Guenevere (WIP)

Hosted Games Works In Progress
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:star: A request for everyone when you finish playing the update! :star:
(I may post this a few more times to make sure lots of people see it.)

I would really like to know which of the main branches your Guen chooses at the end of the first half: Frankmarch, Camelot, Michaelsmount, or Morgana. If you choose to look for Morgana first, you’ll end up on one of the other three branches eventually, so putting that one aside, which branch would you choose and why?

More importantly, what would make you feel powerful on that branch? What do you want to see happen? What will make Guen feel like she’s really becoming the queen she wants to be?

I already have a basic idea of how each branch will go, and I’ve written a lot of the Frankmarch one, but part of the reason I updated was because I’d like to know what people want. While I can’t incorporate every idea, and I always have to make things work with the overall plot of the series, it would help me a lot to see how people feel about some of the options.

Thank you! :smile:

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I played through the first part of the book II, and I absolutely love it so far! The ball scene the sheep was hilarious, my favorite had to be the carrot bit. :smiley: I can’t wait to read more, are you planning to release the next half sometime soon, or will we have to wait a while?

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I should add that I choose the ‘Go back and warn about the impending army’. I feel that this will really give Guen a chance to really show leadership and make a name for herself in the kingdom, not just by being the Queen but by being seen as a woman who can hold the support and respect of her kingdom on her own.

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On my ‘devoted to Arthur, kind, light magic Guen’ game, I chose to take Lancelot with me to Frankmarch - I figured my Guen would want to work towards peace, hopefully before Camelot is invaded. She trusts Arthur and Morgana to look after themselves.

My next playthrough will be a more strategic Guen, and she’ll probably try to help Arthur while having Lancelot go defend the kingdom (possibly after looking for Morgana).

No other errors noticed so far!

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@flowersloveoranges Thank you! :slight_smile: I’d be curious to know how many people kept the carrot and how many got rid of it. :grin: I think it’s probably going to take a while for me to finish – that’s why I went ahead and posted what I had. I have written most of the Frankmarch branch, but I’m not entirely happy with it, and I’m hoping that maybe the comments here will give me some ideas to make it better. Then I have to write the Camelot branch and the Michaelsmount branch, and then wrap everything up, so I guess I have a little over four more long scenes to do. I was in a good rhythm of writing one scene a month, but I lost it when I got sick and the Frankmarch scene got out of control. Anyway, the Camelot branch should enable your Guen to do exactly what you’re describing! :grinning:

@OtherGrimm Thanks! Taking Lancelot to Frankmarch is a sensible choice, since Guen doesn’t speak Frankish and he does. Part of the reason I’ve been struggling with that scene is the language barrier if he’s not there, but I really want to keep it because I want to give Guen a chance to overcome it. As for your strategic Guen, that approach should have some advantages depending on what other choices Guen makes.

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I am exploding with happiness right now!! I’m literally jumping up and down! I can’t wait to play!

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@jeantown I choose of course return Britain and lead an army too up my power. The text you did for my Guen about how cool would be taking power and control Camelot is exactly what my Guen could think. Also, I decided the best way control Lancelot is being sincere into a certain point. I admit relationship with Morgan and the fact i don’t like Arthur…I think is good to manipulate him. I send him rescue Morgana . Also, my guen is waiting in a future could retrieve the sword from his giant corpse . She doesn’t go fight the sheep whisperer due she is not a warrior lol, also her first desired is keep Britain safe and strong

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Oh feck yes, I’ve been waiting for this. A play by play of what I think.

I’ve noticed a few extra choices in part one, with my Light Guen getting closer to Morgana. Nice touch I must say.

Kind, Intelligent and Responsible. Yep, that’s the kind of queen I want her to be.

Argh… those blasted Saxons, you think an altruistic act would change their minds but no.

Navigating high society. Always a good skill for a queen.

Putting sheep in the castle? Arthur…(I’m imaging the sheep from How to Train Your Dragon, BTW).

Poor Camden.

The awkwardness with Lancelot. Wonder if there’s a possible way to resolve it, does make good character drama though.
No spelling mistakes so far.

Arthur being an airhead I guess is one of his weak points, I guess it’s up to Guen to cover for him.

It reminds me of a wacky group of kids. Arthur is the self proclaimed leader and always charges ahead recklessly. Instinctively naive. Lancelot is his best friend and always follows Arthur wherever he goes, also has a crush on Guen. Morgana would rather be indoors reading but has to be outside playing with them, because her parents told her but half because she has to keep them out of trouble. Guen is the new arrival, how she acts and who she likes, is up to you.

