Text-Based Adventure Games – The Caretaker’s Story

the caretaker's story.

The Caretaker's Story

So as we all know, Earth had a pandemic, then became a dystopia, there was a Civil War… or World War, not sure what to call it when everyone on the planet rebels against a single, dictatorial government. And then just before we all killed each other the “aliens” who were not aliens... really just kind of "spacey" humans from other planets; they came and saved us. We all get along now, I guess. That was like a decade ago, and now everyone still lives in the remnants of the old City-States, none of which larger than what used to be the Greater Los Angeles footprint. [[go to the train station]]  (set: $MedsVar to false) (set: $MusicVar to false)  (set: $SanityVar to 0)  (set: $LivingVar to 0) (set: $WashVar to 0) (set: $SittingVar to 0)  (set: $EntSneVar to false) (set: $SitSneVar to false) (set: $LivSneVar to false) (set: $WshSneVar to false) (set: $BedSneVar to false) (set: $PorSneVar to false)  (set: $FightVar to false)  (set: $WinnerVar to false) (set: $CatDreamVar to false)  (set: $BluePillVar to false) (set: $RedPillVar to false)  (set: $GabSanVar to false) (set: $GabDerVar to false) (set: $ServSlpVar to false) (set: $PoolSmashVar to false) (set: $CatEscVar to false) (set: $RespiteVar to false) (set: $LostVar to false) (set: $LibCardVar to false) (set: $CheapPantsVar to false) (set: $WhatThatSmellVar to false)   (set: $CAchSneEntVar to false) (set: $CAchNorEntVar to false) (set: $CAchDerEntVar to false) (set: $CAchEasyExitVar to false) (set: $CAchNorPorchVar to false) (set: $CAchActionVar to false) (set: $CAchNoEscapeVar to false) (set: $CAchFightWinVar to false) (set: $CAchFightLooseVar to false)  (set: $WinApprchVar to false) (set: $CatTravVar to false)

You are a poor College kid, sorry. You’re also out of meds, so you need to visit the Apothecary, which means taking the West train. You also need to eat, and food costs money - the Bio Lab on campus is having a blind study tonight that pays 250 units. [[east to school]] [[west to apothecary]]

The lab building is in an early-century “contemporary” building from sometime in the early 2010s, although mostly all that remains are the concrete support structures, the rest has been replaced over and over. They still have fluorescent lights, which sucks, and the one in the testing room is silent, hums, builds up in pitch, buzzes, flickers and then stabilizes again. You won the coin toss, and your lab partner is waiting for you to choose a pill. [[pill a]] [[pill b]]

//You wake with a start// You must have dozed off… you are on a train heading to the apothecary to get a refill on meds, remember? The train sounds beneath your feet: “whinne, buzzzz, chug kachunk chug kachunk” Over and over. You can feel it every bit as much as you can hear it; It’s hypnotic. And even yet, the stop is not too far ahead, maybe 4 or 5. It wouldn’t do to miss it, not out here. [[fall back asleep]] [[take your exit]]

Congratulations, you took a heavy hallucinogenic! Both you and your partner have the same laminated instruction card (reliable tech the aid called it) that says… ''Don’t Panic'' If you //do// panic, lie on your side not your back. If you should feel in danger or… urges please use panic button. “Huh real shit” says your partner, tapping the panic button protective case with a nail. The colors in the room suddenly intensicy, and you’re paranoid and exhilarated, //they// know, but it’s fine, that’s the point remember? The hallucination comes on quicker than you are prepared for, and before you really realize what’s happening… [[Something is off ->something is off two]] (set: $RedPillVar to true)

Unfortunately you took the placebo Your partner slowly edges closer and closer to the corner, in time with the buzzing light, but nothing suspicious happens... Your head is getting heavy, you should have brought music. The chairs are pretty comfortable though, and before too long you nod off. [[something is off]] [[banal dreams]] (set: $BluePillVar to true)

Not much to say here, you haven’t entered REM yet, so there aren’t even any “no pants at the coffee pot” dreams to discuss //you fell back asleep...// [[banal dreams]]

The druggist is a nice middle-aged lady who lives in a comfortable place, regardless of the shit-heap part of town it is located. She has two cats, but one is hiding tonight. Fortunately your credit with her is high, there is essentially no charge for the medicine, and you head back outside. A steady wind moves the trees outside, who sigh at your presence. There is a building whine, a vibrating sound, and then a harsh pop as one of the only two streetlamps on the street goes out. [[get back on the train]] [[something is off]] (set: $MedsVar to true)

Presumably dreaming of kittens and butterflies, you peacefully sleep. Also presumably you arrive at the apothecary’s house, refill your meds, and continue the rest of your life… This is the best possible end for you… what’s wrong? If you aren’t satisfied you can try again... [[Try Again?]] (set: $CatDreamVar to true)

You get back on the train and find your cabin... [[fall back asleep]]

You had to get medicine, remember? You’ve run out. But the worrying thing is, the little mixed-use Apothecary's house isn’t on the corner it usually sits on. You’re on the trainstop, that much seems clear and like you remember. But the hills seem out of order, there’s a giant house across the street you don’t remember being there before, and behind you 15-20 feet is a streetlamp, the lone source of light on the whole row. That definitely seems wrong. Suddenly you have to retreat; fight or flight, and you are all flight. [[Approach the Gable House ->gable house]] [[Be brave... approach the streetlamp]]

''You've Approached the Gable House!'' //Chief Officer is watching you// Yes the house has a name, and I am afraid you aren’t a high enough level to enter at this point, so it drives you insane... that is unless you remembered to take your meds, in which case you can enter if you wish. If you didn't take your meds, then you will now rome the catacombs beneath with all of the rest until the circus freak comes to collect you. This house, it will devour you, as it has done so many others. (if: $MedsVar is true) [ [[Enter the Gable House ->enter gable sane]] ] (else:) [ [[Try Again?]] ]

