Player Comments on Eternal

Narrative Depth and World-Building:

"Eternal" unfurls its narrative tapestry in a world where the tendrils of magic intertwine with political intrigue, forming a richly textured tableau. Within this expanse, cultures thrive, politics simmer, and characters navigate a maze of motives and desires. The narrative, a product of Endmaster's narrative acumen, captures the essence of immersive storytelling. This world breathes, the characters, multifaceted and layered, pulse with life. As players traverse through its labyrinthine paths, the tale adapts, branches, and sprouts like an ancient oak, offering a multitude of possible endings, each a testament to the player's choices.

Gameplay Mechanics and Choices:

Navigating "Eternal" is an exercise in thoughtful engagement. The role bestowed upon the player isn't a mere observer but a puppeteer pulling the strings of a protagonist's destiny. Choices, numerous and consequential, serve as the bricks that pave the player's journey. These decisions hold power, forging alliances or breeding enmity, shaping the fate of both the player character and the realm itself. "Eternal" revels in ethical ambiguity, inviting players to grapple with dilemmas that resonate long after reaching one of the many epilogues.

Emotional Impact and Character Development:

The emotional depth within "Eternal" is borne from Endmaster's masterful character crafting. Heroes and villains alike step onto the stage, each woven with motivations, flaws, and internal battles. These characters, intricately designed, evoke empathy, disdain, and everything in between. Emotion intertwines with the choices made, creating a tapestry of interlinked stories where the heartstrings of players are deftly pulled. The emotional engagement breathes life into the choices, imbuing them with significance that resonates profoundly.

Narrative Complexity and Replayability:

"Eternal" thrives within its intricacy, offering a myriad of paths that branch and diverge. The narrative, a labyrinth of threads, weaves a complex tapestry of intertwined destinies. The promise of alternate outcomes beckons, rendering each playthrough a voyage of discovery. The allure lies not only in the destination but in the multitude of journeys that lead there. The expansive network of storylines ensures that each iteration is a new adventure, and the labyrinthine narrative beckons explorers with the allure of hidden gems.

Writing Quality and Descriptive Power:

Endmaster's prose is a symphony of words, a brush that paints vivid landscapes within the theater of the mind. The textual descriptions are not mere vessels of information but conjurations that evoke sights, sounds, and sensations. The written words are a portal to worlds imagined, a testament to the transformative power of storytelling. The descriptive prowess adds depth to the experience, elevating it beyond mere reading to immersive participation.

Conclusion:

"Eternal" by Endmaster stands tall as an interactive fiction magnum opus, bridging the gap between player and protagonist, crafting connections through moral quandaries, and etching narratives that resonate. Its narrative symphony, character symposium, and the intricate dance of choices combine to forge an experience of enduring impact. The myriad of endings and labyrinthine paths invite players to explore with each replay, and the lingering emotional resonance testifies to its prowess as an interactive narrative.

Rating: 9.5/10

Pros:

-Complex and immersive narrative
-Profound character development
-Morally challenging choices
-Exquisite writing and descriptive artistry
-Expansive branching paths
Cons:

None worth noting; the game excels across all dimensions

What, no Casimir daddy incest romance option? 1/8

Ahem. Eternal is not only the title of this story, but also how long it took me to finish reading the entire thing. I started reading Eternal when the final version of the story was published, and, 9 years later, I have finally finished it. At this point, I don't just feel like I finished reading an entire book.

I feel like I just finished reading an entire book *series*.

The story is not without its flaws, in particular the numerous typos and dialogue line spacing harsher than Mistress's teaching methods, but they can be overlooked considering the epic scope and quality of the work. I also wish that we would have been able to meet and gotten to know young Cyrus, Talia, Brenda, Roldan, and the other Eternals before the Beg/Die/Struggle decision, so that we could have cared more about them later on.

Favorites: the Zana betrayal arc, Captain Gruz, the Casimir in Mortos arc, the Eternal Bliss with Alison ending, the epilogues (I made choices based on what I thought would be best for the Eternal, and, interestingly, ended up getting Epilogue #13 as my first epilogue, and the rest roughly in descending order, with #1 being last), baby throwing, and the peace with Brenda ending (I think that I really liked the peaceful endings for the Eternal because they balanced out well the brutality and bellicosity of the rest of the story).


Other thoughts:

You would think that the Eternal would have hired some bodyguards by now with how many times Mistress has snuck up on him.

We're going to need to add an Incest story tag.

This game really needs the Multiple Saves feature.

Eternal feels like it has the oldest protagonist of any story on CYS. I could really feel what it would be like to be an old person by the latter parts of many of the branches.

As usual, Endmaster is great at establishing a mood using dialogue.

This story has the rare protagonist with superpowers who feels relatable and not overpowered.

I, predictably, really enjoyed the warlord elements. I really wish there were more warlord stories on CYS.

General Recommendation: Highly highly recommended. This game is an absolute rollercoaster from start to finish, and leaves the reader deeply impacted.
Preview: As a supersoldier created by an empire beginning to spread itself too thin, what impact will your actions have on the future of the world?

=SPOILERS BELOW=

General notes:
Whether the player walks in knowing it or not, this game is ultimately about the Eternal’s quest for immortality. This can be achieved through creating a lasting impact on the world, writing some significant work, or in a few cases, actual immortality. I’ll go into more detail about how this concept is explored in each of the endings further down.
One thing this story does that I don’t think any other game really pulls of is following its protagonist from birth to death. This is something most games can’t do, for the obvious reason that it would take a really, really, long time to write (or review). Eternal does not balk at the challenge however, and presents the full scope of the Eternal’s life with both width and depth, with the epilogues each fully exploring the Eternal’s life from birth to death, and the existence of thirteen of them allowing it to do so with a large amount of variety. This is an incredibly immersive game with a staggeringly large amount of content.
It’s also one of the more thematically interesting of EndMaster’s works. Like Death Song, it tackles thought-provoking themes such as death, forms of immortality, and the various different impacts a life can have on the world around it, but exploring these themes across an epic 600k-word scope gives them added power and impact.
One thing that should be noted is that this can be a very dark game. Just about any horrible thing you can imagine happening to someone happens, and a lot of the time, it’s the player who’s doing it. If villain protagonists rub you the wrong way, you may want to approach this game with caution. That said, I’d still recommend reading it anways, as I tend to prefer moral protagonists but it didn’t prevent my enjoyment of this game.
Lastly, I’d like to give the disclaimer that this review is longer than it has any business being, and still can’t possibly have covered everything I have to say about this story. I’m sure that there’s some narrative insight I’ll think of five seconds after posting. It’s such an expansive game that it keeps you thinking about it for years after reading it, and no review can hope to do it justice.
You may think this game cannot possibly live up to the positive reviews and hype. It does. You’re given not one, but thirteen full-blown epics, each an excellently written rollercoaster of a ride.

Notes on the Eternal:
The Eternal is a good example of a lawful character done well, and explored in a variety of different dimensions. On the Savior, Patriot, and Couple paths he forges order out of the chaos left behind by the empire. On the Warrior path he immediately goes to find himself a new system. On the Bane path he commits himself to creating order by making Rask safer and instilling discipline in those he teaches to fight. On the struggle paths, obviously, he is committed to the forming of the empire and establishment of order over the world. Even on the shadow path, where his actions are the most chaotic, he expresses confusion at the shadow’s desire to simply be “free” and not conquer the empire once it falls, and is uncomfortable with the flexible hierarchy. When he leads the shadows he does so strictly and with purpose, and when he lives alone in the Survivor path, his life is still very structured.
The absence of stable mentor figures for the Eternal really has a strong effect on his personality on the struggle path. On the beg and die paths he has Gruz and Ebon, who, while they each have their own flaws, do have his best interests at heart and teach him genuine values. On the struggle path, he has only the emperor and Semra, both with whom he forms a strong bond, and who are each seeking to use him for their own ends in some way. A lot of the personality and emotional issues he picks up on this path can be traced to their influence. Though the Eternal gets more control over his emotions and fanaticism later in the path, it’s striking how emotionally driven he is in the beginnings of the struggle path. He has complete derision for anyone not unquestioningly serving the empire, and is more prone to dramatic and emotional reactions. He can be thrown off his game, such as by Semra’s remarks, and when he thinks the nickname (“sunshine”) the soldiers have for him implies a lack of respect. His later moving away from this unstable sensitivity can largely be traced to Alison’s influence. She’s one of the first emotionally stable figures in his life, and has a strong positive influence on his self-confidence and security, allowing him to grow into his own person. It’s probably for this reason that the emperor sees her as such a threat.
Probably the best-written sequence of the game is the section in the middle of the struggle path where the Eternal goes with the emperor to Mortos. At this point, the Eternal has firmly set himself with the emperor, choosing his loyalty and faith over his ambitions and doubts. Though he suspects that Semra is really telling the truth and the emperor intends to kill him, he has decided that if this is what the emperor says is best for the empire, then it’s his duty and privilege to see it through. This is a very powerful character moment and shows more than anything else the extent to which the Eternal is utterly dedicated to his cause. This dedication is in large part what allows him to remain a sympathetic character despite the atrocities he commits. He’ll kill and worse for the empire, but he’s not a hypocrite. He holds himself to the same standards as anyone, and is willing to make the same sacrifices, knowing exactly what they entail.
Also of note is the Eternal’s more personal dedication to the emperor. The father-son parallels are made especially explicit in this section, and Nicodemus calls out directly the intensity of the Eternal’s devotion to his father, as well as the tragedy of it, given that the emperor has only been using him. The reader is made to feel keenly the deeply mixed emotions the Eternal experiences at the emperor’s death, a whirlwind of grief, betrayal, confusion, and loss. When Nicodemus sends him home through the portal, he has no idea how to continue.
Of course, the story isn’t over here. The Eternal is still alive, and there’s still an empire to run. The next sequence shows how he comes to terms with what has just happened, through his changing attitude towards the next generation Eternals, his taking up of the emperor’s mantle, and more personally, his investigation into the emperor’s private affairs, and the judgements he makes about him. These judgements of the emperor’s shortsightedness cement the change that has taken place in the Eternal’s character in this section. He is no longer the blindly loyal soldier and son. He is now the emperor, and he IS the empire. From this point in the story forward, the Eternal retains his soldier’s mindset, but gains an added layer of craftiness and agency, a willingness to take risks and make choices (for example: restarting the eternal program) that he would have considered off-limits prior to this change.

Character notes:
Kane can go in a lot of different directions, but it never feels out of character. Early on, he’s characterized as quiet, but friendly and deeply loyal to his fellow Eternals. This loyalty is what allows Cyrus to turn him against the empire, and why he refuses to kill Edgar and the protagonist. He’s also always been more than a little unstable—shown by his killing of 3 soldiers early on one of the beg paths, his possession by a wendigo on the struggle path, and his general erratic behavior. Oddly, despite his physical brutality, he seems to be one of the more emotionally forgiving of the eternals, and retains player sympathy even on the paths where he becomes an antagonist, and on the path where he becomes possessed.
Edgar and the Eternal have a complex relationship. Though the Eternal’s attitude towards him is always somewhat wary, Edgar’s feelings range anywhere from hatred to faith to the need for approval. This is apparent in the Bane arc, where Edgar heeds the Eternal’s advice to stay away from Rask, and asks him to succeed him when he dies. It also shows in the Couple arc, where Edgar wants Brenda and the Eternal to join him, then becomes angry, then sad, when they refuse to do so. Despite their conflicts and lack of real interaction, Edgar looks up to the Eternal as a model of what an eternal should be, and still desperately wants to prove himself worthy of him. When the Eternal refuses to endorse his actions, it preys upon his insecurities.
Gruz is a really excellent character. In the struggle path the parallels of Semra and the emperor as the Eternal’s “mother” and “father” are made explicit, and I would argue that in the beg path, Gruz plays this role instead. He’s responsible for instilling in the Eternal a soldier’s mindset, as well as much of the inner strength and values he later relies on. Gruz is more than just a mentor figure, though. He’s an intelligent orc (a fun concept), and is loyal to his people. This loyalty ultimately leads him to betray the empire and become an antagonist, leading to one of the more emotionally impactful sequences in the game. The only complaint I have about Gruz is we don’t see enough of him. Most of what we learn of him we see through his lasting influence on the Eternal’s actions.
Ulivik is a lot of fun no matter when you read his path. He’s entertaining, funny, and it’s a joy to see him grow from an awkward child into a skilled and competent adult. It’s fitting that he ends up as an adventurer. However, it’s especially meaningful after you’ve read the Eternal’s hatred for the svelk on the struggle path. That he’s able to have a positive relationship with one here makes their friendship more touching. Ulivik is also important to the svelk from a meta standpoint. He’s the only svelk we meet that isn’t despicable in some way—in fact, he’s probably the most outright heroic characters in the story. This shows in his effect on the Eternal in the Bane path. His existence as the Eternal’s protege drives him to discover his aptitude for teaching combat to the Rask citizens, and care more about the people surrounding him, leading to what is widely acknowledged as the most clear-cut heroic ending in this game. Conversely, on the Savior arc, the Eternal’s deteriorating relationship with Ulivik shows his descent from the morality he’s reclaimed. Ulivik’s relationship with the Eternal on the Bane arc is one of the most touching in the game, especially in contrast with some of the other paths.
Warrick’s skill at stealth is his constant throughout the various branches. This skill is used to its fullest potential on the struggle path where he goes on the lead the Eyes, but it also shows on the beg path, where he works for the Felkan government. Warrick is a constant on all the paths. He has an even-keeled attitude, and remains friendly with the Eternal regardless of what happens.
Brenda always struck me as strong, but somewhat fragile, the mental equivalent of a glass cannon. Though she’s a good leader and adds expertise to any nation she joins, she’s incapable of standing on her own. Without the Eternal’s help her nation in Nalin is not as strong, and failing that she passively aligns herself with Edgar. In the paths where she doesn’t remarry, she’s unable to get her life back together and ends up committing suicide. It’s an interesting contrast, to see her be so competent as a tactician and the leader of a nation, but so vulnerable in other areas. That said, her relationship with the Eternal in the Nalin paths is among the more equal ones in the game. They’re both eternals, and fully understand what the other has been through. Though they have a lot of faith and trust in each other, it’s equal faith and trust, unlike some of the Eternal’s other relationships, such as with Dawn and Decena. It’s a true partnership, and the Eternal Couple ending is well named. One constant for Brenda is her connection to the other eternals. This shows in her marriage to Roldan, and later marriage to Warrick or the Eternal, it shows in her decision to join with Edgar and the eternal dominion, and it shows in the pride and connection she feels to the third generation eternals she trains on the struggle path. It’s interesting to see how this trait plays out across different branches.
Klemto has a lot of variety, and plays a very different role on the paths where he becomes important. Unfortunately, none of them turn out very well for him. He’s unable to protect his people in the Warrior path, and he’s REALLY unable to protect his people in the struggle paths. He’s fun to interact with, as he’s clever in his actions to protect his people, but also knows his limitations and is willing to deal with the empire however necessary, be it through force or diplomacy. It’s a shame his efforts don’t pan out in the long run. His attitude of “I’ll probably be remembered as a collaborator, but I’m fine with it as long as they live to keep telling the tale of Klemto the traitor long after I’m dead” is interesting.
Cyrus is a well-written character, who is generally annoying, but shows a few moments of further depth. He has a holier-than-thou attitude towards anyone who doesn’t worship Dendrin to his satisfaction, and his faith seems to be made up more of arrogance than loyalty, with his complete derision for unbelievers. However it’s clear that however arrogant, this faith is genuine, as is his desire to spread it. This is seen, for example, when he expresses sympathy for Kane and the eternals who did not join the shadows. It’s also seen when he surrenders authority to the Eternal once he believes it’s Dendrin’s will. Unfortunately, there are no epilogues where things end particularly well for both him and the Eternal, their personalities are both too oriented towards dominance to coexist peacefully. On the Terror arc he and the Eternal develop a stable working relationship, but only at the cost of Cyrus’s health and pride, and he ultimately commits suicide.
Dendrin is fun. He’s a trickster archetype, seeking entertainment and stimulation above anything else (much like the player in this respect). His disregard for his follower’s devotion makes him a loose cannon, the Eternal can never be quite sure of what Dendrin’s response to his actions will be, and is constantly uneasy with his standing with him. We get the best understanding of Dendrin in the Terror ending, where his origins are revealed, and the Eternal actually gets the better of him. One interesting thing about Dendrin is that the faith of his followers seems to bore him, and when the Eternal develops faith for him on the Messiah path, he begins to bore him too. It takes the conflict and rivalry of the Terror path to hold his interest.
Talia fills her role in the story, but she sometimes seems a little more one-dimensional than the Eternal’s other love interests. Part of this is due to her commitment to Dendrin; she believes in him unwaveringly and this extends to her having complete faith in the Eternal when he aligns himself with him. Though Talia and the Eternal have an equal relationship in terms of power dynamics, I never really saw that they had much in common. The Eternal has too many internal doubts going on to be fully committed to a relationship with someone whose faith is so strong. Initially, there’s not much to her personality beyond her faith, though in the Terror and Messiah paths, her guiding of the second generation of eternals gives her something more to care about. That said, as the Eternal never shares his inner doubts about Dendrin with her, the relationship never feels completely even. On the Survivor path their relationship is more honest, but still not completely balanced, as Talia’s goals can never be realized. Talia’s death on this path does a good job of showing the differences between the situation here and on the other shadow paths, and it’s a formative moment for the Eternal on this path. I like that Talia lives on some paths and dies on others, it gives the player agency.
Theo and Yvette play an important role as the highest ranking humans in the shadow order, and the most orthodox of its leaders. When the Eternal has them executed on the Terror path it shows the new direction he is taking the shadows in, as well as showing how his ruthlessness has increased, with him being willing to make an example of those who were once trusted allies. Yvette’s dislike of eternals is handled well, it doesn’t take the forefront until it becomes important. Their deaths on the Messiah path are in different circumstances, showing instead that the shadow order has become more belonging to the eternals than the humans. Theo says at one point that the days fighting the empire were happier for him, showing that the struggles of forming a new government post empire collapse present an entirely new kind of challenge.
Lena has her issues, but I think this makes her a better companion for the Eternal on the Survivor path than if she didn’t. The Eternal has a lot of issues here as well. He’s been grieving for his wife for over a decade, and unable to do anything with his life. A stable, emotionally mature companion would likely not be able to convince him to change in a positive way. Instead, the need to guide Lena and prevent her from making destructive mistakes is what gets him out of his stupor, to take positive action to help the people of Delerg. Even though he’s unable to save Lena, these actions lead to saving Tulla, to whom he’s able to commit more fully as a father figure and guide towards sounder decisions. He saves Tulla, and by extension, keeping hope alive for Delerg as she becomes a shadow. Tulla’s relationship with the Eternal is fun and wholesome. It’s nice to see a branch where he acts as a successful father figure and ultimately guides his protégée towards success without stifling her.
The emperor’s development over the course of the struggle path is done quite well. At the beginning of the work, the Eternal looks on him as a savior; due in part to his indoctrination, but also due to the sharp contrast between his education with the emperor and his education with Semra. Where Semra was cruel and domineering, the emperor is hospitable and treats the Eternal with genuine respect, earning his loyalty and affection far more than he could through fear. This image of the emperor as a trusted father figure is then masterfully deconstructed throughout the rest of the first half of the struggle path. The emperor can only maintain this demeanor when everything is going his way—when he loses control of a situation, he completely loses his cool. The Eternal watches him make tactical errors, associate with untrustworthy people, become increasingly paranoid and physically and emotionally unstable, and ultimately betray his trust in him. This plays out differently on the rule/serve paths. On the rule path, the Eternal identifies the emperor’s flaws before they come to a head, and confronts him. The emperor’s death at Jacob’s hands has a kind of poetic justice to it. On the serve path, the Eternal never lets go of his faith and love for the emperor, and follows him through to the bitter end, despite being plagued by internal doubts. Only after the emperor’s death can he begin to let go of his blindness towards him and see him for the fallible person he was. Nicodemus says as much after the emperor’s death.
Jacob Mol plays an interesting role. He’s basically the one doing the day-to-day running of the empire, and constantly gets harassed and threatened for it, not to mention the constant assassination attempts. It’s never completely clear why the emperor is so dissatisfied with his performance, though this dissatisfaction is probably to his detriment, as it drives the otherwise-loyal Jacob to seeking to betray him. His pride in the eternal program, particularly Roldan, helps characterize him. After the years of disregard he’s had to put up with, his final lines to the emperor and the scene where he kills him on the rule arc is quite satisfying.
Marik is a character I would have liked to see more of, but his limited role in the story makes sense, appearing more frequently would just dilute his appearances. With all the treachery in the empire’s central structure, it’s interesting to see a character stick by Casimir due to genuine friendship rather than opportunism. I always got the feeling that this friendship wasn’t completely mutual however, and that the emperor did not value Marik as much as he valued him.
Alison is great on just about every level. She’s fun and entertaining to read, her relationship with the Eternal is believable and realistic, and most importantly, she causes him to grow and change in positive ways rather than negative ones (as mentioned above). Though the Eternal enters unequal relationships in other parts of the game, his relationship with Alison is always completely even, with the mutual give and take one would expect from a healthy marriage. Unlike some of his other love interests, she never gets possessive. Beyond that, Alison is fun as a person. She has a real sense of humor that adds a lot to the story, and is legitimately competent at her job. She’s an emotionally stable person that the Eternal can rely on not to react in the violent ways many of the people around him will. She’s well-rounded as a person, with her own life and goals (she never has any plans of giving up soldering when she marries him), and the ability to stand up to him if need be. Alison and the Eternal just seem to fit together, as partners, without either compromising themselves for the other. It makes her death a real tragedy, and an incredibly important moment for the Eternal’s future development.
Eldolith never gets fully fleshed out, but that makes sense given her limited role in the story. The Eternal never sees her as her own person, only as an extension of her mother, which doesn’t end well for her. She’s mostly used narratively to show the Eternal’s ongoing fixation with Semra, and by extension, the svelk. Her actions betray deeper motivations however, such as her odd relationship with her mother.
It becomes increasingly clear over time that while Semra is inside the Eternal’s head, he is also very much inside hers, probably even more so. At the start of the game she’s in control, but as the Eternal develops healthy emotional skills and a relationship with Alison, Semra’s hangups about him become more and more apparent. He’s able to get over her, but she isn’t able to get over him. On the rule arc he’s able to separate himself enough from the situation to give her the emotional boost she needs, which she then takes seriously and clings on to. Her fate on the rule path is unexpected and raises interesting plotlines. Fittingly, on the one plotline where the Eternal does join with Semra, she ends up destroying him. Though her feelings for him are genuine in their own way, her nature is one of corruption and self-serving ambition, and she’s far too set in her ways to be changed by anything, let alone the Eternal. There can be never be any happy ending for the pair of them, and it’s good that the story doesn’t let that happen. On the endings where the Eternal successfully rules the empire, he never “defeats”Semra; simply growing as a person enough to live with the ambiguity. It’s only on the Harbinger path, where he loses absolutely everything else, that there is a resolution to their conflict.
Quintus does an excellent job of demonstrating why pining away for the good old days of totalitarianism is never a good idea. His romanticization of the past is all-too realistic, many people in the real world DO idolize totalitarianism in this way, imagining it to be more efficient and streamlined. Ultimately, however, it’s not. The empire was really only efficient because of the Eternal’s influence on it, what’s more, it was efficient at conquering, not at actually helping its people. When totalitarianism begins to make a comeback in the republic, it is successful and gaining support, but Quintus soon learns that he’s bitten off a lot more than he can chew. You don’t bring back the efficiency of authoritarianism without also bringing back its much uglier side, and Quintus’s ignoring this danger leads to his death, as he doesn’t measure up to the new standards he created. It further leads to the destruction of his nation as he knows it. Though Quintus’s concerns about the Nalin government’s inefficiency are legitimate, his solution to the problem is much worse.
Jennifer serves an important role on the relic path, but she doesn’t do it for me as a love interest for the Eternal Though she’s obviously intelligent and can take care of herself, this independence never translates to questioning the Eternal or allowing herself to grow separately from him. Though she seems to eventually get over her misguided crush on him, she later just reverts back to it as the empire grows more prosperous. The age gap is one of the main reasons I’m not fond of this relationship, the Eternal’s romances works best when he’s with someone who can stand on their own, otherwise he just ends up dominating their life to their detriment. Jennifer’s character does not benefit from his influence on her, and the lack of her ability to stand up to him, or even stand beside him, makes me not like her much as a partner for him. A point in her favor is that at the start of their relationship she’s not afraid of him and treats him as a human being rather than a symbol, which most of the other characters do, but this eventually devolves into simple hero worship as the path goes on. I’d like her much more if they were simply friends, or if Jennifer’s crush on him remained unrequited, because they worked in that respect. Jennifer’s intelligence allowed her to provide strategic insight without the hero worship she later develops. Instead of remaining one of the reasonable characters in this arc, Jennifer’s development tracks the reemergence of old empire ways of thinking; ending the story blindly devoted to the Eternal, despite him telling her his failings. In a lot of very significant ways, Jennifer at the story’s end resembles the Eternal’s devoted but emotionally unstable state at its beginning.
I like Batalimus, though I’m disappointed he commits suicide rather than working to fix the growing problems in the Nalin republic. Batalimus is an actual action-taking leader, like Quintus, but unlike Quintus, he’s not romanticizing the past or trying to hurt people to his own advantage. He puts all the problems with the empire’s structure very eloquently.
As the orcs and Gruz never quite have things work out for them in the other branches, it’s nice to see the Eternal form a good working relationship with Trog. Trog is clearly intelligent, probably more so than Flog though not as much as Gruz, and he represents how orc culture has changed since the cataclysm.
The change in Nicodemus’s character across the Harbinger path shows well the changes the Eternal has brought to the world. At Casimir’s initial incursion into Mortos, he is in control of the situation and determined to protect the world, and Casimir if he can, despite his bitterness. By the time the Eternal returns to claim the book for himself, his actions have caused Nicodemus to lose complete faith in humanity, and allow the Eternal to destroy the world. In this way he’s somewhat similar to Batalimus, disheartening him is the only way he is defeated.
Unsurprisingly, I disapprove of the romance between Decena and the Eternal. Unhealthy age gap, power dynamics, mentor relationship, etc. etc. I’ve already gone over these issues with the Eternal’s other younger love interests. Though I don’t like any of these romances, I think the one the Eternal has with Decena is the most even of them, as Decena is quite strong in her own right. She’s a powerful warrior, and can stand up to the Eternal when need be, which many of the Eternal’s other younger love interests don’t do. The fact that she takes over the empire after his death helps, they’re closer to being equal partners. That said, Decena’s devotion means she can never be quite the same partner to him that other characters like Alison and Brenda can, but she still can stand up to him better than Dawn or Jennifer. It also helps somewhat that this relationship starts extremely unhealthily, since there’s pretty much nowhere to go but up from where things begin. It makes their eventual more balanced relationship feel like progress when compared to the relationship’s earlier state. Unlike the other power imbalance relationships, the Eternal is fully aware that what he did to Decena was wrong, and is actively seeking to make amends. He directly apologizes to her more than once. This makes it more palatable. Decena as a character fills her role in the story well, providing a narrative parallel for the Eternal’s relationship with Semra, and bringing new kinds of conflict to the story, as the Eternal comes to grips with how to deal with the damage he’s inflicted on her, while also dealing with both of their current feelings for each other. Decena becomes more interesting as she grows older and becomes her own person. The time spent away from the Eternal is important to her development.
Elam is fun. I’ve always been fond of mad scientists, and it’s good that he plays an active role in the story as opposed to Marik’s more reclusive one.
Flevas helps round out his species as the only major sveld character in the game. His anger at the dryad’s pity, and loyalty to his people but placing of the blame on them, raises interesting questions about him. His bonding with the Eternal over their mutual hatred of svelk is amusing. It would have been nice to see more of him.

Setting notes:
One thing I like about this game is the way each region has its own distinct character. In many of the paths, particularly the beg and die paths, the region the Eternal settles in has a lot of influence over his personality.
Quala- Oddly, we probably learn the least about this area, since the Eternal is usually off conquering other places.
Rask- Rask is fun. There’s a lot going on that takes the plot in interesting directions, as does the independent mindset of its citizens. Rask is explored best on the Savior and Bane paths, where its harsh and fierce territory drives the Eternal towards valuing independence and freedom.
Nalin- An important area in the Beg path, particularly the parts where you join with Brenda. It’s a desertic fantasy province, with the trappings that come with this (kobolds, giant worms, etc.), but it has its own aspects that are explored later in the work. Nalin is explored best on the Patriot and Couple paths, where the Eternal becomes more of a leader in response to it’s relatively more civilized terrain.
Felkan Kingdom- On the Warrior path, the governmental structure here makes the Eternal fit into established structures and operate within a hierarchy.
Delerg- Clearly Delerg is the land of the shadows. It reaches its full power on the paths where the shadows are victorious and cast a spell of darkness over it, but even on the branches where the shadows are less successful, the land clearly has a lot of history with the religion and always has a wilder, untamed side to it.
Mortos- Mortos is a really foreign place, largely accessible only by portal, and the mystery surrounding it is communicated well through the text. Going to Mortos with the emperor, and then returning later without him helps show the changes in the Eternal’s character between these two points; with the emperor he is an apprentice, but he returns as a conqueror. Mortos’s inclusion in the Bane and Couple epilogues is nice. The necromancer community that inhabits it we never see much of, but what we do see is interesting, since they seem to be a mostly peaceful people who just want to be left alone. Certainly not the traditional world-conquering necromancer archetypes.
Nyttrus- Once again, the worldbuilding surrounding Nyttrus is strong, and gives the continent a unique feel.
Might make a fan map at some point.

Species notes:
One thing I’ve noticed while reading this story is the variety of different fantasy species that show up, as well as the twists that exist on the more familiar ones. Many fantasy stories have humans spanning the entire globe with humanoid races merely having enclaves or regions. One thing I like about this game is that the humans tend to have their own regions as well, and the non-human races are quite widespread. It’s a more realistic depiction of a world with more than one intelligent species.
Kobolds- The kobolds have an interesting arc on the struggle paths, where they become devoted citizens of the empire. Given the empire’s somewhat xenophobic nature, it’s good to see the kobolds fully incorporated into its society.
Wendigos- The wendigos present an unusual challenge for the Eternal, an enemy that has to be defeated both mentally and physically. They’re brutal, but they’re also clever and devious and it makes them one of the more genuinely threatening enemies the Eternal faces, despite not being as organized or numerous. They’re even more subtly threatening when they’re possessing rabbits. They’re a clever concept, though I’m not sure how much of the lore behind them is taken from actual mythology.
Gnomes- I like that the gnomes have a major role in the plot here, as I think they’re a very underutilized fantasy race. Here, the gnomes have a lot of worldbuilding thrown into their history and role in the Felkan kingdom, and a lot of involvement in its politics. The role they play on the struggle arc is probably the most interesting, seeing how they’ve developed into a violent society in the rule arc, and the underground fortress they’ve built on the serve arc.
Shadows- Though a religious group and not a species, I think they belong in this section. The shadow religion and culture is quite interesting and in-depth. The cult’s politics are multifaceted and intriguing and can be approached from many angles, such as on the path where the Eternal remains loyal to the empire, and the one where he switches loyalties to the shadows. The shadows bear numerous similarities to the worshipers of Fel from Rogues, to the extent that one might suspect a connection between Dendrin and Fel. One thing that sticks out about the shadows is the loyalty and leniency they have with their own members. The talk about being a family isn’t just lip service, they really do have strong ties of loyalty to each other and are willing to forgive each other’s mistakes. The way their magic works is interesting too, with it being tied to an outside source rather than learned like the other magic in this setting. Shadow-based magic is always fun in games, and has lots of potential applications. One complaint I often have with stories with false religious orders, is that the members of said orders tend to abandon them immediately when shown evidence their god is false. In real life, religious faith is much, much stronger than this, and can easily rationalize or dismiss most threats to it. This is done well with the shadows—the player has the opportunity on multiple occasions to present them with evidence of Dendrin’s disinterest, but doing so does not lead to a mass rejection of him, it just makes people angry. This is more realistic. Deconstruction of Dendrin’s influence can only be done over the course of generations, such as in the Terror epilogue.
Derro- I quite like the take on “traditional” fantasy races elves and dwarves in this game. The altered names and traits hammers in to the player that this is not a typical friendly fantasy world, it’s much darker and more dangerous. The dwarves here aren’t just smaller humans, they’re completely alien, more so than any of the other races in the game. Their complete rejection of the surface and insanity are strong defining traits. Their position within the empire is also interesting; as they live underground, the emperor doesn’t seem to feel the need to conquer them, though that may be due to his friendship with Marik. We never learn much about the typical Derro, as the ones the Eternal interacts with are all outliers in some way.
Svelk- I tend to dislike “dark elves”, as they’re generally cliche and annoying and don’t add much to the stories they’re part of. That doesn’t happen in this game. The svelk are just as arrogant and insufferable as the typical fantasy dark elf, but this attitude is explicitly one they can’t actually back up. The svelk’s fallen position in the world gives them a motivation and position to work with the narrative rather than against it. Ulivik’s presence also helps them from falling into the “always evil” race trap, and shows the extent to which their arrogance is cultural.
Sveld- Another example of a typical fantasy race done well. Having the elves explicitly connected to fairies explains their inclination towards the wilderness. Having the “normal” elves be the offshoot is an interesting decision. Flevas helps a lot when it comes to rounding out this species. That said it would be nice to see more of the elves, they have an interesting history and role in the empire.
Children of Tor- The variety of fantasy races encountered in this world is one of its strengths. The Children of Tor being less commonly encountered in fantasy stories also helps meeting them here show that the empire is really pushing into new territory.

