text: [Themes: grimdark fantasy]
  
  You quickly charge forward and swing your long sword, beheading one of the Orcs. The other turns and jabs her spear, stabbing into your side. You roar and swing your long sword, cutting open her chest. She falls backwards, and you turn to the Necromancer.
  
  "Thanks... Dagden, right? Come on, let's get out of here."
  
  "I have to go find Blaise."
  
  "Her bedroom's next to the Grand Necromancer's. She's dead by now."
  
  "I'm not leaving her."
  
  "Come on. I know a way out. She's almost certainly dead."
  
  > Refuse
  "No. I'm not leaving."
  
  "So be it. I'm going. I wish you the best of luck, I really do."
  
  The Necromancer turns and runs off, and you also continue on. You manage to reach the Great Hall. It's a massacre. Corpses lie everywhere, with a few undead still engaged in melees against some remaining "heroes" and elites. A Hero, a young Dwarf with a large sword, sees you, and charges at you. She swings and you dodge, her blade cutting your shoulder in a very deep cut, before you impale her through the chest. You groan in pain as blood begins to flow down your arm, but move on. Eventually, you reach Blaise's room door.
  
  > go into Blaise's room
  You charge into Blaise's room. Blaise is standing in the corner, with two soldiers from the Kingdom of Man slowly advancing on her.
  
  > Attack
  You swing your blade, the steel biting into the first's legs. He collapses forward, and you take the opportunity to jab at his unprotected neck, twisting sharply to kill him. You swing your sword, blocking an attack from the other man. He's faster, stronger and better than you with the sword, and he doesn't let up in the flurry of strikes towards you. He slashes your chest several times, leaving several deep wounds. You duck under a blow that would've taken your head, before feeling the full brunt of his head-butt in the bridge of your nose. Blood spurts out and you fall backwards, collapsing onto the ground. You scream as blood flows from your face, obscuring your vision. He elbows you in the chest, before swiping your legs away. You collapse onto the floor, and he stands above you, ready to impale you through the chest. You raise your sword to block the strike, before the soldier is yanked bank. You look, to see the rotting hands yank him back and begin to tear at his face. You see that the first soldier has been risen as a zombie, and it draws its weapon again to stab the soldier repeatedly in the face, before their rotting hands begin to scratch out his eyes. Blaise stands above the zombie, her faced fixed with effort. The zombie stands, followed by the soldier, now also undead.
  
  "What's going on?" Blaise asks terrified.
  
  "We're under attack. The invasion's just a distraction, they want to wipe out the Grand Necromancer and all the other leaders of this place at once and finish this war."
  
  "We have to find my dad! They're going to kill him."
  
  "We'll get him!" You say. "But we need to go now."
  
  "OK. And Dag: Thanks for coming back for me."
  
  "I wasn't, I was trying to abandon you, I just got lost and ended up here."
  
  "Shut up." She smiles.
  
  "Still, I'm not finished here. I need to find Necromancer Trant and Balok the Honorless and eat their hearts."
  
  "Dag, the Mercenary Barracks and Necromancers Chambers have almost certainly been wiped out. They're dead."
  
  You wince, feeling your chance at vengeance taken from you.
  
  "Fuck it, fine! But if they survive, I'm going to be so pissed at you. Let's go."
  
  Blaise rushes to grab whatever's important. She helps Stitches, who now has a painful looking gash along his face from the soldiers, her dragon tooth necklace, which you find touching, and her Necromancy robes.
  
  "Let's go."
  
  > use your Blood Magic
  You grab your bloodstone and gently cut your finger, your blood falling onto the stone as it begins to glow. You roar as strength, health and energy floods through you.
  
  > charge out into the Main Hall
  You raise your sword and charge out of the room, ready for bloodshed. More fighting has began in the Main Hall as more soldiers flood in to, all heading towards the Grand Necromancer's chambers, perhaps showing that he still might be alive, although you're now almost certain that there's a lot more enemies than you previously thought. The Necromancer's forces and allies are clearly struggling to hold, and won't last much longer.
  
