You wake up in the middle of the forest at night, with no memory of how you got there.  All you have is a backpack full of Cheez-Its and other essential supplies, along your own wits to help you on your way.  As you explore this strange land, you'll find things you never knew could exist, (at least, not that you can remember).  You'll meet strange creatures, some friend, others not, and maybe, just maybe, recover your lost memories...

My (rather rushed), entry for the Lone Hero contest.  I'll be the first to admit that not all the endings will make you any sort of hero, lone or otherwise, (mainly the ones where you run away from just about every source of conflict, and/or die).  But if you're brave enough to do what you think is right, even though it may result in your untimely demise, you may just make yourself a hero yet.  In that light, I guess you could say you're a reluctant Lone Hero.  

While each route of this story can be understood to some degree on it's own, it is important to play every branch to fully understand the greater story that's being told.  I have no intention of revealing everything on the first play through, you'll have to take the time to explore everything to learn all it's secrets.

By the way, on the off chance that you find any glitches or bugs, please tell me.  I'd like to know so I can fix them.

I think you know what to do by now ;)

Netflix and video games can only go so far when it comes to fighting boredom. Usually the comfort of your own home is more than enough to make you happy on the weekends, but lately something feels off. You've tried to rewatching The Office for the six or seventh time, but just couldn't get into it. After scrolling through your entire Steam library consisting of over five hundred games, you couldn't find a single one that looked worth playing. You're used to being relieved about coming home after a long day of work or school, but lately you've found yourself dreading the emptiness of your own home. There's no two ways around it, you're stuck in a rut and it's going to take something major to break you out. Luckily, you have just the thing. Before you have a chance to change your mind, you call up your friend who lives across town and tell him to come over as soon as possible. It doesn't take much to convince him to join you on the ultimate Saturday bike ride.

But little do you know that biking can be a lot more dangerous than it looks. The trails are a hotbed for all manner of suspicious activity. You are about to stumble upon an underground subculture more complex and deadly than you could possibly have imagined. Today, you'll find out whether you're just another neckbeard with a cheap set of wheels, or a true hero and adventurer.

The trails in the story are loosely based on the ones in my own town. Some of the weird and crazy things in this story are exaggerated or completely made up, but there were also some things I pulled directly from my own experience.  My town can be kinda strange sometimes.  I'll let you decide for yourself what you think is true and what isn't.

Below the surface of the world, there live many who have forgotten the taste of sunlight. Out of the abyss, many great civilizations have arisen, spreading across the cavernous underground. Where once there was only darkness, life has managed to find a way to flourish. Survival in the depths isn't easy; only with exceptional strength, cunning, and luck can ever hope to live into old age. Everyone must do whatever it takes to survive, and you are no exception.

You play as Dreck, a high ranking grunt from one of the most profitable gangs in the Phaenicia Caverns settlement. Up to this point, you've managed to do pretty well for yourself with the payouts you get in your line of work, and until three hours ago, you were certain you'd have it made for the rest of your life. But all that went up in smoke when the militia raided your organization's hideout, on the hunt for anyone even remotely connected to it. As luck would have it, this transpired while you were briefing for an assignment, so you were caught up in the crossfire. Now, you've got a target on your back, and have no choice but to get out of town as fast as possible before they get to you too. You're a wanted man, and if you stay, it'll be only a matter of time before they track you down.

My entry for Endmaster's dark fantasy contest. This isn't a genre I usually write, so any feedback is greatly appreciated. Hope you enjoy!

The power of love can overcome even the most improbable of situations. 

Honestly, I'd be a little worried if I was a responsible parent and it was my kid on here, simply due to how most of you get tarred, feathered, and subsequently banned within twelve hours of joining. But I'm neither responsible nor a parent, so I guess I'll just sit back and enjoy the fireworks. In any case, you've managed to make it at least a couple of days without pissing off someone with actual power, which is already a lot better than a lot of people your age. I'm not exactly the best judge, but from where I'm standing it looks like you might have a chance at lasting here awhile.

I was wondering the same thing. All I could find on google was something about an indigeonous Austrailian tribe.

It'd be really cool to partake in a tournament style contest with a bracket of one on one duels like this. It'd be an interesting twist on the regular storygame contests we do here, though I guess it would be kind of a nightmare to moderate. 

Don't forget your home address and debit card number.

You should really start writing articles. You could probably repurpose some of your older posts like this one to submit a at least one or two. It's a great way to get a MASSIVE amount of points without spending a long time writing story games and reviews, and you seem to have a knack for it.

Well that's a combination I've never seen before. Granted, I tend to ignore the entire fanfiction genre as a general rule, so I wouldn't know much about what franchises work well with one another. Anyways, if you were hoping for someone to collaborate with you, I'm sorry to say it's probably not going to happen. The vast majority of newbies such as yourself don't manage to produce particularly impressive results when it's their first time making a storygame, and that's assuming they even manage to finish it at all before losing interest and disappearing from the site. Even if you think you are capable of writing a quality story, you have yet to provide any tangible evidence that you can deliver. This leaves a virtually nonexistent pool of potential helpers, and that's before taking into consideration just how niche the subject matter is. 

On the other hand, if it's just advice you're looking for, there are plenty of resources out there to help you out. If you haven't already, go ahead and check out the Help and Info section on the left side of your screen. There are a whole bunch of articles there full of tips on writing, using the editor, and even more advanced skills such scripting and forum etiquette. You can also ask questions in this forum if you're still struggling after you've finished. With that in mind, here are a few bits of advice to start you out. First, be sure to draw up some sort of plan or outline before you start writing. These kinds of stories can get overwhelming really fast, so knowing where you're going with the story is crucial. Second, try to keep your first game small, 10,000 words or less. Don't try to do anything fancy, just do a simple project to get your bearings. Finally, be sure to read other people's writing and learn from it. That's one of the quickest ways to improve outside of actually practicing. Also, if someone tells you your work is bad, don't throw a fit. Instead, take the criticism to heart and use it to improve. That's the other major component to developing your skills.

That's about as much as I can do to help for now. Good luck with your story!

Guess I don't have a choice now. Thanks for the clarification, that does help somewhat. Now I've just gotta figure out what the heck I'm going to write about.

Oh fuck

I'm honestly not a huge Grimdark fan, my inner Edgelord is virtually nonexistent at this point. Anything I wrote would still probably have some measure of hope to it, maybe even a good ending or two, despite the dark setting. If that's okay, I might still consider joining, but I'm still on the fence