Path/ending notes:
It’s interesting that the choice that puts you on the path towards the Savior or Bane epilogues is framed as the choice to lie or not lie to Brenda. Here you’re choosing honesty vs. deception, and loyalty to your fellow eternals (not being willing to risk killing Brenda), or loyalty to your new home and friends. Fittingly, prioritizing Brenda and deception taints your loyalty to Rask. Even though you’re able to save it from the Eternal Dominion, you’re unable to prevent it from being forever changed, and restricting the freedom and independence that made it what it was. The Eternal never quite finds satisfaction in this ending, as he’s sacrificed the things that really made him happy in order to get there. Though the ending where Ulivik kills the Eternal is not part of this ending, their conversation shows eloquently and tragically the failures that lead the Eternal to this position. He never really winds up caring about Rask in this path, he’s simply going through the motions and isn’t too disappointed when Ulivik kills him. The Eternal achieves “immortality” on this path through his establishment of Kaplavisk, and ongoing reputation as the Savior of Rask.
The contrast between the Bane and Savior endings is that of passive deception, and genuine honestly. The Eternal really doesn’t care for his people or reputation on the Savior path, despite it being much more prestigious in name. On the Bane path, however, he develops a real attachment to Ulivik, and especially to Rask, its inhabitants, and its independence. He has something he really cares about, and people who care about him. It’s the most abjectly heroic the Eternal gets, and the epilogue is both one of the most touching, and one of the most positive for the world’s average citizens. Of note on the Bane path is the Eternal’s relationship with the truth. At several key moments you have the opportunity to lie, but choose not to, including the final choice. This shows the Eternal’s commitment to existing as he is for himself and no one else; something he doesn’t achieve on most paths. On the Eternal Bane path, the Eternal achieves immortality through his writings and legends of his deeds. I suspect the book’s popularity on Mortos is key to this, as the inhabitants really are immortal and aren’t going to forget him anytime soon.
The difference in the Eternal’s personality on the Rask and Warrior paths is immediate. The Eternal is very much a self-directed independent loner on the Rask path, who would balk at following orders. On the Felkan path, he is happy to do so, and more concerned with serving his country than directing himself. This is probably the only path on which the Eternal remains content in a subordinate position, even when he rises in rank he never becomes the leader of the Felkans. Klemto’s remark that the Eternal doesn’t know any better is telling. On this path especially, the Eternal is more of a force of nature than anything else. Interestingly, there are some similarities between the Eternal on this path and the Eternal Harbinger ending. In both cases, his true calling is war and conflict. While on the Bane path the decision to lie comes up repeatedly, on this path the decision to obey or take initiative comes up periodically. Despite the fact that the Eternal is now serving another kingdom, he still needs to take things upon himself in order to be effective. Though this initiative is effective, what happens to the Felkan Kingdom governmental structure under the Eternal’s influence is pretty tragic. Though they’re obviously better off with him than without him (especially when facing the Eternal Dominion), they’re forced to lose a lot of their leniency and peacefulness in order to survive. Though they never wind up being as bad as the empire, conditions and freedom for the average citizen do not improve, and certainly not for the gnomes. Klemto puts it well in his final scene. In this ending, he achieves immortality through his influence on the now-powerful Felkan Kingdom, and the legends that are told about him after his death.
In the beginning of the Nalin path, we see the Eternal and Brenda slowly forming a stable partnership, with her as a leader of the country, and him as a leader of the military. However, on the Eternal Patriot path, this partnership is destroyed before we have a chance to see what it could have turned into. Without Brenda’s mediating influence, the Eternal becomes angry and harsher, restricting freedom more, and making Nalin more like the empire. As such, he reverts to his old ways of thinking, only with Nalin as the focus. He’s focused on building a strong nation with a strong leader, and serving it as best he can. In this path, the empire never loses its hold over him, as shown through his dreams and actions, and his ultimate decision to carry on his nation through a fictional immortal “emperor”, as he might imagine the previous empire to have been. Though not as depressed as in Eternal Savior, he never finds real happiness on this path either, instead satisfying himself with carrying out his patriotic duty to the best of his ability. He achieves immortality here by instilling himself as a symbol of leadership for his newfound nation that will continue to “rule” through his various successors.
In the Savior, Warrior, and Patriot endings, the Eternal eventually finds himself on a quest to re-create the empire he has abandoned. Ulivik stops him from doing this on the Bane path, and it’s Brenda who stops him in Eternal Couple. Instead, the focus of the path is on not becoming like the empire. You refuse to join Edgar in his nation that oppresses ordinary citizens, and refuse to help Warrick, largely out of self-preservation, but it also prevents the new nation from becoming similarly expansionist. Nalin isn’t completely different obviously, there’s still work against dissidents and brutal policies, like destroying the towns infected with the plague. But among the nations that have survived the empire’s downfall, it manages to be fairer to its citizens than the ED, with the prospect of becoming more so in the future. Brenda’s presence is key to this, having a positive influence on the fate of this new nation, and being the thing that makes the Eternal happy with his life rather than merely committed. This is made especially clear in the ending, where Brenda outlives him. This is the only epilogue where the Eternal does not meet Gruz’s prediction that he’ll outlive everyone, and it’s a triumph rather than a tragedy. In this ending, he achieves immortality through his writings, Eternal Vigilance. I suspect the book’s popularity on Mortos is key to this, as the inhabitants really are immortal and aren’t going to forget him anytime soon.
Though not a true ending, the Emperor’s Shadow path is long enough that it deserves analysis. By the time the Eternal has the opportunity to betray the shadow guard, it’s too late for him to do so without great personal cost. On the path where he carries out the betrayal anyways, there can be no victory for him—doing so will require he sacrifice all his friends, everything he cares about, and ultimately his life. This path is, in a way, the truest continuation of the “die” choice. On this path the Eternal is committed to the empire to the exclusion of all else, refusing to beg for his life or struggle to avoid his fate, even knowing his actions will kill him. Like the initial choice to lie to Dendrin in order to live, in order to reach the true endings on the shadow path, the Eternal needs to choose life and happiness over service.
On the Terror path, the Eternal’s ultimate goal becomes to make the shadows independent of Dendrin. Rather than solidifying his faith as a priest to Dendrin as he does on the Messiah path, his goal here is instead to become his peer: Able to tap into the shadow realm at will. He succeeds in separating the shadows from reliance on Dendrin, changing the nature of the order in a much more long-term sense than any immediate defiance of Dendrin could accomplish (immediate attempts to separate the order from Dendrin end in failure, of course). Though it’s on the the Messiah path that the Eternal’s faith to Dendrin becomes legitimate, it’s on the Eternal Terror path that he personally becomes most like him. Dendrin himself points this out, saying that the Eternal is enjoying watching the chaos he is causing as the leader of the shadow assassins. When the Eternal first unleashes shadow magic on the orcs at Rask, it is out of the shared excitement he and Dendrin have to see what will happen, not out of faith, and the Eternal’s desires to be revered by the shadows are explicitly compared to Dendrin’s. Their conflict feels more like a rivalry or competition rather than genuine antagonism, however. Ultimately, the Eternal replaces Dendrin, both as a power source for the shadows, and as a leader figure. In this ending, he achieves immortality through this replacement of Dendrin, becoming revered in much the same way he once was.
On the Messiah path, we see the full scope of the Eternal’s journey from loyal empire soldier, to doubting follower with divided loyalties, to true believer and leader. The change is subtle, and comes not out of a desire for power or any genuine awe for Dendrin’s strength, but because the Eternal has reached a point in his life where he’s at a loss for where to go next, and is looking for genuine guidance. Approaching Dendrin open-handed allows him to connect to the shadow faith in a way that he can’t on other paths. The Eternal’s reaction to Cyrus’s appearance shows how he has changed. Rather than safely killing him as he would do on any other path, he tries to reach out and connect to him, placing his faith in Dendrin. Placing too much faith in Dendrin has its own dangers, however—preforming the ritual of ascension calls on the shadows to sacrifice everything they have worked for and are. To achieve victory on this path, the Eternal must still have his own skills of analysis, and rely primarily on his own decision-making. This is represented in the path’s outcome. Dendrin leaves the world, meaning the shadows now need to rely on the Eternal rather than him. The Eternal achieves immortality on this path by becoming an important religious figure, and by fusing with the shadow plane, and continuing to provide power for the shadows long after his death.
The Survivor path, by contrast, is much more intimate. The Terror and Messiah paths focus on shadow politics and making a mark on the world, but the Survivor path turns the focus inward to the Eternal’s personal struggles, and to the ability he has to touch the lives of others—specifically with Lena and Tulla. Another important point on this path (as stated by Lena) is that survival isn’t enough. Living to old age, going crazy, and dying as a hermit is not enough for a fulfilling life, you actually need to do something in the world. For the Eternal, that becomes helping Delerg and the new shadows. He needs to guide them, but he can’t become controlling, he needs to let them find their own path. When he tries to prevent them from accessing all the resources of the shadows, it drives a wedge between them. His challenge here is that of a parent; letting go, and allowing his ‘children’ to make their own decisions. He achieves immortality on this path through his renewal of the shadow order, and lasting influence on its spread, and through Dendrin’s final transformation.
The Destroyer and Hero paths bear a lot of similarities to the Warrior path: In both cases, the Eternal’s alignment with a government dedicated to serving the people turns it into an abjectly autocratic one. Though the Nalin republic was certainly bureaucratic and inefficient, it WAS serving its people and improving their quality of life. The Eternal, and a small minority of people that want totalitarianism completely change this structure with little input from the people. This arc is a very well-crafted demonstration of how democratic governments fall into totalitarianism; the Eternal drives the Nalin republic in this direction in a very calculated manner. Some of the elements the Eternal leverages to bring about this change feel like they have direct parallels to modern issues, though history does tend to repeat certain themes. The relic path abandons these political issues later on, instead focusing on the conquest and future of the empire in the same way the Paragon and Emperor paths do. The Destroyer ending is unusual among the endings in that it’s a fairly negative outcome: The empire is destroyed, its population decimated, and the Eternal dies alone. However, this game is not about a positive ending for the Eternal, it’s about making an impact on history, which he very much does here. In that way Eternal Destroyer is still one of the game’s thirteen epilogues, with the Eternal achieving immortality through the fanatical cult of personality that has grown up around his image. Fittingly, the image that is portrayed is one of ruin and destruction, which is what he has led the empire to (twice!).
Eternal Hero, by contrast has the Eternal become a beloved figure for his victory against the Xi, and in no small part due to Jennifer’s writings. This is a reputation which the Eternal himself thinks is undeserved, but it’s his legacy nonetheless, which is sort of the point of this ending—an unearned noble reputation. The empire is also in much better shape in this ending. The Eternal achieves immortality here through the continuation of the empire and by being elevated to mythical status.
The angle the Paragon and Emperor arcs approach immortality from is preserving the empire beyond the Eternal’s death. In these arcs, the Eternal is not satisfied with living a full life and passing the empire on to Decena, he wants to ensure its survival for centuries to come. This is a fitting conclusion to the story as it has been built up so far. All of the Eternal’s actions have been for the glory and expansion of the empire, and in order for all of this to mean anything, there has to be some way to ensure it will last after he is gone. In the Paragon arc, this is done through making the next generation of Eternals fertile. On this path, the Eternal recognizes that immortality of any kind is just putting off the same problem to a later date. Instead, he chooses to set up competent people in powerful positions to ensure that the empire is a fault-tolerant system that will not collapse with the death of one man (with limited success). This is done through Decena, and the next generation of Eternals. Another effect of this is the reemergence of magic, which had been dying in the world until the new eternals were imbued with innate magical abilities. In this arc, the Eternal achieves immortality by becoming the father of a race that eventually becomes the dominant race on the planet.
In the Emperor arc, the Eternal instead seeks to preserve his own lifespan, recognizing that his presence is largely keeping the empire together. It works, and in this epilogue the Eternal is actually able to preserve the empire far beyond any other epilogue. Of course, this comes at the cost of his physical body. As several characters note, combat has always been the one thing the Eternal really loves, and he loses this (along with all the friends he makes during his lifetime) when he becomes immortal. He recognizes this in the epilogue, when he chooses to end his life rather than continue into space with the empire. In this ending the Eternal achieves immortality not through the extension of his own lifespan, but through the solidification of the empire that this extension allowed him to create. His true immortality is in the empire’s continuation beyond the reaches of the planet.
The Harbinger arc has the most narrative craft given to it; the foundations of the Eternal’s arc and the plot’s outcome have been laid down since the very first page. This is most obvious with the repeated beg/die/struggle choice at the arc’s conclusion, which is a very clever way of bringing the story in a circle and showing how things have changed. It’s true of the Eternal’s entire character arc, however. He begins as an angry emotionally unstable servant of the empire and his “father”. He then grows into his own person with the help of Alison only to lose her. He commits himself to his father then loses him as well, and finally steps fully into the role of emperor that he really has been holding for years. He struggles with Decena to move past his personal issues surrounding the past, but loses her before any sort of closure can be reached. Then, he decides to hell with it, and throws himself into the quest for true immortality, regardless of the consequences it will have. The funny thing is, that while on many of the arcs (particularly the Paragon/Emperor arcs) he’s actively seeking some kind of immortality to preserve the empire, on this arc it’s not really clear why he’s doing it. He doesn’t seem to care about the empire’s future, since he’s willing to sacrifice so much of it as a means to an end. He’s just retreading in Casimir’s footsteps, seeking immortality through the book with brutal efficiency because he has no idea what else to do. By the time he actually opens a portal to the land of death, he’s been completely destroyed as a person, and has dragged the entire world down with him. The final scene with death is excellently done, as are all three of the final outcomes. The Eternal Bliss ending is excellently written and very emotionally impactful. Alison’s presence has been a continued influence on the Eternal even after her death, and their reunion is beautifully tragic and satisfying. That said, despite it being very well done, the most positive ending, and the canon ending, it’s not the most fitting one for me, that title falls to Eternal Harbinger. This is due in part to my view that the Eternal has always been more committed to war than to Alison (by a smidge), but more due to the fact that the Eternal only gets there on a technicality, because the death god decided he liked him. He didn’t earn his way to that ending, and he doesn’t deserve it, not after everything he’s done. The Harbinger ending, on the other hand, is something he’s been working towards, knowingly or not, his entire life. Throughout the game, many characters point out the Eternal’s love of war, including the Necromancer in the final scene. It’s the one constant throughout all the branches, no matter who he is or what his goals are, he loves war and conquest and is very good at it. He finds the simplicity of it refreshing, and when in his later years in several of the arcs he’s forced to give it up, he misses it keenly. Because of this, the Harbinger ending feels like the most complete and fitting capstone on the Eternal’s life out of all the endings in the game. The Harbinger ending is not positive—it calls on him to sacrifice everything he’s ever believed in in his life other than his love of combat, and it completely destroys him as a person. But it is the end destination on the road he’s chosen for himself, and feels deserved and the most narratively satisfying. The Eternal achieves immortality here by his ongoing service as a warrior for the death good, to the point where he no longer can conceive of ever having been anything else.

Specific notes:
-More than any of EndMaster’s games, the epilogues here have a clear arc to them. As such, I’ll be reading them in order, 1-13.
-Playing as a character who has completely swallowed the propaganda put out by the empire is interesting.
-The conversation at the start of the game is a good way to begin. It sets the tone and setting, but its deeper significance is completely meaningless to anyone who doesn’t already know what’s happening. Details like this give the game a lot of replay value, it’s only on the re-read that the player reads this scene and thinks “ohhh”.
-Dividing the empire’s background links into lies and truth is a good way to convey the information. Still not a huge fan of background links/cutscenes, but I think they work best in long novel-like games like this, where otherwise the player would have walls of text between every click.
-The “truth” section reveals information to the player on a need-to-know basis. The secrets surrounding the empires structure and origins are not revealed, but the player is given an accurate sense of the empire’s present condition.
-Having read this before, I’m left wondering what the hell the emperor was thinking leaving Semra in charge of the eternal program. Surely he could have foreseen the problems this would cause. Still, the mistake is in character, the emperor is repeatedly shown not to be as smart as he thinks he is.
-The choice between “beg” or “die” at the start of the game is probably better summarized as playing an extrovert verses playing an introvert.
-The opening scene with Semra does a good job setting the overall tone of the game. It gives an accurate portrayal of the Eternal’s earlier years, and is the standard against which everything afterwards is measured. Though the Eternal’s childhood is not dwelt on, it’s made clear that it was a very formative experience and the way it plays out strongly affects his personality in later years. This difference is seen most clearly on the beg/die/struggle paths, but there are many constants across all three that can be traced to this opening scene.
-More on the beg/die/struggle choice’s immediate effect: Beg drives the Eternal to put himself out there and be a soldier, die drives him to withdraw and calculate, struggle drives him to be intensely loyal and defiant. He hates Mistress, so he latches on to the emperor.
-From Gruz’s very first scene he differentiates himself from Semra as a much wiser and more well-balanced individual. The advice he gives the Eternal is practical and insightful, and he manages to undo some of the harmful mental conditioning Semra instilled in the eternals.
-The Eternal’s use of “Remember this” after Semra’s initial use of it is a good detail.
-Lol, “There’s no way the captain twisted his own head all the way around just by tripping and falling over.”
-Jacob being referred to as Mr. Mol on the beg path is a good way to show how his relationship with the Eternal is different.
-I like the way forts are used in this story, they’re often overlooked in many fantasy war games/stories.
-The differences between the Eternal’s relationship with Alison on the beg and struggle paths are striking. On the struggle path they have a more equal relationship and take the time to get to know each other personally. On the beg path, Alison is his superior and only looking for a physical relationship. As such, while they do become involved, they never connect personally in the same way. I think it probably has to do with the Eternal’s age at the time they meet, as well as the significant differences in his personality.
-The beg arc is unique for the feelings of fellowship the eternals have with each other (probably due to Gruz). Given the Eternal’s isolation on other paths, it’s nice to see him forming genuine and equal friendships.
-What little we learn of shadow politics on the beg arc is interesting. It seems Cyrus has seized a leadership position, but there’s a lot of dissent in the ranks.
-The foreshadowing of Gruz’s betrayal is well-done in the conflict with the orcs in Rask, as well as in his initial conversation with the eternals upon reunion (“best not to have you all in one place”).
-Choosing to set the confrontation with Gruz at a tavern reunion with old friends is a good choice and makes the conflict much more personal than a battle would be.
-The Eternal remarks on the suddenness of Gerald and Roldan’s deaths. Their deaths work well to convey the suddenness and chaos of the situation, as well as showing that epic people are often killed in mundane situations.
-By the time Gruz’s betrayal is revealed, the Eternal is too exhausted to have much of an emotional reaction. The betrayal has been foreshadowed enough through Gruz’s dialogue that it doesn’t need to be dwelt on, and the barebones description in the battle with Gruz has a much more effective emotional impact than any drawn-out conversation could. The conflict also is an important point on his path towards leaving the empire. With Gruz’s betrayal there’s yet another tie to the empire destroyed. This is a key factor in the Eternal’s eventual decision to leave the empire.
-As most of the new eternals are killed on the struggle path, it’s interesting to see how their implementation into the army plays out on the beg path.
-The Eternal’s growing disillusionment with the empire is built up slowly and believably, and when he deserts it doesn’t feel sudden.
-The initial scenes with the Eternal as a mercenary do a good job showing how his personality and situation have changed.
-Brenda’s derision for Warrick’s decision to join the Felkan army contrasts her marriage to him in the struggle arc. It’s a pity she never learns that he was compromised.
-Brenda’s comment “Even you couldn’t have prevented the empire from falling” is more poignant knowing that on some paths, he does.
-Edgar’s weaponization of the wendigos is interesting.
-Lol, “Not killing dissidents, it’s a radical idea, but you’re going to gamble on it.”
-The reunion scene between Ulivik and the Eternal at year 65 is endearingly grumpy, and their banter on the way to the wendigo forest is fun.
-Lol, “I always thought it was the misguided hope of finding lots of loot and the avoidance of a real job.” “That’s just a bonus.”
-The conflict with the killer wendigo rabbits is well done.
-The complete brutality of the ED and new generation of eternals is shown well with Kalah. It’s shown more subtly with Brenda, too, with her comments about not caring about the younger eternal’s ruthless behavior towards ordinary humans.
-The guard’s comments on the dagger the Eternal uses to kill Rissok are amusing.
-It’s fun to see where Flog has ended up in his moderate role on the mercenary paths.
-It’s interesting to see the Eternal’s reaction to the less totalitarian nature of the Felkan Kingdom, and the emphasis on technology and quality of life as advancement rather than conquest. His adjusting to the new political landscape (such as tensions with the gnomes) is interesting to see, especially as the idea of working with the Felkans is repugnant to him on other paths.
-Selling out Eckers seems a little underhanded. He didn’t really do anything wrong other than complain.
-The combat tactics on the Felkan arc are interesting, we have aerial combat with the gnolls, and much more militarily advanced combat with muskets and cannons.
-The Eternal’s influence on the soldiers under his command is interesting to see play out, as they become more competent but also more ruthless.
-Klemto’s remark that humans seem to have a tendency towards conquest is intriguing; it certainly fits with the humans we see in the story.
-Not sure how I feel about the relationship with Dawn. I like her, but the Eternal is her superior so there’s bound to be unhealthy power dynamics. She’s a little too loyal for it to be equal.
-It’s a pity that you wind up fighting Warrick regardless on the Felkan path. Things don’t seem to turn out well for Warrick regardless of what actions you take.
-The ending where you travel with Dawn is well done. It’s not an epilogue because the Eternal never makes history, but it’s good that this story has semi-positive endings where the Eternal lives his life without making history. It’s more realistic.
-The ending where you go into the desert with Brenda is well-written and offers insight into her character that we don’t get even on the official path.
-The policies of the new government you form in Nalin are interesting. Obviously there’s still a fair amount of the brutality of the empire, but Brenda and the Eternal are genuinely trying to rule the province for their citizen’s sake, and it shows. This makes for one of the more heroic endings with Eternal Couple, though not completely, as the rule can still be quite harsh.
-The scene where the Eternal makes it to the capital of the Eternal Dominion on the Patriot path and dies in the throne room is well-written, and shows how on this path he’s never released the loyalty to the empire he’s had since childhood.
-Though not as positive as many of the other endings, the Eternal Patriot epilogue is compelling and original. This is true of the original concept, as well as the long-term ending with his writings being uncovered. The scope is larger than many of the other endings.
-The scene where Edgar reunites with Brenda and the Eternal is well-written and does a good job showing how he has changed.
-Lol, “When in doubt, killing everyone has worked for you on several occasions in the past, no reason to change tactics now.”
-It makes sense that the Eternal has his most positive relationship with Edgar when serving with Brenda and as a fellow leader of a nation.
-I like that writing a book of propaganda can still lead to a relatively good ending. This is realistic; writing propaganda is more conducive to the stability of the nation than the truth. However, it’s the truth that makes history, and this is reflected in the placing of the epilogue.
-The scene where the Eternal receives a head wound and thinks he’s leading a unit in the empire is quite well-written. It’s nice to see attention like this devoted to death endings.
-The path where you work with Eldolith to attack the elves is interesting, as we get to see the Eternal interact with Eldolith without all the baggage on the struggle path. Obviously they don’t get along, but it’s less personal.
-The contrast between Gruz and Gray’s reaction to the eternals immediately pairing up to spar with each other shows well the differences between them. The differences in education are also telling; the shadows place more emphasis on learning and information, fittingly for an intelligence organization.
-The shadow’s role within the empire is interesting, and I don’t remember seeing similar situations in other works. Essentially, the shadows were a religious organization that was absorbed into the empires structure rather than wiped out. As such, though the the shadows serve the empire, they are more tight-knit and have their own agenda. I like the concept of the secret police being themselves against the empire, in many works, the secret police are self-serving and seek to increase their own station, but rarely are they outright working against the country they serve.
-Ebon’s reluctance to initiate the Eternal makes sense, even when he becomes loyal to the shadows, he never has the same disposition and fanaticism that they do; he’s always been more of a soldier type.
-Swearing to serve Dendrin as opposed to defying him is an important choice early in the shadow path, as it shows that the Eternal is no longer ambivalent about his own life. It’s essentially a retread of the beg-die choice, only this time, you need to choose to live in order to continue.
-I assume Ebon’s name is a reference to the color ebony.
-The Eternal’s isolation among the shadow guard on the shadow path is a strong contrast to the fellowship he develops on the beg path, and his physical isolation on the struggle path.
-The Eternal’s slow warming up to his fellow shadows is done well, with the references to his mission with Murk, and his being surprised to find he appreciates the feelings of fellowship and loyalty he’s begun to develop.
-Lol, “Yeah, I didn’t even need to lie at all.”
-Not sure why some of the shadows have theme names like “Dusk” and “Shade”, but the eternals and others like Draven have ordinary names.
-The Eternal’s relationship with Jacob on the emperor’s shadow path is a good contrast to his relationship with him on the struggle path. The Eternal is definitely Jacob’s subordinate on this path, and content to be so. On the struggle path, he becomes his peer, and eventually his superior. This is shown through how he refers to Jacob, as “Mr. Mol”.
-The references to the destruction of Gloom and the orc uprising in Rask on the emperor’s shadow path are nice.
-I like the concept of the town Sinkhole.
-In Cyrus and the Eternal’s argument over which one is truly serving an uncaring master, they’re both right about the other. Cyrus serves a god who’s done absolutely nothing to help him or his people, and the Eternal serves an empires that sees him as nothing more than a tool. It’s interesting that they can recognize the effect of propaganda in indoctrination in each other, but not themselves.
-The assault on Gloom is the first appearance of the Derro in this game, and it’s an effective one. They’re a race the player has yet to encounter, and the first meeting with them is in a completely chaotic and unfamiliar situation.
-It’s interesting to see Gruz’s plan at Defiance succeed on the shadow path.
-The fate of the second generation eternals has a wide variety of outcomes. On the beg path they fulfill their intended purpose, but wind up uncontrollable and cruel. On the struggle path, nearly all of them are killed by Marik. On the die path, they fare somewhat better, with a couple of them surviving and joining the shadows, having Dendrin’s portal remove the violent tendencies.
-I like the titles of the informational links on the page where you choose to convert the new eternals—Diplomacy, Treachery, Brutality.
-Too bad the alliance with the orcs doesn’t last. I would have liked to see a positive outcome for Gruz and his people in one of the paths.
-Though the shadows want to see the empire fall, they clearly aren’t altruists. They’re not concerned about protecting the people they’re liberating, only creating chaos to destabilize the empire.
-The duplicity the Eternal must engage on in the shadow path path stands well in contrast to his predilection for straightforwardness on the Bane path, and beg path as a whole. He must lie while working for the empire amongst the shadows, and he needs to lie in order to keep the group together. The Survivor path, where he chooses honesty, has many similarities to the Bane path.
-With Edgar dead, Ackerson fills the power vacuum in Quala. It’s nice to see where he ends up on this path. The same is true of Galen.
-The Eternal’s feelings about Cyrus’s suicide are strongly mixed, like his relationship with him throughout the game. His suicide can in part be tied to the Eternal’s actions, but they did have a genuine respect for each other. The Eternal comes to no firm conclusions on the matter, leaving the reader to draw their own.
-If on the Terror path, the Eternal lets Dendrin bait him into exposing himself, things don’t end well. The shadows have always been devoted to Dendrin in name, regardless of his actual intervention, and attempts on the Eternal’s part to change that are short-sighted and doomed to failure. Instead, he must become like Dendrin; willing to rule from the shadows and allow things to play out as they will.
-The Eternal’s decision to have killed those he allowed to leave freely seems particularly duplicitous.
-Cyrus’s breakdown on the Messiah path shows the dangers of Dendrin’s lack of involvement. Cyrus is correct that his faith was always stronger, and that Dendrin’s preference for the Eternal is not equitable. Dendrin’s refusal to engage with his followers lead to this dissension in the ranks, and a loss of faith from someone who was otherwise completely dedicated.
-Staying in Rask leads to the defeat of the shadows, as the region and order are very much unsuited to each other. The shadows are far too committed and ordered, whereas the Raskians value their freedom more than anything else.
-Headcanon that the cabin Talia and the Eternal stay in in Rask on the Survivor path is the cabin Suzy and Jack stayed in after arriving in Rask.
-The shadow temple in Delerg is cool, especially on the Survivor path when The Eternal and Talia are approaching the ruins alone.
-It’s clear on the Terror and Messiah paths that the Eternal is the one holding the shadows together and coming up with the effective strategy. As such, when he leaves in the Survivor path, it’s only a few years before the empire recovers from its wounds and is able to wipe them out. Though Cyrus was a dedicated follower of Dendrin, he just wasn’t that good of a tactician. It would be interesting to see what would have happened had Talia stayed, as she was better at battle strategy than he was.
-On the paths where Edgar is dead, it’s fitting that Brenda doesn’t end up joining the new eternals, as she doesn’t have as strong a bond with the new generation. Instead, she winds up ruling Nalin, if not as effectively as with the Eternal’s help.
-The parallel’s between Lena’s survival and the Eternal’s survival are nice.
-There are a number of parallels between the Survivor and Bane paths, most clearly with the Eternal’s relative isolation and his mentor relationship with Ulivik and Lena respectively. The Eternal is much more emotionally damaged in the Survivor path, however.
-There’s something Robin-Hood-y about the Survivor path.
-I like hearing the Eternal state directly the power imbalances that would prevent him from getting together with Lena. On other paths (particularly with Decena) he ignores these issues.
-It’s nice to see the Eternal taking on a more heroic role in the Survivor arc. It’s one of the less morally ambiguous roles he takes in this work. It’s interesting that his more heroic roles on the Bane and Survivor paths seem to be paired with a somewhat grumpy and antisocial disposition.
-I like that the new generation of shadows are somewhat more mellow. It makes sense given their origins, and prevents Tulla’s conversion from creating unneeded conflict.
-Lol, “I can just see the holy wars now!”
-It’s interesting that Dendrin only sticks around on the Survivor path, where the shadows undergo a complete change to their structure. Certainly it’s a big enough change to keep him interested.
-The Survivor epilogue is quite well-written and one of the more touching ones.
-On the struggle path, the Eternal’s devotion to the empire is infectious. The struggle path was the first one I read, and as the empire prospers under his guidance, I genuinely did not notice the empire’s internal struggles and weaknesses until I read the beg and die paths.
-The difference in the Eternal’s training on the struggle path is immediately obvious. On the beg and die paths, he learns to trust his companions and mentors out of genuine loyalty, here it is only hatred of his mentor and loyalty to an unseen force that drives him. The antagonistic relationship between the Eternal and Semra is built up quickly and efficiently, so that the first fight between them really feels like the release of years of tension, despite occurring very early in the work.
-The first choice of the struggle path is an important one, we know the Eternal has a lot of rage, but he needs to be able to control it in order to succeed. In this path the abuse of his childhood will always make him emotionally vulnerable with Semra, but in other areas he learns to have a strong control over his emotions.
-Though in many ways the Eternal has had greater exposure to the world through Semra’s intense teaching, he’s oddly naive on this path. He’s been completely isolated from his peers and has had no contact with the outside world. His devotion to the emperor is less loyal, and more worshipful, and his desire to fight for the empire is quite eager.
-Finally seeing the emptor after his complete absence on the beg and die paths makes reading this scene more powerful than reading it for the first time reading the struggle path. His casual demeanor puts the Eternal off his game, but the authority with which he speaks to Jacob and the Eternal leaves no doubt about his position. His behavior signals to the player that he is more human than he would have his people believe, while still instilling the utmost loyalty and respect in the Eternal.
-The tonal difference between the informational link about the shadows on the die and struggle paths is good, it works with where the Eternal is getting this information from.
-The entire sequence depicting the Eternal’s education on this path is done quite well.
-The emperor’s comment that the most efficient types are the ones trying to bring you down is amusing. His comment about the people themselves being the most dangerous is also telling; though there are plenty of rebellions in this game, the empire generally manages to avoid a full-scale revolt from the regular people.
-The emperor’s hatred for gnomes revealed in the struggle path explains why he decides to invade the Felkan Kingdom in the other paths despite it being such a tactically poor decision with the internal problems with the shadows the empire is facing.
-The Eternal’s interaction with Gruz on this path shows well the difference in his personality.
-The emperor’s obsession with gnomes has a parallel in the hatred the Eternal develops for svelk. We can see this as early as him loosing his cool with Tyren.
-Murk’s death on the struggle path works well, especially as he remains unnamed.
-In some ways the Eternal’s dedication to the empire resembles the nature of Cyrus’s dedication to the shadows.
-Each of the three major paths begins will smaller-scale challenges where the player must learn the strategies they will need to survive on this branch. The more consequential narrative-based decisions come later, when the player has had time to settle in to the narrative.
-While the Eternal is raised around other Eternals in the beg and die paths, he’s quite isolated on the struggle path. As such, information and interactions with the other eternals feel special and rare.
-I like the role Gruz plays on the struggle path, it gives him variety.
-Learning that Semra is behind the gnoll issues the Felkans are facing is a surprise, but a clever one, and it makes sense.
-Lol, “Was that a joke?” “How the hell would I know, it’s not like I’ve ever made one before.”
-The emperor’s desire to protect the Eternal initially seems like fatherly affection, but really foreshadows his more sinister motivations.
-Already we can see the change Alison has had on the Eternal in his next battle meeting with Semra. He no longer feels the need to fall for her taunts.
-The Eternals description of why he finds Alison attractive is amusing and says a lot about him.
-The gnome’s home really is the most despicable thing to happen in this book, and I wish there was some way to play the struggle path and avoid it. It’s important to the narrative, and by playing this game the player accepts that they will be playing a villain protagonist, but as far as moral flexibility in protagonists go, I have my limits, and they stop here. The Eternal’s involvement here is really unforgivable, and even though he himself finds it despicable, he never takes action to prevent it, and he never attempts to make amends to the gnomes when he’s later in a position to do so.
-Hah, I didn’t know Kane was the first to call him harbinger.
-The absence of the Felkan heir is well done without too much attention being drawn to it.
-I tend not to go for romance in games, or stories in general, it just doesn’t interest me. The Eternal’s relationship with Alison, however, held my interest and I actively wanted them to stay together.
-In the moments before Roldan’s murder, we get a glimpse of what the Eternal’s “normal” life might have been like. He is relaxed and happy, attending the event with Alison and content in his service of the empire. This contentedness is then ripped away only moments later.
-Alison’s death relies on no cheap narrative tricks in order to emotionally affect the reader: It needs only the respect the story has built up for her and the understanding of what she and the Eternal mean to each other.
-The emperor’s choice to use Cyrus the revenant to carry out his assassinations seems odd. Why use someone who has no loyalty to him and raises questions about his origin?
-Cyrus’s comment about death being dark and filled with pain seems odd given what we later learn about the afterlife. Though Cyrus wasn’t exactly nice, he never did anything particularly heinous to merit a painful afterlife. At least, nothing worse than what Alison did working as a major for the empire, and she received a pleasant afterlife. My conclusion would be that being a revenant doesn’t actually summon the soul of the dead person, it just reanimates their corpse with the memories of their life. Cyrus’s final moments were certainly dark and filled with pain, so that’s probably what he remembers.
-Brenda’s recurring antagonism towards Warrick is interesting, especially considering their later marriage on the struggle path.
-Kane’s final scene is well written.
-Despite his insistence otherwise, the Eternal clearly IS defensive about being replaced by a new generation of Eternals, and later admits as much on the emperor path.
-The Eternal’s doubts about the emperor’s fittingness to lead and his own ambitions are brought up a few times, making the opportunity to betray the emperor not seem out of place when it arrives. However, it still does not feel as narratively right as choosing to remain by his side, as the Eternal’s patriotic and familial loyalties have always taken precedence.
-The confrontation with Jacob and Semra is well written.
-It’s fitting that when the Eternal links with Semra in the rule arc, he doesn’t get a full view of her secrets. They don’t develop as complex a relationship on this path.
-Too bad the Eternal kills the dudes who find his comatose body. They were just guys.
-The idea of the Eternal being transported the the future is original and has a lot of narrative potential. I wish there were options the player could pursue other than simply trying to re-create the empire, but the path as it exists is well written and there’s only so many plotlines a story of this size can explore.
-The Eternal is naturally quite shocked to learn what has happened to him. His culture shock at learning about the republic is amusing. It becomes less amusing as he becomes increasingly serious in his pursuit of rebuilding the empire.
-The emergence of the Red Caps makes a lot of sense for the gnomes in light of everything that has happened to them. With the genocide they’ve faced, it makes sense that they’d be forced to adopt a militant and violent mindset in order to defend themselves.
-The Eternal’s discovery of Brenda and eventually Warrick’s fate does a good job tying this second half of the game in with the first.
-It’s nice to see where the orcs have wound up after all this time. I imagine the Floggers tribe are named after Flog.
-The detour to Rask with the eyes is a good way to show how the world has changed, and to develop the personal relationship between Jennifer and the Eternal, as well as addressing his considering retirement. It’s nice to see what Warrick got up to after the cataclysm.
-The acquit threat on the relic path brings variety to the path, this is a threat unlike anything the Eternal faces on any other branch.
-The threats on the latter half of each struggle path are, in general, more exotic than the ones on the other branches. This makes sense in-universe, as the empire is expanding beyond familiar territory. It also makes sense from a narrative perspective, as these branches are pushing the boundaries of the Eternal’s prior characterization and experience.
-The Eternal healing himself on both struggle paths is an important marker in the storyline, and adds consequence to the paths, with him dying at a younger age as a result. This is a kind of cost for the more epic scale of the struggle plotlines.
-Hallucination Alison killing the hell out of hallucination Semra is fun and a good character moment.
-Too bad things don’t work out with Jennifer’s husband. It sounds like they were well-matched, and the Eternal’s musings on the subject correctly point out all the reasons that their relationship had issues.
-The state of technology in the world makes much of the combat on the struggle arc more interesting. The use of guns and airships shows that technology really is developing, rather than being in the common fantasy state of medieval stasis. It’s nice to see a fantasy story told in a not completely traditional fantasy world.
-Telis the flying city is cool and leads to an unconventional fight sequence.
-Marik’s journal from the relic arc is amusing. “Must remember to take this journal with me. This is good stuff.”
-The Eternal getting rid of Semra’s dagger is a good moment.
-It’s interesting that while the propaganda book you have the opportunity to write on the Couple path does not lead to a positive ending, Jennifer’s propaganda book(s) do.
-The Destroyer ending bears some similarities to the Patriot ending.
-Seems odd that NOBODY but Jennifer would have thought to test the plague on humans.
-The Eternal’s decision to pursue the recreation of the empire on this path makes sense considering his last decision before his entombment: He chose to rule, not serve, and to take over the empire. Though it took 500 years longer than planned, he pursues this goal with dedication once he reemerges.
-Who would have thought so much strategy went into baby throwing?
-Interesting that the aquatic threat is said to have come from the shadow temple. Surely Dendrin would have left the world long ago?
-Batalimus can only be defeated with words, making him a unique foe on this path.
-As always, the emperor completely loses his cool when put under pressure by Nicodemus and the rest of Mortos.
-The scene where the Eternal laughs after learning of his origins is an excellent character moment, marking the shift from servant to emperor, and showing him finally letting go of his blind loyalty to the emperor.
-The disappearance of mages, both in this story and in Rogues is interesting. It doesn’t seem to be due to any of the empire’s actions, as this trend continues in the relic path without the empire’s influence. I wonder what’s causing the change.
-What the Eternal does with Decena’s training is pretty despicable. Yeah, he has his own serious issues that are causing this behavior, but he of all people should know how unhealthy mentor relationships can screw people up. He does know this, in fact, he just doesn’t seem to have the willpower to do anything about it.
-I like that the origin of the second generation Eternal’s weird behavior is explained in this path. Though the Eternal says that Decena is an exception to this mental toll, I suspect Decena really was affected by the time in the tanks. Though she isn’t cruel like many of the second generation eternals, she’s certainly a little unbalanced.
-Putting Brenda in charge of the new eternals is a good idea. She’s quite even-keeled and a good mentor. It’s also good that the Eternal has learned he’s a shit mentor. (In the struggle paths at least, he’s a good mentor to Ulivik and Tulla on the beg and die paths. Probably Semra’s fault, since on both of those paths he had stable mentor figures during his childhood.)
-The battle with the Children of Tor is well done.
-Once again, there’s an odd contrast between the Eternal’s behavior towards Decena and his later ability to recognize exactly why what he did was so unhealthy.
-Brenda’s forgiveness of Warrick seems to be traceable directly to her training of the new eternals. This makes sense, as she’s gained a senes of connection to them that she lost when Roldan died.
-The Eternal’s torture of Eldolith is pretty much purely spiteful, as is his treatment of the svelk as a whole. It bears a strong resemblance to Casimir’s hangups about the gnomes.
-Lol, “Hello Mr. Emperor”. Zana’s first meeting the emperor is amusing given what they both later learn about each other.
-The sorcerer king’s intro characterizes him well as powerful, but foppish and clearly over his head.
-One must wonder if Zelvix and Velzix are the same demon, or merely cousins of some sort. EDIT: Ah, he talks about a brother biting off more than he can chew. Mystery solved.
-Though the Eternal is being honest when he says he doesn’t fear death, Semra is correct that he’s very concerned with his legacy, what will happen to the empire after he dies. Especially in the earlier parts of his reign, he’s pretty much holding it together through sheer force of will.
-The conflict with Zelvix in Nakos is a good mix of external conflict and internal conflict. On the Paragon/Emperor paths it’s the Eternal’s final encounter with Semra and solidifies his relationship with Decena. On the Harbinger path, it’s the event that makes him decide he needs to pursue immortality to preserve the empire, and Decena’s death is a major catalyst in his actions.
-“The woman has serious daddy issues.” “Don’t we all?” “Alison didn’t.” The Eternal is right here, of himself and this three love interests on this path (Semra, Alison, and Decena) Alison was the only one without major personal issues.
-Zelvix’s attempts at getting in their heads are almost laughably bad. I imagine the mind-influencing magic he’s using makes it more effective.
-In the Paragon/Emperor arc, the Eternal and Semra’s final encounter is one of words rather than violence. It’s the closest to an understanding that the pair comes to, and a fairly accurate one. The Eternal is able to honestly examine his own feelings and flaws, and this finally convinces Semra that there can’t be anything between them.
-Honestly, the people of Nakos are probably better off with the empire than demon lord/slavery advocate Mortimer.
-The appearance of dragons is done well, and it’s nice to see their destructive power taken to its full potential.
-Brenda’s approval of Decena’s relationship with the Eternal is unsurprising given her views on how Eternals should stick together.
-Zana’s betrayal is doubly foreshadowed by the sabotage of the storm earlier in the story, where it’s shown that Elam is not the most thorough in selecting engineers.
-I like the rapport that the Eternal, Decena, Brenda, and Warrick develop on the Paragon/Emperor path. It often feels like the four of them are genuine friends, something that eludes the Eternal for most of the struggle paths.
-I wish that there was some less extreme choice between killing Zana and allowing her to run the project. The obvious solution seems to be to remove Zana from the project and launch an investigation, rather than just killing her on Decena’s hunch.
-Lol, “You came and killed my entire family!” “Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?”
-Also annoying that the player doesn’t get a choice about destroying New Dessel. Seems clear that the gnomes weren’t involved.
-It’s a pity that the fertile eternals end up behaving xenophobically in the Paragon ending. I like that at least the kobolds make out.
-Decena’s death on the Harbinger path marks the Eternal’s final transformation from loyal empire soldier to immortality seeking emperor. With her death, he’s released his chances for happiness in life, and is now purely driven towards revenge. The increase in craft he gained after the emperor’s death increases again, and from here on out he’s willing to make more compromising decisions and take riskier and riskier actions to reach his goal.
-The Eternal’s glee at the test subject’s description of Mortos does a good job showing how he’s changed and his current attitudes.
-Interesting that the svelk are the ones to most effectively oppose the Eternal when he invades Mortos.
-The empire’s most glaring structural issue is probably the lack of formal succession procedures. It’s why it collapses into chaos after the Eternal’s death on most branches.
-The Eternal’s invigoration from being on Mortos shows his moving towards necromancy.
-The fact that people are willing to follow the Eternal to Mortos and go along with his later construction of the pyramid shows more than anything how powerful a grip he has over the empire.
-The Eternal calling upon the later generation eternals as their father to drain them of life mirrors his own experiences on Mortos with Casimir. What’s interesting is that when it was the Eternal on that end, he viewed his sacrifice to the emperor as necessary and justified. Now that he’s the one doing the draining, he just thinks of them as fools who let themselves be used. He no longer values the loyalty he used to have.
-Semra’s silence in her fight with the Eternal after he’s claimed the book says a lot. She’s finished with their weird antagonistic relationship, she just wants him dead.
-The grueling and long nature of the ritual helps make the scene feel powerful and dangerous.
-The Necromancer’s appearance at the end of the Harbinger path is exactly as epic as it should be. He is now a death god and destroyer of countless worlds, but still manages to remain familiar as the narrator of Necromancer. The reference doesn’t dominate the scene however, and the focus is kept where it should be, on the Eternal, and his impending final choice.
-Lol, “I suppose I haven’t really been a good guy.”
-It’s good that the obliteration of gnome souls is treated as the atrocity it is.
-Lol, “See, now you’re just embarrassing yourself.”
-The final scene where the Eternal kills Semra is well done.
-The variety of mini-paths available in the early part of the struggle arc is nice.

Grammar
Generally good, there are a number of typos.
Mastery of Language
Better for this story than many of EndMaster’s others, though there are still some sentence structure issues in places. There’s more variety in structure.

Branching
Excellent. There are 13 full paths, which is impressive in a game of this size. The branching occurs at the beginning, middle, and end of the story, which allows for a lot of variety.

Player Options/fair choice
Good in places, poor in others. Sometimes the consequences of actions are well-foreshadowed, other times the outcomes seem random. Player options are limited as this is a “story” storygame, but since this is stated up front it’s not a problem.
The decisions that lead to branching paths are well-represented for the most part. The beg/die/struggle choice at the beginning is an accurate representation of the paths. The major branching choice in the beg path has the Eternal directly decide what he wants to do next, and the two branching choices later on that path make sense in context. The split between the Terror and Messiah endings represents well the true meaning of the decision with the options presented, and the choice that leads to the Survivor ending makes sense. The rule/serve choice is representative. The consequences of accepting or not accepting Jessica’s help make sense. Choosing to help Decena or Semra does not represent the real choice, which is to seek immortality on Mortos or not, but the consequence of the action are logical at least.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:
I got Eternal Paragon the first time I played, which I still think is the best ending. Eternal Bane is close, however, as the morality of the protagonist and positive impact on the world matters to me, despite the plot and narrator not being quite as epic. I played the beg path next and got Eternal Couple followed by Eternal Bane, then played the die path and got executed by the empire after hunting down all the shadows. When I played the true shadow path, I got Eternal Survivor.
The best endings I would say are Eternal Paragon, Eternal Bane, Eternal Survivor, and Eternal Couple. Eternal Harbinger is the most narratively satisfying. Eternal Savior is probably the worst.
I’d be curious to know the word count for each major branch. The beg and die branches I each got through in a day, but the struggle branch took the better part of two days.
Let anyone who wants to claim that the choice-based format does not have as much value as linear stories first read this; it’s an incredibly powerful work showing how examining a character’s life across a variety of possibilities and outcomes can create a whole that is far greater than the sum of its parts. The full story here can only be fully appreciated when all the branches have been read.
Anyways, this is probably top 5 in the ranking of my favorite works of fiction of all time. This is a legitimately awing piece of work, for its length and complexity, sheer entertainment value, and literary merit and complexity.

CONCLUSION: Holy fucking shit.

This shit was fire. It is phenomenal every step of the way, and the amount of paths you can take is countless.

I'm sorry. I made a comment on this game during my first play-through. Goddam this game is so much deeper than I initially thought. So many lines of story. You get to literally see what the consequences of your actions are. And the second play-through is so much better. Now you get to change things. Change something at the start? You get to see one of your Eternal siblings take your place and see how they fare. You get to have these strange and new experiences. This...This is not a game or a story. It is a legend (which does explain why it's the top game on this site).

This was the first "chooseyourstory" game I've ever played. And I'm sure I will always remember it. I swear, this game, its beautiful. So many moving pieces, so many different outcomes. I luckily managed to find a way to be the "Eternal Bane" but from all the other deaths I've seen, this game was made exceptionally well. There are a few parts with some grammatical issues but the sheer greatness is enough to make reading through a few spelling errors more than worth it. 10 out of 10. Must play.

Good story,was good,and was pretty good,in my opinion it was good,I hope other people think its good.

I liked Necromancer and Innkeeper. I really liked Death Song and the Annah branch of Rogues. Unfortunately, I found Eternal to be a complete waste of time. The other four I felt like had either interesting premises or characters I cared about. In Eternal, the only thing I thought was interesting was the Emperor, so once he was gone the rest of the story was a complete slog. I didn't need an additional 100 pages to get the idea of what it would be like to be a very old person who has lost everything that used to tie them to the world. I'd recommend one of those four of Endmaster's other stories 100/100 times compared to Eternal.

I reached the 9th epilogue and had a journey mixed with love,fight,flame and many mixed emotions this is definitely was roller coaster and one on which I didn’t puke afterwords

the story was not so skibidi

Top notch!

its really good

When I first embarked on this journey I had a lot of doubts if it was wise to continue past the few pages. The longer I kept playing, the more I was interested. The breakong point for me was travelling through time into the future after first emperor's death. After that it really grabbed me and didn't let go until the epiloge.
I must admit to returning to "saves" after I died. That happened several times. I've never get the hang of making the decisions. Seems to me that every time something else wirked for continuing the story. If there is any internal system I failed to recognize it. It seems to me that the main character had to really change a lot of times in order to survive utill his timely death rather than keep to his personality and develop in morality. There was some progress but even at the end there were some really disturbing things.
There was a very nice touch throught entire story and in the end especially about how the history is interpreted and written by victors. Also the more critical view of republic copared to empire was refreshing in these days of ours.
Thank you very much for your hard work, how long did it take to complete this story?

P.S. I'm not a native english speaker. Sorry for any gramatical mistakes that I probably unknowingly made.

Awesome story. I know like a thousand people have said it by now but seriously, you should publish this shit

Wtf why is this masterpiece not a new york times bestseller novel???

I keep dying

great

Amazing, but very punishing

Man, i wish we ended up with mommy Semra. But it when it comes to an end dark elves are for themselves

This is a great story. I probably shouldn't be reading this but I did, and I like it.

Worst story just quit

Awesome story, well written and has complex characters and plot. I don't, however, like being forced to choose to accept a love interest in order to continue a story. Felt really shitty.

Who's sickened mind had the idea to make them engage in intercourse lol. The story was nice and engaging until that part tbh. no hate

Very epic. Very long story. Every character has their ideals and the world doesn't just revolve around the MC. I am bad with words, but just know this a worthwhile read.

Heard tons of good things about the game and story, specifically from the new book "50 Years of Text Gaming". Started the game with anticipation, only to be disappointed with tons of f-bombs and swearing in the first few paragraphs. No thanks. Not everyone talks like a juvenile.

Well, wow. I ended it so fast... I lost anyways

Epilogue gave me existential crisis, nice story though

He did it! He created a master race! An objectively superior breed!

The concept of nazi gnomes was certainly interesting...

Overall one of the best stories, though it's a shame the MC didn't get it on with Semra

Gota say the game was a masterpiece. Just these words are not worth to describe the complexity of the games but I am not a writer but still give it a try,you wont regret it.

MARK MY WORDS

The story was incredible but I wish it was shown where the main character goes after dying and whether he reunites with Talia or not

Great story with actually varied story lines. Would highly recommend.

Addictive, emotional and stuff

Never even played the game but I love this new rate and comment button.

Although I'm not yet satisfied with this story, its still an amazing read! I'm just a horible person out for blood. But hey! We all have our moments! Meh, I'll find my ending eventually. Anyway, this is a very interesting story, and I give my thanks to the author.

Very long and very tedious. I struggled through it for many days and just decided to end it.

I didn't like the character of the eternal so didnt connect with anything he did.

No choice, anything other than what the author wants instantly kills you.

I.. cant say anything good anymore i mean this game is still amazing but ive used the rest of my words for dead man walking still recomend playing this 10/10

Best of the best, in fact i'm going to play it again.

pretty good

nice story

Still come back to this every so often - love it!

nice

Phenomenal writing. The effort put into this is incredible.

Awesome experience

Really good

ETERNAL !

Soooooo good!

Loved it. I want to read books like this one; any recommendations?

 

great

The amount of times my Eternal (I) have died due to being arrogant (an idiot) has been an enlightening experience.

great

gooob gamee

your allright Eternal, Don't come to Fort Gloom tomorrow.

Great world

Very good I really like it, good job keep it up

I constantly come back to this absolute masterpiece of a story. It never fails to leave me feeling awed at the life I just lived. It will forever be my favorite cyoa story.

Pretty good route

I couldn't even choose to have intercourse, I don't wanna frick anyone

Honestly, this has got to be one of the best stories I've ever read. Although you could compare this to many others, the complex nature of this story goes far beyond that of most on this website. Special appreciation goes out to this not only for being a compelling tale but being understandable. The characters are so human and real (even in such a strange world) that it feels as though you are living the emotions of the main character yourself. Although I suspect an author is a 45-year-old man living in his mother's basement, he has the writing skills of an apprentice to Shakespeare. I could continue to contemplating how EndMaster managed to create such an extensive world of his own, or I could just keep playin' this motherfuckin awesome game.

Back to clicking blue links

so i stabbed the mistress during the fight since she was a lil bitch,, don’t do what i did y’all

it was ok

Yes. Struggle is 100% one of the better paths. 11/10 tbh

Probably the best storygame I've seen. This looks like something someone would work their entire life to make, it has amazing characters and tons of paths you can choose from, I doubt that I've even completed half of them. I would give this a 9/8 if I could.

Honestly, I love the story you go through. 10/10

Shit game

Wow, just perfect. I loved how my perceptions of characters kept changing through the story. The only whom I gated from beginning became tolerable and those whom I loved became intolerable. I want more of this.

I have had more than half a week's worth of entertainment time spent on this, I say it was time well spent.

Came up with the name Zephyr in my head for the Eternal. Then discovered he's actually named Francis. The two now fight for dominance in my mind.
12/10 would Eternal again

Spoilers
Sad that you can’t win
I got up to the everygloom flog part and went every ending but died each way

Could be longer

Loved this. This choices are mainly about your moral leanings and what you believe in, which then impact on the story. I was genuinely surprised at how I could make choices that added some character development. Eg. I could believe in something and then change my mind on later due to more information. As the story went on, I found it fascinating how the main character was acting in a way that I felt was the right thing to do. As the story went on, this only got more and more specific. I like how everything wasn't 'believe x or y thats it' there was room for a lot of grey area. Genuinely impressive.

So, there's 13 epilogues right? I think the Dead Ends don't count there, 'cause I mean (lmao), I just knew that decision would decide the end of my fate. Crushed by ice, snow and giants (still laughing).

It’s k

Although I died rather quickly, I thought it was really interesting. The lore was good, and although I was surprised by the sudden sex scene with Mistress, the rest was very good.

me when i get kidnapped as a child and forced to face unspeakable horrors

Well....I lived to the ripe age of 80 and created fertile Eternals can't say i lived well but I LIVED.
And I hope that dark elf bitch dies a painful death in some unknown location.

Don't be dumb like me.

I LOVE THIS!!!!!

trash book imo

Could do with a lot of editing but only for spelling and syntax errors. Otherwise I’ve enjoyed for like a decade or so now. Thanks!

it was fun and I thought mistress was hot. wantedto kill her. struggle path good

It was good

The struggle path is probably the best written story on this site the how despite the eternal obviously being a product of his environment we still sometimes find it hard to sympathize with him and in the end he tears down
The wall and becomes a better person

Died at 16, gonna try again

Sheklly boi

wow, can't say more than that

pretty good

cool

Amazing huge game

There are hard choise in the game but again i enjoyed.

Six years later and this story never fails to bring me to tears at some points.

That was so good... so satisfying. I love the ending I got.

Longer than expected. Absolutely wonderful.

One of my favorite stories on this site. I've played it many times and this time, I have decided to document my playthroughs on a mission to find every epilogue.

Epilogue 8: Eternal Survivor - 2022.05.25

GREAT JOB!!!

I really liked it. Reminded me of when I used to be a child and fence and later read choose your own adventure books. I was a weird child.

got the eternal hero epilogue. based

Seems decent

Very fantastic and addictive. Definitely gonna try to see different epilogue again.

This story is amazing. I know people just throw that word around. But this is above anything I have read. I was up for 6ish hours to read through everything, and yes, it was worth it. Great work, End Master.

Very very cool man.

Well, it was decent!

Short review? Great story, kept me IN the narrative, not trudging through it. Great world building. It doesn't take long to see Ender is very good.

What did I just read/play?

no

not enough vengeance

Aside from the fact i skimmed over the book, it's super great , slightly better than homework. If i was an teacher, forget non-fiction books, we're doing this instead.

I sorta gave up after a little while and reminded myself that this is LONG. not that long, but with all the paragraphs it's long and fun.

Not great and not terrible. Overrated probably tho. Ending not great, but maybe that’s just my play through. Looking for the moral of the story here and not really finding anything of value. I’d bet there are better things on this website to read/play, but I can appreciate the amount of effort it took to make this.

It's a great title. Would play again.

End your fucking life

Really good read except there could be less modern swearing in it. "Damn" is quite fine for example but "Fuck" is a bit out of fantasy and quite much popping out.

It may have taken me a few months, but I've finally read through every single link. There were moments where I wanted to give up. Sometimes it felt like the story could go on forever. But I pushed through my self-doubt and finished the story game, and it was worth it.

This story game has a hybrid time cave-gauntlet structure. The story can feel linear because of this, but the branching choices are much better for it. There aren't too many multi-page death branches, most are one page long, but there's enough to add variety without overdoing it. If the story had strictly followed the time cave structure, the choices, in a story this long, would've been meaningless.

Eternal is a beautiful epic that follows the life of a nameless eternal and his lust for life. In his life he sees an empire fall, outlives everyone he cares about, and the death of magic at the hands of technological advancements (with variations depending on the branch, of course). By the time the Eternal dies, he's lived a full and meaningful life, and with each epilogue I'm reminded of the Tears in Rain monologue from Blade Runner. The story also shows us that immortality doesn't have to literally mean living forever. Truly an inspirational read and one of, if not the best, works of interactive fiction I've read.

The protagonist is well-characterized through the narrative and the choices regardless of whether they're a death choice or not. After catching onto his personality, I could accurately guess which choices would end in death and cringed before I picked the choices. The Eternal also exemplifies one of my favorite types of characters in fiction. He never lies down and gives up, he adapts to every situation, and he's got the determination to see something through even if it isn't in his favor.

Favorite characters (not including the Eternal): Captain Gruz, Ulivik, Tulla, Decena, and Elam.

Most hated characters: Semra and Zana.

Favorite endings: Eternal Bane, Eternal Terror, Eternal Paragon, Eternal Emperor, and Eternal Harbinger.

Favorite branches: Shadowmaster, Remnant, and Relic.

Favorite quote: you read too many damn bad copper dreadfuls about necromancers.

Most amusing death: arguing with Semra over baby throwing.

The optional event choices could've had the next choice(s) at the bottom instead of a back to story link, but that's just a minor, personal thing and not important. I'm not going to whine about SPAG since it's been done to death by now, and I'd rather see the time it would take to edit this to go to new stories.

Fuck i love you

Very good

Played this for 5 minutes only to get game over just because the beginning forced you to NOT kill that damned bitch... so much for choosing your own adventure, RIP me.

Its a really good read. Its nice to play as the tyrant for once

I play this Story once in a while, while I'm working. And I feel like being in this story with the eternal. Every choice you make has an impact in some ways. I will do another run to see the difference! Highly recommended!

Now THIS is a certified hood classic. Glad I got to read this!

questionable grammar and sentence structure

After playing the game again and choosing different things, I take back what I said In my first review about how it feels like choices don't matter.

(Spoliers) It was great, but it didn't really feel like the ending I got was caused by my own choices.

After reading the pure, the vile, the deadly, I've spent the last 2 months rereading every page of every story game Endmaster created. Of course you have to finish up with "Eternal"
Its probably the 3rd or 4th time I finished but the first time I rated due to the fact that the first couple were before I was a member.

Normally the game plan to make sure I hit every path, good or bad, is to click the top link until I have to hit back and go to the opposite link.

I almost hate I did it this way due to the fact that I think I enjoyed the path of soldier (shadow or grunt) more than the Emperor path. That or everything was just getting blurry from reading a couple months straight.

With all the different arcs I almost feel like two of the other Eternals could have their own stories. Granted anything Endmaster ever post is a much read and of highest quality and enjoyment, I think that a Kane or Warrick story arcs could be a very enjoyably read.

The only way this story could've been any better is if you had full control over a couple of the Eternals and their actions would affect the game outside of Francis' actions. How is the overall war affected in the event that Kanes battles with wendigos go differently, does that change a certain aspect when you get transferred back to the main character.

Granted I've only seen these sort of actions in 1 story game I can recall off the top of my head, but just a thought.

But anyways,...complete... every page of every friggin EM story and I don't regret one word read

Hi dear author I just want say I realy enjoyed Eternal, it realg is good writing. My only regret is that I could not give a name to my eternal, whether this is how it's designed or I failed to find such option I don't know.

its a vary good story to get rapped up in for hours

EEEEEEh... it's certainly a story.

Nothing short of spectacular writing. Late in the story there were a lot of typos, but the story (I chose struggle) was top tier. I reccomend it to anybody who isn't afraid of being an anti-hero and that can tolerate typos in exchange for amazing writing.

Best thing I've played in a while. I've not found all endings, but so far I've liked the Struggle paths the most. Because they are just so epic.

It deals with quite a lot of themes, like growing older, leaving a legacy, and disillusionment. I swear I teared up a bit at some of the endings. Even though you get to be -ETERNAL in them most of them have this tinge of melancholy (cough Harbinger cough). It just sucks for the Eternal, doesn't it? He is almost never happy or normal in any way.

My favorite character must be Alison. She is just badass on her own terms and independent, but at the same time very caring and funny behind that. I mean Semra is... badass as well, but Alison's relationship with Eternal is far less dysfunctional. As for Decena, she feels too subservient at times. I get why, but still.

All in all, play if you want to have a really deep think and get totally immersed in a game. Warning for mature themes and swearing though.

It was cool

Fucking incredible

Nice

Ive played most paths in this one, if not all. I made an account just for this review. This is something special. I hope someday Endmaster gets more recognition because even if the editing or proofreading isn't always great playing through this shows you how thoroughly he thought these plots through. That's a gift. I read a full novel about every week, I have no business being torn up by some guys interactive fiction piece from a decade ago. And, yet, several of these paths have brought tears to my eyes.

There is the eternal survivor, whose twisted, worn path through absolute despair was hard to read at times. But his eventual determination to bring about a new generation was inspiring and uplifting. Its not canon, but I have the image of his last moments slumped against the gravestone of Talia in the old Temple, a contented smile on his face. No one can take that from me.

