The Gray Ascendancy
The Gray Ascendancy is a dark fantasy interactive fiction game set in the world of magic that is as capricious as its very first wielders. It tells a story of revenge, court intrigue, age-old ache, self-determination and agency, with the player straight at the core of it all.
Summary
Magic bends to the will of the Six Sisters, what they share with humans is but a fraction of their power, an echo from the past when they lived and created history. A split between them formed the world you are in now, the world where magic is a powerful—and feared—tool, where mages were chased off into a small city of Riante after their recent attempt to seize control over the continent by taking over the Sunken Court.
But the mages shall prevail. Such is the resolve of the Gray Regent.
And then there is you.
Serving the fabled Gray Regent feels right. Your body remembers how to use magic, and this is how you get by. This is how you are useful to them. Their goals find response in you, some part of you finds them as good as your own. You are their will executed in the field.
It helps that you have no memories of how you became this way.
No matter. The preparations are well underway, and you are to thank for many of the successes, except for one terrible failure. Fixing this mess has you tossed right into the enemy backline, trying to lie your way into the graces of a prince whose reputation, deservedly or not, is almost as bad as yours. Your door into the Sunken Court.
You will ensure the ascension of the Gray Regency.
Features
- customize your protagonist (gender, name, pronouns, weapon and their allegiances);
- build relationships with six potential ROs and people that you meet along the way;
- make meaningful choices that will shape the future of the continent;
- rediscover what you once were, if you wish, or build upon the blank slate that you have become;
- embrace your magic to the full extent you have yet to discover or reject it, for you are not a plaything for the Sisters long dead;
- lean into the allure of being seen as a villain or work on your image in the eyes of the unforgiving public;
- your past holds secrets, obviously; try to remember the most important one;
- chose your side: old masters or new friends? Who exactly are you lying to when you promise them your help?
Characters
Gale (m)
King Karon's oldest child and the one held in most contempt at the Sunken Court. Born of a forced alliance, along with his mother's infamy, he has inherited the touch of the Fourth Sister: depraved magic that steals and grants life essence. That what makes him a vulturous healer has also earned him distasteful reputation. For whatever reason he is well-mannered, patient, few would even call him kind. Gale often says very little—a habit of watching his every word at court and yet never being heard.
Arthur van der Garde (m)
The margrave to the dukedom of Noyer, he is Gale's closest friend, and the only thing that has stopped it from turning him into a social pariah is his easy charm and, upon strict insistence of his father, rigorous mage hunter training. It is hardly possible to find a person willing to trust you less.
Darla Belrose (f)
A spirited and ambitious knight: no one else could be appointed to guard the scorned prince, let alone volunteer for such an assignment. As the oldest child, she is eager to restore the position of her house, so perhaps she sees the prince’s journeys as the means to that end. Her cautious curiosity towards magic could be another reason...
Yvette (f) / Yves (m) le Tellier
The current Gray Regent and the youngest child of Gideon le Tellier, whose earlier conquest on the city of Rimehall has earned him the title of Usurper. Now sitting at the top of the tower in Riante, they claim the high goal of mage restoration, but you cannot help but notice the way their jaw clenches whenever King Karon’s name is brought up. That, and how often you seem to catch their gaze.
Jax (nb)
Your handler and council. Although a mage themselves, their preferred trade is information and planning. Jax is seen by others as closed off and meticulous, though, you hear, they are the best one at the Gray Regent's disposal and easily have their ear. How you got the cream of the crop to assist you is anyone's guess, Jax certainly isn't willing to have such a conversation.
Ianthe (f)
Not every mage is bound to the tower of Riante and some choose the remote corners of the continent to further their pursuits. Ianthe is one of such mages, and rather than appearing on your target list, she seeks you out herself. She claims to have interest in your magic and offers to solve the mystery that envelops it, but to do that she would need your cooperation and, going by the company you keep, secrecy, either of which you may not be as eager to provide.
Extra content
Development log
- Major game update V.0.1.242 days ago
- Major game update V.0.1.1Sep 27, 2023
- Update v0.0.2Dec 24, 2022
Comments
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Thought I would go for Gale at first but nope, my MC is gonna be the (deadly) loyal dog of the Gray Regent 🤭 Their dynamic is just *chef kiss*
game-breaking bug located: i fully cannot save. Like, at all. same error over and over.
Does it help if you disable save file naming in the game settings (the top toggle there)?
If it doesn't, I would appreciate it if you copied the error message and described how you are playing the game (desktop or mobile, for example).
I had the same issue and I changed the settings like you said here, and it seems to have solved the issue!
Thank you for taking the time to let me know! Naming the saves is a convenience feature, so it seems like it will be better if I make it opt-in rather than opt-out.
Amazing update, definitely worth the wait!
But I think I found a bug in the magic practice scene in Riante. After choosing "I was practicing magic" (1st img), my Magic param increased by 15 EACH TIME I checked the stat page (selecting "Character" then "Return"). Eventually I got 100 Magic mastery ... (2nd img)
Not a game-breaking bug, but please let me know if you need more details
Thank you!
Appreciate you bringing this to my attention. I understand what is happening here, and although I am not against the player achieving 100 mastery with magic or anything, it is a little too early for that 😅 I will fix it, thank you!
Glad my report helps. I agree it's too early for our MC to become an overpowered mage 😅
Hi, quick question. Will we be able to play a touch-averse-yet-at-the-same-time-touch-starved MC? If not, would you consider implementing that option in the future? I can never seem to strike the right balance when given two binary options regarding how me/my character feels about touch so it'd be nice to have more options.
Regardless, this new update (the end of which I haven't yet gotten to) is a very welcome sign regarding the future of the project. I'm happy to see the story being continued, great job!
Thank you for the lovely message and for bringing the case for touch-starved options to my attention! I think it would have become a natural extension for the touch-averse MCs as the story allows for them to be more...vulnerable with other characters, but this makes me approach it more consciously. So yes, I can see it as an option within future scenes.
That's very neat! I'm keen to see what you might have in mind in the future. Thanks for replying!
Loved the update, enjoyed it a lot! Thank you for your hard work💚
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
Could you possibly make autonaming of saves an option, like I've seen in other twine wips?
Because having to name your saves manually makes it impossible to save, when playing through the app. And I would really appreciate being able to save again.
Oof, that sounds bad. Do you mind telling me which exact app you mean here? I might need to add it to the testing list in the future if it behaves so differently from the desktop/phone browsers I've ran the game with.
I'll change it to the setting option asap. Thanks for letting me know!
Edit: I have updated the game with the option to disable save slot naming, though it is on by default. You can change it in the Settings panel from the left-side bar, top option:
Absolutely loved the update! So excited for more!
Thank you! Already have the next part planned out 😌
A pleasant read. Quite fun and interesting.
Thank you!
Glad this is back I missed reading this story
Thank you! I'm so glad to have an update for you guys too!
This is wonderful! I love the premise and the characters, and it's awesome that it's still being updated and worked on. Great job!
Thank you! I feel much safer hinting at the upcoming update with a big bulk of the work done already. Cannot wait to share!
for some reason i have vague memories of playing this multiple times, yet not getting anywhere? welp whatever doing this again!
Fair enough, the game is a work in progress 😅 However, it is getting an update pretty soon, so you will be getting further with it :)
Hi, did the author drop this project??? Because I see that it's been a while since the game update or any other form of update (only 9 months lol, but that's not a small amount). I also don't know their socials... I really love the writing and I hope it's continued. I hope you're okay author!!
Thank you for your concern! I'm very much working on it still and it's getting continued. You can find the official (I guess?) development blog here, it features upcoming update dates, some additional character and world info, and even (currently only) three character arts for both Y's and Arthur!
Oh wow! Thank you! I'm looking forward to digging that site. I hope it all goes well for you, thanks again
best text story game i ever played very fun gets my blood pumping and hope i can marry the queen at some point
Haha, thank you! You might just get her into the mood, depends on your ambitions, frankly
AWWW I'm looking forward to the next chaprterrrr!! I ABSOLUTELY love this!!!
Thank you!
I didn't expect such an amazing story. I turned on some music that somehow went well with the story, instrumental music, a bit dark and with a sad note, and read the story without taking my eyes off the screen even for a moment. What a pity that this story is not finished. I guess it will be a long wait now. Sigh.
Oh, that must have been a fantastic tune! Glad you've enjoyed it. I can just say that since, plot-wise, we're only just starting out, the story is quite far from finish.
Oh my lord... the LIs in this are so good. I'm loving Arthur and Yves most, but honestly can't wait to try all of them. That little interaction with Arthur at the end of chapter one left me wanting so much more!
Seriously, your writing is amazing, the premise of the story is really good, and the only thing that absolutely kills me is the time between updates. Sigh. 💔
I'm quite sorry about the wait, it's just how it is sometimes with single-person passion projects :( I love the response to both Arthur and Y, and I promise that I'm diligently working on the next bit!
Absolutely adore this!! <333
Thank you!!
Just found this game a few days ago, Its the best I've read on here so far!!!
Look forward to the next chapter!
Thank you so much!
Not gonna lie the idea of playing a mole in a Group of heroes and the game expects you to join with them maybe be turned against your cause only to eventually reveal you were always loyal to your true queen is an appealing concept.
You get it! 😁
Just found this, and I love it so much!
Definitely one of the best demos I've read this year.
Omg, thank you! Happy you've enjoyed it!
broo, i loved this game so much. im contemplating who im liking more- gale, authur or yvette (its leaning more on gale at first place then maybe yvette), and the pendant decision was so hard to make. its a well made game, and i cant wait for more updates.
Thank you! Not going to lie, I'm so glad that the pendant decision turned out to be tough for the players! I guess even more so if you are wavering between Gale and Yvette/Yves 😅
yesss, it did NOT help that both those characters were my top favourites, it was genuinely the first decision i had a hard time picking between, out of all the IFs i read, i did end up giving the pendant to gale.
I'm inlove with this and am already crafting theories about MC's past and power. Honestly I'm most excited to learn about the sixth sister, and see if it has anything to do with our past.
I also noticed the codex mentions the Belladona, a poisonous flower, which we have not interacted with in the game. I was just wondering why that is in the codex?
So glad you've enjoyed it! The Sixth Sister and that power most definitely play a role in the story, so stay tuned!
Bellona is mentioned as it's the main component in the concoction, the consumption of which grants a person the ability to block and disable magical powers. You might have seen that to some degree in the interactions with Arthur. The flower and the poison will also make frequent appearances in the story later down the line. Another reason is that the legend of the flower's appearance in this world offers some necessary glimpses into the story of the Fourth Sister.
This had such a tense magical yet dark moment, the way you were able to weave words into something eerie yet had light hearted moments really made me hooked. I love how the Gray Regent and MC's relationship is because when I think of the Grey Regent I imagined them to be cold and stern, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that they were calmer and nicer in some extent. Jax was also a fun person to banter around with even though they were our handler. The one I'm iffy about is the three (Gale, Arthur, and Darla) but it's to be expected since they're enemies to the MC so we have like a slowburn with them. I did vibe a bit more with Arthur purely because he shared the same dry humor as me.
Aside from that, I really looked forward to what has come, though I'd probably like it if the background wasn't all that bright since it made scanning through the words a bit tricky. Good luck with this one!
Thank you so much for such a lovely message! The face the Gray Regent shows to the MC is indeed somewhat different than they do to the others, but my intention was to fairly show that it is not an...expected response.
As to your note about the colors, I'm assuming you read with the default look of the game? If so, you can play around with the settings menu that you can bring up by clicking Settings on the left-hand side sidebar of the game page. You can increase the font size and change to the dark theme if that would be easier on your eyes!
Ah now that makes sense HAHAHA I'll be sure to do that!
You have managed to create such a mysterious, dangerous, suspicious and sinister atmosphere in the released chapters and it's keeping me at the edge of my seat! Even on those "tender" moments I can't help feeling something isn't quite right.
I have two questions:
1) In the current magic system, is there any spell known to extract information, subtly and from a great distance, from an individual's mind even without them knowing?
2 )Did Y suspect MC was sent as a spy from their enemies/opposing factions?
Oh, that is so exciting! Really glad it's a gripping read for you!
1) what a cool question it is... I will neither confirm nor deny anything, but certain things you have described may indeed be possible :)
2) for someone of that standing, it would be a reasonable thing to suspect, no?
Reasonable ofc yet how did they manage to clear their doubts for MC? HOW can magic determine with absolute certainty MC has amnesia? Are they keeping MC close to keep an eye on them? THAT'S a more sound theory for someone as cautios as they are.
I cannot tell you how exactly they have cleared up those suspicions for themselves as that would be spoilers, but I will say as follows. Although the MC has been formally questioned about anything they could remember (which was basically nothing), they have never directly faced any accusations or suspicions from the Gray Regent about that.
What are the flags for Gale accepting the necklace deal? I triggered it on my first readthrough but he was unphased on my second.
It depends on whether or not your MC uses magic as their primary weapon (lowers the chance), whether they offed the thug in the prologue (lowers the chance), whether they got ambushed by the trio or walked up to them on their own terms and on the MC's responses to the questions asked. The more info they reveal, the higher the chance, up to you.
I have to say that this is one of the coolest stories i have read so far. Unfortunately I have encountered an error and can't seem to move forward from this point
Thank you so much, glad that you're liking it! It is unfortunate about the issue, but I seem to have cracked it. I've just uploaded a version that should allow you to move forward, so please update the page and it should work! Let me know if that didn't help.
It worked! Thank you so much 💙. This game is a masterpiece. Thank you for making it happen
Thank you so much for verifying, it's so precious because the issue is very dependent on the browser version. I'm glad it works now and hope you enjoy! 🤍
I really liked the game❤️. It kept me occupied for quite a while and I'll eagerly wait for more.
Currently I like the Yves RO. Let alone for the mystery of it. I'm not entirely, convinced that harbouring the MC is all that innocent and I like the ongoing questions one asks oneself regarding Yves possible involvement regarding MCs amnesia and such. Well, the same goes for Jax, though.
I also replayed to a save from which I'll try the other ROs -omce more content regarding them is Out, that is. I think the next one will be Arthur for sure. Just for the fun of it - it's always interesting to see how far a character can change their first opinion of an MC if pursued. I love a well written change of heart -sprinkled with angst and possibly some hurt along the way 🤔😅
Keep up the good work 😊
Hey, loved reading your thoughts! I'm honor-bound not to reveal anything regarding motivations, but it's always exciting to see how people perceive the characters without that particular knowledge. Thank you for sharing!
Free of any noticeable grammar errors, has complex characters and a unique writing style which leaves you craving for more, this is one of the WiPs whose progress I'm going to enjoy following the most :)
Omg, thanks! Happy to have you on board!
Update was fantastic! I love this so much, the characters are all great and the writing is amazing!
Thank you, glad you're enjoying!
I loved the update! When they're asking your name and they question your last name it would be funny if you tell them you dont remember, if you told them about your memory loss and they get annoyed and just tell you to make one up then or something xD
lmao, I mean you are kind of rolling with a fake name already, but I've thought of an interaction to add based on your comment for this outcome for the MC 👀 will add that some time soon! Thank you!
I loved the demo! All the characters seem intriguing and I can't wait to find out more about them. what an amazing job of a game :)
Thank you so much!!
Amazing writing, super interested in more.
Thank you, hope you'll enjoy the update :)
The characters and their motivations, as well as the available choices are great, i can't wait for more content for this impressive story which is so intriguing and good already ❤
Thank you, really happy to see the motivations come through ☺
RIGHT WHEN IT GOT GOOD IT WAS THE END OF THE DEMO but this was the best IF ive ever seen
Thank you, such honor!!
Having a fantastic time with this so far! Your writing is delightful, smart and descriptive and extremely fun to play through. Looking forward to seeing how things play out <3
Thank you so much, really appreciate your comment <3 So glad you've had a blast!
Seems like an interesting story so far! It definitely has my interest. I'm looking forward to how it will develop ♥
thank you!!
Amazing start! A fascinating world and its lore! Do you have a release date planned for the next chapter?
Thank you, happy you are liking it!
As for the next update, I've been getting back on track with writing, and I'm over the half of the next portion of content I intend to publish. As for now I tentatively say "this month".
So far it has been captivating, can't wait to read more!
thank you, I'm glad to hear that!
nice , but when will be the next chapter released ?
hi! Thank you for the interest, I'm aiming to release the next part in late August.
👀 can't wait to read more, really loving this so far!