A Tale of Crowns

Dev blog for AToC, a high fantasy romance with Middle Eastern roots, told as an interactive fiction game.

[ataleofcrowns]

A New Interactive Novel

A Tale of Crowns is a high fantasy romance with Middle Eastern roots, free to play on pc as well as mobile! It’s entirely text-based, with choices throughout to shape both your main character’s personality and skills as well as influence their relationships with others. There are four love interests for you to choose from, both female as well as male, each with their own stories and secrets for you to uncover!

The game itself is currently a work in progress, where each new chapter will be released as I finish it.

Total wordcount and progress: 686k / 15 chapters Average words per playthrough: 260k - 290k First published: 19 July, 2019 Last updated: 5 June, 2026 Art by @artbygaia

CONTENT WARNINGS: Depictions of violence, death, trauma, body horror, implied sexual content, and animal cruelty. Safe to play for those 16 years and older.

❂ THE STORY

Their parents murdered and the previous Crown of Arsur assassinated, your character finds themselves on the run as they’ve been bestowed with the golden eyes that mark them as the new Crown.

Unseen enemies at their heels, will they succeed as the Crown, or will they lead to the downfall of the Empire?

❂ THE SETTING

The story takes place in Arsur, a fictional empire within a fantasy universe that draws inspiration from historical settings in the Middle East. Much of it is based on Kurdish culture, drawing from my own experience as a Kurdish woman.

Your character was born and raised in Arsur, where magic is considered a skill no different from reading or writing. Gender, sexual orientation and race have no bearing on social position or class; it is instead only based on wealth and level of education.

The Arsurian Empire itself is overseen by a single ruler known as the Crown. Unlike traditional monarchies, however, the title is not inherited through blood. Whenever the Crown dies, their famed golden eyes pass on to the one chosen by the spirits of this world to be the new Crown: this appears to happen at random, as Crowns in the past have ranged from the poorest farmer to the wealthiest noble.

❂ CHARACTER CUSTOMIZATION

At the beginning of the story, you’ll have the opportunity to customize your Crown’s name, pronouns, sexual orientation and their skill in magic. You can also customize many parts of your Crown’s appearance: hair color, hair texture, hair style, skin color and height are all up to you and will be reflected in the story as well. Their backstory and ethnicity are the only things that are locked in. The Crown is also locked in as a person of color, as is in line with the setting - their specific race is up to the player to imagine.

As for your Crown’s personality, there are twelve different character traits in total that will be decided based on the choices you make in game. This will subsequently change your Crown’s behavior during story scenes.

The character traits are: Charming/Blunt, Kind/Calculated, Intelligent/Intuitive, Cautious/Adventurous, Flirtatious/Reserved and Assertive/Passive. Some of these will mix and interact with each other in different ways as well!

❂ THE LOVE INTERESTS

Depending on what your Crown’s sexual orientation is, the gender of the love interests will change accordingly to match that. There are four of them in total, and regardless of their gender their titles are as follows: the Sorcerer, the Hero, the Protector and the General, as depicted in the character art above. Each love interest will have their own route which you will get to choose from at the end of the common route.

Would you like to know more about the story, the setting, or the love interests? Check out the links below!

❂ Play the game! ❂ Join the Discord! ❂ FAQ ❂ Bug report ❂

Bonus content: Patreon / Ko-fi / Publicly released Patreon snippets

References: Designing your MC / The story & setting / The love interests / Pinterest references / Playlist

[ataleofcrowns]

I have a huuuuge backlog of asks to answer, dating even to many months back, so I wanted to say thank you to everyone for sending one in!! I won't be able to answer all of them, but I read and appreciate every single one 💖

My apologies to those who sent in questions I haven't answered 🙏🏼

[ataleofcrowns]

Hey gang, I posted a weekly progress update on where I'm at with CH16 over on my Patreon as a freebie if you want to check it out! I'll be posting monthly progress updates as summaries on this blog and on itch.io as well, so you can expect more details at the end of June 💖

[gautiersylvain]

[svvmzz]

I cant remember how many times I been replaying this novel over and over!! I love Dara sm the slow burn is peak

I'm so excited for chapter 16 that I made a little drawing of my teasing Crown oc and Blushing Dara @ataleofcrowns

[ligiawrites]

on Renpy Tom's choice to use AI

if you didn't know, ren'py Tom, the creator of Renpy, made a post a few hours ago about how he uses AI to develop Renpy--he's been doing it since 2021, a little after i first started using it.

being strongly against AI, this one has hit me HARD. i think it's important for software developers to be transparent about their usage of AI so that the people that are considering using their software can choose what to do.

well, we were not given that choice, were we? if i knew, i, personally, would have already changed engines.

i'm still a bit lost and really upset, since I just finished my import/export tool for LtGBtK/WtDLtK, the "build a save" tool is roughly in half, and I'm not sure how to move forward.

i'll continue following the discussion and waiting for a response from Tom. within this one, there's also a larger discussion about AI usage on software development in general and how difficult it is to escape it nowadays--but what does that mean? simply accepting that this is the new normal is *exactly* what would MAKE it the new normal, and I don't *want* it to be.

i'm ONE developer, working solo on every single part of this project, but one can't turn their morals on/off when it's convenient, so while changing engines at this point would be **extremely** difficult and time-consuming for me, it's not off the table yet.

i'll keep you all posted.

big hugs,

Ligia

ps: this post is not an invitation to discuss AI. I have a very strong view against it, and absolutely *nothing* a pro-AI person can say will change my mind.

[mayooobsessed]

If it isn't our favorite loudmouth. Very unfinished messy render of Xelef. I totally didn't just write his name over and over again to embroider his hot girl tunic

My second time drawing anything on my ipad ever and it's this man again I swear I'll expand my horizons probably to like... another digital man. @ataleofcrowns chapter 15 was delicious thank you feeling blessed fed loved and cared for

[waning-and-waxing]

eating up the RO's reactions to the crown's self-sacrificial near-death experience like it's a 5-star buffet

[ataleofcrowns]

New Chapter Released!

Hello again! Hope the spring has been pleasant for you 🌷

With this update we're continuing the pilgrimage, which is turning out more dangerous than even the Crown and their companions anticipated:

The Crown will be revisiting an old place they had forgotten about, and learn more about the scars left on the land from the reigns of Crowns past

Whether you brought the water spirits with you or whether Eshkar is also there or not will give you additional variations and, depending on one choice you make this chapter, may lead to someone getting hurt

There will be more lore on the religious practices of Arsur, and an opportunity to customize your Crown's religious beliefs as well

A dangerous encounter shakes things up this chapter--is it a test of the spirits, or just bad luck? Either way, how your Crown handles this situation will not go unnoticed!

And last but not least, romance scenes with your chosen love interest, though the tone of these will be quite different considering the previous encounter...

Thank you for all your patience and support, I hope you enjoy the new chapter as summer approaches 💖

For those that are unfamiliar with the game

A Tale of Crowns is a high fantasy romance story, told in the form of a text-based interactive novel with choice mechanics. The setting is inspired by Kurdish culture as well as other historical settings in the Middle East such as Ancient Persia, but it also draws heavily from other cultures and countries in the region.

Your character is native to Arsur, a vast empire overseen by a single ruler known as the Crown. Unlike traditional monarchies, however, the title is not inherited through blood. Whenever the Crown dies, their famed golden eyes pass on to the one chosen by the Spirits of this world to be the new Crown. In this story, your MC takes on that role.

There are four different love interests to choose from, whose genders will be customized to suit the preferences of your Crown. You can find more info about them on the blog page!

Also note that this current version of the game is safe for those 16 years and older.

Like the premise so far? Play it and give it a try! The entire game is free!

If you enjoyed the game, please reblog! Share it with your friends! Recognition and reader interaction is just about the only thing I get in return for creating it ❤️

[waning-and-waxing]

şanazî, do not make me turn this pilgrimage around

[ataleofcrowns]

hihi! first off i just wanna say that i will literally give you my firstborn child i just love your work SO SO much and your writing style is IMPECCABLE. idk if i sound stupid but i could've sworn there was a preview for ch15 that you posted where the crown was, idk holding a robber's(?) face and asking them to look at them?? i sound so delusional rn but i was just surfing through my likes wanting to read it again and i couldn't find it :3

Don't worry, you're not delusional, I definitely posted that one! However, with how the editing for CH15 turned out, I had to remove that scene since it didn't fit with the rest of the chapter (1 battle sequence is more than enough for 1 chapter lol) so instead you'll be seeing it in CH16! I decided to delete the post since I didn't want people to get confused about why it wasn't in CH15 🧐

I'll post it again here for you though. In fact, I'll add a bit more to it since last time I redacted part of it:

You look upon the miserable collection of thieves and robbers kneeling before you. Without the chaos of battle obscuring their forms, your eyes freely drift over the ragged garments attempting to pass for clothing, the chipped and rusted metal of their weapons and the scraps of leather meant to form armor. This band of bandits can only be considered to be organized in the most basic sense of the term: beside their common goal of relieving travelers of their valuables, there is little doubt as to their being entirely untrained.

$dname looks at you with expectation, staying silent. $xname does not possess the same amount of tact.

“So, what do we do with them?” $xthey asks, casually cleaning some dirt underneath $xtheir nails with the tip of $xtheir dagger. “I doubt the village has a prison big enough to house all ten of them, and even if they do, feeding this sorry bunch will be a thankless burden.”

“Perhaps we could have them escorted to the nearest town with the the space and resources available?” $rname suggests, casting the bound and kneeling bandits a hesitant glance.

$aname crosses $atheir arms. “Escorting all ten of them would take away several guards or soldiers that I’d rather remain with the Crown.”

The weight of the decision seems to grow with the other possibility hanging in the air unspoken: a common punishment for thievery across the Empire is summary execution, depending on its severity.

One of the thieves certainly seems aware of it as well, raising their head to speak despite how their voice trembles. “We deserve a trial, don’t we? Everyone gets a trial first.”

“We caught you in the act, and the highest judge in the Empire is standing right there,” $xname replies, pointing toward you with $xtheir thumb. “This is your trial.”

“Just be quiet,” one of the other thieves hisses to their companion. “You’ll only make it worse!”

Their lives are in your hands. Ordinarily this would be more than enough pressure on its own, but now your eyes flit towards your surroundings, looking for any telltale signs that this could be another test. $rname seems to think the same, meeting your gaze with eyes narrowed contemplatively. After a moment, $rthey shakes $rtheir head, at a loss. If there is any magic at play, $rname is unable to discern it.

Then again, you also didn’t notice anything wrong with either the guard and the farmer until after those encounters. You can’t be certain that your decisions here aren’t being observed.

Taking a step forward, you lower yourself until you’re at eye-level with the thief who spoke up for their right to a trial. Their gaze is aimed at the ground now, head bent low.

“Look at me,” you say, watching their face carefully.

The thief stiffens, their shoulders wrought with such tension they’re nearly bunched up to their ears. Taking a shaky breath, their eyes lift to meet yours, and for the first time in your life, you witness an almost feral, instinctive fear forming in the expression of someone who is entirely at your mercy.

It makes you feel…

…a sense of responsibility. …regretful that they are scared of you. ….powerful.

IF YOU CHOOSE POWERFUL The meeting between your eyes lasts only for a moment before the thief quickly looks down again, their pupils blown wide, a slight tremor traveling through their wiry frame.

Your hand moves in reflex, grasping the thief by the chin and forcefully tugging their face up again. “I said look at me.”

