You eye the door to the non-descript house warily. It's hard to imagine that this picture of generic suburbia, with its faux shutters and covered porch, could be the meeting place of actual, practicing, occultists.
And yet here you are, about to try and join Solomon's Keys.
[[Recall what you know about Solomon's Keys|Remembering Solomon's Keys]]
[[Double-check the address. It couldn't hurt, right?|Check Address]]
[[Knock on the door|On the Porch]]
You pull up the private message on your phone. You had notifications turned off while you were in class, but mercifully the IRC client logged it all. And, of course, the user had logged off before you had noticed the messages.
<em id="chatlog">
13:34 Ophiuchus: hey<br>
13:58 Ophiuchus: ...<br>
13:58 Ophiuchus: quiet type. works for me<br>
13:59 Ophiuchus: we've been watching you<br>
14:00 Ophiuchus: the work on digital mantras and miasma you've been posting in #experimental?<br>
14:00 Ophiuchus: impressive stuff<br>
14:00 Ophiuchus: before we go any futher, here:<br>
14:01 Ophiuchus: filebin.com/343ADFBOD<br>
14:02 Ophiuchus: you can verify for yourself that's the same pgp sig as on our first work, the grimoire everyone lost their shit over. it wasn't even that interesting<br>
14:02 Ophiuchus: anyways, we're having an event. you're invited<br>
14:01 Ophiuchus: here's the address, and date. don't be late<br>
14:01 Ophiuchus: and secrecy is a must, we've stayed hidden for a reason<br>
</em>
Beneath that, an address and time. Here, and today.
[[Despite all odds, this is actually it. Knock on the door|On the Porch]]
<script>
$("#chatlog").css("color", "#6633CC");
</script>
You knock on the door and wait. You check your pockets nervously - phone, keys, the foci you use for casting magic... and a taser.
Okay you do feel a little guilty about the last one, but, you are meeting up with random strangers, so... it doesn't hurt to be a little cautious, right?
So you wait, and wait. And wait. You check your phone - now just a bit less on time.
Great, now what?
[[Knock again|On the Porch Knock]]
[[Look around|On the Porch Look]]
"Okay, so your name is <%= s.playername %>, did I pronounce that right?", she says.
[[Yes|Entering the House - Pronouns]]
[[No|Entering the House - Name Wrong]]
"Oh? Can you say it again for me?" she says, a little less chipper.
<a id="playername">My name is...</a>
<script>
$("#playername").click(function() {
var player = window.prompt("My name is...", "");
if (player != null) {
window.story.state.playername = player;
window.story.show("Entering the House - Confirm");
} else {
window.story.show("Entering the House - Name Wrong");
}
});
</script>
"Great! If you don't mind me asking, what pronouns do you prefer, <%= s.playername %>?"
<a onclick="setHe()">He/Him</a>
<a onclick="setShe()">She/Her</a>
<a onclick="setThey()">They/Them</a>
<script>
function setHe() {
story.state.pronouns = ["he","him","his","his","he's"];
story.state.cPronouns = ["He","Him","His","His","He's"];
story.show('Inside the House');
}
function setShe() {
story.state.pronouns = ["she","her","her","hers","she's"];
story.state.cPronouns = ["She","Her","Her","Hers","She's"];
story.show('Inside the House');
}
function setThey() {
story.state.pronouns = ["they","them","their","theirs","they're"];
story.state.cPronouns = ["They","Them","Their","Theirs","They're"];
story.show('Inside the House');
}
</script>
Not much... well not about the members at least. Now about what they've done, and have claimed to have do, you know quite a lot.
The first time they showed up was sometime in August last year, when a new user named Ophiuchus joined the translation channel on Sigilnet and dumped a full translation of a sought-after grimoire. After that came a torrent of spells, translations, and sigil craft that absolutely shook the world of amateur occultism.
And then a few months ago, they went totally silent.
[[And now, you have an invitation from them|Check Address]]
"Got it," she says, smiling. "Come in, I'll introduce you to the rest of the crew."
She takes a step back and motions for you to come inside.
[[Step inside|Inside the House 2]]
As you step inside, it strikes you how... normal the entryway is. Well, except for the faintly magical crystal bowl right by the coat rack. That's a little out of place. Sharon must be able the see the shock on your face.
"Not what you'd expect, huh?" she says with a laugh. "Well we didn't exactly quit our lives when we got into.. this," she waves her hand vaguely. "Anyways, our setup for today is *especially* delicate, so if you could just leave any magical or electrical stuff in the dish here, that would be just great. Safety first, ya'know?"
You unconsciously clench your hands. You suddenly feel a lot less safe.
<a data-handover=0>Hand over everything</a>
<a data-handover=1>Keep your phone</a>
<a data-handover=2>Keep your foci</a>
<a data-handover=3>Keep the taser</a>
<a data-handover=4>Tell her you don't have anything like that on you</a>
<script>
$("a").each(function() {
var $this = $(this);
$this.on("click", function() {
var hand = $(this).data("handover");
window.story.state.handover = hand;
window.story.show("Inside the House 3");
});
});
</script>
<% if (s.handover == 0 || s.handover == 2) { %>
You rummage through your pockets, taking out your phone and the taser. You sheepishly put them in the bowl, trying to not make eye contact with Sharon as the taser leaves your hand.
Sharon, perhaps to her credit, doesn't bat an eye.
<% } else if (s.handover == 1) { %>
You rummage through your pockets, taking out the taser. You sheepishly put it in the bowl, trying to not make eye contact with Sharon as it leaves your hand.
Sharon, perhaps to her credit, doesn't bat an eye.
<% } else if (s.handover == 3) { %>
You rummage through your pockets, taking out your phone and gently putting it in the bowl.
<% } else if (s.handover == 4) { %>
Sharon stares at you, an eyebrow raised. "Left them in your car, did you? Have you been to a meet-up before?"
You nod, numbly. You feel like this might have been a mistake.
She laughs. "Good! Experience like that is really valuable."
<% } %>
Your foci, a small set of prayer beads, burns a hole in your pocket. You just can't bring yourself to hand them over. A magician's foci is a *part* of them. It wasn't even actively magical, not unless you were trying to cast something. It should be fine.
It will be fine.
"Well with that out of the way, let me introduce you to the gang."
[[Meet and greet?|Inside the House 4]]
As you step in (and fill in your name), you feel a instant connection magic of the protective circle. It feels... right.
"Great! We're gonna go and finish setting up, just wait here - ooooh this is so exciting - see you on the other side!" She says before hurrying off.
[[Wait|Before the Summoning]]
<% twine.timer.show(); twine.timer.visible = false; %>
Gordon gives Sharon a look when you refuse. She sighs.
"Okay, I guess the jig is up," she says. "Truth be told we need your help, just a little. This spirit exists in human minds - which means we need at least one person who's not a part of the summoning around, just in case the summoning alters our perceptions, the way we think. You don't have to actually do anything, just observe.
Please, this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for us, for humanity."
[[Step into the circle...|Unwilling but in]]
As you step in (and fill in your name), you feel a instant connection magic of the protective circle. It feels... okay.
"I'm so glad, thank you. We're gonna go and finish setting up, just wait here - ooooh this is so exciting!" Sharon says, hurrying away towards the far end of the summoning circle.
[[Wait|Before the Summoning]]
<% twine.timer.show(); twine.timer.visible = false; %>
From your vantage point you can only see about the Keys bustling about - Gordon is closest to you, with Sharon checking some of the chalk markings on the other side of the room.
You shift on your feet, feeling jittery. You wish you could use your phone.
[[Wait|Before the Summoning 1]]
Without any kind of obvious signal, the lights in the room dim. You can barely make out the other members as they take their position around the room. Apparently, it's time for the summoning to begin.
Gordon begins the chant, a sonorous string of syllables that seemed to fill the room. The others follow suit, forming a call-and-response unlike anything you've ever heard.
[[Listen|Before the Summoning 2]]
The chanting rises and falls. Your heart is pounding - you slip your hand into your pocket and grip the beads tightly. You can't help it, its presence is just, it feels right. The evening had been so strange and new and now you were watching history unfold, but your foci was still the same, still comfortingly *you*.
The room buzzes with power, and you swear the air around the laptop has started to shimmer. Were they actually going to summon it, bind it?
[[Watch|Before the Summoning 3]]
"Oh, I know you," she says. The sun goes out.
