Riders of Ecadius | HTTYD meets Percy Jackson [WIP] (Minor stats update 22/01/23)

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To whoever had the misfortune of straying from the beaten path and somehow ended up getting lured by the enticing concept of dragon-riding, welcome. Before I bore you with how I got here, I’ll first show you what I have to offer.

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NOTE: All art used in the game and in this thread are mine.

PREMISE
In a modern world where secrets are easily unveiled, the lives of dragons are yet again threatened. The island of Ecadius is a sanctuary; a haven for the fabled and forgotten. It is also the home of Port Drakon, a Dragon-Riding institution with a goal in mind to educate the new generation of Dragon-Riders to their full potential. Individuals are brought here as per request of the Coalition of the Free Riders and are expected to follow in the footsteps of those that came before them. The methods of teaching are ever changing, perhaps for the better; however, the ideology itself remains unchanged.

You, dear reader, will be maneuvering the life of an orphan who had turned their back on the world for its innumerable transgressions against you. You grew out of the system and was thrust into the unforgiving reality of adulthood with no one to lean on. No family that you know of to seek help from, for they have abandoned you long before you could remember what colors were. They are, therefore, effectively dead in your eyes. Ghosts of the past not worth mourning.

But then they approached you. Spouting oddities about ancient blood lines. Of an island in the Atlantic where you supposedly belong in. Of extended families you never heard of. Of the idea that they want you there.

To feel wanted, you realize, is all you’ve ever hoped. And this stranger promises you this, and more.

GENRE
Young-Adult

  • This story involves characters around the ages of 18 and above.

Romance

  • This story involves romance. To what degree? I’m still in the process of determining that but rest assured there will be aspects of romance.

Alternate-History

  • Since I can’t weave dragons accurately into history without losing my mind, I’ve made modifications drastic enough to warrant this tag in order to accommodate dragons in the modern age. Though take note, the majority of the population have no idea that dragons exist out of fairy tales, and nor do they have any idea about the island of Ecadius. Just know this common belief:

Apart from the Bermuda Triangle, in this alternate history there is another similarly mysterious urban legend surrounding a portion of the arctic circle due east of Iceland called the North Sea Conspiracy.

Much like the Bermuda Triangle, disappearances are attributed to this region of the North Sea. The sea is rougher here, and keen individuals of the internet have taken notice how satellite images of certain sections near the coast of Iceland are completely blurred or blacked out similar to what one would find of military bases meant to be kept secret. Conspiracies are abound, some speculating it to be a secret testing site for NATO, or the location of a nuclear silo by the Americans. And of course, aliens. But let them entertain themselves with these fanciful theories. Oftentimes believing a lie is better than exposing the truth.

How far along am I?
Currently I’ve only done 3k words so far. Bummer. I only just started last month in the middle of December. I’ve got so many things I want to write down but I’m limited by noggin’s ability to code. But I’m determined to at least get some stuff out, but don’t expect much. As far as lore goes, I’ve got most of it taken care of since this story has been simmering in the back of my mind for six years. All that’s left is for me to put it into, well, words.

But anyways, check the following information for what I intend to implement if you’re interested for more. Happy reading!

Dragon Classes and Species
There are currently 10+ rideable dragons, categorized into four dragon classes based on their preferred habitat. There are more dragons, but that’s for you, the reader, to find out once I’ve actually implemented them.

FEATURES THAT WILL HOPEFULLY BE IMPLEMENTED

  • Forge a bond with a dragon of your own depending on the choices you make during the story. Or to hell with tradition! You can choose whichever dragon you want.
  • Engage in dogfights mid-air with dragon-fire and a menagerie of weapons and auxiliary equipment.
  • Meet a diverse cast of fellow aspiring dragon-riders and mentors as you attend Port Drakon and undergo many trials in order to be a venerated dragon-rider.
  • Explore the deep history surrounding the mysterious island and its inhabitants, challenging all that you’ve learned.
  • Clash against various political factions. Some mundane while others extremely dangerous should you engage.
  • Discover the mystery of your past. Of your ancestors. And of your family’s history. The same family that, for years, you believed to have abandoned you. Or did they?

CURRENT GOAL

  • Complete prologue [7k/15k words]
  • Add gender-choice option.
  • Flesh out stats window with necessary variables [Functional]

Here’s the lackluster demo: https://dashingdon.com/go/12756
Feel free to leave constructive criticism or if you have questions regarding, well, anything, go right on ahead! But do it in a kindly manner.

