King of Kings

Hosted Games Works In Progress
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Uhhh woops?

So funny story, especially if you’ve seen my tumblr, but apparently my procrastination and attempt of working on my other WIP has led to this. And I guess this is a thing now?

A passion side side project, so I will not even attempt to try to put any time constraints on this. It started off as a fun way to practice some code and try out some new styles but this is my life now.

Anyhow.

Synopsis

Our protagonist is the new Lord of Zhuregin, following her father’s passing. However, she is ruling under the guise of her dead twin brother, and cannot afford to have her cover blown at all because of the chaotic political climate. Will you vie for the throne, try to remain neutral and protect your lands, aid another lord in his bid for the throne, or help the current dynasty remain in power?

Some lore to give context

Avonia was initially a collection of petty kingdoms under the control of the Essenian Empire up until 1505, when the thirteen kingdoms allied together and broke away. As a way to keep themselves organized, they decided to create an elective monarchy, with a High King to rule over the lands. This breakaway was spearheaded by the Istrebov, Vorobyov, and Letyagin.

The election occurs upon either the death or abdication of the High King. The thirteen lords meet in Zhuregin a week later, however in the case of abdication, it takes place immediately afterward. Of the thirteen clans, the clan that held the crown last is unable to cast his vote, so the new High King is decided by the twelve others in a week-long council. A lord is allowed to either cast a vote to another individual, or to abstain, though the latter is generally frowned upon.

Within the 170 years, the crown is mostly held by one of these four clans - Istrebov, Vorobyov, Letyagin, and Lisitsyn. The Istrebov dynasty began in 1600 when Rostislav Alistratovich abdicated and Stanislav Vladimirovich was elected. Stanislav then spent the majority of his reign campaigning for his son, Vsevolod Stanislavovich, and he stepped down in 1630, once he was assured of his son becoming his successor. He also far exceeds the unspoken rule of ruling no more than 30 years, and once Vsevolod becomes High King, he does not abide by the old honour laws. He rules until he dies, and forces the others to elect his son Bogdan to the throne.

However, the Sokhryakov clan is displeased with this, and the then Lord Sokhryakov rebelled in 1663, and succeeds in claiming the throne. It lasts only a year, and Trifena is summarily executed for treason, but it begins a chain of dissatisfaction amongst the other clans.

There was another attempted rebellion in 1665 by the Avtaikin and Zherebtsov clans, but they were easily quashed. As of 1674, the Vorobyov and Lisitsyn clans are openly opposed to the Istrebov dynasty.

A nice list of the kings of kings

Vasiliy Kononovich Vorobyov | Reign: 1505 - 1514 |
Kallinik Sofronovich Letyagin | Reign: 1514 - 1524 |
Tikhon Vladimirovich Lisitsyn | Reign: 1524 - 1535 |
Mitrofan Rostislavovich Istrebov | Reign: 1535 - 1537 |
Khrisanf Rostislavovich Letyagin | Reign: 1537- 1542 |
Alistrat Vsevolodovich Vorobyov | Reign: 1542 - 1550 |
Stanislav Rodionovich Lisitsyn | Reign: 1550 - 1562 |
Kirian Alistratovich Vorobyov | Reign: 1562 - 1571 |
Ambrosii Tikhonovich Istrebov | Reign: 1571 - 1585 |
Rostislav Alistratovich Vorobyov | Reign: 1585 - 1600 |
Stanislav Ambrosievich Istrebov | Reign: 1600 - 1630 |
Vsevolod Stanislavovich Istrebov | Reign: 1630 - 1662 |
Trifena Bogdanovna Sokhryakova | Reign: 1663 - 1664 |
Bogdan Vsevolodovich Istrebov | Reign: 1662 - 1675 |

ROs because most people are probably interested in this
  • Nikolai Yakovlevich Tyurin // Your devoted spymaster/assassin who also happens to be one of your childhood friends, and in on The Secret
  • Khrisanf Nikanorovich Vorobyov // Your fiance who thinks you’re dead, aspires to overthrow the Istrebov dynasty to establish his own, and not in on The Secret
  • Tamara Vladimirovna Gorshenina // Your chambermaid who serves you quite faithfully and you can tell anything, and is in on The Secret
Changelog

30.09.18 // Demo uploaded, approx. 9.5k words

Link to Demo

My Tumblr

P.S. AAB is still in progress!! Slowly but surely, I just needed a change of pace

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Noticed a mistake (presumably in the code):
The MC is referred to as “Lady MC” near the end.

Overall, this is a very intriguing beginning. I’m looking forward to more. :relaxed:

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Okay, so I love this.

This has jumped to the top of my WIPs list: it’s my absolute favorite so far! You do a fantastic job of building this world and the characters, your writing style is lush and amazing and engrossing, and I love, love, love the concept of a female character being forced to masquerade as her twin brother as she struggles to rule a fiefdom! Amazing work on this!

My only suggestions would be to add a character list in the stats screen when you find the time: it’s quite hard to keep track of the characters’ numerous names and their variations (it was hard to track Nikolai as Kolya, etc.). I think a little bit more detail about the world could help me understand the consequences of my actions, too: when selecting the prayer bracelet, seeing “the stone of Ametyr” didn’t mean anything to me, so my choice didn’t have a way of “mattering” in the moment. Providing context, like “the stone of Ametyr, the god of ____” would definitely help. When it came to deciding the fate of Lord Shusherin, too, having more context to understand my decisions would have really helped; I chose to punish him according to the law, but not knowing what that law was until afterwards made me go, “Oh, damn, I wouldn’t have chosen that if I’d known.”

Overall, though, I found this pretty impeccable, and I’m fascinated by the story, characters, and world you’ve built here. (I’m also going to romance Nikolai so hard, I’m a sucker for bodyguard romances mmm–) Please keep going with this, I’ll be following this enthusiastically!

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I’m so down for this as long as I can romance the cute chambermaid cause thats like, my biggest weakness ever its not even funny.

Despite this being a side project, I absolutely am invested and enthralled. Whatever you choose to do with it I’ll definitely be paying attention!

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I agree with @rinari about your writing style. Some inspiration, perhaps, from Romeo and Juliet:

FRIAR:
These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which, as they kiss, consume. The sweetest honey
Is loathsome in his own deliciousness
And in the taste confounds the appetite.
Therefore love moderately: long love doth so;
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.
(2.6.9-15)

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I agree with @rinari & @Carlos.R, love your writing style. The kingdom of Avonia is intriguing, as is it’s culture. I enjoyed being thrust into the cold winter, drama & tragedy from the get-go. I’m so invested and can’t wait to learn more - especially about the MCs murderer of a fiance.

Suggestions:

  • I agree with @rinari, adding a character list & world breakdown would be helpful in keeping track of the characters, their nicknames, and world culture/laws & history. I also believe character descriptions should be included in the characters list to assist the reader in visualizing the characters.

  • Is it possible to allow the player to type in their own MC name & nicknames? Adding this feature, may allow some players/readers to feel a bit more connected & attached to the characters & dramatic situations. At the least, for me, if I can’t pick my own name I feel the story is not so much from “my” POV and that I’m just witnessing someone else’s story. (But I might just be spoiled, lol. :hugs::princess:)

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I really enjoy what you have so far. I will keep up with this and keep up the good writing

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so it’s gender locked to female…

yeah nvm about that dumb question…I need more coffee…:disappointed_relieved:

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Oh I like the looks of this!

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For Mother Russia!!!..I mean for Mother Avonia!!! Yea I will definitely cook a revolution or something

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Oh, I like playing a royal, but I think you overdid it here. For a moment I felt like Daenerys Targaryen with so many names :wink:

“You’re awake, Lady Klavdiya Irina Akulina Efimiya Dariya Klavdiya?” A vaguely familiar voice asks

Joke/bug aside I’m really liking what you got so far :slight_smile:

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I was not expecting this kind of reception omg :blush:

@justme Could you post a screencap please? Thanks for catching it though!

@rinari Thank you so much! I’m a sucker for these kinds of stories too lmao. The character list is under construction right now, and it was too messy to add in, but when I find the time to work on this, I’ll clean it up and put it up.

Thanks for the input on the worldbuilding! I’ll fix up some of the more vague parts for next time ^^ There’s also a codex being written for that, but I’m afraid that’s going to take a while because I left the map at home, and I’m at uni six hours away :sweat:

@Carlos.R I got flashbacks to high school English lol, but thanks!

@Joi2DWorld Khrisanf is actually my favourite RO in this. He’s such an asshole and murdering one at that, but he owns it so well lmao

I was considering adding in self-input names, but I think I won’t. The names are all tied to stats, and tied back to various figures in its history. I am open to adding more options though.

And the point about feeling connected to characters, I guess that’s something really weird about IF games. Personally, I usually choose from the given names, and I like keeping a certain distance from protagonists in these games. I like getting into the protagonist’s heads, but not actually being them, if that makes any sense.

@lo6otia Wait what the flippity flop what. Is that a real bug because if it is I am very concerned about what happened with my code. If not, lmao. Overly-long royal names are incredibly amusing to me.

So, uh, I hope you guys aren’t hoping for a happy ending for this because if so, oops this is awkward.

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I’m fine with a tragic ending as long as I get to romance the pants off of someone in between

(Also, I just read Absinthian Ballad for the first time and loved it too!)

And hooray for a codex! That will totally help whenever you have the time for it haha!

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So great game bud looking forward to the rest of it, im kinda a sucker when it comes to this type of story so nicely done so far. And as a tangent, dose the title of this make anyone else start to hum Carloues Rex by sabaton? Just me then alright

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So I won’t be able to become an openly female High King with Nikolai as my concubine? :disappointed_relieved:

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It appears to have been a problem in the 4k version, not this one. :sweat_smile:

Do we get to find out who they are? And yes to more options, please. (I’m ashamed to admit I pick based purely on stats, and would like a charisma and manipulation based build.)

Are we talking bittersweet or straight-up tragedy here? Because I’ve already gotten rather attached to Irina. :sob:

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Aaaaa, I was sad when the demo ended! I was really enjoying the story! Look forward to seeing more of it!

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Oh I like the looks of this. I’ll test this

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I found this through @Iorica’s tumblr! I played the demo and loved it! The scenes between the princess and prince moved me so much, they made wish the prince was still alive too :sob:

I must admit when you said:

I was a little shocked but then again I’ve played Black Wolves Saga. If I can handle those “happy ends” I can deal with the tragedy here too :joy:

I’ve liked when what I’ve seen of Tamara and Nikolai so far. Tbh, I’ve grown very fond of Nikolai. :grin: I can’t wait to meet Khrisanf even though he’s a mudering a**hole. :sweat_smile:

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Sorry to tell you but it’s a real bug and he kept calling me that through the whole conversation. I should’ve taken a screenshot, it was hilarious. Unfortunately I can’t help you with the code :frowning: