Buy A Blade for the Emperor PC key

A Blade for the Emperor is a 600,000-word interactive dark fantasy novel told entirely through text, with no graphics or sound effects. You play an assassin sent to infiltrate the palace of the immortal Emperor Erid Virdeus, gain his trust and kill him. Your choices shape the story and could save, conquer or destroy the empire.

The empire in turmoil

Emperor Erid Virdeus rules through oppressive decrees and curses. Guards savage the people, rebels plot in secret, sorcery silences dissent, and creatures of rotting death lurk in caves beneath the capital. Runes carved into your bones give you supernatural abilities far beyond those of most humans.

As you remove the emperor’s servants, you and your allies shape what follows. You can ally with his exiled sister, who defied him, or side with his refined political sister or mighty warrior cousin. Choose allies carefully: each has secrets, and your decisions help determine who takes the throne and whether the realm finds peace or falls into ruin.

Choose your path

You can play as male, female or nonbinary, and as gay, straight or bi. Shape your assassin into a silent knife, whispering puppeteer, rune-bolstered warrior, chameleon spy or silver-tongued rogue. You can kill those you consider deserving, form alliances with courtiers or rebels, pursue love amid treachery and murder, or explore magical secrets in the city’s leaves and roots.

You can romance the emperor’s politically savvy sister, his hot-headed warrior cousin or his rebellious exiled sister, and become the power behind a new throne. Alternatively, you can kill them and install a different leader. Your choices can leave people dead, transformed into mottled creatures or broken by rejection, or guide them towards redemption, protected consorthood or rule.

Shape the empire

The realm that rises from the ashes can have you as its merciful savior, bloody butcher or a being of elemental transcendence. You can purge the city of dangerous sorcery, or uncover the secret of the emperor’s immortality and claim it for yourself.