Now I have questions for you:
What gender will you play as in the story?

  • Male
  • Female
  • Non-binary

0 voters

What sexuality will you play as in the story?

  • Straight
  • Gay
  • Bisexual
  • Ace
  • Other

0 voters

Changelogs

22/01/2023

  • Revised demo
  • Added functional stats menu

12/01/2023

  • Updated and added new art
  • Updated Prologue

9/01/2023

  • Added Demo
205 Likes
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Interesting premise, but the modern day setting is kind of not to my taste, although I can understand differentiating the setting from HTTYD.

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I can’t say it’s good or bad because it’s pretty short and the prolog not finished, but what i can say is sure take my curiosity by how you open the story

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@Salad_Chicken a interesting start cant offer to much critique at moment but will give heads up incase its not known. Yet the stats option bugs out when selecting it.

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@Salad_Chicken found this while trying to check the stats:

choicescript_stats line 6: Non-existent variable ‘dragon’

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I don’t really have a problem with adapting a similar setting as HTTYD, but I wanted to explore the concept of dragons in the modern setting since not a lot of fiction does that. It’s always during the medieval era, or in a high-fantasy world detached from our own. Very rigid, in my opinion.

Though I could offer you some hope at least. Most of the story, though while it takes place in a modern-setting, won’t be exposed much to, well, the modern world. I know its contradictory but I’ll clear that out later on in the story. It will mostly be set in a community that adheres to traditional ideals, culture, architecture, etc as if you’ve been transported to the past. The closest I could relate it to is probably the Amish. Or yknow, Camp Half-Blood with their usual ban on modern tech. So in a way, I can effectively dabble on both modern and medieval settings :DD Hope that piques your interest again.

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Thanks! I’ve been worrying about how to introduce concepts that wasn’t at all overbearing to the reader. The last I want to do is shove a wall of text on your faces. Regarding the bug on the stat options, I’m still working on it. Though as of right now, it’s not a priority compared to the story itself. That and I’m still working my head around the codes for stats and variables. Thanks for the feedback nonetheless!

Thanks! I’ll probably make a quick placeholder for the time being. But I’ll hopefully make a more cohesive stats window once I’ve comfortably reached a point in the prologue where I can invest more time on the technical side of things.

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No worries and your welcome

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I already love this! I cannot wait for more! :purple_heart:

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Sorry for the late reply, but thank you so much! I did a minor update just now so I hope you check it out. I added more exposition and art. I’d say we’re 40% done with the prologue. Getting closer to the interesting bits, which I’m excited for.

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I like the story so far. Can’t wait to read more!

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Its kind of a lore dump right now but I’m cautiously optimistic about this. My main concern is how much focus are dragons going to be in the story since, for me personally, media tend to focus way too much on the humans rather than the creatures themselves.

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@Zest
Thanks for liking the story so far! Currently, I’m in the process of introducing the supporting cast and ROs. There’s currently 5 possible ROs that I have in mind and its simply a matter of implementing. I’ll be adding brief descriptions in the main post once I’ve updated the demo to include them. Again, thank you! :DD

@Darkk_est
Oh god this is what I was afraid of. You’re wholly correct. I got a bit overzealous with the lore dump hahaha. I really appreciate you for pointing this out so early in the development cause I have a hard time determining which part of the lore to omit. Would it be fine if you were to tell me which part of the story where the lore dump is most severe? So I can reassess which information is truly necessary and take out the stuff that can be later introduced in a more natural way.

Regarding your main concern, I totally understand. I’d say the dragons have a significant role in the story since I revised the concept of Ecadius with the dragons in mind, along with the various fauna. I wrote an intensive glossary of the rideable dragons years ago on a google docs, detailing things such as their behavior, breeding, appearance, hunting/combat capabilities and so on. This was basically the product of my love for speculative biology. So I’m determined to showcase every aspect of what I wrote about the dragons because that is my main intention. Showcase a ‘what if’ scenario where dragons are treated not as mythical beasts but as creatures that are as mundane as lions or any other apex predator. But I’ll have to balance the focus to leave room for some of the history they have with humans. I hope this clears things up! Feel free to ask more questions if you have any.

4 Likes
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Can’t wait the premise looks amazing and can’t wait to see what you write :blush:

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bookmarking this for when more content drops the premise seems really fun

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Ooh~ Modern day dragon riding, don’t come across that concept often. (I say often but i mean never according to my memory)
I’m very keen on updates, keep up the good work! :slight_smile:
(A short glossary of the dragons in the stats menu would be good addition)

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Played the demo, and I do somewhat agree with most of the other comments here. I’ll need to see a little more before I give an opinion on the choices or how they affect the game. That being said, I can say already that I deeply enjoy the premise of this story, as well as the writing style we’ve seen so far. I’m looking forward to seeing the rest, both to offer an opinion on the choices as well as read more into this story!

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@Dova_Kin
Thank you! I appreciate it :)) Though I regret to say that I won’t be updating the demo for some time both due to college stuff and plan of finishing the prologue and some parts of chapter 1 for a better grasp of the overall feel of the game/story.

@under-staffed-pickle
I’m glad you find the premise interesting enough to bookmark this! It’s regretful that there’s not enough content at the moment, but I’ll do my best to churn them out as much as my schedule allows :DD I’m thinking of doing major updates only from now on and I’m hoping of dropping the complete prologue and some parts of chapter 1 on my next update so that ya’ll can have a lengthier playthrough and a better impression than the barebones version I currently have. Hope to hear from you again once that happens!

@Illusiveacorn54
Yeah. Trust me when I say I was absolutely dumbfounded how people haven’t yet explored this twist on dragons yet. The closest piece of media I could find is a book series about an alternate history where the Napoleonic wars were fought with dragons. I myself haven’t read them yet, but while researching things such as the best weapons to use on dragon-back and scientifically accurate dragons, I saw comments mentioning this particular series. Sadly, I don’t remember the name but I’m sure its an easy find on google if you’re interested!

As for the glossary, I’ll likely add them progressively depending on what the readers learn from the Dragonology Vol 1 book Carina gave the reader, or tid bits of information gained from the people you’ve talked to. I’m still dealing with the technical side of things :')) Thanks again!

@Haydes
Thanks for the feedback! I’m thinking of holding back on minor updates for the time being and just commit on doing major ones instead. As I mentioned in the previous replies above, the next update will hopefully have the completed prologue and some parts of chapter 1 so you guys can have more stuff to do and comment on. I’m very glad you’ve enjoyed what little I’ve shown so far and that you find my writing style more than tolerable lmao. Regarding when the next update will be, that’s up for debate sadly since I have architecture school to deal with at the moment. And I have this horrible habit of prioritizing the art, which I’m committed on adding, especially the dragons. In fact, I’ve drawn a height chart for one of the rideable dragons already.

Anyways, I’m rambling again hahaha. Thanks again for the feedback!

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Seems promising. That Jon kid is a bit of an asshole and my poor mc…Iceland. :cold_face:
Couldn’t training be on some paradise island in the Pacific? :persevere:
Anyway one thing to keep in mind going further is that my mc definitely will not use the last name of the family who abandoned him. So I would like the option to stick with whatever last name the mc already has…since they were a somewhat functional adult with a job, albeit a minimum wage one, I assume the courts of wherever they lived before assigned them a random last name and if the mc was abandoned as a baby a first name too…so I just went with the very common sounding John (confusing with that Jon kid, but whatever) Smith.
Anyway my mc simply won’t respond to anyone calling him Kriegan going forward.

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@idonotlikeusernames

Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t be particularly elated with people calling my characters assholes but in this case, I’m glad HAHAHA. Since that’s what I wanted to convey with him. Worry not, he won’t just be a superficial asshole once the story goes on. And don’t worry, things will start to heat up real soon.

:eyes: we’ll see

Funny you should mention that cause I’m planning on working on that actually. The only reason why I didn’t ask the reader for their surname when Jon was asking for your name is because a) he’s an ass that looks at you as if you personally stepped on his cat’s tail and didn’t apologize afterwards and b) you have little care for last names anyway. And in an interactive point of view, I wanted to integrate the question of your family’s name in a more natural way as opposed to asking you first off the bat in the beginning of the story. Also you assumed correctly with the surnames being assigned to them. Though instead of the court themselves, I’m opting for maybe a service worker assigning the MC their placeholder names.

LMAO that’s the best middle finger your MC could ever give to their bio family. Thanks so much for the feedback!

5 Likes