Each section of this story, Eifan will be faced with a choice. It will be your job to comment on which choice he should make. The one that gets the most votes will determine which way the story goes. Clear enough? Good.

Two choices: open the orb, or leave it be? I would also welcome any other open-ended suggestions, such as investigating other objects in the room or moving on.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Open it.

Heh, sometimes I think these choices are going to be less actual decisions and more just natural flow of the story. That’s the disadvantage to this format.

Perhaps, but we can be creative and offer interesting alternatives if we want to do something different. I am not voting for anything quite yet but I am hesitant at opening the orb at the moment and would rather he carried it with him, perhaps to use as a weapon or a distraction.

Oh, now there’s an idea I hadn’t even considered!

I’m with Robert; save the orb for a later time.

Great scene, very ripe with magic, drama, and possibility. Nice job fitting in exposition type stuff along with the flow of events and the character’s thoughts.

Wrap the orb in a cloth, so as to carry it with him without letting it touch his skin.

That, my dear Sonata, is almost precisely what I was thinking, as well. I’m going to try to write the next segment either today or tomorrow.

And for what it’s worth, anyone is welcome to fork the story at any point. I’ll be continuing my own arc, of course, but if someone wants to branch it in a different direction, they’re more than welcome to have at it.