© 2026
Ablahshikar is a turn-based ASCII salvage-survival game adrift on the Candle Sea. Bound to a worn terminal of bone-white and brass, you must strip wrecks and tear organs direct from rival vessels. Graft severed parts onto your keel to rebuild a failing warship into a doomed chimera.
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ DASTGERD CHAINWATER // WATCH-SLATE ║ ╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ ║ [ VALVE I ] ........ STEAM PRESSURE LASHED ║ ║ [ DIALS ] .......... BEATING GAUGE GLASS. NEEDLES ZEROED. ║ ║ [ WARRANT ] ........ EDICT LAID BARE. ║ ║ ║ ║ > BOILER IGNITED. ║ ║ > CASTING OFF MOORING CHAINS. ║ ║ > BOW TURNED TO BLACK WATER. ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Lo, destiny crooks a finger only to those whose eyes peer beyond þe next tempest. Take custody of a faltering war-barge that wanders the outer brine of Dastgerd.
Thy wrists y-braced to a wan terminal of bone-whyte and tarnysshed latoun, þou steerest Ablahshikar by murke point-nettes and sputteryng tables.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ MATRIX ADJACENCY //: [ . . · ▓███████████████▓ · . . ] │ ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ ▲ │ │ ▓█▓ ℵ 0x1A4F │ │ ▓███▓ ♄ 0x2B9C │ │ ▒▒▒▒▒▓█████▓▒▒▒▒▒ │ │ ░░▓███████▓░░ [Veni, precor, hiems mæsta,] │ │ ░░███░░ [Veni, mors, et claude festa. ] │ │ ███ │ │ ▀▀▀ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Descend into the midnight water to flense derelicts upon the seabed, or tear organs direct from hostile vessels. Graft their severed parts onto your own keel. Rear a freshe Ablahshikar from carcasses of loftier craft, though fremde yren shrike agenst þy brands and snarl at þi cure.
┌───────────────────────────── WINNING TACKLE ─────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ line: set truer now │ │ wreck: brine-dark │ │ noise: rising │ │ │ │ [G] HOOK/HAUL │ │ [V] SEND CREW │ │ [C] CUT LINE │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Alle naviȝacioun is nought but grym runes crawing on a text-bord. Þou beholdest glutted ASCII matrices & þe stark lore of attricioun. Hert-cave brestes, self-flayne limmes for spare-stukkes, and blind brodsides in milk-fog ben sacrementes of schame and grace. Brand þilke sigils into þe Folios of Þal-Drayem through many lif-loans, proof of how keenly þou and þine brueden crisped in þe pale rush.
┌──────────────────────────── WATCH NOTICE ────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ ▲ GOLD ARROW = YOUR HULL │ │ │ │ BLUE = PORT GOLD = STARBOARD │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Lif hengeþ by malice forged to a gleyve. Pit towering bastions and mercenary flotillas against one another. You deploy smoke to shroud your heading, whip bird swarms until they tattle on the unsuspecting, and seduce rival armed factions into merry mutual evisceration. Cram þy crew in þe gnasty cogges þat þe dial mote steal another watch. Surrender a limb to make unanesthetized oblations to the Syzygy. Wring utility from the deep. Turn the hostility of the waters into a weapon of your own.
┌────────────────────────────── HELM PLATES ───────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ [Q] LEFT GUNS [G] HOOK/HAUL [E] RIGHT GUNS │ │ [V] SEND CREW [C] CUT LINE [B] BRACE PART │ │ [O] THROW BAIT [T] VENT STEAM [Y] BURN DECOY │ │ [I] STRIKE GLASS [J] JETTISON [H] TETHER [L] FLARE │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Gauges film over with green rot and bilious vapor, and their needles burrow themselves in the casing. Smite þe frame with a trusty mall til þe scale disgorgeþ its treason. Peer through þe quavering ciphers to glimpse þe nude doome of coal and decay.
Haply, haply, whan þou flayest þe laste viserne of Þal-Drayem þe Candell-Sæ, þe blanchte grin shal wyden for þe likewise.
┌────────────── HELM ──────────────┐ │ hull / rig / fuel / crew │ │ guns / tackle / bait / flare │ └──────────────────────────────────┘ ┌────────── WATCH-SLATE ───────────┐ │ chart / wreck / fog / fire │ │ log / slate / deed archive │ └──────────────────────────────────┘ ┌──────────── AUTOPSY ─────────────┐ │ warrants / factions / zones │ │ notices / dossiers / ports │ └──────────────────────────────────┘
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood, and don’t assign them tasks and work. Rather, teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
“Ignoranti quem portum petat, nullus suus ventus est.”
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
*“Therefore he counselled them to get ready to fight a battle by sea, f
English
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