text: [Themes: Fantasy, divine protagonist]
  
  Would you like to restore a saved game?
  
  [Author's Note: You are God! The last God and Lornedei is your only true believer. You need her to stand against the coming dark. Can you guide her? Will she follow?]
  
  > go north
  "Greetings Almighty! Allow me to tell you about your world, Aarkland."
  
  Our story begins here.
  
  The harvest time is upon the people. Their hard work goes on from early morning until all that must be done is done. The summer has been good and this winter no one will starve. That is what the villagers believe, anyway. In ignorance they have turned from you and cannot see the coming darkness. For them Ignorance is bliss, but refusing to see the truth is no protection against evil.
  
  The young girl that's come to meet you in secret is Lornedei. You watch her treading along the road and when she stops next to the water, you once more feel a glimmer of hope. She is the first child in more than a hundred years that has been born with the old power. The youngest daughter to Lorne and Noki, this innocent girl searches the sky for your presence. She smiles when she senses it and gives you a little wave. She is the last one. The last hope.
  
  Lornedei tightens the straps on her rucksack, throws a quick glance back along the road, and makes sure her sandals are fastened properly. Surely she can sense you watching her, but she says nothing. She reaches into her rucksack and brings out some bread. She nibbles on it without much enthusiasm while watching the flowing river, and she waits for you.
  
  The girl has the power to "reach" beyond what the eye can see and "heal" what is broken, but she is not strong enough to make a difference. Not without guidance. That is where you come in. As the God of this land, you must guide her. First, you should send her to the unholy stones to see what the world around her is hiding.
  An Interactive Fantasy.
  
  Crystal and Stone, Beetle and Bone.
  
  Latest update and bug fixed June 25 2009. Type "about" for more information.
  Type "help" to get started.
  Type "hint" for specific help.
  
  Aarkland (End of Village Road)
  This old road, coming from the village, runs north to the edge of the forest. Alongside it to the west is the rushing water of the river Aarkland. The river flows through the forest and divides it in two: To the east is the old forest, and to the west is the forbidden forest.
  
  Few people use the road these days, and it is all but overtaken by grass and brush. A seemingly endless field stretches out to the east. Between the swaying grass and the road, a few deformed bushes prepare to invade what remains of the road. A short distance to the southeast is a pile of stones. The stones are barely visible above the grass.
  
  The Aarkland river flows past as always.
  
  A whiff of the deformed bushes reaches Lornedei's nose and she waves the unpleasant odor away.
  
  > About yourself
  You are The almighty, the last of the Gods. Your wish is Lornedei's command and she will do as you ask if it is possible.
  
  When she was born you managed to give her, as your chosen one, the power to heal and to reach into things with her mind. She is young though and you must show her the way. You might be a god but you are not much more than a vague presence in this world.
  Lornedei suddenly looks startled.
  "Master what is this?" A firefly is buzzing around her head. She waves her hand to wave it away when suddenly a small voice pipes up.
  "No, No, silly girl. I am no harm! I am here to help you must know!" Lornedei stops waving but she looks dubiously at the tiny creature. Once safe from the terribly waving arm, the firefly stops for a rest on Lornedei's brow. The tiny voice pipes up again. "I must come, curious am I, and I can help such as you!" Lornedei tries to look up at the fly but all that happens is that her eyes cross. "There is magic here, magic in you girl. I have not sensed magic in a long time, yes!" the fly takes off and starts buzzing around Lornedei's head again. "Strong you are not! Oh, no. That god of yours was stingy in his giving so he was. Pity, pity. You can be stronger though. Sometimes from nature, sometimes from other things. You must know girl, to regain strength that you lose, you must eat. Ah, there are some here, I have searched for these." the fly buzzes off towards the deformed bushes and lands on one of the berries growing there. "Eat these and be strong, do not forget." there is an angry buzzing, a strange grunting sound, and a thud as a white berry, seemingly with a firefly attached on the top, falls to the ground. "Me... Will just.." In an amazing display of over-insectile powers, the fly lifts the berry off the ground. "will just take this." The firefly, along with its booty, disappears with a pop and a flash.
  
