Topic: Castlevania: Umbra of Sorrow (1999 Fan Project)

[theplottwist]

I really want to see Olrox because I translated that novel. 
Just answer "What's his beef with ye old Drac?"
And the plottwist-branded plottwist sounds really intriguing.

Hoo boy... This is one of the twists I'm trying put more care into writting, even though I still lack some evidence to back my plot up.

It'd explain a lot of things, including why Death is so pissed off at Olrox for trying to overtake the castle, calling him a "traitor", when he's not really "betraying" anybody...

But I must warn you that the twist is expected and some few people have written about it already. While I arrived at the idea alone, I found out later that it already existed. What I'll try to do is tie the loose ends with better evidence than it was done before.

[X]

I intend to make her into a more refined, matter-of-factly noblewoman with small eccentricities that hides her face behind a ball mask and dresses like she's going to an extravagant masquerade. And, of course, her lesbian side will return aswell, although in a much more tasteful fashion than Judgment's horrid representation of her sexuality. She'll still maintain her role as the one who knows about Dracula's personal life anyway. She might be a vampire, but she's still an observant woman and knows what's up.

Sounds all good to me. In fact this actually works well for her as she was pretty much this in the novel.

Also, something I'd like to add to Carmilla VERY MUCH is the power to control Black Panthers or turn into one, and make her be able to go through solid objects as if she were a ghost

You don't have to as Carmilla already has this ability. It happened every time Laura went to sleep. A black panther would grab her by her neck and then she'd wake up. Although it's never mentioned that Carmilla does this in the waking world, it is something you could do for your story. It won't ruin the character to control panthers or turn into one, but it will make her more enticing for her CV counterpart. But don't forget that while Carmilla is moving about the castle her real body is residing in a blood-filled stone tomb.

I just thought of something. You could have the heroes take a breather (as in getting some rest before pressing onward to Dracula) and they are encountered by/ambushed by Carmilla in their sleep for the first time. Kinda like Alucard and the Succubus in SotN.

[theplottwist]

I just thought of something. You could have the heroes take a breather (as in getting some rest before pressing onward to Dracula) and they are encountered by/ambushed by Carmilla in their sleep for the first time. Kinda like Alucard and the Succubus in SotN.

Why, she could appear specifically to Lenora, teasing her. I wanted Carmilla to oppose Lenora already, since Lenora is a descendant of Sypha, who had her family killed by Carmilla's machinations.

I have more to add to the idea, so please let me hear what you think:

Carmilla can be introduced as an apparition to Lenora. I might try to work a "sleep" scene for her alone to incorporate this, but I'm leaning more towards a "meditation" scene where Lenora is introspective, trying to sense something with her mind (the characters are in a rush to destroy Dracula before the eclipse, so a "breather" is kinda out of question here xD). Carmilla appears in her mind, blocking her abilities and teasing Lenora to go after her.

During the story, I'll have an entire tower ruled by Carmilla, a chapel tower, where a scene re-enacting Simon's marriage from Haunted Castle's intro will take place. Of course, this scene is nothing more than pure theatrics on Carmilla's part trying to distract the hero(es). Instead of Dracula kidnapping the bride, however, it is Carmilla, who "kidnaps" Laura, who is playing the "bride" role.

Later, the heroes gains access to the upper parts of the tower, where Carmilla resides with Laura. However, nobody is allowed to enter her room but Lenora.

Upon meeting Carmilla, plenty of banter is given, where Carmilla states that she's been waiting centuries to drink from the blood running on Lenora's veins for it belongs to someone who escaped her in the past (a reference to Sypha). So here Lenora fights both Carmilla and Laura and defeats them, gaining access to whatever was it that Carmilla was blocking. Laura is destroyed, BUT it's still not the last of Carmilla, who "disappears" as if she had been killed, lamenting Laura's death and cursing Lenora.

The REAL battle happens much later, near the end of the story, when one of the heroes happens upon her blood-filled coffin hidden deep in the castle's bowels. She rises enraged from inside it and assumes her true form. I have a specific hero in mind for this battle - which prompts Carmilla to banter some more, this time about the personal info concerning Dracula I mentioned up there - but this time she is finished once and for all.

