This is an interactive story, and you're the star. That means you, Dear Reader, will play an active role in determining how the story unfolds!

MAKING DECISIONS

As you read, you will be confronted with choices that will determine how the story progresses. They'll be at the end of the chapter, and they'll look something like this: 

Decide to do Action A. [[Go to Chapter B.]]

Decide to do Action C. [[Go to Chapter D.]]

Simply choose how you would like the story to go and follow the instructions in brackets behind your choice to continue. Once in a while, you'll just get an instruction (no decision). Don't worry; it's just how the story has to be written to make everything flow.

NAVIGATING A BRANCHING PATH STORY

IMPORTANT: Do not read the chapters of The Butcher of Pepper Hill in order! You'll be very confused, and you will spoil the story for yourself.

To navigate according to the instructions, be sure to go to the Table of Contents to select the appropriate chapter. There are a lot of chapters in this book. I hope the story makes up for the necessity of navigating through them all.

•  On the PC, you'll do this by clicking the  V  next to the book name at the top left of the page. From the menu that appears, select the chapter number desired.

•  On mobile, you'll tap the little ▼ by name of the chapter at the top of the screen (you may have to tap once for the menu to appear). Select the chapter number desired, and you're on your way!

Continue to read and make choices until you arrive at an Ending. Endings will be clearly marked once you've read far enough into them. 

FINAL NOTES

There are 24 Endings in The Butcher of Pepper Hill. Once you've come to an Ending, please feel free to track back to where you were, or back to the beginning, to find them all! 

When you are done playing (not before to avoid spoilers), please check out the END NOTES chapter for more info on the story and endings. 

Lastly, if you notice anything seems not quite right (such as a missing option or confusing connection), please leave a comment. This story has been play-tested, but there are looots of paths to follow, so it's likely I've missed something somewhere. :)

READY? Let's get this story started...

[[Go to Chapter 1.]]