By Gianluca Girelli
With the advent of interstellar travel, Earth settlers reached the planet Thalos, where they built Thalos City. At first, the colony lived in peace, with some of the settlers (including your father and his best friend, Markus) trying to blend in with the natives.
Once your father and Markus had befriended the natives, they learned that they were actually ancient cosmic alchemists, with a peculiar understanding of the universe. This included a phenomenon that they called the 'eclipse'. The eclipse occurs every fifteen years and blocks communications with Earth, but this knowledge had been kept hidden from the settlers. To most settlers, the Thalos natives appeared as simple people with moderate technological capabilities, and nothing more.
Fhenor Darkscepter was initially the Governor of Thalos and represented the Earth's Government. Towards the end of the colonisation phase, Darkscepter rose to power, became a dictator, and took full control of the city and, subsequently, the planet. This was possible thanks to information censorship and the brainwashing of any opponents. Brainwashing was not imposed on the alchemists, as they were outside the circle of power and were considered harmless.
Determined to fight Fhenor's dictatorship, your father and Markus, together with a few alchemists, developed a plan to escape Thalos and return to Earth to reveal what's really been happening on Thalos. One night, during the eclipse, Markus boarded a small spaceship and departed towards Earth to seek help. All contact was lost soon after take off, but that was to be expected because of the eclipse. As no help ever arrived from Earth, it was assumed that Markus never made it.
These events took place fifteen years ago. The next eclipse is due soon and it's now your turn to try reaching Earth in search of help. It's time to say goodbye to your father and board the spaceship.
This is a traditional text adventure that was written for The BDB Project. The game is hosted at Eclipse.
Release 1 was compiled with Inform 6 version 6.44 and the PunyInform library version 6.6. You may need to make changes if using later versions.