Last Action

Tarah nods and closes her hand around the darkmold. "Well, I don't guarantee a magic healing potion but at the very least you shall have something to deal with any minor scrapes or wounds on your travels." She exits the room, and you soon hear dishware clattering about as the table is set. The smell of cooked meat wafts in through the open doorway and you realize for the first time since waking up how hungry you really are. Mixed in with the smell of food however is a hint of cool, crisp outside air. You hear a heavy door slam shut.

[font="Courier New"]Leave the room————–73—-|||||||||||||||||||—40.7%<br> Leave room and go outside—70—-||||||||||||||||||—-39.1%<br> Lie back down—————36—-|||||||||————-20.1%<br> <br> Total Votes: 179<br><br><span style=font-weight:bold;>Backstory</span><br><br> You are a traveler. Orphaned at a young age, you have survived on your own throughout your early years hopping from village to village and learning to live off the land. You began hearing stories from other travelers of a great civilization far off beyond the tall mountains. No one from there was willing or able to give you details - all they could remember was that it was grand and amazing. Curious, and with nothing to tie you to this land, you have set out to find this place. After crossing the mountains and a substantial desert on the other side, you have once again reached fertile land. You made camp beneath the trees for the first time in many weeks, but when you awoke again, you find yourself in a house with no memory of having traveled there.<br><br><span style=font-weight:bold;>Inventory</span><br><br><span style=font-weight:bold;>Empty</span><br><br><span style=font-weight:bold;>Codex</span><br><br><ul><li>someone named &quot;Ashwyn&quot; appears to be a powerful… person?<li>you are in some region of the land know as the &quot;hinterlands&quot;, east of a river known as the &quot;Feora&quot;</ol><br><span style=font-weight:bold;>Story Log</span><br><br> You wake up. The room is dark. Where are you? How did you get here? You see light beneath a door and hear voices in the next room speaking softly.<br><span style=font-weight:bold;>&gt; <a href='"http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=586553"'>Sneak up to the door and listen</a></span><br><br> You get up and sneak over to the door. It is thick and wooden. Little sound gets through, but you hear a man and woman talking about someone named &quot;Ashwyn&quot;. They sound fearful.<br><span style=font-weight:bold;>&gt; <a href='"http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=586825"'>Search the room</a></span><br><br> With your eyes now adjusted to the dark, you carefully work your way around the room. The bed is a simple feather mattress on wood slats. Some empty shelves are on one wall, covered in dust. A low table resides in the corner. There are no windows. Your nose picks up a peculiar smell that leads you towards a blank wall, but as you get closer you see fungus growing on it. You scrape it off and put it in your pocket.<br><span style=font-weight:bold;>&gt; <a href='"http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=587221"'>Look for a way out</a></span><br><br> You peer closely at the wall, wondering if perhaps the fungus meant there was a seam or doorway built there. Before you can complete your examination however you realize the conversation in the next room has stopped and footsteps approach the door. Before you can even decide what to do it swings open, flooding the room with light. As your eyes readjust, the voice of a woman speaks: &quot;Oh good, you&#39;re awake&#33;&quot;<br><span style=font-weight:bold;>&gt; <a href='"http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=587485"'>&quot;Where am I? How did I get here?&quot;</a></span><br><br> &quot;you&#39;re out in the hinterlands east of the Feora River, we run a small farm here,&quot; says the woman. You see she is short and lean of frame, wiry muscles beneath her shirt and slacks show she is no simple kitchen maiden. &quot;We discovered you unconscious in your camp - we saw your cooking fire smoke run up for two days straight and feared the bush afire.&quot; She steps into the room and a man follows, medium height with a dark beard and piercing eyes. &quot;My husband carried you back here.&quot; The man gives you a nod but otherwise remains silent, his stare seems off-putting.<br><span style=font-weight:bold;>&gt; <a href='"http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=587817"'>&quot;How long have I been asleep?&quot;</a></span><br><br> The man speaks up, his voice smooth and melodious instead of gruff and coarse as you expected. &quot;You&#39;ve laid here in bed for five cycles of the sun - how long you had been asleep when we first found you, we cannot guess.&quot; He looks you up and down, though his voice is gentle his stare continues to be intense. &quot;Are you fit? Can you travel?&quot;<br><span style=font-weight:bold;>&gt; <a href='"http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=588148"'>&quot;I am fine, but who are you two?&quot;</a></span><br><br> The man and woman look at each other, as if just realizing they haven&#39;t introduced themselves, or silently debating whether they even should. Then the woman turns to you and smiles, though her husband&#39;s face remains impassive. &quot;How rude of us. My name is Tarah,&quot; she gives you a small curtsy you assume to be traditional and gestures back to the man. &quot;This is my husband and owner of this land, Voryn.&quot; The man, Voryn, nods as he crosses his arms and leans against the jamb. &quot;Before we are fully introduced, &quot;he says, &quot;we must also know your name.&quot;<br><span style=font-weight:bold;>&gt; <a href='"http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=588481"'>&quot;I&#39;m… I&#39;m having trouble remembering…&quot;</a></span><br><br> &quot;Indeed? You must still be affected by whatever put you under for so long. Please, our house is yours while you recover,&quot; says Tarah. Still smiling, she turns to head back out of the room. &quot;I was just about to put supper on the table,&quot; she calls back as she disappears, &quot;you are welcome to join us.&quot; Voryn lingers a moment longer, his gaze still upon you. You can see suspicion in his eyes and your mind claws for a name to give him, but what should be easily recalled seems lost forever. Finally Voryn grunts and turns to exit the room.<br><span style=font-weight:bold;>&gt; <a href='"http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=588684"'>Inspect strange fungus</a></span><br><br> You walk back over to the bed, carefully pulling the fungus you scraped off the wall earlier out of your pocket. Tarah comes back in carrying a small lamp, which she places on the low table to light the room. As she turns to leave her eye catches the fungus you are turning over in your hand. &quot;Oh&#33; I see you&#39;ve found some darkmold.&quot; She holds out her hand and you gently place the brown, crumbly plant into it. &quot;It grows best in dark, dry places. We hardly use this room, not many guests come by.&quot; Her expression turns thoughtful. &quot;You know, this can be brewed into a fairly potent healing poultice - I&#39;m not well-practiced in herbal arts but I&#39;m sure I could make it mildly effective…?&quot;<br><span style=font-weight:bold;>&gt; <a href='"http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=588881"'>&quot;Sure, thank you.&quot;</a></span>

Wow that was a close vote! So close, in fact that I was worried when I was writing the next turn. I can't "close" a poll until I post up a new one, so when I decide a poll is over (whenever I have time to write the next turn) I check the results, pen the new poll (I monitor results and brainstorm ideas during a turn so it's not all spur-of-the-moment) and then post it, which closes out the previous one. Now, when there is a clear leader in the polls there's no problem, but here it was so close I was worried that by the time I finished prepping the new poll, the results would change!! Luckily tho there was another vote while I was writing it was for "Leave the room".

I've also decided to cap the Story Log to the ten most recent turns, and include a link to the thread with the 11th most recent turn if people need to continue to page further back.

I'm also wondering if the total votership will go up now that there are more options? I think some people may check results before voting, see there option is winning or losing so bad there's no hope.