(set: $allegiance to 10)
(display: "Introduction")
Strangers cannot travel unobserved along the ancients paths of Si. They feel eyes from behind the sentinel trees. They hear footsteps in the mists that rise up from the sea.
You are not a stranger. You were born here, no matter that now you wear a Rider’s cloak for the Empire of Erindor and it has been half a score of cycles since last you walked these roads. But you feel eyes on you nonetheless. You hear the footsteps of hidden watchers.
[[The road south]]
Yet your destination is no secret. You are headed for the ritual of the blooming of the Fire Tree of Si. No one but a native is permitted near the tree during the fire ritual, but although you wear the garb of a foreigner, this is the land where you were born.
You look down and realize that your hand has strayed to the pocket of your cloak.
What are you reaching for?
[[The basswood figurine your little brother played with the night before he drowned. ->Basswood]]
[[The parchment on which you penned your request to join the Guardians of Si. ->Parchment]]
[[Your pocket is empty. ->Empty]]
(set: $motivation to 1)
(set:$allegiance = $allegiance - 1)
Your fingers brush the polished wood concealed within your pocket. Seven cycles have passed since you watched your brother fight against the waves of the Sea of Mists. But you can still feel the soreness of your arms as you struggled against the water’s churn to reach him. You can still see his final gasp for breath before he sank the final time.
[[Galendra's Hill]]
(set: $motivation to 2)
(set:$allegiance = $allegiance - 1)
You must have spent half your childhood watching the Guardians when they came back from patrol. You copied their confident walk and archaic phrases and practiced them in games with your friends. You spent months writing and rewriting your request to join before your interview. And then your brother died and your mom got sick and when you were ready again their complement was full and your window had passed. That’s when you first started thinking about leaving Si.
[[Galendra's Hill]]
(set: $motivation to 3)
You are coming back to Si carrying as little as you left with. You think back to the night you made up your mind to leave.
What prompted your decision? How often have you reflected on it in the cycles since?
[[Galendra's Hill]]
You realize you are already near the base of [[Galendra]]’s Hill. A crowd has begun to throng the rocky slope, and the first bonfires are being lit against the dusk. When the tree ignites, it will wash out their light like starlight is erased by the sun. The tree has bloomed once in your memory, and you can still recall its searing beauty.
The tree is anchored by stout roots to the hillside one third of the way down from the summit. Its trunk is mighty, its bark gnarled and tough, its roots twisted and knotted about its base like arthritic legs. The tree's branches stretch like arms with fingers splayed, and suspended by those groping fingers taut crimson buds glow with heat and swell as though they are about to burst.
[[You came to the tree as a supplicant the night before you departed to Erindor. ->Supplicant]]
[[You have not visited the tree since its last blooming when you were a child. ->Observer]]
(set:$allegiance = $allegiance - 1)
Like the many others who came before and after you, you stole to the base of the flame tree late at night, when you were least likely to be seen and no one could guess at your loss. You spent the darkest hours shivering as the ground’s chill seeped into your legs.
(if: $motivation is 1)[ You spoke out loud, but with the volume of a whisper, about the morning you watched your brother drown. You were not certain at the time whether you spoke to yourself or the tree. But when you rose several hours later you were certain you saw a new pale bud emerging from the branch above you. ]
(if: $motivation is 2)[ You spoke out loud, but with the volume of a whisper, about the life in Si you no longer expected to lead. You were not certain at the time whether you spoke to yourself or the tree. But when you rose several hours later you were certain you saw a new pale bud emerging from the branch above you. ]
(if: $motivation is 3)[ You spoke out loud, but with the volume of a whisper, about your plan to leave. You were not certain at the time whether you spoke to yourself or the tree. But when you rose several hours later you were certain you saw a new pale bud emerging from the branch above you. ]
(if: $galendra is 1)[ [[Conceal yourself]]
[[Approach the crowd->The Guardian]] ]
(else:)[ [[Approach the crowd->The Guardian]] ]
Even when you resided here you avoided the Fire Tree. According to legend there had once been flame trees throughout the land, but most were destroyed when humans drove out the Dae during the Binding.
It is said that the flame trees were once men and women, twisted by the Dae and rooted to the ground to mark and divide the land, and they retain vestigial powers from their creators.
(if: $galendra is 1)[ [[Conceal yourself]]
[[Approach the crowd->The Guardian]] ]
(else:)[ [[Approach the crowd->The Guardian]] ]
(set: $galendra to 1)
According to legend Queen Galendra, the founder of Erindor, stood at the hill’s summit at the end of her reign as she surveyed the ships that would take her away from the Morning Lands and into the uncharted west. She was the first and last of Erindor’s rulers to set foot in the land of Si.
[[Galendra's Hill]]
The sharp head of a blade staff swings down and blocks your way. The large man wielding the weapon is dressed in hardened Guardian leather. He stares at you with a calculating, predatory confidence. “A Rider of Aliahna,” he observes. “This celebration is reserved for the people of Si. What is your purpose here, Erindoran?”
[[“I am from Si.” ->X1]]
[[“I am here on behalf of Emperor Maciej of Erindor.” ->X2]]
[[“Out of my way, Guardian.” ->X3]]
[[“It looks like I took the wrong turn.” ->X4]]
(if: $motivation is 2)[ [["I know you. You’re Kalen.” ->X5]]]
The road you are on is called Galendra’s Highway, but the original path she took is now a trail that leads through a copse of long-limbed sentinel trees. You step into the grove and see that a Guardian of Si is standing behind one of the larger trunks, clutching his staff and scanning the highway.
[[Return to the highway and pass the Guardian ->The Guardian]]
[[Hike up through the trees toward the crowd on the slope ->Hike]]
(set:$allegiance = $allegiance - 1)
(set: $galendra to 2)
The Guardian holds your gaze. Then he says, “I recognize you. Your brother is the one who drowned.” He rebalances his staff and for a moment you think he is going to attack you anyway. “Some people would call you a traitor for returning in the empire’s cloak.”
Then something changes in the Guardian's eyes, the result of some swift calculation. He lowers the staff. With his other hand he rubs the wedding bracelet on his right wrist. His jaw juts out, as if he has just committed to some decision. Then he steps to let you pass.
(if: $motivation is 2)[ [[Try again to speak to Kalen ->Walk on]]
[[Walk on ->The Crowd]] ]
(else:)[ [[The Crowd]]]
(set: $galendra to 2)
The Guardian continues to stare. Abruptly he says, “I remember you. Your parents live in Sithan. You had a brother.” He rebalances his staff and for a moment you think he is going to attack you anyway. “Some people would call you a traitor for returning in the empire’s cloak.”
Then something changes in the Guardian’s eyes. He juts out his chin, as if he has just committed to an important decision, and lowers his staff. With his other hand he rubs the wedding bracelet on his right wrist. Without another word he steps aside and lets you pass.
(if: $motivation is 2)[ [[Try again to speak to Kalen ->Walk on]]
[[Walk on ->The Crowd]] ]
(else:)[ [[The Crowd]]]
The Guardian eyes you as he rebalances his staff. “Too bad. I could have used you.” He lunges.
[[Defend yourself ->"Attack"]]
“Depart now,” the Guardian says, “and there will be no need for violence.”
He stands in front of you, barring the way with his blade staff. You turn your back to him and the Fire Tree and begin the trek back—to Erindor, to home.
[[Restart?|init]]
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(set:$allegiance = $allegiance - 1)
The Guardian looks startled. Then he regards you more closely. You meet his gaze.
(display: "X2")
People of all ages from across the Sovereignty of Si are congregating on the hillside. Most are here for the event and spectacle, or perhaps the camaraderie, but many of them clutch small objects or keep their hands over their bags or pockets. These are the supplicants with their mementoes for the fire.
The gathering darkness washes away color and makes it difficult to recognize people farther than a few lengths away, but as you move through the crowd you catch familiar voices. Voices you haven’t heard since your departure to Erindor. You pause, tempted to turn and find the speakers. But you know that any delay is only going to make it harder to fulfill your mission to destroy the Fire Tree of Si.
[[Stop to speak ->Comrades]]
[[Continue up the slope ->Ascent]]
(if: (either: 0, 1) is 0)[ The Guardian is large but moves quickly. You slide your sword from its scabbard as he closes in, but he strikes your blade with a blow that sends the hilt flying from your grip. Your weapon hits the ground. The Guardian spins his staff for another strike.
You step back, defenseless. “You’ve proven your point.” You hold up your hands. “I’ll leave Si.”
[[Departure ->X4]] ]
(else:)[ You sweep your blade from its scabbard and parry the Guardian’s blow. He steps back warily. Then he regards you as if seeing you for the first time.
[[Recognition ->X2]] ]
When you emerge from the copse you find yourself staring directly up the hillside at the Fire Tree. It appears brighter, more defined, more real than the stone and clay around it. It is the only living remnant of the power that forged everything else you can see—and a reminder that here in Si, the old laws still rule.
[[Proceed through the gathering crowd ->The Crowd]]
(if: $motivation is 1)[ [[Stop to look down at the sea ->Sea of Mists]]]
(set:$allegiance = $allegiance - 1)
You spend a long moment watching the far water throw itself against the shore, again and again, until the sea disappears into gloaming dark. Your fingers find the basswood horse in your pocket.
He is gone. The past is gone. You turn back toward the tree.
[[The Crowd]]
(set:$allegiance = $allegiance - 1)
(if: $motivation is 1)[ You find a group of your brother’s friends standing around a bonfire. They are surprised but excited to see you and warmly encourage you to join them. You stay long enough to share one of their drinks, and as you listen to your brother’s former peers share village gossip and talk about farming and fishing and building, you can imagine what his life might have been like had he lived.
You spend a few more minutes with the group and then move on. ]
(if: $motivation is 2)[ You find a group of your former training partners standing near one of the bonfires. “You made it!” one of the young women exclaims after you’ve exchanged greetings.
“Not really,” you respond. “I never became a Guardian.”
“You’re a Rider of Aliahna. You made it.”
The longer the conversation lasts the more uncomfortable you grow. You try to turn yourself so that your face is no longer lit by the fire. You know that what you’re about to do will be seen as a betrayal by all these former friends, and drawing attention from the Guardians and their contacts is only increasing your danger. You can easily imagine a life in which you remained here, surrounded by comrades, guarding Si from its enemies. Like the one you’ve become.
But none of those thoughts will help you now. You seize the first opportunity you can to say farewell and move on. ]
(if: $motivation is 3)[ You find friends of your parents standing near one of the bonfires. They immediately greet you with embraces and clasped hands and are soon bombarding you with questions about Erindor. While you answer you try to feel out how your parents are doing, until one of the women asks, “Have you visited them yet?”
You’re not sure how to respond. You have not seen them on this journey, and you have no plans to do so, because you don’t want to implicate them in what you came to do. The question reinforces the fact that you shouldn’t be standing here. You mumble a goodbye without directly answering the woman and hurry on. ]
[[Ascent]]
Galendra’s Hill overlooks the fishing village of Sithan, with its stout wooden houses and sturdy plank roads. Now the village below you is merely a silhouette against the dark expanse of sky and sea. Trees clothed in shadow forest the hills around you, but here the rocky slope is kept clear of vegetation by villagers to prevent the flames of the Fire Tree from spreading.
As you approach the tree your feet feel heavier. You have your orders. You agreed to this mission. But you know that once you go through with this you will never be able to return to Si again, if you are even able to leave this hillside alive.
You push through the thickest part of the crowd and find yourself in front of the Fire Tree.
[[The Fire Tree]]
(if: $motivation is 3)[ [[Consider your options before you proceed ->Hesitation]] ]
As you approach the tree you overhear a woman telling her children, “When the flames bloom you’ll need to keep your distance and hold my hand. They’ll burn away anything you put in them, anything at all.”
When you reach the massive trunk you place your palm against the grooved bark. It feels as solid as stone. Heat from deep within the plant radiates through your skin. Above you the blossoms glow like fireflies trapped in silk cocoons.
Then, as you watch, one after another, the petals unfold and each blossom reveals a single twisting tongue of flame. Whispers spread through the crowd. The supplicants converge, unfolding closed fingers and reaching into bags and pockets, revealing their offerings.
(if: $galendra is 2)[ [[The flames ->Bloom]] ]
(else:)[ [[The tree’s defender emerges ->Defend]] ]
(set:$allegiance = $allegiance - 1)
Now that you are this close to the tree, Erindor and its claims seem far away. It is hard to imagine that this living artifact can or should be destroyed. It is hard to imagine that you would be the one to do it. You breathe in the mingled scents of sea and forest, the smells of your childhood.
Then the gleam of armor through the crowd catches your eye. It’s too dark to be certain, but for an instant you think you catch a glimpse of the same Guardian who was at the base of the hill.
[[Proceed to the tree ->The Fire Tree]]
(if: $allegiance < 7)[[[Abandon your mission ->Abandon]]]
You will not destroy the tree. And if you’re not going to destroy the tree, you can’t return to Erindor. This is your home again. You belong once more to Si.
There are gasps all around you. You turn to look at the tree. Along its many limbs blossoms are opening and unfurling slender curls of flame.
You watch as supplicants form lines. Each carries something. Each has an offering.
You continue to watch for a few moments, and then you pull off your cloak and join one of the lines.
[[Restart?|init]]
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(set:$allegiance = $allegiance - 1)
Kalen ignores you. You shrug and walk on.
As you leave you think, "If I hadn't left I would be the one defending the tree against people like me."
[[The Crowd]]
The woman you overheard was right: the Fire Tree consumes any object placed in its flames. But the object is not all that’s lost. As the days pass memories of the object and the events it played a role in disappear as well, dissolving like mist in sunlight from the minds of everyone who was touched by or interacted with it.
That is why the emperor gave you the task of destroying the tree. Si shelters plotters against the empire, and tonight they can destroy not only the evidence of their crimes but the memory that it even existed.
[[Destroy the tree]]
(if: $allegiance < 7)[[[Leave without destroying the tree ->Depart]]]
(if: $allegiance < 6)[[[Offer up the object you brought with you ->Offering]]]
(if: $motivation is 2)[ Kalen steps out of the shadows. ]
(else:)[ The Guardian you saw at the base of the hill steps out of the shadows. ]
Firelight glints on the edge of his blade staff. His eyes are black pools. “I know why your emperor sent you,” he tells you. “I won’t let you destroy the Fire Tree. Turn around now, and you can go.”
[[Depart]]
[[Face the Guardian]]
You turn your back to the tree and press through the crowd. The murmurs of the supplicants fade behind you.
For the briefest of moments your hand moves toward your pocket, but then you let it fall. Whatever pushed you away, it has no hold on you now. The past is past.
As you walk you shrug out of your cloak. You cannot destroy the Fire Tree. And if you’re not going to destroy the tree, you can’t return to Erindor. This is your home again. You belong once more to Si.
[[Restart?|init]]
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(set: $galendra to 3)
The Guardian’s blade flashes as it slices the air. You parry with your Rider’s sword. Supplicants scramble out of the way as steel clashes on steel.
The two of you circle and your blades clang again. This time the Guardian leans forward. “The tree must be destroyed,” he hisses. “It makes it too easy to forget. Si will never be as strong as Erindor as long as we keep losing our memories.”
You separate and circle and lunge again. When your blades hit the Guardian whispers, just loudly enough for you to hear, “I can’t destroy the tree myself. But I can let you fulfill your mission.”
[[Press the attack]]
[[Destroy the tree]]
(set:$allegiance = $allegiance + 1)
(if: (either: 0, 1) is 0)[ The Guardian is too swift for you. The last sight you see is his swinging blade.
[[Restart?|init]]
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]
(else:)[ Your next blow strikes the Guardian’s staff from his hand. You kick it away and turn back to the tree.
[[Bloom]] ]
You stretch up and grasp one of the higher branches. You wrench it down with all your might and let its flames swirl against a lower branches’ blooms. The dancing flames burn yellow and orange. With your other hand you pull down another branch. The flames glow white and start to spread across the bark. You step back and the branches spring back into place, but the bark continues to burn.
You hear outraged shouts as the crowd surges toward you. You back up the hill—and then the tree explodes. You hear a massive crack as the trunk splits. You’re battered by a wave of heat even as you dive to the rocky ground.
When you lift yourself back up the broken tree is clothed in flame. The crowd, the former supplicants and observers, are backing away into darkness. The only person whose face you can still make out is the Guardian’s.
(if: $galendra is 3)[ The Guardian watches you for a moment, and then turns away. ]
(else:)[ The Guardian touches the wedding bracelet on his wrist, as if reassuring himself that it’s still there, a memory that won’t be lost. Then he turns away. ]
[[Erindor]]
(if: $motivation is 1)[ You touch the basswood horse to one of the flames and it ignites. For an instant you see your brother, beautiful and limned with fire. Then the figurine vanishes in a burst of swiftly burning light and you pull back your singed fingers. ]
(if: $motivation is 2)[ You touch the parchment to one of the flames and it ignites. For an instant you see your younger self, adjusting your leather armor in the metal mirror of the village training hall. Then the document vanishes in a burst of swiftly burning light and you pull back your singed fingers. ]
(if: $motivation is 3)[ You have nothing to give the flames, except perhaps for memories. ]
[[Destroy the tree]]
[[Leave the tree intact]]
You hike away from Galendra’s Hill, east and then north. Away from Si and your past. You pull your cloak around you. You head for home.
[[Restart?|init]]
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You stare at the tree a moment longer. Then you pull off your cloak. It has no authority here, and now that you’ve abandoned your mission you can’t return with it to Erindor. Perhaps you place it in the flames. Perhaps not. You can sense the Guardian watching you, but you don’t spare him another glance.
Strangers cannot travel unobserved along the ancients paths of Si. But you are not a stranger. You were born here, beneath the sentinel trees, beside the sea. It has been half a score of cycles since last you walked these roads. But now you turn back in the direction of your parents’ village and descend the hill. Perhaps you already regret what you’ve given up. Perhaps you are only grateful to be returning home.
[[Restart?|init]]
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