The Cabin

**The Cabin** is the primary setting of the game Slay the Princess. It is where the Princess is being held captive, and the destination of the Player in each chapter.

## Description

The Cabin is located at the end of a path through a wooded area, situated atop a hill. The exterior of the Cabin generally remains the same for both Chapter 1 and 2: a simple log cabin with a front door, two lit front windows, two lit side windows, a porch and an overhang supported by vertical wooden beams. It is always night whenever the Player reaches the Cabin, which sits under a starry sky, surrounded by tall grass.

Within the Cabin, there is a single room with two windows and a four-paneled door to the basement. The room is described as being dusty, with a "stale and musty" air, as though no one has lived there for many years. The only objects in this room are a wooden table and a Blade perched on top of it. The Player has the option of taking this Blade or leaving it there before descending into the basement. The basement itself is stated to be "oppressive" and "damp," and while the stairs and walls leading down are wood, the entirety of the basement level is composed of stone. On the far wall beneath a single window are a set of manacles and chains, one of which binds the Princess's right arm (the other chain is broken). As you go down the stairs, she will call out to the Player.

At the beginning of Chapter 1, the Narrator requires the Player to reach the Cabin in order to kill the Princess, who is imprisoned inside the Cabin's basement. While there is an option to refuse to go to the Cabin (which triggers "The Stranger" ending), the game will not allow this to happen: while the Player can turn away from the path and attempt to walk away, all roads will lead straight to the Cabin. In this case, the Cabin and hill multiply themselves to force the Player to enter no matter what, though you can still refuse to go in and wander the woods until the world ends.

## Chapter Variations

From Chapter 2 onwards, the interior of the Cabin (and in rare cases the exterior) will change depending on the Player's choices, similarly to how the Princess will also be altered depending on the route the Player chose to take in the last chapter. A hanging wall mirror, consistent in appearance in all variants, will also be visible to the left of the basement door, However, only the Player is able to see it; the Narrator will not believe it exists at all no matter what the Player says or does. Funnily enough, if the Player tries to touch it as proof, the mirror vanishes. The Blade remains exactly the same in all endings.

### **The Adversary**

In Chapter 2, the Cabin's main room looks like it is made from rough-hewn rock, with the windows carved into the walls; it is described as "cold" and tight. The door leading to the basement is now a massive set of stone double doors with rock carved handles. Two wooden planks lay on the stone floor. The table is now made of "black iron" and is referred to as an "altar." The staircase and walls are also rock, the staircase having been carved into it. The walls seem to get narrower upon descent, and there is an "oppressive...sulfuric odor." The basement itself resembles a hollowed-out cave, with the circular window having bars across it.

In Chapter 3, the Cabin's interior becomes even more cramped and oppressive, with barely any room to move except forward. The altar that holds the Blade has been consumed by the wall, with it barely sticking out of the rock. The basement can only be reached by climbing down a rock tunnel instead of a staircase, and the basement itself is as narrow and unforgiving as the main floor.

### **The Beast**

The Cabin's upstairs room remains wooden, but "dilapidated," as though it had been abandoned, full of "cracks and holes." The windows lack panes, and the basement door is a simple wooden door, although the planks of the door are uneven, and it does not completely fit into the doorframe. The wooden table is described as "termite eaten." The floor and ceiling also appear bowed. The stairs and stairwell are wooden and filled with more holes; the walls arch together at the ceiling. The air is "warm and wet," akin to a rainforest or "jungle." The basement itself is made of earth, with a large, barred hole in the ceiling serving as a window. The walls are lined with exotic plants, and it is quite dark despite the window. The chain holding the Princess is longer, allowing her more freedom of movement.

### **The Damsel**

The top floor of the Cabin will have the appearance of a palace room, "clean and elegant," with walls of stone blocks. Magnificent tapestries adorn the walls, while the basement door is now larger, looking more like the entrance to a royal prison cell befitting a princess. The wooden table is now "ornate." The basement itself is completely stone, with torches lining the straight walls alongside the staircase. The stairs are also now carpeted with a large, "gold-trimmed" runner, which continues into the basement until it reaches the Princess. The air of the basement feels "welcoming."

### **The Nightmare**

The Cabin's interior looks almost identical to its appearance in Chapter 1, but with a few notable exceptions: the window is missing its panes, the basement door is missing, the wooden table has been flung aside to the wall (as it had been in Chapter 1 when the Princess threw it out of her way), and the Blade is on the floor before the open doorway. No light comes from the basement. The stairs seem to be suspended in mid-air in the darkness, with various eyes peering out from where the walls should be. The air is described as "reminding" someone of "fresh lightning and static," and is very foreboding. The basement itself is highly surreal, with random wooden planks sticking up and a path of "cobblestones" all hanging suspended in the darkness. These stones eventually split into two paths. Taking the right path will lead the Player to the Princess.

### **The Prisoner**

The Cabin now truly resembles a prison or dungeon, with walls of uniform stone. The windows, three visible in all, are small, high up and barred, letting very little light in. The basement door is made of heavy wood and resembles the door of a castle's prison cell; more bars crisscross the sole peephole of the door, and the handle has been replaced with a metal ring-pull. The table is not wooden, but iron, and "bolted to the floor." The staircase is also stone and covered with moss with weak-flamed torches lining the stone walls. The basement, also stone, has one high, barred window on the far wall. with the walls forming an arch. There are notably more chains and manacles on the wall, four in total, though the fourth is broken (the Voice of the Skeptic in the Player's head is quick to note this, questioning its purpose). The extra chain that remains intact holds the Princess by the neck, while the right chain, usually broken in all other depictions of the basement, is now whole and binds the Princess's left arm.

