Summary:
Being the noble of a manor has its perks: you can enjoy feasts, fine entertainment, and even correspondence chess games with the king himself. Of course, there are many responsibilities that come with ruling over a castle and countryside too. You must keep ambitious bandits in check; hold court and consider your subjects’ many requests and problems; and navigate a complex political world where making one group happy often means making another discontent.
Yet no one ever prepared you for being haunted by a mysterious demon, or contending with a group of new radicals called anarchists. The demon seems intent on terrorizing you into adopting her own moral code, and the anarchists will never be content until they’ve toppled feudal society, starting with your own humble manor. Will you defeat your enemies first, or will they send your world crumbling down around you? Or, stranger yet, will you come to sympathize with their goals?
The Cruel Guardians is an epic interactive fantasy novel by Samuel Young, where your choices control the story. It’s entirely text-based, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.
- Play as Lord, Lady, or Noble; romance whoever you want. You’re the ruler, after all!
- Romance a sly spymaster; a witty servant; a clever advisor; a chivalrous general; a passionate fire priest; the anarchist who wants to overthrow feudal society, including you; or even the mysterious demon that haunts your manor.
- Rule over your subjects with sympathy, pragmatism, or an iron fist.
- Strive to maintain your sanity, and order in your domain as a demon tries to make you see things her way: voluntarily, or forcibly.
- Attempt to crush the anarchist revolution that’s simmering just below the surface, or discard your feudal loyalties altogether and join forces with them.
Demo word count:
Chapter One: 11k
Chapter Two: ?
Chapter Three: 12k
Chapter Four: 16k
Chapter Five: 23k
Chapter Six: 20k
Chapter Seven: 19k
Chapter Eight: 19k
Chapter Nine: 25k
Chapter Ten: 22k
Total: 167k
Estimated total chapters: 22
Kinds of feedback I’m especially looking for:
- Jelok used to be male, but I switched her to female. There are likely a lot of pronouns I missed. If you see her being referred to with male pronouns, please let me know.
- Bugs and typos, to make the story as clean and functional as possible.
- This is a standalone story so I’m much more open to it being less linear than my other stories. You can let me know if there are choices you would like to see added.
- Are the stats well rounded: not too hard but not too easy? Are the resource management elements, with trading bushels for goods and services, balanced?
Future changes:
- I’ll be making Lester an RO, so I’ll be adding in a few choices throughout the demo for that.
- I will write a scene where you go to visit Lord Ket, Emyla’s father, requesting reimbursement after Emyla robbed you.
- I will add a choice for whether or not to kill one of Emyla’s comrades in Chapter Five, or to take him as a prisoner.
- I will add another minor character to the story, one of Emyla’s comrades
- I will add a regretful note from Emyla when she steals your coins if you had a friendly or romantic relationship with her.
- I will add a whole new chapter, which will be the new Chapter 2, where you are still living under your father’s rule as he ages and continues to get sicker. I had originally planned on spreading this throughout the story in flashbacks, but I think having it as one cohesive chapter is better.
NOTICE: The Cruel Guardians will be on hiatus until about 2028. You can still feel free to read and leave feedback
Beta link: CoGDemos
Want to support me? Check out my other works or support me on Kofi:
Trial of the Demon Hunter
Captive of Fortune
Foundation of Nightmares
The Magician’s Burden
The Mage’s Adventures
My Kofi: https://ko-fi.com/samyoung64