Also, I want to say that this pretty much confirms that both Olrox and Carmilla are making it into the story... Oh well, the plots are too good for me to simply let go of :|

Carmilla will be ruling one tower, and Olrox will be ruling another. Olrox's part is slightly smaller than Carmilla's (by what I have already imagined), but it's needed to set up his twist. Smaller doesn't mean "less important".

[X]

It sounds solid. You've got what you need for Carmilla written down. Just one small segment in a much larger story yet to unfold. It also seems to be the case that the choices of who's going to be in the story and who's not is somewhat out the window now eh?

[theplottwist]

It sounds solid. You've got what you need for Carmilla written down. Just one small segment in a much larger story yet to unfold. It also seems to be the case that the choices of who's going to be in the story and who's not is somewhat out the window now eh?

In fact, you guys DID show your preference. It's just that I was leaning more towards Carmilla than Olrox, and Shiroi, VladCT and Chernabogue displayed interest in the vampire, while you pushed for Carmilla. I guess you can say I cheated a little to get Carmilla into it anyway despite people voicing preference over Olrox

I had something prepared for him, but I scrapped it early in favor of Carmilla, and Olrox's role became stagnant. But I know that he can also make it in and still uphold his role in the plot without getting on Carmilla's path. It's just that I'm not very confident about writting them both well without one trampling over the other.

But I've changed my mind and will give it a try. They're both good characters and Castlevania lacks in the vampire department. But if my try fails, I'll have to scrap someone, and well... Due to public demand, Olrox will be kept, and Carmilla will be axed.

(But there is no way in hell I can get Elizabeth there too lol So it basically became "I prefer this vampire so she'll probably enter the story. What other vampire do you want?"  )

[darkmanx_429]

In fact, you guys DID show your preference. It's just that I was leaning more towards Carmilla than Olrox, and Shiroi, VladCT and Chernabogue displayed interest in the vampire, while you pushed for Carmilla. I guess you can say I cheated a little to get Carmilla into it anyway despite people voicing preference over Olrox

I had something prepared for him, but I scrapped it early in favor of Carmilla, and Olrox's role became stagnant. But I know that he can also make it in and still uphold his role in the plot without getting on Carmilla's path. It's just that I'm not very confident about writting them both well without one trampling over the other.

But I've changed my mind and will give it a try. They're both good characters and Castlevania lacks in the vampire department. But if my try fails, I'll have to scrap someone, and well... Due to public demand, Olrox will be kept, and Carmilla will be axed.

(But there is no way in hell I can get Elizabeth there too lol So it basically became "I prefer this vampire so she'll probably enter the story. What other vampire do you want?"  )

Honestly, I would rather see more development with Olrox. Carmilla gets overkill most of the time in fan-ism, games, etc.

[Belmontoya]

Honestly, I would rather see more development with Olrox. Carmilla gets overkill most of the time in fan-ism, games, etc.

Amen. Orlox should be the main antagonist of a game. He's way overlooked.

[theplottwist]

Amen. Orlox should be the main antagonist of a game. He's way overlooked.

Olrox is the main antagonist in Ricordanza of the God Abyss. Now THAT would be one hell of a story to turn into a fangame!

Now, it's me again with one more of my questions.

In Umbra there will appear a city that will be the stage for the story's introduction. This city will be where the "war" will take place while the heroes face Dracula.

Initially I didn't want to introduce a city setting, since I already had an "war" aspect in the story with the involvement of the military. But recently, while writing it, I discovered/developed a reason for a city to appear and justify a myriad of things, including this one line from Graham Jones in the future:

(click to show/hide)

SOMA: Well, uh, no. I thought the story of Dracula was made up, actually.

GRAHAM: NO, it's all true. It was leaked to the outside world. Usually, the church handles these things with utmost secrecy... Over the course of time, Dracula has resurrected many times. When people lost faith... and craved chaos and destruction.

I had another device to justify Graham spilling this information, but I found that the city setting might work better to explain other points all at once.

What I want to know is this: Would you like to see a town that has already appeared in the series but now evolved into a modern city, or would you prefer to see a new setting? And if it's a previous town, would you want it to play a role in the plot as a device (as is my plan), or for it to simply work as a stage for the story to introduce itself, without further complications?

Also I should add: Wygol seems like the obvious choice, but is off the list. It ALREADY plays a significant role in the story's background and in a plot-point, thus, in a way, it's already added. I'm asking you to choose between having a returning town or a new town. If you choose for a returning town, I already have one up in my sleeve that is NOT Wygol.

