@jai.kinvaio

[kestrels]

> you are a weary adventurer, many years away from your home. you come upon the grounds of a ruined castle, and built upon the castle's flagstones is a fire. it seems to have been lit fairly recently, but it could use another log or two.

do you:

  > sit by the fire and let it smolder down
  > hunt around for wood to keep it going
  > keep to the shadows to see if whoever built it will return
  > choose your own adventure.



（ ooc: if you want to hijack someone else's 'story' to choose a different option, feel free to do that too! ）

Comments

@jon.snow

[northerndragon]

Why are you asking?

Only a fool would let the fire go out.

@will.graham

[cognitivus]

( oh yes he is wildly fascinated with where this is going. )

keep to the shadows, try to assess the danger.

@rey.solo

[forcevisions]

[ this has story vibes. ]

  > hunt around for wood to keep it going

@demi.tomato

[wrend]

    > keep to the shadows to see if whoever built it will return

@yennefer.vengerberg

[angerberg]

Send someone else to fetch wood.

[kestrels]

  you choose to keep the fire going. you explore the castle grounds, looking for firewood, and you come across the chopped-up remains of a gnarled old tree. you decide it will probably work, and carry some back to the fire.

when you return, there is someone else sitting there. you can't tell much about them — they're wearing a hood, and their face is creased in shadow. there's something odd about their voice when they speak, it echoes with voices both male and female, young and old. they ask if you're there to share the fire.

do you:

  > draw your weapon and threaten them?
  > ask them who they are and where they're from?
  > add the wood to the fire and sit in companionable silence with them?
  > choose your own adventure

[kestrels]

you choose to keep to the shadows, to determine the danger. the night is long, and dawn has not yet touched the horizon.

eventually, two men come out of the castle. they are laughing, jostling each other. they seem to be laden with objects taken from within. you can see a scepter, a moth-eaten velvet cape, several bottles of what looks to be liquor, a pair of iron boots. they murmur excitedly between themselves about the boots, asking if it's really the pair that al dorias wore, the pair that grants wishes.

you are still in the shadows. the men have not noticed you. they are armed, but so are you.

do you:

  > introduce yourself to the men and ask to share their fire
  > wait for them to get into the bottles in the hopes that they'll fall asleep
  > attack them with the benefit of surprise
  > choose your own adventure

[northerndragon]

I’d ask them who they are and where they come from, but I am willing to sit with them and share the fire, if they mean no harm.

What colour is the wood?

[kestrels]

you explore the castle grounds to find more wood. there doesn't appear to be any in the courtyard, but there is a side-door to the keep, quite damaged that seems easy to push open. you hear noises from within, but are unable to determine what the sounds are.

do you:

  > sneak quietly through the door to investigate the sounds?
  > look elsewhere for firewood
  > call out to who — or what — ever might be inside to alert them or it to your presence?
  > choose your own adventure.

1/2

[kestrels]

you're a dumbass, and you get crushed by a falling parapet while waiting.

[forcevisions]

> search for something nearby that I can use as a weapon, then head inside.

[kestrels]

luckily, a benevolent god sees your plight and resurrects you because fate isn't finished with you yet.

you wait in the shadows to see if the person tending the fire will return. you notice, eventually, a wolf emerges from the shadows and curls up beside the fire. it appears to be walking with a limp. it seems larger than a normal wolf, and there is fresh blood staining its muzzle and ruff.

do you:

  > approach the fire to see what the wolf will do
  > attack the wolf
  > try to sneak around the wolf to get into the castle
  > choose your own adventure

[kestrels]

you send your trusty servant synka to get wood for the fire. she seems fearful of the darkness, but goes.

meanwhile, you settle yourself at the fire. it's quite pleasant. you notice yourself getting strangely drowsy...

do you:

  > give in to the urge to sleep. after all, you've been wandering for several days, what could it hurt?
  > call for your servant
  > reach for the fire to rouse yourself
  > choose your own adventure

[angerberg]

Reach for the fire.

[ she's actually surprised he had an option there that suits her. surprised, and a little bothered. yennefer is too happy to be an agent of chaos to like having options that match her behaviors provided in a list. ]

[wrend]

back up a bit
how hot is the god?

[kestrels]

you search for a weapon, and you find a sturdy club that's pitted with the scars of old combat. the haft is wrapped in crumbling leather, but it seems sturdy despite that. gripping your new weapon, you head inside the keep quietly, mindful of the sounds.

there is a distant noise, like something being dragged. you hear the shriek of claws or metal on stone, and then abruptly the keep falls into an eerie, unnatural silence. there are three corridors ahead of you. one is brightly lit, with warm tapestries on the walls, plush carpet on the floor. one is dark and damp, and the faint scent of decay is carried on an eerie breeze. one is simply a staircase leading down, lit with a single torch. you cannot tell where the sound was coming from, but you think you can now hear a faint cry for help.

do you:

  > take the brightly lit corridor
  > take the dark corridor
  > take the downward staircase
  > return to the courtyard
  > choose your own adventure

NOT HERE, because he is busy! elsewhere! upthread!!

[northerndragon]

[😐]

ALSO NOT HERE

[angerberg]

[ yes, you. ]

[kestrels]

you ask your companion who they are, and whence they hail. they say their name is amberite, and they are from the far east. as they talk, the shadows appear to flicker on their face. even now that you are closer, you can't seem to tell what they truly look like, but they do not appear to be hostile to you. in fact, they seem almost grateful that you chose to sit with them and speak to them so plainly.

the wood is curiously black, with veins of red sap running through it.

do you:

  > ask your companion what they are doing here?
  > put the wood on the fire
  > tell your companion your own name and place of origin
  > choose your own adventure

[kestrels]

what's your scale of hotness, like a 1-10?

the god is a 12.

[forcevisions]

you're good at this. did you tell stories where you came from before?

  > take the downward staircase

[kestrels]

you touch the fire. it feels cold as ice to your skin, and does not burn you. however, when you touch it you find you are instantly alert again.

in the distance, you hear your servant cry out in sudden terror.

do you:

  > go to their aid?
  > leave them to fend for themselves
  > plunge yourself further into the fire
  > choose your own adventure

[angerberg]

Plunge further into the fire.

[ fuck synka tbh ]

[northerndragon]

A person can do more than one thing at a time. I put the wood on the fire. If it had been white, I might have thought twice, but I might have fed it to the flames nonetheless — fire is life where I come from.

When I do that, I tell Amberite who I am. It does not sound like they’re from any place in Essos that I’ve ever heard of. Do they know my name when I say it?

[Most people do, by this point — most highborn. And this kind of game is unfamiliar to Jon. To him, this castle is somewhere in the North. The wood is a little like weirwood, a little like ironwood; he would rather it were pine, but it will do well enough.]

[kestrels]

the narrator is silent, because their storytelling prowess is not part of your story.

you head towards the downward stair. when you set your foot upon the top step, a draft of musty air hits you. it's nearly overpowering, but you head downward anyway. the shadows don't appear to be flickering naturally on the wall, and as you go downward your sense of the world begins to shift.

each step seems further than the last. the walls twist and heave like a breathing thing. they press in close, making it difficult for you to continue downwards. it seems like the very stone of this place does not wish you to progress further. down seems to become up, and you find yourself plunged into absolute darkness. you feel weightless. you cannot tell where the darkness ends and where you begin.

do you:

  > call out into the darkness
  > pat down your clothing for your flint and tinder
  > focus, close your eyes and will yourself to walk forwards?
  > choose your own adventure