// THE PREMISE
What this world is
Aldermoor is a sweeping realm of green kingdoms, old forests, and snow-capped passes where a spreading darkness called the Gloaming is swallowing the light. For an age the realm was kept whole by the Lantern-keepers, wardens who tended the great Beacons - ancient flame-stones whose light held back the dark and the things in it. One by one the Beacons have gone dark, the order is all but extinct, and the night between the towns grows longer each season. You begin a nobody - a farmhand, a runaway, a discharged soldier - in a frontier village on the edge of the dark, and step onto the road that every great story starts on.
This is heroic adventure in the classic mode: travel, companions, wonder, growing power, rising stakes. Elder Bronwyn Ashvale is the last of the Lantern-keepers and carries the dying knowledge of how a Beacon is lit. King Alaric Marrow's Kingdom of Greenholt, the last strong realm of men, hoards its soldiers behind its walls. The reclusive elves of the Veil Court know the Gloaming's true name and the price of holding it back. The Salt-Wyrm Company runs the coastal trade and rides with anyone paying. And the Ashen Pact, a death cult under High Prophet Varro Stoneheart, worships the dark and works to put out the last lights.
The Beacons are failing, the Gloaming is rising, and the knowledge to relight a Beacon is dying with one old woman. You can seek companions and choose the shape of the quest: relight the Beacons, find a new way to bind the dark, unite the squabbling powers, or face Varro and the thing he serves in the deep dark.
// PLAY PROFILE
What this world plays like
Begin in a frontier village on the edge of the dark. Seek the news from a fallen town, find a travelling companion, or follow the road toward a failing light. Elder Bronwyn Ashvale knows what it takes to wake a Beacon, and her time is short.
Ask Greenholt for aid, seek the Veil Court's knowledge, or travel with the Salt-Wyrm Company. You can protect a village, pursue a Beacon, or learn why the Ashen Pact wants the lights extinguished. Gathering allies may be harder than gathering supplies.
Choose the shape of your quest: relight the Beacons, unite the powers, find another way to bind the Gloaming, or confront Varro Stoneheart. A companion, a threatened village, or a single failing light can give the long road a purpose.
// FACTIONS IN MOTION
Principal factions
The last great kingdom of men, centered in the fertile Vale of Greenholt. Led by the aging King Aldous, it is a realm defined by high walls, heavy tariffs, and a growing paranoia. Greenholt's nobility focuses on consolidating power within its cities, viewing the frontiers as lost causes and the old faith in Beacons as a failed superstition.
A nihilistic death cult that worships the encroaching Gloaming as a cleansing and inevitable force. Led by the charismatic, Gloom-touched prophet Varro, its adherents work in secret to extinguish lights, sabotage defenses, and convert the desperate. They believe the age of man is over and seek to hasten the world's final, quiet end.
The reclusive and ancient elves of the Thornwood, possessors of deep Lore and the true history of the Beacons. They view human kingdoms as fleeting, but the Gloaming's unnatural advance threatens the fabric of the world itself. The Court is torn between its ancient policy of non-intervention and the dawning realization that the end of men will mean the end of all.
A powerful and pragmatic Free Company that controls the vital coastal trade route, moving scarce goods like salt and steel between the port towns. They operate under a strict code of contracts, enforcing their own law with crossbows. The Company profits immensely from the realm's scarcity and views the King's tariffs as just another hazard of business to be managed or circumvented.
The collective militia and governing council for the frontier town of Ember's Rest in the Grey Marches. Fiercely independent, they are the embodiment of the frontier folk, relying on community vigilance and practicality for survival. They struggle to acquire lantern oil and steel, and view the King's tax collectors and the Gloaming's horrors with equal disdain.
// KEY FIGURES
People you'll meet
// SITES OF RECORD
Places that matter
The green and fertile heartland of Aldermoor, protected by high walls and the disciplined soldiers of King Aldous. Its fields are golden with wheat, its white-walled capital city is prosperous, and its people feel safe. It is a bastion of light and order, but its gates are closing to the troubles of the outside world.
An ancient, sprawling forest of immense, moss-laden trees where the canopy is so thick it is perpetually twilight. The paths within are winding and confusing, and the air is heavy with the scent of damp earth and unknown blossoms. It is a place of deep, old magic, hostile to intruders.
A rugged stretch of coastline characterized by jagged cliffs, hidden coves, and windswept moors. It is a lawless land, dotted with rough port towns and the fortified camps of mercenary companies. Fog is a constant presence, rolling in from the sea to mingle with the encroaching Gloaming.
Once a royal hunting forest, this entire woodland has been tainted by the failing of the Beacon of Greywatch at its heart. The trees are pale and leafless, the ground is choked with grey moss, and a constant, unnerving whisper follows travelers through the gloom. It is a beachhead for the Gloaming's power in the world.
A rugged frontier of windswept plains, patches of hardy forest, and the looming threat of tundra-dusted mountains. The settlements here, like Ember's Rest, are small, far apart, and built for defense. The nights are long, and the wind carries strange sounds from the dark woods and high passes.
// STORY PASSAGE
A passage from the published profile
Elder Bronwyn Ashvale presses the cold flame-stone into your hands. "I am the last who knows how to wake it, and I will not last the winter. So listen, because I will not say it twice, and the saying of it is the most dangerous gift I have ever given." Behind her, through the shutters, the dark between the trees has crept a little closer than it stood at dusk.
She is handing you the weight of a realm, and she knows it, and she is sorry, and she does it anyway.
Selected story passage. Your choices can lead elsewhere.
BEFORE YOU ENTER
Choose a first decision
Start with a person you want to meet, a place you want to see, or a problem you want to understand. You make choices through written actions and read the Narrator's response. The people and places above introduce this world; they do not promise a fixed sequence of scenes.
Completed turns save to your account. Review the latest scene and the relevant in-game information when returning. Check current access and Spark allowances before a longer session, and use the player guide for help with saves, artwork, possessions, and other supported features.
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