[Chernabogue]

Maybe one of the towns from Simon's Quest?

[theplottwist]

Maybe one of the towns from Simon's Quest?

Those are preciselly what I'm going for - specifically Yomi Town - the one right before Vlad Graveyard with only one woman living in it, telling Simon to come and live with her. It also received the ridiculous name of "Ghulash" which I'm readily ignoring in favor of its other name "Yomi".

If you prefer for me to choose, it'll quite possibly be this one. If you choose for a new town, I'll create one from scratch.

[Shiroi Koumori]

Olrox is the main antagonist in Ricordanza of the God Abyss. Now THAT would be one hell of a story to turn into a fangame!

What I want to know is this: Would you like to see a town that has already appeared in the series but now evolved into a modern city, or would you prefer to see a new setting? And if it's a previous town, would you want it to play a role in the plot as a device (as is my plan), or for it to simply work as a stage for the story to introduce itself, without further complications?

Also I should add: Wygol seems like the obvious choice, but is off the list. It ALREADY plays a significant role in the story's background and in a plot-point, thus, in a way, it's already added. I'm asking you to choose between having a returning town or a new town. If you choose for a returning town, I already have one up in my sleeve that is NOT Wygol.

Someone turn that novel into a game already......

I am thinking of a new town so that you can give it a name.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

Those are preciselly what I'm going for - specifically Yomi Town - the one right before Vlad Graveyard with only one woman living in it, telling Simon to come and live with her. It also received the ridiculous name of "Ghulash" which I'm readily ignoring in favor of its other name "Yomi".

Yomi is both a Demon (in Yu Yu Hakusho) and a Concept:

Yomi is a Japanese term meaning "Knowing the mind of the opponent". It's the ability to know what your opponent is going to do, and act appropriately. Whether you achieve this by "conditioning" the opponent to act one way, and then acting in another way, or simply work your way into the head of your opponent, yomi is just that: the ability to know what your opponent is going to do.

[theplottwist]

Yomi is both a Demon (in Yu Yu Hakusho) and a Concept:

Yomi is a Japanese term meaning "Knowing the mind of the opponent". It's the ability to know what your opponent is going to do, and act appropriately. Whether you achieve this by "conditioning" the opponent to act one way, and then acting in another way, or simply work your way into the head of your opponent, yomi is just that: the ability to know what your opponent is going to do.

Mighty Jorge noticed me *-*

I didn't know about it being an "state of mind"   

I discovered Yomi (黄泉) as a word for "Underworld" (more in the "Hades" sense than in the "Tartarus/Hell" sense, which can be used to refer to the greek god too). However, the name of the town is worded "ヨミの町" in the japanese manual for Simon's Quest, which using the Google-fu says that it means "Town of Reading".

The first word strikes me as strange to be a name for a Romanian village, but I kind of understand seeing as the town named after it is quite gloomy and lifeless (possibly to reflect evil's influence on the land). Many japanese sources name the town using the first word. However, since the second is how it is written in the manual - an official source - it probably wasn't the intention of the developers to have the town be associated with "darkness" or "underworld".

I've choosen this specific town for some reasons that can be found on Simon's Quest, and some that can be found on Dracula's Curse. It has an "historical" connection with Dracula's Castle.

You see, it is my belief that Yomi is both the final town in CVII AND the first stage's last part in CVIII. Both towns have a graveyard beyond their limits, and both towns have a bridge connecting with Dracula's Castle right beyond this graveyard. I know that the first level in CVIII is called "Warakiya" but it's stupidly obvious that "Warakiya" is a mistranslation of "Wallachia", and Wallachia isn't a single town. The name could be referring to the collective of towns forming Simon's Quest, with Yomi being the last segment.

If I create an original town, as Shiroi voted for, it'll be one built on top of Yomi's past location, but with an original name, and an original story to it. The location itself is important, and not exactly the town - it doesn't need to be the same town. Thus why I asked if you guys prefer something new so it doesn't become too "reference-y".

[Belmontoya]

Refresh my memory. What town is the openin stage in rondo?

[theplottwist]

Refresh my memory. What town is the openin stage in rondo?

Aljiba. Its presence cements the fact that the Castle can resurrect anywhere in Wallachia, as it's shown that the entrance to the castle's domains is right beyond the town's limits, when in Simon's Quest, Aljiba is really far away from the castle.