NEW LINK- One of the foundations of testing HG and CoG WIPS, Dashingdon, is sadly closing down. Play the demo from this new link, and please let me know if there are any problems, as it is a new site for me, and things might not be working as intended: CoGDemos
My brand new patreon!
(Not so brand new now.)
Final beta testing August-September. The demo will be taken down in late September.
GENERAL MESSAGE— ‘Failed to execute ‘setItem’ on ‘Storage’… exceeded the quota’ error:
With the latest build of the game, I would advise players to use only the checkpoint save system to avoid chewing through all the browser storage. Using a new browser can help. Saves from various WIPs can pile up, and Shriek has become a hungry WIP more than ever with the checkpoints.
For any future projects, I will ensure to keep a checkpoint-free build, lessening the risk of browser storage issues.
Edit: Shriek will be available for a few more weeks, so I make the above suggestion to limit the occurrence of this error. There are ways to increase browser storage space, but I don’t feel comfortable directing folks to do this.
BLURB
Treasonous whispers drift through the streets of your home. Does a machine now guide the king? Banished to the deadly ashlands, the world convulses in revolution. Reforged in hardship, rise as a burgeoning legend of the new order.
A Shriek of Ash and Fire is an interactive novel by James Isaac. It’s entirely text-based—2.6 million words, without graphics or sound effects—and fuelled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.
Up to mischief, running through the streets of Grandardgard with your gang, you cared little for politics. That is, until the gadgets of the king’s new advisor, a machine known only as the Basilisk, sought to spy on your life of carefree abandon. Labelled as an unruly threat, you are banished to serve in Zthullu, the toxic ashlands to the west, aboard a vast, city-sized machine and weapon, the ash-crawler Despair’s Demise.
Yet, when revolution shatters your faraway home, its tendrils ignite the ashlands into open conflict. Fuelled by old grudges and a desire to seize control, rumours of royal assassination stir the mob into frenzy. Machine cultists plot to enact their Certain Destiny, an emotionless world of pure efficiency. Whispers tell of other factions outside the walls of the Despair’s Demise…
The denizens of the Cold Pact, grim dwarven legions and lich-led human necromancers, unleash their own ash crawler. While their rivals are otherwise occupied, they strike to gain the riches of Zthullu for themselves. But what of the band of plucky Road Pirates and their wheeled fleet of motors to the south? They dream of establishing a new land free of tyrants. Now is surely the time to realise that dream.
All the while, the shadows themselves ripple and scheme to enact a prophecy in the very depths of the wasteland. Their pull is inexorable, as Zthullu itself corrupts not only bodies but also minds and souls. What secrets wait in the far west of the ashlands? Perhaps the fabled Dragonlander colony offers an escape from the chaos of the old world. Perhaps something much more sinister beckons…
With your past stripped away, make new allies and foes in a power vacuum that gives you the chance to not just gain influence but to become the only figure capable of bringing these shattered lands to order. You owe the world nothing. But what do you owe your friends? What do you owe your soul? In Zthullu, everything is up for grabs.
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Play as a human male or female, straight, gay or bi, with a mixed heritage of either elf, dwarf, halfling or goblin.
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Perhaps you’ll find companionship, or even love, with an achingly beautiful siren, a noble Bastion Knight, a scheming mage, a lusty goblin, one of a twisted pair of Scorned Elf twins, or even a ghost-haunted zombie, among others.
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Become a fists-first fighter, a dabbler in luck magic, an agile sneaker, a tinkerer with a knack for machines, or a charmer armed with a wink and a smile.
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Includes a checkpoint system to easily restore earlier progress, making exploration of this large world more convenient. A Shriek of Ash and Fire is designed for replayability.
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Work on the vast ash crawler, Despair’s Demise, as a lowly grease swab, an ingenious engine mate, a magic tinkering etherneer, a charming dispatch or a tough ash marine.
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When revolution breaks out, fight for the royalists, become the Supreme Protector, or be beguiled into serving the alluring but cruel heirs to the throne.
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Or join the rebellion against the crown to seize the crawler for yourself. Put down the arrogant nobles and campaign to become the Chancellor of a new republic if you aren’t labelled as a Pretender.
