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

[User] You do some scouting of your own

[Assistant]
As much as you'd like to get this over with and put an end to Cyrus once and for all, you aren't putting your faith in svelk recon. You'll some of your own spying and if you even need them, you'll enlist their help.

When you ask Tyren where the temple is so you can do your own spying, he says that you're just wasting your time and likely to just give your element of surprise away if you linger and insist on this foolishness. He doesn't really care though since he's getting paid either way, so he gives you the information.

"You know where to find me, when you're done fooling around." Tyren says as you head towards the door. You look back and scan the three svelk sitting in a corner still bandaging their wounds.

"From what I can tell, your people can't handle it when I'm just fooling around. I question if they could handle it when faced with folks who won't be." You reply and leave.

You immediately make your way deeper into the swamps towards the shadow temple. Despite the unfriendly nature of the terrain, there aren't any dangerous denizens in these swamps. The only creatures of any note are the Sul monkeys and they seem to be content going about their normal routines. While you were in the Shadow Guard, you heard a few tales that a reptilian race called the Slin used to live here until the shadows removed them all at the request of the Empire.

Eventually you start getting closer to the temple and decide to cloak yourself. Again, you hate to use the magic anymore, but as long as you don't over do it, you'll be fine. Actually you're a little surprised you haven't sensed or detected any shadows skulking around. You'd think they'd at least want to patrol the outer perimeter of their temple. Between that and what Tyren told you, this behavior of the shadows has been very strange, unless they believe they can hide for another couple hundred centuries to get revenge. If that is the case, they've gone completely delusional.

You then finally see them, just outside the temple. You hide behind a nearby rock and spy on what they're doing. You see them placing spherical plants in various places outside the temple. You've seen the plant several times in the swamp; they give off a faint harmless gas nothing more, but it looks like the shadows are doing something to change that.

You see them infusing the plants with magic causing them to give a pulsating green glow. The shadows back away cautiously every time they do this. Then they cloak the plant. You're guessing that bumping into or lingering too close to the plants causes something very bad to happen now. You watch them do this for about an hour before they go back into the temple. Another couple hours pass, and none of them have exited from it again. It would appear they have retired for the day and you're left pondering what to do next.

Going back and getting Tyren's help would probably be the intelligent thing to do, but you really don't know how they're going to get past the plants. Even if they toss rocks at them to cause them to go off, you have no idea what the result is going to be. For all you know, the shadows might have an escape route to go through as soon as the plants do whatever it is they're going to do. By yourself, you could probably speed your way past the plants without anything happening.

You decide you'll do this alone. You've practically been taking down the shadows since the beginning by yourself; you might as well finish it by yourself. If you fall in battle, then you fall, but either way, you're making sure Cyrus dies today.

You take a deep breath, mumble those infernal incantations and prepare yourself to speed past the plants, you're just glad you saw exactly where the shadows placed them. As you're running by them, you half expect them to still do something. They don't though and you reach the entryway.

The whole place is silent as you'd expect, but this seems different. It's like you can't even detect anyone here. Not to mention you'd expect to run into some shadows at least guarding near the entrance. Makes you question what the hell they're doing in here. After moving deeper into the temple you soon find out.

You see Cyrus standing over the bodies of several shadows. Near the bodies are empty flasks.

"I'll be with you soon my brothers and sisters. And especially you Draven." Cyrus says looking at the bodies and ignoring you completely.
"After all your talk of freedom and all your supposed dedication against the so called tyranny of the Empire, this is what it comes to Cyrus? Ritual suicide? I expected at least more of a fight during the last stand of the shadows." You call out.

Cyrus finally pays attention to you and his eyes display a distant coldness rather than outright hatred.

"You never did understand us or the will of Dendrin, Empire puppet. You never will." Cyrus says.
"Oh I think I understood all too well, considering Dendrin spoke to me on several occasions. The difference is, I was strong enough to resist his lies. You call me a puppet, then what are you? A discarded toy by an uncaring god who has lead you to ruin? How fitting that your death is to be in one of his half forgotten temples. In another hundred years the shadows will be forgotten completely."
"It doesn't matter. We carried out Dendrin's faith as best we could…we can only hope that he will take mercy on us for our failure as we pass from this world to the next."

You shake your head at Cyrus' words. You can hardly believe he's speaking such rot and believing it. It's actually making you angry to hear it.

"You actually believe that shit? When you die here today, and you WILL die here. It will just be your corpse rotting until it finally disappears completely to time. Dendrin cares NOTHING for you or any of the shadows! He never did! If he did, he would've done a better job at helping you! He knew I was working against the shadows from the very beginning and yet he didn't see fit to expose me! Did he come to any of you in a dream or a vision or anything? No, because ultimately he didn't give a fuck and probably only saw the shadows as his personal playthings. Shit, the only person in that order that had any resemblance of sense was you of all people. YOU knew I was working against the shadows before anyone else suspected and nobody even listened to you! They told you that you were overacting and did nothing until it was too late. So why the hell would you still stay loyal to an order that is so short sighted?"

Cyrus kneels down by the body of Dravin and touches his face. Cyrus looks up at you again, this time with a faint trace of emotion this time. It seems you might've misjudged his true motivations.

"Perhaps all of what you say it true, but Dendrin did lead me to Dravin and for that alone earns my loyalty even if everything else was a lie. I pity you. Duty is all that is in your heart and it's apparently all you'll ever know." He says.
'Pity yourself. You're even more weak willed than I thought if you did this for something as silly as love."
"I have no regrets, but I don't owe you anymore explanations. You're not here for that, you're here to mindlessly carry out your duty. Well come on then and finish it!" Cyrus shouts and draws his sword.

The battle between the pair of you is finally joined. There is no magic use or shadow tricks. It's just one Eternal fighting another in straight up combat. Cyrus' mistake. He would've done well to use magic as it could've put him on equal footing, perhaps even gave him the advantage, but perhaps he didn't want it. Maybe this is his form of suicide.

Eventually you land a mortal blow, slicing his side clean open. Cyrus falls and deflects your attempt to split his head open, but he drops his sword from the force of your blow in the process. Weaponless, tired and bleeding out from a deep hole in his side, Cyrus accepts defeat.

"Do it. Eternal slave of the Empire." He says coldly and then you fulfill his request by decapitating him.

It's finished. At last it's finally finished. You begin to smile.

"It's finished Dendrin! You see this? In your own home! All of your followers, all of your sheep, fucking dead! Never again will you threaten the Empire! It has survived your treachery and you will be forgotten like you should've been centuries ago!" you shout, followed by your laughter.

Some very loud explosions outside in turn follow your laughter. Someone or something has stumbled on to those plants. The temple, which was already in ruins, begins to crumble from the force of the explosions. You narrowly avoid getting hit by a large piece of ceiling, but the rest of it will be collapsing soon.

Your first instinct is to speed yourself up to get out of the temple, but you find that your magic isn't working. You quickly run to the entrance and find that it's already blocked by debris. The temple is still collapsing and you're either going to have to find another way out of act quickly to remove the rubble blocking the entrance.

[User] You find another way out

[Assistant]
If you stand here trying to move rubble you'll probably get crushed, surely there has to be another opening somewhere considering this place was falling apart before the explosions.

You run back to the main room where all the shadows lay dead and you try to scan a possible opening you can get through while dodging pieces of concrete nearly hitting you. You think you've spotted an exit and run to it, but your luck finally gives out as fast as the ceiling. You feel a crushing blow to the back of your head. Not enough to knock you out immediately, but enough to do it eventually. You stagger back and forth as blood pours from the top of your head.

"Damn it…can't die…here…" you say and fall to the floor unconscious as the temple continues to collapse around you.

Once again you're in a place where your senses are completely dead.

"No, Eternal you will not die here today, but you would've done better to do so I believe."
"Still speaking cryptically Dendrin? Face the truth, the Empire beat you. I beat you. Your followers are all gone and there is nobody left to spread your lies."
"I wouldn't say that. I've still got you."
"No you don't, you've NEVER had me."
"Perhaps not your mind, but as I said, we will forever be connected, whether you like it or not."
"I don't think so, I tried using your magic and it didn't even work! My link to you is so distant now that it will soon be severed!"
"Is that what you think? Is it not more likely that I stopped you from being able to tap into the realm of shadow for your magic anymore? If anything you should be thanking me, since you obviously didn't have the willpower to stop doing it yourself, despite all your bravado that you wanted nothing to do with the shadows."

You ignore Dendrin's mocking; you won't let him attempt to turn his ultimate defeat into some sort of "victory."

