This is my game
A Soldier’s Shadow (title may change though)

Backstory:
Perga is an island nation, with a severe emphasis on it's military. All citizens are required to join at age 10 and retire only in death. The nation instills inside its citizens an intense sense of nationalism. 5 years ago Perga became an imperialistic nation and set it's sites on the mainland where the Holy Grauz Empire was the dominant power. Perga almost won every battle killing all that stood in its way. Grauz was on the verge of defeat when the Incident occurred. In just three days Perga fell. Five years have since passed and the last remnants of Perga have now scattered, some have integrated themselves into Grauz, while others have taken to a life of bandits. You are Valus a member of the Knives, a group of bandits comprised of four Pergans, who live on the outskirts of civilization, and Grauz,.



Characters:
Main character
Valus
Age 36
Once the second greatest warrior to ever grace the lands of perga, he is now a drunkard. A man, who was of unparrarelled pride, hates the very essence of his being. In order to live with his self he drinks, drowning out his haunting memories, yet this does not always help. Just three days, was all it took to reduce a man of this stature of what he is now. To understand this man one must understand that Perga was his life. He lived for nothing else, even his family was second to the glory of Perga. Once Perga fell, he fell alongside with it hurling him into darkness. Even with the fall he still clings to Perga, still seeing it in it’s pristine condition. On rare occasions when his belly fills with ale the sparks of glory and pride cut through the air, and with it Perga lives once again to him.

Corin
Age 33
A former soldier under the Pergan legion, he alongside Valus has joined the Knives, a band of bandits. Corin has adjusted rather well to the life of a bandit and can't see why it's so hard for Valus. Before the incident he viewed Valus highly, idolizing him even, as did the rest of Pergans. He met Valus twice before the incident and can't for the life of him understand how he fell so far, because of this he tends to treat Valus harshly at times. Unlike Valus his experience of the Incident is only second hand. He knows what the result of the Incident is but he never saw it with his own eyes and doesn’t know how or why it happened. He's an upbeat fellow, and is the only person to be able to get through to Valus when he is drunk.

Zuta:
Age:35
A very proud warrior, whose lifestyle of banditry has suited him rather well. As long as he is able to pillage and kill he is happy. Contrasting his ferocious personality is his love for his comrades; although it may not be evident by the way he acts he cares deeply for them. Loyal to his country, he would give his life if it were needed. Because of this loyalty he harbors deep hatred for Grauznians, he views them underserving of their so-called victory, and as such deserve death because of this.

Langston:
Age: 37
The leader of the Knives, Langston is a cunning yet impatient leader. During the days of Perga he commanded legions to victory against many foes. His most notable victory was the battle of Fall against the Invading Macklo nation, where he held off the advance for five days so reinforcements could arrive. Though he always presents this battle as his claim to fame, most Pergans remember only his humiliating defeat at the hands of the Grauznians, the only defeat made by Grauz. There was no shame greater than this, and with the fall of Perga he is unable to redeem his once great status. So Langston is reduced to delusions of grandeur on his robbery, by planning all robberies with great detail in the vain attempt to surmount his failure.

I may include this guy, but I don’t know got to see how he fits.

Graid: Defender of Light
Age: 19
Marked as the Defender of Light he now bears the responsibility of defending Grauz. A rumor says that a boy will do battle and defeat the resurfacing Pergan menace. Because of this mark an unbelievable burden has been placed upon him. He feels that he shouldn’t have to defend them, and that the people should depend upon their own might. For the most part he hates the burden, but like an astute politician he uses it to his gain, granting him political power. He eventually hopes to one day trump the boy king and reside on the throne himself by using his title as leverage. He is a caring person, yet this emotion can be overcome by his greed at times.

Story:
The story centers on Valus, and his battle with the memories that haunt him and the country that he so loved. Can he shake the memories and find peace? Will Perga rise again? Or is this just wishful thinking on his part? Also Zuta will have his own struggle an internal struggle between what he is and what he can be. Langston will deal with the implications of what his decision means to him. Corin will learn of the true horror that was the Incident, will this knowledge shake him to the very core? Lastly there is Graid, can this legend actually be true, and will he defeat his fabled foes? This story is not the cliché save the world plot. Happy endings may be few or not existent. Resolutions may not be met, leaving things painfully unresolved. There are no heroes, no good guys or evil, they’re human. The labels you place upon them are dependent on the viewpoint. There will be about three chapters in this story.

Chapter names. I may summarize them later I don’t know.

Chapter one: From the depths of despair 50% done
Chapter two: For such an act can there be forgiveness?
Chapter three: I have given all, is it enough?

For the title, how about "A Grunt's Memento" instead? I'm just throwing a title out there.

From what I can see, the main characters are solid except for the "Defender of Light." He doesn't fit into the backstory right now unless he was part of the "Incident" (by the way, I think that name should change; it sounds too plain).

Now, I don't know how the Incident fits into all of this, but perhaps you could explain it?

Yeah I didn't think the Defender fit in, I've already cut him from the story, as for the title I'm open for suggestions. Right now that's the best I can come up with.

As for the Incident, I don't really want to give everything away, although I don't think I've given much away as of right now. Crap I'll go ahead and spoil it.

The Incident:
During the conquest of Grauz the Pergan military stumbled upon a field of wheat. They were shocked because it grew in the middle of winter. At this time Perga was going through a harsh growing season, so they naturally jumped at this opportunity. The Pergans sent back a regiment to the homeland to grow the crops. They packed up the crops and set sail, a furious storm threw them off course starving them nearly to death. So they decided to eat the crop instead of holding it back. Valus did not go along with this and held out for a while. Over time he began to notice that the troops became increasingly paranoid, and they eventually went mad because of this. They trusted no one but those who ate this crop. Valus was now in a delima, he was starving and was now one of the only ones not to eat the crop. He had seen what happened to those who did not follow suit, and even he the second greatest warrior could not defeat them all. So he ate the crop, and hoped that they would not get to the homeland where his family resided.

Fate turns out had cruel intentions. They landed on their homesoil, consumed with paranoia that turned to rage. The crop pitted father against son, brother against brother, and for Valus, Husband against wife and Father against his children. By his hand he slaughtered them, a normal occurrence in the Incident. Some survivors sailed to Grauznia to get aid from the Pergans that were still fighting the Grauznians. The remaining Pergans scrambled to mount an offensive, which now pitted soldier against soldier. For three days they fought, sanity against paranoia, each day destroying their beloved home. On the hour before the fourth day the craze had ended, and the soldiers returned to their normal selves. Now they had to come to grips at what they had done, they had killed their families and fought each other as enemies. For Valus the thought of him having a hand in his countries fall was too much, he could deal with the death of his family, but this crime he had committed shook him to the very core. Grauz sensing weakness pounced upon the weakend country. The Pegans tried to unite but they could not get passed what had happened, instead of uniting they formed two seperate forces. Both were defeated, sealing the fate of Perga. So those who survived fled.

Well that's the Incident right there.

Not bad. That sounds like an interesting event. However, why does it only last three days? Will that be explained in the game? What's the main goal of the game?

Well the main goal of the game is to see the characters transformation. Valus is going to try and unite his people, and we'll see how that fares. Bascially it's just a character driven story instead of a quest. It's to see how they change.

As for the three days thing. Right now it's as simple as the crop is now out of their body, by natural bodily functions. Turns out the Grauznians fear this crop, and have nothing to do with it. It likes finding a plant for the first time and not knowing it's effects.

Ah, okay. I can dig it.

I'm guessing that Valus is the main character and everyone will follow him? Will you have subplots to tie with the main plot?

You certainly put a lot of thought into all of this. The idea of the story being about the characters more than the world is pretty interesting.

BTW, I didn't read what the incident was, as you said it would be somewhat spoiling. I'll just find out about it when it's revealed in-game.

So, what tool are you using for this?

Got to have subplots. Zuta will have his own, and Langston as well. They'll all tie in. Corin will stay with Valus, the main character. As for following Valus I won't say anything, can't give up everything.

I think this story would be classified as a Tragedy.

I'm using rpgmaker one.

Just a progress report. I'm about 80% done with the first chapter and should finish it within the week.

Good luck with that.

Thanks gonna need it.

Got a question. What type of dungeons do you guys like or dislike?

That was me, forgot to log in.

Just another update

changed the title to Restless Shadows. Still a title that needs improvement but I think it's a marked improvement over the originial.

I was 90% done with chapter one but I had to redo some dialogue. So I am now 80$ done with the first chapter. I'm gonna finish this chapter and probably quit until rpg maker 3 comes out. Right now I'm running out of memory fast, and at this pace I won't be able to finish chapter 2.

Now all I have to do is get a Dex Drive or something else that will work.

You're 80 dollars done with the first chapter?

I'm just messin' with ya.

I have to ask, though; your first chapter is the size of one memory card? That's quite large.

yeah I'm 80 dollars done. Everytime I hit 90 dollars done I find something wrong. 100 dollars completion seems to be quite elusive.

Actually The first chapter is almost two memory cards. Twenty blocks dedicated to scenario and system, with about six blocks dedicated to my "custom sprites". They're really just sprites with a different color.

large

So what are you running out of memory from? System or Scenario data? If Scenario data is the problem, just use the New Scenario (or something like that) command at the end of chapter one, and create the next chapter on a new memory card.

Actually I'm running out of both. So you see my problem. I wish it was just scenario.

Well, there is a trick to having multiple system cards, but using it will mean that the player won't be able to visit older places. Not without making them switch the cards out when going between the old places and new places.