<<if visited ("Riddle 2")>>\nThe mermaid frowns, her tail flipping again. Her eyes close for a moment and you almost believe she has returned to her slumber.\n\nYou wait with baited breath, afraid that she will offer you a third riddle, but as the crystals dim in the walls, others, <<if visited ("Battle 1")>>green<<else>>red<<endif>> in color, come slowly to life around a trap door.\n\nAs you lift the heavy door, you find a tunnel leading into darkness.\n\n<<if visited ("Battle 1")>>\n[[Enter the tunnel|Challenge 3]]\n<<else>>\n[[Enter the tunnel|Challenge 2]]\n<<endif>>\n<<else>>\nThe mermaid frowns, her tail flipping again. Her eyes close for a moment and you almost believe she has returned to her slumber.\n\n[[...And then|Riddle 2]]\n<<endif>>\n
Her eyes open again, her hair floating, her tail flipping, and she speaks once more, her voice vibrating your bones.\n\n<center>"Hands I do not have, yet I grasp so tight.\nI love darkness, my enemy is light.\nBoth the mighty and low know me well,\nFor in the hearts of men do I dwell!"</center>\n\n[[Fear|Riddle Success]]\n\n[[Doubt|Riddle Fail]]\n
The first creations of the [[Life Giver]], dwarves are plentiful in Midra, though often unseen.\n\nThe descendants of the first dwarves, the Deep Dwarves inhabit the shallowest of the ancient tunnels of Morgat, shaped in the roots of the Red Mountains. Though the Deep Dwarves still tell tales of Midral, they do not worship the Life Giver with the fervor o their forefathers, but revere his memory.\n\nDeep Dwarves are ruled by a council of five, each the leader of their own clan.\n\nBuilt short and sturdy, Deep Dwarves are the longest lived race still living in Midra, however, they seldom bear more than one child per union. Their skin is often ruddy, and their hair and eyes are varied in color, but they seldom grey with age.\n\n[[Return|Race]]\n
As you step into the next room, blue crystals flare to life around you. In the middle of the room is the statue of a mermaid. \n\nMystified, you step forward, reaching out to touch the stone figure, when suddenly it's eyes open. \n\nYou jump back as the mermaid comes to life, each movement filling the room with a grinding sound that hurts your ears. Her tail rises and slams down on her base as her hair floats about her.\n\nWhen she speaks, you barely resist the urge to cover your ears, her voice sharp and painful.\n\n<center>\n"What is it men love more than life,\nFear more than death or mortal strife?\nThe poor man has, the rich require,\nWhat is the contented man's desire?\nThe miser spends, the spendthrift saves,\nAnd all men carry to their graves."</center>\n\nYou cringe as you recognize her words as a riddle, and you look for a door to exit through. There is none, and the one you entered through, once more, will not open.\n\nYou must answer.\n\n<<if visited ("Read")>>\nAs in the last room, you feel a compulsion, and without thought you answer.\n\n[["Nothing."|Riddle Success]]\n<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited ("Carry")>>\nYou feel a sudden compulsion to open the book you carry beneath your arm. Your fingers work through the pages quickly, but carefully, until finally you can stop.\n\nThere is only a single word on the page.\n\n[[NOTHING|Riddle Success]]\n<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited ("Staff")>>\nAgain, you hear a whisper in your mind.\n\n<i>"Nothing..."</i>\n<<endif>>\n\n[[Nothing|Riddle Success]]\n\n[[Wealth|Riddle Fail]]\n\n[[Happiness|Riddle Fail]]\n
You travel through another tight, dark tunnel for a time, [[until...|Dragon 1]]
As you tread forward, the floor seems to fall out from beneath your feet...\n\nYou die in a spear pit.\n\n[[Whoops! Would you like to try that again?|previous()]]\n\n[[Or start over?|Race]]\n\n(Needs editing)\n
The shortest lived of all the races in [[Midra]], humans live fleeting lives. The last creations of [[Life Giver]], they were crafted as weariness overtook him. Some believe that Midral fell asleep before he was able to grace them with gifts as he did the other mortal races. Humans make their homes in uncountable villages and cities. While some live in the same city, ruled by a king or council, for all of their lives, others travel across the land, never settling in one place for long.\n\nThe Ka Uru are a people who travel along the shores of Midra, their homes made of lightweight driftwood. They move by season, and with the patterns of the sea life they live off of, often traveling along coasts no other man walks.\n\nOf small stature, and darker skinned, the Walking Fishermen are a restless people guided by tradition. Made of many small tribes separated by family, the Ka Uru are guided by each tribes elders.\n\n[[Return|Race]]\n
The first born children of the [[Life Giver]], the Drae were gods in their own right. Powerful, though not plentiful, they were the fathers of the demi-gods that are known to the mortal world as dragons. Spawned from the flesh of their father, they reigned over the world as the mortal races were born, crafted from stone and soil and water.\n\nAs time passed the Drae became jealous of the attention their father gave to his creations. Angry, the Drae took humanoid form so that they may walk upon the world and draw his attention.\n\nMidral, though, was only angered by the petulance of his children. As punishment for their misbehavior, he took from them their magic, seizing their ability to shift forms and ending their immortality. As each eon passed, the lives of the fallen Drae continued to shorten and what little of their magic he left them, allowing them to speak with their own children, faded until barely a whisper of their great power remained.\n\nToday, three races of Drae walk the earth in Midra, but the youngest, and most common, of the races are the Moridrae. Birthed by the rejoining of the [[Elidrae and Amindrae]] who chose to remain and guard the [[Eiskufe Pass]] during the [[Great Rejuvenation]], the Moridrae are the youngest of the three races. Slender, but not as tall as their forefathers, the Moridrae are fair skinned, their hair and eyes vibrant and colorful.\n\nThe Moridrae have, over many hundreds of years, begun to regain the power of their forefathers, relearning the language of the gods and strengthening thier affinity with magic in the world.\n\n[[Return|Race]]
The dragon roars, and its displeasure ripples through your mind as though it is your own displeasure. Dizzied by the oddness of the emotion that is not your own, you stumble.\n\n"You do not yet fathom the bond of the Wyrmborne. I am not some steed to ride to battle!"\n\nQuickly, you push yourself to your feet.\n\n"Sorry! I'm sorry!" You put your hands up in surrender. "We would be... bound. For life?"\n\n"And beyond." The dragon says, rising. “What do you know of the Wyrmborne, youngling?”\n\n[[“Just what the legends tell…”|Wyrmborne 3]]\n
The dragon huffs, a warm gust of air threatening to push you down.\n\n“Legends and fairy tales,” he rumbles, “mortals have such short memories.”\n\n“I am willing to learn.” you reply, and the dragon settles again.\n\n“The bond between Wyrmborne and Dragon was forged at birth. They shared their minds and hearts and souls. If the Dragon died, so did the Wyrmborne. If the Wyrmborne died… the dragon wished for nothing more than to be mortal.”\n\nThe dragon rumbles, and draws his eyes as close to level with you as he can. \n\n“If you accept this bond, you will never be alone again. We will be one. Do you accept?"\n\n[["I accept."|Wyrmborne 4]]\n\n[["No. It is too much."|Refuse]]\n
The dragon roars, and this time it is elation that you feel, and a sense of hope. \n\n"Then come, let us shed the remnants of our cages, and see the world anew!"\n\nThe dragon shudders and moving over you quickly, cracks its tail against a wall.\n\nYou gasp and crouch, curling protectively as the academy begins to crumble around you. \n\nAnd then the dragon is moving. Clutching you in one massive claw, it takes off. As it breaks free from the crumbling ruins, it tosses you into the air and slides beneath you, laughing triumphantly.\n\n<center>[[Epilogue]]</center>>\n
