Picture it: "The sun is setting in the ancient world. Where once the Greco-Romans together controlled 2/3rds of Europe, West Asia, and North Africa, now Gothic Kingdoms controlled a smothering 3/4ths. Their dominance strikes awe into the hearts of everyone, but their mild lack of civility and the untold cycles of violence unravel generations of prosperity every which way. Upperclass society is rapidly shrinking, order and cooperation are being swallowed by animosity and division, and houses outside of city walls are being gradually abandoned and looted.
The year is 526 AD and in a spooky, Gothic castle high in the Alp Mountains, is the Duke of Raetia, 'King' Belthachar the Terrible. He spends every minute of every day in his castle with everything a man could ever want, while outside his fortified walls, his hungry subjects meet in shadows and conspire to murder him in cold blood. Amidst this twilight of grandeur, Belthachar lies down and enters into a deep, deep sleep..."
This description is the product of my latest research. Had I tried to write those paragraphs only just two months ago, half of the details would have been inaccurate, different, or outright missing! Bear in mind that this amounts to far more than exposition: his dream world reflects the things of his waking one, down to the fact that the player, as Belthachar, finds bronze coins among the common folks and places and has to trade them for silver coins under his Kingdom's rate of exchange (15 bronze for 2 silver) if he wants to make a big purchase. I've previously mentioned that Belthachar wields a spatha sword, but what you didn't know is that swords in Belthachar's day were worth thousands of dollars in US dollars, so finding or buying new weapons is a rare treat in our game. I've gone to great lengths to make Belthachar (formally named Belthezar)'s royal family fit in with the time and place despite being fictitious. Bear in mind also that this is not our world exactly, but a low-fantasy one in which mythical and supernatural beings are real if you know where to look.
Be here when the game releases, and prepare thyself for epic world-building of yore, rarely seen in indie games!
