As you start moving, spikes of pain shoot across your body. Glancing down, you see torn robes of white over wounds bound by threads of black silk. Your hands seem particularly hurt, with the same silk torn away as your palm appears burned and your fingers cut. After a few moments working through the pain, you pull yourself onto your feet.
(set:$stand to true)
Would you like to try to:
(if:$remembered is false)[ [[remember what happened]]?]
(if:$examine is false)[ [[examine your surroundings]]?](else:)[ [[follow the path upwards]]?]As you cast your mind back, memories of harsh light and a voice urging you to press onwards. A moment later, a loud crash filled your ears as you felt wind rushing past you, but nothing past that.
Would you like to:
(if:$stand is false)[ [[stand up]]?]
(if:$examine is false)[ [[examine your surroundings]]?](else:)[ [[follow the path upwards]]?]
(set:$remembered to true)Taking in the space around you, you see a circular stone platform carved out of rock with broken shards of glass strewn all around the center of it where you are laying. Beneath you, the stone is stained a reddish-brown that retains a slight dampness and smells of iron.
Looking past the platform, you see broken stairs that once led downwards, now accompanied by only a precipice and voluminous clouds below.
On the other sides of the platform, stone pathways circle around the stone of the mountain, and while the path to the right is blocked by rubble, the leftward trail beckons you.
(set:$examine to true)
Would you like to:
(if:$stand is false)[ [[stand up]],]
(if:$remembered is false)[ [[remember what happened]]?]
(if:$plant is true)[Find a piece of glass and [[prepare your plants]]?](if:$examine is true)[or perhaps [[follow the path upwards]]?](if:$awake is false)[Blinding light fills your eyes as conciousness returns you. Laid across a large circular stone platform, you barely make out a grand tower above as the light that once blinded you fades behind the monolith towering over the platform.
](else:)[ Around you lies the familiar stone platform that you awoke on.
]
(if:$plant is true)[(if:$examine is true)[With the curative plants you gathered, you imagine that if you examine the glass, you could find one suitable for preparing the plants.]
]
Would you like to:
(if:$stand is false)[Attempt to [[stand up]]?]
(if:$examine is false)[Start to [[examine your surroundings]]?]
(if:$plant is true)[Start to [[examine your surroundings]]?]
(if:$remembered is false)[ see if you can [[remember what happened]]? ]
(if:$examine is true)[ [[follow the path upwards]] ?]
(set:$awake to true)
(if:$stand is false)[As you move to follow the path upwards, you shift your torso over and are reminded that you still laying on the ground. Perhaps getting back on your feet will allow you to investigate that path more easily.](else:)[The stone path circles around the mountain and leads to (if:$gardenstatus is true)[a small garden on the left](else:)[the withered remains of the garden on the left], and (if:$shrinestatus is true)[a decorated shrine] (if:$gardenstatus is true)[curtained with black silk] (if:$shrinestatus is true)[along the cliffside](else:)[an empty space where the shrine once stood] straight ahead. Looking at the mountain to your right, the rockface is clear with stones marked such that a proficient and healthy climber could feasibly ascend to the tower above.]
Would you like to:
Return to [[the stone platform]]?
(if:$stand is true)[Investigate the [[cliffside shrine]]?
Investigate [[the climbing path]]?
Investigate [[the garden]]?](if:$shrinestatus is true)[Approaching this shrine, you (if:$gardenstatus is true)[pass through a curtain of black silk and] see an ornate shrine made with a pale ashen wood. Inside, a small mural depicts throngs of people worshipping a radiant sun floating above them. To the side sits a small bowl, patterned like the sun with sharp blades forming its rays, and a reddish-brown stain in the middle.]
(if:$gardenstatus is true)[As you look it over, a voice whispers in your mind, "Sacrifice to me and receive your blessing once more!"](else:)[ The bowl continues to quietly shimmer as your blood, and the blood of those before you, continues to stain its center.]
(if:$gardenstatus is true)[Beyond the shrine, the plants of the garden grow closely around it.](else:)[With the curtains now gone, it is not difficult to see the once flourishing garden now withered away.]
Would you like to:
Return to [[the stone platform]]?
(if:$gardenstatus is true)[Perform a [[sacrifice to the shrine]]?]
Attempt to [[push the shrine off the cliff]]?
Investigate [[the climbing path]]?
Investigate [[the garden]]?(if:$gardenstatus is true)[Stepping into the garden, you see verdant growth as all manner of plants grow beneath the protective weave of black silk strewn across the garden. (if:$climbstatus is false)[Looking over it, you notice two plants with curative properties that might be able to help your hands heal, should you be able to prepare them with something sharp. Just in case, you pick enough to make the remedy.
(set:$plant to true)] ](else:)[
A once vibrant garden now lies as a husk of its former self, with all life and vitality drained away.]
Would you like to:
Return to [[the stone platform]]?
Investigate the [[cliffside shrine]]?
Investigate [[the climbing path]]?Stepping up the the climbing path, you see stones worn smooth and colorful paint marking the path upwards.
Would you like to:
Return to [[the stone platform]]?
Investigate the [[cliffside shrine]]?
Investigate [[the garden]]?
Attempt [[the climb]] upwards?Slicing your hand across the bowl, pain surges through your mind, yet you lift your hand and let the blood drip into the bowl. As it does, the bowl begins to glow. More blood dribbles into bowl and moments silently pass as the bowl continues to glow brighter.
Just as your vision starts to grow blurry, the blood floats into the air and blinds you in a flash of light. As your vision returns, the pain has vanished. You look over yourself to see your wounds healed, your robes restored to a pristine white, and not a trace of the black silk to be found.
Observe the [[cliffside shrine]].
(set:$gardenstatus to false)
(set:$climbstatus to true)Pushing against the frame of the shrine, it groans as you push it off its foundations and send it careening into the clouds below.(set:$shrinestatus to false)
Would you like to:
Return to [[the stone platform]]?
Investigate [[the climbing path]]?
Investigate [[the garden]]?Carefully holding a piece of glass that can be held somewhat safely, you spend a significant amount of time cutting the plants into a mulch. Above, the flickering light flares and the shadows shrink. Gathering your mulch, you rub it into your hands and immediately feel relief. You feel like you are feeling well enough to climb.
Would you like to:
[[follow the path upwards]]?
or take in [[the stone platform]] once again?
(set:$plants to false)
(set:$climbstatus to true)(if:$climbstatus is false)[As you start to pull yourself up, pain shoots through your hands and you understand that you are not in the condition to attempt this climb. Maybe the [[cliffside shrine]] or [[the garden]] will have something to help.]
(if:$climbstatus is true)[As you pull yourself up the path, a tense but manageable climb ensues as you carefully make your way up the stone of the cliff face and the dark wood of the tower as you emerge onto [[the tower pinnacle]]. ]Pulling yourself over the railing, you see a small room around 20 paces wide and long. Steps lead down to dais where a large square of metal sits. Partially set atop the square is a blindingly bright lantern partially submerged in the structure. Looking across the room, you see a shattered stained glass window facing the direction of the stone platform that you awoke on.
(if:$gardenstatus is false)[Suddenly, the voice from before shrieks as the lantern pulses. "Pull me free, my retainer! Let the world relearn the wrath of Koris the Eternal Flame!"]
(if:$gardenstatus is true)[The light of the lantern pulses, and it sounds as if there is whispering that you are barely unable to make out.]
[[Approach the dais]]Stepping closer, you feel a heat sweep across you as the light of the lantern shines upon you directly.
(if:$gardenstatus is false)[Its warmth fills you with strength, as you look through the light and see a glowing star within the lantern.]
(if:$gardenstatus is true)[(if:$shrinestatus is true)[Its warmth is pleasant, yet the blinding light of the lantern makes you wince as you approach.]]
(if:$shrinestatus is false)[As you step closer, the warmth turns into a dry heat, as the blinding light of the lantern makes you wince as you approach].
Would you like to:
[[Seal the lantern into the vault]]?
OR
[[Extract the lantern]]?As you grasp onto the lantern, the heat fades for a moment. As you begin to press down, however, it transforms into a raging inferno. Seconds seem like hours, and while the light overwhelms your vision, you feel something wrap around your form and shield you. Eventually, the room cools and the light fades as you hear a distinct click. Opening your eyes, you see the lantern now firmly placed within the vault and ribbons of black silk swaddling you in a cold, yet protective embrace.
Stepping back from the dais, you notice how the clouds part below and a path back into the seems to open up before you.
==========================================================
Thank you for playing!
Would you like to restart and [[Beyond the Fall]] once more?
(set:$awake to false)As you grasp the lantern and begin to lift, you feel the warmth surround you as the light becomes overwhelming and maniacal laughter fills your ears.
"You have served me well servant, though this form does not suit you. You require a greater vessel to properly serve the will of the Eternal Flame!"
Whoever you once were has been burned away, and only time might tell what kind of campaign Koris will lead against the world at large.
==========================================================
Thank you for playing!
Would you like to restart and [[Beyond the Fall]] once more?
(set:$awake to false)''Beyond the Fall''
//a Twine game created by Alex Rovner//
Awaken on [[the stone platform]]
//[[Credits|Citations]]//
(set:$awake to false)
(set:$plant to false)
(set:$remembered to false)
(set:$examine to false)
(set:$shrinestatus to true)
(set:$gardenstatus to true)
(set:$climbstatus to false)
(set:$stand to false)//Beyond the Fall// Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
[[Return|Beyond the Fall]]