Entymology

Cracius is named after an explorer, Hector Cracule from Erenea who sailed and mapped the majority of Tellest.  He was also responsible for the naming of Craceon, in the continent of Saveon, which was discovered first.

Geography and Environment

Cracius is bordered by mountains on its northwest and southeast, and by the countries of Raleigh on its west, and Warus on its south.  The ocean also borders it on its northeast, though several islands that are possessed by the different Draconian countries sit in that area.

Parts of the country are significantly colder than many of the other places in Draconis, due to the high elevation.  The capital of Cracius, Vessa, sits high up at the top of the plateaus of the country, exposed to wind and snow.

The majority of the civilized part of the country is moderate, and contains many forests and plains, as well as large lakes and rivers.

Races

Because of the cold weather within much of Cracius, not many races actively live there.  The country was originally inhabited by humans, dwarves, elves, avarians, nagas and harpies.  The humans, elves and avarians all live at different altitudes, but the nagas and harpies only live at the plateau level or higher, leaving the elves relatively safe.  Most of the dwarves left Cracius several centuries earlier.

History

Early History

Cracius was the turning point for race diplomacy upon the continent of Draconis, especially among the three prime races.  The elves of Cracius were among some of the friendliest toward the humans, and the dwarves and humans fulfilled a symbiotic relationship of trades.  The avarians also expressed friendliness toward the other races.

The naga and harpies helped to solidify the companionship between the four goodly races of the country.  Being common enemies, it united humans, dwarves, elves and avarians, who fought diligently against the naga and harpies for centuries.

The Dark Prophecy

On Flamedays, 23, 917, an avarian named Braccada fell from the sky, landing within the fire of a dwarven camp that was on its way to a new mine which had been built in northeastern Cracius.  The dwarves thought that they were under attack by some unseen force, which only left Braccada in the fire longer, causing him grievous wounds.

Eventually, the dwarves rescued the avarian from the campfire, opting to bring him to the nearby elven city of Quen’allur for healing.  On the way there, Braccada was irrefutably weak, whispering in an unknown language to the dwarves.  When he was given to the care of the elves, they discovered that Braccada was speaking the language of the highborne harpies, known for their precognitive abilities.

A group of dwarves and elves transcribed, as best they could, the words Braccada was speaking, and began their travels to find the highborne harpies, passing through human settlements as they went.  When ascending Cracius, the group stayed at Prassa, the human capital.  Reginald Fagan, a leader of the humans, joined their ranks.  Eventually they passed through avarian territory as well, and two of the bird-people joined with them as well while they made their way to see the highborne.

The group reached the highborne harpies on the 14^th of Obsil, 917, and finally told their tale.  Several of the companions had fallen to vicious enemies upon their journey, and the harpies, unbelievably, were gracious hosts to the fellowship.  When the dwarves and elves shared their transcribed message from Braccada, however, the harpies quickly changed their stance.

Braccada’s message alluded to a great evil falling upon Cracius, which would pit all the races against each other.  It all hinged on one human, who the harpies believed to be the son of Reginald Fagan.  However, when he confirmed that he had no son, his companions aided him against the highborne.  The message translated, the group fled for safety, leaving the harpies to their madness.

Over the next several months, all of the surviving members of the fellowship returned home.  Upon returning home, Reginald was named a successor to the human throne of Cracius.  However, when his wife was summoned to Prassa, Reginald discovered his wife pregnant, and near to her delivery date.

Aversion

To try and avoid the prophecy of the highborne, Reginald Fagan had his unborn child killed while in the womb through the art of magic.  His wife became mad and eventually committed suicide.

Still, Braccada’s words were being uttered, despite Reginald’s sacrifice.  After several years, Reginald was driven to solitude, and disappeared, never to be seen again.

The Exodus of the Dwarves

The dwarves of Cracius had grown fearful of the prophetic words of their avarian guest, and prepared to leave the country.  A statue of Braccada was erected at the entrance of the dwarven tunnels, blocking access to it.

The race left Cracius within the year, bringing Braccada with them.  The dwarves traveled southwest toward Daltain, where many of them made their home.  In the absence of the dwarves and their avarian seer, fear was quelled, and silence once again fell upon the country.

The Bastard Son

Years later, a woman came forward with a kingdom shattering revelation.  She had bore the son of Reginald Fagan out of wedlock, confirming that she was his mistress.  Her son, Warrick, was the rightful heir to Reginald, and the true successor to the throne.