"I got...lucky." you respond. \n\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n“There is no such thing as luck.”\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Human")>>\n<i>“There is no such thing as luck.”</i>\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Human")>>\n<i>“There is no such thing as luck.”</i>\n<<endif>>\n\nThere is another crack of something hitting stone, and a spark blinds you for a moment.\n\nYou over your eyes for a moment, the sharp light searing your eyes, and when you look back, you can do nothing but stare in awe.\n\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n[["I am but a dream..."|Dragon 4]]\n<<else>>\n<i>[["I am but a dream..."|Dragon 4]]</i>\n<<endif>>\n
As you enter the room the musky smell of a beast overwhelms you. In the center of the room stands the statue of a minotaur. Mystified, you reach out to touch it.\n\nAs the eyes of the beast open, the sound of stone grating against stone filling the room, you jump back.\n\nThe beast throws back its head and roars and you are faced with only two options.\n\n\n[[Fight the stone beast|Battle Fight]].\n\n[[Talk fast and hope it listens!|Battle Reason]].\n
Lair v.1.3
As the dragon takes flight, with you seated astride its broad next, it rumbles.\n\n"Where now, Wyrmborne?"\n\n[["Home"|End 2]]\n\n[["Are there other Wyrmborne?"|End 3]]\n\n(Needs Editing)
You step back, shaking your head, clutching the <<if visited ("Amulet")>>amulet<<endif>><<if visited ("Staff")>>staff<<endif>><<if visited ("Carry")>>book<<endif>><<if visited ("Dagger")>>dagger<<endif>><<if visited ("Armor")>>armor<<endif>>.\n\nThe dragon sighs, and raises its head.\n\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n"I had truly hoped that you were the one..."\n<<else>>\n<i>"I had truly hoped that you were the one..."</i>\n<<endif>>\n\nJust as you begin to second guess your decision, the dragon opens its gargantuan maw and with a SNAP, puts you out of its misery.\n\n[[Whoops! Would you like to try that again?|previous()]]\n\n[[Or start over?|Race]]\n
As you throw your hands up to surrender one of the invaders steps forward. You find it difficult to truly see his features as he grasps your arm, twisting it behind you. You think, for a moment, that he will bind you, but then you feel the cold metal of a blade slipping between your ribs, and darkness claims you. \n\n[[Whoops! Would you like to try that again?|previous()]]\n\n[[Or start over?|Race]]\n
You charge the dragon. It is foolish, and you know it the moment you begin to move, but worse, you see it in the dragon's eyes as it sighs.\n\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n"I had truly hoped that you were the one..."\n<<else>>\n<i>"I had truly hoped that you were the one..."</i>\n<<endif>>\n\nJust as you begin to second guess your actions, the dragon opens its gargantuan maw and with a SNAP, puts you out of its misery.\n\n[[Whoops! Would you like to try that again?|previous()]]\n\n[[Or start over?|Race]]\n
You decide that you cannot go any further, you must rest before you continue on. The sounds of pursuit have faded. Surely, it must be safe to rest a while?\n\nLaying down at the foot of the mountain, you close your eyes, promising yourself that you will only doze a short while, but…\n\nYou awaken much later in the morning, and blocking out the sun are the small, lithe forms of the invaders.\n\n[[Fight]]\n\n[[Surrender|Fail 2]]\n
Stunned, you take a moment to compose yourself before you search the room for a door. As the crystals in the wall fade, new crystals, <<if visited ("Riddle 1")>>green<<else>>blue<<endif>> in color, come slowly to life around a trap door.\n\nBeyond the trap door is a tunnel leading into darkness.\n\n<<if visited ("Riddle 1")>>\n[[Enter the tunnel|Challenge 3]]\n<<else>>\n[[Enter the tunnel|Riddle 2]]\n<<endif>>\n
Will the Lore Keepers remember you as...\n\n[[Human]], [[Drae]], or [[Dwarf]]?
The firstborn of the Drae were the brothers Eli and Amin. Eli and Amin were the first to transform into mortal shapes and walk upon the soil of Midra, leading only 13 others with them. \n\nEli loathed the mortal races, and blamed them for his fall from grace, and from him were born the Elidrae. The Elidrae remain, to this day, pure of blood. Cutting themselves off from the other races of Midra, they are an unwelcoming people who grow fewer with the passing of the centuries.\n\n\n Amin, however, learned to love the creations of his father, and sought to know them better. From him came the Amindrae, who reached out to the mortal races of Midrae, living apart from but within them. The Amindrae grow greater in number, but shorter in lifespan with the passing of centuries, the blood of Amin growing weaker as they welcome further unions with other races.\n\n[[Return|previous()]]\n
Midral, the god of creation, was the first of all the gods. Born out of darkness, he sought light and life in the empty void of the night sky. Hanging stars in the night to light his way, he inadvertently created the souls of every dragon that would ever live. With his first sigh, he created the sun from the fire of his breath. When he was tired and lonely he created the moon so that he might have someone to speak to. For many long eons, he whispered to the moon, telling her that he had loved her the first moment she had sparked in his imagination, and that he would continue to love her until the end of time.\n\nStill, this was not enough for Midral, and so he gently plucked two stars from the sky. Letting the moon kiss them with her soft light, he closed them in his hands and held them tightly as he slept for many ages. When again he awakened, Midral opened his upturned hands and the first of his sons, Eli and Amin, roared in praise of their mighty father.\n\nFor a long time Midral, the moon, and their sons existed in happiness. When Midral grew bored he would create two more children, populating the sky with his progeny. After some time, though, Midral grew weary and once more fell into a deep sleep.\n\nIt was upon waking that Midral found one of his scales had fallen from his body. Drifting in the night, the scale had begun to change shape. Midral could see mountains and hills, canyons and cliffs. Mournful at the loss of one of his beautiful black scales, which shone every color in existence when light shone upon them, Midral began to weep. Soon, his tears began to fill in the deep impressions upon the scale, creating the seas. Midral’s children eventually soothed their father with songs of his beauty, reassuring him that the loss of a single scale was nothing to fret about when he would soon grow another.\n\nFor a long time, Midral considered the changes that had befallen his lost scale. He watches as grass and trees began to sprout from that which had once been a part of him. Reaching out, he touched the scale with the tip of a single claw. To his great surprise, the scale exploded in a cast array of colors as flowers began to blossom on its surface. Again, Midral watched for a time a deep sigh of wonder creating the first breeze.\n\n\t\t-An Excerpt from “The Creation of Midra’ael’mor” \n\n\n[[Return|previous()]]
"<print $player_name>."\n\nA rumbling fills the cavern beyond your sight, and for a moment you are sure that the academy is coming down around your ears.\n\n<<if visited ("Staff")>>\n<i>"Do not fear, it is only laughter."</i>\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\nYou feel a stirring inside of you, pulling you further into the room, though the floor burns your feet through the soles of your boots.\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n"I did not ask for your name, mortal child. I asked who you are…"\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Human")>>\n\n<i>"I did not ask for your name, mortal child. I asked who you are…”</i>\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Dwarf")>>\n\n<i>"I did not ask for your name, mortal child. I asked who you are</i>\n<<endif>>\n\n"I am no one..." you respond.\n\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n[["If that were true, you would not have made it this far."|Dragon 3a]]\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Human")>>\n\n<i>[["If that were true, you would not have made it this far."|Dragon 3a]]</i>\n<<endif>>\n\n\n
You cannot seem to help yourself as you are pulled to the armor, as if guided by forces unseen. You have never worn plate mail before, but your hands move on their own, and soon you are setting the helmet on your head, the full suit of armor feeling strangely light as you gaze through the roaring maw of a dragon.\n \nTurning from the table, the dagger forgotten, you once more begin to search for doors. There are only two, the one you came through, which you are certain the <<if visited ("Human")>>Ka Dur<<endif>><<if visited ("Drae")>>Fuer’a<<endif>><<if visited ("Dwarf")>>Nethak<<endif>> will soon enter through, and one directly across from it.\n\nYou know you must keep moving, so you turn your back on the room and open the next door.\n\n[[Continue|Challenge 1]]\n
Ka Dur… The Walking Death.\n\nFuer’a… The People of Fire.\n\nNethak… The Unwelcome.\n\nThe Invaders are known by many names, though no one knows what they call themselves. For many weeks, they have slipped deeper and deeper into Midra, burning and killing all that they come across. Those few that survive become slaves cast into silence by the voiceless mages that lead the silent foreigners.\n\nMany believe they come from the lands to the Northwest of Midra, but none can be certain, for none have been able to capture one of the invaders alive.\n\n[[Return|previous()]]
One day, the Lore Keepers and their scribes will immortalize your adventures with tales large and small. Do not let the memory of your feats fade with the passage of time. Record your name now so that it may be remembered long after your blood cools and you sleep the slumber if the ancients.\n\n<<textinput $player_name [[Next...|Race]]>>\n
As you steady yourself, the beast charges you.\n\n<<if visited ("Armor")>>\nFrozen with fear, the beast quickly strikes you. You hit the wall across the room and fear the worst, but...\n\nRising slowly, you realize that you are unharmed. A cursory check of your armor does not reveal any damage, but you have no time to inspect further as the beast once more charges, and once more you are thrown across the room.\n\nThis time, it is on you before you can rise, and it tears at your armor. Still, you come to no harm.\n\nThis continues for what seems like hours. The stone minotaur throws you around the room and tears at you, attacking again and again until, finally exhausted, it roars, turning to stone with its head thrown back.\n\n[[Somehow, you have survived|Battle Success]]\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Dagger")>>\nFrozen with fear, the minotaur is nearly on you before you move, striking out with your dagger. It looks so insufficient in the face of the stone beast, but...\n\nTo your surprise, the blade sinks deep into the stone flesh, and the beast roars in pain as dark blood pours, warm, over your hand.\n\nYou stumble back in shock, but the beast charges again and you bury your dagger in its breast.\n\nThe beast roars, throwing its head back as it returns to stone.\n\n[[Somehow, you have survive|Battle Success]]\n<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited ("Knowledge")>>\nFrozen with fear, you are defenseless against the minotaur's attack. As you are flung against the wall, claws raking through your clothing, darkness claims you.\n\n[[Whoops! Would you like to try that again?|previous()]]\n\n[[Or start over?|Race]]\n<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited ("Faith")>>\nFrozen with fear, you are defenseless against the minotaur's attack. As you are flung against the wall, claws raking through your clothing, darkness claims you.\n\n[[Whoops! Would you like to try that again?|previous()]]\n\n[[Or start over?|Race]]\n<<endif>>\n
You sleep in the open, the night sky above you, the stars dancing. For a while, you watch them, the souls of the gods and their immortal children staring back down at you. It is strange to you, a child of the Deep, to see the stars.\n\nThis is your first time, travelling beyond the twisting corridors that are your home, and you find it difficult to sleep. The heavy breathing of your traveling mates makes you restless, and you long for the quiet fire in the solitude of your cavern.\n\nShe shift in your bedroll, a heavy hand falling on the hard ground, the root of the mountain humming beneath your fingers as you close your eyes. The Eiskufe Pass is close, and you can feel the sudden interruption the depths of the mountains.\n\nFinally, the song of the Deep lulls you to sleep, and you fall into your dreams.\n\n[[Continue|Dream]]\n
You cannot help yourself as you are pulled to the amulet by unseen forces. You pick it up, and lower the chain over your head. The dragon’s claw and crystal are heavy as they settle heavily against your chest, and you feel a strange sense of relief wash over you.\n \nTurning from the table, the armor forgotten, you once more begin to search for doors. There are only two, the one you came through, which you are certain the <<if visited ("Human")>>Ka Dur<<endif>><<if visited ("Drae")>>Fuer’a<<endif>><<if visited ("Dwarf")>>Nethak<<endif>> will soon enter through, and one directly across from it.\n\nYou know you must keep moving, so you turn your back on the room and open the next door.\n\n[[Continue|Challenge 1]]\n
<<if visited ("Knowledge")>>\nAs curious as you are about the book, you know that it does not belong to you. It belongs here, with the fading memory of the [[Wyrmborne]], and you do not have time to read it.\n<<else>>\nAs drawn as you are to the items, you know that they do not belong to you. They belong here, with the fading memory of the [[Wyrmborne]].\n<<endif>>\n\nReluctantly, you turn away from the table, and once more search for doors. There are only two, the one you came through, which you are certain the <<if visited ("Human")>>Ka Dur<<endif>><<if visited ("Drae")>>Fuer’a<<endif>><<if visited ("Dwarf")>>Nethak<<endif>> will soon enter through, and one directly across from it.\n\nYou know you must keep moving, so you turn your back on the room and open the next door.\n\n[[Continue|Challenge 1]]\n
“I asked you first…” you reply, trying to see into the darkness.\n\n<<if visited ("Staff")>>\nYou hear a sound behind you, and begin to turn, before a whisper in your mind stops you.\n\n<i>Do not turn away or the fire in the darkness may devour you. You are in the presence of a dragon.</i>\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Amulet")>>\nThe amulet resting against your chest begins to glow. As the darkness gives way, you see a shifting of crimson scales, and the tip of a massive tail swipes just before the doorway, knocking you back with a sharp gust of wind.\n\nFrom the floor, you look up with widened eyes.\n\nA dragon!\n<<else>>\nThere is another crack of something hitting stone, and a spark blinds you for a moment.\n\nYou over your eyes for a moment, the sharp light seering your eyes, and when you look back, you can do nothing but stare in awe.\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\nYou feel a stirring inside of you, pulling you further into the room, though the floor burns your feet through the soles of your boots.\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n[["I am but a dream..."|Dragon 4]]\n<<else>>\n<i>[["I am but a dream..."|Dragon 4]]</i>\n<<endif>>\n
"You must bond with me, as once the [[Wyrmborne]] bonded with the children of the children of the gods."\n\nYou stare in awe.\n\n"Bond with you?"\n\nThe dragon rumbles, its tail cracking against the floor.\n\n"Yes. Your life will be bound to mine, and mine to yours. It is the way of those that came before, and those that must come again."\n\n[["I would be... a dragon rider?"|Wyrmborne 2]]\n
The world of Midra’ael’mor is vast and rich with people of varied races. Humans, Dwarves, and Drae are the most common of the peoples who share your part of the world, the heart of the creation, [[Midra]].\n\nThe Lore Keepers must know what people claim you as their own.\n\nLearn more about the [[Humans of Midra|Human Info]].\n\nLearn more about the [[Drae of Midra|Drae Info]].\n\nLearn more about the [[Dwarves of Midra|Dwarf Info]].\n\n[[I am ready to choose...|Race 2]]\n
You do not give in to panic, you do not turn and fight. Instead, you push harder, your feet pounding the ground, your blood rushing in your ears. Never have you been so afraid in your life, never had you thought that you would truly face the invaders that had only weeks ago begun their attack on Midra.\n\nYour breath grows short, and your sides ache as you begin to slow. Are you far enough, you wonder, to have bought your sister and others time to escape? Have you done what you set out to do?\n\nYou do not think you can carry on much further, and your pursuers grow ever closer, but just as you think you might collapse, you see it ahead of you…\n\nThe mouth of the Eiskufe Pass.\n\nYou are weary and the pass is fraught with danger, but you might be able to lose your pursuers in the pass.\n\n[[Continue|Chase 2]]\n
The valley is wide, and flat, at least so far as you can see, and as the sun rises higher over the mountains that surround the valley, you can see the ragged top of a structure. You try to remember the stories you have been told, and you think that what you see was once the [[Acadamia Dragun]], but now it lays in ruin, most of the roof gone and the outer walls crumbling with age.\n\nSome say that the [[Wyrmborne]] did not leave of their own free will, but fell victim to a war within themselves. Certainly, the Acadamia looks as if forces beyond nature have assailed it.\n\nAs you come nearer, you see that the inhuman sized doors once used by man and dragon have been torn from their vast hinges, and a darkness lays within.\n\n[[Enter|Academy 1]]\n
Carefully, you begin your journey through the pass. The footing is unsteady, the walls sharp and deadly around you, but the passage is only wide enough for one person at a time and your pursuers are forced to slow down behind you.\n\nWhere one side of the pass juts out another sinks in, as though, if pushed together, the mountain could become one again.\n\nIt seems as though you walk for hours, and you fear that the sun will soon rise, making it easier for the <<if visited ("Human")>>Ka Dur<<endif>><<if visited ("Drae")>>Fuer’a<<endif>><<if visited ("Dwarf")>>Nethak<<endif>> to follow you. \n\nYour feet grow tired, and your hands bleed from catching yourself on the walls when you slip, but, finally...\n\nThe pass opens and, as the darkness begins to grow weaker, you can see that you have entered Eiskufe Valley.\n\nYou look behind you. The sounds of pursuit have faded, and you know you cannot make it much further.\n\nDo you…\n\n[[Make camp here|Camp]] or [[seek shelter|Chase 3]]?\n
\nIt is said that long ago, in a time of great war, the son of a mighty king promised his life to a dragon to save his people from a harsh and cruel enemy beyond the touch of mortal weapons. The dragon, who vowed to take the life of the boy when the war was ended, instead rewarded his loyalty and honor by giving up part of his life so that the boy may live long and protect those he had sworn himself to.\n\nFor thousands of years, the descendants of the first Wyrmborne continued to protect Midra, until one day they disappeared. No one remembers where the Wyrmborne went, or even if they are still alive, and for many they have become nothing but a legend.\n\n[[Back|previous()]]\n
The Acadamia Dragun was both the acadamy where Wyrmborne and the dragons they were bound to learned of their history and honed their skills, and the hatchery, where new dragons were born at the smae moment as their mortal bond-mates.\n\n[[Back|previous()]]\n\n(Needs editing)
Your home rests at the edge of the sea, the soft rush of the waves lapping at the shore filling the air. The Eiskufe mountains loom behind your tiny village, dwarfing the cluster of huts made of driftwood and sea weed.\n\nThe sand is soft beneath heavy blankets that make your bed, and you rest comfortably as the soft breathing of your sister, Sar, drifts through the night. You have only been here a few weeks, but it is your favorite stretch of shore to claim. Not so far away, the Eiskufe Pass offers entrance into the valley of the legendary [[Wyrmborne]], and your mind is ever filled with the stories of the ancient guardians.\n\nCoals glow hot and lively in the pit at the center of your hut, offering the meager warmth that is needed, even in these cold winter months.\n\nYou sleep heavily, weary from the day, the scent of salt and fish and fire following you into your dreams.\n\n[[Continue|Dream]]\n
Slowly, reverently, you close the book. You do not have time to read it, but you cannot seem to part with it, either.\n\nYou run your fingers over the binding of the book and cannot help but pick it up. Maybe when you find your way home you will read it. \n\nIf not, it will be a nice treasure, one of the lost books of the [[Wyrmborne]].\n\nTucking the book under your arm, you turn away from the table, and once more search for doors. There are only two, the one you came through, which you are certain the <<if visited ("Human")>>Ka Dur<<endif>><<if visited ("Drae")>>Fuer’a<<endif>><<if visited ("Dwarf")>>Nethak<<endif>> will soon enter through, and one directly across from it.\n\nYou know you must keep moving, so you turn your back on the room and open the next door.\n\n[[Continue|Challenge 1]]\n
Katherine J. Parker
<<if visited ("DRAE")>>\n"A shame."\n<<else>>\n<i>"A shame."</i>\n<<endif>>\n\nThe dragon sighs and rises.\n\n<<if visited ("DRAE")>>\n"Return to me what is not yours, and I will give you passsage from this place."\n<<else>>\n<i>"Return to me what is not yours, and I will give you passage from this place."</i>\n<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited ("Read")>>\nYou shake your head, offering open hands toward the dragon.\n\n"But, I didn't take anything."\n\nThe dragon raises a claw, touching your forehead with the tip of a talon.\n\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>"Did you not take knowledge you did not earn?"<<else>><i>"Did you not take knowledge you did not earn?"</i><<endif>>\n\n"How do I retun knowledge?"\n\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>"Do not be concerned, that is a task easily done by one such as I."<<else>>")>>"Do not be concerned, that is a task easily done by one such as I."<<endif>>\n<<endif>>\n\n[[Return your borrowed item to the dragon|Return]]\n\n[[Refuse to return your borrowed item to the dragon|Refuse]]\n
You cannot help yourself as you are pulled to the staff by unseen forces. You run your fingers over the smooth but knobby surface, and a sense of relief washes over you.\n \nTurning from the table, the armor forgotten, you once more begin to search for doors. There are only two, the one you came through, which you are certain the <<if visited ("Human")>>Ka Dur<<endif>><<if visited ("Drae")>>Fuer’a<<endif>><<if visited ("Dwarf")>>Nethak<<endif>> will soon enter through, and one directly across from it.\n\nYou know you must keep moving, so you turn your back on the room and open the next door.\n\n[[Continue|Challenge 1]]\n
You step through the door into complete darkness. You can see nothing, can hear nothing.\n\nYou are certain that if you turn back, you run face to face with <<if visited ("Human")>>Ka Dur<<endif>><<if visited ("Drae")>>Fuer’a<<endif>><<if visited ("Dwarf")>>Nethak<<endif>>. You must cross the room in the hopes of finding a door, but which way will you go?\n\n<<if visited ("Read")>>\nSomething pulls you to the right.\n<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited ("Amulet")>>\nAs you begin to step forward, the amulet you picked up begins to glow, lighting the room. Only a few feet before you, there is a pit, and it dozens of spears pointed upwards.\n\nAcross the room, there are two doors ahead of you. One is blue, one is red. Which will you choose?\n<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited ("Staff")>>\nAs you step forward, you hear a voice, barely a whisper, somewhere in the back of your mind.\n\n<i>"Do not tread through the heart of the chamber..."</i>\n<<endif>>\n\nYou go…\n\n[[Right|Riddle 1]]\n\n[[Left|Battle 1]]\n\n[[Forward]]\n
The tunnel is dark and tight, but at the end of it you find another trap door, and once more ascend.\n\n<<if visited ("Riddle 1")>>\n[[Exit the tunnel|Battle 1]]\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Battle 1")>>\n[[Exit the tunnel|Riddle 1]]\n<<endif>>
Red crystals flare to life, lighting your way as you enter the room marked STRENGTH. It, like the one before, is much smaller than those above, and all that resides within it is a single table and a rack of armor.\n\nYou approach the table, and at its center, you find a dagger, small and sharp, the hilt a painstakingly crafted silver dragon. To your surprise, it seems to fit perfectly into your hand.\n\nThe armor, intricately decorated plate mail, gleans in the darkness, and it, too, seems to be made just for you. You are mystified by the items, but you are drawn more strongly to one than another.\n\nYou can take…\n\nthe [[Dagger]].\n\nthe [[Armor]].\n\n[[Neither|Nothing]].\n
Blue crystals flare to life, lighting your way as you enter the room marked KNOWLEDGE. It, like the one before, is much smaller than those above, and all that resides within it is a single table.\n\nYou approach the table, and at its center, you find a large book, bound in leather and filled with pages made of horse hide. Drawn to the book, you reach out to touch it, and your fingers trace the word “BUND”, which adorns the thick cover.\n\nBefore you realize what you are doing, you open the book, admiring the pages within.\n\nYou can…\n\n[[Read the Book|Read]]\n\n[[Take the book with you|Carry]]\n\nOR [[Leave the book|Nothing]].\n
<<if visited ("DRAE")>>\n"Good. Vengeance is not a worthy virtue. I may help you, but first you must return what is not yours."\n<<else>>\n<i>"Good. Vengeance is not a worthy virtue. I may help you, but first you must return what is not yours."</i>\n<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited ("Read")>>\nYou shake your head, offering open hands toward the dragon.\n\n"But, I didn't take anything."\n\nThe dragon raises a claw, touching your forehead with the tip of a talon.\n\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>"Did you not take knowledge you did not earn?"<<else>><i>"Did you not take knowledge you did not earn?"</i><<endif>>\n\n"How do I retun knowledge?"\n\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>"Do not be concerned, that is a task easily done by one such as I."<<else>>")>>"Do not be concerned, that is a task easily done by one such as I."<<endif>>\n<<endif>>\n\n[[Return your borrowed item to the dragon|Return]]\n\n[[Refuse to return your borrowed item to the dragon|Refuse]]\n
<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n"Is that all you seek?"\n<<else>>\n<i>"Is that all you seek?"</i>\n<<endif>>\n\n[["Yes"|Yes 2]]\n\n[["No. I wish to protect my family."|Choice 1b]]\n\n[["No. I wish to kill the invaders."|Choice 1c]]\n
<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n"Is death the only end you see?"\n<<else>>\n<i>"Is death the only end you see?"</i>\n<<endif>>\n\n[[Yes]]\n\n[[No]]\n
A rumble comes from deep within the dragon's chest.\n\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n"Loyalty is a worthy virtue. I may help you, but first you must return what is not yours."\n<<else>>\n<i>"Loyalty is a worthy virtue. I may help you, but first you must return what is not yours."</i>\n<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited ("Read")>>\nYou shake your head, offering open hands toward the dragon.\n\n"But, I didn't take anything."\n\nThe dragon raises a claw, touching your forehead with the tip of a talon.\n\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>"Did you not take knowledge you did not earn?"<<else>><i>"Did you not take knowledge you did not earn?"</i><<endif>>\n\n"How do I retun knowledge?"\n\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>"Do not be concerned, that is a task easily done by one such as I."<<else>>")>>"Do not be concerned, that is a task easily done by one such as I."<<endif>>\n<<endif>>\n\n[[Return your borrowed item to the dragon|Return]]\n\n[[Refuse to return your borrowed item to the dragon|Refuse]]\n
Your heart races as you surge to your feet, throwing your weight at the closest of your pursuers. You wrest him to the ground, but you feel the others closing in.\n\nWith a hard blow to the face of your opponent, you roll off of him, and thrust yourself to your feet.\n\nYou have only one choice. You must run, you must find someplace to hide, as you once more try to put a measure of land between yourself and those that follow you.\n\n<<if visited ("Chase 3")>>\nAs you weave through the maze of rooms, you know you must find a place to hide.\n\n[[Search the Academia Dragun|Academy 2]]\n<<else>>\nYou have only one choice. You must run, you must find someplace to hide, as you once more try to put a measure of land between yourself and those that follow you.\n\n[[Seek shelter|Chase 3]]\n<<endif>>\n
<b>Hello Adventurer!</b> You are about to begin a journey into the world of Midra’ael’mor, where dragons are gods and men wage war with blades and magic, alike.\n\nBut be wary! Each choice you make will alter the path of your story. Do not be hasty! Take a moment to consider your options before moving ahead, for if you are not careful, you may fall into the mouth of beasts immortal!\n\n[[You have been warned…|Name]]\n
Legend says that the Eiskufe Pass was created when Mother Moon tore a mountain in two to allow the Daughter of Redspire and her army to enter the valley of the Wyrmborne ruins on foot.\n\n[[Return|previous()]]\n
\nYour mouth is moving before you can even think about what you are doing, and your voice holds infinitely more confidence than you feel.\n\n<center>"Wait!"</center>\n\n<<if visited (“Strength”)>>\nThe beast cares not for your commanding tone, and charges you.\n\nFrozen with fear, you are defenseless against the minotaur's attack. As you are flung against the wall, claws raking through your clothing, darkness claims you.\n\n[[Whoops! Would you like to try that again?|previous()]]\n\n[[Or start over?|Start]]\n<<else>>\nTo your surprise, the beast skids to a stop, stone feet sliding across the floor. It huffs and tosses its head.\n\nOnce more, you speak as if compelled by some unseen force.\n\n"Sleep."\n\nThe beast, with a rumble deep in its chest, kneels, its head lowering as it once more turns to stone.\n\n[[Somehow, you have survived...|Battle Success]]\n<<endif>>\n
Your home is tucked away in the forests that protect the Eiskufe Pass, the only way to enter the valley of the once great [[Wyrmborne]] without the aide of a dragon. Your people have lived here for hundreds of years, guarding the pass though none have tried to journey through it since the Wyrmborne disappeared.\n\nThe city never sleeps, and even in the darkest hours of the night you can hear the movement of those that watch. Your home, one of the oldest, is close enough to the pass that when the sun is high, you can see the jagged edges where the mountain broke apart, the forest thinning only feet behind your back door.\n\nIn the cold winter months of the year you huddle in your bed, close to your sister, Ama, the heavy breathing of your hound, Rusk, often disturbing your light sleep. Your home is small, once meant only for the Pass Keepers who lived alone, and the fire warms it well.\n\nTonight, you sleep heavily, seeking refuge from the weight of the world in your dreams.\n\n[[Continue|Dream]]\n
"What?" you ask, stepping forward.\n\nThe dragon raises its head.\n\n"Do not be impatient, mortal."\n\nChastened, you step back.\n\n"I will help you," the dragon continues, "but it will come at a cost."\n\n[["What cost?"|Wyrmborne 1]]\n
You close your eyes and take a deep breath... and trust.\n\nAt first, there is only silence. It seems as though even the dragon has ceased to breathe, and your own lungs ache as you realize that you have been holding your breath...\n\n..and just as you exhale, you feel an expanding inside of you, as if the world itself has shifted and grown and you with it.\n\n"Very good..." the dragon rumbles.\n\n<<if visited ("Human")]]>>\nYour eyes fly open and you stare at the dragon.\n\n"You can speak!"\n\nOnce more, you feel as though the dragon is laughing at you, but this time you hear it clear as day.\n\n"Can't you?"\n\n"Well, yes but..."\n\nThe dragon shudders as it laughs, settling before you.\n\n"It is not that I could not speak, but that you could not hear. At least, not without a little help."\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Dwarf")]]>>\nYour eyes fly open and you stare at the dragon.\n\n"I can hear you…"\n\nOnce more, you feel as though the dragon is laughing at you, but this time you hear it clear as day\n\n\n"It is not that you could not hear, but that you were not listening."\n<<endif>>\n\n\n"Now," The dragon says, "there is only one last thing."\n\n[[Continue|Dragon 9]]\n
The tunnel ends abruptly, and you find yourself in the mouth of a massive cavern. The space beyond the tunnel is dark, but when you take a wary step forward the floor grows molten.\n\nYou yelp and jump back, ready to turn back in search of another pathway.\n\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n"Stop."\n\nThe voice booms in the cave as the shift of scales against stone and the crack of a tail whipping against the floor catches your attention.\n\nFor a moment, you are reminded of a dream.\n\n[["I know you..."|Dragon 2]]\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Human")>>\n<i>"Stop.</i>\nThe shift of scales against stone and the crack of a tail whipping against the floor catches your attention.\n\nFor a moment, you are reminded of a dream.\n\n<i>[["I know you..."|Dragon 2]]</i>\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Dwarf")>>\n<i>"Stop.</i>\nThe shift of scales against stone and the crack of a tail whipping against the floor catches your attention.\n\nFor a moment, you are reminded of a dream.\n\n<i>[["I know you..."|Dragon 2]]</i>\n<<endif>>\n
"Who are you?"\n\nThe cavern is silent for many heartbeats and you begin to believe that you imagined it all.\n\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n"Who are you?" the voice echoes.\n<<else>>\n<i>"Who are you?"</i> whispers the echo in your mind.\n<<endif>>\n\n[[Ask again]]\n\n[[Give your name]]\n
<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n"...<<print $player_name>>"\n\nYou stop, when you hear your name, and the shift of scales on stone grows louder. You think you see something moving in the dark, but you are unsure.\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Human")>>\n<i>"...<<print $player_name>>"</i>\n\nYou stop, when you hear your name, and the shift of scales on stone grows louder. You think you see something moving in the dark, but you are unsure.\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Dwarf")>>\n<i>"...<<print $player_name>>"</i>\n\nYou stop, when you hear your name, and the shift of scales on stone grows louder. You think you see something moving in the dark, but you are unsure.\n<<endif>>\n\n[[Speak|Dragon 3]]\n
The dragon undulates, shifting in the cavern, and comes to rest. It sets its massive head on the floor before you, and with every exhale you feel the heat of a furnace upon you.\n\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n"What do you seek, Dreamer?"\n<<else>>\n<i>"What do you seek, Dreamer?"</i>\n<<endif>>\n\n[[Attack|Fail 3]]\n\n[[Speak to the dragon|Dragon 6]]\n
You cannot believe your eyes. Filling the vast cavern, now lit by a fire that seems to glow from within the breast of the unimaginable thing before you, is a dragon.\n\nA living, breathing dragon, so close that you can almost touch it.\n\nYou have seen dragons before, everyone has. Without them, there would be no magic, no wonder in the world. Once, long ago, they disappeared from Midra, but the stories told by the Lore Keepers tell of a young girl who brought them back.\n\nDragons do not speak to mortals, though, at least not any that are left in Midra.\n\nThey are the bridge to the gods.\n\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n[["...and you are but a dreamer."|Dragon 5]]\n<<else>>\n<i>[["...and you are but a dreamer."|Dragon 5]]</i>\n<<endif>>\n
The dragon rumbles, the sound ebbing and flowing, and for a moment you become suspicious that it is laughing at you.\n\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n"Just let go, and I will do the rest."\n<<else>>\n<i>"Just let go, and I will do the rest."</i>\n<<endif>>\n\n[[Open your mind|Dragon 8]]\n\n[[Refuse]]\n
Resisting the relatively sane urge to turn around and find another way out of the ruins, you step forward, drawn to the dragon. For a moment, you stand in awe of its wonder, and when you speak your voice sounds far away.\n\nMaybe the dragon is right, you really are just dreaming.\n\n[["A way out."|Choice 1a]]\n\n[["To protect my family."|Choice 1b]]\n\n[["To kill the <<if visited ("Human")>>Ka Dur<<endif>><<if visited ("Drae")>>Fuer’a<<endif>><<if visited ("Dwarf")>>Nethak<<endif>>."|Choice 1c]]\n
You cannot help yourself as you are pulled to the dagger by unseen forces. It warms in your hand as you pick it up, comfortable in your grasp.\n \nTurning from the table, the armor forgotten, you once more begin to search for doors. There are only two, the one you came through, which you are certain the <<if visited ("Human")>>Ka Dur<<endif>><<if visited ("Drae")>>Fuer’a<<endif>><<if visited ("Dwarf")>>Nethak<<endif>> will soon enter through, and one directly across from it.\n\nYou know you must keep moving, so you turn your back on the room and open the next door.\n\n[[Continue|Challenge 1]]\n
Midra, the often called the Heart of Creation, was the first land in the world to be populated by the Live Giver, Midral. Here, dragons are most bountiful, and with them magic.\n\n[Insert Map]\n\n[[Return|previous()]]
<<if visited ("Human")>>\nYou wake with a start, your blankets tangled around your arms and legs. Smoke creeps beneath your door and through the open window.\n\nThe once warmly glowing embers in the fire pit have died, and darkness lays heavily around you. Outside your window, though, the dancing flicker of flames glows.\n\nYou pry yourself from your bed, careful not to step on Sar, and creep to the window.\n\nOutside, flames lick at the huts at one edge of the small cluster, spreading quickly inwards.\n\nSmall, lithe shapes move through the flames, almost as if guiding them from one sleeping home to another.\n\n<i>[[“Ka Dur!”|Invaders]]</i> you whisper, stumbling away from the window.\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\nYou wake with a start, your blankets tangled around your arms and legs. Smoke creeps beneath your door and through the fine cracks of the shuttered window.\n\nThe once crackling fire now dimly glows in the hearth, and darkness lays heavily around you. Outside your window, though, the dancing flicker of flames glows.\n\nYou pry yourself from your bed, careful not to awaken Ama, and creep to the window, opening the shutters warily.\n\nOutside, flames lick at the roofs of the homes in the heart of the forest, spreading towards you.\n\nSmall, lithe shapes move through the flames, almost as if guiding them from one sleeping home to another.\n\n<i>[[“Fuer’a!”|Invaders]]</i> you whisper, stumbling away from the window.\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Dwarf")>>\nYou wake with a start, tangled in your bedroll. Smoke lays heavy around you, those travelling with you beginning to wake. In the distance, fire claims the edges of the forest that lay against the Eiskufe Mountains.\n\nYou untangle yourself from your bedroll and rise, treading carefully between those that still cling to sleep. The fire seems to be moving away from you, and is but a curiosity, until a cry front eh camp startles you.\n\nYou turn around to find that you have wandered further than you thought from the others. Dark shapes, lithe and not so much taller than you, move through the camp. Your brethren awaken more quickly now, but they are overwhelmed, and even as they draw weapons, many are cut down in only a heartbeat.\n\n<i>[[“Nethak!”|Invaders]]</i> you whisper, for a moment parylized.\n<<endif>>\n\n[[Continue|Prologue 2]]
