Author notes, changelog, notes for contributors

Author notes

This story started in 2013 and then lay dormant in CHYOO.com. I would like to complete the major story arcs, but no promises.

Changelog

22-11-10

• Added: cover image and image credit
• Added: Author notes, notes for contributors and changelog

Notes for contributors (contains spoilers)

Contributors are encouraged to write within the framework of the story as outlined here, but relax - I won't be policing contributions for style. Write what turns you on!

The story won't make use of stats and variables. This keeps it mechanically simple.

DO NOT READ BEYOND THIS POINT if you want to avoid spoilers!

The story consists of a short Introduction and then three Trials connected by a central hub area. From the hub area the player can take the "unmarked passage" to the final portal. They should have successfully completed each of the Trials before this happens, and the narrative will expect this (but it won't be enforced in any mechanical way).

In the Introduction, the player's uncle Alvin has died suddenly and left the player a carved rosewood box with a cryptic message: "HE WHO COMES SHALL BE CONSUMED BUT THE ONE WHO STAYS PURE SHALL GAIN RICHES". The box is connected to Kyris in some way.

Kyris, the villain of the story, is a lust demon with reddish skin, dark spiky hair, and amber eyes with silver specks. He is witty, sarcastic and sadistic, enjoying the player's attempts to survive as much as their failures. When the player fails, Kyris's punishments tend to 'fit the crime' in some way. He has drawn the player into his realm (the hub area) and set the player three challenges, or Trials.

• The hub area is a series of caverns carved out of grey stone with high walls and tunnels. It is lit by glowing crystal formations.

Each of the Trials is self-contained in its own realm of time and space.

• Trial 1 takes place in a lush green fantasy world of jungles and tribes and Aztec temples.
• Trial 2 takes place in a distant future world, New Eden, which humanity has colonised. The city of Tantalus is the main city of this world.
• Trial 3 takes place in the Arcane Academy, a mages' guild/school environment in a generic high fantasy medieval setting.

Each Trial is completed by finding a specific artifact in the realm of the Trial. Touching an artifact opens a red portal back to the hub. Artifacts disappear in a burst of orange flame when the player returns to the hub.

• The Trial 1 artifact is a gold phallus found in the Cloud Temple (think Indiana Jones-style ruins).
• The Trial 2 artifact is a black nanotech cube found on a space station orbiting New Eden (think Blade Runner/space opera).
• The Trial 3 artifact is a transparent glass orb found in the Observatory of the Arcane Academy (think Harry Potter/Elder Scrolls College of Magic).

Throughout each Trial there are multiple paths and multiple bad choices that result in game overs. Each game over is signalled by the chapter title "Eternity beckons..." (you can add a more specific label if you like). Usually, the player loses consciousness after cumming and wakes up to find themselves at the mercy of Kyris and his minions.

Once the player has found and returned all three artifacts to the hub, it is time to take the unmarked passage to the white portal. The player can enter this final realm and speak to Kyris for a choice of two canon endings (I will write these, but you can add others).