Jinn of Arabia

Set in a time when Arabia was dominated by jinn and gods, you play as the crown heir of a (mostly) unified kingdom.

The story begins with you imprisoned under the orders of an evil vizier. The vizier knows that you posses a kind of magic that will forever threaten his rule. Therefore you have no prospect of ever being set free.

But by chance, you encounter a snake that promises to give you the keys to your freedom. His only request is that you help him find a special heirloom that he has lost - a measly brass oil lamp. For a chance for freedom, surely that’s a fair trade?

Jinn of Arabia is a historical fantasy inspired by the One Thousand and One Nights and other mythological tales set in the Middle East. Plunge in an adventure where the caravans, spices and spears are plenty.

Will your tale be forgotten in the pages of history? Or will your legend be so memorable that even Scheherazade will speak of it?

- Play as a male or female.

- Choose between four kinds of jinn: ifrit, marid, jann & hinn. And unlock their respective elemental powers.

- Navigate court carefully, making sure to build a strong web of alliances. Or use dread and dare any naysayer to lift a finger against you.

- Be close to your half-siblings or lock them up in gilded cages deep in the walls of the royal harem.

- Own a bird that can carry a grown elephant in its claws as pet! Or stick to a cat.

- Flatter the gods to gain their favour. Or stand your ground and refuse to be their mortal plaything.

So far this is only the prologue and part one of chapter 1. It’s about 40k words without commands. It’s still rough and will be edited later as I get more confortable with variables.

Link to demo:

Hi anon

This has been in my inbox for so long. But I think I can answer it more confidently now.

So the short answer to your question is yes. And I think its actually a smart strategy.

While jinn have magical powers, they do have a weakness. And that is iron. Guess what, humans can use iron weapons and iron arrowheads in battle. This will give your army a huge advantage.

Currently in Jinnestan, all jinn in the army use bronze weapons. Even neighbouring kingdoms still rely on bronze but iron is slowly emerging.

The Philistines are masters of iron so maybe your MC can find some kind of an alliance or strike trade deal to get ironworking into the kingdom.

For the humans in your army, the promise of freedom for themselves and their descendants would be an incredible incentive.

But don't forget to share the loot of war fairly with them lol

Humans in your army will be a valuable asset and will give you an advantage against your uncle, the vizier.

Most jinn, including your allies or neutral factions, will tolerate your alliance with the human tribes. However they won't accept equality with the humans.

So managing an army with a mix of humans and jinn won't be easy. The jinn will want a larger share of the spoils of war compared to the humans. The jinn will expect human soldiers to do the menial work tasks like cooking and cleaning around the base and even expect the humans to do the dirty work of digging up trenches and setting up tents.

Your MC has other options for winning the war against your uncle. Your MC can be very pious and believe that taking back the throne is a divine task from the gods and so anyone who follows the MC can become zealous in fighting for the MC's divine mission.

There will be different pathways for your MC to take back their throne. Each with their own pros and cons.

A rather ruthless and cruel MC can assassinate supporters of your uncle. They can put entire towns or fortified settlements that remain loyal to your uncle to the sword and sell survivors into slavery to fund the war effort. So long as your MC wins battles and is seen as a strong leader, people will fall under their banner. They could join you out of fear (and to avoid being on the losing side) or they join you because they want the loot from your victorious battles.

I've seen the messages in my inbox informing me that Dashingdon is shutting down. Thank you.

I'll admit that I'm surprised. I didn't think anyone was still waiting for Jinn of Arabia since it's been awhile since I last updated the game.

I totally went past the deadline I promised you guys. Sorry about that.

So I moved the game to cogdemos.

I don't know when the next update is coming. I'm writing so slowly.

Part of the problem is that I keep second guessing myself. I've been wasting so much time rewriting sentences over and over again hoping to refine it better.

I know the game is a wip, so its not expected to be perfect from the get go and yet I feel like I need to refine it more. Which I know is unnecessary. The pursuit for perfection really does drain me.

So to give you some writing progress (I've still been writing), I did say that the beginning structure of the game no longer starts with the MC in prison and having them recall their life as a crown heir.

Rather now the game begins with the MC at age 10 and the reader lives through the life of being a royal.

The beginning childhood chapter is not going to be long. However it is necessary for the player to get the feel of being royalty.

You get to live the good, bad and ugly of being a crown heir of a young kingdom.

Growing up in opulence and riches is surely nice. But of course a young kingdom formed through war leaves a bitter taste in many people's mouths, especially the losing side.

Your MC will meet the consorts in the harem who are married to the sultan (MC's father). They are married to the sultan because their side lost the war and their clans had to submit unconditionally to your father.

Then of course you're going to exposed to the ugly. Your MC is a jinn and the servants who have cared for the MC their whole lives are human slaves. The eunuchs, maids and even the wet nurse is a slave. Jinn tend not to look fondly to humans but you get to decide how your MC views humans.

When your MC is trying to get their throne back, you can form alliances with human tribes/clans.