At the end of the Tainted War, a war in which nearly all of the dragons in Midra were killed, and the Great Mourning, a time when magic was all but gone, came the Age of Resurrection, when the Daughter of Redspire and the dragon Abyste, defeated the dark forces that ruled the dying lands. With their victory came the Great Rejuvenation, a time when dragons could safely return to Midra.\n\nDwarves, humans, and Drae, alike, rejoiced as their lands returned to great health and magic returned to the mortal realm.\n\n[[Return|previous()]]
<<if visited ("Human")>>\nYour aim is true, and as the rock collides with the invaders head his cry cuts through the night and he collapses. Others appear at the edges of your vision, though, as you turn to run.\n\nThe coast lays open around you, but you run diagonal to the mountains, coming closer to them with each step. You do not know where you are going, nor does it matter, so long as you draw as many of the Ka Dur away as you can.\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\nYour aim is true, and as the rock collides with the invaders head his cry cuts through the night and he collapses. Others appear at the edges of your vision, though, as you turn to run.\n\nThe forest begins to open up as you round the corner of your house, and the mountains lay beyond. As you weave through the trees, you do not consider where you are running, only that you must draw away as many of the Fuer’a as you can. \n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Dwarf")>>\nThe Red Mountains loom beside you, and just beyond them are the Eiskufe Mountains. You do not think about this, though, as you run. You think only of those you left behind, out in the open, and you long for the safety of your tunnels as you grow ever nearer to the flickering glow of the forest ahead.\n<<endif>>\n\nBehind you, the sounds of pursuit grow louder. You know that you are out-numbered, and fear drives you forward, but you begin to wonder… is running the only choice?\n\n[[Fight|Fail 1]]\n\n[[Run|Chase 1]]\n
<<if visited ("Human")>>\nSar begins, coughing as smoke fills the room. She stirs in her blankets, but you softly hush her, "Shh, get up. The Ka Dur are here.”\n\nThe child rushes to you, grasping at your leg, silver tears gathering in her eyes.\n\n“I’m going to distract them. You have to run away. Find anyone you can, and hide in the mountains. Do you understand?”\n\nShe nods, though she clings to you still. “Wait for me to draw them away, then run as fast as you can.”\n\nLooking around the small room, you seize a large stone from the edge of the pit and edge to the door. You open it only a crack at first, waiting, watching, and then – when you finally see a shadow shifting through the darkness – you strike, thrusting the door open, and throwing the rock at the invader’s head.\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\nAma begins to awaken, coughing as smoke fills the room. She stirs beneath the blankets, but you softly hush her, "Shh, get up. The Fuer’a are here.”\n\nThe child rushes to you, grasping at your leg, silver tears gathering in her eyes.\n\n“I’m going to distract them. You have to run away. Find anyone you can, and hide in the mountains. Do you understand?”\n\nShe nods, though she clings to you still. “Wait for me to draw them away, then run as fast as you can.”\n\nLooking around the small room, you seize a large warming stone from beside the hearth and edge toward the door. You open it only a crack at first, waiting, watching, and then – when you finally see a shadow shifting through the darkness – you strike, thusting the door open, and throwing the rock at the invader’s head.\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("Dwarf")>>\n“Run!” someone yells as you begin to rush toward the camp. You falter, searching the darkness, but even your eyes struggle to separate the attackers from the depth of the night.\n\nSo, you turn, and you run, your heavy feet pounding against the foot of the mountains.\n<<endif>>\n\n[[Continue|Prologue 3]]\n
As this game is still in what I would leik to call the Alpha stage, it is currently missing some dictionary elements, and all images and CSS coding that will later be included.\n
<<if visited ("Read")>>\nYou nod slowly, closing your eyes.\n\n"Take it." You whisper.\n\nThe dragon rumbles, a soft, undulating sound that you almost believe is laughter. It pulls its talon from your head.\n<<else>>\nReluctantly, you step forward, offering the dragon the <<if visited ("Amulet")>>amulet<<endif>><<if visited ("Staff")>>staff<<endif>><<if visited ("Carry")>>book<<endif>><<if visited ("Dagger")>>dagger<<endif>><<if visited ("Armor")>>armor<<endif>>.\n<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited ("Yes 2")>>\nThe dragon moves aside, revealing a trap door. With a single claw, it pries it open.\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n"You are free to go."\n<<else>>\n<i>"You are free to go."</i>\n<<endif>>\n\n[[End|End 1]]\n<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited ("Yes")>>\nThe dragon moves aside, revealing a trap door. With a single claw, it pries it open.\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n"You are free to go."\n<<else>>\n<i>"You are free to go."</i>\n<<endif>>\n\n[[End|End 1]]\n<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited ("Choice 1b")>>\nThe dragon moves forward, its claws digging into the floor, creating ruts.\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n"Now open your mind."\n<<else>>\n<i>"Now open your mind."</i>\n<<endif>>\n\n[["How?"|Dragon 7]]\n<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited ("No")>>\nThe dragon moves forward, its claws digging into the floor, creating ruts.\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n"Now open your mind."\n<<else>>\n<i>"Now open your mind."</i>\n<<endif>>\n\n[["How?"|Dragon 7]]\n<<endif>>\n
Your fingers run over the binding, and you cannot help but begin to read. The horse hide pages are ancient, and you turn them carefully.\n\nTime seems to stop, and before you realize it, and you have read the entire book. Strangely, you rememebr very little of what you read, but you could not stop once you started.\n\nYou decide to leave the book, it is not yours to take, after all. It belongs to the [[Wyrmborne]], and some day they might return.\n\nFeeling strangely rested, you turn away from the table, and once more search for doors. There are only two, the one you came through, which you are certain the <<if visited ("Human")>>Ka Dur<<endif>><<if visited ("Drae")>>Fuer’a<<endif>><<if visited ("Dwarf")>>Nethak<<endif>> will soon enter through, and one directly across from it.\n\nYou know you must keep moving, so you turn your back on the room and open the next door.\n\n[[Continue|Challenge 1]]\n
"Perhaps," the dragon responds, "even I do not know for certain where our brethren have gone."\n\nYou frown. As much as you wish to return home, you know that you can not fight the invaders out of Midra alone, and what good is it to save only your home? What of teh others, who can not defend themselves.\n\nReluctantly, you raise your eyes to the horizon.\n\n"Then we should find out."\n\n<center>END</center>\n\n(Needs Expansion)
