doors

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!!The Emperor, Reversed >//"Impulse control. That means, I control your impulses. What I want, you want. It's really best this way. All you have to do is relent. Close your eyes and let me do all your thinking…"// Avery is a practitioner of Sophia-Bas, The Low Wisdom. His school of sorcery trades in control and manipulation. As a man, he's prone to vanity and selfishness. As a sorcerer, he's extrarodinarly talented. <<include avery_summary>> <<back>>

!!Strength, Reversed >//"Yeah, I'm a defensive caster. But that doesn't mean I can't put a barrier around my fist and punch through to your red meat."// Remi is a prime emissary of Ballast. He's an aggressive defender, a loyal soldier, a creature of restrained violence, and immune to thoughts of calculation. <<include remi_summary>> <<back>>

!!The Moon, Upright >//"Where does it hurt? I'll heal you, of course. But there may be, uh…consequences."// Wyatt is an initiate of Keyaki. The domain of his school of sorcery is growth, mending, and he seeks to make all things flourish. But on the other side of growth is metastatis, the root that smothers. Addiction. <<include wyatt_summary>> <<back>>

<div class="open_text">[img[img\D.gif]] [img[img\O_1st_1.gif]] [img[img\phil_stone.png]] <a data-passage="Start">Welcome, Sorcerer.</a> [img[img\O_2nd_1.gif]][img[img\R_1.gif]]</div>

This will tell you about your relationship with Remi throughout the game.

This will tell you about your relationship with Avery throughout the game.

This will tell you about your relationship with Wyatt throughout the game.

''Technique'': $technique ''Fitness'': $fitness ''Charm'': $charm<<if $house is "undefined">><<elseif $house is "Diadēma">> ''Authority'': $authority<<elseif $house is "Keyaki">> ''Adaptability'': $adaptability<<elseif $house is "Ballast">> ''Stability'': $stability<<elseif $house is "Sophia-Bas">> ''Spontaneity'': $spontaneity<<endif>> [[Stat Screen]] <<link "Restart">> <<script>> UI.restart(); <</script>> <</link>> <<button "Save/Load">> <<script>> UI.saves(); <</script>> <</button>>

<<set $technique to 2>> <<set $charm to 2>> <<set $fitness to 2>> <<set $authority to 2>> <<set $spontaneity to 1>> <<set $stability to 1>> <<set $adaptability to 1>> <<set $avery_affin to 5>> <<set $remi_affin to 5>> <<set $visit_sophiabas to false>> <<set $visit_keyaki to false>> <<set $visit_ballast to false>> <<set $visit_diadema to false>> <<set $repeat_visits to 0>> <<set $took_bait to false>> <<set $wyatt_affin to 5>> <<set $option_track to 5>> <<set $house to "undefined">> <<set $house_visit to 0>> <<set $house_leader to "undefined">> <<set $incubi_info to 1>> <<set $alt_sophia to false>> <<set $warning_signs to true>> <<set $third_visit to 1>> <<set $style_yes to false>> <<set $sex_friends to false>> <<set $avery_up to "''gained affinity with Avery''">> <<set $avery_down to "''lost affinity with Avery''">> <<set $remi_up to "''gained affinity with Remi''">> <<set $remi_down to "''lost affinity with Remi''">> <<set $wyatt_up to "''gained affinity with Wyatt''">> <<set $wyatt_down to "''lost affinity with Wyatt''">> <<set $fitness_up to "''increased your Fitness by one point''">> <<set $fitness_down to "''decreased your Fitness by one point''">> <<set $charm_up to "''increased your Charm by one point''">> <<set $charm_down to "''decreased your Charm by one point''">> <<set $technique_up to "''increased your Technique by one point''">> <<set $technique_down to "''decreased your Technique by one point''">> <<set $name_list to ["Quentin", "Blue", "David", "Seimei", "Atomus", "Zoroaster", "Aleister", "Anton", "Eliot", "Anders", "Stephen", "Ghaleon", "Grigori", "Kuja", "Lezard", "Nash", "Seymour", "Penny", "Jace", "Gideon", "Vivi", "Robert", "Alfred", "Eisenheim", "Ivan", "Giovanni", "Rouge"]>> <<set $regalia_possibles to ["please make every attempt not to explode in the courtyard.", "do try and keep any spontaneous combustion to an absolute minimum.", "I would be obliged if you kept your head attached to your body until the spring sessions begin.", "please establish that any duels in which you participate are designated non-lethal until you've joined a House and can be formally Avenged."]>>

<div class="author_text">[img[img\cubs shirt.png]] About the Author\ Benji Bright is a black game maker, smut writer, and all-purpose reprobate. You can follow him on [[twitter|https://www.twitter.com/benji_bright]] and support his [[patreon|https://www.patreon.com/benjibright]], which boasts over a hundred stories, treats, and early access to subscriber builds of this very game! Groovy! <<back>> </div>

[img[img\doors_title.gif]] Door(s) [DEMO]\ Benji Bright © 2020-2021. All rights reserved.\ Welcome to ''Door(s)'' an ongoing interactive gay erotic fiction game. The game is 18+ only and deals in among other things: explicit sexual scenes, instances of murky consent<<linkreplace "*">>: for example, scenes involving hypnosis or mind control wherein the subject(s) ongoing consent would be difficult/impossible to procure<</linkreplace>>, fetish content, and occult themes. If you'd like a full list of sexual themes in the game so far, click the themes link below. My game design ethos is that players should opt-in to specific sexual content, so I've tried hard to gate edgy sexual content. However: take care of yourself. If any this content makes you uncomfortable, there's no harm in bailing. It's just a game. Have fun! [img[img\patreon.png][https://www.patreon.com/benjibright]] For immediate access to the newest builds of the game—and to support development—subscribe on [[Patreon|https://www.patreon.com/benjibright]]! Starting at just $3/month! [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Begin|contract_scene_1]] """.-- .. - -.-. ....""" [[Instructions/Disclaimers|explainer]] [[About the Author]] | [[Statement of Politics]] [[Themes]] —//Contains potential spoilers!// [[Version 0.042]]\

<<set $self_trigger to true>>\ "$name. <<timed 1s t8n>>Sorcerer. <<next>>[[Welcome|house_juncture]]," Estramore says. "It is done and may not be undone but by the final Severing." She claps and thunder cracks above. The agreement is sealed. You don't feel different, but everything has changed. <</timed>>

Six Months Later Someone is fully encased in ice and lying on the floor of the mess hall during dinner. Another sorcerer is sitting on top of this unblinking block of person and taking selfies. It's not the strangest thing you've seen today. Remi sits on the table with his feet on the bench, his form-fitting sweats are rolled up to his calves. He shakes his head at the chunk of ice. "My guess? Fucked up the Leopold Formulation." Wyatt purses his lips. As thoughtful and quiet as usual. When he leans forward his curls drift down into his face. "Leopold doesn't hold long, though. Gotta' be something else. Homebrew, maybe?" Unusually, Avery is last to speak. Unexpected for the group's narcissus: an empire unto his golden self. He cocks his head to the side. "The fact that they're still alive in there suggests something beyond just transmutation. A version of the Epistolary Verses?" And you? Do you venture a guess? <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Homebrew formula. Definitely ex-Doctrinal.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"I can crack the ice open and ask.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"Someone wake me when we know the answer.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|scene_02][$technique += 1, $option_track to 1]] (Increase //Technique//) [[$choice_2|scene_02][$fitness += 1, $option_track to 2]] (Increase //Fitness//) [[$choice_3|scene_02][$charm += 1, $option_track to 3]] (Increase //Charm//)

Welcome to the world of ''Doors''. ''Doors'' is a gay erotic interactive fiction game. It features choice and consequence as a defining feature of its world. Wherever you see this symbol: [img[img\phil_stone.png]] …You will find a link or a list of links underneath it that will push the narrative forward while affecting the state of the world and/or your player character's relationships with the people around him. Occasionally you may also find underlined links in light blue, which will give you a bit more information about the world. All of the characters in this game are 18 or older, none of them are modeled after persons living or dead. Some of the content in this game involves questionable rules of consent, however that should in no way be seen as the author's endorsement of violating consent in real life. Procure consent often and enthusiastically, cool cats. Finally, please report any bugs on the itch.io page or to me personally at benjibright[at]gmail[dot]com. Thanks! And have fun! -Ben <<back>>

<div id="banner" style="float:left;">[img[img\avery_redone.gif]]</div><div class="text_box">[img[img\avery_title.png]]\ <<include avery_text>></div>

<div id="banner" style="float:left;">[img[img\remi_1.gif]]</div><div class="text_box">[img[img\remi_title_shrunk.gif]]\ <<include remi_text>></div>

<div id="banner" style="float:left;">[img[img\wyatt_flicker_corrected.gif]]</div><div class="text_box">[img[img\wyatt_title_2.gif]]\ <<include wyatt_text>></div>

<<if $option_track is 1>>Wyatt looks over at you, clearly surprised that you'd agree with him. "Wow. Thanks for the assist, $name. I thought you'd agree with Avery, for sure. Even though what he knows about Doctrine could fit between my forefinger and thumb." Avery shakes his head. "Fuck Doctrine. You fucks think anything that isn't a thousand years old is invalid sorcery. It's embarrassing. Besides, Doctrine is just another word for Crux-sanctioned sorcery and they're just the loosest of guidelines…" You and Wyatt share a significant look while Avery continues to fume. >You've $wyatt_up and $avery_down.<<elseif $option_track is 2>>\ Remi's laugh is abrupt, deep—more bark than chuckle. "Straightforward as fuck, $name. You love to see it." Wyatt shoves your shoulder: gentle admonishment. "We don't even know what it is. Shatter the ice without understanding the formula and you might break the sorcerer, too. Consider the godsdamned consequences." >You've $remi_up and $wyatt_down.<<else>>\ "Now there's a position I can agree with. There are too many eager minds about for the mystery to stay mysterious much longer. Why not just kick back and…" Avery stretches his arms overhead and lets out a huge yawn. "Just let it play out." Remi rolls his eyes. "Don't let Avery sell you on the virtues of indolence, $name. He may be the crown prince of nothing, but he studies harder than most. Follow the example of his fuckboy slacker image and he'll outpace you before lunch." Avery blows Remi a kiss infused with sorcery. It floats lazily toward Remi until the ornery sorcerer makes a motion with two fingers and a miniature lightning bolt vaporizes it. Avery shrugs. >You've $avery_up and $remi_down.<<endif>>\ The focus is pulled back to the ice when it begins to shatter from the inside out. The selfie taker leaps up and the encased sorcerer stumbles out of the cracked, now steaming ice with a bewildered look. "Is it Thursday?" she asks. It is not. The spectacle comes to an end when the cleaning automaton arrives to chastise the formerly frozen sorcerer and she struggles to extricate her limbs from the cracked, but clinging block of ice. Wyatt shakes his head and changes the subject. "Are we all still up for meeting at midnight?" "Sure," Remi says. "Anything that means I can take a break from my project." Remi has been trying to create something he's calling ''//The Worldbreaker//''. No one knows exactly what it is or does, but his gleeful interest is a poor omen. Remi has a tendency toward the explosive. "I can still make it, though I have a project of my own that I'm working on. $name, I was actually wondering if you might help with it," Avery says. Wyatt raises an eyebrow, but not a concern. "Whatever. As long as we all show up. It has to be all four of us." Remi and Wyatt wander off leaving you with Avery who affixes you with an appraising look. "So you'll help me with my thing, right? It won't take long." <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"I wasn't planning on it.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"Sure. I'm not busy.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"What exactly are you doing?\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|mid_scene_02][$option_track to 1]] [[$choice_2|mid_scene_02][$option_track to 2]] [[$choice_3|mid_scene_02][$option_track to 3]]

<<include affinity_scale>><<if $self_trigger>>\ You\ You are ''$name'', a <<if $height isnot "average">>$build, $height, $skin_tone-skinned sorcerer with $eyes eyes.<<else>>$build, $skin_tone-skinned and $eyes-eyed sorcerer of $height height.<<endif>> In order to access Vesilind's Crux you <<if $social_status is "desolate">>scraped and fought through a hard upbringing<<elseif $social_status is "high">>left behind a life of privilege and advantage<<else>>unashamedly stole, placed your needs above those of others, and did what you supposed you had to<<endif>>. <<endif>>\ Skills\ ''Fitness'': <<if $fitness gte 5>>Athletic<<elseif $fitness gte 3>>Hearty<<else>>Out-of-Shape<<endif>> ''Charm'': <<if $charm gte 5>>Captivating<<elseif $charm gte 3>>Endearing <<else>>Oafish<<endif>> ''Technique'': <<if $charm gte 5>>Expert<<elseif $charm gte 3>>Practiced<<else>>Inexperienced<<endif>> ''FITNESS'' refers to a sorcerer's overall physical capabilities. An athletically-inclined sorcerer—regardless of body shape—will be more able to surmount physical challenges, but may not have a high level of sorcerous proficiency or overall charm. ''CHARM'' refers to a sorcerer's ability to persuade others who may not otherwise be inclined to be persuaded. A charming sorcerer can deftly weave truth, lies, and flattery into a self-serving tapestry, but may not have the hardiness or fine technical skill of their peers. ''TECHNIQUE'' refers to a sorcerer's overall skill with sorcery. A practiced sorcerer is capable of great and terrible feats, but possibly at the expense of their physical strength or affableness. Relationships\ [[Avery|avery_profile]]: $a_affin_description [[Wyatt|wyatt_profile]]: $w_affin_description [[Remi|remi_profile]]: $r_affin_description House\ <<if $house is "undefined">>You've yet to choose a house.<<else>>$house—$house_description<<endif>> <<back>>

<<if $option_track is 1>>\ <<display rejection_scene>> <<elseif $option_track is 2>>\ <<display acceptance_scene>> <<else>>\ <<display clarification_scene>> <<endif>>

