In the Empire of Qerus, Emperor Alekos rules with an iron fist. He is a tyrant, an abomination who cares only for dining on the terror of his people and sating his own bloodlust. He rules the realm with an iron fist, and all those within it tremble in his presence. He is a monster through and through.
But all monsters must fall eventually.
You are a member of the Guild of the Kiss, an elite organization of assassins that will snuff out the lives of anyone and everyone -- so long as the price is right. By now, the blood on your hands is endless. But when you are called to infiltrate Alekos' harem and assassinate him, even you pause. Is this truly something you can get away with?
You must navigate the dangers of harem politics, intrigue, and the displeasure of the most powerful people in the empire as you navigate this new terrain.
The fate of the empire is in your hands, assassin. Make your choices wisely.
Note: Silk and Death is genderlocked with a female MC
The game has five romance options. They go as follows:
Alekos (M)
The monstrous emperor whom you have been charged with assassinating. Alekos is cruel beyond words, fickle, and eccentric -- a dangerous combination. Will he lose his life to you, or will you lose your heart to him? And what will he do if he discovers your plot?
Alekos is tall and slender. He has pale skin, curly black hair, and pale, nearly colorless gray eyes. His features are deceptively delicate and feminine.
Andromeda (F)
Alekos' mother. She is sly, cunning, and charming in spades. Don't let that fool you, though -- she's her son's spymaster and helps to run his secret police. She is a large part of the reason why he's still on the throne, and she will do absolutely anything to keep him there.
Andromeda is short and slender with pale skin, curly black hair with some gray beginning to streak through it, and pale, almost colorless gray eyes. Her features are delicate. Alekos derives nearly all of his looks from her.
Marios (M)
Alekos' cousin and the heir to the throne. Marios is stern and no-nonsense, having been run ragged trying to preserve the empire in the face of Alekos' antics. Should you be successful in your quest to kill Alekos, he will ascend to the throne.
Marios is tall and muscular. He has sun-kissed skin, wavy golden hair, and eyes the color of the azure sky. His features are strong and bold.
Theophano (F)
A woman in Alekos' harem. Theophano is cunning, proud, and determined to rise in the ranks of the imperial court no matter what. Amidst the constant backstabbing of the emperor's harem, she reigns supreme.
Theophano stands at an average height and is slender. She has light brown skin, tightly curled black hair she keeps in braids, and hazel eyes. Her features are fragile.
Eleni (F)
The handmaiden who has been assigned to you as a member of Alekos' harem. Eleni is sweet, gentle, and kind-hearted. Many would take this for weakness, but there is a strength in her. Anyone who underestimates her would be a fool.
Eleni is short with soft, ample curves. She has pale, freckled skin, fiery red hair, and light brown eyes. Her features are soft and heart-shaped.
Customize your MC's appearance and personality to truly define who she is
Navigate harem politics and court politics more broadly
Choose between five unique romance options
Become a mother! Or don't
Hold the fate of an empire in your hands
Note: This is a secondary project to my main game, @brighteststars-if. While I of course plan on devoting time and attention to this IF, it is not my first priority as a result. This intro post is also a reupload after some drama the first go around. Fingers crossed this time things will be better.
Hi everyone. The title makes it obvious what's going on here, so I won't mince words. I am going on an official hiatus from IF writing. I love writing, I truly do, but recently, I have been dealing with both a depressive state as well as writer's block. What I have managed to write, I haven't been able to truly enjoy.
Writing for IFs, I have begun to realize, has began to feel like more of an obligation than anything else. This was true before the rude ask I got yesterday, and it's even more true after it. I was talking to my mom about this, and she said, "Then why force yourself to do it? This is something you do for fun." And that really struck me right in the chest.
So I'm going on hiatus. Kicking back and reclining now that the semester is over and I have the time to enjoy myself. I can't tell you yet when I'll be back, but I doubt it'll be soon. I truly just need time to detox and enjoy what it feels like to be outside of the IF bubble.
Thank you to everyone who has been so kind and supportive thus far. I appreciate you all.
People have been so kind about the awful anon that I'm reallowing anon asks in a trial run. Let's all be chill, okay guys? I am not above disabling the mechanic again, but I figure it's not fair to punish everyone for the sake of one asshole.
Edit: I still am on tempororary hiatus for my projects at the moment, however.
Why did you update this but not Brightest Stars? I thought you couldn't get out of bed?
You know, if people want me to write for The Brightest Stars or Silk and Death, poking jabs at my depressive state isn’t the way to do it. I didn’t want to share the ask, because I don’t want to give this anon attention. But it has actually messed up with my ability to enjoy writing.
For now, I’m going to be stepping back from Silk and Death, at least for the moment (congrats, anon: did you get what you wanted?). My enthusiasm for it has just… had the winds taken out of the sails. And it’s a damn shame, too, because I was really enjoying working on it. Hell, I might even take a step back from The Brightest Stars. This whole thing has left a bitter taste in my mouth.
For my readers: please remember that the authors on the other side of the screen are people too, you know? We have our own thoughts and feelings.
I’ll be disabling anon asks for a little while. This isn’t to punish anyone, I just think that disabling that type of anonymity will help curtail rudeness.