  The firefly is available for questioning. It is happy to help. Just type "hint" and it will come.
  
  > ask the firefly about reaching
  She can't find anything like that. Are you sure it's here?
  
  > Magic
  Lornedei's magic is currently at 80.
  
  > Holiness
  Your current holiness is 0 out of a possible holiness of 105, in 1 move.
  
  > Smell bush
  Lornedei sniffs one of the leaves but pulls her head back with a grimace.
  
  > look at the bush
  They all look sick, small, and deformed as they reach their oddly shaped digits towards her. There must be something wrong with them. Despite it being in the middle of Harvest Moon, their leaves are yellow and riddled with brown and black blotches.
  A few white berries still cling to the branches.
  
  > examine the berries
  The berries are slightly oval and quite large, almost white with barely visible bluish stripes. They are shriveled slightly but they look edible still.
  
  > eat the berry
  (Taking the white berries first.)
  Lornedei picks all of the berries that seem edible. It turns out to be quite a handful. She drops them all into the rucksack.
  
  > eat a the berry
  (Taking the handful of white berries first.)
  Lornedei eats one of the white berries.
  "These are actually not too awful Master! They remind me of something but I cannot recall what." She shrugs.
  Lornedei's magic just went up by three.
  
  > Heal bush
  "These bushes' fate is beyond my powers. I cannot remove the dark power that is inside. I beg your forgiveness Master, I do not have the right knowledge and I would only be wasting my magic."
  
  > Magic
  Lornedei's magic is currently at 83.
  
  > reach the bush
  Carefully she reaches into the inner being of the bushes with her mind. "There is something strange here, something dark. I cannot see it clearly. All I know is that it feels wrong. Very wrong!"
  
  Lornedei's magic drops by one.
  
  > check your inventory
  Lornedei's magic is currently at 82.
  Lornedei is carrying:
  a handful of white berries
  a loaf of horrid bread
  a leather rucksack (being worn)
  a piece of cheese
  
  > go to the south-east
  Aarkland (On the Unholy Stones)
  For as long as Lornedei can remember, she has been told not to go there. There is nothing strange about the stones at a distance. It could just be a collection of fieldstones, perhaps from the time when the settlers first prepared the field. Nothing could be more wrong. There are piles of stones in many fields, but none with this kind of history.
  
  She hesitates and turns to you. It seems like she wants to say something. She keeps silent and steps up on the platform.
  The collection of stones is over ten paces from edge to edge. The top has been flattened to create a platform and that is where Lornedei stands. No new stones have been added in several hundred years. Despite the lack of activity, nothing grows near the stones.
  
  There are powers here that make it easier for her to use her magic. You can make her see what hides around her. She will see the world as it is, what hides beyond what the eye can see.
  
  She can go north to the field or northwest back to the dusty road.
  
  > borrow Stone
  "Master? I don't understand."
  
  > reach the Stone
  Lornedei reaches down in the ground by her feet. She shuts her eyes and lets her mind touch the stones one by one. One lost name after another flies through her mind like a swarm of insane and vicious insects. Hundreds, thousands of names of men, women and children. Each one has a history, a life led in pain or ignorance, but they all share the same pain. The same longing, the same sorrow, the same terrible fate. Crying, she drops to her knees.
  "These people were all severed. Their names were stolen, ripped away from their souls. They did not all deserve this fate, I am sure. These names belong to the spirits Master, but they can never be whole again. Never!" Lornedei takes a deep breath and gets back up on her feet.
  
  Lornedei bites on a nail.
  
  > examine Lornedei
  This is Lornedei. She is the youngest child of Lorne and Noki and the only girl out of the four children. She is not quite a woman, not quite a child. Her long golden hair, blue eyes and innocent eagerness to please is charming. Unlike her family and other villagers, she believes in you.
  She is dressed in a finely woven shirt worn over a pair of riding trousers. The outfit is borrowed from her brother. He is of course unaware of his generosity. On her feet is a pair of leather sandals. Lornedei shakes her foot to get rid of a painful stone from her sandal.
  