  > head into the Grand Necromancer's chambers
  You charge into the Grand Necromancer's chambers. Corpses of soldiers, heroes and elites surround him as he lies on the floor. His robes are soaked with blood, and a pool of crimson has formed around him. A steel crown with nine points and nine black gems lies next to him, as well as several red candles, a human skull and a large scythe. His face is whiter than bone and very tense.
  
  "Blaise! You're alive! Thank any merciful Gods that have taken pity on me to let me see your face again."
  
  "Dad!" Blaise cries, running up to him and hugging him. "You need to get out of here, Dad! We'll help!"
  
  "I'm not leaving here, sweetheart. I was trying to perform a... ritual, but it failed. You need to flee without me. I'm not going to last," the Necromancer groans.
  
  "No, you're fine! Dagden, come on! Help me pick him up! Come on!"
  
  > help Blaise pick him up
  You grab Dante's left arm, and Blaise grabs the right. You hoist him to his feet.
  
  "Honey..." Dante says. "I can feel the Reaper standing over me. I wish I cough cough up blood to prove it."
  
  Dante lets out a cough, spitting out mucus. You let go in an impulse. Dante stands for a few more seconds, before collapsing.
  
  "I spat mucus. Close enough. Listen, Blaise... I only held out this long to see you one final time. I'm not going to make it. Please... just go. I need you to get out of here while you still can. As long as I'm alive, my non-sentient undead and spirits will stay with me. If I die, they go, and the enemy flood in here and kill you both. Run, and I'll try stay alive as long as I can."
  
  "No, Dad! You..."
  
  "Sssh, honey. Dagden, come here."
  
  You walk over to Dante, dropping to your knees.
  
  "Dag... promise me you'll protect Blaise. Promise me you'll stay with her and keep her safe."
  
  > Promise
  "I promise," you say.
  
  Dante smiles at you, and pulls you in close.
  
  "Thank you so much. You've become a great man since I took you in... Well, kidnapped you all those years back. What was it? Three? Four? I don't know. You've always been like a son to me, Dagden. I wish you the best of luck."
  
  Dante grabs Blaise's hand and pulls her in close.
  
  "Honey... you are the greatest person I've ever known. You're kind, sweet, strong, courageous and powerful. I wish you the best of luck and the best life you can have. I'm so, so proud of you. Go ahead and go out into the world. Do whatever makes you happy. Whether that's following my dream and carving a mighty empire that conquers death or settling down to rear a family at a little old farm by a creek. Go ahead. The world is in the palm of your hand. Enjoy it. There's a tunnel behind the painting of your mother. I'm sure you've discovered it by now, with all your curious exploring. Go. I love you."
  
  "Dad... You... I'm not leaving."
  
  "Dagden, please do me one favor. Get Blaise out of here. I won't have my daughter die by my side. Get her out, now."
  
  You nod, and walk over to Blaise.
  
  "Blaise, we need to go."
  
  "He's my Dad! I can't..."
  
  "You have to," you shout.
  
  Blaise turns to her Dad, and hugs him tightly.
  
  "I love you, Dad."
  
  "I love you too, Blaise."
  
  > go through the escape tunnel
  Stitches run over and gives Dante a lick in the face as Blaise hugs her Dad. You walk over to the painting, a large painting of an elegant lady in a long black dress with a pale face and long blond hair. You yank it open, revealing a long tunnel beside it. Blaise stands, and quickly hurries down the tunnel, tears flowing down her face. You put a shoulder around her and pull her close, while continuing to head down the tunnel. You find it ends at an old, wooden door, which you kick open. It slams open as a cloud of dust goes up. You walk outside, to see the sun rising over the horizon. You're standing on the ledge of an empty moat, and you can see several soldiers have set up a perimeter around the castle to prevent escapes, although it's clearly been broken by escaping mercenaries and sentient undead. You see several gaps in the perimeter that you might be able to pass through.
  
  "Come on, Blaise. Let's go," you say to a tearful Blaise.
  
  You take a few steps back, before sprinting forward and jumping across the moat. Blaise does the same, with Stitches barely making the jump. You see the sun's rising quickly, and in the light you'll be spotted.
  
  > rush past the perimeter
  You charge forward, heading past the perimeter. An Archer notices you and fires an arrow, that whistles through the air, slicing into you, gouging open a wound in your back.
  
  > Ow!
  You yank the arrow out, and toss it side. Still, you keep running, and the Archer doesn't peruse you. He lets out a yell that you're escaping, but since there's still a battle raging on, you manage to get away mostly unnoticed. Blaise and Stitches hurry on with you, and you take a deep breath. You're too tired to continue running.
  
  > run out of strength
  You feel your energy flood out of you as your wounds begin to take their toll on you.
  
  "I need... to find somewhere to sit down," you say, collapsing.
  
  Blaise grabs you and puts her your arm around her.
  
  "Lean on me," she says, taking a deep breath.
  
  "Thanks. Are... are you OK?"
  
  "Dad would want be to be strong. I'll be strong. Come on."
  
  You walk with Blaise for a few minutes, which turns to hours. Eventually, you spot a small farmhouse up ahead.
  
  "We'll stop in there," Blaise says.
  
  "No... we can't."
  
  "Why?"
  
  "Because there could be soldiers there, or there could be a bounty on our head that the farmers would be happy to fulfill, or there could be... Fuck, I don't know. Maybe I'll die, you'll go into a coma from some poison that got in from some tiny scratch. You'll go into a sleep that will only be able to be woken by true love's kiss, and some prince will venture forth to kiss you."
  
  "Are you... suffering from any head trauma?"
  
  > say "Perhaps."
  "Oh, shut up, you're fine. We'll go into the farm house, and you won't die and I won't fall into a coma. This isn't a fairy tale."
  
  "Ah, I don't know. Maybe it is."
  
  "Come on, you big green lump. Let's get you some help."
  
  Although you can tell Blaise's joking, you still see she's incredibly sad and trying to hide it. You should probably talk to her... after you keep yourself from dying. Blaise drags you to the front door, and knocks on it. After about a minute, the door opens. You see an elderly man holding a sword. He's clearly far too old to put up any resistance to you, but you decide now's not the time to make enemies.
  
  "Can we come in, please?"
  
  "Who are you?"
  
  "Two dying kids. Can we come in, now?" You say.
  
  "You don't look like no kid. The girl's a kid, but you're an Orc."
  
  "So?"
  
  "I had a lot of trouble with Orcs when I was a boy. I ain't letting one of you filthy mutts into my house. You can sleep in the barn if you want to. The girl can come in, though, but only for the night."
  
  > Agree
  "Fine. Blaise, go inside."
  
  "No way!"
  
  "Blaise, go inside!"
  
  "I'm not going."
  
  "Fine," you say.
  
  "I want you out by the mornin'," the Farmer says.
  
  "Fine," you say again.
  
  You wander out towards the barn with Blaise, before collapsing on some hay.
  
  "Are you alright?" Blaise asks.
  
  "I'm Dagden Dragontooth. I'll never die."
  
  "I see you've taken that nickname to heart."
  
  "Damn right. Are... are you alright?"
  
  Blaise looks at you for a second, before bursting into tears.
  
  "I miss him so much," Blaise sobs. "I'm never going to see him again. Him and you were all I had, and now he's gone, and I only have you, and you'll probably go, or... or..."
  
  Blaise bursts into another burst of tears, and you give her a hug.
  
  "Hey, I'm not going to leave."
  
  "I shouldn't have left. We could've saved him."
  
  "No, we would've died in that room if we hadn't left. Your dad sacrificed himself to save us. A very noble way to go."
  
  "Yeah, I guess. But he was always so scared of death. Right now he's..."
  
  "Right now he's fine. He's in the afterlife, with your mom."
  
  "I wish. He's probably being devoured by demons."
  
  "He's so charismatic they'd end up working for him."
  
  Blaise smiles at that.
  
  "Thanks. I needed that. Let's go to bed."
  
  You nod, and close your eyes and embrace sleep.
  
  > Sleep
  Sleep is relaxing. It allows you some time to heal.
  
  > Awaken
  You awake, and open your eyes. You're lying in a bed of hay. Blaise is lying across from you.
  
  "Are you awake?" Blaise whispers.
  
  "Yeah."
  
  "We should probably get moving. The soldiers are going to be searching for us.
  
  "Us? Why us?"
  
  "I'm the daughter of the Grand Necromancer. They'll want me dead so he has no heirs to remake his empire."
  
  "Oh, fuck. This just got a lot harder."
  
  "Plus, that farmer might get pissed and chase us with a pitchfork or soemthing."
  
  "Oh yeah. Fuck him. We should've murdered him."
  
  You stand, and quickly get ready to go. You pack your things, and leave the house.
  
  > Walk
  You walk along the road, alongside Blaise and Stitches, with Mort standing on your shoulder.
  
  "So... Do you wanna talk about... you know," you say.
  
  "No," Blaise replies.
  
  "Well, we should probably..."
  
  "I'm trying not to think about it."
  
  "Why?"
  
  "Dad would want me to be strong. He tried not to get too sad or angry or anything."
  
  "Your dad never got sad?" you ask, raising an eyebrow.
  
  "I mean, everyone does sometimes. Whenever he looked at a picture of my mom he'd get misty-eyed and leave the room. I don't know how he could stand to have a picture of her in his room. Maybe he just liked to have her near him."
  
  "Do you remember her?"
  
  "No. I've heard she was very beautiful and kind and gentle, but they always say that about the dead. I've always hated it. If I die make sure whoever's doing my eulogy, well you, since you're the only person I know who's still alive, is honest. My flaws are as much a part of me as my strengths, if not more."
  
  "Stop being so depressing. You're not going to die soon. Maybe you never will, you're a necromancer."
  
  "I don't know about that. I'm not really a Necromancer. I have no teacher anymore. No one to train me in the art of Necromancy."
  
  "Don't most Necromancers pick it up on the fly? There's no Necromancy Schools. I don't think there ever has been one."
  
  "There've been a few, actually. Most were small ones, though. Dwarves and Orcs aren't great with magic, the Elves hate Necromancy and the Kingdom of Man outlawed it."
  
  "So... what's our plan?"
  
  "For getting me trained in Necromancy?"
  
  "In... anything."
  
  Blaise shrugs.
  
  "I don't know. We head to the nearest town firstly. Then, we find an escort out of this area. Once we're away from this falling apart undead empire, we make plans," Blaise says.
  
  > continue walking
  You continue walking along the path for the next few hours. You continue trying to cheer up Blaise as she continues to reminisce about her father. She breaks into tears quite a few times, but you manage to cheer her up every time. Eventually, as the sun begins to fall, you spot a town in the distance.
  
  "What town is that?" you ask.
  
  "Northtower. Large enough, small enough undead population so there's probably a small soldier presence. Also, I'm very tired, cold and hungry, so we're stopping here."
  
  "Fine," you grunt, and you start heading towards the town.
  
  As you approach the town, you see a distinctive lack of Royal, Elven, Orcish or Dwarven Banners, meaning that the town hasn't been absorbed into one of the other kingdoms yet. You see several rotting corpses piled around the town, probably the zombie and skeleton guards who were executed to dissuade the various armies from partaking in a brutal invasion. As you walk into the town, your hear a shout.
  
  "Hold up!"
  
  You have Mort run down into your leather bag, while Blaise wraps Stitches rotting areas in a blanket.
  
  You turn to see a woman walking towards you with a crossbow.
  
