Player Comments on The Pure, the Vile and the Deadly

I'm going to be honest here - I was looking through the list of all the storygames by EndMaster, and the reason I went for this one in particular to read was thanks in large part to the really nice-looking artwork. That definitely caught my attention and, I have to say, was actually really pretty!

So...while the storygames were all connected, each one did deal with different characters and storylines, so I'm going to give my thoughts on each individual one before tying everything up together.

It's also probably worth noting that I haven't yet read Necromancer, so all of my thoughts are on these as entirely self-contained stories (although they're clearly linked to each other) and not on how they relate to the world End's created as a whole.

I read them in order, so let's start with...

THE PURE: Despite the fact that this opened up with a battle, it felt on a much smaller scale at first, as the setting was mostly in the Hell realm...or whatever counted as Hell in this world, of course. I will say that I found the player character in this storygame a little difficult to connect emotionally with, as despite having a clear idea of her motivations (wanting to bring order to the chaos), I didn't know enough about her as a character. In comparison, despite being a succubus and effectively only caring about sex, Sin was a character I could understand quite a bit more...and given her fate, I think it would have been interesting to see more of her, even if she wasn't a player character. Cista seemed to be quite obsessed with Sin and killing her, but there wasn't really any detail about why until later on in the storygame...and even Sin says that she doesn't understand why Cista didn't even try to ally with her, and instead is so desperate to kill her.

The first ending I encountered in this storygame had Sin returning as some kind of eldritch horror, and I didn't actually leave the Hell realm. While that ending didn't actually lead to character death, it still felt like a failure to me (not to mention very short), so I went back and made a different choice...to follow Sin and Big Red through the portal.

In comparison to Hell, the world through the portal felt...well, boring. At least at first. Even after encountering Sin and either escaping or dying at the hands of the horror she'd become, the world with all of the celestials just felt...really far removed from everything else. I assumed that Sin's new condition was thanks to whatever Big Red had done to her, and that every other ending I'd encounter would lead me to the exact same ones I'd already seen.

Boy was I wrong.

After refusing the offer to be guided to where Sin was, I found myself wandering the streets of the celestial world, where something immediately felt wrong. Encountering the celestial who was cleaning glasses was creepy enough...but then there were the ones playing cards who immediately started hitting on Cista and...well, I've watched shows like Supernatural, so I know so-called Celestials aren't really all that good, but I was taken by surprise at just how deep the true corruption ran.

So, by the time I stopped reading, I think I managed to find all of the possible endings to the storygame, including the 'true' one with the epilogue. The descriptions of the madness and the horrrors were done really well, and despite the fact that none of the characters were 'good', I did find myself caring about what was happening. Cista didn't exactly plan to stand against the horrors of the eldritch gods, but I liked that, even in endings that had her leaving, it felt less like she was running away and more like retreating with the intention to return stronger than ever.

I did quite like Zel as a character, too, in spite of the fact she was a succubus who only seemed to care about one thing. Well, at least most of the time. Like Cista, I could see a lot of potential in her. Plus, one ending has Cista and Zel talking and it seems they both started out in the human world, so it makes me curious to read Necromancer and see just what happened in Cista's past to make her...well, like she is now.


THE VILE: The opening page of this definitely lives up to its name, with Semra ordering one of her people to literally pleasure her in front of the masses. Well...masses consisting of the rest of her generals, or captains, or whatever they might be called.

Unlike Cista, Selma wasn't a person I could see as even potentially having good in her even if she made the right choices...and while there were a couple of occasions where she could make what I would term the right choices (not committing genocide, for instance, and not abandoning her own people), it was very clear that she was really only caring about saving her own skin. That actually made her a more interesting character than most of the ones I play as in storygames.

I was very interested in learning more about the svelk. At first, I assumed they were Selma's world's equivalent of elves...but then I think elves were referenced in the storygame, so I assume they were something else entirely.

One thing that I liked about this particular storygame was that, for all of her power and magic ability, Selma wasn't invincible. Making the wrong choice...almost forcing her to work too hard...pretty much ended with disastrous consequences. There were a lot more endings where she ended up dead, compared to the first storygame...and those deaths were particularly gruesome and gory.

Throughout this storygame, Selma very much felt like the sort of leader who'd throw away her people the moment it suited her, which had me questioning how she arose to power in the first place, given someone that ruthless would almost certainly wind up with far less people supporting her. Then again, that probably explains why Kessla was rebelling against her...but unfortunately, the reason for that occurred before the events of the storygame, so I couldn't really say why. I did note that, instead of killing her outright, Selma instead leaves her to suffer at the hands of one of her minions...unfortunately, that decision is one that comes back to bite her depending on choices made by the reader.

It was interesting that the dead were already rising by the time the storygame started. It's made clear to Selma, in one path, that the world is doomed...and so are those still left alive in the world. And, of course, that knowledge leads to some very drastic actions that prove Selma is definitely not a heroic character...and if the ending where she survives is the true one, perhaps she will be a foe to face in a future storygame set in this same world.


THE DEADLY: And now we come to the final storygame in this set. I have to say that, compared to the other two, this storygame felt a bit less exciting. Or, rather, it felt less like the choices I made mattered...which, to be honest, they didn't. After all, I wasn't controlling the actions of a living character. I was following along for the ride while a soul looked back on her history and tried to connect with her beloved once more.

So...Catalina. To begin with, I might have said she was the closest to a 'good' character I'd seen in this world so far. I especially liked her friendship with Chloe as a child, and I would have liked to be able to interact with Chloe as an adult. It would have been good to see what had become of one of the only two people Chloe had been close to when she was younger.

I was also really interested in the Grave Wings, and in particular whether they were the source of Catalina's power, or had just happened to awaken it...or, indeed, hadn't had anything to do with it and them being around was just a coincidence. Either way, I liked that they made constant appearances throughout the storygame. It was nice to see them keep appearing.

