Discover Top Posts Tagged with #lamplighters guild

The Lamplighters Guild: Update

Chapter 4a (~41k) has been added to the demo!

This addition covers a single, long day -- the anniversary of the MC's parents' deaths.

While this is part of chapter 4, 4a could easily stand alone as its own chapter.

Over the course of the day, the MC honors their parents, checks out a grave, talks with their estranged younger brother, and deals with being the leader of a guild. The penultimate scene is the memorial dinner, which the MC can share with one of the romantic options.

Each RO route is different, sharing only the overall architecture and what the MC chooses to share.

I'm really pleased with this addition, and I hope y'all like it, too.

The next big addition probably won't come until this winter. I will release the rest of chapter 4 all at once, which I won't do until I've gotten a good chunk of chapter 5 written.

As a reminder....

The Lamplighters Guild is an interactive fiction story in which you work to solve the mystery of your parents' murder while also running the least-loved guild in the city and fighting monsters that only those who have been hurt by them can perceive.

Your romantic options are:

Elian (same calling as MC), your long-time best friend who has been keeping secrets.

Nothia (she/her), your rival who carries more than her fair share of responsibility.

Ostric (he/him), your estranged brother's best friend who has crushed on you since before he knew what a crush was.

Kian (ne/nem), your friend who is now drowning in grief, guilt, and alcohol.

Luvia (she/her), an over-the-top partygirl and potential old flame who is far more than she seems.

and

Frey (he/him), the socially awkward city archivist who kicked the whole story off by leaving a copied guard report on your front step.

#interactive fiction #choicescript #llg #lamplighters guild #still drafting so there will be errors #feel free to message me about them #cw parental death #cw si #(kinda)

Chapter 3 of Lamplighters Guild is DONE!

The story is about 187k total with an average playthrough of 34k. I'm aiming to have 10 chapters total.

If you like the link to check this out, message me. Chapters 1 through 3 include a complete arc (foil the gas lamp proposal) as well as two lengthy scenes with romantic options.

#llg #lamplighters guild #interactive fiction #if wip

Physical descriptions of romantic options in LLG (from my notes)

Elian Savetha

Elian has olive skin and unruly black curls that they bind up with whatever they have at hand. Elian has deep brown eyes and an expressive mouth. (Their gender/calling matches the MC's).

Frey Tatho

A tall black man with thin, wiry limbs and dexterous hands that seem made to play the harp. His hair is close-cut and tightly coiled. His eyes are golden brown, like sun-soaked wood. He tends to look a bit tired.

Kian Brusum

A wiry person with dark brown hair just long enough for nem to push nir hands through and grab. Silver strands thread through the brown. Nir has dark green eyes and parchment brown skin. Ne seems taller than ne is and has long fingers.

Luvia Kyte

Luvia has golden hair, worn loose, and large green eyes. She uses cosmetics to line her eyes and redden her lips. She has to wear glasses, but hers incorporate polished wood and copper–something beyond most people’s budgets. She has a small mouth. The impression she gives people is fox-like.

Nothia Artheyn

Nothia is pale with faded freckles across her face, shoulders, and neck. She wears her long red hair in a braid. She would cut it, but her younger siblings like to play with it and she has trouble denying them anything. Her eyes are a pale gray. She is muscular with powerful legs.

Ostric Eytha

Ostric has thick, wavy light brown hair and light skin that flushes easily. His boxy hands are perpetually warm. He always seems a bit warmer than everyone else just in general. He has dark blue eyes.

#lamplighters guild #the lamplighters guild #llg

Important Numbers

So! The numbers important to a culture rely on cultural beliefs and stories in many cases. Four has always been important in stories and such I read growing up and that is reflected in beliefs of four elements, the four books of the Gospel, etc. Four pops up all over the place.

In Tethenen, the key number is 3. Three elements. Three callings (traditionally). Triadic relationships. Three suits of cards. Etc.

But....I can write a world where 3 is the only number. Afterall, 4 isn't the only number important in the stories and culture I've consumed all my life.

So! Here is what I've decided. Three is definitely primary, but other important numbers are 5, 9, and 15.

Now, the clever among you have likely noticed I've not really strayed from 3 even though real life definitely does. Well, real life draws on multiple and competing sources. I want this story to feel more coherent and, in this small aspect, predictable.

3 because of the reasons already stated.

9 because it is three 3s. (In stories, instead of things happening to characters when they're 7, they happen when they're 9).

5 because it is the third prime number. 2, 3, 5.

And then 15 because it is five 3s or three 5s.

And other numbers beyond that as long as they are a combination or multiple of this original set. This does suggest that children should declare their adult names at 12 (9+3) or 14 (9+5) instead of 13, but I'm not going to change it as (1) having the 3 in there makes it count well enough, and (2) 13 probably sounds more reasonable to readers than 12.

#llg #lamplighters guild #numbers

Maze

Maze is a solitaire card game using a bard deck from The Lamplighters Guild. While this deck does not exist in real life, you can create one using a regular playing card deck.

Maze is a quick playing game that involves both luck and strategy.

Creating a Bard Deck

A bard deck has three families (Birds, Snakes, Fish) with 8 cards each (Elder, Head of Hearth, Head of Thresholds, Head of Roads, Heir, The Lost, The Forgotten, and The Innocent) as well as 10 bards. Few games involve all 10 bards. Most use only a small selection.

To create a deck, select the Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 8, 7, 5, and 3 of three suits, discarding the rest. For a game like Maze, which uses 2 bards, add both Jokers. If a game requires more bards, use Ace through 10 of the unused suit.

The Ace is the Elder. The Heads are the King, Queen, and Jack. The Heir is the 8. The Lost is the 7, the Forgotten is the 5, and the Innocent is the 3.

Playing Maze

Requirements: A bard deck with 2 bards, 1 marker (e.g., a penny, a stone)

Set up: Shuffle your deck and lay out a 3 x 3 grid of cards face up. Place your marker on the central card. Do not look at the remaining cards. They are your deck.

Goal: The goal of the game is to end with only one card, whichever one is beneath your marker, left.

To Play:

Step 1: Move your marker to a new, adjacent card the satisfies the rules for movement. Adjacent means the cardinal directions only and does not include diagonals.

Step 2: Remove the card left behind. This will leave an empty space in your grid.

Step 3: Fill the empty space by doing one of the following:

Fill the space with the top card from your deck.

Shift one adjacent and unoccupied card into the empty space. Then, fill the newly emptied space with the top card from your deck.

The purpose of shifting is to allow you to make minor, strategic changes to your grid.

Step 4: Repeat steps 1 through 3 until you have no legal moves. If your deck is empty, but you still have legal moves, you may shift 1 card each turn into the space your token just vacated, even though you lack the cards to refill the grid.

When You Have No Legal Moves: If you still have cards in your deck, you may stack on adjacent cards until you can move. Once movement is possible, you must move, but otherwise stacks have no height limits. (Note: Since Bards can bridge any two cards, they are always a legal move, and so would never be stacked upon.)

If your deck is empty, the game is over.

On Stacking: When you create a stack, only the top card is in play.

Stacks do not operate as a unit. When moving off a stack, you only remove the top card. When shifting from a stack, you only shift the top card.

Once a card lower in the stack is revealed, either by the top card being removed or shifted, it becomes in play.

Rules for Movement: Cards may only to a card of a different family that is of the same value, a step higher, or a step lower. The values loop, so a marker can move from an Innocent to an Elder and vice versa. Since the Head cards all have the same value, players can move their marker from Head to Head as well.

With the playing card deck, the order is this:

Ace <--> (King, Queen, Jack) <--> 8 <--> 7 <--> 5 <--> 3 <--> Ace

This means a marker could move from an Ace to a Jack to a King to an 8 to a Queen to an Ace to a 3 without issue as long as each movement involves two different suits. A marker can go from a King of Hearts to a Queen of Diamonds, but cannot move from a King of Hearts to a Queen of Hearts. A marker can move Hearts to Diamonds to Hearts, however.

Rules for Bards: Bards are wild cards and can bridge any two cards. A marker could pass from a Bird of Thresholds (e.g., a Queen of Spades) to a Bard to a Lost Bird (e.g., 7 of Spades) without issue.

Game Over: The game ends when you have no legal moves left and your deck is empty. If your only remaining card is beneath your marker, you have won. The fewer cards remaining, the better you have done.

#lamplighters guild #maze #card game #llg #interactive fiction #demo of first three chapters at the link

In LLG, the name 'Etial' breaks into three parts: E + Ti + Al.

E = poet, words, story

Ti = hearth

Al = sharp, knife, blade

If a kid chooses the name 'Etial' they construct the name's meaning from those parts. For the story, I interpreted it as 'Whittled Words' or words whittled down to points or use.

I did this because I combined the idea of hearth + knife which made me think of someone whittling by the fire.

But! Someone might combine story+hearth to get the idea of fireside stories. The sharp edge of a fireside story might be the story's moral or warning. So they could construct the name's meaning as 'Cautionary Tale' or 'Moral of the Story' etc.

(The side benefit of kids choosing their names at age 13 is that they get super into learning characters and literacy skills in the years leading up to that all important birthday. They want to make sure to choose a good name).

#llg #lamplighters guild #etial is one of the names you can now choose if you want a sky-coded name #sky/sea/land-coding is by sound not meaning

So, in this version, the MC was not with Frey and so gets the bombshell news from Ranebi alone. In this, I really wanted to create a sense of disassociation. To do this, I decided to use "wandering body parts."

You don't remember removing your boots, but the cold of the stone steps seeps through your socks as you walk down to the archives. You forgot to put on the pattens. Right. Of course you did. Your hand drags along the rough wall. Your vision blurs. And, suddenly, you're sitting. Your head is in your hands. You're breathing too loudly. Too quick. You should be happy. You have the research journal. It will have answers. Do you even want answers anymore? Your head is on your knees now. Why hadn't one of them stayed behind? If they knew they were in danger… Why? Why did they leave you behind?

"${name}?"

Frey. You didn't even hear the archive door open.

He crouches on a step below you. He's saying your name again. "${name}?" His fingers touch your knee lightly.

At this point, you can grab his wrist, shake him off, or shove him away.

# Grab his hand like a tether.

Your hand darts out like snake and clasps onto his wrist. He hisses, and you lighten your grip.

"What happened?" he asks.

Thoughts and questions still roil in your head, but you're no longer drowning in them. You stand, still holding his wrist. "I've got something to show you."

# Push his hand aside. You just need a moment.

You shake your knee, dislodging his hand. "Just give me a moment."

He shifts to sit on the step beside your feet. You force yourself to breathe. You're writing the story before you've completed the research. An angry laugh bubbles up from your stomach; of course your parents' advice is what flies to mind. Of course. You take another deep breath and push to your feet. "All right. Let's go."

Frey follows, his silence brimming with unasked questions.

# Shove him and his hand away.

"Get off me," you say, shoving his hand away. He stumbles back and catches the banister to keep from falling down the steps. Anger burns in your belly and thoughts, though, like a lantern through the fog.