Are you sleeping now. However, your sleep is accompanied by some dreams... Too vivid dreams...

It seems to you that you are waking up...

But the place where you wake up is clearly not the small room in which you fell asleep...

You look around in surprise. You see that instead of a wooden bed you are lying on some kind of marble bed, which is covered with moss in many places. This marble bed is surrounded by tall marble columns. These columns are entwined with vines of some plant.

You sit down on a marble bed. Amazing fact: you don't feel pain from your wounds. Moreover, you feel some strange state of euphoria. It's like you're drunk, like you've never felt as good as you do now. The reasons for this condition are not clear to you.

Rising from the bed, you look around: except for the marble columns and marble bed, you see only a dense and dark forest. Many trees and bushes surround strange marble columns. The forest surrounds you on all sides...

A dense, boundless forest... These marble columns look like a pitiful fragment of an abandoned settlement, which was swallowed up by the elements of the primeval forest... There is not the slightest sign of any presence in the area of the settlements of intelligent creatures... Only the rustle of leaves, the chirping of grasshoppers, the squawk of flying birds... Occasionally before your you can hear howls and roars... Probably large animals live in this dense forest... But fortunately for you, these animals are far from you... Now...

Suddenly you feel an inexplicable desire to get up and move away from the columns towards the forest. You want to go in a very specific direction.

You realize with fright that you almost cannot resist this desire.

You get up and take steps in this direction...

One step... Second step... Third...

The shadows from the trees of this vast dense forest seemed to become darker... The shadows seemed to reach out to your face... Like the hands of strange creatures...

It seems to you that eyes are flashing among the trees... The eyes of some strange creature... These eyes glow with an orange-golden light... Maybe this is some kind of animal?

You are experiencing increasing anxiety...

You strive to take control of your own actions. You are trying to strain all your will not to take the fourth step in the direction of this beast...

You remember the tragic moments of your life... You deliberately inflame your own pride...

You think: “I’ve already been used as a prostitute! I was made a ****-whore! My will was subdued by magical means! I need to resist! I must not submit to strange, inexplicable influences!”

The frantic desire to walk in the direction of the forest does not disappear... This strange desire even intensifies... You are almost taking the fourth step...

Suddenly something shocking happens...

Many marble columns emerge from the ground... They grow out of the ground in ten seconds... One column after another... Dozens of columns...

You look around helplessly... You see that the columns are adjacent to one another in such a way that you are now separated from the forest by a wall of marble...

You look around and notice that the marble has been cleared of vegetation. There is no moss or vines on the marble... The plants have disappeared somewhere... The inexplicable desire to go towards the forest, which ten seconds ago prompted you to inexplicable actions, has also disappeared...

You say: “Something strange is happening here... I hope I'm not crazy...”

You almost jump out of your skin.

Because you hear a distinct loud voice: “You are not mad, Ulkin Nordane.”

You turn around at the sound of a voice. In the place where a few seconds ago you saw only a marble bed, now you see some kind of human male. He sits on a marble bed. His appearance suggests that he is about 50 years old. He has a grayish beard and mustache. He is wearing a leather vest, leather pants and boots, which are typical for travelers. In his hands he holds a small wooden stick and a penknife. He is whittling something out of this wooden stick with this penknife. His attention is focused on this work.

However, you notice that usual for a human traveler, the appearance of this person is distinguished by something atypical.

This human has no pupils in his eyes. His eyes seem to consist of some kind of monolithic blue substance that glows slightly.

You become more and more afraid...

You think: “First there are scary animals in the forest, now this guy... I don’t understand anything! What is happening to me!?"

The strange human looks into your eyes without stopping his work. This look makes you feel awe.

Human says: “I answer your question - the following happens to you: you are in a state of choice...”

You say discouraged: “What other choice!? What do you have in mind?! Can you read my thoughts?”

Your interlocutor nods. He continues to carve a small rod using a pocketknife.

You stand there stunned, your mouth open in surprise.

Human continues to say: “Over the past few days, some hidden mystical forces have been influencing your life. They also affected the lives of certain persons you met. Did you feel an irresistible urge to walk in the direction of the forest?”

You nod frantically.

Human says: “This desire was one of the manifestations of the influence on you from these hidden mystical forces. But you tried to resist this influence..."

You say irritably: “I just didn’t want my will to be subordinated...”

Human smiles slightly and says, “A worthy aspiration... But aspiration alone would not be enough to resist these ancient mystical forces... Your desire to preserve your own will attracted me. I helped you a little..."

You point to a wall of marble that grew out of the ground in ten seconds and ask: “Did you do this?”

Human replies: “Exactly. If I hadn't done this, you would have gone into the forest. And there would be consequences..."

You ask fearfully: “What consequences do you mean?”

Human smiles mysteriously and says: “These consequences would be varied... These ancient mystical forces would promise you various benefits: luck, strength, wealth and pleasure... The mystical influence of these ancient forces would begin to penetrate your life more and more..."

You impatiently ask, “What’s wrong with that?”

Your interlocutor replies: “What was bad about your life in the brothel “The Shaded Lantern”? You lived in much richer and more comfortable conditions than most commoners. You were not **** to endure hunger like many commoners... But there was one flaw in your position... The owner of the brothel gradually enslaved your will... Every day you became more and more dependent on the will of others..."

You remember your recent past with a shudder. What happened to you in the brothel causes nothing but disgust in your mind...

Human continues to say: “Those ancient Forces of the Dark Forest... They are wild and untamed like the elements... They are frantic, furious and fickle... They would make you their plaything... Their goals are selfish and chaotic... They are driven by an insatiable desire to satisfy their instincts... They would have fun with influence your life and the lives of those close to you... And then these ancient forces would treat you like a boring toy - they would break you and throw you away..."

While the conversation was going on, the human finished whittling a small wooden stick with a penknife. You see that the result of his work resembles the silhouette of a tall tower, which has several balconies, window openings, a roof, an entrance gate near the base... You think that this small wooden tower could become a toy for children.

You look into the strange blue eyes of your interlocutor and ask the question: “What do you suggest I do?”

Human doesn't answer. He touches this small toy wooden tower with his index finger.

You see how the wood begins to change. In a few seconds the material is completely transformed. Now this little toy is made of the same material as the huge columns that surround you. You see a small marble figurine in the hands of your interlocutor.

Human sighs and says, “I'm not offering you any benefits. I'm not going to bribe you. It is enough for me that you will not be dependent on any of the ancient Forces of the Dark Forest. I would like you to voluntarily choose a side in the centuries-old confrontation. So, what will you choose: the chaotic unquenchable thirst for satisfying animal instincts or the reliable order and systematic creativity of civilization? What will you choose: Dark Forest or Stone City?

Your interlocutor hands you a small marble figurine of the tower.