The thief goes very still, staring at you as if frozen. It is a strange, alien feeling to have another cower before you. A part of you thinks you ought to feel a sense of sympathy, having been in this thief’s position before—not literally, but in the manner of anyone who has ever been powerless against forces beyond their control.

Yet, you don’t. The satisfaction that courses through you is not unlike the accomplishment you have felt when advancing in your studies, or the triumph of getting your way in court. You are in control, untouchable and unreachable, and this pitiful wretch is nothing more than a speck of dust dirtying your air.

There’s no need to feel compassion for the likes of them, you tell yourself. They wanted to hurt the village for their own selfish gain. They brought weapons. To punish them for it is merely to protect your subjects, just as you swore to do at your coronation.

[ataleofcrowns]

hi there.

so afar i really liked the story. ive only read up to chapter 9/the death of Yekbûn before, well i admit it, i ragequitted, since nomatter what variation of choices i made in chapter 6 (choosing if the ceremony/festivities are open for everyone or not and therefor deciding the "Crown’s level of security"), Scholar Yekbûn always dies.

i would like to ask if you plan to release a full walkthrough for the important choices & endings (maybe once the IF is near finished)? or do you know of unofficial/fanmade walkthroughs?

Rest assured it's very possible to not have Scholar Yekbûn get killed in CH9! It depends on a combination of choices, not just 1 choice.

And no, I don't have any plans to make a walkthrough, but someone did ask me for permission to make one on their blog! I haven't heard anything else from them though, but maybe worth keeping your eye on that ask in case they respond in the replies.

[exclusively0ccupied]

wip animation can anyone guess what its for

[the-sybee]

I read chapter 15 of atoc yesterday and I realized that I haven’t posted any art of my mc yet!

This game is what got me into twine games, i have more art of them but this is what I’ll post for now. Their name is Dîmen(i just wanted to get into the story and didn’t feel like researching for names when that one was just there fit the idea i had on how to rp them so well!) they use they/he, but mostly they

The main reason im not posting the other drawings is because im afraid that the architecture in the background is horribly horribly wrong and inaccurate🥲

Other drawing is them as a kid bc i have alot of headcanons about their childhood

[lagawara]

ATOC chapter 15 spoilers below 👀

Me and the man-eater this chapter

Bonus Ziryan:

[solsticesunfish]

Ch 15 actually has me going insane so I NEEDED to write a lil something from D's pov to satiate the need for more angst. (also wasn't super sure how X and D would have a heart-to-heart since we haven't really seen that too much in canon yet so I tried my best 😭)

SPOILERS BTW!!!!!!!!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dara is silent when the journey resumes, the procession slower now after Nesrîn’s overexertion. If it weren’t for Rozerîn’s strike and the few among Dara’s troops that were adept enough at healing magic to keep the crown stable… 

He inhales stiffly, dismissing the thought. He refuses to look back at her, despite every ache in his lungs and in the pit of his heart that wills him to do so. Yet every time he conjures an image of her in his mind to calm his feverish heart, all he can see is the steady stream of blood from her nose, the crumple of her spine as her eyes rolled back into her head.

Dara’s grip around his reigns tightens, composure fracturing. 

If he were to look back at Nesrîn now, he isn’t sure what he’d see. Or worse yet, what she would. As incriminating as it is, if she were to show even the slightest sign of fatigue, he’d stop the procession then and there, refusing to move forward until her eyes brightened again.

But Dara can’t afford that. Neither can the procession, and neither can Nesrîn.

And so he carries on, refusing to satiate his aching heart with even a glance.

To his mild relief and larger annoyance, Xelara strides forward to ride beside him, unnaturally quiet.

The only sound to be heard between them is the steady drum of hoofbeats underway, the well-trodden earth beneath them as bland as it is endless.

“Easy, uncle,” She finally says, gaze trained straight ahead. “You’ll wear your teeth down to dust if you keep your jaw that tense.”

Dara doesn’t reply, now all too conscious of the face he must be making, no doubt breaching the look of agony.

Xelara is quiet beside him, yet he can feel her emerald gaze dancing across his features, assessing. Though her stare returns to the road ahead when she speaks again.

“Nesrîn is strong. She knew what needed to be done, and did it regardless of how it would affect her.” She states, sure as stone, the slightest hint of pride in her voice.

“It was foolish.” He argues, his voice sounding rough and petulant even to his own ears.

Xelara looks at him now, and she looks less like the constant thorn in his side, and more like the Pale Sword, a leader with her own share of sacrifices, losses, and burdens on her shoulders. “How many soldiers would you have lost had she not stepped in? How many of my blades? You would do anything in your power to keep your troops alive, as would I. Allow the Crown to do the same.”

Dara’s argument dies on his tongue. Xelara is right, however much it pains him to admit it. A crown that sat idly by while her own subjects fought for her life is not a crown Dara could ever respect, regardless of the feelings he might harbor for her. What Nesrîn did was as necessary as it was honorable.

Xelara huffs out a sigh. “I know you care for her,” She starts, and Dara visibly recoils.

A grin tugs at her lips as she continues, a mirthful glint in her eyes Dara suddenly detests with all his being. “Don’t even act as though you’ve been subtle about it either.” Her grin only widens as Dara feels heat flood his face.

In the wake of all that had happened, Dara had nearly forgotten how he reacted when Nesrîn’s body went limp, dropping to his knees and holding her tightly enough to bruise. Worse yet, he distinctly remembers snapping at anyone who drew too close, including Kaja and Rozerîn.

He fights the urge to run his hands down his face to cleanse him from his embarrassment. It is without a doubt that every last soul in this travelling party knows acutely what Dara feels for their Crown.

“I merely wish to protect her. Arsur has been without a crown for so long–” He attempts, a weak excuse. Xelara shuts it down immediately.

“Don’t pretend any of this,” She gestures loosely at Dara’s flushed features. “Is for the good of Arsur.” She calls him out pointedly, to which Dara sighs. Lying to her was never going to go anywhere. 

Xelara’s expression softens minutely, and she pauses a good while before speaking again. 

“Your soldiers are sworn to secrecy,” She says slowly, as if testing the words on her tongue. “And my blades would sooner die than kiss up to some meddling noble.”

Dara catches on quickly, shutting the very notion down. “The imperial guard–”

“Both adore and respect the crown.” She counters, levelling him with a pointed stare. 

“There are far too many in our procession to be sure about loyalty–” He tries again.

“Dara.” Xelara interrupts, voice a little colder now, and despite his own better judgement, Dara listens.

“I like Nesrîn. Crown or not, she has my respect. I know it does not come easy to you to set aside titles and hierarchy,”

Dara huffs.

“But you must remember there is a person beneath all that gold. A person that deserves more than to be toyed with.” She states the matter like fact.

Dara narrows his eyes. “I would never dream of toying with the Crown.”

It’s Xelara’s turn to huff, exasperation evident. “Aren’t you? You kneel by her bedside till dawn, yet the moment she wakes you flee like a dog with his tail between his legs!” She snaps, more irritated than Dara initially thought.

He glares back before turning his gaze back to the path ahead, posture rigid. “I don’t see how this matter concerns you.”

Xelara scoffs. “You are being cruel.”

“To you?” He sneers.

“To Nesrîn.” She snaps.

Dara winces marginally. In truth, he knows Xelara’s right. This push and pull with Nesrîn can only go on so long. Either he gives in to what he wants at long last, or continues to run until she gives up. The latter would be better for them both, but is he not yet too far gone? How is he to willingly choose a life of darkness after feeling the sun against his skin?

Dara wilts. “It's safer that way.”

Xelara’s frustration tempers when she hears the fracture in his voice. “If she was concerned with safety, this spark between the two of you would have already fizzled out.” She gives him one last meaningful stare before falling back to ride amongst her blades.

[gaiuskamilah]

no one:

R and the man-eater in the latest atoc chapter: