The game is set in Victorian era and is steampunk, so there a TON of routes to go with the aesthetic. The colour palette can change accordingly to cities and forests (like cities can be dark greys and purples with the occasional splash of colour like Lorcia, or brown with bright rich colours like Bharata, or silver with blues and greens like Marvansk, or dark with reds and oranges for the Vanator colonies) with the forests having a natural palette with dark colours.

Good media points for it might be Girl Genius, or Dragon Age Inquisition (at least for colour palette)

The entire game is more on the realism side, though we could change that, and it almost feels like you’re there.

A possible Party member for Arjun. Like many of the Slayers, Alexandra was a child who at a young age had her parents killed by monsters - In her case, Vanators. As the case for most orphans in Aldorf, she was sent to the Slayer Academy, where she trained to become a defender of the people and a killer of monsters.

A small, tiny fierce woman (4 ft 10- 5ft ish), she still manages to come off as downright terrifying- she’s seen some shit and is battle hardened because of it. Scars, some burn marks; she has earned some medals from her days as a Slayer. Like all Slayers, she wears a uniform - thick clothing to fight against the cold weather of Aldorf, perhaps a little worn from time, with a belt that has several weapons and survival trinkets in case of a worse-scenario.

Loyal to the core to the Slayers - she owes them everything. Strong, stubborn, hard-headed and brutally honest; she’s not here to make friends, she’s here to make sure you don’t die. That said, she does have moments of mercy, especially towards the victims of monster attacks, and has been known to show kindness to some, though not often and not in front of people she doesn’t trust. She’s lost a lot of good friends over the years from fighting and she’s learned that it’s easier to distance oneself than to waste time making friends.

A possible party member for Arjun. Hailing from a small Clan in Aldorf, his entire life he has spent defending his Clan from outside attacks and attempting to ensure its survival. With his Clan gone, the young Vanator is completely out of his element and searches for his Clan’s allies in the North.

Rather young, so he caps out at around 6 ft something. Since he’s a fullblood and not an original, rather than have mutations he has the standard Vanator body features; thick leathery skin, some horns/growths, wings, and talons sharp enough to cut through metal. He is a warrior, and as such, has spent most of his life training; he’s practically a brick wall. Clothing is more like a tunic than anything. Due to the weird anatomy Vanators have, tight clothing really isn’t an option for them, so they tend to wear tunics or some other forms of loose-clothing.

Ridiculously loyal to Vanators and to people who he deems worthy. Is often the first one to rush to defend someone regardless of danger, often not realizing that the other person is just fine and doesn’t require help. Doesn’t quite realize how terrifying he can be at times. Remember, he is very young by Vanator standards, so there’s several things he can be rather naive about. Since his interactions with humans has been limited, he doesn’t realize just how much stronger he is than some, often accidentally scaring people without meaning to.

The youngest playable character, Arjun is the son of a very wealthy merchant who has finally been given the opportunity to travel the world and trade for the first time in the aircraft, the Golden Wing. Bharata is based off of India, so he himself wears clothing that is similar to that culture while also employing several steampunk elements. His clothing are the most colourful and it shows that he’s a very bright, young person ready to see the world for the first time. As a Bharatan citizen, he’s never really had the chance to see how politics outside of his country work, as his country has been at peace for decades more or less and is considered to be a very stable area, so he’s going to be thrown in there and have to figure out how or what to do in this new environment.

Roughly 5ft 5-7, he is probably the smallest out of all the heroes as he really hasn’t undergone much physical training in combat and mostly relies on shotguns, small knives and his crewmates to work together to take down combatants. His crew consists of multiple people and of small cargo robots, both of which can accompany the hero and help in combat or manipulating scenarios.

A very witty character, what he lacks in experience he makes up for the fact he is very much a people person and knows how to get people to work together. A very likable person, he’s very amiable and open to new ideas, constantly on the look-out to see what else he can explore and use in his business. His downfall is that he’s rather reckless and a tad too trusting at times, often giving people second and third chances even when there’s ample reason to not to. Arjun has multiple conflicting interests, since on one hand he wants to help the areas he lands in, and on the other, his actions can cause his father’s trade business to get a bad man depending on what he does, so he’s always struggling to find a balance between these two.

Most of his gameplay is character interactive based, and he requires that interaction to get further down the game.

Can travel a lot, as he is in an aircraft, and gets to have sky battles with pirates, monsters and other characters.

Since he is good with people, he can get allies a lot better than the other heroes.

Has a fair mixture of combat, manipulation and strategy, for the players that want a bit of everything.

Is best at combat in closed spaces as a shotgun has limited range and he can use his size to avoid attack.

Pros:

• Is the wittiest and funniest out of all 4 characters; he’s the character that players find the most humorous and arguably the most human.

• Abilities:

  • Robot back up: Can summon his cargo robots to assist in any task necessary (picking heavy things up and moving them, fighting, etc)

  • Sensitivity: When having conversations, he can tell when someone is lying and when someone isn’t, allowing him to piece certain things together. This makes it easier for him to know who to ally himself with

Cons:

• Is the weakest character in terms of combat and battle. Mostly relies on team, so if the player is used to doing solo missions this really isn’t the character for him.

• While it’s easy for him to make allies, it is also hard to keep his credibility up based on who he allies with. Certain characters will make him lose credibility in certain countries, so he has to be very careful with that

• Limited cargo space – He can only help so many groups of people at once. Depending on who he helps it changes the story, so he has to be careful with who he picks.

• In outdoor combat he is easy pickings.

Catchphrase: Sounds like a deal!

• Hello, I am Arjun Parkash, a simple merchant-in-training.

• What an adventure!

• I am seeing delightful new things, meeting wonderful new people, and learning more and more with each passing moment. I am learning right now. What more could I ask for?

• I love meeting new people!

• Well, that didn’t work out as well as I thought…

• I can help!

• I may be a simple merchant, but I can help you!

• I’m not so useless that I cannot fight.

• I refuse!

• I can relate.

• No!

• Yes!

• Gripping!

• Interesting!

• Please forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself!

• A handshake is equivalent to a promise when it comes to trading.

• 50 for just one (currency)? What a steal!

• I can tell that this is a loss just by seeing it.

• No deal!

Tutorial

Arrives on Golden Wing and meets crew

Sets off into sky, defeating a pirate ship(?) and learning character’s capabilities

Primary Conflict

Lands at the Aldorf border and is presented with conflict between Slayers and Vanators.

Arjun must make decision that determines path followed, side with Vanators (Alin) or side with Slayers(Alexandra)

Alin Path

Arjun sides with Vanators, saving a lone Vanator named Alin

Alin explains the situation regarding relations between the local Vanator Clans and the people of Aldorf. Clans are in desperate situation.

Alin either chooses to willingly assist the Vanators or is forced to by his crew.

Arjun must return Alin to his allies in the North as the story progresses.

Rising Action

Arjun travels northward through Aldorf, a religious state that hates Vanators and oppresses them.

As Arjun goes through these towns he must assist the Vanators either willingly or forcibly.

• Slave Town: Vanators are being sold off as slaves to the highest bidder, Arjun must gain credibility by doing quests in small towns to get credibility into the noble merchant area

  • Buy all the slaves and free them

  • Convince noblewoman Cassandra to buy and free them (destroys her reputation, Arjun is given the option of letting her join the crew)

  • Cause distraction while crew sneaks Vanators away

• Disharmony: Party encounters a town swayed by the Vladimirian cult, group obsessed with capturing and sometimes killing Vanators

  • Join cult and destroy them from the inside out (Good End)

  • Convince town to kick out the cult (Peaceful End)

  • ‘Pretend’ to ally with the cult and give them the location of another Vanator clan (Bad End)

• Destroyed Reputation: Travel to a city racist against Bhatarans that is trying to get rid of them so the city’s old merchant guild can take their place

  • Intimidate merchant guild leader to stop him from manipulating the city’s laws

  • Talk to both set of merchants and try to find a middle ground (Peaceful End)

  • Kill merchant guild leader (Bad End)

• Grand Invite: After achieving enough credibility, Arjun and crew are invited to a merchant guild ball- secretly one of the crew plans to murder Arjun and take his place as captain

  • Find traitor and stop him non lethally (Good End)

  • Convince another noble to make traitor a captain of his own (Peaceful End)

  • Kill traitor (Bad End, loses credibility)

MORE MISSIONS TO COME

Arjun and Alin make it to Lorcia where the clan resides and is currently having trouble with the nation’s Black Brigade. Commander Grace Vester (romanceable) is convinced to stand down either by

• A duel where the objective is to convince her that negotiations are possible (Good/Peaceful End)

• Killing many of the Black Brigaders until she’s forced to come to the table (Bad End)

Vladimirians are closing in, Lorcia stretched too far to help, therefore the King lends Grace to Arjun to relocate the clan to the north and away from the instability

• Stolen Cargo: Golden Wing captured by sky-pirates, force crew to chains as they pillage the ship.

  • Destroy one of the pirate ships to force them to retreat (Good End)

  • Get to the captain who is revealed to be one of the sky pirates from the tutorial- if his friends weren’t murdered, he’ll willingly leave (Peaceful End)

  • Kill Everyone (Bad End)

Climax

Make their way to Marvansk after killing multiple monsters, finding a place for the Vanators to live. However, Mavrock, king of the nation, must be convinced to let them live there so that they can be protected if Aldorf or the Vladimirians start hunting them down

• Prove their worth quest: Assist king in dealing with Helyon

• Trade: Establish trade system between Vanators and Marvansk

• Liars: Helyon spy in the king’s circle trying to convince Mavrock to exile the Vanators, must be defeated

Arjun meets Vanator Costine and thanks him, asks him to assist her in Bharata

Falling Action

Arjun can either improve or worsen relations with other heroes, such as helping them destroy villains or help them achieve their goals

• Assist them in political take overs

• killing other heroes

• improving credibility

• ect.

Conclusion

Good: Arjun kept his company’s name strong, only killed with the best intentions. Seen as a hero to the Vanators, expanded his merchant reach to several nations, given free passage to Marvansk and Lorcia and a nobility title by Mavrock

Peaceful: Arjun kept the other heroes alive at the cost of expanding his company- despite this, he is rewarded with the title of Honorary Vanator and made a member of Alin’s clan

Bad: Often solved his problems with murder, established his company as an effective, but cutthroat merchant group, is feared across nations and even by the Vanators. Vester will wait for the day he crosses the line so she can kill him.

Alexandra Path

Arjun sides with the Slayers, saving a lone Vanator named Alexandra

Alexandra explains the situation regarding the vicious Vanators made by a madman who are causing havoc wherever they go- Slayers only came here to save townspeople

Alin either chooses to willingly assist the Slayers or is forced to by his crew.

Arjun must return Alexandra to her religious headquarters so she can make a report of the situation as the story progresses.