I had some issues with the romance, because for all the buildup and Catalina talking about wanting to be reunited with her beloved...I really couldn't believe in the romance. I didn't feel that her and Azrael had much chemistry...but it might have also been because there was a lot of summarising of events. There wasn't really enough time spent on the relationships between any of the characters...and honestly, by the time the Dark Order confronted Catalina, I'd forgotten all of the surviving members! (I actually would have liked it better if Catalina's beloved had been Sebastian, given that he could have had character growth and become more confident, at least enough to make a move on Catalina. Then they could have grown more together).

I did like the extra memories that I could click on, as those did allow for a bit more information about the characters and the world. But again, there was a lot of summarising...and some of it, especially with the time passing, I would have liked to see more of the interactions, especially given that the Dark Order became the closest thing that Catalina had to a family...yet there were very few interactions with some of them (like Irwin and the other girl...whose name I can't actually remember).


So...my thoughts on the interconnecting parts of the storygames. I'm assuming that Azrael was the one who killed Francis, only based on what he became in The Deadly. If so, that was a really neat way of tying the two storygames together. If not, I'm curious about what the creature was who was killing everyone in The Vile.

It was really interesting to see Big Red crop up in all three of the storygames, and I thought it was quite nice as a tie-in to each of the stories. I was confused about what part he had to play in The Pure, though. From what I saw of him in The Vile, he didn't seem like the sort to want to let eldritch horrors into his hell world. They obviously just wanted dominion, and I can't see Big Red making a deal that would put him and his power at risk. But given that he was the one who put Sin into the grey world, I have to assume that he did know at least something...which also might explain why he's never seen again.

I was also really confused about why he never tried to make a deal with Catalina. He gave information that was helpful without asking for anything in return, and didn't seem nearly as threatening as he did in The Vile. Maybe it was a part of his grand plan, though, since I've not read any of the other storygames set in this wrold.

There were a lot of areas in each storygame where there were just a lot of lines of dialogue with no tags to indicate who was speaking and no actions taking place, which was a little hard to read at times, as I would often lose track of who was speaking. Other than that, though, the atmosphere and worldbuilding was high quality...although I did notice quite a few punctuation and grammar errors that, unfortunately, did throw me out of the storygame a bit. There was one page where 'her' was used instead of 'you', although I don't recall which storygame that occurred in.

I suppose the final thing to consider is if I have a favourite out of the three storylines...and I have to say, I don't particularly. All of them have good and bad points, and I did enjoy reading through each of the available paths. The Pure and The Vile actually had quite a few, while The Deadly only had one actual ending, given the player character was a spirit.

I am curious enough to read the other storygames set in this world, especially Necromancer, at some point in the future...but it might not be for a little while, considering this one took me two whole days to read and then most of a third day to write this review.

The Pure, The Vile, and The Deadly

Spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk.

As someone who’s been a longtime reader of EndMaster’s stories, this wonderful mashup of Eternal, Necromancer, and Rogues excited me in a way I haven’t felt since Suzy’s Strange Saga. While I was hoping to see some crossover between the stories (since all three have already been confirmed to be in the same universe thanks to EndMaster’s short stories) that didn’t happen here. Instead, it’s three smaller yet no less satisfying stories in one). While The Pure and The Vile are both stories explaining what happened to the protagonist’s significant other after the end of Eternal and Rogues, The Deadly instead gives us more insight into Catalina’s backstory and her thoughts and feelings surrounding Azrael’s conquest and ascension.

To avoid too many spoilers and also keep this review from rambling, I will be going through my favorite path in each of the stories and giving my thoughts.

THE PURE: Ope! Sinthinia! For those of you who aren’t familiar, Sinthinia is the treasonous succubus who the protagonist of “Necromancer” gets involved with if he “kills” Big Red and serves Velzix in an alternate play through. Never liked it much due to the fact that Catalina dies, and their dynamic is what made Necromancer for me (more on that below). Still, Sinthinia was a massive bitch who gets you condemned to Hell, so seeing her in a fit of fear as some unknown attacker is out to get her is satisfying to watch. And of course she’s still affiliated with Big Red.

The dynamic between the two is interesting, and last I knew the two were allied so hearing about some kind of split not only adds to the lore, but also foreshadows the events of The Vile (more on that below.

While the entire scene so far has been setting up the first act in an intense, high-stakes fashion, this culminates with the dramatic entrance of… drumroll please!

Tanya!

While this isn’t actually revealed till the end of the story, paying attention to her behavior in Rogues when the protagonist summons her and the behavior of the protagonist here makes it pretty obvious. I gotta say, when she told Aaron she was a being of hatred and war… yeah, she wasn’t exaggerating. Out of all three of the protagonists in this story, she seems to have received the most personality growth.

“Cistagonija?” So… Tanya’s new name is General Cist? The jokes people must make… no wonder she has to compensate by being a raging nutcase.

Between harlots being in charge of the siege and her subordinate commander being too busy raping staff to do his job, it’s clear Tanya (Cista) has her work cut out for her. Now she’s ascending into a celestial realm to hunt an enemy of hers? This gives the reader a clear goal and motivation: we don’t want her coming back for revenge (and anyone who’s been previously acquainted with her in past stories knows that she will).

So here we go! Into the Celestial Realm that… is oddly enough a lot like the Gray Building. And the population doesn’t seem to be much better than the Infernal Realm, outside of the “no-violence” rule, which certainly imposes a conundrum that ensures the reader can’t just slash and burn through everything to get to their quarry.

Oh… shit. What kind of Eldritch Horror shit is this? Suddenly it’s beginning to occur to me that for some of the denizens, this realm IS a prison for them, and Engan is their jailer… on behalf of the “Great Evil” that EmdMaster has alluded to in some of his short stories. I wonder if Big Red is also working with them.

As it turns out, he is! Yeah, not even surprised. It would be satisfying to watch Tanya kill Big Red once and for all.

The dying monologue of that Celestial? Powerful. Immediately following that is a two-on-one battle against Sinthinia and Engan, before you’re rescued by… a mortal?!

Welp, didn’t see that coming.

And we’re home! Engan and Sinthinia are both dead, Arash died getting pussy, and the rapist commander is dead! A happy ending in the Infernal Realm? Maybe anything is possible after all!

Maybe even Tanya and Aaron reuniting one day?