  > get the Stone
  Lornedei picks up one of the stones to take a closer look. She quickly drops it again.
  "I cannot touch these Master. There is so much evil here, so much sorrow. They make me feel ill."
  
  > look at the trousers
  She is wearing a pair of pants that she borrowed for the day from one of her brothers. Well worn but clean and dry.
  
  > search them
  Perhaps you should leave Lornedei's clothing alone.
  
  > examine the world
  There is nothing she can do from here. She may be able to reach a distant object, but she can do nothing with it.
  Lornedei is waiting for your command.
  
  > reach world
  The world around Lornedei fades. She finds herself high up in the air, hovering above a seemingly endless field. She flaps her white wings tentatively at first, but then she catches an upwind and rises.
  Not far ahead of her is a vast and lush forest, stretching north and northeast. She looks east. Between the field and the endless ocean are a few homes, perhaps a fishing village, and a patchwork of fields. As she hovers far above the field, turning to the south, she can see a road following a river to another village far to the south. It is Lornedei's own.
  
  She turns west and the forbidden forest, a landscape of gray, stretches out ahead of her. It stretches to the southwest and to the northwest as far as she can see. It is a swirling black and gray mass of mist or smoke, for the most part unbroken except for the occasional tree-top protruding here and there.
  
  She moves closer until she is above the glittering water of the Aarkland river and turns north. She follows the flowing water until it seems to disappear into a large cliff. The two forests meet at the top of the cliff, but the old forest seems to give way more and more so that the border turns northeast towards a distant mountain chain. The river does not seem to appear again.
  
  She turns west, soaring above unbroken gray, seeing only the occasional twisted treetop shooting out of the thick mist and a blue sky above. She flies on, across a landscape of gray and black. The mist Swirls here and there, darkens here and there, but never reveals what is below.
  
  Then the air seems to thin and she sinks down. She sinks down below the mist. She finds herself racing between twisted tree-trunks and grasping branches. A dry whisper follows her as she loses her orientation. Silent shapes like shadows follow her path. Spirits, hollow-eyed, pale and ragged, open their mouths in rage and longing before they shy away from her. They melt back into the shadows between the trees. Suddenly she is out of the forest.
  
  Below her is a barren landscape of sand and broken earth. The forbidden forest surrounds this field of despair, although the sky is clear. Above the mist, to the northeast, she can see a pale silhouette of the mountains. She can see a far distant shade of green to the east, beyond which is a blue horizon.
  
  The same view meets her to the southeast, but to the south, southwest and west, there is only the forbidden forest with its blanket of mist.
  
  She lowers herself until she is just above stony ground. A deep ravine separates the field from the forest to the west. The ravine runs south to north into a misty plain where it disappears out of sight. To the northwest, clinging to the edge of the ravine, there is an old ruin...a castle. Only part of the ruin is visible as the rest of it fades into gray mist.
  
  She turns westward and sinks down in the ravine. Making her way north, the tip of her left wing nearly strokes the far ravine wall. She turns upwards and flies clockwise around the entire castle ruin. Most of the old castle is gone. As she is viewing it from the outside she can see chambers, dungeons and rooms in several levels that are exposed. The rest of the ruin is at the bottom of the ravine. After flying through the mist on the far side of the ruin, she appears at a great wall that separates the castle grounds from the northern wastelands before turning southeast. In the southeast corner of the big desolate field the ground slopes down and turns into a ragged hole in the ground. Heat ripples the air around it. A large fire burns within a ring of stones.
  
  She circles the fire. She is in a hurry, searching for the thing that should be but is no longer. She returns to the ruin. There is a high wall east of the castle and she stops to rest on top of it.
  
  The world wavers its way back to reality and Lornedei looks pale and a bit unsteady on her feet.
  "Too high! Master? If I die and must come back, please do not make me a bird!"There is nothing she can do from here. She may be able to reach a distant object, but she can do nothing with it.
  
