Generic Text Adventure

"''The derelict old castle stands alone in the middle of the Stonegrave Desert. Abandoned long before the Alcheme Empire was formed, it is the last monument to the ancient Four Kingdoms.

There is a tingle of magic here. There is no door, though there is an opening, and there are no landmarks by which you could navigate in order to return to the Grasslands. Your water supply has run nearly dry, but the sound of water dances on the edge of hearing. Perhaps there is water inside the ruin? ''"

Generic Text Adventure (also occasionally called Forumquest) is an interactive fiction game-type thing that stars the Generic Text Adventure Protagonist exploring some derelict ruins. Originally run on the forums for the I Wanna Be The Guy community, after a catastrophic failure there it eventually migrated to The Grey Labyrinth, where it is currently in the second chapter. Much like Raekuul's failed attempt at converting The Immortal to a similarly-styled interactive fiction, as well as his currently ongoing attempt to do the same for Doom, commands are processed in the order that they are received, and any person capable of posting is allowed to contribute commands.

As far as the actual plot goes, the character found some ruins ju-u-ust far enough in a desert to not be able to survive the return trip without some assistance. Considering that the ruins also happen to be from a mysterious ancient civilization that was almost utterly destroyed when a Thing From Beyond hatched from their home planet (and therefore is likely to have some way for the character to return home alive), this seems a little too convenient. Of course, not everything is as it appears, and in the Castle of Vaults there is a secret just waiting to be uncovered...