To help alleviate any fears that Braccada’s prophecy would come true, the council at Prassa decided to allow Warrick to rule under their guidance.  Since the disappearance of Reginald, the council had looked after Cracius without a figurehead leader, but would guide Warrick’s hand, in an effort to avoid the dark omens of the past.

The Journey of Enlightenment

As Warrick grew, he was told of the terrible prophecy surrounding the origins of his birth.  He trained to be a strong, benevolent, and levelheaded ruler, who the humans, and even the elves and avarians could come to depend on.

But still, the prophecy ate away at him.

Warrick wanted to prove Braccada wrong.  He wanted to let history see him as the do-gooder he was, and not as the potential cause of Cracius’ internal strife.  He wanted to be seen as a hero, and began his search for his own path, leaving Cracius under the care of the council that had worked hard at molding him into the gracious king he had become.

Around that time, Roark, the fallen king of Blacklehn, was raised by his curse, once again bringing his blight about Draconis.  Warrick joined forces with several other heroes, and worked to drive Roark back into the depths from whence he came.  Accounts even claim that it was Warrick who delivered the death blow to the undead ruler.

The Return of the King

When Warrick returned to Cracius, his deeds united the country more than anyone could have dreamed.  Through his personal quest, he had helped to solidify diplomatic relations that had proved the prophecy of Braccada to be false.

With his mind at ease, Warrick let life take him down other paths.  He became a husband, and a father.  He began extending his reach to the ocean east of the country, assembling the most powerful navy in Draconis’ history.  He then set to train the world’s greatest army, seeking to avoid any incident like the rise of Roark ever again.

The Curse of the Fallen King

All was not at peace within Cracius.  Day after day, Warrick was changing.  Some say that it was because of the stress of the fight with Roark, the nightmares that came from that encounter.  His family was the first to notice it, his personal behavior changing well before that stature of his ruling.  His wife, the queen, was often on diplomatic errands to other countries, and his son, Artemis, was training with the navy and military, honing his skills as a warrior and tactician.

Finally, Warrick Fagan snapped.  He ordered the capture of all of the other races within Cracius, not just the naga and the harpies, but the avarians and the elves as well.  He had many reasons for his decisions, but all were disjointed and chaotic.  Members of his military mutinied, disappearing within the wilderness of the country, and they too, became sought for capture.

Warrick’s wife reached out for aid, realizing that Braccada, the avarian seer, had predicted the future correctly.  Her husband, her king, had become the tyrant the prophecy had foretold.

Warrick found himself standing against the same heroes that he had fought beside against Roark.  After personal struggles, as well as a great war that pitted Warrick’s loyal military against that of Raleigh, and the liberated elves and avarians, as well as dwarves from Daltain and kobolds from Warus, the king of Cracius was slain.

Rebuilding

Warrick’s son Artemis took the throne of Cracius, aware that the stigma of his family line sat against him.  But he took the first steps to alleviate some of the pains of his ancestors’ terrible decisions.  He released all the surviving prisoners of his father’s tyrannical schemes, including the naga and the harpies, hoping that it would give them some common ground in the future.  He redistributed the land for the other races as well, withdrawing his forces from their territories.

Cracius also disbanded most of its military, as well as its naval fleets.  Many of the ships still commissioned became escorts for merchant ships.  Artemis wanted to show Draconis that it did not intend to begin another war.

Present Day

Artemis Fagan is still the ruler of Cracius.  Though he is a young ruler, he is greatly respected and admired for his decisions.

Unfortunately, race relations within Cracius are strained.  None of the races are especially trusting of each other, although the humans are trying the hardest to restore the country to the state of peace and coexistence that was established toward the beginning of Warrick’s rule.

The post Cracius appeared first on Tellest.

There are so many other reasons to try to pull away from the novel format as well.  Timing is very important, and if I jumped into every character’s past, I’d never be able to get to the details of their unraveling future.  One of the ways to try to circumvent that problem is to find a different way to pace it correctly.  I’ve long dreamed about giving a few stories a videogame treatment.  It’s a cool way to connect some of the dots, and it really does lean on the Tellest mantra, The World is in Your Hands.  When someone is playing a game, the choices are ultimately theirs to make – I want to give people the opportunity to develop tried and true characters in meaningful ways.  Without any further ramblings from the madman, here are the ten storylines that I would want to tell through videogames:

10. Naryx, the Devourer

Every now and then, you want to take a step away from what’s been established.  While rockbiters have been mentioned and seen in As Darkness Falls and The Enemy Within, we don’t get to learn much about them, other than the fact that they have a voracious appetite, and a fear of “keyzaks”.

