f[IRE]

=><= the end of Everything is here thank you (transition: "shudder")[] [[(continue)|Home]] (set: $lefthome to false) (set: $visitedgardens to false) (set: $tinder to false) (set: $flint to false) (set: $steel to false)

(if: $tinder is false)[the [[note|Note]] on the inside of your front door is unsettling. the paper is written on neatly with soot. it shouldn't be there.] your home is trashed. most furniture you used to barricade the door that leads out into the city. the food is gone. the water is gone. every reason to stay is gone. the howling has kept you up for days. your limbs ache and your eyes burn. you can't remember feeling more tired. your bed is still intact. [[stay|Stay]]/[[go|Square]]

you remain in the safety of your home. probably one of the wisest choices you could have made. [[(continue)|Bad End]]

(if: $lefthome is false)[it is much harder to take down the barricades than to put them in place. part of this is by design, part of this is due to your weakened muscles crying out in protest. eventually your old possessions fall away from the door and you leave.] (set: $lefthome to true)a tangle of buildings makes up the square. their knitted facades are familiar to you in shape alone, their soot blasted faces snarling at your strange, forgotten footsteps. between the ruined homes lie paths you know. you're very close to the city limits and could leave this broken place. you would be safe. you would be free of what remains here. [[leave the city|Leave]]/[[venture out into the streets|Streets]]/[[go back home|Home]]

you pick your way through the winding paths. your feet ache and heart aches with the effort of Leaving. probably one of the wisest choices you could have made. The shattered road gives way to hard packed dirt as you tread the path that leads out of the city. You walk to Safety. [[(continue)|Good End]]

the streets amble through the city like a sluggish river. were it not for the carts and buildings they would feel like treacherous mountain paths. blackened clawmarks stain the walls and doors. some are much higher than you could reach. your head pounds. [[gardens|Gardens]]/[[market|Market]]/[[library|Library]]/[[square|Square]]

the gardens were a place of contemplation and celebration. here one could read among the vines or revel on holy days among the petals. (if: $visitedgardens is false)[the gardens are as changed as the rest of the city. the change rages before your eyes, as the heat and the dark tear into the petals and vines with singular hunger. as the life here burns, you try to recall memories of happier times spent here. they are as singed as the flowers and are soon consumed as well. looking back at their ashes its hard to remember if those memories were happy ones.] (set: $visitedgardens to true) the gardens of ash are not a heartening place to be. there is no safety or solace here. you eye the exposed skyline nervously. [[streets|Streets]]/[[lake|Lake]]

the market is as crowded with tents and stalls as it ever was. somehow the infrastructure remained, though they have all been gutted of anything a panicked mob's whims desired. the air lingers with a cloying scent of desperation. overall, not much here has changed. [[streets|Streets]]/[[stall|Stall]]

(set: $visitedlibrary to true)the door to the library is barricaded shut. the fortifications are much stronger than yours were and probably wouldn't budge to your muscles before they atrophied. a (if: ($tinder is true) and ($flint is true) and ($steel is true))[(transition: "shudder")[[[f IRE|Fire]]]](else:)[     ] might do the trick. (if: ($tinder is false) and ($flint is true) and ($steel is true))[you need some kindling.] [[streets|Streets]]

your mind wanders and so do you. you walk the streets and are alone with your thoughts. Something is following you. You aren't sure what it is but it is more terrifying than the darkest night. [[Alley]]

the lake lies further in the gardens of ash. the water is clouded into an ink, its once sparkling and rippling surface clouded with the remnants of the beauty that once surrounded it. you can relate. you walk along the ravaged lakeside as you did in days past. the path was often strewn with children and lovers enjoying a walk in the sun. today it is strewn with prints of misshapen claws. (if: $flint is false)[the choked sunlight glints from something inside one of the deep prints. down inside is a bit of flint, gouged from a larger stone beneath the ground.] (if: $flint is false)[[[take the flint|Flint]]] [[(return)|Gardens]]

you take the note. (set: $tinder to true) (set: $lefthome to true) [[(continue)|Home]]

The Howling begins anew. You can't stay awake any longer. You Lose.

You left the city alive. You Win.

you tear the note into pieces and place them at the foot of the door. you pull the steel ring from your wrist to your palm. as you take the shard of flint from your pocket, your hands begin to feel hot. you look down and the flint and steel are gone, replaced with (transition: "shudder")[[[  IRE|Fire 2]]]

=><= the end of Everything is here thank you (if: $visitedlibrary is true)[[[take note|Take Note]]] [[(continue)|Home]]

you spent many days in this stall, as desperate as your neighbors to keep the spot allotted to you and take home enough for food and rent. perhaps that desperation was the kindling. the stall is changed. the shape is similar enough, yet wood and rivets are now replaced with a crystalline crimson. licks of dazzling light climb up towards the top. were the blaze ongoing it would devour the stall in minutes. the tables and shelves have been swept clear of their old burdens. you pick through the debris and find little of use. (if: $steel is false)[but there, a steel ring built not for vanity but for intent.] (if: $steel is false)[[[take the ring|Steel]]] [[(leave)|Market]]

Double-click this passage to edit it.

(set: $steel to true)you take the steel ring. [[(continue)|Stall]]

(set: $flint to true)you take the shard of flint. [[(continue)|Lake]]

the shelves are lined with books. that detail is stark in your mind, as everything else is torn, shattered, and blasted away. save the table. the one in the corner, where you would read. here you struck the match. here you called upon magicks sealed by sensible men. here you cried the last you had in you. here you made a call to the memory of creatures long dead. here you ignored every caution given to you. here you opened a path no one with anything left should walk down. here you channeled energies that masters would not. here the depression and the isolation and the guilt and the ache and the rage and the ire and the and the here you made a decision with far too much haste. on the table is <span id="time">a wand releasing black and crimson sparks</span>(click-replace:"a wand releasing black and crimson sparks")[a cauldron bubbling over with cinders](click-replace:"a cauldron bubbling over with cinders")[a wolf standing the height of a skyscraper with teeth of flame and claws of smoke](click-replace:"a wolf standing the height of a skyscraper with teeth of flame and claws of smoke")[a grimoire open to a page of flickering sigils](click-replace:"a grimoire open to a page of flickering sigils")[[[F  I  R  E|Conversation 1]]]

with burning palms, you reach out to touch the door. the (transition: "shudder")[[[f I R E|Inside]]] quickly eats away at the door.

"thank you Invoker" whispers the flame "i do wonder though. why did you unleash Us on the heavens and hells of this realm?" the question hangs in the smoky air ([[somebody had to|Conversation 2]]) ([[I had to|Conversation 2]]) ([[I wanted to|Conversation 2]]) ([[I didn't know what would happen|Conversation 2]]) ([[I don't know|Conversation 2]])

the flame cackles. "well come then." "let us [[change|End]] this world."

`f[IRE]` is an interactive story made for the Las Vegas Game Jam. It is about magic, depression, and confronting mistakes you have made. If you wish to restart the game, simply reload the browser. The game has multiple endings and will require multiple plays to see them all. Sometimes the easy choices are the least satisfying, and confronting the problems around you is difficult but important. Thank you for playing. [[(Begin)|Initialize]]