TheGatewayOfRealities

Protoessence, the seed of Dragons

Added 2021-11-20 17:26:36 +0000 UTC

Author: Salireths.

Foreword

Initially I said that the game will keep the adult features as optional, however since then I discovered many errors in such direction. By making any feature optional, it is essentially as not having it at all, except the time and a lot of effort has been spent on it nevertheless.

If a feature is optional, it means something else is intended as a core experience. Not only it would stretch my time even thinner, but what would it truly be? Surely we all wanted playing as sexy creatures running around, surviving, collecting items, crafting - and we have all those systems (and many more) in a somewhat-ready state by now, but I didn't quite know what content (items, recipes, challenges) to craft for them next. That's one of the reasons why we weren't able to make a build for a long time.

After a lot of soul-searching, I made a conscious choice to act in the contrary to what I said earlier and set a rule: "All that we put in the game needs to be 'sexy' in some way". I needed to find the core Essence of the game, and this made the only sense - this is what inspires me the most to pursue art.

But with that decision I still hit a bunch of obstacles. How does one make the process of surviving and crafting 'sexy'? I played with this theme and as a result I came up with a bunch of neat game ideas (that I wrote down for the future), but none would fit the game we're making… But then, one day, I got in!

Sensual Survival

First, I needed to re-evaluate my entire preconceptions of life, the universe and everything. Here is a list of fun semi-random things that influenced that transformation:

Some people say that furries are hollow "love-tubes" on the inside. That's kind of hot, albeit not scientific... Can this be scientific?
I always was fascinated with gooey, shape-shifting creatures and sonas. So much possibilities with them.
When I played Conan Exiles and Ark with friends, we kept saying things like "I put some coal into your wolf", referring to using the internals of a creature as a container.
In Minecraft, people kept making puking noises when throwing items out of their inventory, presumably because items spawn around the character's mouth.
A member of our community who goes by the name of Ablebody, has shown some work-in-progress gifs of their little game about a cute pixely character inserting various items into their orifices.

We already have a system for eating items (or inserting into other orifices). So why don't we just use that instead of making another "hammerspace" inventory? Putting items in and out of orifices can be very sensual if you're into that sort of thing… Then once items are inside, players must be able to use them to craft things… Digest resources then, maybe lay eggs with new items? With that sort of mechanic, the crafting would suddenly be much more aligned with the new theme.

This train of thought put me on a journey of changing internal organ anatomy of all living beings into something completely different. From now I will talk about the lore I'm developing alongside the game.

A charming caricature of the inventory system, courtesy of Hopfel.

Protoessence

Protoessence (or Essence for short) is a universal fluid upon which all life and technology is based upon in this world. The fluid has a thick, honey-like consistency and it appears to emit a faint blue, pulsating glow when it is in its charged state. Within itself, it contains a unique power to transmute matter and substances, shaping them into any desired object. This power is also used to provide living beings with all the necessary biochemical energy and nourishment.

Essence has a biological origin, however it is not a product of natural evolution. Its common knowledge that the Ancient Dragons are responsible for creation of the world, where they infused all life with their seed, their Essence - the crown jewel of their achievements in controlled evolution and species uplifting. This fluid is capable of further self-replicating when sufficient amount of raw substances is present, this process occurs within some creatures of this constructed world.

Interfacing

The essence can be released from the body when creature has received sufficient pleasurable neural stimulation. A special "Interface" organ is used for that, both masculine and feminine-shaped interfaces exist and capable of releasing Essence.

Preferred sources of neural stimulation can vary for different individuals (e.g. consuming tasty food, getting rubbed in the right spot). Some rare creatures don't even have an interface, so other orifices (such as mouth) can be used for the release almost as well.

Creatures feel the need to exchange the essence between each other to keep themselves in good health. This process, however, does not imply reproduction, but during the act, the creatures establish a deep connection, merging their feelings and thoughts, which makes this experience extremely pleasurable and remains "fresh" with different partners. It is sought after by many cultures, who each design different rituals to introduce new feelings and emotions into the process.

Consumption

Creatures have multiple sacs in their body that are used for storage of Essence and other refined Substances. But one of them is taking up the majority of the internal body space and acts as a "bag" for transporting items within, something they likely inherited from Dragons as well. Swallowed or inserted through the rear items are safely kept inside until they are required. Creatures can effortlessly extract items back through an orifice that is more convenient for the situation.

The flesh of this Storage Chamber is infused with Protoessence, which gives it extraordinary stretching abilities, while keeping it resilient and strong. Even sharp objects usually can't puncture its lining, however if an accident does occur, Essence makes full regeneration occur in the matter of hours. The conduits connecting the chamber to upper and lower orifices are as stretchy, making it an effortless process to swallow and expel objects of different shapes. Some even find the process highly enjoyable.

Bigger creatures can even embrace smaller creatures within their Storage Chamber. Large pronograde creatures (like some of the Saurians) can offer their bodies as passenger and cargo carriers. People prefer living beings working as transport - unlike machines they are more reliable, practical, skilled, self-piloting, and they will always keep you good company along the journey.

However, other bigger creatures are not so gentle, and use their innards for harm. They attack, swallow or press other creatures to enter them otherwise, where they squeeze and drain the essence from their poor victims forcefully. The prey, however, is often released out, physically unharmed, however severely drained of Essence - if they don't consume some glowing fluids shortly after, it will not end well for them.

I can't get enough of the new art-style for the game, I want to just keep making poses and screenshots like that!

Production

When creature exchanges the right amount of Essence daily, they do not need to consume additional food. Most creatures even don't have a Refinery System and rely exclusively on Essence to nourish their bodily functions. However, a balanced ecosystem features creatures who have an ability to turn raw materials into Essence.

Unlike others, these creatures possess a special organ, a series of tubes attached in parallel to the internal mouth-to-tailhole tunnel system. This organ gives the creature an ability to use some of their stored Essence to break down selected items kept in their Storage Chamber. This process produces refined Substances and leaves some waste-products. The waste needs to be simply removed from the organism, while the refined, pure liquid Substances are stored in special bladders that can either be used for Essence production, or expelled for other needs (e.g. for crafting) through the interface (or other orifices).

There is a natural relationship between creatures who can provide a supply of Essence to others who need it, but can't make their own. It is similar to predator-prey relationship, however without the need of killing and consuming the flesh of others.

Protoessence in Culture and Technology

Essence is remarkable in its uses for development of any culture. It can transmute refined substances into any pre-programmed shape, making it invaluable for scientists, engineers, pleasure priests and esoterics alike.

Using special tools, or just with the power of one's mind, Essence can be made to perform one's bidding - from transmuting matter into new objects such as delicious treats and useful tools, to constructing entire buildings, to augmenting someone's body with new organic abilities, they just simply need to add some refined Substances into the mix.

Most cultures utilize different essence-infused biological augments instead of clothing, designed to boost their physiological aptitudes and emphasize their naked, natural beauty. The fluid effortlessly flows around their forms when they put these Alterations on, materializing into new body-parts, sometimes even connected with the nervous system. Alterations can be also easily removed - the fluid will simply melt off their body when desired.

Technology is powered by various biochemical processes where Essence also plays the key role. While other methods of power generation are available, it's the most practical solution - anyone can simply refuel their home's generator with lots of pleasure involved.

Essence is also used as an additional form of exchange currency, even though a third of the population can generate it simply by consuming food and then sharing their fluids, it is still in high demand. The Charged Essence does not retain its state for long, so after a single use it turns into lifeless, useless, grey goop. More is always required, both for technological expansion and support of lives.

Essence puzzles scientists to this day, with new discovery made daily, the deep secrets of this mysterious fluid are known only to its creators, the Ancient Dragons… But that is a story for another time…

Conclusion

This post is long, but I condensed the information as much as I could. I could write much more, of course, but who is going to read that much text? Please let me know if you stuck reading thus far, because I'm just not sure if my writing gets the desired attention…

I'm very happy with direction I chose for my world, ideas inspired by my fantasies and other furry/scalie kinks are just "snapping into place" producing a bizarre, yet a logical world, full of exciting opportunities to explore.

Carrying this sensual theme forward, we will make all the necessary adjustments for the crafting and inventory systems. I can now easily see myself making lots of different items player can gather from the world, refine inside their character (or by using other tools), and craft using Essence they've acquired from other creatures, via "Interfacing", of course!