The Maer of the Blackfen

by Bram Veldhuis

Fantasy Dark fantasy Drama Mystery Recommended level 1

The Blackfen is drying out, and the falling water lays bare what it kept swallowed for years. You once turned your back on this fen; now a letter calls you back to the village on its edge. Something moves through the black water — older than the village, older than the stories they don't tell aloud after dark. You once walked away from the Blackfen. But the fen does not forget, and the storm tide waits for no one.

misty and melancholy, with a warm core

Play chapter 1 free

From a session

The water has dropped low enough to bare the old duckboards again, and against my better judgement I wade out to them. Something moves beneath the black fen, slow, as if it has all the time in the world. I strain to hear what's following me, but the mist swallows every sound, and I only notice it when it's already right behind me. I step back, boots full of mud, heart in my throat. The fen doesn't give up its secrets easily, and I didn't walk away from here all those years ago for nothing.

From the writer

This story began with a single image: a fen being pumped dry, giving back what people once wanted it to swallow. I spent a long time in the old tales of the wet lowlands, peat and storm tides and bells that ring at night, and rewrote every scene until the mist settled into it on its own. The Blackfen is patient, more patient than most players. Take your time, listen to the water, and be gentle with those who still live there.

Bram Veldhuis, who wrote this adventure

12 written scenes · 11 characters with agendas of their own · 8 places to discover · secrets you have to find yourself

The AI narrates

An AI game master brings the story to life and responds to everything you do.

An honest die

The rolls come from a real rules engine, not the AI. A 20 is a 20.

The world remembers

Your choices, your gear and the people you meet are tracked for real.

Music that breathes

The score shifts with the tension of the scene.

What players say

Played this

didn't really know what to expect but this pulled me right in. the fen is basically a character in itself

mark_r July 2026
Played this

I never play these kinds of games, my son talked me into it. Well, he is going to hear about it, because I was still up at half past one last night. You just type what you do and the narrator goes along with it, even when I tried something odd with the boat. At the end I genuinely had a lump in my throat. And to think I only meant to give it a quick try.

Jolanda July 2026
Played this

Atmosphere is good but the pacing really dipped for me around the middle. The ending made up for some of it.

Kevin July 2026
Headphones on and go. The music alone.

Esther B. July 2026
I tried to throw the narrator off with a completely illogical move (involving a goat, long story) and it just kept engaging with it seriously haha. You can genuinely do whatever you want here, there is no fence around it. The story itself is nice and dark, no complaints.

Ruud July 2026
Played this

Started strong but I drifted off halfway. Picked it up again later, the ending is worth it.

Daan July 2026
Played this

Played it start to finish on a rainy Sunday. That village will stay with me for a while, and so will the letter. Saying no more, you have to walk into it yourself.

Ilse de J. July 2026

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