The end of the Harbinger path destroyed me. Its not a "epilogue" ending but Eternal Bliss is the only ending I can accept. I guess in my mind the Eternal was lost the second he lost Alison. The empire, the immortality, to my perception, it was all to fill a hole that could never be filled.

The soldier path is the simplest, but I will hold a candle for joining with Brenda and flinging the light of the Empire into the future. "Eternal Couple" was a fitting name, and both of them finding comfort in each other later in life was sweet.

At this point its not like the author needs more praise, but I was affected enough by these stories to say something. Keep on with all this, Im reading everything on this site now. May your words find the speed of the wind.

-- Some internet asshole

How horribbly, tragically, human.

It is rare for me to read a story in one sitting, but I could not stop. It is definitely better than some of the books I've been trying to read recently.

you will not find a better representation of these cyoa stories. the author has shown pure dedication in giving his readers something this extensive while leaving its only faults down too various grammar mistakes. This is a wonderful story that i honestly believe almost anyone can get behind

It's real good.

an amazing way to pass the boring hours of school

THIS SUCKS! You should write about vampires

**MEGA SPOILERS LOOK OUT** This game makes me feel weird. I got The "Eternal Hero" ending and honestly it kinda sucked? I don't really know, after the 'time travel' it fell off mega. I want to experience the other endings but honestly this ending left me so empty.
I had to force myself through the second part, because (like the mc) I honestly had nothing to work for anymore. The Empire was dead and so was everything I worked for. My wife was dead and Semra was only still barely holding on(until she wasn't).
If I knew killing the emperor was going to cause me to travel 500 years into the future, hell if I knew what the struggle path was even in the first place I wouldn't have chosen it. Maybe if I made different decisions *during* the fight with the emperor? I sure as hell wasn't going to *not* fight him. If Time travel was the only option after all the fighting and winning what was even the point?
I put like 4 hours into that first part and then it was all for nothing anyways. Whatever it was fine I guess, maybe if it wasn't so long I'd play the other paths. Definitely worth playing once, but I almost wish I hadn't. I feel empty inside.

Such a masterpiece

Really loved this. A clever premise.

It needs another round of proof reading I think. You aced it on the spell checking, but some of the words are incorrect or incomplete. For example: 'You' instead of 'Your' in addressing second person literary perspective.

I think it is a very twisted and interesting piece of fantasy.
Thank you for sharing it.

Dude... Utter perfection

Hours and hours of reading, just because I chose to struggle. And struggle I did. But also was I rewarded for my struggle, and Endmaster upholds their end of the deal to give me the consequences of my actions. Superb. Will try to plead next time.

It's honestly insane how good this is, added by the fact that it's completely free. A must read for readers out there who loves emotional and touching story telling.

I just want to say thank you to End for creating this amazing art piece of a story game. Immersive story telling, realistic characters that you don't want to die, especially by your own hands. I also wanted to mention how long it must have taken to complete this game. Love your works man, another victory for the EndMaster.

Too bad there wasn't enough smexy stuff with Semra. There can never be enough.

Is there an ending with Semra? The epilogues I get seem to hint on it.

This is the first Chooseyourstory novel I had ever read, and honestly, it certainly wouldn't be the last. I came to love how the characters interact with each other in a way that is almost natural, as if that's how they would act were they to actually exist. I didn't really like how the 'player?'couldn't interact with the events happening in front of them. It gives
off a feeling of helplessness, I find that I am sure some wouldn't like. That said this may be different from the COG that I usually play.

My overall experience with the game/story was positive, though I wish I had the chance to be on better terms with big ole Mistress, not because of the spicy shreks scenes that EndMaster had laboriously written, no, I had reread the path where *spoiler alert* Mistress disguised herself as Alison to have some 'night games' with the MC. While I do think that some people would think it's pretty fucked up, 'which it obviously is because that's the point, I think that it shows us an insight to how Mistress really feels, you know? Her love for lil Eternal boi couldn't be summarized better just by that scene alone. Err, enough ranting about my suppressed sexual desire and events that is almost unlikely to occur, let's head on to the actual rating shall we?

I definitely see why people praise it for it's elegant beauty. Though brutal might've been the better term, I really loved it and there were never any major flaws in the story, (lies, you get horny just by thinking about what the Mistress Romance Route would look like). Anyways, I hope that EndMaster is getting paid enough for this, because Jesus christ is his novel a work of art that I would display in the museum.

10/10 - Lore
HornyforMistress/10 - Characters
Intenseplotandsomeothershit/10 - Plot
Wouldplayagainjusttoseeotherepilogues/10 - Overall

Basically, a must read for anybody who doesn't live under a rock. (Patrick, you stay out of this one).

more of a set novel than a choose your own adventure. not much personality either

boring

Hello, so I did a Comment on this already, that was before I made my account (Before I was ‘Ekho Blade (Sulf)’ but I see that my highest rating didn’t show that I did because, I did not have an account then.
Also another reason for me re-commenting is because I’ve done every ending now, and I want to do a more detailed praise for this.
So let’s get right into it.

This. Is a a Masterpiece, this was my first story on the website, in fact, would not have even known about this website if it was not for this story, AI Dungeon apparently fed some of your work into the AI, and probably others. I’ve been playing AI dungeon for a while, and I always kept seeing this such as ‘Count Grey’ or ‘Rask’ or something like that showing up, but I never knew until I figured it out, I think from the discord.
But that’s enough about AI Dungeon.
This really is a masterpiece of writing, End, I highly commend you for making this Story, the amount of detail, endings, and Interesting story makes this the clear Top of the website.

Awesome Work End, Which you’ve probably heard a billion times, But I really just had to comment and commend this work of art.
Please and thank you for making this, Have a good one!

Oh my god, this was so good, I got ending 8, this was my first ‘Choose your Story’ on this site, found this cause AI DUNGEON. Oh my god was this so freaking good.

I could really engage in the story, part of this may come from my love for interactive novels/stories. Nonetheless I'm glad I found the name for this kind of game for which I was searching a long time. Even though this was not my favourite genre I did throughly enjoy it. The fact that the chapters were rather short (compared to a book) did help for it's difficult to write a story that maintains interest and I don't think writing more characters makes it better.

When it comes to criticism:
1. The world building was not my ideal, thought it was done well.
2. I liked the characters and found it to be surprising to have created a bond with them whom I've just met.
3. The story was dark if you like that.
4. The choice options were creative enough.
5. I loved the writing, sort of melodic.
6. Didn't like the swearing.

I quit after the first loss because I thought my decisions for right and for some other factors:
- If I made morally wrong actions to continue the end wouldn't be as satisfying.
- I know some can stand it and some like it but I couldn't the foul language.

Decision 1:
Beg

Decision 2:
Save

Decision 3:
Defend
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well done!

Hey it's me again i just wanted to say this is an amzaing game and that i really enjoy it and would even love it if there was a way to follow it up.

An absolutely gripping story, had me from start to finish.

Really good game.

I got the ending where *SPOILERS*

You accept Semra's offer 500 years into the future and then she promptly backstabs you in order to prolong her life. -_-

Time to find the real endings and go back again.

Alison was my favorite in this playthrough. I tried to find a way to be with her, but it seemed like no matter what, she inevitably got killed...

I have never before read a piece of interactive fiction that has kept me this interested for this long. Beautifully written and composed. I will be recommending this story to all my friends.

This story isn't the standard for Choose your own adventure-style stories. It's the standard novels try to aspire to and more often than not fail. Eternal is a series of Novels that were tied together with dead ends in the middle. I'm not promising this is going to be your preferred flavor of story, just that it's a good story. Give this a read and remember you're going to be stepping into one of the darker fantasy worlds out there. You're going to be playing a super-soldier that was built by the big bad empire in a dark and brutal world.

I loved it one of the best things I have ever read thank you

My heart strings man...
This story line and lore is to die for. I was so heavily invested that I found myself tearing up on several occasions. The character development is some of the best even amongst the published novels I've read. I cannot wait to revisit this and try out more branches of the storyline, and hopefully one day I will see all 13 of the Epilogues. Thank you EndMaster for this amazing experience, you damn legend.

i love this IT's so fun

Well done, and a ridiculous amount of work clearly went into this. Intriguing characters and a compelling, if sometimes quite complicated story.

It's a crime I got to read this for free honestly

Best story ever. No need for embellishments and high praises. Some stories leave you so speechless and awestruck you can only silently go through the whole story time and again and keep on admiring it's sheer beauty. This was story of love,fear,loss,redemption,power,fantasy and so much more. I tip my metaphorical hat to the author.

This is a little more then what I thought was the ending :P Most of my thoughts about this cant really be said, but it was definitely enlightening. However, the epilogue was slightly strange.

Honestly i just cliked around for a bit but then i acually went into the book and its really good

I played this for HOURS! Tried to get every ending but that would take days best one I have played yet.

This game is one of the first I ever read on CYS, and it's still one of my absolute favorites to this day. The protagonist's inner struggle between the Emperor he's been conditioned to serve since birth, and the increasing amount of evidence that everything he's ever been taught is false, was engrossing to read. Indeed, the character's thoughts and feelings as his mindset slowly shifts from the person he was raised to be to who he wants to become, is so detailed and fleshed out, that you can actually immerse yourself in that pain and self-doubt. Every moment in the game feels special and unique, and the surrounding characters and their motivations are so well-written that their death, treason, suffering, ect. hits you right in the gut. Even his enemies have reasoning for what they do, and the game does a good job of showing you their perspective, until you (and, of course, the protagonist) no longer know what to do. The game isn't some glorified rape and murder fantasy, it's a genuine work of art that deserves to be a best-selling novel, and the fact that we all get to enjoy it for absolutely free is just an extension of the love and consideration that EndMaster put into this masterpiece.

Long live the Empire!

I personally this story to no end, it was magnificent. This story is likely the the piece de resistance of the site and I am proud to have read it and finished most of it's endings. Still have to finish the hermit one.

I took the time to get every single ending and epilogue possible and enjoyed every moment of it. This is beautifully done and is such an in depth world that im probably going to steal a lot of the ideas for my next dnd world. I will of course site you if anyone asks for inspirations!

Hello, I just want to say that I'm a big fan of your story Exploitation Theater. It made a miserable night so much more better. Better read with friends too. However, I found this story verbose, overly written and trite. Thank you for your contribution to the cyoa society. You're a true legend in the field, which you have plowed quite handily.

I liked the options although i expected more. And the ending... worth it.

I only did like two choices and it ended

It starts with a scene where you, as a 16-year-old do NOT have a choice, but just rape a woman. I don't wanna rape people, and I found that extremely disgusting.

This book is definitely one of my favorites so far. The characters were so well-constructed, the conflicts were surprisingly interesting and i think this book should have a following one, telling other stories, another conflict thats about to rise or maybe the stories of the fifth generation, because this book ends with the protagonists death and the beginning of the fifth generation, and im really curious to see more about the future generation.

Very Refreshing...

It was aight. It felt like a very cheesy romance novel written by a 20 something year old at times, but still... Aight.

This story was fun to read. It's written really well, and the choices don't lead where you might expect them to. While the main idea behind it may sound cliche, it's surprisingly original and incredibly fun to play. I'm going to spend a long time trying to find everything.

What a journey, just wow

Got the ETERNAL hero ending

nice

I loved the game

8/8. Definitely deserves the first place.

Well written, engaging storyline

This story is ultimate. It is eternal. It sucked me into the complex world of the Empire, an I am grateful to have served the emperor

It was good it kept me and my friend quite entertained.

A good read, exciting game play. Although I will recommend adding a more choices that don't lead to immediate death.

A whole lots of genocides and a weird kink fetish, whats not to love? Some mistakes here and there. Its a long read but well worth it!

It's an immersive experience. At first I was ambivalent about it, a part of me felt it was anticlimactic because I loved to feel that humbling jealousy of the people who lead the other path which would have made for a compelling conflict, a rivalry of an underdog making those monks regret their judgement. Alas I'm left recognizing that my way of thinking about it as something of an "unfulfilled promise" is somewhat naive and arrogant and that in the end what is truly important is that I GOT TO CARE enough to regret death and to wonder about several what ifs, which is a sure and rare success in my opinion (what I came looking for) regardless of this alternate path being so short and bittersweet I will not forget it. Sincerely thank you for your work.

I really enjoyed the story but I hated the ending (at least the ending I got). I didn’t mind at all that I lost the war and I died at the end but the ending which included the assassination of Kane and the death of Talia was summed up in just two paragraphs. Which felt really rushed and made me feel like the author lost interest and just wanted to wrap this up. Otherwise, I really liked the story.

(sorry for improper grammar.)

This was an amazing experience.

Seemed interesting... but I died quickly.

Got all "True Eternal" ends.
Incredibly thrilling and kept my attention the whole way.

Finished my first full playthrough and boy did I manage to land in almost every death possible! Definitely a marvellous story with much more to explore!
(Eternal Emperor for the win!)

It's a true epic, the sheer scale and variety of this is just breathtaking.

i died

Holy heck this was beautiful. I went down the "struggle" path, I'm not all too sure where paths converge, but it was incredible! I spent hours of my life reading this book and it has an amazing story, and it's heckin' incredible.

Props to whoever spent years of their life writing this just to post it online for free!

Just got the Eternal Bane ending and man was that a journey

Damn

Amazing. Just amazing.

I played this on the toilet

This has to be the best story I have ever played through. I just wish I had more time to explore every ending.

It was a very well written out story even better than most famous books. I have never seen anything so good.

GGWP got eternal paragon and eternal emperor epilogue..
thx u bro, I will surely start over again :))

I also read Necromancer and I really want you to come up with a second book on Necromancer.

it's pretty good except for you starting out in a wack school

Finally done it, it was amazing story.. thx u so much for the experience.. wish u d best.. ????

Ok, so I actually got the last epilogue on this a few months ago, and just never made a comment until now. I wasn't planning to at all, but then I saw EndMaster's new story, Rogues..... see, I knew I had to play. I'd loved this one so much, the complexity, how much the little choices could impact the story, how the path you took changed what kind of person your character was dramatically, how your character, at the best of times, is often morally grey. But at the same time, I couldn't bring myself to play it, because in a weird way, I'm afraid. Afraid it will be better. This story was so amazing that part of me genuinely isn't sure if I wanna find something better, because I'm afraid I'll forget it, but I know better know. I know that in my heart and my mind, this story is and always will be, ETERNAL.

This story is just wonderful in so many ways I can't list them all, the deep lore, the descriptive battle, dark and depressing conversations,etc.
Eternal is truly one of the eternal masterpieces of story to exist.

Overall, all that I can say is WOW. This was an incredible journey, I am glad that I stumbled across this story. The author did an incredible job as not too many stories are able to feel as real and captivating as this one. Now on to the author's other stories, hope they are as good!

Too much backstory, not enough adventure.

Absolutely amazingly well crafted story, should be a book you have to pay for and I hope this has the chance to become a series for all to watch!

This is the best I have ever found, I have went through every possible option to go through, some I have went through multiple times.This should be a book, a best selling book.It could make millions.

Phenomenally in depth

This adventure must have been made with countless sleepless night and it was god damn worth it. This game is truly what other choose your own adventure titles should strive for. Truly its an ETERNAL game

This journey will always be Eternal.

Just...wow

absolutly sucks

Wow......... in all honesty i should of been doing hw but with every choice i chose i could not take my eyes off it. You created a story that draws people in.... i got the children ending.... i actually fell in love with these characters. All in all the deserves a 100/8

I ended up being the emperor so you know eskitit

very nice

Good game

this story is very good, i am not super great at it, and i will be playing more of it, as it is very good

wow amazing 10/10 i didn't even read the plot but wow amazing thing

Is there a 10 rating?

This is obviously super well-written. What can be said that hasn't been said already? One thing I wish was slightly different is that the choices didn't lead to the "death" option so much. I wish there were more choices that drastically altered the plot of the story, rather than ending the game outright. But I understand that that is quite difficult to write and plan, so it isn't that big of a letdown. Really, it's a minor nitpick.

Definitely worth the time, I would certainly play again.

That was so awesome that I can't imagine anything else so awesome as this. From the beginning to the end, I was completely immersed into the story, and I loved every single moment of it. I personally enjoyed the book epilogue which somehow brought feelings of nostalgia that made me feel delighted. I hope there will be more stories as long and full of life as Eternal. It's a true masterpiece.

Your writing style is very impressive and your ability to create intricate storylines is amazing. my favorite part is the one with the thumb thumbs and how they were so easily defeated by the MC(maincharacetr) I am peeing all over my

best ending

I amazing story you should try to turn it into a book!

i didnt play a all

I've chosen almost every option possible after picking the struggle path at the beginning and don't regret it. The plot is amazing, the choices are meaningful, and the characters are personal. The only issue with this would be the grammar but that's negligible.

Bit too hard for my tastes (If you get what i mean :3)

disappaointed, the sexscene was lame,and to bdsm for my liking, not into that stuff. and it was crap that when i went to kill her he died.

Wow...neat

A grandstanding piece of entertainment and one of the best works of interactive fiction, ever. Good pacing, detailed worldbuilding and an expansive list of unique characters. EndMaster has a talent in utilizing expositions, callbacks and turnarounds. My only significant complaint - the dialogue was, in many parts of Eternal, stilted. I highly recommend.

THE WAR

Honest to god i love this choose your own adventure story.

Interesting story and characters, well written and meaningful endings. I'm looking forward to start again and explore some different paths.

This is probablzy the best thing I've read in months and the only story I will come back to read when I want to feel morally conflicted again.

It took me three whole days to reach one of the epilogues and I loved every second of it. what an epic journey. i am very very thankful .

This was one of if not the coolest the most best cyoa I have ever read. I am happy

It took me three whole days but I fucking loved every second of it.

This is one of the coolest cyoa I have played. And I don't throw words lightly.

Disclaimer: I am about to reveal the path I took. Don't know if it is of any importance mentioning this, but if someone finds this to be a spoiler of sorts (though it really isn't from my perspective) then just know that this story is FREAKING AMAZING!!! (^-^)

So I took the All Father route, and all I can say is that, for the very VERY first time in my life, I GENUINELY felt like I lived a lifetime in a story. It is so perfectly written, that I just couldn't stop reading. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves choosing their own path in stories. 10/10. Perfect. (^-^)

I am a kid. Maybe that's why I didnt give it a rating of 8.

Brilliant!

This story in all of its branching choices is truly a good one to read. I am all about stories, so with lovely arcs of development, a wonderfully dispayed central theme, and imaginative storytelling with some funny references to the affairs of the Internet to boot, it's overall what I'd hope for in a good read. I know this sounds trivial, but there were just a few nit-picky things about grammar and stuff that were bothersome to read, but I know whoever took the time to write this story did a great job composing it, and with such an elaborate storyline, sometimes this kind of stuff comes as a last-minute priority, so it's nothing to worry about. overall, well-done, and keep up the good work.

This was truly art I read this almost every night during my night shift and I couldn’t stop reading. Every ending was better than the last and after I got all 13 endings I was truly heart broken. I really love the drive for immortality I just wish that there was more ways to save the main characters and I hope to see an expansion on this story. PLEASE

This story is pretty sweeping and interesting. There is some language (but hey we're all grown ups here right?) and suggestive themes but the core story was solid. I'd love to see a story added strictly about his childhood training, some of the adventures he had as a youth training under Semra and such. Maybe a separate story strictly about the first war he fought with Alison. I'd read that. I'd PAY to read that! Congratulations whoever the author is. well done. :)

The whole family loved it.

Got as far as the "mistress" stuff. Tried to get through it. Got to the "fight" scene. What the damn hell.

I have just recently graduated college and have binged this adventure of wild emotions to the point where I have read every single letter of every possible branch death or not.
chose your own adventure or not this is some of the most engaging literature I have ever read.

In order the Epilogues are:
1.)Eternal Savior
2.)Eternal Bane
3.)Eternal Warrior
4.)Eternal Patriot
5.)Eternal Couple
6.)Eternal Terror
7.)Eternal Messiah
8.)Eternal Survivor
9.)Eternal Destroyer
10.)Eternal Hero
11.)Eternal Paragon
12.)Eternal Emperor
13.)Eternal Harbinger

Top 3 in my opinion are
1.)Paragon (f**king wild emotional ride)
2.)Messiah
3.)Couple

If you are debating reading this or think the score is too high, read it, and did you even read this.

I got the ending where you go into a long sleep but I don't know if you have an ending where you stay with the Mistress...

Barely any true options, with most either leading to death or dismemberment. Still, the story was great and the ending hooked me. I wish I could find the time to explore all the other storylines, but I explored enough(1-3). This truly was a wicked roller coaster, that I'm both happy yet sad to finally depart. Thank you for the experience!
-Ace

Too much swearing and such. Hate it. Moving on. Mehmeh.

A butt-ugly story that should never have seen the light of day.

Absolutely great, can't wait to play it again I think the story could have been much different.

Played this again and somehow Kane's death was the thing that stood out to me the most even though there were many other great moments.

This is a really good one. I can see how the author really put everything they've got in this book.

Baller Status ETERNAL HERO!!!

This was the second ending i got

played through for at least 10+ hours and only have 3/13 epilogues. Diving back in rn.

this is for Ending 8 - Eternal Survivor

this is for Eternal Paragon *****

beautiful so far, I love how the character is constantly delving into depths of depravity in his own delusions.I hate the character but i sympathise and understand his decisions and his indecision. It really is mesmerising thank you. I have yet to conquer this book.

Epic

UR STORY IS GAY FUCKING GARBAGE ,YOU NERDY SHIT.

This story is the first I've read on this community. I thought it was very good. Personally, perhaps a little to wordy, but I got into it and really enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about the story. I believe it was very well done. I hope to someday be able to write a story as nicely as this.

The obvious key to success in choose-your-own-adventure literature is to find the solution gently suggested by the author, but in good choose-your-own-adventure literature, there is less of a feeling that that is the case. I think in the case of my particular character death, I was choosing between what seemed like the best real-world solution and what seemed like the author's preference for character growth. I think this work, while great, would feel more empowering if it seemed like decisions occurred in the world itself, separate from the author's narrative ambitions.

This is the best game I have ever played!

This was a fantastic journey. One that had it's ups and downs - with many twists and turns, some painfully obvious ones and some that surprised me. But it was one that kept me enthralled to the end.

Rating: 56/40

+15/10 for Story Line
+10/10 for Art / Details
+ 6/10 for Game Mechanics
+15/10 for Character Development, Grammar, etc
+10 Bonus

One of the best stories I have ever read. The story line was unique of all the other stories I have read and it was very enrapturing. The details were very descriptive and painted very charming images in my mind. The Game Mechanics were rather limited as most of the extra options resulted in early death, but that is trivial, considering that this is more of a story than a game(Still entertaining nonetheless). The character development is admirable and diverse. Then, the bonus goes into the genre, how well the story unraveled itself and everything else I liked about this. I will try to get all the endings afterwards. Thank you for such a wonderful game. :)

I look forward eagerly for more.

Great game. Though the spelling and grammatical mistakes become progressively worse as the story progresses.

I kinda enjoyed how far I went, and it was very intense. I felt bad for Brenda at the end of my story, but it wasn't too bad. I felt that I've seen better, but I was decent.

I started blind, reading everything earnestly along the way. I failed a couple of times, with the obvious punishment being death. But after a few early deaths (none before the rebellion plans truly set in motion) I kinda guessed my way through and actually went on and get the ETERNAL epilogue on my first run, which I kinda take pride for myself in. I got back cramps reading this in a single sitting because I wasn't expecting this to be a four-hour journey but it was really worth it.

The story is a total blast to ride through. You started off as a heavily indoctrinated homonculus person working for The Empire. Eventually you meet an actual God who is kind of an ass about the actual entire religious organization he's being centered on, but curious about this deviant little ass who stepped into the portal without warning.
Eventually you see how bad The Empire is (Without the divine shit from Dendrin, no less), but you remained a stoic atheist half-leader which climbed ranks because of your own affinity to solve life problems and that idiot God's antics, halfly. You're his most precious guinea pig he talks to often tho, so it's not all bad, maybe.
Through the years you became the entire organization's best asset by literally fighting your way up to recognition, pestered by Dendrin along the way.
People come and die, the death of the previous master and the destruction of the Gloom hit pretty hard.
Eventually The Empire is defeated, but now you have to deal with a literal nation-building with you somehow suddenly being in the center, although you can pretty much get anything in motion by mentioning Dendrin because that's just how much indoctrinated to the religion most of them are.
Really funny though, you, being the atheist brawn you are being in the center of a devout religious group with their actual God having you as their lab rat because they have gotten bored over the whole worship thing.
Some had become traitors, some more died, and some other fightings occured, but eventually you die after living just past a century, and the maximum dicc of a God actually offered you a place replacing them, as the protector of the Shadows. Nothing beats your "friend" God suddenly saying "I'm leaving but you'll replace me so yeah bye."

The action, decisions, and characters are really fleshed out and beautifully detailed. The character progression of the "You" character is really nicely implemented. The location settings are really in depth, and you can pretty much make a rough map out of it with your imaginative powers. That general guy's plunge to madness was a nice touch. The coup attempts and random traitors are also a nice and realistic addition, in context of cultism.
On the other hand, it feels like while some developement are visible, "You"'s companions generally don't get much developement. They mostly stayed how they were, even after being told many secrets and stuff. I also want to mention that it feels like they were never running out of background manpower, however much they had been fighting in the rebellion against The Empire. Aside of the newly acquired Eternals, no real mention of civilian training and stuff like that is being mentioned dearly.

Overall, I feel that I'm really engrossed into it during my read. The story is exceptional, and the wicked personality of the "You" character adds its own charm. I'd say 9.5/10 but if I round it to a /8 I have to give it an 8/8 don't I?

I don't know if this will replace my last comment or not but the ending I got was LITERALLY THE BEST. I have never been so satisfied by the ending like I was when I finished Epilogue 7.

I foresaw the ending I got, it was only common sense. But it was great nonetheless. I am about to play through again this is only 1 of 13 endings. Long live the empire.

your english is only slightly better than a child from nigeria who was homeschooled and also born with polio

Lived to be 564, and I wish I could've lived forever. Great game.

what the fuck is this garbage

This is the perfect example of a choose your own adventure story. There are so many branching choices and epilogues, leaving the community opportunities to discuss and theorize ideas about untold plot areas and story threads. I strongly recommend this beast of a story. 8/8

Excellent....

"Choose your story". Why did the game force me to fuck some nasty brown elf slut?

Yes

He need to build a wall

Just got Enternal Survivor going for one of the beg runs

Great

Truly beautiful

very good

10/10 Read it as a lurker and it's one of the main CYOAs that encouraged me to try this website out as a user.

Military path wayyyy too short

i love it

the top comment is a better piece of literature than this

I especially liked having the opportunity to read more about the history and motivations of both sides; good world building.

Well... First of all, IT TAKES A LONG TIME. Just warning you. Plus definitely not for 13 or under. Like the story though must have taken a long time but is very good. Honestly, at first I only read the last paragraph and decided off of that but then went through and redid the whole thing.

Very fun :)

This was a great CYOA game that very highly recommend!

Very cool, thank you Kanye.

Really fucking good, and considerably longer than I would have expected. Only complaint I might have is that some crucial points of plot were ignored.

Thank you, that was actually lots of fun. Even though I stuffed up B A D!

this is just messt up

good, but very easy to die

I. LOVED. IT.
Best story game I've played. I'm probably going to try to get a different ending though.
I got Eternal hero btw.

I wish there were more things to choose one. Like having sex with mistress or killing the svelk guy. Those seem like big decisions

Nice. Very long... phew. Got a great ending though

Absolutely enthralling. Sucked me in from the first page and couldn't stop. Great great story.

Outstanding. Never felt quite so much from a text based adventure game. Choices feel weighty and I've never felt such uncertainty in what to do. Every choice feels like you're betting the fate of the world on a single mouse-click.

I have nothing but respect for the author and the incomprehensible amount of writing they must have done for this. I've played through the game twice and gotten completely different stories both of which took me at least 5 straight hours to complete.

If I could give a 10/10 I would.

I have played this game a whole lot. It's long, it's well made, and I'm trying to get every ending.

That being established, I believe that my favourite ending is the Shadow one. Becoming a savior of a trick and being revered as a master of the trade and even a godslayer is a wonderful afterthought.

Wish it went longer, suppose I made the wrong decisions.

Just finished another run, ending with "Eternal Harbinger". This path was better crafted than the "Eternal Hero", feeling like a single cohesive story instead of two. A lot is more tied in with the start of the game, from the first scene to the first choice, which was neat. I still regret that too many choices are just a matter of "live" or "die" instead of meaningful to the narrative, forcing you to follow a specific path (like getting killed no matter what of you don't marry Alison)

Great work. Very long but never boring, which is always hard to pull off. I greatly enjoyed the unusual characters, such as Semra or Jennifer. Just got the Eternal Hero ending. I really liked how the story found a second wind after the time skip, and that by the end of it, most plotlines found a satisfying end. Can't wait to see if the other path hold up as much.

Wow, best thing i've read.

OMG such a long read and it hurts my head. But kinda exciting as hell. I SWEAR SEMRA IS MY FAV ! So I'm sad she died at the end. DAMN

Well crafted and well thought out. Encourage anyone to try the game/story as it is well worth the time!

Obviuosly I made numerous "wrong" decisions, but the story was superb! Well worth the time and not so much enjoyable as it was satisfying and worthwhile. An excellent idea for a story and well crafted and carried out

This is, hands down, the best story game I have played.

FUCK YOU AND YOUR STORY BITHC FUCK EVERYTHING

Not sure why everyone thinks this 'game' is something to write home about...it seems like it is honestly more story than game which doesn't make a lot of sense. Honestly what is the point of playing a game where you don't get to choose what happens? Then it is basically a story or am I missing something? Only thing I liked was that the descriptions were in general good and told you what was happening and what it was like...but you couldn't do anything about it! Not thumbs up!!

(If you're worried about spoilers skip past paragraph eight)

There are many things that I could say about Eternal. I could praise the rich and believable characters, how each one brings something unique in their own way. Some of them are of course less fleshed out than others, but in most cases it's just because the main character doesn't care about them/talk to them enough.

I could also mention the awe-inspiring battle scenes, the kind that completely captivate you, not just with how they're written (although that helps a lot) but also because of the emotional stakes set into the fights. YOU are the character, and for all of their faults and blatant villainy, you still sympathies with them and support them in their struggles.

I might mention the sprawling and massive world building that EndMaster put so much time and effort into, how every area from the snowy wasteland of Rask to the tamed cities of The Felkan Kingdom, or Quala all feel distinct and memorable.

But mostly I want to focus on the story. Because Eternal has a very emotional and epic story involving empires, war, oppression, and death.

The first real decision in the game is a pretty important one, as each choice puts you on totally different paths with branching narratives.

While I acknowledge that the Struggle path is probably the most epic and amazing path out of the lot, the beg route holds a very special place in my heart.

Here's why: The fight with Captain Gruz is like an emotional punch in the gut, over the course of the last day you've seen two of your fellow soldiers (Who you see as brothers) die before your eyes in violent ways. When Gruz's betrayal is revealed you have no choice but to do battle in the second most amazing fight in the whole story. (Semra's fight right before you get the book in the Harbinger path is still the coolest thing) The descriptions are simple sound effects because that's all there needs to be, the emotional weight of the scene carries the whole fight

As a side note you're totally a bad guy in this story, just in varying degrees depending on which route you're on. if that isn't your thing don't read this story. If you are easily upset by things like throwing babies (There isn't much I swear) or borderline incestuous sex/fight scenes this isn't the story for you.

In the end this story will remain in my heart until the end of my life, truly making it--at least in my eyes--ETERNAL.

Decent game, but I died pretty quickly. But it looks like a lot of effort went into it, and it's fun to procrastinate with.

Got epilogue 10..wild ride, 12 more to go

This was an amazing experience, well worth the time, the writing is fantastic.

damn, what a wild ride. I enjoyed this thoroughly. This is definitely some top tier stuff, and the ending was satisfying. 100/10

nice

It’s so long, but with every page came a new desire to finish the story. I’ve spent literal hours (during school and yes even during drama rehearsals) reading this story. I seem to be more and more impressed with the worlds and characters Endmaster creates. If I ever meet this person, I would shake their hand and say that they have one of the best stories I’ve ever read or heard.