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Perhaps the ways of flawed organic brains have failed. Join the Basilisk cultists and lose your soul to the machine. Enact a new future, the Certain Destiny of logic and order.
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But what if you escape your fate on the Despair’s Demise? Join the lich-controlled ash crawler, Grey Torment. Enlist in the Dwarven Legion or study the ways of undeath with necromancers.
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Perhaps the Grey Torment will enslave you and condemn you to push the coils to keep the power flowing. Worse, perhaps you will fall, only to arise as one of the near-mindless undead.
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Become a saint and free the slaves… or give in to the thrill of dark knowledge to emerge as the youngest lich the world has ever known, the Cold Reaper.
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There is another way… A fleet of pirates, in their Road Fleet, dreams of a Free Country. Join them to create a new nation, a place for the bold and brave, a beacon to all who wish for the end of tyranny.
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What of the whispers of prophecy, of a power so immense it could remake the ashlands and put an end to war? Perhaps you will become the Abhidhar of Zthullu, a weapon mightier than the ash crawlers themselves.
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Start a new story in a lore-rich world set over 1,000 years after the events of An Unexpectedly Green Journey. Playing the first game is unnecessary as this is not a direct sequel.
Update 27: Beta +1 —2.6 Million Words total. 22nd August 2026
MUST START A NEW GAME!
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2 checkpoint systems: An in-game checkpoint and reload system, which appears in various hubs, AND a stat-menu checkpoint system available at any time. Please test these out, especially the stat-menu checkpoint system. In the final build, I plan only to include one system.
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100 achievements! This is the maximum I am allowed.
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A limited CHEAT MODE. This appears once our MC enters the Lancer Direct train, after the prologue.
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An option to hide portraits.
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Several sections of the game have been read through and smoothed over, but I cannot catch every typo myself. Help is very much appreciated.
Update 26: Sinistratum (Open Beta) 150K of new content—2.52 Million Word total. 24th July 2026
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All paths converge as, defeated, we are taken to the Scorned Elf city, a vast, living spider called Sinistratum.
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Get a taste of Scorned Elf society, infected with a bizarre shame-based hierarchy.
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Meet Resiva Phiidae, mother of Raith and Revira, once wife of Gravian Evagrey.
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Learn our fate, as some loose ends are tied up.
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Observe the kindling of ‘new hope’.
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Find out how Behatland sees us, based on the rumours drifting through the etherwaves.
This is it, the final story update, the final point of change, from where our MC abandons their past to set their mind on being the possible hero the world needs.
We made it, folks. Still have many things to do before I send this away to Hosted Games, but the lion’s share is done.
Update 25: The Abhidar, 160K of new content, 2.37 Million words total, 25th June 2026
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The Road Fleet, Despair’s Demise and Grey Torment are under attack, and it seems hopeless. Deal with the immediate repercussions on your respective paths.
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On the Royal, Rebel and Road Fleet paths, make a desperate dash across the wastes to try and save Sera from the Curse of the Abhidhar.
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Or become the Abhidhar if chosen or corrupted enough, and find out what fate has in store for you.
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Discover Zuan’s fate, depending on our choices… Perhaps we can decide his fate for ourselves…
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Fight against the dragonflies with Avalina on the Basilisk route.
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As a saint or firebrand, you, too, desire to rescue your friend. Otherwise, a Lich senses that the opened Abyss may grant their failing minds the solace they need.
Update 24: Cold Road Machine Love! (140K; 2.21 million total words – 24th May 2026)
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The Road Fleet has lost sight of the Despair’s Demise. Set up camp and await news as suspicions rise about this new land.
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Depending on your choices, commit to Tinnafri, Zuan, Micraik or Chesucsi. Each has a new ‘big scene’ not shared across other paths.
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The Basilisk path must come to terms with failing machinery and invasion. Escape with Avalina.
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An extended scene, for those who get close to Avalina, has been added.
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Cold Pact Reapers, Saints, or Firebrands find the Grey Torment rusting and decaying. Can they withstand the lingering curse of Malachar?