Version 0.042 Currently the game contains a few sex scenes and the opening. The changelog for the most recent update can be found below. If you're curious about previous changelogs, click [[here|Prev Versions]]. CHANGELOG: v.0.042 <ul> <li>Fixed some typos on the very first page of the game. Embarrassing.</li> <li>Fixed a secret path bug throwing an error.</li> <li>Fixed a bug that sent you to House Diadēma without your consent. The Ironclad House was too powerful for its own good.</li> </ul> v.0.041 <ul> <li>Included the system by which you choose your house. It sounds small, but it nearly doubles the word count of the game and significantly helps bulk up the background/worldbuilding. (If you're into that sort of thing…)</li> <li>Probably invisible refinement of the stat screen.</li> <li>Added a genuine, honest-to-goodness <<shake 2s>>//SECRET PATH//<</shake>> to the game. It's substantial!</li> <li>Bug fixes and spelling/grammar edits</li> <li>Update the ''About the Author'' page</li> <li>''HOTFIX'': Fixed an error occurring when talking to Yu of Ballast multiple times.</li> <li>''HOTFIX'': Fixed a bug where the stats weren't updating in the secret route.</li> </ul> <<back>>

"It's a little more complicated. We're cave diving here and we are all responsible for different parts of the rope. The Van Ness formulation is what will keep us tethered, yes, but we'll need your experience with barriers, Remi, to keep the transitional pressure from snapping that tether.<<if $house is "Ballast">> And $name, you'll back him up with your own barrier expertise.<<endif>><<if $house is "Sophia-Bas">> $name, Avery, you're both Sophia-Bas, so you'll compel the door to stay open. It's not like compelling a person, so we'll need twice the manpower.<<else>> Avery, you're Sophia-Bas, so you'll compel the door to stay open. It's not like compelling a person, so your job will require a significant investment of sorcerous resources.<<endif>><<if $house is "Keyaki">> $name, you and I as the Keyaki initiates will use generative sorcery to feed strength and depth into the line, allowing us to see further in.<<elseif $house is "Diadēma">> $name, you're my backup battery: Diadēma sorcerers have reserves most of us only dream of, so I'll be relying on you if things get hairy.<<endif>><<if $hosue isnot "Keyaki">> As for me, I'll be working on feeding strength and depth into the line the whole time, which will allow us to see further in.<<endif>>"

You expect the door to be more impressive than it is. It stands about eight feet wide and maybe six feet across. Across its surface it reads in sorcerous script: ''Exeunt''. "A little on the nose," Avery says. "I hate to agree with Avery…but I agree with Avery," Remi says, regarding the door from both sides. "I'd imagined something a bit more ominous." "Does it have to say 'abandon all hope' for you assholes to take it seriously?" Wyatt asks. "The sorcery binding this thing is over a millennia old. It's existence is a cornerstone of the Crux." "And in all that time no one thought a redesign might be in order?" Avery retorts. Wyatt shoots him a filthy look, while Remi folds his arms over his chest and continues examining the door. "Ok. So. We use the Van Ness Formulation to anchor ourselves here, we open the door, and take a peek at the worlds beyond. Easy. What could go wrong?" <div id="replacer">"It's a little more <<link "complicated">><<replace "#replacer" t8n>><<display van_ness_explainer>><</replace>><</link>> and it will involve all of our specialities, but that's the basic idea."</div>\ Avery mimes a yawn and Wyatt wraps up the last of his preparations. "Alright. I'm ready. Let's do this." <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Hey, guys. Maybe we should reconsider.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"Hell yes. I'm more than ready.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"No use putting it off. Let's do it.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|door_scene_02]] [[$choice_2|door_scene_02]] [[$choice_3|door_scene_02]]

Avery doesn't look particularly perturbed by this. "Well, there's always next time. You'll submit to my charms eventually." He wanders away, whistling and pleased with himself for unknown, unexplored reasons. <<display evening_choice>>

Avery is clearly pleased. "Excellent. So excellent. Give me a half hour to prepare and meet me on top of Lucindor Hall and I'll show you what I've been working on." He walks off singing a jaunty tune and you wonder if you've made a mistake by offering your services… [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|avery_sex_scene_1]]

How do you spend the rest of your evening? [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [["At the gym."|mid_scene_03][$option_track to 1]] [["At the library."|mid_scene_03][$option_track to 3]] [["Masturbating in my room."|mid_scene_03][$option_track to 2]]

/* This is where the scenes for the Remi scene (track 1), masturbation scene (track 2), and the Wyatt scene (track 3/else) */ <<if $option_track is 1>>\ For an institution trafficking in the manipulation of power beyond the ken of most humans, the gym at Vesilind's Crux is unimpressive. The machines are all out of date and many of the free weights haven't been touched in long enough to develop a thin layer of dust. When it takes just a few basic formulae to perfect your appearance, there's something seemingly redundant about working one's body to a lather. But you arrive to find Remi standing in front of the gym's mirror stretching his chest with dumbbell flies and grunting. "Hey!" he calls in your direction as you approach. He finishes the set and places the dumbbells down gently. Despite his muscular bulk and generally flippant attitude, he's respectful of his tools: even watching him eat is a lesson in precision etiquette. "Come to waste time in the kingdom of dust?" <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Only here to work. I like to earn my results.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"I just come here because no one else does.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"To be honest, I just want to watch.\"">> <<set $choice_4 to "\"Exercise mostly. Maybe a little playtime, too?\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|mid_scene_03R][$remi_response to "positive", $fitness += 1]] [[$choice_2|mid_scene_03R][$remi_response to "negative", $fitness += 1]] [[$choice_3|mid_scene_03R][$remi_response to "flirty", $fitness += 1]] [[$choice_4|mid_scene_03R][$remi_response to "balanced", $fitness += 1]] <<elseif $option_track is 2>>\ The dormitories at Vesilind's Crux are accessible via any door marked with the sulfur alchemical symbol. A sorcerer need only insert their room key into the lock and open directly into their room. Your room, like all of those at the Crux, is spartan. Because the space is not a school and you are under no obligation to board there, it features only a desk, a cot, and a bookshelf. Some sorcerers have expanded their spaces into lavish apartments, but yours—for now—is utilitarian. You open your laptop. Your normal, mundane laptop. Except for the enchantment that keeps you from ever having to clean the screen or keyboard. Honestly, you don't know how laypeople manage without it. You start searching for porn. Which corridor does you mind take you down? [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Orgy.|orgy_porn]] [[Amateur.|amateur_porn]] [[Sorcerous.|sorcerous_porn]] <<else>>\ There are many libraries at Vesilind's Crux. But since at least two of them are the regular site of sorcerous duels leading to the occasional manslaughter, you decide to go with the safest option. You're trying to find a free table when you walk by Wyatt. He's wearing his glasses and they're halfway down his nose. His lips are parted and move slightly. He seems to be trying to understand some complex point. You say: <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Can I help with that?\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"Looks tough.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"You're cute when you're focused.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|mid_scene_03W][$wyatt_response to "positive", $technique += 1]] [[$choice_2|mid_scene_03W][$wyatt_response to "negative", $technique += 1]] [[$choice_3|mid_scene_03W][$wyatt_response to "flirty", $technique += 1]] <<endif>>

<<if $remi_response is "flirty">>\ <<set $remi_affin += 2>>\ Remi crosses his arms across his chest and his tank top strains visibly under the increased tension. "Cheeky little bastard, aren't you? Well, it's your lucky day. I'm feeling magnanimous. //And// I don't mind a bit of light exhibitionism." You watch as Remi lifts to the point of absolute, muscle-quaking effort. Despite not lifting a single weight yourself, you've learned the correct ways to perform several exercises and how to train certain muscles. > You've $fitness_up and $remi_up. By the end of his workout, <<display remi_stub>> <<elseif $remi_response is "positive">>\ <<set $remi_affin += 1>>\ Remi claps you on the shoulder. "Good man. Nice to see another one of us who actually takes their physical health seriously without all the manipulation and trickery." It's the last thing Remi says to you before both of you plunge into a vigorous workout. Despite the quiet, you feel somehow encouraged by Remi's efforts and you get the sense from his occasional smile or thumbs-up that he feels similarly. > You've $fitness_up and $remi_up. By the end of his workout, Remi's tank top is so drenched. You can see his muscles rippling beneath it. He catches you looking, but doesn't seem to mind. "Hey, $name. Don't forget that we're meeting at experimental labs at midnight. Don't be late. Wyatt will fucking flay you." Remi collects his things and heads out, while you finish the last of your workout and then do the same. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|pre_door_scene]] <<elseif $remi_response is "balanced">>\ <<set $remi_affin += 2>>\ Remi looks at you for a long time. Perhaps trying to evaluate your sincerity. Whatever conclusion he comes to, he just nods and starts his routine. You do the same. By the end of its you're both straining and sweaty. Remi gives you a few pointers throughout and you spot him during his heavier lifts. When the two of you are finished, you've done your own straining workouts and Remi gives you a look of respect. > You've $remi_up and $fitness_up. <<display remi_stub>> <<else>>\ <<set $remi_affin -= 1>>\ Remi laughs. As usual, it's short and sharp, but there's something about it that rings a little false. "Well, I'll leave you be then." True to his word, he doesn't speak to you again. He moves through his workout quickly and efficiently, expending no wasted effort or energy. When he's finished and dripping sweat, he takes off his tank top and slings it over one shoulder. On his way out of the gym he says, "see you tonight" and then he's gone. Even just watching someone as athletic as Remi workout through the corner of your eyes you've learned something about proper form. You are also left to wonder if he thinks less of you as you sat around the gym and he worked up a lather. Either way, he's gone and for now and you're alone. Like you wanted. At least until later. > You've $remi_down and $fitness_up. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|pre_door_scene]]\ <<endif>>

On the screen, a parade of lithe young men fuck and suck their way through what looks like a rollicking orgy. Nary a hole is presented before it's plundered and a cock need only rise before a mouth closes around it. But it's the noises that distinguish this video from others you might have chosen. It's sonic overload as these men moan and groan. The roving eye of the camera may capture the sights of their ecstasy, but the microphone picks up every grunt, every curse, every tremulous admission of pleasure. <<display masturbate>>

You watch video after video of homemade porn: the masturbators, the exhibitionists, the couples in love, and the strangers in lust. They all share their private moments with you while you validate their egos by touching yourself to their moving images in the dark of your small room. There is always another video, another hard on, another juicy ass full of finger, or silicone, or cock. <<display masturbate>>

Pornography for sorcerers is the same as pornography for laypeople, but weirder. Naturally. You find a video of a man fucking himself. Literally. In the lead-up to the video you watch time-lapse footage of how he's created and invested an automaton with his thoughts, memories, and desires. Then he activates it and within seconds the automaton—thinking itself the sorcerer—bends the man over and begins fucking him. It's like watching twins fuck, but the motions are so mirrored, so perfectly synced, that it's more like watching someone masturbate somehow. <<display masturbate>>

<<if $wyatt_response is "flirty">>\ Wyatt badly hides a smile. "Are you here to flirt or to work?" He waves away your inevitable follow-up. "Don't answer. Just sit. And read, or whatever the hell you came here to do." You do indeed sit and read, but manage to take the occasional break to watch Wyatt's full lips move as he studies. When he looks up and catches you staring he frowns, but it's not a real frown as much as it's Wyatt reminding himself to look focused and serious. Somehow, in between passive flirtation, you actually manage to get some work done and unlock a few key points in your sorcerous studies. > You've $technique_up. Eventually Wyatt reaches his arms into the air, his joints pop as he takes his lean body through a series of stretches. He blinks at you. "Should we take a break? It's been a while…" He fidgets. "Ugh! Relaxing isn't my strong suit. What do you usually do to unwind?" <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Making out usually works for me.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"I know a spot in the stacks, if you'd like to get naked.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"Quit? Already? I'm just getting started.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|wyatt_makeout_1][$response to "makeout"]] [[$choice_2|wyatt_makeout_1][$response to "fuck"]] [[$choice_3|wyatt_makeout_1][$response to "study"]]<<elseif $wyatt_response is "positive">>\ <<set $wyatt_affin += 2>>\ Wyatt gives you a skeptical look. "I don't know. How much do you know about transferring the regenerative plasticity of plants to human hosts through the application of 15th century alchemical processes?" You blink at him twice. He laughs, softens. "I'm good, thanks. But you're welcome to join me." You take Wyatt up on the offer and the two of you study side-by-side. Hours go by and Wyatt eventually begins packing his things away. "Don't forget we're meeting at midnight. Don't be late." With that, Wyatt gives you a final smile and leaves the library. He seems to have relaxed a bit and warmed up beyond his usual chilly distance. And you've learned a bit during you're studies. There's that, too. > You've $wyatt_up and $technique_up. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|pre_door_scene]] <<else>> <<set $wyatt_affin -= 1>>\ "Tough? Tough is managing to get anything done with people gawking at you. Tough is finding a quiet spot where sorcerers aren't flinging hexes at each other. This—" He shows you the incomprehensible title of the book he's read. "—is //scholarship//. Now, if you don't mind?" You sit down at a nearby table and leave Wyatt to his work. He clearly is in no mood. A few hours of work go by and Wyatt's glacial mood toward you seems to thaw slightly. As he stands to leave he even stops by your table. "Remember: tonight, midnight. Don't be late." You assure him that you remember and he leaves. You study for a bit longer before wrapping it up yourself. You may have pissed off Wyatt, but at least you managed to get some quiet study time in. > You've $wyatt_down and $technique_up. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|pre_door_scene]] <<endif>>

You do what comes natural. You reach down and stroke yourself as your eyes trace the images on the screen. The feedback of pleasure makes you lick your lips and tighten your grip. It feels good in your hand and the porn seems to want you to keep up, so you do. You get lost in the feeling and find yourself closing your eyes at several points and listening to the noises. Then you glance up at the clock on your computer's dashboard. You have to meet the others soon. So you rush things along: you stroke a little harder, a little faster, and your dick responds by leaking into your fist. The tease and pull until you finds yourself squirming in your seat and getting closer. But closer isn't close enough. You stroke faster, fist a blur, until you push far enough and the orgasm seizes you. The cum is voluminous and shoots hard. It's fucking //everywhere// by the time your breathing settles and you come back to yourself. "Shit," you say aloud, and then clean yourself up. You have somewhere to be. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|pre_door_scene]]

12:00 AM VST The time passes quicker than you'd think. Before you know it you're walking up to the front entrance to the experimental labs. Every sorcerer at the Crux, even the green ones like you and your friends, know that the experimental labs are where the real sorcery happens. Not just enchantments to build a bigger ass or turn rain into cherry jam, but the stuff that they break out when demons are set loose or unaffiliated sorcerers turn up making noises of war. You'd imagine that it'd be harder to break in, but a part of the contract is "thine actions are thine own" and aside from a gnarly looking automaton that Avery disables within a few moments, there is little security. The four of you pass doors with signs like "ABSOLUTE DECIMATION LAB 3", "QUANTUM SUPERPOSITION TEST IN-PROGRESS?", and "EX-SANGUINATION FORMULAE ROOM. PLEASE PROTECT YOUR BLOOD BEFORE ENTERING." <<if $wyatt_mad>>Wyatt, who seems to have cooled down slightly after your encounter in the library,<<elseif $wyatt_kissed>>Wyatt, who can't seem to stop smirking in your direction,<<else>>Wyatt<<endif>> leads the four of you deeper into the facility until you come before a door that simply reads: DOOR. He turns the knob and enters. The three of you follow him in. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|pre_door_scene_2]]

You imagine that every initiate must have the idea at least once. To cross into another reality. How could they not? Just looking up at Vesilind's Crux means seeing windows into a multiplicity of world. However, the methods of crossing to worlds others than one's home plane are neither simple nor safe. Maybe the danger is what attracts the four of you to the idea: open the door, glance inside, and close it again. Regardless of the exact reasons each of you find yourself in this room, you're here now. Someone, Avery maybe, turns on the light and reveals the door. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|door_scene_01]]

Before your words can carry, Wyatt is unlocking the door. You're aware of the sorcery creeping through the connection between the four of you. It's strong, unyielding. And then things go to shit. Remi is shouting something at you and his eyes are huge. Avery is already gone. Wyatt is on his knees and pieces of him seem to be disappearing. He looks at you and mouths something. You think you can make out the words: ''I had to. I'm sorry.'' [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Everything goes dark.|world_1_a]]

You arrive on the roof of Lucindor Hall. It's a squat building that overlooks much of the central quad of Vesilind's Crux: an ugly site, oft pockmarked with scorch marks and craters from failed experiments, or, more harrowing, successful ones. Avery has changed into a cropped t-shirt and white denim shorts. Even in between drags on his cigarette his breath streams white into the air. "128 years is the average life span of a sorcerer, $name. So for another hundred years or so I won't feel nicotine in my system? No one ever talks about what we trade for sorcery. God. Do you remember being high?" Avery pitches the cigarette into the abyss. "I miss being high." Like many things about Avery the cigarette is an affectation. Immunity to most earthly intoxicants is one of the first side effects of exposure to sorcery. <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Feeling maudlin?\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"Those things will kill you,\" I joke.">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|avery_sex_scene_2][$option_track to 1]] [[$choice_2|avery_sex_scene_2][$option_track to 2]] [[Wait for him acknowledge you.|avery_sex_scene_2][$option_track to 3]]

<<if $option_track is 1>><<set $avery_affin += 1>>He raises an eyebrow, then grins sheepishly. "Is it that obvious? Sorry for being going off brand. Next thing you know I'll be as dark, moody, and withdrawn as Wyatt."<<elseif $option_track is 2>>"Ha ha ha," he deadpans.<<else>>He looks you over. "So patient and dutiful. What a canvas you are."<<endif>> Avery straightens. "The reason I asked you here is for //practice//. Practice. Avery is a practitioner of Sophia-Bas, the "Low Wisdom" which concerns itself primarily with the sorcery of manipulation, domination, and control. And the two of you are alone in the dark. The implication doesn't require a leap. When Avery sees your expression, he laughs and puts both hands in the air in a gesture of good will. "I promise, I didn't intend anything nefarious. I just wanted to see if I could try out a befuddling formula I wrote on you!" The grin slips onto his face slowly. "Unless you'd be open to more than just…practice." <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"I consent. But no permanent damage, Avery!\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"Alright, but just the formula. No extracurriculars.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"I know I'm going to regret this…but fine.\"">> <<set $choice_4 to "\"I'd prefer not to be…befuddled by you.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|avery_sex_scene_3]] [[$choice_2|avery_sex_scene_3][$option_track to 2]] [[$choice_3|avery_sex_scene_3]] [[$choice_4|avery_nosex_3][$option_track to 2]]

You can smell the charge in the air: it's like flames going out. Smoke and ash. The formula is slow to take hold, insidious. Avery gives you a searching look. As though he's peering into your soul. But more likely he's making the subtle calculations necessary to govern the flow of sorcery. He makes an adjustment with two of his fingers and a wave of warmth travels up your spine. "Oh," you say aloud. "Now we're getting somewhere. How do you feel?" Avery asks. <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Uhh…\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"Hmm?\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"What?\"">> <<set $choice_4 to "\"…\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|avery_sex_scene_3b]] [[$choice_2|avery_sex_scene_3b]] [[$choice_3|avery_sex_scene_3b]] [[$choice_4|avery_sex_scene_3b]]

<<set $avery_affin -= 1>>"How disappointing. I didn't think you'd be lame about this, especially after coming all the way here." He makes a face. "Well, I guess we can't all be willing to do what it takes to advance sorcery, eh?" Avery dienst give you a chance to defend or explain yourself. He just takes out his cell phone and starts texting in front of you. He looks up after a while. "Are you //still// here? I have to find another subject. Fuck off, $name." > You've $avery_down. And so you do. You wander around the Crux's campus for a while until the appointed hour of your meeting and then you find your way to the experimental building. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|pre_door_scene]]

<<set $charm += 1>>\ You're aware of the formula taking hold of you, at first. But you're finding that you're easily distracted and your urges are becoming clearer. You feel a twinge in your balls so you reach down, inside your pants, to scratch them. The relief is immediate. <<if $option_track is 2>>And when Avery drops the formula, the whiplash of returning to yourself stuns you into a moment of embarrassment. You slowly withdraw your hand from your pants. Avery doesn't seem bothered.<<else>>"Feels pretty good, huh?" Avery asks. You grunt. "You should take your cock out. That'd feel better." You don't see a reason not to, so you do. It hangs between your legs for a moment. Soft. For a moment. "I could suck it for you," Avery says. It irritates you that he says it, but doesn't act on it right away. Seconds pass with your dick filling up and his mouth //not// closing around it. You wonder what he's waiting for. You should already be feeling good. The sorcerer is slow to get on his knees and even when he does, he grabs your cock and teases it with his tongue. He takes too long. You consider thrusting your hips forward and your body obeys your desires without hesitation. You slide forward and Avery chokes a little as he accommodates you in his throat. You grunt. Feels good. Maybe he's playing with his cock. Doesn't matter, you're not focused on him. Your pleasure is the only important thing and it fills up your mind. It fills up all the excess space. Your cock is the center of the entire universe and its sliding back forth in Avery's wet mouth. You start to think about cumming. You see no reason to warn him. "Mmmm," Avery groans as your cock pulses, delivering its payload down his gulping throat. You can definitely see his hand flying between his legs. His brown pubes are dark against his white shorts. Maybe he cums. Maybe he doesn't. You pull your cock out of his mouth once he's swallowed down the last of your spunk. Avery drops the formula with a quick motion of his left hand. Realization of what's just happened washes over you and you feel suddenly, briefly, mortified. However, Avery, licking cum off of his own fingers stuffs his cock back into his shorts.<<endif>> He gives you a good natured smile and slaps you on the shoulder. "We should wrap it up and go meet the others. But be honest about the compulsion: it's not bad, right?" You feel you've gained a clearer understanding of compulsion sorcery through Avery's…unconventional methods. You are now a little better at charming other people. > You've $charm_up. "Not bad," you agree shakily. He's talented that one. And dangerous. But the two often come hand-in-hand. [[Continue.|pre_door_scene]]

Themes (so far) <div style="column-count:2; column-gap:4.5em;">Hypnosis (Himbofication) Masturbation Domination/Submission Muscle Worship Watersports Light (so-far) Bondage </div> <<back>>

Avery shrugs. "I've been working on a compulsion charm. Nothing major. A little extension of my skills. I'd like to try it on you, if you don't mind." Are you interested in letting Avery perform his work on you? <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"I don't think this is a good idea, Avery.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"Hmm. I suppose I don't mind.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"I'm going to regret this, but fine.\"">> <<set $choice_4 to "\"As long as it won't kill me…\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|rejection_scene]] [[$choice_2|acceptance_scene]] [[$choice_3|acceptance_scene]] [[$choice_4|acceptance_scene]]

Statement of Politics This is a work created in 2020 and as such, I think it would be disingenious to seperate it from the politics of its creator. On that note, a few points of order: * This work is explicitly pro-black while acknowleding that blackness is not monolithic. * This work centers the experiences and fantasies of queer males. Naturally, that includes both cis and trans men. * This work acknowleges the limitations of its creator. In this work you will find fat characters, non-binary characters, trans characters, characters of color, etc. I cannot hope to speak authentically on the behalf of every group listed above or represented herein, but that is not an excuse to avoid embracing them. What I can say is that I am here and I am listening: ''If I fuck up, I will do better''. *Finally this work operates under the assumption that art in this time has a responsibility to offer no shelter for fascists and no refuge for racists. If you are even casually aligned with either group: you will likely have a ''bad fucking time''. Benji Bright June 5 2020 <<back>>

Adjacent to the probable realms sits Vesilind's Crux. Not a school, but an atelier. A place for sorcerers to flex their might, to learn, and practice in a controlled environment. It is a safer place for sorcerers, but it is not safe, as can be attested by the solemn spire at the center of the Crux bearing the names of every sorcerer to die on its grounds. You have come to join their ranks. The sorcerers of the Crux. Your first test was to find this place, which cannot be found except by giving up something of oneself. What sacrifice opened your way to this world-between-worlds? What circumstances are written on your soul? [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[I cut myself off from a life of privilege and status to be here.|contract_scene_2][$social_status to "high"]] [[I'm here because I have nothing and no one else to lose.|contract_scene_2][$social_status to "desolate"]] [[Sacrifice? Please. I've taken more than I've given, yes, but why should I give away what's mine?|contract_scene_2][$social_status to "colonizer"]]

<<if $social_status is "colonizer">>The Crux is agnostic about the nature of the sacrifice that brings you to its gates. You, who have stolen and taken more than your share, have found your place among your peers regardless.<<elseif $social_status is "high">>To have left wealth and status behind is no insignificant thing, but you cannot remove the trappings of a luxurious life from your posture or your speech. Your advantages are baked into the marrow. Still, the sacrifice is deemed enough and the gates part for you.<<else>>You offer your life in its entirety—a tale of pain and sacrifice—to the gates and they open for you. They recognize the depths of your suffering.<<endif>> Just beyond the seamless black gate that parted at your arrival through no mundane means, four figures await you. The first to step forward and greet you is a dark-skinned man whose intricately twisted locks frame his handsome face and wide smile. "Welcome, sorcerer. You have arrived at Vesilind's Crux." He gives you a small, mocking clap. "My name is Alcibiades Walker and I'm the Father of Sophia-Bas, the so-called 'Low Wisdom.' And you <<if $social_status is "colonizer">>stole your way here like a common cut-purse. For that…I salute you. To //take// is the purest form of sorcery. But we will see whether you can keep what you steal, little thief.<<elseif $social_status is "desolate">>are little more than a gutter rat with your filthy hands clutching your first bit of sorcery. You are nothing, but…all matter crawled out of the abyss, ratling. So, we will see what you truly are.<<else>>have fallen far to come before us. You've given up security for a chance to transcend yourself. And yet I can see the softness in you, the coddled child behind your eyes. Kill the boy or he will strangle the man, sorcerer.<<endif>>" Walker laughs as if he was merely joking, but his eyes are like polished stone. "My House is the House of selfishness and licentiousness. We are the hungry. The malcontent. The House of Sophia-Bas welcomes you." Even as he bids you welcome it feels to you that he means the opposite, or maybe he'd rather consume you than welcome you. His eyes glitter in the half-gloom of the Crux. The sky above you isn't a sky, but a dizzying number of windows, each with a view into a different world with its own firmament—strange or mundane—all held together by a filigree of silver, of gold, and of cold iron; endless worlds and endless skies. They represent the possibilities of sorcery—with it, you could be almost anyone, do almost anything. Staring at it for more than a moment makes your stomach lurch; you are forced to look away. And so the diaphanous light of the not-sky above illuminates Walker's dark skin like star-shine. As for your own flesh? [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[As dark, if not darker.|contract_scene_3][$skin_tone to "dark"]] [[Considerably whiter than his. Pale-toned.|contract_scene_3][$skin_tone to "fair"]] [[A shade lighter, perhaps, and more reddish-hued.|contract_scene_3][$skin_tone to "copper"]]

Walker continues staring at you even as another of the group steps forward. She is not so much dressed as barely concealed by flowing bolts of cloth that drift around her voluptuous form of their own accord. She seems a creature of artifice, like a constructed Venus with pale pink hair and rose-colored lips on ochre skin. "Welcome, sorcerer. I am Lilum Phoget." She radiates warmth and serenity that's hard to place. It might be her calm demeanor and forgiving smile. Or it might be sorcery that puts you at ease in her presence. You are too inexperienced to say. "My House is Keyaki and I am its Mother. I am the prime healer of Vesilind's Crux." Her lavender irises flash crimson. "I am also its foremost warmage." "Keyaki is the House of sympathetic and reactionary sorcery. Our ties to each other spread out endlessly like fractals. In this we find the beginnings of kindness, empathy. But also the seeds of discord and war. Keyaki embraces this duality. And you, sorcerer? What dualities do you hide, I wonder." She smiles pleasantly. "House Keyaki—of healers and warriors—welcomes you." [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|contract_scene_4]]

A large person, tall and broad, steps forward and offers you a curt nod. "Sorcerer. I am Yu, Steward of House Ballast. They pronouns, if you will." They blink at you, expression inscrutable. "Ballast concerns itself with protection, defense, and construction. We are makers and tinkerers. Naturally, the defenses of Vesilind's Crux are of our design. //Clever// design." They reach into one voluminous sleeve and produce a thick tome. "The Ballast Ledger. All who pass through the black gate must be recorded." "Height?" Yu asks, as they look you up and down. "No need to be specific. We'll collect a fraction of your blood later, for the record keepers. They are meticulous in the cultivation of a living blood archive. We also need your confirmation on record. Now, if you will…" <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"I'm considerably taller than average.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"I'm about average height.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"I'm not quite as tall as the average male.\"">> <</silently>> <label><<radiobutton "$height" "tall">> $choice_1</label> <label><<radiobutton "$height" "average">> $choice_2</label> <label><<radiobutton "$height" "short" checked>> $choice_3</label> "And your build, of course. The details are unimportant to myself, but speaking them bonds your identity to the cornerstone of the Crux. The very bones of this place needs to //recognize// you, otherwise you're safety cannot be guaranteed on these grounds. Again, our security measures are…considerable." <<silently>> <<set $choice_5 to "\"I'm fat.\"">> <<set $choice_6 to "\"I have a solid build. Neither particularly heavy nor particularly thin.\"">> <<set $choice_7 to "\"I'm muscular.\"">> <<set $choice_8 to "\"I'm thin.\"">> <</silently>> <label><<radiobutton "$build" "fat" checked>>$choice_5</label> <label><<radiobutton "$build" "solidly built">>$choice_6</label> <label><<radiobutton "$build" "muscular">>$choice_7</label> <label><<radiobutton "$build" "thin">>$choice_8</label> "Eye color?" Yu continues. <<silently>> <<set $choice_9 to "\"My eyes are dark brown.\"">> <<set $choice_10 to "\"My eyes are hazel.\"">> <<set $choice_11 to "\"My eyes are green.\"">> <<set $choice_12 to "\"My eyes are blue.\"">> <</silently>> <label><<radiobutton "$eyes" "brown" checked>>$choice_9</label> <label><<radiobutton "$eyes" "hazel">>$choice_10</label> <label><<radiobutton "$eyes" "green">>$choice_11</label> <label><<radiobutton "$eyes" "blue">>$choice_12</label> Yu dutifully jots down your responses. They close the book decisively. "Thank you, sorcerer, for your thoroughness. Ballast House welcomes you." [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|contract_scene_5]]

At last, the final sorcerer steps forward. Her expression is solemn and her curls wreathe her heart-shaped face like flames. She clutches the hilt of a sword that you don't want to look at. Something about it repels you, forces your gaze away from it. "Kneel, sorcerer." You do. The command is spoken with a thrum of power before which your will evaporates. "I am Estramore de Leon. Head of House Diadēma and Admissions Officer of the Crux. Diadēma seeks glory and distinction. The byproduct of this relentless pursuit of excellency eand recognition is hierarchy, order. Often a fine thing, but not always. They call me the Red Queen, but beneath the appellation I am a sorcerer. My work advanced me. My skill. One day you may rise to these lofty heights and if you do, I counsel you remember this moment on your knees and harness it to just, clear purpose." She turns and gestures to a chunk of unhewn obsidian and the black book lying atop it. "The contract which will bind you to this place and its laws. They are few, but ironclad: >''Thou wilt not undermine the Crux. Thou wilt not press another sorcerer into thy service. Thine actions are thine own.'' Estamore allows you to stand and walk over to the book. You take a moment to internalize what's being asked of you. Meanwhile, she never lets go of the hilt of her sword of terrible blade. "If you would agree to these terms, then sign your name in the book and become," she says. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue|contract_scene_6]]

<<if $convinced is true>>"Good boy." <<endif>>\ Under Remi's careful gaze you lower yourself to your knees and then put both hands on the floor. The gym mat springs back underneath your palms. You begin to crawl toward Remi, watching him watch you as sweat drips down between his pecs and down his biceps. You reach the sodden t-shirt at his feet he waits for you to retrieve it. You bend your neck and pinch the wet fabric between your teeth. You can't help but taste the salt sweat of him in the fabric. You sit back on your haunches with the shirt hanging down your face. "Like your gift?" he asks. You nod. The scene that's building around you demands your enthusiasm as much as it does Remi's aggression. "Good. Want another?" He's casually rubbing the bulge in the front of his workout shorts. "You'll have to work for it. Submit to me and I'll drink you up." <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Yes, please.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"I'm…not sure.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"Piss on me.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|remi_sex_scene_2]] [[$choice_2|remi_alt_sex_1]] [[$choice_3|remi_nonsex_2]]

"Picky are we?" His arms are crossed and he shakes his head. "Sorry. I'm not in the mood to be the prize at the bottom of the cereal box. Either you obey my order or we part amicably. But I won't lie: I am hoping you'll get on your knees for me." He reaches down to rub the front of his shorts and the bulge slowly growing there. "You gonna' comply?" he asks. <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Yes.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"I don't think I'm into this.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"Convince me.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|remi_sex_scene_1][$convinced to 1]] [[$choice_2|remi_nonsex_2]] [[$choice_3|remi_nonsex_2][$convinced to 2]]

"Good boy," Remi says. "Now c'mere." He has you crawl over to him while he shucks off his sweaty shorts and reveal the jockstrap underneath them. You follow as his thumbs hook the waist of the close-fitting underwear and peels them down his thick thighs. The t-shirt in your mouth absorbs the excess saliva generated drooling over your sexy co-conspirator. His smirks down at you, while his naked body towers. "Put your hands on my calves." You follow his instructions: his calves are solid masses of muscle and you run your fingers up and down them, savoring the definition you find there. Remi beams down at you, proud of his body, and lavishing the attention. "Higher." You work your way up to his thighs, as firm and proud as you would expect. You make appreciative noises through your impromptu gag. His cock—thick and accompanied by full, low-hanging balls—bobs above your head. When you look up again, he's peaking at you from half-opened eyes. "Wanna touch it? Worship it?" You nod. "Go ahead." You reach up and take his cock in hand. He hisses as you begin to work it. "Worship it," he says. So you stare at his cock and you empty your mind. You stroke it and it leaks precum and you stroke and it leaks more. Every drop of sticky fluid seems to bring you more pleasure, more focus. "Worship it." You time your breathing to more of Remi's precum appearing as you pull up from the shaft. You're dimly aware that there is sorcery at work and that you're fueling it with your hunger and your arousal. Remi begins sweating again, his body glistens, and there's something rising up off of him that makes you feel dizzy and lightheaded. "I'm going to cum all over you." You nod. Of course he is. Why wouldn't he? You keep masturbating him. When he finally cums its an explosive, messy affair that breaks the connection between you and sends you rushing back to yourself. His cock stiffens in your grip and the first few shots catch you on the chin and the rest arc over your shoulder. His whole body shivers as he works through the massive orgasm. "Fucking hell!" Remi shouts. His potent orgasm begins to subside, but you continue stroking him until he's wrung out and panting. His pushes your hand away. "Thanks for that. Nothing better than a top up after a workout." You grin, finally spit out his sweaty shirt. There as many sources of sorcery as there are formulae to execute it. Arousal, attention, and worship are all potent batteries and Remi has taken full advantage of yours. You stagger to your feet, a little wobbly but you'll live. Remi ruffles your hair. "I'd return the favor, but we're getting close to the time of our meetup. I'll owe you one." He slings his gym bag over his shoulder. "I'll see you tonight, $name. Oh, and keep the shirt, if you want." Your fellow sorcerer gives you a final wink and gathers his stuff to leave the gym. You follow shortly after with a noticeable hard-on. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|pre_door_scene]]

Remi raises an eyebrow. "Yeah?" <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Yeah.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"I don't know what I'm saying. Forget it.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"Sorry. Got swept up in the moment.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|remi_alt_sex_2]] [[$choice_2|remi_nonsex_2][$response to "decline"]] [[$choice_3|remi_nonsex_2][$response to "decline"]]

<<if $convinced is 2>>Remi gives you an elliptical grin. "Is that what I should do? Convince you why you should get on your knees for me? Sorry, if you don't know then no amount of convincing is gonna' to do the trick. Maybe you'll come around eventually." He checks the clock on the wall. "Ah. It's getting late. We should get going."<<endif>>\ <<if $response is "decline">>"Kind of a weird request to back away from, but whatever you want." He looks up at the clock on the wall: another piece of mundanity. "It's getting close to time for us to meet up with the others."<<else>>Remi looks slightly disappointed, but he recovers quickly. "Well, sex isn't everything, and besides: we've got somewhere to be soon, yeah? Don't be late."<<endif>> He starts to collect his gym gear and it's clear the moment has passed. <<if $shirt_in_mouth is true>>You spit out the sweaty fabric and get off of your knees.<<endif>>As Remi starts to leave the gym, he turns back to you. "Keep the shirt, by the way. Maybe next time we'll use it next time." And then he's gone and you're left alone, maybe a little turned on, and certainly distracted. But soon after you leave, too. After all you've got somewhere to be. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|pre_door_scene]]

His grin is sadistic. "Lucky you, you thirsty fuck. I just happen to have a full tank for you. Tell me how lucky you are." You start to reach up to remove the cloth gag from your mouth, but he stops you. Physically. When you go to reach toward your face there's a force keeping your wrists from rising more than 45°. Ballast sorcerers love playing with gravity. "Simon didn't say to touch that, did he? Speak through the fabric." You mutter a muffled acknowledgment of your luck and good fortune that Remi is willing to bless you with his benevolent piss. He lowers his shorts down his hips enough to free his rapidly hardening cock. It's a solid, girthy bit of business that looks pretty damn imposing. He gives it a few long strokes and—without warning—begins to piss on you. His stream is strong and steady hosing down your face and hair. It cascades down your chest and onto…well, everything. His piss becomes the only thing you can smell aside from his sweat as he covers you. You don't fail to notice that his cock has hardened to its full size, though his flow is still going strong. Eventually he takes aim at your crotch: soaking your shorts until the sodden fabric reveals the clear outline of your erection. "My piss got you out of sorts, eh? Bet you wish you could touch yourself. Show me how turned on you are?" When his stream finally falters, he leisurely ambles toward you while you drip onto the sodden, reeking gym mats. He comes within a few inches of your face and starts sliding his hand back and forth over his cock, paying special attention to the head. The full motion of your arms are still restricted. You could free yourself with sorcery, but you get the sense that's not what this scene is about. He runs one hand through your wet hair and cups your face, tilting it up toward him. He looks into your $eyes eyes. "You look so good on your knees, covered in my piss. It's making me fucking horny. Want me to cum?" You nod. "Where?" <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"On my face.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"In my throat.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"All over my ass.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|remi_alt_sex_3][$response to "face"]] [[$choice_2|remi_alt_sex_3][$response to "throat"]] [[$choice_3|remi_alt_sex_3][$response to "ass"]]

"Good choice," Remi says. <<if $response is "face">>He continues jacking off in close up. So close that when you breathe heavily it causes his pubes to move. The head of his cock is flared and the flesh of it reddens. He gives you a choked warning and then he's cumming in thick spurts onto your face and into your hair. His cum, potent and briny, mixes with his piss and rolls down your face in messy tracks as he milks the last of his it from his dick with both hands.<<elseif $response is "throat">>He removes his sweat and piss-soaked shirt himself and as you're taking a deep, relived breath, he slides his dick into your mouth. It's one thing to admire a big cock from a distance and another thing altogether to suck one. He slides close to the back of your throat and you sputter in response. But he gives you a moment to acquaint yourself with him before he starts to hammer your face. It's not long enough. Remi starts to hump your mouth like it's a sex toy, clearly getting off on your groans. He announces his orgasm not with words, but by slapping the side of your face and putting both hands on your head to drive you down on his dick. He makes an ugly noise in his throat and the unloads into yours. His cum is hot and thick, as plentiful as his piss was. It takes ages for him to empty his low-hanging balls into you. You swallow every drop.<<else>>He squats beside you and pushes you into the position he wants: you on your hands and knees on the piss-wet gym mat while he gets behind you. He pulls your shorts down your ass and rubs his cock against your sensitive, puckered hole. You can feel the vibrations as he jerks off vigorously. "You've got an ass I can see myself in, $name. It's fucking turning me on." You don't doubt him. You can feel how hard he is. You wonder if the fact that you're covered in his piss is helping. As you ponder this, Remi grunts and you feel his cum splashing against your ass. You look back and see several shots blasting into the air and coming back down on your bare ass. Remi looks enraptured as his cock unloads, seemingly endlessly. By the time he's empty, his shoulders slump and he struggles to catch his breath; your ass isn't quite as covered in cum as the rest of you is in piss, but it's a close thing.<<endif>> "Fuck," he says. "Fuck," you agree. "Well thanks, I guess." Remi wrinkles his nose. "Maybe catch a quick shower before we meet up tonight?" You agree with that suggestion. If for no other reason than to spare your other friends. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|pre_door_scene]]

Remi's tank top is so drenched that he takes it off and throws it to the floor. It lands with a weighty thump. "You can have the shirt, if you want. A gift. But you have get down on your knees. Pick it up with your teeth." It comes off like a joke, but his eyes say different. He's sizing you up. <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"I was just fucking around, man.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"I'd prefer to have you as a gift than your sweaty shirt.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Crawl between his legs and pick up the shirt with my teeth.|remi_sex_scene_1][$response to "compliant"]] [[$choice_2|remi_nonsex][$response to "direct"]] [[$choice_1|remi_nonsex_2][$response to "decline"]]

Double-click this passage to edit it.

<> <<set $generated_name = $name_list.random()>> <>You stand before the book which whispers the names of sorcerers past and present, if you listen closely you can hear the names and titles of history's great powers. You prepare to write your name alongside theirs and bind your fate. <<textbox "$name" $generated_name "after_contract" autofocus>> (//Press enter once you've selected a name to continue.//) <<click "Generate New Name">>/% redisplay the currently active passage %/ <<script>>state.display(state.active.title, null, "back")<</script>> <</click>>

You can't tell if he's joking or serious and he leaves too quickly for you to ask. It's hardly worth finding out: well-made curses are a hassle to dispel and Wyatt, unfortunately, is an incredibly skilled a practitioner. So you aim not to be late.

