You are Odysseus, adventurer and Ancient Greek hero, returning from the events of the Trojan War, aspiring to one day live to tell the tale of your wanderings and become immortalised in text and lyric.
You must choose your actions and pathways in response to various situations and experiences, with each action yielding different consequences and to your survival or death.
[[Begin->Unknown Sea]]
You've been out at sea for weeks. Since you left Ismaros, you feel that the fortune and favour of the gods has not been on your side. You watch on, as the unyielding gusts of wind torment both the sea and the flimsy wood of the ship, slicing through the water, thrashing against the hull like whiplash. You don't know where the winds are going to take you, but to fight against the fury of Zeus is to court death.
The men scramble along the slippery decks, barely clutching to splintered wood or fraying ropes. The waves of the ocean themselves seemed to have a vengeance against us, barely being held from the deck by the hull, the cold stormwater viciously spraying over the railings and sweeping men off their feet and into Poseidon's domain.
You can barely feel anything in the numbing cold, and the wails of the crew are lost in the screeching winds, but you can make out their desperate pleas as what is left of your crew clutches onto the thrashing ship. The storm shows no signs of calming or mercy, and the ship itself is cracking under the storm's wrath. You have to make a decision.
[[Fight the Winds->Unknown Sea II]]
[[Stay on Course->Calming Waters]]You decide that the only chance of survival is to try and desperately divert yourself off the course that the wrath of Zeus has put you on. It is unlikely to successfully cheat the gods, but you decide there is no other way.
You launch yourself from the railings and grab hold of as many ropes as you can, wrestling them towards you to force your course Westward, against the assailing winds. The woods groan against the distorted waters that adamantly push the boards of the hull against the push of the sails.
The storm is getting worse. Lightning rains from cracks in the sinister sky, Zeus' wrath heaving down from Olympus. The storm looks to be only getting worse, and the wrath of the gods even more so.
[[Stay on Course->Hurricane]]You tighten your grip on the railings, steel yourself, and shout to those yet to be thrown off to hold on. You barely manage to weather the storm, but respite eventually comes, as the sun began to break through cracks in the grey clouds, and land begins to manifest in the distant horizon. This is not your desired destination, Ithaca, but you know that Zeus' violent winds have sent you here for a reason.
What remains of your crew, now disheartened, battered and scarred, mutter among themselves suspiciously, wondering what lies ahead for them in this unknown island. You are not sure yourself, but you know that the battered and warped hull of your ship will likely not survive another long trip through the cruel domain of the gods, even if it displeases the crew that the final destination of your travels will have to wait.
[[Dock->Island Dock]]
Flinging from the ropes and barely clinging onto the slippery deck, you watch on helplessly as the sails begin to rip and the boat begins to tilt at the sheer power of the winds. You look to the sky, and see that the storm has become a hurricane.
You look around, and you see a ghost ship. Your feet begin to feel heavy and like they are sinking, and with a pained creak of wood, the deck gives out underneath you, wood impaling you from a multitude of directions as you dive through the debris of the cavernous breakage of the hull, with water only metres from your reach.
The last thing you do is stare into the storm's eye, as you plunge into the dark depths of the sea.
You dock at the Island, and what remains of your crew are greeted by a friendly looking man, in front of a populated city. He greets you enthusiastically, and offers to help you repair and resupply, while offering their hospitality in the meantime.
Your crew, desperate for reprieve from the austere and dangerous seafaring lifestyle, are immediately on board with this idea, but you are adamant on setting off to Ithaca as soon as possible. You tell your crew that you get the impression there is something reticent beyond this hospitality, but your crew disagrees. You also ask your most loyal men quietly if they will stay and guard the ship with you at night, with some reluctantly agreeing.
[[Decide to Stay->City Outskirts]]
[[Send some men into the City->Morning Dock]]
[[Resupply and Leave->Night Dock]]You follow the friendly stranger out of the docks, and into the outskirts of the dock, where he tells you that he will lead you to his house in the city, while your ship is repaired and resupplied. Your immediate concerns are for your unguarded ship, whether it be theft of the ship or the belongings within it.
You feel that the ship should be guarded by some of the crew, while the most exhausted rest and eat, but you are uncertain about the reaction and current loyalty of your rattled crew.
[[Ask for volunteers for guard duty->Morning Dock]]
[[Say Nothing and continue into the city->Large House]]After informing your crew that you will be resupllying throughout the day and leaving that night, they left, visibly disgruntled but quietly, into the city for food and supplies.
That night, at the dock, you arrived, only to see your ship empty and none of the crew having returned. Mutiny.
[[Search for your Crew->Night City]]
You venture into the city, in the vein hope of finding your crew, and stumble across the man you saw at the docks, some other natives of the island, and your crew, sharing a banquet. He sees you, laughs, and approaches you, while your crew continues to eat and drink without even a cursory glance in your direction.
You walk past him, and begin to berate your crew members, reminding them of their scheduled return to Ithaca, but their faces turn blank and confused, as if you were of foreign language and providence.
You hear the man from the docks begin to speak from behind you. "You see, traveler, these lotuses of our island tend to make foreigners forget completely about their homes and past lives, and become lost in the present."
You realise immediately that without your crew, there is no hope of being able to venture home. You begin to aggressively demand your crew back, but it feels redundant against the triumphant but oddly friendly demeanour of the stranger.
"It's pointless, friend. Why don't you just sit down and have a drink?"The man smiles, and tells you the location of his house "in case you change your mind".
Feeling the fatigue and turmoil of seafaring on your aching body, you and your crew soon set yourselves aboard your ship for a greatly needed night of respite.
The morning sun rises, the sunbeam leaving an illuminating golden sheen on the city. Despite its beauty, you can't help but feel unnerved, as the men you sent into the city are yet to return, and travelling with the few men that stayed behind would be an insurmountably difficult task.
You are left with no choice but to try and track down your lost crew so that you can begin your venture home.
[[Venture into the City->City]]You arrive at the dark-skinned stranger's house, who welcomes you in with open arms.
"I have just realised I am yet to introduce myself formally to you and your men." He says to you, with a welcoming smile. "My name is Kais, and I wish to welcome you to my home."
You feel unsettled by the open and unquestioning friendliness of this man.
However, your crew clearly doesn't, as they do not hesitate to seat themselves and begin to ravish through the foreign banquet, that admittedly appeared to have been made with consummate consideration and culinary skill, despite the food's foreign nature to you. Although you are apprehensive, your stomach rumbles, your lips are chapped, and your mouth is bone dry.
[[Eat the Food->Banquet]]
[[Abstain->Large House II]]You cast aside your instinctive apprehension and eat the food and drink provided to you. It is undeniably delicious, and you shortly find yourself enjoying the dinner with your crew and friendly guest of the city, with the fears of returning home and seafaring slowly subsiding and slipping to the back of your mind.
As you eat and drink more and more, you seem to forget more and more, but you're having even more fun with your crew and guests.
You laugh, and ask Kais of the secret to their excellent food.
"A lotus, native to our land. It imparts phenomenal taste in our food, and it is slightly narcotic - your troubles soon fade away after you eat it."
You feel like you should be horrified, but you feel irreverant. You soon forget about your mission, Troy, and even home. Even if you didn't, why would you want to return, in the ecstasy and paradise of this city?
You and your crew never leave, and you forget about the terrible Trojan War and your home, losing yourself in the ecstasy of the lotuses. You tell your most loyal men beside you to not eat the food or drink until later, suspicious that your food has been poisoned.
Hours pass, and your fear subsides as you observe that your men are completely fine and enjoying themselves in the banquet.
You finally approach one of your crew, and tell him that it's time to return to the ship to prepare to leave on the morrow. He looks back at you with a contemptuous gaze, and monotonously replies "what home?", then turns away and continues to drink and eat as if you had never approached him. You observe the same strange apathy among the rest of your crew at the banquet.
You fear a sinister plot against your crew, and you desperately try to think of what should be done.
[[Force your men back to the ship->Ship]]
[[Try some of the food->Banquet]]You travel into the city, following the rough directions the man at the docks left you to his house.
After a few wrong turns in the sandy, foreign city, you stumble upon the house.
You're immediately met with the sight of most of your crew stumbling around clumsily, in what appeared to be the aftermath of a night of dazed ecstasy in excess. You walk up to Belen, one of your crew, and begin to berate him for allowing the drink to be an obstacle in the way of reaching home, but you are only met with an apathetic gloss in his absent eyes that sheepishly looked upon your own. He choked incomprehensibe sounds, but with a tone indicating even if they were coherent they weren't said with enthusiasm or interest.
You approach other crew members, but all of them seemed to be stuck in a similar kind of apathetic stupor, and appeared to be lacking in any sort of cognizant of your position as their captain. Like dead men walking.
You can't help but feel an unsettling and resonant fear, and your instincts kick in. You need to do something for your men, if you hope to save them and begin your venture home.
[[Force them to follow->Ship]]
[[Wait and try to aid them->House]]You managed to escort most of your sluggish and rambling crew back to the docks throughout the tailend of the night, although you don't doubt that some would have wandered off from the group during the venture.
