Amagiri: Hollow Bell

A drowned mountain valley under a sky with no stars in it. The great bell that kept Amagiri's memory has gone silent, and the valley is forgetting itself: colour leaves the water, names leave the stones.

Three who remain still hold a piece of what the bell used to say. Walk out to them, talk with them properly, and carry what they give you up the cliff path to the tower. What you ring is decided by what you brought and how you spoke.

There is no combat and nothing can kill you. A run is twenty minutes at most.

The three

• Hozuki keeps the shrine among the half-sunk torii. She has been waiting far too long and is bright about it. She holds the chime.
• Ui stands in the flooded village street, playing a game whose rule is that you hold your breath until the bell. She does not know she drowned. She holds the hush.
• Kagen guards the foot of the cliff path behind a fox mask, and does not want to be asked why. He holds the edge.

Every conversation has a way to earn what they carry and a way to lose it. Their faces change as you speak — a portrait that goes from warm to hurt is you finding the wrong sentence.

The Fading

A clock runs the whole time you play. As it advances the valley desaturates, the fog comes up off the water, and the three lose lines they were willing to say — the same conversation gets poorer the longer you leave it. The meter in the corner is how much light is left.

If you let it run all the way out, the bell can no longer be rung at all.

Controls

Move	W A S D
Run	Shift
Jump	Space
Look	mouse
Talk / ring the bell	E
Advance a line, skip the typing, pick a choice	Space
Move between choices	W / S or the arrow keys

Water slows you. Jump is worth remembering on the climb.

Four endings

Ringing the bell always ends the run — it is the ending, not the goal.

• True chord — ring carrying all three Resonances.
• Partial chord — ring carrying one or two.
• Flat toll — ring carrying none.
• Silence — let the Fading finish, and the bell stays quiet.

Reaching the tower with everything is possible on a first run, but only just. Standing still costs you something.

Worth seeing

• The wade out from the shore landing, with the torii coming up out of the flood.
• Ui's second line. Read it twice.
• Pressing Hozuki for what the bell left with her instead of asking her how long she has been here, and watching where that goes.
• The crown at the top of the cliff path when the light is under half.