Clawing At The Walls Of My Enclosure. The Enclosure Is The 2 Week End Of The Semester Period. It Cannot

✦ | To light the darkest of paths.

Three generations.

That's how long it's been since this kingdom was conquered. In a time of great upset, the First Queen led a rebellion against reviled rulers and oppressive laws. Waging war with unmatched cunning, she rallied many powerful soul mages, known as angels, to the cause. From that conflict, the kingdom of Calcherth was born, built on the bones of the old empire. The First Queen ruled with great compassion and wit, but not all sins are forgiven with time. For the deaths she had caused during the war, the First Queen was murdered by the very people she had endeavored to lead.

The loss of its ruler did not spell the end of Calcherth, however. The coup was quickly suppressed, and the First Queen's son took the throne in her place. Now, many years later, the scars on Calcherth's short history have faded, and advances in soul magic improve lives for many within its borders. However, those same advances are viewed as a threat by Calcherth's neighboring kingdom, and many fear war is on the horizon once more. To make matters even more dire, the Second King has suddenly passed away, leaving his youngest son to succeed the throne long before he is old enough.

The effects of these events are so far-reaching, than even you are beginning to feel them, far to the southwest in the remote town of Lest. You are the child of a retired knight of the kingdom, who traded in his sword for the deed to Lest's tavern. The Fool's March, your father has named it, and the humble, but beloved tavern has been the center point of your entire life. But now, with rumblings of war, your father plans to pick up a blade once again, heading to the capital to enlist and leaving you behind in your childhood home. With him no longer by your side, what will you do when a threat to the entire kingdom comes for you? What will you do when you find out you may be a soul mage, yourself?

Those Long Dead is rated 18+ for depictions of swearing, sexual themes, violence, and death. More warnings may be added as development goes on.

Features:

Medieval Fantasy setting with angelic imagery and themes, and a focus on romance.

Adult characters, with the main cast being mid twenties to early thirties.

Customizable MC. Select your first name, last name, pronouns, appearance, orientation and manifestation of powers.

Five romance options of varying gender and personality, who you can interact with as you choose.

More to come as development continues!

Romance Options:

Kaine Breckem (he/him) - The blacksmith's former apprentice, who your father took in and hired at the tavern a few years ago. A kind, but mischievous individual, Kaine cares about others a great deal, but that doesn't stop him from being full of snark. Kaine can be your closest childhood friend, or someone you unfortunately work with; the choice is yours to make. Regardless, he's rather protective of you... but who will protect him when he needs it?

Vermillion "Millie" Lousat (she/her) - A descendant of a noble family, Millie has extensive education and combat training... and is also quite the social butterfly. It doesn't matter if it's the docks or the Gilded District, if you want connections somewhere, Millie has them. She wears her heart on her sleeve and doesn't care about the consequences. Maybe you'll catch her eye, somewhere amidst the mass of other's trying for her affections?

Leon Calcherth (he/him) - Technically a prince, Leon is the standoffish older brother of the Young King, Caleb, but is no longer considered to be in line for the throne. He greatly regrets the situation this has put his younger brother in, as they're very close. Leon is not easy to get close to because of the way he acts, but maybe the prickly prince has a softer side underneath the thorns?

Milo Lance (they/them) - The commander of the Order of Light, and they absolutely live up to the position. Practically raised in Gilramore's guard barracks, Milo's personality tends to come across as stiff and business-like, but in actuality they simply enjoy being effective and to the point. A truly gentle soul in a warrior's suit of armor, if you can persuade them to let down their guard.

Clementene Fairwreight (she/her) - Celementene is a talented soul mage for the Order, but she is a researcher at her heart; field work isn't particularly for her. A slightly nervous disposition and bad eyesight really only add to her penchant to stay within Gilramore's white stone walls. Her surprisingly daring experiments with magic captivate most of her attention, but maybe she'll find something in you that can capture her focus as well?

DEMO (TBA)

FLESH OF THE LAMB.

DEMO - TBA

you don't really remember anything at all, but this much you know: you are a fallen guardian angel, and you need to find who you were meant to protect.

a few problems: you can't recall who you were protecting, and how you failed them. and, of course, you're trapped in a strange isolated town that worships a goddess you don't recognize.

don't fret now, you'll be fine. may you recover your memory, guardian, and untangle the web of secrets you find yourself in.

trigger warnings in detail below the cut.

full character customization: build your appearance, your personality, your divine powers, and choose whether to subscribe to human concepts of gender and sexuality or not.

befriend, antagonize, or romance four main characters: the sacrificial lamb, the weak dog, the bloody devotee, or the fool.

investigate the town you can't seem to leave, and the goddess that hangs over it.

try to recover your memories and make sense of them after that.

take care of some cute sheep.

the sacrificial lamb - the eldest daughter of the town's ruling family. always calm and calculated, upholding order at all costs.

the weak dog - the youngest son of the town's ruling family, not that he would ever associate himself with them. full of charm and wit, he follows his heart and does what he thinks is right.

the bloody devotee - the high priestess to the goddess. confident, cold, and powerful. she doesn't hesitate to go for what she wants, even if she has to step on backs to get there.

the fool - the spoiled heir to most of the farms in town. he's childish and carefree, spending most of his days in the town square singing.

!! trigger warnings !!

prominent themes of violence, animal death, substance use, abuse, manipulation, and suicide.

a character struggles with self-harm and disordered eating.

mild suggestive content.

non-graphic depiction of sexual assault.

this is overall a dark game, and I would not recommend it to those who are easily disturbed.

Nightingale-IF

genre: YA, drama, romance, mystery, urban fantasy, monsters, private academy

Inspiration: Wednesday, Monsterhearts, Euphoria, Locke and Key

Your family name is known for all the wrong reasons. Still, much shock spreads when you are brought before the authorities. The charge? Attempted manslaughter.

The father you have so reviled for his neglect proves useful. He pulls strings and calls for favours and within a fortnight, the charges are dropped.

But you can't stay at home, where you will forever be seen as the kid who got away with murder. Instead, your father sends you off -whether you want to or not- to the Obsidian Academy, which he also attended at your age.

The Obsidian Academy is grim and dark, as if from a whole other era. The residents of the halls are just as peculiar and secretive. Why does your roommate have scratch marks on their wall? Is it your idea or does the Queen Bee have concerningly sharp fangs? And why does everyone keep calling you a 'nightingale'?

Don't get too comfortable yet. For a dark force roams these halls. More and more bodies wind up dead and who knows who will be next? With your reputation and the disappearances starting just when you arrived, you are at the top of everyone's list...

Nightingale is rated 18+ for inappropriate language, sexual themes, use of substances, depictions of violence. (More will be added to the list of trigger warnings as I add more scenes)

FEATURES

Solve a murder mystery with twists and turns. Supernatural of not, the threat of the serial killer is true and ever present. Everyone is in danger. Everyone is a suspect. Even you.

Delve into the secrets of the Obsidian Academy and its residents. Young adults are a mess. Monsters even more so. You would be wise to watch your step, lest the Lady of the Night sinks her fangs in you. Unless you want that of course.

Discover your past. What is your father hiding from you? What happened to your mother? Why do some teachers look upon you with such recognition in their eyes? And what happened that fateful night when you almost claimed a life?Find out what a nightingale is. What it means for you, your relation to the creatures of the night and your fate.

Romance a variety of characters! From the cheery roommate, who mysteriously disappears every full moon, to the Queen Bee whose fangs scare and thrill you, to your guardian angel with horns and even the guy you almost murdered!

Romantic Options

The Roommate: Mace/Macy Walker (gender selectable)

M has welcomed you with open arms into the Obsidian Academy- and into their room. You are sharing a dorm room and so far they have gone out of their way to make your arrival as comfortable as possible. They seem determined to initiate you into their ever growing circle of friends.

Yet the claw marks on the walls imply there is a wilder side to them.

The Queen Bee: Claudia/Claude Fairmont (gender selectable)

C has not spared you a glance. Then again they seem to barely notice anyone but themself. If anything, they seem to dislike you just a little bit more than most. C waltzes around like they own the place and judging by the way everyone bends over to satisfy their whims, they just might be. They grin often and every time they do, you can't resist the urge to let your eyes wander down to their sharp fangs.

Why do they look at you like they know you?

The One You Almost Killed: Amir/Amara Sharma (gender selectable)

The two of you were close. Or your families were at least. Up until now anyway.

The fateful night itself is a blur, but the next morning is clear. You were behind bars and Amir was in the hospital. Bleeding, torn apart, disfigured by your hands.

You thought you would never see him again. Yet here he is. At the Obsidian Academy. Sharing a desk with you.

You are fucking doomed.

The Bodyguard: Lucius/Lucia Winchester (gender selectable)

Despite your repeated protests, you did not arrive to the Obsidian Academy on your own. Your father sent a bodyguard alongside you to guard your every step. You have known Adam for years, but it has only recently dawned on you how little you know about him. He remains your distant, silent guardian angel.

Though he may be the opposite of one.

Asks: Open!

Demo: Soon...

Seven Hard-Won Tips Specifically for Writing Interactive Fiction

This is pretty fun, putting together these lists of writing tips. Today's list is explicitly about interactive fiction.

The trick to writing great interactive fiction that anticipates, foreshadows, introduces themes early, and has interesting choices that set up later events is to *go back and rewrite the earlier chapters* after you’ve written later chapters.  That way you look like a genius who can plot things out way in advance, but in fact, you just went back and made it seem that way.  Good writing is recursive, and that’s just how it is.

I start with an outline, then I write a code skeleton, leaving blanks for the prose, and then go in and fill in the prose.  This way I’m either in code-brain or prose-writing-brain.  I don’t like switching between the two.  Then, after than phase, I go back one more time and I do the callbacks—you know.  Might the main character be wearing a feathered boa in this scene?  Here’s some custom text.  Might the main character be limping?  Here’s some more custom text.  If you do that after you write the prose, you’ll have the leisure to think of anything fun and specific you can use. 

Callbacks tell players that their choices are unique, important, memorable, and valued by the writer.  It tell them that their choices have led them down their own particular path that the writer is rewarding with unique prose.  It doesn’t have to have a stat effect or create a new fork in the narrative.  Great prose is the reward.

Find an group of alpha readers to read your work early and often and then shut up while they read it and just listen to what they say and comment.  You must resist the urge to explain because you won’t be there at everyone’s house when they are playing your game or reading your narrative.

Make rules for yourself about how you are going to name your variables.  Don’t do what I did, with a horrible blend of sometimes calling a chracter “gil” in the variables and sometimes “gilberto”; sometimes “fitz” and sometimes “fitzie”; sometimes “metvyv” and sometimes “met_tabby”—ugh!  This is self-torture.  Don’t do what I did.

Keep your initial creation of variables super organized.  Write comments in there explaining what these variables are and when you might need them.  I comment most when I am creating variables.  You might create a variable in chapter one called “mustardallergy” that you don’t need until chapter eight, so write a comment that says “variables for chapter eight” and stick that “mustardallergy” variable under it.  I didn’t do this for my first games, and I regretted it. 

Use generic variables and make your life easy.  If you are writing a scene at the racetrack, just make a “xrace” modifier and add and subtract to it willy-nilly to represent just general ups and downs of fortune.  Stub your toe?  -5 xrace.  Wear a fine hat?  +8 xrace.  Throw around some money at the bar?  +12 xrace!  Eat some bad shellfish?  -15 xrace! Then add xrace to every test.  It’s a way of tracking just the ups and downs of fortune.  You can omit it when it doesn’t make sense, but it’s just a great way to make tests and rewards and penalties cumulatively meaningful without having to have a billion variables tracking every last *reason* for the rewards and penalties.

Discover more mini-essays about writing interactive fiction, writing in general, and the process of writing the forthcoming Jolly Good series below.

Patreon

Get more from The Noble Gases Club on Patreon

The Noble Gases, est. DCIVMCD

becoming more and more cognizant of my tendency to swing between past and present tense depending on what the feels more fitting. I should probably stop doing that, but y'know whatever really. I'll shimmy with that once I punch out this draft.

DEMO DROP

i did say within the week. here it is; the demo consists currently of only the prologue but will be updated chapter-by-chapter. link here.

FEATURES

🗡 about 9k words (~5k per playthrough)

🗡 customize de vhereste

🗡 get a hint of their backstory...

🗡 become accustomed to their manor and dull way of living, and

🗡 receive a letter (or two?) that disrupts that way of living.

next chapter you can expect:

🗡 to be reunited with a close friend

🗡to realize some very stressful things

🗡 maybe get those runes working again, or reignite that old fire?

I would like to announce

That I got no writing done yesterday

BUT

I thought about writing.

*round of applause*

babygirl your enormous eyebags and just barely noticeable tremor have captivated me

I think Variables are beginning to make sense, just a lil bit. Which is good, happy about that.