Keeper's Vigil

Keeper's Vigil is a 193,000-word interactive dark fantasy novel told entirely through text, with no graphics or sound effects. You play as a Keeper, a sworn protector of the Realm, mutated by necromancy to fight the monsters that plague it. You are the most powerful Keeper of your generation and the only living Keeper to survive the mutation with a positive blood type, giving you a mutant’s physical strength and a mage’s forbidden spell-casting.

The threat to the Realm

An experiment to resurrect the extinct Elves has gone wrong, unleashing infectious, twisted creatures called Abominations that are overrunning the Middle Realm. As they attack the gates of the Inner Realm, you investigate a conspiracy within your Order. Traitors plan to bring back the ancient Elves to fight the Anunnaki, an even greater threat, but the resurrection could mean humanity’s destruction.

Power and mutation

You can rely on steel, wits or forbidden magic. Using necromancy advances your mutation; embrace it too far, and you may lose your humanity and become the kind of monster you swore to stop. You can use your corrupted blood to unleash powerful magic or seek a cure before you transform. Your perception and necromancy can also help you track the source of the Abominations.

Your choices

You can play as male, female or nonbinary, and as gay, straight or bisexual. You can pursue a romance with a rival: the compassionate Royal Heir, the fiery Rebel Leader or your former best friend, whom you thought had died years ago.

Choose whether to align with the strict Order, join the freedom-fighting Rebels or enter the Lusus Naturae tournament to earn the Beast Clan’s loyalty. Your decisions shape your legacy: you might block out the sun to intimidate the Regent, sacrifice a limb to survive or ascend to godhood to stop an interdimensional invasion. As the Anunnaki enter and the portal opens, you decide whether to save the Realm or bring about its end.