  "Hold it right there. I gotta check you to make sure you ain't undead. By order of the Grand Alliance, any undead are to be killed on sight. What's with the dog?"
  
  "He's sick."
  
  "Alright. I gotta search you."
  
  The woman stops in front of Blaise, looking her up and down. She holds a hand to her forehead, and mutters "Still warm" to herself. Then, she turns to you.
  
  "What do we have here? A big, strong... Orc. Alright. It'll take a bit longer to search you, make sure you're not bringing in any illegal contraband."
  
  You nod, and the woman leans in and quickly pats down your pockets. Then, she begins to veer off course from a simple pat down, and a lot creepier. Her hand awkwardly gropes around your genitals as another squeezes you ass. You wince in surprise.
  
  > punch her
  You swing your hand forward, and quickly punch her full force in the face. She flies backwards, thumping into the ground.
  
  "Fuck! What the hell is wrong with you, Greenskin?!?"
  
  "You groped me, you bitch," you glare at her.
  
  "I was only having a bit of fun, calm it down. You pull any more stunts like that, you'll be kicked outta town. Now get outta here."
  
  You begin walking into town, walking along a cobblestone street. Blaise jogs up to your side.
  
  "So, what was that?"
  
  "What do you think?"
  
  "I thought men were supposed to like sex."
  
  "I thought women were supposed to be good cooks, but you'd somehow fuck up making a glass of water," you say, annoyed.
  
  "Alright, you're right. I'm sorry," Blaise says. "So... my hands can still wander, right?"
  
  You gently thump Blaise on the shoulder, and sigh.
  
  "Where the hell are we going?" you ask.
  
  "The Tavern."
  
  "Why?"
  
  "Haven't you ever read any stories? There's always something in the tavern. Plus, food and drinks are there."
  
  "Fine."
  
  You come across a large wooden building with a large sign that says "Kent's Tavern" in large letters.
  
  "Well, that was easy," Blaise says.
  
  > go inside
  You walk inside, opening the door. The bar is packed with various people. Farmers spend their wages drinking away their sorrows, mercenaries compare weapons and kill counts while ordering endless rounds of drink and Merchants peruse wines.
  
  Blaise pulls a small leather bag from her pocket.
  
  "What's that?"
  
  "This is all the money we have."
  
  You stare at the golden coins sticking out of the bag.
  
  "Is... is it a lot?"
  
  "It's enough for us to last for some time."
  
  You sit at the bar. A man covered from head to toe in robes walks up to you.
  
  "How can I help you?" he rasps.
  
  Blaise furrows her brow, before ordering two mugs of ale and a bowl of water for Stitches
  
  "And pop some Health Potion in Dag's mug. He needs it."
  
  Blaise leans in to you, and whispers in your ear.
  
  "He's undead."
  
  "What?"
  
  "The Bartender. He's undead."
  
  "What, like a zombie?"
  
  "A Wight, I think."
  
  You nod, and the Bartender quickly serves you your drinks. As you sip yours, health floods through you. Blaise looks at you.
  
  "What's our plan?" you ask.
  
  "We need security. Hire someone to escort us out of the dead empire, and lay low somewhere."
  
  > say "Then?"
  "I don't know. We could always buy a farm, settle down, have weird light green kids running around, awkward sex."
  
  You blush, and Blaise smiles.
  
  "Do we have an actual plan?"
  
  "Not past getting out of here."
  
  The Bartender appears again, and Blaise pulls him aside.
  
  "Hey, if you don't mind me asking, is there anyone who could escort us out of town?"
  
  "Maybe I could. Maybe if you were willing to slide a few coins..."
  
  "Maybe I could be a little more open about the information of your... current status. Tell me, was there a warrior's heaven or just darkness or...?" Blaise asks.
  
  "Ah, quiet down. No one needs to know. There's a few choices of escort. There's Kai, he usually drinks here. There's Sir Trent, who's currently in hiding because... he suffers the same... ailment as I do. Then there's the Golden Hand, a group of Heroes who were part of the assault of Reaper Castle. None of them are here now, but if I spread the word, they'll all probably be here within a few hours."
  