Wow. Just got epilogue 11, and I must say, this was an amazing story. Going to shoot for getting all 13. Amazing writing.

love this best paths are shadow guard and leader

Got ep3

Awesome. Got epilogue 6, gta get them all

This was the first story game I read on this site and I have to say it was amazing. It is a must read for anyone who loves a good story. I haven’t got all the epilogues yet (only 7/13 so far) but I will keep trying till I get them all.

After reading through all the epilogues under the Struggle branch, I must say this branch contains the most exciting and epic plots. The Beg branch contains some of the saddest endings and the more boring outcomes (as far as I remember) in comparison to the other branches. It's still well written just that it covers the same grounds of battle, loss and empire building without the MC getting directly involved in magic and technology as well as the backstories of the emperor and Mistress. The Die branch used to be my favorite not just because of the greater use of magic but also because of the existence of Dendrin, which opens up more interesting situations as well as explains the background of another mysterious entity. The Struggle branch goes into the backstories of the emperor and Mistress while letting the MC become the right hand man of the emperor, an expert fighter, strategist and mage. It includes encounters with a greater variety of people and nations as well as an interesting relationship with Mistress which is one of the highlights of the branch.

My main gripe is that while most of the story at the beginning makes sense, the later parts seem a little sketchy.

I'm not sure why the MC's conversation leads to Batalimus' suicide. In the other scenario where the MC leaves, Batalimus is successful in decreasing the popularity of the MC even if it leads to the death of the all the senators. It will be an interesting story to see how Batalimus challenges the MC using ways he's less familiar with like politics and rhetoric. He is certainly an interesting character - he's a more rational senator than Quintus and he does want what's best for the nation.

The Mortos story is quite confusing unfortunately. I wonder what Semra means when she said she tricked the MC from not getting the book from Mortos by saying how the book would open up the gates of death and lead to the destruction of the world. Because in the end, the book did open up the gates of death. Even if the MC chose to visit Alison, the Death god would still destroy the world. Also, I'm surprised she herself doesn't take the book. A power hungry svelk like herself will want to exploit all the knowledge in the book and become even more powerful than the MC. Nicodemus is too apathetic to stop her anyway.

I'm unsure why MC reacts differently to Zana's betrayal in different branches. In one branch, he chooses to let the gnomes live but in another, he exterminates them. Perhaps he knew the book will destroy the world so he just let them enjoy the remnants of their days.

It's never directly addressed but it seems like the emperor has a hand in Semra's efforts in breaking up the MC and Alison. I don't remember the MC telling the emperor about how Semra impersonated Alison and yet the emperor told MC not to worry about her doing it again.

The Vision Lord storyline is slightly implausible. Since the Eyes' hq is isolated from civilization, and there are only a few adventurers who dare venture there, it seems impossible that their group will survive for five hundred years. However, when the MC becomes the Sightmaster, the group goes extinct during his time.

These are just a few minor quibbles I have with the Struggle branch. Overall, this story is highly engaging and entertaining with witty dialogues and full-blown fights, featuring characters with surprisingly realistic personalities, motivations and psyches and offering many emotional moments. This is one of the best CYOAs I've read.

On the go to her option, you’re confessing your love for Decena, but you get a reply from Brenda. Just an error, I know, but I’d like for it to be fixed.

Great game

This was an awesome story. Almost burst into tears a couple of times.

The Greatest interactive fiction I've ever read

shit game, no matter what you do, you end up dying. there is only one correct option most of the time or instant death. Overrated as fuck.

This was pretty good. But usually, I had only one choice, and the other killed me.

you sometimes can´t tell when each person is talking in the story and there no really good ending there pretty much just many ways for you to died in this story which to me makes the story a tad bit boring

Francis sure is a weird name for the Eternal

It took me many days to finish this story. it is the best one i've ever experienced.

Quite a nice storygame.

First choose your own. Never thought it be so good. I look forward to reading more of these, and seeing what the other options I missed had.

So far my biggest issue with this is how little choice there actually is, there were a lot of times where large swathes of stuff that I would think should be a choice was just done and a lot of decisions were just two choices and one was death and another continued the story. However it is an amazing story but I do think that is an issue none the less.

Which Epilouge is the True Eternal one?

I got an erection from being kicked in the dick then I died when I refused to fuck the witch who kicked me. 10/10

How do you get epilouge 13 i am stuck please help

Wow, incredible really. Story telling was on point, and captivating.

An amazing read and playthrough, if you could call it that. Can't wait to redo it, only to follow a different route

1st Play through and story was great,

Going straight back in for round 2 to see where the story takes me this time

Bitchin story. Seriously it's an amazing read no matter what path you choose and is totally worth the time to read and re-read occur and over again.

THE BEST FRIGGIN GAME EVER.

Alright I just went through it again and found my second "successful" ending I'm gonna go through this a couple more times

This needs to be adapted into a Netflix original let's make it happen my email is [email protected]

Best thing I have ever done.

Best cyoa book ever and one of the best books I’ve read in general. I was reading it and by the time I got to the end I cried. Its so easy to relate in terms of life and loss which is what makes this such a great work for the experienced reader in my opinion.

Thnx guys!!!

All I can say is I cried. Me and my “Talia” sat on that couch one night and spent 4 hours reading this, and I cried, like a *****.

Wow I'm actually kinda sad this is over now and I wish you could have not married decena and continued the story but its still amazing

The pacing of the story was interesting, but the choice of words were often lacking in quality. When an author makes use of 'some sort of' words more than once in one piece of text it makes me question if the author is fully aware what they want to write and what direction they wish to go. Honestly, the use of vocabulary and the sentence structures were mediocre at best and not luring me (an experienced reader) into the story. I wasn't even that upset to die after 16 years into the story, which told me instantly I wasn't captured as I should have been. This definitely needs work to reach a more professional level if it wants to be called a proper good story.

Great story! This is like my 4th or 5th time playing this game and it never get's old. I love the fighting descriptions and how well it is written. With a little bit of editing, (spelling) it can be published by a publishin company.

I've played this so many times.. i dont even know if I've done all the endings. But this is good, like the effort put into it is amazing. My two complaints are that its more follow the story based of a few decisions than making your own decisions. Second i wanted more development with Casmir.

My favorite ending is the first ending I've ever gotten... Eternal Hero, while Eternal Harbinger and Eternal Shadow are close.

Top 3 Love interests:
1. Semera... god the relationship with her is so messed up and amazing to read. Its always nice to know there is someone who is manipulative and a bitch, but helpful/honest. (and understandable if you are able to find her backstory)

2. Alison, she should be number 1. But I'm just a bit messed up in the head for that. She is kind, supportive and a equal. it's sad time with her is limited.

3. Talia or Brenda... Talia is alright but there utter dedication to Dendrin is annoying. While Brenda is truly an equal, her greif of the death of Rolan makes it hard to truly love her. (though its not Brenda's fault, she loved rolan. It just always be the barrier between her and the eternal.)

Overall I loved it!

Bloody hell, that has to be the best book I've read, The gory unbridled nature of this work really set's apart, giving it a more realistic nature then a mindless bloodfest, but even that this was the best book I've read the game choice aspect of it is avarage at best, whilst true that most choices(that don't lead you to your immediate demise) are extremely influential in the nuances of the story, they are scarce and not noteworthy, to be honest I would've liked for this to be a kinetic novel, that way the amazing work of art that is this novel could be made even better, a more linear aproach and less time thinking about multiple epilogues would increase the amount of time given to the finer details that simply can't be added because of creative or time restraints, looking to read some other works from you.

What a solid reading experience. I found myself entralled by such an amazing story arc, not to mention the excellent writing style. It took me about two days but i finally finished (only got to one ending though) it will deffinitely be worth another read to see how the rest of the story unfolds. I can't explain how well you nailed the atmosphere in the story. I never felt like i was safe which led to more cautious decision making. This story has to be an 8/8. It could be one of the best stories I'll read on this website.

I don't know if the author is a profesional writer but if he/she isn't he/she has to start making novels ASAP and letting me know when their first book comes out

That was very good! The length of the story wasn't as... long as I'd expected. It's long because each part is time-consuming to read.

I died several times fighting for the Empire, but it was when I followed the Shadow Guard path that I was able to complete it. The ending I reached was Epilogue 7, and reached it with minimal mistakes. I'm kinda proud of myself ( ^_^)/

It would have been better if the writing wasn't full of spelling and grammatical errors. I suggest taking the time to edit and revise. After all, this IS the #1 story, and I imagine it'll be wise to spend time polishing it.

I would like to start by saying this is most likely the best CYOA I have ever read. The writing and every other aspect of the story was amazing. I love the way relationships are built between characters and it has minimal grammatical and spelling errors that are easily overlooked due to the size and calibre of the story. 8/8

I feel sorry for anybody who HASNT read this

This is seriously some of the most enthralling writing I've ever read. After reading it for the umpteenth last night I came to the conclusion that this is my favorite book.
The straightforward, dark, humorous way Endmaster writes helps slower readers, who have trouble with more serious/boring/verbose reads, to enjoy an otherwise dense and in-depth world.

The savagery of a dark fantasy feudal empire is disturbing, but in no way off-putting. I think that the setting was greatly benefited by the way in which Endmaster weaves words. More purple writing could have alienated some more prudish readers (the ones that weren't already scared off anyway). The deserts of Nalin/Naleen, Delergian swamp/sea, and other-such geography was actually a nice touch. I enjoyed how varied and vast everything felt. Even without going down the True Eternal path the world is massive and wonderful (I can't believe I'm calling something Endmaster wrote 'wonderful') The cultures within the story were interesting enough that I was a little sad that we didn't have more backstory pages devoted to them. None of them are original (Do I detect Warhammer vibes?), but nevertheless they're written well.

The characters are where the real action's act. Most of them are really well written, with only a few exceptions. Mistress, Alison, Talia, and Brenda are stronger, cooler, independent-er female characters than COG could ever whip up (poetic irony?) and I LOVE it. Mistress's fucked up life were funny and tragic, and I'm not someone that empathizes for fictional characters. I found the way her life to play out in both True Eternal paths to be interesting, and even worthy of her own story. The fact that the Eternal gets a little... close with her mind was a cool way to show a little bit more about her character.
Alison was just phenomenal. The relationship she had with the MC (a violent, apathetic, brainwashed sociopath) was intriguing, and almost made me feel happy for the Eternal, until I remembered what kind of monster he was. I still love Eternal Bliss though. Talia was decent. I thought her struggle between her religious beliefs and her love were well done, and I liked that Dendren's religion was a constant source of trouble for Shadow Eternal and Talia. I used to consider Brenda as the weakest of the characters. Before I read certain parts of the soldier path I thought her existence was just a plot device to broach the topic of romance to the MC. I almost forgot about her in every play through until she takes a more active role. Now after re-reading through every path of the game for the twelfth time I think I finally have a opinion/understanding on her. She's so infatuated with her husband and the Empire. His passing and another inevitable event in the soldier path rips a hole in her soul that never heals. The Eternal can comfort and support her enough to keep her from throwing in the towel but nothing will ever fill that void. That's why I didn't relate to her. I mistook it for a failure of End's writing but she's suffering from depression that's way stronger than the writing implied. Dendrin is a great character, and for some reason I love Flog. Cyrus was good in the Shadow Master path.

The only two characters I found to be "meh" were The Emperor and Decena. The Emperor could have used some more characterizing moments, since he has such a important part in the True Eternal path. Since he's the True Eternal's mentor and foster father, I think that it's an entirely reasonable criticism. Perhaps it's just a flaw in End's writing style but I found that a lot of the characters didn't have character moments beyond the bare bones. That's exactly the problem with Decena. First off, is that even her name? I struggle through scenes with her every time I read this. My suspicion is that by time End got to writing her he was starting to lose his motivation. Working too hard can be a detriment to the story and I think that the late stage Emperor path started to show signs. Around the 560's in the Republic path I started to catch this feeling again, but it wasn't as terrible without the cancer that is Decena.

Over all I think this is amazing for a hobbyist CYOA story. It has multiple disturbing genital warts, which I haven't showcased in full but I think that the overwhelming majority of the novel--and I'm not using the word lightly-- is highly entertaining. I can only hope to write this well eventually.
7.5/8

loved it

This story/adventure was absolutely amazing. Still going to replay for all 13 Epilogues. A couple of grammatical errors but what do you expect from such a large story written for free?

Just finished! After i find the other 12 endings i will either edit this or just add more comments, but this was a truly amazing experience! Everything from the character development, to the range of possibilities and outcomes from the possibilities that follow as you grow old. This is a true masterpiece, and I am super excited to try to find more endings (I got the Savior Bane ending)

It was OK but I got a little bored reading it but it had a great story

Wow. Just wow. I found myself lost in the dark, political world that the author created. Action, betrayal, love, suspense... it has it all. You will not regret reading through this story.

I really like it, some missing words and letters keep it from perfection, but I like it so much it gets 8/8 anyway.

Brilliant story though the difficulty rating was misleading.

I found the story quite compelling and well written which gave me a new perspective on fantasy. I would say the characters are well written and logical, the fictional world is well built.

As for difficulty, I have difficulty why anyone would call this choose your own adventure difficult. Make the wrong choice and you immediately know it. It's not until the Felkan War do you even make any meaningful choices. An example of a difficult choose your own adventure is Depression Quest; hard choices each time with long lasting consequences. You don't see that here, if you attack the mistress you die, if you use your own plan against Cypress, you die. The only significant choice I had to make was whether or not to replace Roldan, as that severally altered the circumstances at Yakutan (was that what that place was called?).

With that said, sure there may have many more choices with far more weight - I haven't bothered replaying- but whatever they were there wasn't any indication of their existence.

The game is 'worth every cent' and a must play through at least once, but it's not something I'll come back to. 6/8.

Man... Clearly the best novel I have read, though I had to backtrack several times.

Oh boy this was quite the read. This took my several months to read all through to get to the "Eternal" epilogue. Of the bad endings most seemed like just another failed battle strategy, however there were a few that mixed it up. After the first few epilogues I would see if I ended up on a "bad ending" before continuing on. The only ones I went out of my way for were ones with potential world building, or worthwhile (amusing) character interactions.

Of these character interactions during bad ending, I went out of my way for two, the first: where Semra and Main Character (MC) in the future decided to live out their days together in the underground area. The other ending I went out of my way for I will call "Eternal Afterlife", the unofficial epilogue "14" The first person MC was a couple with in my reading was Allison and it somewhat brought,(false?illusion? actual afterlife?) closure to the relationship.

If I had to rank top three official endings:
3. Eternal Couple (I loved the political dynamic)
2:Eternal Messiah (The evil empire fell, people have some freedom, I enjoyed the religious tones)
1. Eternal Hero (This path had the most lore out of all of them and had the my favorite closure of all the endings)

I made it really far! I didn't even end up dying--my computer crashed. I think I crashed after Jessica's husband. A bit after that too, just before combining my shield energy with the husk of the svelk witch(Mistress). Before I could, my wifi cut out. This was a great adventure, and I really liked how it really put me in perspective of the young Eternal. I grew old, found love, and participated in many battles. Thank you for the experience!

oh my god god god god. this is the best. Eternal Paragon here i come. you are the best. this story got me so excited i'm about to die from excitement even as i finished the game

Easily the best on here.. well done.

Looong story and fun read.
But I don't know about rereading it... I think it's worth exploring the "choices" just to gather all the interesting little plot perspectives.
But it's not a book I'd reread; it's a book I'd read every branch of.

Wow.

This story is absolutely amazing.

While I’ve only experienced two endings, Eternal Hero, and that one Shadow Lord ending (I forgot the name), I can truly say that this story is spectacular.

While at first, I was a little hesitant to read it, due to its insane length, this story kept me hooked from the first choice to the last with its very, very detailed content. The characters were realistic, the setting was described thoroughly, and the story itself was highly intriguing.

The only thing I want is if I find a route in which I choose Semra as a partner. I can truly say, she’s my favorite character in this story (other than the protagonist).

Marvelous read, I highly recommend this to everyone who desires a good story. 8/8

FUCK! I died again I sucked at this choose you story, just like I fuck and sucked in real life.

I absolutely loved this story. I have nothing bad to say about it at all

Wow. I'm not only astounded by the sheer scale of Eternal, but even more so by its consistent quality through each and every path through the story.

Never predictable and always entertaining, Eternal hooks readers immediately through its mysterious premise and never lets go. Surely, the immense amount of time and effort put into plot and character development before writing is a rare accomplishment for storygames. And although I've only just reached my first complete playthrough, (Epilogue 10), I feel very compelled to return to Eternal to pursue alternate epilogues, in hopes of discovering more convoluted twists and turns, imperfect romances, and cold-blooded betrayals.

This story is pure adventure and classic fantasy. At times dark, but the story (rather tastefully) never dwells on these painful themes for too long.

If you seek the epitome of storygame, look no further.

damn this is some good shit. I only made it to 17 and I still loved it. I can see this as a series of game of thrones style books. keep up the good work

Well written :) nice job

10/10

very well written a definite winner

WOOOOOH! I made it to farthest point possible to live after like, 2 weeks of trying. FINALLLYYYYYYYYYY. Anyway, great story, fantastic grammatical use, and a truly enticing story-line. Well done.

Good story, good length, ??/8. One complaint, but I can overlook it. Typos, on every page. BEST STORY I've played with dead man walking as a close second. Every time I thought the story would be ending, you kept it going. Keep it up!

This is the best choose your own adventure story ever.

Pretty cool
Vocabulary:Freaking great

Great one

Holy shit that was good!
TBH I died like literally 50 times but it was worth it, I ended up getting the Eternal Hero epilogue, hear is my thoughts...
SPOILER WARNING!!!
Favorite Characters
1. Alison: she is just really nice and the only person I generally got the feels over when they died.
2. Jacob: he's just a nice and real person and one of the most realistic characters in my opinion
3. Mistress: she was one crazy mother fucker but all around and interesting character and I'm salty you killed her off in the way you did >:(

I did very well until I got curious and then I died XP

i loved it. i wish things wouldve worked out with semra though. but overall it was well made and worth the read.

At the fight with the Mistress, it went from 1 to 100 in sexual playing. If I got to choose whether to do that or not, that would be appreciated. Also on the decision to kill or ignore or pay up on the Ork Gruz' words.

What a great story, difficult in its own way, so many layers of details nice job, but amazing in its storytelling, even on the deaths, and the serious characters, nice oned fam.

Read listening to the Beatles- seriously enlightening!

Dude, that was lit!!!! I loved the way I finished, I like died of old age and stuff!!!
who are you and where are the rest of your stories????

Bloody brilliant

This was truly phenomenal, the author of this should seriously consider publishing, this was an absolute pleasure to go through. I would consider it fair to pay for such high quality work

it was a fun game man

Obviously, a lot of effort went into this. Certainly quibbles here and there, and a there's a lot of purely arbitrary deaths on coin flip choices, but an interesting, nicely detailed story.

awesome :D

Beautiful craftsmanship. I'm so sorry that it's over.

It's like Living an entire life time, the only minor complaint is that there is less choice than in other games to continue the story as long as possible to get to the epilogue, but honestly considering how long and detailed it is I don't blame the writer. This was a truly amazing experience.

Wow wild game died year 22

Honestly this is one of the best ones so far on this website. Im pretty sure I got the best ending as well. (SPOILER) The one where tulla is a shadow member and the last phrase of the story is 'These stories might be true or not but you will be ETERNAL'

This was a great story. There was a lot of time and dedication put by the author towards making this a success. Glad to see it in the top 5.

After years of simply playing through the emperers weapon I've finally read every epilogue(I think) and it was a great time from start to finish

Being an Emperor is hard. It seems to survive you will make terrible and evil decisions that will affect millions. Great story.

goôd

got the eternal survivor ending, made me tear up...wonderful story, albeit with a few grammar mistakes and such (but with such a big story, it's understandable and doesn't detract from the experience). looking forward to getting some of the other endings too.

Bloody brilliant writing tho kinda sad seeing him get old but thats life and prob what's coming for the rest of us

Ok so I only played the shadow ending but BOY WAS IT GOOD! I also REALLY REALLY liked that at the end the character that put much effort into the shadows, became a legend to the shadows. It did an AWESOME job with telling time to! Like one moment I was a rookie 18 year old shadow warrior, then BAM I'm a 60 year old Shadow Master! Now I know why it's second on top five. (P.s sorry if this comment is bouncing all over the place, but that just how good this is!)

good

one of the best reads so far

Sweet

Amazing. I have gone through this story so many times finishing every end and epilogue I could and still find myself interested. If you read any story on this site make it this one. By far the best one here. I hope the author continues stories in this universe or a spin off. Even has some real life lessons that show just how different life can be based on simple early decisions. Loved it.

Thoroughly enjoyed and went back on deaths several times to see more of the story. Settling with the eyes was where I ended completely and felt that was the best ending. Well written, if not for the occasional grammatical/spelling error.

Very compelling tale that spans ages. I was very sad to see it end!

very long indead but very good too

I love it. I love how it made me feel nerve racking, I love how it made me feel joyful. And I (think) I got the best best ending. It was a shocker of course, I played this for about 3+hour including breaks, but it's wonderful. I now understand why this one is on the best ratings. One thing though, the ending doesn't variety that much, since the ending is mostly 3 but I still take it. This is awesome

I think I've been reading for eight hours straight, it's past midnight and having reached the(an) ending, I couldn't really be happier.

Incredible. Got the ending "Eternal Hero" with a couple of deaths along the way. Will definitely be re-playing many more times (why does the Emperor hate gnomes, what would've happened if I'd sided with him?)
Also why does that derro chap kill you if you walk through the door containing the tank babies? The emperor already knew about this project, it wasn't secret...
Anyway fantastic plot, better than most actual fantasy novels. Be warned this will consume many hours of your life

Well damn, can't say I've read anything quite like this before. Absolutely amazing, even with the occasional grammatical errors.

Thankyou for the ten hours of enjoyment that my first read has provided, resulting in epilogue 10: Eternal Hero.

Time to restart and see what else there is to find!

D6.

Man, I keep dying but I must continue!

My god, that is the only way to properly describe this. I read all the comments and I saw the ratings it got, but I could not have been prepared for this. This is a truly amazing story that never stops being a true page turner. Be prepared for the long haul, but believe me its worth it. My only problem with this story is that it had to come to end eventually. Please take the time to read this story you wont regret it.

good

Nice, sad it's over

It was a very good story, but it had too many endings for me!

It’s a very well crafted tale that kept me on the edge of my seat. You could play it several times and still not get the same story. 10/10!

Ok i changed my mind. This shit is great

Hey, too bad this ending didn't make it to the epilogue, I would have called it the Eternal Wanderer or Adventurer, since it is such a mysterious ending to travel into the desert. ;)

“So what makes you think there IS another side to this desert? Not like it’s ever been explored before. For all you know it’s just endless desert” Brenda asks.
“Oh I dunno. I just have a hunch. It has to end somewhere. Besides I’m curious now. I once briefly considered leading troops into here before, when we were first assigned to deal with the usksha.”
“Really? What stopped you?”
“The fact that Edgar was screaming in my ear about it meant it was bound to be a bad idea. Common sense mostly. Strange that I had more of it back then, than I do right now.”
“There’s still time for you to turn back.”
“What and run Nalin by myself? Not for me. I’d likely end up executing the entire nation. I wasn’t meant to rule…shh hear that?”
“Yeah, sounds like those lizards that the usksha like to ride. They’ll be here soon. Just like old times eh?”
“Like I never left.”
“I…I’m glad you’re here with me.” Brenda says looking at you.

You look at her and nod.

“Me too Brenda. Me too.”

The pair of you soon engage the usksha in battle, just one of many during your time in the desert.

Many believe you both died in the desert eventually succumbing to the heat and your wounds. The kobolds still tell an interesting story of how you both died, but then became vengeful spirits that continue to stalk the usksha to this day.

A few believe you managed to make it through and made a new life with each other in a far away land.

What ultimately happened to you and Brenda is unknown and lost to time.

Although Epilogue 4: Eternal Patriot
Is awesome too!

"Long after the palace of the once great Nalin Empire has crumbled into decay, a group of adventurers explore its ruins. After an easy battle of dispatching kobold squatters, the adventurers find a safe buried under piles of rubble. How it was not found or looted before is a mystery, but perhaps it is destiny.

After the party rogue is disappointed to find no valuables inside, one of the adventurers who fancies himself a bard takes the large book found within. He recognizes the old language and begins to read it hoping to get a new story out of it. What he learns instead is so much more.

It is your own personal journal. The one you kept during your original implementation of your plan. Your thoughts, your motivations, almost everything about your life is in it. Realizing what he has, the bard quickly writes down his own epic songs about your exploits. They are somewhat popular and it doesn’t take long before a genuine history scholar hears about these ballads and begins to wonder how the bard came across such knowledge of the Nalin Empire since records of it are very scarce.

After an amicable bargain, the bard sells the book to the scholar, since he already has enough songs and tales of his own from it and the money being offered is just too good to pass up. The scholar takes it and studies it properly along with his colleagues where long at last they have many questions answered about not only the Nalin Empire, but the one you previously served as well (Of which historical records are nearly non-existent)

With these events, you and your name have officially been “resurrected” in several discussions in various places of higher learning as well as various fairly tales, legends and the like in places both near and far. A book is even written about you called “Eternal Power.”

Whether you were trying to or not, you achieved immortality and will remain ETERNAL."

And Epilogue 5: Eternal Couple

"Your funeral is a big deal. All of Naleen comes out for it, and there is a lot military marching, saluting, and all of that. Various officials give several speeches in your honor about your deeds and accomplishments. Brenda says a few words, but your death has been an emotional drain on her and she saves her strength to get through the day.

You’re ultimately placed in a fancy tomb with nice statues of you and Brenda in your “warrior prime” just inside the doorway of it.

A couple months later Brenda joins you in death and she is placed in the same tomb by your side where upon it is sealed, shutting the pair of you in darkness forever.

Your place in history is remembered best in the nation of Naleen. Not always fondly, but as always you’re consistently still held in high regard by military types if only due to your combat skills and tactics. In a way you do indeed outlive the “new eternals.” Long after the last of them have nearly killed each other or died in petty wars, you, Brenda and even the others of the first generation Eternals are still talked about the most and remembered through your book."

Gave 8/8

... Only a 7.32/8? Bah! This must be miscalculated. This game is an 8/8.

Dear EndMaster,

I finished one ending. It was epic! However, I saw in previous comments that some people want an ending where the MC ends up with Semra.

Please, please, please. Make this happen. She's so hated by the MC it just seems almost irrational to me, despite the realistic and believable plot.

1 WORD. COLOSSAL.

Instead of giving several choices and lrting you make mistakes, this game forces you to play as blank bad guy

I didn't enjoy much

This was an amazing read. Honestly, my only qualm with the story is that there is no ending where you hook up with Semra, and it isn't a trap. I really liked Semra's character and I trudged through the "struggle" storylines hoping to find a nice route where she's changed by meeting the MC, and actually legitimately gets into a relationship with him. Shame that didn't happen.
On another note though, the sheer length of this story is amazing. With every decision you make; every couple or so years that go by, you really start to feel and see the changes that the MC goes through. I especially love how the initial three-way choice plays a part in deciding what kind of guy he'll end up becoming. Really adds more weight to your choices in the story. Overall, this was a fun and enjoyable story that I wish I could forget about it; just so I could re-read it and enjoy the story all over again(though I'll still be disappointed by the lack of a Semra ending. You have no idea how much I wanted her to get together with MC.)

Riveting story, and all the outcomes make perfect sense! Wonderful to see character personalities grow too!

So, it's not that bad. I'm more of a space battle person than swordfight person myself. Though I will say that fighting giants isn't a bad way to go. Site design (something about a bright white background makes me an impatient reader) doesn't do it any favors, but that's likely my "SQUIRREL!!!" issue kicking in.

nice:)

This game really deserved an eight out of eight. Well done End. Well done.

Fantastic story, I loved it! Although I wish there was an option to actualy form a proper relationship with semra, the swelk bitch, lol, but yeah, I really admire the story and the idea of being an Eternal.

Great... just great. I've read many interactive stories and this one is amongst the best. Definitelly recommend

I am new to here and not read a bad story yet but this is the best I have read so far. This story would make a great movie or an epic RPG game.

It was an interesting story, but terrible abrupt ending.. All that building up for the story just to end out of nowhere and leave you hanging. There's a lot of potential here but honestly it was a waste of time

Hour after hour
Death after brutal death
Then the sweet release of finishing the “one true ending”
Damn this story was an experience.

nice i liked it

Loved it. I felt so immersed in the character despite how emotionally impaired he was.

So...marvelous

This a very fine collection of work in my opinion, I've gotten 5 out of the 13 Endings and will continue till i get it, i really appreciate your work and will continually play through this even after i finish all of it. Thank you

One of the worst stories I've read in my entire life.
Not only do you not get to kill the fucking cuntbag of wasted space, there's also a fucking aushwitz reference thrown in just for the sake of it

Read every ending and every death. Took me three weeks! Awesome!

the best history in this site ever.congratulations

Too... Um... R rated?

Wooh this game sure did a number on me

very good depth of story
best this site has to offer

Very good and diverse for this site

This is a story game with a fantastic story and characters. Truly a great adventure with many different paths to take.

How do you get the ending where he ends up with Semra?

It was a good story (though not really my type [too dark]). Though to be honest, I died a few pages in. You have to be the best writer on this site.

One of the best this site has to offer

I find the ending very anti climactic

The way this story was written, was like an illiterate 12 year old beating a chimpanzee to death, and then getting eaten by a castrated Caracal. The english used was like that of an ancient Briton peasant child.

All in all, it is so horrid that even a blind man would score it high out of pity.

Eternal Harbinger, not bad.

I started reading at 17:00 and I have not stopped until now, I finished it and I'm so happy with the result althought I would have liked a more romantic final with Talia

Gave this story a try but unfortunately, the writing really threw me off and I wasn't able to play for very long. There's a lot of strange dialogue, grammatical errors, and lack of/misused punctuation (at least in the first little bit). However, it is an interesting premise so I still recommend that anyone who doesn't think they would be bothered by those issues give it a try! It is very highly rated, so I must be one of the few who didn't enjoy it :)

Great story and I love the great range of stories that are available for you to find. A few grammatical errors but they're easily overlooked.

An amazing story that kept me interested throughout. The author is adept at making you feel like a badass when you make the rughh decisions and foolish when you make the wrong decisions. I took the shadow storyline and I must say the epilogue I received really gave me a feeling of satisfaction. So I end this by saying THANK YOU AUTHOR ! Continue to write amazing stories !

Wish there was a Semra end

Having images would help a lot (maps, monsters, type of clothing used, some important buildings such as the palace or the flying fortress), Overall the story is pretty good

the best!

more story than game, but what a story! a good read.

i enjoyed playing this - it was lit.

I begin as always by expressing gratitude to all those who create and share their work. To even make the attempt is far beyond my skill and I appreciate all the necessary effort. So, on to the review. This story deserves all the praise it has received and more. The sheer variety of endings alone is worthy of the highest score. The world is deep and engrossing, the characters feel like real individuals with their own motivations and flaws, and the story, through all its twists, never fails to be gripping. Aside from a few typos (unavoidable in something of this length) I can't think of a single strike against it.

very interesting story I love the fact your choice can easily mean the end of you its really better than a game. After all in games the ending is usally set in stone .This is more like you living your life the way you want.

I think I got one of the better endings, but there's no telling that until I try them all! This is a great story that I think everyone on choose-your-story should finish through at least once.

A lot of endings. Too many 2 choices only, with one being pretty final. In fact, the Shadow conspiracy was very irritating, went through 20 pages and end up... killed? Losing? All that effort. Annoying, at best!

One Of The Best Stories I Have Read

pretty good

8/8 Would become a harbinger of destruction again.

Top three characters for me?

1# Mistress, she got a lot of character development she played the role as teacher, enemy, ally and romantic interest.

2# Cyrus, he played the role as a true rival and who doesn't like a good rival? During your youth he's able to go toe to toe with you, hell he was even good enough to be revived and he would've killed you if not for Semra.

3# Is a tie between Dendrin, Warrick and Casimir all of them have their own cool traits Unfortunately I feel too lazy to list them all.
But ya that's it I enjoyed the story I would recommend it.

Very good dialouge. Only play this if you have an extra hour to spare. One question that I have is what happened after everyone was swept up the portal?

