Before this story begins, there is [[something| name]] we need!(set: $name to (prompt: "What is your name?", ""))
(if: $name is "")[Please type a real name! (undo:)]
(else:)[hello $name]
(goto: "initiation(2)")hello $name,
In this story, you are a council member of a small Italian town, somewhere on the Genovese coast.
Your objective is to make decisions that would benefit the town, while keeping the other council members happy.
The bars on top of the screen show the (text-style: "italic")[Trust] level of each character. By making certain decisions, you will lose or gain the trust of various characters.
Good luck!
[[Continue|town]](set: $town to (prompt: "What is the name of this town?", ""))
(if: $town is "")[(undo:)]
(else:)[(css: "color: red;")["Congratulations $name , in the year of our Lord 1348, we appoint you council member of $town"]]
A (css: "color: red")[large man] in a brown cloak stood up, grabbed you by the arm and gave you a letter with the seal of doge Giovanni di Murta.
(css: "color: red;")["With you in the council, this little town will flourish!"]
[[Continue | characters]]After the (css: "color: red") [(text-style: "italic")[podestà]] finished congratulating you, the other council members stand up.
a (css: "color: orange")[priest] walks up to you and says: (css: "color: orange")["If you need any help from the church, you can always go to me."]
The (css: "color: orange")[priest] sits down again and the next (css: "color: green")[member], (css: "color: green")[the head of the merchant guild], approaches.
(css: "color: green")["Congratulations! I wish we could talk for a bit, but I have other matters to attend to. I'll see you at the next meeting."]
The (css: "color: green")[(text-style: "italic")[Capitano del Popolo]] greets the rest of the council, and leaves the room.
[[Continue| characters(2)]]
The last (css: "color: grey")[member], (css: "color: grey")[a figure with broad shoulders and a giant moustache], only nods to you and sits back down.
(css: "color: grey")["Let's get on with the meeting"], he says quietly.
(css: "color: red")["Right"], says the Podestà, who returned to his chair.
(css: "color: red")["Let's continue..."]
[[Continue |harbor]]After your first council meeting, you walk back to your house.
On your way, you pass the harbor, where you see a group of sailors standing around a man who is lying on the ground.
[[See what happened|accident]]
[[Go to your house|sleep]]{(set: $maxHealth to 200)
(set: $halfHealth to 100)
(set: $podesta to $halfHealth)
(set: $priest to $halfHealth)
(set: $capitano to $halfHealth)
(set: $gonfaloniere to $halfHealth)
(set: $doctor to $halfHealth)}<div id="bar">\
<div class="podesta"></div>
<div id="bar">\
<div class="priest"></div>
<div id="bar">\
<div class="capitano"></div>
<div id="bar">\
<div class="gonfaloniere"></div>
<div id="bar">\
<div class="doctor"></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>{
(print: "<script>GE.updateHealthBarPodesta(" + (text: $maxHealth) + "," + (text: $podesta) + ");")
(print: "<script>GE.updateHealthBarPriest(" + (text: $maxHealth) + "," + (text: $priest) + ");")
(print: "<script>GE.updateHealthBarCapitano(" + (text: $maxHealth) + "," + (text: $capitano) + ");")
(print: "<script>GE.updateHealthBarGonfaloniere(" + (text: $maxHealth) + "," + (text: $gonfaloniere) + ");")
(print: "<script>GE.updateHealthBarDoctor(" + (text: $maxHealth) + "," + (text: $doctor) + ");")}
You walk to the sailors.
When you look down, you see that the man on the ground is unconscious, with a large wound on his head.
(link: "What happened?")[
"There was an accident! Something fell on his head. Do you know where we can find a (css: "color: blue")[doctor]?"
[["I can show you the way."|lead]]
[[Explain how to get to the doctor|explain]]
]The following morning, you decide to go to the market.
On your way, you pass a small alleyway.
(link: "Look inside the alley")[You see two dead rats against a wall. When you look around, you see another rat next to an open cellar window.]
[[Continue|market]]You lead two of the sailors to the (css: "color: blue")[doctor].{
(set: $doctor to it + 10)
(print: "<script>GE.updateHealthBarDoctor(" + (text: $maxHealth) + "," + (text: $doctor) + ");")}
the (css: "color:blue")[doctor] comes out of his house, thanks you, and follows the sailors back to the harbor.
You continue on your way to your house...
[[Continue|sleep]]You explain how to get to the doctor.
"Thank you very much!", says one of the sailors.
After telling the sailors where to go, you continue on your way to your house...
[[Continue|sleep]]You have reached the fish market. $town is famous for their fish, so there is a lot of money to be made here.
(css: "color: green")["$name! Hey there!"]
You see the (css: "color: green")[Capitano] standing next to a tree, waving a you.
[["Hello Capitano, how are you?"|problem]]
(link: 'ignore the Capitano')[
{(set: $capitano to it -10)
(print: "<script>GE.updateHealthBarCapitano(" + (text: $maxHealth) + "," + (text: $capitano) + ");")}
As you try to ignore the (css: "color:green")[capitano], (css: "color:green")[he] runs up to you and starts talking
[[listen to the Capitano|problem]]
](css: "color: green")["We have a problem $name, come quickly"]
(link: "Ask what the problem is") [Come to the Town Hall, we'll tell you there. But hurry up, this is important.]
[[Follow the Capitano|Plague?]](css: "color: red")["Come in! We're still waiting for the (css:"color: orange")[priest], but he should be here soon!"]
(link: '"What is going on?"')[(css: "color:green")["yesterday evening, A group of people arrived at our gates. They fled from Genua."]
(link:'"Fled from Genua?"')[(css: "color:red")["Apparently Genua is hit by some sort of disease"]
(css: "color: orange")["Not a disease, an act of God!"] In the doorway stood an exhausted (css: "color: orange")[priest].
(css: "color: orange")["I can as fast as I can."]]]
[[Continue|priest vs gonfaloniere]](link: '"An act of God? What do you mean?"')
[(css: "color:orange")["Genua had it coming. Their greed has made God angry, and they are now being punished!"]
(css: "color: #grey")["Nonsense! the people of Genua have always placed God above anything else. The riches of the Republic are God's reward for their faith!"]
As you look to your right, the (css: "color: grey")[large man with the moustache] is staring angrily at the priest.
(css: "color:grey")["It is Satan who is to blame for this!"], he continues. (css: "color:grey")["His followers must have poisoned the city."]
[["His followers?"|scapegoats]]
[["Are we in danger?"|not at all]]] (css: "color: grey")["You know, Jews! Venetians! Other foreigners! Those people"]
(link: '"I do not think those people follow Satan"')
[{(set: $gonfaloniere to it - 20)
(set: $podesta to it + 20)
(print: "<script>GE.updateHealthBarGonfaloniere(" + (text: $maxHealth) + "," + (text: $gonfaloniere) + ");")
(print: "<script>GE.updateHealthBarPodesta(" + (text: $maxHealth) + "," + (text: $podesta) + ");")}
]
[["Are we in danger?"|not at all]](css: "color: orange")["Not at all! unlike those Genoese, we aren't sinners. We have nothing to fear."]
the priest looks around the room and continues:
(css: "color: orange")["However, if we aid those people at our gate any longer, they might attract God's wrath to us"]
[["I think we should help those people"|aid]]
[["I believe the priest. We should ban them from entering $town."|exile]]
{(set: $aid to true)
(set: $priest to it - 20)
(set: $podesta to it + 5)
(print: "<script>GE.updateHealthBarPriest(" + (text: $maxHealth) + "," + (text: $priest) + ");")
(print: "<script>GE.updateHealthBarPodesta(" + (text: $maxHealth) + "," + (text: $podesta) + ");")
}\
(css: "color: red")["I support $name's decision. Doesn't the Bible say we must help those in need?"]
(css: "color: green")["I think it is wise to aid the Genoese. The doge will be pleased with us."]
[[continue|going to the Genoese]]{(set: $aid to false)
(set: $priest to it + 10)
(set: $podesta to it - 10)
(print: "<script>GE.updateHealthBarPriest(" + (text: $maxHealth) + "," + (text: $priest) + ");")
(print: "<script>GE.updateHealthBarPodesta(" + (text: $maxHealth) + "," + (text: $podesta) + ");")
}\
(css: "color:red")["Fine. I may not agree, but I guess we must listen to the priest. There are other places where they can go."]
[[Continue|going home]] The meeting has ended. You walk back to your house. You pass the alley with the dead rats.
(link: "look inside the alley")[You see not three, but four rats lying on the ground. A light but unpleased smell hangs in the air. You decide to leave the alley.]
[[Go home|message]]The meeting has ended.
You are walking with the (css: "color: grey")[(text-style: "italic")[Gonfaloniere]] and the (css: "color: green")[Capitano] to the northern gate.
(link: '"Do you really think that the disease is the work of Satan?"')
[(css: "color:grey")["Of course, how else can such beautiful city be struck?]
(link: '"Maybe it has a natural cause"')[the Gonfaloniere laughs.
(css: "color:grey") ["That is impossible, all the bad air would immediately be blown away by the sea breeze."]
(css: "color:green")["Maybe those Genoese have some answers."]
[[Continue|outside the gate]]]
]As you arrive at the gate, you see the (css: "color: blue")[doctor] enter a small building just outside the city.
(link: "Call the doctor")["Hey doctor!"
The doctor looks up and sees you.
(css: "color: blue")["Can you please come back later, I am visiting a patient"]]
[[Follow the doctor into the building|genoese]]
(link: 'Ask what the doctor is doing')[(css: "color: blue")["One of these people from Genoa is sick. I'm here to help her."]
You follow the doctor into a room with a bed. A girl, not older than ten, is lying in the bed. Immediately, you smell a nasty, putrid odor hanging in the air.
(css: "color: green")[" I think we can better let the doctor do his job. I'm going outside"]
[[follow the Capitano|waiting for the doctor]]
[[stay inside with the doctor|staying with the doctor]]
]
You follow the (css: "color: green")[Capitano].
After waiting for about twenty minutes in the shade of the gate, the (css: "color: blue")[doctor] and the (css: "color: grey")[Gonfaloniere] exit the building.
(css: "color: blue")["I've done what I could. But I don't know if she will make it."]
the (css: "color: blue")[doctor] sighs.
(css: "color: blue")["I think it is leave now and return tomorrow"]
(css: "color: grey")["$name, tomorrow morning we'll have another meeting about this.]
[[Continue|third meeting]]{(set: $doctor to it + 10)
(print: "<script>GE.updateHealthBarDoctor(" + (text: $maxHealth) + "," + (text: $doctor) + ");")
}\
You and the (css: "color: grey")[Gonfaloniere] stay in the room. The (css: "color: blue")[doctor] grabs a small knife, and cuts a small incision in the arm of his patient.
(css: "color: blue")["I believe she has too much blood. Her humors are unbalanced."]
(link: "Ask how the doctor knows this")
[(css: "color:blue")["You see the sweat on her face? She has a fever, which can only happen due to an excess of blood."]
The (css: "color:grey")[Gonfaloniere] looks around the room. A man with grey hair is sitting in a chair in the corner.
(css: "color: grey")["Are you her father?"], the (css: "color: grey")[Gonfaloniere] asks, and he sits down next to the old man.
[[Continue|the father]]
]
The man looks at the (css: "color: grey")[Gonfaloniere], nods quietly, and then looks at the girl in bed.
The (css: "color: grey")[Gonfaloniere] doesn't know what to say. (css: "color: grey")[He] quietly pats the man on the shoulder, looks up and leaves the room.
[[Follow the Gonfaloniere|outside]]
The next morning, you walk to the town hall.
You enter the meeting room. All members are present(if: $aid is true)[, except for the (css: "color:grey")[Gonfaloniere]].
(if: $aid is true)[[[Ask where the Gonfaloniere is|bad news]]]
(else:)[[[Ask why there is a meeting|Plague!]]]
(set: $aid to false)
You follow the (css: "color: grey")[Gonfaloniere]. In the shade of the gate, the (css: "color: green")[Capitano] is sitting on a fence.
(css: "color: green")["How is she doing?"], (css: "color: green")[he] asks.
(css: "color: grey")["I hope she will be alright. They're in good care now. I think we should leave now. Tomorrow morning, we'll have another meeting about this."]
[[Go home|third meeting]]In the evening, you hear a knock on your door.
(link: "open door")[A young man in a long coat is standing outside.
"Good evening, are you $name?"
(link: '"Yes, I am"')[
"Tomorrow morning, there is another meeting at the town hall. The (css: "color: red")[Podestà] wants you to be there."
You thank the messenger, and closes the door after he has left.
[[Go to bed|third meeting]]]]The (css: "color:red")[Podestà] says: (css: "color:red")["His wife told me he was a bit sick. I'll visit him after the meeting."]
(link: '"I will come with you"')[{
(set: $podesta to it + 10)
(print: "<script>GE.updateHealthBarPodesta(" + (text: $maxHealth) + "," + (text: $podesta) + ");")
(set: $going to true)}
(css: "color:red")["Thanks. But now let's focus on the meeting"]
]
[[Continue with the meeting|Plague!]](css: "color:red")["The disease from Genoa is now in $town. We must act quickly, otherwise we are all doomed!"]
(css: "color:orange")["I was wrong. There are sinners among us. We must punish them!"]
(css: "color:green")["No, we cannot act with exploring all our options. Let's ask the (css: "color: blue")[doctor] what we must do."]
[["I support the priest's idea"|priest]]
[["I like the Capitano's idea"|capitano]]{(set: $podesta to 0)
(print: "<script>GE.updateHealthBarPodesta(" + (text: $maxHealth) + "," + (text: $podesta) + ");")
}
(css: "color: red")["Is this really what you want to do?"]
The (css: "color: red")[Podestà] looks angrily at you.
(css: "color: red")["A few days ago, I thought you were reasonable. It saddens me to know I was mistaken. Goodbye!"]
The (css: "color: red")[Podestà] leaves the room.
(if: $aid is false)[The (css: "color: orange")[priest] and the (css: "color: grey")[Gonfaloniere] are looking at you.]
(else:)[The (css: "color: orange")[priest] is looking at you.]
(if: $aid is false)[(css: "color:grey")["Right. Let's exile all the sinners!]]
(css: "color: orange")["Are you ready to punish those sinners?"]
[[Help the priest|priest ending]]
(if: $aid is false)[[[Help the Gonfaloniere|Gonfaloniere ending]]]{(set: $podesta to it + 20)
(if: $podesta > 200)[(set: $podesta to 200)]
(set: $priest to it - 50)
(if: $aid is false)[(set: $gonfaloniere to it - 50)]
(set: $capitano to it + 20)
(if: $capitano > 200)[(set: $capitano to 200)]
(print: "<script>GE.updateHealthBarPodesta(" + (text: $maxHealth) + "," + (text: $podesta) + ");")
(print: "<script>GE.updateHealthBarPriest(" + (text: $maxHealth) + "," + (text: $priest) + ");")
(print: "<script>GE.updateHealthBarCapitano(" + (text: $maxHealth) + "," + (text: $capitano) + ");")
(print: "<script>GE.updateHealthBarGonfaloniere(" + (text: $maxHealth) + "," + (text: $gonfaloniere) + ");")}
(if: $aid is false)[ the (css: "color:orange")[priest] and the (css: "color:grey")[Gonfaloniere] shake their heads, but they stay quiet.]
(else:)[The (css: "color: orange")[priest] shakes his head, but stays quiet.]
[[go to the doctor|doctor]]"With the help of the (css: "color:orange")[priest], You search for everyone who is deemed "sinful". You hunt down prostitutes, lepers, foreigners and Jews.
Soon you learn that these people are also affected by the plague. You realize your mistake, but it is already too late.
The plague continues. defeated, you return to your house. The next day, you feel a burning spot in your armpit. You go to the doctor, but he doesn't open the door. You walk back home, feeling sick and tired.
Maybe it'll pass after a good sleep.
During the night, you wake up vomiting. A putrid smell fills the room. Slowly, you fall back asleep, not knowing if you'll wake up the next morning..."With the help of the (css: "color:grey")[Gonfaloniere], You rid $town of all the prostitutes, foreigners, Jews and other people deemed "sinful".
However, the Plague continues. After a few days, you wake up with a weird thick spot in your neck. You start feeling sick, and the spot in your neck turns black. You feel a burning pain eminating from it.
The next day, your room is filled with a putrid stench. You lie in bed, slowly succombing from the pain.
You know getting rid of the "sinners" was useless. But now it is too late to change that. Your fate is sealed...You leave the town hall and walk - together with the (css: "color: red")[Podestà] and the (css: "color: green")[Capitano] - to the doctor.
He opens his door and welcomes you.
(link: "Ask the doctor how the sickness spreads")
[(if: $aid is false)[(css: "color: blue")[The sickness spreads through the air. Be careful! If you visit someone who is sick, their odor may make you sick as well.]
[["We'll make sure not to visit any sick people"|doctor's advice]]]
(else:)[(css: "color: blue")["You remember that stench with those Genoese people? That odor is responsible for this plague. Be careful! If you visit someone who is sick, their odor may make you sick as well."]
(css: "color: red")["But one of our council members is sick. We want to visit him later."]
[["I think we should not visit the Gonfaloniere"|doctor's advice]]
[["We'll be careful, but we are still going to visit the Gonfaloniere"|Podestà ending]]]
](css: "color: blue")["Good! thanks for listening to my advice. I'm sorry you can't visit anyone, but it is for the best."]
(link: '"is there anything more we can do"')[(css: "color: blue")["Yes! please look for the sick. We must contain the sickness!]
[[contain the sickness|doctor ending]]]{(set: $doctor to it - 50)
(print: "<script>GE.updateHealthBarDoctor(" + (text: $maxHealth) + "," + (text: $doctor) + ");")
}\
The (css: "color: blue")[doctor] tries to persuade you, But you don't listen. You reach the house of the (css: "color: grey")[Gonfaloniere], and you smell an awful odor when you enter.
After five minutes, you exit the house. You know that the (css: "color: grey")[Gonfaloniere] has the sickness described by the doctor. You and the (css: "color: red")[podestà] make an official council statement, forbidding anyone from visiting sick people.
After a week, a large number of the population of $town has been infected. About 40% dies.
In other parts of Europe, the plague kills even more people. It is going to take a lot of time to rebuild the community. You better get started...After leaving the (css: "color: blue")[doctor], you come up with a plan. You gather a few people, and start searching for sick people. Every house with a sick person in it is boarded shut, and guards are posted outside, ensuring no one enters of leaves.
After a few weeks, the houses are opened up again. The bodies of dead families are collected and burned in a mass funeral pyre. about 30% has died in $town.
Your measures make you impopular, but you know that you there was no other alternative. slowly but surely, you hear the news from other cities in Italy and France. For some cities, the death rate reaches up to 60%.
You know that it will take a lot of time to recover. You better start soon...