I thought long and hard about making Silk and Death gender locked, but ultimately decided in favor of it. Certain aspects of the game simply wouldn’t work otherwise. For example, a male MC wouldn’t have been able to interact freely within the imperial harem, which would take away a key aspect of the game for me. In the end, locking the game with a female MC stays true to my vision.
I'm so excited you updated and this wasn't on haitus! Can't wait to read it and let you know.
I’m so happy to have made you happy! This project was on hiatus for a bit, and it’s still a side project, but the call to working on it lured me back. I hope you enjoy the prologue!
Hi everyone! I know I've been silent here for the last few months. Just wanted to let you know that the prologue for Silk and Death is officially up. It stands at 9.5k words.
You can play the prologue here.
In this prologue, you:
Meet and customize your MC
Embark on a dangerous mission
Learn a bit about the Guild of the Kiss
Get assigned with the assassination of Alekos
Thank you so much for your patience when it comes to the demo! If you notice any bugs or typos, please let me know. Happy reading!
Hi everyone! I know I've been silent here for the last few months. Just wanted to let you know that the prologue for Silk and Death is officially up. It stands at 9.5k words.
You can play the prologue here.
In this prologue, you:
Meet and customize your MC
Embark on a dangerous mission
Learn a bit about the Guild of the Kiss
Get assigned with the assassination of Alekos
Thank you so much for your patience when it comes to the demo! If you notice any bugs or typos, please let me know. Happy reading!
Hi everyone. A couple days ago, I came in off hiatus for @silkanddeath-if because I could balance writing of that and TBS. And it worked for all of a couple days. However. My grade just came back for that exam I thought I failed and would you look at that, I absolutely bombed that shit. I’m really gonna need to lock in and devote time and resources into my academics. As a result, I’m gonna need to put one of the games on hold, as loathe as I am to do it. But I’m giving you all the choice, putting power in the hands of the people. Which game should I work on instead of tabling for the foreseeable future?
I apologize for how horribly flaky I must seem to everyone in advance. My life has just been an absolute mess recently, and I’ve had to go back and forth on writing in the meantime, between my dog’s health issues and classes and passion as a whole.
Okay, since The Brightest Stars won over Silk and Death, I'll be tabling Silk and Death -- at least for the foreseeable future -- and focusing on The Brightest Stars and my academics. Thank you, everyone, for your input and understanding.
Hi everyone. A couple days ago, I came in off hiatus for Silk and Death because I could balance writing of that and TBS. However. My grade just came back for that exam I thought I failed and would you look at that, I absolutely bombed that shit. I’m really gonna need to lock in and devote time and resources into my academics. As a result, I’m gonna need to put one of the games on hold, as loathe as I am to do it. But I’m giving you all the choice, putting power in the hands of the people. Which game should I work on instead of tabling for the foreseeable future?
I apologize for how horribly flaky I must seem to everyone in advance. My life has just been an absolute mess recently, and I’ve had to go back and forth on writing in the meantime, between my dog’s health issues and classes and passion as a whole.
I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, I was just hoping for clarification on something: since mc is a part of Alekos' harem, will she have to have sex with him? I mean, it would make sense, but I figured it would be better to ask than assume
Hm…to be honest I’m on the fence about this one, anon. For now, I will tentatively say that no, the MC will not have to have sex with Alekos. Though it might work in her favor, in some instances, if she does.
Hey everyone. Thanks for sticking around in the face of my brief hiatus. Writer’s block was absolutely kicking my ass earlier, which sucks. On the bright side, now that I’m back in the swing of writing, things have gotten a bit better for me. I’m tentatively coming off of hiatus for Silk and Death. Now. This is not to say that I’m prioritizing it to the same degree as The Brightest Stars — that remains my primarily priority. But now that I’ve broken through some of the writers block, managing to write for Silk and Death alongside TBS feels more feasible. I’ll still be writing more for TBS, but getting the ball rolling and writing a bit for Silk and Death in the same vein feels fully possible.
Hey guys, as you know, this is a secondary project for me. My main project is The Brightest Stars. I’ve been trying to write it Silk and Death alongside each other, on top of my honor’s classes and my job and now my internship, and it’s just not working. TBS is my highest priority right now, and in the interest of absolute transparency, if I have to choose between one or the other, I’m choosing TBS. So with that being said, I’m putting Silk and Death on a hiatus until things stabilize in my life. Apologies to everyone who’s looking forward to the IF. It’s not dead forever, I do plan on coming back and writing it! But I’ve realized that if I want any hope of meaningfully making a dent in TBS, I can’t juggle two projects at once. Thank you for your understanding. Apologies for anyone I’ve disappointed with this announcement.
"As of right now, "Become a mother! Or don't" is only concretely applicable to Alekos' romance. I have vauge plans sitting where the MC might be able to pass of Marios' child as Alekos', but I'm unsure if this will make the final cut yet."
THIS PLEASE, I AM FERAL FOR THIS IDEA NOW.
How would Marios feel about such a plan?
I make no promises that it will be implemented. However I will say that I’m warming up more and more to the idea.
As for how Marios would feel about it, he‘ll mostly be horrified about putting his child and the MC in such danger.
