Set in the world of The Ancient One. Arendin and Rain have lived many lives together, and have fought against the Ancient One and his insidious evil in many of those lives.

In this storygame, you play as Arendin the day before a coming battle with the Ancient One, who is in control of the King's Army. But in spite of your previous conflicts with Alaric Thorne, you are unprepared for just how deep the Ancient One's plans go..

Scribe's Note: Arendin and Rain have been reincarnated multiple times, and have always been given different birth names by their parents in each life. However, as they adopt their original names once their memories have been awakened, I will use the names Arendin and Rain.

(Please be aware that this storygame contains mature themes, such as sexual content, violence, scenes of abuse, and mind control. A lot of the more adult content will depend on paths you take in this storygame, but I'm not going to warn for those in the storygame, as I don't want to pull anyone out of the story. Just be aware that the Anything Goes rating fits some of the paths here).

This game also contains a same-sex male/male relationship and hints at a second in other paths.

If you reach what appears to be a dead end, or there's only one choice, try looking in your inventory.

Written for the rebellion contest December 2024.

The Ancient One, a being of immense power always hungry for more, has been the downfall of societies over thousands of years. Now, in the modern world, he has struck again. He has exerted his influence over Dominants, forcing them to treat their subs (or potential subs) cruelly and harshly. The only way to break his control is for the sub to submit fully. This is something that has been hard for any sub to do over the centuries, and so the Ancient One's power grows with each soul he consumes, draining the Dominant entirely of their lifeforce and leaving them a broken husk.

Draco, a simple saddlemaker, falls prey to the machinations of Headmaster Alaric Thorne, a sadistic man who subjects Draco to terrible cruelty and abuses the students under his care. As Draco learns how evil Thorne really is, he forms a close bond with one of Thorne’s students; a bond that may be instrumental in saving their world from the evil that threatens it.

In this story, you play as Arthur, as he returns to the Academy to retrieve a forbidden book to leave for someone in the future to find, creating allies that the Ancient One won't be aware of because they haven't been born yet.

This story does have some hints of Dominant/submissive themes, and certain paths will contain scenes of torture. There is also a sex scene right at the beginning. I won't warn for those paths, but just please be aware of what you might discover within.

Written for Summer's End Synergy Contest, using this prompt: A recent event has caused the protagonist to go through a difficult change.

You're a patient in a psychiatric hospital, having been admitted there on the instructions of your family, who are no longer able to take care of you. But despite the best efforts of the doctors trying to treat you, you're still in the grip of the delusions they tell you you're suffering.

Every night, when you dream, you find yourself in a fantasy world of dragons, magic, elves, and warriors. Your dreams feel as real to you as your life in the hospital; perhaps even more real. But the doctors tell you that there's something wrong with your mind; that you cannot differentiate fantasy from reality. And you're in the hospital for treatment.

As the days progress and your condition doesn't get any better, you find yourself wondering if the doctors are right. Are your dreams merely fantasy, or are they glimpses into another world?

Or is something far more sinister going on?

More than two decades ago, a series of brutal murders rocked the small town of Rivercrest. Several students at the high school lost their lives in the massacre, and the murderer was never caught.

Your parents were survivors of the massacre and it's made them extremely overprotective of you. You find yourself chafing against their constant rules, especially when combined with the curfew set through the whole town. It's been twenty years since there were any murders...since there was any crime.

But one day, all of that changes. After your own mother is murdered brutally, you find yourself thrown back in time....before the Rivercrest High School murders occurred.

Can you stop the murders and figure out who the killer is before you end up another victim?

I will read after my current one.

I'm curious about the analysis now...

Does that mean (for instance) a 7 length storygame review would get 3.5 points?

Thanks! I'd say the same to you, but you're doing well, having managed first place in only a few days. So well done for that!

Just finished The Pure, The Vile and The Deadly.

It is the longest review I have ever written for anything, even when I was still posting in my blog regularly.

Unfortunately, I have fallen behind on my reading and reviewing, due to being at a convention yesterday. We'll see if I can do better during this next week.

That's great! If you want to join the contest, you just have to post saying you want to join and wait to be put onto a team. Once you are, you'll start counting any featured comments you get.

Any story on this site at all. You get different points based on the length of the storygames, too.

A good rule of thumb is to pick out specific details you liked and specific details you didn't. Be constructive and make sure you're not mean. It might be worth taking a look at some of the featured reviews on storygame already, just to get an idea.

As long as you read, rate and review, I think you stand a good chance of not failing.

Thank you for the recommendation! I will be sure to check it out this week.