In this phase, I took my sticky notes and began adding narrative context, following key thematic points I had previously written out. I started with ‘Peace forced to fight’ which gave me an idea for a concept of a society that once stood for peace, now forced into conflict to defend these same ideals (Ideological Conflict?). This allows me to explore deeper and ensure each element ties back to the core theme and contributes to a strong story.
So far, we have the society that was responsible for establishing a golden age of peace. Initially, I intended to make the protagonist a lone-ranger kind of character and was thinking about how to have them join the cause of this society that felt natural wit a bit of build up. Since then, to make it easier for writing purposes, I have decided to make the protagonist a part of this society from the start, which makes it easier for the player to be invested in the cause to restore peace.
They were so good at creating harmony, that it spread far and wide. For a long time, everything was calm as a direct result of their practices. One day, that would all change when a force (Personification of Conflict itself?) rose up and destroyed everything they built, practically wiping them out and corrupting the peaceful realms they had protected.
Now, the society is down to a fraction of its size and they’re left with no choice. They have to turn into fighters to restore the peace that was destroyed. They have to be the last hope for peace and fight against the conflict entity.
A former member of the society, now serves the conflict entity that destroyed a majority of their people. Scouts of the remnants of the society have said to have spotted this former member in one of the realms. The protagonist, once being close with this traitor, is the one tasked with finding him in the hope it will lead them all to the conflict entity’s back yard.
Friend to Enemy: Could make for emotional stakes but also practical(?)
Personal Motive: Overarching goal to reach that pushes the protag on despite adversity.
On their journey to track down the traitor, the protagonist finds themself stranded in one realm affected by the conflict entity, quickly drawn into its unfolding conflict. Here, a tense alliance has been forged between a human princess and a powerful king of beasts, an agreement to marry in hopes of averting a looming war between their peoples. The alliance is fragile, balancing on the hope that this union will bring peace to their realm. But as the protagonist delves deeper, they begin to sense that something, or someone, is actively working to undermine the peace.
Is it the traitor that we’re searching for? Are they trying to enact the conflict entity’s will by disrupting this peace and ensuring that the war unfolds? Are they pulling the strings???
Distraction: While trying to achieve motive/goals, perhaps the protag gets swept up into an affair that doesn’t involve them.
Audio Log of a conversation with classmate whom I pitched this Idea to. I managed to sit down with them and re record this after forgetting to record the first time. The feedback received helped me to properly think about how I would handle the overall structure: