Weekly Progress Update [14/MAY]

Firstly, happy mother's day to all the moms 💖

It'll be a short update this week, but I'll post an extra long preview for R's route to make up for it!! I've taken a little break this weekend since the weather warmed up for the first time this year and I wanted to take a rest to enjoy the sun, so I'll be posting A's character snippet tomorrow.

As for chapter progress, I'm almost finished with R's route!! X's total wordcount ended up at 18k due to Imperial Court variations, but I calculated it, and a single play-through will give you around 14k words, depending on which variation you get.

R's route doesn't have as many plot variations since the Imperial Court isn't involved in their route, but the overall wordcount for their route will likely be around ~10k-12k. I'm at 8k right now for their opening scene, so I'm working on the last stretch of it to connect it to the main plot. After that, I'm moving onto A's route!

Here's the preview for R's route:

You hold $rname’s hand with both of yours, overcome with an immense sense of helplessness. Turning to Perjin and Master Zîn, you ask, “What can we do?”

“I’ve already asked the Imperial Guards to bring Marabad’s high priest to the palace,” Perjin says, glancing at $aname who gives a small nod. “What has happened to $rname is neither within my nor Master Zîn’s expertise. As an alchemist, I’ve never encountered anything like this before.”

Master Zîn frowns as she looks down at $rname, sleeping restlessly. “My pursuits as a magus were centered around the enhancement of the body, rather than the spirit. A fact that tends to haunt me during moments like these.”

“$crthey is stable,” Perjin says, no doubt meaning it to be comforting, but it does little to reduce your anxiety when none of you know why $rname remains asleep. “There is nothing any of us can do, Zîn. Blaming ourselves won’t help $rname wake any faster.”

Master Zîn also doesn’t seem convinced, folding her arms and remaining standing by $rname’s bedside. As if, were she to wait there long enough, $rname might spontaneously awaken. You suppose you’re sitting by $rtheir bedside for the same reason.

“When you mentioned the high priest, do you mean Afrin?” you say to Perjin, remembering the priest from your coronation, though you haven’t seen him since. “Would he be able to help?”

“Perhaps.” It isn’t as optimistic an answer as you wanted to hear, but it is better that Perjin is truthful with you. False hope is the last thing you want. “He is from the Sky Temple, so he would connect well with $rname’s affinity. I believe he also has training as a healer, and more importantly, a summoner.”

You suppose that would be more helpful than alchemy. Priests tend to have strong connections with spirits, and learning how to summon them and communicate with them is a prerequisite for entering in service of a temple. Even if Afrin himself cannot heal $rname, perhaps he knows of spirits who could.

“I need to understand what happened,” you speak at length, breaking the brief moment of silence within the bedchambers as you address Perjin and Master Zîn. “Master Zîn, you said the Void touched $rtheir mind?”

“Yes, we…” She exchanges a look with Perjin. “We are uncertain of what exactly happened. $rname was looking around the room, examining the walls for any traces of the Void left that $rthey could examine. We all assumed the effect would be less potent than what happened to the Pale Sword.”

“Evidently, you thought wrong,” $aname remarks sharply, no doubt still displeased with $rname doing this without $aname being informed of it. You certainly can’t blame $athem, considering how this ended up. $cathey must feel frustrated most of all, being that $atheir duty is to protect you and $rname, yet you both decided to keep this from $athem.

“We were careless,” Perjin admits, shoulders slumping as she looks at $rname’s face. “Blinded by our own excitement. There’s so little we know about the Void, it was an unprecedented opportunity. We should have known better.”

IF ROMANCE WITH R IS HIGH/STEADY:

“And I should have told you,” you say to $aname. $rname asked you not to, but that doesn’t matter. It would’ve been the responsible thing to do. “I trusted that $rthey would be fine.”

$aname’s frustration softens in the face of your and Perjin’s remorse, and $athey sighs. “Perjin is right, this is unprecedented. Even if I were there, I can’t say with certainty that I could have prevented this. My skill in magic doesn’t compare to $rname’s.”

You reflect on your own decision, and…

[[…you can’t help but think that you should not have let R go.]]
[[…you don’t think you were wrong to listen to R, even though it ended up going wrong.]]
[[…you’re not sure what you should’ve done, whether it was right or wrong to trust R.]]

IF ROMANCE WITH R IS LOW/UNSTEADY:

“I should not have let $rname go,” you say to $aname. $rname asked you to trust $rthem, but it doesn’t matter. Keeping $rthem safe is more important. “We both knew it could be dangerous, but…”

$aname frowns at you. “It isn’t your trust in $rname that I disapprove of—if $rthey insisted on going, you hardly could have stopped $rthem. I only wish you would have informed me. I can’t say with certainty that I could’ve prevented this from happening, but there is a chance I might have.”

You reflect on your own decision, and…

[[…you do think you could have, and should have, stopped R from going.]]
[[…perhaps you weren’t entirely wrong to listen to R, even though it ended up going wrong.]]
[[…you’re not sure what you should’ve done, whether it was right or wrong to trust R.]]

It's a little similar to the choice you get on X's route, if you remember the preview I posted for them a while back. Note also the differences in how the choices are phrased with a high relationship, and with a low relationship.

The context is different than from X's, of course, but I think it's clear what kind of effect the first two choices will have on the Crown and R's relationship, and what it says about your Crown's mindset. The top choice especially can be interpreted as the Crown mirroring how their own parents treated them by sheltering them.

So, it's a very conscious choice for the player on what kind of route they want to see play out, and if they envision their Crown to be open and trusting, or still struggling emotionally, which has consequences in their relationship with R as a result.

Again, you can recover from a low relationship in future romance choices. It's very possible that your Crown, right now, has a tendency to be overly protective of R, and learns to grow out of it in the future. However, it will be very hurtful to R in this moment, so be aware of that. In essence, it's a lack of trust in R's capabilities, after all.

That was it for this week's update!! I hope I'll be able to finish R's route within the next few days and move onto A's 🙏🏼

Until next time!! 💖