<div.header>
</div><%
s.continueLevel = 0;
s.content = [];
util.renderChoices([util.choice("Replay", "A Night With The Party")]);
$('.header').html('');
%>
<div.title>
Thank you for playing.
<p.big>Another Night With The Party</p>
Written & Programmed By <a href="https://banesbloom.itch.io">BanesBloom</a>
Total word count: 500
Special Thanks:
<a href="https://zahdernia.itch.io">Zahdernia</a>
</div><p class="big crash">CRASH</p>
Everything explodes.
Your almost every sense is overwhelmed. Red warning lights spin above your head. Voices sound out around you - a mechanical one above. Rough, unfamiliar fabric scratches your skin and metal dances across your tongue. Only your sense of smell is spared, by grace of the gas mask pressed to your face.
You're wearing a gas mask... Why are you wearing a gas mask?
The wall to the left falls and the answer comes rolling in, low and thick.
<p.big.fadeInSlow.fadeToPink>The Mists.</p>
Everything falls silent, barring your own muffled breath. The inexorable tide coils and pools around your legs, tinting everything a perverse, corruptive pink.
You know this.
Everyone knows this, on some level.
The Mists that exist as an indistinct threat, used to scare children into behaving. The Mists that are a hazard only for those that are foolish or desperate enough to traverse them. The Mists that loom over every moment, strangle every breath, corrupt every memory.
Everyone is connected to the mists, one way or another.
You don't hear it - you don't even feel it. Not in any way you could ever explain. Something inside you *shakes.* Like standing next to a fog horn, like the roar of a dragon, like the footstep of a god. It lasts an eternity yet is mercifully quick.
You're on your feet now, being pulled along by someone you can't hear over the pounding of your heartbeat. You and those around you are running - *East* the mechanical voice said. There's a compass strapped to your wrist.
Buildings rise into the Mist around you like monolithic tombstones. Desolate and void of life, but preserved. Glass panes reflect what little light breaks through the mist. You don't see anything further as your arm is nearly pulled out of it's socket.
The first monster you encounter is the one that lands on your companion - a twisting mass of exposed muscle, sinew, and bone that articulates in a manner vaguely reminiscent of a dog. It makes no sound aside from the tearing of flesh and the rending of bone - you don't know if those come from its victim or the beast itself.
Stumbling back, you see another of your companions - brave, kind, foolish - rush the monster. It's pushed to the ground, caught off guard. It's too late for the one who pulled you to your feet - the first of your many saviors. They are torn almost to pieces, and you can't tell if the writhing is the life leaving their body of the corruptive forces of the mist entering it.
You hope, for their sake, it's the former.
You have to keep moving - anywhere but here. More beasts move within the mists, hunting the ones who wisely left you behind. You stumble back and into an alleyway, away from the carnage, away from the dying cries of the brave fool.
It's a few heart pounding moments before you realize...
<p.big.fadeInSlow>You're alone--</p>
<%
s.choices = [];
s.choices[0] = util.choice('Wake Up', 'Credits');
%><%
var displayedContent = "";
for (var i = 0; i <= s.continueLevel; i++) {
if (i == s.continueLevel) {
if (s.content[i].classList.length == 0) {
s.content[i].classList.add('fadeIn');
}
} else {
util.animations.forEach(function(element){
s.content[i].classList.remove(element);
});
}
displayedContent += s.content[i].outerHTML;
}
%>
<div#narrative><%= displayedContent %></div><%
$('.header').html('Another Night With The Party</br>by BanesBloom');
%>
You tap your boots to clear off the muck and swing open the tavern door. The party always draws straws to choose who stables the horses and you lost, so your companions are already inside.
The warmth of the tavern washes over you and you let out a sigh of relief. It’s lively tonight, with patrons shouting, singing and arguing.
It takes a moment to pick out your party members, but as you expected, they’ve each been busy in their own way.
<%
s.choices[0] = util.choice("Sera, your fighter, is red in the face and shouting at another patron at the bar. It looks like she could use some help.", 'Sera', true);
s.choices[1] = util.choice("Fennec, the rogue, is skulking around the table of merchants in the back. You’ve witnessed this scene enough to know what’s going on.", 'Fennec', true);
s.choices[2] = util.choice("Arden, the party’s cleric, is consoling a woman in one of the booths. This always seems to happen to him...", 'Arden', true);
%><%
s.route = 'Sera';
%>
“No one talks about my father like that, you understand me?!” she roars.
The burly man steps closer, squaring his shoulders.
“And what’re you gonna do about it?”
He’s drunk and clearly looking for a fight. Sera’s usually calmer, but she always sees red when someone insults her father.
You already know what to do.
<%
s.choices[0] = util.choice("Throw the first punch.", 'Sera - Backup');
s.choices[1] = util.choice("Try to talk them down.", 'Sera - Diplomacy');
%><%
s.route = 'Fennec';
%>
You’re already moving, a plan forming in your mind. You swipe a tankard off the bar and adopt an exaggerated stumble.
Fennec sees you coming and suppresses a laugh.
<%
s.choices[0] = util.choice("Distract the merchants.", 'Fennec - Distract');
s.choices[1] = util.choice("Thwart Fennec's plan.", 'Fennec - Thwart');
%><%
s.route = 'Arden';
%>
You hear her cries long before you reach their table.
“And then... *He ate the plums I was saving for breakfast!*”
“That was very inconsiderate of him.”
<%
s.choices[0] = util.choice("Offer some kind words.", 'Arden - Kind');
s.choices[1] = util.choice("Give her some callous advice.", 'Arden - Callous');
%>
<%
var sCom = "Sera’s argument seems to have devolved into a full-blown brawl";
var fCom = "Fennec appears to have been caught relieving the merchants of their coin";
var aCom = "Arden's conversation partner wails loudly into her tankard";
var commotion = "";
switch(s.route){
case 'Sera':
commotion = fCom + " and " + aCom + ".";
break;
case 'Fennec':
commotion = sCom + " and " + aCom + ".";
break;
case 'Arden':
commotion = sCom + " and " + fCom + ".";
break;
}
%>
Across the tavern, completely separate from the situation you’ve found yourself in, a commotion erupts. <%= commotion %>
<%= s.route %> catches your eye and <% if (s.route == 'Sera') { %>laughs.<% } if (s.route == 'Fennec') { %>smirks.<% } if (s.route == 'Arden') { %>sighs. <% } %>
“Just another night with the party.”
<%
s.choices[0] = util.choice("Continue", "Credits");
%>You wind up an arm, and...
<p.big.crash>SLAM</p>
Sera’s eyes light up as the drunk crumples onto the bartop.
<%
s.choices[0] = util.choice("Continue", 'Ending');
%>You approach and place your hand on Sera’s shoulder. She adopts a sheepish expression.
As you open your mouth to speak, you are distracted.
<%
s.choices[0] = util.choice("Continue", 'Ending');
%>A fake fall, some spilled ale, and soon you’re dabbing at the tunic of a merchant and babbling apologies.
After the merchants shoo you away, Fennec sidles up beside you, a pouch in their hands.
<%
s.choices[0] = util.choice("Continue", 'Ending');
%>“Fennec!” You shout happily, drawing the attention of the merchants. “You really saved me during that last quest, lemme buy you a drink!”
Fennec rolls their eyes and gives you a long-suffering smile.
“Yeah, yeah. Make it two and we’re even.”
<%
s.choices[0] = util.choice("Continue", 'Ending');
%>“I know how you feel — Fennec steals my snacks all the time,” you say, the empathy bringing a small smile to her face.
Arden gives you a tired but thankful look.
<%
s.choices[0] = util.choice("Continue", 'Ending');
%>You go to speak, but Arden’s signature warning look makes you reconsider.
<%
s.choices[0] = util.choice("Continue", 'Ending');
%><%
util.renderChoices([util.choice("Play", "A Night With The Party")]);
%>
<div.title>
<p.big>Another Night With The Party</p>
Written & Programmed By BanesBloom
</div>