“You who have struck Order from the sky now shrink from the wrath of Chaos?”
Hey guys, PhoenixRadiant here, thought I’d finally pick a project and stick to it, and so after working on it enough that I’m confident it’s going somewhere, I figured making a post on here wouldn’t hurt. Full disclosure, this project going somewhere does not mean it’s going anywhere fast. My primary creative project for the foreseeable future is going to be a book, but whenever I don’t feel motivated to work on that I’ll come back to this and get some work done. Anyways, here’s all the story related stuff:
Inspiration
I figure I need to give some credit for the ideas that led to this. The main trio takes a whole lot of initial inspiration from the cast of FFIV (no Red Wings or airships though, not really my style), both in personality and in circumstance, and some elements of the early plot are inspired from that too. Thematically and tonally, I’m hoping for a bit of Brandon Sanderson, with a sort of gritty idealism punctuated by moments of humor.
I’m decently sure I can claim a sliver of originality for the setting, though. Pretty proud of that.
Plot Blurb
After returning from a battle against a horde of wild monsters in the depths of the earth, an unfortunately common occurrence, a young captain of Telreth’s Order Knights is looking forward to a break. He just has one routine patrol to complete before he can relax for awhile. Surely nothing can go wrong, right?
Oh, and don’t ask why it’s called Brothers’ Blood, I’m sure that’s just vague and misleading. Right?
Setting
Esuaudar, the world once whole, fractured into a thousand continents spread across the endless sea. Each of these vast swaths of land is surrounded by a circular tempest, barring the lands of man from reaching one another. For Order is dead, Order is dead and it is man who has killed her, and now her sister Chaos rages against mankind while her brothers shield them, though whether to prolong their suffering or out of love for Order’s creations is not ours to speculate.
Telreth, the Land of the Open Sky, is marked by two defining features: the first is that every Telrethain is born as a twin (or occasionally a triplet), and second, that everybody can use magic to some degree. But this great blessing is not given without reason, for the numbers and strength are needed. The ground beneath the fertile hills is one of many strongholds of Chaos’ spawn, monsters that seek to destroy mankind. The beasts need not struggle so; if all is as it seems, mankind is soon to destroy itself.
Main Characters
Andil:
Andil lost his twin sister- and his mother and father- to disease in a time before memory. His uncle, unsure what to do with a child at all, much less a Twinless, entrusted him to the King’s ward, where he was raised alongside another Twinless boy and taught to become a knight. Years later, Andil became a captain of Telreth’s Order Knights, making quite a name for himself by strength and gallantry.
Daeser:
Whereas Order Knights lack an affinity for any particular realm of magic, Blue Knights have access to abilities not all possess: the power of transformation. As one of their captains, Daeser accompanies Andil often, his wit and unparalleled devotion hiding his vicious, bestial side well.
Anlana (Portrait credit goes to Nobody):
Anlana lost her brother later in her childhood than Andil or Daeser, but it left a mark on her nonetheless. At fourteen she entered into the King’s ward less for the companionship of another twin and more for access to magical training. Now, as head of Castle Telreth’s healers, she works day and night to ensure no one has to feel the regret she hides in her soul.
And now for the actual gameplay stuff!
Features
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One of your three main lords is primarily a healer/support unit. She’s gonna have some attacks so the game doesn’t softlock if the rest of her party dies, but she’s still a healer.
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Related: there’s a party split. Not a route split like FE8, but a party split more akin to Gaiden/SoV. Just two parties, Daeser doesn’t get one of his own. Not sure how that’ll interface with the overworld quite yet, but the great thing about LT is that if it doesn’t work there’s always engine hacking.
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No Durability: It just makes everything less of a hassle. Special weapons, like horseslayers and shamshirs, might still have durability, haven’t decided. What this means though is that steel and silver weapons will be harder to come by since you never have to replace them.
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Skills: I know really complicated/numerous skills bug some people (I’m some people), but I’m hoping to keep things from getting bloated while still using skills to add some flair.