Have Meds: (print: $MedsVar) The single Streetlamp throws a cold circle cast on concrete. Walking away it is obvious that the light makes a cone in the fog. The fog seems to be having an effect, and a strange compulsion comes over you. (if: $MedsVar is true) [ [[Enter the small house ->small house sane]] ] (else:) [ [[Enter the small house ->small house]] ] [[gable house]]

//Maybe There Was More to That Pill Than Originally Seemed?// The small house is not much more than a shack with a central entry room and two small wings on either side that contain two rooms each. The house backs up to a lavish yard, perched at the bottom of gable hill, the hill on which the imposiing Gable House proper stands like vulgar graffiti meant to piss off the world. A breeze blows from behind you, it is cold, threatening snow, which would not be out of place for the time of year. As it blows there is a sigh on the night, urging you into the small house. The night is clear and crisp, cold even when the breeze doesn't blow, and your breath is clear in the moonlight. You came all this way, and while the chance to go back //does// exist, let's be honest, what else is there to do tonight? [[Entry]]

The entry room is small and smells stale, maybe something has gone rotten under the floorboards; it is not much more than a mudroom with barely enough room for a bench before the room gives way to two crooked doorways that each lead into a different wing of the small house. The walls are grey and stained, but the remaining traces of paint suggest that at one point in time it was blue. Why would someone paint a room Blue? -Front door always leads to front door, if you try to leave through it you enter the [[Entry]] room again. -A side door to your right goes into the [[living]] room -A side door to your left goes into the [[Sitting Gallery]] Gallery (set: $CAchNorEntVar to true)

Times in Sitting Gallery: (print: $SittingVar) The Sitting Gallery is square in shape, and pretty small. Not that you can really make it out, but there is very little available wall-space in this room as there are three doors, one that leads back into the entry, one into the bedroom and one into the washroom. Just enough light comes in from the still-ajar entry door, and also from the windows in the other rooms that you can just make your way through the room. An empty corner-style bookshelf leans against the wall in the corner-nook between two doors, which you stub your toe on as you pass into the next room. -The door into and out of the [[Bedroom]] works fine -The door into the [[Washroom]] works in this direction. -The door from the Entry doesn’t send you back into the Entry, but rather sends you to the Bedroom. Go through the door into the: (if: $SittingVar is >= 8) [ [[renewed entry]] ] (else:) [ [[Bedroom]] ] (set: $SittingVar to it +1)

Times in Living room: (print: $LivingVar) The sour-rotten smell is stronger in here, almost sour like bad milk. There is an old stain on the floor that the smell is emanating from, but it appears to be chemical in nature, not biological. A very old chaise takes the place of a couch, not that one would fit in here. There is a big window that is somehow facing the Gable House even though it is behind the small house you are in right now. The walls in this room are nearly as drab as the entry way, and you rub your hand along one for a second as you walk through the room - it is greasy for some reason. -The door from the Entry goes back into the [[Entry]] room. -As far as you can tell the only other door in the Living room looks like it goes into a Bedroom, but if you go through it you find yourself back in the Living room coming through the door from the Entry. Go through the door into the: (if: $LivingVar is >= 7) [ [[Bedroom]] ] (else:) [ [[living]] ] (set: $LivingVar to it +1)

Times in Washroom: (print: $WashVar) The washroom would not even be considered a half-bath in most countries - there is only a toilet and a small spigot on the wall with a drain in the center of the room. A single window is centered on the wall that you would be looking at if you sat down on the toilet. -The door that appears to go back into the Sitting Gallery actually brings you back to the [[Entry]] front door -The door that appears to go out to the Porch from the Washroom actually sends you back to the Sitting Gallery. Go through the door into the: (if: $WashVar is >= 4) [ [[Porch]] ] (else:) [ [[Sitting Gallery]] ] (set: $WashVar to it +1)

You can leave... if you wish... But, you are now so inexorably and intimately a part of the makeup of this small house that it can finally let you know that it has been grooming you, //possessing// You, are you now the caretaker. Soon you will meet Bram, to slowly drive him mad. There will be others, but Bram has the power to restore the house that others may live there again. [[Try Again?]] [[Reset (WARNING this will reset all stats) ->Initiate]] (set: $WinnerVar to true)

Upon exiting the house you are greeted by a very strong gust of wind, and heavy storm-clouds have started to congregate around the clearing. Most of the porch itself has rotted away, and you cannot get much further than the precipice. The yard that stretches beyond the back of the house is grandiose, almost perverse - it is somehow pristine, with a topiary, a small pond that has already started to freeze, and in the back a mausoleum. You can just make out the names written on the plaque of the closed door - LacyMae Cefalu, Charles G Cefalu. -The door that appears to go back into the Bedroom actually takes you back to the [[Entry]] main door. -The door that appears to go back into the [[Washroom]] does, in fact go back into the washroom. (set: $CAchNorPorchVar to true)

Three of the four walls of the bedroom are doorways, but the fourth is a window that yet again impossibly faces the Gable House. You look up inside of the massive house and think you catch a light inside turn off, //tresspassers//. There is not much room to meneuver around the bed in the room, which has a hole in the middle of it that appears to be home to a large colony of mice. Their shit is the source of the majority of the sour smell you have come across in the other rooms of the house. There is a trapdoor in the floor, but you cannot get it opened. It continues rattling softly for a second after you jingle the handle. -The door into the Living room from the Bedroom works just fine, allowing you to go back to the [[living]] room. -The door into the [[Sitting Gallery]] Gallery works fine both directions. -The final door in the bedroom goes outside to the Back [[Porch]] and it works just fine in this direction.

The small house is not much more than a shack with a central entry room and two small wings on either side that contain two rooms each. The house backs up to a lavish yard, perched at the bottom of gable hill, the hill on which the imposiing Gable House proper stands like an offensive graffiti against the world. A breeze blows from behind you, it is cold, threatening snow, which would not be out of place for the time of year. It's too bad you don't have a scarf. The night is clear and crisp, cold even when the breeze doesn't blow. You hesitate briefly, there is still the chance for retreat. [[Entry ->entry sane]] [[get back on the train]]

The entry room is small and smells old, but not immediately unpleasant; it is not much more than a mudroom with barely enough room for a bench before the room gives way to two crooked doorways that each lead into a different wing of the small house. The walls are grey, but the remaining traces of paint suggest that at one point in time it was blue. Odd choice for wall paint. [[Sitting ->sitting sane]] [[Living ->living sane]] (set: $EntSneVar to true) (set: $CAchSneEntVar to true)

The sitting room is square in shape, and pretty small. There is not much wall-space as there are three doors, one that leads back into the entry, one into the bedroom and one into the washroom. A dim glow comes out from a fireplace on the fourth wall, but enough light comes in from the entry (you left the door open) and other rooms that you can just make your way through the room. An empty corner-style bookshelf leans against the wall in the corner-nook between two doors. (if: $EntSneVar is true and $SitSneVar is true and $LivSneVar is true and $WshSneVar is true and $BedSneVar is true and $PorSneVar is true) [ [[Entry ->renewed entry]] ] (else:) [[Entry ->entry sane]] [[Washroom ->washroom sane]] [[Bedroom ->bedroom sane]] (set: $SitSneVar to true)

There are two doorways into and out of the living room, one leading to the entry and the other deeper to the bedroom. The old smell is stronger in here, acrid like old dust. A very old chaise takes the place of a couch, not that one would fit in here. The remaining wall is empty, but there is a gap in the buildup on the wall that suggests that multiple times throughout the houses use there was a television mounted on the wall. There is a big window that is somehow facing the Gable House even though it is behind the small house you are in right now. The color on the walls in this room remains mostly in-tact, minus the are where the sunshine hits, when it rarely does, which is faded to the point of obsurity - the rest is a steely-green color, that was probably much more vibrant when it was first applied. [[Bedroom ->bedroom sane]] (if: $EntSneVar is true and $SitSneVar is true and $LivSneVar is true and $WshSneVar is true and $BedSneVar is true and $PorSneVar is true) [ [[Entry ->renewed entry]] ] (else:) [[Entry ->entry sane]] (set: $LivSneVar to true)

The washroom is something of an enigma - it is clearly meant to be a bathroom, but there is only a toilet and a small spigot on the wall with a drain in the center of the room. There is a window in this room, it faces the Gable House, which is certainly impossible. A single pot sits on the sill; it is plantless, but blocks the view from the larger house up the hill and the toilet in the washroom. [[Porch ->porch sane]] [[Sitting ->sitting sane]] (set: $WshSneVar to true)

Three of the four walls of the bedroom are doorways, but the fourth is a window that yet again impossibly faces the Gable House; this small hous needs curtains! There is a bed in here, but it has a hole in the middle; it isn't much larger than a double, and it takes up a lot of the space in the room. There is a small trapdoor in the floor that only has a cavity behind it - improvised storage? The back door leading out to the porch moves and rattles as a gust blows by the house. [[Living ->living sane]] [[Sitting ->sitting sane]] [[Porch ->porch sane]] (set: $BedSneVar to true)

The back porch is comprised of maybe 6 rotting planks, one step and an old awning that complains every time the wind picks up. It is more steady now, gatehring clouds as it blows - snow is definitely coming tonight. The yard that stretches beyond the back of the house makes up for what the porch was lacking - it is somehow pristine, with a topiary, a small pond that has already started to freeze, and in the back a mausoleum. You can see through the open door from where you are; it clearly goes beyond the entrance into a deep network of some sort deep in the hillside beneath the Gable House. [[Washroom ->washroom sane]] [[Bedroom ->bedroom sane]] [[lost Halls]] (set: $PorSneVar to true) (set: $CAchEasyExitVar to true)

The Gable House is a Queen-Anne style mansion with at least 11 rooms, although it is impossible to tell exactly how many rooms as some of them shift. What someone experiences in the house changes becasue the spirit within, namely //Chief Officer// feed on fear based on experiences that the individuals have had. If multiple people enter, then the experience is based on shared experiences, or the house actively splits people apart if folie a deux is not possible. [[Go back outside ->Be brave... approach the streetlamp]] [[gable foyer and ballroom]] [[gable catacombs]] (set: $GabSanVar to true)

The foyer is alone about the size of the entirety of the small Caretaker's House down the hill complete with two sets of armor and a grandfather clock. As you walk in you are greeted by the substantial room, a large staircase directly in front of you, two hallways on either side, and a massive ballroom in the back. There is a dim glow from every room but the one you are in, allowing you to see many features, but obsuring even more. A piece of debris falls from the ceiling in the ballroom echoing around the house, but othewise the house is very quiet. [[gable sitting]] [[gable dining]] [[gable stairs]] [[gable ballroom]] [[Exit Gable Hosue ->enter gable sane]]

To the left of the foyer (when facing the back of the house from the entrance) is a long hallway, the wall touching the stairs is a solid wall with empty gaps where paintings and pictures used to hang, while the other wall is punctured with equidistant arched doorways that lead into the sitting room. In the center of the room is a massive fireplace, the details of which were hand-sculpted. Stretching beyond the fireplace are 5 small wings, or halls that are completely occupied by bookshelfs and stacks of books on the floor. As you walk in, a book behind the fireplace falls to the floor in greeting, but overall the room is cozy comparatively, and you sit in one of the two plush-chairs facing the fireplace for a rest. [[gable foyer and ballroom]] (set: $RespiteVar to true)

To the right of the foyer (when facing the back of the house from the entrance) stratches a long hall that culminates in the ballroom; along the right wall of the hallway are arch-doors that lead into a relatively small grand-dining room that is nearly filled by a table stretching from one side to the other. On the surface of the table is a very thick layer of dust with a sloppy happy face etched into it. You sneeze, and when you open your eyes for just a second you see a nice family style dinner, like something you might have for a holiday laid out; four place settings, but only one has any food on it. The "turkey" in the center of the table is a human torso that has been basted and roasted with all the love a mom could muster. Just as quickly it dissaprears, the dust returning. "mommy made me eat daddy..." comes a morose voice from behind you, but when you turn there is no one there. Instead of going further into the dining room, you can either choose to exit back into the foyer, or you can go off to the left into the kitchen. [[gable kitchen]] [[gable foyer and ballroom]]

The kitchen is pretty standard, with mid 2020s appliances and black and white checker-patterned floor. You can still smell pork-roast, even though it has clearly been decades since any of it was used. In the opposite corner to the doorway is a small servant's quarter with only a small bed and sink. You poke around in the kitchen, but nothing seems out of the ordinary, save for a few ancient boxes of breakfast cereal on one shelf, which are warped and sunbleeched to the point of obscurity. [[Servant's Quarter]] [[gable dining]]

//Chief Officer is watching you// Nothing about what you see makes sense. The sewer-tunnel that stretches in front of you goes in 5 different directions at the same time like some kind of entanglement. Additional passages connect to the main one, going an untold number of additional directions. Somewhere in the back of your mind you know what to do... ''Don’t Panic'' If you //do// panic, lie on your side not your back. You lay down, then roll to your side, and slowly close your eyes for a moment. When you open them you are still shaken, but the way forward is obvious, although you can no longer remember how to go back. [[Take the third, second turn ->catacomb passages]]

//Chief Officer is watching you// The lost halls are a collection of a few rooms that line a hallway, although all of the doors are locked at this point. A breeze blows through, and you can smell a storm in the night; you are very close to the exit now. [[Back to yard ->porch sane]] (set: $EntSneVar to true) (set: $SitSneVar to true) (set: $LivSneVar to true) (set: $WshSneVar to true) (set: $BedSneVar to true) (set: $PorSneVar to true) (set: $CatEscVar to true)

//Chief Officer is watching you// With all your might you want to go right, but you also know in your heart that the only way through is forward, and to the second right. You press deeper... [[catacomb passages deeper]]

//Chief Officer is watching you// You have been lost for a while, wandering here and there. "Being lost is the only way to get found" you say aloud, thinking of your mom fondly for the first time in a long time. Eventually you start to see light, so you move closer to the source and... there in the floor light is leaking up from a small trap-door... [[lost Halls]] (set: $CatTravVar to true)

You walk up the stairs, and they complain and creak beneath each step. Roughly 2/3 up you notice a second set of groans with each step... //creak,creak// but when you turn to look no one is behind you. The lower floors somehow glow dimly lighting behind you, and what appears to be a candle flicker comes from one of the rooms behind the landing before stabilizing into a steady light-source. [[gable upstairs landing]] [[gable foyer and ballroom]]

//Chief Officer is watching you// The ballroom is a respectable size for inside of a house, although the celing is not as high as in most ballrooms, which is due to the pool in the room above. The floor of the pool has collapsed and fell in... (if: $MusicVar is true) [ [[gable foyer and ballroom]] ] (else:) [ [[You were crushed, try again?]] ]

The landing is a small loft overlooking the foyer, but from this position you can no longer see into any of the other rooms from below - a voice groans low and long for a moment from one of the downstairs rooms, and then falls silent. "Hello...?" You call out, jumping at the response... "Come one, come all to a land of enchantment and wonton horrors untold..." the voice is flat and canned, as if coming from a speaker somwwhere deeper in the house on the second floor. And from below you faintly hear... "...don't believe him, he's a dirty liar... on't go to cate... all... lost..." [[gable upstairs hall]] [[gable pool room]] [[gable private library]] [[gable stairs]]

Beyond the book-shelf door from the landing is a short hallway that culminates in a window, flanked by two doorways on either side of the hallway. From the window you can see into the small Caretaker's house down the hill. All three doors into the hallway quietly slide shut, you only notice because you are close enough to the secret door that it touches you as it does. Someone screams from the lost rooms "TOLD YOU NOT TO!" and all of the doors open, slam, and then onlyone of them opens slightly. You cannot go back, only forward. [[Strange Hallucination]] (if: $LostVar is true) [[gable upstairs landing]] (if: $LostVar is true) [ [[lost rooms but... something is different ->lost rooms deranged]] ] (if: $LostVar is true) [ [[Master but... something has definitely changed ->master deranged]] ]

The pool room smells worse than anything you can remember, a mix of sulfur, death, decay and rot. Water stands in pools around the room, dripping form old water pipes, and the minerals in the water that make the area so saught after have calicified into yellow-green forms around the room, coating nearly everything. The floor of the pool is made of glass, so people in the pool can see down to the ballroom below, but the calcification layer has mostly obscured the view. [[gable lost rooms]] [[gable upstairs landing]] (if: $MusicVar is true) [ [[gable ballroom]] ] (else:) [ [[inspect the pool]] ]

The private library has seen to every tenant of the house, adding their history to the many volums that lay in stacks around the room. There are many bookshelves, but as far you can tell none of them have books on them, just many scatter sheets of blank paper. You take a single step forward, and put your hand on one of the stacks, it sticks. A thousand horrors play in your mind, gruesome scenes of torture, flaying and manipulaiton. You slowly fall to your knees, but you still cannot take your hand from the top of the stack. A cold thin hand grabs yours and gently, deflty pulls it off the books. "Not a problem at all... a //joy// even. Gratitue of course not necessary." The man before you is very tall and slender dressed in (of all things) a ringleader outfit. "I said my name is Sangrii... captivator and entertainer of the greatest show on earth, come one COME ALL!" The final words echo through the house, you are frozen in horror. "welcome to the house of //freakssss//..." he whispers, and then with a slight pop dissapears. You are alone, but the stacks of books around you seem alive; one topples in the back and you loose your composure, crawling toward the door. Finally you get to your feet, but where do you go? [[gable master]] [[gable upstairs landing]]

//Chief Officer is watching you// You can only just get into this room, which appears to have been a music room or conservatory at some point. There are an odd amount of doors that lead out of the room, from where you are you can count at least 5. The room is full of old furniture and clutter, and the only real choice you have at this point is to either go back into the hall or the pool room. [[gable upstairs hall]] [[gable pool room]]

The cielings in the master suite are high and vaulted; the suite is composed of three rooms, an entry, a bed and a bath. All three rooms are spacious. Somehow the Caretaker's House can be seen out of each of the many windows,a nd as you walk close to one, you swear for just a second that you can see yourself down there walking around. [[gable upstairs hall]] [[gable private library]]

You had to get medicine, remember? You’ve run out. But the worrying thing is, the little mixed-use Apothecary's house isn’t on the corner it usually sits on. You’re on the trainstop, that much seems clear and like you remember. But the hills seem out of order, there’s a giant house across the street you don’t remember being there before, and behind you 15-20 feet is a streetlamp, the lone source of light on the whole row. That definitely seems wrong. Suddenly you have to retreat; fight or flight, and you are all flight. [[Be brave... approach the streetlamp ->streetlamp deranged]] [[Enter the Gable House ->gable house deranged]]

The single Streetlamp throws a cold circle cast on concrete. Walking away it is obvious that the light makes a cone in the fog. The fog seems to be having an effect, and a strange compulsion comes over you. [[Enter the Small House ->small house deranged]]

//Chief Officer is watching you// Yes the house has a name, and he desparately wants you to join the fun... Now you are stuck forever, doomed to ultimately roam the catecombs until the circus freak comes to collect you. This house, it will devour you, as it has done so many others. But first! A tour... The Gable House is a Queen-Anne style mansion with at least 11 rooms, although it is impossible to tell exactly how many rooms as some of them shift. What someone experiences in the house changes becasue the spirit within, namely //Chief Officer// feeds on fear based on experiences that the individuals have had. If multiple people enter, then the experience is based on shared experiences, or the house actively splits people apart if folie a deux is not possible. [[Enter the Gable House ->enter gable deranged]] (set: $GabDerVar to true)

//Chief Officer is watching you// The door seems to push you in as you enter. The house is too big, and at first you cannot comprehend, but slowly you come to understand that there is a staircase in front of you. A tall, thin man stands at the bottom of the stair, and slowly gestures up them... [[Foyer ->Foyer and ballroom deranged]]

//Chief Officer is watching you// The foyer is grand, complete with two sets of armor and a grandfather clock. The clock ticks slowly every so often, and you expect one of the suits of armor to move; it doesn't, which is somehow worse. Two dark hallways stretch beyond the stairs allowing access to the rest of the first level of the house. Water drips from behind the stairs, echoing every time it does; the room back there must be vast. "...all who enter are lost..." says a child's voice from somewhere behind the stairs. And from up the stairs someone whispers, "...the kids loved their dinner, and then I put them to bed like a good mother..." Heavy footsteps rush down the stairs, and you stumble back to leave, but the door is stuck. The tall man walks past, cackling with a sinister tonE [[Dining ->dining deranged]] [[Sitting ->sitting deranged]] [[Stairs ->stairs deranged]] [[Vast room beyond stairs ->ballroom deranged]] [[Catacombs ->catacombs deranged]]

//Chief Officer is watching you// As you walk in you head the child voice again: "...mommy made me eat daddy..." In the middle of the long room is a very long table with many place-settings. The forks on the table look like they might be real silver, and you grab one as a souvenir and put it in your pocket. On the table is laid out a family style dinner, like something you might have for a holiday; there are now only four place settings. The "turkey" in the center of the table is a human torso that has been basted and roasted with all the love a mom could muster. Suddenly the fork in your pocket jams all the way into your leg - Blind white pain! You writhe on the floor trying to pull it out.... eventually getting it and throwing it across the room; you don't hear it hit anything, and as you stand to move on, the pain in your leg subsides. All that remains on the table is a smiley-face drawn into the thick dust. [[Kitchen ->kitchen deranged]] [[Foyer ->Foyer and ballroom deranged]]

//Chief Officer is watching you// This room is almost beyond your notice, but for some reason you feel compelled to pick up a book that lays on the floor in front of a massive fireplace that dominates the center of the room. [[trip to private library]]

//Chief Officer is watching you// This is the final destination according to the plans of //Chief Officer//, who is pleased with your experience to this point. At some point Sangrii will come and collect you for harvest, but until that day you will wander down here, talking to the others. The only solace is that you are //far// from alone. [[Try Again?]]

//Chief Officer is watching you// You walk up the stairs, and they complain and creak beneath each step. Roughly 2/3 up you notice a second set of groans with each step... //creak,creak// When you turn around, one of the suits of armor is on the stairs behind you, motionless. You turn and take a step... //creak,creak// You turn it is closer than it was before. How do you handle a situation like this? Is it all in your head? //hummm, buildup in pitch, BUZZ// what appears to be a candle flicker comes from one of the rooms behind the landing before stabilizing into a steady light-source, and the armor suit is gone... You've forgotten to remember something, but that's all you're aware of. [[Upstairs Landing ->upstairs landing deranged]] [[Foyer ->Foyer and ballroom deranged]]

//Chief Officer is watching you// In the kitchen you find a moment of respite, not noticing the shadow-figure lurking out the window. It moves to the small bed in the Servant's Quarter attached to the kitchen as you leave, but again you don't notice, not really. [[Dining ->dining deranged]]

//Chief Officer is watching you// The large room behind hte stairs might be a ballroom, but the ceiling crashes down as you walk in, killing you before you know what has happened [[Try Again?]] (set: $CheapPantsVar to true)

//Chief Officer is watching you// The landing is a small loft overlooking the foyer, but form this position you can no longer seeanything from below - a voice groans low and long for a moment from one of the downstairs rooms, and then falls silent. "Hello...?" You call out, jumping at the response... "Come one, come all to a land of enchantment and wonton horrors untold..." the voice is flat and canned, as if coming from a speaker somwwhere deeper in the house on the second floor. And from below you faintly hear... "...don't believe him, he's a dirty liar... on't go to cate... all... lost..." [[Pool Room ->pool room deranged]] [[Private Library ->private library deranged]] [[Hallway ->upstairs hall deranged]] [[Stairs ->stairs deranged]]

//Chief Officer is watching you// The pool room smells bad in a way that you can smell to your core, that you can taste, //that you can feel//, and now that you have you will never be rid of it; a mix of sulfur, death, decay and rot. Water stands in pools around the room, dripping form old water pipes, and the minerals in the water that make the area so saught after have calicified into yellow-green forms around the room, coating nearly everything. [[Lost Rooms ->lost rooms deranged]] [[Landing ->upstairs landing deranged]] (set: $WhatThatSmellVar to true)

//Chief Officer is watching you// The private library has seen to every tenant of the house, adding their history to the many volums that lay in stacks around the room. A thousand horrors play in your mind, gruesome scenes of torture, flaying and manipulaiton. You slowly fall to your knees, but you still cannot take your hand from the top of the stack. The worst thing is that with each passing scene you feel better, more asure of your surroundings and situation... eventually you feel glee. You stand and correct yourself, greeting the tall, slender man standing in front of you. He is dressed in (of all things) a ringleader outfit. "Not a problem at all... a //joy// even. Gratitue of course not necessary. Call me Sangrii... captivator and entertainer of the greatest show on earth, come one COME ALL!" The final words echo through the house, you are frozen in horror. "welcome to the house of //freakssss//..." he whispers, and then with a slight pop dissapears. You know you are alone, but the stacks of books around you seem to shift like people who have been sitting still for too long; one topples in the back and remind it to be quiet, this is a library after all. [[Master Suite ->master deranged]] [[Landing ->upstairs landing deranged]]

//Chief Officer is watching you// Beyond the book-shelf door from the landing is a short hallway that culminates in a window, flanked by two doorways on either side of the hallway. From the window you can see into the samll Caretaker's house down the hill. All three doors slam shut, and someone screams from the lost rooms "TOLD YOU NOT TO!" Your vision does something akin to a dollypan down the hallway, and you black out for a moment. [[Lost Rooms ->lost rooms deranged]] [[Master Suite ->master deranged]]

//Chief Officer is watching you// The cielings in the master suite are high and vaulted; the suite is composed of three rooms, an entry, a bed and a bath. You are immediately aware that someone is in the bathroom. Somehow the Caretaker's House can be seen out of each of the many windows,a nd as you walk close to one, you can see yourself down there walking around, and for a moment you want to scream down, "Don't go to the porch!" but you cannot properly remember why. [[Private Library ->private library deranged]] [[Hallway ->upstairs hall deranged]]

The small house is not much more than a shack with a central entry room and two small wings on either side that contain two rooms each. The house backs up to a lavish yard, perched at the bottom of gable hill, the hill on which the imposiing Gable House proper stands like vulgar graffiti meant to piss off the world. A breeze blows from behind you, it is cold, probably snow tonight. It blows again, an eerie tone... and a breathy whisper, your name. The night is cold, even when the breeze doesn't blow, and your breath is clear in the moonlight. There is no option, you are compelled forward... [[Entry ->sm entry deranged]]

Room Count: (print: $SanityVar) The entry room is small and smells sour; something is definitely dead under the floorboards, and has started to decay. The tight room is not much more than a mudroom with barely enough room for a bench before tgiving way a pair of doorways that lean to the left. The walls are grey; drips run down the wall here and there tracing the wood pannels, maybe oil or blood, but it is hard to look at so you press on. [[Sitting Gallery ->sm sitting deranged]] [[Living Room ->sm living deranged]] (set: $SanityVar to it + 1) (set: $CAchDerEntVar to true)

Room Count: (print: $SanityVar) The Sitting Gallery is too dark for you to make out the streaks on the walls in here, but as you fumble around to find a doorway you brush against the wall and notice that your hand comes away wet - you rub it on your pants. A strong gust of wind slamms the front door in the entry, and you jump and then hustle into the next room. (if: $SanityVar is >= 6) [ [[Entry ->renewed entry]] ] (else:) [ [[Try Again?]] ] [[Bedroom ->sm bedroom deranged]] [[Washroom ->sm washroom deranged]] (set: $SanityVar to it + 1)

Room Count: (print: $SanityVar) There is a black stain on the floor in the middle of the living room, and the small chaise that takes the place of a couch has been turned on its side and pushed into a corner of the room. It smells like recent death. There is a big window that is somehow facing the Gable House, which you don't question, but you do approach it... a shadow darts across too quickly for you to make out the shape of a top hat. You jump, forgetting about the stain, and turning away from the window you finally pay attention to the walls, wich appear to be bleeding... in a panic you rush to the next room. (if: $SanityVar is >= 8) [ [[Entry ->renewed entry]] ] (else:) [ [[Try Again?]] ] [[sm bedroom deranged]] (set: $SanityVar to it + 1)

Room Count: (print: $SanityVar) There is a window that looks up at the Gable House... do you [[approach the window]]? The rest of the room is taken up by what used to be a bed, but the matress has been shredded by generations of mice, who long ago tangled into a rat-king and died in place, rotting into a massive pile of tiny bones. As you make your way around the bed, making sure to stay clear of the hole in the floor the back door opens and slams shut BANG! The gust of wind shakes the house as it travels by, and you can only stand in place and shiver for a minute. (if: $SanityVar is >= 8) [ [[Entry ->renewed entry]] ] (else:) [ [[Try Again?]] ] [[Porch ->sm porch deranged]] [[Living ->sm living deranged]] (set: $SanityVar to it + 1)