Rising Action

As they travel westward they encounter Vanators/other problems affecting the people

• Invasion: Desperate and dangerous Vanators have forced with way into a town, forcing the Slayers within to make a barricade around the city

  • Convince the Vanators to leave with minimal casualties or kill the Vanators (Good End)

  • Get the leaders of the clan and town to talk to find some middle ground (Peaceful End)

  • Sacrifice some townspeople to the Vanators to make them weaker and easier to kill (Band End)

• Destroyed Reputation: Travel to a city racist against Bhatarans that is trying to get rid of them so the city’s old merchant guild can take their place

  • Intimidate merchant guild leader to stop him from manipulating the city’s laws

  • Talk to both set of merchants and try to find a middle ground (Peaceful End)

  • Kill merchant guild leader (Bad End)

• Grand Invite: After achieving enough credibility, Arjun and crew are invited to a merchant guild ball- secretly one of the crew plans to murder Arjun and take his place as captain

  • Find traitor and stop him non lethally (Good End)

  • Convince another noble to make traitor a captain of his own (Peaceful End)

  • Kill traitor (Bad End, loses credibility)

MORE MISSIONS TO COME

Make it to HQ, Alexandra makes her report and is teamed up with Lorcia’s Black Brigade leader Grace Vester to track down the hated 11th Vanator, the most vile of all his kind

• Travel to Marvasnk to meet the 11th, are joined by Mavrock Krey and Costine to eliminate their common foe

Climax

The party encounters the hated 11th Pierce and end him once and for all. Arjun can slaughter Costine as well to get a greater standing with the Slayers or spare her to try and ease tensions with the Vanators

• Given option to become a high merchant of the north and take further Slayer requests (and some Vanator requests as well, but they will be much more limited since the race is in decline due to his actions)

  • Trade: set up relations between his company and the other countries

  • Destroy colonies of evil Vanators

Falling Action

Arjun can either improve or worsen relations with other heroes, such as helping them destroy villains or help them achieve their goals

• Assist them in political take overs

• killing other heroes

• improving credibility

• ect.

Conclusion

Good: Arjun kept his company’s name strong, only killed with the best intentions. Seen as a hero to the people, expanded his merchant reach to several nations, and is made an honorary Slayer by Aldorf and is given a massive influence in Aldorf and Lorcia

Peaceful: Arjun kept the other heroes alive at the cost of expanding his company- despite this, he is rewarded with great respect and made a noble in Marvasnk and free passage to that country and Lorcia

Bad: Often solved his problems with murder, established his company as an effective, but cutthroat merchant group, is feared across nations and even by the Slayers, who would end him were it not for the help he gave them

The 2nd original ever created, Costine is almost 200 years old, having seen her people rise and fall throughout the ages. Her race is that of the Vanators, winged beings created by Rolf Vladimir to be monsters used in battle, capable of shattering steel with their bare hands and surviving in the coldest of temperatures. Draconian in design, the Vanators all have leathery-scaley skin, thicker than the average human’s, and their legs are something akin to legs you’d find on a large lizard, talons and all. Massive creatures, Vanators are built like bricks and are capable of taking heavy damage and tearing through ships if necessary. Because she is an Original, she and the other Originals have more mutations than the others of their race, ranging from color, number of eyes, number of limbs and wing, abilities, etc. Vanators also have growths on them that can act as plating and armor, which can be filed down into a form that best suits that Vanator, as well as horns that vary from each individual. All Vanators have 2 abilities, a passive and an aggressive.

Costine herself stands at 8 ft 4, with a wingspan of 29+ feet from tip to tip and weighs in at 400 lbs. While she is by no means the largest Vanator, she’s larger than non-Original Vanators which is useful for intimidating opponents. Like the originals, she does have some mutations, including 6 eyes, longer ears, and 4 muscled arms, with the bottom two having extra thick plating that can be used to block several melee attacks (within reason). Like all Vanators, she’s primarily carnivorous, with teeth that match such a diet. Because of her anatomy, tight clothing is very useless so she wears more tunic-like clothing that allow for higher movement with less restraints.

As the 2nd oldest known Vanator, Costine is a wise individual who knows for a fact that while some humans can be trusted, her people are still viewed by many as monsters rather than as individuals. A cautious person, she’s very picky about who she trusts, and it takes a lot for her to fully trust someone given the treatment of her people. As a Neutral Vanator (she has no bloodline), she’s often called in by Clans of Vanators to act as a judge to settle disputes and act as a diplomat, which over time has given her a strong sense of moral and justice. Despite her age, and her interactions, Costine is to a degree a bit naïve about certain things. She and the vast majority of Vanators didn’t exactly get to have an education, so her ability to read and write is mostly self-taught and there’s things about this world she’s never seen before, so she actually has the curiosity of an excitable child when she sees something new and interesting.

Pros:

• The strongest character you can play in the game, as she can basically beat things to a pulp with her fists and is the most combat based character (if a player is more into battle this is the character to play).

• Abilities:

  • Passive: Allows for her to predict an attack from up to 10 seconds randomly.

  • Aggressive: For a limited amount of time, she can phase through a physical thing, be it a person of a thing. But doing so means she needs to be at full energy

• Gets to do the most amount of exploring as she is the one traveling on foot the most

Cons:

• Has waaaay more enemies than the other heroes to deal with

• Can only travel in cold areas. Vanators have a higher body temperature so traveling in hot places like the south of Bharata is not an option

• Has the hardest time making political allies

• Given her sheer size and anatomy, indoor combat is near impossible for her, which makes it harder for her to fight indoors.

• Is extremely bad at dealing with technology.

• I am Costine, a Vanator.

• I am the 2nd Original.

• For my people!

• With age comes wisdom.

• Protect the Vanators!

• You are nothing to me.

• I am not a monster!

• We are not monsters!

• We are living, breathing beings just like you! We feel just as much as you. Just as much human.

• We strive to live in this world. To find a place for ourselves. That is all.

• Please!

• I have fought for so long to get us where we are now. I won’t let you ruin it.

• You will not take me down!

• I have been a part of this vast world for so long, but I’ve yet to see everything.

• Commander Vester, you fight with grace,

• Don’t be so arrogant, King.

Tutorial

Post-revolt, 200 years back, the Vanators, with the Council are tentatively living somewhere in Aldorf. Understanding that they need to establish peaceful relations with humans in order to successfully coexist, they head to the capital of Aldorf to talk about trade routes, possibly a reconciliatory event between Vanators and humans, as currently their relationship is on shaky ground. Costine and Pierce are the representatives of the Vanators in this exchange.

On the way to the capital:

• Go over conversation mechanics/options

• Hunt animals for food, go over combat commands

• Save a fellow Vanator from getting eaten by a large vicious animal

In the capital of Aldorf,

• Meeting between the humans and Vanators to discuss relations and possible co-species events.

  • Meeting is successful and humans and Vanators end discussions on good terms

  • Meeting is unsuccessful and humans tell Vanators to leave

Time-skip - 1 Year Later(?): Pierce is exiled for his dangerous ideals, and in his rage, he destroys the capital of Aldorf in a rage to make a statement that Vanators are an enemy to humans and it helps his ideal that Vanators should be above humans.

After the tutorial 200 Years Pass

Primary Conflict

Costine is summoned to the Council of Originals, where the council brings up the fact that within the past half year since they’ve convened, 30 colonies have been forced to move and 4 have been completely wiped out by the Vladimirians and Aldorf Slayers.

• In the middle of the meeting, a wounded messenger comes in, bearing ill-news. The 11th Original, Pierce, having long been exiled and hunted done, has revealed himself and has been experimenting, creating mutated Vanators that are more monstrous than anything else. And that by numbers alone, if the Vanators face him alone, the war will be lost.

• Kilesso, the 1st Original, suggests that one of them must travel and warn the major countries of the world, to prepare them all for potential war. Costine volunteers, as she and only 2 other Originals are Neutral and represent the race without bias.

Rising Action

During this time, Costine will be traveling to the countries of Aldorf, and Marvansk

• Aldorf: A highly religious country that wants the Vanators dead and is home to the slayers, there are a few colonies that are at peace with the town so long as they follow the laws of the country, but even here there is conflict. Thankfully, here in Aldorf there are Honorary Vanators that are old friends and can be trusted.

  • Sanctuary: An old nunnery in the middle of the wilderness is where Costine finds her old friend Sister Theresa, the head of the nunnery and secret sanctuary for Vanators. Unfortunately, the Abbey is under attack by monsters and a Clan that is seeking an individual nun who has insulted/attacked them and is hiding in the Abbey. Costine can:

    • Destroy the monsters and somehow talk the Clan leader down (good ending)

    • Convince the Clan Leader to help her destroy the monsters and then figure out diplomatics (peace ending)

    • Destroy the monsters and fight the Clan Leader to remind him that he does have less authority than the originals (bad ending)

  • Upon helping the sanctuary, she gains the travel companion of Laura, the nun who because of her actions has been kicked out of the nunnery, forcing her to stick to one of the leader of the people she hates (ally/romanceable character)

    • Jane’s Journey (Part I): After getting kicked out of the nunnery, Laura wants to head to her friend, Jane’s, place on the outskirts (South of the capital) of Aldorf close to the ocean. Costine reluctantly agrees knowing that it’s not safe to be that far from the Vanatorian colony AND that close to the capital. (Continue editing this mission)

    • (Add one more mission, but make it small)

    • Slayer Academy: Unfortunately, they have to pass through here to get to Lorcia and talk to the leaders. As they pass by, Laura spots that the Slayers have captured a Vanator warrior and plan to use him for training and eventually give the honor of execution. Costine decides they must help him. They can:

      • Use a number of Costine’s allies (assuming she’s gotten some from missions) to talk to the Slayers while she sneaks in and breaks him out (good ending)

      • Have them interrupt the execution, with all of them together, including Costine, and convincing the Slayer Head of Academy to let him live. (Peace ending)

      • Interrupt the execution, and fight their way out, on their way killing many Slayers (Bad ending)

    • After doing so, the wounded Vanator Klaus (romanceable ally) joins their ranks. A hot-headed individual, he despises humans after the face they destroyed his Clan and countless others, so Costine will have to keep him under control

    • (Add only 1 mission here)

    • The Aldorf government – Just as they’re about to cross the border, they are caught by the government and forced to court, to see if they will be freed or not. This is the first time Costine has to talk to a government directly. She can:

      • Break her chains and show them that she means no harm, and promises that while they will not be allies, she will not return to Aldorf so long as the government no longer destroys already established colonies (Good ending)

      • As a show of peace, she remains within her chains and allows for Laura and Klaus to talk for her and convince the country to stand down and ally themselves with the Vanators as they have the common enemy of the 11th (Peace Ending)

      • Break her chains, fight her way to the oligarchy meeting, and threaten them with war if they do not let them go, swearing to squash their entire country if they failed to do so (Bad ending).

• Marvansk: Eventually the group arrives at Marvansk, a country with so much wilderness that several hundred colonies make their home in the wilderness that suits their specifications (cold, enough meat to feed several countries for decades, easy to defend). Here, they must make their way to the King Mavrock (romanceable ally) and convince him to ally themselves with the Vanators for the war that is to come.

  • Harmony: 2 Clans have been rivalling over a city that would allow for them to have great trade with the vulnerable city stuck in the middle. Here, Costine must take the consideration of the civilians (Laura) and the considerations of the Vanators (Klaus). She can:

    • Help the city get enough food and resources for the winter and then talk to the Clan Leaders and telling them to ally both to the city (Good ending, favours Klaus)

    • Force both Clan leaders and the leader of the city to talk, and work together to have enough resources for the winter as well as protection (Peace ending, favours both Klaus and Laura)

    • Fight the Clans and force either both or one of them to leave (Bad ending, favours Laura)

  • Jane’s Journey (Part II)

  • Monster Hunt: Massive monsters in the tundra have been destroying entire cities and they have the option of eliminating them to gain interest of the king.

    • Help the people set up traps for the monsters and help them destroy them (Good ending)

    • Summon a nearby Clan and forge an alliance between Clan and city, so that the Vanators will hunt and consume these monsters thereby protecting the city, while the city provides them safe haven (peace ending)

    • Kill off all the monsters, leaving the people hungry during the winter (Bad ending)

  • Eventually, they get the attention of the king after helping so many cities and Clans, and they do several missions with him to help the country deal with the rival country of Helyon that intends to invade Marvansk.

  • Jane’s Journey (Part III)

Climax

Just as they’re beginning to make war preparations, Costine receives word that a nearby colony needs assistance. Going with Laura and Klaus, she gets separated from them when she is captured by Vladimirians while keeping them from going after her two companions. Captured, for several days she is stuck in captivity before making it to the north of Bharata, on the brink of death because of her inability to stand heat. However, she is rescued by her two companions and a merchant by the name of Arjun (romanceable ally), who if she gets a strong enough relation to him, he can later help her convince Bharata to assist the Vanators.

As they head northwards, the reports of the 11th and his army attacking are increasing, and several times will they team need to stop and assist cities with side quests and missions to help defend.

As they fly over Lorcia, they are forced to stop when they see Lorcia is swarming with bad Vanators and need help. Here they meet Grace Vester (romanceable ally) and can help her multiple ways:

• Killing off the Bad Vanators and trying to save some of them who can be turned (Good ending)

• Saving a number of these Bad Vanators and showing them the wrong of their ways, while killing off the truly bad ones and saving the country with the help of Clans(Peace Ending)

• Killing off ALL the Bad Vanators and sacrificing a lot of lives in the process (bad ending)

They make it back north in Marvansk, where the news of Pierce have arrived. He has allied himself with Helyon and plans to destroy every single country he can, and Costine must use her allies to take him down at last, uniting all 4 of their armies and allies together.

Falling Action

After having defeated Pierce, Costine has a while to do a bunch of missions that can improve and worsen relations with multiple countries, strengthening the bonds between them and helping the Vanators adjust to human society.

• Vanator recruiting mission

• Vladimirian peacemaking (good)/ killing (bad) mission

• Slayer onslought mission

• Jane’s Journey (Part IV) - OPTIONAL

Conclusion

Good ending: Costine has killed either 1 hero or none, has kept her species alive and while might have lost some colonies has kept most of them alive. Her relations with some countries might not be the best, but they’re stable. Arjun does manage to talk to Bharata and when the United Powers convene there, a new bill of rights including the ones for Vanators is passed, allowing for her people to have more freedoms than before. Vanators and Marvanskns now live in harmony and are strong allies.

Peace Ending: No heroes are dead, all her colonies and Clans have been kept alive and are no longer on the brink of extinction. She’s managed to keep her alliance with Aldorf strong and the Slayers are no longer a threat. Marvanskns and Vanators now live in harmony. Arjun does bring the subject up in Bharata, and when the United Powers convene, Vanators are given citizenship in the United powers and a chunk of the territory that once Helyon to call their own country.

Bad ending: None, some or all the heroes are dead, killed after the climax, and many colonies have been lost. The tensions between humans and Vanators are on the rise, and while there is hope, extinction is still a possibility. Slayers and Vladimirians are uniting, meaning that Vanators in Aldorf and Lorcia will never be able to be safe again.

The woman who was the nanny to Mavrock and didn’t go insane in the attempt. A very kindhearted woman, she raised Mavrock and has been a mother to him in every sense of the word. It’s thanks to her that he’s not entirely devoid of emotion or passion; she’s the sort of person who can find a humanizing emotion in even the most devious of people. Currently is the nanny to Mavrock’s younger sister Lilia.

5ft 6-7 ish, looks to be in late 50’s to early 70’s. Even though she is hella old, she still appears to be radiating beam of energy that is impossible to keep down. In her age she’s put on a bit of weight, looking more and more like a tiny chubby grandma of joy and happiness more than like a nanny. Because she is a nanny for royalty, she does have clothing of relative high quality, as well as a couple of simple jewelry pieces. However, all of her clothing is very thick as she does live in a tundra.

Ervie has felt loss - The loss of her husband, the loss of her children, the loss of her brother- the list goes on. However, she’s always powered through this with a smile not for her sake, but for her ward’s sake. She is very good at always appearing happy because she’s 100% sure that while troubles are a pain, sometimes all someone needs is a bit of kindness and joy to make it through the day. Despite this, she’s a very human person, often trying to get her wards to show their emotions more towards her because of how stressful the job is. She is a shoulder to lean on, and has thus earned her rightful place in the Royal family as that one person both royal siblings would murder for.

The black brigade is Lorcia’s greatest military force, answering only to the king rather than to the council of generals, and it makes sense that one of its 3 founders, Vester, is as equally intense as the Brigade itself. Coming from a long line of generals, she broke away from the family after her mother and she had a falling out, causing her to focus even harder on doing better than her mother. In the beginning, she, James and Henrick founded the Brigade while they were in military academy, and upon its official creation under the king, Grace has become its commander, with James as her 2nd in command and Henrick as the hand to the king (long story). While her strongest point is strategizing, she also has to interact with multiple ministers to deal with war plans and budget issues.

Roughly 5 ft 7-8, Vester is the 2nd smallest hero that is playable, and is capable of disguising herself in either gender depending on what the mission calls for. Combining her childhood and her academy training, she is the most efficient human hero at combat, though she specializes more in long range and silent take downs than direct combat. Weapons of choice are a sword and a sniper rifle.

Intelligent, honestly blunt, somewhat arrogant and relatively tempered, Vester tends to be straight and to the point, occasionally being rather mean and having a very odd sense of humor (battle humor, morbid humor, etc). She’s extremely close to her brigade, and is very caring about their well-being, and has a personal disgust with nobility. Loyal to the core to the king, the country’s well-being is her top priority. Her uniform is a black uniform with goggles for snipering.

Pros:

• For players who like strategizing and fighting, this character is the one to play as. Her game play involves having to upgrade and get new battle formations for her brigade based on how many missions they succeed, so the player can play it similarly to fire emblem to a degree.

• Long range combat dominant with some strengths in close combat

• Works in both outdoor and indoor combat

• Has the least amount of interaction with politics

• Has a brigade that helps in many missions

• Explores a lot for the missions.

• Abilities:

  • Battle Call: Can summon her brigade or allies automatically to any enemy of choice.

  • Disguise: Depending on the situation, Vester can disguise herself and be unseen by the enemy for a while.

Cons:

• For players who like to charge into battle, this is not a character for you.

• Her disguise only works so long as the player doesn’t bring attention to themselves. If Vester causes a scene (argument, swipes something in front of someone, etc), she will get caught.

• Is pretty bad at dealing with non-military technology.

• Has a lot to do with moral. If one doesn’t like doing side quests for moral, this is not for you.

• Exploration is limited by missions.

• I am Grace Vester, Commander of the Black Brigade of the Kingdom of Lorcia.

• For the Kingdom of Lorcia!

• Prepare to fight!

• Troops!

• The Black Brigade lives to fight another day.

• We will not stand down!

• I refuse to give up!

• You will fall!

• Defeat is inevitable!

• We shall succeed!

• Don’t even try!

• A little bit of strategy goes a long way.

• Forward!

• Retreat!

• Together we can win!

• I am my own commander.

• I am my own person.

• Don’t try to compare me to anyone else.

• We will overcome any boundary!

• I will overcome any boundary!

• Try me.

Tutorial

Elimination mission: Kill corrupt politician

• Go over stealth tactics

• Long-range sniper kill

After assassination, go talk to the Minister of Finance about giving her and her brigade leeway

• Nice response:

• Mean response:

Primary Conflict

The King of Lorcia, King Leonius Warpolt is concerned with the state of affairs between Marvansk and Hellion. Additionally, Aldorf is reporting more attacks from Vanators. He knows war is coming, and they must prepare.

Rising Action

King Warpolt sends Grace and the Black Brigade (BB) to Bharata to escort Jarvis Jacobs, Minister of Foreign Affairs. Jacobs gets kidnapped before BB can escort. Grace can:

• Track down Jacobs by stopping the rebellion and beat up the people that caused it (leads to Good ending)

• Talk to rebels, have them reach a compromise (Peace ending)

• Lie to rebels (make a deal with them), kill them, and traumatize (or scare) the Minister (Bad ending)

During United Council meeting, Grace does missions:

• Fight off rebels

  • Kill a few, convince leader to stand down (Good)

  • Get captured, convince leader to stand down (Peace)

  • Sneak into hideout, kill all the rebels (Bad)

• Escort caravans

  • No matter what - always (Good)

  • Sometimes will get ambushed

  • Compensated based on success

• Track down criminals/crime bosses

  • Kill some, capture main criminals (Good)

  • Beat up some thugs, recruit into BB (Peace)

  • Kill the bastards (Bad)

Major Mission: Davis Mikaelson - a nobleman and friend of Jacobs - hires Grace and BB to rescue his wife, Lady Shreya, from sky pirates (Mikaelson is actually the perpetrator so Shreya would die or be assumed dead and he would get her fortune)

• Sneak into airship base, rescue Shreya, capture Davis Mikaelson and expose his corrupt ass down to the law (Good)

• Sneak in, rescue Shreya, beat up Mikaelson, take his money, and turn him into the authorities (Peace)

• Sneak OR bust in, kill all sky pirates AND Mikaelson, traumatizing Shreya (Bad)

Grace returns to Lorcia with new missions:

• Kill soldiers/monsters in the wildlands

• Save kidnapped people from Hellion

• Courier Missions

Soldiers and monsters from Hellion have been attacking in the north. Grace and BB must intercept and remove them:

• Fight them until they’re forced to surrender (Good)

• Try diplomacy first and then fight them (Peace)

• Kill them all, no questions asked (Bad)

Slaying the Slayers: Monsters from Hellion have been attacking places, and Slayers have come to assist in the fight against them. However, the one colony in Lorcia is not happy with the Slayers’ presence. Grace can:

• Use the Slayers to kill the monsters but keep the Slayers away from the Vanators (Good)

• Use both Vanators and Slayers to fight the monsters and then try to get some diplomacy between them (Peace)

• Use slayers to kill monsters, abandon Vanators by giving Slayers free reign in Lorcia (Bad)

A so-called Vladimirian points out the the colony in Lorcia is leaving the country for no apparent reason. Curious, Grace tracks them and comes across Arjun. She learns that the Vladimirians are planning to slaughter all of the Vanators. Grace and the BB can:

• Help the Brigade fight off the Vladimirians while they load the ship (Good)

• Have BB help with loading the ship while other military forces deal with Vladimirians (losing some Brigadiers in the process) (Peace)

• Kill all of the Vladimirians and not care if someone is left behind (Bad)

Climax

Grace heads north via airship and arrive in Marvansk after some smaller missions dealing with the monsters. Grace meets Costine as Arjun brings her back from Bharata. She reveals that their common enemy is Pierce (main villain) - an exiled Vanator who has taken control of Hellion for nefarious purposes. Now, missions are:

• Securing rally points

• Missions to raise morale, improve BB and other military squadrons

• Convince Leonius to send more troops

• Convince Minister of Finance to give more $$$

• Prepare for battle by learning new weapons technologies and incorporating it into battle

Major Mission: Ball

Grace goes to Marvansk’s capital to ask Mavrock for an alliance to fight against Hellion, being that Marvansk is a superpower. Grace can:

• Do cooperative missions

• Escort him around

• Fight off assassins to help earn his gratitude and loyalty

• This Mission helps in the Ball since Marvansk is a superpower and has agreed to help, other leaders are more likely to agree to join

Ball (Political event for ambassadors to try to get things done): Held with all major countries present, Grace must convince all the leaders to help go to war against Pierce and join the cause

FINAL BATTLE:

• As Grace is the most military-oriented character, she strategizes the military troops and maintaining the rally points to ensure victory in the battle versus Hellion

• Battle versus Hellion forces is won, Pierce defeated

Falling Action

After the defeat of Pierce, Grace can:

• Improve national relations by talking with the leaders of Lorcia/Marvansk

• Strengthen military further and raise morale

Conclusion

Good Ending: Morale is high, Brigade is maxed out, Vanators are supported, Marvansk and Lorcia are allies, and Grace gets a Medal of Valor from King Leonius and is revered and respected as a military hero, given a title from Bharata

Peace Ending: Morale is medium or high, Vanators are in a neutral relationship, Marvansk and Lorcia are neutral, and Grace gets a medal of honor and is revered and respected as a military hero, gains the position of military coordinator of the United Powers’ armies

Bad Ending: Moral is low or medium, the Brigade has lost a ton of troops and hate Grace, the other countries fear or hate her, Vanators are hunted, Marvansk and Lorcia are enemies, she receives the Medal of Valor and the Bharatans consider her to be a mercenary rather than a military leader. Grace is a ruthless commander.

Giver of missions to Grace. The hand to the king and advisor on war plans, Henrick is an old friend of Grace’s as they created the Black Brigade together along with Grace’s 2nd in command James. After becoming Advisor to King, he has settled down with a family and has not really seen combat in a while. He is doing his best to ensure that Lorcia has no fears of invasion and that the army branches are all working in unity rather than against each other.

5 ft 6-8, it shows he was once heavily involved in conflict. He has let himself go a bit over the years but is still more than capable of sticking a bullet between someone’s eyes from any distance if given the right gun. Has some facial hair and isn’t exactly showing wrinkles yet, though he’s starting to get to around that age. Often wears a military uniform - either his old Black Brigade one or his new one as grand military Advisor.

Raised on the streets, becoming a military cadet, creating the Black Brigade, somehow becoming Military Advisor to the King- if there’s one thing he’s learned, it’s to adapt to just about everything thrusted his way. A very open person after years in the Brigade and the nobility system, Henrick knows how to befriend people and how to be wary of them all at once. While he dislikes putting soldiers in danger, he’s aware of how necessary it can be at times.

Possible Party Companion for Costine. A Clanless Vanator, Klaus is a fallen warrior who has had to go through life alone, afraid and constantly fighting. Reckless in battle, headstrong and loyal to only himself, he’s a bit of an oddity by Vanator standards as he has severed WILLINGLY all his ties to his Clan after his Clan Leader traded him into slavery in exchange for the Clan not being killed by Slayers.

7 ft even, Klaus is big by non-Original Vanatorian standards, being a colossal angry force in battle. Due to his life on the road and on the run, most of his tunic-like attire is worn out, with holes or entire parts missing and him not giving a single hoot about it. Having fought many, he has his fair share of scars, his most notable one being the fact he’s missing his wings after having them hacked off when he was a child, a fact he’s still very bitter about. Another oddity is that he’s actually pretty okay with technology, most likely to make up for the fact he doesn’t have wings.

Angry, reckless in battle and extremely sarcastic. He’s found that sarcasm is a great way to deal with humans and getting them to leave him alone without actually having to waste energy punching them into a grave. Fact of the matter is though, is that he’s just tired. After a lifetime of traveling, all he wants is a place to call home without having to worry about humans trying to catch him and make him into a slave or a pincushion. Thanks to being on the run for so long, Klaus is very good at surviving. Knowing what foods to eat, hunting, building shelter, hiding from Slayers- the guy knows his way in the woods.

A party member of Costine. An ex-nun under Sister Theresa, Laura was “forced to retire” after having endangered Vanator younglings of a nearby Clan and nearly having the nunnery attacked. She’s very young, and has been molded by some of the people she knows to dislike Vanators, for good reason.

A woman of average height (5 ft 4-10), Laura doesn’t seem all that intimidating due to how tiny she appears to be. She doesn’t exactly strike many as a person to be afraid of. It’s very clear that she’s never really had to survive before outside the nunnery; there’s not a scar on her and she really looks out of place in a wilderness or battle setting. While she’s no longer a nun, she still dresses very conservatively and warmly as Aldorf is still a freezing place, with a satchel to hold several materials (books, maps, plants, etc).

Very young, she mostly acts the way she acts to attempt to please people, like some of the other sisters or the people that she looks up to. As such, she may be stubborn in changing her opinion, but if shown proper evidence might be able to change her opinion. An ex-nun, she holds many of the morals from the religion; humbleness, kindness, generosity (often not a good thing as she might give something to someone she really shouldn’t) etc, and often acts as if she’s always on the higher moral horse, so to speak.

Possible Party Member for Grace. The King of Lorcia, he is a young king; he only became King a little before Grace graduated from the military Academy, so he’s rather young. Yet he is aware of how young he is, and is the sort of person to surround himself with people he knows can cover him in areas that he doesn’t know much about. He is rather wise for his age, and knows what he’s doing, but he is constantly having to worry about his country not being crushed by the surrounding empires.

Tall (5 ft 10- 6ft), commands respect. He’s a nobleman and he looks like it, he is a commanding figure of respect and power. Even though he’s young, he has a very wise feeling to him, and he gives off the vibe of knowing what he’s doing. He’s a king, so he wears very high quality items and very rarely gets his hands dirty. He looks like the person to delegate his power and is very rarely messy.

He is a delegator; he’s aware that he’s not very experienced so he often delegates his power to people he knows can handle this. He isn’t really comfortable with the idea of being king; he was supposed to not become king, but when his older sibling died he had no choice but to be thrusted into the position with not much training. He is a trial by error sort of person and once he knows something is bad he will not do it again. He understands the burden of responsibility and often is well loved by his younger delegates as he relates rather well to them.

Catchphrase: Wondrous!

• I am Mavrock Krey, the King of Marvansk.

• Stand down.

• You will stand down.

• Bow.

• Bow before me.

• For Marvansk!

• Marvelous!

• Simply wondrous!

• Never!

• I am King!

• Nonsense!

• Haha! Wondrous!

• How delightful!

• Haha!

• You cannot defeat me!

• I am Marvansk!

King of the frozen country Marvansk. As the most politically powerful character in the entire game, he knows how to manipulate and how to do it well. Raised to be a king, he knows how to carry himself and has an air of arrogance to him. Everything he owns is of the highest quality, and he is used to getting what he wants and having it to the maximum quality. Due to his country’s need for science to survive, he himself has some mastery in science, especially in the areas of electro-magnetism, so that’s another area of arrogance he has. Typically he wears the colors of his country, white and blue, and is the sort who prefers to look sharp at all times. Given his position and his abilities as a scientist, the rare few times he is in battle, he shows off as much as possible.

Roughly 6 ft +, Mavrock is the second largest hero out of the 4 playable options, and relies on an electric spear of his creation for the very few times he actually shows up in battle, as well as his armoured war bear. Most of the time, he hangs back and lets his soldiers take care of it.

Cunning, manipulative and very good at finding people’s weaknesses, Mavrock is an expert at fighting with words and taking down his opponents in that manner. While he can be rather cold hearted towards others, he is surprisingly caring about his younger siblings and certain people close to him all his life, and finds them to be his weakness as half his motivation for doing the things he does is keeping them safe, though he’d never admit it. He has a lot to live up to, with his parents having set some pretty high expectations after their passing, and while some respect him, the public as of yet to form an opinion of him since he’s never really interacted with the lesser classes and severely lacks knowledge on how normal people are.

Pros:

• For players looking for more of a mental challenge and strategizing in stuff besides battle, Mavrock is better fit for their style of play.

• Fairly balanced when it comes to battle stats so long as he’s on his warbear.

• Once he starts having people under sway, he can do more things. For example, once he has the financial minister on his side he can have a bigger budget to do whatever he pleases

• Unlike the other characters, Mavrock doesn’t need to go to a scientist upgrade his tech as he is a scientist to a degree, making it easier to upgrade his tech.

• Player gets to play around with tech more and create certain weapons and tools of their choice so long as they have the materials

• Player gets to ride on a badass warbear and can go on occasional hunts to upgrade his battle capabilities.

• Abilities:

  • Sway: Once Mavrock knows the weakness of a character, he can use Sway to get that character under his control and have them do what he wants.

  • Thunder strike: This is more of a battle ability for the times he is in battle. Thunder strike causes Mavrock to use his spear to create a massive barrage of electricity, causing widespread damage over a much larger stage.

Cons:

• The second Mavrock is separated from his warbear, he is much more vulnerable to attack as his spear is better used for medium to long range attack.

• He sucks at close hand-to-hand combat indoors as spears are not that maneuverable of a weapon indoors.

• Even though he can upgrade his teach a lot quicker than the other heroes, he can only do so if the budget allows for him to do so.

• He has the least amount of combat opportunities

• He can’t explore the worlds and other countries as expansively as the other heroes since he is king and he has a high chance of being captured.

Tutorial

Unpopular Poles: Get rid of councilman, persuade people to do things for you, and go fight stuff

• Go over conversation mechanics/options

• Get out of castle, go to the training grounds, go over combat commands

• (A suspicious sound) Go towards it (Hunting tutorial), find it, kill it

Primary Conflict

While holding a meeting with all his ministers, a scream is heard throughout the castle - the scream of Mavrock’s younger sister, Katerina. Upon coming across her, they see a mutated Vanator wearing the armor of Hellion, about to strike down his sister. Killing him, Mavrock swears to destroy Hellion and find out who is responsible for this.

Rising Action

During this time, Mavrock would be keeping the peace in his country while dealing with people coming to his country. During this time he has allies; the woman who raised him and watches over his younger sibling Ervie, and her nephew Thomas (romanceable ally) who grew up together with Mavrock, a rather good observer of the court and entertainer for the court.

