Bel Canto de Myth

[Gypsy]

Bel Canto de Myth


Intro

This could be considered a light version of a Flash project I'm working on. It's basically an elaborate "choose your own adventure" story. I need to test my outline and choice webbing, so what better way than releasing a sort of beta version on CAA? It won't include Flash elements, obviously, but I should have some images up soon.

This will (hopefully) appeal to those that like rpgs that are character driven. Don't expect anything mind shatteringly original, because this is, again, only in the testing stages. It's your basic party going on a quest story, but depending on the choices that are made, you'll be able to dig further into each character's personalities. They all have events and secrets that can only be unlocked by a specific choice sequence.

In the big version, there's a main character choice, and the story will be told specifically through that character. I haven't even begun to work on this part yet, because doing a narrator point of view is hard enough. So, as you may have just deduced, the story will steered more by the changing of plot rather than a single character's decisions.

I'll warn you, there may be some mistakes and hitches in the story flow. I'll also get a map up as soon as possible. It's still in the sketching stages and has notes written all over it. Anyway, there will be a corresponding post that I'll keep posting polls and such on. That is also where the discussions (if any) probably should be held in order to keep the story flow going.

Comments are most welcome. I don't claim to be the best writer on earth, but also keep in mind that I'm trying to keep the story segments short and sweet, yet at the same time interesting. So, I'm not shooting for an awesome literary achievement. The characters are pretty stereotypical for the rpg genre, but I did integrate some original stuff without making it totally confusing.

I'll try to update at least every other day. That will give everyone interested a chance to vote, and give me a chance to follow my story grid and make the needed adjustments. Also, I'll be posting the character art very shortly.

***EDIT***
Here's the link to the currently available character art.
*********

Setting

The story takes place in a fantasy like setting. Magic does exist, but it's not very common, and there are few left that can wield it. There are the typical fantasy races, such as elves, halfings, dwarves, sprites, fairies, orcs, giants and such.

Characters

Ezekiel

Race: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 20
Height: 5'11"
Occupation: Shepherd
Background Story: Ezekiel lived in a small simple town, Trao, all of his life. His father had died a few years previously, so he took care of his mother and younger sister. One day, when he was out watching his family's flock of sheep, warlords attacked and destroyed his village. Seeing the smoke in the distance, Ezekiel raced home, only to find his mother and sister slaughtered and his home burned to the ground. An overwhelming hatred overcame him, and he craved the blood of the men that destroyed Trao. Turning his back on the ruin behind him, Ezekiel set out in search of these men.
Art: When Ezekiel is in danger, his inner rage will overtake him to make him stronger, faster, and reckless.
Weapon: A fire-hardened staff with brick attached to one end.


Tryce

Race: Half-elf
Gender: Male
Age:25
Height:6'5"
Occupation: Independent Mercenary
Background Story: Tryce came from a long line of fearless men that were part of the Roudukin mercenary tribe. However, when his father fell in love with an elf and had a child through her, his family was cut off from the Roudukin tribe forever. Since fighting for money was in his blood, Tryce would have chosen no other profession. However, he has a very strong set of personal morals as to who he works for and what kind of jobs he takes. However, for all his bold and daring ways, he is quick to despair in tough situations and becomes very cynical. The only thing Tryce likes more than money is women.
Art: Specializing in close combat, Tryce will gracefully dominate a fight with lightning-quick combination attacks. His mixed heritage gives him the deadly blend of both speed and strength.
Weapon: Knives and blades of many sorts that are disclosed all over his body.


Roux

Race: Elf
Gender: Female
Age: unknown
Height:6'1"
Occupation: Scout
Background Story: Roux (pronounced "Ru") is a carefree traveler. She wanders the land for the simple purpose of seeing all that there is to be seen. While she claims that she can't abide humans, she seems very interested in their affairs and will intervene whenever she sees fit. Despite her condescending haughtiness, Roux's fascination with humans seems to go deeper than mere curiosity.
Art: Although Roux prefers to be on the outskirts of a fight, her incredible swiftness makes her an impossible target.
Weapon: Like any traditional elf, Roux prefers her bow and quiver above any other form of weapon.


Sherwin

Race: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 26
Height 6'1"
Occupation: Cleric
Background Story: Well versed in the Book of Light, Sherwin travels the land with Blythe and spreads Elohim's light and wisdom. He's very insightful to other people's needs and will often overlook his own needs because of this. He lives only to serve and is a constant source of humility. However, sometimes this humility warps into uncertainty, giving Sherwin a varying sense of confidence. While Blythe is there to reassure and encourage him, sometimes the only thing that will put his mind to rest is safety seeing a conflict come to a close.
Art: Sherwin's insight and wisdom allows him to see clearly people's true hearts and intentions. His advice and guidance is never to be taken lightly, nor is his knowledge of the ways of Elohim.
Weapon: Although he is peaceful by nature and occupation, all clerics are taught a mixed form of martial arts in order to protect themselves and their chanter. Also, the large Book of Light goes anywhere that Sherwin does.