<<if $response is "fuck">><<set $wyatt_affin -= 1>>Wyatt gives you a blank look. "I say take a break and you offer sex? Boring and predictable. I'd expect that of Avery, but you, $name? Disappointing." > You've $wyatt_down. Wyatt packs away his books and stands. "Despite your clumsy attempt at seduction, I still expect you to meet us tonight. Midnight. If you're late, I'll curse you." <<display curse_tag>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|pre_door_scene]]<<elseif $response is "makeout">>Wyatt bites his lower lip. "I…uh…" Wyatt's situation is not uncommon among sorcerers or anyone with a high level of technical skill without equivalent social exposure. So he awkwardly rubs at his neck and avoids eye contact. <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"We don't have to do anything, Wyatt.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Make a move toward him.|wyatt_makeout_2][$response to "aggressive"]] [[Wait for him to come to me.|wyatt_makeout_2][$response to "timid"]] [[$choice_1|wyatt_makeout_2][$response to "irritated"]] <<else>>Wyatt blinks at you and then starts laughing. "I kind of thought you were going to make a pass at me, to be honest. I figured that's what this was all about." He shakes his head, laughs some more. "But you're really here to study, aren't you? Geez. My instincts are terrible…?" He continues chuckling as he cracks open his books once again. <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"I can flirt more, if you'd like.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"Does that mean you're interested?\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|wyatt_denied_1][$response to "posthoc"]] [[$choice_2|wyatt_denied_1][$response to "question"]] [[Continue studying.|wyatt_denied_1][$response to "study"]] <<endif>>

<<if $response is "irritated">><<set $wyatt_mad to true>><<set $wyatt_affin -= 1>>Wyatt gives you an angry look. "Obviously. Do you think //you// or anyone could pressure me into something I didn't want to do? I'm not a fucking joke, $name." "I just meant—" you begin to say. Wyatt gives you another look, slightly tempered this time, but whatever you've triggered is still burning hot within him. "Honestly, I've lost my taste for studying." Your friend quickly packs his things and leaves the library, making it clear that he has no interest in speaking on the subject further. You figure it's best to give him some time to come down from whatever confusing emotional nerve you've just struck. > You've $wyatt_down. Besides, you'll see him again in a few hours. If you know anything about Wyatt it's that he won't miss a chance to further his experimental knowledge, angry or no. So you continue to study and when it's nearly midnight you leave the library and go to meet with your friends. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|pre_door_scene]] <<elseif $response is "timid">>You want to let Wyatt pursue whatever he wants, which is a noble goal, but it gradually becomes clear that he doesn't quite seem to have the necessary steel to cross the table and take the matter into his own hands. Instead, the two of you still across from each other just glancing at each other every so often. Eventually Wyatt stands and it seems like he's going to approach you, but he just starts putting away his reading. "I'm sorry, it's awkward now! I thought about coming over and kissing you, but I didn't do it and now all I can think about is how I didn't do it. So I //could// do it, but then…" He throws up his hands. "See? Awkward. Incredible awkwardness. Ugh. Just do me a favor and kiss me next time?" He finishes packing away his books and as he goes to leave the library he stops to say: "Oh, and don't forget that we're meeting at midnight. And, uh, please don't mention any of this to the others? And don't be late." And then he's gone and you're left behind just trying not to rehash the interaction. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|pre_door_scene]] <<else>><<set $wyatt_affin += 2>><<set $wyatt_kissed to true>>You cross over to the other side of the table and sit in the seat next to his. Wyatt is blushing furiously, but leaning toward you. You reach up and put a hand on his face before you lean in for the kiss. His lips and skin are incredibly soft; he smells like vanilla and cloves. Wyatt's hesitant at first, but as your tongue enters his mouth he meets it with his own: just the tip at first, then more. His posture—ramrod straight—relaxes as you pull him closer and he yields just enough for you to feel the warmth of him upper body pressing against you. You reach down and squeeze his thigh and he makes a soft noise, nearly a sigh. The two of you kiss for long enough for that when you break apart the light of the library seems brighter and more invasive than before. "Wow," Wyatt says. "Yeah," you reply. But when you reach for him again, he leans away. "I…haven't done this before. I mean, I've kissed people, sure, but haven't done much more than that. So I'd prefer to take things slow, if that's cool." He takes a deep breath. "That said, I should get going. There's a few things left to prep before we meet up tonight." Wyatt stands and starts collecting his things. As he does, he sneaks glances at you and grins despite trying to visibly control his features. It's clear that he's feeling fairly warm toward you. > You've $wyatt_up. "Oh, and $name? Don't be late tonight. Midnight. Experimental labs. I'll see you then." And then he's gone taking his soft skin and vanilla-scent with him. You sigh, pack up your own books, and head out yourself. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|pre_door_scene]] <<endif>>

<<if $response is "posthoc">>Wyatt waves a hand, still laughing intermittently. "The moment's passed, my man. Maybe next time."<<elseif $response is "question">>Wyatt smiles and shrugs. "No way to tell now, is there? Back to work, sorcerer." He puts his head back down into his book, leaving you hanging.<<else>><<endif>> <<display library_scene_ending>>

After a few more hours of work, Wyatt finally starts putting his books away. As he stands and slings a backpack over one shoulder, he reminds you: "We're meeting tonight. Midnight. If you're late I'll fucking curse you." <<display curse_tag>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|pre_door_scene]]

<<silently>> <<if $avery_affin lt 3>> <<set $a_affin_description to "Hate is a strong word, but Avery has used it to describe his feelings toward you.">> <<elseif $avery_affin lt 5>> <<set $a_affin_description to "Avery has begun making cutting remarks about you. //More// cutting.">> <<elseif $avery_affin lt 8>> <<set $a_affin_description to "Avery is more or less friendly toward you.">> <<else>> <<set $a_affin_description to "Avery makes no effort to hide that you're his favorite of the group.">> <<endif>> <<if $wyatt_affin lt 3>> <<set $w_affin_description to "Wyatt isn't fond of you. That much is abundantly clear.">> <<elseif $wyatt_affin lt 5>> <<set $w_affin_description to "Presently there isn't much warmth or empathy in the way Wyatt looks at you.">> <<elseif $wyatt_affin lt 8>> <<set $w_affin_description to "Wyatt seems to be fairly comfortable around you.">> <<else>> <<set $w_affin_description to "Wyatt likes you. It's clear in the way he looks at you and how he speaks to you.">> <<endif>> <<if $remi_affin lt 3>> <<set $r_affin_description to "If you were on fire, Remi wouldn't piss on you. Unless he could piss gasoline.">> <<elseif $remi_affin lt 5>> <<set $r_affin_description to "Remi isn't a particular fan of yours, but he hasn't punched you out, either.">> <<elseif $remi_affin lt 8>> <<set $r_affin_description to "Remi is lukewarm on you. Better than the alternative though.">> <<else>> <<set $r_affin_description to "Remi is into you. Don't fuck it up.">> <<endif>> <<endsilently>>

A Few Days Later <<if $house_visit is 0>>The first days at Vesilind's Crux are about learning not to stare at the 'sky.' You notice that almost no one looks up at it and it quickly becomes evident why. The mind has trouble encompassing the reality of the makeshift canopy of discrete, seemingly endless stitched together skies in the long free-flowing grid that covers the miles and miles of Crux ground. Looking up is an invitation to try to focus on the totality of the sky and leads directly to dizziness and vertigo. Your time is better spent looking ahead and to that end, you are shuffled through a hasty orientation by a bored looking sorcerer called Twelve. She has a blunt brown bob, tall black boots, and a farmer's tan across her arms. She informs you about your lodging—a sort of mystical dormitorium accessible via many standardized doors on campus—and tells you that it's time to join a house. "I chose Diadēma because the Red Queen seemed least likely to murder me in my sleep, but in retrospect I suppose that designation really belong to Yu of Ballast. They would definitely just blow you up in broad daylight if they thought you were a threat to the Crux," Twelve says, in a flat monotone. "But you can choose whichever you want, of course." After this extraordinarily helpful introduction you are left to your own devices. Which house are you interested in learning about?<<else>>After returning from your visitation, you spend some time considering your next move. Your "guide" is supremely unhelpful, even so, eventually you decide the next house you will visit is?<<endif>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Ballast|ballast_1]] <<if $alt_sophia is false>>[[Sophia-Bas|sophiabas_1][$repeat_visits += 1]]<<else>>[[Sophia-Bas|sophiabas_final_selection]]<<endif>> [[Diadēma|diadema_1]] [[Keyaki|keyaki_1]]

<<set $house_visit += 1>>\ <<if $visit_ballast is false>>Yu's offices are a geometrical marvel of reflective surfaces and impossible physics. You travel along paths demarcated by strips of light that lead you, you hope, toward the center of this maze. There's diffuse sunlight coming from a source you can't immediately identify and the black onyx that makes up everything around you seems to drink up the light. You get the sense that leaving the lit path, even for a moment, might result in an immediate and violent departure from any conventional understanding of gravity. At the center of this brain-breaking labyrinth is Yu. They are sitting with crossed legs, hands in a meditative pose at the chest. Eyes closed, they address you.<<else>>You find your way back the heart of Yu's maze more easily this time, but the sense of vertigo doesn't entirely leave you.<<endif>> "$name. Sorcerer. Welcome <<if $visit_ballast is true>>back<<endif>> to the heart of House Ballast. <<if $visit_ballast is false>>My apologies for not greeting you more personally, but I am currently elsewhere putting out a small administrative fire, leaving my aft-consciousness to address you. I assure you, they are more than capable of doing the job."<<else>>I am still dealing with the earlier issue. Things are more complex than I thought, therefore you are still addressing my aft-consciousness."<<endif>> Yu's broad face is completely expressionless. Even though their mouth moves, the words //feel// like they're coming from a long distance away. <<if $visit_ballast is false>>"What can I help you with, sorcerer? Have you come to be inscribed into Ballast?"<<else>>"Are you here to finally become one of us, sorcerer? Or is something else on your mind?"<<endif>> <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"I'm sorry. Aft-consciousness…?\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"Can you tell me more about House Ballast?\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"Perhaps I was too hasty deciding on this house after all.\"">> <<set $choice_4 to "\"Strange as this all is, I think Ballast is the best fit for me.\"">> <<if $incubi_info is 1>><<set $choice_5 to "\"What is the rest of you doing?\"">><<else>><<set $choice_5 to "\"Are you still resolving the incubi situation?\"">><<endif>> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|ballast_supplement_2]] [[$choice_2|ballast_supplement]] [[$choice_3|ballast_no]] [[$choice_4|ballast_2]] [[$choice_5|ballast_supplement_3]]

<<if $repeat_visits lt 3>><<include sophiabas_regular>><<else>>\ <<goto sophiabas_hidden_>> <<endif>>

<<set $house_visit += 1>>\ <<set $visit_diadema to true>> <<if $visit_diadema is false>>The reception area of the Red Queen's offices is entirely tasteful. Each wall has a floor-to-ceiling shelf, many stuffed with books, while others display objects of varying mundanity and horror: such as the set of shining katanas one shelf up from a desiccated head silently sobbing into a silver dish. At the center of the room is a thin, sharply dressed person who looks up at you as you enter. "Ah. $name. Right on time, Our Lady will undoubtedly appreciate your promptness." He stands, bows slightly. "I am Regalia, a manifestation of the Red Queen's subconscious, given form by her will. She runs Vesilind's Crux, so unfortunately she doesn't have time to deal with minor administrative tasks, instead she has separated all menial duties into discrete entities. I am one of three such beings."<<else>>You're back in the Red Queen's offices. And the skull is still weeping in the dish. It's no less unnerving this time around, either. Regalia once again stands as you enter and gives you another tasteful bow.<<endif>> He relaxes slightly. <<if $visit_diadema is false>>"I presume you're here to be inscribed into House Diadēma, however, I will need to hear it in your own words, please."<<else>>"Have you decided to formally join us? Or would you like to hear about our venerable House once more?"<<endif>> <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"I am here to join House Diadēma.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"Can you tell me more about the house first?\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"Actually, I've changed my mind.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|diadema_2]] [[$choice_2|diadema_supplement]] [[$choice_3|diadema_no]]

<<set $house_visit += 1>>\ <<if $visit_keyaki is false>>The offices of Lilum Phoget are decorated in muted pastels and luxurious velvet. But along the walls are instruments of war: broadswords and maces, rifles and bayonets. In one corner of the room are two people: one slim and one broad are kneeling at the center of a patch of vegetation. Their hands are between each other's legs. Phoget sits at the center of the room in a semi-circle of pillows. She waves you over, smiling. Her lipstick is powder-pink to match her immaculate ringlet curls and her eyes are pale purple. Nothing about this woman could be called natural and she luxuriates in the artifice.<<else>>Nothing about Lilum's offices seem to have changed since your last visit, including the two fingering each other in the patch of green. Except on closer inspection you note that there are tendrils of mint growing up one of their thighs and the other's back is covered in dark, leafy kale.<<endif>> <<if $visit_keyaki is false>>"Welcome, $name. I'm glad you've decided to come. Does this mean you want to be inscribed into Keyaki? Or do you have questions? The new blood does always seem to have //questions//," Phoget says.<<else>>Lilum greets you warmly. "Still have questions, lamb?"<<endif>> <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "Point to the two in the garden. \"Who are they?\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"I'm here to formally join Keyaki.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"Can you tell me more about this house?\"">> <<set $choice_4 to "\"On second thought: I don't know if this house is for me.\"">> <<set $choice_5 to "\"How are your pupils still at it?\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] <<if $sex_friends is false>>[[$choice_1|sex_friends]]<<else>>[[$choice_5|sex_friends]]<<endif>> [[$choice_2|keyaki_2]] [[$choice_3|keyaki_supplement]] [[$choice_4|keyaki_no][$option to "hard no"]]

Over the next few months as a $house sorcerer, you come to learn the fundamentals of sorcery. "Magic," $house_leader consuls, "is sleight of hand and close up tricks. You are here to develop sorcery: the application of metaphysical truths to subvert physical realities. If magic is art of storytelling, sorcery is the practice of law—complete with arguments, precedents, and ultimately judgment. Each discrete sorcerous formula or formulation is a chance to bargain with the forces that turn the worlds. Now, go make a persuasive argument to the universe and pray it doesn't crush you in response." And you see sorcerers crushed. Literally and figuratively. The immense powers at play attract the hungry and broken alike. Many of the sorcerers in your cohort are destroyed by their larger-than-life ambitions. But, perhaps surprisingly, you make friends. Typically 'friend' is a strong word to use at Vesilind's Crux where sorcerers are just as likely to sabotage and destroy each other as they are to collaborate, but somehow you've managed to form ties with these three. Remi is a Ballast sorcerer, as blunt and straightforward as the nigh impenetrable barriers that the house is known for. His hair is nearly always shaved low and his imposing, barrel-chested figure hides an often funny, charming side. You meet him while the two of you are outrunning an accidental chimera. To this day he swears that he didn't create it, but you have your doubts. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Avery, whose seemingly endless vanity is a screen for deeper machinations. His glittering smile is difficult to parse, but his skin never fails to be perfectly, evenly tan. He is the perfect representative of Sophia-Bas: independent, secretive, and willing to get his hands dirty. You come across him having a debate on whether or not it's legal to fuck the dead risen through necromancy and have questioned the association ever since. Wyatt is the last to join your coterie. Studious and often stoic, but sharp-tongued, Wyatt is—in his way—emblematic of the conspicuous dualism of House Keyaki. Slender and full-lipped with a head full of curls, in another life Wyatt might have graced the cover of fashion magazines, but here it's his intense focus and breadth of knowledge that elevates him. Ever since he corrected one of your formulations and kept you from blowing off your left hand in the process, you've been in each other's orbit. However, as the months went on, you grew closer to one of these men in particular. Who was it? [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Remi|pre_intro_2][$option to "remi", $remi_affin += 1]] [[Avery|pre_intro_2][$option to "avery", $avery_affin += 1]] [[Wyatt|pre_intro_2][$option to "wyatt", $wyatt_affin += 1]]

Over the months, you spent more time with <<if $option is "wyatt">>Wyatt. You learn to read his moods and in turn he grows a fraction less thorny. It's a start anyway. >You've $wyatt_up.<<elseif $option is "remi">>Remi. You even spar with him a few times, but after having to set your broken nose twice, you decide it's probably better to leave the fisticuffs to him. >You've $remi_up<<else>>Avery. You end up seeing him naked in public at least six times and you've almost gotten the list of his lovers straight, but when it changes every fortnight you start to wonder if memorization is getting you anywhere. >You've $avery_up.<<endif>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|scene_01]]

Regalia nods. "Well, let me be the first to welcome you to House Diadēma." He steps aside and his desk folds itself in space, jutting suddenly at strange, impossible angles before eventually settling into the shape of a simple, wooden door. "Our lady will see you now." So you step forward, turn the handle, and enter. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|diadema_3]]

"Ah, of course. Diadēma is the House of those seeking glory and distinction, especially when it comes alongside service and fidelity. Members of the house are sorted into cells which function autonomously except in times of significant need or direct threat to the safety of Vesilind's Crux, wherein the head of Diadēma, the Red Queen herself, can marshal the full might of every member of the house." Regalia gives you a reassuring look as though this has been a point of concern before. "This power has been leveraged only three times in our long history. Similarly, the power of the House can be called upon by individual members in times of great personal need. However…" Regalia seems uncertain about continuing. He smiles brightly and changes the subject: "Unlike Sophia-Bas, Diadēma takes pride in its commitment to order and structure. Join and your path will be one of true, deep honor and of inspiring the loyalty of those around you. Finally, our House Words are: 'To Rule.'" <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"You were saying? About calling on the House's power?\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"I'm ready. I will join House Diadēma.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"Can I continue without a house?\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|diadema_supplement_2]] [[$choice_2|diadema_2]] [[$choice_3|houseless_diadema]]

<<set $visit_diadema to true>>\ <<set $regalia_quote = $regalia_possibles.random()>> Regalia straightens his cravat, clears his throat, and smiles wide. "Well, $name. If you reconsider, please do not hesitate to return. Until then: safe travels and $regalia_quote It has been a trying year." You don't mention that the year has scarcely begun. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|house_juncture]]

Regalia winces. "The cost is significant and often unpredictable. Diadēma was built for power to flow toward its center, changing the direction of that flow can lead to unintended consequences. But it is unlikely that you should ever need to call on such lofty forces, sorcerer." Regalia tilts his head. "So, have you learned enough? Are you interested in becoming a member of the House?" <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"It feels like I'd join Diadēma just to be used by it. No, thank you.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"I believe power should be used to serve others. Yes, I will join.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"No, this isn't for me. I decline.\"">> <<set $choice_4 to "\"Where do I sign?\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|diadema_no]] [[$choice_2|diadema_2]] [[$choice_3|diadema_no]] [[$choice_4|diadema_2]]

"Unfortunately, no. The Crux experimented with completely self-directed study and found that sorcerers without some level of oversight tended to…expire quickly. Too quickly and in greater numbers than were sustainable. The House system was a corrective to those unfortunate deaths. Our levels of yearly sorcerer expiration have stabilized considerably since." He beams. <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Alright. I'm ready to join.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"Can we go back to the thing about calling on the House's power?\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"I don't think this House is for me.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|diadema_2]] [[$choice_2|diadema_supplement_2]] [[$choice_3|diadema_no]]

<<set $house to "Diadēma">><<set $house_leader to "Estramore de Leon">><<set $house_description to "the House of control and orderliness.">>\ Estramore de Leon, the Red Queen of Diadēma awaits you in her chamber and in truth she looks more like a warrior queen than an administrator. Her leather bodice has fur-lined pauldrons and her flame red hair wreaths her and her smoky eye makeup makes her look nearly feral, but her voice, when she speaks is calm and even. "$name. Welcome to the beginning of your charge." She stands from behind her desk and comes around to meet you face-to-face. "I have encouraged the other House leaders to make these inductions more personal and I am no exception." She softens somehow. Maybe it's in the cast of her shoulders or that stony gaze. She continues, "Sorcery for some is a game of metaphysical brinksmanship. But there are those of us for whom is it pure survival. <<if $social_status is "desolate">>I think coming from nothing yourself, you might understand that.<<endif>> I wanted power, yes, but I also wanted to survive. Many of my sisters did not. Many of them do not still. The day I stepped onto the soil of the Crux was the day that I decided to refuse any other narrative besides the one that I dictate. I forged the woman before you from raw material and refused from that day to be called out of my name. As such, sorcerer, consider what you are today as the first challenge to surmount." As she puts a hand to her chest and a soft, warm light begins to glow. "Welcome, Sorcerer $name to House Diadēma." The light washes over you and you feel, briefly, like royalty. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|pre_intro]]

<<if $sex_friends is false>><<set $sex_friends to true>>Lilum doesn't turn to look. "Initiates. Sorcerers. They're learning the Hammon-Grosse Formulation. It's a generative formula that produces significant creative energy. Most sorcery that focuses on pure creation is expensive and unstable. Hammon-Grosse attempts to create a generative engine out of pleasure. But it can be addictive, too." Almost as if in answer, the slender person shivers as the broader person rubs urgently between their legs. The sound that they release comes out of their mouth in waves of blues and deep greens that make a haze in the room. You stiffen involuntarily in your pants.<<else>>At least one of the two sorcerers is either in the middle of the most powerful orgasm of their lives or you have yet to experience true pleasure. The energy pouring off of the two of them is thick and almost suffocating in its slickness, but the smell is strongly vegetive. "They have a lot of work to do, $name. I'm just providing a careful eye. If they go to deeply into the formula, they'll turn into plants. Not ideal for a sorcerer, so I've offered to be a…moderating influence. And I like the ambiance."<<endif>> Lilum smiles at you. "More questions? Or shall we move on to business?" <<set $choice_1 to "\"I'd like to hear more about this house?\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"No more questions. I'm ready to join.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"Actually…I don't think this house is for me.\"">> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|keyaki_supplement]] [[$choice_2|keyaki_2]] [[$choice_3|keyaki_no]]

<<set $house to "Keyaki">><<set $house_leader to "Lilum Phoget">><<set $house_description to "the House of reaction and sympathetic forms.">>\ Lilum Phoget, Mother of Keyaki, stands and the veil of sex-and-languor burns away. Her lavender eyes narrow and the sexpot sneer of her mouth is gone in an instant. In some small way you can now imagine her wielding one of the weapons on the wall, felling lesser sorcerers without a blink of her long lashes. "Estamore has mandated that the process of induction be made more personal. So I will share with you, $name, that I came late to sorcery. I always had the gift, the knack, but I was married and my husband—so rich and //so// handsome—had no interest in being eclipsed by a woman. And you know what, $name? Every moment I spent under his thumb cost me knowledge. So much went unlearned. Once I realized that, I came to Vesilind's Crux, I fled the gilded life with little more than my name. <<if $social_status is "high">>I trust you, of all people, who has left a life of privilege yourself, understand what it is to walk away from that.<<endif>> That's what this means to me, that's what this place is to me: a world without bars." She gives you perhaps the first genuine smile you've seen on her face. It's awkward and a little sad, but all the more beautiful for it. "Welcome to Keyaki, sorcerer." She puts a hand to her chest and it begins to pulse with a warm, pale light. It washes over you; you feel green grass underneath you and warm arms around you. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|pre_intro]]

"Naturally," Lilum says. "Keyaki is another name for the //Zelkova Serrata// a tree often cultivated for the practice of bonsai. It's growth, like ours, is often engineered for beauty, but beauty can be deceptive when the roots grow deep. We are the house of healers and counselors. But—" She gestures to the weapons that line her walls. "I've survived nine campaigns against the Crux: Demonic incursion. Angelic interference. A whimsical, yet bloody attack by the fair folk. Keyaki, for all it's reputation as the House of healing arts, has a history as bloody as any at Vesilind's Crux. I'm afraid we just look better doing it." "Join and we make you into a flexible sorcerer: agile of mind, deft. From our roots you can grow into whatever shape pleases you. We have little interest in imposing rigid structure like Ballast or running endless schemes like Sophia-Bas. Your growth is our only demand." She pauses to let you soak in her words. "Our House Words are: 'To React.' Which, as you might imagine, hardly strikes fear into the heart of our enemies. Luckily we have our sorcery for that." <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Alright. I'm ready join.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"Can I decide not to join a house?\"">> <<set $choice_4 to "\"Thank you, but I don't think this is for me.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|keyaki_2]] [[$choice_3|houseless_keyaki]] [[$choice_4|keyaki_no][$option to "hard no"]]

<<if $option is "hard no">>\ Phoget smirks. "No? And I was so sure it would be. Ah, well. Even my practiced eye can miss the mark. If you change your mind, we'll be here. Waiting with bated breath."<<else>>"Of course, lamb. Take whatever time you need. Sorcerers lead longer lives than most, but know that longer isn't forever. So try not to waste time: it's hell it get it back again."<<endif>> You leave the sorcerer and her…pupils to their work. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|house_juncture]]

Lilum's laughter tinkles like a genteel spoon on the sides of a china teacup. "Oh, lamb. You're too precious. I could eat you up. But no. Being houseless hasn't been an option for some time. You needn't //like// your house, but it will offer you certain necessary protections. Otherwise, there is little to stop you from being murdered outright for what you know, which is a suboptimal outcome for someone as adorable as yourself. A House is a small deterrent, but it's often enough to keep to baddest of us from taking a bite out of you." <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Alright. I've made up my mind. I want to join.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"Thank you for your time. But I don't think this is for me.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"I'm still not sure. Can I take more time to think?\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|keyaki_2]] [[$choice_2|keyaki_no][$option to "hard no"]] [[$choice_3|keyaki_no][$option to "soft no"]]

<<display sophiabas_yes_template>>

"Naturally," he says. "No matter what you hear, $name. Always remember that there is a higher power than sorcery. Chance. Random bad luck. A knife to the throat can fell one of us as easily as a powerful formula gone awry. It pays to keep a hand in the mundane, to remember how to live like our lessers: //cautiously//. "Anyway, I find that honest work helps to keep the mind sharp. Awake. At least that's my theory. It's kept me hale and healthy in this iteration, but then again incalculable power doesn't hurt, either. Anything else?" You raise an eyebrow at the phrase 'iteration,' but Walker doesn't add anything about it and doesn't seem to intend to. Instead he asks: "Anything else?" <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Can you tell me more about Sophia-Bas?\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"On second thought…I don't know if this is the house for me.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"I think I'm ready to join.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|sophiabas_supplement]] [[$choice_2|sophiabas_no]] [[$choice_3|sophiabas_2]]

<<display sophiabas_supplement_text>> <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"This house doesn't seem like a good fit.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"Sounds intriguing. I'm in.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"And if I choose not to join a house?\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_3|houseless_sophiabas]] [[$choice_2|sophiabas_2]] [[$choice_1|sophiabas_no]]

<<set $visit_sophiabas to true>>\ <<display sophiabas_no_template>>

"You want to be Houseless? What a novel idea! Instead of the protection of a group, you'll be alone in a place full of bright and talented young psychosocial aberrants whose only interests are advancement and the accumulation of power at nearly any cost. I can imagine that you'd last—" He looks you over carefully. "—a week? Less?" "No, $name, you may not go forward without a joining a house. Estramore and I disagree on this, so know that //personally// I would let you take your chances in the wilds of the Crux, but she has morals, apparently, and too many dead first-years is bad for the campus catalog." <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Well, if I have to join a house, it might as well be this one.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"This isn't my top choice for houses to join anyway.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"Tell me more about Sophia-Bas\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|sophiabas_2]] [[$choice_2|sophiabas_no]] [[$choice_3|sophiabas_supplement]]

"Ah, of course. Through the use of a network of sorcerous formulae, one's consciousness can be split into useful, discrete operators. In my case, those consciousnesses are inter-linked and interrelated. You are currently speaking with my aft-consciousness, to whom basic duties can be relegated, while the bulk of my mind—the fore-consciousness—is otherwise occupied in another space. However, they are not distinct from me. There is no discernible difference between us aside from the processing speed of this subordinate identity. In some cases, as with The Red Queen of Diadēma, those operators can be removed entirely and form their own personalities with only a tangential relationship with their host consciousness." Yu's look of disapproval is so mild that you almost miss it. "This, however, is inadvisable as a general rule of sorcery. Removing parts of oneself has the tendency to have unexpected consequences. But you may trust that Estramore de Leon will have taken every precaution to ensure the cohesion of her own identity and the safety of her extracted operators." Yu goes inert again. "Further questions?" <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"No more questions. I'm ready to join Ballast.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"I'm still not sure that Ballast is right for me.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"replace_me\"">> <<if $incubi_info is 1>><<set $choice_4 to "\"And what is your aft-consciousness working on?\"">><<else>><<set $choice_4 to "\"Is your aft-consciousness still overseeing the incubi thing?\"">><<endif>> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|ballast_2]] [[$choice_2|ballast_no]] [[$choice_4|ballast_supplement_3]]

"Indeed," says Yu. "House Ballast, aptly named after the nautical term, provides a locus of stability for the Crux. There is no law enforcement on these grounds. Intentionally so. In fact, there is little in the way of law. However, Ballast is the first line of defense from external threat and make no mistake: those threats are legion. We emphasize critical thinking and functional systems. Our sorcerers are engineers and scientists, pushing our formulations to the edge of what is known and beyond." Yu's mouth quirks. "There are also those among us who specialize in identifying the weaknesses in systems, breaking them, shattering them for pleasure or profit. We embrace this aspect, too. A weak system has no inherent utility. Our House Words are: 'To Prepare.' And that is the introduction. Do you have other concerns, $name?" <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Can you explain the aft-consciousness thing?\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"No further question. I'm ready to join Ballast.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"I see. Thank you for your time. I won't be joining Ballast today.\"">> <<if $incubi_info is 1>><<set $choice_4 to "\"And what are you working on with the rest of your mind?\"">><<else>><<set $choice_4 to "\"Are you still working on the incubi situation?\"">><<endif>> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|ballast_supplement_2]] [[$choice_2|ballast_2]] [[$choice_3|ballast_no]] [[$choice_4|ballast_supplement_3]]

<<set $visit_ballast to true>>\ "Ah. Well. Onward then. Please know that should you change your mind, Ballast will be here waiting for you. And watch your step as you return to conventional space. Falling off of the path has led to the loss of more practiced sorcerers than you." If possible, you're even more stressed walking back the way you came than you were entering the strange space of House Ballast's Steward. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|house_juncture]]

<<set $house to "Ballast">><<set $house_leader to "Yu">><<set $house_description to "the House of preparedness and functional systems.">>\ Yu finally displays an emotion: a modicum of pleasure. "Well then. As suggested by the Red Queen, the heads of the houses are to make a personal appeal to initiates regarding our personal theory of sorcery and how it relates to interpersonal relationship. I am… not naturally inclined to discussing personal matters. I am a competent Ballast sorcerer and I am mindful of my vulnerabilities. Sometimes power is knowing what to safeguard, to build walls around. But I will tell you that in another life I was meant to be a chef, to take the reins of my family's famed restaurant. In the end I did not. There's no sad story here, no great upheaval. I simply found fulfillment and mastery elsewhere. Always seek mastery, sorcerer." Yu reaches up to their chest and a light radiates out of it. "Welcome to Ballast, $name." The light grows until it washes over and through you. It's cool as glass tumbled in the ocean and smoothed of all its jagged surfaces before washing up to shore. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|pre_intro]]

Yu is silent for a moment. <<if $incubi_info is 1>><<set $incubi_info += 1>>"There is a small concern regarding a nest of incubi that has been allowed to exist on Crux ground. The dreamscape has become incredibly…fraught. Several Ballast sorcerers are setting up a quarantine which I am coordinating. Ideally, we'll have the problem contained within the hour. Otherwise there will be a preponderance of very sticky practitioners in the morning."<<else>>"The incubi situation is proving harder to curb than we thought. Apparently more than a few of our sorcerers have grown //fond// of them. Unfortunate in the extreme, as you can imagine. Already we're seeing a twenty-fold increase in nocturnal emissions. It will only get worse. Or, I suppose, better—at least in the view of the deviant sorcerers offering the incubi safe harbor."<<endif>> Yu sighs. "Now. Can we get to why you're here?" <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Right. I'm here to join Ballast.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"Thank you for your time, but I don't think this house is for me.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"I'll be going now, Steward Yu.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|ballast_2]] [[$choice_2|ballast_no]] [[$choice_3|ballast_no]]

Older Changelogs v. 0.03B <ul> <li>The game now features a scene with Wyatt. Be careful with him. He's a sensitive one. :-*</li> <li>Editing/typo fixes.</li> <li>A slight modification of the naming system—which now includes much expanded name suggestions.</li> <li><<linkappend #Spoiler>>: Changed the visuals when protagonist switches to the new world.<</linkappend>></li> <li>Included a first pass on the affinity system.</li> <li>We've passed the 10,000 word mark. Whoo-hoo!</li> <li>3:30PM CST 6/24: Fixed a bug in Remi's gym scene. Thanks, GG.</li> </ul> v. 0.02 <ul> <li>The game now includes a suite of sex scenes with Remi.</li> <li>Included descriptions of each stat in the stat screen.</li> <li>Included a list of sexual themes in the game.</li> <li>Various editorial changes.</li> <li>Added the first draft of the revised 'contract' scene/opening, including the first pass at the character creator.</li> </ul>\ <<back>> OR [[Return to Start|Start]]

<<set $house_visit += 1>><<if $visit_sophiabas is false>>\ You go looking for the offices of the Alcibiades Walker, the Father of Sophia-Bas, only to find that there are none. Instead, on a tip from a helpful, but worried looking sorcerer, you find the head of Sophia-Bas sitting on a felled tree near the edge of the Crux's main campus. The forest beyond is a place of training and contemplation, but you've heard there are also unique dangers. Walker seems unbothered by any danger at present. His dreadlocks hang down around his face and his hands reach into a bucket of murky water. He pulls mussels from them and works quickly to clean them before transferring them to another bucket. His ratty sleeveless shirt shows off massive shoulders and arms. The logo on the shirt itself is faded beyond recognition, but it seems to have once been a band t-shirt. "Welcome, initiate. You're a long way away from the safety of campus. Haven't you heard that monsters roam these grounds?" he asks, then laughs. "Don't pay any heed to the rumors."<<else>>When you find your way back to the edge of the forest looking for Alcibiades, he's in much the same place as you left him, doing much the same thing. It seems to be more or less a form of meditation for him. But you'd never claim to know the mind of this man. "Welcome back to edge of fuck-all, $name."<<endif>> He continues cleaning the mussels, throwing them from one bucket to the other once he's done. "I presume you're <<if $visit_sophiabas is true>>back<<endif>> here to feel out Sophia-Bas. See if it's for you. Unless you came for the mussels. Freshest in any world you can name." <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Are you going to cook those yourself?\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"What can you tell me about Sophia-Bas?\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"I think coming here might have been a mistake.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|sophiabas_supplement_2]] [[$choice_2|sophiabas_supplement]] [[$choice_3|sophiabas_no]]

<<display sophiabas_no_template>>

<<set $took_bait to true>>The Father of Sophia-Bas leans back and you come forward, lean your head over the earthen pitcher, and look inside. You stare into the dark water and notice something at the very bottom of the pitcher. As you stare, it grows closer or you go deeper. Perhaps you are both moving through space—dilating or contracting as necessary. You are overtaken by a sensation of vertigo and close your eyes for just a second. When you open them again you are standing on a watery surface and before you is a star in chains. The chains are themselves made of what looks like compressed cosmos, the stuff of the universe condensed into impossible hardness. You can see through the rainbow-on-oil darkness of the chains, but they are no less strong for their strangeness. The star cannot break free. It surges with heat and //hunger//. Alcibiades is suddenly beside you with his hands in the pockets of his close-fitting slacks. The light of the star reflects ominously in his eyes. "I stole a star from the night sky and I chained it up at the bottom of an earthen pitcher. Do you know why, $name?" The sorcerer's eyes reflect the furious light of the star. "Because I could. That's what sorcery is: the ability to take what we want, if we are able, and if we are willing to do what it takes to keep what we've stolen." You ask the obvious question: "What does it take to keep a star?" Walker looks at you, eyes still alight with purloined flame. "Fuel." [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|sophiabas_hidden_2]]

<<set $warning_signs to true>>"Dangerous? Naturally. But an element of danger can always be assumed at Vesilind's Crux. Surely you didn't expect to encounter benign sorcery. What would that benefit you, sorcerer? If you wanted safety, you could have stayed at home." He purses his full lips. "Though, without the knowledge to protect yourself from more cunning adepts, I wonder how safe even that choice would have been." Finally, Walker shrugs. "No. It is not not safe, as such. But it is…interesting." <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Then no, I'll pass. Good day.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"Alright then. Show me.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"Keep your tricks. I'm here to join.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|sophiabas_hidden_no]] [[$choice_2|sophiabas_hidden_1]] [[$choice_3|sophiabas_hidden_join]]

<<display sophiabas_yes_template>>

"It's a simple matter, really. You accepted my invitation to the bottom of this pitcher. <<if $warning_signs is true>>Knowing, I might add, that it was dangerous<<else>>Without even asking if it was dangerous.<<endif>> And now you're trapped. There are, at my count, a half-dozen ways out of this place and none of them are easy. So let's narrow things down: if you consent to letting me drain some of your //essence// to fuel the chains, then I'll let you out. Otherwise, I abandon you and you figure out your own way back to the surface with whatever sorcerous tricks you can muster. Neither option will kill you, but I can't say either will be //entirely// pleasurable." He smiles his wolf's smile. "Either way, you will have learned something indelible about sorcery, about Sophia-Bas, and about me: nothing is free. "Make your choice, sorcerer," Walker says, offering you his devil's bargain. <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"I will find my own way back.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"You're a monster.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"Fine. I consent. Drain me.\"">> <<set $choice_4 to "\"What will either choice cost me?\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|self_starter]] [[$choice_2|sophiabas_hidden_supplement_2]] [[$choice_3|sophiabas_hidden_3]] [[$choice_4|sophiabas_hidden_supplement_4]]

Walker looks surprised by your choice. "Fascinating. Well, I wish you the very best of luck. If you don't emerge in the next…oh, decade or so? I'll come find you, alright?" And then he's gone. There's no fanfare, no swirl of sorcery. He's just gone and you're left alone with the struggling star. //Alright,// you think, //now I have to get out of here.// You know some sorcery. You'd have to <<if $social_status is "high">>coming from privilege and power. It was expected of you.<<elseif $social_status is "colonizer">>considering that you stole, lied, and grifted your way to the Crux. Having a little sorcerous might in your backpocket is a necessity.<<else>>the way you survived with almost nothing else to your name and no one in your corner. If it wasn't for your sorcery, you wouldn't have made it.<<endif>> So you turn your attention to the act of saving yourself. There are no seams to the pocket world in which Walker has trapped you, but if he was able to escape it then there must be some way out. You spend some time trying to find your way around, but end up just wandering the slick darkness which extends seemingly endlessly in every direction as the ground beneath you ripples with each step. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|self_starter_2]]

"A monster? $name, you misunderstand. This isn't your childhood bedroom. There are no monsters under the bed or in the closet. This //is// the closet and every one of us is worse than whatever you thought was hiding in the dark. Now, have you made your choice?" <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"I'll get out on my own.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"Fine. I consent. Drain me.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|self_starter]] [[$choice_3|sophiabas_hidden_3]]

"Excellent choice, sorcerer. Now just face the star…" You stare at the star as it strains against its celestial chains. The longer you stare, the more the shape of it seems to suggest a man with his limbs bound. Through his flaming skin you can see his muscles straining, magma-like sweat peals down his chest and sizzles against the watery floor beneath him. The galaxies that keep him bound cause him to struggle mightily like an atlas beneath the weight of more than a single world. There's something erotic about the struggle, about the solar body's magnificent strain. The longer you look, the more it appeals to you. Walker's hands are all over you. He stands behind you and whispers, "So new and pure, yet unscarred by the manipulations of the Crux. Your tender spirit is the best kindling—" His hand snakes down past your fly. He cradles your balls and your hardening dick. "—I will not drain you dry, $name. But I will take more than is comfortable; I will find the sharp place that makes you breathless and I will make you beg." Walker's hands travel over your body and and when you try to look away you find your gaze transfixed on the struggling, solar form. It occurs to you, belatedly, how much you have in common with Walker's chained star. Both of you trapped fast in the snare of the powerful, ruthless sorcerer. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|sophiabas_hidden_4]]

<<if $third_visit lt 2>><<set $third_visit +=1>>On your third visit to Walker's seafood cleaning meditation space, you find that he is no longer removing the grit from mussels. Instead he sits on a simple straw mat and in front of him is a pitcher of water. As you approach, he adopts an educator's patient smile, as if you've already missed an important lesson. "$name. You've returned. Good. You've come time and time again, but you've yet to join Sophia-Bas, so I wondered if there was something I could show you that might convince you one way or another." "I hail from a place and time where we worshipped the sun and the stars as celestial gods. Sorcerers have no need of gods these days. Why bother when you've ascended to something beyond humanity? It would only introduce new rivals, further wrinkles in our absolute supremacy of this realm and we have enough enemies. But I am sentimental. So I will show you what sorcery is to me, if you would look."<<else>>"Welcome back. Apparently you haven't grown sick of coming and going. So, what have you decided, $name? Will you look into my pitcher with me?" asks Alcibiades.<<endif>> He gestures to the pitcher. <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Alright. Show me.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"Is it dangerous?\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"I am here to join Sophia-Bas; a demonstration isn't necessary.\"">> <<set $choice_4 to "\"No, thank you.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|sophiabas_hidden_1]] [[$choice_2|sophiabas_hidden_supplement]] [[$choice_3|sophiabas_hidden_join]] [[$choice_4|sophiabas_hidden_no]]

"We are the house of liars and manipulators. Officially we represent independence—this House is a monument to the will of the individual—but no one climbs to such dizzying heights on their own. We concern ourselves with power and information. Sometimes the cost is a well-placed compliment and sometimes it's a knife in the dark. The House will never ask you to relinquish your individuality, like Diadēma, or to become a faceless part of the Crux's war engine, like the sorcerers of Keyaki, who mobilize whenever the Crux has an axe to grind. But—" Alcibiades stops working, looks up at you. "If you seek advancement in our ranks, then your hands //will// get dirty, sorcerer. I can't promise you restful sleep, but join Sophia-Bas and you will be formidable. Feared and loved in equal measure, because one without the other and you're either a tyrant or a figurehead. We will make you more." He shrugs. "Or not. Your choice. Our House Words are: 'To Compel,' so you can imagine why we're the bogeymen of the Crux. Anything else?"

<<set $house to "Sophia-Bas">><<set $house_leader to "Alcibiades Walker">><<set $house_description to "the House of power and compulsion.">> "Ah! He makes the choice. Well, I'd say you won't regret it, but that's really up to you, isn't it?" Walker stands. "Estramore has some big ideas about these inductions being more…personable. So I'll tell you, $name, what sorcery is to me. I was young when ships came from the north and the west to herd the strong like chattel. In the belly of those ships death whispered and we listened. I hated death, I abhorred the loss, and my grief was wide and merciless. Sorcery found me stripped of humanity and bereft. What I wanted was to watch my enemies grow old and perish, so I learned every terrible thing about sorcery from anyone who would teach me and at any cost. I learned what sorcery could do and how far beyond mere vengeance I could go. I learned how to cheat death." He smiles as if telling a private joke. "But sorcery is bargaining with the universe, $name. And costs can't be elided completely. So I live for many years and when I die, I'm reborn into a new form, and I have the pleasure of growing up—plagued by hormones and prone to recklessness; I grow feeble, weak-kneed and incontinent. Then I die and rise again. Ad infinitum. One day, I imagine that I will find a way around the inconvenience of eternity. That's what sorcery is: solutions to impossible problems brought on by vain, heretical desires and leading inexorably to bigger, more terrible problems. "I have no doubt you will seek out problems of your own, $name. Welcome to Sophia-Bas. I wish you fascinating troubles and novel solutions." Alcibiades puts a hand to his chest and from within his skin a light radiates outward. It covers him, it covers you, and it tastes like the blood and wine. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|pre_intro]]

<<display sophiabas_yes_template>>

"I'm not surprised. It's a tough sell, joining an organization that thrives on secrets, lies and compulsion. It could make you a social pariah. Honestly, walking away is the wiser choice. But if the voice in the back of your mind keeps whispering that this is where you belong, down in the muck, I'll be around." He continues working and doesn't look up at you again. You leave him to his manual labor. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|house_juncture]]

Alcibiades shrugs. "Oh, a bit of this or a bit of that. If you have to fight your way out of here, you might find that the process has leached away a touch of your charming demeanor. Nothing apocalyptic. But your reward will be a deeper understand of technique. After all, survival is always a useful lesson. "However, if you let me drain your essence then your fitness will surely suffer, but the reward will be a boon to your social skills. The primary weapon of a Sophia-Bas sorcerer. Is that enough? Have you made your choice?" <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"I'll get out on my own.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"Fine. I consent. Drain me.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|self_starter]] [[$choice_3|sophiabas_hidden_3]]

Walker is true to his word: he makes you beg. He wrings sensations out of you through sorcery that seem to come from so deep within you that it finds the boundary between pleasure and madness. And you beg. The star never stops straining, flexing its biceps against the blue-black of its chains and thrusting out its hips in an attempt to break the tight fit against its massive thighs. And you beg. You might have cum, but you aren't sure. In fact, you aren't sure that you are even you anymore. Alcibiades has a hand around your balls and a hand on your cock and a hand parting the cheeks of your ass and a hand stroking your throat. Maybe you make a sound or maybe you don't, but in your mind you're begging. It is all far too much. And yet you can't imagine it ending. You hate the thought that this pleasure, which runs through every fiber of your being, might eventually end. It eventually ends and you find yourself on your knees in the grass. Your stomach feels empty, but it's not hunger. You feel…devoid, somehow. "You'll get your breath back soon. The whole ordeal will have taken a bit off the top of your physical fitness, but you'll get over it and I'd be surprised if you didn't feel a little more…compelling," Walker says. He's still seated crosslegged on his mat. The pitcher is gone. <<set $fitness -= 1>><<set $charm += 1>> > Your experience with Alcibiades has $fitness_down and $charm_up. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|house_choice_hidden]]

Walker gives you a calculating look. "So now there is no more artifice. You know what I'm about, what Sophia-Bas is about. We take what we need and we do not apologize. Is this the House where you would spend your days, sorcerer? The House of the scorpion." <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"No, I don't think this is for me.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"Go fuck yourself.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"Yes. I would like to enter Sophia-Bas.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|sophiabas_rejection]] [[$choice_2|sophiabas_rejection][$style_yes to true]] [[$choice_3|sophiabas_hidden_yes]]

<<if $style_yes is true>>Walker smiles. "I'll consider that a maybe then."<<else>>Walker shrugs. "Sleep on it. No need to rush your answer."<<endif>> The Father of Sophia-Bas's eyes twinkle with amusement and he turns his attention to a small wooden carving in his hands. It's a star. You turn away and leave him sitting there. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|house_juncture]]

When you return to the edge of the forest, Walker is awaiting you, as usual. This time he's carving a small wooden doll. His hands move quickly, deftly and the shape of the doll grows more distinct as you watch. You wonder if the sorcerer doesn't have something better to be doing than whittling in the dark and waiting for you. "Ah, $name. I was just expecting you." He doesn't see fit to clarify how he anticipated your arrival, instead he grins beatifically. "Have you decided to join our little coterie?" <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Tell me more about Sophia-Bas first.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"Sleazy, questionable ethics? I'm in.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"No. This just isn't for me.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|sophiabas_hidden_supplement_3]] [[$choice_2|sophiabas_hidden_yes]] [[$choice_3|sophiabas_hidden_no]]

<<display sophiabas_supplement_text>> <<silently>> <<set $choice_1 to "\"Alright. I'm ready. I want to join.\"">> <<set $choice_2 to "\"I can't do this.\"">> <<set $choice_3 to "\"I may regret this, but alright. I'm in.\"">> <</silently>> [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[$choice_1|sophiabas_hidden_yes]] [[$choice_2|sophiabas_hidden_no]] [[$choice_3|sophiabas_hidden_yes]]

After a few hours of wandering through the dark, you begin to feel despair. It starts as a scratching at the back of your mind, a whisper of terror, and grows into a scream. You lash out with your //other// sense and find the star. It's full of power, raw unadultered power. You think that maybe you can leech some of it and use it to somehow save yourself. <<if $social_status is "colonizer">>You've stolen power before, so why not?<<else>>You apologize.<<endif>> The sorcery you envision is more instinct than plan. It doesn't have real specificity; you aren't yet versed enough to know better. You reach out and establish a link with the star, which is easy, and then try to use that power which is //very// hard. The star resists you and tugs on the impractical, imperfect link between you. You almost throw up, but you hang on anyway. Gradually the dark environs at the bottom of the pitcher begins to shift and boil around you. The star struggles harder against its bounds. Suddenly the world lurches and the pitcher spits you back into the world, back into the cool air of the night at Vesilind's Crux. "Impressive for a novice, $name. I assumed you'd spend at least a few nights in there. Good for you. You have some potential after all," Walker says. He's sitting on his straw mat, smiling warmly. And you are on your hands and knees, panting hard. The formula has taken a lot out of you: your tongue feels thick in your mouth and you're irritated, deeply irritated, but your sense of sorcery feels clearer than it ever has. <<set $charm -= 1>><<set $technique += 1>> > Your escape has $charm_down and $technique_up. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|house_choice_hidden]]

<<set $fitness to 3>><<set $technique to 3>><<set $charm to 3>>You wake up with dirt in your mouth. You spit it out to find that dirt is perhaps the most resilient taste there is. You put your hands under you and push up off the ground. As you look out from atop a rocky prominence to a gray sky and a grayer ocean. You are no longer at Vesilind's Crux. Something—//everything//—has gone wrong. You give yourself a moment to adjust, look around. The jutting rocky surface you're standing on leads down into a valley which you can see much of from your height and it's almost all white. The slate-colored ground immediately beneath you gives way to the greens of moss-covered rock and sparse grasses, but there's a boundary just beyond where all of the landscape—including the grass and the rock—have all been leached of color. The effect is eerie, but your options are trekking down into the dead land or throwing yourself into the sea. So you traverse the bleached landscape. As you move down the hill and onto the alabaster ground, you find that the vegetation isn't dead per se: the grass seems to be growing, the ground is stable underneath your feet. You try to think of a sorcerous formula that could account for this leeching of color, but you draw a blank. Then you think: //Wyatt would have a theory.// Then you recall Wyatt's last words before the door was thrown open. What was he sorry about? Was the mishap with the door intentional? And, furthermore, were you the only one who was dragged through? You come closer to level ground and ahead of you there's a copse of trees—white leaves swaying in the breeze and white bark climbing toward the sky. Two dirt paths lead off to your right and your left. As you consider where to go next, something bursts through the treeline. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Demo End]]

The mirrored automaton shoots a beam of heat in the direction of the sorcerer. Even from a distance the heat crisps your shirt sleeve and threatens to singe off your eyebrows. <<if $option is "tech_check">>Your defensive formula crackles as it holds off the worst of the heat, since you aren't the focus of the attack. Even still cracks begin to appear in your barrier as the strength of the beam increases.<<endif>> <<if $option is "tech_check">>However, the other sorcerer is not so lucky: the beam slams into her<<else>>The beam slams into the sorcerer's<<endif>> activated formula: a shimmering protective barrier <<if $house is "ballast">>that you recognize as a variation on the Hoff-Miller formulation.<<else>>not unlike those of Ballast sorcerers.<<endif>><<if $option is "tech_check">> And, in fact, not unlike your own.<<endif>> Both sides reach out to you. First the sorcerer, sweating and gritting her teeth, shouts: <<if $option is not "tech_check">>Move behind me, stranger! I can't hold this thing forever."<<else>>"Your formula won't hold, stranger! The bastards have anti-sorcery countermeasures. My barrier is fortified. Come behind me."<<endif>> Then the machine, speaking into your mind, its voice licking at your thoughts in a way that makes your teeth itch, sends: //Others will arrive shortly to clear this rabble. But you need not perish alongside them, world-shaper. Approach us, if you would align yourself with what is beautiful and true.// [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Side with the machine.|world_1_b1]] [[Move behind the human sorcerer's barrier.|world_1_c1]]

At a glance you can tell the thing barreling toward you is mechanical. It's at least ten feet tall and moves with serpentine slickness on its six legs. At its center is a mass of mirrored metal that reflects the world around it. As it runs, you realize it's not running //toward// you, but //away// from a group that emerges from the trees in chase. There are maybe ten of them, humans, as far you can tell. The one at the head of the mob throws a bottle at the strange metal creature which it attempts to dodge, but the bottle catches it on the smooth side-paneling and the projectile explodes into flames. The metal thing is staggered, but not downed. It rights itself, turns to the group, and in some apparent calculation decides to make a stand. The members of the mob slowly surround it. Armed with nets, and makeshift spears, they slowly advance. Save one of them, standing toward the back. You instantly recognize what this person is doing: hands ahead of them, focusing, radiating something in between light and sound, adding a shimmer to the air like plucking the world's guitar strings. //Sorcery//. [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Continue.|world_1_a3]]

The machine pivots and breaks through the perimeter that the group of humans is trying to establish around it. Unfortunately, that means the machine comes in your direction. As it nears you, it hesitates. //Friend or foe, world-shaper?// It asks you meta-consciously, accessing a layer of communication usually reserved for sorcerers. The machine's ability to communicate is a surprise. You don't have time to react before another bottle of flames breaks nearby. "Get away from it! We have to destroy it now!" One of the humans shouts in your direction. Just then the machine digs the pointed edges of its 'legs' into the ground to brace and one of the mirrored surfaces on its central mass deepens in color and the air around it sizzles as if the machine is preparing an attack of some sort. The sorcerer on the other side completes their own preparations. Two attacks seem about to commence. What do you do? [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Immediately dash off the battlefield and away from the attacks.|world_1_a4][$option to "fitness_check"]] [[Quickly convince both sides that I'm not a threat.|world_1_a4][$option to "charm_check"]] [[Instantly conjure a protective formula to defend myself.|world_1_a4][$option to "tech_check"]]

<<if $option is "fitness_check">>\ <<if $fitness gte 3>>\ You move before moving fully occurs to you. As if your legs have safety features that your mind hasn't yet integrated. And it's a lucky thing, because you just barely manage to dodge the machine's counterattack. <<display pick_a_side>>\ <<else>><<set $fail to "fitness">>\ <<display 1_a4_failstate>><<endif>>\ <<elseif $option is "charm_check">>\ <<if $charm gte 3>>\ "Hold! Hold!" you shout, putting your hands into the air, and backing slowly away from both groups. "I'm not here to fight either of you." And the fighting pauses for a moment, but only just… Once you're out of the line of fire, both sides pick up the conflict with renewed vigor. <<display pick_a_side>>\ <<else>><<set $fail to "charm">><<display 1_a4_failstate>><<endif>>\ <<else>>\ <<if $technique gte 3>>\ Your first impulse isn't to reason with the opposing sides, it's to protect yourself. Your hands and will are moving before you can plan anything. Defensive formulations often require a somatic component: a weaving together of body and mind. This one is no different. You draw spirals in the air and power answers. Crisp blue-white lines like neon sear the air before you. The color, as well as the burnt rose scent, suggest that the nature of reality in this plane is shifted ever so slightly from the familiar. <<display pick_a_side>>\ <<else>><<set $fail to "tech">>\ <<display 1_a4_failstate>><<endif>><<endif>>

Aesthemere World.

Rust Collective World.

<<set $wake_up to true>>\ <<set _roll to random(1,2)>>\ <<if $fail eq "fitness">>You move quickly, nearly instantly, but you're not dealing with mere physical laws. There is sorcery at work and it requires more of you than you are capable of.<<elseif $fail eq "tech">>Your defenses are well-wrought, or well-enough for a neophyte. But this is not the assault of a fellow trainee at the Crux, this is an attack by a potentially hostile being.<<else>>Your attempts to still the aggressions of both sides doesn't have the result you're expecting, instead the machine attacks suddenly. Maybe it's an attempt to catch the humans off-guard, but either way you're caught in it's path and the diplomatic words die on your lips. <<endif>> The beam of the metal monstrosity speeds toward you and you hear the cry of the alarmed humans. The beam strikes. Its heat is more intense than anything you encountered during the first few months of your training at the Crux. It burns through your synapses, shuts down the thinking, rational part of your brain. <<if $fail eq "tech">>Your formulation effervesces like morning dew.<<endif>> You hardly feel yourself collapsing and just as you lose consciousness. You hear, in your thoughts, //Collateral damage. Apologies, world-shaper. If you persist, we will make amends.// And then your thoughts leave you all at once. <<if _roll is 1>> /* This leads to the Rust Collective outcome */ [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Wake. Again.|world_1_c1]] <<else>> /* This leads to the aesthemere option */ [img[img\phil_stone.png]] [[Wake. Again.|world_1_b1]] <<endif>>

Here's the current end of the content. I hope you've enjoyed it so far. Of course, if you've encountered any bugs, feel free to report them on the itch.io page or email me directly at benjibright@gmail.com. Thanks so much for playing! -Ben <<link "Restart?">><<script>>UI.restart();<</script>><</link>>