"I used your so called gifts against you Dendrin! I've won your little game and you have no more toys to play with. I will continue to live my life serving the Empire and you will have to find another way to amuse yourself."
"Well Eternal, you may be right on both accounts, but that doesn't mean those two aren't intertwined…but don't worry Eternal, I don't intend on visiting to bother you again. I doubt if anything I could say would change your mind about anything. Though I do wonder how you can justify your continued existence."
"What are you babbling about?"
"You said the shadows were a threat to the Empire. You obviously felt this stronger than anyone considering that for the past four years you've been ruthlessly seeking them out. You even charged into this temple by yourself without any back up."
"Does this have a point?"
"You're the last shadow, Eternal. How can your beloved Empire survive as long as you do? How do you know that one day something within you doesn't suddenly turn you against it?"
"I AM NOT A SHADOW!" you manage to shout verbally in this ocean of sensory deprivation. The sound is so loud it becomes deafening, then painful and then you wake up.

You look around you and find yourself still in the temple, or what remains of it. As it stands now there are plenty of exits since there a gaping holes in the walls. You rub your aching head and make your way out of the temple. On your way out you see several body parts strewn about the front of the temple. Upon further inspection they're dark elven. You don't see Tyren's body (or head), but then he might've been blown up beyond recognition.

You can only guess Tyren and his people came to the temple when they thought you'd been killed. Seems a little odd though considering they were pretty much content on swilling ale until you were going to give them the order to invade the temple. In any case you'll relay all this information to Mr. Mol when you return to report to him. For now you're in for a long walk back to Sinkhole.

A few days later you get in contact with Mr. Mol who immediately sends a carriage to come pick you up. According to reports, you were assumed dead, apparently some of the dark elves that didn't get blown up by the gas plants reported you dead without bothering to check.

When you arrive in the capital a large group of soldiers escort you to Mr. Mol. Like more than the average amount, it makes you wonder what's been going on while you've been gone. Maybe the Felkans made their own assassination attempt?

When you arrive before Mr. Mol, he's flanked by several more soldiers. In fact these ones are orcs. Mr. Mol sees you and looks down rubbing his fingers through his hair in a nervous manner. What is going on here?

"I thought you'd died. Guess I should've known better than to trust those lazy svelk mercs. Guess I won't be hiring them out of pocket ever again. Heh. So the shadows…are they all dead?"
"Yes, though sadly most of them committed some sort of suicide by the time I got there. I did however slay Cyrus myself. So it's over."
"Good. Good." Mr. Mol says with a deep exhale.
"Mr. Mol, what's with all the soldiers? Was the capital attacked while I was away? Is there some sort of need for all this extra protection?"
"No, the capital wasn't attacked, but there is a need for extra protection…against you."

At this point Mr. Mol stands as far as he can from you and the heavily armed orc soldier step forward to block any potential advance you'd make on him. The soldiers behind you suddenly grab your arms to restrain you. You're taken by surprise and natural instinct takes over and you react violently. A small scuffle ensues and Mr. Mol is shouting the whole time for them not to kill you, but only to restrain you. It's doomed to failure, as you're still more than a match for the soldiers and you kill two of them, before Mr. Mol tells them all to back off and calls more guards to come in.

You're left in a corner confused and angry with your sword drawn.

"WHY?! What is this?!" you demand.
"It's a precaution. The shadows are dead and they need to stay that way! You're the last of their kind."
"I'm not a fucking shadow!"
"It's not my call. This is a decree from an office higher than mine, probably from the Emperor himself. I did all I could, but it has to be this way."

You can't believe this. You can't believe what you're hearing.

"But I've proven my loyalty! I've proven that I serve the Emperor and the Empire!" you shout.

Mr. Mol once again puts his hand over his face and breathes deeply before speaking.

"I know, but how do we know it'll stay that way? You told me Dendrin was playing head games with you on several occasions. How do we know your indoctrination won't kick in at a later time? Maybe he's always had power over you, maybe this is all just another part of his plan."
"NO! I beat him! My willpower and duty to the Emperor was stronger!"
"…look…I believe you. I always have. But as I said, this is out of my hands. Honestly you were treading in dangerous waters as soon as you confessed the plans of the shadows and you were running on borrowed time when they transferred me out of the Eternal Project. It was only due to your over zealous dedication in hunting the shadows and my intervention that your existence was continued. When the extermination of the shadows was complete, you were to follow. I had hoped those svelk would've done the job, but I guess there were unforeseen complications. Just as well, I should've been brave enough to do it face to face anyway. You deserved that much. I apologize."

You ignore Mr. Mol's attempt at justification. This all doesn't seem real to you, you think that maybe this is some sort of mind fuck by Dendrin, but unfortunately it isn't and you know it. You just can't believe that you were lied to the whole time and about to be discarded as a tool that has no more use.

Is this what you fought so hard to preserve? Is this your reward for all your hard work? Your whole life has involved nothing but lies, duplicity and treachery and you tried your best to persevere through all of it.

You find yourself nearly laughing despite the anger you're feeling right now. Dendrin's last words to you, was how can you justify your existence due to being a shadow. You wonder if he knew the Empire would feel that way, even if you didn't. Chances are, he did. Maybe that's what he meant by your continued service to the Empire and his amusement being intertwined.

The situation now isn't good. Even if you did manage to fight your way out of here, where would you go? You'd be a wanted criminal of the Empire and that's the only thing you've ever dedicated yourself to. Even though it wants to kill you right now, you can't bring yourself to fight against it. You worked too hard to preserve it.

And that's when you remember a lesson you learned a long time ago in Mistress' class. An important lesson that is going to get you through this: Submit and obey the Empire. You are nothing compared to the Emperor's glory and you will die if necessary to preserve his reign.

You put your sword down slowly and address Mr. Mol.

"You should not be apologizing sir. I should be the one to apologize as I have killed two men who were only doing their duty and I have also tried to prevent you from doing yours as well. If the Empire believes I am a potential danger then I must die. I will not see it destroyed after I have spent my life trying to defend it from internal threats, even if that threat could be me. We all may have to give our lives in the service of the Empire and today I will give mine."

Your speech is followed by several soldiers restraining you, though it's hardly necessary. Mr. Mol approaches you with a display of regret on his face.

"Maybe it won't be widely acknowledged, but your service was important and as long as the Empire lives, you will also live. (Sigh) You deserved better though."

And with those words, Mr. Mol makes a nodding gesture and you feel several blades go into your body repeatedly. You don't even feel the pain; you just put your mind in another place to numb yourself. One of those shadow tricks you learned. You guess perhaps it is better that you die if you're still using such things. Maybe Dendrin was playing a sick waiting game with you. Well it won't work and Cyrus was wrong too. You do know something of love. You love the Empire and the Emperor and that's why you'll willingly die for them.

"Long live…the Em…pire…" you say and then expire.


[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 catch him in the act of one of his attacks

[Assistant]
The next thing you say surprises all of the Eyes.

"Now there's a caravan coming through the area north of here in the next few days that is carrying a lot of supplies for the military. Cyrus isn't going to be able to resist attacking it even if he thinks it's a set up. We're going to intercept him when he attacks it and put an end to him once and for all."

Several Eyes including Warrick look at each other and WANT to question why you'd scold them about a particular idea they've used and then you want to continue using it. Nobody dares say anything though.

"Good. Glad everyone waited for me to continue this time. You're probably wondering why we're going to continue to use a strategy after I just pointed out that it has failed so many times. Well, the strategy was a simple one and sometimes simple ones are best. The advantage you have now is that I am with you and I will be able to handle Cyrus and will not let him get away. Besides, you've failed so many times at stopping him that he's bound to be a little cocky now and won't be expecting any major surprises. Even if he does, he probably also thinks he's the chosen one of his god and invincible. Time to show Cyrus that his false god cannot protect him."

You finish by telling them all to get themselves prepared, as you will be moving out soon.

"Warrick you come over here. I want to talk with you."

Warrick complies with your request probably with some concern to his well being.

"I want you to stick with me during this attack. I need you alive and your chances of survival will increase if you're with me. While I don't think there will be any problems, it will still be good to have a second just in case we need to chase after Cyrus. Any questions, now is the time to ask."
"I have no questions sir."
"Very well."

You and the Eyes travel towards where the supply caravan is and maintain a respectable distance from it and keep out of sight. You travel along side it for miles and there are a couple of Eyes who start wondering if Cyrus is even going to attack it. You know he will though and of course you turn out to be right.

The caravan guard hold their own against the rebel bandits, but as soon as Cyrus decloaks he begins making short work of them. It is at this point Sightmaster Davison orders the Eyes to attack.

"Not you. As I said, you're sticking with me." You say to Warrick while grabbing his shoulder to hold him back.

As the skirmish between the Eyes and Cyrus unfolds, you begin to concentrate. You visualize water and then that water slowly solidifying into ice. The temperature around you begins to get very cold and soon so does the entire area.

It is at this point Cyrus notices you in the distance and realizes that he is outclassed this time. He panics like a true coward and calls for a retreat, but its too late, you utter the incantation and cover the surrounding area in ice. The caravan, the guards, the rebels and the Eyes are all covered in frost that causes most of them to be frozen on the spot.

"Now we get our traitor." You say to Warrick and the pair of you run over to the caravan battle site.

You see several of the still living shivering profusely and moaning from the pain of frost burn. A few of the hardy have managed to endure the effects of the spell, though they are busily trying to free their feet from ice before frostbite sets in. Others lie dead and frozen, Cyrus is not among them though and Warrick catches sight of him slowly attempting to get away and heading towards a forest. His attempts to speed himself up make him only moderately faster due to the frost covering his body.

Wasting no time, Warrick grabs his bow and fires several arrows at Cyrus, a couple hit their mark. Cyrus stumbles and staggers, but doesn't fall. He instead manages to turn invisible.

"Shit! But he's wounded, I can track him if we hurry!" Warrick exclaims, but once again you stop him from proceeding.
"You've proven your worth Warrick, but your tracking skills won't be necessary today." You say and begin to concentrate in the direction Cyrus was heading. Instead of visualizing water, you now visualize fire and much like the small ice storm you created, you now create one of flame.

The forest that Cyrus was limping towards is suddenly set ablaze along with the fielded area near it. A burning figure once again decloaks and you hear the screams all the way from the caravan site which is starting to thaw due to the proximity of the heat.

Desperately Cyrus tries to make his way out of the inferno and back towards the caravan site, you calmly walk to him with Warrick following. By the time you reach him, Cyrus is crawling towards you half frozen, half burned, and death closely following him.

"You see what this path has brought you traitor. No so called freedom, no glory for your god, not even a heroic death. You're an embarrassment to the name Eternal and you will not be remembered save as an example of what happens to all that would oppose the Emperor."

Cyrus struggles to look up at you and it's probably the first time you've been this close to each other since Mistress' class. His face is nearly unrecognizable due to the severe burns. He attempts to speak, but only the utterance of distorted grunts from a scorched throat occurs. Doesn't matter, he has nothing of value to say. Traitors never do.

You kneel down and with your dagger you end his life for good.

"What next?" Warrick suddenly asks.
"I report the death of this traitor to Jacob and I return to my place by the Emperor's side where I wait for his further orders. As for you, I suggest you help what's left of your group. I believe I saw your Sightmaster encased in ice, meaning he will no longer be able to carry out his duty. I can't think of a more worthy replacement than you so I will make mention of it to Jacob."

Warrick is surprised by your words. He looks back at the caravan site, which is still a mess from your previous ice spell, he then looks ahead and watches the flames consume the nearby forest.

"Better to kill a thousand innocent men than to let one traitor sew chaos. Better to lay waste to paradise than to let it continue to house enemies of the Empire." You say, though Warrick certainly understands even if he has never truly been in such a situation until now where it was necessary.

Jacob's response when you meet him again is a little less understanding when he finds out how you handled things…

"Of course its good that Cyrus is dead, but… was it absolutely necessary to burn down an entire forest and sacrifice nearly an entire platoon of Eyes along with the entire compliment of caravan guards?" Jacob asks.
"I saw it as the best way to be sure to put an end to Cyrus. And I would think you of all people would be happy for the matter to be handled given how worried you were about it before. The Emperor will also be happy and isn't that what's most important, that he can proceed with his war on the Felkans without further delay?"

Jacob pauses before addressing your statement.

"Yes and I really wish we weren't doing that."
"Doing what?"
"Going to war with the Felkan Kingdom."
"You don't believe the Empire should crush its enemies?" you ask.
"I don't believe we should waste the resources on a pointless war on a powerful nation that has never shown any signs of aggression."
"Just because they don't openly display it doesn't mean they aren't planning something." You say.
"Yes, I've heard the speech about the duplicitous gnome masters several times. You can't know how glad I was when I first found out that you managed to convince the Emperor to even postpone the war to take care of the shadows first. Can you imagine what might've happened had you not done that? I…look you know I serve the Empire and my loyalty will never be in question to it, but on this point I really don't think this war is a good idea in the long run. Do you not believe that it wouldn't be better if we conserved our resources and pursued other ways to enrich the Empire that don't involve war? You convinced the Emperor once to postpone a potentially damaging war, could you not sway his thoughts on this matter any further?"
"Jacob, it is the Emperor's will that the Felkan Kingdom must be destroyed. The plan has already been set in motion. No words of mine would ever convince him otherwise, even if I wanted to. Which I don't because as I see it, the gnomes and by extension the Felkan Kingdom must pay for their continued insults towards the Emperor. And that insult is their mere existence. Their punishment will be death."

Jacob realizes that he will have no luck in attempting to incorporate you into his desire to convince the Emperor to not go to war, so he drops the issue.

"I hope so for the sake of the Empire. Well, I suppose my next task will be to find a few more recruits to fill in the gaps for the latest fallen Eyes. Warrick will certainly make a good Sightmaster. Glad to hear that the pair of you worked so well together and he survived at least. I…nevermind."

Jacob once again is starting act like he wants to address something more, but stops himself again, you urge him to continue.
"What is it Jacob?"
"Nothing. Just... I mean your actions in Delerg and also what you just recently did to put down one traitor…well I'm just saying that it's good that you are so dedicated. Remember that Empire must survive no matter what the cost."
"Of course. You don't need to remind me of such a thing."

"No. Of course I don't." Jacob says and bids you goodbye.

You don't understand Jacob's odd behavior, especially since it seemed a little contradictory. One moment he was nearly scolding you for your methods, the next he was praising you for them. When you tell the Emperor about you conversation with Jacob he doesn't seem to be concerned, he's too excited about finally going to war with the Felkans.

"Jacob is like an old woman sometimes. He worries too much, that's what he does. The only thing we need to worry about is how to make sure none of those little gnome bastards escape this time! Ha ha!" the Emperor says.
"They won't." you reply with certainty.

[User] Continue

[Assistant]
Year 23

With another town taken, you put your sword through the chest of a Felkan soldier begging for his life, one of many from your experience. The average Felkan soldier to you does not seem to match up to Empire ones in any capacity. They are certainly not better in the ways of martial combat or endurance. The only real advantage you can see them having is their gunpowder weaponry and better proficiency with it and even that isn't much of an advantage anymore given that the Emperor's derro friend has been evening up the odds in that way.

You walk around surveying the carnage of burning buildings and Empire soldiers busily searching homes to make sure there aren't any more of the enemy hiding out. A small explosion grabs your attention and you see a single Empire soldier stagger out of a home with one of his arms blown off. He stumbles for a bit and then collapses before others rush to his aid.

Traps have probably done more damage to the battalion you were assigned to rather than actual combat. This was an easy battle. In fact your whole time being assigned to Major Krozer's battalion has been a bit of a breeze for you. The southwestern front of the Felkan Kingdom isn't as heavily defended or at least from your experience it isn't defended well. Perhaps all of the better Felkan soldiers are on the other fronts.

You sort of wish the Emperor had seen fit to have you aid Captain Roldan whose battalion has been seeing a lot of major fighting. However, the Emperor firmly stated that your skills would be of better use here and so you shall carry out your duty. Your main goal is to keep the Felkans from attempting to pull any sort of major flanking maneuver and keeping them boxed in. While conquest isn't the main goal, it is a secondary objective to make a slow push northward towards the Felkan heartland though you imagine you'll soon face Felkan reinforcements from the west before then. That is if they don't still have their hands full with the gnoll tribes that are currently assaulting them their eastern front.

"Another victory for the Empire, eh Mr. Sunshine?" you hear a voice from behind say. It's Major Krozer. She's a competent leader and has obviously earned her position, but much like your experience with Gruz, she seems a little "relaxed" on rules of protocol at times such as her periodic insistence on being too playful with you.

"I've told you before to stop calling me by that ridiculous name." you snap.
"Hey, I didn't invent it. That's what the troops call you behind your back due to your…unique personality."

You begin to get angry.

"Are you telling me I don't have the respect of the troops and they use this name to mock me?!"
"No! They're scared shitless of you, hence why they don't call it to your face. The sunshine reference is due to the fact that you're so damn grim and merciless all the time. Its supposed to be ironic I guess. If you'd like, I could tell them to start calling you Mr. Harbinger of Destruction instead. Pretty sure the Felkans already call you that." Major Krozer replies.
"I'm not interested in having any sort of witty nickname and if anyone continues to refer to me other than by my name or my rank, I'll have them flogged for their impertinence and that's just for the first offence."
"Hm, well I guess I better relay that to the troops. Fun and humor are cancelled until further notice."
"Fun? We're at war major! This is not a time to be having fun! It is not a time for jokes! It is a time to be crushing our enemies and ensuring their extinction!"