• Corruption in the Government

  • Track some corrupt officials down and use the information as blackmail to have sway over them (Good ending)

  • Track them down have them publicly apologize and kick them out to replace them with someone else (Peace ending)

  • Track them down and have them executed (Bad ending)

• Impression Hunt: To impress a diplomat from another country, Mavrock must go on a hunt with them and hunt the biggest monster possible to show his strength.

• Abduction or Abdication: Mavrock is knocked out (wine poison) at a meeting with the counsel by unknown enemies of Marvansk (Hellion forces). His captors at this point can’t decide on either killing him or keeping him in exile. They kidnap him, Mavrock escapes (battles in between escape), discovers that there are people or a hidden enemy that is trying to take him and his country down. Mavrock does not know who the enemy is.

  • (Pierce’s perspective): Intends to dispose Mavrock and replace him with a noble that would be much more malleable to his (Hellion’s) will. Intends to make the nation have a policy against Vanators to push them into a corner where the only country that can support them is Hellion, thus having control over the Vanator race

  • Corrupt Minister wants to take down Mavrock and take over control of Marvansk. The Minister makes a deal with Pierce (Money from Marvansk/Protection from Helyon) in order to make this possible, and cooperates with Pierce under the shadow.

• Liar, Liar: A Vanator and a human are two major suspects in a crime that has scared the kingdom to its core; having unleashed a beast being held for research upon a defenceless town and colony of Vanators. One is lying and the other is not, and the case has gotten so out of hand that it has been brought to the king. He can:

  • Side with the Vanators (gain Vanatorian strengthened bond, but lose some loyalty from human citizens)

  • Side with the humans (Gain more loyalty but lose some level of trust from the Vanators)

  • Pardon both (loses and gains nothing)

  • Kill both (loses trust and loyalty from both sides)

• Clan battle: A clan of Vanators has sent Razeth, a female diplomat (romanceable ally) to help smooth things over between Vanators and humans, especially after some rouge Vanator attacked the royal family. However, because she is some a powerful Clan, some of the other colonies fear that she will abuse this influence to bring the demise of other Clans, causing tensions to run extremely high. Mavrock can:

  • Talk to all the Clan leaders and convince them that they have nothing to fear (good ending)

  • Talk to the Clan Leaders and give each of their Clans some new level of influence as a sign of trust (Peace ending)

  • Send soldiers out to deal with them and force them to kneel (Bad ending)

• Conquests: Gain some new land in multiple missions against Helyon

• Negotiations: A diplomat sent by Lorcia escorted by Grace Vester (romanceable ally) has come, asking for Mavrock to not invade Lorcian or Aldorfan lands. Before a decision can be struck though, a group of Helyons and monsters too hideous to be Vanators come into the castle to kill the royal family, and they must work together to kick out the forces.

• Hunt down the Helyon Forces: Mavrock and Grace find and eliminate the attackers, discover that the Helyon country is the cause of the instability in Marvansk and in many other nations.

Leading up to the climax:

Mavrock and Grace discover similarities between the hideous monsters and some mutated vanator corpses lying around. Throughout examination, they come to realize that no human in the world (as they know) has any access to these kinds of genetic medications. They conclude that a vanator might’ve been capable of manipulating their genes to the point they could transfer it somehow (genetic anthropomorphism, new - birth (stem) genes being passed on, highly unorthodox experiments in general). They suspect, judging from the large, oddly - shaped footprints, that the vanator responsible for this must be nearby, so they go searching for it. Upon their search Costine appears.

Climax

To the surprise of everyone, the 2nd Original Costine (Romanceable ally) has been improving relations between Vanators and humans in Marvansk, ending up in the court of the King. She brings heavy news of who their opponent is; Pierce, an exiled Vanator, who has taken over the minds of the Helyon country and used their technology to create an army of monsters. As such, they must ready for war.

• Missions

  • Prepare troops for battle

  • Convince ministers to pass laws to allow him to do so

  • Get more budget

  • Use his connections with other leaders of countries to get what they need

• Refugees: A Bharatan merchant named Arjun (romanceable ally) comes with a group of displaced Clans, all of which are being hunted by Vladimirians. Mavrock can:

  • Fight a few Vladimirians and talk to the leader to get them out of his country (good ending)

  • Be diplomatic from the start, and getting them to leave his country with minimal casualties. (Peace ending)

  • Killing all of them (bad ending)

• In the chaos of the refugees, Costine is captured and Arjun goes to rescue her along with her allies. In the meantine, Mavrock must keep the Clans at peace and avoid the relations from getting worse.

• Upon her return, Helyon attacks and all 4 heroes face off against Pierce.

Falling Action

Multiple missions to increase or worsen relations with other heroes and countries.

• Swaying people to will

• Keeping country at peace

• Fight off Vladimirians/Hunt down the mutated monsters in Marvansk

Conclusion

Good ending: All his political opponents are knowingly or unknowingly under his sway, 1 or less heroes are dead, his country stands proud. They have gained the land of Helyon.

Peace ending: None of the heroes are dead, some of the political rivals are under his sway, and the Vanators are active protectors of his land and are now his neighbors on the map.

Bad ending: More of the heroes are dead, the country is successful but so much blood has been shed that all the other countries are making plans to fight back in case. The Vanators are tense and are moving deeper into the wild away from humans.

Mother of Grace. Natalie always placed all the expectations of family on Grace, and raised her to be like her; a strategizing mind with no mercy. When Grace left the family after being fed up with her mother’s overbearing cruel ways, Natalie swore to someday force her daughter to crawl back to her. After having lost her leg in battle, she is now Minister of Military and definitely knows how to use the power as the Ex-General of all Armies.

Tall (6ft ish), imposing, even if she’s a wheel chair she still has a 99% probability of kicking your ass if you piss her off. Her general days may be over, but that doesn’t mean that she won’t dress up in her retired military uniform with all the medals, especially if someone she doesn’t like is coming in and she has the chance to intimidate the shit out of them. She’s rather old, but even in her elder days there’s a sharpness to her that pierces even the thickest skin enemy.

THE head General of the armies for YEARS, Natalie is a force to be reckoned with. She has no fear and is more than capable of charging into a battle even if she needs someone to push her chair while doing so. Her presence commands respect, and she has a track record of having more victories than defeats, though she has been beaten by Grace before. Very vengeful, she does not let go of grudges with ease, but even she can put it aside if it means protecting the country.

Pierce. The Hated 11th. The Originals once had an 11th member, the youngest of them all named Pierce. Pierce was the last Original created, and thus the one with least amount of mutations and imperfections, so much so that Vladimir had trained him to be his successor in a worst case scenario. After getting his wings clipped and exiled into the wilderness, he wandered in Hellion, a country desperate for scientific discovery. When he presented himself to the king as a scientist, the king gave him a chance to prove his worth. Over the years he did; genetically improved crops, cattle, animals, etc, each time gaining more and more power. Eventually he started working on humans and eventually conquered the entire country, converting most of the people into mindless monsters obedient to only him. In order to give himself time to build up forces, Pierce allowed the rest of the world to think Helyon was the same as ever, never letting them find about what he had done. Until now. And now, he wants vengeance.

Vladimir had believed that Pierce was to be his most perfect creation - the one with the least imperfections and the most power. He essentially took him on as his protege. Being so loved by his creator, and treated as better than the rest of the Vanators - even the Originals, he grew to truly believe that he was better than everybody else. Eventually, this belief would mean that he thought he was better than the man who created him - Rolf Vladimir (though he still believes in spreading Vladimir’s beliefs, he just feels like he can do that better than Vladimir himself). Pierce would help the other Vanators revolt against their creator.

He and the other Vanators after the Council had a disagreement with his ideals and plans for the Vanators - that he, with the Vanators, would rule over the world as a “heaven on earth” for Vanators.He would make humans subservient to the Vanators’ will. He wouldn’t say it outwardly, but he would rule from the shadows. However, the Vanators aren’t as war-hungry or want to make enemies with humans, nor do they want to be “rulers”. He is exiled, losing his wings and therefore, to a certain degree, his “perfection”. Despite his exile from the Vanators, he still believes them all to be “heavenly beings”, ascending above any other creature in the land, believing they should be the ones to rule. Thus, he decides to start small and infiltrates the land of Hellion. While his methods as a scientist may be shady to the Hellionians, he gets results, which is why they keep him around. However, his methods grow more and more monstrous, as he starts to experiment on humans. He cannot be stopped by that point - as he has killed the King and taken his place as the new Emperor.

• Still believes in Vladimir’s philosophy and is trying to spread it on a worldwide scale

• Which is why he’s trying to take over the nations and why he creates his own monsters - just as Vladimir created the Vanators

• He’s trying to reunite the Vanators because he feels that they are all heavenly creatures and they should stay together. Thus he’s getting the Hellion forces to hate Vanators to encourage them to come to his side

Personality: Pierce seems to be a calculating creature with devious intentions. He lacks moral ethics and is willing to kill anyone in his way or if they will help him achieve his goals.

Questions: How does his story unfold through the game?

In the early years of the Vanators, the 11th and final Original Pierce had a deep thirst for conquering and destroying, as their creator had built them to do. As such, he went against the Council’s decisions and destroyed scores of cities, leaving nothing but fire, rage and hate that would last for centuries. As punishment for the destruction of thousands of innocent lives, the Council all went against him and beat him to a pulp, leaving nothing but a broken body in the deep wild mountains of Fayer to die. Centuries later, he has survived with the help of a scientist who also thirsted for power, and showed him how to build an army of mindless monsters to do such, as the Vanators’ creator had once planned. Now, he plans for a war so great the mighty world will crumble.

The last and final Original, he was the culmination of the creator’s research and prototyping; a creature of grotesque elegance who could crumble iron and bring nightmares to the enemy. Standing at 9 ft, he is a massive, broken body, his wounds never fully recovering allowing for his figure to become hideous and painful to see when one remembers how noble he once was. He is most similar to the average Vanator (wings, growth, tails, talons, etc) out of the Originals with the exception of certain mutations, and is still a terrifying figure.

Despite his appearance, Pierce has an air of nobleness to him, mostly due to how the creator showed him who to think and act the most out of all the Originals. Very intelligent, Pierce knows how to find and exploit weakness, and has no qualms of doing so, only to toss aside people once he’s done with them. Temperamental, tries to keep anger inside, so when it explodes, it really packs a punch. Remember though, he was once a very beloved person only to be turned on by the very people he loved; he feels betrayed and very hurt.

Possible Party Companion for Mavrock. Razeth is the daughter of a Clan Leader in Marvansk, having been raised to understand the importance of human-Vanator alliances as she herself is the result of a human and a Vanator. Due to the recent rise in dislike for Vanators as well as tensions, she has been sent by the Clans to talk to Mavrock and attempt to solidify a workable alliance with him.

