Feb Update 15k+ (Next Update arrives Monday the 16th)

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I last updated on Nov 7th...

Holy hell it's been a tumultuous time since. It must be tumultuous for many of you as well, especially if you live in the states. Shit's been rough.

I can't even promise shit will be stable from now on cause I can't, that's how "teetering on the edge" my life is rn

:(

BUT I'M STILL STANDING!

;D

Now onto the actual meat.

So, since it's been a while, and ive been working on this mfer on and off as life allows me, i kept thinking you guys arent getting alot of progress which only feeds more into the "ohmyfuckinggodidonthaveshitforthem" psyche, which only further frustrates me as I try sneaking in writing when i should honestly be resting lol.

Anyways, thanks to the above clusterfuck, i didnt realize you guys were left off at the point you were. I thought yall were at the beginning of the Pinebeach Arc.

I was wrong. The Pinebeach Arc didn't even exist yet

I forgot that I deleted about ohhh, 1.5k words at the end of where you guys left off (where the blood feud is declared)?? And replaced it with a whole ass mini (not so mini anymore) to make sure what happens makes more sense when it does so it doesnt feel like it comes from nowhere.

I still struggle with separating what I know vs what is known by the readers, hence my need to expand the travel section before landing on the beaches of Veldora.

Why?

There's a pay off I want with the squire route, and it'll be the chance for the MC to begin their Messiah/Conqueror destiny. But it needs to make sense, especially with the situation our MC will have to contend with. It also has to allow the MC to choose which path to take.

The Unifier.

Or.

The Conqueror.

Both lead to becoming the Herald of the Goddess, Son/Daughter of Heaven.

The Blood Feud kinda reveals a bit of what will entail, but you need to know WHY it begins and why it's such a personal drama for our MC. And what the MC can choose to do.

Contending with the above only makes what happens in the Caravan Arc even MORE dramatic and deliver a huge pay off as it pretty much excuses the change in our MC to become one of the above, as all these things happen incredibly quickly from one another.

But as alway, the issue is fucking getting there.

It's frustrating especially as I should be writing full time, but reality (and bills) often demand a part time job/contract. And this means breaks in the writing -both physically and mentally- and more often than not, forgetting the lessons I already learned and having to relearn them.

Like knowing when to give up a fucking plot point that isnt working and erase it to start anew.

It's devastating for the morale if I'm being honest, knowing you should've already learned this lesson.

BUT EVEN THEN, WE CONTINUE ONWARDS!

Shit's rough now, but things have to get better someday, right?

For you and me.

One day this craziness will subside and cooler heads will take the reins of power as the current idiots lose said reins from alienating everyone with a heart and brain.

Now for the good stuff.

This is all the new stuff I've been working on since Nov 7th.

Finally gave Pinebeach, the island's main settlement a lord and name.

Doggo also reflects our "true" personality since she's basically our furry daughter. We also learn that there's things she never allows anyone else to do, like grooming her fangs and claws.

Even further, we see that Captain Jorel and our father in talks. I love having the Stoic MC just stay silent, and learning stuff that the other personalities dont because they listen.

The story moves along after talking with dad. He looks a lil overwhelmed/tired, but homie got it.

More importantly, we met three of the Silver Wolves assigned as our bodyguards. If you remember, we gave Cariel permission to spar with Ronnel for a bit, at least until Ronnel wins or loses the tourney.

There's a bit of info regarding them.

You get to choose whether to keep them or not, though I kinda regret it cause of all the differences in scenes i had to account for lol; you'll see what I mean lol.

Now, time to see how having to account for things you may or may not have as variables will change for your playthrough here:

Seems pretty simple, right?

Now, what if we add in our possible retainer Michael?

And if you don't?

We learn a bit more about our bodyguards around us, and the world at large.

Let us see what happens if we dont have our bodyguards...

If you have Michael, he's able to calm shit down before you're needed

BUT, if Michael isn't there...

Let's do something about this.

Here, you'll see that your height comes into play:

And just so that I feel seen, ill tell you the number of words spread across:

Having guards: 1,540

No guards: 2,766

Anyway, we move on from that scene and leave Lukas, again, having different versions of the same scene

I'm really hoping you guys understand what youre seeing.

You're looking at madness.

Anyways, the mini (not so mini) Pinebeach arc is thus:

I got lost in the sauce cause I kept having to go back to it from every pause irl. Cause of that, I didn't notice the b l o a t

So!

As such you'll read through the first choice (the others arent done yet, and will be marked as such) and see what on and off writing looks like.

Not pretty.

It's over 15k words altogether of new content in this update, and that's already considering I deleted a couple thousand.

As I mentioned in the last progress report, the struggle here was the attempt to make thre events (the three choices you can pick) happen at the same time, with the other events proceeding in a different way if youre not there to influence it. It's already a headache to keep track of everything, but it's downright hellish to do so with various breaks and irl stress boxing you.

As you play, you'll see what I mean by maddening. Please note that around half of this will be removed, and that the writing will reorient itself to be more "length-content effective" in the coming week.

I've looked at the same scene far too many times to be able to write quality rn, and if I'm being honest I hate it. I associate it with the shitty 2026 start

To any who play, please report bugs or errors. Though do be warned there'll be another update on Monday the 16th.