The Eternal Library: a Romantasy Retelling (WIP ~ 40k DEMO)

[leiatalon]

What if Cinderella and the prince grew up together?

What if the king was the evil one?

What if the missing piece wasn’t a glass slipper, but ancient memories buried in your soul?

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Public Demo ~ Wordcount: 40k
Patreon ~ Bonus content and updates.

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Fight for forbidden love in a cruel kingdom and forge alliances with the heir to the crown.

Buried beneath the sprawling castle at the heart of Minare is a room most think is legend: the Library of Souls. As a member of the royal cleaning staff—and one with Fae-blood—sneaking into the Eternal Library is a dangerous idea, but you risk it for a ritual that gives you the skills of your warrior ancestor and a mission that spans lifetimes.

Destiny calls your warrior spirit to wake.

Assassins are infiltrating the castle.

The kingdom is ripe for change, and it needs your help.

Your soul has waited lifetimes for the chance to put things right.

Now, it’s time.

• Play as male, female, or nonbinary; gay, straight, bi; asexual; monogamous or polyamorous.
• Romance or befriend a scholarly prince, a down-to-earth princess, a scarred soldier, a soft-spoken spy, a sweet-hearted maid, or a Fae warrior-mage. (3 male ROs, 3 female ROs.)
• This is a SLOW BURN ROMANCE. Optional explicit scenes will be offered at the end of the game, but it’ll be a while before we get to those. Enjoy the secret glances and deep yearning until then.
• This is a standalone story set in the same world as Their Majesties’ Pleasure and Ink and Intrigue. You do not need to have played either of those games to enjoy this one.

Romance Options

PRINCE COLLIN GA’VAAN: The third-eldest prince is a scholar, warrior, and reformed trickster. The least-favorite son, he avoids his father when at all possible, until responsibility is thrust upon him. Forest-green eyes, dark-brown hair. Collin needs your help to save the kingdom.

DORIAN TRAVANI: A Fae-blooded Kitherin warrior-mage with indigo and silver eyes. Tattooed. Bonded with a dragon. His mission is to represent the Kitherin in Minare’s court. Becomes fast friends with Collin.

SEVITAS CASTENIA: Seasoned warrior. Stocky and cocky. Wears lots of weapons, including a whip. Collin’s personal guard. Indispensable in a fight. Brown eyes, scarred face.

MARIENNA RAVARR: Sharp-eyed soldier. Brown eyes, cropped black hair, golden-brown skin. A battle-wise warrior with experience as a spy. Secretly a sculptor, though she hasn’t shared her work with anyone yet.

PRINCESS ANGELINA DOMANI: Second-eldest princess of Forellia. Golden hair, sky-blue eyes. Cunning wordsmith. Quiet rebel. Kind and witty, she craves authenticity but finds it lacking in most people in her life.

GEMMA SWEETS: Kind-hearted friend and coworker. Castle staff, cleaning crew. Humble optimist. Loves to laugh. Has one green eye and the other gray. Sandy-brown hair. Petite and agile.

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• You can befriend all of these characters without engaging in romance.
• This game is best played choosing a single RO for each playthrough. There is one polyamorous route with Collin and Dorian, but all other romances are monogamous and best enjoyed when you focus on one character at a time.

FAQ

Q: Why are you writing this for Hosted Games when Their Majesties’ Pleasure and Ink and Intrigue are Heart’s Choice titles?
A: I wanted to write this game without deadlines and with full creative freedom. Working with Heart’s Choice has been fabulous, but I want to try something a little different with this story.

Q: Will this game be as spicy as TMP and INK?
A: No, but the romance is strong with this one! It’s a slow burn, so while there won’t be as many explicit scenes, there will be plenty of intimate moments of other kinds. You can expect spice toward the end and plenty of romance building up to it.

Q: Is there a poly route?
A: Yes, there is one poly route with Prince Collin and Dorian.

Q: How long do you expect the game will be?
A: Probably between 200,000 and 300,000 words. Ish. Maybe more.

Q: How long do you expect it will take to complete?
A: Most likely a year or more. Each of my last games have taken a year, give or take a few months. Progress will likely be quick during the first part of this WIP as I have a good amount of material to work with, but toward the end of the game updates will take longer due to the complexity of interactive fiction.

Q: How much of the story is a Cinderella retelling?
A: Beyond the rags-to-riches and forbidden love tropes, not a ton, really. It’s more a reimagining than a retelling, but that doesn’t have the same ring to it as “Romantasy Retelling,” so here we are. This story is set in another world with a vastly different plot than the original fairy tale. I don’t remember there being assassins, intrigue, and war in Cinderella, so I’ve deviated quite a bit.

Q: How did you come up with the game idea?
A: This story began as a novel I drafted in 2019 over the course of three weeks and proceeded to revise so many times I lost count. It’s been converted from first-person present tense to third-person past tense with an extra POV added in, and now it’s living a new life as an interactive fiction game, which means I’m converting it back into present tense but this time in second-person POV. Writer gymnastics. I believe I’d just read Firebrand by Kristen Britain and thought I’d challenge myself to write a slow-burn romantasy. I was fresh out of a writer conference and ready to put all that I’d learned to good use.

Q: Is this high-fantasy, low-fantasy, or epic-fantasy?
A: All of the above. It has familiar, real-world elements like a low-fantasy, an entirely different realm and plenty of magical elements like a high-fantasy, and some pretty steep stakes to take it into epic territory.

Q: Do you have more games planned in this world?
A: Yes. If I could magically write them all at once I would, but I have to focus on one at a time or nothing will ever get finished.

Q: Where can I find out more about The Eternal Library?
A: Follow me on Tumblr and check out my Patreon for bonus content. Thanks for your support!

Tumblr

Follow me on Tumblr for updates and writing posts.

Patreon

Bonus content available for Patreon subscribers includes:

• Early access to demo updates (when available).
• Monthly author updates (progress reports).
• Monthly scenes from different character POVs. These are non-interactive but fill in details and add depth to the game.
• Impromptu Q & A sessions with myself as the author or with a character from the game.
• Exclusive art and world-building content.
• Voting access in polls.
• Public game art and articles in one place.
• Tumblr posts in one place.
• Game tips.
• Whatever random awesomeness I decide to toss into the mix.

Check out the full range of content available on my Patreon. Thanks so much for your support!

[AletheiaKnights]

I call dibs on Collin!

[leiatalon]

He’s worth fighting for. I can’t wait to write more of his story. There’s just so much there and he really evolves as the plot progresses.

[AletheiaKnights]

I think Angelina and I are going to be besties, too.

[HarrisPS]

How lovely! So exciting to learn more about this - it’ll be fun to explore the fae from the MC’s perspective having seen them in the other games in the setting.

I haven’t played the demo yet, but I wonder if you’d like to share any tidbits about the MC’s ancestor and how the multi-lifetime souls work in this world? And whether there are other characters with multiple lives as well? I’m curious whether there’s the chance to reconnect with characters with whom we might have had a connection in previous lifetimes. (That may be far too spoilery, of course, so totally understandable if so!)

[CC_Hill]

This looks so good! Can’t wait to dive in. You work so fast.

[banglaiana_kitchen]

I enjoyed reading Both their majesties pleasure and ink and intrigue x)
Now looking forward for this wip the story is top-notch, princess Angelina and prince Collin are will be waiting for more updates :))

[Cat-Toes]

I’m so excited! Ive loved both your other works, and can’t wait to read this! Also the graphics in the intro are beatiful. Did you make them yourself?

[AnneWest]

Hm. After reading it through a few times, it feels a little unbalanced towards the warrior’s path, as if the option to want something other than battle is a false choice. Is that just an indication of how much more is to come, or is it really being weighted towards MC having to take up arms? If so, what is the purpose in having a scholarly/diplomatic option?

[leiatalon]

@HarrisPS

How lovely! So exciting to learn more about this - it’ll be fun to explore the fae from the MC’s perspective having seen them in the other games in the setting.

Thank you! The MC has a small amount of Fae blood, so not full-on Fae, but there will be some fun elements there.

@HarrisPS

I haven’t played the demo yet, but I wonder if you’d like to share any tidbits about the MC’s ancestor and how the multi-lifetime souls work in this world? And whether there are other characters with multiple lives as well? I’m curious whether there’s the chance to reconnect with characters with whom we might have had a connection in previous lifetimes. (That may be far too spoilery, of course, so totally understandable if so!)

So, I think the best way to answer this is an excerpt from Ink and Intrigue and a separate spoiler to your second question.

Excerpt from Ink and Intrigue where Teo explains about The Eternal Library

“Have you ever heard of the Library of Souls?” Your tone is casual, as if it isn’t important either way, when actually it’s a secret you’ve been trying to uncover for years. It’s only mentioned in the restricted books in Minare’s royal library.

Teo hums a thoughtful note. “The Library of Souls, otherwise known as the Eternal Library. What do you know of it?”

