Mordred: Blood Cries Afar (WIP)

low-fantasy
#1

“On the death of Uther, King of the Britons, his son Arthur succeeded to the kingdom by the contrivance of certain men. Nonetheless it was not lawfully his due, but rather belonged to his sister, Anna, or her children. For she was begotten of lawful wedlock, and married to Lot, Lord of Lothian. And of her Lot begat two sons, the noble Gawain and Mordred - who some relate, though without foundation, to have had another origin.” - John of Fordun, Chronicle of the Scottish Nation, 1360

Anyone up for another Arthurian story?

This one sees the player enter stage left, and step into Mordred’s spiky black boots for an oath-breaking, back-stabbing regicidal romp which is sure to shake the feudal order to its very foundations.

Will you be a tragic hero or an outright villain? A victim of fate, or a wilful traitor.

Choose wisely, and remember: all roads lead to Camlann.

WIP: https://dashingdon.com/go/1785

What is the premise of this game?

You’re playing Mordred, from the Arthurian legends. Chapter 1 covers the end of Mordred’s boyhood in Lothian. Future chapters will detail his escapades as a Knight of the Round Table and an eventual rise to power.

Map

Map

What genre is it?

Low fantasy with strong historical influences, and maybe a dash of horror thrown in.

How many chapters will there be?

Five, plus a prologue and a range of epilogues.

Update History

10/09/2017: Prologue and the beginning of Chapter 1 currently up. Glossary and character reference pages added to stat screen.
12/09/2017: Update with a few edits, an expanded scene with King Lot and the start of a new scene with Gawain.
13/09/2017: Update to flesh out the wastrel background. Added a bit more to the scene with Gawain. Bug fix and a bit more editing.
14/09/2017: Update to the scene with Gawain with a few more interactions for the warrior background.
16/09/2017: Added some new material to the scene with Gawain, and made a few more edits.
19/09/2017: Fleshed out the description of Mordred’s choices for the evening before the battle. Added a new scene with Morganna and Urien. Made a few more edits.
21/09/2017: Added another update, with the build-up to the battle against the Picts. Chapter 1 is now about 50% complete.
22/09/2017: Scholar background now added, and a small teaser for Chapter 2.
02/10/2017: Update with the fight against the Pictish champion.
04/10/2017: Update with the first tranche of the battle if you fancy fighting on foot. We’re definitely getting there!
07/10/2017: Update to the shield-wall path for the Scholar and Wastrel backgrounds and a possible conclusion to the battle. Also added quick-start options.
12/10/2017: Update to the feast with the option to start a brawl, and an exposition scene with Queen Anna.
16/10/2017: Minor update to move things forward a little if you manage to break the Picts and decide to pursue them. Also made a few more edits elsewhere in the text.
17/10/2017: Update with another option if you choose to pull a knife on Gawain’s friends, and most of the fight at the banquet.
18/10/2017: Finished the scene with Gawain, and the fight at the banquet.
03/11/2017: Added a new scene with Mordred’s departure from Gododdin. Made a few more edits.
07/11/2017: Added a bit more of the battle.
11/11/2017: Update with another couple of choices if Mordred allows the Picts to surrender. The game now tracks your sword and horse as well.
20/11/2017: Added the first section of the night raid.
21/11/2017: Added a bit more of the night raid, and made a few more edits elsewhere.
28/11/2017: Filled in another path through the night raid, and added some introductory text for Chapter 2.
18/12/2017: Update to the battle and night raid, including the beginning of a scene with the Pictish prophetess.
15/01/2018: Update to flesh out the scene with the Pictish prophetess.
03/03/2018: Finished the night raid, and the scene with the Pictish prophetess.
07/04/2018: Finished Mordred’s paths through the battle if he chooses to fight from the back of the shield-wall, and made some edits elsewhere in the text.
30/05/2018: Minor update with the conclusion to the battle.

Will there be romance options?

Yes, probably five or six in total.

How do the stats work?

Mordred has two primary attributes - Bloodshed and Guile. Bloodshed represents your abilities as a warrior and a warleader. Guile reflects your cunning and ability to manipulate or influence people.

Mordred starts with one of these attributes at 2 and the other at 1 in Chapter 1, depending on which background you’ve chosen. You’ll have the opportunity to increase them further in subsequent chapters.

I’ll also be tracking your personality using three axes (Passionate - Calculating, Chivalry - Cynicism and Compassion - Cruelty). These will unlock different options in play, and may also influence how other characters react to you.

Finally, there are Bile, Renown and Wealth. Bile is a measure of Mordred’s vindictiveness, spite and inner turmoil. Renown reflects his reputation. Wealth is the value of his disposable assets.

How do the backgrounds work?

You’ll chose a background for your Mordred in Chapter 1 (Scholar, Warrior or Wastrel).

This will determine your starting attributes, and will also influence certain events in play.

Best WIP's of 2018
#2

Ok i wasn’t expecting much but boy im glad i was wrong, i just have a question, are we Mordred and the story will be about him or is the prologue just a scene from his perspective before we have our own MC ?

#3

Glad you enjoyed it! You’re playing as Mordred throughout the story.

#4

That’s awsome, to be able to play as the bad the bad guy of the original story.
However i have one piece of advice. You should really try and make us (the readers) like Mordred, give us a reason to betray Arthur because in the original story Mordred betray Arthur when he goes to war by crowning himself king and i don’t think all readers would like that
OK this is an edit What if its gwen who manipulated us by making us believe that Arthur has changed and joined the dark side using her charms, because in the original story Mordred once crownded king took Gwen as his wife so we could presume that Mordred is in love with the queen

#5

oh wow I really wasn’t expecting all of that… Keep up the great work!
How many chapters do you plan or predict to have in the finished product?
I assume the final battle is inevitable?

Did I see a hint that Gwen is a manipulator? o.O

#6

@Protagonist

what I found
  • And, in return, the common folk speak of his with a respect that touches on reverance.

him?

reverence

I must say I certainly going to enjoy playing as Mordred, I just have one question right now, are there going to be RO?

#7

I’m liking what I’m seeing!

#8

Thanks everyone! This will be my first novel, so it’s great to have so much positive feedback.

@pauleno2000 – I’m planning to give the player a number of options which might give their Mordred a reason to fight Arthur. For one thing, Mordred’s got a decent claim to being Uther’s “rightful” heir. If Mordred chooses to develop a relationship with Guinevere then that could definitely give him a motivation to rebel.

Mallory’s Morte d’Arthur is definitely one of my sources, but I’ll also be drawing on other versions of the story (and just making stuff up) to give the player the latitude to develop their own character. I’m also considering an option where Mordred and Arthur are fighting on the same side at Camlann. After all, the earliest versions of the story just say that Arthur and Mordred both died fighting at Camlann – not whether they were fighting each other!

I’ll leave it entirely to the player to decide how likeable they want their Mordred to be.

@LightningGarfunkel – I’m currently planning on five chapters, plus the prologue and an epilogue. There will always be a battle at Camlann, although hopefully I’ve written the prologue broadly enough to accommodate a range of player choices to explain how you might have got there!

No comment! :grinning:

@SabrinadizaLS – Good spot, thanks! I’ve fixed that, and also added a couple of indexes to the stats page. There will absolutely be Romance Options, although I haven’t given that much thought to them yet. I’ll be hinting at another one possible romance option later in the first chapter, and introducing a few more as the story develops.

#9

Can you put more of a detail to the game/ story pleas

#10

Im really enjoying this game, especially becuase I get to play an Arthurian villain. The writing is also fantastic. One thing I need to ask though, is it necessary for the pages to move like that, I find it a bit distracting, but Ill still play if you keep it in.

#11

I’ve made another minor update to the scene with King Lot.

@augustus27 Very glad to hear you’re enjoying it! Would you mind elaborating a bit on the issue with the pages moving? I haven’t made any changes to the coding, but can certainly revisit the way the story’s structured if that isn’t working for you.

@Harley_Robin_Evans Sure – anything in particular you’d like me to add?

#12

Yeah, the pages move after you make a choice, and it gets really distracting. I can say anything about the coding, becuase I have no idea how to code though.
Edit: nevermind, I just saw that there was a way to turn it off in the settings.

#13

Oh, wow, the writing is lovely. I’ll play it again when I have the time.

#14

Oh… I could get used to this. I’ve always enjoyed a darker tale or three.

#15

I have to ask, will it be possible for us to survive, and kill Arthur? I want to see the realm fall apart, and divide itself.

#16

Thank you. I’ve always been interested in the character Mordred and am really glad I’ll get to play around with his past.

Will Merlin be able to sense the remnants of the spell his future self used on you?

As the game progresses will we be able to use our foreknowledge to steal the famous quests of other knights of the round table?

Will it be possible to seek advancement outside of Britain, such as conquering a nearby nation or marrying a princess, ect?

#17

This is a really exciting WIP! It’s sad that Mordred won’t get to avoid his fate but I’m really looking forward to seeing the different paths that can take him there.

#18

Really cool idea! Love getting to play the villain, especially Mordred. Wish it wasn’t gender locked though, any thoughts to changing that?

#19

@augustus27 All I can really say for the moment is that I’m not ruling the idea out. I understand why people might want Mordred to have a way to survive in some fashion, and I’ve got a couple of ideas for how that might work, but it will really depend on what feels right for the story by the time we’ve got to Chapter 5. The collapse of the realm will be covered in the epilogue.

@Disciple Merlin hasn’t sent you back in time, he’s cursed you to remember the choices you’ve already made that have led you to Camlann. However, adventures outside Britain are definitely a possibility. Mordred should become king or regent in Chapter 4, and invading one of your neighbours or marrying a foreign princess could certainly be options at that point.

@Emperor666 Afraid not. I’ve given a lot of thought to adding a female path, and ultimately decided that it isn’t going to work for this story. If Lot and Anna had a daughter then her experiences would be so different that I’d effectively be writing two entirely different games. (For example, the dynamics of the current scene I’m writing with King Lot are largely driven by Lot’s machismo and how well Mordred lives up to Lot’s expected gender roles - that would play very differently for a female character, who’d probably have a far easier time dealing with him.) I highly recommend the Guinevere game if you’re interested in exploring the Arthurian legends from a female perspective.

#20

Do we have a set look? or is it up to our imagination?