The Night's Militant (Updated 05/12/2022) Codex Update and Save System!

Hey guys!

I go by Rav3nsblad3 and I’ve been on the forums for like years at this point. I’m not quite as active as I once was, but my life situation changed, giving me ample time to work on writing, like I’ve been wanting to do FOREVER. Ahem

So my new project is entitled The Night’s Militant, wherein you play a holy knight, and before all you fellow savvy grammar nerds have my hide, there is a reason I’m using the “wrong” knight/night. :slight_smile:

Alright, lets break it down!

Summary/Lore Blurb

As the church of Stellinity would tell us, from time immemorial, there have always existed the Father and the Mother, though whether they are the same deity with two aspects or two separate beings (or three, more on that later) is matter that is still hotly contested by the high clergy. The Mother is represented in the earth, embodying the virtues of fertility, command of the homefront, and stability. The Father, meanwhile is represented by both the Sun and the Moon, delineating the duality of masculine passions from the fiery, the bravery, strength, and guardianship of the sun, to the sensible, the chastity, tenderness, and temperance of the moon. (Hence the debated notion of three deities)

The Mother and Father were perfect in their union, but wished to revel in their perfect love by sharing it with created beings. Out of their holy love was born humanity, the deific aspects personified in men and women. The Mother and Father, in their infinite wisdom, gave their creations free will, a necessary step for truly being able to choose love. And, for a time, all was perfect.

But, alas, the very component that afforded humanity the path to true love was also the agent by which they could reject it. There were some among that chose to reject the Gods’ love, twisting their souls in darkness and decay, absent from the deific love. Some scholars also posit that the Gods made other beings besides humans. These beings might have been perfect creations that fell as well, or they might have been additional testing to see if humanity would choose love, even in hardship. Whatever the case, the prime among these beings was Arsiel, the Storm Lord, and it was said that it was he who lead the first humans to reject the Gods. Whether for this act, or some former rebellion, the Gods turned their love from these creatures, warping them into demons, the Unloved, as the Church calls them, with nothing but voids of souls keeping them animated.

Humanity has struggled with demons and heretics for the entirety of their existence. With the Church of Stellinity as the only guide, humanity has long since lost its contact with the Gods.

It used to be, that demons were to afraid of the Father’s wrath to make overt infringements into mortal life. Even heretics were few and far between. As of late however, demons and their ilk have taken to interfering during the Father’s gentler phase, in the night, as a test to see how much they can get away with. The Church responded quickly to this increase in demonic activity with the implementation of the Night’s Militant, a military wing of the Twilight Sisterhood.

It is into this new and danger-fraught organization that you are thrust. Will you be a shining example of the order and help cement its necessity into the minds of the public? Will you use your position to rekindle the Gods’ connection with humanity? Or will you take a more sinister path, destroying the name of the Militant by allowing demons to ravage the country? Death, glory, and hardship abound when the day slips into night…

Romantic Entanglements

-Sister Lucaria Hearthsong (attendant of MC’s squad, kind, sarcastic, down to earth, very knowledgeable about Stellinity, 5’6, violet-red eyes, long black hair tied perennially in a high ponytail with a teal ribbon, wears all black dress with leggings, for “tactical appropriateness”, and silver jewelry, as gold clashes with her complexion)

-Lady Evelyn Silvermoon (presiding ruler over Lorathyra, capital city of the region where MC is stationed, calculating, cold, formal, secretly wishes for a whirlwind romance, but cares too much for her people to compromise, 5’2, amber eyes, silver-white hair hangs styled loosely to mid back, wears all manner of noble dresses, but favors reds)

-Mina(‘rath) Godscorned (demoness previously running an orphanage, captured by MC’s squad, gentle, penitent, with a strong sense of protection for the weak, wants to be reconciled to the Gods’ love, 6’2, green eyes via magic, standard black void for demon eyes naturally, long brown hair worn in a fishtail braid over the shoulder, intentionally dresses in brighter colors, either for herself or for others, like green accessories to match with her chosen eye color
Human Eyes


Demon Eyes

Features/Hopes
  • Play as a man of the Night’s Militant, building power and prestige!

  • Pick a defining combat style and weapons! As a Militant, you will obviously be among the foremost warriors of the land, but how you choose to dispatch your enemies is entirely your choice!

  • Get to know your peers! Whether it be your first mentor, a romantic option, or that commanding officer with whom you don’t quite see eye-to-eye, your personality and responses will notably change how you’re viewed. Each character will be painstakingly fleshed out in my best effort to make each aspect part of a living world.

  • Stats that actually matter! Tired of games where you have to choose between being weak, impersonal, or a little slow? Not so with The Night’s Militant. You represent the greatest of humanity, and are more than capable in myriad situations! Stats will be more expressive of how you think and accomplish your goals, rather than whether you can actually do things. Moreover, the characters and story will react differently to different personalities and responses.

  • A ‘more’ historically grounded fantasy epic! I’m going to really strive to research arms and armor from the late medieval period from which I draw the inspiration for setting. This will not be a story where a simple longsword is categorically the best in all situations. With a planned choice between at least eight weapons and three varieties of armor, (and helpful explanations of each!) you’ll have the freedom to purge wickedness in whatever gory fashion your heart desires!

  • A magic system with defined limitations! Although the exact amount of use of magic (specifically miracles) will depend on your protagonist, I will strive to make magic accessible and understandable! No more wondering why the mage didn’t simply wipe out the opposing army in a torrent of fire!

  • And more stuff to come!

Hierarchy
  • Night’s Militant
    -Knight Adjudicant (right hand of the Twilight Abbess, creates ruling strictures in coordination with the Twilight Abbess that govern all Knights)
    -Knight Commander (Highest field authority of the Militant, each responsible for a Battalion, around 1000 knights, one in each cardinal direction)
    -Knight Captain (Responsible for administrating commander orders for their company of around 250)
    -Knight Lieutenant (Responsible for relaying orders to a platoon of around 50)
    -Knight Corporal (In charge of 5-man squads, the smallest individual unit in the Militant)
    -Knight Supplicant/Knight Brother, colloquially (Base rank of the Militant)
    -Knight Aspirant (knights in training, typically on probation for a period of 6 months under direct supervision by the Corporal)
  • Twilight Sisters

    -Twilight Abbess (On the Council of Stars along with Harbinger of Dawn, Physician of Earth and Sky, and Mother’s Precept, under the Star Priest/Priestess)
    -Twilight Prioress (Of the North and of the South, work with Knight Adjudicant to deploy Twilight Choirs to support the Militant)
    -Twilight Mother (Lead Twilight Choirs of around 25 Sisters that typically attend Knight Lieutenants to support)
    -Twilight Sister (Base rank of the Twilight Sisters)

Squad Exi Members
  • Felix Moonsgaze
    Rank: Knight Corporal (in charge) of Squad Exi
    Physical Description: brown hair, blue eyes, strong build, 6’2
    Combat Info: Felix uses a single-edged, “falchion-style” sword and large shield in combat
    Reason for joining the Militant: To protect the innocence of common folk that don’t know the horror that demons pose
    Faithfulness: he is moderately faithful to the Gods
    Personality: Felix has a bit of a bleeding heart and cares for his subordinates greatly (some say too much), he is a teacher by nature and allows each of his charges an unadvised opinion in what the squad should do
    Likes: Earnestness, Well-reasoned arguments, Horses
    Dislikes: Lying, Formality, Authoritarianism

  • Tristan Nightguard
    Rank: Knight Supplicant of Squad Exi, acting “right-hand-man” to Felix
    Physical Description: black hair, gray eyes, athletic build, 5’10
    Combat Info: Tristan uses a greatsword in combat
    Reason for joining the Militant: To leave the Sentinels of Dawn and to do something meaningful with his martial prowess
    Faithfulness: He is respectful of the Gods, but doesn’t possess a true faith
    Personality: Tristan has strong feelings on many things, chief among them being the need to bear hardship with brothers and the necessity of humble military commanders, he despises those who present themselves as larger than life, he is kind, sometimes joking, but takes his duty very seriously
    Likes: Humility, Vulnerability, Cats
    Dislikes: Arrogance, Showing off, Bureaucracy