  > reach the fire
  She can't find anything like that. Are you sure it's here?
  
  > reach the ravine
  "I cannot focus enough to find that Master. It is too distant for me, or too weak for me to reach from here."
  Lornedei bites on a nail.
  
  > examine the cheese
  A piece of cheese. Fortunately, this is not made by Noki. It may actually be edible.
  
  > Inventory
  Lornedei's magic is currently at 82.
  Lornedei is carrying:
  a handful of white berries
  a loaf of horrid bread
  a leather rucksack (being worn)
  a piece of cheese
  "What should I do?"
  
  > reach river
  "The river is flowing past in peace Master. It disappears into a cliff somewhere north, and I cannot follow it with my mind."
  
  > Pray
  She does. Every night. You taught her well.
  Lornedei looks around, biting her lower lip.
  
  > go to the north
  Aarkland (Billowing Field)
  Lornedei hesitates throwing an anxious glance south.
  
  Maybe she would prefer to be back in the safe grasp of her kin. If that is the case, she will never tell her God. She does not know why she is here or how easy her mind and flesh may be corrupted, and she may be better off that way.
  
  Very carefully, you give her just the slightest of mental nudges to remove the hesitation from her mind. Not again can you give her a command without letting her choose how to proceed. What she has ahead of her she must do of her own free will as much as possible. Lornedei takes her eyes off the road and moves on.
  The grass grows waist high. Touched by sun, wind, and rain, it patiently waits for the farmers that will not come. The edge of the old forest lies close by to the north. To the south, a big pile of stones rises above the grass. The road is back west.
  
  There is a low growling coming from the high grass. An injured wolf lies there.
  
  > examine the wolf
  A wolf lies in the grass near the edge of the forest. The wolf is female and quite small. She is breathing heavily in obvious pain. Despite the apparent distress, she manages to show Lornedei an impressive set of sharp teeth. One of her hind legs seems broken and dried blood covering a big part of the grey fur tells its own story.
  
  The animal is exhausted and badly injured. She will most definitely die if nothing is done soon.
  
  > Heal wolf
  Lornedei shuts her eyes, raising both hands towards the dying animal. She summons her powers and the air starts to shimmer above the wolf. In sudden panic the wolf yelps miserably and tries to get up on its feet, but Lornedei's soft mumbling calms the animal. Still, the stare from those yellow eyes and a deep growl behind the exposed sharp teeth cannot be mistaken for friendliness.
  
  Another mumbled phrase is heard from the girl and the predator's eyes slowly close. The wolf is asleep. The girl kneels while the swirling blue light covers the wolf with healing power. In one quick move, she corrects the broken leg to allow it to heal properly. A long while passes. Then she sits back in the grass, tired but smiling. She lets the healing light dissipate in the air.
  "All is well Master. I shall call her Deini."
  
  Another long while passes. The air is warm but a slight breeze moves the grass around Lornedei. It sways gently, like waves, across the vast field.
  
  The wolf opens its eyes, blinks, gets up. Lornedei sits on the ground with a confident smile on her lips and her hands in her lap. The beautiful animal stands absolutely still for a moment, meeting the girl's eyes. Then, in a heartbeat, it turns away. It runs along the edge of the forest. It stops near a big tree and turns around to watch the human. It sits down while considering its options.
  
  Then suddenly, the wolf that Lornedei named "Deini" comes running back. She smells the human, inspects her carefully, and makes a decision. She puts a cool muzzle in the hand that Lornedei is holding out. Lornedei has gained a friend.
  
  Lornedei's magic just dropped by five.
  
  [Your holiness has just gone up by five.]
  
  > talk to Deini
  The wolf looks at Lornedei expectantly but when the subject doesn't appear to be about food she starts gnawing on an itchy spot on her leg. Lornedei shakes her foot to get rid of a painful stone from her sandal.
  
  > ask Deini about the leg
  Deini looks at Lornedei for a moment before she looses interest. Lornedei shakes her foot to get rid of a painful stone from her sandal.
  
  > Go south
  Aarkland (On the Unholy Stones)
  "What should I do?"
  
  > go north
  Aarkland (Billowing Field)
  
  Deini is here.
  
  > follow you
  Deini looks at Lornedei, wondering if there might be something to eat first. When that doesn't seem to happen, the wolf ignores her command.
  
  > Sance
  "Master? I don't understand."
  
  > give the bread to Deini
  Deini smells the bread, sneezes, and backs away. She glances suspiciously at the piece of bread.
  
  > give the cheese to Deini
  (Taking the piece of cheese first.)
  Deini smells the piece of cheese but she is not very interested in anything that never had a heart beat at one point.
  
  > Go west
  Aarkland (End of Village Road)
  
  The Aarkland river flows past as always.
  
  The deformed bushes seem to reach for Lornedei as she walks by. Lornedei bites on a nail.
  
  > Go west
  In the River (By the Road)
  Lornedei tightens her sandals and checks her rucksack, making sure it is closed tight before entering the river. She steps carefully down the slippery slope and through the parting rushes and reeds. Something squawks at her but it is gone before she can see it. When her feet lose contact with the bottom, she floats and lets the remaining hesitation float away with the invisible currents below.
  The river runs from north to south. Ahead of her, the glittering water becomes shaded by the two forests. The forbidden forest on the left and the still green old forest on the right. The river disappears out of sight perhaps a hundred paces into the tunnel of trees, water, and shadows. The dusty road is east, where she can get out of the water. She can also dive down to the bottom of the river.
  Lornedei fumbles and dips the bread in the water. The loaf of horrid bread sucks up water like a sponge. It is totally ruined in seconds. It turns into mush that dissolves in Lornedei's hand. With a disgusted grimace, she lets it float away down stream.
  A dry black leaf drops from the forbidden forest into the water right in front of Lornedei. It bobs up and down a couple of times before it floats away downstream.
  
  > drop all
  piece of cheese: Your wish is her command.
  handful of white berries: Your wish is her command.
  loaf of horrid bread: Your wish is her command.
  
  > go west
  In the River (By the Road)
  Lornedei tightens her sandals and checks her rucksack, making sure it is closed tight before entering the river. She steps carefully down the slippery slope and through the parting rushes and reeds. Something squawks at her but it is gone before she can see it. When her feet lose contact with the bottom, she floats and lets the remaining hesitation float away with the invisible currents below.
  The river runs from north to south. Ahead of her, the glittering water becomes shaded by the two forests. The forbidden forest on the left and the still green old forest on the right. The river disappears out of sight perhaps a hundred paces into the tunnel of trees, water, and shadows. The dusty road is east, where she can get out of the water. She can also dive down to the bottom of the river.
  
  > Dive
  She dives down.
  
  River Bottom (Here be Sand)
  A magical world reveals itself. The river continues north. The bottom is mostly composed of sand, rocks, some mud, and quickly fleeing fish. All kinds of things have been thrown in the river from the road and are now resting under a layer of sand until the end of time. The river continues north.
  
  > Go south
  That is not the way. She can go north or up.
  
  > Go north
  River Bottom (Here be Mud)
  It's harder to see here. The river flows from north to south. The mud swirls up, preventing her from seeing more than a few arm lengths ahead. The old trees reach out their roots under the water. They crowd the bottom along with swaying vegetation and rocks.
  
  She can see a small gray plaque here.
  
  > take the plaque
  As you wish.
  
  [Your holiness has just gone up by five.]
  
  > examine the plaque
  It is a small round plaque in a material unknown to Lornedei. The surface is smooth and with a deep polish. It is small enough to fit in Lornedei's hand. The surface shows nothing, not even the distorted image of Lornedei herself that one might expect. What shows in the plaque is like a reflection of a stormy sky in a puddle of murky water, just before the rain starts hammering.
  Her lungs are starting to ache. She will have to go to the surface soon!
  
  > Black
  The leaves look the same on each tree, even though the types of trees are different altogether. It is more like an infestation of these things, these leaves. They are leaves are they not? They grow in clusters that hang down from each limb. They give the entire forest a drooping, weighed down appearance. Each cluster holds somewhere around eight shell-like leaves and each branch holds eight to twelve clusters, depending on the size of the tree. The occasional single leaf grows directly on the black trunk of some of the trees. They look more like a shimmering wart or pimple growing on the scorched bark. The clusters look more and more like colonies of big water bugs clinging to each other in fear of dropping to the ground.
  
  The leaves move, but not by wind. There is a barely perceptible rearrangement within the clusters. A quick adjustment of the leaves takes place and then it is entirely still again. Each slight movement in a cluster creates a dry, scratching, whispering sound. The sound generated by a single cluster of leaves is barely audible, but since some of the clusters are always moving, the resulting sound is a shrill whispering, a scraping, almost a singing. It is a strangely modulated melody that travels from tree to tree through the forest. It varies in pitch and volume but is always present.
  
  > Black
  Lornedei lets her mind reach into the leaves.
  "Master, these are not leaves, not entirely. They have been, and perhaps they can be again, but what I feel is something else. It is alive, in a way, and it is waiting."
  
  Lornedei's magic drops by one.
  
  > get the black leaf
  Lornedei grabs one of the black leaves in the nearest cluster of leaves and twists it loose. The leaf, being as long as her middle finger, falls to its side in her palm. The curved inside of the leaf suddenly fills with a hideous mush that swells and boils as she watches. Flesh grows and shapes itself in the shell into an insect's body. The mush is white with brown and dark red streaks. The nasty mess is swirling around inside the leaf, forming the flesh bit by bit. The shiny wetness dries quickly once the beetle's body takes form inside its shell. A thin purple layer finally covers the belly. Six black legs pop out through the newly formed glittering layer of skin. It takes only a moment for them to start moving around. Another pop forces a wriggling head out and the insect is near completion. The bug grows at a furious pace and finally it extrudes a pair of black antennae that unfold until they're as long, if not longer, than the entire beetle.
  
  Lornedei turns the beetle over. It stays nearly motionless in her hand. The long antennae, shivering slightly, carefully touch the outline of the hand holding it, the sensitive inside of Lornedei's wrist, the sleeve of her shirt. The beetle seems satisfied with its new master.
  
  > Go south
  In the River (By the Road)
  
  > go south
  Even if she needed to go south back to the village, following the road would be easier than swimming the entire way. She can get out of the river to the east or follow it north.
  
  > get all
  loaf of horrid bread: As you wish.
  handful of white berries: As you wish.
  piece of cheese: As you wish.
  "Master?"
  
  > Go north
  No, she can go east to the field, southeast to the unholy stones, or enter the river to the west.
  Lornedei glances up at you, uncertain.
  
  > Go east
  Aarkland (Billowing Field)
  
  Deini is here.
  
  > go to the north
  No, that is not the way. The river is west and the unholy stones are to the south.
  
  > go west
  Aarkland (End of Village Road)
  
  The Aarkland river flows past as always.
  
  The deformed bushes seem to reach for Lornedei as she walks by.
  
  > close the backpack
  Lornedei takes care of the rucksack. She will open it when she needs something and close it properly when it needs to be closed. Just remember that she cannot do anything with it while she is under water.
  
  > put bread in the rucksack
  She drops the loaf of horrid bread into the leather rucksack.
  Lornedei is waiting for your command.
  
  > put the cheese in the rucksack
  She drops the piece of cheese into the leather rucksack.
  
  > put the berries in the rucksack
  She drops the handful of white berries into the leather rucksack.
  
  > look at what you're carrying with you
  Lornedei's magic is currently at 76.
  Lornedei is carrying:
  a large black beetle (Fluffing up its wings at the moment.)
  a small gray plaque
  a leather rucksack (being worn)
  a handful of white berries
  a piece of cheese
  a loaf of horrid bread
  
  > put the Beetle in the rucksack
  She drops the big black beetle into the leather rucksack.
  
  > go west
  In the River (By the Road)