Blythe

Race: Human
Gender: Female
Age: 22
Height: 5'9"
Occupation: Chanter
Background Story: Blythe is the chanter that travels with Sherwin. Her voice is unmatched in beauty, especially when she is singing just for Elohim. She loves nature and all growing things. When she was training to be a chanter, it was said that her pure voice made her lyrewand* grow faster than ever heard of. Many clerics hoped to have her as their chanter, but the elders finally chose her for Sherwin. While she excelled in Seminary*, and her achievements were well known, her past prior to becoming a chanter is a mystery.
Art: Blythe's specialty is healing with her songs. Her voice may also be used to give others courage and to dispel fears.
Weapon: As a Chanter of Elohim, Blythe possesses no fighting skills. However, she does need her lyrewand to sing with.


Shine

Race: Human
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Height: 5'
Occupation: Maid
Background Story: For as long as Shine can remember, she's lived inside the impenetrable walls of her Lady's castle. Her favorite pastime was to sit on the parfaits and dream about what adventures the lands in the distance held. One day, she was one of the servants chosen to accompany the Lady to a distant country. While travelling through a thick wilderness, a band of thieves attacked the caravan. In the confusion and fray, Shine was separated and left behind. Although the thought of learning how to take care of herself in a strange new world is daunting and scary, Shine's adventurous spirit is up to the task.
Art: None, but she could clean a room faster than any of the other maids in the castle.


*Of Clerics and Chanters

Clerics are sort of like travelling priests. They go from town to town to aid the poor, and they’ll always help travelers on their way. A cleric is rarely seen without a chanter. Chanters are a sort of spiritual bard. Their songs and ballads add new life to truths of Elohim that the cleric tries to show. The occupation of being either chanter or cleric is not limited or defined by a gender role.

A lyrewand is a living staff that the chanters use for instrumental accompaniment. As they train to be a chanter, they plant, sing to, and grow their own. Many chanters will train a small flower vines or ivy to grow around their lyrewand. Once they become a full-fledged chanter, their lyrewand is carefully pulled from the ground and the roots are capped off. Although the wand itself is still living, it can no longer grow.

***click HERE to go directly to the next story post***

[uc pseudonym]

Elohim... am I sensing some other elements here?

This sounds like a great idea. I'd love to see a beta version of it. A question, however: how are you going to handle combat in flash? I've seen it done before, I'm just curious.

[Shinja]

combat in flash, watch the stck man fight, thats the best ever

[true_noir_chloe]

I like the name, "Bel Canto de Myth." I don't play games like this; but, I see you have a really creative idea here and I really like how you've fleshed out the characters. I'm looking forward to hearing how you progress on this project. You're obviously a wealth of talent.

[Gypsy]

Elohim... am I sensing some other elements here?

This sounds like a great idea. I'd love to see a beta version of it. A question, however: how are you going to handle combat in flash? I've seen it done before, I'm just curious.

Well, this is a very character and story driven tale. There will be some battles, but it won't come down to who has the most hit points or who's the highest level. The outcome depends on the strategy that the reader chooses according to the situation.

It's more like an interactive story than a turn based RPG. If, when combat presentes itself, you choose Shine to make the initial attack and all the other characters to defend ... that would be an example of a bad choice. However, I have set the story webbing up so that sometimes irrational choices can get you very interesting places. And what would be the most expected thing to happen after making a choice may not be the actual outcome. Sometimes the choices are more than they seem.

As can be expected, I have to make a couple moderations for this text/poll version, but as I said before - I'm only trying to test out the story webbing.

[TheMelodyMaker]

It's basically an elaborate "choose your own adventure" story.

I like it already.

[uc pseudonym]

I see. Well, that's fine. Though what combat there is better be cool (but with a story based system, that should be easy).

[Gypsy]

A lone farmer hefted his pick above his head and let it fall one last time before looking at the horizon. Storm clouds pushed a slow, dark shadow over the small field that he had just turned up. The strong winds from the west became increasingly colder and the leaves on the trees shivered with each gust. The sounds of birds screeching carried on the wind as they swooped and fluttered to find cover in the trees. The man hurried to get his animals safely in the barn before the storm hit, when a movement on the road suddenly stopped him.

A lone traveler wrapped in a dusty brown cloak was making his way down the path towards the town. Upon moving closer, the farmer noted that it was a young man. Billows of dust kicked up around his feet and swirled away on the eastbound wind. The farmer noticed that although the cloak was whipping around the stranger in flow with the blusters, he seemed to be unconcerned about the approaching gale. Underneath the mantle, his solid frame was like a rock against the force. His strides were neither rushed nor lagged, but instead deliberate and paced. Something about the young man made the farmer feel a chill that wasn’t in the air. He stared until the outsider disappeared around a bend. Wiping a grimy hand across his chin, the farmer wondered if it was coincidence that the stranger and the storm had arrived at the same time.

Ezekiel’s jasper eyes were looking at the path ahead of him. He switched his staff to his other hand, the weight of the brick making it tip forward slightly. There was a small clicking sound, and his sights blinked down at the charm swinging from the staff. Unbidden memories came flooding through his mind, but his stoic gaze never gave way to the turmoil inside.

Smoke. He always remembered the smell of the smoke first, although he distinctly remembered looking at the burning clouds after he heard the screams. For an instant, all he could do was stand while the nervous sheep bleated and huddled around him. Then he did what his father had told him never, under any circumstance to do. He left the sheep.

Running, tripping, sliding down the valley side to the town below. The smell was becoming more and more pungent and thick, while the screams were become less frequent. He saw the roof of his house as he was jumping over a fence post. He lay gasping before it registered that he had fallen. He gasped for the breath that had been knocked out of him even as he looked to see what he had tripped on. It was the town butcher, lying on the ground with one of his own knives lodged in his throat.

Ezekiel’s thoughts were brought back to the present at the sight of a quaint town spread before him. All of the well-kept buildings looked snug, warm, and buttoned up, just waiting for the storm to blow over. There was the temple of Elohim; it’s unique architecture making it stand apart from the other structures. Nestled in the middle of small homes was the tavern and adjacent inn. He could vaguely see a fireplace glowing through the window of the tavern. On the far side of the inn was the public stable.

Even as he scanned the village, a fat raindrop fell near his eye. As it trickled down his cheek, Ezekiel tried to make up his mind where he would spend the night and wait out the storm.

**BEGINNING**

**NEXT**

[Gypsy]

Ezekiel moved up the smooth, well-worn steps that led to Elohim’s Temple. He put a hand on the double pushed slightly. The wind rushed in behind him and blew the doors wide open with two very loud slams.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Shine jumped at the sudden noise. She flew off the bench she was sitting on and whirled around with her hands to her mouth. She thought it might be the kind cleric that started the fire for her earlier, but a complete stranger was standing in the doorway. The cold wind pushed past the young man’s cloak and snatched away all the warmth that a small hearth fire had generated. She shivered slightly when his gaze locked on her. There was something about him that made her feel uneasy.

He reached behind him and firmly pulled both doors shut. She noticed that he wore the garments of a shepherd, but he did not carry himself as one. His head was held high, and he had the build of a fighter rather than a wiry frame of a simple herdsman. His eyes were ruddy and held an ardent focus as he looked around. However, when he noticed her, his eyes averted slightly.

“I did not know someone else was in here,â€

[true_noir_chloe]

I think I've found my new favorite writer. ^-^ Is this what you do at your job, write? It's rare to read something without grammatical errors and good sentence structure. I really like your story, too.:b (the smilies don't work for me - urgh!)

[Technomancer]

[Gypsy]

I think I've found my new favorite writer. ^-^ Is this what you do at your job, write? It's rare to read something without grammatical errors and good sentence structure. I really like your story, too.:b (the smilies don't work for me - urgh!)

*blushes* Thank you very much. I don't do a bit of writing for my job, actually. I'm a video editor/producter.

**edit** I mean "producer."

[true_noir_chloe]

Okay, now I'm curious, what does a video editor/producer (did you spell that wrong on purpose?) do? If you don't mind me asking.

[Gypsy]

*sighs* No, that would be rushing typo. An all too common occurrence for me (ask anyone I chat with). As a producer I put together projects, work with the creative sessions with the clients, and help delegate some of the creative tasks, such as special effects or 3-d or something. (I usually try to weasel someone else into shooting it for me, since I hate running a camera.) Then when, another producer is in charge of a project, I edit video. *takes a sec to scan for typos*

[true_noir_chloe]

Are you hiring artistic help? My friend, a superb artist and mangaka in her own rights, has asked me to ask you this question. Her dream is to work on a game production.

She will now kill me for asking. *running away*

[shooraijin]

Oh, I'm quite sure Gypsy has the art side well-wrapped up

[Gypsy]

I'm kinda trying to handle most of the art stuff on my own. Thanks for asking for her, though!

[Gypsy]

Not knowing what else to do, Shine tucks her feet up underneath her and falls silent. She hated it when she annoyed people.


Shine played with a corner of her skirt with one hand, and propped her head up with the other. The stranger remained as silent as stone. Heavy lids descended over Shine's eyes as she retreated into deep thought.

When I was working as a maid, I wanted adventure for so long. But this isn’t like the adventures I heard about in legends and songs at all. I’m cold, hungry, and alone. The only reason I’ve made it this far is because strangers have taken pity on me. I wonder if they other servants think I’m dead. Maybe they never noticed I was missing. The attack happened so fast, and so many other servants and guards were killed. I still don’t know how the bandits didn’t kill me …

Her memories chilled her, and Shine shivered slightly. She realized that as she curled up in a tight ball while she was remembering the gruesome attack. Glancing up to see if the young man had noticed, she was shocked to see an empty bench. She hopped off the bench and turned a quick circle to look around. She could barely see his silhouetted frame next to the fire. He knelt down to prod the small blaze, and she could see his features in splashes of orange light from the flames.

“You seemed cold,â€

[uc pseudonym]

Do you have each possibility planned out beforehand, or go entirely based on the poll results? I'm just curious.

[Gypsy]

I have all the possibilities webbed out. That is why I'm posting it in the first place - to test my story gridding. You should see the pile of notes I have, just about character locations and environments alone. I also have a couple sketches, but they don't go with any of the choices so far. I've already come across an error in my notes. I had one of the characters in two places at one time, which sounds like a small boo boo - but it effects the webbing drastically. But it's for this purpose that I wanted to beta test the webbing. I tried to explain that in my very first post, but I didn't come across very clearly.

[true_noir_chloe]

I like it. I'll go vote right now. You seem to have your act together - storywise.

[true_noir_chloe]

I'm still waiting for more story. Will there be more? Please, please, please. I hope so, because that's why I'm bumping this up again, Gypsy.

[Gypsy]

Oh yes, there's a lot more. Sorry about the lack of updating. The last poll ended in a tie, then Lightbringer unofficially voted for number three. I should have the next one up tonight. Feel free to give me a kick in the rear if I let things slide again.

[true_noir_chloe]

That would be so mean to kick you. What if I just give you a Tomo chop? (Have to watch Azu Manga Daioh to get this)

[Gypsy]

Blythe felt increasingly uncomfortable without Sherwin there. She didn’t know how the drunk would react, and she wasn’t sure that she trusted the young man next to the fire.

“I’m going to find the cleric,â€

[true_noir_chloe]

Again, this is my favorite story to read on this section. You're writing really draws the reader into the story. The way you mix diaglogue, action, description, the heart of each character and... it's just something that only really good writers can capture. I really enjoy your story and I'm going to go vote now.

[Gypsy]

Thank you very much. I just write what I see in my head. I have to apologize for the slightly rushed ending to this last session, though. I'll have to adjust this one in the future. The few sentences I had in my outline ended up taking paragraphs to describe. I'll try to catch that ahead of time in my outlines so you guys won't have to deal with long or rushed posts again. I also have pics of Roux and Tryce almost finished, so they might be up tonight. ("Yeah right," everyone who knows Gypsy says.) I mean it! I'll try!

Tons of thanks to those that keep reading my stuff, 'specially you, Chloe. It really encourages me to keep working on it.

[true_noir_chloe]

Awe shucks.

Wow, you must see a lot of neat stuff in your head.

[uc pseudonym]

Hey, good job on the next section. I'm curious, though. Are there "Game Over" endings? Is there one (or several) real ending(s)? How far are we from them?

[Gypsy]

Yes, there are game over endings, but I didn't make very many. And for the few that there are, there's only one (that I remember) that you don't see coming from a mile away. Like, half the characters will be dead, and choices will get very minimal. And there's multiple real endings as well. But no, this is just the very beginning of the outline. Remember, on the real thing, you'd be clicking through, not waiting for an update every 2 days. For the flash versions, I'm planning on having password accessed save files, so if you start heading the story in a certain direct, but later change your mind, you can just refer back. That's the plan anyway. Also, if you want to start over, you'll be able to click through directly to the choices, so you may go as fast or slow as you like.

I'm sorry that I can't make this up so it will go faster, but as I'm actually fleshing out the bare-bones outline, I'm coming across lots of story flow that I'll need to change. And if voters kill a character, I'll also give them to option to go back in a seperate poll.

But, no, there's not an ending close by.