This section contains all of the information that pertains to the history, story, game play, and characters of my RPG. All of the details are subject to change. You can use the links or simply scroll to navigate the page.
History of Ensath and Taspar (last updated
10/12/04)
Opening Story (last updated 10/12/04)
Game Play (last updated 10/12/04)
Characters (coming soon!)
For hundreds of years, the city-states of Ensath and Taspar existed in harmony. Ensath thrived on its ocean port, trading with distant cities and gaining valuable resources from the sea. Taspar was more of an industrial mining town, as it had found resources in the mountains and used them in various crafts. Trade between the cities was beneficial to both, and frequent. The cities agreed on a territorial boundary that followed the river which divided them, as it roughly split their landholdings in two. This land was located in a ring of mountains on the sea, in which Ensath held the only ocean port and Taspar protected the only mountain pass.
Ensath became a center for knowledge and commerce. People came from around the world to study there, and some of the greatest technological advancements came from its people. With no need for an army (geographic location and the nearby presence of Taspar afforded them protection), they invested their funds into research and a massive merchant ship fleet to support their trade. Taspar, on the other hand, became the gatekeeper for the entire area. They took pride in protecting the twin cities from invasion, as many enemy lands were interested in the fertile land that separated the two cities, the mountain riches of the surrounding enclosing mountain range, and the protected sea port. They became a society of craftsmen and warriors.
This balance existed for hundreds of years, until one of Ensath's research projects revealed an ancient art that had been thought to be stuff of legend: the use of magic. Unknown to Taspar, Ensath began perfecting its use, and training some its most intelligent students in its craft. Since the Ensathians earned their living not through hard work, but through trade, they had become a people who always sought profit, and this weakness allowed the magic to corrupt them. They saw that Taspar not only had landholdings inside the mountain ring, but outside of it as well, on the other side of its gates. They became envious and unsatisfied, feeling they deserved more, so a "battalion" of these magicians advanced across the river onto Tasparian soil and stole the land from the farmers. The King of Taspar told the leaders of Ensath to remove their people from Tasparian soil, but they complained of the unequal landholdings. The Tasparian King contended that they had been protecting Ensath for hundreds of years from attack and deserved the extra land. Ensath's leaders proclaimed that they no longer needed Taspar's protection, and they refused to leave. Taspar was compelled to use force.
Unaware of the magical powers of the Ensathian "troops", the King sent a small unit of soldiers to drive them off of the land. The soldiers were completely surprised by the use of magic and were horribly defeated. The two cities were now officially at war. Thanks to Taspar's war experience, they were eventually able to drive the intruders off of their soil, but not without heavy casualties. The Ensathians saw a large number of losses, too, as their men had no defense against the physical attacks of the Tasparians.
Meanwhile, in Taspar, the king forbade the use of any magic in his kingdom, for it had ended peace and order in the land and corrupted the leaders of Ensath. Any use of magic was punishable by death or exile, and a council of elders with a special sense was set up to find any violators of this law. They claimed to be able to feel the use of magic, saying it left a sort of "sweet but pungent" aura around the user for several days after he used it. Their claims were verified several times, as they could sense the advance of the Ensathians every time. In the 80 or so years since the first battles, the Ensathians had made several repeated attempts at taking the land, only to be driven back again. It is during one of these attempts that the game begins.
The main character is a knight of Taspar, one of the king's most decorated (I'll call him Ta'chu, but the player will name him). Some years ago, Ta'chu's father Oran'chu had also been a knight of the king. Being an experienced soldier, the father had seen many battles, and he was admired and respected by all, including the king. His demise saddened the whole kingdom of Taspar.
Oran'chu's wife was left without anyone supporting her, and it turned out that she was pregnant with her son, Ta'chu. Upon giving birth, she tragically died, leaving her son orphaned and alone. The king was sympathetic to Ta'chu's plight, and felt that he owed it to one of his most loyal soldiers to take care of the upbringing of his son. The king took Ta'chu under his roof and raised him as one of his own.
Fast forward 33 years, and Ta'chu is now a valiant knight of the king. He has a son of his own, Dai'chu, who is just turning 13 and becoming a man. Ta'chu learns that the king has a task for him. Most of his men are occupied in a battle with the Ensathians, and there is trouble outside town (outside of the mountain circle). Workers are unable to work in the mines outside of town because a small dragon is destroying equipment and hurting the men. Dragons are a rare creature, but not unheard of. For a knight, defeating one would be mildly difficult, but Ta'chu has had experience with them before and is confident on his own. "You must now go forth with strength and courage."
After the king assigns Ta'chu the task of defeating this dragon, this is when you start controlling him, in the throne room. You eventually return to your house in the town outside of the castle, where you see your wife and child and let them know of your obligations to the king. The son begs to go, but since he's only 13, he can't. You then leave town and travel not too far to the mines to the north in the mountains. Ta'chu sees the dragon and just when he starts to approach it, he is startled to hear a noise behind him. His son has secretly followed him here, but before anything else can really happen, you are launched into battle with the dragon.
Your party now consists of Ta'chu and Dai'chu. The dragon immediately attacks and kills the boy in one fell swoop. When Ta'chu attacks, he overcomes the dragon quite handily. Immediately after the battle, a cut scene ensues, in which he goes to his son wrought with grief and embraces him. "No, my only son. Why couldn't you just listen to me?" As he's sobbing and holding him tightly, something magical occurs, and a force from inside Ta'chu manifests itself and breathes life into the child. In a time of great emotion, the father has cast the spell of life upon his son.
It is a very weak spell, however, and he must return to town with Dai'chu to seek medical help. The village elders can sense that Ta'chu used magic, an activity forbade by the laws of Taspar. Reluctant to hand out a sentence to a man that he raised as his own, the king is nonetheless forced to sentence the knight to exile, and tells him that death awaits him if he ever should return. He is sent out into the world, to the east, and that is where the true quest begins.
As a knight being exiled from the only city he has ever known, Ta'chu has no idea where to go or what to do. He has to find a way to support himself and his family (which has decided to come with him). The player will now be faced with the decision of what to do next, just as Ta'chu is. I plan to include several different options: if you go to village A to the north, A will happen. If you go to city B in the far east, B will happen. If you go back to Taspar too soon, you will be thrown in the dungeon and sentenced to death. It will truly be wide open at this point. I plan (tentatively) to work on a CMS, a CBS, and a clock system, but the driving force of my game will be the player's ability to control the story. Talking to people will be very important, as at least half the people will have either items, valuable information, side quests, or small tasks to offer you. I say side quests, but there really will be no "side quests", as the player will be able to play the game (almost) any way he chooses. There will be a "bigger picture" story (events in Taspar and the world in general) that is unfolding and slightly affected by what the player does, but the player will see it through the eyes of Ta'chu.
One example of a path the player can go down will involve being a mercenary. He will go from town to town aiding whoever is willing to pay him for his services. Some other general ideas include being a thief, an assassin, a merchant, an explorer (i.e. Indiana Jones), and others still to come. It will all depend on how the player plays the game.
There will be various different endings (I'm hoping for at least 10) ranging from happily ever after to apocalypse. I want to make it so that the player can play after completing the game and different things will be available depending on which ending they got.
Coming Soon!