{(set: $descriptor to "Black")
(set: $ename to "Dragon")}$situation
Before you stands a $descriptor $ename.
{(link: "Face the $descriptor $ename")[
(set: $eatkdata to
(datamap:
"breathes fire at", 30,
"claws at", 70,
))
(set: $eatkdmg to
(datamap:
"breathes fire at", 15,
"claws at", 20,
))
(set: $ehp to 200)
(set: $mhp to 200)
(set: $turn to "you")
(set: $eatk1 to "breathes fire at")
(set: $eatk2 to "claws at")
(set: $winn to "Win-one")
(set: $loss to "Lose-one")
(goto: "Combat")]}
{(display: "Enemy")
(display: "Log")
(display: "You")}
{<div id="enemy">(align: "=><=")[$ename] HP: $ehp/$mhp.
</div>}
{<div id="log">
(if: $log is "you")[It is your turn.]
(elseif: $log is "atk")[You $atk the $ename, (if: $percentage >= $hitchance)[but miss, only ]dealing $atkdmg damage.]
(elseif: $log is "enemy")[(set: $eatkname to (either: $eatk1, $eatk2))The $ename $eatkname you(set: $percentage to (random: 1, 100))(set: $hitchance to (random: (($eatkname of $eatkdata)-5), (($eatkname of $eatkdata)+5))), (if: $percentage >= $hitchance)[(set:$eatk to (random: 0, 5))but misses, only ](else:)[(set: $eatk to (random: (($eatkname of $eatkdmg)-5), (($eatkname of $eatkdmg)+5)))]dealing $eatk damage.(set: $hp to it - $eatk)]
</div>}
<div id="you">(align: "=><=")[<img src = "Inquisitor.jpg" height = 64px width = 64px>
HP: $hp/100]
{(if: $turn is "you")[
(link: "Punch")[
(set: $percentage to (random: 1, 100))
(set: $hitchance to (random: 75, 85))
(if: $percentage >= $hitchance)[(set: $atkdmg to (random: 0, 5))
(set: $ehp to it - $atkdmg)](else:)[(set: $atkdmg to (random: 8, 12))
(set: $ehp to it - $atkdmg)]
(set: $atk to "throw a punch at")
(set: $turn to "enemy")
(set: $log to "atk")
(goto: "Combat")]
(print:"|")
(link: "Sword")[
(set: $percentage to (random: 1, 100))
(set: $hitchance to (random: 65, 75))
(if: $percentage >= $hitchance)[(set: $atkdmg to (random: 0, 10))
(set: $ehp to it - $atkdmg)](else:)[(set: $atkdmg to (random: 28, 38))
(set: $ehp to it - $atkdmg)]
(set: $atk to "swing your sword at")
(set: $turn to "enemy")
(set: $log to "atk")
(goto: "Combat")]
]
(elseif: $turn is "enemy")[
(link: "Continue")[
(set: $log to "enemy")
(set: $turn to "you")
(goto: "Combat")]
]
(if: $hp <1)[(goto: $loss)]
(if: $ehp <1)[(goto: $winn)]
</div>}
The $ename slumps to the ground, roaring defiantly as it nears death. As a mark of respect you decide to give it a quick death.
You hop up onto its neck. It's too weak to do anything now but protest feebly. You walk up and find the chink you know is between its neckplates and skull - a dragon's only weakness.
After a moment, you raise your sword and drive it deep into the monster's neck. It roars in pain as the sword penetrates its skin but stops abruptly as your blade severs its spine, killing it.
You slump down on the carcass of the dragon and observe the destruction around you. Lord Morinn would answer for this. It was the duty of his men to keep the lands given in trust to him by the Castolan Crown free of arcane beasts.
You must go to [[Thornwood|Thornwood-entry]], and Castle Moreuinn, to make sure the Lord answers for his crimes.
You die. As the $ename tears into you and the light dims, you view a strange light, first at the corners of your vision, dulling your pain, and then expanding, enveloping your whole body, purifying you **painfully**.
*Is this heaven? Is there a God?*
---
**One week later**
The dragon fell to the floor, finally defeated. It had taken the Reavers, the Castolan Crown's best team of dragonhunters, a whole week to down the dragon that had nested in a town only a few miles from Castle Moreuinn itself. Sargeant Mulfic sat with a few of the other officers in the former town square, having a smoke next to the body of the dragon. He edged away a nearby corpse with his boot and made a grimace. "Sorry bastard," he murmured. The dragon had got him good, covered every inch of exposed skin in burns. Yet his expression - what little he could make out of it, anyway - seemed happy, rapturous even. He'd never seen anything like it, or anything like that sword he was carrying. The heat had completely discoloured the hilt, but the blade itself still gleamed sharp. It was against the rules to strip bodies (at least until the commanding officer had had a look first) but that was a mighty fine sword.
He looked out to see if anyone was watching, and bent down by the corpse.
----
(align: "=><=")[**[[GAME OVER - RESTART?|Abandoned Town]]**]
{
(print: "<script>$('tw-passage').removeClass(\)</script>")
(if: (passage:)'s tags's length > 0)[
(print: "<script>$('tw-passage').addClass('" + (passage:)'s tags.join(' ') + "'\)</script>")
]
}
(set: $hp to 100)**Haber Village, Morinn**
As you ride towards the little village you were meant to meet your contact at, you can see that it is already too late. The plume of red smoke you can see from a distance tells an all-too grim tale.
The town had been sacked. Perhaps by Castolan rebels, loyalists to the old King. A pointless struggle, arguing over bloodlines when eternity is at stake. However, you come to a stop at what used to be the village's gates and observe the wreckage.
People lay in the streets, burned beyond recognition, covered in ash. The buildings were in ruins, destroyed shells of their former selves. If you listen closely, you can still hear some of the fires going, which must have been why the town was still smoking.
The carnage was about 3 days old. Anything intelligent enough to contact you regarding your hunt was either dead, or had been smart enough to run. You probably wouldn't find them again, so there was nothing left for you here.
But-
[[Examine further|Abandoned Town 2]]
[[Leave|esc-one]]
You stride further into the village, leaving your steed firmly tethered to a leafless tree. Your attention is brought to the damage sustained by the buildings. By the border gates, the buildings had all been scorched and destroyed, but here the buildings were only burnt in specific places. Too precise for a seige weapon, too imprecise for any weapon that could be carried by a soldier. Your suspicions slowly forming a clear conclusion, you notice further damage marks on the roads and on the dead. Powerful scratches, able to split a man in half, as if made by a broadsword, but always occurring three at a time, and equidistant from each other.
All of a sudden, you realise what it is and draw your sword. The smell of the air, unnoticeable though it was before, suddenly fills your nostrils and jogs your memory. *Sulfur.*
You steel your resolve and offer a prayer to the heavens. If it was indeed what you suspected, there is only one place big enough to hold it.
(link: "Stride into the town square")[
(set: $situation to "At first the silence and stillness of the former town square makes you doubt yourself. And then a formless black mass rises out of the shell of a hollowed-out building. It was ...feeding. You slam your sword against your shield to grab its attention and it immediately turns round, bits of flesh and clothing still sticking to its rows of sharp teeth. It advances upon you slowly, teeth bared, growling ominously and finally, it spreads its black wings and roars. You hold your ground resolutely and keep yourself from retching as its foul breath hits you and prepare yourself for combat.")
(goto: "Ready?")]
{(set: $hp to 100)}
A few more days' worth of hard riding later, you arrive in Thornwood.
You have been riding for eight hours straight, and you and your horse are almost ready to collapse. You decide to visit the inn and make some inquiries.
*Quaestioner.*
The hissing voice makes you whirl around, surprised. You hadn't heard the Old Tongue in years. It was almost exclusively taught to priests and scribes, so they could translate old texts. Being an Inquisitor, you were, of course, familiar with it.
You can't seem to see the speaker, although you look over the town square. Perhaps it was your imagination. You turn back, and head into the inn. It was time to continue the business at hand.
No, it was probably nothing. You turn away from the wreckage and get back on to the Kingsroad.
Lord Morinn would answer for this. It was the duty of his men to keep the lands given in trust to him by the Castolan Crown free of arcane beasts.
You must go to [[Thornwood|Thornwood-entry]], and Castle Moreuinn, to make sure the Lord answers for his crimes.