Palace of Shadows

I live in a palace of infinite passages and infinite halls. My footsteps have led me through its peaceful splendor so many times that there is no secluded niche, no carved gateway or sculpted pillar that I am not intimately familiar with. I have lived so long in its cool, comforting darkness that memories of the sun-crowned blue sky and the open sea seem faraway and indistinct, as the fleeting recollections of a dream.

Yet I have always pined for the company of my fellow men, and the unbroken silence echoing through the palace is a heavy burden weighing down on my soul. Often I wake up at night with an awful feeling of loss for the companionship that is being denied me; and then I wander the halls of my palace restlessly, unaffected by its wondrous beauty, seeking solace where none is to be found.

When guests enter my palace, as they sometimes do, I sense them wherever they are, and seek them out. Yet men have always feared me and despised me, condemning me in their minds for crimes that were not my own. Many meet my friendship with violence, while most would die rather than befriend me, victims of their own prejudice. And so my loneliness quickly reasserts itself, and I am left with no one but my shadow on the walls, a mute companion that mocks my every movement.

Finally, one day, I retreated into the inner rooms of the palace, and shut the great gate behind me, not knowing if it could ever be re-opened. I decided to live out the remainder of my life in utter seclusion, never to see a living being again.

Yet today, a joyous sensation has overcome me. He has entered my palace, a hero whose heart is free of fear and petty violence. I can feel his presence. He has come to deliver me from this wretched existence. I must open the gate for him before he leaves my palace of shadows forever!


Java game, programmed for the "2k comp", a contest of conversational adventures whose "core" is no bigger than 2k. Despite the small space, the adventure has a very complete parser. It requires a Java interpreter to run.

(This adventure turns out to be... the first Greek-Spanish co-production in the adventure world! The programmer and writer of all the texts is Christos Stoggianopoulos. Depresiv invented the "backstory" and all the puzzles.)