You tell him what little you’ve learned in hopes of him sharing something new. “It’s rumored to be a chamber beneath Minare’s castle that allows a person to merge with a previous version of their soul in order to access another lifetime’s skills and memories.”

“Think of it.” Teo shakes his head. “You’d never again be the version of yourself you know now. You’d remember who you’ve been and whatever purpose you had before. There’s a book here that talks about when the Library of Souls was in use, long before Ga’vaan kings came conquering and took over Minare. It was built by a Fae queen who fell in love with a mortal. When he died, he vowed to walk the paths between to return to her. So while she waited for his soul to enter a new body, to grow and mature and somehow find her, she built the Eternal Library. And when she found her lover and guided him in the ritual to retrieve his soul, it worked. She had her love again.”

“Did they keep repeating the process?” you ask. “Her immortal, him in mortal bodies with an immortal soul?”

Teo smiles. “She found a way to grant him immortality, so no. But many others used the chamber to access the Library of Souls, sometimes to retrieve and merge with past selves, and sometimes to merely ask for guidance from a previous incarnation’s perspective.”

“What of the paths between?” you ask. “Does it say much about them?”

“Nothing at all.” Amber dances in his eyes as he catches your gaze. “Each soul who came through said the same: the paths are hidden.”

You can access this excerpt, and later the mentioned book, if you choose NOT to go to the portal again at the end of chapter 2 of Ink and Intrigue.

SPOILER: Do other characters in The Eternal Library have multiple lives?

Short answer, yes they do. However, most won’t want or need to undertake the ritual to remember them. That said, there is one character who will if you encourage him/her to do so in the latter half of the game, and yes, that character and the PC have an ancient history together.

@CC_Hill

This looks so good! Can’t wait to dive in. You work so fast.

THANK YOU! For this and all the help you’ve given me along the way. You write fast too, though.

@banglaiana_kitchen

I enjoyed reading Both their majesties pleasure and ink and intrigue x)
Now looking forward for this wip the story is top-notch, princess Angelina and prince Collin are

Thanks so much for playing my games and taking time to leave a comment. Your encouragement is most appreciated!

@Cat-Toes

I’m so excited! Ive loved both your other works, and can’t wait to read this! Also the graphics in the intro are beatiful. Did you make them yourself?

Thank you! And yes, I did do the graphics using a combination of Affinity Photo and Canva. I’m really enjoying playing with this visual theme and so glad you like it, too!

@AnneWest

After reading it through a few times, it feels a little unbalanced towards the warrior’s path, as if the option to want something other than battle is a false choice. Is that just an indication of how much more is to come, or is it really being weighted towards MC having to take up arms? If so, what is the purpose in having a scholarly/diplomatic option?

Thanks for playing! The MC’s ancestor was a noble who took up arms and led a revolution to try to make the kingdom a better place for the citizens, so there’s definitely a warrior’s element to this story. However, the MC doesn’t have to prefer that path, even if it’s a part of them. Like Marienna being both warrior/spy and artist, the MC can be both a warrior and a scholar.

Diplomacy and warrior arts are a given in this story, though your choices will influence the outcomes. Sometimes the MC has to fight, and other times they can choose not to, but either way they have the past of a warrior. What kind of future they decide to make with that past is up to you.

[JBento]

Hmm, I haven’t done stoffs in quite a while. It’s good to be back. So…

Click me for stoffs

You have no save system. At 40k, it might be small enough that it can be played in a single go, if the player comes prepared, but I suggest getting the save system up and running asap. It would also make it much easier to test multiple options.

You have “compassion” in both Kindness (where it belongs, imo) and Passionate. Also “cultivating inner peace” feels like it would fall better under Stoic, not Peaceful. You can be all for peace and still be a chaotic gremlin.

“Love and adventure” boosts Passionate (makes sense) and Prowess, which I did not expect (“adventure” strikes me opposed to Prowess’s “sense of duty” in particular). I expected it to boost Courage instead of Prowess.
“Love is for fools” also boosts Prowess, which is exactly what I expected from the option, but then it mentions “courage. honor” in the next screen, both of which fall under Courage and yet it doesn’t boost it, so you have a bit of a disconnect there.

Ooops, there goes daddy’s girl.

I spend an incredible amount of time at this party dodging the heads of staff, it seems.

Please tell me at one point in this game I can find this fucker between myself and an open window of a tall tower.

I took a food tray, though, so I shouldn’t really have any wine bottles, should I?

“mistress” is an existing official title (Brynne uses it), so shouldn’t this be “kitchen mistress”?

So, you make a lot of references during the party about how the MC needs to be and is deferential to the royals, but they always address Angelina as “you” from the get-go, which feels weird to me. I think it’d make more sense for the MC to, at least at first, address her as “your highness” or another official form of address (I dunno. My personal way of addressing any form of royalty is “you useless leech”), with Angelina then telling them to not stand on ceremony and address her as “you” or something along those lines if you want their dialogue to keep that level of informality.

Yes, yessss. Let the pettiness flow through you!

Y’know, you often hear of kings being shitty fathers by pawning off their kids, but I think this is the first time I see one being a shitty king and a shitty father in the single, asshole move of NOT pawning off his kid. He can hardly hope for a better match.

I’m also slightly confused. The king seems to genuinely despise magic, to the point that he burns a very big, important bridge over it, and yet his guards have magic-infused armour.

Helping the princess find the brother “as a matter of honor” should boost Courage (because that’s what you have described as “Honourable”, and also because doing so presumably gets you more repercussions for being late-r) but it does not. I don’t know WHAT, if anything, it boosts.

Aw, he’s like a donkey.

IF I understood this correctly, I think this would be better as “THE previous mistress”.

Shouldn’t they have buggered off by now, what with the king’s refusal? Wouldn’t the king have INSISTED on them buggering off?

The king burning the bridge with La’rast via napalm bombing is sounding more stupid with every page I read, ngl. Gotta love hereditary jobs, I guess.

Ok, the gardens are ALSO magical, so I guess the king just objects to La’rast’s specific kind of magic? No, ok, the glossary says he’s terrified of magic. There’s a lot of magic around the castle, though, including on his own guard, so, er…

“Leonz”

Pretty sure there’s only one woman here.

From which I presume something good is about to happen to me.

“horde”

I’m reasonably sure “king’s guard” has been capitalised so far.

“your”

“berth”

“bear”. Also, two words later, “harded” is not a word. Did you mean “hardened” or is it a different typo?

Not the sharpest tool in the shed, the MC, are they?

lol

Is the ball the first time you get to interact decently with Mari, or did I miss opportunities somewhere along the way?

Aaaaaand I’ve reached the end. I’m intrigued enough to play more IF you get me a save system, otherwise I’m afraid the logistics just don’t work for me.

Currently undecided on pursuing Mari (fit fighting girls are hot) or Angelina (witty wordsmiths are hot). So, y’know, the one that you only get to interact with at the very end of the demo and the one that is literally in another country, because the world will never not hate me.

P.S.: At one point you mention king “Nathanel”. Is that accurate, or did you mean “Nathaniel”?

[leiatalon]

Okay, first of all this is top notch feedback. Thank you so much!

Replies include spoilers.

Save system has been implemented. We can thank @CC_Hill for helping me with that one.

I changed most of the disconnects as far as stats go. You’re right on those. Still contemplating the inner peace thing, as I think it might fit both stoic and peaceful, and I’m not sure if I should put it in both. Stoic does have calm in the description, so maybe that works?

You caught a ton of typos! Well done!

@JBento

I spend an incredible amount of time at this party dodging the heads of staff, it seems.

Yeah, they’re nasty pieces of work and reflect how people of lesser status are treated in the kingdom, so I’m trying to set that up early in the story.

@JBento

Please tell me at one point in this game I can find this fucker between myself and an open window of a tall tower.

While that particular scenario hadn’t occurred to me, you absolutely will have a chance at revenge.

@JBento

I took a food tray, though, so I shouldn’t really have any wine bottles, should I?

Actually yes, as you picked them up off the table while speaking to the prince to look like you were doing something work related and not just socializing.

@JBento

I’m also slightly confused. The king seems to genuinely despise magic, to the point that he burns a very big, important bridge over it, and yet his guards have magic-infused armour.

I’ve added to the glossary to explain that while the king is indeed terrified of magic, he tolerates it out of necessity. That doesn’t mean he’s willing to let his daughter marry into it (unless of course you’ve convinced him to do so in Ink and Intrigue, in which case you get a completely different reaction to the proposal).

@JBento

Shouldn’t they have buggered off by now, what with the king’s refusal? Wouldn’t the king have INSISTED on them buggering off?

The king is sadly too disconnected to really notice. The Kitherin have only buggered off to a nearby inn as La’rast isn’t giving up that easily, but I’ve added a bit more of an explanation there. Thanks for pointing that out!

@JBento

The king burning the bridge with La’rast via napalm bombing is sounding more stupid with every page I read, ngl. Gotta love hereditary jobs, I guess.