  • Exter Sunshatter
    Rank: Knight Supplicant of Squad Exi
    Physical Description: Mane of red hair, blue-green eyes, a large burn scar mars his face, strong build, 5’6,
    Combat Info: Exter uses a poleaxe in combat
    Reason for joining the Militant: To defend people from cultists
    Faithfulness: He has no real faith and only sees the Militant as a humanitarian military organization
    Personality: Exter is the resident joker of Squad Exi, he only gets serious when villains threaten innocents, he loves poking fun at Casi
    Likes: Levity, Compassion, Children
    Dislikes: People who mess with his team, Giving up, People who pick on the weak

  • Cassidus (Casi) Sunshadow
    Rank: Knight Supplicant of Squad Exi
    Physical Description: white hair, brown eyes, lithe build, 5’4
    Combat Info: Casi uses dual daggers in combat
    Reason for joining the Militant: He believes he was chosen by the Gods to be Their martial instrument
    Personality: Casi is a serious individual, kind on the surface, and he occasionally tries to make jokes with Exter (most of which fall flat), but at his core he is brutally efficient, he takes religious strictures into consideration for every decision
    Likes: Respect for the Gods, Pragmatism, Birds
    Dislikes: Complacency, Pretenders, People who shift blame

As I mentioned in the features/hopes section, I’d love to make this story an approachable foray into fantasy grounded in historical examples, within certain creative limits of course. Arguments like “A medieval warrior would always choose to use a bow when they could remain at range” might be true, but a little less cinematic than what I’ve got in mind.
Mainly, I’d love to help people broaden their horizons of knowledge about medieval arms and armor in a fun and interactive way. That being said, I’m only a journeyman of this type of knowledge myself. I will do my very best to scour available info to bring accurate depictions within the story, but if I miss anything or simply put in bad info, please don’t hesitate to let me know!

Update Log

04/14/22 Prologue Posted
04/15/22 Stat Screen Added
04/20/22 Chapter One Uploaded

Here is the demo!
https://dashingdon.com/go/11051

156 Likes

The Works in Progress forum is meant for topics that have a working demo already. You could have this moved to either Hobby Projects or Interest Check until you have a demo available, then move it back.

As for what I’m reading here… this just sounds like reskinned Christianity mythos. Is there something original in this story?

Also, gender-locked male with exclusively female ROs is probably not going to generate a ton of interest here. Not that you can’t, but I wouldn’t expect a lot of people to be interested.

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Well, for what it’s worth, I’m pretty sure the Christians would never dare put a female divine figure on equal footing with a male one.

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I think you’re absolutely right, I should’ve posted this initially with the demo link included.
Fixed that now!

I can see how you make that comparison. Stellinity certainly shares aspects and major themes with real world faiths. There are important differences, however, that can’t really be explained in a couple paragraph blurb. Hope you’ll stick around to see more!

This is just the version of the game I have so far. There’s no telling what it will look like as a final project, with input from the community!

That being said, this is my first major project. I’ve already set some pretty lofty goals for myself, imho, and I wanted to start with something that I can draw from personal experience to dip my toes in first, so to speak. Being a heterosexual man myself, I don’t think that I would do other genders or sexualities justice so early on in my progress, and the last thing I would want to do is put meaningless options in simply to get more clicks.

At the end of the day, this is a passion and concept project. I’d be thrilled if it became more than that, but as of right now, familiarizing myself with forum interaction and writing in general is my foremost concern. I wouldn’t think to force anyone to partake in this journey with me, but I will require time to tackle more complex subjects like you mention, to have a broader appeal

Thanks so much for the feedback!

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This definitely looks interesting. The only choicescript game I can think of where you play a templar like character was hexfinder, and that was more inquisitor than templar. Definitely looking forward for more

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Now that I’ve played what exists of the demo, I do have an additional comment. It seems like the prologue, while in 3rd person, is written from the POV of Felix. The lack of any choices implies that we probably aren’t Felix and in fact probably aren’t even there. What precisely is the purpose of this prologue? How do we know that this is happening? Maybe it will become clear later on, but as of right now we’re just reading a snippet of someone else’s life.

@geldar I realize it’s a pretty small demo. I can’t say too much about your suspicions without getting into spoiler territory, but there is a reason for this scene. Several actually, albeit a fair bit later in the story. Regardless, Felix is important, as are the themes presented in this passage!

@Drakona So glad to have caught your interest!

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Even though not very long, I’m interested to see more of this world’ story.

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@Rav3nsblad3 the first thing i like to do is look at the stats and see how its organized. but unfortunately i can not view said stats.

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Pretty good , but a little too small

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Seems like a very interesting game, the demon RO and ruler RO look especially fun to, would definitely like to see where you go with this

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Seems interesting :thinking: not a lot to go on yet. But I’ll keep an eye on this to see where it goes. :wink:
42b487e5643d4a210fd2cf10263c537c03d525d7b344c30da11110a8347412c2

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Thanks for the kind words everyone!

@Bulk_Biceps I totally get you. I’m the same way. Unfortunately, I’m really particular about stat names and have gone back and forth on several. Also, I’m really new to choicescript, like just started learning yesterday. I’m going to try to aim for having a semi functional stat screen today!

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Badass!

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I really liked the game looking forward to the next update

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I can agree with your sentiment here. I was excited to make my MC a holy knight, but when I saw the tags it discouraged me to even check out the demo. However, if the change about which the author says might be implemented, then it might be worth of returning back to.

Also, @Rav3nsblad3, how historically/religiously accurate are you planning to make this game? I’m asking because there are some WIPs that are similar in concept of religion and/or historical era (for example, medieval ages) and because there are some authors who are trying to make their games historically accurate, they don’t give much option in terms of choices. I have been in this forum for years now and choose to remain here because most games/WIPs give the readers choice and immersion regardless of era, religion, culture, gender and sexual orientation. And those WIPs which are aiming to be accurate in terms of history and religion, turn away a lot of the audience. Especially those about being a knight in medieval times, because women cannot be them. Or because same sex relationships were not allowed in history during these times. So in and so forth.

So literally, my question is, how much changes are you planning to make from this current version of the game? Is this game worth of returning and/or checking out for the other portion of the audience who are not taken into consideration?

Hopefully, the tone of my message was not too demanding and rude, and that you understood the contents. It is just inquiry and in no way I am discouraging or criticizing your work. I have been asking the same things from the authors whose work I personally think might have a big potential.

Once again, those are just questions and not criticisms. Have a nice day!

1 Like

@Mei_Hiroshi I am very glad that you took the time to stop by, despite your initial reactions. I am especially honored by your long, well-reasoned comment! (Which I thought was quite cordial btw c:)

As i mentioned to geldar, this story is very much in its preliminary stages. This thread is only representative of what I have so far. I may very well add more, and more varied, ROs in the future. Just trying to force myself to pace, as I’ve a tendency to bite off more than I can chew.

That said, I am pretty set on the gender lock for lore reasons. The church endorses pretty set gender roles, and while that line of thinking is certainly not universally accepted in the world, in this story, wherein you are essentially a holy paladin at the church’s behest, it seemed most appropriate.

Other individuals would have their own, radically different stories to tell, but it’s simply not what I’m focusing on at the moment. I do love this world and how it’s developing, though, and am seriously considering writing a companion story from a Twilight Sister’s perspective (essentially the female counterpart).

I hope that answers your question! While I would love to retain your involvement, I understand if this story simply isn’t for you. Happy reading!

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Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could play as a Twilight Sister for female options and a Night’s Militant for male? That way, both sexes are included without needing to compromise the set rules of your world.

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Hi everyone –

The discussion of MC character gender-lock to male has been addressed by @Rav3nsblad3. At this time, please respect his design decision. This subject is being put on hold, until he is ready to reopen it.

Any concerns or feedback concerning MC character gender-lock should be held until the author reopens this topic.

Thank you for respecting Rav3nsblad3 ’s decision.

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I agree with letting him leave things as they are if that’s what he is comfortable with. I realise some people prefer wider options sometimes but if he wants to do something slightly more based on historical sources that’s up to him ultimately. I have seen too many situations where new developers are pressured into widening things as much as possible or demanded into changes they didn’t want.

I wish you luck with your project! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: Games with solely female romances (regardless of gender options) are somewhat rare so that is a great touch, and I like the stories of the Knights Templar and it is nice for once to have a game where you have a version of them that isn’t instantly the bad guys (especially as someone from a Christian background).

16 Likes