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nothingherebutthefog · 5 months

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Is this still being worked on? On hiatus? or has it been dropped? The premise sounds really good!! I hope everything is well.

Hello! Thank you for the interest. Yes, it's not dropped, my life just continues to be hectic unfortunately. I actually went back to edit some parts & had a bunch more content written, it's just... difficult to sit down and whip it all up into something presentable.

I have a good idea of where I want the story to go, I just lack energy and time. Hopefully things stabilize soon so I can get back into it!

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nothingherebutthefog · 8 months

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deleted scene #1

ok, so this was originally supposed to go between chapters 1&2

basically during the early planning stages, mc was supposed to get a power limiter/controlling seal of sorts, but I ended up abandoning the idea (probably not to overcomplicate the story)

but the partially written scene was just sitting in my notes, so, here it is 🫠

It hurt.

For something that was done in a matter of seconds, it hurt like fucking hell.

And the worst thing? Of course you were not told it was going to happen. No, at the end of your forced confinement, stone-faced guards just dragged you out of your room, the first time such a thing happened with none of your mentors in sight.

The sun was starting to dip below the horizon as you were led deeper into the compound, to the buildings that were normally off-limits to you as only the Lord and his family could enter. Former Lord, you had to remind yourself. You had no love for the man who took you away from your family and had you brought up in isolation from the world; the specter of his influence still lingered in the halls like a chill falling over your skin.

The main hall of the building was separated from the entrance by a large, ornamental panel; as the local belief went, it prevented evil spirits from entering. [i]If only it worked on evil people, too. The patriarch would've been stranded outside his own house for eternity.[/i] The brought a grim smile to your face. You wondered if you were brought there to be kill--ah, [i]disappear[/i]. Maybe, you thought, if you were lucky you could merely get thrown out into the swamp.

The guards shepherding you didn't move past the entrance, leaving you to face the hall and its inhabitants alone. There, sitting on a small chair way too decorated for a glorified stool, was a white-clad woman, her face hidden by a veil held by a delicate golden diadem; she was surrounded by yet more white-robed elders, whom by the style of their garments you recognized as priests.

And standing behind the woman was a familiar golden-haired girl, her gaze down on the floor.

Neith.

With the entrance blocked off the only thing you could do was approach, dutifully keeping your head down. Even so, the silent stares felt like they were pressing from all sides, making your breath stutter.

A step. A step. Another. They were watching you, observing. After what happened with Ember and Master Wadjnes, you had little doubt you were about to be judged--unworthy. They brought you there on a whim and on a whim, they were going to cast you out.

It was almost funny, really, how everything was going to end the way it began, part of your life wasted for nothing.

You kneeled in front of the woman - the Lord's wife, you presumed. It mattered little if she wore a veil or not; to you, she was a faceless entity, someone too high up to see. You couldn't tell if the Princess looked alike to her or not; if one day, she'd have seemed just as beyond the reach.

"So this is the last one of them," the Lady said. She sounded… You didn't know. Nervous? No, no. Tense?

You curled your fingers into the foor, grounding yourself in its hardness.

"The gifted child, yes," another familiar voice spoke. Elder Senedj, the master of ceremonies. His voice had grown quieter, more brittle over the years.

"You know what to do," she said then, and the rustling of fabric alerted you to her standing up; you tensed, expecting her to approach, but instead the footsteps moved away from you, only pausing for a moment. "Oh, and from a gifted child, I'll expect appropriate results." With that she left, no one daring to speak until she exited the hall.

A different set of footsteps approached - uneven, slow. A sigh broke the tense silence of the room.

"Rise, child," the Elder told you, and so you did. He did really age a lot, his face all wrinkled - rather like a raisin. But his eyes were sharp, like an obsidian knife.

"Should we not restrain them?" Your head whipped around at another priest's voice. He was giving you a look-over, brows furrowed in blatant disapproval. "If anything goes wrong, the Lady--"

"If anything goes wrong, there's half a dozen or so guards waiting outside," a younger priestess interrupted him, annoyance seeping into her voice. "A gifted child is still a child."

The first priest snorted at that. "And during the War, how many of such 'children' proved to be strong enough to wipe out whole squads?"

"This isn't the War--"

"By the Eternal Sun, will you be quiet?" Elder Senedj's voice cut through the argument, silencing it instantly. Still keeping your eyes down, you were sweating, but not due to the heat. They had something planned for you, but what?

It didn't sound like they were planning to kill you. But restrain? Guards? You flexed your palms in an attempt to calm your nerves.

For all the fuss, the ritual was rather simple. Or, at least, what you remember of it was.

You were sitting on the floor, in the center of a circle made by chanting elders. The language they spoke was unfamiliar to you, but the words carried power - the phrases, uttered over and over and over, ended up being literally burned into the skin of your neck.

It hurt.

It hurt like fucking hell.

At some point you were sure you were going to suffocate, the pain squeezing the air out of your lungs. But you didn't. When it was over you found youself alive, sweaty and panting, your vision blurry and ears ringing.

The Elder's voice was nothing but a dull background noise.

You don't remember how you got to your room. At some point you must've passed out and when you woke up, it was to Lady Nimaat's gaunt face, illuminated by the light of an oil lamp. The look in her eyes told you she knows.

That was the price to pay for the 'privilege' of staying with the clan.

Words of Power that could enable those who knew how to wield them to end your life in an instant - a safeguard. A fucking collar.

But of course it wasn't everything.

#interactive fiction #choicescript #if game #if wip #i am slowly getting back into writing #and even got some stuff written again #this is unedited btw and no choices or variations etc #just the way my first drafts usually look

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nothingherebutthefog · 8 months

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:( missing mc's teachers also wondering how mc parents are doing like if they're actuallg alive and well still

Eh, I guess it's not much of a spoiler to say that everyone's alive? ('well', meanwhile, is relative)

At some point I realized that killing people off is kind of a lazy way to resolve character arcs 😶

#interactive fiction #choicescript #if game #if wip #pol: general ask #i think i removed the explanation from the current draft #but basically in cases like this families get relocated #so they don't interfere

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nothingherebutthefog · 9 months

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Just popping in to say that this is still alive, I just moved to a different country so there's a lot to do

But I'll be getting back to this as soon as I'm able 😶‍🌫️

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nothingherebutthefog · 9 months

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Hello! I just found your blog and I’m very interested in playing but unfortunately when I click the link it says it’s private is that intentional or just a bug? If it’s intentional and was written somewhere on your blog I apologize as I didn’t see it.

Take care of yourself!

Hello! Thank you for your interest.

I took the demo offline for a while, but it should be working now 🤗

#will make a proper update later #if there are any bugs in the demo please for the love of gods report them #cuz I have several versions of game files #in different places #and I forget which ones are latest all the time

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nothingherebutthefog · 10 months

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25/07/23

I know I said progress will be slow, but actually writing is a good distraction so it shouldn't take much longer than usual.

I'm working on the first draft as usual, then when it's like... second or third draft I'll code it into the demo. The reason my writing takes so long (aside from the fact it can take me like 5 mins to write a single sentence) is because a decent amount of time needs to pass from the first draft to the second. Upwards of a week, but more is better. That so I can look at the text with a relatively fresh eye. (though that's for the "trees". for the "forest", aka overall story consistency, it's upwards of a month...)

No sneak peeks this time, but! We can have fun facts instead!

Fun fact #1: the swampy setting was originally inspired by the Fortress faction of HoMM3.

Fun fact #2: Pillars of the Light was originally the name of a different fantasy game I was writing. One day I had this bright idea of making a story where instead of a mysterious, tortured hunter, you were the handler of said mysterious, tortured hunter. The setting was somewhat based on Brittany, and the first location you visited was a sunken city. With mermaids. ...it was also written pen on paper, and I lost the notebook, and then I overwrote its game files with current PoL on accident.

#interactive fiction #choicescript #if game #if wip #pol: update #i know i like #can't offer much compared to the bigger authors #which is almost everyone else lol #but it's something at least #also i wonder how many ppl even know what homm is #i think i'll revisit the sunken city idea in this story #writing process

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nothingherebutthefog · 10 months

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18/07/23

The first half of Ch1 is out now. New word count is 33430 words w/o code. You can play it here.

start investigating a small and totally not suspicious village in the mountains

spend more time with Neith

I started putting character customization in

first proper fighting scene I wonder if it's a bit too bloody but then I enjoyed writing it very much

Please report any bugs and inconsistencies, as due to the amount of *if statements involved there might be some slip-ups. Or maybe I messed something up when editing...

Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoy 🌹

#interactive fiction #choicescript #if game #if wip #cs game #if demo #cs demo #pol: update #if you have any opinions i'd love to hear them

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nothingherebutthefog · 10 months

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if someone's wondering why there was no update yet

i love *if statements i love *if statements i love *if statements i love--

Edit: guess who rediscovered Canva? The game has an actual logo now.

#interactive fiction #choicescript #if statements within if statements!!1 #insert crazy laugh #well #that and my life took another turn for the worse #like every time i think it's the bottom #surprise!!! it was a false bottom!!!#but it's alright #i'll persevere as always #writing #today or tomorrow i should be able to update tho

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nothingherebutthefog · 10 months

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05/07/23

I finished writing the first draft of the first half of the chapter - which means that if everything goes well, the next update is going to be a content update. Go me.