Because of her human blood, Razeth is rather normal in height (5ft 6) rather than the typical 5 ft 10- 6 ft 7 height Vanators have, and is rather lithe in comparison to the average Vanator. She also isn’t as brightly colored and has much smaller growths/horns/talons/tail, lacking also a thick skin (physically). She has been trained to fight and it shows. Because she is a Clan Leader’s heir, and her Clan has good relations with humans to have resources, Razeth wears a high quality tunic with bracelets, a more complex design than most Vanators to show her status.

Razeth is the daughter of a Clan Leader and will someday have to inherit that title, meaning she’ll have to keep good relations between humans and Vanators while doing what’s best for her people. She has a ton of expectations to live up to, and rushes to fill them to the best of her ability, often overworking herself to the point of becoming ill to ensure everything is running as smoothly as possible. A bookworm, all the knowledge on humans she has is from either books or from the few Honorary Vanators, so whenever she has access to books she reads them quite in depth. She does have some misinformed stereotypes about humans given her books, but the chance to interact with humans is always exciting and interesting for her.

Possible Party Member for Grace. A high standing noble from Bharata, Shreya was raised to carry on the family name and is used to being treated as if her opinion didn’t matter as her family usually decided things for her. Now that she has left that life behind and is in Lorcia with Grace, she’s quickly learning that the world is a harsh place but that working through it is what makes life an adventure.

Height is up for debate, definitely not hardened by battle or hardship, she’s a very elegant and beautiful person who is aware of her beauty. Very youthful looking, she’s very graceful after having learned how to move and be a proper noble even in the most heaviest of attires. Bharata is a very warm country, so most of her clothing, while conservative, is still very lightweight and thinner than the thick clothing necessary for the weather of the North. Does have knives hidden away in the sashes.

A noblewoman of a high standing family, she’s never really had the chance to see the world, even if she thinks she knows about it because of her tutors. She’s not very used to people of middle class or lower class, much less them actually talking back to her, so she’s still learning how to balance her upbringing with being an actual nice human being. She knows how to manipulate and read other nobles like even an open book, so she can easily get what she wants from people she despises without them ever knowing it.

Only appears for a brief time in Costine’s storyline, but still important. Sister Theresa is VERY old and has run the nunnery for a very long time. Yet, she calls herself and is considered to be an ally to the Vanators, often providing hidden sanctuary to them and helping them deal with certain political issues under her sway. She is a very old friend of Costine’s, and as such has earned the title Honorary Vanator.

Small but still very capable of kicking your ass. She definitely shows her age, as she’s practically a walking wrinkle with a cane, and has a very stern face most of the time. Despite her height, she carries herself with a certain air of arrogance, as she knows for a fact that she is someone to be respected and whose freaking earned it over the years. As a nun, she wears multiple thick robes as well as a hat of sorts to mark the fact she’s the head of the nunnery.

A bit arrogant from her accomplishments, a stern grandmother figure, and someone who can get away with berating any of the Originals.There’s a reason she’s considered an Honorary Vanator, and that’s because she’s been a stern yet patient teacher to them throughout the years, something that most humans have not been with the new race. While she may appear distant, she’s actually very caring and compassionate. It’s not uncommon for her to be in a slump whenever a life in the nunnery, a life that came to her in hopes of living dies under her care, even if she’s only known them for a bit.

Possible Party companion for Mavrock. The nephew of Ervie, he came to know Mavrock when the two of them hadn’t even hit double digits yet, becoming Mavrock’s servant and advisor of sorts as the two grew up. While they are well past their days of boyhood, Thomas is still Mavrock’s most trusted ally and can be counted on to keep Mavrock from going crazy with responsibilities, whether it be going with him to hunt or helping him hide the body of a political enemy.

5 ft 10-11 ish, mid 30’s. He hasn’t had much combat experience and is rather lithe, looking more like a butler than like an advisor. While he is rather youthful, he has some few silver hairs and some facial hair. He may be an adult, but there’s still a twinkle in his eye that shows he has a knack for pranks and mischief, whatever he has up his sleeve in that moment. Typically he dresses in what you’d expect a butler to wear; clean cut clothing with a simple design.

Mischievous, very odd and surprisingly human. One must understand, he wasn’t born into royalty or nobility, he was thrust into it when his parents died and his custody went to Ervie. As such, he often is at odds with nobles and lacks patience for them, something he covers up using pranks. He also is one of the few people who knows how to talk to Mavrock without getting manipulated and can comfort him openly with no fears. Bold, witty, is 10000% the type of person who would break up an awkward silence with a shitty pun (not even a witty one)

The game allows for the player to follow 1 of 4 storylines, each of them large and branching which allows for multiple endings and full immersive gameplay. Each character and their abilities differ, so the gameplay for certain scenarios is differing. For example, as a king you don’t so much combat as you do manipulate, so most of the scenarios will involve getting people to bow to your will with the occasional hack and slash gameplay. Meanwhile, for the commander, you get the more traditional shooting/sniper gameplay, while also able to control your squad and strategize with them. Each country also is very unique in culture and technology allowing for full exploration of each option, and giving each hero a different experience of the game. What’s unique is that your experience will be different depending on the hero, and will be very choice-heavy.

The control scheme is basically this:

• Button 11 (L1): Quick

• Button 2(L): Move

• Button 3 (R): Rotate Camera

• Button 15(X): Interact with people/objects. Also selects options in quick menu.

• Button 16 (Square): Jump

• R2 (Button 12): Basic Attack

• R1 (Button 10): Activates abilities

• Triangle + R1: use Ability

• Circle + R1: use Ability

• (Button 14) Circle: Use item 1

• (Button 13) Triangle: Use item 2

• Button 5: Makes the map larger; clicking it again makes the map revert to its small form.

• Button 6 and 8: Goes right and left accordingly when selecting options (be it in the quick menu or the conversation menu during certain cut scenes).

• Button 7: Allows the player to view missions and their details. Clicking it again will put the missions away.

• Button 1: Can select items in the Quick menu and select options in the missions tab.

• Button 4: Starts the game in the start menu.

• Button 17: Takes player to the PS3 menu (Exit Game, return to home menu, etc)

I apologize, I’m no game major so if I messed up the controls tell me and I can correct them accordingly.

The core features are different for the characters given how different they are, but the placement of them is similar. At the top left of the screen, there are two bars; 1 that measures health, and the other measures the thing that fits best for the character.

• Vester has a bar that measures moral

• Parkash has a bar that measures credibility

• Costine has a bar that measures how many allies she has

• Mavrock has a bar that measures how many people he has under his sway

The secondary bar doesn’t have to be full in order to win, but it does affect the game play a bit. For example, if Parkash’s credibility bar is low, then he’ll be unable to trade in certain areas, while if it’s high, he can have more maneuverability. If Costine’s ally bar is low, she’ll have a more difficult time convincing people to ally themselves to her and have a hard time getting into certain areas, while if it’s high, it’ll be easier for her to access high courts and convince others to join her. Depending on where the bar is by the end of the game, the endings are affect. If Vester’s moral bar is high, then she will get a Good ending as her people will view high in a positive light. If it’s low though, she’s more likely to get either a Peaceful or Bad ending depending on why that bar is low.

Depending on who is traveling with them, the hero can view the health of their allies as well at the top left.

When the player plays as the hero, they’ll be able to see the character and move them around accordingly to interact with the environment and other characters. If they want to equip anything to them, or level up certain stats, or use an item, they can press the L1 button that allows them to pause the game and interact with these features, rather than having them all over the screen.

At the bottom right is a small map that can be expanded to help the player locate where they are and where they have/can go.

At the bottom center is a menu that allows the player to see what abilities they have and which items they have on hand (items can be switched in the quick menu) to use in battle or wherever they are at that moment.

Items can be used for multiple purposes, such as raising moral, swaying people, improving relations with certain ally or enemy characters, completing missions and repairing something. They can also be bought and sold for certain sums of money, and can be upgraded if taken to a scientist, inventor or weapons expert.

Money can be gained through selling items or completing missions accordingly, though it gets complicated.

If you play as the Commander, you can get personal money for doing side missions, but when it comes to upgrading your brigade you only have a certain budget.

In the side menu, you can see what the relations between the hero and certain characters is, and depending on who you relate to the most, you can romance them. If you romance a certain character, you get certain pros and cons. Like romancing someone from an enemy country might improve relations between those countries, but might make your own people think of you in a lesser light. If you romance a scientist, certain technology a hero possesses will be upgraded, but highly religious areas will dislike you more, and so on.

Overarching Systems

Travel

• Open world

• Restrictions on traveling will by placed with in-world/game things/reasons

• Fast travel will be with boats, airships, etc.

Movement

Speed = min(s * h * ds * b, max*b)

• s = Base land speed

• h = hardiness coefficient

• ds = decrease in speed due to armour

• b = bonus modifier to speed

Jumping

• No mid air direction change

• Speed is affected by armour, jump height is constant

• Fixed jump (no hold for higher jump)

Dialogue Trees

• Morality System

  • Vertical Axis Good/Bad that is universal for all factions

  • Horizontal Axis of Famous/Infamous that is specific on a faction per faction basis

    • Ex. Bandits attack villagers. If you kill all the bandits, you become infamous with the bandits, famous with the villagers, and bad with both.

Inventory/Loot

• Items are limited by weight

• Accessed via menu (not list)

Combat

Player vs. Enemy AI

Player Specific Combat:

• Like Dragons Dogma ( All specifications )

• “Light Attacks” (Name not Final) is Comboable and Cancellable

• “Heavy Attack/Ability” Non Combable/Canceable

  • After attack player always returns to nuetral state

• Ranged attacks have two modes

  • “Quickfire” launches projectile in direction of movement a set distance

  • “Aiming” draws camera in close and creates reticle

  • Thrown projectiles have fixed distance, arc depends on which way player is facing while aiming

  • Path is not plotted during the throw

• Items used during combat are instantaneous and don’t leave player vulnerable

• Health regen will have a “Soft Cap”, where health will regenerate quickly to a certain midpoint, than start regenerating much slower

• Abilities/mechanics are going to be unlocked through narrative progression (Think Legend of Zelda)

• When player is hit they flinch. Flinches make player immobile briefly and small knockback.

  • Flinch is affected by how hard the player is hit and their strength stat.

Party Based Combat:

Base Stats

• Strength

  • Effects encumbrance

  • Combat capabilities

    • Flat damage

    • Health

    • Effects flinch

    • Allows character to lift heavier weapons

  • Charisma

    • Effects dialogue tree options

    • Increases ability for negotiations to be successful, and the end result

  • Speed

    • Faster combo chains/attack speed

    • Movespeed

  • Intelligence

    • Ability to operate machinery

      • Limit or increase options for machine interactions

      • Allow access to more mechanistic weapons

Quest

Time-limited

• Quests are the main determining factor for ending

Individual Character Systems

Different Status bar per character

• Troop Morale

  • Combat/Decisions before each encounter

  • Recruitment

• Reputation

  • Traveling Merchant/Supply & Demand

  • Ship System

• Survival

  • ???

  • Flying/divebomb

  • Allies

• Political Support

  • Bribing People/Giving Speeches

Mavrock - King

• Tree of Influence - Main system for Mavrock

  • Visualized as a tree whose nodes consist of all characters Mavrock can interact with. It begins with all except a few nodes greyed out.

  • Mavrock can collect bit of information in his journal (some menu type ui). Collecting info on specific characters unlocks that characters node in the tree.

  • When a node in the tree is unlocked, it results in either a new ability for Mavrock (ability to build helper robots in combat, etc.), new dialog options for Mavrock when talking to certain characters (telling guards who are loyal to a noble who under your influence to do an action, etc.), or story progression.

  • The “Influence” bar for Mavrock fills as more nodes in the Tree of Influence are unlocked.

Altdorf - Ally of Lorcia. A relatively small country, it is an mining powerhouse thanks to the many mountains that surround and rise in the center of the kingdom. What it lacks in land it makes up with cities built into the mountains, so that the land available can be dedicated to mining or industry while the people reside in the mountains, safe from most attacks. Isolated and rather conservative, Altdorf has a very strong, ancient alliance with Lorcia, as Lorcia assisted Altdorf to break away from Hordwarth. Is ethnically more or less like Scandinavia in our world (pale people).

Architecture Concept Sheet

The country is very similar to Lorcia in regards to architecture, with Victorian designs. However, given the lack of land, most of the buildings are built into or dug out of the mountains, with much thicker walls and on occasion less complexity in the design.

Culture Concept Sheet

This country is the MOST conservative out of all the countries, and is by far the most religious. It’s main government is the church council, and the country itself is the center of the world-wide religion, so it comes as no surprise that most people in the country strongly believe in the faith. While the country is stable, it has a very fearful presence, as it also has the Slayers, the church’s equivalent to the inquisition, acting as a standing army.

Technology

Basically the same as Lorcia, only that they try to make theirs bigger as a way to intimidate enemies and make up for the fact that they are in fact the smallest country in the United Powers.

The world’s equivalent to India if it was a massive trade empire with the strongest economy in the world. The empire has kept the caste system that has been in place for thousands of years, and while there have been several modernizations to the empire, it still has kept several of its traditional values and standards. Currently it is a massive center of trade, and is economically the strongest country in the world. Ruled by a Sultan and the higher classes, Bharata is a neutral country, acting as an area for a peace talks and world meetings of the United Powers (league of empires sworn to work together). Since it is so large, the skin color varies region to region. The animals of this region are relatively small or lithe or both, given how hot it can be during the day time, and are primarily nocturnal. Most of them are tameable, though there are some creatures under the surface that would have no problem making entire caravans disappear without a trace. The same can be said for the creatures that inhabit the skies and the oceans around them. Some are peaceful or trainable. Others are the stuff of nightmares.

Architecture Concept Sheet

Architecture is based on more ancient Indian architecture, with very intricate designs, smooth curves and sometimes incorporating the buildings into the pre-existing geography.

Inspiration:

• Indian Architecture

• Ancient Indian Architecture

Culture Concept Sheet

Bharata is a TRADE empire, so it has a lot of diversity on its streets and culture, even though India is it’s heaviest influence of culture. It’s very bright, very busy and no matter where you go there’s always an adventure just around the corner. That said, because of it’s trade and it’s need for efficiency, Bharata has a lot of robots everywhere you go, whether they be for cargo or in the case of the upper classes, entertainment/protection.

Technology Concept Sheet

Given the importance of air and water ports in the empire, most of the technology is a reflection of the forces of nature -weather, water, wind, heat, etc. It also follows a very smooth design that flows and is either minimalist or very intricate depending on how much money the person making or buying it has. For example, a worker in the port might use a very simple looking construct to lower cargo, while a nobleman might be able to afford the most intricate ship money can buy. The main weakness of their technology is that it doesn’t fair well in the cold- for this reason, the best airships merchants use are often build in the northernmost city of Bharata where the shipwrights know how to build for cold situations.

Lorcia is a country of valleys and mountains, with the 3rd largest empire and a people of great diversity. The country’s main export is it’s MASSIVE armies, with all the armies having different generals led by a Head General who obeys the King. Similarly to its ally Aldorf, Lorcia has several mountains, with most of its cities on the face or within the mountain. However, not as many people live within the mountain as Lorcia has several kilometers worth of agricultural land with several populations spread across the empire, allowing for country to balance out industry with agriculture, with the vast majority of its resources hailing from it’s mining ally, Aldorf.

Architecture Concept Sheet

This country’s architecture is the one that is most similar to Victorian architecture. Since resources and space aren’t much of a concern for the country, Lorcia boasts a lot of gorgeous buildings with complex design, even the ones built into the mountains. A lot of the cities have factories in the outskirts constantly creating products to supply the demand. One thing about the architecture though, and that’s that the military structures are second to none. Since military is very important here, a lot of the military outposts are huge and defensible, often with largest walls encasing the compounds of the HQ’s, with large tunnels going for miles on end.

Inspiration:

• Victorian Architecture

• Military Outposts Built Into Mountains

Culture Concept Sheet

This culture is surprisingly less conservative than you’d think. Yes, much of the politics is conservative, like monetary spending and foreign policy, but the society itself is more open. Women are allowed more freedoms here than in most countries, with the ability to hold important roles and even be extremely important leaders, with many of the Head Generals or generals of the past being women. The military is the main focus of society, with industry being a close second. The society mimics the Victorian society only that women have more rights and the society is more open to foreign concepts.

Technology Concept Sheet

This is a country whose technology is more focused on efficiency that on looks. Most of the tech here is bulky, squarish and not particularly pleasing to the eye. That said though, their technology definitely is the sturdiest and takes YEARS for it to finally fall apart. Since military and industry are the country’s main focuses, the technology basically panders to that a lot, with very large figures and impressive firepower.

A MASSIVE country in the North, it consists of multiple small cities isolated in an icy tundra filled with lethal beasts and predators that can wipe entire cities off of maps during certain feeding months. Because of this, most of civilization lives in bubbles on the sides of mountains and underground, where their science is unparalleled thanks to having to adapt so often to the dangers the tundra offers. Their royal family has a long bloody history with Fayer, a country bordering them to the South that throughout history has forced them to pay extremely high tax to pass their goods through there, causing them to have a series of wars and conquering races to get at the other. Because Marzanna has so much lethal fauna, the society has incorporated some of them into their society, primarily war bears (think enormous 6-legged armored bears you can ride into battle) and other large animals to help with transportation, protection, and multiple other services.

Architecture Concept Sheet

Living on the surface unprotected is like going out into the Antarctic Circle in your skeevies- it’s not going to end well. For that reason, the cities are either a) in bubbles built into the mountain or b) in bubbles built underground. These cities consist of several buildings dug into the mountain or underground with a MASSIVE protective barrier that surrounds the city in a bubble protecting it from outside forces. The reason for the bubbles around the cities, even the underground ones, is because a surprising number of creatures are the size of mountains and can literally swallow a city whole. The buildings themselves are surprisingly intricate yet simple in design, a lot of the smooth curves mimicking plants being utilized into the design. The most intricate and simple designs are often the ones that have the best usability and are surprisingly efficient

Inspiration:

• Gaudi

Culture Concept Sheet

The culture is very conservative and very science oriented. Given how isolated most of the population is, they don’t really get to do a whole lot of cultural exchange outside of either killing Fayer troops or negotiating with Vanators, so they tend to be pretty close minded on certain topics, like on the role of women, politics, etc. To make up for this though, they have a ridiculously strong scientific community that is pretty near unparalleled in the world given how important it is to their survival.

Technology Concept Sheet

There are very few things that could survive in the tundra, and yet those animals have managed to survive for a significant amount of time. So, why bother having to test theory after theory when one could simply mimic nature? Much of the technology here is based on fauna and flora, rather than on the forces of nature, and incorporate their designs into their technology. For example, their messenger robots are based of the design of a nimble creature that doesn’t sink in the snow and can run faster than the wind. The only weakness in their technology is that it doesn’t fair well in the heat.

Vanators don’t have official countries, living in colonies around human society or deep in the wilderness where humans don’t dare go near. A rather young race, what they lack of worldly knowledge or politics they more than make up for in sheer strength and combat capability, as they were created to be the perfect war machines. Unable to live in hot area due to high body temperatures, Vanators are dragon like in features, with thick skin, horns, growths, tails, wings and talons.

Architecture & Camp Concept Sheet

Most of the camps that are near human society are just that; small tiny areas that are scraped together with whatever’s on hand. Since they really don’t require much for survival other than meat and somewhere safe to sleep the night, most of their stuff isn’t permanent, and is meant to be easy to take down if danger ever got too close. The colonies deep in the wilderness though are MASSIVE and much more sturdy. Preferring to live in high locations, most of the colonies are either carved out of mountains where the colony will literally be inside a mountain or a tight pair of cliffs with secret entrances or high up in the trees with easy access to the sky. In the case of the permanent colonies, they are huge, with simple living spaces per Vanator and often surrounding a colony plaza where massive events like training, sparring or festivals occur.

Culture Concept Sheet

Vanators are divided into Clans, with each Clan having a colony and attempting to improve relations with humans. Each Clan has a Clan leader, and the importance of a Clan is decided by how many good relations they have with humans, and how safe their colony is. One of the main things about their society is that they really have no concept of gender roles or race stereotypes, since they were all built for the same purpose and are thus capable of doing so equally regardless of what they are. Despite being very young, the race has a very strong honor system, with honor and family being the most important things to a Vanator. Humans are a rare sighting in permanent colonies, and the ones that are there are either guests or Honorary Vanators who have earned their title after assisting the colony. There are half humans in their colonies, but again they aren’t ostracized as they often make the best diplomats between humans and Vanators. Because of their very weird anatomy, tight clothing isn’t an option, and they often opt for lightweight tunic like garbs, since staying warm isn’t an issue for them.

Technology Concept Sheet

Since they’re young and have no foundation for science, whatever technology they have is mostly scrapes they’ve put together and somehow managed to make it work. The Vanators that are scientists are some of the most prized individuals in society, and the technology they produce is often small and lightweight as resources are rather limited.

The scope for this game is… massive to say the least. Besides the 3 major countries, there are 2 countries that might also need designing due to how they do have to do with the storyline and all the heroes will eventually visit these countries, albeit for different reasons. As such, there’s going to be a TON of world building to do, though I do have a basic idea as to what each country’s aesthetic is and how they intertwine. However, for the sake of time, the world-building would be limited to these 5 countries, maybe more IF the storyline calls for it. Plus, since all the countries’ technology is different, that’s also going to entail a lot of designing, and the animals are different from our world’s, so there’s also the matter of that. And we’re going to have to figure out the culture and style of each group of people so that’s also going to entail some concept in that area.

Overall, the break down can be this:

• Landscape

  • Each of these areas has an environment that are rather unique, so rather than dump the MASSIVE landscape on just 1 group, it may be easier if we divide the group into countries they’re interested in doing.

    • Lorcia The highly militarized country with mountains and valleys, they have a mixture of mountain cities and normal towns in the valley. The only really big feature about them is that they have tons of woods and many barracks. Their technology is more heavy and blocky, very militarized.

    • Bharata A massive empire based off of Indian culture with a mixed environment of thick forest and intensely hot areas. Their main thing is trade, so they have a lot of landing areas and ports, with most of their technology intertwined with the flow of air and water.

    • Marvansk An icy tundra with only bubbles of society survived by building into the mountains and underground, and is the most scientific-heavy one. They have a ton of scientific stuff based on fauna and flora that do very well in the cold, but poorly in the heat.

    • Vanators They’re the race that has no country, so they in colonies in the North where it’s cold, either by building into mountains or intermingling with human cities. As such, the design for their colonies will be easier since it meshes with whichever country they’re in. They typically use whichever technology is in the country they’re in.

    • Maybe (unsure if the heroes will really need to visit them for the story’s sake)

      • Aldorf This country is basically the same as Lorcia, and doesn’t have a hero, so the design doesn’t have to be as heavy and it can be a limited landscape to make things easier. They’re highly religious and very strict, living mostly in the mountains.

      • Fayer Again, it’s like Aldorf, since it may be easier to only mention them and not have the heroes deal with them directly, we might not have to design it. But if we do, it has a very powerful rich small group with a large lower class, so it will have small bubbles of high quality areas surrounded by walls to separate from the poor, factory areas.

• Society: Figuring out what each society of each region is, and how the technology and people are from there.

  • Lorcia Very weaponized and militarized, their main focus in technology is how much fire power it has and how big and intimidating it is to the enemy. So maybe blockier, larger, more complicated. While most of the people seen by those passing through are in military clothing, the civilians might wear something one thinks of when they think of the Victorian era; petticoats, dresses, nice jackets and top hats, only with some steam punk elements mixed in.

  • Bharata Since they rely a lot of air traffic and water traffic for goods, a lot of their technology relies is very flowy, like water and air, and while simple in design is very efficient. The inspiration for them is India, so the design for the people and culture would be very much based off of that society. So it would incorporate things like clothing, system of society, etc., into the people’s design, while also adding a steampunk element to it.

  • Marvansk They usually make their technology more fauna and flora based, so their technology often mimics nature and looks like it. While their technology is very complicated, it is very elegant. Because of the fact they live in freezing areas, the people are going to be wearing warmer clothing that covers them and helps them maintain heat; warm coats with fur, thick clothing, etc.

  • Vanators They’re a rather young race, so they don’t really have a set technology; they usually use the technology of the country they’re in and maybe scrap it together to make it work. So their tech is usually scrappy looking. Since they have a different anatomy which will be covered, their clothing is flowier and not tight to make it easier to move. They also don’t really need to wear thick clothing since they resist the cold.

• Creatures: The flora is pretty much the same as ours, so that won’t be a big focus. The creatures on the other hand can be completely crazy and out there; push the limit, feel free to make them as big and crazy or as small and unoffensive as you wish. There’s only some very small guidelines

  • Bharata Doesn’t really have a whole lot of terrifying fauna, but the fauna they do have is adapted to live in hot conditions

  • Marvansk Go crazy. The creatures here are all capable of killing you except for like maybe 1 cute tiny herbivore usually used for food. They can be big or small, however they look like they can all kill you one way or another. The really big ones are especially bad since they can wipe out entire maps if there’s as much as a glitch in the defense systems.

  • Lorcia Fair mixture of creatures.

• Main character design: While I might have basic concepts for them, I’m all for exploring other alternative designs

  • Grace Vester (Lorcia) Soldier, she’s been hardened through training and is someone who shows it. She is very intimidating and lithe, someone who you could 100% believe she could sneak up on you and end you without leaving a trace.

  • Mavrock Krey (Marvansk) King. He’s tall, intimidating and cunning. He looks like an oaf but knows what he’s doing, and is someone who knows how to use his size to scare others into doing what he wants.

  • Arjun Parkash (Bharata) He’s actually the youngest person out of the 4 heroes, and the most sensitive one. He’s young, naïve, witty and someone who wants to see the world. He’s very smart when it comes to people and is very perceptive of emotion

  • Costine (Vanator) She’s an experiment meant to scare and meant to kill, and she looks like it. 7 ft plus, with multiple arms that could crush steel and wings, she is stronger than any human. She is also old, as one of the original Vanators created 200 years ago. She has seen her people rise and fall time and time again, and is exhausted by all of it.

“Once in the Time of Unending Twilight, eleven great flying serpents circled the infinite sky. Their scales were formed of primordial vestiges of long-forgotten earths and celestial bodies, and their wings soared over the winds of dreams ancient and future, forever circling in an ancient, unceasing current. These 11 were the first and last moons and suns of a forever unliving and undying galaxies, occurring concurrently of each other in an unbroken cycle of entropy and ectropy. They were alpha and omega, both.

Yet an end and beginning is formless and forever disconnected without continuation between, and an observer to perceive that passage of time. The serpents could forever coil into and out of each other, begin and end again and again, yet so long as they were alone in this tedium of creation, divided between tail and head with no body between, they could not truly exist. And so, they deigned to be, and as a consequence, the world began.

They serpents coiled together to a single, wriggling ball. Their skin shed and their feathers molted constantly, again and again, scales and sweat forming land and seas, the gust blown by their flapping wings bringing sky and thought and dream into an ever revolving current surrounding the newly formed earth below. The atmosphere they had forged had a twofold purpose- from it, life began to spawn on the world formed below, animal and man both slowly emerging from the womb of the sea to breathe in the reality around them. However, the world beyond the life-giving atmosphere was still formless, shapeless, forever in flux between existence and non-existence. If any soul dared to venture beyond the skies, their essence would be dispersed into the howling chaos and creation of the endless birth and death of the eternal dark above.

The 11 winged snakes were proud of what they had created, yet they knew, so long as the space beyond the world was infinite, their creations could not continue to observe and revere them as the great creators they were. This planet would stagnate, would crumble, would fade back into the tedium of non-existence. And so, they turned to the endless sky above and soared through dream, leaving a promise to their first creation- that one day, when Infinity was made perceptible, they would return and Ascend the world past the veil that held them still, where the majesty they had formed could be observed until the slithering crawl of the end swallowed them all whole.

And so the 11 vanished into creation, and the world awaits it’s fated Ascension.”

- from the teachings of Mother Septimus

Followers are called Ascenders- derisively called “Ass-Enders” by those who aren’t part of the faith

Worship eleven creation serpents that will one day bring their world to the center stage and allow them the chance to perceive infinite creation

While in none of the original texts, the Ascenders have come to adopt in the Holy Canon that those who don’t follow the faith will die in a massive rapture event when the snakes return unless they recant the wicked turn of the world and submit to a more Luddite lifestyle

Nothing can ever be as brilliantly made as that which the Serpents themselves created- thus, technological and genetic advancements are seen as affronts to the 11 unless they are used to serve them

Church is divided into two branches- the Wings and the Fangs. The Wings branch practices theological study of the Serpent Sacraments. The Fangs Branch contains the vicious Slayers, fierce warriors that once spread the Virtue of the Serpent in a series of ultra-violent crusades

The Church is mainly consolidated to Aldorf, yet it has incredible sway over the government there, the current head of power merely a puppet of the church’s head

No preferential treatment to men or women, as both were created by the serpent, and therefore must be equally valuable

The game progression is pretty simple even though there are 4 characters since their paths are very similar. Basically they all start with the same beginning; a tutorial mission that allows them to learn the controls while also completing the task and setting off the events of gameplay. After completing this, the characters will receive tasks from certain other characters that allow for story progression, and the completion of each one allows for the next task to open, moving the story along. However, between tasks, the characters can take side quests, train, or simply explore the area while interacting with the characters within their country, for multiple purposes. Talking to people, depending on which character you’re playing and what the context is, can raise moral, help gain information, get side quests and raise your credibility (in the case of the merchant and the Vanator heroes).

The game also allows for characters to develop relationships, but only with select characters. Depending on who you romance, you can gain or lose certain things. Like romancing a scientist might raise your country’s technology, but loses you credibility with the church, and so on.

Depending on who the hero is, the game play differs, and here is where it gets complicated.

• If you play as Mavrock the King; your gameplay mostly consists of manipulation, puzzle and strategy. You will pit your political opponents against each other, strategize your resources and troops and plan out massive moves, be it to conquer, to assist or to destroy. You will occasionally fight, but these scenes are far and few between.

  • Levels up depending on how many people he has manipulated successfully, and the higher you level up, the more people you can bend to your will.

• If you play as Arjun Parkash the Merchant, your gameplay will be more of a mystery and strategy game. When you land in a country, you have to figure out what is going on, who to trade with and who not to trade with, who to trust and who to avoid. In each country you will have the chance to assist refugees, who may or may not be friendly, and who you save changes the later scenes.

  • Levels up based on who well his trade and credibility is, and the higher it is, the faster you can travel and the more cargo you can carry.

• If you play Costine the Vanator, it is a very heavy fighter game with manipulation as well. You have so many enemies, that you are constantly having to fight them off in order to survive while also attempting to win people over and find a way to ensure your people’s survival. Which is tricky when the people you need to convince are the people who want you dead

  • Levels up based on allies you secure and enemies you defeat, and the higher it gets the more damage you can do and what sort of combat you can do.

• If you play as Vester the Commander, you are a mixture of strategy, combat and manipulation (the closest to being like Dragon Age or Mass Effect). Depending on the mission and what it entails, you can strategize formations for your brigade and then execute them in the mission, while also fighting combatants. You also have to ensure that the borders are safe and that death is kept at a minimum.

  • Levels up based on successful missions. When leveling up she gains more strategies to employ in battle and can upgrade the Brigade’s arsenal.

The main gameplay has 3 overall arcs within it that the character plays through; the 1rst crisis, the 2nd and the 3rd. Depending on which character they are, the events differ, but they are intertwined. Each of these arcs deals with the major conflicts unique to each character, and helps move the story along. The 3rd arc finale is where all 4 characters interact the strongest, as that’s the culmination of the game where all the decisions come to a head and result in which ending you receive.

Based on your decisions, you have 3 possible endings per character; the Good, the Peace, and the Bad, each of them differing per person.

Good endings are the ones where all the country’s demands have been met, while maintain some but not all of its good relations and keeping war to a minimum. You might have killed one of the other heroes, but the others are still alive and there’s relative peace.

Peace endings are where you’ve managed to befriend the other 3 heroes and kept war to a minimum, while getting some but not all of the country’s expectations done.

Bad endings are where your country goes to war, and destroys 2 or more of the other heroes, resulting in your country dominating the others for better or for worse.

4 people, 4 countries, each one suffering from a different class of problems, yet all are intertwined. 1 commands an elite squad, loyal to the king to the bitter end. 1 is king of a frozen city in wind and frost. 1 is a traveling merchant, exploring the world for the first time. And 1 fights to prevent the extinction of their very race. Their stories will cross and mingle, and the outcome could very end with the fall of another. This is War.

Play as 1 of 4 heroes, each with differing abilities, and explore the world through their eyes as they struggle to keep their countries and people afloat. Combat opponents in battle and debate, as you strike down and manipulate each of your foes. Establish alliances, break them, romance characters, and explore all the alternate possibilities for the ending. You are the hero.