You return to the ship with most of your men, herding them into the ship's deck, where they all either stumbled about or immediately began cowering on the floor against the morning sun, sheepishly and indifferently, on the harsh splintered deck.
Hours pass, however they eventually regain some meagre control of their bodies and minds, and collectively realise that you are trying to take them away from the Lotus Eaters' island by placing them aboard the ship. You remind them of home and your task to return there, but your crew, with total and genuine apathy, protest that they don't want to leave and don't even know what 'home' is.
Some of your crew begin to haphazardly stumble out of the ship and docks back towards the city, and if you don't act soon, you're bound to lose your crew again, with travel impossible with only the barebones few crew members who didn't banquet with the Lotus people.
[[Trap your Crew->Ship Storage]]
[[Let them Go->Abandoned Docks]]You wait in the house, in the hope that they'll soon grow weary and wish to return to the ship, but the night droned on. Your crew acted as if you weren't even there, and there was no homeland to return to but this banquet hall, although as they ate and drank more, they became further enthralled by the foreign city, guests and surroundings, but also weaker and more exhausted.
If you want to keep your crew and any hope of returning home, you realise that you have little choice but to forcefully remove as many of them as you can, and return them to your ship at the docks.
[[Force them to follow->Ship]]You decide that your only choice is to somehow trap your crew on the ship so they can't go back into the city and be further influenced by whatever sorcery or curse the people there had put them under. You gather your few unaffected crew members and begin devising a plan to tie the rest of your crew up in rope to protect them from wandering out of the ship.
Gathering the plentiful amounts of spare rope in the ship's storage, you and your crew begin restraining your crew with the sandy, rough rope. It was an uncomfortable and undesirable outcome, but you figure such is the price for mutiny. It proved easy and quick to immobilise the crew, given their paralytic state.
You wait nervously for their recovery, passing the time preparing the ship by loading in supplies and making menial repairs until the golden sun set around you.
Your crew finally awoke from their narcotic stupor, with little to no memory of the events of the past day. Knowing that is probably for the best, you set your sights on returning home once again.
[[Leave->Mediterranean Waters]]Deciding that they won't go far in their current state and wanting to avoid conflict, you let them go, and watch as they disperse and disappear into the city.
Night falls, and the ship is prepared to leave for Ithaca, but there are still no signs of your crew in the docks.
You realise that your situation is hopeless. There is no way you'll be able to track down your dispersed crew in the expansive city.
You know that you now might have to spend a while in this city before you can leave, and at this rate, you question whether you'll ever be able to leave at all.You felt relieved to leave behind the city of the Lotus Eaters, having secured your crew from the clutches of sinister magics that undoubtedly warped the minds of many, although you couldn't help but feel a sense of moral validation, in how you had effectively exposed a whited sepulchre, a people hiding behind a facade of friendliness that obscured a sinister truth.
You continued along the calm, warm meditteranean waters for weeks, until you finally caught sight of an island, docking on the island.
[[Explore->Island Bay]]You and your crew leave your moored ship and set foot on the island bay. The island is desolate and seemingly abandoned, but you look across at a nearby adjacent island. It appeared ominous and violent in nature, warped and encased by jagged, eroded rocks that the water violently beat upon, propping up a forest that oversaw the cruel foundations of the island. However, you notice a thin tendril of wispy grey smoke rising gently from the seemingly inhospitable island. Your adventurous spirit and curiosity implore you to embark on a boat and explore the adjacent island, but you also do not wish to risk the safety of your crew in order to satiate this tempting lust for adventure.
[[Embark->Unknown Island]]
[[Prepare to Leave for home->Calm seas]]Your curiosity gets the better of you, as you see the chance to gather more supplies or even leave with treasures and tokens of your adventure.
You stock supplies such as food and weaponry in the event of emergency, and some wine if the inhabitants of the island are civilised and celebratory in nature and culture, and decide to set off with a single boat of your crew, leaving many behind to protect the ship.
After braving the rough, tumbling waves by the rocky island edge, you and your crew leap from the rickety boat and cling onto the jagged rocks. You watch on as the ship immediately crumples under the stress of the rocks and vengeful waves.
You and the crew struggle in your climb up the slippery rock surface, but you eventually manage to all hoist yourselves up to the elevated surface of the island, revealing a flourishing forest, an abundance of bleating sheep scattered along the island, and the same smoke trail from a jagged rock face in the distance.
[[Approach the Cave->Cave]]
[[Attempt to hunt the sheep for food->Unknown Island II]]You decide against exploring the island, deciding that the violent and twisted appearance of the island was enough of a warning against venturing there.
Setting out to sea once more after a few days of rest on the eerily tranquil island, you finally let the sails catch wind, only this time you were destined for home.
You travel for weeks through the sea, and the waters are calm and tranquil. Without much difficulty over the coming months, you see land, and the familiar outline of your home city of Ithaca is within sight.
[[Go Home->Ithaca]]You arrive home, and reassert your position as the rightful King of Ithaca. You tell all your family, friends, and interested subjects of your kingdom of your travels and your experiences in the Trojan War, and at the land of the Lotus Eaters.
You live a long life of happiness, and your rule over Ithaca is long and prosperous. But some nights, this offers you no solitude, as you look upon your decaying and fragile body, and you look out at the sea and mourn over your bygone days of braving the unknown seas and strange, foreign lands and conquering and besting them. You look out at the stormy seas, and think back to that strange, rocky island, and wonder how things might have been had you explored onwards into the unknown, as you always had, not leaving your destiny unfulfilled.
You die having lived happy, but your memory soon fades from the minds of your people, remaining only as that of an ancient king of a bygone, dead kingdom.Your crew grabs their swords and rucksacks filled with food and wine for your expedition across the island. Rain began to softly pour down, a gentle weep that shimmered in the light emanating from Zeus' sky. You follow the smoke, now billowing like dragon's breath from the rocky area in the distance, venturing through the thick, silent forest. After walking for some time, you realise you are close when you can smell it in the air, the slight viscosity of the smoky air on your skin, the strange taste of the bitter rain in your mouth. You tell your men to be on guard.
You hack down a thick leaf obscuring your vision with your sword, revealing a rock face featuring a dark crevice. You cautiously approach it from the safety of the forest camouflage. You look beside your feet and notice large footprints, far wider and longer than your own, and leaving far deeper impressions in the ground they were left in.
You feel uneasy about this finding, but night has fallen and you and your crew desperately need shelter from the rain and some food after the long expedition. Reluctant to set foot in the cave, you do feel however that you have no choice in the matter.
[[Seek shelter in the Cave->Cave of the Cyclops]]Double-click this passage to edit it.You and your crew enter the large crack in the rock face, which gave way to a larger cave opening, illuminated by the crackling of a fireplace in the centre of the makeshift shelter, the smoke seeped through wide cracks in the cave ceiling, confirming your belief that somewhat civilised and intelligent life had taken shape on this island.
You set down your food and wine, and begin to cook the salted goat meat stored in the rucksacks over the enduring fire. You and your men enjoy a satisfying meal, and make a point in praising the gods for your relative good fortune in your ventures.
As if a direct answer from the gods from this praise, you faintly hear the bleating of sheep from the cave's entrance, followed by a loud crunch of colliding rocks.
You immediately scramble into the cave shadows, you and your men all hiding behind small rocks or small jagged fissures in the rock wall. You catch sight of a silhouette of a man, only twice the size of any man, even the strongest warrior of the Achaean army - then this hulking horror stepped from the dark entrance into the light of the fire. You dare to peek beyond the rock concealing you from this terrifying man, revealing empty sockets where the eyes of a man should be; instead, one single, large, protruding eye stuck out from his lower forehead. He then turned, not having noticed you or any of your men, ushering in his sheep, carefully caressing the coat of each individual ewe, muttering quietly to himself, as they fell into a calm slumber.
He then swiveled around, and took a gentle seat, arming himself with a stick positioned closely on the ground. He then began to stoke the fire, and the flame began to roar as it was fed new fuel - but also illuminating its surroundings, and the monster's single rotund eye darted upwards, and his single rotund eye met with yours. You attempted to conceal yourself once more behind the rocks, but you could feel it would be useless, as you could feel he was getting up through the small vibrations in the floor.
A deep, threatening voice billowed "what is your name, interloper? Why have you entered my place of rest?"
Your mind races for a way out of this situation - and you think you might have a plan, but you are unsure if you would simply be better off trying to vanquish this monster through drawing swords.
[[Draw your Sword->Dark Cave]]
[[Explain yourself->Cave II]]
You draw your sword, let out a bloodcurdling scream, and charged towards the Cyclopes, sword pointed with every intent to kill.
You run, and are smashed to the side by the massive hand of the cyclops. You stumble and try to get up, but you feel its massive fingers grip around your neck, and tighten. You struggle desperately, writhing, punching and wheezing for your life, but you feel your vision darken and your senses dull.
You die painfully, with your crew watching sheepishly from the shadows, with no comfort in knowing that they are next in line to face the same fate.You walk forward nervously, shaking slightly in awe of the enormous stature of the man-creature before you. You've commited to your haphazard and rushed plan.
"My name," you begin to say, "is Nohbdy," as you brazenly look up to the single, rotund eye of the cyclops. The cyclops is visibily baffled, and questions you curiously on how you could have such a name.
You offer the Cyclops, who reveals his name to be Polyphemus, an explanation for your falsified name, over some food and drinks left in your scattered rucksacks throughout the cave.
Polyphemus keenly agrees, and your crew is inspired to reveal themselves from the shadows following his seemingly friendly response to your jest. He bellows, "well, Nohbdy, I like your idea. But I hunger now, and unfortunately, this cannot wait."
He then turns around and lashes out to two of your crew, seizing them whole by the torso with his monstrous hands, and brutally begins smashing their heads against the jagged rocks in the roof of the cave, until their desperate squirms of pain had stopped. You were frozen completely in the shock horror of it all, but just as you thought the worst of it was over, he ate one body whole, followed shortly by the other.
He then turns to you, indifferently, and states "but I do look forward to your story and our feast."
[[Plot with your Crew->Cave III]]The cyclops then fell asleep besides his seemingly beloved sheep, which gave you and your terrified crew time to plot in the night. You saw few ways to overcome the cyclopes and escape the cave he had trapped you in by obscuring the exit with a massive boulder, although in the event that you did harm or shame him, there would be no vengeance from any possible kin or from him based on your name of 'nobody' that you had given him.
You decide along with your crew that your best chance of survival is to get the cyclops exceedingly drunk with your supplies of wine, and then hope that it brings you the opportunity to escape.
[[Prepare for Tomorrow->Cave IV]]The cyclops woke as cracks of the morning light were visible from the cave opening blocked by the boulder, and shortly after you and your crew were awaken by the sound of sheep bleating innocently.
The cyclops then pushed back the boulder, allowing his sheep and himself out into the island, then closed it behind him, ensuring he left you and your crew trapped inside his cave.
While the cyclops was out, you took the time to carefully set up the night's feast, for if the cyclops did not stay entertained, well fed, and with plenty of available drink, your hopes of escape were incredibly slim. You set out your 9 casks of wine, and began to char the remainder of your goat's meat over the crackling fire.
Upon the cyclops' return, he complained of a terrible hunger afflicting him, and eagerly welcomed "kind Nohbdy's" hospitality, and he made a point of remarking that you would be the last one to die for your kindness to him. He keenly swilled back the potent wine you fed him along with his goat, and before long the cyclops could barely remember his own name - after one more bottle, he had passed out completely.
You see the cyclops, completely vulnerable and open to attack, and know that this is your chance to act.
[[Draw your Sword and kill Polyphemus->Cave V]]
[[Try and Puncture his eye with your crew->Cave Exit]]You draw your sword, and drive it through the cyclops multiple times, killing him silently in his sleep. You breathe out a sigh of relief, and look happily down at the innocent sheep by your feet. You remember the boulder blocking the entrance, and a feeling of fear washes over you.
You and your crew desperately try together to push the massive rock out of the exit of the cave, but to no avail - you cannot hope to match the brute strength of the Polyphemus.
You and your crew spend your last days drinking what was left of your wine, before you eventually and painfully starved to death, your remains and legacy never to be found in the forgotten cave.You fashion a massive wooden spear with the help of your crew, from the wooden stick the cyclops used to stoke his fire, and with the help of all of your men, you manage to reach the tall eye of Polyphemus, puncturing it and destroying it irreparably. Unsurprisingly, he woke up enraged, and while screaming in pain that "Nohbdy has hurt me!", while flailing his arms around in vengeful fury, in hopes of striking one of your crew down.
You signal your crew to hide amongst the sheep in order to protect yourselves from the blind and furious Polyphemus. Remembering that he always releases his sheep at the start of the day, you signal to your men to tie themselves to the sheep in order to avoid being heard or felt by the enraged monster.
Come daytime, the Polyphemus blindly pushed and smashed the boulder out of the crevice forming the cave's entry, and tied to the undersides of his precious sheep, escaped into the open of the island.
Overcome by giddiness at your victory and outwitting the Polyphemus, you feel the impulse to goad at your victory.
[[Goad->Ending]]You goaded Polyphemus as you left his cave, taunting him for how easily he was outsmarted. His parting words as you left could be heard as you swam across to the island where your ship was docked, as he cursed you and your crew under the name of Poseidon.
You finally arrived back at your ship, with your crew and your ship ready to travel for your homeland of Ithaca once more, although you couldn't help but feel that there were still many adventures and tales left for you to experience before your Odyssey was over.