A Wolf and I (WIP) - Updated Synopsis and Character Profiles

Hosted Games Works In Progress
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Link: https://dashingdon.com/play/dragonbutts/a-wolf-and-i/mygame/

If you would like to discover back stories or reasons people do the things they do as you play, enjoy going in blind, or just like being shocked by plot twists (I know I do), don’t read the blurred out text. You don’t need to. I’ve kept some details rather vague even in the spoilers, but they do reveal a lot. Anyway, all will be revealed in the game, soon enough.

SYNOPSIS

You are blessed (or cursed) with magic in a time when magic is little more than a distant memory, shrouded in suspicion and fear.

In an attempt to protect you, your family hides you away from prying eyes, and for a few years, everything can be considered normal. However, strange things have started to happen. In a world once deprived from magic, inexplicable sightings begin to occur, resulting in one possible explanation. Could magic be returning?

On top of that, you may well have started seeing things. You get the constant feeling you are being watched, by something huge and dark, with amber eyes. But, turn too quickly, and the feeling is gone.

However, when you are accused of witchcraft (your brother, Dougal does something incredibly stupid… out of ALL the girls in the world, Dougal…), you are saved from your untimely death by a huge black wolf, who also just so happens to be a shapeshifter. The wolf’s name is Wyntir and they warn you about something strange happening in the forests. There are strange beings walking around in the forests now, too, unlike any anyone has seen before, and the previously clear waters are being poisoned too.

Wyntir has an awful curse, and demands that you help them break it. Why you? Something dark is happening inside the forests in the name of revenge against non-magic humans and has caused the slaying of many of the magic folk who do not agree with their methods. So there aren’t many people Wyntir can trust, and you’re conveniently just outside of the forests. Also something to do with how you acquired your magic. I won’t say any more here. But these witches just can’t get a break. For further details, refer to Wyntir’s character profile.

You can decide whether you will help Wyntir out of your free will, discover what’s going on inside of the forest, or attempt to kill the King yourself in a bid to restore rights for magical beings.

  • Got any other ideas of what you want to do? I’m open!

Love interests

Leander – His family was rescued from poverty in a nearby city by the King. He came to Rosewood aged 9 to apprentice under his uncle, a blacksmith while his parents work in the capital city, for the King. He’s loyal to the kingdom because he believes he’s indebted to them for saving his life, and also because he truly believes magic is used for bad. Why? His father, a palace guard, is killed by a dark magic fanatic who tries to assassinate the King, early on in the game.

His personality is hopeful and he feels a strong connection with the MC because you’re both pretty much outcasts.

Wyntir – the one you’re all here for: the wolf. Unlike some other magic folk, shapeshifters, or “skin walkers”, as they’re referred to, didn’t previously live alongside non-magical humans during Edwyd’s reign, preferring the depths of the woodlands instead, so they weren’t deeply affected by the ban on magic – they’re part animal, after all. Wyntir, whose gender can be selected, lived in a clan deep in the forest, until circumstances drew them out alongside a pack-sister to seek out the MC. The pack sister dies. She’s killed by another character, and this cannot be avoided. If you’re wondering what circumstances caused this, I’ll explain here. Living alongside humans, “battle magic” or destructive magic was pursued by fewer people, since they didn’t really have a use for it, and choosing healing magic instead, non destruction, or no magic at all, resulted in a smaller likelihood of dying. Banished to the woods, magic folk sought revenge and there is a rise in the number of dark magic followers – the strongest form of destructive magic, in order to rally an army together. This turns the forest dark and the waters poisonous. Wyntir’s pack drinks the water and they slowly fall sick from a curse, and die. Wyntir and their pack sister are the ones least affected and seek help to break the curse.

Astrid – a human bounty hunter, pretty new to the slaying game, and who has, so far, only gone after petty criminals. However, when magic begins to resurface, she decidedly goes after magical beings too. She’s tough and sarcastic but aside from that, I don’t really have much on her character as of yet.

Flare – an upbeat fairy thief, who has been living undercover in the human world, very effectively for a long time. She’s a master of illusion and is scarily good at disguise. Her morals are pretty skewed, but she knows she’s bad and she knows that people don’t really like her, and she tells herself she doesn’t care. She’s as whimsical as they get and has always wanted to be good and law abiding, (when she was younger, she wanted to marry a fairy prince) but circumstances drove her to crime.