  "Yes. Do that, and your secrets safe with me."
  
  The undead Bartender nods.
  
  "Oh, and we need a room."
  
  "We don't have rooms to rent here."
  
  "Where can we get a room, then?"
  
  "Old Legless' Inn just down the road."
  
  "Thanks," you nod.
  
  The undead bartender walks away from the bar.
  
  "Good," Blaise says.
  
  Blaise takes a drink from her mug, and stares at you.
  
  "I have an idea."
  
  "Go on."
  
  "What if we take over?"
  
  "The tavern?"
  
  "My dad's empire."
  
  "Is this a joke?"
  
  "I don't mean now. I mean, after we lay low and train. My dad was only a kid when he started to build his empire. I'm a kid with your help."
  
  > say "That's ridiculous!"
  "Well, what am I supposed to do? Let my dad's empire fall apart?"
  
  "Yes! You're being stupid!"
  
  "Well that's the best plan we have so far!"
  
  "It's the only plan we have! And a better plan is we have dinner now and kill ourselves afterwards."
  
  Blaise begins to tear up.
  
  "Why are you being such a dick, Dag? I don't want everything my dad made to fall apart! He spent his whole life trying to fight for his empire!"
  
  "Blaise, listen: You're tired, hungry and upset about your dad..."
  
  Blaise stands up abruptly and charges off outside, followed closely by Stitches.
  
  "Fuck," you grunt. "I hate her so much. If I didn't like her so much, I'd leave."
  
  The Bartender appears again, chuckilng.
  
  "Lady problems, huh?"
  
  "Damn right."
  
  "If you're looking for a way out on your own, the gents over in the corner, the Dark Elf and Wood Elf, are hiring mercenaries for a job. Following girls only lead to heartbreak, pain and an early grave. Maybe you should just talk to the mercenaries."
  
  > talk to the Mercenaries
  You walk over to the two Elves. Surprisingly, the Dark Elf is unblemished and has a bow over his back, while the Wood Elf holds a bloody mace and is covered in scars from hundreds of battles.
  
  "Alright, kid. You look like you could swing a sword. You ever done any merc work?" The Wood Elf says.
  
  You shake your head.
  
  "Ah, what a pity. Still, I'd be willing to offer you basic pay plus a nice set of armor. I'm going out to the Dwarven mines. A lot of bandits, Necromancers and other Dark Art Practicers fleeing from the Dead Empire are heading there. I'll give you 10% of any bounties you pull in."
  
  "I... I don't know. I'm kind of hoping my friend will return."
  
  "The blond girl? Fuck her. Never got caught up with a girl, kid. It's never worth it. I'm spending the night here, drinking away. If you want, you can sleep in our bedroom on the floor and wait until morning to see if she comes back."
  
  You nod. The Dark Elf shows you to a large room in the back of the tavern, and you walk in. You drop your bag on the floor, and lie down, and wait for the soft embrace of sleep. You hope Blaise comes back by the morning.
  
  > Sleep
  Sell Soul
  
  Blaise doesn't return. You break away from the mercenaries and search the town, but there's no trace of her. She must've vanished into the night, running from you as fast as she can. You return to the mercenaries, defeated.
  
  "I'm in."
  
  "Great! We could use another sword."
  
  You depart the next day. The next few months are spent traveling between the Dwarvish Strongholds, hunting down bandits, necromancers and dark arts practicers. You make a fair amount of coin off it, but with Blaise gone, you have very little need for it. Your wages are dedicated to prostitutes, food and drink more and more as time goes on, and physical pleasures begin to replace what you used to enjoy in life, like flowers, spending time with Blaise or even enjoying the sunset. You life falls into a formula of Kill, Fuck, Eat, Drink, Sleep. You sell your soul bit by bit, turning into a simple thug and a beast who cares for nothing but self-pleasure.
  
  Perhaps you're happier this way.