The world is [dark]<c1| around you.
(click:?c1)+(t8n: "fade")[You drift through syrupy silence, your limbs heavy at your sides as you float through [amnion]<c2| and [absence]<c3|.]
(click:?c2)+(t8n: "fade")[Amnion. (cycling-link: "The water of the womb."," The blood of the covenant.") Which do you feel suits you best? Do you [remember]<r| who (text-style:"blur")[you] are?]
(click-append:?c3)+(t8n: "fade")[ of (cycling-link: "breath", "being", "self", "thought", "blood", "light", "life")]
(click:?r)+(t8n: "fade")[Who are you? What are you? Can you [recall]<re|?]
(click:?re)+(t8n: "fade")[> You are (cycling-link: bind $who, "lost", "dreaming", "found").]
(click:?re)+(t8n:"fade")[(live: 3s)[
(stop:)(text-style:"blur")+(t8n:"fade")[[[open->open your eyes?]] your eyes?]
]]Yes. You are $who. You begin to [remember]<e1|.
(click:?e1)+(t8n:"fade")[A moonlit forest. Impenetrable branches. [Wingbeats]<wing| fluttering in the distance. A (cycling-link: "strange", "monstrous", "beautiful", "mysterious", "half-forgotten", "sickening") dream. A [remembrance]<rem|. An [awakening]<awaken|.](click-append:?wing)+(t8n:"fade")[ (of birds? of moths? of scaled-things and feathered-things and those that are neither? your throat feels choked; your shoulders heavy and aching and itching.)](click-append:?rem)+(t8n:"fade")[ of (cycling-link:"truth, long forgotten", "tantalizing secrets", "unnatural rituals", "old gods")]
(click:?awaken)+(t8n:"fade")[You had awoken with a start. On your bedside, you'd found a [feather]<feather| and a [note.]<note|]
(click-append:?feather)+(t8n:"fade")[ (that thrummed warmly to the touch, as if freshly plucked),] (click-append:?note)+(t8n:"fade")[ "The [invitation]<inv|, under the light of the full moon. Bring a mirror."]
(click:?inv)+(t8n:"fade")[The invitation. It's been almost two months now. But you remember the card you'd received. You'd passed it off as a hoax. Eleusis. Secret societies. Yes, you're [remembering]<r2| now.]
(click:?r2)+(t8n:"fade")[You are remembering. You are $who, and yet you open your eyes.
What do you [[see->a dream within a dream]]?]You are [dreaming]<d|. Dream-sight comes to you in blurred swathes of half-familiar [tableaus]<t|. You have never had this dream [before]<b|.
(click-append:?d)+(t8n:"fade")[, or so you think] (click-append:?d)+(t8n:"fade")[, as far as you can remember]
(click:?t)+(t8n:"fade")[A silver (cycling-link: "crib", "throne", "cage", "goblet", "mirror"). (cycling-link: "Someone", "Something") is (cycling-link: "crying", "screaming", "laughing", "whispering") in the background. You are in a (seq-link:"house", "house with no walls", "house with no walls, and no rooms", "house with no walls, and no rooms, yet a house it remains"). You are nothing but a (cycling-link: "fly on the wall", "wisp of smoke", "moth in the rafters", "half-forgotten specter"), with nothing to do but [watch]<wa|.]
(click:?wa)+(t8n:"fade")[Then: a [voice]<v|, sudden but familiar.]
(click:?v)+(t8n:"fade")[The voice is (cycling-link: "that of a loved one", "one you never thought you'd hear again", "achingly familiar", "one you never wanted to hear again", "your own"). Can you make out the [[words->wake]]?]You strain to catch the words. And [then—]<then|
(click:?then)+(t8n:"fade")[You [fall.]<f|]
(click:?f)+(t8n:"fade")[You wake with a start. You are where you were when you fell asleep. There's a ache in your neck and a cramp that won't quite go away, and your eyes are heavy and sore and bloodshot.
The note. The dreams. The [moon.]<m|]
(click:?m)+(t8n:"fade")[[Moonlight]<mm| pours in from a nearby window. When had you fallen asleep?]
(click:?mm)+(t8n:"fade")[The moon is full. The light. The [invitation.]<invi|]
(click:?invi)+(t8n:"fade")[[Cardstock]<c| rests heavy in your hand. Had it always been there? Had you fallen [asleep]<a| reading it? ](click:?a)+(t8n:"fade")[Had you fallen asleep at all?]
(click:?c)+(t8n:"fade")[You raise the card to the [light]<l|.]
(click:?l)+(t8n:"fade")[Words shine faintly across its surface at once, like invisible ink making itself known. You can't quite make out what it says—not because you can't read it, but because it's [reversed]<rev|.]
(click:?rev)+(t8n:"fade")[Do you have a [[mirror]]?]You do, of course, because you (cycling-link: "have always had one", "picked one up recently", "find one next to you"). The words gleam in the smooth glass of the mirror, and your (cycling-link: "hungry", "shining", "nervous", "disinterested") eyes pick out the [words]<w|.
(click:?w)+(t8n:"fade")[If you want to know the truth: [Haven Historical Society]<h|. (cycling-link:"Friday", "Saturday") evening.]
(click:?h)+(t8n:"fade")[You are (cycling-link: bind $hav, "new to Haven", "a Haven local, born and raised", "an NHU student"), and so you [know...]<kn|]
(click:?kn)+(t8n:"fade")[(if:$hav is "new to Haven")[The Haven Historical Society is connected to Eluesis, the "welcoming committee" that helped you settle into this mysterious town.](else-if:$hav is "a Haven local, born and raised")[The Haven Historical Society is run by Eleusis. Their ranks consist of the old and wealthy, and they hold an inordinate amount of power over the city. That said, they seem like a harmless collective of history buffs, albeit one with a suspicious amount of funding.](else-if:$hav is "an NHU student")[The Haven Historical Society is connected to Eluesis, some kind of society that seems to be one of NHU's top sponsors. They do research into the town's history, supposedly.]
[Thoughts]<th| swim through your mind. This must be (cycling-link: "an elaborate hoax", "a trap", "the chance you've been waiting for").]
(click:?th)+(t8n:"fade")[You ponder your findings for a bit. But eventually, it's [time]<t|.]
(click-append:?t)+(t8n:"fade")[ to (cycling-link:"leave", "go", "wake up"). And so you [[do->end]]]**[APO] INITIATION**
Session 1 is scheduled for **FRIDAY, JAN 14TH** @ 4 PM PST
Session 2 is scheduled for **SATURDAY, JAN 15TH** @ 10 AM PST
Thank you for playing. Eleusis looks forward to welcoming you soon.
You've found a [BONUS EGG]. 🥚
[[(Play again?)->a dream, forgotten]]