The Book of Enoch: In Those Days there were Giants - Choose your Own Adventure

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > The Game Room > The Book of Enoch: In Those Days there were Giants - Choose your Own Adventure

«‹›195 »

Diogines: Dec 22, 2007; Beaky the Tortoise says, click here to join our choose Your Own Adventure Game!

Paradise Lost: Clash of the Heavens!

You know only suffering and fatigue. You do not know if it had a beginning. You know it has no end. There is only the wait. The endless wait. You are tired. Endlessly tired.

In an endless procession you walk towards... nowhere. Each step is a weary burden and this march is without end. Behind you is only weariness and ahead of you, eternity. You walk towards nowhere. Around... and around... and around. In front of you, behind you and beside you gaunt fingers dressed in scraps of armor and ancient finery trudge on towards... nowhere. They chant but no sound comes from their lips, they walk but no sound follows from their footsteps. There is no color and there is no warmth. There is no joy. There is no release. There is only one weary step after another. Were you always here?

One of the figures besides you places a hand on your shoulder and shakes it, for the first time in seemingly an eternity, you hear a sound as they speak to you.

"Wake up"

"Wake up Judah" says a stern and commanding voice. You are sleeping in your bed in the palace, you open your eyes. The room is dark, it is the middle of the night. You are Judah, son of Mattathias and in one more day you will be 16 years old. A man wearing a suit of armor, a shield on his back and a spear in one hand is standing beside your bed.

He shakes your shoulder again and says "Get dressed and come outside. We are leaving." The man's voice is stern and authoritative. He does not sound happy at all. Groggily you rub your eyes and say "What?" but the armored figure is already walking away, he enters the hallway and closes the door behind him.

You rise and begin to dress. You know who that man is of course. He is your grandfather Joram, the king of your home, the once great city of Tadmor. Tadmor was once great and mighty but that was long ago. Tadmor has experienced generations of decline as each generation was weaker than the last. Seventeen years ago calamity struck. Seventeen years ago the enemies of your people made common cause and allied themselves to siege your city, intent to drag your people away in chains and burn your home to the ground. While your people won a truly astounding victory the price paid was catastrophic, nearly an entire generation of men died that day. It is said that your grandfather slew four kings in the battle and but for him the city would have fallen.

Your grandfather is a man out of time. Over four hundred years old, he is great in his might, powerful and exceptionally Blooded. Yet he is only one man and there are no others in Tadmor such as he. He should have climbed Mount Har and entered Paradise long ago as men such as he do, or are supposed to anyway. He carries a heavy burden on his ancient shoulders, the weight of your people. Your city would no longer exist if your grandfather was not protecting it.

And now in the dead of night he has come to your room armored as if for war? You dress in the traditional garment of your people, what might best be described as a long tunic or short, sleeveless robe, it covers your upper body and extends to just above your knees, you tighten it with a belt around your hips. You put on your sandals. You want to go back to sleep but your grandfather sounds like he means business. You step groggily into the hallway and see your grandfather holding a traveling pack in one hand. "Get your cloak" he says. You fetch it from your room, put it on and rejoin him in the hallway.

"Grandfather, where are we going?" you ask. He lifts his pack and hands it to you, it is quite heavy, yet you are quite strong. The old man says to you "Away. I will tell you more when we get there. Until then, silence."

You follow him down a hallway of the palace, it is late and all are asleep, but for a servant or two who sees you and your grandfather and at a glance from him quickly scurry away. When you reach the gates out of the palace the guards do not even ask your intentions, they take a look at your grandfather and at once open the gates. After you pass through and the gates close behind you, you hear one of the guards say to his fellow "Think he'll make it back?" What does that mean? Will who make it back? Where are you going? You look to your grandfather again and ask "Where are we-" but he cuts you off. His tone is not aggressive or angry but it is stern and commanding when he says "I will explain when we get there. Until then, silence." You nod once.

You follow your grandfather through the city streets. It is the dead of night and they are empty. Much work has been done to repair the damage to your city since the war but much remains to be done. You pass the homes of the wealthy and common alike and then pass through the market. The hour is late and the streets are empty.

You pass by the Great Forum and see laying in the street in front of it the head of the statue of Tadam, the statue stood atop the outer wall of the Great Forum like a mighty colossus, the invaders toppled it over and now all that remains is the head, enormous and carved of marble. Your city was filled with great men who could make such things, but that was long ago. Tadmor is a shadow of its former self. The head was dragged onto a makeshift dais to add a little dignity to it, it was the best your people could do and even that took the efforts of hundreds of men and oxen and chains. It had to be done. No man dares show disrespect to his father and Tadam, the ancestor of your people is held in great reverence by all. Trying to give the enormous head some respect was one of the first construction projects after the war ended.

You pass through the old warehouse district, a glorified pile of rubble and rotten beams which was nearly entirely destroyed as the fires set by the Harmathans spread across your city. Some of the basements are still sound. The Harmathans and their allies burned many of your peoples villages in the war and many of the orphans and widows with no place else to go, came to Tadmor. That was seventeen years ago. Hungry orphan boys do not stay boys forever, the place is a slum now and crime rampant. Respectable people avoid this part of the city now. You see a trio of hoodlums at the end of one street likely looking for victims, when they see your grandfather's armor glistening in the moonlight, they skulk back into the shadows and flee.

You pass by the temple of El, a towering structure of stone, ornately decorated with statues of the Melachim and grand murals of the accomplishments of your ancestor Tadam who founded your city and built the temple with his own hands. It is the most impressive structure in the city, even over shadowing the palace which is not nearly so ancient. The temple was not harmed in the war. Your people worship the god El, a singular omnipotent God who made mankind, the world and all within it. No gods other than El are worshiped anywhere else in the land of Ur and while cities wage wars over ancient and often petty grievances all agree that there is no god but El. As you pass by the temple your grandfather says "Wait here, I will be right out."

The city streets are empty but fires burn in the temple every hour of the day and night. Even in the dead of night a sleepy looking merchant tends a cattle stall outside of the temple, selling livestock for sacrifices. Your grandfather walks over to the man, says something and then takes a large and virile looking bull from a pen and leads it inside. A late night offering to your god? For what purpose? You are left waiting in the street and fifteen minutes later your grandfather leaves the temple and rejoins you, he says "Let's go" and walks on. You follow in silence down the main avenue of the city, towards the gate.

A great and mighty stone wall surrounds your city but like all things in Tadmor it has seen better days. Sections breached in the war have been filled with rubble or makeshift wooden barricades. Tadmor lacks the resources, manpower and knowledge to repair the walls to their former glory. When you reach the gate your grandfather hits the bottom of his spear into the cobblestones twice and a sentry in the gatehouse above peeks his head out and a few moments later, the massive gates open. They should have challenged your grandfather and taken a closer look, did your grandfather arrange this in advance? He is taking you out of the city in the dead of night? Where are you going? It is not as if anyone is marching to war but against you but your grandfather's presence is the only reason Tadmor is still safe. Is he taking you on a journey?

You walk through the gates and with a sound of creaking wood and bronze they close behind you. Beside the gate you see the monument, you do not approach it. You know what it says in any event. It is a stone block twenty feet tall and twenty feet side on a wide, its weight is tremendous. The helmets of four dead kings are affixed atop the stone block in a neat line. Sticking out of the top of the stone block is the trunk of a mighty cedar tree which was once part of a siege tower built by the Harmathans. Hundreds of spears and swords, those of the invaders have been pressed into the tall wooden beam, giving the vague impression it was a tree again and the weapons, needles and branches. A message has been chiseled into the stone block below the helmets. Well some would think it was chiseled. Some know no chisels were involved, rather a human finger scratched a message deep into the stone itself. A message seen by merchants who come to visit your city and if invaders ever return, it will be seen by them as well:

"IF YOU COME TO TADMOR
PLEASE FIRST GET IN LINE".

This monument is not your purpose, whatever that is, you do not stop beside it. Your grandfather leads, you follow. You walk down the road and the into the fields of farmers. You pass through many and when you reach the edge, the forest. All of this you do on silence. Where is he taking you-? You walk for hours through forest and empty wilderness, northeast. The sun rises. You walk for hours more.

You are young and strong, exceptionally strong in fact but you are getting tired. Fatigue is probably not something your ancient grandfather has to worry about, you are not him. Your grandfather stops and looks at you and says "Are you hungry? Alright, we can rest." You stop and place down your pack then sit atop the root of a great tree and pant a bit. "Food is in the pack" the old man says. You reach inside the pack to find... rope, a few knives, incense, a flint with a knife tied to it, a wine-skin, a javelin, a small golden statue of a Melachim, the symbol of the Ophanim, Smattas, a small bag of gemstones, a statue of a bird made of silver, a small hand-axe and a number of other odd items with no apparent relationship to each other. And a bag of crackers and cheese. You've been dutiful and obedient in following your grandfather on this long and pretty strange journey and even kept silent but the contents of the pack are... bizarre to say the least. You are in the middle of nowhere, there is nothing but wilderness and trees for miles in any direction, you don't seem to be going anywhere? If you go long enough you'll hit another city or a village but not for days? There is nothing out here.

And what are the contents of the pack for? As you take out the food, giving some to your grandfather and eating some yourself you ask "Grandfather, where are we going?" He says "Me? Home. Eventually. You? We will see. Eat, rest a bit and then we go on. Think about where you have been and where you may yet go. And think in silence." What are you supposed to say to that? Well, you eat and rest for a time but all too soon your grandfather says "Alright, let's keep going." With a small bit of a groan you rise upon your tired feet and walk alongside your grandfather again. You pass through mile after mile of empty wilderness, your only company your grandfather, the birds in the trees and the beasts of the wild. Your idle thoughts turn to your life so far...

[...]