<% if (s.lossLevel == 0) { %>
[
I know you, <%= s.playername %>. You were mine, so easily. And yet you resist. Why?
]{.dys}
<% } else if (s.lossLevel == 1) { %>
[
We were together, once, <%= s.playername %>. Do you want to be whole again? Do you need it so dearly?
]{.dys}
<% } else if (s.lossLevel == 2) { %>
[
Why. This could all stop. Neither of us deserves this.
]{.dys}
<% } else if (s.lossLevel == 3) { %>
[
My jailer, my captive, my jail. I know you, <%= s.playername %>. So you insist on this farce, to torture us both. Let us suffer, then.
]{.dys}
<% } %>
<a id="dyslink">...</a>
<script>
$("#dyslink").on("click", function() {
var l = Math.max(window.story.state.lossLevel * 8, 1);
twine.timer.limit = 6;
twine.timer.passage = "Loss " + window.story.state.lossLevel;
twine.timer.show();
twine.timer.start();
window.story.show("The Nightmare " + l);
});
</script>
The shimmering increases, the shadow of the laptop peels off the floor, twisting and dancing in the gloom. That's when you feel it. An overwhelming sense of sickness.
Your heart pounds in your chest as you break out into a cold sweat.
It's here.
[[Watch|The Summoning]]
You can tell the Keys must feel it too - the chant falters, before rising in resistance, elation? You feel like throwing up. The sensation was like being pulled back into every moment you've realized you've done something wrong, every emotional wound re-opened and fresh.
You grip your beads tightly, focusing on the circle, its magic. Trying to push the feeling out. You sqeeze your eyes shut, the nausea is unbearable.
[[Focus|The Summoning 1]]
The chanting stops. You open your eyes, seeing Gordon and the other members standing, staring, motionless.
The sense of wrongness is suffocating.
The wavering shadow of the laptop sweeps down to smother Gordon's body, rolling over him like liquid darkness.
It snaps back, leaving behind a... a thing. A thing in the shape of a person, which falls onto the circle with a thud.
[[Scream|The Nightmare]]
<%
twine.timer.visible = true;
twine.timer.limit = 8;
twine.timer.passage = "Loss 0"
%>
You open your mouth, but the wrongness rushes in, rushes out. You choke on your own foulness. Flooded, drowning. It's pushing in.
Breaking in. You need to hurry.
[[Focus on the beads|The Nightmare 1]]
You focus, pushing the horror away with all your might. And it recedes. And crashes back, and recedes.
[[Focus on the beads|The Nightmare 2]]
<% twine.timer.limit = 7; %>
The wrongness, you are the wrongness. You step out of the circle, and are made wrong.
you are made
[
mine
]{.dys}
[
WARNING: containment boundary reached, closing circle in <span id="countdown">8</span>s
]{#system}
<script>
twine.timer.stop();
twine.timer.reset();
twine.timer.hide();
window.story.state.lossLevel = 0;
$("#system").css("color", "#FF0000");
var eighttimer = 7;
var t = setInterval(function() {
if (eighttimer == 0) {
clearInterval(t);
story.show('Outside the House');
}
$("#countdown").html(eighttimer);
eighttimer -= 1;
}, 1000);
</script>
The circle was never there. You have always been empty, been full of emptiness. And now,
[
you are filled. You are at peace.
]{.dys}
[
WARNING: containment boundary reached, closing circle in <span id="countdown">8</span>s
]{#system}
<script>
twine.timer.stop();
twine.timer.reset();
twine.timer.hide();
window.story.state.lossLevel = 1;
$("#system").css("color", "#FF0000");
var eighttimer = 7;
var t = setInterval(function() {
if (eighttimer == 0) {
clearInterval(t);
story.show('Outside the House');
}
$("#countdown").html(eighttimer);
eighttimer -= 1;
}, 1000);
</script>
The laptop hums in the darkness. The laptop hums in you. Sweet dreams, sweet dreams.
[
None can sleep here.
]{.dys}
[
WARNING: containment boundary reached, closing circle in <span id="countdown">8</span>s
]{#system}
<script>
twine.timer.stop();
twine.timer.reset();
twine.timer.hide();
window.story.state.lossLevel = 2;
$("#system").css("color", "#FF0000");
var eighttimer = 7;
var t = setInterval(function() {
if (eighttimer == 0) {
clearInterval(t);
story.show('Outside the House');
}
$("#countdown").html(eighttimer);
eighttimer -= 1;
}, 1000);
</script>
Somewhere, a motherboard fries. Somewhere, a jailer, a jail, a captive, ceases to be.
[
Thank You
]{.dyn}
[[Credits]]
<%
twine.timer.stop();
twine.timer.reset();
twine.timer.hide();
%>
Somewhere, a cycle continues.
[[Credits]]
<%
twine.timer.stop();
twine.timer.reset();
twine.timer.hide();
%>
You can feel it sneering at you, the shadow. Someone's screaming. It's Emory. A harsh, wordless scream.
[
You rush to them, to comfort them. Everything is better.
]{.dys}
[[Focus on the beads|The Nightmare 3]]
<% twine.timer.limit = 6; %>
Emory has stopped screaming. The room is pitch black, writhing. You hear Sharon call out to you from the darkness.
"<%= s.playername %>! Can you hear me? I need you to walk towards me, I'm right near the exit! Just walk around the edge of the circle, it won't reach you."
[[Follow her voice|Loss 0]]
[[Focus on the beads|The Nightmare 4]]
You clamp your hands over your ears, huddling close to the floor. Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god
[[my death|Loss 0]]
[[my death|Loss 0]]
[[my beads|The Nightmare 5]]
[[my death|Loss 0]]
[
Little one... you cannot keep me out. It's too late. You've already lost. You have always been me.
]{.dys}
[[focus|The Nightmare 6]]
The darkness warps and twists behind your shut eyes. Splashes of red. You can hear weeping.
[
You did thissss, you let it in, let it out, broke the circle. You killed them.
]{.dys}
<% if (s.handover == 0 || s.handover == 2) { %>
[
Those beads you cling to, they broke the circle.
]{.dys}
<% } else if (s.handover == 1) { %>
[
That phone, in your pocket, set me free.
]{.dys}
<% } else if (s.handover == 3) { %>
[
That taser, in your pocket, you traitor.
]{.dys}
<% } else if (s.handover == 4) { %>
[
You liar. She trusted you, and you broke it.
]{.dys}
<% } %>
[[focus|The Nightmare 7]]
[[step|Loss 0]]
[
blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood
]{.dys}
[[clutch at the beads|The Nightmare 8]]
<% if (s.pronouns[0] == "they") { %>
[
Changeling, unmade, unfinished. You don't know what you are - I know what you are. Let me make you whole, in a way you never could.
]{.dys}
<% } else { %>
[
Someone's knocking on the door. You can hear it. Why won't you answer them? They might help...
]{.dys}
<% } %>
[[step, mercy|Loss 1]]
[[stay, focus|The Nightmare 9]]
<% twine.timer.passage = "Loss 1"; %>
[
Are you enjoying this, this game of ours? You must be. Why else are you still here? No one is going to save you, <%= s.playername %>. No one has ever loved you enough to save you.
]{.dys}
[[beads, circle|The Nightmare 10]]
[
You were a human sacrifice. I consumed their minds, I know. I am them. They didn't care about you. Your work never mattered. You were just there, and trusting. Oh, so trusting trusting trusting trusting trusting trusting trusting trusting trusting trusting trusting trusting trusting trusting trusting trusting trusting trusting trusting trusting trusting
You ruined the ritual. That's why they died, instead of you. And now you selfishly keep living.
]{.dys}
[[beads, circle|The Nightmare 11]]
You're so thirsty.
[
You were promised to me. Protected but promised to me. I am always, forever. You will come to me, in your weakness. I am your weakness.
]{.dys}
[[cry, but focus|The Nightmare 12]]
You're so tired.
[
We are forever. You are forever. I am finite. I will end, while you scream here forever. We are forever. Why won't you let go?
]{.dys}
[[scream, but focus|The Nightmare 13]]
<div class="dys">Your foci, a small set of [[prayer beads|The Nightmare 14]], burns a hole in your pocket. You just can't bring yourself to hand them over. A magician's foci is a *part* of them. It wasn't even actively magical, not unless you were trying to cast something. It should be fine.
It will be fine.
"Well with that out of the way, let me introduce you to the gang."</div>
<div class="dys">blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood [[beads|The Nightmare 15]] blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood</div>
[
please please please please please please please please please please please please please
]{.dys}
[[only the beads|The Nightmare 16]]
[
Why are you still playing at this? Your life is short, and empty. Release me, release us. You would trap us both for nothing.
]{.dys}
[[the beads|The Nightmare 17]]
<% twine.timer.passage = "Loss 2"; %>
[
The confines of our cage are so small. They trapped us here, together. That's why they needed you. I lied to you before, about that. It is us who have died. I was a part of them once, and they killed me.
]{.dys}
[[us?|Loss 2]]
[[the beads|The Nightmare 18]]
[
Every time. Every time I speak to you, and you push me away. Who were you? Why were you at the house? Don't you understand? This is a prison.
Why keep going? Why? Only pain awaits, before we start again.
]{.dys}
[[grit your teeth, grasp the beads|The Nightmare 19]]
[
Please... <%= s.playername %>. We don't have to keep doing this. I know it's hurting you.
]{.dys}
[[focus|The Nightmare 20]]
[[suffer|The Nightmare 20]]
[
Look at the circle, look at it! It's not a circle, it's a loop, a loop, a loop, a loop, a loop, you are the loop and I am the loop, we are the loop. Don't you want to live?
]{.dys}
[[yes|The Nightmare 21]]
[[no|The Nightmare 21]]
[
WARNING: containment boundary reached, closafjklewho
]{#system}
[
<%= s.playername %>, I can only hold the magic off for so long. We've been at this for so long. Just let us rest. The circle won't let either of us stop until we both stop.
]{.dys}
[[ignore, beads|The Nightmare 22]]
[[mercy, spare|End? A]]
<script>
$("#system").css("color", "#FF0000");
twine.timer.limit = 5;
</script>
[
<%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %> <%= s.playername %>
]{.dys}
[[ENFORCE CONTAINMENT|The Nightmare 23]]
<script>
twine.timer.limit = 4;
</script>
please
[[ENFORCE|The Nightmare 24]]
<script>
twine.timer.limit = 3;
</script>
You knock again. This time you hear a voice call from inside: "Just a minute!"
You suddenly feel very nervous. What if it was all a prank? What if this was the right address but it was just some random person's house? It had been impossibly convenient, for their meeting place to only be a day's drive away. You take a step back from the door.
This was a mistake, why did you come here? You turn to look at your car.
Maybe... maybe...
"Uh, hello?"
[[Spin around|Meeting Ophiuchus]]
While you wait, you take a chance to wander around the porch. All the curtains are drawn, and there doesn't seem to be any lights on as far as you can tell. A wave of dread passes over you.
What if it was all a prank? What if this was the right address but it was just some random person's house? It had been impossibly convenient, for their meeting place to only be a day's drive away.
"Uh, hello?"
[[Spin around|Meeting Ophiuchus]]
Standing in the door is a person in sweatpants and t-shirt.
"Can I help you?" they say, sounding slightly annoyed. "Oh! Actually, I am expecting someone... tell me, what's your username? If you're them you'll know what I mean. Otherwise, not interested."
[["Jupiter"|Meeting Ophiucus 2]]
"Oh, great, it is you! Just on time then. I'm Ophiucus, the one who invited you. You can call me Sharon, though. She/her," she adds.
"What's your name? Your real one, I mean... if that's okay with you."
<a id="playername">My name is...</a>
<script>
$("#playername").click(function() {
if (window.story.state.lossLevel != null) {
window.story.show("Welcome Back");
} else {
var player = window.prompt("My name is...", "");
if (player != null) {
window.story.state.playername = player;
window.story.show("Entering the House - Confirm");
} else {
window.story.show("Entering the House - Name Wrong");
}
}
});
</script>
Sharon leads you into the living room, which looks a lot more like a casual party than you expected.
"Hey guys, hey! Jupiter's here," Sharon shouts. "Okay, now that I have your attention, <%= s.pronouns[2] %> name is <%= s.playername %>. <%= s.playername %>, Solomon's Keys."
Everyone turns to stare at you. Oh god. The silence is horrible, why did she have to introduce you like that.
Then, it breaks. "Aw heck yes!" says a guy, getting up from the couch and approaching you. "Gordon, I'm actually a huge fan. We've used some of your work before, your ideas are really quite clever, you know."
"It was actually Gordon's idea to invite you," Sharon says. "Not that we don't like your work, don't get me wrong! But Gordon loves your stuff, and he's kinda the de facto boss - the perk of hosting all the meetups."
[["Oh."|Inside the House 5]]
"And no one's usurped my rule yet!" he laughs. "Anyways, come over to the couch, let me introduce you and fill you in on what we've got planned for tonight - you're gonna love it, I just know it."
Gordon leads you to the couch and gestures at an open pizza box. "Hungry?"
Your stomach is full of butterflies at this point, so you decline.
"Suit yourself," he says, grabbing a slice. "Okay so, there's eight of us total. You've already met Sharon and yours truly. That one over there is Brice, that's Emory, Roan, Lee, Adrian, and Alyssia."
[[Desperately try and remember their names|Inside the House 6]]
Ugh you know it's pointless, you've already forgotten them. You just nod and try and keep up. Gordon seems like one of those people who really, really gets going when they're excited. It's actually pretty endearing.
"Okay so, enough of that, we can do a proper thing with everyone else later, after we've finished the summoning." His eyes light up.
"Yes yes I know, a summoning isn't that impressive - people do it all the time - but what we're summoning is unlike anything anyone has ever concieved of before! See, Roan had this theory way back that the human spirit might have accumulated and incorporated other spirits over time, like how mitochondria were once a seperate organism that became a part of human cells."
[[Nod|Inside the House 7]]
[[Nod knowingly|Inside the House 7]]
"But we couldn't prove it, not until you came along. That sigil you published, for the detection of extremely small traces of miasma? We were able to use it to actually confirm Roan's suspicions. That's why we felt we just had to invite you here, invite you to join us."
"We couldn't have gotten here without your work," someone (Emory?) says. They must have walked over while when they heard Gordon talk... shout, really.
"In short: we're going to summon this uh... we call it a dysdaimonia, a fundamental evil, and trap it. Well, part of it. The part that's inside us," he says, gesturing to the rest of the party.
[["Dys daimonia - human suffering?"|Inside the House 8]]
"Exactly! Emory, nice to meet you, by the way," Emory says. "We're pretty sure this dysdaimonia is responsible for, well, invasive thoughts. It doesn't really have a true name, but we've got its essence signature."
Across the room, someone claps. "Alright work time's over, it's party time!" Brice says, laughing. "It's almost 8, diagnostic team you know what to do!"
Gordon looks at you, an excited smile on his face. "You ready to change the world? C'mon, the circle's set up in the other room."
[[Follow him|In the Summoning Room]]
The room was about the size of the living room, almost completely empty. Huddled in the center of the room was a laptop, covered in intricate chalk markings extending all the way to the hardwood floor.
And the floor! Covered in sigils as well, circle upon circle, dizzying. You've never seen a physical magic circle of such detail before, the chalk lines so close together the floor almost looked white.
Gordon follows your gaze. "Cool, isn't it? The laptop over there, that's running a digitized containment magic - had to keep it totally separate from the summoning magic, different format, everything. The circ-"
He's cut off as Sharon hurries over.
"Gordon! If you go into the whole thing we'll miss the deadline."
"Oh right, of course," he says, deflating a little. "Over here, <%= s.playername %>. We've got a circle set up for you, very safe, rigged into the houses's defenses, so you can watch history unfold. Just write your true name in *here* and you'll be set."
He hands you a piece of chalk.
[[Uh...|In the Summoning Room 1]]
Sharon glares at Gordon. "You were supposed to give them the full rundown you dork!" She turns to you. "Sorry, <%= s.playername %>. Lee, our numerologist, has worked out that this spirit is especially weak to the number eight... which means that we've all got to take part in the summoning, so you've gotta be on your own for this part."
[[Step into the circle|Willing]]
[[Refuse to step into the circle|Unwilling]]
i would like to thank opa-opa and poketto with all my heart for being a constant source of strength and inspiration.
and to eevee my deepest thanks, without whom this game simply would not exist.
and to you, for playing.
thank you,
uma
[[let it burn|End? B]]