Hi all. I've been busy since starting the project developing the core gameplay and mechanics.

I realize I've been leaving the game's story out of the picture. I think that, now that I have the gameplay part figured out, it's finally time to talk a bit about what I plan for the game's story.

The story is a coming of age tale, with a heavy focus on the journey to find a place to belong.

There are three main characters in the story:

Cacildes, the protagonist, a young boy wishing to join the King's Army;
Alcino, a banished prince of hell who has been living peacefully with the humans and is the general of the army;
Balbino, an half-orc half-elf and the antagonist who moves the plot forward in his personal quest to find a stone that turns orcs into elves, so he can become accepted by elves (as he is not by his orc's counterpart)

I envisioned these three characters way back in 2012, when I developed a story about a young boy leaving his home to join the king's army and finding odd characters in his journey.

(Early draft of Cacildes)

The original 2012 story had Cacildes killing a bear that was stealing his mother's chickens, then leaving home and meeting an old philosopher in another town, called Sidónio, who was also heading to the Capital to give a philosophy lesson. Upon arriving at the town, Cacildes would stop some bandits from assaulting a carriage, with one of the bandits cursing him with an evil curse before dying.

(Here are some screenshots of the game at the time)

What followed afterwords was a series of tragic events that led to Cacildes being imprisioned in the Capital, only to escape with Sidónio, setting on a quest to find a witch that could brew a potion to could cure his curse. Cacildes would then journey the world to find these ingredients, meeting Alcino and Balbino along the way!

That was the general idea for the game at the time, and I drew the characters years later, in 2016, when I attempted a second revival of the game in RPG Maker (once again):

(From left to right: Cacildes, Alcino, Sidónio and Balbino)

(How I envision Balbino, circa 2012)

(Artwork of Cacildes, circa 2016)

Anyway, it's now 2023, and I've rewritten everything and recycled these ideas into a story that I think is well-scoped, well-rounded and has a much more interesting overarching narrative (and themes).

So, without further ado, here are the key story points that are planned for the game:

• Cacildes is a young boy who yearns to enlist in the King’s Army
• After completing a series of tasks from his mother, he embarks on his journey to Cecily Town, where the king lives
  • Version 0.6, which you can already play, ends with Cacildes arriving at Cecily Town, which I'm currently constructing as I write this post.
• There he finds the town in crisis due to the west bridge being blocked by orcs - this bridge is important for receveing/trading shipments from other cities, and its blockage means prices are rising and the townsfolk are going through hard times
• The king directs Cacildes to Alcino, the Army general, who will decide if Cacildes is a fit for the army. Alcino is a banished demon lord who was kicked out from hell because of his refusal to punish the damned souls, and for his expressed love for humanity. He has been living with humans for centuries, and has employed his dark powers in the king’s service in exchange for the finest harvest of grapes for his wine-production purposes.
• Alcino tells Cacildes to investigate the library at night, as townsfolk have reported a stranger entering and exiting the building
• That stranger is Balbino, an half-orc, half-elf who is part of the orcs guild that is blocking the bridge. He has been investigating the library for information on a stone that has turned orcs into elves in the past. This stone was discovered by Concordia, a traveler born in Cecily Town centuries ago, who found this stone in the ocean on a elven shipwreck. She brought the stone back to Cecily Town, and a settlement nearby that was once hidden and filled with orcs was now blooming with flowers. The conclusion was that the stone was responsible for turning the orcs into beautiful elves, and Cecily Town and that elven settlement have been good friends for centuries.
  • Concordia is a town heroess, celebrated by many for her discovery of the stone;
  • She is hated by orcs, naturally.
• Balbino is researching about the stone because the orcs want the stone destroyed - hence why they are blocking the bridge and attacking Cecily Town. However, secretly, Balbino wants to use the stone to turn himself into an elf, because his half-blood orc means he is not accepted fully within his orc’s peer.
  • Balbino can walk in daylight, since he has elven blood. He is actually very useful for orcs, which can only due their evil deeds at night due to their weaknesses when exposed to light;
• After Cacildes encounters Balbino in the library, the half-orc flees the scene. Because they don’t have a meaningful exchange, Cacildes must wait until the next day to talk with the librarian about which book Balbino stole.
  • Good use of the waiting in the bonfire mechanic;
• After getting the name of the book that Balbino stole, Cacildes returns to Alcino, which tells Cacildes he has done a good work and will need time to investigate it further. In the meantime, he tells Cacildes to deliver a message to one of the knights posted in the bridge. This begins Act 1;
• Upon arriving at the bridge, Cacildes finds that the knight that was meant to receive Alcino’s orders has gone into a secret mine nearby, where he is sure the orcs are hiding. Cacildes goes searching for this knight in this mine, arriving at the secret orc settlement, where he finds the knight dead. Here begins the boss battle against a giant Orc / Troll (haven't planned yet) and Balbino.
  • I'd like for this to be a duo boss battle, with Balbino being the quicker enemy, and the other giant nemesis to be slower but more hard-hitting (kind of like that DS1 boss fight)
•  Upon defeating the pair, Balbino flees the scene again. The orc leader is seen sailing away has the king’s army arrives at the settlement. This seems to end this plot thread.
• Upon arriving at Cecily Town, Alcino tells Cacildes that the stone has disappeared from the Elven village, threatening the elves into becoming orcs once again.
• Act 2 begins with Cacildes arriving at the elven village. Balbino has stolen the stone and hidden himself in Arun’s Resting Place, a temple full of dangerous enemies. In the temple, Cacildes faces Balbino again in a boss battle, with Balbino losing once again, admitting to Cacildes he wants the stone for himself in order to turn into an elf
• The elven master arrives at the scene, and tells Balbino that without the stone, they will all turn into orcs. Balbino asks if he can coexist with the elves being an half-elf, but the elven master asks for the stone first - this makes Balbino realize that he will never be accepted among the elves either. But to Balbino's delight, Cacildes asks him to join him in his journey, telling him about how Alcino lives among humans and he himself is a demon prince. Balbino is convinced that humans may be less prejudiced than orcs or elfs, and accepts.
• Upon arriving at Cecily Town, the pair is surprised to see the town engulfed in flames. Alcino tells Cacildes that the King’s daughter has been kidnapped, with the orcs demanding the stone. In the future, there will be two ways to complete the final act: either stealing the stone again from the elves; or chasing the orcs by boat on the final island, where the Orc general can be found and defeated, and the princess rescued (she will be in a tower, as a cliche node to old RPG games). This is the good ending, with the orc threat finally gone and Cacildes joining the army alongside Balbino (?).

Anyway, this is what I have planned! I think it's very doable and is a story that relies very little on cutscenes, which is perfect for how I setup the game dialogues! Anyway, let me know what you think. :-)

Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for more!