Choose-your-own-adventure

Chatterbox: Inkwell

Choose-your-own-adventure

Choose-your-own-adventure story!!!

This is similar to a solo write/rp, but you don't have to submit character sheets. Instead, I'll post a section of story that ends in a choice with two options. Anyone who wants to can vote on which option they want the character to do. In one week, whichever option has the most votes, I will post the section in which the character chooses that option. And so on until the story ends.

IMPORTANT: Some choices will end in the character dying (Admins, it will not be violent, gory, bloody, or anything else). If this occurs, I will "retrace" to the last choice and post the section from the non-death option, and we will continue from there. 

If you have any questions, ask away! The first section is kinda long, so I'll post like half of it below, and the other half as a separate post so I don't overwhelm the Admins with like 5 pages of writing all at once :) Also, the story will be written in 2nd person, aka "you decide to run, you say hi, etc."

Here we go! 

~~~

    The rough wooden ceiling above you blurs into focus. You blink. Your vision is fuzzy, and your throat is dry. You feel unsettled, like something is terribly, horribly wrong, but you're not sure why. 

    As your surroundings become clear, you realize that you're lying on your back on something hard and cold. Stone, probably. You see a table, some chairs, and a wooden cabinet barely in view. The sun glimmers in through a window on the opposite wall,through which you can see thatched roofs and chimneys. Probably a farming village. You seem to be alone. 

    You soon doubt that thought, however, as you see movement just off to your left. Jolting into a seated position, you're instantly on guard. Then you relax. It's just a rat, you think, but your uneasy feeling only grows. You let your eyes roam around the room, and that's when you see the damage. 

    The window is spiderwebbed with cracks -- what's left of it is, at least. The rest is scattered across the floor in glittering shards. The table's surface is dented and notched as if it had been hacked out with a sword. And maybe it had, you think, then shudder, and shove the thought away. 

    The chairs are all either fractured to bits or missing several legs, and the cabinet is badly dented and hanging off the wall. The destroyed house only adds to your unease. There's also a doorway into another room, but it's contents are just out of view. 

    As you glance around, you can't help but wonder, Where am I? Then, a jolt of fear strikes you as you realize the reason for your unsettled feeling. Not where am I, who am I? Because you now realize that your past is blank. Any memory you might have once had about yourself, your family, your friends, your entire past is gone. Just a blank space in your memories. 

    But as you frantically search for your past, you realize that not everything is gone. Your basic knowledge about how the world works is here. You still know how to read and write, how to walk and talk. You still know that this world is a patchwork of kingdoms, each one thousands upon thousands of miles wide. You still know the one you used to live in (although exactly where and with who, you have no idea) is called Iattare*, and is ruled by Queen Bryndis. Where you are now, you have no idea. You might still be in Iattare, or in one of its three neighbors, Zamatelle**, Rilanes***, or Aythis****

    You sigh. With how little you know, anything might be possible. Heaving yourself to your feet, you stumble slightly. Though the floor itself is smooth, it's littered with fragments of rock and glass. Although, one of the rocks looks odd. It's strangely tubular, and cream colored instead of gray or brown. You suck in a breath as you realize it's not a stone at all. It's a small parchment scroll. 

    You reach over and pick it up. It's about the size of your index finger, neatly rolled and tied with twine. There's no writing on its outside, but it must be meant for you. It was lying right next to where you were. After all, you think, glancing around the demolished building, who else would it be for but me? 

    And in the next second, a jolt of realization strikes you like a thunderclap. Someone left you the scroll. Someone left you behind. Maybe someone even brought you here, left the scroll, and... what? What did they want to happen? 

    You look again at the scroll. Any answers you might get would be inside. With shaking fingers, you slide off the twine and unroll it. Taking a deep breath, you begin to read. 

~~~

And that's it for now! Section 1 part 2 coming soon!

Footnotes: 

*Pronounced ee-uh-TAHR

**Pronounced ZAH-muh-tell

***Pronounced ree-LAHN-ays

****Pronounced EYE-thees

submitted by Snazzycakes, Eternalia
(October 17, 2020 - 8:20 am)

Here's part 2 of section 1!

~~~

You begin to read. 

We’ve taken your past away,

Fail, and lost it shall stay.

Find the seven shining keys

That will unlock your memories.

One of silver, one of stone,

One of bronze and one of bone,

One of copper, one of gold,

The last, a crystal you cannot hold.

Until the thirteenth sun has set,

Search until your goal is met.

But beware, the clock is ticking down

Until the final key is found.

    

    You blink, then begin again. Surely you read it wrong. Surely whoever wrote it wouldn't go to the trouble of making it rhyme and everything, and then not tell you anything.

    You finish the second reading, and fight the urge to scream. That's it. A stupid rhyme about keys and time limits with no actual answers. Well, a tiny voice whispers in your head, they did tell you something. At first, you want to jab the voice with a pointy stick, but then you reluctantly realize it’s right. 

    However unhelpful the rhyme maybe, it's the closest thing to an answer you have. Gritting your teeth, you read it again. 

We’ve taken your past away

    We. Not they. We.

    Your anger surges up again. Someone did this to you. Someone stole your memories and then had the nerve to abandon you in a random village who-knows-where! But… there’s something odd about that. Something that doesn’t fit. But you can’t quite place it.

Fail, and lost it shall stay.

    Typical. If you fail, you don’t get your memories back. Great.

Find the seven shining keys

    Seven. Couldn’t it just be one? Or maybe three. You’d settle for just three. But seven? You’re not sure you can do it.

That will unlock your memories.

    Okay, so find seven keys and get your memories back. Fail, and it’s gone forever. Simple. Yeah, right, you think. It couldn’t be any more complicated?

One of silver, one of stone,

One of bronze and one of bone,

    You think that this is probably the least annoying part. It’s actually sort of helpful, or it would be, if there weren’t about a thousand keys in every kingdom that fit those descriptions.

One of copper, one of gold,

The last, a crystal you cannot hold.

    Okay, now that doesn’t make sense. How would the key be unholdable? Would it burn you, like fire? Or would you literally not be able to hold it, like smoke? And how would you use it if you couldn’t hold it? Come to think of it, how would you use the keys in the first place? So many questions…

Until the fourteenth sun has set,

    Of course there’s a time limit, you think. Of course. Finding seven keys in only two weeks isn’t just difficult, it’s nearly impossible.

Search until your goal is met.

    There aren’t any clues or anything, either. No “Try searching here” or “The first key’s in Rilanes, near the prairie.” Just “search”. So helpful.

But beware, the clock is ticking down

Until the final key is found.

    As if you could forget about the time limit. You sigh heavily. This is not going to be easy.

    Staring at the scroll, your eyes return to the first few lines. The whole “we” thing still doesn’t make sense, but it’s not until your fourth or fifth read that it clicks.

    “We” means whoever wrote the scroll took away your memories. But whoever wrote the scroll told you how to get them back. Not very well, but told you all the same. Why would anyone do that? Maybe as a test? To see if you can do it? But who would be testing you, and why? 

    You come up with several other theories, but there’s no evidence to test any of them. A phrase drifts into your mind. It’s a possibility as long as there’s a way around the evidence. You blink. Where did that come from? Someone taught it to you. Someone with long black hair. No, it was brown. No, wait… The memory is like smoke, impossible to pin down, evading you with ease, and fading as soon as you think you’ve caught it.

    You groan. Whoever took away all your memories was NOT being helpful. Which only brings you back to the question of why… 

    You’re interrupted from your thoughts by a threatening growl. You look around wildly, expecting to see some deranged beast, but it’s only your stomach, growling with hunger.

    This raises a half-smile on your face as you realize that you are pretty hungry. And thirsty.

    You turn your eyes to the doorway in the room. You might find food, water, and maybe even supplies in the rest of the house. But judging on the state of this room, you doubt it. 

    Going into the village you’ve seen through the window, however, might yield some results. You might even get an answer to where you are. But it could also be dangerous. Whatever - or whoever - destroyed this house might still be out there.

    You weigh the options a moment longer, then make your decision.

What do you choose?

