FUTURE VISUAL NOVEL CHARACTER/LORE CONCEPTS:
(I forgot the wind-up on the MC, but ignore that)
There WILL be more character, but these are the ones I've conjured up so far.
These are ***CONCEPTS*** And MAY not be the official designs. (This is how Reynard started before he was developed into an official art—of you're keeping tabs)
Now for the lore concept:
The game begins with the MC stuck against a bunch of webs, tied to a circle of mossy rocks. The air is dense with fog and the sky is a endless reddish-black. The MC has no idea how they ended up here or where they are, but upon freeing themselves from the web, they find many things about them are different. They feel weird, so when looking down at their hands, they find that half of their body has been turned into a glass doll with movable limbs, held up by inner strings. They also find that they are wearing different clothing. This includes the hooded cloak that protects their true image and the black veil over their face. The veil allows them to look out, but not for others to look in. A part of the MC tries to take off the mask, but they find their movements to be sluggish and heavy. That's when they have this impending sense of doom: Do not take off this veil.
A ticking sound enters the MC's ears, but they have no clue where it's coming from.
The deeper they head into the twisted terrain, the more hellish the world appears. They manage to make it to a clearing before their movements stop completely. They are frozen. The ticking has stopped.
They stay like that for a couple of minutes before they hear shuffling from behind them. This is when the player (MC) is greeted with their first character: Reynard. He is a tall and imposing character with an aura of both mystery and cunning. He says a few words before moving behind you (after you fail to speak with enough force to be understood. Again, your movement has stopped and it's hard to speak without a moving mouth.) You hear a cranking noise before the ticking returns. The stiffness leaves your limbs and you quickly jump away from Reynard, now fully taking in his appearance.
He makes no attempt to stop you and only watches with curious amusement. When you ask questions about this world, he begins to explain that you were once human. Everyone here was. But the world slowly tries to claim you. Once it's claimed all of you, your body and soul will become weak and vulnerable under the world's power. He says that you have been unconscious when you first arrived, and that your body has been bound by webs. Still, the world continued to breathe as if nothing was awry. During that time, you have become half of a glass doll that's movement is at the mercy of others. He claims that you have about a day and a half before your wind-up knob would need to be turned again, but that it'd be impossible for you to attempt it yourself. Everyone here has a weakness that jeopardized their power, will, strength, and freedom. You are built to be dependent on a higher power.
After his explanation, it only leaves you with more questions. But so many cannot be answered in just one sitting. Reynard offers to be your friend when sticking out his clawed hand for you to take. The choice is yours: Go with him to hopefully find out more about this world and your situation or run away, figuring out this world as you go, in hopes someone else will be as merciful to help you out.
There are SO many endings I want this game to have. Romance is not the plot of all of them, but a central theme in some. In fact, while there *IS* romantic tension and game-play, I did not want that to be the main priority of the game itself. It's dark. It's mysterious. I wanted there to be MANY different routes and MULTIPLE endings with certain characters, based on your choices. The story will have you wondering who you can trust; why you are here; how the others ended up in this place; if there's even an escape at all; what happened to everyone here; How the people became so monstrous and lost their humanity; what the world is and the entity it is in itself; and why you are so different.
I want this game to grapple many dark and upsetting topics while balancing humor and romance into the plot. I want this game to make people wonder, when moving through the story.
Just what exactly makes someone a monster?
Adding onto this:
Every person has a weakness that binds them to this world in some way, shape, or form.
The world takes a person's greatest difficulty, fear, or issue and turns it into this suffocating addiction/need that consumes the individual, making them be at the mercy of the world *and* others around them and ultimately turning them into an unrecognizable monster.
The MC's weakness is their freedom of movement and speech. They cannot move or speak unless *someone else* winds up the knob on their back.
Reynard's weakness is an insatiable hunger that plagues his mind everyday. However, he cannot provide food to himself. Others have to feed him *or* the world must offer itself to be consumed (as in a small beast roams around where Reynard can hunt it, but he cannot cook it to serve to himself. He must eat it as the world gave it—typically alive). But, if he fails to eat, he will succumb to a hunger-blind rage and try to consume other monsters to feel normal again.
Perhaps in the future, I will go into even more depth! Till then... keep an eye out 👀🥰
