KOTCL Dev Diaries - Contest

Contest Anyone?

One of you has pitched a great idea—to set up a contest for the best KOTCL fanfic! Let’s do it! You can write a cool story based on the game or maybe even something like a game script.

This is all at the stage of being a great idea for now; the prize fund is being discussed, but it will directly depend on your interest.

So go to the comments and leave a + there if you want to create something about our game world, or even if you only want to read, or even if you only like the idea. Personally, I like the idea a lot, but everything depends on how many of us there will be.

No, we don’t have a shortage of ideas. I could come up with as many as three games about Midian and write a thick novel about Mortis. We’re simply looking for some entertainment—for ourselves and for you.

At the same time your fanfic can end up being canon and part of the game. For example, I really like one of the comments that suggested that a main character be possessed by an Inquiline. The character battles the demon to stay in control, but at the same time, the demon helps the character reach their goals. Sounds awesome. Yes, there are some parallels with Bjorn here, but our idea of being controlled by a beast spirit is simple, while demons are complex and multi-faceted.

As a teaser, let me tell you more about the Shoots.

That name rarely appears in the game, but nevertheless, Mortis and Millenis are none other than Shoots. The whole history of the Shoots is enveloped in mystery. No one even knows their exact numbers, even the Shoots themselves. But there are definitely more than two of them.

It’s a gnostic secret society united by the goals of uncovering all the secrets of Midian, attaining absolute power and figuring out the design of the Supreme Gods. While pursuing those goals, they acquire knowledge and share it with each other. In order to make it clearer for you, I’ll reveal the secret behind the name.

Why the Shoots?

As many of you know (and if you don’t, you’re going to find out right now), most of the humans in Midian believe that they were created by the Supreme Gods. The elves, the orcs, the dwarves and the goblins humbly consider themselves to be brought to life by the Primordial Spirits. Only the humans fancy themselves Gods’ creatures, created in their own image and likeness.

But the Shoots have gone even farther. According to their beliefs, humans are gods—gods who, for some reason, were deprived of their divine knowledge and abandoned to their fate in Midian. So the entire difference between humans and gods is having knowledge or lacking it.

The Shoots are like a transitional stage. They all used to be humans at some point, but they haven’t yet become Gods. So from the soil beneath, they strive upward toward the divine heights, thus they named themselves shoots.

What Do the Gods Smell Like, Bjorn?

However, to stand along the Gods is not the main goal of the Shoots; their power is merely a means for achieving their main purpose: to figure out what the hell made the gods create entire Midian. Both Mortis and Millenis act towards this goal, so we’ll never fully understand them.

This is the key moment. The source of the Shoots’ power is clearly knowledge (knowledge is power, yup), but figuring out the limits of said power, as well as the motivation and behaviour of the Shoots, is beyond the abilities of mere mortals. Otherwise, the magic will be gone. Imagine that Mortis was jealous of Millenis with Zaratosh, and the whole hullabaloo happened only because of that. Ha.

But no, we know too little, while the Shoots are halfway to the Gods, and the Gods’ ways are past finding out. We can still appreciate their awesomeness and try to understand them at least a little in order to become a little bit of Shoots ourselves.

Creating and maintaining this magic, this unfathomability is one of my goals. I’m a mere mortal just like you, so my goals should be understood very easily.

A Dwarf Shoot

You might have thought that the Shoots are comprised of humans only, but actually they don’t have racial restrictions. Be it a dwarf, an orc, a goblin, or an elf—they can all become Shoots. What would they need that for? That’s a different question, and I haven’t worked it out, although that would be cool. Other races might also want to find out why the Supreme Gods created Midian. What if they did it for the dwarves? Or maybe for everyone, including trolls (human flesh tasty).

I do know the reason the Supreme Gods created Midian, because I created the Gods myself. But I won’t tell you right now. Some day, maybe.

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