Devour was going to be my first game.  I was working in tandem with a programmer, and was in talks with artists and musicians.  We were going to tell a story about aspirations.  It would have presented the truth that sometimes, wanting something bad enough can help you become the best there is.

Unfortunately, due to a lack of any solid financial foothold, my programmer flaked and left the project.  Rather than pick up from the same place with someone new, I’m going to wait until I’ve got a thicker wallet, and begin Devour anew.

9. Gomp

You may remember Gomp as the blind dwarf from the Child of the Stars trilogy.  He’s mostly there to show the importance of family, although he does have his own moment a few times during The Enemy Within.  But there’s also some references to him being a hero among his people, and we never really get to observe that.

Gomp’s story is going to be intriguing to show through a game because his tale would be told by him.  If you’re familiar with the term u”nreliable narrator”, Gomp would certainly fit the bill.  But that would be through no fault of his own.  To put a twist on the game, you’d have him telling his story to a swarm of children.  The children would interrupt the story, as they are prone to do, with their own interpretations and suggestions, altering the landscape and realism of the tale.  It would be a way for me to bring a kind of playful ridiculousness to the Tellest universe.

8. Escape

Sometimes, you want to go in the exact opposite direction with a story.  You want to open up the game with no details.  In Escape, you would wake up inside a dreary old castle.  Your character, who knows nothing about themselves, must work to find their way from the place.  It would start with a very linear feeling, but as the game progresses, you’d realize that it was like an expansive dungeon from Legend of Zelda.  You’d have to use your intuition in conjunction with a pile of items to make your way out.  But of course, nothing is ever that easy… 

7. Christopher

Christopher Linus is the kind of character that has had most of his backstory laid out for the readers.  We know that Juramentado utterly destroyed his entire village to come up with fodder for his undead army, but we never truly experienced that.  We’ve seen the end result – Christopher is left with many scars, and it has led him down the path he currently walks (serious, he’s badass when it comes to dealing with the undead).  But I’d venture to say that the journey is always more important than the destination.

We’d be able to see the events unfolding.  Juramentado’s first attack, Christopher’s escape, another survivor perhaps…

And then you could really throw the whole thing on its head by showing you an alternate point of view… where Juramentado is the character that you play as.

6. Knights of Virtue

They’re one of the more interesting groups I have, but the Knights of Virtue have been very mum on their past endeavors.  The most important thing they’re known for is their thwarting of Roark, the former leader of Blacklehn.

Just as important as the rise and fall of a tyrannical dictator, however, is the introduction of these characters to each other.  I want to give the Knights of Virtue game a very typical old-school RPG feeling, where you get to witness the first moments of a lot of these people coming together.  It could be beautiful, and it could be tragic – we’ve seen seven of the Knights of Virtue, and we know that one of the originals is no longer living by The Bindings of Fate.  Just because the game would follow the Knights of Virtue, however, that doesn’t mean that there weren’t others of importance that may have fallen…

5. Shards of Tellest

I am an absolute nerd.  There’s no way around that truth.  You know it by now, and I’ve known it all my life.  So rather than trying to avoid it, I would love to just wholeheartedly embrace it.

I’m a huge fan of time travel.  More than that, I’m a huge fan of alternate realities – alternate futures, pasts, presents – it’s all gravy.  Shards of Tellest would basically be an excuse to turn Tellest on its head without breaking the canon version and throwing everything into disarray.

Shards would have such ambitious goals, that it may be one of my “golden dreams” as far as games go.  The game would be massively mobile – that is to say that everyone would be able to play it on their smartphones.  Rather than focus entirely on the smaller, more intimate details, you’d give players the opportunity to create fantastic armies out of the Tellest cast (as well as the goodly races and creatures in the universe).  People would be able to chat and trade items and units.  Occasionally, you’d have limited events that allow the players to interact more fully with each other – PVP events, team events, etc..

The best part about it is that the concept lends itself so wonderfully to a persistent, growing fantasy.  You never really have to end the game (although I’d suppose a primary campaign would help to put a tack in it).  It could be a hauntingly beautiful companion piece to the main stories.

4. Defense of Sentinel Pass

Zachariah Caista was a bit of a fan favorite in The Bindings of Fate, and we know through his conversations with Kaos that his brother, Stephen, played a big part in the expanded universe.  Unfortunately, Stephen can no longer lend his character to the expanding future of Tellest.