Still, it’s nice to see Tanya taking Zel (who’s mortal name is apparently my daughter’s) under her wing the way Garrett did her, although how he ended up viewing her is probably why Tanya keeps her distance and wants to shut down all of Zel’s advances on her.

THE VILE: The first page reminds us of how much a sick and twisted bitch Mommy Semra is. Judging from the reactions of her subordinates, she seems to still be ruling over her kin with an iron fist… but we already know her people will never be fully united thanks to their curse.

Meeting Marzost was… well, a surprise. Malik or Marik (can’t remember his exact name) from Eternal is the main knowledge I have of derro, so seeing one that is actually civilized and, dare I say it, charming? Must be the svelk blood.

I have to say, when Mistress says “That’s one…” I’m a little worried about what happens when Marzost reaches three. We just watched her kill a subordinate for pleasing her.

She does, however, raise a good point about Francis not listening to her. As I’ve pointed out in my review of Eternal, Francis ignoring her is what leads to the destruction of the entire world.

So… it was a deal with the Infernal Realm that destroyed the Svelk Empire? Considering Semra’s flashbacks in Eternal and the behavior of Velzix’s army during the Battle of Nero, it’s more than likely the Svelk summoned a bunch of demons to be their foot soldiers during the first war against necromancers, and were so arrogant they didn’t see it coming when the demons predictably double-crossed and destroyed them.

And the lore continues to be expanded with a lengthy explanation of the derro mentality during the invasion of the dead brought on by Francis, and the revelation that Svelk and derro actually create a hybrid child when that normally isn’t the case.

As Eternal ended with Francis’ death, it was interesting to see how Semra reacted to it. In many ways, the relationship between her and Francis was similar to the relationship between her and her own father.

Ohhhh shit, it’s Big Red, and he’s offering a deal. At this point, anyone who has paid attention knows there’s no way he’s not trying to screw us eventually. Although the revelation that Necromancer was the first world to fall to the dead and it’s been happening a few times since then, leading to mass genocide… thanks, Azarel.

The revelation that escape isn’t possible and that the Death God (who started this entire thing) will just follow you and kill everyone… it’s a pretty good way to force the player to deal with Big Red (since only an idiot or a newbie would do so willingly).

It also puts the pressure on. The world is slowly ticking towards its’ demise. We know from Necromancer there is no stopping it. And now we’ve gone from needing to catch fifty demons (which is now out the window thanks to the new revelations involving escape) to needing to kill a thousand Svelk (or just a hundred plus yourself, but then, what’s the point in even making the deal?)

Watching the back-and-forth manipulations between Mistress and Big Red kept me intrigued as to what would happen next, and the reveal that the derro were soulless made me a little sad. To be honest, what’s the point in even surviving if you have nothing to look forward to? How do the derro have emotions and drive? This is something I’d love to learn more about in EndMaster’s future works.

The sex scene with Marzost… well I certainly had sympathy for him, right up until I decided to assert my dominance. Dude could’ve been a serial killer if he was human. Choosing to wear him out… as much as I cringed at the thought of him losing his manhood, he was ass-raping Semra. Would’ve felt bad for her if she wasn’t mocking Kessla for experiencing the same thing.

Although I do have pity for their infant child… although given Semra’s character, a knife to the throat may have been more merciful than being raised by her.

And Gikil may be the most idiotic out of all her lieutenants. Not gonna lie, he deserved what he got… and his pathetic attempt at betrayal is why I ultimately decided to go it alone. Fuck the Svelk. Those scavenging bastards have been a constant drain and source of misery for the Empire. Their time ended millennia ago, and it’s time their death throes were finally ceased.

Hmm. So apparently Tanya and Semra both have a long-standing issue with Big Red. He will eventually return, I’m sure… but for now? We’re in the world of Rogues!

And like usual, the ECS are arrogant and incompetent. And Semra’s found a new plaything… poor kid.

THE DEADLY: Out of all three, this has to be my favorite. While it is a combination of a prequel to and a side-along to Necromancer, there’s enough new experiences from Catalina’s story to have the world feeling fresh and unique. Seeing Nero as it was from outside the college (before its’ downfall) makes the city’s eventual fate that much sadder. The characters are all unique and Chloe especially made me feel protective over her. The chilling comment Catalina makes about how she eventually died along with everyone else had me questioning how she could allow such a thing… which was eventually explained when she considered assassinating Azarel.

I remembered her conversation with the Death Song protagonist (who this story reveals is named Will) and how she had a ready answer to his question about why she didn’t kill him. It never occurred to me that her lengthy monologue was due to the fact that she had actually considered such a thing at one point. The revelation that she had used enchantment magic on him was a new one.

So much of what happened in the Aftermath incident that was revealed yet should have been obvious in hindsight… this story, not only incredible in its’ own right, also added depth to a central character in Necromancer, and added to the story itself if you ever go to reread it.

But first, Catalina’s childhood. While Necromancer has a brief outline of her past, this story within a story further expands on those details in a thrilling tapestry of colors, sounds, and just a hint of the macabre. The presence of the Grave Wings show that even from an early age, Catalina has an attraction to death.

Although considering how aloof and mysterious she is as an adult, I do think it was cute and a nice surprise to see her as a child. Despite faint signs of who she’s gonna grow up to be, she seems to be for the most part an innocent six-year-old.

Did I say innocent? Okay, maybe not. But Patty deserved it for being an insufferable fat fuck. Although admittedly this does show that Catalina had a propensity for manipulation at a young age, which is troubling.

Now you’re killing animals to practice your magic. Um. Suddenly I’m thinking Azarel wasn’t the biggest threat in that castle. By all accounts he was well adjusted until he started learning about necromancy.

I do wish her and Chloe had stayed in contact, but she says herself she never had much interest in the living. Still… I wonder how Chloe felt when she heard about the Dark Necromancer coming out of Nero. Did she feel remorse, and wish she had told someone about what was happening? I would think so… and it does drive home how many lives and futures were cut short thanks to the mass genocide committed by the Dead Alliance.

Once again, Big Red is here. This was naturally when he was still at Nero, before he joined up with Velzix (hence why he isn’t as much of a big player in this story). It was interesting hearing more of the background behind the First Lich Lord. Never knew he was a librarian. Although the information he knows about Catalina, and the comment he makes about the vampires being short-sighted, makes me feel as though there was a possibility he wanted the world to end in death and nudged things along (he has certainly profited off of multiple apocalypses.

I have to admit, the scene at Miss Olga’s grave was touching. Despite her sociopathy, Catalina did form relationships with actual people (admittedly muted ones). This story does a good job of causing you to wonder what would’ve happened if Catalina had tried more to connect to the humans around her. Her distance to others is likely a major reason as to why she didn’t act when the world was killed off.

Oh, God. While it’s sweet that we’re meeting the Dark Order, Felsa is a complete bitch. I do remember her killing that vampire emissary so I guess she isn’t completely useless. As for Trelik and Sebastian… look, I hated Trelik in Necromancer, but this story just confirms how much of a fucking dick bag he was. Sebastian was just a background character in Necromancer, but in this story we see more of who he is. To be honest, I was a little disappointed that him and Catalina never hooked up. I don’t see it lasting long term, especially since he died in the attack on Nero, but it would have been at least a lucky break for him (and probably set Trelik off even more).

Goddamn Catalina is brutal. Between her killing Alec and the pregnant guard… yeah my earlier comment about Azarel not being the most dangerous seems to fit.

Losing her virginity to a corpse? Why am I not surprised? Damn it Sebastian she was in the palm of your hand! Ah well at least she finally met Azarel. I have to say, her obsession with death makes their seemingly unlikely relationship a lot more understandable. You could say she was meant to be with him the same way he was meant to be a Necromancer.

At this point, I’m going to let most of the story lie as it goes over the plot of Necromancer from a different point of view. I will, however, give my thoughts on a few newer scenes:

The first is the vampire woman trying to convince Catalina that she’s her mother. While Catalina’s rejection doesn’t quite surprise me, I found it amusing that her final response before killing the vampire was “Fuck you and your big tits.” A slight injection of humor in an otherwise grim scene.

The second scene I found captivating was when the last Grave Wing dies. Throughout the story, these beings have been a poetic reminder of Catalina’s nature, growth, and love of death. The fading wings of the last one as it died was a fitting metaphor of Catalina’s final extinguished life… a life she wouldn’t have had any other way.

The NecRomantic ending was perfect. Even more so than the Eternal Paradise one, I believe. A perfect score for an amazing story. 8/8.

The Pure, the Vile and the Deadly is a masterpiece written from three different points of view. Masterful world-building combined with phenomenal character work make this easily one of my favorite reads on this site. The distinct POVs of three different protagonists give this whole story a three dimensional feeling that was a delight to experience. It has never been easier for me to recommend that a story game is worth your time than when talking about this gem.

DISCLAIMER: I had not read Rogues or Necromancer at the time this review was written. I did read Eternal when I first joined the site, but it was by no means an exhaustive all ending reading. The reasons then that I chose to read this story were twofold. Firstly, I wanted to try and read the latest work made by Endmaster. Secondly, this story advertised itself as self contained. I decided to put that to the test and am pleased to report that it was indeed thoroughly enjoyable without knowledge of the other stories' plots. In any case, this review will not be addressing references to the stories mentioned.

<<SPOILER WARNING>>

WRITING:

I shall now attempt to (very amateurishly) describe all of the things that put the writing of this story on a whole different level.

- Pacing is handled in a dynamic manner. Many of the action sequences are carried by snappy dialogue exchanges and fast paced writing. The pacing, however, slows in more reflective passages, allowing the protagonists of the story to have rich inner monologues. This changing pace kept the story flowing in times of action, while also allowing it to breathe in moments of calm, resulting in a most lively experience.

- This mostly applies to the third story, but I loved the usage of themes. Specifically, I thought the grave wings being a consistent part of Catalina's life drew an interesting parallel to the nature of her attraction to death. The allegory really enriched the story and I'm sure the character will continue to live in my mind for a long time to come because of it.

- Subplots are also handled really well, with most of them directly impacting the story in some way or another while also helping the world-building. A really good example of this is the second story, where Semra brokers a deal with Marzost to provide the dero with svelk women for breeding. In one fell swoop, the author told us about Semra's ruthless personality and the dero women's infertility problems. The idea is further explored when you consider the exploitation of a loophole in Big Red's contract by taking advantage of a certain plot point you learned here.

There were some very rare instances of SPAG errors that manifested mostly in the form of word omissions, but these were so rare that they practically had no effect on my enjoyment of the story. Speaking of which, Chloe's riting iz very gud and im happi tat she iz improving. XD

Another very small nitpick is how there usually isn't a hard return put between dialogue paragraphs with two characters. I'm guessing this was a conscious decision to prevent the page from appearing too bloated. Even so, I feel like adding the break between dialogue paragraphs makes it more readable. Just my subjective opinion on the matter.

Regardless, I think the writing of this story is more than worthy of a perfect 8/8

CHARACTERS:

Since there is an abundance of characters to discuss, I will restrain myself to writing about the protagonist and antagonist of each story while mentioning any supporting characters I thought were particularly noteworthy.

In The Pure, our protagonist is Cistagonija. The infernal who would bring hell to heel. A certified badass. It shows in her personality how harsh she had to be to keep all her minions in line which makes sense considering their natures. Her dominating and incorruptible nature is balanced by her relationship with Zel, which does a great job at humanizing her. She is not someone who is cruel for the sake of being cruel and has her own sense of fairness. Hell, she even (almost) displays a moment of vulnerability in the branch where she learns of Zel's human name. I'm sure her own name is a reference to one of the stories mentioned. But even without the context, anyone can tell there's a depth to this character hidden behind the imperious facade.

The antagonist, Engan, the fallen celestial, is more than a match for our hero. There's something deeply unnerving about the way the gray world is written, and Engan is the embodiment of that expression. His false charm slowly but surely gives way to his true nature. One that is far beyond good and evil and simply wishes to consume all. Most of the non-epilogue endings have him become a threat so powerful that Cistagonija has to abandon her previous plans and focus solely on survival. A truly terrifying antagonist.

In The Vile, Semra takes the reins of the narrative with her own uniquely degenerate mannerisms. Having the protagonist force one of her subordinates to give her a sexual favor in the middle of a strategy meeting with her generals, only to then kill said subordinate because she got carried away fantasizing being with a former student, is certainly a memorable way to introduce a vile character. Semra always kept me guessing as I read her story. When she actually offered up her female warriors and Kessla, I actually gasped. On some level I knew that going the diplomacy route would mean that she would negotiate providing svelk females to the dero, but I was not expecting her to actually ambush her own loyal warriors.

As for the antagonist... well... they have a whole story dedicated to them, don't they?

The final protagonist to mention is Catalina. To start with, she seemed downright banal. What was an ordinary orphan girl compared to an order-obsessed infernal or a ruthless Svelk? However, the story quickly and subtly revealed that there was something off about this little girl. Her curious obsession with a dead cat and the grave wings that surrounded it soon leads to her discovering her true capabilities and herself as well. Unlike with the other two stories, The Deadly covers the entirety of Catalina's life. As a result, readers are able to watch her unfold her own wings in an extremely narrator focused experience.

We also have to mention Azrael, the savant necromancer who goes on to becoming the Greater Lich Lord and the ultimate antagonist. His love for Catalina is one that transcends the ages even as he continues to bring death to wherever he can reach. His slow transformation is done quite well as he turns into the very embodiment of Death itself with a singular desire to simply snuff out all life for the sake of peace (or maybe it's quiet).

And of course, there's Big Red, the scheming demon working from the shadows in all three stories. His goals seem to be left intentionally vague but that makes him an interesting enigma.

The supporting characters that I haven't mentioned mostly play their small roles in their respective stories quite well. Overall, I give the characterization an 8/8.

STRUCTURE:

Even though all the three stories have a designated epilogue, the non-winning branches clearly have enough effort put into them that they all feel satisfying to explore. This in turn makes each and every choice feel like it has a considerable amount of weight.

That being said, I felt that The Deadly storyline didn't necessarily capture this same feeling as Catalina was recollecting her past, meaning that straying from the intended path usually meant that Catalina would return to the present and claim that that was not how the story went. I feel like it would've been a better choice to keep the idea that the story was Catalina's attempt at recollecting her memories hidden until player's actually reached the epilogue ending. That way, the other endings would feel more satisfying to read.

For structure and branching, I give this story a 7/8

Overall score: 7.7/8

A horrific and lovely trilogy, The Pure, the Vile and the Deadly is a journey into the lives of three powerful women whose existence is soaked in blood, ambition, and moral complexity. Tanya, Semra, and Catalina each have their own tale with searing voice and heavy presence. These are not stories of heroism, but rich, character-driven tales that probe the effects of power on an individual and what is paid to keep it.

Even though each story stands alone, the real magic is in how they tie into the greater EndMaster universe. Old-school fans will notice references back to Necromancer, Rogues, Eternal, and Death Song. New fans will find a fully fleshed-out world with rich history and meaningful choices that really count.

The prose is raw, intense, and unflinching. The characters are indelible, human, and achingly striking. Every choice feels calculated, and even the mistakes count. If you're looking for a grimdark fantasy to make you think and leave nothing behind, this is one of the most excellent works here on the site. A well written story by one of the most dependable interactive fiction writers on this site ( a.k.a End ).

General Recommendation: I recommend this game, though you should definitely read all of EndMaster’s other games before this one, as there are a lot of references. All the paths are enjoyable on their own, but they really shine when you can appreciate the depth and history that went into each of them.
Preview: Get a closer look into the heads, lives, and fates of three major characters from EndMaster’s other works.

=SPOILERS BELOW=

General notes:
These stories are most notable for the way they fit into the extended universe of EndMaster’s stories. The Pure tells the story of what Tanya has been up to since her appearance in Rogues, The Vile follows Semra’s fate after the events of Eternal, and The Deadly gives us more insight into the character of Catalina. While there have always been connections and references between EndMaster’s works (such as the harbinger ending of Eternal and epilogue 16 of SSS), this collections takes a big step forwards in tying the disparate stories together into a cohesive narrative. These stories give the reader the kind of enjoyment that can only be had from full immersion in a complex and interconnected world. Not many authors have connected universes expansive enough to support a story like this.
One character unites all these stories: Big Red, the demon first introduced in Necromancer. In The Pure he is the story’s instigator, bringing Tanya to the realm of the ancients and then disappearing, leaving the reader wondering how he is tied up in all these events. We know him to be a master manipulator, but also know him to be against the “ancients”, so his involvement here is an enigma. His involvement in The Vile is more clear cut, he’s taking advantage of Evigrus’s destruction to try and nab a bunch of valuable svelk souls. The transparency of his involvement here is what eventually allows him to be outwitted in this path. His role in The Deadly is the least involved, with him simply nudging Catalina towards necromancy. Unlike Tanya, who fights him, and Semra, who deals with him, Catalina simply refuses to engage with Big Red, and they go their seperate ways.
The Pure:
This story feels like a prologue in a lot of ways. We’re given a snapshot of a character and a setting, and are introduced to a new and unusual conflict. It’s clear that this conflict is only just beginning, and that the characters really have no idea what they’re going to be facing here. It’s just the tip of the iceberg in what is sure to be an epic struggle. This is especially true when this story is fitted in with the other stories set in EndMaster’s extended universe, such as “eterpia”. It feels as if some larger story is brewing behind the scenes.
Despite being framed as a conflict between infernals and celestials, the real battle here is between law and chaos, with Tanya on the side of law and the celestials having joined with the “ancients” on the side of chaos. Cosmic battles of law vs chaos tend to be more interesting than the traditional good vs evil ones.
The references to other works are done most explicitly in this story, as characters from several different works are brought together by the introduction of an entirely new threat to the EndMaster multiverse, with the promise of future collaborations between them to combat this threat.
The Vile:
An aptly-named story. We follow Semra here, and the ensuing plot is exactly as brutal and depraved as one would expect. Though we don’t learn anything new about Semra’s history or attitude, we get a chance to see her operation style and thought processes, whereas in Eternal she’s always lurking behind the scenes and pulling the strings. Here she’s been backed into a corner and needs to take much more decisive and desperate action.
Of note is the dero’s involvement in this arc. They’re one of the more intriguing races introduced in Eternal, but get very little screen time. In this story, we learn a lot more about their history and culture through Semra’s interaction with one of the more non-traditional dero communities. The worldbuilding surrounding the dero is intriguing.
The Deadly:
Right off the bat, the path with Catalina is far more intimate than either of the previous two paths, with their large-scale conflicts. The path begins by focusing on Catalina’s haphazard childhood and budding necromantic powers. While the other two paths are fast-paced and deal with life-or-death challenges at every turn, this one takes its time, focusing on slowly building up to the events that have shaped Catalina’s life. It really feels like the reader is experienceing the full extent of her childhood on this path, and it’s fun to pick up on the details that later resurface in Necromancer.
Catalina is not an avatar of death gifted with fantastic necromancy powers. She has a talent, but it’s not the god-like ability Azreal has. This makes the tone of this story quite different than the tone of Necromancer. As Catalina, the player has to be more crafty, relying on a variety of skills and intelligence rather than the brute-force magic that Azreal can get by on. It’s a refreshinig angle to view the plot of Necromancer from.
Oddly, though Catalina’s view on her life is ultimately triumphant, the plot could very easily be interpreted as her defeat and surrender. She intends to lead the dark order, but instead falls for Azreal and allows his goals and ambitions to eclipse her own, leading to her death and the death of the world. Catalina does not view this as defeat, however. Her view is best summed up in her words to the musician; she sees what is happening as inevitable and beautiful, the natural order of things. It’s particularly interesting to see a character take this attitude in the choose-your-own-adventure format, as characters in these formats tend to be more proactive.

Specific notes:
-Starting Tanya’s path off with a scene from Sinthinia’s perspective is an interesting choice. It does a good job setting the scene and characterizing the main character from an outsider’s perspective, which is good, as the reader isn’t immediately supposed to know who this is.
-Tanya’s dislike for promiscuity is interesting, since she didn’t seem to have anything specific against it in Rogues. Probably a reaction to her nature as a succubus.
-Tanya’s dislike for the name “mistress” compared with Semra, another of this game’s narrator’s use for it is an amusing contrast.
-I like the attention being given to the internal politics in Tanya’s army.
-I bet Tanya and Francis would get along, actually, if they were serving in the same military.
-Engan does a good job coming across as nonthreatening initially.
-The weirdness of the town is built up slowly and effectively. The first part of this story is suspenseful, and makes the action in the second half more exciting.
-The concept of a plane where harming others is impossible and entrapment can only be done through trickery is interesting.
-Walking backwards to find the door is a good detail that adds to the growing weirdness and uneasiness.
-The angels all have mixed feelings about Tanya’s ability to kill them. I like that they’re not just a monolith, and that many of them have grown to regret coming here, such as the celestial who tells Tanya to warn the other realms.
-We learn just enough about these “ancients” through Engan to see what a threat they are.
-“You’re going to a dark place and I’m going to enjoy putting you there” is repeated across a couple different stories and branches. I wonder what the significance to it is?
-I like the order vs chaos dynamics in this story, especially since the ordered protagonist is non-traditional.
-It’s too bad Arash doesn’t live, I would have liked to see him survive. His death is important however, since it shows important factors about Tanya’s character, and is a good event to focus the final scene around.
-Tanya’s relationship with Zel is another good way to frame the story’s beginning and end, and show the kind of change she’s trying to make in the infernal realm.
-Tanya is another example of a lawful protagonist done well. It’s interesting to see an infernal committed more to the “lawful” side than the “evil” side, and brings new dimensions to the conflict in hell.
-The final scene’s focus on Tanya and Aron works well to end on a more personal note.
-The eldritch threat faced here feels appropriately alien, but it helps that it has been seen before in other EndMaster games, such as in Necromancer and Death Song, and the torment ending of Eternal. Coming completely out of the blue would feel unforeshadowed, instead the threat is one the player has been semi-aware of for some time, but possibly underestimated.
-I like that not all the non-canon endings end in death, and that some of the non-canon branches earlier in the story go deeper than just a single choice.
-Though Tanya’s conversation with Sinthinia is non-canon, it offers insight into the conflict between them that we don’t get on the main path. It also raises questions about Big Red, which the main path doesn’t have time to address.
-Semra’s behavior around her own kind is no different than her behavior arouund Francis, which manages to be both surprising and make sense. The opening scene does a good job reminding the player exactly how unstable she is, while also reminding them of her obsession with Francis.
-It’s spelled “Derro” in Eternal but “Dero” in this game.
-Marzost is a well-developed character. He’s an unusual dero and throws Semra off her game somewhat. He’s reasonably intelligent in his pursuit of saving his people, and his attraction to Semra is logical (though still fucked up) given what we learn about him. He adds variety to the dero race. Like a lot of EndMaster characters, I’m left feeling unsure about whether or not to pity him. He’s certainly a pitiable character given his history and what happens to him, but he’s done a lot of bad things too.
-Of course “beating around the baby” is a svelk idiom.
-The scene where Semra learns of Francis’s death, and her ongoing thoughts of him, do a good job showing her continued obsession with him.
-I’d like to note that one thing EndMaster does well in all his works is creating evil characters with realistic goals. None of the villains are just committing crime and murder for the hell of it, they all have reasonable motivations and things they’re trying to achieve. This is especially true with Semra.
-Thoguh Semra does really want to help her people, saving her own neck comes first and it doesn’t take much for her to throw them under the bus.
-The implications of the dero being soulless are fascinating. It’s used well as a device in this story, fits with what we know of them from Eternal, and is an intriguing worldbuilding element.
-The sex scene betwen Semra and Marzost is one of the most brutally violent things I’ve read. Even if it’s not a genre I like, I can tell it’s excellently done, and the full brutality of the situation is made clear to the player. It takes skill to pull of a scene like this without it being needlessly gratuitous.
-The loophole Semra exploits to get out of selling her soul is a clever one that’s set up efficiently in the story beforehand.
-It’s a pity that Semra survives in the canon ending. I shudder to think of the poor people of the world from Rogues she’s been released on.
-The depth of the non-canon branches is good.
-The Necromancer saying “you’re just mean and I don’t like you” to Semra is amusing and satisfying.
-The beginning of The Deadly does a good job setting the scene and characterizing the narrator (who I assume is Catalina). Telling this story flasback-style is interesting. It’s an original way to frame the story, and it helps solve the issue of playing a game as a character whose story has already been told somewhere else.
-The opening scene with the butterflies also does a good job setting the scene. We see the prosperous urban/magical city of Nuro, and we see Catalina’s less fortunate upbringing in it. Despite her young age, we can see she’s already attracting death.
-Interesting to see things from child Catalina’s persepctive.
-Chloe’s presence is important on this path, giving Catalina a peer to talk to. Also it’s always fun to see orcish characters in heroic roles.
-I like that the development of Catalina’s powers is taken slowly. While the Necromancer learns necromancy with ease, it takes Catalina time and effort.
-It’s nice to see a fictional orphanage that seems to be actually trying to help the children who live there.
-The relationship and goodbye scene with Catalina and Ms. Olga is touching.
-I like the way this game is divided into sections (Growing, changing, seeking, etc.)
-Magic users being identifiable by their smell is an interesting concept.
-Including Catalina’s liking of music here is a good detail to connect it to Death Song.
-It was clear that Alec had some ulterior motive here.
-Amusing that Catalina goes out to try and get laid and instead ends up killing a vampire. Necrophilia is so much less complicated.
-It’s fun to see the politics behind the Dark Order from Catalina’s perspective. Azreal was always a bit of an outsider, and never got to learn the mechanics behind it in as much detail. Good to see Mr. Demar be a bit more rounded out.
-I like that Catalina relies on nature magic too in dire situations. She’s a well rounded magic user.
-Not surprised to learn that Catalina fully plans on controlling Azreal from behind the scenes.
-Lol, “Yes, I’m fine, I’m just dead.”
-Makes sense that dead Azreal isn’t that interested in sex anymore. It shows how he’s transforming into a personification of death.
-Lol, “I mean, other than genocide, what have I done?”
-It’s good that the scene with the musician in Death Song isn’t ignored, but also good that it’s not given as much attention, since it isn’t the focus of this arc.
-I like the way the framing device is used for the non-canon endings on the Catalina path. People often have elaborate daydreams and musings about how life could have played out, and one can imagine these experiences would be all the more intense for a ghost. The surreal way in which reality breaks down at each non-canon ending emphasizes the dream-like nature of the entire path.