Honestly, I'm more excited about the fight scenes. Even the training scene with young MC feels fun... at least to me.

Even with the rewrite, the fundamentals stay the same. You know what happens to the MC on their 12th birthday.

Again, can't tell when I'll be ready to release something finally to you all.

For now, here is the link to the dashingdon version of Jinn of Arabia that has been moved to cogdemos.

If you'd like something to be explored in MC's childhood, don't be shy to send a suggestion.

Again thanks. And stay well!

I probably won't play that evil MC, but it's nice there are such options.

Will it be possible for MC to not be…too enthusiastic about being a ruler? That they would rather build a different life after they escape from prison?

Even if they probably have to fight for the throne and/or revenge anyway, because that's the main goal of the story, I presume

The main goal of the story for now will be to take back the throne.

And yes, your MC can be unenthusiastic about being a ruler. The story will begin with the MC being 10 years old, before the imprisonment.

The young MC can try to resist the immense pressure that is expected on them as the Crown Heir. Or embrace the role of being a spoiled and cruel little brat XD

The dream of a different life...

After years of being locked up, maybe a nice vacation is deserved. Alas, your MC first and foremost has to defeat the vizier before entertaining dreams of a different life lol

By the way, I don't plan on writing an evil MC. So an MC who kicks puppies for fun is not happening.

But a cruel MC, the kind of person who has no problem killing a perceived traitor and their entire family is a definite path.

Of course where you draw the line between evil and cruelty is up to you.

Greetings

I've been silent for some time. Don't worry, I'm still working on the WIP. I can confidently state that the rewrite will be published next month in May (not sure the exact day).

Funnily enough, last week I got an eyelid inflammation out of nowhere. I think it was blepharitis, but I'm no doctor. Thankfully now it's gone after a week of daily warm compressions over the eye and ointments.

But overall I've made good progress from last month. The surprising thing I've noticed is how mean your MC can be.

You can be mean as Joffrey... minus the sadism... probably

I've always thought the MC (and the player of course) would want to defeat the vizier because vizier is evil and is the bad guy. But so far, I think that is simplistic as a player can want to defeat the vizier for less noble goals.

Your MC could want to defeat the vizier out of cold revenge, or because they believe the throne is their birthright and therefore they're entitled to be in power or.... something along the line of believing that removing the vizier is just and an end in itself.

There is one scene I'm still re-writing and not satisfied with. And that is the fight scene with the Prison Commander. I know the feeling I'm trying to achieve with it but I've yet to nail it. Hopefully this coming week will be fruitful in completing that fight scene.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'm hopeful that next month will be the actual update. Fingers crossed.

Hi everyone!

So the re-write is going well. As I said before, the major change in the upcoming re-write is the chronology of events. Currently, your MC starts in prison and then through flashbacks they reminisce about their previous life. But I'm going to change that.

I believe the story will be better if the player goes through the life of their MC and how that leads to that betrayal at their 12th birthday.

Don't worry, you're not going to start with MC being a baby or something. You'll start as a ten years old and the player will experience the pressure and the huge expectations placed on them as the royal heir.

You'll also get a chance to get close to the vizier before the day of betrayal and understand his character a bit more. It will be interesting if MC was close to their uncle, the vizier, and then the betrayal happened. How would one cope with such treachery? Could you ever trust others.

...a literal natural disaster

All I can say is that your MC can become very powerful. That is, if MC chooses to train and become stronger.

On the other hand, your MC could choose to spend their time forming connections and alliances. Being adept in royal politics is also powerful.

Partially yes but overall no.

Equal rights sound good on paper but would fail in practice. The lived experiences of people in the kingdom makes it unimaginable.

For example, if someone stole your cattle, who do you go to for help? The central government? No, the kingdom is very decentralized. Even if you could get your case to the vizier or the ruler, it would take time to resolve.

In the meantime, who do rely on when your livelihood is stolen?

Your family. Your tribe.

Arabia is a harsh place. To survive, you need your family for protection and they're your safety net. Intense kinship networks criss-cross the kingdom.

If you belong to a weak tribe that has few members, good luck fighting up against some dude who belongs to a powerful tribe. Equality isn't going to get you anywhere. But the threat of real retaliation from ones family instructs the behavior of others.

And even in your own tribe, are you equal to an elder or even an older cousin? No. Socially, obeying your betters would be ingrained from birth.

The kingdom is very hierarchical. Obedience and conformity is enforced. And guess what, this is also true in neighboring kingdoms. Equality that we understand from our modern world doesn't exist.

Humans are known to even worship some jinn. And jinn can cast magic while humans usually can't. Passing a law stating that jinn and humans are equal would be laughable to everyday people. No royal official is going to enforce said law.

Coming back to slavery. Could your MC ban it outright after retaking the throne.

Not outright. Because the institution of slavery is ingrained in society and also around the world currently.

Even the humans have slaves. They'll also protest any attempt to ban the institution.

