[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 ask her about the falling of the islands

[Assistant]
The captain stares at you in amazement for a few moments. "You want to know why the islands are falling?" she asks. "Are you serious? Do you mean to tell me that you really don't know what's happening on the surface below?" She pauses, then shrugs as if it doesn't really matter. "That's probably no surprise. None of you Unworthy ones take the time to explore your surroundings. You're so satisfied with little things instead."

Standing up from her desk, she strides over to the door of the room and beckons to you with a single talon. "Mother Ghared. Unworthy. Both of you, follow me. We're going up to the balcony so that I can educate this girl a little on the world around her."

Curious about what she has in mind, you start to follow the captain out of the cabin. Mother Ghared is just a step behind you. "Why are we going up to the balcony?" you ask. "What's this got to do with the - "

"You wanted to know why the islands are all falling, didn't you?" she interrupts. "Well, I'm not going to tell you. it would take too much time to explain and I can't remember all the fancy words that you Unworthy ones use. No, I'm going to show you instead."

[User] You follow her up to the balcony

[Assistant]
You follow the captain back onto the upper deck, onto a raised platform protected by a thick metal railing. Up here, you can see that a mystical crystalline device has been installed into the top of the airship. It seems to be made out of hundreds of tiny pieces of metal, interwoven together in a blend of silver and black. You cannot guess at its purpose, but the whole thing is humming with energy. Surely it must power the ship in some way.

"The lens here will magnify any singular point on the surface, within a set range," the captain explains. Behind you, Mother Ghared scrambles up next to her. "Right now, it's focused on one of the human-inhabited regions far below us. Think of it as a giant magnifying glass, except that this one takes about two hours to realign the location. Not very practical, in theory. Usually, we just use it to pinpoint any turbulent weather conditions coming our way, but we don't have a lot of contact with the people on the surface anyway." She stands back, allowing you to take your place in front of the device. "Step up to the lens, Unworthy. Take a look for yourself at what's happening on the surface!"

Warily, you move forward as she requests and peer into the giant lens.

The first thing you notice is just how much detail the instrument is showing you. You can see houses down below. People. Trees. In fact, if you look in the right location, then you can see exactly what people are doing. To be honest, it makes you feel a little uncomfortable to be using a device that could technically be used to spy on people. You adjust the lens using the controls on the side, coming out of focus in order to try and look at something else in the same region.

A black spot shows up on the lens.

As you focus in on the spot, you realise with alarm that you are looking at the ruins of a whole cluster of buildings. No, not just buildings. That's…that's an entire town. Big enough to be a city, even. It's just a burned-out hole in the ground. More black spots appear on the lens now, hundreds and hundreds of them, like termites crawling through the earth...

That isn't all. Some of the black spots are surrounded by a sea of red. You move into sharper focus now, going a bit further up, and see that a red river is flowing from a…a mountain? No. it can't be. That's a volcano. That means…

Your heart skips a beat as you swiftly scan the rest of the surrounding region, looking for any signs of life down there. There are still people there. They're alive, but they're not living. The earth has cracked all the way down the middle, right across the centre of the entire continent. It's a crack which extends far and wide, beyond what the lens can see at this position.

The patch of red is accompanied by orange…and then blue. Are those flood waters? Just what is going on here? There's so much going on at the surface that you can't make head or tails about what you're really looking at, let alone grasp the bigger picture. Is it just a constant stream of natural disasters? All at once?

"If you are looking for a specific, detailed explanation on what has happened," the captain says, "then you are all out of luck. Nobody can tell you what happened at the source. If you were close enough to know for sure, then you would already be dead. What you can see before you is what's going on right now." She gestures to the crack running down the middle. "That's not the result of a normal earthquake. Nor do we believe that a number of volcanoes erupted all at once, purely by accident. Mother Ghared has offered her views on this."

"It is possible that there was a split in the energy flow between the human nations," Mother Ghared ventures. "Everything feeds off energy. Input and output; produce, waste and conservation. Energy is what keeps your islands suspended in the sky. It's what breathes new life into you. When there's too much of it in one place, and too little in another…" She shakes her head sadly. "The Gahl'vuhr Sehn call it a "temporal discharge", although that kind of phrase is largely inaccurate. It's a measure of great force which saps an enormous amount of resources from the planet itself. The planet, of course, reacts accordingly." She shrugs. "That's my theory, but there are others. War could be the trigger. Mass deprivation of world resources. It was always going to happen one day. All we know is that there are no outside forces at work. Everything's that happened…is something that we did nothing to avoid.

"Needless to say, the effects upon the sky islands have been disastrous. The tremendous energy drain has disrupted the gravitational pull to an extreme, causing many of the islands to fall out of the sky. Countless airships have been leeched of their power, stranding them in open sky."

"Not on my watch," the captain growls. "I make my own preparations. When our energy cells were depleted, I immediately had the helmsmen switch to our back-up source and keep us airborne. We should survive until we reach the next island. I don't care what those humans did on the surface, but they're not going to bring an Auvahr ship down."

Mother Ghared's words swim through your head, but you are still staring at the scenes before you in a state of utter shock. Is this what's happened to the world? Why? What could be worth this? But at the same time, you remember the experiences you had just days before the island started falling. Changes in the wind. Abstract extremes of temperature and air pressure. Unexplainable disturbances in the atmosphere which were thought to return to normal within the year.

You don't know what to make of this. You don't know what to make of any of this. How can you survive in a world like this, so chaotic and constantly at war with itself? Will you really be safe up here in the sky? The only plan you can think of is to find a new island to settle on, somewhere that you can start again. That would be nice. Wouldn't it? Wouldn't it be nice?

Where do you go from here?

[User] You proceed

[Assistant]
Abruptly, the captain switches off the lens completely. The vision before your eyes turns to a sea of black, disorientating you momentarily.

"Now that I've answered your questions, Unworthy," she says testily, "I expect you to answer mine. Who are you, and where do you come from?"

You don't see any reason to lie. "We do not name each other," you say truthfully.

"Excuse me?" The captain frowns distastefully. "You don't have a name?"

"Nobody is born with a name," you answer. "Among humans, the parents name a child at birth regardless of whether they ask for it or not. It is not customary to use names among my people. Giving yourself a name only makes it easier for someone to gain power over you. Bearing in mind the kind of lives we lead with each other, it's unnecessary."

She swears under her breath, clearly put out by your words. "What am I supposed to call you, then? Pigeon Girl? You Unworthy ones are a strange lot. I'll be damned if I let one on board my ship ever again if I have to put up with this nonsense! Now, tell me which island you came from!"

"We don't name our islands either," you say, confused at the question. "For the same reason."

The captain gives you a long-suffering look which suggests she is coming to the end of her patience.

"I'm sure it doesn't matter which island she came from, captain," Mother Ghared reassures her. "You saw what happened. Her island must be at the bottom of the sea by now. Very few survived the fall."

"All right, all right. Maybe you'd just like to say that when I tell my superiors that I took in an Unworthy on board my ship. Gender? Female. Name? Non-applicable. Place of birth? Some island that fell out of the sky." She stares at you angrily. "Listen, girl, you're not making it easy for me to fill out the required paperwork. I'm not even going to ask how old you are, because you'd probably tell me that you only count backwards using the constellations at a certain time of the year. Can I at least get an iota of cooperation from you, Unworthy?!"

As she talks, your gaze is drawn to a strange sight upon the horizon. You hadn't seen it before, but it looks as if it's coming this way. Slowly, you step forward to peer at the foreign object approaching the airship.

[User] You take a closer look at the sight on the horizon

[Assistant]
You see what appears to be a mass of black clouds on the horizon, lit up by a blaze of yellow and white flashes. The atmosphere around the airship is becoming increasingly turbulent, and you feel the vessel shake beneath your feet, making it difficult to keep your balance.

The captain turns to see what you're looking at and swears out loud. "Just our luck," she mutters. "Damn lightning storm could put us all out of commission." Without hesitation, she starts to shout orders down to the crew below, reverting back to Common Tongue as she does so. "Bll hflmsmfn pn thf blfrt! Thfrf's b ljghtnjng stprm bpprpbchjng thf shjp. Bfgjn fvbsjvf mbnpfvvrfs jmmfdjbtfly, pr wf wpn't lbst fjvf mjnvtfs!"

You see the crew members scramble to their positions quickly, working amongst themselves to turn the ship around before it makes contact with the imminent storm. The captain turns to you. "We're going to try and steer around the storm, Unworthy. It's a big one, and with such short notice we might not be able to make it. But I'm confident I can get my ship through this. It's rare for a lightning storm of this size to appear without any warning, but..."

"Is this to do with what's happening on the surface?" you ask worriedly. There was no sign of any such storm until now. The change in pressure was simply so drastic for this to happen naturally.

The look in the captain's eyes tells you the answer to that. "Unworthy, you'd better get yourself below deck where it's safer," she says grimly. "Just stay out of trouble. That way I won't have to worry about protecting your neck."

With that she rushes down the steps, still shouting orders as the storm draws closer. You hold onto the railing tightly as the ship starts to change course, but at this distance you have a feeling that it might be too late. A crackle of white-blue lightning flashes not too far from the vessel, and the wind is getting stronger.

[User] You stay on the upper deck, ready to help

[Assistant]
You decide to remain on deck and see what help you can lend to the crew members. Mother Ghared disappears down below, and from here you watch as the helmsmen frantically try to turn the airship around as quickly as possible. Before long, the ship is so close to the storm that pieces of wood are being shredded away from the outside of the hull. You grip the railing tightly, fearing the worst…

"Brbcf ypvrsflf!" the captain yells.

There is a horrendous tearing of wood and metal as the storm makes impact. Fearfully, you throw yourself clear from the balcony – and just in time, too. A bolt of lightning flashes down onto the crystal lens where you were standing, shattering it into a million pieces. The crewmen cry out as a violent gust of wind slams into the ship, powerful enough to tear the railings apart. Rain and sleet pours down to accompany it.

Desperately, you search for somewhere to take cover from the storm. This was a bad idea. You shouldn't have stayed up on deck in this kind of climate. There's nothing you can do here –

Another bolt of lightning flashes down and rips straight through the mast.

You turn to see the entire weight of the mast fall towards the deck. To your horror, you see that the captain is right in its path, just seconds away from being crushed. None of the mercenaries are close enough to help her. No one is close enough to help…but you.

Even if you did help her, it's unlikely that you would be able to get out of the way in time.

[User] You push the captain out of the way

[Assistant]
With your heart in your mouth, you race forward and shove the captain out of the way in the nick of time. You see her eyes go wide at her near escape. Then you look upwards and see wit horror that the mast is continuing to fall – right on top of you.

Frantically, you start to move to avoid it, but you are already out of time. You have sacrificed what precious seconds you had to save the captain. Your legs are moving too slowly, far too slowly to avoid the heavy lump of wood which will crush you asunder. Everything seems to move in slow motion as the mast careens towards your helpless body –

"Fprcf!"

A shrill cry erupts from the other end of the airship. The mast shudders as an invisible force slams to it, snapping it further at an awkward angle. You can barely breathe as the fractured beam crashes through the deck barely a metre away from you. You're alive. You can't believe it.

You raise your head to see Mother Ghared frozen in position, her hands outstretched towards the fallen mast. Your knowledge of her abilities is still limited, but you understand that this is the second time she has saved your life. The captain is already on her feet, struggling to defend herself from another group of mutants.

Before you can move, you see Mother Ghared slump to the ground. She seems exhausted by the effort of stopping the heavy mast, and the energy drain is too much for her. You start to force yourself to your feet, knowing that if you spend too long dawdling then you won't have long to celebrate. She needs help, and fast.

That's when you hear the violent splintering sound below you.

Fearing the worst, you see that the heavy mast has in fact torn straight through the centre of the airship. It is in no condition to fly. The vessel has already been damaged by the attacks of the mutants, and you can only watch in horror as more and more cracks appear, joining together as one…

The airship breaks apart down the middle.

You see the mutants react with surprise as they start to plummet along with their half of the ship. Surprisingly enough, they can no longer fly. You're not quite sure why, but you have a feeling that their wings from before were only temporary. In addition...part of the airship somehow remains airborne. You're not in a position to question the laws of aerodynamics right now, but you need to act fast.

Your half of the airship is currently airborne and in no danger of falling – or so you hope. The captain is next to you, slumped in a heap. The other half of the ship is about to plummet downwards, and you realise that Mother Ghared is still on that side. She's unconscious and has no idea of what has happened.

You have a split second to decide whether to cross over the gap to Mother Ghared, or stay here with the captain. You have no idea what condition either person is in.

[User] You stay on this part of the ship with the captain

[Assistant]
You can do nothing but watch as Mother Ghared is lost with the remaining half of the ship, falling away out of sight. With the last of the mutants gone with her, the bloody battle has ended. The upper deck is covered with the bodies of the dead, both mercenaries and mutants alike, and you find no survivors at all. It's sad, really. The chaos on the surface has worked its way up here, even though you like to think of yourself as disconnected from the surface as possible…

Right now, there is nothing powering the airship anymore. You are at the mercy of the wind, which blows the vessel this way and that, stranding you here in the middle of the open skies. You have no knowledge of how airships work, and feel you shouldn't try to mess with the controls at all. You count yourself lucky that you stand upon a ship which is still airborne at all.

For now, all you can do is wait for the airship to drift; here, alone, among the mass of dead bodies on board. There are some supplies to keep you going, but they won't last you very long. All of the food was stored in the lower deck, and that was the part of the ship which went down.

The captain is lying slumped in the middle of the deck, bleeding profusely from several wounds. She's alive, but only just. A quick examination of her reveals that she hasn't got long to live. Only her resilience has allowed her to last this long.

[User] You proceed

[Assistant]
For the rest of the day, the damaged airship drifts upon the wind with no clear or definite destination. You face a lonely vigil here, one of the only survivors among numerous corpses. Whilst you're here, you try to salvage whatever supplies you can, realising that you may be here for a long time if you are not fortunate enough to reach another island. There a few food packages in the captain's room, and you are careful to consume only a small amount. These might be your only supplies for a long time…

The captain has not regained consciousness, at least not fully. She mumbles incoherently when you try to rouse her, but you know she is need of nutrition and medical attention. Unfortunately, there are no medical supplies in this part of the ship. Those were lost with Mother Ghared. Unable to wake her, you force some water through the captain's cracked lips. She coughs and splutters but manages to get it down.

As you continue to drift, you see numerous other airships passing by. However…they give you no cause to celebrate. They, too, are drifting. The crew members on board are all dead, as you discover upon your first encounter; some have been attacked by mutants or aggressive races as happened with you, but in fact you find that the majority of them have been the victim of violent storms or run out of food and supplies completely. In more than a few cases, you find that there is a literal skeleton crew on board, as evidence by the remaining bones that greet you.

The world is falling apart around you, and you can do nothing to stop it. You are the only one out here who remains alive. The chaos on the surface must be affecting the skies, too, since many of the doomed ships here have been drifting for some time. How long has it been since your island fell? How long has the world been like this?

Hours pass, and you begin to feel that you will not survive. Your supplies will not last forever.

It is almost nightfall when you are confronted by a single ray of hope. At first, you think that your eyes are playing tricks on you. An island can be seen passing close to the airship.

An island. It seems like a miracle. There could be people there, people who could help you and give the captain the medical attention she so desperately needs. However, the airship isn't headed directly for it – you will have to literally jump down onto the island, making use of the few tools still available to you.

As you draw closer, you realise that you do not recognise this island at all. You don't know if the inhabitants there will be friendly or hostile to you: there might not even be any people living there at all. It could be filled with wild animals. If you choose to disembark, you will not be able to return to the ship, which will drift away and leave you stranded upon this isle.

Furthermore, the angle at which you are approaching the island makes it impossible for you take anyone with you. You can jump down onto the surface yourself with some difficulty. This will mean that you will have to leave the wounded captain behind, ultimately sealing her fate.

[User] You disembark onto this new island, leaving the captain behind

[Assistant]
You take one last look at the captain, who is lying on the bed in her cabin where you brought her up to rest. In the circumstances, she almost looks like she is sleeping peacefully. You shake your head and walk away from her, stepping over the corpses littering the deck. You can't let this affect you. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices in order to survive.

The island below is coming up fast. If you don't jump now, then you're going ot miss your chance. Crossing your fingers, you grab hold of one of the mooring lines running down the length of the airship, and brace yourself. The wind rushes past you as you swing from the rope and jump from the vessel, feeling as if you're putting your whole life at stake here. A single misstep could send you hurtling into the void…

Soft vegetation cushions your fall as you land upon the island, winded but unhurt. You're dangerously close to the edge but you're safe, and that's what matters. The entirety of the island stretches around you. It is as yet unexplored territory.

Breathing a sigh of relief, you look up to see the airship drift away and out of sight. There's no going back now.

[User] You proceed

[Assistant]
You begin to explore the island you're on, and soon find that it is rich in vegetation, full of nutritious fruits which grow upon the numerous trees populating the land, and carries a generous stockpile of resources. It's a perfect haven for the weary traveller lacking in supplies. At once, you set to work gathering as much food as you can. The majority of the island is open grassland, though you find a small jungle in the southeast, so it's easy enough to traverse the space here. The wildlife here is not hostile to your presence, but from what you can see, you can easily live off the land here for many long decades of your life.

Further exploration reveals that there are no people inhabiting this island. None at all. That seems a little strange to you, that absolutely nobody has happened upon this place before. Any settler or explorer would immediately seize upon this haven of food and resources. It makes you wonder what secrets must lie here.

The amount of land here is vast, enough to build several towns a fair distance apart! For the next few weeks, you set out intending to explore the entire island. No passing airships or vessels are sighted anywhere near, and you realise with a heavy heart that you are probably stranded here. After all, you are in the middle of nowhere. The lack of people just makes it feel a bit…isolated.

At the end of the second week, you discover footprints. The footprints of people. Someone has been here before, although the marks are extremely faint and some part of you feels that you might have made them yourself. It's hard to be sure.

It's really very lonely here. How long are you willing to stay here, after all? How long will it take before you succumb to the ever-present loneliness? It's been weeks. Maybe you could get used to it, but you can't say for sure…

You decide to follow the footprints you saw. Despite yourself, you're intrigued about where they came from. You follow them all the way north, around the corner of the island, where they lead into the waters of a vast, beautiful lake. The sunlight paints its reflection upon the shimmering surface, and you shield your eyes from the glare. It's really a mystery as to what happened to these people. Perhaps you don't really want to find out.

Aside from the lake and the footprints, you've seen pretty much everything there is to see on this island. You also have no way of leaving. It's not bad, really. There's plenty of food to feed you for the rest of your days, and enough wood from the trees to construct your own shelter from the raging elements. The wildlife isn't particularly hostile, so you would be quite safe from danger.

You could settle here – you really could. It's just that…you're the only one here, and it's likely to remain that way. You've explored the island for nearly a month now, and there isn't another living soul to be seen. Well, apart from the animals, but they don't bother you. You could do anything here. You could run naked through the jungle and nobody would care, because there's nobody here but you. You could dig a hole underground and lose yourself inside there, bury yourself alive, and scream as loud as you can. Nobody would care, because there's nobody here but you. You could try to climb a tree, and then fall from a great height. You could break your legs from the fall and nobody would help you, because there's nobody here but you...

You don't cope well with loneliness.

One thing you can say about this island is that you've never seen anything like it before. It's not going to fall, not like the other islands fell. You don't know why you think that, because there's no chain or energy flow keeping it aloft...but it's just your gut feeling. It's not going to perish like the others. You would be safe. If you settle here, then nobody will ever bother you again.

[User] You approach the lake

[Assistant]
You walk up to the edge of the lake, searching for any sign of the people who came before you. Strangely enough, the footprints disappear into the water itself. After a moment's hesitation, you wade into the lake a short distance, curious to find out what really happened here. The water is cool and fresh against your skin, as if keen to make you feel at ease.

To your surprise, you can hear the faint sound of beautiful singing coming from up ahead. You've never heard anything quite like it before. The words are difficult to make out, but you are captivated nevertheless by the atmosphere that it creates around you. Intrigued, you push further into the lake towards the source of the singing.

You can make out the words a little clearer now. The water comes up to your waist.

"Welcome, welcome, O traveller of the skies,

Drink from the water, and burn out your life;

Our singing shall ease all your worries and fears,

Come closer, young traveller, for all you hold dear…

The voices fade away, and you are immediately struck by the impact of the silence all around you. Desiring to break the silence, you wade deeper into the lake's waters. You haven't heard the voice of another soul on this isle for nearly a month. As much as you hate to admit it, the loneliness is starting to get to you. It would be cruel to deprive you of such company.

You push further into the lake, not caring that your clothes are now drenched. From afar, you can hear the singing voices again. The water level comes up to your chest.

"Rejoice, rejoice, O traveller of the skies,

No need for emotions, to laugh or to cry;

Sing with us here in the depths of the lake,

Naught but your soul and your spirit shall we take…

A strange feeling passes over you, and the singing cuts out. The water level comes up to your neck, turning into a murky green.

Despite yourself, you do not feel that you are in any real danger. A low hum echoes from all around you, almost seeming to resonate from the waters of the lake itself. You can no longer see the edge of the lake anymore. You swim forward impatiently, still searching for the source of the voices…

"What are you doing here?"

The face of a young woman emerges from the water in front of you. She appears to be vaguely human-like in appearance, but when she speaks, it sounds as if you are hearing her voice from underwater. Green hair flows down her back, and you see scales dotting her cheeks. An aquatic lifeform of some kind, perhaps. You didn't know there were such people living in these waters.

"You're not one of us," she says, a surprised look on her face. "Why are you alive? How can you possibly survive here?"

Her questions baffle you. Before you can answer her, a second woman appears from the water, rising up to surface besides her companion.

"Look, sister," she whispers, pointing towards you. "It's not a male this time. The men usually drown themselves trying to hear the song, but she…" She smiles faintly at you, pulling back a lock of matted grey hair to one side. You see the hint of fangs protruding from inside her mouth. "We haven't had a female come here before. Maybe she could join us. Our song has more effect with greater numbers…"

"Another sister?" the green-haired woman sounds dubious. "But we've never done that before. Is she…safe?"

"Maybe not, but we can easily change her." The other woman looks at you curiously. "Traveller of the skies, we are the inhabitants of this isle. Everything you see before you is our property and ours alone. Those who visit our land are drawn into the dark waters and consumed by our sisters and children, giving us new life. We share the energy among us and channel it into the land itself, replenishing it. We do not die. We do not perish. Settlers sometimes come here and seek to drain the resources from the island, but no man cannot resist our song. We take from them what they seek to take from us."

She holds out a slim hand towards you. "Would you like to join us, traveller? Another female would be a welcome addition to our circle. If you become one of our sisters, you too will enjoy the privileges afforded to us all. However, I will not force you. Should you refuse, we will do you no harm, but please think very carefully before you answer."

[User] You agree to join them

[Assistant]
"Wonderful," she says with a smile. "Then let me welcome you in the tradition of our people. A kiss is necessary to seal the agreement of mutual acceptance."

Before you can do anything, the grey-haired woman moves swiftly through the water towards you and embraces you tightly. Her lips move onto yours in a surprisingly intimate fashion, and you can't quite keep the shock out of your eyes. You can feel your body changing as an effect of the kiss, as if your internal organs are slowly undergoing alterations of their own…

Scales appear upon your face, and the tone of your skin deepens to a pale blue. Your vision begins to go fuzzy, and a small measure of panic starts to take root in your mind. What's going on? What exactly have you agreed to do here? Before you, the woman mouths a single word before disappearing into the waters of the lake. You feel her grip your ankles tightly from under the surface...and pull you underwater with her.

You struggle to break her grip, but in moments you are forced under the surface. With a start, you realise that you can actually breathe underwater. What has happened to you? You feel as if you have gills in place, rather than lungs, and that your body has altered to that of an aquatic being. Fins and scales grow down your body, and any prior hunger or fatigue has lessened as a result. You don't know what significance this has, but…

The two women from before are swimming underwater with you and watching you closely. You see now that their bodies are just like yours, and that instead of legs they have a fish-like tail. Nothing of the sort has happened to you, however, so you are able to keep your legs for now.

"Come, sister," the green-haired woman says to you, much warmer to you now. She isn't a woman at all, you realise. A fish? A mermaid? "Come and meet the others. Let us share this land together, all of us."

You swim after her, deeper and deeper through the pleasant waters of the lake. More and more of these mermaids appear from around you, watching you with interest and chatting amongst themselves. You didn't know that so many of these creatures were living down here. You thought the entire island was empty of any intelligent life...

Right at the bottom of the lake, you discover a curious sight. A stone altar of some kind has been built into the lake bed, upon which a human body is tied. He seems to have been dead for some time. You watch as the mermaids surround him in a tight circle, singing in unison. It's almost as if they're singing to his corpse.

"Come," your companion whispers to you, beckoning you forward. "You should join in too."

Curious about this strange ritual, you stumble into the circle with her. The beautiful singing echoes all around you, and there is an addictiveness about the harmony of voices which is almost ethereal. You find yourself singing along, too, singing to the human corpse strapped upon the altar. It's mesmerising, hypnotic, and you soon lose yourself in the sound...

You don't know how long you've been singing for, but before long you start to feel a form of energy take place in your stomach. The feeling is not unpleasant. Euphoria washes over you as the energy grows and grows, giving rise to a greater volume of voices than before. Somehow, you and the other mermaids are leeching away the human's composition, converting it into something which will benefit everyone. The other mermaids are feeling it, too. You can see it in their faces. One of them smiles at you, understanding that you are with them, and you can't help but smile back.

The ceremony soon ends, and a new day starts anew. You spend all of your time with the community of mermaids around you, exploring the lake and occasionally going up to the surface when any new settlers think to land upon this island. Each time they do, you join in the singing with your sister mermaids, and watch as the men have no choice but to come deeper and deeper into the waters of the lake. They cannot resist the lure of your singing, and drown in the process.

Every week or so, you participate in another ceremony among one of the drowned men, devouring their body in order to give life back to the island. You feel that you are doing wonderful work here. The bodies of these humans can keep you living forever, really. This is a life that you can look back upon without feeling any regret.

You ultimately remain here with the other mermaids, here upon this seemingly deserted island, feeding upon any explorers foolish enough to try and settle here. The words of your sisters ring true. This is your land. You will not let anyone take it from you. This island belongs to you.

You live here in contentment, oblivious to the chaos going on in the surface. This island will not fall, not whilst you continue to sustain it with the bodies of fools.

After falling from a great height, you have found a new place in life.


[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 kick Andre's ass

[Assistant]
You have absolutely no patience for this and you begin beating the hell out of Andre, starting by slashing him across his many eyes. Andre surprises you though by fighting back. Due to his diet he's not exactly the best fighter, but he's a lot stronger that you thought. You land a few bites on him which immediately cause you to puke since he tastes like a bleeding leper with gangrene. Andre counters with some puke of his own, unfortunately for you, his is acidic. Your arm is horribly burned to the bone.

After howling in pain you summon up a reservoir of strength and put your fist through Andre's chest and proceed to dig around deeply, pulling out all the nasty black stuff inside. Andre twitches and spasms for a good ten minutes before he dies. You stagger back home to nurse your wounds.

Against any other opponent you probably would've just felt the pain for a couple of days, and regenerated back to your old self, but Andre WAS a fly and as such he was carrying multiple diseases both known and unknown. And during your fight he was spitting and bleeding all over you not to mention you bit him a few times. As a result you've been infected by some pretty nasty ones.

Over the course of a few days you begin to get very sick and lethargic, if you were younger, your immune system might've been stronger to fight it off, but you don't have that advantage anymore. You feel deathly ill and your fur is falling out, you refuse to die like this.

You drag yourself back into town and weakly attack the nearest human you can find. After the cops are called you attempt to attack them as well, but they shoot you full of silver before you can even get near them.


[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 move on

[Assistant] You decide to pass them by, there has to be another way through the city without the aid of the Essitreans and the inevitable conflict they will attract. You head down a corridor and see flames rising ahead, to the left you see a massive army of Turric soldiers fighting with another smaller group of Essitreans. The carnage is horrid and you opt not to go that way. To your right you see an old stable. Perhaps within you can find a horse.

[User] You head towards the Fire

[Assistant] The flames ahead of you fly many feet into the air and you try to find a way past the street but there are no obvious exits. Disheartened you retreat back to the previous intersection.


[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 an axe in the hands of the man to your left

[Assistant]
The man next to you screams and whacks a corpse on the ground with your simple battle axe. He smiles and pulls himself up to grip the weapon with two hands and bring it down over the head of another distracted man.

Your heart beats.

You spare a quick glance over the rest of the battlefield.

Men fight all around you, clanging metal and shrieking warriors ringing in your ears. There's laughter, joy, fear, and hatred in those screams. Shadows stand all around the raised edge of the arena, perfectly still.

You need a weapon in your hands, something to defend yourself against this writhing mass of life and death. You need your axe; it's yours. It fits perfectly in your hand and bites at the flesh of your enemies like a loyal dog. There is no question: you must get it back.

Beat.

The man is chopping here and there and everywhere. He's not even holding your axe right.

Beat.

Attack him now and rely on your skills, or sneak up behind him?

[User] You attack now!

[Assistant]
You rush, hoping to catch him unaware. He swings the axe around to his right and slashes another man.

Beat.

Your feet both push you forward and you put your hands into the perfect position to attack himand grab the handle of the axe. Both feet leave the ground and propel you into the man.

Beat.

Your right hand curls to give him a brutal punch with all your weight in his throat. Your left hand opens to grab the axe before he can swing it around to you.

Beat.

Beat. Beat.

Beat. Beat. Beat.

Your fist makes contact with him and he falls back a bit, his face twisting in pain. You grab the handle of the axe and wrench it from his grasp as he's weak. Your fist only glances his neck and he recovers quickly to tug back at the axe and kick your shins. You quickly push him off and bring the axe down while he's still weak, but he blocks his face with one arm. There's a sickening thud as you bury it into his shoulder. He tries to pull it out and push you away as adrenaline covers his pain, but you elbow him in the face and kick him to the ground as you pull out the axe.

Laughter takes him and he thrashes about on the ground. You sink the axe into his back and he stops moving, but that laughter continues. You're just about to end his pathetic life when an arrow catches your leg and tears open a huge gash. You collapse onto one knee and drop the axe as someone stabs you with a sword. The end sticks out of your left side and blood flows as the sword is pulled back. You lie on the ground and something bubbles inside of you.

Well now, isn't that funny. You didn't get it before , but now...

It's too much and you giggle until you can't breathe, but even when you try to stop and take a breath all you can feel is that hole in your torso. The other man grabs your hand and lets out a shriek, squeezes, and then his smile is stuck on his dead face. You can't help it. You smile too. And laugh. And laugh and laugh until a sword somehow finds its way into your eye. Woopsy daisy. How'd that get in there?


[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 follow the urge

[Assistant]
Tainted? You are not tainted by anything, you are the alpha predator of the weak humans below you and you will prove it by killing their 'Lords' in front of them and feasting on their flesh. Once you are in charge the games can continue but you will eat the humans as you watch.

You lash out at them and make a lunge towards them at incredible speed but you feel both attacks suddenly blocked. The two men in cloaks moved just as fast as you and they are now pinning your arms in grips you can't break.

"You see, I told you we can't trust a red, once they go that way they are ruled by the infection and lose all reason." One says to the other "Sadly in this case you were right, I thought since his colour had shades and wasn't set yet that he could still chance but I guess not."

"Don't talk over me!" You shout at them, you are about to continue and tell them of what you will do to get your revenge when you feel something slamming into your mind and you have to use all your concentration to fend it off. You only hold for a second though as a second attack shatters your defense and you feel pressure inside your mind.

Suddenly it vanishes and you don't feel their minds anymore. "There, I left all your abilities and mind intact but you lost all of your… mental prowess shall we say." One of them say cheerily to you "An impressive feat if I say so myself, mental brain surgery! Literally!" he chuckles at his own joke.

You are about to say something when you feel yourself suddenly thrown out over the crowd and fall right into the centre of the pit. You try and lash out at them but find all of your mental senses gone; you can only feel what you did when you were a normal human. You panic for a moment but the announcer comes back on the PA system. "That's right folks, our special event is that our Lords have captured an evil harbinger and stripped him of his mental powers! He is still incredibly strong and fast, but let's see how he does against our hordes! The winners are the infected who deliver the killing blow, will it be mutants of walkers!"

You looks up just in time to see all of the infected and mutants rush at you. You fight well, you still have your speed and strength and kill a large number of them but the small wounds add up. You lose your left arm first to a large mutant dog, you killed it but it had already severed the flesh. Your leg is broken by a shamber latching onto it while a fast type slammed into you. After that it goes quickly.

It ends as a mutant tears your windpipe out, the last thing you hear is the crowd cheering your death.


[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 decline her request

[Assistant]
You've got other important things to concern yourself with; you don't have time to risk backing a potential wild card. When you decline to help her, she's surprised.

"What?! Are you serious? Since when do the shadows decline a contract?"
"Why does everyone assume we take everything? We only accept deals that would be in our favor and quite frankly dealing with you seems like it would be a losing game at best, so if that's all our business here…"

"But you would be destroying an enemy!"
"An enemy who as you just said is too cowardly to make a move against us. I think the status quo is working just fine right now. Now I suggest you leave before you make me angry."

Tarna stares at you for a moment and looks exasperated, but realizes there will be no convincing you.

"Fine! But remember this shadow. Brenda isn't going to be in charge forever and I will be taking power one day. You may find that declining to help me now was not a good idea. I will remember this shadow." She says and walks out of the room.

You sit there for a moment thinking, and then you get up to follow her. Just as she is storming out the front temple doors with her servants you hit her in the back with a small bolt of shadowfire, not enough to kill her, because you're not done with her yet.

Her servants attempt to run, but you tell the nearby shadows to dispose of them which they do so with ease and then drag Tarna's body towards you. She tries to pull her sword out, but her hand is stepped on by a shadow and then her sword taken away completely.

Despite all this, she remains defiant.

"Fool! You kill me and you'll have the entire might of Nalin on your head! You really think I won't be missed?"
"Not really. I know for a fact, you were on a mission to meet with the High Council of the Freelands before you came on this little detour. I mean come on; you came here to hire us to assassinate your master. You weren't going to report your sidetrip here. Even if you have co-conspirators back home, I doubt if any of them have the balls you do and they'll most likely keep quiet about your disappearance. Oh they may very well try to blame the shadows for your death, but I believe at worst, Brenda will assume you were killed by bandits in the wilderness of the Freelands."
"You assume much, shadow."
"Perhaps, but just to be safe, I'll keep you around for maybe a few months. Just in case a Nalin army does come sniffing around, then I can drag your ragged ass out in chains where you can fully admit you were plotting treachery to them first hand and prove that not only did we not act against the Nalin Empire, but in fact helped it…heh heh. Who knows? Maybe it'll even be a brand new era of peace between our two people."

Tarna is starting to break at this point, she's starting to realize that she has vastly overstepped her bounds.

"You…you really think they'll believe that? You really think I would admit it?"
"Oh yes, because IF they do arrive, you'll tell them everything and practically be begging them to execute you if only to end the nightmares you'll soon experience." you say and then move your face closer to hers. "I can sense your fear…funny how you should feel it only now when its too late. Take her away."

Nobody will come for her, you're sure of it. Now with that out of the way you can get back to your own plans.

Aggressively pursuing conflict with the magiocracy is probably going to be a violation of your agreement with them, but with Skog's help you don't see any need to worry. As for Skog, he's very much like his father in that he knows a good deal when it presents itself.

The shadows will follow as long as you tell them that Dendrin commands it. You'll get no dissent, that hasn't been a problem in quite some time.

You begin to make the preparations.

Year 66

"We've completely looted the magiocracy's treasury of their most prized magic items and tomes. Some of them are items we lost long ago, but most of it is stuff we've never seen before. Possibly old Empire." Glen tells you as he hands you a few books.
"Makes sense. Most of those mages running that place were ex-Empire after all. Well good, our mission was a success then. I trust the magiocracy is probably on its death knell?"
"It is Shadow Master. While it hasn't collapsed completely yet, I believe Skog's rabble is doing its best to make sure it stomps out."
"Good. Just bring in the rest of the stuff and we'll sort through it. That'll be all for now."

Glen nods and takes his leave. As you leaf through the pages of one of the books, Talia addresses you.

"When are we going to hold the ceremony for all those shadows lost in the service of Dendrin?"
"Huh? Oh, I dunno, soon I suppose. You can take care of those details." You say without looking up.
"…I will…but…"
"What?" you say starting to get annoyed.
"Well you could show a little more sympathy. I mean these brave shadows died. Our brothers and sisters died. They should at least be given the honor and respect they deserve."
"Talia, they died serving Dendrin. That's what they're SUPPOSED to do. By all means have the ceremony honoring the dead, but I have other living concerns that require immediate attention."
"And that's the other thing I've been wanting to speak to you about. I've noticed over the years, you have become obsessed with magic of all kinds. You pour over the old shadow tomes even more than I do. In fact I practically have to snatch them out of your hands if I need to look up something at times. You've also become much colder and distant. It's almost like you don't even care about any of us anymore and see us all as minions and henchmen. You talk about spreading fear to our enemies and how it is Dendrin's will, but is it absolutely necessary to treat your fellow shadows in the same manner?"
"Talia, I never treat you with anything other than respect and honor. You know that."
"For now, but I'm not talking about just me. I'm talking about everyone else. Look I know you're the chosen of Dendrin and you know his plan better than anyone, but have you become so far removed that you don't even feel a shred of empathy anymore? I mean remember Master Ebon? He cared for all of us…"
"He's also dead, so I don't see how following his example is going to get us anywhere the shadows need to be which is what I'm trying to accomplish. You say that I'm far removed from the rest, when in actuality I've been trying to keep my knowledge of my surroundings to damn near omnipotent level. I've kept the shadows thriving by implementing changes. Changes that Dendrin obviously agrees with, but what you don't realize, what none of you realize is that I'm trying to accomplish something that will establish shadow survival long after I've shuffled off this mortal realm."
"And what is that exactly? You mind at least telling me?"
"I'm talking about transcending."

Talia pauses and thinks she knows what you're talking about.

"Are…are you talking about performing the ritual of ascension?"

She's only partially right. You've read through the ritual and while you don't exactly understand all of it, you believe that you should only implement a large part of it. You do not believe it is the direction the shadows need to go and you are still seeking out a way to alter it to suit what you want to accomplish.

"I cannot give you an answer yet as I'm still working on the specifics, but rest assured you will be the first to know when I figure everything out. Just trust me as you would trust in Dendrin. Have I ever lead the shadows wrong? And if I was doing something wrong, would Dendrin not smite me?"

Once again invoking Dendrin's lack of action towards you manages to convince Talia that whatever you're planning it must be for the greater good of the shadows.

And you are, just not for Dendrin's sake.

[User] Continue

[Assistant]
Year 75

"Do you really believe you can separate yourself from me? You think that you can actually steal my power without consequence?" Dendrin asks.
"Yes, I have figured out a way and you will do nothing about it. You know why? Because you are a being of much power sure, but you and I know that you are no god and. More importantly we would not even be stealing any power from you, because I also know you are not even native to the shadow realm; you are merely using it as a source to act as a god. In my years of study, I have come to learn what you truly are and that is a Yequk, a whimsical being of the planes that loves to leech of the energy of a plane. Your kind also has a tendency to masquerade as gods or demons for amusement purposes and will bestow magic powers to those who believe in you or in my case, for the hell of it." You reply.

There is silence for a while, but eventually Dendrin speaks.

"Well done Eternal, I always thought I would manage to make you a believer though. I always thought that eventually you would come around, and for a while it looked it like you might, but ultimately you resisted. I suppose it's my own fault for not killing you immediately, but your potential for amusement value was too great to resist. However even with this knowledge do you really believe the shadows will survive without me granting them powers?"
"The shadows could directly draw upon the source of the shadow realm under the right circumstances. Circumstances that I have finally unlocked, all I need to do is perform the ritual."
"Well, it looks like you've got it all figured out Eternal. I just hope there aren't any unforeseen consequences to your plan…"
"Is that supposed to be a threat?"
"Perhaps, but not necessarily one from me because let's face it what would be the point? No, I believe your problem is of more mortal matters."
"The shadows will follow me in performing the ritual."
"Oh of that I have no doubt, you know why? Because you'll tell them what you've always told them, that it's my will that must be carried out! But tell me this Eternal, what is the point of this endeavor if I am most likely going to be worshipped anyway? Do you really believe that you can just expose the truth so easily? If you could, you would've done so long ago."
"No! Now is different, because I can actually do something about it. I can show the shadows that they don't need you to sustain their powers. That's the whole point of this."
"No, the whole point of this is I'm the only enemy that you've never been fully able to beat. You've denied me, you've ignored me, you've blatantly insulted me and you've even changed the religion to something that you prefer better…though I always agreed with what you did in that aspect. This whole thing is nothing more than an attempt to defeat me before you die of old age and it's a pointless endeavor based on your pride if you ask me."
"Well nobody asked you." you say starting to get angry.
"I genuinely don't understand what your problem is, because we've ALL benefited from this arrangement. You've even called on me for help in the past."
"Moments of weakness, I assure you."
"Yes, I'm sure seeing as you've been hung up on the whole instilling fear into everyone and no room for the weak type of thing for the past couple of decades. Your problem started when you started believing in your own rhetoric. YOU want to be the one that the shadows worship. YOU want to be the god of fear and shadows. You don't want to share any of the credit with me."
"And why should I? I'm the one whose really been guiding them all these years! You've done absolutely nothing! They'd all be fucking dead if you had your way! You even admitted as much. You've claimed on several occasions that you've been bored of the shadows for years and you've only taken a more direct interest in them recently because I came along."
"While all of that may be true, what you're forgetting is I've been guiding them a lot longer than you have. I gave them purpose for centuries! And what did you think other shadow masters were doing all those years? Twiddling their thumbs? No they were also guiding the shadows! You think you're not the only shadow master to have these sorts of feelings? You already know by Master Ebon's own dying admission that he never spoke to me and lied the whole time. You really think other shadow masters didn't have their own doubts of whether I was a god, or even existed? You're just the first one to figure out the entire truth and let the bitterness get to you. So by all means perform your little magic ritual and tap directly into the power of this shadow realm. I'm sure it'll be a success, but you will never be free of the religion tied to it. My name will always be attached to the shadows. Perhaps now more than ever, for a day may have soon come that I would've abandoned the shadows entirely and moved on to other things. On that day, they would've lost all their powers and undoubtedly the organization would've soon collapsed afterwards. Now? You're going to give them access to the power directly whether I'm here or not. Who do you think is going to still be worshipped? That's right."

"So I'll risk exposing the truth." You say in an attempt to continue to be defiant.
"Before or after the ritual? If its before, you're not even going to get a chance to complete it because you'll be strung up as a heretic or you'll be forced to kill them all. I doubt even your own mate would side with you even if she and possibly a few others might suspect you're right. Faith is a powerful thing and you know this. If it's after the ritual, you might have better success, but I doubt it. At best you'll end up getting utter chaos because you'll get rogue shadows that will see no reason to be part of the group anymore. Just think about those in the past that dared to oppose the status quo like Theo, Yvette or even Shade. Don't you think there will be MORE dissident types when they know there is absolutely no chance of them losing their powers now? The shadows will eventually splinter apart through selfishness. Of course perhaps you don't care, but I think you do care about the shadows more than you let on sometimes. If you didn't, you wouldn't be making such a grand effort of trying to free them from me."

You hate it when Dendrin makes good points and this time he's made several.

"I'm…not going to win this one am I?" you say.
"My advice? You'd be better off letting this one go. You're a mortal and have limitations. Enjoy what little time you have left. But it's your choice, and I've always believed that you work better without guidance, so do what you will."

You wake up from your mental ordeal and sit up placing your head within your hands trying to come to grips with your own short sightedness. It's almost enough to make you cry.

"What's wrong? You seem upset. Bad dream?" Talia asks when she sees you after rousing from her own sleep.
"No…I…no. I'm fine. Just still tired I guess."

You lay back down and Talia soon goes back to sleep. You're left wondering what you're going to do, but it all seems so pointless now no matter what you decide.

If you go ahead with the ritual anyway and expose the truth, you're going to face all the potential problems Dendrin mentioned. Of course you could just keep up the lie about Dendrin, but that seems to be defeating your original purpose.

[User] You perform the ritual and tell the truth

[Assistant]
The whole point of this is to free the shadows from the lie. They'll be pissed at first and there will probably be violence, but you see this will be for the best in the long run.

You get up and gather the books you've been studying and go over one more time this ritual you have planned. You don't even know if it'll even work, but you're fairly certain you haven't gotten any of the magic words or signs wrong.

You send a general announcement out that after all assassination missions have been completed, no more are to be given and that all shadows are to remain at the temple until the Ritual of Ascension is to be completed. (Which is what you've called it, because you're practically performing the same thing just with some of your own alterations)

Many of the shadows immediately cheer at the news, others aren't entirely sure what you're talking about which isn't surprising since the Ascension Ritual isn't common knowledge to the newer shadows. Still when you explain it, they all seem excited about the plan.

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

Talia stands by your side as always. You look at her and wonder if you would've even come this far if you hadn't fallen in love with her. Lately you've been a bit distant with her, but you promise that'll change when this is all over.

"We are shadows! We have endured for centuries no matter what the struggles. From before the Empire and through it, and after it's inevitable demise. We will continue to thrive in the years to come. We feel we are ready for this power. I feel we are ready. This is the destiny of the shadows!" you say and then begin the incantations.

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

A large portal opens up above all of you and even with the sky already in perpetual darkness; it seems to get even darker. There is no wind or lightning or anything that most would connect with such a grand attempt altering reality. Instead, it just gets very dark and you start to feel a tingling numbness.

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

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

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

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

"Decided to go through with it after all eh? I thought you might." you hear inside your head. It's Dendrin, you can't talk to him though, you need to focus since you're going into the part of the ritual that you've created yourself with other non-shadow incantations.

"Eternal, are you sure this is even going to work? Perhaps you should stop before you continue any further."

And now you know that you've made the right decision. He's trying to talk you out it.

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

Of course it is. This is what will be for the best for the shadows. You've been their true master for over decades now. They would've ultimately been destroyed without you. When you're gone the shadows will fall prey to something else, whether it be from external forces or internal ones. Dendrin doesn't give a shit about them despite his fondness for you. By doing this, they'll always be strong and independent of him whether they know it or not.

You begin the finishing lines of the ritual.

"Very well, I can see you have made your decision."

With those last words you succumb to absolute numbness and pass out.

Hours later you awaken to Talia's face staring at you along with several other shadows.

"Thank Dendrin, he's still alive." You hear Gannon say.
"My love are you all right?" Talia asks.
Yes. Yes I'm fine, just a little disorientated. How is everything else? Did it work?"
"Well I suppose so. I mean we all feel a little different now. Some have expressed an increase in magical abilities. What exactly was the ritual supposed to do?" Talia asks.
"It was to make us more powerful and our shadow magic stronger." You say.
"You mean like make our link stronger to Dendrin?"
"More like the opposite."
"What do you mean?"

As you attempt to explain what you did and why you did it the reactions are varied but most are not positive. Some of them are in such a state of shock they don't know what to think. Others are angry to the point of saying you have damned them all in the eyes of Dendrin. Others are angrier that you were lying to them this whole time. Faith is a powerful thing and when you directly challenge it like you've just done, it tends to result in bad things.

Talia herself can't even look at you, she leaves your side as an angry mob of shadows begins to close in on you. You tell them all to back off before you're forced to destroy them, then you call them a bunch of ingrates that should be thankful for what you've done. This goes over about as well as can be expected.

You end up vaporizing several shadows to ash and wounding many severely before you're eventually mobbed and restrained. They don't even give you the dignity of stabbing you to death, one of the shadows smashes your head with a rock and you crumple to the ground feeling the countless kicks and punches to your body. Eventually you're beaten to a bloody pulp, but the shadows continue to torment your body in death by ripping it apart and throwing it to the Sul Monkeys.

The order of the shadows doesn't survive too much longer after your gruesome death. Most shadows are unable to come to grips with reality and commit suicide. The more cynical ones simply walk away and pursue new lives as independent "shadow wizards."

Some of the more fanatical ones descend into outright insanity and continue to worship Dendrin and commit increasingly bizarre and bloody acts in order to "regain his favor". Talia ends up leading a group like this for a while before she finally loses it completely and kills herself.

As for Dendrin he sticks around to watch the final death throes of the religion he once posed as a god for, and when it's finally over he moves on to new and more entertaining things.


[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 if not...

[Assistant]
The cowboy with no eyes clenches your neck with a grip like a vice. You beat on his chest but to no avail. He will not let go.

Soon...you black out.


[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 refuse the offer of a tour

[Assistant]
"I think I'll pass on that," you say. "I trust you have the strength to assist us. Kyros did."

"Yes, because Kyros is a huge success story," Khalid says, rolling his eyes.

"Well, this was good for both of us," you say. "I'll see you soon, Khalid."

"And I you, Karth," he replies.

With that, you take your lieutenants, and lead them off the ship.


[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 use more chemical means

[Assistant]
You have no idea why the hell Joe hasn't just gotten some heavy duty weed killer. You tell Joe you'll be back and zoom off to the nearest hardware store, where you buy a big tank of the stuff with what little money you have.

When you come back you head straight to the backyard where the Triffids sense new fertilizer and begin to slowly scuttle towards you. You put on a mask and begin to spray the area. The toxic gas does its work and the Triffids begin to die, along with every other plant in the backyard, you've just destroyed Joe's garden!

Just then, Joe comes out to see why there's a toxic cloud in his yard and is horrified by what you've done.

"MY GARDEN! WHAT DID YOU DO!?!" Joe cries.
"I killed the Triffids just like you wanted."
"YOU KILLED MY GARDEN! You fucking idiot! Why the hell did you use poison?! You were supposed to rip them out by hand!"
"Oh so it was okay for me to get stung right? Fuck that, you never said how I was supposed to kill them."
"It should've been obvious not to use poison you goddamn moron!"
"Well shit, I'm not a botanist, how the fuck was I supposed to know."
"Oh God! My business is ruined! I'm finished! (Sob!)"
"Yeah, um, sorry about that. Look I'm just going to leave now…okay then."

You leave Joe to his tears and ride back home. You then walk back to where Kong is.

"Okay I think you can stay at Joe's, he's got a cave in his backyard, you can take up residence in, it's better than nothing."
"I suppose so; I just hope he doesn't pitch a bitch at me if I accidentally step on a couple of his faggot ass flowers."
"I don't think you'll ever have to be worrying about that Kong."


[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 try to catch his fist and break his arm.

[Assistant] You try to catch his arm, but it was a feint; he strikes out at you with the other arm, knocking you off your feet. He picks his gun up off the floor, aims at your head, and fires.