I also love that this is a reoccurring thing, 1 or 2 dialogue choices with 1 or 2 physical action choices. Actions speak louder than words sometimes.

“Did you cut your nails?” Seems like something an Intelligent Guen would pick up.

Of course Morgana would find it weird if Guen was shacking up with Lance.

That whole part with Morgana was just beautiful. More fuel to keep this ship going.

Attack of the clones! I can image the chaos with the odd republic trooper thrown in somewhere.

Kitty-cat… Fae creature right? Maybe taking her to Avalon and having Vivien look at her could fix that wound?

That sword… It’s Soul Edge. I’m waiting for Soul Calibur myself. That’s if I had a melee focused Guen, instead I have a magic focused. Maybe a ring or something?

XD. I don’t know why I keep that carrot Merlin gave me, I thought it might be important.

Why abduct someone then ask for peace? Hmmmm…Unless… Okay, Grimald. Guen will follow, for now.

Sally forth sheep! Guen commands it! Well, her secondary is in leadership, so taking command of a squad of sheep rather than real troops might be good for larger scale battles in the future.

Queen Guenevere, Sheep Commander. Inspired by the mythical tale of Queen Guenevere escaping a ship by commanding sheep. Coming to a game store near you.

Ahh, darling Victis should be okay. Kitty-cat had me worried for a second.

An Intelligent Guen being to able to hear those languages being spoken. Can use that to her advantage.

It’s a good thing my Guen has a kindness score that high, or she might just get abit mad a Lance for kissing her like that.

Grimald the first, the curer of sheep. That’s not the title I think he wants to be remembered for.

Glad Guen was able to make up with Lancelot. I hope he doesn’t feel that bad about it, I mean, yes, he did kiss Guen, but my Guen seemed non-plus about
it, all she really wanted is Lance to remain her friend.

Okay decision time.

I’d send Lance to Michaelsmount, to back up Arthur, while Guen then looked for Morgana, then shift to Franksmarch. I might be able to have Morgana’s help again or I could send her back to Camelot to help the army. A bit of dark magic could scare the Frankish army before they do any permanent damage.

My Guen is a Light/Intelligent ruler, so forging an alliance with Radagund would be beneficial and her highest priority. Sending Lance to back up Arthur is to ensure that he survives and receives no permanent injury. I have no interest in the sword, even though it could be useful to Morgana.

I do wish that if you search for Morgana first and find her before going down one of the three paths, it’s possible to use her as well, either to help in Frankmarch, help Arthur or help Camelot with the invading army.

As for ideas that would feel powerful:

Frankmarch: Deciding the relationship between the Franks and the Britons, like forging an alliance or deposing the current queen. I also imagine a grand speech to persuade the nobles of Grimald’s betrayal

Camelot: Overseeing Camelot in Arthur’s absence and dealing with an invading army. Maybe even having the chance to throw the out before they can cause any damage, if you play you’re cards right.

Michaelsmount: Guen using her skills to keep Arthur’s group alive, confronting Meligaunt and eventually deciding what to do with him. If possible, brining him under your service and turning Michaelsmount into a territory of the country.

Nice Q&A at the end. Also, no spelling mistakes.

I also had Kitty-cat jump off, so I’m assuming that staying with Meligaunt might give Arthur some backup. Also, character interaction is just so fulfilling, half the fun is seeing Lancelot, Arthur, Guen and Morgana together.

Sorry for the long post but as you can see, I thoroughly enjoyed this. I thought you could use the extra information to see if you need to change anything.

Blessings be to Guenevere to continue her journey.

LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!

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@Princess I hope it lives up to your expectations! :smile:

@poison_mara That makes sense… though I wondered if maybe you would go straight for the evil sword. I was hoping you might have a hard time deciding which would give your Guen more power. :smiling_imp: You might have a hard time both leading the army and getting the sword. It’s possible, but you’ll have to move your chess pieces in just the right way.

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@anon11888245 Oh my goodness, I laughed so much reading your live commentary. I needed that; thank you. :smiley:

There are indeed some options and inner thoughts that only appear under conditions of Guen’s established personality, but those are more connected to hidden personality stats rather than her reputation, so I hope you won’t be disappointed to find that some of the stuff you’re noticing as appropriate for intelligent Guen may appear even if she doesn’t have a reputation for intelligence. Once I’ve written more, I’ll do even more finessing for little details that are tied to personality.

