The Vermander Curse

The Vermander Curse is the 4th game released by Zed\_Technician. On Itch.io, its description reads, "*J.P. Vermander has a problem. In his eyes, he's been swindled. With the offending party being none other than the local hospital. And by using the power of a ritualistic curse, he **will** have his revenge."*

## The Plot

The Plot follows Nurse Morton and his arrival at a small hospital in a currently unnamed town. There he meets a Doctor Eda who helps him with meeting all the patients. Unbeknownst to them however a Mister J.P Vermander is complaining to his receptionist and assistant, Hannah, about his 1% loss in profits, which are a result of funding the hospital that Morton and Eda work at. Rather than not caring or simply just funding them less, Vermander jumps to the absolute extreme and summons a powerful demon to eliminate everyone in the hospital. A frightened Hannah calls the Hospital and alerts them to the demon, and tells them how to handle it each hour until sunrise.

## Mechanics

Each hour of the night you are provided with instructions on how to deal with the Demon, getting a new method each hour. Each hour you also swap between playing as Nurse Morton, and Doctor Eda, starting with Eda. The only major differences in gameplay between the two is that Morton has greater height, and Eda has a slight disadvantage when looking down, as her nose is in the way. With that, we look into the mechanics of each hour.

### Hour One

On the first hour, you are only tasked with closing any open windows, and staying out of sight by keeping doors closed. If you fail to close these windows, The Demon's power will grow. If you finish the task early, simply click on the clock in the lobby to progress the hour.

### Hour Two

On the second hour, you are tasked with closing windows, as well as now turning off any TVs that may be on. You will also have to check in with some patients, as their pain will either be worse, or in the case of one patient, Tammy, she will wander around the hospital. If you fail to do these, a patient may get taken, or The Demon's power will grow.

### Hour Three

On the third hour, you are tasked with closing windows, turning off TVs, checking patients, and now with answering phone calls. Occasionally a phone may ring. Depending on what you hear, you must either say nothing, or recite a mantra, the mantra being, "Your presence is not welcomed here. You must depart immediately." If nothing is heard on the other end of the phone, nothing must be said, and if any noise is heard, the player must recite the mantra. If the player answers the call incorrectly, or misses the call, The Demon's power will grow.

### Hour Four

On the fourth hour, you are tasked with closing windows, turning off TVs, checking patients, answering phone calls, and now dealing with flickering lights. If the player sees the lights flickering in a room, they must shut the door of the room, and close their eyes for a few seconds in game. If the player fails to stop the lights, The Demon's power will grow.

### Hour Five

On the fifth hour, you are tasked with closing windows, turning off TVs, answering phone calls, fixing flickering lights, and now extinguishing candles. You will no longer have to check up on patients, as they will now be asleep. If the player fails to extinguish candles, The Demon's power will grow.

### Hour Six

The Sixth hour plays the exact same as the fifth, simply being a final stretch for the player.

## Endings

Much like Beware the Shadowcatcher, The Vermander Curse has multiple endings.

### Darkest Day

This ending is achieved by allowing The Demon to reach full power. The Demon only needs to draw power three times, allowing it to fully manifest. Nothing can stand its way any longer. Because the Demon's power had grown so exponentially, the Demon wasn't stuck to just the hospital, now being able to roam free. This all-seeing demon would go and bring upon this town the darkest day they have ever seen, even further accentuated by the fact that the only hospital in the town, was out of commission. In the end, J.P Vermander got to keep his extra 1%, and that's all that matters.

### Vanished

This ending is achieved by allowing The Demon to claim every patient and staff member in the hospital. No one could make sense of the events, and Doctor Eda and Nurse Morton seemingly vanish into thin air. No struggle, no forced entry, and no clues as to where they had gone. They had both simply vanished. Without Doctor Eda, the hospital quickly became abandoned, leaving the town to suffer without medical attention. With Nurse Morton gone, his daughter is now orphaned in an unfamiliar town, with no way of knowing what happened, or who to ask for help. The only one who knew was Hannah, who desperatly wanted to flee in fear of Vermander finding out about her efforts to help, but she had nowhere to go, stuck with the man she feared and hated. In the end, J.P Vermander got to keep his extra 1%, and that's all that matters.

### Locked Up

This ending is achieved by allowing any number of the patients to be claimed by The Demon. The sun would begin to rise, and the demon couldn't stay for much longer. Its side of the Vermander Pact was complete, meaning it was time for it to return from whence it came. Both Eda and Morton had survived, safe from The Demon's wrath. However, an investigation would be launched, going into the disappearances of that faithful night, an investigation that was heavily swayed by the likes of none other than J.P Vermander. Despite the lack of evidence, Eda and Morton were convicted with connections to the disappearances. Without Doctor Eda, the hospital quickly became abandoned, leaving the town to suffer without medical attention. With Nurse Morton gone, his daughter is now fatherless, in an unfamiliar town, with no way of knowing who to ask for help. The only one who knew was Hannah, but she would seemingly dissapear as well, the only sign of her last whereabouts being a single, lit candle within her home. In the end, J.P Vermander got to keep his extra 1%, and that's all that matters.

### Good Ending

This ending is achieved by having everyone survive, and The Demon not growing in power. The sun would begin to rise, and the demon couldn't stay for much longer. However, the Vermander Pack would be violated, as no blood was shed that faithful night. The agreement had become void, freeing The Demon from generations of enslavement to the Vermander Lineage. Although it's time was short, it knew just how to spend its final moments. It would make its way back to none other than its previous owner, J.P Vermander, and viciously attack him. Hannah, being alerted to this by the Demon's howl, had though of leaving Vermander for dead. However, she was a better person than Vermander ever was, quickly calling the hospital. Ironically, Vermander would be saved by the place he sought to destroy. Despite the anger of Eda and Morton, they treated him as though they would any other patient, soon finding himself to make a full recovery. With a change of heart, and no other options left, J.P Vermander once recovered, would sell his mansion to pay his debts, and donate the rest of his wealth to the hospital that had saved his life. In the end, J.P Vermander would come to find his 1% hadn't mattered as much as his own life, alongside the life of many others. That, is what really mattered.