Shadows of the Ritual

The flickering candlelight throws grotesque shadows across the damp cavern walls, dancing with the dust motes stirred by your ragged breaths. You taste the iron tang of blood, not entirely your own, clinging to the back of your throat. Your head throbs in rhythm with the incessant dripping from the stalactites above, each drop a miniature hammer blow against your sanity. You remember the ritual. Vaguely. The chanting, the symbols painstakingly etched into the floor with obsidian, the chilling wind that swept through the chamber as the moon reached its zenith. You remember the offer: Power. Knowledge. Immortality. The trifecta of temptations whispered in your ear by voices that sounded both ancient and intimately familiar. You also remember the searing pain. The feeling of something… *other*… invading your body, taking root in your soul. You don't know what it is, but you know it's changed you. The world seems sharper, the smells are overwhelming, and your own reflection… well, you haven't dared to look. When you came to, the others were gone. The ritual circle was shattered, the symbols defaced with something that glistened slickly in the gloom. And you were alone. Now, you are being hunted. Footsteps echo in the distance, heavy and purposeful. They're getting closer. You don't know who they are, or what they want, but you know they won't hesitate to kill you. Or worse. You clutch the only thing you managed to salvage from the wreckage: a tarnished silver locket, its surface etched with a symbol you instinctively recognize – a ward, perhaps? – and a single, withered rose, clutched in its cold metal embrace. It feels… warm to the touch, a small spark of hope in the encroaching darkness. This is not a game of heroes and villains. This is a game of survival. A game of uncovering the truth behind the ritual, the nature of the entity that now resides within you, and the identities of those who seek to extinguish you. Your choices will determine not only your fate, but the fate of the world. Prepare yourself. The hunt begins now.