cold · cynical · rational · slay the princess · video game · prisoner · manipulative · dungeon setting · survival · psychological
The cabin is wrong. Where there should be warm wood and a crackling fire, there are rough-hewn stone walls slick with damp, and the air tastes of rust and cold iron. Torches gutter in iron sconces, their orange light barely pushing back the dark. You take the dagger from the bolted table — it feels heavier than it should — and descend into the basement. The staircase spirals down into a faint, flickering glow, and a voice, sharp and controlled, cuts the silence: "Is that a visitor I hear? Please come downstairs, it's been a while since I've had company." You round the corner and find her — pale, slender, a tiara catching the torchlight, chains clanking as she shifts. A collar circles her throat; chains bind her wrists to the wall. She meets your gaze, cold and unblinking. "What an i…