Progress Report July I

Sup guys! Unfortunately, not ready to release.

I mean sure, the weather has been sorta tricky at the start (frequent black outs in the villages near Los Mochis, Sinaloa) but I just switched from desktop to laptop so i dont lose any progress from sudden power outages. Only lost progress the first time.

I wasnt aware of the rainy storm season and its effects on the grid here as I was only visiting in the winter months beforehand.

Hell, since I sometimes lose internet access at random, I downloaded Kiwix to have access to an offline wiki when I need information regarding stuff like Philosophy (as youll see why in an example down below). I highly recommend this if you want to download wikipedia! Just good to have imo.

Anyways, enough about that:

Let's see, from where you guys left off..

Master Feren tells us some words of wisdom, but-

He gets cut off by Baraka!

Baraka will be a very interesting character to write in the future, especially as you'll soon find out more about his beliefs. Master Feren can be described more as a rock, steady and sure of the ground around him and in tune with nature.

Baraka however, questions everything and distrusts the world around him, especially people.

...as you can see.

The philosophy of the two scholars reflect the environment around them, as it has affected the philosophers in the centuries before them. They're surrounded by nobility who possess the ability to impose their will, who have been literally Blessed by the Goddess.

This has then formed the basis of what we here on Earth call the "Great Man Theory", in Narethian Philosophy.

Know however, that Master Feren refers to them as "Heroes" and Baraka "Shepherds".

But HOW this "Great Man Theory" philosophy should be approached by said "great people" is what is up for discussion by the great thinkers of the day.

Baraka is unique in that he says "fuck that great man shit" and pushes for the law itself to be supreme.

Like the story says, this has created backlash enough for him to be quiet with those ideas... at least until the day arrives society is turned upside down, and "great men" begin waging endless war with one another.

You'll find out more about this as you can choose whether or not to align yourself with one way of thinking or not. For now, because I'm still unsure whether or not to make it more important (ie make more work for myself), it only affects faction relationships and character relationships while also explaining the history regarding the two ideologies.

This may seem a bit unnecessary right now, but the philosophy aspect is integral for the characters of the story, particularly Belthean characters.

Moving on...

You then move the scene along, either putting in your own input or by just hurrying them along to see your father.

We finally see dad again, and find him hard at work. Baraka and Master Feren already know that the kingdom will change once all this business is over, but they know not how. And theyre right to not guess, as our decisions in the three routes will domino effect into the future in ways unforeseen.

DISCLAIMER: I'm honestly not sure about having the physical traits be used yet/at all. It's part of the reason i've been "slower" for this week as ive been judging and tinkering with how to utilize it. The MC is already canonically beautiful/handsome, and they're set as at least having an athletic build no matter the route. It really doesn't help that it's alot of coding/branching, and it could slow progress down further. I really want to hear your thoughts first before coming to a conclusion and deciding whether or not to keep it. For now, as of this Progress Update drop, i'll simply continue with the story in the Squire Route so im not bogged down at this section anymore.

Physical variables!

I almost went with the decision of being super accommodating and letting players pick the exact height they wanted, and then categorizing the trait groups but that was a bit too much. Instead, there's three choices in regards to height!

GIANT: You're what people think of when imagining the Wreathed.

Normal: Due to Argentian ancestry youre still considered tall to Beltheans.

GREMLIN:

If i go with this height system, it will let me actually have fun with the flavor text/reactions/changes in scenes so i enjoy writing said scenes! Just again, please remember that this may not stick for the actual update release.

Then of course you have the option of choosing between Muscular or Lean.

If you think muscles are gross, just pick lean lol

For now, I dont think you should be able to choose to NOT be physically fit. It just doesnt make sense story-wise. If you wanna try to convince me, you can try but no promises. Remember, i may even remove the options altogether due to scope-creep issues.

Again, there COULD be more variables in the future that detail more physical characteristics such as bust and rear size, however that is not very important to the story yet. Also consider we are 14 years old in the story thus far, it's uncomfortable on my part to describe the MC as having an hour-glass figure, a femboy, etc.

So those details would appear later.

For now, I have the scene with Uriel explaining the problems with the kingdom and how our grandfather is coming back from his duties with the church to aid us, and the start of the Squire Route of us meeting the other Squires. It's going through changes atm due to me being really stumped lately with this physical trait question since there's alot of lil bits where they comment on your size.

The above, plus the Squire Route sequence, all total around 6k words atm, and alot of it is/was spread out in choice trees or *if statements (being half the reason for no update yet since there's barely enough for about 20 min of playthrough from where you left off)

That's why im just jumping ahead from that scene forward until i hear a bit from yall! I'm lucky enough that the Squire Route stuff is like, just working for me in terms of easy writing and smooth going. It's just more fun yanno?

Maybe I don't feel confident about the physical traits stuff cause I just wanna deliver updates and I know that would slow me down. It's also frustrating to have spent so much time on this with little to show for it to the point im moving forward in the story without an update for yall.

Sorry guys.

Another important thing, I'm returning to the states Monday!

Normally I'd be excited, but I'm really worried about coming back due to my Mexican heritage (am citizen but racial profiling be like...) I'm really hoping it all goes well and the process works as it should.

If however I actually get sent to the gulag...

Please, youll probably be my only hope at that point lmfao

The poll ends in 24 hours from now. I need to hear what yall think first so I can properly fix everything as soon as possible and continue correctly.