I love the comparison to the group of kids. :slight_smile: You’re spot-on, especially about Morgana. And I’m glad you liked the romance scene with her; I’m always so nervous about the more intimate scenes, that they’ll be too cheesy or predictable, or not cheesy or not predictable enough.

The clones were inspired by some versions of Arthurian legend where there’s an impostor “false Guenevere.” I fugured, why have one when you can have a whole bunch?

I am going to try to come up with an appropriate powerful magic item for light magic Guen, though it probably won’t be available until later in the series.

Keeping the carrot is a good choice. :wink: The Sheep Commander option was a last-minute addition specifically for Guens like yours, because the other choice I had for the lightmagic/leadership combo was somewhat deceptive. (You can still get that one, but you have to have lied at least once.)

Victis will indeed be okay. If Guen does decide to get mad at Lance, she can get pretty mad. If she says she still wants to be friends, he’ll be very grateful, because he knows he messed up.

Yeah, deciding whether or not to search for Morgana first is supposed to be a tough choice, because the clock is ticking. The game will sometimes make you choose between personal loyalty and larger issues. Neither one necessarily results in failure; they’re just different choices. In any case, Morgana will be okay in the end, because she’s Morgana. And Kitty will be okay, too… you’re right that sending him with Meligaunt could help Arthur, maybe something that a tactically-minded Guen would anticipate.

Thank you for the thoughts on the different branches; they’re really helpful. And thanks for all the comments and feedback overall; I got to enjoy the game from someone else’s perspective, and that was lovely. Much appreciated. :smile:

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You’re too kind. (*´・ｖ・)

1 Like
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@jeantown I’m super glad you remembered our conversation! It seems a lot better to have Arthur know your Guen isn’t attracted to men in general than to hide it from him. (Though I might have to do a Guen play-through where she keeps her sexuality hidden because she’s afraid what people will think, especially since her father gave her to be married to the King and have heirs, etc.)

I think you hit the right mark for Arthur seeming clueless but not disrespectful. It might’ve been funny to hear Lance explaining it Arthur what sexuality is and everything. Lance sitting him down for the sex talk, almost XD Dear lord.

Anyways, keep up the great work! I loved everything about this update!

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@jeantown

First of all…Just oh my Gosh you have no idea how much better this update has made a very, very stressful and depressing week better! It was fantastic. I love how you had Arthur having me stretched between wanting to bop him upside the head, and others just latch on to him giggling and never letting go. Well me and my default kind hearted healer Queen who get’s a little…okay more then a little, grumpy and spunky when you mess wither her or her people. I just adored it and then getting to play a Guen So loyal to her husband, and trying to be the best queen to do good for her kingdom, and do do good by Arthur.

I’m just so happy to see what you can do. I personally choose for the Guen’s that either care about Arthur as a close friend, or is utterly in love with him, chooses the path to go help him/ Go to Michaelsmount, which most of my playthoughs are like that. I’m just enjoying seeing how he grows and though I love his clueless boyish charm, I also just wanna slap him upside the head and make him realize just how in danger he could be if he doesn’t use that pretty head for more then holding up his crown. I d o it personally cause I think I read a version where Arthur was cut by the blade and that was one of the leading factor’s to why he dies in the very end…and me being a hopeless romantic that always wanted a happy ending sort of wanted Guen to go save him from his ‘fate’ as Merlin would put it…Also she goes cause no one touches her little Fae kitty without getting one ticked off Guen on his tail…that and you know…trying to kill her husband might factor in a little.

I also seen Lance off to go find the the decoder in Frankmarch, even in the playthrough where Guen falls in love with him. Though also my more evil and calculating Guen wants to get more bang for her buck so to speak. She splits them up to get more done. Though I usually choose Guen going to Michaelsmount.

But, any ways I loved the update! I’ve found myself sitting here giggling or on the edge of my seat. I’m excited to see more. =D

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@jeantown - It definitely did!! I can’t wait for the second half! I really love the way you write; everything just flows.

The one thing I’ve noticed is that I didn’t feel the same way about Arthur because in book one, I thought he was utterly adorable and sweet, but in book two, I found him a bit frustrating. I still really like him though.
As for Morgana, I love her and she’s like a sister to my Guen!
I think Lance is making my Guen super conflicted because she still loves Arthur, but she’s also completely taken aback by the fact that Lance cares so much for her and because she considers him her friend, she’s upset that she doesn’t get to see him that often.

I chose Camelot in my play through because even if Guen wants to go and help Arthur, she feels like it’s her duty as a Queen to protect Camelot and that’s probably what Arthur would want her to do.

