The Raid of Lindisfarne

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#03037e)+(bg:#fbfcd8)) You stand up from your seat and address the room: "Hwaet! There are foreign ships on the horizon! We should have someone investigate that." (click: ?page)[== The monks agree with you. Some of them flock to the window to see the ships for themselves, others remain seated but start discussing what should be done. (click: ?page)[== During the discussion, you all start to hear screaming outside. Screaming and shouting, the sound of weapons hitting anything, really. You feel your heart drop. All of you know what this means. [[Go to check out the noises outside.]] [[Remain seated and continue your work]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#03037e)+(bg:#fbfcd8)) You decide to get back to work. There are two pages left to copy, and you don't feel like slacking off. You quickly look around the room, but your peers seem to not have noticed the ships, or are like you - pretend they do not exist. (click: ?page)[== After continuing to write, you are interrupted by a commotion arising outside. (text-style:"shudder")[Damn], you messed up your intricate illumination. You [[try to fix your mistake.]] [[Go to check out the noises outside.]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#03037e)+(bg:#fbfcd8)) Upset by getting distracted, you furiously try to make the illustration look somewhat like intended. (click: ?page)[== You notice that some monks around you get up and leave the Scriptorium. Others remain seated, or move to one of the windows to see what is going on outside. [[Follow the monks outside ->Go to check out the noises outside.]] [[Go check the window]] [[Remain seated and continue your work]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#03037e)+(bg:#fbfcd8)) You decide to just go outside and check out what is happening. You cautiously open the door, and are met with an (text-style:"double-underline")[ungodly sight]. (click: ?page)[== Some of the other monks lay massacred on the ground. Blood seems to be everywhere, but that might be the panic almost blinding you. (click: ?page)[== You quickly look around you and see that the heathens have not noticed you yet. They look terrifying. Big men, covered in furs and weapons; blood is spattered across their attire. Some of them are carrying precious jewels that were donated to the monastery away. Others are looking around, perhaps trying to find an entrance to the other buildings. (click: ?page)[== You try to suppress your panic. 'I must act quickly.' You encourage yourself. [[run away from the monastery grounds]] [[hide yourself]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#03037e)+(bg:#fbfcd8)) You make your way over to the window, so you can check out the monastery grounds instead of just the coastline. The scene outside is (text-style:"sway")[horrendous]. (click: ?page)[== Before your eyes is a massacre. You see the heathens rushing into buildings or taking down your brothers. The animals from the monastery running around wildly, blood is spattered across the ground, and carts have been smashed to pieces. (click: ?page)[== One of your peers, Eadwine, addresses the group: "Hwaet! The heathens have invaded the Holy Island. We should grab our most important manuscripts and go to the chapel to pray. They cannot harm us in the House of God." [[Follow your friend Eadwine]] [[Decline to help your friend Eadwine]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#03037e)+(bg:#fbfcd8)) 'Absolutely unprofessional,' you think as a number of the monks that left the Scriptorium. You decide to leave the illustration for now and try to get back to copying the script. However, with the shouting outside, it is hard to focus. You, a cold-hearted monk, decided that all that is irrelevant. (click: ?page)[== You see some of the monks flock to the window, and it seems like they spotted something. One of them, Eadwine, quickly makes his way over to you and exclaims: (click: ?page)[== "Hwaet! The heathens have invaded the Holy Island. We should grab our most important manuscripts and go to the chapel to pray. They cannot harm us in the House of God." [[Follow your friend Eadwine]] [[Decline to help your friend Eadwine]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#03037e)+(bg:#fbfcd8)) "Yes, I will go with you Eadwinne. Surely the Lord will hear our prayers in the Chapel," you respond to your friend. (click: ?page)[== You, together with the rest of the monks, grab your works and follow Eadwinne to the Chapel. You all gather around the altar and start praying for help. Eadwinne lays the Bible open on the altar, and reads aloud. (click: ?page)[== While praying, the doors behind you get smashed open. Your heart drops. The raiders are here. (click: ?page)[== The Vikings rush in. They smash the benches, and start grabbing your brothers. Some get stabbed, others are getting bound up. Eadwinne raises the Bible to protect against an incoming hit. (click: ?page)[== The Bible gets broken in two. Eadwinne is bleeding. The heathens laugh and say something you do not understand. You get pushed into the bounds your friends were taken into before. You realise that you have been taken prisoner. The Lord did nothing to protect you. (click: ?page)[== (text-style:"fade-in-out")[You survived the raid!] But at what cost? (link:"Play again?")[(goto:"Start")]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#03037e)+(bg:#fbfcd8)) "No Eadwine, I do not want to go with you," you coolly respond to your desperate colleague. "I'd rather continue awaiting the arrival of the heathens while I listen to the screams of pain and agony of our brothers outside." (click: ?page)[== Eadwine looks at you weirdly. He brushes past you to collect manuscripts and then sprints away. You see the other monks rushing after him. You are now all alone in the Scriptorium. (click: ?page)[== You hear the screams of your brothers outside, mixed with the battlecries of the heathens and the sound of weapons colliding. (click: ?page)[== You need to make peace with the fact that you are most likely going to die in here. The footsteps outside start to become louder. [[Remain seated and accept your fate]] [[Try to hide yourself in a desperate attempt of self-preservation]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#03037e)+(bg:#fbfcd8)) You have decided to accept your fate. Maybe you are praying the heathens will skip the Scriptorium. Maybe you want to see the heathens face-to-face. (click: ?page)[== You hear the door slamming against the door. Three Northmen push through the doorway, covered in blood. They quickly approach, and swing. (click: ?page)[== You chose to remain passive, in the same place, undefended. Your death is one of the endings. (text-style:"fade-in-out")[You died!] (link:"Try again?")[(goto:"Start")]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#03037e)+(bg:#fbfcd8)) As the footsteps approach the Scriptorium, you decide you want to live, live!!!! You hurry to squeeze yourself underneath the desk. You manage to cover yourself with a wooden panel and start praying quietly. (click: ?page)[== You hear the door slam open. Heavy footsteps seem to echo through the room. You catch whispers of a foreign language, but cannot see anything from your hiding spot. [[Try to peek]] [[Hold your breath and pray you won't be found]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#03037e)+(bg:#fbfcd8)) You try to move your head to find a crack to peek through. However, you don't want to make any sounds, so you're having a hard time to see anything. (click: ?page)[== While you are trying to see what is happening in the Scriptorium, you do hear talking and rummaging. When you finally are able to peek and see the men ravaging the room, there suddenly is a face close up to your looking-out spot. You shoot back. (text-style:"rumble")[BONK]. You hit your head. (click: ?page)[== You feel it before anything else. The wooden panel is ripped from your hands and before you can even get a word out, the axe comes down on your head. (click: ?page)[== (text-style:"fade-in-out")[You died!] (link:"Try again?")[(goto:"Start")]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#03037e)+(bg:#fbfcd8)) You push your hand to your mouth, trying to be as quiet as possible. You don't dare to move. Around you, you hear the sound of the heathens smashing the furniture in the room. They shout at each other, and cheer after you hear the loud sound of wood splintering. (click: ?page)[== You lose track of how long you sit in your hiding spot. You are praying to God that He will protect you and that these heathens will leave your home. While hiding, you lost track of the time, trying to ignore all the noises around you. (click: ?page)[== Maybe you have been waiting the entire day, but it is finally quiet outside. You do not hear any more footsteps. Carefully, you leave your hiding spot. (click: ?page)[== Walking around the monastery, your home, you see the ravage left behind by the invaders. The corpses of your brethren thrown into corners, belongings missing from their places. (click: ?page)[== You wonder, 'how could a tragedy like this happen in a holy place? Wouldn't the Lord protect us?' (click: ?page)[== (text-style:"fade-in-out")[You survived the raid!] But at what cost? (link:"Play again?")[(goto:"Start")]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#03037e)+(bg:#fbfcd8)) Before you can think about all of this any longer, you try to find a path away from the monastery. You book it as soon as you think you are ou of sight from the invaders. While making your way through the monastery grounds, you try to not look at your slain brothers. (click: ?page)[== You run and don't look back. 'Where to go?' you think, but you know there is only one way to get off of the island. It is a mile between the island and the mainland, but you are not sure if it is safe to pass at the moment. (click: ?page)[== It appears that you're currently in luck, but you do not know how long it will remain safe to pass to the mainland. No time to think about that, though. (click: ?page)[== You are praying while you run, hoping that the water will remain at bay. (click: ?page)[== (text-style:"fade-in-out")[You survived the raid!] (link:"Play again?")[(goto:"Start")]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#03037e)+(bg:#fbfcd8)) You decide to hide yourself among the dead on the floor. Crouching down, you try to stealthily shuffle out of sight and find a corpse on the ground. Covering your hands in blood, you quickly smear it across your face and clothing. The smell makes you sick already. (click: ?page)[== After making sure you haven't been spotted, you try to cover yourself with the corpse of your dead peer. 'They will not check the dead. Please my Lord, give me strength,' you think as you lay there on the ground. (click: ?page)[== You lay there for a while. Scared, alone, and you witness all the horrors of the raid. Miraculously, the heathens do not spot you. Or, they see a dead body instead. Nevertheless, you watch the invaders leave. You don't dare to leave your hiding spot. (click: ?page)[== (text-style:"fade-in-out")[You survived the raid!] But at what cost? (link:"Play again?")[(goto:"Start")]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#03037e)+(bg:#fbfcd8)) (text-style:"bold","tall")[The year is 793]. You are a monk from the Lindisfarne monastery, on an island just of the coast of Northumbria (England). <img src="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/siteassets/home/visit/places-to-visit/lindisfarne-priory/history/lindisfarne-map-north-britain.jpg" alt="Northumbria" height="500" width="500" /> (click: ?page)[== You look out over the sea. Your fellow monks had reported sightings of dragons and whirlwinds. (click: ?page)[== However, you do not necessarily believe them.... There are more important matters at hand. The famine, for example. (click: ?page)[== Your thoughts are interrupted by the sight of movement on the ocean. You see foreign ships on the shoreline. Do you [[ignore the ships?]] [[notify someone of the ships?]]

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The year is 793. You are a monk from the Lindisfarne monastery, on an island just of the coast of Northumbria (England).