[Branch Notes!]

Howdy! I just wanted to get down some quick notes on this story, some of what you can expect to see further down the line, and some of the elements that will be recurring in this story! Nothing too major, mind, and I'll do my best to ensure that there aren't any fun-ruining spoilers in this segment.

General Story Notes

1. This is a bit of a slow burn! The plot I have in mind is going to take a while to come to fruition, so I'm afraid that this branch may be a tad slower-paced than many of the others—not only plot-wise, but also sex-wise. While there is definitely going to be smut in this story (I'm on this site for the same reason as you, after all) it's probably going to be a little more infrequent than is the norm.
2. There's going to be bisexual (male/male and male/female) content in this branch. If that's what you're looking for, then I hope you enjoy it! If that's not something that works for you, I'm very sorry. I hope to make the plot interesting enough and the sex scenes balanced enough that it's still worth reading, but if not, then the other branches of this story are all excellently-written and well worth your time, so please give them a read (and like, and bookmark) instead!
3. This is my first foray into public erotic writing, so any and all feedback is more than appreciated! At the very least, thank you for taking the time to read my take on this tale, and I hope you had a good time!

Setting Notes

1. This branch is taking place in and around the coastal city of Ondell, which is designed to be a low-level tutorial and introduction zone to Shard of Arkus. The city itself is a good size, one of the larger ones in the game, and has been around since alpha development; due to this, it's the go-to location for the developers to test out experimental game features relevant to urban locations. In the lore, it's a dwindling city that never fully recovered after catastrophes in its past, but despite this it's a fairly popular location among the player base; due to the game's Dynamic Events System, the various factions of the city and its noble houses are all ultimately player-controlled, so it's a prime location for players focusing on roleplay and intrigue dynamics.
2. Around Ondell are several low to intermediate level zones. Designed to be a step up from the introduction spawns, these are primarily farmlands and forests to the west, with the foothills of a mountain range to the direct north and open ocean to the east. The farmlands are geared towards players at levels 2-5, the woods to players 4-6, and the foothills for players 6-10. The ocean isn't passable, but rumors on the forums say that the High Seas expansion is in the pipeline and to be announced any day now.

Path-specific Notes

1. There are going to be two primary paths, each with a very different setting and plotline. At the moment, my focus is on the storyline that starts at Deeper into Ondell and proceeding from there. This path is going to be using a heavily-urban setting, with emphasis on stealth, planning, and character interaction. Once the City path is reasonably established, I'll start work on the Country path; once that happens, I'll write more on that here. Optional Bad Ends will also be scattered through the story later on, so there's those to look forward to as well!