Oh, and I figured out how to make the relationship screen to work, but only coded Ember's variable so far. The prologue one. But it works! Or seems to, at least.

Otherwise I only did writing this week, so here are some sneak peaks. Thanks to everyone following me on this journey, see you when I'm done editing/coding stuff ✨

"Well, this is it. We aren't getting anywhere like this." You raised your hand to your eyes, shielding them from the sun that was now sitting high over the mountain peaks. Your investigation seemed to have an unintended effect of turning every single soul in the village into a determined hermit - not a single head was to be seen outside on the street.

"I am not giving up," the Princess huffed, glaring at the ground, and you mused that spite indeed made for a powerful motivator. Spite, and the desire to prove oneself at any cost.

The path was perilous: thin and hidden behind vegetation--and then you almost walked off as it ended, turning into a thin ledge hugging the side of the mountain. The sound of rushing water filled your ears, sparkling strands careening off the edge to turn into foam below.

Far, far below.

"Nice place for a meeting," the Princess noted dryly.

It was, indeed, a nice place for a secret meeting, you thought as you stepped onto the ledge. Or for getting rid of someone, as the only way of moving forward was to walk sideways, hugging the rough stone and praying to the spirits.

...

The person - you didn't even ask them for their name, you realized - gestured at you to come closer. You took a hesitant step forwards, still somewhat apprehensive - a dark, hidden cave spirits only know where didn't exactly inspire feelings of safety -

Then the water ran red.

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nothingherebutthefog · 10 months

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Mount Vesuvius at Midnight, 1868 - oil on canvas. ― Albert Bierstadt (German-American, 1830-1902)

#art #visual ref #i imagine some parts of the Wastes look like this #the dreamer is awake #i wonder if anyone will get the reference :')#what i bring is light... what i bring is a star...#what i bring is an ancient sea #when you sleep you see me...

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nothingherebutthefog · 10 months

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28/06/23

A small tiny update.

Chapter 1 is now back to being called the prologue, cause that's what it is 🤷‍♀️

Codex entries are now "Nimaat's scrolls". I'm also starting to work on the Relationships screen which so far is basically Ember and a bit of Neith

Added a bit of additional content in the prologue (former ch1) for those who tried to befriend E, to show it wasn't completely ineffective I guess

#interactive fiction #choicescript #pol: update #i'm finally back in the writing mood

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nothingherebutthefog · 11 months

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Dev log 18/06/23

Not much of a progress to report this time, I took a break for life reasons. Still, after putting the story into CSIDE, I discovered a bunch of rogue typos, which I corrected. So there's that.

And the sponsor of today's (non-)update is a young Neith with a sistrum. It's a small pencil sketch I did at work 🏵️

Also, I'm going back to writing codex entries! As ch2 is going to have fighting, here's one about the Sun clan abilities:

[Sun clan techniques]

It is said that the Sun clan techniques are based upon denial, but this is only partly true. It would be more correct to state that Sun arts work by imposing one's will upon the universe.

Nowhere it is seen more clear than in the highest level Sun techniques, the so-called Words of Power. Wielded only by the royals of the main family and the highest ranks of Sun-priests, these allow the user to achieve incredible things merely by speaking them aloud.

As for the elemental part of the Sun arts, they manifest as the manipulation of pure energy; while this most often takes the form of a barrier - which is, indeed, the most basic Sun technique taught to the beginners - it is by no means the end of it.

Below you will find the list of some of the more common Sun skills:

First barrier, the seal of denial: the basic shielding technique that protects from physical and energy attacks.

Third barrier, the mirror of the sky: an advanced technique that reflects energy back at the attacker.

Fourth barrier, the scourge of the wicked: an advanced technique that allows one to shape the energy that usually goes into a barrier into a weapon instead, usually either a sword or a bow. Sun clan members take great pride in this technique, and not carrying a normal weapon is seen as a sign of one's prowess with it; to this end, most of the Sun clan weapons are either status signs, or ceremonial in nature.

Seventh barrier, the blessing of non-existence: this technique grants its user complete intangibility for a short period of time. Difficult to master, even more difficult to maintain for prolonged periods of time.

Tenth barrier, Eye of the Eternal Sun: temporarily suspends the flow of time for the user, granting immunity to almost any attack or ailment. Very difficult to learn and master.

#interactive fiction #choicescript #pol: update #nimaat's scrolls #gonna use it for the lore posts lol #i think i'll turn that neith pic into a banner #also ember should be next???#i wanted to do him first but the result was meh #pol: neith

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nothingherebutthefog · 11 months

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Dev log 12/06/23

Fixed some issues pointed out by the readers above. The rest will follow shortly!

Some very minor changes and additions in ch1.

Coded the beginning of ch2. Nothing worth replaying over, but it’s there (as I said, I`ll only make an update post once half of ch1 is done). With it, we have the beginning of character customization.

I decided characters are going to have two relationship variables, one for how the MC feels about them and another for how they feel about the MC. The former can be set/reset at character intro and then after major events or timeskips, while the latter just works as relationship variables normally do. Will it be a headache? Probably, but I can’t do what I want without it.

This should be it for now. Wish everyone a good day 🌹

#interactive fiction #choicescript #pol: update

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nothingherebutthefog · 11 months

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(Ok, so switching to desktop doesn't help. I don't really wanna turn anon asks off? but if they continue to not work, well...)

There will be romance. There just won't be a focus on romance.

It has to do with something I noticed when editing an early draft of this story, and thinking back on my previous writing.

Basically when writing a character as a "designated RO", for me at least, it is easier to fall into writing them as a trope or stereotype. They need to look a certain way, behave a certain way, etc etc and in my case, this led to severely stilted writing with reactions that made sense for the character's "type", but not in the context of the situation they`re in (re: Ember smirking all the damn time in the early draft).

Therefore, I decided I won't think of any character as a "RO", but just a character. And I want to try writing relationships as something based on getting to know each other and surviving stuff together rather than flirting. So, yeah, there'll be romance. But it won`t be in-your-face, hence I wrote it`s not a focus.

#interactive fiction #i hope that makes sense lol #i want to try for an actual relationship progression i guess #so you can become friends and then maybe something more #with romance as a sidedish not necessarily better than being friends #pol: general ask #romance

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nothingherebutthefog · 11 months

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...their hair. I think it was about the hair.

(I have no idea why Tumblr keeps eating the asks tbh. Guess I'll try to stick to the desktop version?)

Anyway, I cannot speak for other authors but cutting one's hair off is often seen as a symbolic gesture.

In Neith's case though it's nothing so grand. It's practical, it makes her not stand out as much when she ventures out, and it's her basically flipping off her mom. She will grow it back, eventually.

#interactive fiction #i don't have anything against long hair #but since the story takes place over a period of time #isn't it alright for characters to change something about themselves?#pol: general ask #pol: character ask #pol: neith

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nothingherebutthefog · 11 months

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Progress report 04/06/23

There was really only one path to follow there, and it was decidedly empty. But there were still eyes on you, you could feel the weight of them on your back. They were watching from behind the curtains on the windows and half-closed doors, and you had to wonder just what about your presence could've gotten them so spooked.

Fear?

Fear of what?

Or maybe that's not it.

As you approached the first row of houses, five figures appeared as if out of thin air to bar your path.

Hey everyone 👋

As I said, the progress will be going slowly since I work full-time... but it's still going.

I have a scene-by scene breakdown of ch2 and I've actually started writing it, too. I think I'll release it in chunks as I want to alternate between writing and editing. I don't expect this chapter to be very long, but it'll probably still take a while cause I'm a slow writer and an even slower editor.

Not much more to report for now. Hope everyone's having a nice day~

#interactive fiction #choicescript #pol: update

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nothingherebutthefog · 11 months

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So, tumblr ate another ask 🤦‍♀️I can't recover it and so can't see if there was anything more in it, sorry!

Anyway, Ember. He's a very spoiler-y character, so there's not much I can share at this point of the story. So. I'll just kinda do the same thing as I did with Neith.

In case anyone looks into the game files and sees his variables listing him as "Yeun"... It's not because he's giving you a fake name, lol. In the early draft, before I figured out how I wanted names in this setting to work, he was named Yeun. And even before that, he was called Sen.

He's the character that changed roles the most as I was figuring the story out. For example, in the first draft he stayed with you past the prologue/ch1, and the MC, him and Neith went on the mission in ch2 together. His personality was somewhat more relaxed, too, though looking back on it I wrote him as smirking way too much. He kept needling Neith it was actually fun to write

That version of him also had green eyes, until I was like... why.

He comes from a prominent family, but his relationship with almost all of them (sans one person) isn't the best. To put it mildly. You'll... see.

Needless to say, you'll encounter him again, but until then there's not much I can tell!

#interactive fiction #character ask #i know i'm being vague #but i really want ppl to experience the story naturally #and it's just too early to share much #i like how it's shaping up so i hope i can make it worth reading anyway #pol: character ask #pol: ember

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