Excellent story, gripping from beginning to end with unexpected turns and battles that incite imagination of beings and origins of Our World. Recommended

10/10. Always and forever.

Wow. This is amazing. 11/10, 3 thumbs up, galaxy out of 5 stars. Writer should definitely consider writing a book series on the universe, I would definitely purchase at any price.

Booring

it's a great story, has a couple misspells here and there but otherwise its the best iv seen so far.

I got Epilogue 10. Quite enjoyed this.

Good... I lived to 101 which seems a pretty good age... but I never died, so I might have lived longer.
This was a very good story game, but I would have enjoyed it better if there were more choices on the pages. Most of the pages had only two choices. The most choices per page was four.
The reason that I am criticizing it like this is because when I have more choices, I feel like I have more control in my virtual life. I am sure a lot if other players feel the same way.
But good story game. I liked how you used orcs from lord of the rings, I thought I saw some creatures from Fablehaven and other famous mythical stories.
But all in all, good game.

A very interesting read that's for sure and when I say interesting I do mean it in the "it's interesting because you're waiting to see what happens next" way but it is also interesting because it manages to mix and mash many different themes and ideas together yet it somehow remains successful.

You play a ruthless character who sometimes you hate, but you still manage to feel sympathy for. Even as ruthless and heartless (and just an all around asshole) that he can be, he still feels like a person, one with problems, loves & hates etc.

Alongside this, "Eternal" manages to mash some interesting ideas. It is quite a dark story (as you'll find out within the first few minutes of reading) and can certainly be classified as "dark fantasy" but it still manages to bring in a very LOTR vibe with the "Epic Fantasy". Some may not like the sound of it but trust me it works very well somehow.

Aside from that it's got everything a good story needs, interesting setting, good characters- the whole thing.

If I did have to mention one thing I didn't like though is some points it does feel as if it drones on a little bit too much. Some of the pages feel as if they contain some unnecessary information which doesn't amount to much, or it leads to an ending which is not satisfying (there are a few endings which I personally think are a bit meh but the a lot of the endings I found where okay and a few were pretty damn good)

All in all I honestly enjoyed my time reading this and would definitely recommend it to those who are interested.

good shit

it is too long make it shorter and put pictures and more color

this was a very well written and amazingly told
and it also made me live in the role of
the "hero" if you will call him that
but i must say i a bit sad by the fact in the story his gets
the girl but stil end up lonely

I've read and gone through this game several times and found tons of different endings, and I still find it to be one of the best things I have ever read. Not exaggerating in the slightest. Love you End, keep up the amazing writing.

The best and most epic storygame on this site! Kudos for the really awesome plot, character development and writing.

Masterfully written, the author is a master of endings indeed!

This was some good shit and i'm sad that it has ended

GG for me

Wait... I died?

I've only played through this once, with the giant battle ending. The writing's pretty good, but a little more detail and/or figurative language would go a long way.

I haven't read alal the epilogues yet but I must say, this is an excellent piece of work. I've read Tolkien, Eddings, Robert Jordan, Pratchett, novels from Warcraft, played rpg's all my life like Elder Scrolls and World of Warcraft and Baldur's Gate and I must say I enjoyed your writing a lot. Keep up the good work and I think you should publish it.

This is the best game in the entire website!
Brilliant plot,character development and writing.

The game went to fast

It was pretty engrossing, I must say. The plot for my story (Epilogue 3) was well done with many twists and turns. Neat fantasy concept with great execution.

This is probably the best game in the entire website with totally brilliant plot,character development and writing

I'd like to see this turned into a book of sorts actually!
It's just too good to not be popular among general public!

I now have Stockholm syndrome lol.

It good

great story! wow

It was alright hated the death scenes though

Can't remember the last time I had so much fun reading. This is truly amazing work and I'll make sure to re-read it in order to reach some other epilogues and I'll also look into some of the author's other books (although I've found out some are pretty depressing). Anyway, I highly recommend this particular work of fiction to anyone who's lucky enough to stumble upon it

Amazing and gripping just wow thank you for writing this.

This was an amazing story, thank you so much. It was awe-inspiring to see the depth of the world you created. Please keep it up.

WOW.. Just Wow.. Dis might be one of the books/game I consider to have enjoyed most.. Outstanding story very well done!! Thank God for this.. I just can't erase dis stupid smile on my face after reading dis book.. Wow

Such a great experience. I got the ending where you kill off the Xi and have Marcus as your heir

Bit long, and LOVE THAT

Got the Eternal hero, my God! This was a long one.
A++ definitely recommend!

I think I'll take some break before I try to get other ending. This sort of experience can be exhausting.

Very good detail, conversations, and plot. I very much enjoyed it...

Wow...just wow, this story is the best I have ever read and I have read mostly all "coya" stories on almost all websites hosting them..but this story in particular just blew my mind it was amazing and I hope there are many more like it.

I don't know what to say, just completed on ending 10 and couldn't be more satisfied. This is my first experience on this site and I had no idea how seriously the concept of choose your own adventure would be taken, it amazed me, what a journey. 8/8

Epic.

I've been reading this story during my downtime for the past several weeks, probably have 100+ hours of just reading through all of these epilogues (not to say that some other "unofficial" endings aren't also good) and I have loved every single minute of it. At this point I have completed 12/13 endings, the only one remaining being #1, while I must agree that there are a few endings that were not as good as some others, but at the end of each story I was smiling from ear to ear or crying, the characters were very well made and the connections that are made make them feel like real people that you grow to learn about and love. 8/8 for a great story that I will never regret putting my time into.

My only qualm is that it is almost impossible to play the game without being a jerk. But that didn't stop me from binging a solid nine hours of it. I don't even think I got all the paths. Help, this story made me loose control of my life!

This book made me feel like I was him, it felt like every character was real and at the end I cried.....

interesting, i want to know what time period it takes place in

Amazing.

As always Endmaster is the master! Time to start over and try a different timeline to a different epilogue.

I can not even begin to imagine how long this game took. This just proves that EndMaster is one of the best writers the site has ever seen, and I would play this a thousand times over again.

Everyone said this story was the best on the site, and they were not exaggerating. I saved this story for my 1000th point, and i'm glad I did. It was worth the wait.

Thank you for bringing this storygame into the world EndMaster. 8/8.

Dude the whole sex in with the weird murderous teacher/mother figure? Really? That's fucking weird man. If your going to put something so fucked up in the story you should have at least made it optional.

I've read this many times, through frustrations and great writing, and it never ceases to amaze me. The sheer scope of this writing is hard to comprehend and quite an intriguing story. I wont say that I found every ending, I don't know when I will, but this just allows me to know that there are still numerous was to satiate my bordom. Good work EndMaster

@primoskate52354 no offense, but you must honestly suck if you played THREE TIMES IN A ROW and didnt get past age 17

just finished 2 endings.

Incredible! Loved this game. Only criticism I have is that the main character doesn't have a name. He is just referred to as "The Eternal" or various other names depending on what path you take.

It was good... Maybe improve the battles?

Feeling bad about my harsh criticism, I gave this story another try, only to, surprise, die before my 20s for the forth time. if you want an easy, quick story, don't come here. 'Dark Souls' is more forgiving than this game, at least I lived through the training in that game. I'm sorry, but it's hard to remain positive when I have been guillotined, burned, crushed, and dematerialized all before adulthood. I'll leave a better comment when I can reach an ending. until then, I will leave this with a 1/8. I guess I'll go sulk in the corner now... again... :(

This has left me feeling depressed, after playing 3 times in a row, I have failed to live anywhere past the age of 17. I wish there was more to the game than just a list of early deaths to make people feel bad about themselves, because I wish I had the opportunity to like this game. As I stand, however, I follow the "three strikes, you're out" principle, and as far as I got, this doesn't have much to it. Now, if you will excuse me, I'm gonna sulk in the corner about how difficult this is. :(

HOLY SHIT!! this story is a saga, every path you take leads to an entire trilogy of story and plot, each path seems like a book long in length. The commitment and dedication that this writer put into this is incredible... PLEASE!! If you are a true hardcore role playing or dn'd player, or etc.. PLEASE PLAY THIS!!!

As of leaving this comment, I've only finished a single one of the many storylines (it took me awhile to realize one of the earliest choices branches the story significantly), however I feel utterly satisfied and thoroughly entertained. If this one is any indication of the length and effort put into each of the branches, I'm greatly looking forward to the rest.

Wow. This was a fantastic story.. It's a neat take on a fantasy world with an interesting story (although linear.) It has great characters too, and even depth. Only wish you could make choices, but otherwise I would highly recommend this deep and interesting story.

I loved the story! I originally ended going into the desert with Brenda but went back to see what would happen if I went to the east instead. Not good. I was a little disappointed to not know what happened at the end with Brenda but that just adds to the emotions I felt. Great story, plot, and lore!

sometimes you reach a point where you really want to take one path...but your certain that the other path is a quick ticket to death and feel driven to die quickly first haha.

I have no words, im speechless. Just loved this story.

I did think it was amazing story, for me it ended with being sabataged and the empire falling (Thank god) Sure, the point of my character was to help the empire but secretly... I WANTED IT TO FALL! The princibles of it angered my heart, and it's a very deep story!

Jesus this must have took forever to write, I only have one epilogue down, still searching for the rest, there are very few spelling errors I catch and from what I've read, I can see how each character's goal is believable, great read overall.

Weird

very engaging. I have done one path so far (not including the paths where you die early) and the writing is good. Some parts just gloss over how horrible the various event's are which I find disturbing but then again it make sense from the character's perspective.

Wow.

Too amazing... I took it easy, reading, going back, taking other paths and reading again. I have no words to describe this multi-story. Thank you is all I can say, thank you a lot.

Extremely well written and keep me engaged the whole time. It is a must read!

cool

awesome

Epilogue 11 eternal paragon. Is this the best ending?

Great story!

Epilogue 13: Eternal Harbinger
Become one with Death! >=)

I got the eternal destroyer ending

Got 2 out of 13 epilogues
Epilogue 10: Eternal Hero
Epilogue 9: Eternal Destroyer

Fun and long good game!

Oh my.... so so good! I feel bad I neglected my husband for hours on end, several days as I read thru many different endings. I want more!

Alright, second ending down! I have completed the following endings and will keep track of every victory:
1.Eternal Survivor
2.Eternal Hero
3-13.NOT FOUND

Very good, I liked the plot and characters in the story. I had a good grasp of setting and time within. With a story of this size, you are going to have errors, and you did your best minimizing them even though some were overlooked.
Gj

Actually it has 13 special endings.

Great story, but I have a huge warning: It took me three times as long to complete ONE EPILOGUE of this story than me completing a pretty long story that had FIVE ENDINGS! So be warned, if you wanna play this, then make sure you have a lot of time on your hands.

This is the second life (as i would like to call a cyoa i play) i played and i just wanna thank the author of this story for the great time i had playing this. I'll be honest, this kind of genre aren't my cup of tea but i enjoyed this one quite well. I chose the ending where i was reunited with alison for a change, it even made me tear up a little bit. I also tried the other endings, while theyre not bad, theyre too predictable, really. Im the most fond with warrick and thats why im quite disappointed with the way he died. Couldve been more brutal and dramatic. Anyways its a great read, I just have to suffer because Im using Mobule Data to read this as Wifi isnt an option bc there's none here in my place.

Just exelent, hope ever see it in store. )

Wow what a read it took me several sittings simply to reach the one epilogue... I can't imagine the amount of effort that has gone into this.

This stuff should be turned into a damn movie. Soo much potential

What!!! I got killed!! But it was awsome!!!

Pretty damn good.

Although I thought the choices limited, I very much enjoyed the world building and plot. Decisions are logical, but the logic requires experience to decern. Just as it does in reality.

Honestly it would be far better without the random sex

A really long and very in depth story. It has everything you can want in a story. Violence, romance, and decisions. It took a long time to get through, but it was well worth it. This could definitely be a full novel, and you got to give the author props for putting this out there for free. Great Work

This story is just simply great.

Holy hell this is amazing. It took me forever but I i finally got to (well one of) the eploges the story was amazing and i found my self playing it when ever I was bored with out giving anything away I have to say I am now and forever ETERNAL

Omg, one of the best stories i have ever read and to think that you even have control over it, just amazing. Thank you so much for this masterpiece!

Omigosh i got the BEST ending!!! Awesomely well written and i loved the long text rarley ever got to see a story as good as like this one!!! I loved it, thank you so kuch to the creator for creating something so wonderful and fun!!! I spammed kt to find almost all of the endings-and they were all so cool! I gave it an 8/8!!!!

The story was awesome. I was amazed at the detail and the meticulous work done to make it as it showed itself when I was reading it. It was very interesting and entertaining and is one of the best stories I've read yet.

It was very well written but yet the plot is atrocious. I don't like the way that when he is doing the right thing, he gets punished. I will be choosing way more different stories. Thank you.

Wow, Dendrin's the man. (o wo)-b I totally suggest becoming his bro.

wow i wasn't expecting to hit epilogue 13 and i was sure i was gunning for no epilogue at all lol but endmaster really put so much thought into this. eternal is a gem that touches on many topics that would be considered taboo but i would definitely play again to experience the other paths i have yet to discover 10/10

Holy crap that was fun...

Every single choice in this game seems to have two options: one that will kill you and one that will advance the story. Even when iether option kills you immediately, one of them will put you down a path where the next two options both kill you. The game is boring. That's that. Maybe I'm missing something and all the people praising it are right, but for now I'll stick with the Coice Of games

Alright, playthrough number 2 (3?) done. I'll be sure to come back in a few years when I've forgotten and enjoy it again. As always, one of my favorites.

WOW! Took quite a while to get to the end, but it was really good. You would have thought this meant no spelling or grammatical issues, but no, there were unfortunately plenty. Being a grammar Nazi myself, it was quite tedious. Also, Dawn and Brenda are terrible names, I'm sorry. But everything else was amazing!!

An absolutely phenomenal collection of different tales all tied together in one masterpiece. Although it took a while, it was wonderful reading complex with numerous alternate realities amid dynamic characters, rich plot, and great writing. Definitely one of the treasures of ChooseYourStory.

This story is great. 10/10 will read/play during work again.

it is awesome. I love the way all your stories are connected in some way.

good

This game...no this work or art is amazing. Not many of the stories on this site makes me want to go through it enough times to get every single ending, but this is one of those rare stories. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone.

Great story, one of the best on this website.
Loved the fact that there were three main paths you could take with several different sections in each path.
Probably my favorite story on this website.

This story... Damn. I went through it, the whole way, just about every decision you could make, I made. Sometimes I didn't agree with the way the Eternal reacted to my choices, but in the epilogue, he seemed... well, human. He made some mistakes, screwed up, a lot, put his trust in the wrong people, but in the end he did something good, and he made the world a better place for it's people.

I loved it, I thought it was very well thought through. With the emotions, personalities and so forth, it's a good read all around.

Ok

WOW! The Eternal (Harbinger ending) is the longest/best CYOA Story I've ever read. So well written. Now to go back and find the other endings. Two down! 11 to go!

Well, this was one hell of a ride. I guess I managed to reach a good ending, considering that I lived long enough to die of old age instead of being horribly murdered as usual (I also became a god or something and saw the Shadows throw the damn world into chaos, but whatever). I would play the story again to explore all other options and maybe find another ending, but honestly, I'm fucking drained. How long have I been playing this? An hour? Two? These addictive long ass stories will be the death of me, I swear. Anyway, much like Creatures Such as We (another kick-ass interactive story), this was an expirience I'll deffinitelly remember. Curse you, EndMaster, you magnificent bastard.

Great game, it was damn near perfect. The only issue I had was that sometimes the decisions seemed more based on luck than actually considering what would make sense. But other than that it was pretty good.

Yes! I got the Eternal Terror ending! great story! can't wait to reread and go for the other endings.

Joining the Felkan army is the best ending in my opinion

4 hours of my life that I dream of experiencing all over for the first time
That was awesome, for real I'm speechless

Who else do hunted down all shadows

That was a very good game

Amazing.

A very fun and interested world to explore

Has some sexual content innit. Adults only.

Awesome! I got Epilogue 7: Eternal Messiah!

THIS WAS SO GOOD.

A very good game. Kept me immersed for hours, and had to lie down after finishing. 8/8. Read it already! Warning: Takes a long time.

I loved every second of Eternal! I fully plan on playing through it at least 1 or 2 more times. I got epilogue 10 this time. Absolutely fantastic story!

i lost really easily

It took me a few days to go through a single playthrough. It's more than worth it and I found it to be one of the best stories I have ever experienced.

Need more happy happy fun times for my dong-ding!!!!! You aren't very good at this are you? NO NO NO, even a goldfish writes better tban you do.

I got Eternal Hero as my first ending and I am still crying that the story ended.On the good side I have a lot more ending to see through.I want to congratulate the writer for this magnificent piece of art and let him know that I am crying a lot now and to say that he did a splendid job at making you part of the story like it should have.

Words cannot describe the feeling of reading this story. Thank you, EndMaster.

This was an amazing story. The best I have read on this site so far!

Amazing story!

This must be the true ending. It was my favorite.

First of all... SO GOOD. I do feel it need a bit more proofreading but this is by far the best story on the site. I just hope that you continue making awesome stories and maybe even a sequel, eh *nudge* nudge* *wink* *wink*.

i like it

Great! Ending! That's 4, 5, 7, and 8 for me! I must have missed six somewhere... That sucks!

It took me a week but it was worth it

Hey! This time I got epilogue 7, very interesting. There's so much story! I can't believe it!

Wow. Just wow.

holy fuck that was a long story...
... and its damn worth the read!
best thing i've read in years

ending i got: eternal hero

Wow. I got Epilogue 8, and that was truly an amazing story. I feel like I should have paid for that. I am reading Cormac McCarthy in class right now, and I was surprised to see this resonate with those books. Wow.

Great story(ies?), loved every difficult decision I had to make, regardless of the outcome. Hope to see more of these later on.

Very good story, I just had to adapt to the fact that only a couple of choices do matter. But, boy, how much do they! Amazing story you've crafted here, I really liked it. Cheers!

This story was eternal, but I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. The world-building was fantastically intricate, on par with any fantasy novel. The pacing was excellent and the characters were memorable. Definitely worth replaying again and again.

Fun wish I made better choices

I found this website completely on a whim, and pulled up the first story I found. I was completely unprepared the the overwhelming emotions I felt over the last few days. As I sit here, I don't even know the words strong enough to describe what I just read. I was expecting to find something like the cheap books I read when i was a child, cheap endings and only half a plot... but this was so so so much more. The story telling was so incredibly powerful that I actually lost days of sleep wanting to know what was coming next. The ending that I reached was so beautiful that it literally left me in tears. I have never read any book in my life that made me feel anything like this story did, truely it should be considered to be on a much greater level. I thank the author so much for sharing their work with the world, and after I explore the other options in this story, I will absolutely be reading more of their works.

Every good job!

Lots of deaths will happen to you and it at times will feel like your choices are forced or you die. I even a quarter way through the game thought '"fuck this it feels like if I don't go down a certain path I'm gonna die" and felt it was waaay to linear. But something about it just forced me to continue where I left off, I just kinda missed the world this story took me to and its charecter and was just so intruiged as to how this story would continue and do not regret it at all. I was really immersed in this and felt for my charecter as I went through his lifetime. And the way the author tells the story feels really professional. I am honestly surprised I had the privilege of playing this for free. And if you think I'm over exaggerating play this and you will see what I mean. You simply must play this game not doing so is missing out on a really great story.

I love it!

The best storyline in the world of CYS. wish their was a way you and Alison could have lived and ruled the kingdom together though.

Wow... first one I've read. Do you have any more? I loved your work!

Eternal I enjoyed this game and often found myself playing it long past when I should have been asleep, now that I have finished it I can only hope to find others equal to it's length and quality.

Wow. I mean just wow.Kudos to Endmaster for this. I played for over 12 hours and have reached only two of the Epilogues.

It took a long time, but I finally got all thirteen. I must say the most epic is Eternal Harbinger

the best game ever, always will hold a special place in my heart

It was too much history and reading for me :P if you like those thing you will love it :)

Now I just have to find the rest of the endings

First of all I would like to praise the author for this exceptional story easily one of the best I have ever read this is one of the very few you can truly get lost in while it is very long I can promise you you will not regret reading it while the story is absolutely perfect the way it is I would have liked to had more decisions over the management of the empire but regardless of that
I love the story and I urge anyone that can to read this story

It misses being truly enlightening because it suffers from having, as many CYOA do, text options that do not truly convey the actions of your character. In a CYOA book with twists and complexity this disconnect between what is chosen and its consequences is inevitable, as being perfectly predictable is often boring, but to receive an 8/8 is perfection, and this story is just very, very good.

i died quickly but i was content. well, not really. Kane died anyway but my men were free

10/10

I just spent my entire morning on that and my mom will probably kill me for not studying...

No regrets xD

I liked it. Alot.

best game ever, largest story ever

This story is damn long... But it sure is entertaining !

This story is fucking awesome.

I got the best ending and I loved it just loved it

Is there a path where you team up with Mistress (and she doesn't betray you)? I think I've seen every path now, but I never saw that.

you should REALLY write a book

very good and very long. Just the way I like it.

I made wrong choices and was out of the story really quickly but I enjoyed it immensely and am looking forward to starting again and taking different options to see more of the journey

I am the ETERNAL Hero.For once & for forever.

Clever, I really like how you brought back around the whole eternal thing, well at least in the ending I got

This is my favorite choose your adventure story. Written by a true master. I love the different story paths and the style of it. I also like how every choice has it's good parts and it's bad parts. I've read this multiple times (still have to find the rest of the epilogues though) and I enjoy it every time. If anyone needs an example of greatness, look no further than EndMaster.

Wow. This is one of the best stories I've read in a long time.
The longevity of it was superb (I have the feeling that my curiosity was completely sated by the end of the book) I just finished reading and I have to say, from beginning to end this story completely hooked me and I had a hard time putting it down. Eternal really is a roller coaster and there are a lot of different paths to choose from.
Overall I rated this story an 8. I cant recommend it enough. Ive read some others from EndMaster and I love his style and delivery - this story really shines as one of my favorite stories on this site and in general. The descriptions and detail painted a vivid image from start to finish.
Thank you EndMaster for one of my favorite reads in a long time.

meh I just thought the words where to small when I write I mean i'm still writing my story, but the thing is i am a girl when i played this and the path i wen't down um was um... anyways great story!

Eternal hero first try babyyy. Amazing mastapieceee.

Got a bit too long and had linear paths. Still had a great story but felt more like the story was telling you.

awe-fucking-some!!!

Male currently in high school a guy did this to me three times, but the first time, in high school a guy did this to me three times, but the first time, I had was pretty much my favorite thing to eat besides a fillet from Morton's. I had sex was pretty much my favorite thing to eat besides a fillet from Morton's.

This story was fucking glorious!

very interesting choice selection

Awesome Game

Wow

That was one of the most amazing things i have ever had the pleasure to witness and take part in. A work of art and of story telling. Utterly amazing.

Really good I got killed by Jessica

I really liked this story.

Absolutely captivating, coming from someone with a dislike for fantasy...

This was perfect. I loved every minute I spent reading this amazing story and I really enjoyed the ending I got. I'll probably play again making some different choiches just to see what would have happened. Thank you.

I loved the story at first, but after a while it just seemed pointless to conitnue. I'm not sure if it's just the path I took, but at the end it seemed like I couldn't get a good ending. I also felt like I didn't really have a major choice in how to continue with the story. There seemed to be one good and one bad option, and I had to choose one to continue. I'm sure others had better experiences, and I know I can't really judge because I can't right as spectacularly as endmaster, but my experience was kind of boring near the end. Regardless, the writing was fantastic and I loved the basic story. Just wish I had taken a different direction.

Man, this was great. Long, but great. And boy does the author pull you through some serious dark choices.

The best cyoa I have ever read. Minor grammatical and spelling errors. I literally got chills reading my epilogue and will definitely go for another play through. This story is brutal, beautiful, eloquent and introspective almost to an extreme. I would highly recommend this to anyone. It is a difficult story though and if someone were able to make it to an epilogue without dying at least once I would not be able to believe it. This is a very long story and took me quite a long time to complete.

I wl also add that I would love for this to become a book or movie, it's just so well done that it kind of saddens me to think of this staying only on this website and not having as many viewers as it truly deserves. I would like for an editor to go through and fix the minor mistakes but other than that I would highly endorse this story and probably every version of it (I finished with epilogue ten, eternal hero). Please read this story. I also would like to thank the author for going on this journey with me.

This story is one of the best story's I have ever read, and that's saying something since I read A LOT OF BOOKS. Who knew that the best one was on the Internet. Anyway, I've got no criticism and I would like to thank the author for giving me an amazing story to take with me. I one day wish this story becomes a proper book and is spread to the masses. Thank you!

I liked it a lot.

This was my first read on this site, and it may have set the bar to an unreachable level for most other stories I will read. Thank you

Very impressed

Managed to reach the epilogue. Really great read :)

I spent three days carefully plotting and strategizing over this , and deem it worthy of goty

cool cool cool

One of the best stories I have read in a long, time stayed up all night going through it before I reached the epilogue and it was well worth it

Epilogue: eternal paragon

8-it will bring you enlightenment

Dang. That was kinda sad. Shot down by lizard freaks..

I can not describe in words the greatness of this story. It us utterly massive in length and just one path could take a great number of hours. The way you see your character change as he grows up is amazing and he could feel the emotions he goes through. The characters are very well written and while I do wish some characters were expanded upon the author for the most part nailed it I have gone done the shadowguard route while being a loyal citizen to the end. I have gone down the one where you are 'adopted' by the emperor (much better and far longer story path) and both were wonderfully written and many of the twists and turns honestly surprised me (though I kinda saw what the emperor's true goal was from a mile away) and hopefully it will surprise you too. All in all I give this an 8/8 ands call it one of the best story's I have ever read and certainly the best choose your own adventure story. I hope you guys and gals love this story as much as I have and I will continue to read and explore the other massive story branches (I wonder what happens if you beg for your life) and I hope they will provide me with as much satisfaction as the other story branches. Story is 8/8.

So far I have really enjoyed it. I've only made it as far as the beginning of the Felkan war, dying several times. My only complaints so far is that there are no save points as of yet, which could get tedious if trying to find the end to this supposedly long game. The other is that so far it seems that I'm being forced down one path, as every other choice ends in death. I hope this doesn't continue and that this is just a long intro. Other than that, the writing and imagination is excellent!

Epic in scope and riveting all the way through.

This was another amazing ending (Eternal Survivor) and I loved it much better than the other die ending (assuming only these two exist) I think I have 9 down so 4 more to go. Please continue the great work and have a pleasant whatever it is when and if you read this. ??

Ah...Best game ever, I've gotten around 6 endings. And its always fun figuring out how get the others

I took me a year (because i had school and exedra to deal with) but I've got to say this is the best book I've read in a long time

Simply amazing!!!. I feel that is all is needed to be said

Really good story, I'd really like to know if there are any paths where you and the mistress actually get into a relationship?

As a new member, I have been reading stories here daily for a while now and they differ so greatly from one another. There are some truly great works here, and some pure fluff. Some purely entertain, some delight, and some anger you in their despair. There are some that touch and awaken you. Some choices make you really look into yourself and who you are as a being. That being said, this was a true work of art and thank you for allowing me the pleasure of reading it.

Omg I had so many struggles but the *SPOILER* die ending and beg ending were possibly the best ever. I loved this<3

how'd i die?

Loved it, I felt so emotionaly attached to the main character I cried

Finally had enough time to read another great ending! It's wonderfully ironic how the Eternal Bane ending is more positive than the Eternal Savior ending :)

really well thought out. Kudos to the writer and thank you for a excellent experience

took me many days to read

This is by far the best game I've played on this site. This was an amazing game that was very interesting. It's VERY long, but that just adds to the time you get to stay in this little "world". Overall a great game.

Stumbled on this from reddit and read it early into the morning. Really glad I did. You were my main source of entertainment today. Thanks

Best experience i have had in any choose your own adventure game so far

Hehe, second game finished!

It was awesome! I loved the sheer scale of the narrative, however I did find it very difficult at times, you'll be using the 'Go Back' button a lot!

Best game ever made!!!!!

Incredible.

I love this this gave me a lot of free time to read make more please

cool

The story is amazing and well thought out. I must say that, like all of Endmaster's works, Eternal lacks an edited finesse. There are numerous typos and awkward phrases. Endmaster also seems to lack both variation in word choice as well as figurative language. These are serious flaws that should be reviewed if he ever wishes to publish his works.

Dying alone and unloved: The game

But even so, I spent many days enjoying this game while looking for good endings, I do recommend it. Just don't expect anything to ever end well for you, makes it all the better when it does.

*Keanu Reeves voice* Whoa...

Really though, this is my first time on this site, and I'm absolutely amazed with the quality of this story game. This isn't what I expected at all coming in, and I suppose that's a good thing. Well done EndMaster.

I received the "Eternal Paragon" ending, and some posts on the forums would lead me to believe that is one of the best endings, but rest assured, I will be hunting down the rest of them. It's a beautiful thing to "finish" a story and know that it's not all over, and in the case of this story, the fun has only just begun.

Long live the Empire!

Awe inspiring. I can't put into words how good it was. But, I would love to see one outcome where I can get mistress on my side permanently.

Got to the 5th epilogue. I like the way simple decisions lead to different endings.

The best ending I think, being The First, The Paragon. One of the LONGEST, most INTERESTING stories I read in a LONG time.

What an amazing story, it is pretty damn long but beautiful. A must read for anyone!

Truly an amazing story it should be published

This had me playing for two days. I loved every minute.

Wow!! Can't remember the last time something captured me like that.Took me three whole days to read through it. By far Allison kroztor is my favorite character as she retains a unique mixture of beauty and sense of duty till the end.I fully encourage all to read this and feel truly "enlightened" ;) trust me itz worthwhile. =D.

Simply amazing.
It has been a couple years since I last played through this story. I remembered it being one of the best reads I had in a while. And the experience was even better this time arround. I followed a different storyline and got the Eternal Emperor epilogue. Superbely written story. Up there with the best, got me hooked from the beginning(again) The characters have real dimension and some bits even stir you up inside. As I see it, and without giving anything away, the ultimate theme of the story (like in Necromancer and its "spinoff") is one of the human condition in its various forms and complexities, no matter what branch you choose. And there are many to choose from. And this is what makes it such a beautiful tale.

Story gaming at its best. 8/8

One of the best goddamn stories I have ever read on this site.

The scope of this tale, the characterization, the world building, it is absolutely FANTASTIC.

The author has clearly put in a great deal of work into this piece and it shows in the quality of the writing and grammar.

Just read it already.

First playthrough. Eternal Hero, a great ending for the story of a great but flawed man.

loved it but i wish there was more choices for u to choose. other than that it was perfect.

It was simply amazing

This story was immense and engulfing; it has earned its excellent reputation. I will do my best to avoid spoilers in my comments, but I have a good deal of praise as well as criticism.
I will start with praise:
The experience of this story, as the bold title suggests, is tremendous, and I mean that in the grandest sense. This is no modest undertaking, and at every step in the story the reader feels the magnitude of the experience. This sense of enormity is a powerful tool, well utilized by the author, and it swells the reader’s ego as they proceed. The detail is extensive and some of the characters are exceptionally well developed, taking on a life of their own upon the page. Not all the uses literary devices such foreshadowing and symbolism landed, but those that did were brutally effective. The author creates a vividly-imagined fantasy world which captures the reader’s fancy; as an aspiring writer myself, I absolutely understand that the seemingly simple task of naming all the nations, races, and characters must have been exhausting. Eternal was, in a word, impressive.
Now Criticism (I make these notes out of the most earnest wishes to help an exceptionally creative and talented author further improve):
The simplest issue I had with the story was grammar and punctuation. Occasionally I would encounter as many as four or five errors per page, which could have been avoided with more extensive and deliberate proof-reading. Many sentences as well, though correct, were awkward and difficult to follow. A good guide is to read one’s sentences aloud to see if they roll off the tongue; if a sentence is awkward to say, it will be awkward to read.
I was turned off by many of the choices in the story. I felt as though (with the exception of a few very major decisions) my choices were having very little impact on the progression of the story. Rather than a series of significant choices, it was more like a relentless trudge through a pre-arranged plot with dozens of opportunities to make a wrong choice and die. Alright, cynics, I know you will say that is exactly what real life is, but I was disinterested in the story choices knowing that, rather than impacting the plot, I was merely flipping a coin to see if I was going to bite the dust (which I did, a lot). Incidentally, I refer to them as coin tosses because there was often very little indication as to which choice was more likely to result in survival. Often, if I died it was because of circumstances which seemed completely unrelated to the content of the choice I made.
With the exception of a number of scenes which were absolute gems, I found the dialogue in the story to be lacking. In other reviews I have mentioned the sin of allowing your characters to say exactly what they mean. Their intent can be expressed in other ways. Much of the dialogue in the story could have been reduced (and thereby made far more poignant and concise) or refocused. I also found the vernacular a little… inconsistent. If you are going to have characters speak grandly and imperially, do so, and avoid modern colloquialisms. Alternately, if you are going to use “yeah” and “shady” etc. do so consistently. It was as if characters were lapsing from modern informal speech to older, more formal speech sporadically. Again, consistency is key. Although it can be difficult in this format, I would also recommend you avoid exposition dumps. Instead of burdening the reader with a paragraph describing the fictional history (or worse, having your characters do it in a speech) try to tell the story through the details. You can cut down exposition like you cut down dialogue, and convey the same meaning with fewer words.
The storyline, in general, was absolutely captivating. My greatest critique was that, after the major, thrilling, nail-biting climax about 3/5 of the way through the story, I was quite sure it was over. It was not; it should have been. After this seriously exhilarating point, I found it very difficult to reengage. I found myself slogging my way through the considerable portion of the story remaining. I do not mean to diminish the quality of the later content, which could have easily been turned into a whole separate book. The later portion was just as fantastic and creative as the first portion, but all the drama and suspense were spent and I simply wanted to know how things would turn out.
The character development in the story was excellent, but there were simply too many. I was fascinated and engaged by the handful of primary characters, but as the story progressed and more and more characters were introduced, I began to feel less and less for them. If the reader feels no connection to a character, there will be no excitement or suspense when it comes to their actions. It is insufficient to introduce a character, then by the next page expect to have the reader give a damn about them. With characters quality is far more important than quantity; a reduced number of characters will add to the feelings of suspense, anger, and sadness which the reader feels as the go. Isn’t evoking emotion in the reader the aim, after all?
Although there were some pages tarnished by weak dialogue or excessive exposition, some scenes stand out as real writing accomplishments. One, very modest scene, in a distant outpost with a doomed man stuck with me. This was one of the less significant scenes of the story, but it was so well conveyed that I truly felt like I was there. Close, cold, and quiet as a prayer, with impending violence just beneath the surface, this scene stood out in my mind as one of the finest of the story. If I were to give advice, it would be to further develop the relationship with that supporting character (by reducing the volume of other characters) throughout the story so that the emotion felt there is even more profound.
I could not get enough of this enormous tale. It had its flaws, but its numerous and impressive merits were enough to rank it among my favorites. Though the author has some improving to do on their execution, their imagination is truly remarkable. It was vivid, fascinating, captivating, troubling, touching, and, most of all, it was grand.
Cheers, EndMaster, you’ve written an Epic.

This story is not at all suitable for any God fearing folk. Endless violence, incestuous relationships, and boundless cursing are just a few of the many vices portrayed in this story. This is truly and utterly despicable. Sir, I'd recommend you go to your local church and pray that God shows you the light, because even though this is a work of fiction, you have clearly strayed from the path of salvation.

I didn't realize each starting point to "Die, beg, or struggle" had entirely different story lines. This was fucking awesome.

A damned great storygame. Unfortunately, lt seems pretty linear. I only played/read lt once though, so I could be wrong. It's long & epic, with excellent characters. You will be immersed in a fantastic world with unique creatures, amazing wars & inventive ideas. This storygame shall forever live on, like the genre of ltself. Eternal is eternal.

Um. What just happened? That was probably the weirdest thing I've EVER read.

Wow.. This is some perspective shifting level of writing. I just got the Eternal Paragon ending, and I'm simply speechless on how throughly well it had been written. I laughed, smiled, shouted and even became angry during this journey of emotions. It truly felt as if I lived an entire life a matter of hours.

I'm astounded, if this is the work of a master writer, than I certainly have long road of learning before, I even come close to your skill.

I almost completely forgot this website, and I am glad that I remembered it, because this story is as good is ever.

As an avid reader. I must state, that this is the best story I have ever read. Heinlein was amazing, but loved too move slowly. Charles de Lint was great, but sometimes moved too quickly. While this story hit all the right marks of intention and speed. I must say I loved it.

It was hugely long.It was possibly the longest story I played on CYS, probably the one I enjoyed the most. Like EM said in the summary, it was mostly story but a lot of interactivity was present as well.This is my first full playthrough of the story. I feel there are so many more endings, all of them good. I'm gonna replay this a few times more. Overall I would give this story 10/8( Even better than Hershey's Kisses)

Pretty good. Don't go for his eyes or face

Easily my favorite story on this entire website so far, it has a few spelling and grammatical errors, but nothing major that destroys the immersion, but other than that it is easy to understand and delve into 10/10 would recommend.

Awesome... This one is so good I'm finding it very easy to sacrifice time I could be spending sleeping, eating, or hanging with my wife and kids!

I always die. Is there a more glorious ending or is it all death?

Wow... so many directions you can go I spent the better part of a day enthralled in the plot, the romance, and the twists. This is a true masterpiece. Bravo

Probably the best of EndMasters games, due to the fact that it isn't made for the purpose of giving you laughs from the usage of vulgar terms. There is actually not a ton of that, showing a side of endmaster I haven't really seen. It's long, with many, many branches. I found epilogue 13 for gods sake. He took enough time for 13 epilogues! And there's only one true ending really. Technically 2, but one of them isn't an epilogue. But if endmaster could cut down on the bad words even more, he could actually go and sell this on the app store and windows store and really make some cash... Of course he'd have to either make a go back option there or actually make choices lead to more places, but still. I thought I went through every ending, then went back and found 3 more. And still haven't found them all. Endmaster has truly done a great work.

This game is fucking amazing and massive. Tbh i felt like I was there. My only complaint is i wanted to end up with that sadistic bitch and it being a happy end.

fantastic

So much content! Eternal left me speechless after playing through and exploring it's web of choices, seeing how paths make vague refrences to each other and the different scenarios they bring. The characters and settings are spot on and I'd say this is a definite MUST PLAY!!

great

10/10 Best plot ever

Wow such a fantastically written story!
This makes me so happy because of all those tiny, lazy stories. I can tell what effort you put into this. Keep up the good work! You deserve an 8/8.

beautiful story telling: you will not believe how many times i had to go back just to catch up with everything. to be frank, it took me a whole month just to reach all the endings: a wonderful story indeed.

I have read almost all of your stories and though I thouroghly enjoyed playing it through, I think Necromancer is just slightly better due to how in some ways it kinda leads up to this story the same could be said in the case with Suzy's Strange Saga, but thats more of a did not see that coming kind of moment, which I feel should be read after Eternal. Other than that I cant begin to say how floored I was by each of the stories though I'm not entirely sure I found all of the epilogues, due to me power reading it in two days, but that doesn't change the fact that you have a naturally talent for writing, and the ways in which you incorporate all your stories together in slight or large ways left me in awe.

Well that was an interesting ending. At points I was wondering if I would ever reach the end. It was long, but completely worth ever second. If you do play this one you should make sure to read the whole thing it is more fun that way.

I am completely obsessed with this. I have lost countless hours just playing on and on. I congratulate you on this impressive pice of work.

Inspirational.

I hope you make many more! This was a awesome story. 10/10

A very good story filled with tons of action

I love the works by this author, but Eternal is by far the best, hands down.

Paragon and Emperor endings finished. 7 more to go

Eternal Bane and Couple finished. 9 more to go

10 outta freaking 10. This storyline with it's multitude of happy and melancholy endings are one of a kind. Endmaster has a seriously great story writing skill.

Took me a whole day to finish, this story is just pure gold. Looking forward to read more of you :).

Fucking AMAZING

This is one of many worlds I have lived. Eternal has satisfied.

Finished eternal hero and eternal survivor over 3 days. 11 more to go.
And to endmaster or those who've read all the endings, is there a good ending with semra? I offer my soul to you to answer. Love her character to death.
All in all, thanks you for this amazing story endmaster.

Beautiful

VERY GOOD but not excellent...

Every decision i made i was scared i was going to die lol! You make amazing stories Keep it up!

It was the best stor I have read so far I think it could become a movie

Nah, they're sort of a mixture of D&D Derro, the original Derro myth, "regular dwarves", along with some stuff I made up. I planned to have a little more about them in the story, but it just never quite fit in the plot lines so most of it got cut.

Never could get very far in Dwarf Fortress.

Are the Derro based on dwarf fortress dwarves? Just wondering.

epic

Very good

It was fun but with ALOT of reading, I feel like it could have been alot better.

Beautiful absolutely beautiful...

Well, I just went through my first hour and a half of Eternal, and got 1 Epilogue. I know what I'll be reading for the next year...

one of the most awesome stories I ever read it keeps you interested at each and every turn

This was the most interesting choice story I have ever read. It has so may endings and ways to die. I went through all 13 endings. There are so many decisions with logical and unexpected results. Everyone needs to read this, has action and a little other kind of "action"

Fantastic story, perfect length. took me three days and i ended with epi. 10.

Wow, this is a highly in-depth game. Great story and many different pathways, this is an epic. 8/8

This was my second time through-everyone needs to do this, I this time was Eternal Messiah

This was by far the best story I have read on here. I spent 6 hours strait ingulfed in the constant twists and turns this amazing story had to offer. I commend the author for all the time and effort he spent on this incredible tale. I would recommend this for anyone who wants a story where the decisions actually matter, and for those who want a story to remember.

My epilogue was Eternal Hero

Impressive the amount of time that was put into this work!

I got the 'Eternal Survivor' ending and I loved it. Thank you, Endmaster, for this amazing story.

really impressive, can't imagine how much time was put into this

This is my second time playing through, and I still loved the Survivor ending. Liked the Paragon more, but then again I have always been a bit of a goodie two shoes. One ending left, and since I have heard it be called the Eternal Bane ending, I don't think I'm going to like the way this will go.

Great, just like all of endmanster's work, thought a bit more on the wordy side

This was....woah. I haven't even gone through all the parts, but the ending I got was the best I have ever seen in a choose your own story game in a Long time. I'm a mother fucking god bitch!

I was rather surprised when my grab for power eventually got me the eternal hero ending (plenty of missteps along the way)but I suppose history is written by the victors and I did get rid of those darned bug people. All in all, another great story (I read necromancer first, this is the second) and I will look into any others by the aptly named Endmaster

I personally have enjoyed every epilogue although some are bound to be better than us. My favourite was epilogue 13, the one where you become death personified. Wait a second, could the god of death possibly be the protagonist from necromancer after his war?

Excellent in both length and quality. I rated it 8, because EndMaster really deserves this.

When I had first played (Though mostly read) this storygame, I found it similar to other stories published by Endmaster including necromancer, ground Zero etc.
Though now, I realise this story stands out with its "Eternal Hero" ending. This story has much to offer and, unlike some other story's found on chooseyourstory.com, this story is actually presentable as a well thought out novel (of sorts).
Like many, it has been a pleasure to read this compelling in-depth storygame.

great story ending 13 my first try got to be honest I liked it but I prefer the one with Allison. definitely recommend reading and reread again until I get all endings.

This was awesome! I got to Epilogue and eternal life with Alison!

I loved this story not as much as The necromancer But it was a close second, IT took me 2 and a half day to finish it. And it was well worth the read you have gotten me back into reading for the first time in a long time, and i thank you and look forward to reading all of your works. Much love Mr.Black.

Geez.... that was awesome! Took me ages to do but i loved it! you were so desriptive it was rediculous! How many years did this take you to do...! :)

I'm back from yesterday lol, I did good, and I liked it, but not more than Reese cups ;)

I just completed the Eternal Hero ending, along with Eternal Destroyer before it, spending almost an entire day playing just this game. I originally revisited this for nostalgia, having fallen in love with Endmaster's stories in the past (Necromancer, Ground Zero and this one, Eternal). I've played Innkeeper and several others as well.

Coming back to this though, I've never experienced something as incredibly immersing and emotionally gripping as Eternal, save for some very rare roleplay sessions. And those required my soulmate roleplaying with me in real-time.

I always find myself in awe everytime I go through one of these Eternal stories that spans decades, sometimes centuries, wishing I could write my stories even half as well.

There's also a love-hate relationship here regarding choice. Endmaster provides a limited range of choices that will almost always do one of two things. Either it branches the story into completely different directions, or it's a dead end. I understand why Endmaster does it (due to a previous explanation in forums) and it's a brilliant way to handle writing something as a big as Eternal, but it leaves me craving more in some situations. It also is sometimes frustrating to pick what seems to be a very valid tactical choice and then be hit by a "tomato surprise" of something not described earlier fucking you over. To be fair, most of the time it still has a good reason for happening.

It's been a long time since I've played, so I can't be certain if I've missed one yet, but I really wish there was a path where you could make things work with Semra sooner, before she... suffers certain effects (avoiding spoilers). Not because I personally would like such a person, but story-wise I was always conflicted on how despite how evil and cruel she can be, she was also the single-most helpful and "loving" of the characters if you choose a certain path. She's constantly looking out for you and warning you and yet the main character will ALWAYS without fail (unless you're given a choice, which is in my opinion slightly too rare for this) refuse to accept her as an ally. I understand why, I know why the main character would hate her, but I also feel it'd be a great experience to see what it'd be like if he'd just accept her offer, give in to the temptation sooner, not fight her at every turn.

Regardless of my little hang-up with Semra, I love this series, it's my favorite story online or otherwise and it has inspired me to continue trying to write as well. Thank you Endmaster for this incredible experience. You are truly an ETERNAL inspiration.

this is the best story iv ever read it brought me to tear at the end iv not cried like that in year thank you so much for this story i loved it so much

It was a beautiful, and very very long story

Brilliant story, so far my all time favorite. I will read more of your stories and I hope you can write even more for other aspiring writers like me to enjoy!

Uh...Ugh....yeah, I enjoyed the adventure, with all its endings. Endmaster seems a bit too modest to extend his master status to other fields of expertise.

I really have to applaud you for all the love and detail that you have put into this story given that it must have taken you at least a few months to flesh out this story. I haven't read a story as addicting as this for a long time, and I would personally buy a physical copy of this so that I could share this with my friends and family. One critique that I have is that it is hard to differentiate between the choices that will lead to different endings and the choices that just stop at a dead end.

Nevertheless, I do believe that this is a masterpiece in the making. My first ending was Eternal Hero, and it was interesting to see a plot twist like that happen. Then I went back to an alternate path that led to Eternal Harbringer, which in my opinion gave me a lot more details about the relationships between the characters and the fact that I went from a hero to a bringer of the Apocalypse faced with the same three choices (struggle, die, and beg) really made me smile. I hope that you continue to create these fantastic stories--either as a hobby or as a professional career--and that this story itself becomes eternal.

Why, EndMaster, your cloud of awesomeness is making us normals feel bad.

I've spent the last five days reading Eternal, and I finally read through all 13 stories it contains. This is a work of art. Simply amazing. Details are woven in throughout each path to tie in to the others, giving a very coherent and consistent world. The other characters are well developed, and I genuinely cared about some of them, while despising others. The protagonist is one of the best characters I have ever had the pleasure to "play as". He feels real, and all of his actions make sense, and fit into his overall character as it changes over time. I really felt the difference between 16-year-old me and 40-year-old me, in every path. I felt his drive and determination, his frustration in defeat and his glory in victory. I felt his love and his hate. He is an exceptional character.

Now, I couldn't bring myself to give this game an eight. This is because of the quality of the writing itself. There are grammar and spelling errors throughout the story. Many times, I'd say something and wonder, "Would a real person say it like that?" It made me sad to look at Eternal this way. I wish this could have had the service of an editor. It would have greatly improved the experience if I hadn't seen there/they're/their mistakes, or watched people talk in ways that no real person would. The fact that Eternal has had such success in the site despite all of that is a testament to how great the story is.

Endmaster, you are truly the master of the Crapsack World. I salute you. I will always remember this story, and you will always and forever remain ETERNAL.

Thanks Bucky.

I don't think I left a comment before when I read Eternal, and looking back over the past several years, I feel I owe you one.

If this sounds corny, so be it, but it is all true.

When I first came to this site three years ago as an account-less lurker, I was absolutely captivated by your stories, namely Eternal and Necromancer, as they were the first I read. These two stories inspired me to begin writing for pleasure for the first time since I was a senior in high school.

I keep files of my old writing from back then, and every so often I compare them to something I've done recently. The difference is night and day. And while I still have plenty of room for improvement, I know I would not be at this point now, if it were not for your stories and the inspiration I drew from them. For that, I am Eternally Grateful.

Took a few days to even finish a few plots
damn this thing Is long...

It was freaking amazing. I had a long passage about its amazing ness and how I wanted to profusely thank the author here, but I accidentally deleted it and I'm not going to write it again.
I'm going to write the ending headings down below here. Its not too spoily, but I would advise you to find all of the endings first. (My favorite one was 12!)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
13:Eternal Harbinger
12:Eternal Emperor
11:Eternal Paragon
10:Eternal Hero
9:Eternal Destroyer
8:Eternal Survivor
7:Eternal Messiah
6:Eternal Terror
5:Eternal Couple
4:Eternal Patriot
3:Eternal Warrior
2:Eternal Bane
1:Eternal Savior
I hope you enjoyed!

More addictive than meth

Very good

Ugh I'm so frustrated about everything, but this is such a damn good story/stories. I've gotten to quite a few epilogues, of which Eternal Harbinger and Eternal Survivor are pretty great, but I prefer the "Die" option (one of three, which includes Harbinger).
My hat's off to you. I'm hooked on this little fucked up individual's various outcomes, and it's all your fault. Thanks!

Got epilogue 10, I'm not sure if that was the best ending, but it was a good one.

Margaret, are you joking? This is in 'Top Rated.' I think your version of 'exciting' is playing with paper clips.
This story is amazing. I'm just sitting here and....well, I want to play again.

Really enjoyed it! Got ending 10 ;)

This is among the greatest games on this website. I mean really, it unbelievably long, the plot is great, the writing and grammar is descriptive and makes sense. What more can you ask?

I got Eternal Hero.

The first story I viewed on this site.
God damn.

And once again I am impressed by one of your stories . Thank you man, and do us all a favor and never stop writing (sorry for my limited gramer I am portuguese)

This game is sooo sooo boring! I think no one should ever play this game! It sucks so bad!

... Yeah, this is going to be a long one. It took me months but I finally read through every single branch of every single path, got every single ending and then went back and re-read my favorite path again for good measure. To sum up... This game is fucking amaze-balls!!! ^_^

Endmaster is one of those rare and talented writers that can leave you feeling seriously emotionally moved by the end of the story. Reading the Eternal's life story from birth through to his last days genuinely makes me think about getting old and how difficult it must be to be nearing the end of your life and wondering if you could've done more with it... It's really bloody depressing. :p

Got to give Endmaster credit for his world-creating abilities aswell. I generally love High-Fantasy settings, but End always put an awesomely dark twist on his worlds. I think the story starts with a very strong beginning, having the protagonist being created and raised to become a ruthless killer utterly devoted to a corrupt government. It keeps the character treading a very thin line between villain and anti-hero, whilst still allowing the reader to sympathize with the character and even feel sorry for him. It's really interesting to see a character that can butcher an entire village of innocent men women and children without batting an eyelash, yet he has absolutely no malice or streak of cruelty in him, he just genuinely thinks he's doing what's necessary.

So... I guess now I'm just going to give a list of some of my top 3 favorite things in the story because... There's a lot of good stuff in the story!

Top three romantic interests:
3. Alison. (She's probably the nicest and most normal of all the Eternal's potential partners, and just a generally likeable character whilst still being fun and interesting.)
2. Brenda. (Of all the potential partners I think ending up with Brenda just feels most "right." Probably because she's another first gen Eternal and the protagonist grew up with her, which gives them a closeness that he doesn't have with any of the other potential partners.)
1. Decena. (... Kind of strange I picked her since I generally find mindless love to be quite annoying, but there's something about Decena that just makes me feel sorry for her. I felt she deserved a happy ending. ^_^)

Top three characters in general:
3. Lena (Quite similar to Decena, I just have a soft spot for unfortunate souls that the Eternal takes under his wing. In some respects I guess she was kind of a bitch, but then she sure has hell had enough reason to be, and while ultimately she never really gave up her quest for revenge, it was nice to see her channel it towards something meaningful, even if it didn't really work out in the end.)
2. Ulivik (What can I say? He's adorably annoying. Also I just generally enjoy watching the Eternal develop fatherly bonds with other characters. For some reason I always find the Eternal's life seems to have more meaning when he has a hand in raising or training one specific person that he cares about than the endings that involve the putting together or protecting of an entire nation.)
1. Captain Gruz (... He's just fucking awesome!) ^_^

Favorite endings (Without giving anything away):
3. Eternal Paragon
2. Eternal Survivor
1. Eternal Bane

... And yeah. This game is awesome... Read it ^_^

Damn he was that sick twisted svelk bitchs WORLD. I wish i had that..

Simply amazing. The work put in this story is breath-taking. Bravo, sir.

An incredible story. My first experience of a storygame, but what
a remarkable work of art! Surely, I am overthrilled by the
taste of something quite so surprising, but it just blows my mind
how this is so much more than any game I have played and can
parallel a great work of literature masterfully. I thank the author
for a truly fun and capturing tale. May it be Eternal!

Three days,mit took me. Three days, nonstop of this story before I finished, before I was the Eternal Hero in 566. This is my third Endmaster game, the others being Necromancer and Ground Zero, and not only am I pleasantly surprised on the amazing quality of the story, "Eternal" will have a very hard time to be beat. Rich characters, detailed environments... Some of the choices were harsh and ended in brutal death, but every step was just another one closer to absolute satisfaction.

Eternal is a must play and replay. It will definitely not disappoint.

Holy hot damn, this is one of the best stories on this site. No words can describe the genius that makes up the greatness you're about to read. What? You aren't going to read it? TOO BAD, THIS ISN'T SOMETHING YOU PASS UP. THIS IS SOMETHING YPU CHANGE YOUR RELIGION FOR. be prepared for a literary masterpiece.

Fucking EPIC I just finish as the Tyrant who killed evil demon to save a girl

10/10 must play again

OMG! It was a great story.

Just amazing better than necromancer i personally liked it but i found it to be a little long at times but other than that great

Is there a path in the story where I murder the emperor and make it an anarchy? From the very beginning I felt like I was under too much control.

The ranking says it all: once I started reading, I couldn't stop. 'Epic' in the true sense of the word, this was an engrossing and inspiring tale and one I plan on replaying soon! This is, by far, my favorite story and the most well-written on this site. Well done and thanks!

Though this story is pretty damn good, I am a little disappointed over the lack of actual choices.
Most of the times all you get is two options, one which is wrong and one that is right.
But as you get to the end of this well written story, you get a lot more choices, probably due to the fact that it is more easier to make multiple choices around an ending that it is to make every single choice count.

Besides all that this story was good and engaging and the fact that you were given a role of a character rather than picking choices and feeling quite emotionless as some stories in this genre tend to make you made the experience so good.

Few minor errors in the story itself and surely worth the read.
Good job, and thanks for the hours of entertainment!

THE BEST STORY I'VE DONE!!!!

Deep story line with a great plot and multiple branches with different consequences. I really enjoyed this.

Amazing 10

My first story to read here and I greatly enjoyed it. Will probably go back and check alternative routes. Thanks!

Horrible I want better endings!

Ho. Ly. Shit. That... that was incredible.. the absolute best piece of written media I have ever indulged in. I chose the struggle path with Decena, and eventually created an entire race of Eternals, and it was just... heartwarming.. The best part is that the main character is never referred to by name, so you can always feel yourself in his shoes, making the decisions yourself, and.. being revered as a savior of sorts. The story I chose was.. heartwarming. You could see how the main character changed and grew as a person throughout his lifetime, and even how the 'minor' characters all have backstories and also grow and change over time. The only sad thing is that there was never any true.. "resolution" with Mistress, but I hope to find such a resolution in one of the many, many branches in the story. My first story I've read on this site, and it was positively.. magical. I cant wait to explore one of the other paths, specifically the one that takes me to the distant future. My only tiny little nitpick is that there Are some slight typos that become more frequent near the end of the story, but with as many branches and story arcs that needed to be written for this, I suppose that is to be expected, and the typos never harm the storytelling, which remains magnificent throughout. Truly breathtaking, and I'm glad to have experienced this in my lifetime. :3

Well connected with all the rest of your work, second best after Necromancer!

That was a brilliant admirable work... i wish it was more advanced though

I am literally spending days going through the different stories. Amazingly thought out, I actually changed my life based off the how this story presented it's ideas. Absolutely worth the indulgence.

sex scene... wat?

glad i took my time to read it

Worth every time spent reading this story

I couldn't have asked for a better ending. I personally like creating a race rather than destroying many others.

This was incredible! I had to keep going for over a day to get the best ending, but still... EndMaster, I love your work!

!!Eternal herO!!

loved alison!

i have become emotionally attached to the characters in this story. i love it, and i think everyone above 18 should play it (sorry, minors, but it's got some stuff you shouldn't read) but it definitely will play with your emotions, and is just amazing

Perfect

Very awesome story.

i am truly in lightened by this story. I know that even many hundred years is going to pass this can never be bested. The best even of all end master's story. Thank you end master for the greatest story I ever and will ever read. Long live the emperor! Long live the empire!

This game is one of the best I have seen on this site! It seems you have so many choices to pick from and you can just keep playing and playing and playing for hours on end! Once you get to the part where you decide where to and what to do after the Empire crashes, the game gets even more wonderful. I have one played one route, the mercenary route, and I think the ending was absolutely wonderful. I can't wait to play the other routes and see what minor changes I can do that affect the whole game. I know I will spend many, many hours playing this over and over, and still love it.

Great story! At some points I was considering stopping, but it just kept getting more and more interesting. It is pretty long, especially if you want all the epilogues, and I did notice quite a few spelling/grammar mistakes, but it is overall a great story!

Really Deep story, the only thing bothering me is that there are to much 'wrong' choises, making an different statement schouldn't mean instant death, tahtats not the point of text based games. I Do understand that it would take to long to make several main story's, and overall I really enjoyed the experience. Keep it up!

I have the eternal hero ending and it was an awesome game.

Good story, my first one on this site. It was definitely interesting, I enjoy the fantasy war theme. I love all of the extra stuff, it's definitely worth reading to enhance the story. It just leaves me with more questions than answers. *SPOILER ALERT*: Do not read on if you haven't read the story. I was disappointed that I couldn't find a successful ending. Maybe this is just me? If it is please let me know. I got to the point where you decide to replace Roland or bring the svelk to your camp. I chose the svelk at first but all of the options led to my death. I went back to choose Roland instead and again I died. Is there a way to avoid this and keep playing? Overall good story, although a bit too R-Rated at times for my taste. But I should have payed attention to the rating. Thank you!

ya ya ya. This was sweet.

a simply fantastic read.

Absolutely amazing read

Holy Fucking God that was the most epic story I have ever read. I spent almost an entire week glued ot my computer because of this story. 8/8

I can't think of anything to say, which is amazing, because in a story game like this, I usually have a lot to say (about how awesome it was), but I guess it was so good, that I don't have any words. Except this.

Good job

Loved it!

Just read through for my first time - got eternal harbinger ending after dying 17 times along the way - what an epic story

love it best one i played

Great story, I have spent a buttload of time reading and re-reading it, trying out different paths. Definitely recommend this to everyone! :)

yes! made it to year 101
15 out of 8
way to epic to to put into words just how great it is
(only took 9 hours to finish

Okay, i i´ve finished the entire thing (or at least one of the endings) and i must say, WHAT A EXPERIENCE, the 8/8 rating is not mere exaggeration, it does really brings you enlightenment of the sort of finishing reading i excellent book, last time i felt like this was when i finished The Godfather or The Stanger (closer to the later), very well done.

Brilliant work there, the characters are well constructed your choices have real meaning and impacts and if if you died if you feel it was for good reason.
I will most certainly spend more time on this to reach and ending.

10/10

Good but kind of a screwed up way to die

this is an incredibly long piece, but barely suffers for it. it is an exceptional story and your choices really do make significant change. i'll hold this story in my heart for years to come...

Wonderful! Nice and long as well. In my opinion, beautifully written. Good work!

Ending 10: Eternal Hero
This has to be one of the best stories I've ever read. After choosing "struggle" I spent a few days reading through it and enjoyed every second of it. I can't wait to go back and find the other endings!

That was not that hard... The word lied(-_-)

I did enjoy it a lot, but once I killed the emperor and ended up in the future, sometimes I noticed that the grammar would deteriorate, and the story became much less interesting than it was back in the Old Empire. That said it was still a memorable experience, and I love that I will always be, an Eternal Hero.

The story is really great, it is a mix of political, religious, supernatural story. I wish you could have put a special eternal ending being a eternal shadow traitor and I wish some of the bad endings are longer but overall One of the best stories so far in this site.
Everything was written well and there is an aura that immersed us in the story.
8/8.

It was a really nice game! I got the ending with Brenda. It is quite long though, and so diverse and that is what makes it so great.

After hours I have reached ending 10 "Eternal Hero" and this ending was completely worth it. The story was moving and did not sugarcoat the horrors of war. It was descriptive, the characters were compelling (particularly "Mistress"), and I felt as if I was immersed in the story. I absolutely loved it and this story is what made me want to join this website. The hype was deserved.

I felt like crying when it was over... Chills and a sense of loss. Not every story can move a person, and I didn't expect to find one online. I read every bit I could. The more information I received, the better in my opinion. The world building was terrifically done. The races, the politics, the everything was bursting with life.

I'll remember this one for a long time. Always and forever, Eternal.

This is the best story i have read on this site.. I bit too much swearing like when zana exposed herself but it was really really good. Keep up the good work ;) !!!

I loved it! I got the hero ending. I feel like the writing quality declined in terms of grammar, etc. as the story progressed, but the story itself was astounding.

Actually enjoyed the game to a degree but there were a few thing I wish were more fleshed out.

wish there was some sort of walkthrough.

I hate you... I hate you and your stinky little stories... they make me wanna scream every time I read them. You fucking curse every fucking other fucking word of every fucking sentence... fuck, I keep saying fuck. See what you've done? I hope you go home and masturbate into a can of campbell's soup as a single tear slowly rolls down your cheek you fat sack of ebola.

Ps, I love you.

Holy carp, okay first off this is the most amazingly awesome messed up, twisted story I've ever read! Not to say it wasn't good, It was l33t! Dayum that mistress was one fucked up lady..."shudders" and it kinda made me sad that your character got turned into an evil megalomaniac, but at least he had some depth to him. I tried all the main endings...and honestly, I picked "struggle" because becoming a mindless scourge Lord to a death God isn't my idea of a good ending, true going insane and b ring tortured for all eternity isn't exacly nice either, and about being with my one true love forever? Not a bad idea I guess, but saying duck you to death just seem so much more bandass:D Ty for the ton of hours of enjoyable story!

Of course it is.

Divine. Simply divine.
Question: is the death god the protagonist of necromancer if you reach the ending wher he travels from plane to plane?

Got 5-7 different ETERNAL endings nice

Made me question my morals a lot... That made it very enjoyable. This was my first adventure on this website, and it was an excellent first time... However, I would have preferred more choices in the character's actions... But I don't write, so I really have no right to say that.

Wow, that was incredible! This was my first time doing this sort of thing and I really enjoyed it! Kind of a bummer that I died so soon and in such a lame way... Oh well, it's better than living on with the guilt. So far this website's awesome, I'm definitely going to continue exploring it! Thanks for the fun story! :)

A truly interesting story.

I would have liked it more if I could change my name and gender in the story

One of thirteen endings. That's how many I have seen. I almost feel like I'm cheating having gotten this experience for the measly price of $0. If you have free time his is definitely a good way to spend it.

One of the best, if not the best story on this site. I spent so many hours getting all the endings, including the bad ones. Feel it was a good use of my time.

this is the best story here. Written of course by the best author. The greatest lesson that I have learned is. My life... All of our llives are nothing!

Long live the emperor!
Long live the empire!

Absolutely amazing story, immense world, and realistic characters. I've played it through for all thirteen epilogues and the differing paths lead to astonishingly different worlds. My favorite was the thirteenth, mainly because I think that the death god encountered is possibly the protagonist from Necromancer?
All together, I firmly believe this is the finest story on the entire website and congratulate Endmaster for his work.

wow great story

Freaking amazing, I'm in the process of going back to get all the epilogues, and after at least a week, I only have 5. My only regret is that no matter how hard I tried, I could never end up with Semra. Oh well, there are still 8 more endings to go, maybe my secret desire will be met.

The main character is deliciously brutal. The story was dark, violent, wretched, and glorious. As long as you have a strong stomach, this story is an amazing thrill to play through. 8/8.

Very fun read! I enjoyed seeing the twists and turns as well as the various bad ends!

Such a beautiful and riveting story, I just love Drendrin

This game was awesome, it gave you a bond between the characters that you hated breaking. The limited choices was disheartening at first, but then you realise this story is epic, and even the decisions you do make affect it dramatically. Long Live the Empire. Long live the Emperor.

Pretty good, I simply died as a soldier though, but thats ok, can always go back and try again to step into that portal...

Captivating

I really liked it and i can tell you worked really hard on it but it was really long. Maybe a little too long.

Exciting story. Very poorly written in a grammatical sense.

Wow I played and played and played this mercifully long story. And I have loved every second of doing so. Oh the devices used for the story and the infinitely creative endings for the protagonist leave the reader, huh, eternally entertained and relying on the eventual satisfaction they know is coming. I commend you for the quality of the story, effort it must've taken, and small pleasurable little devices you persisted in using.

Beautifully written, there are so many different paths to go down. I didn't look too closely at other path options, because my playthrough of the game (got to Epilogue 10) took eight hours total to read. This game was like a large novel and takes a long time to play, but it's completely worth it. Every page, even the death scenes, feel steeped with effort. I loved the character development and the multi-faceted personalities of each person. This is truly a masterpiece.

I'd rate this at a nine. There is a sprinkling of gramatical errors or i'd say it deserves a ten. I love the well developed characters and plots. The Eternal himself is so complex it's hard not to sympathize with him. May the empire stand forever!

This guy is truly impressive in scope and story. Even the dead ends a good. It well eat up hours of your life and you end up feeling like you have lived several other lives by the time you are done.

This, my friends... is an art on a whole new level. I always like the works of this person, and always wondering how he could write that much. The story feels like I'm living through it, and there's not even a single page that created half-heartedly. Kudos!!

Very and I mean Very well written, I expected no less from EndMaster. I have only one problem. If you choose to beg or struggle, it leads you to 5 epilogues each but if you choose to die...than you get 3 epilogues. That ratio doesn't make sense. EndMater should include more endings for shadow path. Now it's time for me to read the whole thing again

Oh... My... God... I'm ready for the movie version!

I was skeptical as of the start of the story. That didn't last long. This story enthralled me from start. Despite the relatively simplistic choices, I felt more immersed in the characters and world than I possibly have ever been. The protagonist was extremely interesting, and despite all his negative traits (practically a mass murderer) I couldn't stay angry with him. So multifaceted. Anyway, A twisted and fantastic experience.

A Truly epic story

This is truly something special. Great story and I feel very invested in the plot. Gets me coming back for more, to see how I can do better! Long live the Empire!

As far as I can tell, no ane of the endings on the shadow path go much further than being bittersweet. They're so... emtionally impactful, though. I only got one epilogue on the flip-side so far though, so I'm gonna get back to it. I MUST ACQUIRE ALL THE EPILOGUES!

Great story, epic

a true work of art

Cool.

This could very well be one of the most amazing pieces I have ever read. The fact that you have incorporated a "choose your own adventure" style into a story this amazing is beyond me, but I definitely look forward to reading more of your material, even after just discovering this story today, I haven't been able to put my laptop down. Thank you for the enlightening and unbelievably entertaining piece of art.

Absolutely brilliant! I loved the ending; it managed to be final and open at the same time. Wonderful :)

This story.. this story.. I don't care about choices, this is by far the most immersive story I've ever read. I've been playing or reading through it the past week, and can never seem to get enough of it.. this is by far the best gamestory this site has to offer, and this experience will seem ETERNAL to me.

Absolutely bloody amazing story. It was so good, that I feel sad having to end it. There were some grammatical errors throughout and i felt as if most of the choices led to my dead. But the story was amazing and it didn't matter what i felt about the choices as the story was so good. End Master certainly has a strange mind, one could say twisted, but he is a brilliant writer.

THE BEST!

Dear Gods that was a good story!
I got [Epilogue 10: Eternal Hero] ending and am certainly considering playing this again.
I will admit I did die more than once but had a great deal of enjoyment while doing so :3
I definately found my and Semras Love-Hate relationship very amusing and after I'm done writing this comment I'm most likely gunna go back to the choice between Lanay (forgot how to spell) and Terik (however you spell it) first ('always and forever' eh?). I can honestly say I didnt expect You-know-what to happen after killing you-know-who but that made the story all the more interesting!
Eternally Brilliant if I do say so myself :P

Amazing, I don't know how you do this, the choices I got near the end were difficult.
8/8

I...am impressed...
I see now why this is one of the best games on the site...because holy shit wow...
I tried it out sometime earlier but I quit due to skipping over huge walls of text and then finding myself not immersed in the story...DO NOT DO THIS PEOPLE. Read it all. It's worth it. It was a little boring for me at the point after I meet the emperor and have to go chase that cyrus shadow mainly due to too many information being thrown at once (about the gnomes and dwarves and all that other stuff).
Another minor complaint I had was that the protagonist was just...a fucking asshole at times. I never play a dude like that in games where I have a choice...he also didn't seem to focus on...him...but I guess that comes with the torture from that Svelk bitch.
And lastly I would've liked if the game had stats of some kind, like in Mommy (the story on this site) but you can't have everything.
All around and even with the grammar mistakes (which I guess will happen to anyone that writes a story THIS long) I give this an 8/8.

Long comment ahead, beware! This was my first time playing one of these stories, and I am immensely impressed.
The best kinds of stories leave you with a sort of melancholy in their wake. I came across this story with the intention of spending a few minutes on "choose-your-own" nostalgia, but ended up witnessing the rise and fall of a rich world, the cultivation of a cast of full human characters, and the development of believable anti-hero protagonist who (despite my best attempts to curb his tyranny) became just as bad as the Emperor he intended to depose--albeit with all the best intentions in mind--and ended up an Eternal Messiah.
Though the story is occasionally linear, the choices it poses are involved and always difficult. I found myself often following one choice for a few pages, deciding I didn't like the outcome, reverting to the other option, and discovering it to be just as bad--but in a different way. Everything, from the very first choice to die, struggle, or beg, lasts to the end.
The characters are overall excellent, my favorite being Dendrin (I must have a soft spot for snarky pseudogods), though my own character was interesting as well. Talia (my male character's romantic interest) came off as a little flat, though (but maybe this is just me, as a female cis/ace person, trying to understand a straight relationship from a male perspective and failing). Other favorites were Cyrus and Theo.(Speaking of Cyrus, loved the inclusion of a gay relationship! Loved the fact that Cyrus was a believable character whose entire existence was not written based on the fact that he was gay! +10 points for diversity!)
The quality of the writing is pretty darn good throughout for something of this ambitious length. There are occasional slip-ups in grammar/syntax and tone, but the language is always vivid enough to get the point across, and there is nothing glaring enough to rip me out of the story.
Worldbuilding is excellent. I don't know whether it borrows from existing fantasy worlds, whether it ties in to the author's other works, or whether it's entirely original to this story, but it felt both fantastic and darkly realistic. I'd say it's kind of a cross between Lord of the Rings (Tolkien in general), Princes of Amber series (Zelazny), Elder Scrolls, and a webcomic by one Ashley Cope called Unsounded that you ALL SHOULD READ because it's EXCELLENT.
My favorite part of this is the realism--political, moral, interpersonal--of it. There's no way, at least that I can tell from the one extended playthrough I've done, to play the shining moral beacon of goodness. For example, from the first moment I read about the Empire I wanted to take it down. Okay, you can take down the Empire--but at what cost? I ended up making things worse as the land falls to squabbling warlords. Everything was painted in Blue and Orange Morality as I tried (and possibly failed) to not become the villain. And yet even as my character became murderous, I could still empathize with him. The only other work I can think of right now that has this similar sort of moral realism is web-serial writer Wildbow's work (Worm and Pact--things you all should ALSO READ because they are EXCELLENT).

Anyway, here I am posting a comment of ridiculous length on something that probably hasn't gotten a comment in quite some time. Excellent work, and I will be playing more to see if I can get endings other than (and perhaps less villainous than?) Eternal Messiah.

This.... just mind blowing, at first it looked like a wall of speech (and it is in some way :P) but it is a diamond wall of speech, in that its a sight to see, id take every part of it and hold it dear forever and that no matter how hard i try, i will never be able to forget it. and i truly hope another one is made, if you want to find a fantastic piece of literature and an even better choose your own adventure type story, you have come to the right place, Eternal is so good it needs its own word in the dictionary to describe it.

Eternal is Love
Eternal is life

8/8 I reach all ending and it was good! Some of them have a sad ending and some of them have unexpected turn of events in the end sadly I can handle with this mixed feelings I mean there's a lot of girl come to his life and it was very emotional, they way you write it make me feel I was the eternal himself, he has been in the most difficult time in his life sometimes he can be cruel leader and sometimes he can be a desperate lover...It was very very very good reading and some of the ending make some of tear running through my eyes

I love the options...and the length. All around good game.8/8

I spent the entire day reading the story...wurf.

Immersing

Well I finally got around to commenting on this and just wow! This story is amazing! It's practically a novel, heck if this were a novel I'm sure it would be a best seller. I can't think of a single thing that I didn't like. Perfection!

Great story. At the time I'm writing this, I am very close to exploring every possibility. Not just every epilogue, but every possible death. And there are a lot of those. My favorite thing is how you encounter the same people in different circumstances however you live your life in this game.

I conquered SPAAAAACE.

Wow. This was a fantastic story it was well written, engaging, and you really feel invested in the story. I know many people will complain about the lack of choices in it for a choose your own adventure story. But for what it was, it was incredible.

Amazing story! Not a game though.

It was a great story!

I think it's kinda dumb the way i can die. It's like flipping a coin, no real logic to it.

WOW
EndMaster, I played few of your games and I must say good job. I mean I can't believe your not writing this with choice of games and selling these. But thank you very much and although I would like to see more choices having greater effect on the game it is still an awesome read.

Well if you played through the path that lead to the 13th ending then you've found one connection to another story of mine.

I played through this game quite a few times and was able to find all 13 epilogues. All of them were unique and entertaining making it fun to replay a different path every time. I would like to know if this story has any connections to your other works?

Oh my god this was one of the best storygames on the site. It's right up there with ground zero, necromancer, and mommy can i go out and kill tonight. Also I loved the ending where *SPOILERS HERE* there's the parade and the shadows kill roldan and you die and the last phrase is: "the happy thoughts that at least you got to see Mistress hit the ground a split second before you do." That's so fucked up but amazing at the same time. 16/8!

Nice how there are whole different stories based on tiny decisions in the start

brutal just brutal but the anime another is so much worse.

An inspiring story, in truth I admired how it was structured like a tree. The branches Spread "eternally" outwards from the first decision, and even later There are opportunities for Major story changes. THe characters were compelling, and I found it worth the time to discover the multitudes of endings. The one I actually got when using my own judgement was eternal terror.

Wow. That was spectacular. You truly have a gift to have created such a spectacular world. You did not just create one story, you created many in just 1 book. You should seriously think about, if you haven't yet, becoming an actual author. I am truly stunned about how entranced in that world I was. You might not get a choose your own story book published simply because there are not many of those, but if you create any more work I would love to read it. You put in that book great adventure, magic, technology, sexual desire, many different creatures, new continents, ruling an empire and more. I also always had suspense about dying in one wrong move. Thank you so much for spending your hard earned time writing this epic.

Best story ever.

Okay, I`m a new in this, but it wasnt hat great.

Loved this story to bits. Sure it took me 3 days to get to my ending but I love-love-loved it. I got the Eternal Hero Epilogue. Oh how I enjoyed the adventure. 10/10.

In the back seat of a looong drive from FL to KY. The story was amazing! Can't wait to go back and try various other outcomes. Extremely well done!! You should write novels my friend.

8/8 Amazing.
But one thing, I miss big red

Pretty awsome!

Epilogue 11: Eternal Paragon. That was an epic, and epically long, tale. It was interesting how much it held my interest, considering I didn't like most of the decisions my character made. It was like I was this overseer, trying to humanize my character as much as possible, with limited success. But the fact that I still enjoyed it as much as I did is a testament to the author's incredible writing ability.

One of the best stories I have ever read on this site. Well done!

First off: Amazing story, great concept, memorable characters, and enough twists and turns to keep me reading (that was just one go through). The only criticism I can give is that some pages were extremely long, some editing could've been beneficial. Very few grammatical errors, but I really dont expect one person to proof read everything especially considering the scope of Eternal. All said, One of your better stories, doesn't dethrone Necromancer as my hands down favorite, but a good read nonetheless.

That was absolutely great! I praise your patience for writing this, not only that, it was well thought out. I tried to see as much of the endings as I could in one linear plot, can't say I'm disappointed. Amusing and entertaining--even though it did distract me a lot from studying; then again, I don't really study anyway. Hm. Cheers! -Aren

We are Eternals. We are war. Remember this. Otherwize I'm going to come back here and shove my hand through your chest and kill you. hahahahaha Crazy basstard engineer haha.
Wish the char should have fucked that dark elf, Eldalith? hahahaha.

Wonderfully done, played this game over a year ago and loved it so I returned and found an entirely new side of quests. Thanks for producing such a masterful piece that I believe surpasses Necromancer.
Sincerely, a major fan of your works

Holy. F*@#!ing. Sh@!.

(Thunderous applause)

Please consider writing more stories like this. Maybe not quite as dark, but we definitely need your masterful writing, great one.

Every choice felt significant. The story was well-written.

The sex and gore was rather over the top, though, and there were a couple nagging grammatical mistakes.

But problems aside, I enjoyed this storygame. Well-done, Endmaster.

This was an outstanding story before the "struggle" story line. Now It is one of the best stories I have ever read. This includes regular books.

very good

Endmaster...this is fantastic. However, I wish I had a bit more control on my characted. Still, the best (along with DMW).

EndMaster, what are you doing with your life? You need to be publishing this right now! This was amazing! I don't know if your occupation is a writer, but if it isn't then change that! Enlighten the world with more great works (and get paid for it). I'd buy your work a 1000 times over.

Awesome story, would recommend highly to anyone who enjoys a really awesome fantasy world/story.

THERE ARE SO MANY ROUTES

Nice ending, killed a demon lord. Wonder how the other demons are doing? 2 brothers killed, 1 had his sole banished. Never liked demons.

(Spoiler) Can I not fuck her and kill her instead? If not, why couldn't leave her alive? Following my picks the story ended after 2 actual choices with a lot of reading which felt like a twisted pornographic fantasy

Before I begin, let me state two things:
1) I received Epilogue 11
2) This has been the most enthralling, moving, exciting, and otherwise excellent 'Create Your Own Adventure' that I've had the extreme pleasure to take part in, and I've only experienced *one* of the many branching paths.
Not only have I taken great personal pleasure from this spectacular story, but I've developed an entirely new view toward real-world events. The level of empathy, wit, realism, and reasonable premise within this story (which I honestly believe should be published in some form) was both stunning and seamless. One expects this form of writing to be limited, since the author's intentions are spread out between many alternate paths, but "Eternal" dashes that expectation. Bottom line, this is not only one book-like story, but many, and each of them made more personal because of the fact that you - the reader - brought them about. 8/8

I gave this a 7, because in my mind no story is ever perfect.

However, there are some things to take note of. I have read quite a few CYOA stories on this site, and this is the closest I've ever came to rating an 8. The story is superbly well written, with only minor typos and errors. The story was also very streamlined, and though some have complained that there are too few choices, ultimately the fluidity of the story is enough for the reader to break protocol and hit the back button to explore other options. The tale, in most cases, either continues or it does not.
As far as I have seen (I have only played one branch of the story) there has been only one "dead end", where no matter what choice you make the story ends. All in all, I cannot recommend this CYOA enough. I have played through the evil storyline (highly recommended for those enjoy a darker tale that follows the 'Villain') and cannot wait to try out the 'good' branch.

Great game took alot of time though lol but i wanted to fight edward

it's a nice story. :P

I've lost plenty of sleep on this story. Time we'll spent on a wonderful and tragic story.

amazing,just amazing and i got awesome ending 2
:)

This story is literally amazing in so many ways that can't be summed up. I wasn't the reader in it, I was the main character with all the decisions, thought processes and feelings. I sincerely thank the author for making this unique experience possible for me and making this story accessable to the public. I would definitely buy the book if it is ever published. Once again, many thanks!

Well, look at all the messed up people around the place, little short balled dwarf people with mad scientist dreams, Jenasidal Gnomes, and to top it all off we got a dark elf who can't let go of her kid after 5 centuries. It was a vary good story line, Wish there could be more of them, but a story can only have so many branches. Mabie more books with the protagonist causing mayhem on a grand scale? That always cheers me up if I am in a bad mood.

What the hell is alteraeon? Seriously never heard of it.

Wow, so long rofl. I played through this without once saving, and I got to the year 566, I'm not sure if that's the farthest you can get, but I enjoyed it. Nice plot, a few typos and misnaming, but that's to be expected with such a complex storyline. Overall, I'd say it was very well done. A few of the spells made me smirk as I noticed some of them come from alteraeon, so a few points lost for that one, but not many.

One of the great ones

easily one of the best i have read..probably even better..

Story has an incredible span, and a wonderfully obscene amount of detail. Top honors because of the work put into it, and the enjoyment I got from reading it. Don't often get to play a lawful evil character. Would have liked more of a reasoned choice in some cases. Those seemed to hinge on luck, instead of character truth or logic.

Fire a bolt at the mage

Age 30

I have already read through Eternal once. Because it was so good I wanted to experience the same story twice, just to relive the awesomeness and all the memories that came with it. What I instead got was a completely different story with a totally different take on being an eternal. I have never been so impressed with an interactive story such as this and never so engulfed. When the story was over, a part of me cried for leaving the world of this adventure.

In perhaps a month or two, I'll visit Eternal once again, probably just to experience a completely different story that entices me to the bone.

9\8

Epilogue 10: Eternal hero.

That really was a long one. Excellent story and chartacters though, so many twists.

...this was a very long story... but god i loved it!

I left a legacy of destruction yet this writer creates one of horror, amazement and a realistic fantasy

After reading through every single page, I have to say that this storygame is nothing short of fucking incredible. The sheer epicness of the scale and length of the story, the volume of content and the number of different story paths is amazing. The amount of time and effort taken to write all this must be unbelievably big.
But the quality isn't hampered by the quantity. All of the paths for the 13 different 'proper endings' are entertaining, even if some are inevitably not as good as others. One of the most fun things about Eternal is to play through all of these and see how things end up differently regarding the plot and the deeply interesting and lifelike characters. Even the 'dead end' endings are really good, and personally I think some of the best fight scenes come from these endings.
Something I didn't like was the numerous spelling and grammatical errors scattered throughout the game. You can get over that easily enough though, as it's not too frequent. I also didn't like some of the storylines as much as the others. Having played through what I would say were the best paths first, I felt that the worse paths I played afterwards were a bit of a letdown, even though they were still a good read.
Eternal is well worth your time. I think it's by far the best storygame on this site, even out of all of EndMaster's masterpieces.

Although the "wrong" choices you made throughout the game ended badly, the storyline on its own was very unique and inspiring.Thanks for writing and sharing this!

Long live the empire

epic game! epic story! everyone should give this a go!

Just got the eternal hero ending. Gosh that's rewardng, even though I do dislike the cataclysm arc. I won't spoil anything though. Time to dive back in!!

Awesome story. Incredibly long, and very nicely detailed.
I just got to Epilogue 11, the first I've found, and it already seems like the best end to me. Have to admit I'm a little disappointed, because while I'm definately going to go and find them all, I've heard that the soldier path is the least 'douchbag' of the three, and I prefer to find all the Bad Ends first.
None the less, this has provided me with several hours of entertainment, and will do so again when I try the other two Paths.

Now for some critique;
- Description and dialogue was not always clear and concise. Sometimes I'd have difficulty determining who was speaking, or a character would seemingly appear from nowhere.
- A related peeve is that people tended to ramble and re-cover the same ground a lot in conversations, as well as the... I don't know what to call it, tone maybe? For instance the Emperor talks very casually in all situations, as do others; including the main character, even after several changes in status. While it fit some situations, in others it was by turns jarring and amusing.
- Choices or path branches likewise had the occasional problem. I can see why the branches are usually quite 'macro-scale' choices (ie, choose A or B, rather than A and take item X or whatever) considering just how big this work is already, but that doesn't mean I wasn't annoyed by it at times. I also accept that the CYOA genre means there'll be instant death around every other corner, but sometimes the ends felt a little too random (ie, choosing to end a negotiation by telling them outright you plan to crush them, then just turning and walking away while under the watch of their entire army).
- Hmm, those are only problems I can remember at the moment. While it would be nice to be able to open branches in new windows or tabs, I'm not a member and haven't seen how the save feature compares, so that might just be my own fault.

Criticisms aside, this is by far the best CYOA I've ever read (including your others), I got engaged in the characters and story, and if a work like this was published I'd actually buy it. And I don't bother to buy most things.

Thank you and good luck with your writing.

I think I like one where the soilder better because you are less of a duchebag but I like meeting the others endings

it was good

I loved it. The death flags weren't apparent to me but I had a good time.

wow...

Great game period

I literally spent the whole night reading this, and I still don't think I've gotten all the endings yet. A can of redbull to my left and a bag of Doritos to my right, it's time to dive right back in!

8/8

Really engrossing. The best online chooseyourown book i've read. Got the Eternal Hero & Eternal destroyer endings. Would've definitely have paid for this 10/10

Finally! I have been waiting for the 3rd branch of "Eternal" since I first found this site, and now I finished it. Almost everything about it is outstanding, from the way The EndMaster incorporates (or at least implies) "Necromancer" into the story as well as tying everything about the world/story/events together; a rare but yet extremely fulfilling experience that cannot be found in the traditional style of storytelling.

I swear, if this was published (although that would be another story/challenges entirely), I would buy this in an instant, not only because it'd be easier to convince others this style is a legitimate way of storytelling, but also as a way to pay The EndMaster for his time and effort into making something memorable. This is the first for me to feel like donating money for something that's free entertainment.

The only criticism I'd give is the somewhat minor errors in grammar and "exrta" words left in sentences that clearly aren't suppose to be there. Another look into the parts of the story branch that leads to the 13th ending will show what I am talking about. As for the other parts of the whole story, I'm unsure if this is as noticeable as it's been almost a year since I've read the first 2 branches of "Eternal".

I have much more to say but that would take up the comments page so I'll end it with this; "Eternal" is one the best. It deserves its 8/8 from me in my book; it truly "enlightened me" to this way of storytelling and makes me wish these kind of "books" were mainstream or had a much larger following. Despite being one of the first "choose your story" I've ever read, I haven't found anything close to The EndMaster's stories, especially "Eternal" and probably will be for a long time.

Thanks!

Amazing game, obviously a lot of grammar flas, but an amazing read. The ending is seriously amazing, I practically teared up. Lol. I'm just glad I chose "die" over "beg", though it was a hard choice... I kind of want to play through again with the same choices just to see how the "beg" ending scenario turns out.

Over all, an amazing story, you can tell you worked extremely hard to write the novel, and you poured your heart into it. Honestly, this is one of the best books I've ever had the privilege of reading. Thank you for this.

That's the second arc of the story I got the Epilogue to. And it was great. Struggle. EndMaster you did as wonderfully as I've come to expect from you. This game is one of my favorite stories in all of literature, and now I'm going to go back and do it all over again and see if I can change the outcome to something else. That's what I love about you, the replayability of your games. I know I missed something... well, looks like I gotta go find it. Right on bro.

Amazing game. I got the Eternal Hero ending, and I have to say I really enjoyed the same. My only complaint is that there didn't seem to be a way to keep Allison alive. :( Seriously a downer in the second half of the game.

Other than that, though, this 'verse is amazing and extremely super well written.

This is excellent. this story game by far has the most content. this truly feels like a book,having so much character development and content.

The experiences between the three storylines are all fantastic. Semra, in particular, stands out to me as a unique character. I wish there could be an epilogue in which you helped her become normal again—I tried every possible outcome in being with her, and they all led to my death.

The most real endings, to me, are Eternal Survivor and Eternal Harbinger.

EndMaster, years from now when you leave this site, people will continue to remember your stories. Over time, people will make stories about YOU. Some may be true, some may be outright lies, some may be a little bit of both, but one thing is certain, and that you are and always will be ETERNAL. (Sorry, I just had to do it....)

I just finished Eternal Hero Epilogue - only 12 left, YAY! =P. Seriously though, I hope I never finish all the epilogues, I don't want the story to end it's just too well done and the humor is spectacular! 8/8 For you, Mr. Endmaster!

Awesome story, really liked it, kept my interest for some time, i hope there will be a new story as good as this one ^_^

Best story(but I wanted a Mistress good ending too)

I got teary eyed at the ending. BRAVO!

Great story, very well written. Good job!

Amazing, although a bit dark at times, still an absolutely amazing story that I believe almost anyone would enjoy. :)

Very well written and intriguing.

Wow. Just... Wow.

Finally finished all 13 endings of the story (As well as the unofficial "Eternal Bliss" and "Eternal Torment" endings) and I have to say, that was amazing.

Your story was long, well thought out, well planned, well written, and most of all, touching. When I went through the shadow path and became the eternal terror, I could feel the thirst for power in the eternal, I could feel his desperate desire to "ascend". As the eternal patriot, I felt the nostalgia of the old warrior as he tried to bring back his precious empire.

Throughout the True Eternal path, I felt how he struggled with Semra, I knew of the loss he felt when he killed Kane, I understood why he did what he did, and his confusion. I felt the despair that I knew he would feel when he saw his empire expanding, with so many new lands to conquer, but he just grew older and older, his bones aching, with no heir to replace him (Not that any heir would ever have given him what he wanted in ruling the empire. He never wanted his place to be taken)

As the Eternal destroyer, I felt how the Eternal grew tired, how he felt beaten down by his life, how he wanted to just let go.

As the Harbringer, I went through the loss of everything that made the eternal who he was, I read as his friends, everyone who he loved, everyone who gave him meaning died. I felt his despair when the world was dying, I knew his fear when death faced him, I saw what was left of him die when he killed Semra, everything about him ending in that last, death-filled kiss, becoming nothing but an empty shell filled with the desire for war and destruction.

I could go on for the others, but you undoubtedly already know how he felt, and i've gone into enough description already.

This was an incredible story, something I think of myself as privileged to have read. I have to thank you for giving me the chance to go through this, to read this, to feel as the eternal did, to see his life fly past my eyes.

I sincerely hope that you will continue writing in the future, because I think I can only think of about 3-4 authors i've actually read from - and these are actual, real life authors who have sold books and are famous - that have written anything that I have ever found as exciting and enticing as this story was, and I would hate to never read another of your works.

Congratulations, Endmaster. It was a pleasure. :)

The story was really well written. The combat and magical details were good. The characters were well defined.

i started to feel like the options were a mete point and not being able to take things further when there was an obvious attempt to make the mistress encounters sexual felt like a waste.

Nice expansion. I would have liked to see the Eternal kill Semra with her dagger (and maybe beat her up) AND live happily ever after with his other lover...

A great piece of work. More reading than choosing though. Really immerses you in the story and the world. One heck of a long run yet never boring.

Epic

A great and wonderful game with many stories. Managed to get all the epilogues, altough I still haven't found the baby throwing scenes and livling with the Svelk.

Harbringer, Destroyer, Paragon, Hero, Emperor, Bliss with Alison, did I miss anything else?

I have Paragon, Hero, Emperor, Destroyer.

Are there any more?

I've replayed this game more than twenty times and still haven't got the final ending. Some day...

just spent my hole day to finish one of the branches after struggling. it was totally worth it.

One of the best stories I've come across so far, really big in scope and definitely worth the time in my opinion.

Writing is top-notch too - I really can't find any negatives with this story. Definitely try it out if you can

Absolutely wonderful, took me a few tries to get the epilogue, but overall it was a womb to tomb journey. Beautiful.

Wow. That was an experience.
This is a well-thought out story, with depth and texture, that makes you look at things from a new perspective. It's not a happy story, but it certainly makes me happy that this level of writing exists on this site. Play it.

SEQUEL SEQUEL SEQUEL SEQUEL SEQUEL!

Such a good storyline with great immersion that with the little amount of choices there are,and the length. I don't even care. And the length made it better! Keep making more stories! :D

Incredible story! I'm going to play again

Great story and lore

Very intriguing. I will endeavor to play this again. A few spelling errors thus far though, but thanks for an intriguing game.

This was a very good story, though I would have liked more choices. But I'm used to playing games like D&D and not as used to choose your story games so maybe this is normal.

Being morally aligned ends the game quickly and with little enjoyment.

As is par for the course, This story is amazing. The grand scope of everything involved is breathtaking, and the fact you are not finished is even greater! My story ended with me living in the Felkan territory after being a shadow. Kind of wish there was more to it than the abrupt ending but, after all that was involved in getting there it was worth it. Can't wait for my next play through :)

I think I got the best ending.

*SPOILER ALERT!!!*
I just wished in my ending, Dendrin and I could have parted as friends, but ah well.


One of the best stories I've read. Brilliant, awesome, 10/10. (Well, 8/8 really)

Great marathon of a story!
Loved the setting and by the end I felt enlightened myself! haha

Thts one cool story

This was my second time to play through eternal. It's still 8/8, and I ended with the eternal Messiah epilogue this time around. Definitely looking forward to playing through it in the future to read the other paths.

Goddamn! Endmaster has done it once again! Although this one is MUCH longer than Necromancer and Death Song, it still holds the power of such graphic and vivid story telling to draw me in.

My first 'completed' play-through was the 'Shadow' path, and I have to say, Dendrin was great, I loved how my character was this embittered veteran, cynical, but a believer of the good in humanity at heart. Not to mention an epic badass!

This game is so insanely big that it blows my mind. If you haven't played it I recommend you do, and if you have and gotten one of the 'true endings' post your results and feelings about them!

-Endmaster, you dog, Keep up the good work. Although I personally think you have out done yourself. (8 different 'good' endings? Christ, man!) I can tell that you really do put story first. When I was playing it I felt at times like it was a beautifully crafted novel. This is writing in its finest form. (P.S, would you be willing to look over some of my own writings? There Sh**, but getting feedback on them would be great, thank you.)

BRAVO AND ENCORE, ENCORE!

Great reflections about power dynamics and machiavellism,
spent a whole afternoon to get to the "Eternal Terror" epilogue! Thank you!

Amazing. Simply amazing. You should publish it.

The story makes you think of all sides of the conflict, and how death is always tragic, no matter who is killed

I enjoyed playing it a few times through, It was great inspiration and excellent writing. My only regret was finding 100 ways to die before I got to the epilogue, and even that was fun.

Got Eternal Bane epilogue after hours. Worth it

Take note people, THIS is how you write a story. I didnt make it too long into the story but it was still longer than 70% of the stories on here.

It was hard to live to the epilogue, but I got the eternal patriot and was very pleased with it. I wish I could give it a better rating, but sadly it did not give me enlightenment that I didn't already have. I have become a fan of this author and the inspiration is all worthwhile.

Brilliant!! I feel your storytelling talents border on genius. I love your depiction of Dendrin. An enlightening view of how god might work.... Besides the story and theme is so much fun!

Given the rating system I could only give eternal a 6, as there is not much in this world that is better than Reese's. :] I do believe eternal is amazing though and cannot imagine how much work you put into it. After a little over four hours, I finished with the eternal survivor epilogue. That in itself was an awesome story, but I can still look forward to coming back to eternal, and enjoying it all anew. Awesome job. I truly appreciate all the work you put into this.

Even though the ending obvious from the beginning, it was still a ride.