Viam Ferro - the Path of Steel

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#1

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For the Antaryon, who blessed me with opportunity.

For my Instructors, who created fire from ash.

While the enemies of the Empereur-Auguste still draw breath, there can be no peace.

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Viam Ferro - the Path of Steel

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that… you’ve been chosen. You’ve been chosen to serve. There are only the Emperor-Auguste and his adversaries. neither more nor less. Whether you like it or not, you are now an orphan, and you will serve. You are a member of the Sequi Imperfecta, a group of worthless kids who will soon undergo the Iron Guard’s Induction Trials at the Academiae. Then, you worthless trash will be brought to The Border to prove yourself so that, someday or never, you can join the Iron Guard and defend the Empereur-Auguste till your demise! You have been selected to serve, thus rejoice.

➤ Your craft is death - Sharpen your martial arts prowess with a sword or a spear as you endure the notorious Iron Guard’s horrific induction ceremony. Test your martial skills in theory, and practice, to achieve your unique style of fighting. Explore a world where injustice reigns supreme and learn a thing (or two) about the Art of Steel. You must become the Steel of the Empereur-Auguste, or die trying!

➤ Try to Survive - Do you have what it takes to make it through the Academiae or even The Border? You must carve a place for yourself in a world where everything is out to get you. An untimely death, losing loved ones, and everything trying to kill you are indeed commonplace. You will be molded anew by hardships and obstacles to reach new heights or experience unimaginable lows. How will you stain the canvas that is this world?

➤ What remains is strength - The protagonist is not you. However, you will unquestionably need to embody that which is nearest if you want to survive. Will you succeed in a setting where youth are being raised to become the Steel of the Empereur-Auguste? It is not for the weak of spirit to endure what you will go through if you manage it. The most repulsive aspects of a person emerge when they must struggle to survive. You will be surrounded by a constant, fog-like mist of brutality, betrayal, and absolute desperation. The question is now: Are you able to claw your way out of that desperation and rise with a head held high?

➤ The forbidden Fruit - Romance? Preposterous! There is no time to dabble in such things as mortal pleasures, rest assured. However, even when desperation grips those around you, will you be able to assemble a trustworthy Squad? Don’t be deceived; although treachery is widespread, you must maintain bonds with others. No person can conquer the world on their own, no matter how powerful they are. This is reality, where crushing a dream is far easier than achieving it and you are about to get a cruel wake-up call.

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Greetings, and welcome to my very first ChoiceScript Game!

This will be in a more medieval setting, and without spoiling too much, it will heavily focus on War alongside politics. War, obviously, is far from just fighting battles, it is far… far more. It has many sides to it, both sinister and utterly mesmerizing. This is a low-fantasy, semi-realistic CoG set in a world of grey.

As the saying goes,

One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.

You will play a Sequi Imperfecta, which are youths about to go through the Academiae to prepare for The Border. There is a lot planned, yet not yet realised. For now, the description will be on the vague side to allow me some room to breath and I won’t list everything you can achieve as I am not yet fully set on what the goals are.

Status:

There are currently 3 Chapters in planning (more to come potentially), with a planned update schedule of Bi-Weekly.

Introductionary Chapter - Incomplete (10-20%) | In Planning

Chapter I - Incomplete (0%) | In Planning

Chapter II - Incomplete (0%) | In Planning

There is already a Demo available (after 3 consecutive days of programming), where you can look at the stats and test out the customization section of the Intro Chapter.

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LINKS:

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Alpha Changelog

20th January, 2023 - Minor Update

  • Added flavor text for Historiae Mundi
  • Partially re-wrote the customization scenes (hopefully improved clarity, delivering and expanded upon the choice of words used by me)
  • Partially edited the customization scenes (fewer punctuation errors, still working on those tenses, fixed some sentence structures, …)
  • Added Praesidio Ferro - unedited Description
  • Added Heraldry for Nobilis Familias & general coat of arms for most factions in the Imperium de Valeria

17th January, 2023

  • First Demo release.
  • Stats Screen fixes
  • Bug fixes
  • Customisation scenes finished
  • Hotfixed image issues in the demo
104 Likes
#3

I finished the Demo for now, and you have a good writing ! ^^ I’m eager to play more !

2 Likes
#4

I am delighted to hear that!

I hope the dialogue sounded natural and the transitions into the customisations were smooth :slight_smile:.

3 Likes
#5

Yes it was ! Everything look good and easy to understand ^^

2 Likes
#6

@Xychael i shall look forward to seeing what yiu got coming forbits a interesting start kinda reminds me of the whole skyrim wake up in a cart bit lol

As to the stats looking good so far and it sseemed to move where it needed to based off the little we have so far in the demo.

2 Likes
#7

Now that you mention it… damn, I can’t unsee it. I guess I have a Skyrim reference in my WIP now :wink:

I am glad it’s looking good.

7 Likes
#8

Sounds promising. Hope you keep up the work, but make sure you don’t overwork yourself.

1 Like
#9

I’d tweak the title a bit. Since it’s not part of a sentence with a verb, “Via Ferro” sounds a lot more natural. And “path of steel” isn’t really an accurate translation - it’s more like “a path made by iron/steel.”

1 Like
#10

@Xychael – Your story has a lot of potential.

I see you change tenses at times though.

Here is an example:

You go from present tense to past tense and then back to present tense.

Good luck in writing your story.

5 Likes
#11

First off, I am delighted you view my story that way and I hope it turns out as good as I imagine it. Though, it will take lots of time, dedication and most likely painstaking hours of brainstorming to get it done. Every bit of criticism helps me improve and every bit of encouragement eases the burden of writing.

On the topic of tenses, they are a bit of a weak spot in my English (I am not a native speaker, but that’s not really an excuse in my case) and one I am aware of. I didn’t have the time to edit the dialogue yet since I’ve been working extensively on fleshing out lore, which takes a lot… LOT OF TIME.

Especially since I am trying to lay out some possible paths in the lore and events of note… etc.

I, nonetheless, thank you for your input and I’ll try to watch my tenses while writing. :grin:

5 Likes
#12

I actually considered Via Ferro, believe it or not, but settled on Viam Ferro.

Also, while path of steel isn’t the direct translation, it’s a paraphrasing.

Path OF steel ≈ a path made of/by iron/steel

The title is, most likely, not yet final and I believe your suggestion is food for thought on my part. On the note of Latin, I try my best to check and verify the translations I provide but I am by far not adept at Latin. I cross reference different translators and look up some words but building extensive word combinations is hard for me and you’ll most likely stumble over more ‘wrong’ Latin words, and word combinations.

And don’t get me started on the Latin sentences. :skull:

Just as with my English, I’ll try my best in that department and will think about changing the title to something more smooth (such as Via Ferro, or Via Laminae/Ensis (Path of the Blade, a path made by the blade))

I thank you for sharing your Latin knowledge and your thoughts on the title with me :+1:

3 Likes
#13

“A path made by the blade” would be “Via Lamina” or “Via Ense.” :slightly_smiling_face:

I actually like “Via Ferro” as a title - the image of literally hacking out a path through the ranks of one’s enemies is a powerful one.

(Also, thank you for listening to me ramble about Latin grammar. Most people roll their eyes and ignore me.) :joy:

7 Likes
#14

The Imperium de Valeria sounds a lot like the Roman Empire also will the soldiers of imperium be wearing Lorica segmentata

1 Like
#15

You’re right.

Since I wanted to go with a Latin Theme I have inspired myself by the Roman Empire. More so, I will make use of many structural systems in place as they quite obviously worked (such as the military system, ranks and legion system, …). I can also be sure of their correct translation. :laughing:

While the Lorica Segmentata was a fine piece for it’s time, you’d be surprised to find something far more plain used in my verse: full maille, specifically most professional soldiers in the Imperium wear riveted Chainmail combined with the ‘humble’ Gambeson. Maille was first invented (presumably by Celts) and then adopted by just about everybody. The riveted Chainmail from the 12th to 13th century is what most of them probably wear with the entire body being protected in at least one layer, and sometimes two layers of armor, which was almost entirely cut, stab, and arrow proof (most of the time :wink: )

Prepare to see many combinations of various medieval ages (high, late, …) combined with some ancient world structures, systems and other. I’ll try to do my research to use it correctly and do logical combinations, but that won’t be in the forefront of the project (obviously)

The Segmentata is distinct. That is one of the key features it has when used in writing or otherwise: people know it, recognise it. I might use it, I might not. I’m still indecisive.

I’m happy you are interested in the Roman aspect of the Imperium, and I hope I didn’t write too much. I’ve gotten carried away a bit. :grin:

7 Likes
#16
On the topic of the title

I will probably be uploading a “major” update this weekend or in the middle of next week (alongside some minor updates before that). I will most likely change the title and re-host the game on dashingdon (since you can’t change the title without deleting the game). So expect any change to come into effect around next week. (:sob: F to the 415 view count on the link)

Well, I thought about it and came to the conclusion that I would just let you guys choose, which title you prefer and see as more natural. I am looking forward to seeing the results.

Democracy! :grin:

  • Via Ferro - “the Path of Steel”
  • Via Lamina - “the Path of the Blade”
  • Viam Ferro (Keep it that way) - “the Path of Steel”

0 voters

4 Likes
#17

Like the story and what your going the stats too are nice and personally like not seeing the same generic stats I hope you can have more story put out next update I always like the more darker stories for some reason lol

2 Likes
#18
Update on the current situation

I assume most of you already are well aware of the recent post-editing problem. I won’t elaborate further on it, but I will - for the time being - post through replies every time a minor/major update is published.

I hope the issue will be resolved soon, and I am delighted to see the community working together to take some stress off the staff while establishing trust between Authors.

I will not open a wiki thread as the matter of updating my post is not as pressing as it might be for other authors.

Alpha Changelog

20th January, 2023 - Minor Update

  • Added flavor text for Historiae Mundi
  • Partially re-wrote the customization scenes (hopefully improved clarity, delivering and expanded upon the choice of words used by me)
  • Partially edited the customization scenes (fewer punctuation errors, still working on those tenses, fixed some sentence structures, …)
  • Added Praesidio Ferro - unedited Description
  • Added Heraldry for Nobilis Familias & general coat of arms for most factions in the Imperium de Valeria

17th January, 2023 - Major Update

  • First Demo release
  • Stats Screen fixes
  • Bug fixes
  • Customization scenes finished
  • Hotfixed image issues in the demo
4 Likes
#19

I will convert your original post to a forum wiki post.

This allows you to edit the original post once more.

Once you get your user level to user level 2, you should be able to avoid this software bug. For further information, there is a thread on user levels in the Meta category.

Edit: If you need the title changed, DM me, or another moderator and we will be happy to help do that.

2 Likes
#20

Well what can I say I love the unique flavour of this work, it has a dark tint to the story which is more than welcome in my eyes. Since I have an innate predispotion towards life’s more “gritty” aspects. Also there exists an artistic flair to how you describe your characters’ traits which breathes a certain soul into your story, which I like. There’s nothing left to mention on my part, I like what I see and hope for more, of course with minor adjustments here and there you’ll be up an running :ok_hand:

1 Like
#21

I like your writing style and the stats look original! Hope to see the game to progress~~ but i was confused with latin names, would like to have some explanation page on stats menu or else

1 Like