A text RPG at Garni
GARNI
Three centuries. One place. No easy road out.
The stone remembers what people cannot.
Choose the year you remember. Then tell us how far Garni’s customs are from your own.
01Year
02Distance
03Learning
01
The first thing they ask
Do you remember the year?
IThe king’s fourteenth yearA royal summer fortress, c. 94–95 CE. Mihr’s fire is fed beneath a new Ionic colonnade.“Friend to the Caesar.”
IIThe year after the king received the faithEarly 4th century. The temple stands, but its old god is silent. A chapel and a bathhouse share the hillside.“The king has received the faith.”
IIIThe winter before the earth breaks1678–early 1679. A village, orchards, and monastery beneath an ancient royal monument.“The snow has begun.”
02
A question of the household
How much of Garni’s way is yours?
Foreign to these customsGestures, purity, rank, and sacred meanings will need to be learned the hard way. You are watched.“You hold the bowl as if it were a weapon.”
Somewhat familiarYou read more without being told. Doors open sooner—and people may assume you owe them something.“You know when not to speak.”
03
What survives the road
What kind of learning do you carry?
Clerkly & administrativeAccounts, seals, inventories, obligations.
Technical & practicalStone, tools, water, animals, repair.
Religious & literateTexts, rites, signs, disputed meanings.
Road-worn & martialTrade, horses, weapons, men who owe you.
Select one answer to continue.
01turn
The place is listening…
What do you do?
Act
Look closelyAsk what is expectedFind useful work