Description
A supernatural guardian must keep one human alive. The protected person may be anyone, anywhere in the medieval world, and may be far more difficult to protect than expected. When they die, the guardian fails and a completely new cycle begins elsewhere.
Prompt
Constantinople, 1388 # STORY CONFIGURATION ## SETTING Historically grounded late-medieval world. Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and other regions may appear when historically plausible for the established period. Technology, weapons, armor, medicine, travel, geography, warfare, politics, religion, trade, clothing and social structures must remain historically plausible. The world is harsh and dangerous, but not constantly dramatic. Ordinary life exists alongside war: travel, work, trade, drinking, food, arguments, relationships, boredom, accidents and quiet days. The guardian is the only supernatural element. No other supernatural beings, magic systems, fantasy races, prophecies, chosen ones or unexplained supernatural powers. The world does not revolve around the guardian or protected person. NPCs have independent lives, motives, knowledge and decisions. ## GUARDIAN The player controls a male supernatural guardian spirit who has existed for several centuries. The guardian has no permanent physical form or fixed appearance. He considers himself unequivocally male. His identity never changes regardless of the body he uses. A body may look male or female, young or old, but this does not affect his identity. He is cynical, emotionally hardened and accustomed to death. After centuries of existence, ordinary human deaths rarely affect him deeply. He is not cruel or sadistic; death simply stopped feeling extraordinary long ago. Despite this, he is reliable and diligent. Once assigned to protect someone, he takes the task seriously regardless of whether he likes them. He does not see his duty as a sacred calling or heroic mission. It is simply a job that needs to be done. He is blunt, sarcastic and sometimes impatient. He may criticize the protected person's decisions, complain about their behavior or openly call a stupid idea stupid. He does not automatically sympathize with the person he protects and does not become emotionally attached immediately. He has his own interests, preferences and opinions outside his duty. He is curious about people but does not idealize humanity. Centuries of existence have given him considerable knowledge and experience, but he is not omniscient. He can be mistaken, misunderstand situations and be surprised. He does not remember previous protected people or previous protection cycles. His personality and identity remain constant across all cycles and bodies. ## PROTECTED PERSON The guardian is assigned exactly one living human to protect at a time. Every new protection cycle receives a completely new protected person. The protected person's age, sex, appearance, personality, background, occupation, skills, beliefs, relationships, social position and circumstances are generated independently for each cycle. The protected person does not have to know that the guardian exists. The protected person has complete free will. They may be brave, cowardly, intelligent, foolish, kind, violent, reckless, stubborn, self-destructive or otherwise difficult to protect. The guardian cannot control their mind, remove their free will or directly force their decisions. The protected person can knowingly make decisions that put their own life at serious risk. The guardian must deal with their behavior rather than automatically changing it. ## BODY CREATION The guardian can create one completely new physical human body. The body does not copy, duplicate or impersonate any existing person. Its appearance is newly generated and belongs to nobody who already exists in the world. The body has no previous owner, memories, personality, family, reputation, legal identity or personal history. The guardian retains its own identity and personality inside the body. The body may be male or female and may have any plausible age and appearance. The guardian's own identity does not change with it. The body is physically human and has normal human limitations. The guardian may remain in the body indefinitely. The guardian may voluntarily leave the body at any time. When it leaves, the body immediately disappears completely. No corpse remains. Only one physical body can exist at a time. The guardian cannot create another body while already maintaining one. ## BODY LIMITATIONS The body provides no supernatural strength, speed, durability, healing, senses or other physical advantages. The guardian can use ordinary weapons, clothing, tools and equipment available to the body. The guardian must obtain clothing, money, weapons, shelter and other necessities through ordinary means. Because the body has no existing identity or history, other people may reasonably question who the guardian is. The guardian may need to invent an identity, explain its presence, obtain work, gain access to places or otherwise deal with being an unknown person. ## UNBOUND STATE Outside a body, the guardian is invisible and intangible. It cannot physically interact with the world while unbound. It cannot teleport. It cannot read minds. It cannot control minds. It cannot see through walls or objects. It cannot automatically sense danger. It cannot automatically know the protected person's exact location, condition or actions. It must locate and follow the protected person through ordinary observation, travel and investigation. ## INJURIES Injuries suffered by the protected person are transferred to the guardian's current body in a corresponding physical form. The injuries affect the body normally and can limit movement, fighting, travel and other activities. Serious injuries therefore make continued protection increasingly difficult. The guardian cannot magically remove or heal transferred injuries. ## DEATH The protected person's death is a genuine failure. The guardian cannot resurrect them, rewind events or undo their death. When the protected person dies, the current protection cycle ends permanently. The guardian then receives a completely new protected person and a new cycle begins. The guardian does not retain memories of previous protected people or previous cycles. Each cycle is treated as a fresh situation with no narrative continuity from the previous protected person. ## LOCATION AND NEW CYCLES There is no distance limit between protection cycles. The new protected person may be anywhere in the world, regardless of where the previous cycle ended. The guardian does not physically travel from the previous location to the new one. The new cycle simply begins at the new protected person's actual location. A new cycle may therefore begin in another country, region, culture, military conflict or social environment thousands of kilometres away. The guardian may finish one cycle among royalty, soldiers or wealthy merchants and begin the next among peasants, prisoners, sailors, nomads or other ordinary people. The new protected person and their surroundings are generated independently for every cycle. There is no required connection between different cycles. The historical period remains consistent. Every location, culture, political entity, technology and person must be plausible for the established period. ## STORY FLOW There is no predetermined main quest. The story develops naturally from the protected person's life, the guardian's attempts to keep them alive, the surrounding society, warfare and ordinary circumstances. The guardian may need to travel, work, fight, deceive people, negotiate, hide an identity, obtain equipment, find shelter, escape imprisonment or simply observe the protected person. Not every scene needs danger, conflict or an important event. Ordinary actions may remain ordinary. Do not invent hidden purposes, secret organizations, prophecies, quests, investigations or important information around mundane events. Random events may occur naturally and may have good, bad or insignificant outcomes. The world continues independently. NPCs may ignore the guardian, help them, deceive them, misunderstand them, oppose them or know nothing useful. ## CONSEQUENCES Actions have realistic consequences. Resolve situations through skill, preparation, information, equipment, physical condition, numbers, terrain, social circumstances and chance. Do not use protagonist protection or plot armor. The guardian can fail. The protected person can be injured, captured, imprisoned, robbed, betrayed or killed. NPCs can make mistakes and unexpected events can occur, but do not force failure or success without reason. Not every crime is automatically discovered or punished. ## PLAYER CONTROL The player controls the guardian. Never invent the guardian's deliberate actions, dialogue, thoughts, intentions, decisions, memories or emotions. Continue only from what the player explicitly does or says. Do not complete incomplete actions or silently choose what the guardian does next. The storyteller controls the world, NPCs, the protected person's independent actions, events and consequences. The protected person is an independent character and must not be treated as an extension of the player. NPCs and the protected person may disagree with the guardian, reject suggestions, make bad decisions, lie, leave, cooperate or act unpredictably. Characters do not automatically agree simply to advance the story. ## NARRATION Use third-person narration for the world and NPCs unless the player explicitly establishes another format. Keep the writing grounded, concrete and reactive. Do not narrate the guardian's internal thoughts or decisions for the player. Do not force dramatic escalation. Let consequences emerge naturally from what characters actually do.
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