#lorecrafting

That trailer sure was something, wasn't it. Atlus finally announced Persona 6 after years of milking P5 dry and it's already shaping up to be the darkest persona game yet. Look at those above images. That's pure unadulterated nightmare fuel right there. It's safe to say that P6 will go for a horror vibe and I'm all here for it. I just hope they don't botch the tone by trying to hard to be a light hearted school slice of life anime game.

The game will have a have a major occult vibe to it. The main characters are a mix of horror fans, conspiracy theorists, and skeptics who get roped into the story. The plot is kicked off when someone performs a ritual at school and ends up summoning actual demons. The story harkens back the original persona with a mix of smt if. P6 creates a dark academia setting where school isn't just a place to have slice of life anime shenanigans ad nauseam; it can be a literal fight for survival.

The crew are basically exorcists who are tasked to eliminate the demons plaguing their city. These demons take the form of horror movie/literature icons, urban legends, cryptids, creepypasta, and even anthropomorphic representions of phobias and mental disorders. The personas of the main cast represent their worst fears and how they need to overcome them.

For example, a character who has been severely bullied could have Carrie from Stephen king as a persona.

The game can also explore how teens approach horror compared to older generations. Analog horror, ARG videos, and creepypasta resonate alot with younger fans.

The UI design can go two ways. It can lean into the horror movie vine by having the menu screen be a film reel. Next to each menu item is small horror motif like a skull icon, a zombie head icon, etc. Moving down the menu creates the sound of a film reel turning. If the game focuses on horror literature, the resembles the table of contents of a book. The sound of a page turning is heard each time you scroll up or down. It can use a newspaper collage art aesthetic.

My favorite part of world building / lorecrafting is that I can get back to my roots :v

Anyway check out this progress!

Sidenote:

A story in three parts. The above is the river god Balisk hallucinated while almost drowning. He felt as though he had sunk deep underwater while this murky looming figure surrounded him. Staring at him. If felt disappointed.

First Rule of Writing a Novel:

“Your villain/antagonist, not the protagonist, should be your most developed and thought out character.”

Montellian Serat, siege of the government of Devaron and of the Serat Arrje’d. [picture source]

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The Government of Devaron

The government of the planet of Devaron is a representative participatory democracy largely influenced by matriarchal ideals. Indeed – just like in most other sectors (such as businesses, banks, etc), the government is led mostly by females. Males are usually discouraged from participating in politics, unless under specific circumstances.

The planet is ruled by the High Ministry of Devaron. The High Ministry is comprised of twelve members, five of which are the heads of the five primary departments. The heads of the departments aren't elected by the people, but chosen through presidential decree by the other seven members of the Ministry. These seven ministers, however, are elected through universal suffrage by the people of Devaron. The High Ministry holds a monthly meeting in the chambers of the Ministry, in the Tower of Serat, or Serat Arrje'd (”Great citadel tower”) in Devaronese. 

The Serat Arrje’d is named after Montellian Serat (literal translation: “Citadel of Montellian”, Montellian being a historical figure in ancient Devaronian history), of course, which is the capital city of Devaron and where the High Ministry is located.

The five departments of the Ministry are as follow:

The Treasury: Management of tax policy, national funds, development, regulation and control of the planet's economy.

The Grand Tribunal: Responsible for legislation concerning the constitution of general administrative and criminal laws, as well as the judgment and application of punishments upon citizens who have violated the law.

The Foreign Affairs: Commercial affairs, trades, industry, foreign commerce, communication, diplomacy, foreign bids and liaison with other planets/systems. 

The Interior: Everything that includes relations and affairs within Devaron. Granting of official papers (Identity papers, authorizations, commercial agreements, etc) and global administrative aspect of the government. 

The Defense: Everything that deals with the military/army of Devaron and conquest/exploring. One of the oldest branches of the government. Deals with the army, its units, supply system, engineering (roads, architecture, construction, etc), spatial navy, and Intelligence (Which monitors spies and infiltrators as well)

The government of Devaron is heavily based on communication and a desire to stay united with its citizens. Devaron is known for having some of the best diplomats in most known systems, most of them being females, due to their trustworthy and honest qualities.

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The Juridical system of Devaron

Criminal offenses are strictly forbidden, and very harshly punished on Devaron. The juridical system of Devaron is based on execution rather than imprisonment for the highest criminal offenses, and as such, the planet is not granted total allyship with the Core Worlds, as the Republic sees their methods as barbaric (in contrast to the planet's otherwise peaceful, orderly mentality).

Should a criminal be proven guilty of a high offense crime (premeditated murder, for example), they will be sent to the Judgement Field of Montellian Serat, where they would be executed by Quarras : carnivorous predators, native to the jungles, who were starved before each execution. Despite everything, Devaron did not actually hold many executions – perhaps no more than a handful each year – as the citizens were known to be very lawful, especially the females – and the males would choose to commit their crimes off-world to avoid the capital punishment.

I’ll keep this short and sweet, since it’s mostly just me spitballing.

So the Draenei have a racial bonus to Jewelcrafting, and Eredar lore outright states that they’re a people who take pride in their intellect. And after finding my own puzzle ring after unpacking a box from my last move, I got to thinking that something like it would be perfectly in line with everything we know about spacegoats.

Here’s the twist, though: instead of being used to catch an unfaithful lover, puzzle rings and the like exchanged by the Eredar and their descendants are given unsolved, and without instructions. The reasoning behind this? Someone who cares enough to solve the puzzle cares enough about the person who put it together, and expresses it through wearing the solved piece. Such jewelry does not necessarily have a romantic connotation, as it’s also been a common gift between friends or relatives on special occasions.