The king comes from a long line of stubborn kings whose egos have all but wrecked the kingdom, so yeah. Basically this.

@JBento

Is the ball the first time you get to interact decently with Mari, or did I miss opportunities somewhere along the way?

You get to introduce yourself to Mari when serving food/drinks in chapter one, but the ball is the first time you get to really spend time with her. A return letter to Angelina is coming at the end of ch 3 but yes, that’s a long-distance relationship that takes a while to build into fruition and she doesn’t show up in person again until later in the game. However, there will be a lot more time to spend with Mari soon.

@JBento

So, y’know, the one that you only get to interact with at the very end of the demo and the one that is literally in another country, because the world will never not hate me.

There’s more coming, I promise! I just wanted to get this demo up so people can get a taste of the story and help me figure out if I’m on the right track or not.

Thank you for delivering such awesome feedback and making me laugh at the same time.

@JBento

P.S.: At one point you mention king “Nathanel”. Is that accurate, or did you mean “Nathaniel”?

Nathanel is correct. I often try to change character’s names a bit so they’re less likely to be someone’s actual name, especially when it’s a character who isn’t particularly nice. Nathaniel is a lovely name and if someone named Nathaniel is reading this I’d rather they at least feel like there’s a spelling difference separating them from the evil kings of old.

[JBento]

@leiatalon

first of all this is top notch feedback. Thank you so much!

You’re very welcome.

[chanh]

I love the expansion of this universe the demo so far is really sweet I can’t wait to see what happens!

[AnneWest]

@leiatalon

Thanks for playing! The MC’s ancestor was a noble who took up arms and led a revolution to try to make the kingdom a better place for the citizens, so there’s definitely a warrior’s element to this story. However, the MC doesn’t have to prefer that path, even if it’s a part of them. Like Marienna being both warrior/spy and artist, the MC can be both a warrior and a scholar.

Diplomacy and warrior arts are a given in this story, though your choices will influence the outcomes. Sometimes the MC has to fight, and other times the MC can choose not to, but either way they have the past of a warrior. What kind of future they decide to make with that past is up to you.

sigh Why must you make it so hard for me to wake up and choose violence without letting anyone know that I chose violence before I went to bed as well?

[leiatalon]

I mean, there’s the peaceful side of things if you want to explore that. The vengeance answers are often more fun because they’re sarcastic and edgy, but there’s also the option to cultivate inner peace and meditate your way through the game, more or less, if you’re looking for a different flavor. And yes, there will be violence, but also plenty of paths of alliances to pursue. Sweet dreams!

[JBento]

(original image credit: birdandmoon.com)

@leiatalon

Well. Maybe a little.

Tian can have a little murder. As a treat.

[leiatalon]

Well. Maybe a little.

[ChanceOfFire]

Khanna is a gem and deserves all the happiness she’s finding tonight. The crown prince, on the other hand, is stubborn and spoiled and heavy handed with the staff. You’ll do just about anything to stay out of Donled’s way, and pity the princess from Forellia who dances with him now, looking around as if begging someone to save her.

remove ‘and’ and add comma for punctuation in series

“Send them to my friend—she’ll get your letters to me.” The princess takes a pen and piece of paper, jotting down an address. When she looks up, her kindness and genuine desire to connect shines in her sky-blue eyes. “I’ll understand if you don’t write to me, but I hope you will.”
The parchment is of fine quality. You look at it briefly, noting her looping letters and graceful script, then slip it into a pocket.

Is paper or parchment used in this world? Also, does she use a pen? What technology is present in this setting?

“Not a word, Sire.” You manage a curtsy.

I think sire is reserved for Kings, but this is probably a breakable rule in fantasy.

Without a word you hand over the envelope, which Brynne snatches up. She brakes the seal, opens the letter, and reads it at arm’s length like it’s somehow going to contaminate her.

breaks

[leiatalon]

Thank you for playing! And thanks for the notes!

@ChanceOfFire

Is paper or parchment used in this world? Also, does she use a pen? What technology is present in this setting?

Good call on parchment being different than paper. Took that mention out. Yes, she’s using a pen. There’s a magic ice box so I figure a pen isn’t too far a stretch.

I get away with a lot of vague worldbuilding by saying “hey look magic!” but I make up for it with ample amounts of more detailed worldbuilding and so many magic systems it’s hard to keep track.

@ChanceOfFire

I think sire is reserved for Kings, but this is probably a breakable rule in fantasy.

I like breaking rules on occasion.