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The world is a vast place, inhabited by life of all kinds. Life that is constantly blooming, withering and then rising anew, each time taking a different shape and nature. But the really interesting parts happen between being born and being dead. That’s when all the little people are doing all the big things that push the world forward. Isn’t that exciting? Perhaps… You’d like to try?

Very well then. We could have our own avatar there, but it has been done many times before. Besides, you have many voices, many opinions, for you are many. So, instead, here’s my proposal: we pick a group, a small settlement, and we go from there. We help them grow and cherish, maybe beyond the lifespan of its current inhabitants, maybe beyond the lifespan of its world - if you are still interested by then, hehe.

How will it work? This is what I have in mind: I offer a few options, you either pick from those or suggest your own, and said options tell what the group in question, or a subgroup when applicable, or even a notable individual do next. Then we watch action, reaction and repeat. Sounds good?

To begin with… I’ll give you a few options to start with. Since you don’t know this world very well yet, you’ll only be able to pick from the options I present you, sorry. But afterwards I think you’ll already be able to suggest something new as we will already be working with something, so don’t worry. Enough with the talking, which of the following would you prefer:

1. A human village that rose naturally along trade routes between three cities, standing on a grassy plain scattered with flowers and a few trees.
2. An elven garden in the heart of a dense forest, where they have cultivated trees that grew bigger than they normally would, allowing life in harmony with nature.
3. A goblin community living in a complex cave system that stretches itself all the way from the surface to the underworld.
4. A revenant society, that live in the ruins of an ancient city, corrupted by arcane fallout so long ago the explanation behind it became myth.
5. A gnome fortress in the depths of a jungle, alongside countless other creatures in a perhaps excessively life friendly environment.

~~~~

Now I'm doing it too, as you can see. Though this one will work differently. I'll give you options, and you'll vote to pick the one you like best. From the next round onwards, I should also include an extra option reading "Other (specify)", that will allow you to suggest a course of action that can then be supported by other players/readers. That means you can post multiple times to change your vote to something someone else suggested. I'll wait until, say, 4 or more people have voted for the same option before writing, or one/two days if not enough people vote. In case there's a draw I'll roll a virtual dice to decide which one goes. Oh, and by the way, in case you suggest something that doesn't work well at the time, an OP artifact for example, I'll try to tone it down to an acceptable level.

That said, perhaps I'll change the system to resemble the other Interactive Adventures if it doesn't work. Either way, I hope you have fun.

Revenant Society! REVENANT SOCIETY.

I must admit, I'm ecstatic that all these new IAs are popping up. I was hoping that they would.

Anyway... I would personally want 3, the goblin community. I'd love to take a peek into goblin civilisation!

I Take A Third Option. Goblin community.

Revenant society

I rather like being human, so I'll go for a human village.

Elven garden. Everyone knows elves are just better.

Revenant. Totally.

Gnome fortress!

Option 4 has been chosen: "A revenant society, that live in the ruins of an ancient city, corrupted by arcane fallout so long ago the explanation behind it became myth." Writing.

What once was a colossal city state is now a collection of lifeless ruins at the very core of a wasteland corrupted by magic. All of the majesty and glory was extinguished in a single day, in a single moment of death and destruction. Nobody knows whether it was caused by a resented god or by greedy mortals, they just know it happened, and the city that was, in a second, was not. But time passed. And from death, bloomed... Undeath. Countlessly, the fallen started to stand up. Their bodies moving, as if alive. Their husks, however, hollow. Zombies, souless creatures that can walk and feel hunger. For flesh.

However, not all the dead came back as zombies. Some of them came back with... Something else, something more. They came back with their souls. They were conscious, they had free will, they had memories. They had fear. Some went insane. Some broke down to tears. Some survived. They banded together, trying to stay alive. But the zombies aren't their only worry. They died more, and more.

Luckily for them, this person returned. Why do I say that? Well, that person managed to secure a shelter in the outskirts of the city. One by one, they found someone or were found, and what was a small group grew into a... Big group, as they have about sixty commoners and twenty soldiers, daring to live twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, in a land that belongs to the dead.

Though who, exactly, is this person?

1. Alder, an engineer who used to work with the underground train system.
2. Magnolia, an elite guard who used to work for the civic security force.
3. Jermaine, a simple factory worker promoted to supervisor.
4. Other (specify)

Alder

I also vote for Alder.

Alder as well. Civic Engineers are useful.

Magnolia, because someone needs to vote for the badass woman.

Magnolia

I say Magnolia too; it seems like an elite security guard would be exactly the sort of person who might be able to fend off the zombies.

Jermaine! They seem the most unlikely.

Other: Virgil, a common man banished out of town as a teenager (he was very, very annoying).

Tie between Options 1 and 2. Will roll a virtual d2 five times to decide, the Option that appears more times will be chosen. Option 1 will be number one and Option 2 will be number two. Results: 1, 2, 1, 2, 1. Option 1 has been chosen: "Alder, an engineer who used to work with the underground train system." Writing.

There was a loud knock on the door, but it didn't wake Alder from his sleep, as he was already awake. His refusal to get out of bed was simply result of multiple nights of poor sleep. Surprisingly enough, it isn't the burden of responsability over a large group of people that has been taking the engineer's sleep. He already had said responsability back when he designed and built the underground train system for the city. And as if it were a karmic boon, studying the city layout (and engineering, in the first place) has helped him survive so far.

The former was of great help when searching for shelter. Alder went for the less populated outskirts of town, and found a factory that was on advanced stages of construction when disaster struck. The engineer then made it his base, and with the help of arriving revenants he started improving it as well as they could. They closed with bricks and concrete all the entries to the factory complex but one, in the factory floor. Furthermore, a barricade was also built around the door, both on the inside as well as on the outside. This means there's only one way in and one way out.

The factory floor is directly connected to two other buildings, a multi-story one probably meant for administration and a large storage chamber. The multi-story building has been appropriated as general living and resting place, as it has many finished if unfurnished rooms on lower floors while the upper floors are all one empty, large chambers. The storage room has been so used, though currently it is nearly empty. It had a door to another storage room, though unfinished as it was said door was brick wall

Those weren't Alder's only contributions, however. Some civil guards arrived with broken shockstaves, he took a look and discovered it was simply a matter of restarting or switching the circuit breakers. A well-armed group makes it easier to sleep without worries. Yet, something has been troubling Alder's sleep. What is it?

1. A fungi growth on the ceiling, occasionally dripping water on him.
2. A swarm of flies that won't leave him alone.
3. The wailing wind during the dark night.
4. Other (specify)

The fungi growth dripping water. It's hard to sleep when you're being dripped on.

The wailing wind.

==> Other: Howls of the undead.

narrativedilettante wrote:The wailing wind.

This!