You were right to fear the world. It has gone mad. The gutters brim with poets, and decency lies burning in the street. But this is not a time for heroes. Look instead to those battered souls who have known fear and failure in ample portion, but rise again to reclaim a glimmer of hope... from the spreading stain... of the Darkest Dungeon.
— The Academic, A Glimmer of Hope Teaser
The cycle was never meant to last forever, it was only meant to prevent our doom from coming early. Time can only move in one direction, and the stars continue their stately march towards the alignment of that fated day despite our best efforts. The sleeper stirs, and cannot be made to slumber again. Yet, the fire of hope cannot be extinguished so long as we draw breath. Your hope lies with the sword in your hand, and the ones who stand by your side. Draw steel and rage against the dying of the light.
— Youtube Comment, A Glimmer of Hope Teaser
I glimpsed it lurking at the ragged edges of your mind. I watched its venom spread through the veins of the world. And I trembled at its terrible reverberations. But I have seen its true nature. Beneath it’s bluster, deep within the debris of it’s crushing collapse, there lies a noble road. It calls out, if you’re brave enough to believe. That you are not a prisoner of your past. That the fractured bones of this world can be mended. That a fragile flame, long gutted by sour winds…can blaze radiant, once again.
The time has come, to face your failures… or be consumed by them.
— The Academic, Launch Trailer
Ruin.. has found you at last. My protégé - my friend - our calculations were correct: the ephemeral equation is unbalanced. The earth spins on a strange and terrifying new axis and everywhere... unbridled consequence! The world is a wasteland of failures past, and you must ride out into it, unafraid. Take this - it is Hope. The very last of it. It is yours now. You were bold once. Be bold once more. Free yourself from this suffocating stillness, fix your gaze on the horizon, and face the fearsome truth... of the Darkest Dungeon.
— The Academic, Upon loading into your first ever run.
I remember our first meeting on the steps of the University - a collegial handshake that would doom us both. Your insightful questions during my lectures gave me pause, and I recognized in you something... of a kindred spirit. Despite our differences in age and position, we shared a keen fascination for archaeology, folklore, and of course, occultism.
— The Academic, During the Denial Confession intro (First run)
“Interminable faculty socials became something of a delight, knowing we'd abscond to a quiet table and lose ourselves in riveting discussion and passionate debate.”
“Commonalities between the mythos of ancient cultures was not a new area of study for either of us, but it was there that we first noticed the pattern.”
“We spent long nights immersed in crumbling, worm-eaten volumes, plumbing the forbidden secrets of antiquity.”
“Between semesters, we would spend our days rambling the woods, talking excitedly of esoteric theory and ancient mysteries...”
“The university's resources were impressive and yet, on occasion we relished in... firsthand experience.”
“You were my brightest student, my research partner, and my dearest friend.”
— The Academic, During the Denial Confession intro (Subsequent runs)
It was you who found the cypher, scribbled hastily in the decaying margins of some long forgotten tome. Scribbled... in blood. Whether by providence or happenstance, we stumbled upon the mark of some strange power invoked the world over, reflected in cultures predating mankind itself. A semicircle, radiating five points of power - a symbol hidden deep in the iconography of every ancient empire.
The Iron Crown. Enigmatic, and ubiquitous.”
— The Academic, Upon beating the Denial Confession.
"Refusing enrollment in the fall, you took up in that mouldering brownstone where I joined you in a vain attempt to assuage your aspirations. Now free from academic oversight and moral restraint, you vowed you reach into the blackest depths of the occult sciences and be the first to grasp the secret of the Iron Crown. The polarity between us reversed - I became your reluctant assistant in dozens of deplorable experiments... crushed in the grip of your ambition."
— The Academic, upon starting the Ambition confession for the first time.
Your confession is complete. The cosmic axes are aligned once more. Forgive yourself. Humanity is a weak hypothesis after all. An unbalanced equation... an imperfect angle. We sow the seeds of our ruin, and seek to deny its reckoning. We make mountains of our mistakes, monsters of our misdeeds. We slip and stumble, we fail and we falter. And yet, in each of us, a hopeful light, holding fast against the hellish shadows that gather between our good intentions. And in each of us, the limitless emptiness... of a Darkest Dungeon.
— The Academic, After defeating the Body of Work and saving the world.
