Medieval Travels - An Interactive Story

Before you read along, there are some rules as for how to read this story. This is an interactive story, meaning you get to choose how the story goes. For this to work, you have to be led, bit by bit, on each part of the story. Meaning you can only follow the link for your decision and go from there. No going back and changing your choice. The only way to get a different ending is to start the story all over again. The posts will not be in any order, so you must follow the link to the post of your decision. Now, once you read through the story the first time, you can answer the poll above with the first ending you got. Let me repeat that. Answer the poll with the FIRST ending you got! Make sense? Alright, let's get onto our story, shall we?

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You live in a small village that is under the rule of a wise and powerful king. He loves his subjects, and his subjects love him. The king's citizens are allowed to visit the castle whenever they wish, though they usually are only allowed into the courtyard or the gardens. You are a middle-aged, widowed spinster who has a gift for the king for his birthday and wishes to deliver it to him personally. It takes about two days' time to travel to the castle from your village, and you are leaving in the morning. You have made sure you have enough food for the trip there, and you have two canisters of water for your journey, one for each day. You have enough gold to buy yourself more food in the king's market and a little extra just in case. You lie down after checking your supplies for the third time that evening and fall asleep. You wake up at dawn and are gathering your supplies. A couple friends and neighbors wish you safe travels before you depart. You start walking along the road toward the castle. About an hour later, you reach a fork in the road. You know that the way to the king's castle is on the left, but several yards ahead on the right, you see a small bag. Do you investigate the bag or do you continue on your journey? Investigate the bag Continue on your journey

You politely refuse the old man's offer and watch his carriage continue down the road. You spend the next hour walking to the next crossing in the road. You turn onto the next road and walk a little further until you come upon a forest. It's now almost sundown and you're hungry. You decide to set up camp and eat some of the food you've prepared for yourself. Just after you finish eating, you make yourself comfortable near the small, dying fire and close your eyes. You hear a noise nearby, a soft rustling of leaves. You quickly open your eyes and lift your head, looking around in the dark, the only light coming from the cinders a few feet in front of you. "Who's there?" you call into the darkness. A man steps closer to the light as you squint your eyes to see him. He's holding an outstretched bow, aimed at you. He says if you give him money, he will leave you alone. You very slowly reach into your bag, pulling out the small satchel of gold you found earlier. You toss it towards him, hearing more than seeing it hit the ground near his feet. You hear his bowstring relax, waiting with baited breath as you hear him pick up the satchel and shuffle its contents, gold coin clinking on gold coin. Without a word, he runs off into the dark. Left a bit scared, you have to decide to rest, stay up and start the fire again, or pick your things up and carry on into the forest. Get some sleep Stay up and get the fire going again Head into the forest

Too scared to go back to sleep but too tired to continue into the forest, you decide to stay awake. You get the fire going again and spend your time looking between it and the stars. As you feel yourself starting to doze off, you shake yourself awake and stand up. You hear a faint rustle nearby and suddenly your heart starts racing. You turn around quickly, expecting to see the thief again. However, this time, you see two eyes reflecting the firelight back at you. You've never come face-to-face with a wolf before, and you have no meat and therefore nothing it wants. As it creeps towards you, you can see the wolf baring its fangs at you and then you hear a low growl. You reach for a branch to defend yourself, but as soon as you move, the wolf lunges at you and bites your arm. You yell in pain and try to move away from the wolf, angering it further. After a heavily one-sided 'fight' between you and the wolf, you DIE from your injuries.

You decide not to approach the young man, instead watching him from a distance. You watch him for a few seconds before another shady young man joins him. They don't share a lot of words, making you wonder what is going on. You turn your gaze away as the king approaches the small group of people gathered together to present their gifts to him. The two suspicious-looking young men walk over and join the group. The king happily accepts gift after gift, turning to the two young men, who present him with a small glass of what they call their village's best rum. He thanks them and drink it. As the king turns to you, you hand him your gift of a small, handmade doll that looks like a little king. He thanks you and clasps your hands in his before making a gurgle sound and fainting. The guards that walked out with him yell orders immediately and take you into custody, the young men mysteriously having vanished. You sit in jail for several hours until a guard comes and proclaims to you that the king died by poison, but they could not prove that it was you. You are let go and escorted out of the castle with an apology. As you leave the gates, you hear soft talking. Do you investigate the noise or go to the nearby inn and call it a night? Investigate the noise Turn in for the night

You politely refuse the old man's offer and watch his carriage continue down the road. You spend the next hour walking to the next crossing in the road. You turn onto the next road and walk a little further until you come upon a forest. It's now almost sundown and you're hungry. You decide to set up camp and eat some of the food you've prepared for yourself. Just after you finish eating, you make yourself comfortable near the small, dying fire and close your eyes. You hear a noise nearby, a soft rustling of leaves. You quickly open your eyes and lift your head, looking around in the dark, the only light coming from the cinders a few feet in front of you. "Who's there?" you call into the darkness. A man steps closer to the light as you squint your eyes to see him. He's holding an outstretched bow, aimed at you. He says if you give him money, he will leave you alone. You know you have no extra money to give him, so you say, "I haven't got any money, please." The man doesn't take no for an answer. He drops his bow and approaches you, ripping your bag from your body. He grabs his bow and runs off into the darkness, leaving you still on the ground. You don't know who he is or where he's gone. He stole your present for the king's birthday. You have to return home with nothing. You've been ROBBED!

Though you are extremely flattered, you respectfully decline the new king's proposal. He rises back to his feet and thanks you once again for turning in the assassins. To reward you, he grants you privilege to live in the castle, to which he will not take no for an answer. He has the guards show you to your living quarters, where you find a nice warm bed waiting for you. The assassins are executed the next day, and you start a NEW LIFE living in the royal castle.

You decide to set up camp and eat. Just after you finish eating, you make yourself comfortable near the small, dying fire and close your eyes. You hear a noise nearby, a soft rustling of leaves. You quickly open your eyes and lift your head, looking around in the dark, the only light coming from the cinders a few feet in front of you. "Who's there?" you call into the darkness. A man steps closer to the light as you squint your eyes to see him. He's holding an outstretched bow, aimed at you. He says if you give him money, he will leave you alone. You know you have no extra money to give him, so you say, "I haven't got any money, please." The man doesn't take no for an answer. He drops his bow and approaches you, ripping your bag from your body. He grabs his bow and runs off into the darkness, leaving you still on the ground. You don't know who he is or where he's gone. He stole your present for the king's birthday. You have to return home with nothing. You've been ROBBED!

You accept the kind old man's offer and approach the carriage, smiling a little as the man offers his hand to help you in. You sit across from him, facing towards the back of the carriage. You both sit in silence for a while, trying to avoid eye contact as he seems to be scrutinizing you. He makes a bit of small talk, asking you where you're from and about where you're going and why. You politely answer his questions as you look out the window on the door of the carriage. You feel a little awkward, but not too uncomfortable. The man is obviously some sort of noble, but he didn't quite look like the charitable type. Perhaps you're thinking too hard about it or perhaps he intimidates you. At any rate, his coachman brings the horses to a stop at the next crossing and the old man offers his hand to let you out. You politely thank the old nobleman and take a few steps back before watching the carriage continue down the road. You've certainly saved some time, and you head off down the other road, still on your journey to the king's castle. As the sun starts to set in the sky, you see that ahead of you is a forest. You know your way well enough, but you also know that the forest isn't very safe in the dark. You have items in your bag that can help you make a torch, but you're also starting to get hungry. Do you decide to set up camp and eat, or do you make yourself a torch and continue into the forest? Set up camp Continue into the forest

You decide to investigate the noise, walking around the side of the castle wall. You see the two young men talking in hushed voices. You quickly go back to the gates and tell the guards you found who killed the king. They follow you around the corner and see the two men you point out. The two young men, surprised, fall over themselves trying to get away. The guards catch them and take them inside the castle as another guard escorts you inside. He presents you to the prince, who is still distraught over his father's sudden death. The prince takes your hands in both of his and thanks you for turning in the assassins. He tells you of how he knew he would one day rule the kingdom but never would he have thought he'd become king like this. For your duty to your kingdom, the prince gets down on one knee and asks you to become his queen so you can continue to show your kindness and strength to the entire kingdom. Accept Decline

You decide to go to sleep, hoping the thief doesn't come back. In the morning, you wake up well rested. You stand up and stretch before eating a bit of food. You continue your journey to the king's castle without much happening. By the time you reach the gates, the sun is just starting to slink downwards in the sky. The guards have you identify yourself and your purpose before giving you the customary warning to follow the law or you will be jailed. They let you pass into the courtyard with instructions to wait nearby until the king and his quarry arrive for the receiving of gifts. As you walk inside the gates, you see a shady young man near a statue. You watch him for a few seconds before another shady young man joins him. They don't share a lot of words, making you wonder what is going on. You turn your gaze away as the king and two guards approach the small group of people gathered together to present their gifts to him. The two suspicious-looking young men walk over and join the group. The king happily accepts gift after gift, turning to the two young men, who present him with a small glass of what they call their village's best rum. He thanks them and drinks it. As the king turns to you, you hand him your gift of a small, handmade doll that looks like a little king. He thanks you and clasps your hands in his before making a gurgle sound and fainting. The guards that walked out with him yell orders immediately and take you into custody, the young men mysteriously having vanished. The guards search you, but they find nothing. You sit in jail for several hours until a guard comes and proclaims to you that the king died by poison, but they could not prove that it was you. You are let go and escorted out of the castle with an apology. As you leave the gates, you hear soft talking. Do you investigate the noise or go to the nearby inn and call it a night? Investigate the noise Turn in for the night