On today’s schedule, we’ll be doing the game’s premise. Before we begin, however, I have to fit in just a little bit of world-building, as it is important to today’s subject.
Pillars
Scattered around the world, one could find massive towering pillars that rise well into the sky. If one were to stand at the base of these pillars, one would assume it was a wall, such as the pillars’ absurd circumference. For as long as humanity could remember, these sights were a fact of life, just as the falling of leaves and the passing of seasons.
In fact, the oldest city in the world, Kallipolis, was constructed at the base of one such pillar. In the language of their people, they refer to theirs as “Kion”, which literally means pillar, based on a local folklore that it was the labor of a great hero that raised such a structure as a pillar on which the skies rest as a shelter for the people of Kallipolis.
However, these pillars have no singular name accepted across cultures and languages. For example, for the people of Singidunum, the word for the pillar that rests across the horizon of their coasts means some variation of “tree”, referring to a popular, albeit mythical, belief that it protects Singidunum from storms.
These pillars have a rather interesting quirk to them. While the people of the continent hardly understand what the pillars are, some of them emit heat at noticeable and predictable pulses. This makes them very important to humans even to the present day, as it allowed them to construct large settlements around these pillars thanks to the protection it offered in winter, while also being a source of energy that could sustain a population that otherwise would be too much to maintain itself. Other pillars, on the other hand, remain silent and dormant, not emitting any significant amounts of heat at all. The one across the strait of Singidunum is one such example.
The cities constructed around these pillars are grand indeed, with some of the oldest and grandest cities in the world calling one home. The wealthy and influential congregate near the pillar to gain the most benefit from the pillar, with the oldest cities having districts stretching well into the skies, hanging off the pillar-like overgrown vines and moss. As one moves closer to the base, one would notice the multi-layered construction, with much of the squalor hidden beneath other “floors”. The worst of them are so hidden away that they never see sunlight, and far away from the pillar enough to barely receive any heat from it. It is no doubt a difficult life, but some argue that it is still better than living out in the vast wilderness, away from the comforting rings of the greatest cities in the world.
An example of a new pillar city under construction, extending up beyond the skies.1
Premise
The story begins on a particularly uninteresting night but is made interesting when the night sky is consumed by a light that pierces through the clouds. It was but a brief moment, yet it felt like day as a pillar of light burned through the world. It burned hotter than any day in summer, it shone brighter than any midday Sun.
As the light departed from the world, the people of Singidunum were horrified to realize the light had incinerated an entire mountain. Millions of trees and wildlife, all gone in a single instant. A section of the Singidunum mountain range was blasted clean through, and an entire mountain was cleaved out of existence. The light from the heavens had bored a massive crater in where a mountain once was, leaving an enormous gap between the mountain range.
It was on this night that our four playable characters had borne witness to such a disaster. They each had different thoughts about the incident, but they all had a personal reason to seek out the cause, whatever it may be.
The aftermath of the destruction, carving an enormous crater where Singidunum’s mountains once lay. 2
Mere moments after the light fades into the dark sky, the people witness a star fall from the sky. Unlike any meteor or shooting star they had seen before, it was a dim light that fell ever so slowly. It disappeared into the horizon, deep beyond the continent.
Over the next few weeks, it became increasingly apparent something had changed. The unexplored continent that lay across the shores of Singidunum had its sheer cliffs crumble away into the sea, and portions of its coast collapsed to form a small bay. The once dormant pillar began to awaken, and soon explorers took note of the slowly increasing heat readings from the pillar.
What was once a fairly inaccessible continent now beckoned the people of the old continent, and in the following months, swathes of people began to set sail for the frontier, in search of a better life.
Our four main characters, realizing that the star that fell somewhere in the new continent, saw their opportunity. Even if some of them didn’t see it as their primary concern, each of them had reasons of their own to travel to the frontier. Thus, they all made their way to the newly born city being constructed at the steps of the pillar that was waking from its long slumber.
That is where our story begins. Each of them has their reasons and motivations, but nevertheless, they come together to find the star that fell out of the sky.
That’s about it for this time’s dev blog. We may or may not have another dev blog before the next companion entry, so perhaps we could do something else for the next blog. Is there anything in particular everyone would like to read about? Perhaps a little bit about the Church, which one section of it, in particular, plays a huge role in one of the playable characters? Or perhaps some notes I have on the general gameplay loop for the game itself?