Grammar
Generally good.
Mastery of Language
Generally good, though there are a few proofreading/sentence structure issues in places.

Branching
Not great, each story has one canon ending, and reaching it is a victory. This is more like reading a set of linear stories with the added challenge of trying to survive. It's not a problem, though, since the reader is made aware of the story's somewhat linear nature beforehand.

Player Options/fair choice
Generally good, the consequences of actions are foreshadowed and don’t feel random or unearned.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:
I did alright when I first played The Pure, though I did better in the second half than the first half.
I didn’t enjoy The Vile as much as The Pure, just a little too sexually violent for my taste. I did alright in terms of not dyring.
I did better than usual on The Deadly, only dying a couple times.

CONCLUSION: Another fine example of EndMaster's work, and a rare example of the depth of an extended universe being explored for full reader benefit, immersion, and enjoyment.

Yeah, this is one of those perfect score games.

I do have a preference of the three paths, and it's the Deadly. But this just comes down to opinion, since all three paths are of pretty much the same quality.

I've always been a sucker for End's stories that mix his grimdark style with tragic romance, since reading the AI path in Ground Zero. An even greater level of emotional pull is exuded by Catalina in this story, who I understood completely. Great characterization. There's not much that I can say that won't bring on spoilers, but there's a certain beauty to this path, especially the latter half.

As for the other two paths, I can say I enjoyed them about equally. Mistress is just a great character to play as and the ending to her story is as clever as it is disgusting. Cistiagonija is compelling but I felt just as engaged with the greater conflict in the Pure path; the bigger bad was quite disturbing.

Wish I could put more of my thoughts into words, though it'd be better for those of you that are reading this comment to be reading the story instead.

And once more, EndMaster creates an incredible story-game. It's no surprise at this point, but if you're a fan, new or old, and even if you're reading this and this is your first work that you're experiencing from EndMaster, this just ticks off all of the important boxes when it comes to creating a truly enthralling experience.

Interesting Protagonists? Check.

Interesting Antagonists? Check.

Interesting Worlds? That's a given with an EndMaster story.

And exciting scenarios that you as the reader can immerse yourself in? That's also here with this story.

The Pure, the Vile and the Deadly is something I would consider to be quite the treat for readers of EndMaster's earlier works. There's a retelling of one of his previous works, but with added lore and context, and even an origin from a different point of view. It spins and weaves itself around into becoming a new experience, but the things that one might recognize, scenes and such, they make for awesome callbacks and references.

However, of course if you're going into never having read/played one of Endmaster's games, one thing that becomes abundantly clear is that the characters in these worlds are quite multilayered. With another story, your allies might be ones that are tied with you from the story, and the villains like mooks that you have to take down eventually for the end goal. However, EndMaster makes it clear that these characters have their own thoughts, motivations, and beliefs that drive their actions towards you as the reader who steps into these protagonist's shoes. EndMaster rewards looking at the subtle details of characters and making your choices accordingly, nothing feels cheap when it comes to failure, but brings greater context as to why one might have met the ghastly end that they may have met. When such a thing occurs, it really only makes one want to immediately launch themselves back into the rich and dense world that these characters populate.

There's something for everyone with this story.

The Pure can be akin to a romantic plot. This is the story that gives so much context to an already great character, and gives her even more depth and solidifies her as being much more than the great woman that's worthy to stand by the side of her great and powerful significant other as an equal in ways. Despite the many pitfalls and failures that can stop her from reaching her goal of moving even a little bit closer to her man, she keeps up a strong will to do so.

The Vile becomes a tale of survival of a character that many would find themselves both loving and just loving to hate. She doesn't back down from any situation, be they those that are physically stronger, or even greater in stature as some otherworldy being, no. At the end of the day this path requires you to always second guess the choice and be cunning. You're quite literally on the fire, because this character has such a sheet with the gods themselves, that there are worse things than simply dying on the physical plane.

The Deadly is certainly more of a conquering tale. Rather than trying to do her upmost to survive, the protagonist is a fierce warrior that does not have time for loose ends, and moves accordingly to make sure that any opposing force is properly declawed and armed. I found myself enjoying just how much action there was, as well as the times in which I had to think on which action was appropriate.

EndMaster can be fair, but also cruel at times. Sometimes he will leave a player with a few more choices, despite the branches on the path they might be on being spoiled and already withered. It's genius. With many story-games, there's one choice that you mess up, and that's that. However EndMaster tends to be much more elaborate in going about the way in which readers can reach a failstate or grizzly ends.

At the end of the day, there's three strong stories here that I can only deem as standing beside one another as equals when it comes to both quality, as well as enjoyment.

This receives full marks from me.

One can really only do themselves a great service by reading an EndMaster story-game.

If you're scanning through this comment looking for detail on plot or story, you're looking in the wrong place. Read the story.

The interesting thing about playing through this story, like a few others of End's, is that the main character(s) is/are very established. Here, you won't be able to self insert as freely as a story like The Price of Freedom, for example. While that may turn off a large majority of the IF crowd, each of the three ladies play important roles in End's popular publishings, my favorite, of course, being Mistress.

And man does she come off firing on all cylinders, just as fucked up as I remember. Now playing as the anti-hero is not a strange thing for the site. There's an edginess present in most CYS members, bringing the tendency to write care-free, morally gray or red (using Kotor alignment) main characters. There's no ambiguity with Mistress, which is the path this comment is based from. Vile is the perfect title.

Like a lot of End's other stories, scenes are graphic and the amount of F-bombs could arm an entire fleet of B-52s. The style, though, is picture-perfect for the site and digital IF in general. There's a certain uniqueness with the way End writes. There's grand-scale events happening, drastically requiring the main character to choose the best of a bad situation--with tremendous implications if chosen poorly.

Yet the words on the page are light for the reader to handle. I don't mean vocabulary. Rather, End doesn't get bogged down with detail. There are no moments where the reader is taken on an in-depth sensory input on a random object in the room or noticing a loose thread on a character's tunic, giving a trait into that character. No, there are greater things to worry about. And that's where the reader's imagination can take off. End creates the framework and allows our mind to fill in all the small details. It's clearly seen through the way dialogue carries both plot and character development in large paragraph chunks.

I'll finish by saying the attention given to dead branches and END GAME pages are refreshing (although End's always done them well). Often it's easy to disregard them as "filler" for a branching story, to think the reader will see the END GAME link and instantly hit the back button to find the real path. Each one feels complete with minimal "tells," and I didn't come across any link that seemed obvious that death was lurking behind it, at least not in this sense.

As always, it's a treat whenever EndMaster publishes a story, and I hope that we don't have to wait years (again) for the next one. At least there are three good ones here that could each stand on their own.

Nice story

Made my day.

How dare you make me cry and laugh after reliving my times in Necromancer! Curse you! *sob* As a fill in for characters of a trio of amazing books, it does not disappoint. Thank you.

Storytelling is very good but the rest is eh in my opinion.
Many, like, even the smallest "choices" can often cause you to die immediately or end the game unreasonably.

**little spoiler**
You can hopefully understand what I'm saying when you get to the book stealing part or sleeping outside, not trusting the demon guy.

Lowkey made me cry but it was so good!

Thank you so much for writing this. I’ve been obsessed with Sentra since first reading Eternal. I love how it ties into your other works. Well done!

It's funny how the first lines of the purity storyline have swear words in them. I was sort of expecting a purity in an angelic way, but no, true to form, I got forceful purity by quelling the rebellion of demons and shit.

The deathly storyline was the most awesome in my opinion. There's a lot to be said for the beauty of death. Certainly I'm glad there's no necromancy, but it's a brilliant way to have both violence and a good storyline put in altogether.

I still have yet to finish the vile storyline. But it's about as descriptive as I was hoping for from what you've written in the past.

Your game was fucking trassh do better

I played from the perspective of the queen of death. I had to restart many times but it was worth it to experience the true ending. It is truly an amazing piece of literature, though I do wish there were more endings to experience just to see the death of earth from other perspectives. I suppose that's what the different POVs were meant for. Either way, I enjoyed it all the same and found that although her ending might not have been ideal for me, I was able to appreciate it for what it was. True Love.

All three stories were definitely interesting. Hearing ‘Necromancer’ told from Catalina’s perspective had to be my absolute favorite.

Sehr Sehr gut!!!

What can I say. Another fantastic EndMaster story. Did the "vile" path and really enjoyed it. Incredibly twisted in a very fun way.

I loved the pure path.

Honestly I really loved seeing the connections to your other works. You have excellent stories and I love reading them.
I'm not a good critic, but thank you for writing this.

I take back my first comment I’m sorry End I had only read the first section when I wrote that comment

It was supposed to be scary... ??

A minor spoiler

Like all of his other stories I love it. The only thing I don’t like about it is that there is only two options per page and one always leads to instant game over or a game over in the page after that one. Still though like every other story I will get all of the epilogues.

Endmaster's writing is something to look up to, to study, and learn from. The styles unique and loveable all the same. Sometimes I wonder where they get all their great storylines from.

Nice story as usual..remembering my first read of necromancer a very long time ago. Time sure fly fast. I hope necromancer have a remaster or another just another story theme on death. Wish that old story is fully branch out like ground zero or the eternal legendary level. The choice of wording,story plot, and character development has been increase a lot. I'm just glad I am still alive to read your story again.

This,I feel is peak Endmaster. It's not going to appeal to anyone who isn't already a fan. For the rest of us that are sane, this is spectacular. Everything just works, and the result is an amazing read.

Reminds of me of FutaDomWorld, my favorite game. Rye is my favorite character in that game, a rich Futa rebel with a dominant edge to her. 8/8

*MONKEY NOISES*