping on the side of your head. You do not know how much longer you can survive in this place. No one has brought you any food or water for days. Either you've been abandoned to die or something's happened to the guards to keep them from feeding you. Either way you are well and truly buggered.

With what little strength you have, you pick yourself up and look around your cell. There seems to be no way of escape. The window is barred and even if it wasn't, your cell is at the very top of a huge, medieval tower, so climbing out would be suicide. The door is far too heavy to break down and you don't have anything you could use to pick the lock. There is nothing in the room save for yourself, a dirty pile of straw in the corner and a bucket for… Well, let's not discuss the bucket.

Suddenly though, as your eyes scan the dungeon, you notice something you never saw before. One of the stones on the wall of your cell seems to have something etched into it. As you lean closer you can just about make out two words. "Press me."

[User] You press the stone

[Assistant]
You press the engraved stone and a secret door in the stone wall gradually slides to one side and reveals a hidden passage way. Congratulations, you've escaped your cell! That wasn't too difficult was it?

As you follow the empty passage way, you seem to be circling the dungeon and walking deeper and deeper into pitch darkness. Eventually you see a light at the end of the passage and find yourself in a room dimly lit by torches that hang from the wall. The room is small with only a spinning wheel and an old rocking chair to decorate it, both of which are coated in cob webs. There is a door on the other side of the room.

Having nowhere else to go, you head towards the door when suddenly you hear the creaking of the rocking chair behind you. For a brief moment you hold your breath and try to reassure yourself that it's just the breeze rocking the chair, but there is no breeze in the room. Eventually you force yourself to turn around and see the ghostly figure of an old woman sitting in the chair.

Before you can run or scream, the old lady speaks up in a gentle yet eerie voice. "No need to be afraid of me child." She tells you as she slowly rocks in her chair, stroking a small, ghostly cat on her lap. "You've nothing to fear from poor old Nana. I'm just here, pondering the old riddle to myself. Are you good at riddles child? I do hope so. They're the only way to get out of this tower you see, ever since the old master went mad and cursed the place. Oh and that reminds me, I'm supposed to ask you the riddle aren't I? Now let's see if I can remember.

What does man love more than life,

Fear more than death and mortal strife,

What the poor have and the rich require,

And what contented men desire,

What the miser spends and the spendthrift saves,

And all men carry to their graves?"

[User] You answer "Love"

[Assistant]
The ghost lets out a sad and disappointed sigh. "I'm afraid not dearie." She tells you as the rocking of her chair gradually comes to a halt. "I am sorry child. At least you tried."

Suddenly a trap door opens up beneath you and you fall screaming into a pit of fire. Personally you find this punishment a tad eccentric just for failing to answer a riddle correctly, but that's just you. Better luck next time.


[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 you're going with Allison

[Assistant]
"I think I'm gonna go with Allison."

You respond. The mysterious girl has been on your mind quite a bit lately, and you still don't know a lot about her. The fair would be a great time to get to know her, especially given she basically just confessed she loved you the other day at the park. There's no way she should feel that strongly about you after such a short time.

"Allison? Oh, the new girl in our class? I didn't know you guys were talking."

He says, mildly shocked.

"Yeah, I've been talking with her this past week."

"Hmm...well good luck man."

Ian says.

"So, who are you goin' with?"

You ask, turning the subject onto him.

"Me? Hm...I was gonna ask Olivia."

"Olivia? Really?"

You say surprised. Though, thinking back it shouldn't be too surprising. He did introduce you to her, and she is in the chess club with him.

"Really."

He replies.

"Even though she has a boyfriend?"

"Ah well, I'll deal with that when it's brought up."

Ian says, laughing. You laugh with him and the conversation turns back to mundane things. The day passes and eventually Ian returns to his home.

[User] Monday Morning

[Assistant]
As per usual, you and Ian walk to school together in the morning. He talks about his older brother, but by now you've learned to just zone out while he's doing so. You have far more important things to think about anyway, such as how you're actually going to get Allison to go to the fair with you.

