The Exile is a dark fantasy all-text interactive-fiction game written on Twine that is currently in development. It is currently being re-written and ported over from Choicescript. This demo only includes Chapter 1 but will be written to match the original game demo's length of five chapters. You can find the original demo here.

This is a story about people and the choices they make- it explores complicated morals and will present you with countless choices, many of which have lasting implications on the realm and the people around you. Every opinion you have, every insult made, can come back to haunt you, or help you, later in the game.

There are no punishments or rewards. Just consequences. 

This game is currently rated M (18+) due to graphic descriptions of violence, heavy and graphic gore, strong language, alcohol usage, sexual content, and heavy topics regarding war.

Total Word Count of Demo: 95k words

Synopsis

The gods abandoned the realm of Navara long ago— wykna, they were called. With them, they took their magic and their beliefs, leaving the realm to die a slow and pitiful death. Beasts of legend turned to mountains and sea water, living forests turned to graveyards of epic proportions. Without guidance, humans, magic-users, and mythosi were locked in a constant war for the simple right to exist.

You were the most feared soldier in all the land— the attack dog of Queen Marcelle and her beloved Kingdom of Plaithus. Your name was known by all— a hero to some, a killer to others. You were a weapon. A beast. Maybe it only made sense that you would snap one day.

One hundred lives, ten minutes: children, friends, family.

You don’t know why you did it. Hell— you can’t even remember how you did it. All you have are flickering, waning memories accompanied by an all-consuming guilt and paralyzing paranoia. 

You, my friend, are an exile— and there’s something so very deeply incredibly wrong with you.

Get it out.

Companions

Vethna Mevnrael (they/them)

Vethna hails from Vygrand-- otherwise known as the sworn rival land of your home country. Where you have been raised to resent most, if not all magic, they have been raised to thrive on it. You don't know much about them-- just that they're on the run from someone, something, powerful, and you're the only one who can protect them. That, and they have a whole lot of gold... almost as much as they have secrets.

Nikke Ivante (he/him)

Nikke has been sent to kill you or kidnap you-- you're not entirely sure which it is, and you don't intend to find out. He's crude and sarcastic and overall a brute. He doesn't seem to take his own life seriously, nonetheless yours, and you have no doubt he's going to capture you or die trying. Hell-- maybe he'll just kill you both while he's at it... you know, for fun.

Jost Ivante (she/her)

Jost is Nikke's identical twin sister-- and, if possible, she's twice as mean and just as rude. She's more ruthless than her brother, but she doesn't quite have the fighting power to back up her venom-laced threats and taunts. Nonetheless, she fights dirty, and if you want to beat her, you're going to have to be smart.

Amilia Von Clamile (she/her)

Amilia's a fae-- the very kind of mythosi you've been raised to fear and have spent most of your life killing. She's all smiles and nerves, but you see something else in her eyes, sometimes. Something cold. Something calculative. Everyone seems keen to turn a blind eye to her, but you know a liar when you see one... don't you?

Sabir Du Vaelas (he/him)

Sabir, otherwise known as The Silven Viper, Eye of Plaithus, used to be your charge. He's a politician-- one of the better ones, if such a thing exists. Your past together was volatile-- perhaps you were lovers, or friends, or enemies. Either way, he saved your life when you otherwise would've been put to death by the state, and you owe him thanks for that much.

Syfyn Javall (she/her)

Syfyn Javall, The Brazen Griffin, Second-in-Command to the Plaithian Army. She used to work beneath you once-- used to fight beside you and honor you both as a comrade and friend. You grew up together within the military. When you had nobody, you had each other. But then you betrayed her-- or maybe she betrayed you. You don't know who started what, but you do know that the blood is on both of your hands now.

It. (she/they/him)

You hear its voice sometimes, when it's quiet and you're alone. You try to tune it out. You try to ignore it. It forces you to remember things. To feel things. It's within you, wiggling and writhing, waiting for the right moment to attack. At times it feels predatory. At others, its presence is comforting-- protective and doting. It'll become whatever you want it to be. It'll become whatever you need it to be.


Art Credits: Judie Omais (Tumblr)
Patreon: 
@PheoWrites
Tumblr: 
@exilethegame (#exilethegame)

StatusIn development
PlatformsHTML5
Rating
Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars
(150 total ratings)
AuthorPheo
GenreInteractive Fiction
Made withTwine
TagsDark Fantasy, Narrative, Text based, Twine
Average sessionA few minutes
LanguagesEnglish

Comments

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There is a scene you can get where Nikke holds you from behind with a blade at neck.  (Pre-unfinished capture option) It says he is a lot taller than your character even if your character is 6'2.  Is that intended?  Not sure how tall he is supposed to be but think I remember seeing his height around same somewhere.

Just seeing the art for the Wykna for the first time, I love how his style is based on the Commander's favorite people a little. The slit and posture from Vethna, the shoulders and chest piece slightly incorporating Sabir and the wings are different from Syphin, but just obviously create a visual connection anyway. And the claws and gauntlest, subtly? The overall mishmash is it's very own thing in the end, but it still seems geared towards the Commander's taste just a bit... xD

And well, the art all over is georgeous in this character line up anyway. I just kinda needed to mention that. I'll compliment the game and the writing next time, but this needed out, too! All the compliments to the artist!

Who is the black winged character? Also the gorgons are cute as heck

(1 edit)

The wykna(voice) in your head I believe.  You get more description of them in the original demo on dashingdon.com.  This one hasn't reached that point yet but I look forward to seeing it and the changes.

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I found this story for the first time through this version and loving it so much I rushed to read the old demo too. It had me so hooked reading it I risked staying up way too late to try and finish it lmao. Just has me all that more excited to see what difference you'll be making and overall future updates. You are truly such an amazing writer!! I think it was Chapter 4 in the original demo that genuinely made me tear up a bit to see the MC's childhood and how much they've struggled. Made the current relationships and how they've deteriorated all the more painful. I also love the MC's and Vethna's relationship - the dynamic is so lovely. With how well written everything is i'm absolutely going back right after writing this to re-read to explore the different relationships and names (ily White Wolf lmao). So excited for future updates and where you're going to take this story. Definitely a story i'm going to non-stop think about for a while now!

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Hello! I wanted to ask where  can i find the old demo? I started playing a version of the game on Dashingdon, but idk which version it is

Nvm i just ended playing it on Dashingdon and it's the first demo- Gotta say . As a person trying to romance Syfyn...it hurts a lot

(+2)

! lovely to see this on itch!! been obsessed since the very first CS demo, I am so so happy to see you progress to the final version. Some of the best writing and character exploration I've read period, in and out of interactive fiction. go pheo go!!

(+8)

this is so fire fr, i remember when the original demo's chap 1 released and being blown away by the length & interactivity. 

this has always been one of the top 5 wips for me and it's great to see the rewrite coming out already

(+1)

How do you look at the codex?

It's hidden as of now! 

(+5)

Wow my very own game /j

(2 edits) (+10)

Just got done with the original demo and I have to say this is probably the best IF I've read so far. All of the characters are interesting and well written. The story, world, and your way of writing is fantastic.

I really hope you finish this, can't wait for more!

(+3)

Demo ending made me sob ngl. The option to kill ourselves when?/j

(+2)

So glad I saw this. Love these characters, excited to see it's still being worked on.

(+4)

Oh my god, I remember this IF. I'm so glad I found this.

(+9)

I remember reading the original demo that you had on dashingdon, and I am glad that I found this on my feed page. I can't wait to reread the demo, and I also can't wait for the full release of this too.

Love the fact that the Wonder Twins canonically exist in this universe.

(+2)(-11)

How are the Ivante's identical if they're boy/girl twins? Unless one of them is transgender..

(+1)(-3)

Identical twins can be (albeit very arely) different gender. However, iirc from somewhere on tumblr, Jost is trans. Not sure if still canon, but probably yes.

(1 edit) (+1)(-4)

identical twins dont necessarily need to be same gender they can have the same appearence traits like blonde hair  blue eyes and fair skin and be a boy and a girl

(+9)(-1)

identical twins have to have the same sex as they come from the same egg, that's how they're identical. if they were born boy/girl twins, then they are fraternal and therefore not identical. that's how biology works. sure they can look eerily similar, or perhaps they were born identical and one transitioned into the other gender

(+5)

I literally just randomly remembered the Choicescript demo a while ago ("Hmm, whatever happened to that WIP I played eons ago...? Did it die or smth...? 🤔"). And then I saw this when I opened itch.io.

Thank you so much for continuing this! This has always been one of my favorite WIPs and I'm so happy that it's not dead!

(+1)

It's been a long time I have read this game in choice of games and it's the perfect read when you want to go to bed or you just want to hang out and have a good time just reading

(+1)

I already loved the previous version of the demo, but this is phenomenal <3 Thank you for your hard work!

(+3)

Loved the original demo, excited for the rewrite :)

(+4)

I loved this!!! So glad it's still being worked on.

(1 edit) (+2)

im so excited for this !! \(≧▽≦)/ive been keeping up with it since the og demo. im looking foward to reading further chapters and whatever great new things you come up with <3

(1 edit) (+4)(-2)

First 😋

Im a very fast reader and this is really amazing so far Especially your writing style is to die for, I can just tell from the description of Nikke that he is gonna be my favorite

(+3)

YAYYYY SO EXCITED FOR THIS.

(+2)(-1)

This updated demo is even better than the OG. Quick question, will Jost be a RO now? Also glad we managed to let Jamie go without ended up injured in this one. Can't wait for more.

jost has been an ro for a while now. if i'm not mistaken, i think it just didn't seem that way because when that was decided she had already ran away from plaithus so there were no interactions with her

(+3)

Jost is an RO, yes--but she won't really be romanceable until late game since for plot reasons she's not around the group until then!