"And you're claiming that YOU don't find those two bloody past times fun for you? Let's talk seriously for a moment, I've seen you in battle and you are truly a sight to behold. It's almost like watching a work of art with how you move from enemy to enemy slaying all those that oppose you. And that's just close combat, I'm not even referring to when you're throwing flaming hunks of rocks at the enemy and then following it up with a few lightning bolts. My point is, I've seen you lay waste to our opponents and I believe it's more than just a job to you. Yes, you're serving the Empire and the Emperor, but you're having fun doing it. This war is FUN for you and that good, but some of us need to find fun in perhaps less extreme ways and sometimes that might involve the cheap joke here and there. Surely that doesn't warrant a death sentence? I mean all of our lives could be snuffed out anytime, what's the harm in a little humor as long as everyone is still doing their job?"

The major's words hit a mark with you. You can't deny that you are having what might be considered "fun" when you're in battle. You enjoy it because its what you were meant to do. You also think back to what the Emperor said to you one time "Sometimes, you're too tightly wound son." This might be one of those times.

"Alright, alright, you've made your point. Fine nobody will be flogged, but I better not hear the name Mr. Sunshine or any other cute nickname within earshot."
"Of course sir."
"Good. So…the troops say my battle techniques look like a work of art?"
"No. I believe they just see you as a whirlwind of violence that they need to stay out of the way lest they get caught in the path. I'm the one who believes your battle techniques look like a work of art, but then I'm a daughter of the army, so I don't know much about real art. I just know what I like." The major says with a smile.
"Oh. Uh, well thanks." You answer and not feeling quite sure of what else to say.

With the debate about acceptable protocol out of the way Major Krozer goes on to tell you that despite significant damage most of the town's population is still alive. While you're usually known for razing entire settlements to the ground, the major is slightly less bloodthirsty than you are.

"While I know you like to eliminate enemies of the Empire and stomp them into a red spot on the ground. I'd suggest that we not do that this time and use this town as a stopping spot for our supplies and reinforcements."
"Hmm. Perhaps, but we'll have to leave a detachment here to oversee this place."
"Well how big is that going to have to be? Not that big I should think since I really don't believe the population is going to give us any more trouble. I've seen most of them and they look thoroughly defeated."
"True, but I believe an example should still be made just to get the point across of who is in charge. I'd say about twenty peasants should do it. A mixture of different ages and genders too just to show them that we're being serious."
"I'd ask you if that is really necessary, but I know what your answer is going to be. Very well, I'll get some of our soldiers on it. I sometimes have concerns that we'll go too far and their hate will override their fear and cause a revolt."
"And that's why I prefer to raze entire settlements. Nobody can revolt when they're all dead."
"But then what's left to rule?" Krozer asks before taking her leave.

She has a point, but it isn't one you've concerned yourself with during this war mainly because the Emperor has made it quite clear to you that he's actually more interested in destroying the Felkan Kingdom rather than conquering it. This is more of a war of annihilation rather than one of subjugation.

Just as you're about to oversee the execution of peasants, a messenger arrives.

"For your eyes only sir. Important message from the Emperor." The messenger says and hands you a sealed scroll.

You take the scroll and quickly open it. It has been too long since you've last heard anything directly from the Emperor. Upon reading it, it states that you are to report directly to the location where Marik has been making all of the new weapons. Doesn't state why, just says you need to be there. You've never been to Marik's factory before, actually you've never even met Marik before despite having heard of him several times. Guess this will be your introduction.

It is a little odd to be taken out of the fighting like this and also not explaining why, but the Emperor must have his reasons. You immediately tell the major.

"You're leaving? Why?" she asks.
"Can't reveal why, but I assure you that it is on the Emperor's orders." You reply.
"Oh. Well I suppose you have to go then. This'll be a huge blow to the might of our forces with you gone."
"You shouldn't think such things. You're soldiers of the Empire. You are more than a match for any enemy, let alone the Felkans. You're also a skilled leader and tactician that has kept our losses to a minimum. You'll do fine without me."
"I suppose we can get by without your battle skills, but how will we ever cope without your cheerful personality around here?" she says with a serious face which then slowly turns into a smile.

Normally this is the kind of thing that perturbs you, but maybe you're getting used to it.

"Well I'm sure my sunny disposition has made such a lasting impression that its now within all of your hearts so that you may experience it wherever you go." You reply in a deadpan manner, surprising the major.
"Was that a joke you just made?"
"How the hell would I know, its not like I've ever made one before."
"Well you're on a roll now. Hopefully you will come back so we can actually experience this less self-controlled version of yourself."
"Anything's possible I suppose." You say and take your leave.

Your only major decision now is whether or not to take the long way around back within all the pacified territory you've been pushing through during your time with Krozer's battalion or risk taking a short cut north through disputed territory that you know is still being battled over by both sides.

[User] You take the long way around

[Assistant]
While it's not usually like you to play it too safe and you aren't one to avoid conflict, your present duty is to reach your destination in a timely manner. A short cut might seem quicker, but given that you know how hot the conflict is going on right now, its likely that you might very well get caught in the middle of it thus delaying your orders.

Your trip is predictably uneventful save for running into a few small regiments of reinforcements that you redirect towards the town you just conquered. When you make it back to Arat you only make short stops in villages to water your horse. Eventually you see the factory within sight rather than just the permanent black cloud that hoovers over it. The factory has somewhat been a source of concern by the local population as the pollution from the place has contaminated the nearby rivers as well as the land surrounding it. However it has provided a new source of employment though its not the safest place to work, but in this world what is safe?

When you get there you are met by a small contingent of Eyes standing outside the factory's gates, which are locked up.

"I don't know if I should be happy or worried that the Emperor has sent his terrible weapon of righteous justice." One of the Eyes says. The Eye doesn't look familiar to you, but he obviously was with you during the capture of Cyrus. Good to know your words are remembered at least.

"What's going on?"
"Apparently a few days ago a giant green monster punched through one of the doors to the basement of the factory and killed several workers and guards before we got here. Someone claimed it was a troll. If it was a troll I can only imagine it dug itself up from the underground since that's where they live right?"
"So I've heard, but what are you doing standing out here?"
"Sightmaster Ansolom's orders. The troll hasn't left the factory for whatever reason and he wants to make sure its at least contained while he and some others try to kill the thing. Though they've been in there since yesterday, I fear the worst."
"Ansolom? What happened to Warrick?"
"Sightmaster Warrick is stationed elsewhere with another group of Eyes. I don't know where. So are you going in?"
"Of course."
"You…uh don't need us to come in with you do you?" the Eye asks while unlocking the gate.
"No. Continue your little guard duty, I believe you would only get in my way anyway." You say and open up the gate.

No sooner have you entered when the Eyes close the gate and lock it back up. You shake your head and cautiously walk through the factory's outer yard. You see all manner of strange machines along with hundreds of boxes of various weapons large and small set for shipping, but the place is dead silent. You're not even finding any dead bodies; you're guessing they must be inside the factory itself and probably the troll as well.

You're wondering where Marik is in all this. From what you know he and a small group of derro work deep underneath this factory unknown to most, even the regular workers. There is supposed to be a battle mage that acts as the factory supervisor too. On top of everything else now you have to look for a sightmaster who is supposed to be here taking care of this problem and you still don't understand why you were dragged off the frontline just to handle a troll, or what you still assume is a troll.

When you enter the factory itself, that's when you see all the damage to the place. It's a mess with broken equipment and dead bodies everywhere. While you've heard the stories about how terrible trolls are you nearly have a hard time believing it was just one of them that caused all this damage.

Besides looking like a tomb the factory is about as silent as one as well. You would've thought the troll would at least be feasting on its kills or at least walking about the factory, but you've heard nothing. This of course puts you more on guard since now you're wondering if the thing is aware of your presence and silently stalking you.

You climb up to one of the upper walkways to get a better view. You still can't see the creature from your position, but apparently it was up here at some point since you're finding the odd limb along the walkway. The supervisor's office is up here so you decide to head towards it hoping that maybe you'll find some answers.

As you get closer you see that a battle must've taken place near there because you see a body just outside the doorway of the office. There are a couple other bloody bodies lying near it as well. Upon closer inspection the body just outside the doorway is headless but wearing a robe. This was probably the battle mage supervisor. The other bodies are a little fresher but still in mauled condition. They wear the uniform of an Eye, but you suddenly have more pressing concerns when not one, but two trolls appear on the far end of the walkways.

They look every bit as vicious as you've heard. Big, green, long gangly limbs and seem to lope in a jerky manner towards you snarling and howling the whole time. You have no idea how such large creatures were able to hide from you, but they've made their presence known now and you're trapped with no easy retreat.

They're quick, but you manage to unleash a single bolt of flame at one of the trolls, which causes it to immediately leap over the railing and take a long drop down to the floor below busily trying to beat the flames out of its hide. It is so focused on doing this that it fails to realize that it is in a factory with several explosive elements. All it takes is for the troll to crash its body into one of the small barrels of the volatile powder and the troll is blown to pieces though the force of the explosion is even enough to rock you to the floor of the walkway. You get up just in time for the second troll to smash its fist into your chest and you go flying into the office hitting the wall. You feel like you've been hit by a giant club and struggle to catch your breath. You scan the room and to your left you see another dead body of an Eye. This one is the sightmaster and he looks as if all his limbs have been broken.