But I did say you could ban it partially. Banning debt slavery is possible in the game. Effectively, MC will be banning someone from selling themselves or their children into bondage in order to repay debts.

However, even banning debt slavery will be an uphill battle. Those currently benefitting from the status quo will fight tooth and nail to preserve their privileges.

Usually, kings during this time period chose to forgive the debts of everyone across their kingdom from time to time. This allowed those in debt bondage to go back home. It also provided comfort to the poor who usually inherited unpayable levels of debts from previous generations.

That's another avenue for your MC to take.

There's no magic bullet anon. Don't forget the game takes place around 1000 BC. So what was common place back then is alien to us.

Isn't the pet rat enough for you anon haha

Currently in the rewrite, a young MC can have one pet. The list the player can choose is broken into two types.

The first type of pets are ordinary animals that we all know and love: a dog, cat or a monkey.

The second type the player can choose instead is mythical animals:

Rukh: It's like a giant bird. But MC will get a youngling that is small.

Almiraj: it's a bunny with a horn on its head.

So all in all, you get five options. Getting multiple pets is likely going to happen after MC retakes the throne.

I'm open to other pet suggestions if you think they'd be interesting to add. Don't forget your MC is going to be imprisoned so their poor pet friend will have to wait a long time for a reunion. That is if you're able to defeat the vizier

...

Characters will take note of it. How they'll respond will depend on the person of course. Your friends and close allies won't care. Your detractors on the other hand will use it against you.

The kingdom (and the rest of the world) is patriarchal and a male mc who looks feminine is not going to be seen as the 'standard' strong masculine ruler.

But don't worry, it won't affect the story to the point where MC is going to be harassed constantly about it.

So when will it come into play? I've already written a scene of a young MC meeting a foreign delegation. The foreign envoy will be professional and not say anything to MC. But his children... not so much

So anon, just wait and see. You'll see how it will play out

You're asking for some serious spoilers anon lol

I'll try answering your question without revealing much of what will happen in the future parts of the story

Let's not forget that the lamp is not yours! MC made a deal with the snake. So the snake released MC in exchange for two promises: MC will find and bring the lamp to the snake; and most importantly the MC MUST NOT RUB THAT LAMP

The genie in the lamp is not going to dish out monkey paw wishes. That's why the snake REALLY wants to find that lamp.

The real question is why a powerful being like the snake wants the MC to find the lamp instead of the snake finding it itself. What's so special about the MC that the snake is willing to make a deal with them?

No spoilers of course XD

I'm going to entertain the scenario that the MC gets a wish from the lamp. Could MC ask to be as powerful as a deity. Yes and no. Yes, MC could be granted the wish to be an immortal divine being.

But also no. The lamp can't make MC a powerful god. The power of the gods come from their followers and how devote those followers are. So the lamp can't force people to become suddenly devote to MC or create followers out of nowhere.

Whether the MC can wish to be an immortal divine being in the first place is interesting but you'll have to stick around to see how the story unfolds lol

I think so.

I'm not the best descriptive writer out there lol. I tend to focus mostly on the plot.

But the appearance options won't affect the plot much. My focus is on the elemental powers that the player chooses.

This is a long time coming.

This is a list of confirmed ROs in the game. So far I’ve focused on love interests who your MC will meet early on in the game. Love interests from other kingdoms like Assyria, Babylon and one of the Aramean states have yet to be included.

In the game, marriage is about political gain. So your MC is suppose to marry for an alliance and not because they simply love the other person. While most love interests can be romanced by both male and female MCs, a marriage will only be recognised between heterosexual couples. But gay couples can have a private ceremony to affirm their relationship.

DISCLAIMER! Your MC can choose not to marry and be single. They can choose to monogamous to one person. Or they can decide to have numerous nameless concubines to bear children for them. It’s really up to you.

Now on to the list.

I can't answer everything anon as that would be too spoilery

But I can tell you that the snake is not a RO lol. Whether the snake will betray you... I can't answer that.

The lamp in this story is inspired by the one in the original 1001 Nights tale. Thus the person who has the lamp has unlimited wishes.

Great, right. There's a catch however. Your MC will discover the secrets of the lamp after finding it

LOL!!!

You know, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the goddess Ishtar didn't take no for an answer.

She wanted Gilgamesh so much that when he rejected her (for good reason), she asked for a bull to be released from heaven to attack Gilgamesh even though by releasing the beast she knew it would cause drought.

Then let's not forget the Greek gods, some of them turn themselves into animals so they can have their way with mortals.

The moral of the story: you don't want any god/goddess to envy your MC's beauty.

It was always my intention to give the player a choice to learn more elements or focus on other things like using your time to build alliances.

So it's up to you. If you want to learn more elements then go for it. It will take time for the MC to learn all four elements but you can achieve it

It's been awhile since I last updated the game.

I'm currently doing a re-write. Instead of starting with the MC in prison, I want to explore the life of the MC before the imprisonment.

I think I rushed the beginning of the game too much. So that's why I think I re-write is needed.

To answer your question, the story was dead but not anymore.