<<if $GuardCheck lte 2>><<set $GuardCheck = $GuardCheck + 1>>You begin to search the body. A quick pat reveals a heavy purse of 223 septims, a gold ring, a tiara, and the knife in her chest. No form of identification can be found.\n\nYou quickly stuff the gold and jewelry into your pack.\n\n<<if visited("DaggerCheck") is 0>>[[Examine the dagger.|DaggerCheck][$DaggerFound = 1]]<<endif>>\n<<if visited("ShutEyes") is 0>>[[Close her eyes.|ShutEyes]]<<endif>>\n<<else>><<display Guuaaaards!>><<endif>>

"Hmph. You want to be paid for your work?" Carmella crosses her arms. "Why not just do it as a favor for me? Oh, don't give me that look. You'll be paid a fair sum."\n\n[[Return|PropositionHub]]

"I would have come sooner, but Balgruuf wanted word from Imperial City first. After that, I needed to convince him you were innocent. My apologies for taking so long."\n\n[[Return|PropositionHub]]

"Why not? You look skilled. And if I may be so direct... You owe me a favor. I could have just left you to rot."\n\n"Frankly, I dislike simply hiring people. As the saying goes, you can't pay someone to believe. If a connection is tenuous, there's no guarantee they won't go to a higher bidder. And I hate it when people disappear on me."\n\n[[Return|PropositionHub]]

The guards draw steel and the inn is filled with the clang of steel. Confronted by two, their numbers overwhelm you and one guard manages to knock you to the floor and disarm you.\n\n"Do you surrender?"\n\n[["I surrender."|Surrender][$Cooperation = $Cooperation + 1]]\n[[Stand and fight.|OneLastStrike]]

[[A Twist of the Knife|BriefNote]]\n\nA sample quest\n\nBy Derrick Leu

Carmella looks to you expectantly.\n\n[[Accept.|AcceptValentus]]\n<<if visited("Reluctance") is 0>>[["Why me?"|Reluctance]]<<endif>>\n<<if visited("Pay") is 0>>[["What are you paying?"|Pay]]<<endif>>\n<<if visited("Work") is 0>>[["What would I be doing?"|Work]]<<endif>>\n<<if visited("Time") is 0>>[["What took you so long?"|Time]]<<endif>>\n[["I'm not interested."|Refuse]]

"Excellent. Now, if you'll come with me, I'll explain what I need from you. You've made a wonderful decision; I'm sure you won't regret it."\n\nShe turns on her heel, cloak fluttering, and strides down the corridor out of Dragonsreach. While the cloak floats in the air, you catch a glimpse of a symbol emblazoned down her tunic's back; a forked tongue.\n\nYou follow her as she leads <<display Freedom>>

"And I'm the Jarl of Whiterun," the guard says. "You're not going anywhere until we're done with you."\n<<display GuardsCheck1>>

You're not certain how long it's been - a prison is timeless, frozen in the endless cycle of its own routine - but surely it's been at least a week, [[if not two.|Release]]

"Tullius and the Stormcloaks are deadlocked. As is, I'm a wild card. Something outside their control. A word from me can tip the balance in their favor... or against."\n\n"The Breton is a different matter. My family has enemies, and one of them has decided to act."\n\n[[Return|PropositionHub]]

"You think we came here on a lark? One of the ambassador's own retinue came by to warn us that somebody had been lingering by the stairwell; and the description matched you."\n\n<<display BodyFinish>>

With a burst of energy, you swipe away the guard's sword and roll to your feet.\n\nA left hook and a right cross, and the first guard staggers away, reeling in pain.\n\nYou spin to face another guard and grunt in surprise at the sudden pain. You look down and find a guard's sword half-buried in your gut.\n\nYou fall to your knees.\n\nAnother guard swings.\n\nYour vision goes black.\n\nYou have died.\n\n\n\n\n\n(You may return using your browser's back button)

<<set $BodySearch = 0; $DaggerFound = 0; $GuardCheck = 0; $Cooperation = 0; $TurnBody = 0>>

You turn the woman over. There is a large, silver dagger embedded in her chest. Her eyes stare up at you, almost accusingly.\n\nYou check for a pulse and find none.\n\n[[Examine the dagger.|DaggerCheck][$DaggerFound = 1; $GuardCheck = $GuardCheck + 1]]\n[[Loot the body.|LootBody][$GuardCheck = $GuardCheck + 1]]\n[[Close her eyes.|ShutEyes][$GuardCheck = $GuardCheck + 1]]

You can feel yourself becoming despondent. You spend days on your back staring at the wall. There is row of tallies on the nearest brick. Thirty-one. You've counted it a hundred times, with no idea if they mean days, weeks, or [[years.|Approach]]

<<set $Cooperation = $Cooperation + 1>>"Unless it was you, of course," says the guard. "Just stay quiet and keep your head down. We'll be less inclined to hurt you."\n<<display GuardsCheck1>>

The cells of Dragonsreach are cold, damp, and dark, infested with rats that skitter in the shadows, forever out of reach.\n\nThe guards slide a <<if $Cooperation < 1>>chunky pale slop through the slots. It's not much; just enough to keep you alive. You can feel your flesh sloughing off and your skills fading.<<elseif $Cooperation > 0>>hunk of bread and a bowl of crudely made stew through the slots. It's not much, but it keeps the flesh on your bones.<<endif>>\n\nDays pass without a single word. The guards refuse to speak and the only attention you are ever paid is when they empty your bucket and give you [[food.|Despondent]]

you out of the dungeons and into the sunlight, where the warmth of the rays bathe your face and the breeze tousles your hair.\n\nYou are free.\n\n\n\nEnd Sample

A Twist of the Knife

<<set $Cooperation = $Cooperation + 2>>"Good. Now stay quiet and keep your head down. We'll be less inclined to hurt you."\n<<display GuardsCheck1>>

You follow the corridor that leads <<display Freedom>>

<<if $TurnBody is 1>><<set $TurnBody = 2>><<display BodyTurn>>\n\n<<endif>>"Lucretia Marius; an ambassador from Imperial City," the guardsman says absentmindedly, as he checks the dagger. "There were concerns in the capitol that General Tullius' reports were inaccurate. Ambassador Marius was to assess the situation and see if it warranted escalation."\n\n"Shut it, Joren. There's no need to explain anything."\n\nJoren clicks his tongue in annoyance, but says nothing.\n\n[["Do you still think I did it?"|Protest]]\n[[Stay silent.|Silence]]

The door creaks open at a touch of your hand to reveal a well-dressed Imperial woman lying within a pool of blood.\n\nThe room is otherwise empty.\n\n[[Examine her.|SearchBody][$BodySearch = 1]]\n[[Flee the scene.|FirstRunAway]]\n[[Search the room.|SearchRoom]]

"Really? After what I did for you? So be it. Off you go then. Enjoy the freedom I slaved to give you. Come find me once you've grown a conscience."\n\n[[Leave Dragonsreach.|LeaveDungeon]]

"I'm about done here," Joren says. "Go ahead and take the prisoner up to the keep. I'll close off the room and wait for Farengar to arrive, so he can have a look."\n\n"Gladly," says the guard behind you. With a blade at your back, he shoves you along towards [[Dragonsreach.|DragonsreachDungeon]]

<<if $BodySearch < 1>>The guard turns over the woman's body and and pulls out a dagger buried in her chest. <<endif>>The dagger's blade drips with blood as he examines it.

"A bit of this, a bit of that... I need a few messages delivered. And no, you're not just playing courier either."\n\n"I'm being hunted. Stormcloaks, Tullius, and a Breton from Imperial City. One of them killed Marius, and I have no intention of dying as easily as she."\n\n[["Why are you being targeted?"|WhyTarget]]\n[[Return|PropositionHub]]

Derrick Leu

Suddenly, you hear a clank. At the door, an unfamiliar Imperial woman stands there.\n\n"Come," she says. "I am releasing you."\n\nYou rise slowly, muscles feeling as creaky as the door. A hope rises in your [[chest.|CarmellaValentus]]

The woman smiles thinly as she watches you.\n\n"I am Carmella Valentus; Ambassador Marius' subordinate, originally. With her dead, I've taken over her duties." She brings you to the evidence chest, where you collect your [[gear.|Proposition]]

<<if $TurnBody is 1>><<set $TurnBody = 2>><<display BodyTurn>>\n\n<<endif>>Joren spends some time looking over the knife.\n\n"Thoughts?" asks the guard?\n\n"Distinctive pommel. Never seen one like it."\n\n"Dark Brotherhood?"\n\n"Doubt it."\n\n"Best we ask a few people about it," the man glances at you. "Just in case our prisoner doesn't sing for us; or tries to lie."\n\nJoren stands and turns to the two of [[you.|BodyFinish]]

This is a story sample made in Twine and published in html format. It can be opened with any browser.\n\nShould you wish to revert a decision at any time, please use your browser's back button.\n\nThank you for reading, and [[enjoy!|BanneredMare]]

\n"Watch him while I check the ambassador," says the other, as he approaches the body.\n\nThe Nord holding you tightens his grip around your arm. "That's no wine stain, Joren." he sighs. "The Jarl is going to be furious."\n\n[["Who is she?"|LucretiaMarius][$TurnBody = 1]]\n[[Stay silent.|Silence][$TurnBody = 1]]\n[["This is all a mistake!"|Protest][$TurnBody = 1]]

<<if $GuardCheck lte 2>><<set $GuardCheck = $GuardCheck + 1>>You close her eyes and whisper a prayer.\n\n<<if visited("DaggerCheck") is 0>>[[Examine the dagger.|DaggerCheck][$DaggerFound = 1]]<<endif>>\n<<if visited("LootBody") is 0>>[[Loot the body.|LootBody]]<<endif>>\n<<else>><<display Guuaaaards!>><<endif>>

<<if $TurnBody is 1>><<set $TurnBody = 2>><<display BodyTurn>>\n\n<<endif>>"Two people enter a room and one of them turns up dead. What are we to think?"\n\n[["Suicide?"|SuicideRefuse]]\n[["She was dead when I entered!"|Protest2]]\n[[Stay silent.|Silence]]

"I don't believe you killed Lucretia. With that assumption, I've had you released."\n\n"There's a few things that need... handling, before I'm comfortable operating in Skyrim. You have a sturdy, talented look about you. What say you?"\n\n[[Accept.|AcceptValentus]]\n[["Why me?"|Reluctance]]\n[["What are you paying?"|Pay]]\n[["What would I be doing?"|Work]]\n[["What took you so long?"|Time]]\n[["I'm not interested."|Refuse]]

"Sure, keep that glib tongue about you. You'll need it when we make you sing for us up in Dragonsreach."\n\n<<display BodyFinish>>

You step over to the nearest closet and open it. Within are several tunics and breeches, a pewter mug, and a roll of cheese. You close it before moving over to a nearby drawer.\n\nThe drawer has 13 septims, two skulls, and a large, wrapped bundle of troll fat.\n\nAs you move to look beneath the bed, <<display Guuaaaards!>>

The clomp of boots on the stairs gives you but a moment of warning, as a pair of heavily armed guards burst into the room.\n\n"Stop right there, criminal scum! Nobody breaks the law on my watch!"\n\n[["I surrender!"|Surrender]]\n[["I didn't do it!"|Innocent]]\n[["I found her like this, I swear!"|Innocent]]\n[["Whoever did this is going to pay."|Vengeance]]\n[["You won't take me alive!|Fight][$Cooperation = $Cooperation - 2]]

<<if $GuardCheck lte 2>><<set $GuardCheck = $GuardCheck + 1>>A bit of blood gushes out as you pull the dagger out of the body.\n\nYou turn it over in your hands, looking at it carefully.\n\nThe dagger appears to be made of silver, forged with a distinctive wave pattern along its blade. The pommel is shaped as a serpent's head with its forked tongue flicking out.\n\nYou put it down on the floor beside her for later.\n\n<<if visited("LootBody") is 0>>[[Loot the body.|LootBody]]<<endif>>\n<<if visited("ShutEyes") is 0>>[[Close her eyes.|ShutEyes]]<<endif>>\n<<else>><<display Guuaaaards!>><<endif>>

You climb the stairs of The Bannered Mare. The sounds of revelry and the distinct hustle and bustle of a busy tavern fade away with each step.\n\nYou come to a stop at the top of the stairs. A closed door is [[before you.|BanneredMareRoom]]

Not wanting to get caught, you spin on your heel, hoping to leave the scene before anyone arrives.\n\n[[But you were too late.|Guuaaaards!]]