The Setting
I see the overall setting being an Italian Island as seen in the picture given. I want the setting to be a romantic atmosphere to hide the twist ending and slowly reveal that there are problems. The isolated setting, being surrounded by the sea with little to no boat traffic will increase the tension later on and also makes sense for an experimental setting. Also changes to the weather, storms for instance can further affect isolation and tension in the story. I do want the buildings to be colourful and welcoming in the town itself.- The Bookstore/library: Important source of information for the protagonist.
- The Docks: This is where the protagonist feels most free and meets their love interest
The Orphanage: The Orphanage will be inspired by Ospedale degli Innocenti as seen above. That orphanage was operational during the Italian Renaissance and that will be the time period feel I want readers to experience. The building will be isolated from the rest of the town on a mountaintop (added on the highest point in the town seen above). The feeling of ominousnous will not come from the setting itself initially, but the feeling of not knowing anything about the outside world and the arbitrary rules they must follow. There will be religious imagery used throughout the setting that will feature within the story themes.
- Protagonist bedroom: This is where most information about the protagonist will be given so the user can understand their character, through writings and drawings. She shares this room with her best friend and other girls from the orphanage.
- The courtyard: This will be where the protagonist interacts the most with other girls.
- Master room: This is where the head Nun lives and where the protagonist will have to sneak and get keys and information.
- Small room outside Orphan's bedroom: This is where the nice Nun who the protagonist bonds with spends time after hours.
- Hidden areas: I am still thinking about how many hidden areas will be needed for the 'game' portion to ensure that the user feels like they are exploring and solving a mystery.
- Halls: This will be what connects all the areas to eachother, there are also paintings and decorations to explore and some chores that need to be done in this location.
- Medical Room: This is where her fried will end up when she/he falls ill and dissapears.
- Great Room: This is both the dining room and where story time is operated by the nice Nun.
NARRATIVE DETAILS:
Characters:
- Protagonist: Young child which you can input some descriptor information making them male/female and changing features. I see this child as being naturally inquisitive and creative and this is why she bothers the Head Nun so much. The protagonists questioning nature also makes it hard for them to truly embrace the Catholic faith. From a young age the protagonist had a rebellious nature and it wasn't until she grew to know her best friend that she started to follow the rules.
- Head Nun: Your main information and quest giver at the start. This character guards the secret of the end and acts as the main antagonist. The Nun has very strict rules for the orphans to follow and does not treat them like children. Later it is revealed that the reason the Nun is so unfeeling is part because she does not beleive their real people and is in truth a staunch Catholic. She at times struggles to maintain distance with the children even so and is conflicted on how they seem so much like they have souls. Furthermore, since she does not know the end goal of the project she reminds the other Nuns it is best not to get attached.
- Love interest: This person will influence the character to explore the world. This character is a free spirit and knows everything about the island. They are also not religious encourage rebellion. This character spends most of his time dreaming about ways to get off the island and explore. He also finds the isolated nature of the Nuns to be quite curious and wants to explore there as well.
- Young empathetic nun: This character is conflicted and while they have a soft spot for your character and will give you hints at the secret they are still bound to their duty in not telling you about your real history. Unlike the Head Nun, this Nun is not a true believer and is a scientist undercover trying to discover the extent to which the children are normal people.
- Best Friend: Another child at the orphanage that the player forms a bond with and is doomed at a point in the story causing the protagonist to question their world. This child will be the ideal and always follow the rules. They also have genuine faith and try to empart this on the protagonist.
- Various Townspeople: There will need to be numerous characters written to keep the story engaging and to engage in side stories.
- BookKeeper: The protagonist will start to engage in a fatherly relationship with the local bookkeeper, he is a friendly old man with no family and a love of stray cats and knowledge. He tells the protagonist stories about his young days Sailing the seas and exploring the world. These tales will be fantastical in nature about the magical world on the outside.