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Accessories: Each character is going to have two slots for accessory items. I wasn’t quite so sure about that when I started, but I’ve been playing some Tweed Emblem recently and realized just how cool they can actually be.
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Personal Spell Lists: They’re either going to be hidden skills or some sort of multi-item, but either way, personal spell lists, and most of your units will have at least one spell (even the physical classes), though it may not always be an attack spell.
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Supports! C-A with between 3-5 S-ranks for the primary/semi-main couples (Read: the ones I like the most ['Tis good to be the writer]). Writing is my favorite part of the design process, and getting to write character interactions to my heart’s content has been great so far and will continue to be great!
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Chapter Count: A lot idk I’m not a compulsive planner and that’s definitely going to bite me in the butt one day.
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Current Chapter Count: Prologue, Prelude, and half of Ch1 (There’s a reason this is in Concepts instead of Projects proper)
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Stuff from the Repo. A lot of it. Y’all are great and have provided all these resources and I’m gonna use 'em!
Outlines
Figured this would be a good place to slap a simple outline, both for my benefit because I mostly keep information all in my head, and for y’all’s if you just want extra information or something. Spoilers, read at your own risk, etc.
Plot Outline
Part 1: Prologue-Ch3:
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Andil and Daeser repel an army of monsters, and, once the battle has concluded, return to their home, Castle Telreth. They hardly have time to settle in, however, when one of Andil’s men informs him the king has authorized the two of them to go on patrol to train two promising mages. The ulterior motives for such a journey are hinted at, specifically that this trip was specifically requested by Andil. After visiting the Halls of the Twinless to meet up with the trainees, they depart.
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Not long into the journey, a distressed woman stops them along the road, asking for an escort to a cave where refugees from a destroyed village are hiding from bandits. Daeser flies her over while Andil, Balorin, and Vexorin search some ruins for a trace of the bandits. They find a small child, and when they ask if he wants to be taken to the cave. He panics, and eventually reveals that the cave is the bandit hideout. Andil and the mage twins prepare themselves to fight, while Daeser, ambushed by the ruffians, shelters in a lone grotto. The battle is interrupted by the arrival of Jael and Malcia, who are convinced to join in subduing the bandits. After eliminating the vanguard, the team pushes inside the cave. There they find three magical items: a sword, a pendant, and a vial. (Optional: strange spirits in each challenge the heroes to a battle in the phantom realm. Winning empowers the items.)
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For reasons unknown but suggested to be because Daeser owes Malcia some sort of debt, she and her sister accompany the patrol to Pashtadorin, where the villagers challenge Andil to a series of tests. Halfway through, a pack of hellhounds raids the village. Having subdued them, Andil is gladly offered a red gem by a boy known as Ran. The group departs, but before long the earth itself shakes, and a deep fog shrouds the road in darkness.
Gameplay Outline
Prologue:
Objective- defend the gate for 5 turns
Units- 4 (Andil, Daeser, Temir, Apt)
Prelude:
Objective- Free roam, speak to Daeser
Units- 1 (Andil)
Stat increase by speaking w/ Harthas
Lancereaver gained by speaking w/ Vexorin
Ch1:
Objective- Defeat Caff
Units- 4 (Andil, Daeser, Vexorin, Balorin) 2 to gain (Jael & Malcia)
Ch2:
Objective- Rout
Units- 6 (Same as Ch1)
Three Phantom items dropped by the three bosses.
Vuln dropped by thief who tries to escape.
Spirit dust earned by saving captured villagers.
Ch2x unlocked if Malcia and Balorin are both alive at the end
Ch2x:
Objective- Kill the Phantom Lords
Units- Choose 4
Only bosses give XP
Victory improves the phantom weapons
Ch3:
Objective1a- Solve the riddle
Objective1b- Subdue the wrestler
Objective1c- Capture the flag
Objective2- Kill the Alpha
Units- 5 (Andil, Vexorin, Balorin, Jael, Malcia), 1 reinforcement (Daeser), 1 to gain (Ran)
This post is subject to being edited. A lot. Both to add information as more stuff gets completed and to change anything I decided I don’t like.
Cheers,
PhoenixRadiant