No, that's probably the wrong way of looking at it. The real hard part will be dealing with her being in love with you. Or having a crush on you. Or just really being into you. Truthfully you're not really sure which it is, but you'll need to settle that matter regardless. You do find Allison attractive, a thought that causes great conflicts within you, but you'd feel like you're taking advantage of her if you pursued her that way.

Thinking about it further, you realize you still have no idea what her relation to you is either. After all, she clearly knew you before you met in class. The way she spoke to you and her avoidance of key questions made that clear, not to mention there's no way she'd feel strongly about you if you just met.

You sigh as you enter the school, your thoughts becoming muddled. No matter which you decide to confront her on, the first step is to actually find and talk to her. A step greatly hindered by the fact that she isn't in your class when you enter. Confused, you approach the teacher.

"Ah..."

You say, remembering you still have no idea what his name is.

"Um, is Allison sick or something?"

You ask, pressing forward anyway. The teacher thinks for a moment then shakes his head.

"She hasn't called the school. It's odd, she transferred in near the end of the year, and she has skipped most of the lessons..."

He replies pondering. The answer isn't exactly what you were expecting or what you wanted to hear, but you thank him anyway and head to your seat. The first period ends quickly, and you're left wondering how you should proceed with this situation.

[User] You continue with classes like normal

[Assistant]
Realizing you have no idea where she could be anyway, you decide to just continue with your classes like normal. Allison has to return to school sometime, so you can just speak with her then.

Sure enough, in time for the start of your next class, Allison shows up. You don't really have a chance to speak with her during the class, but you can tell she seems pretty down. Not wanting to risk her leaving again before you get the chance to ask, you decide to slip her a note asking her to go to the fair with you. You can't think of a way to solve the other issues, so you'll just deal with them later.

You raise your hand to leave for the bathroom, and on your way out you pass by Allison's desk, dropping the note as you do. Out of the corner of your eye as you leave, you notice her open it. When the class ends, you approach her.

"So uh....do you have an answer?"

You ask nervously. This whole scenario seems rather odd, but you can't help but feel like a high school boy asking out a girl. Allison gives you a short look and a nod. It seems like she's still upset over something though.

"You okay Allison?"

You ask concerned. She nods again.

"I'm just thinking about some things, I'll be fine in a bit."

She replies in a low voice, walking away. You frown, but can't think of anything else to say, so you leave it at that.

[User] You after School

[Assistant]
School ends and you met Ian as per usual at the front of school, however today you have something different in mind.

"Hey, Ian, I'll catch you later, I'm going to go with Allison."

You tell him, spotting her down the hallway. Ian nods and leaves without you, and you head towards Allison. She smiles as she sees you, apparently back to her normal self.

"Why hello there Jacob! Why haven't you left for your house yet?"

She asks.

"Well, I was waiting for you of course. Care to walk with me?"

You reply, gesturing for her to follow. Allison takes the hint and walks besides you.

"Hmm, and where might you be taking me?"

She asks with a coy smile.

"It's a secret."

You reply smiling, mimicking how she acted to you on Saturday. Rather than demand any further answers, she just continues smiling.

"I see. Well, lead on."

And with that, the two of you exit the school grounds. Just like on Saturday, the two of you end up at the park Allison brought you to. While you succeeded in asking her to the fair, you've been pondering the rest of the day as to how you should solve the other issues with her. You're curious as to how she knows you, but you also want to know how she really feels. It's possible you just misunderstood her the other day, so you need to clarify. As the two of you enter the oddly deserted park, you go to speak, but are stopped by her placing her index finger against your mouth. The intimacy of the sudden act immediately pacifies you, and you're left awkwardly staring into Allison's eyes.

"One question. I'll answer one question, regardless of what it is, as honestly as I can."

She says in a serious tone, removing her finger from your lips.

"But after that I make no promises, hehe."

She finishes. Allison seems to have read your mind and intentions here, so rather than tempt fate, you give in and ask her one question.

[User] You how do you feel about you\?

[Assistant]
"Then....how do you feel about me?"

You ask nervously.

"That's easy. I love you, Jacob."

Allison shamelessly confesses with a smirk. Your heart practically skips a beat as you hear the words leave her lips. It's just as you thought, Allison really does love you. But how? She barely knows you, right?"

"W....why? How can you lo...love me when we barely know each other."

You say stuttering. You shouldn't be this nervous in front of her, after all it's not like you'll actually act on her feelings towards you. You're a decade older than her after all, it just wouldn't feel right. Even so, you've never had a girl in love with you. You can't even put into words how you feel right now. Allison makes a cute pose and crosses her arms.

"Beep beep. Nope, you only get one question!"

She says triumphantly.

"Besides Jacob, a cute girl just confessed her love for you. Shouldn't you be saying something in return?"

Allison says accusingly. You take a step back in confusion. She's obviously talking about saying you love her back, but can you really say such a thing? You'll admit she's cute, and you do find her personality to be fun, but are you really sure if you love her or not? It's not something you ever considered before.

You shake you're head. There's no way you can say such a thing so soon, even if it was true you've only know Allison for a week.

"Thank you."

You say. Allison pouts in response, but doesn't seem surprised.

"You would say something like that. Just admit you like me!"

"Well, I do like you. I can't say anything beyond that though..."

You reply earnestly.

"I really should be used to you doing this to me by now."

She says with a sigh.

"Oh well. That's your one question. I need to go now, see you later Jacob."

She says, leaving you alone in the park with a wave. You wave back and let her leave, realizing you won't be able to stop her.

"I love you, Jacob."

Allison's words echo in your head as you watch her go. If someone had asked you what you would expect if you had gone back in time while you were in the future, a girl you never met confessing her love to you would have never come to your mind.

[User] You tuesday

[Assistant]
The next day Allison appears to be missing again. You're still not sure why she's keeps disappearing like this, but after yesterday you're satisfied enough to not look for her. You got her to agree to go to the fair with you, and to answer one of the questions you were dying to ask, so you'll just be patient and wait for her to return. Although you think that, you're still hopefully she'll show up during the day.

However she never shows. Classes pass and the school day ends, and Allison is still nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Jacob, something wrong?"

Ian asks as the two of you prepare to leave the school. Ian's pretty good at reading you, so he probably knows something has been on your mind all day.

"Yeah, I'm really curious as to where Allison is."

You reply absentmindedly.

"Ah yeah, the new girl who keeps skipping school. You asked her to the fair already right?"

"Yeah, she said yes."

"Great man, so you ready for the fair?"

"What do you mean ready?"

The two of you reach the other perimeter of the school and Ian stops.

"Ready, as in you planned what you're going to do with her..."

He says, as though it's a really obvious fact you should already be aware of. You had been so focused on getting her there and your other issues, that you had forgotten what you'd actually do."

"Shit...."

You say. You then look to Ian.

"What are you going to do then? You asked Olivia to go right? Did she say yes?"

You ask. Ian frowns and sighs.

"Sort of. I asked her but she's pretty keen on saying she has a boyfriend. Apparently she's not even going to go with him anyway."

He complains. You nod sympathetically, and your mind wanders to thinking about what you should do with Allison when the fair comes while Ian speaks.

[User] You wednesday

[Assistant]
The next day comes and you haven't been able to come up with much of a plan for what to do with Allison. From what you can remember about the fair, it was a rather small one, and was mainly comprised of the typical carnival games that no one can ever win. You think there was a Ferris wheel, at least there should be one, and a few other rides. Apart from the Ferris wheel though, there isn't anything romantic there.

You shake your head at the thought and bring your attention back to class. The teacher is going on about something to do with your futures, which you quickly lose interest in, causing your attention to drift back to Allison and the fair. You're still feeling guilty about it all for some odd reason, but you asked her to the fair, which you can assume to implicitly mean she does like you. Well, actually you already know she likes you, you're just not sure how far you should take that. Your plan had been to take her to all the romantic rides, since you figured that's what you're supposed to do, but you're quickly realizing your situation isn't so typical.

Halfway through the day, Allison finally arrives at the school. You're relieved to see that she's fine, but feeling somewhat anxious seeing her again.

"Hey Jacob! Did I miss anything important?"

Allison asks as she joins you and Ian in the cafeteria.

"Nope, nothing at all."

You reply. She smiles and sits beside you, with Ian smirking in a chair across from the two of you.

"Ah, look at the time. Sorry Jacob, I'll leave you with the new girl, I gotta go find Olivia."

Ian announces, standing up. Obviously he intends to have you and Allison spend some time alone, which you internally thank him for.

"Seeya, new girl."

Ian says waving to Allison, to which she politely waves back. She then turns and looks at you.

"So...."

You begin awkwardly.

"Where were you yesterday?"

You ask. Allison averts her gaze.

"No where special. Just didn't feel like coming to school."

She replies.

"More importantly, how are things with you?"

She asks. You shrug.

"Fine. You're ready for the fair this weekend right?"

You ask. Allison frowns, apparently unhappy with that reply.

"Really? Nothing new or unexpected happened to you?"

"Not in particular, no."

You reply with a straight face. Apart from the fair and Allison, nothing new or important has been happening to you since you went back in time. Well, apart from you actually going back in time, but you don't intend on telling her that. You hear Allison mutter something under her breath in an annoyed tone, before she speaks again.

"I see. That's a shame, new and exciting things happening is what makes life good."

She says.

"I suppose. We can count the fair as one of those things though, right?"

You reply hopeful. Allison sighs, then smiles.

"Yes, I suppose we can. I do love those carnival games after all."

The two of you finishing eating and return to class. You continue attempting to plan your day at the fair with Allison throughout the afternoon, and by the end of school you think you have a pretty good idea of what to do.

[User] You saturday

[Assistant]
The rest of the school week passes, and Saturday finally arrives. By now you've made lots of small talk with Allison, finding out what foods she likes, and what rides she prefers. The only thing left to do is to actually go with her. You've arranged to meet at the fair grounds at about 3pm. Before leaving for the fair, you swing by Ian's place to see what he's up to. Unfortunately, upon arriving you find that no one is home, which you find rather confusing. Even if Ian had already left, his brother, or anyone else, should have been home. After a quick scout around his house, you confirm that no one is home, and make your way to the fair alone.

You had wanted to hang around Ian and his date to make things less awkward with Allison, but it looks like you'll have no such luck. You arrive at the spot in the fair you agreed to meet Allison at a good ten minutes earlier, enough time to give you a second to take in the experience.

You haven't been to the fair before, so the first thing you notice is the overbearing lights and sounds. You'd be surprised if any sort of meaningful conversation could be had between the two of you in this environment. The carnival games create a path through the fairgrounds, and surrounding that straight path lie all of the various rides, along with some food booths. You hear the loud clanging of metal all around you, when suddenly you feel a tug on your shirt.

Allison stands behind you, wearing a cute outfit you didn't expect her to wear. You really don't like thinking about her that way, but the way she's acting is forcing your mind in that direction. Then again, the fact that you took her to the fair on a date means you had accepted that you liked her, so you might as well make the best of it. Now that she's here, she looks at you expectantly, and you tell her where you plan to take her first.

[User] You eat some food

[Assistant]
"Let's go eat some food."

You tell Allison.

Allison gives you a strange look. "It's a bit earlier for food don't you think?" She says skeptically. You shrug and lead her to the food area anyway.

The food from the fair is exactly as you would have expected it to be. It's expensive, high in fat and sugars, and wildly mediocre in taste at best. However the two of you manage to enjoy some nachos together, and afterwards some cotton candy. During the week Allison had told you that she loved cotton candy, so you made sure to get some for the two of you. You had separate ones of course, but it made you happy to see her happy.

Come to think of it, when was the last time you felt this way? After high school you had simply followed Ian into the supermarket, a decision that didn't have much thought or effort behind it. Then again, you never had the ambition to do anything anyway, so you were content. At least, you thought you were.

"This is sooo good!"

Allison practically squeals in delight while eating her cotton candy.

"Here!"

She says, stuffing some of her partly eaten cotton candy into your mouth. Embarrassed, you eat it, to which she smirks.

"Is this really the kind of thing you should get embarrassed about, Jacob?"

Allison asks playfully, but your mind is elsewhere. This whole experience for you is so confusing. How can you be so infatuated with someone you just met? Somehow it feels like you've known Allison for so much longer. The two of you finishing eating and go on to the next activity.

[User] You go on the rides

[Assistant]
"Let's go on the rides."

You tell Allison

Allison looks you up and down before shrugging. "I would have preferred to go on them later, but alright."

She replies.

The two of you start off with the bumper cars, where Allison proceeds to repeatedly ram you against the wall with her car, much to your dismay and her pleasure. Next you play around in the hall of mirrors, then you go to the haunted house. It's at this point Allison questions whether or not you'd consider these rides or attractions, but you insist they count. After that, you decide to take her to a 'real' ride, the roller coaster that they have.

The roller coaster turns out to be a success, and after it you take her to some spinning cups, spinning cages, and finally, the Ferris wheel. From the start the Ferris wheel had been the only ride you really wanted to take her on, admittedly with an ulterior motive.

The two of you reach the top of the Ferris wheel and it stops. You gaze at the view. While it doesn't go that high, and there's nothing particular unique about the scenery in your town, there's something peaceful about seeing it from up here. You turn to Allison, who sighs as she too gazes into the distance.

"Hey, Jacob?"

She begins.

"What do you think about me?"

She asks. With her eyes looking elsewhere, she doesn't see you immediately dart your eyes away from her. You had come up here hoping for some sort of romantic scenario to unfold, but her tone and eyes seem distant and sad. Like she's trying to reaffirm something rather, than ask you for real.

"I like you, of course."

You manage to reply. You don't quite have the courage to say you love her as it stands, but you can at least say this much. She turns to you and smiles.

"Yeah....I know...."

Allison replies in almost a whisper.

"Thanks, I just needed to hear that. Sorry to make you uncomfortable."

She says in a more normal tone. You can't stand to see her looking so depressed, so you quickly reply.

"Don't be. I'm having fun."

You say with a smile. She smiles back, and the ride continues. After exiting the Ferris wheel, you decide on where you want to head to next.

[User] You play some of the carnival games

[Assistant]
"Let's go win some prizes at the games."

You tell Allison. She smiles and nods her head.

"Yes! I love these games! You'll win me something right?"

She asks, leaning into you.

"Well, I'm not very good at them, so I can't promise anything."

You reply, weary of her closeness.

"That's no good Jacob. When a girl tells you to get something for her, you should just do it!"

Allison proclaims in a bossy tone.

"I don't think that's the way relationships work...."

You reply skeptically.

"Probably not, but it's how ours does, hehe."

She says with a cheeky grin.

"Well like I said, I'm not good at them, but I'll try."

"Great, trying is all I ask of you."

"So you won't be disappointed when I lose?"

"But you won't lose."

"I'm telling you I'm n-"

You begin to retort, but Allison holds up her hand.

"Try before deciding if you'll fail or not."

She says calmly. You're slightly put off by her change in tone, but nod and agree to try.

Much to your surprise, you actually turn out to be pretty good at carnival games, winning a few prizes for yourself and Allison. Allison has a big "I told you so" smile the whole time, but you don't mind. After winning enough prizes to satisfy Allison, you decide on where you want to go to next.

[User] You end of the fair

[Assistant]
After the fair, you and Allison make your way to a bench just outside of the fairgrounds. According to Allison, this bench is the best viewpoint for the fireworks they're having. You weren't aware they were even having fireworks, so you just agreed with her to view them from here. The cold air getting at the her, Allison moves closer to you and rests her head on your shoulders.

At this point, you think it's all but official the two of you are dating now. All you'd need to do now is lean down and kiss her, but you put it off for now. Whether it's fear, or nervousness, or something else, something inside of you is saying not to right now. Your feelings seem to be somewhat conflicted on the manner still.

Allison shifts her weight and nudges in closer to you, causing you to unconsciously put your arm around her. She looks up at you and smiles, and you turn your head and blush. She really is cute, is all you can think about at this moment. Her long blonde and pink stripped hair flows down into her lap, and her bright blue eyes seem to shine even on this poorly lit bench. If she was just cute you could probably deal with ignoring her, but she seems to understand you perfectly, something you never thought could happen.

Suddenly, the fireworks start, interrupting your internal conflict. You hadn't even noticed, but by now others have all gathered around the two of you to watch the fireworks. Luckily, you and Allison still have space between you and them, but you're suddenly really self-conscious that you're holding her in your arms. The bright lights and loud sounds of the fireworks seem to memorize the crowd for the few brief minutes they burst in the sky. Then, as quickly as they started, the fireworks end, and the crowd begins to disperse around you.

As they do, Allison grips a hold of your hand that's currently around her, and looks into your eyes.

"Hey, Jacob?"

"H...Hm?"

"This is okay, right?"

"What is?"

"The two of us, together. It's okay....right?"

Allison asks, as if she's pleading for you to answer for her. You're not sure if she's also conflicted, or if she just notices you are, but you need to answer her, to make a decision.

[User] You say "No, it's not right"

[Assistant]
No, this just doesn't feel right. For some reason, you come to the conclusion that you just shouldn't be with Allison. You practically grimace in pain as you slowly move your arm away from her, and gently slide down the bench.

"No....it's not right. I'm sorry Allison."

You reply as you look to the side, unable to face her properly. There's a brief moment of silence between you, before Allison speaks.

"You're probably right. I need to stop this...."

She says softly.

"I keep getting side-tracked into my own delusions, and I keep doing all these selfish things..."

She continues. You look at her and notice she's now sitting with her legs on the bench and her arms wrapped around them.

"I'm sorry I keep dragging you into this, Jacob. I'm sure I'll get it right one of these times."

You tilt your head slightly in confusion and frown. This isn't exactly what you expected when you rejected her. She's saying all these things you don't understand.

"What are you talking about?"

You manage to ask, curiosity gaining the better of you. Allison turns to you and sighs.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it. See you another time, Jacob."

She says as she stands up and walks away from the bench, without looking back. You watch silently as she leaves, before making your way home. You're not sure what the future holds, but you know it won't be one with Allison.

[User] You allison - Bad End

[Assistant]
Unfortunately, you got the bad ending for Allison's route. This means that you made a few wrong choices in her path, and as a result didn't get a high enough score to get the better ending option (or you simply choose this one over it) . As a hint, I'll tell you that the order of the events you do at the fair matters, and that being concerned for her earlier on could make a difference.

Hope you try again!


[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 go to the Klyton Militia

[Assistant]
You won't do it, you won't kill anyone and you're not going to bring someone to Dr. Kovas for him to murder either. Maybe you'll die, but you're going to make sure Kovas pays as well.

You head to the nearest Klyton militia station and tell them everything. The sergeant in charge asks if you've been to the hospital yet to which you say no. He says they need to get you there immediately and if you do indeed have some sort of poison in your system they'll obviously be able to arrest Dr. Kovas with no problems.

You're rushed to the hospital and thanks to the militia you're seen to immediately. The physicians run all sorts of tests on you. They don't find anything, but given the situation they put you on observation. The militia still goes to check out Dr. Kovas since there are several doctors they speak with at the hospital who don't particularly like him and don't put it past him to pull something like this.

You wait in your bed, getting more nervous by the hour. You don't feel sick at all, maybe he was bluffing? You sure hope so. In any case, you realize that maybe you need to give up on the whole medical profession thing. You tried your best, but it seems that events have constantly conspired against you. You've even broken laws of your own to achieve your goals and all you've managed to succeed in is alienating your mom, earning the loathing of your staff and getting yourself poisoned.

After thinking about this for a while, you begin to get sleepy. It isn't dawn yet, but you can't be sure if it isn't the poison or not, of course it could just be the stress of the night finally getting to you. In any case you close your eyes to darkness.

When you wake up you're surprised to see your mom sitting there.

"Oh by the gods, thanks to them you're alive!"

"Mom? How the? How'd you get here so fast? How did you find out?"

"Son, I think the first thing you should know is that you've been in a coma for about a month!"

"Whaaaa…"

You mother explains everything that she knows that has happened. You did have a deadly toxin in your body, but fortunately the hospital was able to keep you alive until the militia found the antidote in Kovas' lab. Dr. Kovas himself was killed while resisting arrest.

They injected the antidote into your unconscious body, but they assume it didn't work like it should have due to the toxin already running through your body and in the process of shutting everything down.

When the militia informed Wendy of your condition, she immediately contacted your mother by messenger. Being your only immediate family, she also regained possession of the inn while you were incapacitated and possibly on your deathbed. As a result she sold it to help pay for your medical treatment and she's been by your side ever since.

You can't believe that your mom has helped you like this after how you parted a year ago. Needless to say you and her make up in an emotional way.

You spend another week in the hospital still getting tested by doctors. They tell you you'll be able to go home, but your body has been severely weakened by the toxin and how it is unlikely that you'll ever be fully healthy again.

No more inn and no more college and somehow it all just seems like a great relief to you. Your mother takes you to her home in Teckleville, you have no idea what you're going to do there, but for a while you just take it easy.

Just like the doctors said, you don't make a complete recovery. You feel tired all the time and sometimes you don't feel well at all. You mother and your aunt Enora make sure to look after you, but as the months go on you begin to get frustrated and depressed.

You try to occupy your time with hobbies, but nothing really works. You almost consider suicide, but that would probably devastate your mom more than anything, so you take the same determined mindset that you once had for college and place it towards finding a job you'll be able to handle. Eventually you succeed and get a position at the small library in town where your extensive knowledge on the sciences comes in quite handy and greatly appreciated.

The rest of your life is fairly mundane, perhaps even a little boring, but you do come to appreciate the life you managed to carve out in light of everything that happened to you.


[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 knock him away with the rifle

[Assistant]
Using the butt of the rifle, you swing it at the creature's face, connecting with it's nose. Black ooze spatters out of it's nostrils and onto the gun and wall behind you. It makes a low grunting noise and falls back into a near corner of the room.

A look of painful surprise crosses it's face as it makes for the hallway and back into the diner.

Quickly, you undo the safety switch on the rifle you just used for a bat, aim at the creature's backside, and pull the trigger.

Instantly, the creature drops to the ground, the bullet penetrating his spine. Raising the gun toward the creature's head, you pop another one for good measure entering his skull. Black ooze begins to pour out of the wounds you made.

Just when you are about to pull out your cell phone and take a couple of pics of your prize kill, the heavy set woman enters the room. You seem to have forgotten all about her and her awesome chili during the commotion.

"Thank you" "Thank you...."

You stare at her as she approaches you with arms outstretched as if to give you a big hug.

Thank you....

[User] The least you could do is give her a hug...

[Assistant]
You drop the gun unable to comprehend what is going on.

The woman that made the delicious chili runs over to give you a big hug. Tears roll down her cheeks as she repeats the words: Thank You...Thank You...Thank You...

As you embrace each other, 3 men with rifles enter the room. The woman backs away and looks suprised at the newly aquired company. All three men are in camoflauge and two are wearing cowboy hats. The other is wearing a cap that reads "Truckers do it in convoys."

"Alice?" asks one gunman.

"Toby!!!" she cries and runs over and hugs all three men.

Soon the men are shaking your hand in appreciation for killing what they call a "Gargoyle."

Toby is Alice's husband and both are big rig truck drivers. Toby states that they recieved a shipment to drop off at this place...Captain Trips Diner.

"We thought it was a strange shipment for a diner since the haul was 2 dozen rifles an ammo." Alice says.

"While we were unloading it, the old man motions these ...winged creatures to attack us while he kidnaps my Alice." Toby continues.

"That was two days ago...we could'nt get close enough after the gargoyles ran us off in our truck. I called for Sheriff Reeves here to assist me."

"People been disapearring around here for years cause of these damn Gargoyles." states Sheriff Reeves. " You killed the last of it's kind." "We killed the rest of them up in a cave in the hills. This one was a master shape shifter. The only way you can tell is the eye color."

"We saw your truck back there....sorry about the shooting. " "We were aiming for the shape shifter." states Toby.

Soon, you make your way with your new friends toward Toby and Alice's rig. They offer you a ride to the city your grandfather lives in.

"It's a little out of the way but it's the least we can do for saving my life." Alice says with a smile.

"I'll make you another bowel of my chili before we go."

You grin from ear to ear.

~THE END~

You got  the "Gargoyle" ending and mastered this storyline. Good job.


[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 put it back. You can't take that risk.

[Assistant] Your stomach protests your decision, but you return the package to its original hiding place anyway. You know the risks that come with food poisoning, and with such a poor immune system, it would be all too easy for some bacteria to kill you off in your sleep. Instead, you venture outside and return with firewood, and after setting up a small fire in the middle of the store, you curl up in your blankets and fall asleep.

[User] Next.

[Assistant]
With every passing day, it becomes harder and harder to get up and force yourself to keep going. The snow is falling heavily now, and your brain is preoccupied with fantasies of food. Tree bark isn't edible, is it? No... Maybe? You're having trouble clearing your head and focusing on the road ahead of you. Starvation is making you dizzy, and before you know it, you're lying face down in the ash and snow.

No, you can't let it end like this. You have to get up and keep moving. Death is not an option!

But the snow is so soft, almost warm to the touch. Your eyes are heavy. You're not sure if you really should keep soldiering on, or if you should just sleep and let the cold envelop you.

[User] You succumb to sleep.

[Assistant] A wave of peace washes over you as you make your resolve. With a small smile, you close your eyes and slowly drift off into a deep sleep, followed by dreams of flowers and sunlight and childhood, and then nothingness.


[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 do nothing

[Assistant]
You decide against trying to talk to the gothic girl. You could get in even more trouble after all, and you probably don't even know her. Detention passes by slowly, but eventually you're dismissed. Ian is already long gone by the time you return to the front lobby, so you go back home alone.

Along the way you try to retrace your steps from this morning, and although you go down a wrong alley or two, you eventually make it home. Of course, your mother is noticeably upset you are hours late from school.

"So Jacob. Mind explaining why you have come home at such at late hour?"

Your mother asks impatiently as you enter the house, two hours after you should have been home.

"I...err...sort of had detention."

You reply.

"What for?"

"I was late for my first class...."

Your mother seems annoyed, but doesn't push the matter too much further.

"Honestly Jacob, you won't ever succeed in life if you don't take things seriously. Even if you dislike school, being tardy is no excuse."

She says in a rather condescending manner. You nod your head in agreement and rush up the stairs seeing as she is finished scolding you. The rest of the day passes by with nothing of interest really happening. At the end of the day, you go to sleep and wonder if you'll wake up back in the future.