\nFor a moment, you almost change your mind. What did the dragon mean, it hoped you were the one?\n\nHowever, a growl of impatience hurries you forward, and you begin your descent down the stairs.\n\nThe trap door closes above your head with a loud BANG, and you can hear the dragon settling once more over the door with a huff.\n\n<center>You have reached the end of your story. After many hours of traveling, you find the end of the underground tunnel. You are once more on the other side of the Eiskufe Mountains, not so terribly far from your home.\n\nYou are free, and you have survived, but it is doubtful you have a home to return to, and if you do it has been claimed by the invaders, so you do the only thing you can.\n\nYou turn and begin your journey toward the closest city in the hopes of finding refuge, but you know, you will only ever be a few steps ahead of the invaders. No matter where you go, you will never have a home again.\n\n<b>END</b>\n</center>\n
Green crystals flare to life, lighting your way as you enter the room marked FAITH. It, like the one before, is much smaller than those above, and all that resides within it is a single table and a rack of armor.\n\nYou approach the table, and at its center, you find an amulet and a staff.\n\nUpon closer inspection the amulet, a silver dragon’s claw hung on a heavy chain, is set with the very same crystals that light the room.\n\nThe staff is made out of a dark wood, and is nearly as tall as you. At the top, another crystal is set within the shape of a much larger dragon’s claw.\n\nYou are mystified by the items, but you are drawn more strongly to one than another.\n\nYou can take…\n\nthe [[Amulet]].\n\nthe [[Staff]].\n\n[[Neither|Nothing]].\n
Moving away from the door, you find that the room is dark. As you step deeper into it, you get a sense of closeness, as though the walls are nearly upon you, no matter which way you turn, but when you reach out, there is nothing to touch. You continue to move forward.\n\nAs you step into the heart of the room, a soft glow begins to emanate from three places before you. The closer you come to the glowing places, the brighter they become, and soon you recognize them as glyphs.\n\nA few steps later, it becomes clear that each glyph is set in the hard surface of a door. You stop, and consider each one.\n\nYou must choose a door, but which one?\n\n[[Knowledge]]\n\n[[Strength]]\n\n[[Faith]]\n
The room is dark and fully enclosed, but for the open door. Pushing against it from this side, it closes, though it takes much force. You slump against the door, hoping that it will slow your pursuers enough to give yourself a moment to gather your senses about you.\n\nYou rub your hands over your face and try to catch your breath. There is a soreness in your feet, and your hands are raw from catching yourself on the jagged rock faces in the pass. You are worn down and tire,d, but there is no time to truly rest.\n\nYou must push forward.\n\n[[Search the room for other doors|Academy 5]]\n
You can hear the boots of the <<if visited ("Human")>>Ka Dur<<endif>><<if visited ("Drae")>>Fuer’a<<endif>><<if visited ("Dwarf")>>Nethak<<endif>> hitting the floor behind you. If you turn back, they will kill you. You have no choice, you must descend the stairs.\n\nCarefully, you make your way down the spiraling stairwell. Light ceases to filter in through broken walls and open doors as you make your way deep beneath the surface of Midra. It seems, for a while, as though the stairs will never end, but finally, you reach a door.\n\nIt stands ajar, and though it will not move when you push it, there is just enough room for you to slip through.\n\n[[Continue|Academy 4]]\n
You aren’t safe yet. You know that the <<if visited ("Human")>>Ka Dur<<endif>><<if visited ("Drae")>>Fuer’a<<endif>><<if visited ("Dwarf")>>Nethak<<endif>> are close on your heels.\n\nAs you move through the Academy, you search for a place to hide. None of the rooms afford you complete protection, though, and you begin to fear that you have cornered yourself. And then…\n\nYou stumble across a grand stairwell. It winds down, twisting out of sight. \n\n[[Descend|Academy 3]]\n
You step inside the gaping doorway of the aging ruins and find yourself in a vast entryway. Worn, tattered hangings cling to the wall, fading from sun and weather, the great tales of the unraveling. A tree grows over one wall, its draping branches reaching down into the Academy’s skeleton.\n\nWith the absence of the roof, you can see many rooms beyond this one, and the maze of the Academy’s first floor is open to you. Most of the rooms are not fully enclosed, the doors ripped away of falling crooked, the roofs crumbling, and the walls disintegrating. In some places, you can see where the sun filters in from many levels above.\n\nAs you explore, weariness sets deeper into your bones.\n\nYou can [[make camp|Camp]] here, or [[search|Academy 2]] for a more secure room.\n
As you answer, the mermaid throws her head back. She begins to laugh, and the room shakes around you, pieces of the cieling and the walls beginning to fall.\n\nWhat remains of the academy crumbles around you.\n\n[[Whoops! Would you like to try that again?|previous()]]\n\n[[Or start over?|Race]]
\nIn a moment of panic, you turn and lunge at your pursuers, but they are prepared for you. Surging forward, they surround you. You struggle, but as they force you to the ground you feel the cold metal of a short blade slip between your ribs and darkness claims you.\n\n[[Whoops! Would you like to try that again?|previous()]]\n\n[[Or start over?|Race]]\n
<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n"I had truly hoped that you were the one..."\n<<else>>\n<i>"I had truly hoped that you were the one..."</i>\n<<endif>>\n\nThe dragon rises with a warm sigh.\n\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>\n"Return to me what is not yours, and I will give you passsage from this place."\n<<else>>\n<i>"Return to me what is not yours, and I will give you passage from this place."</i>\n<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited ("Read")>>\nYou shake your head, offering open hands toward the dragon.\n\n"But, I didn't take anything."\n\nThe dragon raises a claw, touching your forehead with the tip of a talon.\n\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>"Did you not take knowledge you did not earn?"<<else>><i>"Did you not take knowledge you did not earn?"</i><<endif>>\n\n"How do I retun knowledge?"\n\n<<if visited ("Drae")>>"Do not be concerned, that is a task easily done by one such as I."<<else>>")>>"Do not be concerned, that is a task easily done by one such as I."<<endif>>\n<<endif>>\n\n[[Return your borrowed item to the dragon|Return]]\n\n[[Refuse to return your borrowed item to the dragon|Refuse]]\n
A fire crackles as darkness hugs close around its flames, blinding you. Something moves on the other side of the dancing blaze, the whisper of scales against stone shifting around you as a shadow undulates just beyond sight.\n\n<i><<print $player_name>>…”</i>\n\nYou try to rise, to move around the fire, but your body is heavy and you find it difficult to even lift so much as your finger.\n\nThe flick of a scarlet tail, visible only for a moment, sends sparks into the air, and you flinch away.\n\n<i><<print $player_name>>…”</i>\n\nYou try to speak, but your mouth is dry, your throat tight. Thick smoke, filling the darkness, chokes you…\n\n<i><<print $player_name>>… [[WAKE UP!|Prologue 1]]”</i>\n
The dragon spins through the air, sending fear and elation surging through your blood.\n\n"Home it is, then!"\n\nAnd in moments, you are flying above the mountains of Eiskufe, and the forest that is your home comes into view. Smoke drifts through the air as the dragon flies closer, moving lower to the ground, claws skimming the tops of the trees.\n\n"Home..." you whisper.\n\n<center>END</center>\n\n(Needs expansion)