Instead, he let’s us look into the past.

We know, from reading The Enemy Within, that the Sentinel Pass has been heavily contested for years.  Raleigh and Blacklehn have been at odds within the mountain pass for longer than some of the characters have been alive, and Stephen had a big part to play in that.

I’ve always loved tower defense games.  It’s only been recently, however, that any significant story has been established in any of them.  Defense of Sentinel Pass would be a perfect way to aid in some critical character development.  Pendrich and Kain would be awesome characters to expand on, but ultimately, the game would give us a decent insight to Stephen, and how he went from expert swordsman, who trained Michael Kreegan, to a General in Raleigh’s army against the country to the north.

3. Steel Tip

Ahh, Steel Tip.  Fan favorite among many.  The ranger has a kind of attitude that people flock to.  He has this bountiful charisma that just oozes with confidence, and that comes from a combination of being a little wet behind the ears, and a hearty identity crisis.

Steel Tip’s game would focus on the time period after he first arrives on mainland Draconis.  We know that he ended up fighting in the war against Ippius and Blacklehn, alongside his friend Kaos.  But there was a time before that when he was trying to test his mettle against other forces of evil.

His story would help to expand on his past, but it would also help to stitch some smaller storylines together.  We would see how he acquired that quiver of endless arrows.  The player would have firsthand knowledge of bits and pieces of the ranger’s prior motives.  And his is the kind of story that could mix in a lot of other things that I’ve dialed back on, such as the other races on Tellest, some special kinds of magic, and so on.

2. Kaos

Child of the Stars trilogy Kaos is kind of an anomaly for me.  He’s clearly a strawman of me – there’s no denying that.  Because of that, I tried to embody in him the sort of traits that I value in a person.  He’s morally obligated to situations, he’s clever, he’s brave – he’s a damned boy scout.  And that is utterly disgusting.  It’s hard for a lot of people to find him interesting as a character because he is so perfect.  That’s why, by the end of the trilogy, I had to break him down.  I had to take Kaos from someone who I aspired to be, to someone who questions his own morality, someone who toes the line between what is right, and what is necessary.  Too many times Kaos has a choice that is convenient and morally white.

The beauty of his past is that Kaos has been broken before.  When his family was murdered, he was at rock bottom.  He felt alone, weak and scared, and it was a slow, hesitant climb before he became the person we saw in The Bindings of Fate and As Darkness Falls.  When everything falls to shit for him, you can bet your ass he’s going to withdraw back into his old habits.

But as of now, we haven’t seen the implications of Kaos as a broken man, or even a man in the middle of recovering.  It’d be nice to see him somewhere in the middle, where he’s unsure of himself, and not nearly as confident in his abilities or his propensity to survive any situation.

We also know that he has some pretty cool artifacts, but we don’t know how he happened upon them.  It would be cool to delve a little deeper into that.  A game would be the perfect opportunity to do some fun things with the Sky Talon and the Iron Kiss.  I would try my damnedest to make Kaos’ story into a fun metroidvania, and the story would not disappoint.

1. MMO

The Big Daddy.  This is the ultimate goal for cohesion between gaming and Tellest, at least for now.  The world that I began created thirteen years ago is big enough to do so many things with, and while it may take thirteen or twenty or fifty more years to get it ripe for such things, an MMORPG is a logical step for the universe.

Imagine being able to make a new story with players in mind.  Consider the fact that there are so many established people and places that the possibilities are endless.  It would be so fun developing quests that led people into forgotten areas.  There are so many ways that you can develop logical fan service, and it gives people the opportunity to grow alongside the heroes of Tellest.

I also don’t thing there’s any better means to really get into the whole Tellest mantra.  The World is in Your Hands.  Consider what it would really mean for a videogame world when that idea holds true.

There’s a good chance that many of these will never end up seeing the light of day.  Though Tellest is growing more and more as the years go by, the reality is that these things take money.  I’ve thought on dozens of occasions that I had an idea that was effortlessly brilliant, only to see a slow burn instead.

On the flip side, even if these ten games were all released and did wonderfully, that’s not to say that I don’t have others in mind.  These are just the ten that are rolling around on the top of my brain.  And these ideas are mine alone – can you imagine the kinds of things that could happen if you combined my imagination with a brilliant artist or a programming genius?

Scary.

The post The Top 10 Storylines I want to tell through Videogames appeared first on Tellest.