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[ANA:]

Rivermouth…

The bustling town of Rivermouth, as the name may suggest, sits on the edge of a river.  A sandy beach is overlooked by high cliffs and mountains.

Ana stands on the edge of the cliff, enjoying the sea breeze blowing through her hair.


ANA:   *softly*   Osiris, you heard my prayer.  You saved me.  And for that, I thank you.  I just… never imagined you could send me through time. 


She looks down at the waves below, crashing against the rocks. Being near the sea like this always makes her feel calm, and helps her forget how lonely she is.

She came to Rivermouth on her 18th birthday.  That was 2 years ago now.  But she still feels like an outsider. Being shy, she finds it hard to make friends. Her sheltered upbringing doesn't help matters. But her difficulty in talking to people, especially strangers, comes across as arrogance and coldness, so most people tend to shun her. Besides, she finds the company of animals MUCH more pleasant than the company of people.

She hears a bark from behind her, and before she can react, a dog trots up, and sits down beside her. She looks at the dog.



ANA: *to the dog* Well, hello there.


Ana smiles and squats down, so she can pet the dog.


ANA: And what's your name? *still petting the dog*


A voice replies.


VOICE: Bandit.

ANA: Bandit? That's a good name.


Ana looks around, and sees the dog's owner walking towards her.


MAN: I call him Bandit, cos he's a little rogue, and likes to get his nose into everything, and ‘borrow' things, just like a bandit. *chuckles* Hi, I'm Ben. Me and Bandit just moved here last week.

ANA: I'm Ana.

BEN: It's a beautiful view from this cliff top, overlooking the water.

ANA: *nods* I come up here for a walk every day. I find it relaxing, hearing the waves below.

BEN: *looks at her* That's an interesting accent you have. If you don't mind… where are you from?

ANA: Greece. My parents are from Greece. But I left there long ago.

BEN: I'm still trying to find my way around Rivermouth. Is there any other local landmarks you can recommend? Preferably with some wildlife?

ANA: I… uh…


Ben seems like a nice young man.  And she DESPERATELY needs a friend?  But can she risk talking to her and showing him around Rivermouth?  Should she risk him finding out her secret?  If he knew the truth about her, that would surely be the end for her.  Then again, it's been so long since she's been able to trust anyone. 



Does she make an excuse, and leave?
Go HERE


Does she offer to give Ben a tour of Rivermouth? 
Go HERE

[FABRIZIO:]

The girl closes her eyes for a moment, trying to make sense of the last 24 hours.  Why are these people hunting her?  She's a Royal Princess, after all.  Everyone loves her… don't they?  Her parents died when she was very young, and she's been raised by her Royal Advisor, who acted as Steward to the throne until Anastasia‘s 18th birthday, when she will inherit the throne.  Despite having no parents, she's led a privileged life until now. 

But that was before her trusted Royal Advisor told her about the curse - that when the first-born daughter of royal blood reaches her 18th birthday and inherits the throne, a curse would be unleashed, bring death and disease to Greece.  Then he betrayed her, and dragged her out to the mob. 

She doesn't believe in the curse, of course, but this is a small town, and superstition gives way to paranoia and fear.   

She jumps, as a crash of thunder beats down.  Then a flash of lightning lights up the dark sky, revealing the edge of the moors, giving way to a sharp drop.  She can hear the crash of waves far below her.  There's nowhere for her to run.


Minutes later, the angry mob reach the edge of the mountain. 

They look at each other, completely baffled.  THERE'S NO SIGN OF ANASTASIA! 


FABRIZIO:  *looks around*   Where did she go?   

LORENZO:   *shrugs*   How should I know?  I'm not a mind reader. 

FABRIZIO:  She can't have escaped…

LORENZO:  Well, where is she then?  She's not here… she MUST have escaped.

MATTIA:  Wait… what's this?   


Mattia sees something in the muddy ground.  He picks it up. 


MATTIA:  It's her royal signet ring. 

DARIO: She must have dropped it.  But where IS she? 

ENZIO: *peeks over the edge*   You don't suppose she… do you think she jumped?   

DARIO:  It's a long way down. 

FABRIZIO:  She would never survive those rocks at the bottom. 

DARIO:  Well, where IS she then? 



A brief silence falls over the mob, as they ponder over where Anastasia could be. 



Did she jump over the edge, into the deep water below?
Go HERE


Is she hiding somewhere nearby?
Go HERE

[****************************************************************]

Ack, I've not had much time to write more.   
Can I get an extension?  Please? 


****************************************************************


The mob all peer over the side of the mountain, into the water far below.  But it's dark.  And the crashing waves makes it hard to see anything. 

Then… a flash of lightning lights up the area, just for a brief second. 


ENZIO:   *shouts*   THERE!   *points down below*   Right there!  I saw her! 

DARIO:   *looks where Enzio is pointing*   Where?  I don't see anything. 

ENZIO: Right there.  To the left of the rock.  I saw a dark shape.  It HAS to be her. 

FABRIZIO:  Says who?  It could have been anything?  A fish under the water.  A bit of seaweed.  More rocks.  Anything! 

ENZIO:  It was her, I tell you! 


Just then, another flash of lightning lights up.  Enzio and Fabrizio look down into the water.  Sure enough, there's a dark shape, about human size, floating in the water, hitting against the rocks. 

The mob, satisfied that the royal princess did indeed jump to her death, disband, and make their way home. 

The curse is broken.  The villagers are safe.


The End.

Eep, I forgot about this.   
Need to finish my story

*gets writing*

[DARIO:]

The girl closes her eyes for a moment, trying to make sense of the last 24 hours.  Why are these people hunting her?  She's a Royal Princess, after all.  Everyone loves her… don't they?  Her parents died when she was very young, and she's been raised by her Royal Advisor, who acted as Steward to the throne until Anastasia‘s 18th birthday, when she will inherit the throne.  Despite having no parents, she's led a privileged life until now. 

But that was before her trusted Royal Advisor told her about the curse - that when the first-born daughter of royal blood reaches her 18th birthday and inherits the throne, a curse would be unleashed, bring death and disease to Greece.  Then he betrayed her, and dragged her out to the mob. 

She doesn't believe in the curse, of course, but this is a small town, and superstition gives way to paranoia and fear.   



Voices from behind…


DARIO:   *calls out*   Oh, Prin…cess.   *whistles*   Here Princess, princess, princess. 

ENZIO:  She's not a dog, Dario.  She won't come just cos you call her. 

DARIO: Well what do you suggest then?  She turns 18 tomorrow.  And you KNOW what that means!   

ADAMO:  The curse!  She'll invoke the curse!  And then, we're ALL doomed! 

MATTIA:    Princess Anastasia CANNOT reach her 18th birthday.  COME ON!  LET'S STOP HER! 


Anastasia starts running through the moors again.  She's exhausted, but she MUST keep going if she wants to survive.   

She jumps, as a crash of thunder beats down.  Then a flash of lightning lights up the dark sky, revealing the edge of the moors, giving way to a sharp drop.  She can hear the crash of waves far below her.  There's nowhere for her to run. 

Minutes later, the angry mob catch up to Princess Anastasia.  She's kneeling in the muddy grass, holding her ring up to the sky, praying to her god, Osiris. 




ANASTASIA: Osiris, won't you hear my prayer?  Osiris, take me far from here.   *pause*   OSIRIS!  OSIRIS!  HEAR MY PLEA!  OBEY ME! 

FABRIZIO:   *catches up to her*   Osiris won't save you now, Princess! 


The mob close in on her.  Her screams as they begin to beat her and kick her, remain ignored.  Then she feels a sharp pain as a blade cuts into her.  She feels herself growing colder, as a pool of blood gathers around her.  Minutes pass, but it feels like ours.  Then her screams fall silent.  She's gone. 


LORANZO:   *to the mob*   We stopped the curse!  We won!  HURRAY! 

MOB:  HURRAY!   *cheers* 


Satisfied their work is done, the mob gradually disperse, going back to their own lives, leaving the body of their forsaken Princess lying on the moors, for everyone to see.   

The End.

[GUNTHAR:]

The next day, Gunthar arrives early at the library. The book has been on his mind all night. He takes it from the library shelf again, and flicks through to the right page. Yep, that picture is definitely Ana. But how is that possible? He intends to find out!

He takes the book, and makes his way up to the cliff edge, where he knows Ana likes to go. Sure enough, she's standing on the edge, looking out across the water.


GUNTHAR: YOU THERE!


Ana turns round, and sees Gunthar approaching her. And he seems even grumpier than usual.


ANA: Um… hello Gunthar.

GUNTHAR: *grabs her*  Don't ‘Hello' me. I want to know how you did it!

ANA: *puzzled* How I did what?

GUNTHAR: I know your secret! LOOK! *thrusts the open book at her* This is YOU in that painting, isn't it?


Ana gulps, and turns pale.


ANA: Don't be silly Gunthar. How can that be me? I'm only 18 years old. That painting was done in, when… *checks the date in the book* the 16th century?

GUNTHAR: You can't fool me, you know. I'm not stupid! I found this book when I was researching for MY book on local history. And THIS is what I found!  It's YOU in that painting, isn't it?  ISN'T IT!!!

ANA: *getting very nervous* That's not me, Gunthar. How can I make you believe me?

GUNTHAR: Then explain how she's the SPITTING IMAGE of you?

ANA: I don't' know. An ancestor, maybe? But come on, think about what you're saying.

GUNTHAR: Tell me the truth.  ADMIT IT! 


ANA: Gunthar, please?


Gunthar looms over her in a very threatening manner.




Will Ana deny that it's her painting in the book?
Go HERE


Will she confess all?
Go HERE

[***************************************************************]

This sounds interesting.   
It's been a while since I've entered a FTW, so let's give this a try.   


***************************************************************

THE CURIOUS CASE OF ANASTASIA CASTELLANOS

Somewhere in Ancient Greece, a fierce storm breaks over the misty moors…

A teenage girl runs through the moors… terrified… fleeing for her life.

She pants heavily, exhausted from running. But she can't stop.  She HAS to keep running. 

Her dark hair glistens in the rain. She's soaked through - the thin cape she's wearing over her embroidered silk dress offers little protection from the fierce storm.

She pauses for a moment. She looks at the ring she's wearing, and kisses it, then looks up at the dark sky.


GIRL: Osiris, I beseech thee… *pant pant* Please, hear my…


Voices are heard in the distance.


ADAMO: She MUST have come this way. She can't be too far ahead.

FABRIZIO: She can't escape!

ENZIO: She WON'T escape! If she does, we're all doomed.

MARCO: Not if we stop her. COME ON!


The girl glances back and sees fire from torches in the distance. The mob are gaining on her. She's terrified! But she can't let them catch her! She turns to flee again, but trips in the slippery mud. Frantically, she scrambles to her feet again. 




Will she escape?
Go HERE


Will the mob catch her?
Go HERE

You don't need a publisher for itch.io, Humble Bundle, or Direct Download.
All of these options offer DRM-free. 

As a frequent Kickstarter user, I find it important to know if a game is DRM-free or not.
It's a mistake that a lot of campaigns miss this information out, and have to be asked. 

Drascula: The Vampire Strikes Back? (Yeah, I had to look up the full name since I've only played like 20 minutes of it).

Hehe, that's the one.  It's a fun game.   

I should have known a VAMPIRE Wombat would guess a game about vampires.   


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHnwV2utmvE

Okay, no-one wants to take my turn, so here we go.   

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/8KCiFzE.png[/imgzoom]

But you've got to admit, a lot of games were approaching their third installment at that time, and calling your game TITLE 3D was just an opportunity you couldn't pass up.
Earthworm Jim 3D
Simon the Sorcerer 3D
Duke Nukem 3D
All third installments, all appended with 3D.

Ahhh, but what about 3D Lemmings?  That was the... 6th?  7th?  Lemmings game, but it still got the '3D' attached to the title.   

Another victim of the "3d rush" of late '90s! 

Yeah, poor Simon was indeed a victim of the 3D craze of the '90s.   
The first 2 Simon games were amazing!  This 3rd one... not so much.   


I can't think of another game right now, so anyone can take my turn.   

That's Sordid!   

Simon The Sorcerer 3D?

That last screenshot... it's not The Mask, is it? 

Gulliver's Travels?

Well, I guess there's been enough time for other people to answer.
I have no doubt it's The Tenth Kingdom. Just look at the glare of John Larroquette's head as Tony and Wolf go to talk to the blind woodsman.

You are correct.      So showing just the backs of Tony and Wolf didn't fool you.   
My next picture was gonna be the Huntsman. 

I really love the opening for this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eNLoDqhgC8

Okay, I'll jump in and take Superkumi's turn.   

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/8mvxIFI.png[/imgzoom]

Jack, how about another screenshot?

Well, I was hoping that would last longer.   

But yes, it's Orion Conspiracy.  Well done TheFrighther.  Your turn.