I’m sorry if this sounds choppy, I’m too excited to properly phrase anything!

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Let me start by noting just how good this update is. I blew past this thread for months because the basic description sounded almost exactly like something I wouldn’t be interested in, but ultimately found Book One to be pretty fun, and now what you have for Book Two is downright gripping, especially this cliffhanger you’ve left it on. Setting up four compelling priorities and only giving us the manpower to address two of them is delightfully brutal. The only downside is that it’s reasonably obvious that Arthur and Morgana both have plot armor, which takes a bit of the edge off just leaving them to their fates.

In answer to your survey, I went back to Camelot while sending Lancelot on to Frankmarch. Even pretending M&A are at real risk, it’s a bit of a “the needs of the many” type situation, and I think ultimately trusting that her friends can all handle their individual business is the sensible option.

As far as what would make me feel powerful, I suspect the more or less obvious route is what I’d be looking for. I always love a good siege story in medieval fiction. Spend a few weeks rallying a desperate defense of Camelot to be broken when either Arthur returns home with all his troops or Lance manages to expose the Count and the Franks withdraw; thereby confirming Gwen’s heroism and tactical brilliance in holding off the invaders, but also her sound judgement and the justified faith she placed in her companions.

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Love it!

I think going after Arthur to save the day or going to save Camelot made me feel the most powerful.

One thing I tried several times was to hang on to the special carrot and use it to help me escape from the ship, but I had trouble getting that option activated. I’m sure I was missing some particular condition but it was frustrating.

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Again sooo good and

I Agree with Princess

Because at first I though Arthur was Adoriable and cute but now he’s a litte frustrating, like come on sheep that’s crazy and pratically trusting the half giant (can’t spell name on top of head) completely with no doubt crazy, but adds to the charm:)

Then Lance knowing that your the real Guen and then is the person who finds you first how couldn’t your sleep with him :slight_smile:

Love the story again :slight_smile: !!

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Hellloooo. So yeah after yapping on my blog about my feelings so far (and once I familiarize myself with it more I’ll probably continue to do so) BUT I’ll just answer @jeantownsend 's question about what you picked at the end.

On one hand it’s so hard to choose!!! There are so many possibilities.

I decided to just first cut out which one I would not do (for my two ‘real’ guens at least). Despite the fact that politics/tactics is the main for both of them, and the one I wanted to focus on, the importance of Frankmarch just doesn’t mean as much as Camelot getting burned down or something bad happening at Michaelsmount. For both Guens, I just told Tilda about the thing and hoped she can solve it herself, and put in a good word for Camelot with the Queen. Also, if I kick their army’s ass/get meligaunt to confess and therefore have them blame the betrayal against us on him, that means a possible reconciliation can happen in the future.

Or so was my logic playing it- since I believe you said the most we can complete is too? if so, again, I don’t mind sacrificing that so long as Camelot gets saved and Meligaunt gets his desserts.

What I eventually finally choose for them will depend on what I figure out I can pull of, but for now:

Canon!Guen

Used Morgana doppelganger. Set fae cat free. Sent Lancelot to Arthur, went to camelot, told Tilda about device.

Canon!Guen is not interested in power, but desires to protect her people and feels they need a leader if Arthur isn’t there, and so wouldn’t send Lancelot. She fits into Queendom like a glove so it would make her feel like she is powerful and living up to her duty and purpose.

Ace!Guen

Used Guenevere doppelganger, Set Fae cat free. sent lancelot to camelot. went to michaelsmount. told tilda about device.

Ace!Guen is very interested in power, and would love to go to Camelot or Frankmarch- but her weakness is that deep under her cynicism and craftiness she does believe in being a hero, and dang, the role reversal of her saving the male royal love from danger? It’s too tempting, too much of a thing that represents what she wants to be, so she does it against her sense.

Sent off Lancelot with both of them cause it’s better to have two people in two places, and I don’t need Lancelot as a translator that badly in those places.

As for convincing Arthur, I would hope he’d trust Lancelot, or if it’s Guen do a ‘it’s your wife look into my eyessss’ sort of thing. or use the ring tilda gave us to convince him. or something.

I had the cat run for it- I was hoping he could track down Morgana since I didn’t look for her for either of them. I wonder what happens if I send him with Meligaunt.

Depending on what happens with Morgana and if they can pull off the same results by saving her first, I’ll change it to that being their first priority and then their plan after that. Mostly because Guen implied in the game that waiting or delaying might have consequences, and I know Morgana has plot armor (also her trust points are amazingly up so I have the room to sacrifice the heroicness for now if I need to, I think?) and can take care of herself, so I’m hoping she finds her way somewhere.