The troll advances and you manage to kick the door shut, which slows it down long enough to buy you some time. When it slams the door back open you cast a bolt of flame in its face. It reels back bellowing with pain and clutching its eyes, but unlike his friend he isn't running away.

Ignoring the pain, you stand back up and with sword in hand you slash the troll across one of its knees causing it to stumble. It manages to swipe its claws across your stomach, but fortunately you dodge most of attack and only suffer ripped armor and a surface wound. The troll tries to continue its success, but even as quick as it is, you are able to get the advantage and bring your blade across its think neck.

Unfortunately you fail to sever the troll's head completely and your sword gets stuck half way through it. Black blood is spraying everywhere and the troll grabs your sword arm digging its claws into the skin and muscle. It will very likely rip it off if you don't do something immediately.

[User] You pull your dagger and stab it in the arm

[Assistant]
You pull out your dagger and begin repeatedly stabbing the troll in the arm to the point where you nearly sever it. Its grip loosens as it hisses in pain. You nearly get your head punched in by the troll's other fist, but you fall backwards on the walkway in time for it to miss. The troll fails to follow up with another attack since it attempts to remove the sword from its neck presumably to regenerate properly.

Taking advantage of this breather you cast a lightning blast right at the sword, which acts as a great conductor to fry the troll inside and out. You have to back up just so the troll's flailing body doesn't hit you. Eventually when the troll's body is burned to a crisp and you're fairly certain you've fried its vital organs enough that it can't possibly regenerate you stop and the troll crashes to the floor still smoking and twitching. Then you retrieve your sword and finish decapitating the troll just to be sure.

You take a small rest after your battle, though you keep alert for another troll. Thankfully no more show up, but there's still the question about Marik and where the hell the trolls came from in the first place. Both potential answers are going to lie in the basement you imagine so that's where you continue your exploration.

The factory basement is in just about as much disarray as the ground floor and there are a few dead bodies, but no trolls or derro for that matter. You search until you come across a large metal door which has been partially ripped off its hinges, a long set of stairs go down. It would appear there is an even deeper part of the factory.

You go down the stairway, which seems almost like forever and when you finally get to the bottom, you hear a lot of shouting in an unfamiliar language. You walk down a corridor and find a large open area with presumably more factory equipment, but some of it looks very strange. You see machines, which are emanating a lightning arc similar to the spell you can cast or what nature does during a storm. Other things look like giant tubes with something inside, though from this distance you can't tell what.

Among the machinery you also see short heavily armored figures busily trying to clean up the area. You can't even see their faces, but you're guessing these are the infamous derro.

"You there! Who are you surfacer? Are you one of the factory workers?" a deep voice suddenly calls to you from the right. You look and see a very pale figure wearing white coat covered in blood and a bunch of other things you can't identify. This bald wild-eyed fellow is about the same size as the armored figure so you come to one conclusion.

"The Emperor sent me. Are you Marik?"
"I am Marik…you must be the one he refers to as his son. But why would the Emperor send you here?"
"I was only given orders to come here, but within such time I faced two trolls that apparently slaughtered not only many factory workers, but its supervisor AND several of the Emperor's Eyes! I had thought they might've killed you as well, but since that is not the case, I am hoping that you can shed some light on the situation."
"Shit, I had a feeling one of them escaped up there, but not two. And I assumed that the fucking poncy wizard would at least be able to handle it. Figures that fop wouldn't have the stones when faced with such a beast, let alone two of them."
"Escaped? Excuse me, but what the hell were trolls doing here in the first place? And why did you not send men to help kill the beasts?"
"If you have not noticed by the mess already, but my men and I have been dealing with trolls down here as well."
"It looks as if you were not fighting them when I arrived and you still have not answered why there were trolls down here in the first place?"
"I know you're held in high regard by the Emperor and obviously your skills are impressive if a scrawny thing like you can handle two adult trolls, but you will cease questioning me in such a manner now surfacer!"
"I will question your competence if you are the reason for this disaster! These trolls have just caused a stop in production which is vital to the Emperor's war on the Felkan Kingdom!"

Marik's expression begins to show more aggression though he's smiling at the same time. He almost looks as if he's going to break into laughter.

"Surfacer, I have known the Emperor much longer than YOU have even been alive! Maybe you're unfamiliar with the complexities of our relationship, so I will let your words pass as ones of a concerned child for his parent's wishes. But NEVER question my competence ever again! I am the very reason the Emperor is able to pursue a successful war on the Felkans in the first place! My work here is to find even better ways to crush his enemies! The trolls? Part of my experiments as new weapons for the war! Sometimes experiments fail! Science is not always exact! Do you think YOU were the first Eternal?"
"Yes, I'm well aware I was among the first successful ones, but that still doesn't excuse why you sent no men to at least scout the factory if you believed trolls had escaped."
"The Emperor should've told you more about our people then. We derro do not step foot on the surface if we can help it. My people may have an alliance with the Emperor, but that alliance does not extend to such madness."
"I was lead to believe madness was a common derro trait."
"It is, but even then there are limits! Indeed I may very well be among the most mad and even I will not soil myself by setting foot on your surface world."
"But the factory is enclosed, you'd still be shielded from the sun if that is death to your kind."

Marik begins laughing in a tone that is much different from his deep voice. It's an annoying ear piercing laugh.

"Your ignorance of the derro is embarrassing as is usual for a surfacer. I suggest you learn more in your pitifully short lifespan. Ask your Emperor for guidance, perhaps he will have the patience to tell you more about us, I do not. I have work to do for the Emperor." Marik says and turns away from you. His fellow derro have been standing by watching the pair of you the entire time as if ready to act if violence should break out.

Violence may still occur if Marik continues to act dismissively towards you.

"Do not walk away from me derro! You still have much to answer for! What exactly is it that you are doing here? What is so important that you so carelessly endanger the war effort? You will give me answers of substance that I can give to the Emperor!"

Your words cause Marik to stop.

"Your loyalty to the Emperor is admirable. Tell me though, what gives you cause to believe that you'd make it out of here to able to report to him?"
"Trust me derro, I may indeed not be able to take all of you, but YOU I would make an example of."

Marik once again makes that annoying laugh again.

"Your knowledge of the derro continues to lack. If you truly knew anything, you'd know that death is not something the derro fear."
"And now it is you who do not listen. I said nothing of killing you, I said make an example of. After I beat you within an inch of your life, I'd drag your bloody body to the surface which you obviously loathe so much. I thank you for exposing your flaws within our short meeting."

Marik turns to face you once again. He studies you as if to assess if you're being serious. He realizes you are.

"Well, I'll be. A surfacer nearly as mad as a derro, for it is the only explanation for your threats that you speak out of your ass and ignorance. Heh. Very well then perhaps we do have something in common. Come with me then Eternal, I will satisfy your questions and then you can go tell the Emperor that we're not just playing with our dicks down here."

Marik waves away the other derro and tells them to get back to work while he goes on to explain what's going on down here.

He tells you that while he has provided the Emperor with the gift of gunpowder weapons to combat the Felkans he states that he is bored with creating such things. He wants to move on to other, more interesting things. You don't exactly understand everything he's saying, but apparently this includes altering trolls in such a way to use them as living weapons.

Obviously success has eluded him, but Marik claims it will work eventually he just needs more time. He then goes on to say that the schematics of the weapons he's already made should be somewhat known to surfacers now and that perhaps those weapons could be built in another factory run purely by surfacers. Allowing him of course to work more unencumbered by the possibility of his experiments causing problems in the future.

"I will report this to the Emperor and allow him to decide, but personally I can't say as this is a good use of time and resources. Better to perfect the weapons you've already created than to play around with uncertain ones."
"Funny you should say that Eternal, because one could say the same of your kind."
"There is a difference. Obviously when I was born I was still not a mindless untrainable animal like a troll."
"No, but obviously an effort was made to make you better than the average human and then some. No effort was spared in perfecting you and your kind until some of you actually survived the entire process."

Marik's words about the creation of the Eternals peaks your interest.

"Tell me Marik, how much were you involved in the creation of the Eternals?"
"Sadly very little. Most of my ideas for the…project were considered a bit too extreme, then that fool Jacob somehow managed to gain complete control of the project. The advantage of being a surfacer I suppose. If I had control, you and your fellow classmates would've been even better. In fact you wouldn't have had to endure much training at all, you would've instantly been BORN with natural skill and talent. (Sigh) If only the Emperor saw the wisdom in continuing the project with me at the helm…I could truly create some living weapons."
"What are you talking about exactly?"
"For someone so close to the Emperor, I see he keeps you out of the loop on things and if he is then there must be a reason for it. I have probably said too much…I suggest if you want more answers then speak with him. Go now, I have work to do. Much work to do."

When Marik says this he begins making nervous twitches and see him eye a nearby metal door, which makes you suspicious.

[User] You confront Marik

[Assistant]
Whatever Marik is hiding behind that door has peaked your interest. For all you know he's hiding something that could possibly threaten the Empire. You make your way towards the door and Marik comes just shy of physically stopping you.

"Hey, where are you going?" he asks.
"I wanna see what's behind that door now step aside Marik."
"You can't! There's dangerous material in there. Chemicals and stuff like that. Safe for us derro, but completely toxic to a human like you."
"Well as you pointed out not a few minutes ago, I'm better than the average human, now stand aside."
"You can't!" Marik shrieks and begins giggling.
"Marik, last chance to get outta my way…"

Marik suddenly stops his annoying giggling and begins snorting and hyperventilating while giving you a hostile stare. It would almost be amusing if you could see the humorous side of it.

"Alright fine! But you're going to spoil the surprise!" he shrieks and gets out of your way.

You step to the metal door and open it up to a platformed level, which overlooks a huge room. It's nearly the size of a small hamlet you think. There are several ladders that descend down to the lower level which contain translucent containers all hooked up with tubing and connected with each other and large strange machines. Even from this distance you can make out small figures floating in liquid within the containers.

You're about to ask Marik what all this is when suddenly you hear him scream…

"SURPRISE!"

And then the back of your head is blown off by Marik's personal pistol. Your lifeless body slumps to the floor soon after part of your brains do.

Marik and his fellow derro cover up your death by explaining to the Emperor that the escaped trolls killed you. The Emperor temporarily mourns your death, but ultimately decides that if something like a troll killed you, then perhaps you weren't worthy of your status after all.


[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 remain silent

[Assistant]
You hold your tongue, but anger wells up inside of you like a storm, like an enraged beast trapped inside a frail cage of flesh and bone. Beside you, Orvyn notices your anger and tenses up, every muscle in his body is ready to spring into action. Even William notices the tension and waves discreetly to the Norman soldiers behind you. You feel cold steel pricking at your back. William glares icily, he leans forward.

"You might be wondering why you are still alive, no?"

You shrug sardonically. William pretends not to notice your insolence.

"The North has proven especially difficult to pacify. I could have you executed, and place a Norman in charge, however I believe the peasants would disapprove, and I would prefer to keep them alive"

He pauses briefly, mentally collecting his words

"As such, I am reinstating you as lord in the North, providing you swear fealty to me"

He leans even closer

"Make no mistake. You will be closely watched by one of my men, whom you will take orders from. This is not an offer. Swear to me, or die. Your choice."


[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 work for Mr. Reynolds

[Assistant]
While it might be satisfying to kill Mr. Reynolds, it's hardly the smart play and you're just going to bring more trouble on yourself. Maybe you've gotten like Zal did, you're starting to question whether to go on with this lifestyle. It was fun in the beginning and now its just work.

And if you're going to work, you might as well not worry about getting arrested or killed by the militia or slinking about underground where even if you aren't walking around in shit as much, you still have to do it more than the average person.

You're done. You want something better and while you aren't convinced that this is it. It will at least be better than what you have now.

"Alright Reynolds, I'll agree to all this, but under two conditions. I want to at least name this new place." You say.
"Hah. Fine. I was never the best with names anyway." Mr. Reynolds says.
"And I want to be able to walk away at any time."
"By the gods son. This isn't some life binding contract I'm holding you under."
"Yeah, well I never know with you."
"Fine, if it will put your mind at ease, you're personally free to leave if you like. Not sure why you'd want to, but as I said, you're free to do so."
"Okay then, so where is this new place and when do we make the transition?"
"Oh I think you'll like it. It's your family's old inn. It'll be converted a little of course, but that's where it's going to be."

You let out a little chuckle at that bit of information.

Mr. Reynolds says you can continue your activities down here until the renovation on your family's old inn is finished. He says you shouldn't have to worry about militia patrols anymore though.

After Mr. Reynolds explains a bit more information he bids you goodbye. Vaughn approaches you immediately.

"Boss, are you sure about this? I mean are we really trusting him?"
"Yes, I'm sure. It's what's best for the organization. Just because we're going legit doesn't mean we've suddenly disappeared. We'll probably all be making a better living than we are now anyway. And as far as trusting him? Sure why not? We trusted Zal and you see what happened there. Reynolds is a fucking snake, but if he's lying at least I won't be disappointed. Fairly sure he's been direct though, besides he's very careful about making deals and not breaking them."

A few months pass and eventually you and your people move to your family's old inn. You knew it had been abandoned ever since it shut down, so you never saw what it looked like originally. What it looks like now however is fairly nice though. Lot nicer than sewers or underground tunnels at any rate.

As you and your people get set up, you find that the private rooms upstairs where your father and grandparents must have lived weren't changed much. Some of the furniture is even still around. You might as well live here.

You sit down on a nearby dusty chair and just think on how you got here. You can only imagine what your parents or sister would say if they could see you now.

"Well, it took me a long time, but I'm finally a working man with a real job and I hope you're all doing well right now." You say to yourself.


[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 check out the House, beds are too big to loot right?

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

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


[System] Narrate a grim fantasy text adventure. The Empire's world is brutal, its people hardened. Respond to the player's choices with immersive storytelling and let consequences flow naturally.

[User] You say "I will rebel"

[Assistant]
You lean in, forcing the old priest to take a half step backward

"Who do you give your loyalty to?"

His answer is immediate and unequivocal

"God"

Your snarl, taking another step forward

"Well, my loyalties lie with England. Always. You would be wise to develop a similar mindset"

Father Wilfrid watches you coldly

"Get out of my church"

Livid with anger, you storm out of the church, pushing open the heavy oaken doors and breathing in the calming December air.


[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 run

[Assistant] You turn, grabbing Julianne by the hand and yanking her away. The ratling is faster, though, swinging his club and knocking your feet away, sending you slamming into the stone floor. As you go to stand, he swings his club and slams it into your head, cracking your skull and killing you with a heavy blow.


[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 get a child

[Assistant]
"Okay, okay, I'll do it. I'll get a kid." You say.
"Very well, although I was a little curious to see what you tasted like. Now don't take too long, but then I imagine you won't be able to anyway, what with your tether and all. Off you go and for your sake you better not make a scene and if you do, you better not lead a peasant mob here!" Isabella remarks.

You leave Isabella's crypt glad that you made it out alive, but with very mixed feelings about what you'll need to do next.

With night having fully fallen now, you expect that most in Dert are going to be in their homes. You try to remember which families have children, because in all your visits to the place, it isn't like you've ever paid much attention to that aspect.

After a bit of thought one family comes to mind, middle-aged couple who have a simpleton for a son who has actually bothered you in the past with questions which you believe should make your task a lot easier.

You aren't sure if just breaking in and snatching him in the middle of the night is the way to go though. Maybe you should take the less forceful approach on this since the boy is likely just going to scream out even if he is stupid.

You wait a bit longer in the graveyard before making your way to Dert, which by the time you reach it, is just as silent as the graveyard.

You sneak about the village until you reach what you think is the right house. After peeping into the open windows, you find that you were correct. The one you're looking for is asleep on his cheap straw mattress. You can't remember the boy's name though, so you just start whispering "boy" to him

Eventually you wake the idiot up.

"Huh, whut?" the boy answers.
"Come on, its time to go." You say.
"Aren't you herb man? What you doing here?"
"Yes, I'm collecting a special kind of herb that only grows at night, but I need help finding it, specifically your help."

You're sort of winging it here, so you're just making shit up as you go along and hoping for the best. It isn't like you have much experience in kidnapping.

"But (Yawn) I'm not supposed to go anywhere after night. Mommy and daddy said I'm supposed to be in bed or else I'll be whipped." The boy remarks.
"It's okay, I spoke to them already. They said you can help me, now come to the window, I'll lift you out." You say.
"I dunno…"
"Come on, aren't you always asking me questions about what herbs, roots and flowers I collect for my profession? Come with me and you'll find out."
"Well…"
"Just come on, you can trust me. You see me all the time."
"Okay."

The boy gets up and goes to the window. The little shit is heavier than he looks, but with some effort you lift the boy up and outside. You still can't remember what his name is.

"Where do we go now herb man?" he asks.
"Just follow me, and be REALLY quiet." You say and soon the pair of you making your way out of the village as quick as you can.

Naturally as soon as you leave the village though, the boy starts to hesitate.

"Um…I'm not supposed to leave the village. Mommy and daddy said…" the boy says.
"Look, I said I already talked to them, they said its fine, now come on." You exclaim
"But…but it's really dark out here and there might be monsters deeper in the woods."
"We're not going too much farther, just follow me a little more."
"…that way is to the graveyard! I'm not going there!"

At this point your patience has worn thin and you're having difficulties with doing this anyway. Something inside you snaps and you punch the boy in the face!

The boy falls to the ground, but he's tougher than you thought since it doesn't knock him out. He does start wailing very loudly and running from you as soon as he gets up though.

"Shit!" you shout and start chasing him back to the village.

You catch up to him fairly quickly, but unfortunately for you, his cries have called the attention of the village, along with his parents who thought they heard noises earlier around their house anyway.

As you're struggling with the boy and punching him in the face a couple more times to shut him up, an angry mob has already formed to lynch a child abductor such as yourself.

You abandon your task and just try to get the hell out of there, but several stones thrown at you impede your escape when one hits you in the head doing enough damage to cause you to collapse to the ground.

This is all the mob needs in order to catch up to you. No amount of pleading or explanation will appease this mob and they don't even bother to lynch you anyway, they just stomp you to death as you lay on the ground and then set your battered corpse on fire.


[System] You are the narrator of a dark fantasy text adventure. Describe the world and its consequences with unflinching detail. The player's choices shape the story — for better or worse.

[User] Continue

[Assistant]
The HMS Bounty set sail on a gloomy winter's day a few days before Christmas.
You like the little ship, which is just ninety feet long and fairly small at just over 200 tons for the 46 men she carries. She has three masts and sails extremely well however and you are quite content aboard her, despite the gloomy weather. She carries four small cannons for defense and a compliment of muskets and cutlasses as well as enough provisions for the voyage. The purpose of the voyage is to sail to Tahiti to pick up breadfruit and transport them to Jamaica to feed the slaves who work the plantations there. It should be an easy enough voyage.

If you are soon familiar with the ship but the crew are more difficult. You have joined them as an Able Seaman for what should be an easy voyage but there are far too many of men on the ship to remember all of their names. The one name you do remember is Lieutenant William Bligh, the ship's commander. He is a chubby, little man with very white skin, wispy fair hair and blue eyes looking for all the world like a little girl's porcelain doll. Bligh is supposed to be a superb navigator, having sailed under the famous Captain Cook, discoverer of Australia, on his last voyage, but he seems a bit excitable and a little difficult to take seriously.

Almost from the beginning the ship seems to hit bad luck. The weather in the Channel is awful and barely have you sailed out of port than you lose your grip while climbing the rigging. You are plunging towards the deck and almost certain doom when you manage to grab a rope tied between two sails, halting your fall with a heart-stopping judder. Days later a storm breaks the windows of Bligh's cabin, quickly flooding it with water.

As the year of 1788 and the voyage of the Bounty begins you hope that things will get better…

NOTE: PICK UP THE CREW LIST TO HELP YOU KEEP TRACK OF WHO IS WHO IN THIS STORY.

[User] The Atlantic

[Assistant]
After leaving the English Channel the weather does indeed improve and you stop off at the Canary Islands for a week. Spirits are high as you sail onto the southwest bound for Tahiti, an island which you have heard of but have no idea where it is. You gather Bligh intends to sail around Cape Horn, the southernmost tip of South America, to get there. The ship is sailing so well Bligh decides to promote a protégé of his called Fletcher Christian from Master's Mate to Acting Lieutenant, effectively making him Bligh's deputy.

Like everyone else on board the ship you like Christian. He is a cheerful and very likable young man, though a slightly sensitive soul who takes a solicitous interest in everyone's welfare. His promotion comes at the expense of the Sailing Master John Fryer, a professional man, whose strong, independent opinions seem to irritate Bligh. He takes Christian's promotion without a word but some of the crew are not so subtle.

Matthew Quintal is one of your fellow seamen, a young Cornishman and a natural-born trouble-maker, always looking for an opportunity to make a little mischief. One morning he is scrubbing the deck close to where Fryer is sighting the sun with a sextant and begins to mock Fryer about Christian's promotion, lightly at first and then more harshly when Fryer shows no response. Some of the other sailors standing nearby are exchanging glances and grinning.

[User] You join Quintal in mocking Fryer

[Assistant]
You join Quintal in ribbing Fryer about Christian being replaced over him. He takes it all with ill-tempered terse sentences but suddenly there is a bizarrely high-pitched cry from further up the deck, you glance up to see Bligh striding towards you.

"You infernal scoundrels!" he roars. "How dare you cowardly rascals show such insolence and contempt for Mr Fryer! Mr Fryer, how came you to permit such a thing to happen sir? Twenty-four lashes each to remind you men of the proper way of addressing your superiors! Master-at-Arms, fetch the lash! Quartermasters, prepare these men!"

Hardly before you know what is happening strong hands have seized you and Quintal, stripped the shirts from your backs and your are being roped to the mast. The Quartermasters stand behind you and on Bligh's orders begin to whip you mercilessly with the lash, which burns like a fire. Soon it is stripping flesh from your back and just as the agony is becoming unbearable the punishment is over.

"May that be a lesson to you all!" Bligh declares.

[User] The Horn

[Assistant]
After the lashing of Quintal you and the rest of your crew go about your duties quietly and you soon come upon Cape Horn in atrocious weather. For over four weeks Bligh tries to sail the Bounty into the face of a terrible wind, tacking into the face of a gale. You and several other sailors come down with fevers, brought on by constant exertion in freezing rain and tiredness, and finally Bligh admits defeat and turns the ship east.

You will sail to Tahiti east, around the southern tip of Africa instead. Despite the storm damage the Bounty makes good speed and arrives off Cape Town on the tip of South Africa after a month of sailing. Bligh steers the Bounty carefully into the busy harbor and you and another sailor called John Williams are sent to sound the depths with a lead line. You are both feeding the rope out when the lead snags on some rocks far below. Because the Bounty is still going pretty fast the rope starts sliding rapidly through your hands cutting them badly.

[User] You hold on

[Assistant]
You grimace and grasp the rope tight. Williams releases the rope and it drags you across the deck, slamming you painfully into the railing and you are nearly lost overboard but suddenly the lead comes free and you haul it up on the line. Williams, blowing on his burnt hands, only watches you when suddenly you hear a familiar high-pitched cry and look up to see Bligh striding towards you both.

"You incompetent mongrel!" he spits at Williams. "Why did you not help that man? Six lashes for neglect and dereliction of duty!"

The lash is fetched again, Williams is tied to the mast and the Quartermaster once more lays into him, drawing blood. Bligh doesn't even look at you, merely watches the punishment coldly until it is over and he returns to his cabin.

[User] The Pacific

[Assistant]
After making it safely into Cape Town the Bounty spends nearly a month resupplying and repairing storm damage, allowing you plenty of time to enjoy the delights of that port. You set sail again on the first day of July and the following month you arrive at Adventure Bay on the island of Tasmania to the south of Australia. You pause there again to re-supply and sail on again in September bound for Tahiti. Spirits are high on board as you near your destination.

Unfortunately, you and another sailor called James Valentine begin to develop a breathing problem, sometimes after exertion you find you have difficulty catching your breath. You and Valentine decide to see the Ship's Surgeon, a heavy-drinking red-faced fat man called Thomas Huggan, who seems rather surprised to be consulted on something medical. Huggan examines you both, wheezing the whole time, and when he has finished he wipes the sweat off his face and gulps down a glass of rum.

"Internal disorder of some kind," he tells you both. "Probably too much blood in your spleens. If you would let me open a vein I will bleed you both about a pint and this will relieve the pressure on your organs, you'll be up and down the rigging free as birds then."

You and Valentine exchange glances.

[User] You agree to let the Surgeon bleed you

[Assistant]
The Surgeon fetches a grimy scalpel, spits on it and rubs it with a dirty cloth to clean it and slices open veins in your arms. Blood immediately pours out like a high-power hose and Huggan looks rather alarmed. With difficulty he manages to secure bandages to both your arms and pronounces you good as new. You are both doubtful, particularly as the bleeding doesn't really stop but continues to ooze out of your cuts. Within days you have lost all feeling in your arm.

When you peel the bandage away you find the area around the wound has turned green and black. You and Valentine are soon both feeling faint and feverish, forced to remain in your hammocks as almost your entire arms turn black. It doesn't take you long to realize you are dying but there is nothing Huggan can do. Bligh learns of the situation, visits you both and rages at Huggan but your days are numbered.

You die two weeks before the Bounty reaches Tahiti, the first of that ill-fated crew to perish.

[User] You are Dead

[Assistant]
You have died too early in the story to even experience the Mutiny on the Bounty. Your only option is to return to the beginning of the story and try to live longer by making different choices. After the Mutiny on the Bounty if you die you may end the game and leave a comment.
Better Luck this time!

[User] Back to the Beginning...

[Assistant]
The HMS Bounty set sail on a gloomy winter's day a few days before Christmas.
You like the little ship, which is just ninety feet long and fairly small at just over 200 tons for the 46 men she carries. She has three masts and sails extremely well however and you are quite content aboard her, despite the gloomy weather. She carries four small cannons for defense and a compliment of muskets and cutlasses as well as enough provisions for the voyage. The purpose of the voyage is to sail to Tahiti to pick up breadfruit and transport them to Jamaica to feed the slaves who work the plantations there. It should be an easy enough voyage.

If you are soon familiar with the ship but the crew are more difficult. You have joined them as an Able Seaman for what should be an easy voyage but there are far too many of men on the ship to remember all of their names. The one name you do remember is Lieutenant William Bligh, the ship's commander. He is a chubby, little man with very white skin, wispy fair hair and blue eyes looking for all the world like a little girl's porcelain doll. Bligh is supposed to be a superb navigator, having sailed under the famous Captain Cook, discoverer of Australia, on his last voyage, but he seems a bit excitable and a little difficult to take seriously.

Almost from the beginning the ship seems to hit bad luck. The weather in the Channel is awful and barely have you sailed out of port than you lose your grip while climbing the rigging. You are plunging towards the deck and almost certain doom when you manage to grab a rope tied between two sails, halting your fall with a heart-stopping judder. Days later a storm breaks the windows of Bligh's cabin, quickly flooding it with water.

As the year of 1788 and the voyage of the Bounty begins you hope that things will get better…

NOTE: PICK UP THE CREW LIST TO HELP YOU KEEP TRACK OF WHO IS WHO IN THIS STORY.


[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] No time for that.

[Assistant]
You drift down the dark hallway, propelling yourself forward in short bursts with the flat of your palm along the wall or the ceiling as you go.

Every so often there's a crackle from your headset as someone checks on you, but the dark halls are otherwise eerily silent. Doors line the walls on either side of you, firmly shutting away their secrets. One door is hanging open and askew on cracked hinges, and you see the long room beyond it is filled with rusting rows of bolted down bedframes. An infirmary at some time in the past, now with the back wall now ripped open to expose them to space. You can see the pale face of the barren rock the station orbits through the gap.

You float down an elevator shaft and after a measured distance begin cutting your way out with a laser torch. Gripping the handrail behind you, you kick the slab of metal free. It tumbles forward, and forward, and out into space. Where you expected to find more hallway, you're now looking at a mostly missing wall, the blown out section large enough to pilot a shuttle through. You've drifted out a short ways, watching the metal slab diminishing in the distance, still moving from the momentum of your kick.

It's then that you glance down and realize there's nothing beneath your feet but the void of space and the twinkling of stars. Most of the floor in this section has also been blown away. You pedal your legs in a panic and the motion sends your body shooting upwards. Struggling to reorient yourself in mid-air, you crack your elbow against a piece of metal railing and grab for it desperately.

You're caught up now against a section of what used to be the roof, amid a forest of twisted metal spars and snaking black wires. You remain carefully still a long moment while you calm yourself, your back resting lightly against the jagged mess while you gaze down at the floor. It's been ripped out clear through to the bottom of the station. You can just see the edges other rooms on other floors parallel to this one, and where the plating that held on the other side of the gap buckled like crumpled tissue, but thankfully you don't have to try to float down through the big hole to reach the turret. Just, across it.


[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 leap out of the way, swinging your sword at it whilst you do.

[Assistant]
You wait for a moment, to ensure that it's close... And then you leap out of the way of the charge, swinging your sword at it. You manage to nail it right in the belly, the blade cleaving through the dragon's scales and into its flesh. It lets out a blood curdling screech, tumbling a bit as it loses its footing before finally falling over onto the ground.

You walk closer, sword at the ready. The dragon twitches slightly, so you bring your blade onto its throat. That killed it, for sure. With the beast slain, you collapse onto the ground, catching your breath. That was... Intense, to say the least. You've never fought a dragon. If the beast were any bigger, you would have lost, no doubt.

Then, you laugh. You laugh until your ribs ache and tears escape your eyes. Then you laugh some more.

You just slayed a dragon. You must be losing your mind to be doing this sort of stuff again.

After a while of laying there, you fall asleep, and in the morning you wake up recharged despite the aching where the dragon rammed into you. You exit the cave, and begin the track on the path. The excitement of fighting such a monstrous beast and living to tell the tale... It's exhilarating. Why has it been so long since you've felt this? You miss it.

You set out to find more beasts to hunt.

THE END


[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 won't stoop so low. They're pathetic bandits.

[Assistant]
Rage bubbles within you. They think that you want that position? That you'll forgive them of their crimes? You're not going to give them that satisfaction. Instead, you raise your sword, and with a sweeping blow, take out four of them with one swing. The others realize what you're doing and try to run. They don't make it very far.

Soon, you're cleaning your blade in a stream outside of the forest, while binding your wounds. They did a number on you, but you suppose it's just more scars for the collection. It's almost comforting, in a way. Almost.

There's more injustice out there. If anything, now is the time to act.

You set out into the horizon, never once looking back.

THE END


[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 shine the flashlight at the direction of the noise

[Assistant]
You hide behind one of the earthy mounds and shine the flashlight in the direction the bullets seem to be coming from.

There seems to be some nearby hills and ....something just moved. You dust off dirt from the mound that poured onto your shirt and lap and settle back behind the mound. You attempt to flash the light in the same direction but....the mound begins to move...again.

Backing away...you hear a distant cry.

"Get outta there!!!!"

You look over in the direction of the distant light and see a man yelling and waving at you.

Bam....Bam...

Bullets whiz by you as you make your way toward the man. As you do, the earth seems to rumble and fall out from underneath you.

You fall back into a small hole. The mound you once hid behind begins rumbling toward your direction.

Bullets ricochet off the mound making it rumble even more. A strange noise eminates from it sounding like a shreik. It echoes in the night sky.

[User] You try to make your way toward the man

[Assistant]
You run as fast as you can, bullets whizzing past you. Getting closer, you see the man is standing in front of a small building. A giant neon sign flashes brightly and the old man beckons you inside.

The sign reads "Captian Trips Diner."

As you stumble through the door a bullet bounces of the large sign causing sparks as some of the light bulbs go out.

The room is full of booths and a counter with spinning seats just like an old 50's diner.

" Go catch your breath." the old mans bellows and motions you toward a corner booth.

Soon your heart trate slows to normal and your breathing is not so fast and heavy.

"Time for some chili." states the old man. "It's the best in the west!!"


[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 defend the Bridge

[Assistant]
You stay behind, waiting patiently at the bridge. Eventually, a large group of Elves on horseback begin riding towards the bridge.

"Alright, boys, hold the bridge."

The horses approach, and you aim your spear. You aim carefully, and as soon as the calvary units arrive you attack. You stand on top of a horse, jabbing with a spear, aiming at the riders. You stab them with your spear, hitting hearts, faces and throats to take them down. Many of the riders manage to leap over the barricade and escape to freedom, though the majority of them easily taken down.

"Good. Now, we have work to be done. With the advance of our calvary, we can finally begin to invade and launch attacks on the Elvish Villages." Captain Darruk says. "The Elvish empire is crumblings, boys. Take what you want off the dead, kill the wounded, and we'll head back to the Fort and find something to drink."


[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 let him go

[Assistant]
If you shoot him, everyone's going to think you're a murderer, so you let him go. Besides if he planning on taking over by force like he seems to be wanting to do, he'll show his true colors soon enough. You just have to watch your back until that time. In fact it occurs to you that you should just go tell Ron and Nina about this incident, sure they might not believe you, but it's better than saying nothing.

The next day when you wake up, you hear a lot of commotion going outside your door.

"See?! I told you! He's the one who did it! He dropped the bloody scalpel right in front of his door!" you hear someone say, sounds like Elliot.

You grab your gun and open up the door to a crowd of frightened onlookers. Elliot is in front of them speaking and then turns around when you come out.

"SO! The murderer finally shows his face! We both know what you did last night! I saw you! I saw you break into Ron's room and kill him and his friend William! Then when you saw me see you, you threatened me with a gun you snuck in telling me I better keep my mouth shut or you'd kill me too! But I couldn't stay silent! I don't care if you do kill me! I had to warn these good people that they're living with a psychopath!"

Elliot's already gone through with his plan. He had to speed it up since you were a risk to tell everyone about it, but now he's turned it to his advantage by blaming you for everything.

"WHAT?! Elliot you're full of shit! YOU came to my room last night trying to get me in your little rebel gang! You're the one trying to take over, not me!"
"LIAR! Who're you gonna believe? Me? Who's been nothing, but supportive of Ron, even when his plans weren't exactly efficient? Or HIM? Someone who's done nothing to help anyone, and has shown utter dislike for Ron and everyone else here?"
"It's true! (Sob) He has always hated Ron!" Nina cries from the crowd.

You attempt to explain, protest and argue the situation, but its no good, Elliot is a master speaker, manipulator, and everyone likes him and can barely tolerate you. Feeling yourself threatened you start pointing your gun at the crowd, but even that doesn't do any good, Elliot whips them all into a frenzy to attack you, claiming how you can't kill all of you, of course that doesn't stop you from killing some of them (Elliot being the first of course).

Soon you're mobbed and the gun is taken away from you where upon someone dispenses vigilante justice and caps you in the head with it.