Since I’ve added so much work to the development of my game that means I’ve had less time to work on other stuff, so I figured I’d give you the game’s story synopsis as described in the Instruction manual (another old-school touch which calls back to a time when those were still a thing that came with games, which will be included with the game). Since this is all a work in progress the story is still quite mutable, but I still thought it was something that at least a few of you might be interested in.
“It is the AGE OF MEN, two centuries prior to the coming of the ERA OF DISSOLUTION. The Llanian Empire, one of the great human power within the world, has taken Nezar at the point of a blade and solidified their place of power on the continent of Aedithea. Though at the height of their power, dark forces move behind the scenes, maneuvering hidden pawns to achieve vile ends that would be the end of countless people.
Evil cults have arisen to give praise to the dark powers that infest Vallonde, and its lands and people have suffered: Crops wilt, cattle succumb, and bandits, undead, and other more insidious monstrosities stalk to night. Though the imperial armies muster and their inquisitors scour the land for the dark dedicants of the horrid OUTSIDERS, the empire's slow corruption seems almost inescapable. A cloud of hopelessness hangs over the beleaguered lands of Llan.
In the south of Llan, on nation's border with recently-acquired Nezar, sits the unremarkable province of Boravel. The steward of Boravel, your master, has bid you, his chosen hero, to cleanse the evil that has taken root within his protectorate. As a member of the Adventurer's Guild and a subject of the steward, you are bound by tradition to answer the cries of the imperiled, and Boravel desperately calls out for the aid of a hero.
THE RED CULT, a group of fanatics and madmen dedicated to the veneration of the cruelly intelligent outsider PYRAMID OF RED, has wrested control of the IRON FORTRESS from the hands of the steward's men. From their new headquarters, the cult seeks to bring Boravel to its knees. Your duty is to see their works undone, and to drive them from the lands of your kin. Along the way, you must not only free the people from their plights, but help them rebuild the province.
The HUMAN race, alongside the DWARVES of Khazid and the volatile ELVES must come together to fight this cancerous menace. As a steely WARRIOR, sagacious WYZARD, venerated EXEMPLAR, or mysterious DRUIDE, you will bring to bare steel and spell to burn the red cult from their iron fortress. The stolen fortress is an elaborate maze of winding corridors and hidden tunnels, undoubtedly stalked by dark things best left unnamed. Can you stop the threat before it swallows Llan whole?”
Not bad, right? Its very old-school and so I want to keep it a little more simple than modern JRPGs which focus on sprawling elaborate stories and multitudes of characters to drive those stories. In this game it’s just you and your gear in an open-world that wants you dead. There will of course be NPCs and plots, but they will generally be tied to their location and self-contained which will allow the player to approach and advance each independently of the others however they choose. There’s still a lot of work ahead, but I’m excited!
