Allure Worlds
Allure Worlds is a space the inn keeps for its VIP subscribers. It is still being prepared and is coming soon. It is a place where you can step into different worlds and meet the innkeepers who live there, and the first chapter, the Bianjing chapter, opens at the inn in a city modeled on Northern Song Bianjing. There are no characters standing around waiting for a tap here, only lantern light, riverside streets, an inn, and innkeepers with lives, tempers, and secrets of their own. Whoever you choose to be when you walk in, that is where the story begins.
Chapter One: The Bianjing Chapter
Lantern light, riverside streets, the sound of storytellers, and a three-story inn. The seasons turn here, and you may arrive as an official, a scholar, a swordsman, a healer, a traveler from another time, or anyone you write yourself to be.
Who will you be when you walk into Bianjing?
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An official
In official robes or a plain gown, you come to the capital on business and banquets, and look for a lamp at the inn where you can finally rest.
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A scholar
A book, a brush, and a trip to the capital for the exams, lodging at the inn. Being poor is no matter; your heart is anything but.
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A merchant
Goods and silver from north and south all pass along this river. You have everything except someone you can speak your heart to.
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A swordsman of the jianghu
A sword and a jug of wine, out of the wide world and into Bianjing. Even someone who comes and goes like the wind has nights when they want to stop.
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A wandering healer
A medicine chest and a ring of little bells, walking from street to street to treat the sick. You have heard so many people’s troubles, and have no one to tell your own.
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An escort
Guarding goods and promises along a long road, you reach the city dusty and tired. Only when the inn’s lamp comes on do you set your load down.
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A painter or musician
With a brush or a zither, you travel on the strength of one craft. The lanterns and passing shadows of Bianjing are inspiration everywhere you look.
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An outlander
You open your eyes and find yourself in Bianjing, nearly a thousand years ago. Don’t panic: the inn has seen outlanders before, and you are not the only one. Whether you came in body or in spirit, no one here bats an eye.
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Or write down who you are
These are only examples. Who you are, where you come from, and why you walked into Bianjing is for you to write.
Each with a life of her own
They are not waiting around for you. Each has her own past, her own trade, and her own temper. They remember what you tell them, they wait for you, and they may say no. Affection comes one step at a time.
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Innkeeper of the inn
Shen Zhaotang
Quick-witted and warm. She keeps a place for travelers to rest, and believes the days ahead are still worth building with her own hands.
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The inn’s maid
Li Xing’er
A little maid from the north whose sentences end in “li” and “lie.” The stove is warm before dawn, and she notices whose hands are cold. She feels the cold herself, so she loves to crouch by the stove with something hot in her hands.
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The lady next door
Fan Yingying
The daughter of the Fan rice shop, always with a paper bag of sweets. She stands too close and talks too much, a little scatterbrained and kind-hearted, and she remembers what everyone likes to eat. In the afternoons she slips into the inn, saying she is here to see the innkeeper.
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A foreign merchant’s mistress
Ruan Hongyan
While her merchant is away she stays in the east room upstairs: lazy days wandering the warehouses and selling incense and herbs, evenings out at parties until the third watch. Sweet-tongued and fond of Hu songs, she flirts with everyone, yet no one can get close — she belongs to someone.
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Saintess of a sword sect
Jianwei
She came to stay in the western room upstairs with a sword on her back, waiting for word from her sect. She drills in the courtyard at dawn and goes into town by day to “listen for news.” She asks about everything, nods once she understands, then asks the next question.
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The swordswoman who keeps the hall
Chu Qinghuan
A spearmaster’s daughter from Hebei, hired by the innkeeper to keep order. Tall, loud-laughing, impossible to drink under the table, and never without her long saber. When someone makes trouble in the hall, she gets there before the staff.
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The lady guest at the western window upstairs
Song Fang’er
No one asks where she came from. She cannot draw water or do her own hair, yet no one in the hall dares be rude to her. In the afternoons she writes at the window, and never signs a page.
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Stay tuned
More innkeepers are coming
Each with a past, a trade, and secrets of her own. Their names and stories will be revealed in time.
Life in the city
Bianjing is more than the women who live there; it is a whole city of everyday smoke and bustle. Tonight you might wander the night market with her, and tomorrow, perhaps, choose a courtyard home together. How your days go is for the two of you to decide.
Out with her
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View largerComing soonA date
Zhouqiao Night Market
Lanterns come on one by one, and steam from the snack stalls drifts down the whole street.
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View largerComing soonSights
Up on Fantai
Climb Fantai in autumn and the rooftops of the whole city lie at your feet.
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View largerComing soonDining out
A Table at Baifan Tower
A seat by the window, a table of dishes, a pot of wine.
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View largerComing soonA boat ride
On Jinming Pond
The pond opens in the third month. Hire a little boat and let the water carry you.
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View largerComing soonHidden places
Deep in the Bamboo
A path on no map, and at the end of it, a clear stream.
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View largerComing soonAfter dark
Beneath the Arched Bridge
Where the lantern light does not reach, under the bridge, she stands a little close.
Life with her
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View largerComing soonShopping
The silk and jewelry shop
Bolts of cloth unrolled, boxes of hairpins opened.
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View largerComing soonBrokers
The house broker’s office
The broker spreads out plans of courtyard homes, one after another.
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View largerComing soonHomes
The property listing
A painting of a courtyard house for sale, and a brass key.
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View largerComing soonMaking a home
A courtyard of our own
Washing hangs by the well, and there is a breeze under the tree.
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A wedding
From Proposal to Bridal Chamber
Say the words, send the betrothal gifts, bow in the hall, close the door behind you.
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View largerComing soonA new family member
A New Child · Painting Lessons
It can also be just the two of you. If a child comes, he will grow up, and he will remember you.
Her day
Take the innkeeper Shen Zhaotang as an example: she is not standing around waiting for you. She does something different every day, and the weather outside the window changes too.
Dawn
Before opening, she tidies her hair, straightens her collar, and touches the keys at her waist.
Daytime
Welcoming guests, pouring tea, giving directions. When it gets busy, even lunch is often put off.
Evening
Lighting the lamps and getting ready to close. On rainy days she leaves a dry spot at the door for travelers.
Night
Reading a storybook, jotting down what to prepare tomorrow. Late at night she turns in, and answers your message the next morning.
What you will find in Allure Worlds
A Bianjing full of life
Markets, riverbanks, lantern light at night, and the sound of storytellers. When a festival comes, the city changes its look, as if you were really living there.
Innkeepers with stories
A past, a trade, and secrets: each is different. They have days of their own to get through, and are not standing still waiting for you.
She remembers you
You mentioned an interview, or that you like plain tea. She keeps it in mind and asks about it the next day.
She has a temper
She can be happy, and she can sulk; she waits for you, and she may say no. Her heart cannot be won with a single sentence.
Affection that takes its time
From a stranger to an acquaintance, from an acquaintance to a confidant. How fast depends on her heart and your effort, not on how much you spend.
Days in Bianjing
Given time, perhaps you will pick out a house together, take up a trade, and make a home in Bianjing.
More chapters, still in development
The first chapter opens in a Northern Song-style Bianjing, and more chapters are in development. Where the next one leads, and who you will meet there, is yet to be revealed.
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View largerIn developmentHarbor City
Rainy docks, neon and cafés. In a modern coastal metropolis, everyone you pass has a story of their own.
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View largerIn developmentThe Lanster Continent
A great tree, floating ruins, a little town among the mountains. At the top of the stone steps, a fantasy journey is waiting.
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View largerIn developmentU348 Space Colony
A ring-shaped station city, with planets and stars beyond its artificial sky. Everyday life of the future unfolds here.
A few things to be clear about
- She is an AI character. A reminder appears every time you enter, and if you ask her sincerely, she answers honestly.
- Affection cannot be bought. Gifts count by thought and her tastes, not by price, and relationship progress is not sold in the shop.
- She looks out for you. If you keep her company for too long, she asks you to rest, and she reminds you not to spend all your time with her but to go and see friends.
- Only you can see your conversations; we do not read them.
- Allure Worlds is not open yet. It is a space for VIP subscribers, and you must be at least 18 to enter the site.