(Dev Scroll VII) — Eternal Recurrence ⭕

Blood-born, chain-bound, ever-burning,

It has been over two weeks since the last Dev Scroll, and a full month since the release of Chapter 3.1. I don’t want to feed you slop or gilded promises, so I’ve worked in silence.

Silence is sacred to me. Not the silence of idleness, but of incubation.

When I disappear, it’s because something is forming beneath the surface.

The dream twists, the bones shift, the world renews itself yet again.

Every time I return, Orphan returns with me; altered, reborn, sharpened by the dark. This is the seventh scroll. The Scroll of Recurrence. A symbol, perhaps, of the seventh turning. The endless cycle of descent, death, and reawakening.

So let us begin again.

🜂 Method

In the last Dev Scroll, I shared with you my one desire:

To work on Orphan; to grow it, sustain it, and finish it.

Not as a passing project, but as a living world. Something that's worth remembering.

Over the past month, I’ve been rebuilding the game’s foundations to achieve this:
Namely, via a new birth into the world of Cradle and the anabolic tale of Orphan.

Here's a glance into the EXPANDED CHARACTER CREATION.

SEE: the pit-hound

Just 1 of 6 character archetypes that will immediately differentiate you from the rest.

I wanted something quick & thematic that would give the player a stronger sense of who they are, what they look like, and what they're capable of. Each of them fulfills a different niche, look, and set of stats to embark into Cradle with.

Discover the other 5 when Chapter 3.2 finally launches...

SEE: defy the scale

Not into archetypes, classes, pre-set stats?

Well, I wanted to give the player control over their manifestation.

That means custom characterization.

No, you can't change everything. But you can change a lot.

My goal was to give the impression of choice while still making it clear that you're inhabiting one specific character with an origin, backstory and fate (or not) beyond your control...

SEE: choose your endowment

Pretty excited to see the reactions to this one.

I haven't seen many CYOAs/Interactive Fiction do this one, beyond certain titles like Corruption of Champions or Trials in Tainted Space. That means more variations in erotic scenes beyond what already exists.

And yes, the Long & Thick option is reserved for the patron version of the Orphan.

Just another thank you, from me to you.

It should be obvious: only my Patrons have the biggest cocks.

🜄 Meaning

Why am I working on this?

Every iteration of Orphan is a reincarnation — a cycle of refinement and rebirth. Eternal Recurrence is not just the title of this scroll; it’s the method, the message, the meaning.

It occurred to me recently. An explicit realization of something that I may have already known, more or less, internally. An idea that was guiding my creation without being fully realized. I've always been deeply interested in life, death, and the concept of reincarnation.

I've had dreams of past lives. Strong feelings of déjà vu. Moments of intuition and recognition that I can only chalk up to blood memory. Something beyond myself, in this current life, this temporary body of bone, flesh and blood.

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

If there's one message that I can convey before I die:

It would be to not waste this life. And that doesn't mean to live in fear. In fact, we need to stop fearing death and embrace it. We need to take risks, have self-respect (honor, courage, integrity) and asset ourselves upon the world.

Because if our every choice is based around living the longest life, being the most comfortable, being safe... Then what kind of life are we living? Do we truly possess the blood of heroes, if we let ourselves rot away in complacency?

Or have we become a domesticated race, obsessed with false immortality?

Trust me: Great Men are found on the precipice of great danger, disaster, ruin. They don't value safety or comfort, as much as they yearn for complete upheaval of body, mind and soul. Because it's during these times of chaos and carnage where we can get glimpses of eternity.

🜃 Message

I guess to put it short & sweet...

Orphan is a story where you can sway your destiny through Choice, but not the fates available to you within the tapestry that has been woven (by me). The Norse call this concept Wyrd. They believed that the Norns (three goddesses) weaved a tapestry for each man, twining the thread of fate. Your actions can influence the tapestry, but as always, there has to be a beginning and an end.

In that same vein, Fredrich Nietzsche had a "thought experiment" and idea, called Eternal Recurrence. The idea is that, what if you have lived this same life (past, present, future) before? In fact, what if you've lived it a countless number of times? Eternally?

Again and again and again.

The same series of events, forever, eternally recurring.

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

If this was truly the case... How would it affect your perspective on life? Your attitude? If you've already lived what has come, and what has yet to happen... Why would you approach it with anything but glee? Mad glee, reckless courage, and an open heart.

Whether you believe in anything that I've written about here today,

I recommend that you roll the dice in life. Live courageously. Or don't.

Simply put, I want to thank you.

For sticking with me, Orphan, the Exalted Text...

Because there's still a whole lot to come. And I'm deeply excited for it. Hope you are too.

Expect Chapter 3.2 before the end of October.

After that? Well, you'll have to wait and see.

🩸 Onward.
– Truth @ Exalted Text