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Cold Pact ROs include Pickles, Ironwill, Frans or Scram. Or, for non-Reapers, enjoy a night with the crew playing with ‘pastry zombies’.
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Basilisk and, especially, Cold Pact paths can probe further into what awaits them…
Update 23, Royal Love (approx 70K, 2.07 million words total- 26th April 2026)
Please take into account that some RO scenes are shared between the Rebel and Royal paths and the scenes following the ‘morning after’, with minor differences.
This only affects the Royal Despair’s Demise Path.
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If you are Revira’s Lady/Gentleman at Arms, find the crawler bewitched by her magic and rituals. She demands not loyalty born of duty but adoration.
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On Revira’s path, she refuses to share you with anyone.
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If you are Raith’s King’s Shadow, find the crawler given over to hedonism as the king opens the stores and demands celebration.
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On Raith’s path, he requires your attention and, in your case, doesn’t want to share it.
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If you are the Supreme Protector, you will hold a meeting and try to keep things together as Revira and her mysterious ally prowl the decks.
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As the Supreme Protector, depending on choices, you can spend time with Sera, Sera and Coireal, Coireal, Gibleti or General Thrayton. Here, you do not have to have previously started an RO to pair up with Gibleti or Thrayton. Gibleti is not picky. The General admires your rise to the position of Protector. Or, spend an evening with your Roachpede pals
Update 22, Rebel love (approx 90K, 2 million words total- 14th April 2026)
This only affects the Rebel Despair’s Demise Path.
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If you are the chancellor or a councillor, explore the Despair’s Demise as some folks give way to revelry, while others question their arrival in green lands as ‘too good to be true’.
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Or be labelled a ‘pretender’ and rot in a cell.
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Finally commit to an RO: Sera with Coireal, Sera alone or Gibleti.
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Or, have a final knees-up with your Roachpede pals.
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During the morning after, the green paradise finally shows its true colours.
Peace and love, asland hippies!
Update 21, Wicked Games (approx 90K, 1.91 million words total- 1st April 2026)
Highly advisable to start a new playthrough. Old saves will encounter errors.
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We are gifted a semi-customisable companion. Pickles is given a body by Malachar to appease our MC.
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We will discover the story behind Malacher and Signy.
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Yet, the plot thickens. Whether to free the living folk from the clutches of the liches or to grab power for yourself, we begin to make our plans.
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Depending on our path and who we have befriended, we travel through the crawler to build a force capable of storming the upper sanctums. Those who are enshrined will also be able to supplement their ranks with the undead.
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Lead the attack on the upper sanctums, directing who will lead the ambush, who will storm in to hold the line, and who will rescue Zuan.
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Finally confront Malachar… and be greeted with a somewhat unexpected last gasp.
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Included are a huge number of typo fixes for earlier scenes and several bug fixes, a few major ones, too.
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Added a new section to the lore page on the stats screen: Find out about each of the known ash crawlers- and a few of the failiures.
Update 20, Strike (approx 80K, 1.82 million words total- 1st March 2026)
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As a slave, all your hard work in gaining allies and advantages comes to fruition. Become free workers and put your lives on the line for the sake of your ideals.
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Or, as an Enshrined, a legionary or a Yonder, put down the strike or provide solidarity for the movement.
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Regardless of your actions, you will be made an offer. Will you choose power over the lives of the downtrodden? Are you really willing to see the slaves slaughtered as a blood sacrifice and claim their murdered souls as your own?
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During the chaos, before the walls of Fort Ard, Zuan plays his hand and summons the Abhidhar…
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Squashed a few bugs and corrected some typos.
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Added a few paragraphs at the very start of the game for foreshadowing, something the concluding segments of the game will call back to. A small change, but it will add a narrative thump to the ending.
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A huge amount of typos fixes and several bug fixes.
Update 19, Cult Leader (approx 56K, 1.74 million words total- 19th January 2026)
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Squad 3 finally arrives at the wreck of the Pale Lady. Yonders, legionaries and ghouls find a battle already raging and are picked to head a probing mission into the rotting hulk.
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Slaves are dragged from the coil array and thrown into the Pale Lady to provide a meat shield for the accompanying squad.
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Observe the fate of the Road Pirates and Zuan.
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Fight through the Abyss-infected decks to confront the beating heart of the Pale Lady.
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Emerge as a hero, victorious over a greater demon.
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Find your position aboard the Grey Torment, which has undergone significant changes. You now walk the fleeting first steps of a living legend. All eyes are on you now.
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As a ghoul, ascend to become an Enshrined.
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A load of earlier typos were fixed, and I squashed a few bugs.
Update 18, Hot War (approx 90K, 1.68 million words total- 18th December 2025)
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Begin the battle of New Yeirshee, an outmatched foe.
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Break through the lines and go mage hunting or enter the ruins of New Yeirshee.
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Form a squad after the battle and stamp the Cold Pact’s authority on the scattered communities of southeastern Zthullu using mercy or brutality. Forge your reputation.
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Encounter the Zthullu Zoomers and Ashland Angels gangs.
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Gain respect to aid your rise in the Cold Pact.
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Of course, ghouls can handle things with their own increased savagery.
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As a slave, further your schemes with Scram to, one day, take a stand.
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Perhaps we blackmail Krayvas, found at the scene of a murder.
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We might charm a rather weird group of Yonders, a book group with Frans among them, who have made a little reading corner in an old storeroom.
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We could venture into a tomb containing wayward Enshrined, powerful undead set aside by the liches, deemed failures and called Deshrined.
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Or, we may uncover a secret group of sneakers hiding in the lower vents, ex-slaves eking out a living through theft.
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Finally, put all the pieces of our plan together and decide on a more peaceful or militant approach.
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You, or Scram, will get pickled.
Update 17- Cold Torment (approx 110k, 1.59 Million words total- 21st November 2025)
*As a dwarf, join the 5th Cavern Deep Legion and earn a place in the ranks of the Grey Torment’s garrison. You’ll train in martial skills and, perhaps, tinker with gadgets.
*Non-dwarves can join the hopefuls vying for a place among the Yonder scholars and sentinels, potentially, one day, becoming a citizen of Yonderfolde. Train with a farsnipe and learn some of the magical arts used to power the Grey Torment, as well as mess with the undead. Charm a wraith or an undead orc and turn a zombie into a ghoul.
*Or become a slave, pushing the cranks to power the vast coils. Suffer bullying and indignities… and plot against your oppressors.
*I have also linked all appropriate paths, including failed Road Pirates, to the Grey Torment. Here, you are destined for slavery.
*Become a mindless zombie, and then something much, much more horrifying…
*Added 3 new testing Cold Pact starts after you create your character.
Update 16- Spirals and Fireworks (approx 50k, 1.48 Million words total- 23rd October 2025)
*Overpower the Cold Pact Crawler Grey Torment in a display of overwhelming efficiency and might. Hopefully.
*Investigate the cause of persistent errors under the suspicious gaze of the Collective. Rise to a position of trust, or be declared an erroneous variable in the machine of Certain Destiny.
*Find out more about Avalina’s intentions. Perhaps from a bond which will have far-reaching ramifications in Book 2.
*Investigate a Zthullan anomaly, a cavern strewn with dragon bones and traces of an element known as pre-ether.
*Endure an attack from the Bastion Knights and an old friend, now turned foe.
*Wrestle control from the Basilisk… Or fail and damn yourself.
UPDATE 15 (approx 70k, 1.43 Million words total- 27th September 2025)
EDIT: It is advisable to start a new save. An old save may result in unforeseen errors.
*Relax in camp with your mates before you probe the deepest reaches of the wastes.
*Take one of 2 routes, each presenting its own hostile encounters.
*Defend the crawler from an attack by the Silver Angels.
*Fall into the grasp of corruption as the ash continent makes one final play, not with a physical attack, but with an attempt to stir your deepest fear and break your mind once and for all.
*I have added a selection of relevant background lore to read, available on the stats screen. Orc and Krog Tier patrons will have read these before.
*Added a brief ‘Player Notes’ screen, also available from the stats screen, designed to give new players a heads-up.