### **The Razor**

The inside of the Cabin looks completely destroyed, as though someone had attacked the walls, floor and windows with multiple blades. The glass panes of the windows are shattered, and even the frames have been splintered. Whatever light is illuminating the Cabin flickers occasionally. The wooden table is "pointed," appearing to have been cracked down the middle. Notably, the door to the basement is not only horribly mangled and battered, but it is also now *open*, nearly ripped off its hinges. The only thing that remains intact is the hanging mirror. The walls and stairs of the basement are also splintered, jagged and battered, and the air smells "metallic," akin to "fresh blood." The basement walls, made of rock, angle inwards, nearly eclipsing the back wall, with the window situated high up. The chains holding the Princess are now stapled into the side walls as opposed to the back wall.

### **The Spectre**

This incarnation is akin to a haunted house, feeling "dead." The Cabin is described as "cold" and smelling of "dirt," with uniform windows that now have sills and shutters that rattle in the wind. Peeling wallpaper and cobwebs adorn the walls, revealing the wooden slats. The door is now a five-paneled Edwardian, with a decorative frame and doorknob. The wooden table is now an "elegant antique." The stairs are wooden, but now creak and have carved, elegant banisters. "Everything is coated in a thick layer of dust," and the basement 's window is boarded up with a few wooden planks. The walls are stone, but the floor is wood, while the Princess's skeleton lies by the far wall.

### **The Stranger**

A massive wall now surrounds the Cabin outside. Inside, the main room smells "faintly of plastic," and the walls, while wood, are oddly shaped. The wooden table has legs that are all different lengths, while the door is notably plain. The windows are different sizes. The basement is built from an unknown material, and the staircase is structured in a very bizarre fashion. The air here smells of "plastic" and "chemical odors." The chains holding the Princess look much simpler, with thinner links.

### **The Tower**

Everything in the Cabin is massive in size, carrying the theme of an elaborate temple or house of worship. The walls and floor are blocks of stone, with high windows. A high altar of marble replaces the table, and its top is only reachable by a ladder. The door to the basement is an enormous set of ornate, four paneled, embellished double doors. As opposed to the other endings, the mirror on the wall vanishes even before the Player tries to investigate it; simply mentioning its presence will be enough to trigger its disappearance. The stairs leading down are now a spiral staircase of stone, each step being as tall as the Player. "The smell of incense" permeates the basement, making the Player feel "at ease." The basement room is entirely stone, with the walls forming high arches. A large, stained-glass window is located behind the Princess on the far wall.

### **The Witch**

In Chapter 1, the interior of the basement actually changes in size, becoming larger after the Princess frees herself, though its details remain unchanged. In Chapter 2, the Cabin is now made of entwined "roots" and wood, with a "damp and earthy" floor. Vines hang from the windows and ceiling, and the basement door is a simple wooden one, with curling roots or vines as hinges. The table is now a "slab of mud in the shape of a shelf." The staircase is made of "muddy earth," while the walls also appear to be earthen, with long roots embedded within; the basement appears to be dug into the ground. The air smells of "dirt and copper," and is "thick and wet." There are no windows in the basement, and the roots form a circular cave of more roots and vines. In a previous version, a campfire is the only source of light here (this fire is absent in the full game).

## Cabin Variations

### Chapter 2

The Beast's CabinThe Nightmare's CabinThe Adversary's CabinThe Stranger's CabinThe Damsel's CabinThe Prisoner's CabinThe Spectre's CabinThe Witch's CabinThe Razor's CabinThe Tower's Cabin
### Chapter 3

The Moment Of Clarity's CabinThe Apotheosis's Cabin, as seen from the distanceThe Burning Grey's CabinThe Den's CabinThe Fury's CabinThe Drowned Grey's CabinThe Razor's Cabin in Chapter 3The Razor's Cabin in Chapter 4The Thorn's CabinThe Wraith's CabinThe Wild's Cabin inside its heartThe Eye of the Needle's Cabin
## Chapter Ends

At the end of the route, the Cabin is no longer visible, replaced by a swirling abyss that holds a multitude of hands, an entity that spirits away the Princess and uses her as its mouthpiece. However, the text of the game states that this place is also a variation of the Cabin each time the Player returns to it.

## The Real Cabin

  **Warning!** This section contains spoilers.

In one of the endings of the game, the Player is given the option to resist the explanations of entity behind the Princess: the Shifting Mound. If they chose to do so, the Voice of the Hero returns to help the Player. They enter the Shifting Mound's heart, which is revealed to be the Cabin itself, identical to its Chapter 1 variant. The images of the Cabin build upon themselves, from rough sketches to the finished version. The Princess, in her form from Chapter 1, is once again in the basement, but unchained. If the Player decides to spare the Princess, the two will depart the Cabin together for an unknown future. However, if the Player kills the Princess, after leaving the Cabin, the Player will be returned to the swirling abyss and the Cabin disappears.

The Cabin in the ending cutscene, stage 1stage 2stage 3The Cabin at the heart of The Shifting Mound
## Trivia

* The Narrator appears to have some limited remote control of the Cabin, as the basement door is able to conveniently lock and trap the Player unless they kill the Princess as the Narrator directs. It might also be the work of the Narrator when the Player refuses to go to the Cabin and ends up going there regardless.
	+ The Voice of the Smitten also was able to open the door of the basement.