Room Count: (print: $SanityVar) There is a leak in the washroom and it smells like old rotten water, which is substantially better than the other rooms of the house, especially the living. There is only a toilet, and a spigot in want of a sink - a clogged drain sits in the middle of the room, maintaining a black, thick puddle. (if: $SanityVar is >= 8) [ [[Entry ->renewed entry]] ] (else:) [ [[Try Again?]] ] [[Porch ->sm porch deranged]] [[Sitting Gallery ->sm sitting deranged]] (set: $SanityVar to it + 1)

Room Count: (print: $SanityVar) Upon exiting the house you are greeted by a very strong gust of wind, and heavy storm-clouds have started to congregate around the clearing. These are snow clouds, and you jump at the loud clap of thunder, unprepared since such clouds do not generally produce lightning. The yard that stretches beyond the back of the house is grandiose with a topiary, a small pond that has already started to freeze, and in the back a mausoleum. Another bolt of lightning arcs across the sky, lighting the yard completely, and you clearly see someone standing at the mausoleum, hurridly waving for you to come to them. The ground shakes, the thunder claps, and the windows behind you crack, then shatter in unison. You are thrown forward off of your feet, crumbling somewhere in the middle of the yard. You got dirt in your mouth, and you slick with blood, and you spit it out, rolling over to see what exactly just happened. As you roll the ground shakes again, ruuuuUUUUmmmmble Then, //thud// //THUD// And then, silence for just a second, before another series of shakes, rumbles and snaps happen around you. A thick cord whips the ground next to where you lay, and finally you find your composure just enough to roll over and see that the small house has come alive, the four main rooms have become legs, while the entry sits in the center like a body - it rears its center up like a quadrapedal spider, and then, impossibly, lifts one leg and takes an uncertain step toward you, moving a great distance in a short time due to its large size. (if: $FightVar is true) [ [[gable catacombs]] ] (else:) [ [[fight]] ] (set: $CAchActionVar to true) (set: $SanityVar to it + 1)

Things are moving very fast now, you don't have time to get to your feet. The house lunges, swinging one of the front legs directly at you, but you are ready and posed to roll away... [[roll forward]] [[roll backward]] [[Give Up ->Try Again?]] (set: $FightVar to true)

the house tries to step on you, moving very quickly, but you roll between its legs and it misses. Next to you is a large piece of rubble, or maybe a heavy boulder. The house tries again to step on you, but you roll to the left, then the right screaming at it with all your might. The house overreaches and falls flat on its belly for just long enough for you to crawl a few feet to the boulder and pick it up... [[throw it at house]] [[throw it at precarious pile]]

You rolled backward, putting you right in the path of the appendage, which lands smoewhere below your waist - you are blinded by pain and trauma; your leg is broken in multiple places, fortunately your femur is in tact so you should still be able to walk again, assuming you survive. The house lifts its leg to strike again, but you are looking down, so all you know is that the weight has released from your torso. [[crawl]] [[curl]]

Your leg is broken, so your mobility is limited, but your drive to live is stronger, and you work yourself just enough away from the house that the next attack misses. You need something to fight back, but your options are limited. Coincodentally under your hand is a large stick, and you have a lighter in your pocket. [[light lighter]] [[reach for a stick]]

I don't know what you were expecting to happen, but the house smooshes you [[Try Again?]] (set: $CAchFightLooseVar to true)

The whole world seems to pause in response to the little flame; the house is entranced, but it is a lighter, it won't stay lit forever. You and the house are very close, it would be easy to get back inside. [[go back inside ->lunge at the house]]

You're fighting a house, the stick is not effective, you're now a permanant feature of the landscape. [[Try Again?]] (set: $CAchFightLooseVar to true)

The boulder is heavier than you realized, and even though you do hit the house, the boulder doesn't go very far, breaking through a wall and then out the floor ont he other side, puncturing to comparatively small holes into the monster. It doesn't react and lands a hit on your leg, breaking your femur; te impact of the break imobilizes you momentarily, thankfully the house is stuck in the ground form the heft of the impact, and after a second of recomposure you have enough energy to barely take your next move. [[crawl]] [[curl]]

Smart move, the pile was much more precarious than it originally seemed and with a satisfying clutter the pile slowly falls, landing on the back-left leg of the house, which subsequently crumbles into rubble. It stumbles forward, somehow faster, trying to take another swipe, but now it is inballanced, and it teeters to one side, offering you a chance. [[light lighter]] [[retreat]]

You come out of your trip, confused and in a lot of pain, your leg is broken and you lay on the floor the light is silent, hums, builds up in pitch, buzzes, flickers and then stabilizes again. Your lab partner is huddled in the corner of the room, muttering to themselves incoherently - it looks like neither pill was a placebo. Eventually you come all the way down, and depressed as a result. You trudge out of the school, and go directly to the train to get your meds. [[west to apothecary]]

You are very close to the mausoleum; the door is cracked, you might be able to get it open. The house is coming at you very quickly, already building momentum with a swing, which if it hit would certainly turn you into a pile of rubble. [[lunge at the house]] [[mausoleum entry]]

You manage to roll through a window as the house tries to swing, and you find yourself inside of the house again, but this time everything is in motion; the toilet crashes through a doorway near you, and you have to lunge forward to miss it, you are very injured making the action difficult, but fortunately for you the house is moving in a way that helps you roll into the next room, the sitting room! A radiator you hadn't noticed before sits in a closet you are sure wasn't there earlier, and somehow the fireplace against the back wall of the room is in-tact, but surely it will crumble to hundreds of pieces at any moment. [[Break radiator with wrench]] [[Light fire in fireplace]]

Now the radiator is broken, which doesn't have much of an impact, and the house jumps back, shaking as it does, causing you to fly out; you die on impact with a sticking up piece of rebar in the yard. [[Try Again?]] (set: $CAchFightLooseVar to true)

The house shutters and falls into place, raining dust around you. In the process you fall through the sitting room and out of the porch door back into the yard; the world has never been so quiet [[back to lab at school]] [[back into house ->sm entry deranged]] (set: $CAchFightWinVar to true)

You trip as you approach - there used to be a trapdoor in the floor, but all that exists now is a hole. Suddenly you find your face pressed against the winow as you fell into it, and a shadow darts from the large house up the hill directly at you. As you recoil you trip on the hole again, and fall, breaking your neck on the corner of the bed. Try again? [[Try Again?]] (set: $WinApprchVar to true)

For some reason you feel compelled to lay in the bed, and you sleep for an hour or two, dreaming of running away to the circus... When you wake, the world seems to slightly less saturated for some reason. [[Go Back ->gable kitchen]] (set: $ServSlpVar to true)

[[Try Again?]] (set: $PoolSmashVar to true)

Here is your progress so far: Major Achievements: Have Meds: (print: $MedsVar) Soft and Sharp Dreams: (print: $CatDreamVar) Medicate, then meditate: (print: $MedsVar) In my left hand, a blue pill: (print: $BluePillVar) And in my right, a red: (print: $RedPillVar) You Win!: (print: $WinnerVar) Caretaker's House Achievements: Clear Headed: (print: $CAchSneEntVar) Original Experience: (print: $CAchNorEntVar) A bit... //unhinged//: (print: $CAchDerEntVar) The link between the two is the Key: (print: $CAchEasyExitVar) Not much to see here: (print: $CAchNorPorchVar) Bossfight Achievements: (note you can only do one ending for the fight per playthrough, either it wins or you do) Minor Fight: (print: $CAchActionVar) In your current condition, that was not an escape....: (print: $CAchNoEscapeVar) You defeated the boss: (print: $CAchFightWinVar) The boss defeated you: (print: $CAchFightLooseVar) Gable House Achievements: Gable B&E: (print: $GabSanVar) Gable but... different: (print: $GabDerVar) Strange place for a nap: (print: $ServSlpVar) How long has that been waiting to fall?: (print: $PoolSmashVar) Your bravery paid off: (print: $CatEscVar) Cozy Seat: (print: $RespiteVar) Lost upstairs: (print: $LostVar) Private Library Card: (print: $LibCardVar) No Ball Room: (print: $CheapPantsVar) Smells Awful: (print: $WhatThatSmellVar) Minor Achievements: Rooms in Caretaker's House visited when under the effects of Pill A: (print: $SanityVar) Times visited rooms in Caretaker's House when not under the influence of any medication: -Living: (print: $LivingVar) -Washroom: (print: $WashVar) -Sitting Gallery: (print: $SittingVar) Did you approach the window?: (print: $WinApprchVar) Did you go all the way through the catacombs?: (print: $CatTravVar) [[wake up in your bed, maybe it was all a dream]] [[Reset (Warning, this will reset everything) ->Initiate]]

Was it all a dream, or did you make it home after the test and forgot? Either way, you are safe in your bed again. Same shit, different day. [[go to the train station]]

Upon approaching the pool the floor gives in and collapses down into the ballroom below, bringing you with it. Fortunately you are near a support beam, which you sort of slide down as the world seems to collapse around you. After what seems like minutes you are laying on the floor in the ballroom, dazed, but mostly alright. [[gable ballroom]] (set: $MusicVar to true)

[[catacombs deranged]] (set: $CAchNoEscapeVar to true)

You are on the top of a large tower, overlooking a city-scape that you cannot see the end of. The sun is red, setting on one horizon, and a thick envelope of fog is slowly rolling in from the other - it will surely obscure everything. "I am the seer, you are the seen..." You are sitting inside of a large, hollowed out mushroom in a chanting circle with somewhere around 5 others, it is hard to tell for sure as everyone is hading in and out, shifting in superposition. To your right you are handed a bowl, and you drink from it... "Now you see the others, all the others as I do..." You are riding a large creature similar to a bird with four wings, soaring between narrow cliff-faces. The creature flies up out of the canyon, and you see hundreds of massive plateaus with narrow canyons between each like a dry and cracked seabed stretching in every direction. In the center of each is a geodesic dome made of glass, each lush with greenery and buildings. You bank right and land in front of an metal orb big enough for you to get into, suspended in what looks like ice. You climb in and the door closes... "I walk in all worlds, playing my role as I have done for countless ages..." Now you are sitting in a gypsy-cart pulled by bovine quadrapeds similar to cows; it is night and warm, crickets chirp as you make your way down the road. A large, squat elf sits next to you and with a jolly grunt hands you a neck-chain with a charm on it. To your right a gorgeous elf with white skin and dark-blue hair rides a large wolf sort of creature, to your left are three goblins in suits noisily eating nuts, spitting the shells at each other. "...some are serene, for now... others are long lost..." You float in space amongst a planetary ring orbiting a gas-giant you almost can't see. Red lightning arcs across the surface nearly constantly stretching for hundreds of miles, almost looking like they arc through space. "...most importantly, some can still be saved, if everyone acts as one..." Everything goes dark and for a moment you can't see anything. Slowly your eyes adjust, and you find yourself in a massive tunnel, the floor of which is full of statues, thousands and thousands of statues. "They are dead..." Further along sits a machine with pods hooked into it stretching up as far as you can see; the air is heavy with industry and deisel. You approach one of the pods to see a familiar face, the local constable in your Block, a great detective. "...this planet will soon die, all of these with it... will you help them?" Now you are in your childhood home. "...never had the chances you did..." Your memories fly by, you are a kid, in high school, college, time is moving faster and faster. "...not much time left..." You are back in the Gable House, looking directly at a door. [[gable master]] (set: $LostVar to true)

Scenes from other places and other times pass your eyes, but you don't understand any of what you see, there is a tower and cityscape, people sitting in a circle, then a different group riding a cart of some kind, a flight maybe? And people dying slowly in the cold, all alone. [[Private Library ->private library deranged]] (set: $LibCardVar to true)

the caretaker's story.

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