In case you are wondering, in this world, fairies are human sized, and pixies are the tiny Tinkerbell beings. But you’ll find out soon enough anyway, ahem Dougal.

I may have ideas for more in the future and I’ll add them to this list. All characters are romancable regardless of gender.

Other character profiles (obviously not complete)

Ewan – your lovely, non-magical, protective eldest brother, who takes his responsibilities very seriously. He’s reserved and thoughtful and unfortunately leaves for the city early on in the game and gets married. You thought this spoiler was going to say that I’m going to kill him off, didn’t you?

Dougal – your second eldest brother, who is very easy to anger and incredibly reckless. Think Asher Forrester, as in – the-brother-you-don’t-tend-to-talk-about-because-he’s-so-reckless type recklessness – from the Telltale Game of Thrones. He falls in love with someone that’s going to ruin his life, basically. But this person is no Gwyn Whitehall, so rest assured. Also no hate but I haven’t actually seen the original Game of Thrones, oops.

Sylvi Beechwood – her name comes from Fagus Sylvatica which is the Latin name for the European beech. She’s a guardian of something that has a lot to do with the jewels on her staff, but I’ll leave it at that. She’s got something to do with the mains suddenly appearing magical powers, though. All will be revealed.

Tanya – you won’t like her.

What I want the game to offer

  • Become a master warlock/witch
  • Potentially you can shapeshift/”skin-walk” too.
  • If your corruption bar gets high enough, you are forced to join the dark magic revolution. Haven’t planned out details yet, but the game will probably continue after that point but it will just branch. Is that too much to promise so early on? Very likely yes.

What I’m missing

  • A good name for the Edwyd’s kingdom (still in the works but as of now, just avoiding mentioning the name is working pretty well)
  • A way to add in a surname (I’m sure this will be resolved in time)
  • Apparently, a sense of humour – I’ve shared this with friends and family and have succeeded in making no one laugh apart from myself.

What I want from you!

  • Your feedback. I tried to write a choicescript game, years ago, but it failed on an epic scale because it’s nothing like anything I’ve done before. If you think something I’ve written has gone awry, and should not be in a choicescript game, tell me about it! (did that even make sense?)
  • Bug reports
  • I want to hear what you want from the story. Do you want the ability to use more types of magic? Think I’ve missed out an important choice? Don’t like how I phrased something? I want to know about it.
  • Typos
  • Ask me questions! If something seems a bit weird, feel free to ask. My story may be flawed in some areas, and I’m happy to tell you more UNLESS it’s something I want to keep secret for a reason, and in that case, I’m sorry. :stuck_out_tongue:

Disclaimers

The title is a quote from an Of Monsters and Men song – Six Weeks. (such a good song)

I’ve drawn inspiration from Merlin, a mass of fairytales, the woods near my house, the vibes from the Lord of the Rings, those really cool Skyrim werewolf mods and a whole stockpile of other things. But I’ve tried my best to make this all very original. Ultimately, and hopefully, if I even manage to finish it, this will be a story with touches of (almost) all of the things I’ve ever wanted to write in it.

Hope you enjoy playing!

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Why do I have to help the wolf? I know some people would rather not. Just keep in mind whether you would like to write a story or a choice script game.

I would say leave it gender-locked.

Sounds great this game is very interesting. I will be watching this thread! Keep writing please.

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I wouldn’t expect it to be historically accurate when there’s mention of actual magic. :neutral_face:

  1. I like the concept, but I would like to see more before I make a judgement.

  2. Maybe go into more depth, like how magic works in this world (does it work as we would expect in a medieval fantasy, or does it go off on a wild tangent?) and maybe expand more on how the current king snapped with regards to magic.

  3. I’m not the sort of person to ask about writing style, but it seems to be quick and to the point so far. Also how I generally like it too, as I developed a habit of scrolling through scenes I’ve read through before due to how long they can get.(coughgueneverecough)

  4. I would expect one to be added in the future due to popular demand, but I don’t mind playing only as a girl.

  5. Judging by the way the mother is so far, she’s trying to answer the daughter’s hard questions as best as she can without traumatizing her or making her feel like she doesn’t belong, which I think is realistic.

  6. Who’s to say being mature isn’t a side effect of being magical? After all, you said that the daughter is the only one in her family with powers. If you work that to your advantage, you could probably work around that. The brothers, eh… I think they acted a bit more mature than I would expect, however. (Then again, the exact age isn’t specified yet.)

  7. The background gets us from A to B, so I probably wouldn’t mind a little bit of rambling from here to there. Just try and keep it relevant to what’s happening if you do get into that rambling phase.

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You could do something where if you don’t, he kills you. :imp:

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@Kelvin Thank you! The player will be forced to help the wolf - it’s a huge magical beast, and the MC is inexperienced with magic still, so she will have to agree to begin with - but there will be options later on in which she can try to get away :yum:

@RagEgnite I felt I could make them act like that as it is a pretty serious situation they’re in - as their younger sister might be killed for witchcraft if she’s found out. But I did worry that I was making the brothers too mature, maybe I will make them a little older. Thank you so much for your feedback!

and thank you @Goddess, I will keep it gender-locked for now :grin:

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Here we go…

The lore is rather intriguing. Magic becoming illegal which results in violent fear, whether the user is innocent or not. I like this ‘fearing the unknown.’ feel that magic has.

Characters could use a bit of spice. Describing their appearance and giving a solid personality. Evan seemed a little bit bland, perhaps he could make a great protective but smartass brother. Dougal seems to be a broody angster, I’d like to see a few scenes that expand on him.

Kids basically find everything fascinating and take pride when they prove themselves right. The MC being very proud that they got the jar off the shelf was well done. Perhaps you could have a scene where the MC practices their magic in secret? Having something they have never seen before would baffle me as a kid and even though you made a promise, you will want to discover more about it.

There is nothing wrong with rambling, in fact I was hoping for more! Backgrounds build lore and lore creates a beautiful world to put your MC in.

It would be a nice option. Many people are used to the idea of choosing their own gender so they can fully be in control of their MC. That said, I would allow the gender of the Wolf to be in the hands of the reader too, since I can already tell this will have a romantic feel :wink: but like @RagEgnite said, some CoGs have been proven to be very well written stories with fixed genders. It’s entirely up to you!

I’ll be keeping my eye on this. The plot sounds great and will become excellent if you write it well. The best of luck to you and keep it up! :slight_smile:

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Were you inspired by BBC’s Merlin?

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@Nathan_Faxon Thanks for writing so much! Hopefully as I go on and expand on the story, there will be much more character development. I am planning on integrating at least one of the brothers deeply into the main story.

That’s a good idea! It would be a good way to determine the MCs base stats too :smile:

I’m not sure how natural this would feel - I found selecting the gender of a romantic interest to be slightly awkward in Choice of Romance, but thank you for the suggestion! I haven’t written much for the introduction of the wolf outside planning, but I definitely will consider this and at least try it out!

@Beezlebub Yes! I watched it a long time ago, and I loved it! I was worried that my plot and some details may be too similar to Merlin’s but I am going to make sure that there are not many similarities outside of the King’s ban on magic and also that I’ve come up with something original.

Also to anyone who hasn’t seen Merlin, it’s amazing, and I recommend it 100% :heart_eyes:

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Interesting, I’ll take a look at this.

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  1. I like the plot.

  2. How do we “slip up”? Is our brother/Mom in trouble and we need to save them? Are we just careless? It should be a compelling choice since I would never use my powers because I don’t want to die.

  3. Your writhing style is simple, but good. Because this is fantasy, you need to explain your setting more so the story is understandable. But, you should try to avoid large text wall’s when you expand the story.

What are fae, witches and magic? I think of a witch as (an old lady with a wart on her nose) someone who casts spells with magic words , a wand, or a cauldron with spell ingredients like eye of newt. You say MC is a witch and that contrasts with what I think magic is because MC’s power is inate. So, just explain things more.

  1. The game would appeal to more people of there was a gender option. Ask yourself if there is anything the MC is doing as a female that would seem odd if MC was a male. Unless it’s a historical game, the answer is most likely no, so gender would not worsen the story.

  2. The characters need to be fleshed out more. Where is dad? What are the character’s personalities? Give scenes of the MC interacting with the characters to make them likeable ( or unlikeable) so the exile with the wolf is painful ( or happy) because we miss them ( or hate them).

For example, of MC is bullied, does MC use her powers, ignore it or tell someone? One NPC might reaping logically and comfort MC by talking while another one might want to fight the bullies or use a cunning plan to trick the bully and humiliate him.

Is the NPC overprotective? How do they act when you go on your first date or when someone flirts with you?

What happens when they catch you sneaking to eat yummy (macadamia nut) cookies before dinner? Do they join, rat you out or scold you?

Just give lots of family bonding scenes.

The wolf will be an interesting character. I can see shy MC and wolfie in the forest after she is kidnaped and getting cold at night. MC might snuggle up in the wolf’s warm fur when she thinks he’s asleep and at the end the spell can only be broken by true loved kids and other sappy things.

  1. I don’t like bratty MCs so I like to give my MC the will power to not use magic and my brother just doesn’t want me to get killed so the seriousness is necessary. I like MC’s maturity. A real 4 year old would have a temper tantrum and destroy the house or keep using magic even though she’ll be killed and then I wouldn’t like the MC.

  2. I like descriptions, but don’t over do it. If I have to click through more than 2 pgs of text then I may skip it unless the story is really good.

I don’t know why the numbering is off. It should be 1-7

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Personally I don’t like when games are gender locked. I think you SHOULD add a gender option but if you think it would really hurt the experience of the game then don’t but personally it’s harder for me to get immersed when I can’t play as a male.

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Love the story but, I really strongly dislike gender locked games, I never feel like the character is truly mine to mold into whatever.
Anyways keep up the good writing mate :wink:

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Ah I remember this… still thinks that female Mondosa and the Queen acted way too manly.

The way to counter this is to write the character in a gender neutral fashion, not too feminine or masculine. Since they’re a Werewolf/Wolf being, write them as a instinctual character, slightly hot headed and very practical XD

This is merely a suggestion on how to write a gender neutral character. You’re in control of your story :slight_smile:

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So far, so good.

  • I think the plot is good.
  • Adding a gender option will make some people happy, personally I’m fine without it.
  • Having recently spent time with a 4 year old relative of mine the other day I can tell you that 4 year old MC does seem a bit too mature, but that could just be their personality… I can’t picture the MC constantly jumping, and running around like my relative.
  • The background info was great and added flavor to the world you’re building.
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May just be me, but all the link gives me is two paragraphs with the second one cut off in the middle of a sentence.

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Personally thought it seemed fine.

Though I would certainly enjoy the option to play as a man. That’s always a really interesting thing in the COG community, the gender lock debate. General sense is unless it fits the story try to avoid it. But people seem more willing to play gender locked lady, and not gender locked male.

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I hope a male option is added. But for now I just imagine a male character I play as from another thread became a female in this game against their will.

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It seems good so far, and I like the plot a lot. Good job! :blush:

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I really like the plot so far its interesting and has lots of potential!
I do have a question though, are there going to be more scenes to develop characters and add more content before the main plot starts?
I personally don’t mind the gender lock of the MC and possible other characters, always believed the author should write a story their most comfortable with first and foremost, but I still completely understand where everyone is coming from for the anti-gender lock side.
Anyhow I can’t wait for more and keep up the good work!!!

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Hi guys! I’m so sorry for the late replies! I hope everyone has had a lovely easter :slight_smile:

@Sovereign2Lilith 2. I’m not going to answer this yet, because I’m currently writing that part :yum:
4. I will expand on the lore a bit more, as I can see that it might be a bit confusing, and when I think about witches, my mind automatically goes to Harry Potter witches and wizards - I use the term witch simply as in a human that can use magic. Thank you for everything you’ve written and for your ideas - I’m planning on fleshing everything out much much more, so there will be lots of more character development for the MC as well as her family members and maybe friend(s) too! (@SuperNova here’s your answer :blush: - thank you too!)

@Boman19 @RyseAbove @Dancingcups @Breezus and everyone else who has said they’d prefer a gender option - I’m convinced, and I will be adding one once I next update!

@Jinx_the_Atomic_Cat That’s really strange - does it still do that now?

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