Chapter 1:

The hero is facing the Serpent of Twilight. The Serpent has absolute power, and the hero can do nothing to stop him. The Serpent screams again and again about the keys, and giving up guardianship! The dream is often the same with the Serpent nearly killing the hero in a dream before he awakens.... Waking up in a cold sweat, it has not been an easy task for the hero. In his dreams, the Serpent haunts him. He knows it to be sent from the Serpent Queen but doesn't know how to make the dreams stop. And, the soldiers are always, always hounding him. Being the guardian is a terrible burden and he knows not whom to entrust it to. It is also difficult to travel. He is still unwelcome in Dragonspur. It has pushed him back to drinking in the hopes that he can get so drunk at night that he will black out... such moments are rare and cherished, for there are not very many circumstances in which he can find peace from the Serpent of Twilight in his dreams....

Game Notes for Chapter 1:

The dream sequence should be eerie, with the background scenery shifting around the PC while he is fighting the Serpent in the dream. It should be dark, and foreboding, maybe a sense of some ruined buildings that seem to press on the hero while he’s fighting. (The battles should also be eerily reminiscent of the earlier ones where the hero couldn’t kill off the priest no matter how hard he tried.) He encounters wandering monsters when traveling while awake.

Chapter 2:

The hero begins to contemplate what has happened to him. He wonders what it was all for. Although he had the elf's word that the assassin's sacrifice would not be forgotten, what was it all for? The keys are in his possession and the agents of the Serpent will not rest until they have the keys in their grasp. Furthermore, there was no redemption or glory as he is still hated and wanted in his own lands. Such thoughts plague the hero when he is snapped out of it by the sight of a strange looking man standing in the middle of said road as if waiting for him. Pulling his sword, he makes ready to dispatch what is likely another threat from the Serpent when the man speaks to him and holds his hands up in a move that implies that he doesn't want to engage in combat. (If he is killed, then he arises and harries the hero.)

The man states that he is from the Dweller in the Vale. He further states that his mistress knows of his heavy, heavy burden and offers to help him. The hero retorts, asking why should he accept such help? The man asks how his dreams and days have been. With no further words of retort, the man states that even though his mistress can be a terrible tyrant, she is strong enough to bring order to the troubled lands, and that perhaps they could help each other. Offering him a location in which to parlay, the man blinks out of existence. Another nightmare pushes the hero to the location to consider the offer...

Game Notes for Chapter 2:

The messenger of the Dweller appears, and if the hero tries to kill him, the messenger will lose body parts only to calmly pick them up and re-attach them. This whole chapter, in fact, should be an almost gross exercise with some major elements of the macabre to emphasize how dark of a world Farland really is.

Chapter 3:

The hero finds the location and parlays with the Dweller herself. The Dweller tells him that for centuries it has been she, and not the elves, who had kept the keys out of the hands of the Serpent of Twilight. She then tells the hero that she cannot see why this agreement couldn’t continue. The Dweller tells him that if he desires it, she will give the hero enough power to deal with the Serpent of Twlight in the dream realm. The hero argues about what kind of world it would be if he surrendered guardianship. Offering laughter in reply, the Dweller tells him that she could not force guardianship, but the opportunity of having a guardian by oath who could potentially unlock the door as a final threat against his power is too ripe of an opportunity to pass up. As for the Dweller, she explains that the land is torn by the combat against the Lords of Sin... and that he could restore order. And that he could be key himself to ending all wars and ending all violence. The hero knows that it would take the iron fist of a tyrant but offers no reply. The Dweller tells him that he has one day to make a decision. The hero obliges by stating that he will return tomorrow with that decision.

That night, he dreams of the Serpent of Twighlight, but to destroy his will, the Serpent reveals a vision of his Mistress, Salystra, Queen of Serpents, in all her terrible glory. As soon as he sees her, he awakens to vomit into the grass next to his bedroll and can hear enemy agents coming to kill him and take the keys. Sword in hand, he has a terrible, exhausting battle that cements his decision.

The hero returns and agrees to the Dweller's deal, for the weight of his charge is too heavy. Pleased, the Dweller tells him that the hero now belongs to her but promises that she takes good care of her possessions. It is then that the hero is infused with dark energy. He no longer feels old; in fact, he feels powerful...incredibly powerful. The Dweller tells him that in order to defeat the Serpent, he must venture to the Pass of Doom, for this is where all matters of such nature are judged and this is where the dark energies infused within him are most powerful. And, should he be victorious, he will then lead his armies into Dragonspur to conquer the city and make way for new rule.

It's a lot to contemplate as he leaves and makes his way to final confrontation with the Serpent. Regrettably he knows that even if he wins, he still loses because the Dweller will gain control of the lands and impose a terrible order... at the hero's own hand.

Game Notes for Chapter 3:

This is where the Dweller is gets face to face time with the hero. She is a mysterious female figure in a white robe, with clouds of frost puffing out from under the robe,obscuring her features. The end of the chapter is a cutscene.

Chapter 4:

The hero makes his way to the Pass. Realizing full well that this final battle will be in the same battleground, his dream, he drinks his fill before passing out into a deep sleep. After all, this could be the last chance he might be able to enjoy drunkeness in light of how he will either die or become a puppet of the Dweller.

This time in the dream, though, he faces the Serpent, who berates him for his failures and calls him weak for taking the Dweller's hand. Challenging him, he cries out that there is no face he can assume and nothing he can fathom that will defeat the hero. The Serpent sends the a snake-creature, that is destroyed easily. Then, he sends a terrible demon who is also destroyed.

Finally, with a cackle, the Serpent sends....the hero to do battle with himself. It's a terrible battle, for how does one fight oneself when you know your every move? Eventually though, the hero wins. And when he strikes the final blow against himself he sees that his sword actually went into the heart of the Serpent...

Game Notes for Chapter 4:

One more drunken segment, and then the big, final battle. This one has to be for all the marbles, and should be radically different, and memorable in the process. After the hero goes to the Mountain of Doom (and of course faces some monsters on the way), the final battle should be split into two parts: The first part could look like something out of Bruce Lee’s “Enter the Dragon” with a maze of mirrors that the hero finds himself traveling through…only in this version, replicas of the hero (after manifesting via reflection) jump out and attack him. This happens repeatedly until the hero can break enough mirrors for it to stop. (And, as more and more replicas are faced, each one looks grosser, and more obtuse or “funhouse-like” than the last until he’s facing a final replica (and breaking the last needed mirror) before the second segment of the battle starts…

Once the last mirror is broken, the glass shatters and explodes in a thousand different directions until it is only the Hero… and the Serpent. The entire battlefield should have no up, down, left, right, anything….it’s all wide open blackness where any movement can be made in any direction (akin to deep space). The Serpent is revealed in his demonic form as a creature who morphs and shifts between serpentine forms and man form. that is akin to Lovecraft (whose creatures were from a realm of Chaos.) The battle should take at least 30 minutes, not including the battle in the mirrors beforehand.

Chapter 5:

The hero finds himself still in a dream... but alone. He finds out that with a thought he can change his landscape and starts experimenting. Faintly he can hear the Dweller ordering him to awaken for there is a city to conquer and a land to rule. With a sigh, he brings forth the keys which have been the whole source of all of this woe... and it suddenly hits him. The keys. It was not the keys that forced him to abandon his life; it was HE who did it himself. With great power in the Pass, he brings all of it to bear on the keys... and destroys them in his dreams. The power and threat of the Keys is ended. The hero awakens and finds the Dweller standing near him.

The Dweller tells the hero that it is now time that he take up his role as a Lord of Sin and lead a dark army against Kelerak, to stop the rebellion of light once and for all. The hero then has a choice:
1. The hero accepts and leads the Dweller’s army. A final climactic battle takes place in Dragonspur City, with the hero and the Dweller emerging victorious. The land of Farland is thusly plunged into darkness. There is an image of the hero, twisted and evil, sitting on a lonely throne as a Lord of Sin, the Dweller’s puppet.
2. The hero refuses to lead the Dweller’s army. The Dweller attacks the hero, and the hero's new, dark power is worthless against the Dweller. This battle is fierce and terrible, but slowly the hero begins to get the better of the Dweller. Finally, wounded, the Dweller uses her dark magic to escape, leaving the hero alone in the cold Pass of Doom. The hero begins the long trek back to the freed lands, wondering if all this was worth it and if his life will ever be the same.

(finish)