"But... but... but... MAAAAAMAAAAAA!" You break down into tears! You are five years old. And you are very upset! You live with your Mama in her room in the palace and while you were eating breakfast servants came in and carried away your bed and started taking your toys and all of your things! Crying at this is probably an appropriate response at your age! So is calling for your mother! Your mother comes back into the room and orders all of the servants away, then she picks you up and says "Oh I'm sorry sweetheart! They weren't supposed to yet! Shhh! Shhh! It'll be okay!" Your mother hugs you and calms you down and and says "I'm sorry sweetheart, they weren't supposed to come for a few more hours." Between sniffles you managed to ask For what!? Whats going on? What were they supposed to come for? You sniffle and cry, you are not very articular at the moment but you seem to have gotten your question across to your mother?

Your mother smiles her best smile and says to you "You are going to have new friends! Your cousins are coming to live with us from now on. And they are in a new place and that's scary for them, so you are all going to have your own room now! I need you to be a big boy and make them feel at home. You're a big boy, aren't you?" You sniffle once and nod. Indeed, you are a big boy! "Can you help them settle in?" she asks. You nod and manage to get out a "yes". Your mother leans down to hug you and give you a kiss on the cheek and says "Okay, lets wash your face and then you can go meet them. They are going to be your new friends!"

Your mother fetches a washing basin and washes away your tears and then combs your hair and says "They just got here this morning, they are in the Great Hall, why don't you go say hello?"

Okay! Your a big boy! You can do this! You make your way to the Great Hall. As you near the Great Hall you hear the sounds of children laughing and of one crying. You enter the feast hall and see a crowd of boys, 20 or 30 or so. They are all about your age and in a corner of the room. They are... they are kicking another boy! None of them seem to have noticed you come into the room yet and there are no adults nearby! "Freak! Freak!" some of the boys yell! The crowd of children are laughing and taunting at the object of their torment, a child who is on the floor and using his hands to cover his face and try to protect it. He is crying He has twelve fingers, six on each hand! You know how to count and are good at it!

It is at that moment that you have a revelation.

All of the other boys have ten fingers, except for the boy they are all kicking...

And you. You have twelve fingers also. You don't know any of these boys. Your Moma told you that they are all going to live here now?

1. Your new "friends" are tormenting another new arrival. What do you do?
A. You don't want to be different and stand out! Join in kicking the boy and taunting him with the others! Then you won't be different anymore!
B. If everyone else is kicking the boy they must be right because there are a lot of them and only one of you! Kick the boy too! Because you are supposed to!
C. Break down and cry because you are a young child and this is a lot to deal with!
D. Run and get an adult! The first adult you can find, probably a servant!
E. Run and get Grandpa! Grandpa is in charge of EVERYONE and he will be MAD! It will take you longer to find him though!
F. Order them to stop! This is your house and that is AGAINST THE RULES!
G. There are a lot of them and only one of you! Ask them stop nicely. Use your words. Maybe they will listen?
H. Bah! Don't use your words! Use your fists! Make a big fist and HIT them! Pull them off the boy they are hitting!
I. Grab a knife from the table and threaten them! Yell they better stop OR ELSE!
J. Go back to Mama! You don't want friends, let alone friends like THIS! Tell Mama she made a mistake!
K. This is scary! I run away and hide!
L. I don't care about other children! They are boring! And these kids are MEAN! I go look for some fun on my own!

WELCOME TO THE GAME!

Welcome to the Book of Enoch: And in Those Days There Were Giants, a Choose Your Own Adventure style game. The format of the game is simple. I will lay out the scenario and offer options to proceed with. You can always propose an alternate path to pick. The most popular choice will be picked. Type as much as you like, but please indicate your vote by bolding your choice like this.

One way this game is different from other Chose Your Own Adventure game is that your adventure is to a degree, a freeform adventure. You chose your path through the world. The world can and will change around you based upon your actions and you will not have a predetermined story to run through. Your path and ultimate fate are not planned. Today, the day we started the game, I honestly have no idea where we may be a month from now, let alone how it might one day end. It is all up to you.

You do not have plot armor. Bad decisions can get you killed or wreak horrible consequences which you did not intend.

You do not need any preexisting knowledge to join our game, everything you need to know you will learn in the game. Our game begins in Ur, a bronze-aged civilization which is totally not Mesopotamia, though it does indeed have a great deal in common with it. It is not-Mesopotamia. Ur is a vast land with many waring cities within it, cities you will learn more of very soon. It is a land of adventure, intrigue, monsters and demons where men are men and like hitting things! We will speed our way through Judah's youth where you make a series of decisions to determine his development as a character, establish his history and also determine some of his knowledge, skills, relationships, assets and abilities.

If you want to, feel free to join us on irc #madgod on synirc.net. The channel tends to always have some people in it and is especially active when updates go up.

If you do not know what IRC is, here is a web based chat program which will not require you to register or download anything: http://chat.mibbit.com/?channel=%23madgod&server=irc.synirc.net

Diogines fucked around with this message at 01:26 on Feb 20, 2016

# ? Feb 19, 2016 05:02

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU