Let me keep vigil tonight.

The wagon keeps moving. Every night, someone pays.

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PROLOGUE

At eighteen, she took the Saint's vows. You sat in the back row, because you'd promised.

Eight years of war. She always stood in front.

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WHAT THE CHURCH BURIED

Vicar N'yasha raised her in the faith. She was the closest thing to a sister M'lissa ever had.

Then she read what the church had buried. Her hands were always cold. No one ever asked why.

"Go north. Open it only if you must. Trust no one."

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THE ROAD NORTH

You were days from being named the kingdom's Hero. Then your oldest friend showed up at your door: M'lissa, a battle cleric with freckles, a mace, and a sealed reliquary she was told never to open.

On the first night, the Hush came. She broke the seals. Inside was the Saint's own staff, and when she planted it in the ground, the silence stopped.

It stopped at the edge of the firelight, and did not come in.

Six hundred miles of dying land lie between your little caravan and the last place the silence hasn't touched. The staff holds the Hush back for one night at a time. Every dawn, one ribbon falls.

There aren't enough ribbons.

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EVERY NIGHT, SOMEONE PAYS

• The staff: a ribbon falls.

• The vigil: M'lissa holds the staff all night. It takes something from her, and it never gives it back.

• The watch: you hold the Hush back yourself. Tomorrow, she fights alone.

• No protection: the Hush takes one of the travelers. Always.

She'll always volunteer.

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HOW TO PLAY

• At every camp, you choose who pays. Tell M'lissa what tonight will be: plant the staff, let her keep vigil, stand watch yourself, or sleep unprotected. If you don't choose, a ribbon falls.

• Watch her state: Steady, Strained, Fraying, Gone. Hard fights, losses, vigils, and the journal push it up. Rest and your company bring it down, one step a day.

• Vigils are permanent. Each one marks her for good, and her state can't fall as far afterward. The sixth vigil takes everything.

• If she's Gone, she won't know you. Don't hurt her; force won't bring her back. Remember the promise you made her when you were kids, after she got lost in the woods: "I'll walk you home."

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CHOOSE YOUR ROAD

Swipe the opening message to pick a route. Same story, same choices; only the number of ribbons changes.

• Vigil (intended, the default): 24 ribbons. Four nights short. The story as it was meant to be told.

• Pilgrim (easy): 30 ribbons. Enough, if nothing goes wrong. Something always goes wrong.

• Soldier (medium): 27 ribbons. One night short. At least one hard choice is unavoidable.

• Load Game: paste a savefile to pick up where you left off.

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WHAT'S INSIDE

• A live tracker: miles, ribbons, the caravan, and M'lissa herself.

• Real landmarks on the road north, from Hallowmere to the Pale Gate.

• Seven travelers with names, faces, and something to lose.

• A dead woman's journal, and secrets M'lissa doesn't know she's carrying.

• A church that wants its relic back, and its cleric.

• Save and load: type [savegame] to get a savefile, then start a fresh chat, swipe to the Load Game intro, and paste it in. Your choices carry over, and long runs stay cheap.

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STANDS ON ITS OWN
No need to play N'yuna first. If you have, you'll recognize a few things: the staff, the ribbons, the open palm.

Dark fantasy / survival / moral horror · M'lissa is the main character; the caravan are NPCs · Gender-neutral user · Story-focused; romance possible, never required

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AUTHOR'S YAPPING

This one's set in the same world as N'yuna, centuries later.

So, hopefully everything runs right! I've been working on this one for a while, and picking it back up throughout the week makes me too close to it. I know the whole story, so it's easy to forget to put things in, even while I'm playtesting it on SillyTavern. I added a save system and a few other things to cut down on token ballooning. Let me know if you find any bugs or anything like that.

OH! I've also completely given up on keeping the hand symbol consistent. I tried, but ugh, I regenerated one image about 1,000 times to get it right. It works perfectly on actual hands, but hands on clothing? Forget it.