~~~ 

You'll have until, let's say, Saturday the 24th to vote, which is about a week from now. Then I'll post the next section. Sound good?

submitted by Snazzycakes, Eternalia
(October 17, 2020 - 10:54 am)

I choose the house. I think I would just naturally go tot the nearest place and have wuick look around.

submitted by Feel Fantasy
(October 19, 2020 - 4:32 pm)
submitted by Top!
(October 17, 2020 - 12:06 pm)

This is so cool! Sooo, I say we go to the village. But let's see what everyone else says.

submitted by Majestic Mary, age 1 eternity, Majestopia
(October 17, 2020 - 4:17 pm)

Wow, Snazzycakes, this is really, really good. Wow. And it was so much fun to read. I can't wait for the next part!

I think it would be a good idea to look in the house. There has to be some reason it was destroyed, which could have to do with our missing memory. and there might be clues.

submitted by PygmyOwl
(October 17, 2020 - 8:14 pm)

Hello! Of the votes I have received, it seems like we'll be exploring the house. (Sorry, Feel Fantasy)

Here's the next part!

~~~

    You make your way to the door, scroll loosely clutched in one hand. Stepping carefully around the glass and sharp rocks, you enter the next room.

    This room seems like a kitchen, its contents just as damaged as the one before it. One of the walls is filled with shelves, floor to ceiling. But all the jars on it are cracked and broken, spilling their contents onto the floor. The musty, woodsy scents of various spices and herbs tickle your nose, and you sneeze. A small firepit is in the center of the room, and a dented black pot is lying on its side nearby. There are a couple cabinets on the far wall, doors splintered and half-open.

    But wait, there’s something glinting inside. Creeping closer, you can now discern bits of metal lying inside. Opening the doors a bit wider, you reach inside and pick one up.

    It’s a coin. Copper, a little rusty, but still recognizable. With a crown on one side and a sun on the other, it’s a solem, or solemni for plural. And it’s definitely a plural.

    Because scattered across the cabinet shelves are no fewer than twenty solemni, intermixed with steel, oakleaf-embossed shakae (singular: shaka) and tin kasta (singular: kastat) with their hammer and anvil design. If ten kasta are equal to one shaka, and twenty shakae are equal to one solem, you calculate that you must have the equivalent of thirty solemni. Enough to buy two weeks worth of food.

    You know that this is a great find, but you need to keep looking. Food and water are more important than money.. Scrabbling around in the cabinet, you come up empty, except for a leather pouch. You tuck the money and scroll into this, and move on to the next room.

    This one seems to be a bedroom. There’s two beds, but the mattresses are slashed open, and the straw is spilling out. Otherwise, it’s empty.

    You sigh, and are turning to leave, when you hear voices. It’s just indistinct muttering, but it’s growing louder every second.

    Frozen in place, you can only see two choices.

    There’s no time to run, but you can still hide under one of the beds. They wouldn’t find you there. Probably. But what if they can help you? 

    If you stay out in the open, you might be able to get them to help you, or at least take pity on you. But if it comes to a fight… You’re weak, hungry, and still a bit woozy. Your chances in a fight would be close to none.

    The voices and footsteps grow closer and closer. It’s now or never. 

What do you choose?

~~~

Alrighty then, here's a little pronuncation guide.

 

Solem: SOH-lehm

Solemni: SOH-lehm-nigh

Shaka: SHEK-uh

Shakae: SHEH-kay

Kasta: kahs-TAH

Kastat: kahs-TAHT

 

Hope you enjoy!

submitted by Snazzycakes, age NEW PART!!, Eternalia
(October 25, 2020 - 7:32 pm)
submitted by toppity top!, age tothetop!, tooooooooooooooooooooooop
(November 1, 2020 - 1:05 pm)