Also I gave up on the sword with both of them. Not enough dark magic power. :stuck_out_tongue: I could give it Morgana but nahhh. I hope it can be destroyed though, cause I fear it would end up with Mordred or something.

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Ahhhhh I’m still crying because I’m so happy???
First of all, I only found out about Book 2 at 4am and I didn’t stop playing until it was 8am! I didn’t remember what happened when I woke up so I decided to play the first book again and it’s sooo much fun, I love playing Guen!

Needless to say, I really enjoyed playing the first half of Book 2, it got me so pumped up that I changed my icon to the queen of all queens aka Margaery “I want to be the queen” Tyrell!
[bows down to her and also to you]

Anyway, Book 2 did not disappoint, I love every minute of it! I especially love it when Guen, Morgana, Arthur and Lance are together, I hope there’s more of that to come!
Also bless you and thank you for continuing to let us maintain and develop our Guens! This is my favourite part about your WIP, you really give us the freedom to make her who we want even though it’s complicated as fuck! Thank you so much :slight_smile: :heartpulse: :heart:

Omfg about Arthur and the sheep tho, what a huge dork! He’s still sweet but clueless as hell and I see how his ideals are starting to make him make reckless decisions? (Re: Trusting the half giant?) Will he always be like this or would Guen get a chance to sit him down and give him a worried + loving “Listen, you little shit” talk? Or is he just desperate for the alliance?
Regardless, I still like Arthur and am still torn between him and Lance!
(Also his love scene where he liked being ordered around, god damn :blush: :new_moon_with_face: :blush:)

Lance avoiding Guen :broken_heart:
Lance dedicating his victories to Guen :fire: :broken_heart:
Lance not being his usual self anymore :broken_heart: :broken_heart: :broken_heart:
LANCE KISSING GUEN WHEN HE FINDS HER :fire: :broken_heart: :sob:
Congratulations! :confetti_ball: You’ve made it 999x harder for me to chose between them!
If only I didn’t have to :wink: :new_moon_with_face:
I love how if you chose to tell Lance that you think whatever spell he’s on is affecting his mind after you had sex, he’s like “You thought that it was affecting my mind and possibly my affections towards you and you still wanted to have sex??? Duuuude.”
It was a really nice catch!
What factors into whether Lance genuinely likes you or not once the spell is broken?

I like Morgana’s romance, I think it was really cute and sweet! Them in bed together was :heart: because they’re taking it slow and want to know more about each other first!
I do have to ask, why is Morgana more inclined to share Guen with Arthur as opposed to sharing her with Lance?

I have a few questions too!

When I was playing Book 1, a light magic Guen could help Morgana find the padzar stone to heal Lance but in Book 2, she couldn’t check her room for any trace of magic. She also didn’t know about using chickens and magic and she couldn’t help Morgana prepare the drowsiness/doppelganger potion either.
My question is, how different is light magic and dark magic?
I guess you could justify her helping Morgana in Book 1 with Merlin being a practitioner of light magic as opposed to dark magic?
But if they aren’t that different at all, (if just in how you chose to use them) shouldn’t Guen be able to help if she had knowledge in light magic?

In Book 1 when you asked Arthur about Lance and the necklace, he confesses but in Book 2, he mentions Lance but then tries to cover it up even though he’s already confessed? Is he covering up from Guen or is he just saving face in front on Bretta + Maris and the servants since they don’t know?

And in Book 1!

“Do you think it might be be?” I ask her.

And maybe it’s just me but when I was playing the Guen doppelgangers part, I couldn’t help but think of it as a nod to your players since we’re all technically Guen and our Guens are different! Hahahaha idk!

For your request, I still don’t know which I should pick since I’m an indecisive piece of shit :see_no_evil:
I have no idea but I chose to go find Morgana first and I had Lance go to Arthur + bring the sword to me. I’ll have to reply again to give you a better answer!
I’m so tempted to pm you to ask what happens so I can have a good ending! Choosing where to go is hard and I don’t even know if I should stick to my current skills!

Overall, thank you so much Jean! This is amazing work and I hope you’re proud of it because I really love Guenevere :heart:

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Wow, thank you, everyone for all of this feedback! I can’t tell you how much it means to me, after all the hours and hours of writing. I really needed this to get me back on track for writing the second half.

I’m going to try to respond to everybody individually, but it may take a while, so this is just an overall THANK YOU to everyone!!! :smiley: