Here's a little elaboration upon my suggested plotline. Names of characters and places are just random, used for demonstration purposes only.The map is incomplete but it'll give you some suggestions. The largest landpiece is Ahra, where our "capital" is located. To its northwest lies the Isle of Boorkh and east of Boorkh is the Frozen Steppes. The south of Ahra lies the Great Desert of the South; Al-Khari.
Map of Ahra and Surrounding Islands
Background
The year is 567, five and forty years after the last battle of the Ahra Wars; Battle of the Crimson Cradle, fought between the evil armies of the Eastern Principalities led by the Uthalian Lords and the Khaanite Kingdom of the Northwest. War leaves Ahra continent devastated, cities lie crumbled, counties barren, wasted and palaces burning. Remnants of the unholy creatures summoned from the unknown planes and raised undead armies from the fallen fellow comrades by the Uthalian Lords hide amongst the darker places of Ahra; at ruins, inside dumb wells, beneath the cryptic underground labyrinths, in the corridors of the unseen dungeons of Boorkh and even on the icy summits of the Mount Fhurr. These abominations haunt the land, killing sheep, cattle, humans and all the hope for prosperity in the northwestern kingdom. Nobles, merchants, sorcerers, priests and the common folk seek haven from these creatures of evil descent. They turn to their capital, heart of the Khaanite Kingdom and their king as a last resort. Ancient tales speak of a saviour that will rise from the heart of Ahra. Some say that he, Dhunar the King is that hero but he knows well that he is not. To find the legendary hero, to save his people and his land, (and to find out who he really is) he sets out.
The Capital, West Marshes and the Isle of Boorkh (Prologue & Chapter I)
Advised by the elders of the palace and guided by the high priests of the temple he sets out where the sun sets, to raise it once again over the face of Ahra. With this faith in his heart, his great-grand father’s sword by his side and holy relics of his creed upon his neck, undercover, he travels west of the kingdom, to the West Marshes where many unknown spirits dwell amongst the few towns and villages of his subjects.
Possible plot developments are:
The Capital & Outer City: mostly interacting with NPCs & taking quests, reading about game lore, also vendors
Wilderness: some creatures to be slain in the open wilderness, maybe some ruins of the destroyed former capital, even catacombs
West Marshes: some spirit creatures, possible side quests (set some tormented soul free, fetch some soulstone for the priest in the capital, kill the dæmons haunting the village etc)
Port Wetrock: small-scale quests to enable sailing to the Isle of Boorkh aboard. collecting items/raw materials for merchants. possible vendors. game lore learned from the sailors and travellers. Also, serve as a henchmen for local guardsmen to defend the port against creatures.
Boorkh: the isle at the northwest of Ahra. Mountainous region with harsh climate. Rich in raw materials. (iron, and other fantastical ores; suitable for upgrading/forging of weaponary and armor) abandoned mines, a web of underground caverns, some long-forgotten creatures dwelling in the mines, something uncanny is hidden at the far end of the mines; it is the reason that the mining stopped.Some big boss to kill, probably.
Land of the Boorkhish Tribes: a medium-scale village hidden inside a valley. vendors. side quests; collecting some magical ore from unexplored mines, saving the cheiftain from other tribe. Tribe wisdom learned. (i.e. game lore about the White Tiger living on top of the Borak Mountains=quest) climbing to the Borak Mountains, killing everything on the way,
White Tiger’s Lair: a natural, carved temple, many levels to explore with the White Tiger at the end to kill.
Boorkh Plains to the east of the island lie the plains. Uninhabited lands except for wild creatures and some Boorkish tribes. a couple of small-scale side quests on the plains, thus obtaining a ticket to cross the sea to the next chapter. Or a really huge bridge is already there. he just clears the way for the Boorkish tribes of the plain.
Frozen Steppes and Mount Fhurr (Chapter II)
As Dhunar (the protagonist) journeys to the Frozen Steppes with what he learned from his previous journeys, his quest goes on. Aided by the Boorkish plain tribes he travels to the Frozen Steppes, the small island north of Ahra. He is welcomed on the shores as he re-opened the route/bridge between the Frozen Steppes and Boorkish Plains.
Possible plot developments are:
Frozen Steppes Shore: He’s welcomed by a small group of settlers; The Frost People. These people are in dire distress as they have not much natural resources to survive. taking quest of cleansing the steppes of the abysmal creatures, so that Frost People can hunt, cut trees to build ships for cruising again. kills the monster in the hills that raids the settlement and eats the livestock. Game lore: learns of the ice caverns with powerful crystals.
Wilderness: ancient ziggurats with deformed architecture lies here, a hidden city to explore. Full of wolves and other nightly (and even winged sea creatures?) creatures.
Explore the mystery of the powerful crystal over the steppes. Stonehenge-like ancient temple and the catacombs underlying. (Game Lore learned from the ancient stone tablets etc.)
Defeat the soul-devouring monster in the ancient catacombs. Learn that he produces the crystal. It is one of the sources of the Uthlian Lords used for raising the dead.
Climb the Ice Temple of the old on Mount Fhurr to find the mythical Black Tortoise.
The Cyclic journey of the protagonist over the continent also symbolizes the round shape of the Sun in the sky and its orbit over the course of seasons. At the end of the game, the hero returns to capital as the Sun and his people are enlightened by his wisdom and let live by the light of his heroic deeds.
Open world games are always preferable in a fantasy setting as exploring gives strange satisfaction, besides roaming the land may offer deeper knowledge of the backstory (talking to people etc) and more sidequests. Also the open world enables the addition of other towns/places than the Four Corners of the Land according to the Wu Xing. More things to explore, learn, experience and of course loot.
So basicly game consists of Five Chapters. And maybe an prologue. Each of them explores a part of the continent/kingdom/land, contains many side quests in addition to the main quest.
Prologue: set in the heart of the land, (capital of the kingdom which is also the largest city on continent) The protagonist starts his quest to seek the hero. This is the main quest of the game, but the underlying quest is rather internal and personal than a worldly one, it is set in the vein of Monomyth, a.k.a. The Hero's Journey: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Heroesjourney.svg
First Chapter: Hero travels to the west of the Land. Goes into many caverns, underground towns, (a fallen, ancient city?) or even dungeons. Protagonist learns that there's more than meets the eye. Fights the White Tiger who protects one of the artifacts of the ancients.
Second Chapter: After defeating the legendary creature, his transformation to a hero already began. He has his doubts about the ancient legends speaking of a saviour but on the other hand he continues his quest nevertheless. He, then travels to North, to the land of Ice, where frozen steppes lies unbound. In this unexplored land, he meets tribes new to him, learns new ways of living and whatnot. A local legend speaks of a black tortoise in the Ice Temple of the Old, which keeps the sacred relic.
Third Chapter: His path now leads to the Great Forest of the East, full of scary creatures, swamps and poisonous ivy. There he meets many of the legendary creatures told in fairy tales. He now believes what he heard before but still has strong doubts about the One. In the end he defeats the Blue Dragon which reveals him the path to the hero he's seeking for.
Fourth Chapter: With the knowledge he gained from the Blue Dragon he leads to the Desert of the South, devoid of all life save for evil spirits and the fortress of the evil powers. This is a kind of a netherworld for the protagonist where he descends, "dies" and is reborn as the awaited hero. (This is clearly symbolized by the Phoenix he's to defeat in this chapter.) But he's still not fully aware that he's the hero he's looking for.
Epilogue: After his transformation, the hero turns back to his homeland just to find it under invasion of the evil lords. Now a hero, he clears his palace of the evil powers thus saves the capital, land and therefore world. Probably he kills the gold dragon, (he becomes the new sun.)
Actually the protagonist's journey is just a reflection of the change of seasons; (Fall>Winter>Spring>Summer) thus it can be considered as the path of the Sun. (His quest roughly takes one year to complete.) So, in a way he is related to the sun, thus is one of the many interpretations of the Sun-God myth. (Check The Golden Bough by J. Frazer for reference) Thus, it makes it easier to enrich it with mythical symbols and expand the lore of the game.
Here's a plot idea I made up in accordance with what you have in mind:
After the catalysmic war fought against the evil armies of the darkness sent to the face of the earth to cleanse and destroy all that is living and turn the continent into an empire of undead to serve the fulfillment of the evil lord's higher destiny, everyone that is left; people, nobility, magicians and the priests of the Land are in need of an extraordinary power that will serve their purpose in search of freedom and a world free of eternal darkness. The wisdom of the ancients, the verses of the holy scripture, the prophecies of the oracles and the legends of the common folk speak of a man who will appear in the hardest of times from the heart of the Land and will bring order, peace and prosperity to chaos. But all is written, told or heard is not fact but fiction and there is no brave hero around. Heavy is the head that wears the crown: Heir to the throne, the one and only son of the king who was killed in the cataclysmic war, sets out to find the said hero. On his quest for the hero that will save the Land, he journeys to four corners of the Land, from the merciless deserts and miraculous mirages of the South to the frozen and barren steppes of North, from green and merry land of East to the cavernous cities of the West. Each of his destionations has its own secrets within. And as the prince wanders the land he encounters many tribes, towns, cities and landscapes and he experiences many things; slaughtered kins, mad sorcerers, doomsday preachers, corrupted traitor priests, remanants of the evil armies of darkness and whatnot. As he ends each feud and solves each problem his reputation as a hero than a prince grows wider and his quest for the legendary hero becomes a quest for his inner hero. One by one, he brings peace to each land and collects each of the four artifacts of the ancients. By the time he returns to the capital he finds the land invaded by the evil army. Equipped with the ancient artifacts he fights the enemy and saves his land, people and fulfills his destiny written thousands of years ago both in holy scripture and tales etc. He is the awaited hero.
I know it sounds very generic with the phrases such as "evil armies of darkness" etc but a name can be given each of these also backstories to deepen and expand the lore of the game.
Much better now!
I'll post some more later on. Let me know what you think.
Here's a little elaboration upon my suggested plotline. Names of characters and places are just random, used for demonstration purposes only.The map is incomplete but it'll give you some suggestions. The largest landpiece is Ahra, where our "capital" is located. To its northwest lies the Isle of Boorkh and east of Boorkh is the Frozen Steppes. The south of Ahra lies the Great Desert of the South; Al-Khari.
Map of Ahra and Surrounding Islands
Background
The year is 567, five and forty years after the last battle of the Ahra Wars; Battle of the Crimson Cradle, fought between the evil armies of the Eastern Principalities led by the Uthalian Lords and the Khaanite Kingdom of the Northwest. War leaves Ahra continent devastated, cities lie crumbled, counties barren, wasted and palaces burning. Remnants of the unholy creatures summoned from the unknown planes and raised undead armies from the fallen fellow comrades by the Uthalian Lords hide amongst the darker places of Ahra; at ruins, inside dumb wells, beneath the cryptic underground labyrinths, in the corridors of the unseen dungeons of Boorkh and even on the icy summits of the Mount Fhurr. These abominations haunt the land, killing sheep, cattle, humans and all the hope for prosperity in the northwestern kingdom. Nobles, merchants, sorcerers, priests and the common folk seek haven from these creatures of evil descent. They turn to their capital, heart of the Khaanite Kingdom and their king as a last resort. Ancient tales speak of a saviour that will rise from the heart of Ahra. Some say that he, Dhunar the King is that hero but he knows well that he is not. To find the legendary hero, to save his people and his land, (and to find out who he really is) he sets out.
The Capital, West Marshes and the Isle of Boorkh (Prologue & Chapter I)
Advised by the elders of the palace and guided by the high priests of the temple he sets out where the sun sets, to raise it once again over the face of Ahra. With this faith in his heart, his great-grand father’s sword by his side and holy relics of his creed upon his neck, undercover, he travels west of the kingdom, to the West Marshes where many unknown spirits dwell amongst the few towns and villages of his subjects.
Possible plot developments are:
Frozen Steppes and Mount Fhurr (Chapter II)
As Dhunar (the protagonist) journeys to the Frozen Steppes with what he learned from his previous journeys, his quest goes on. Aided by the Boorkish plain tribes he travels to the Frozen Steppes, the small island north of Ahra. He is welcomed on the shores as he re-opened the route/bridge between the Frozen Steppes and Boorkish Plains.
Possible plot developments are:
The Cyclic journey of the protagonist over the continent also symbolizes the round shape of the Sun in the sky and its orbit over the course of seasons. At the end of the game, the hero returns to capital as the Sun and his people are enlightened by his wisdom and let live by the light of his heroic deeds.
Open world games are always preferable in a fantasy setting as exploring gives strange satisfaction, besides roaming the land may offer deeper knowledge of the backstory (talking to people etc) and more sidequests. Also the open world enables the addition of other towns/places than the Four Corners of the Land according to the Wu Xing. More things to explore, learn, experience and of course loot.
Here's a quick sketch to visualize the plot idea I suggested. (Click to enlarge)
So basicly game consists of Five Chapters. And maybe an prologue. Each of them explores a part of the continent/kingdom/land, contains many side quests in addition to the main quest.
Prologue: set in the heart of the land, (capital of the kingdom which is also the largest city on continent) The protagonist starts his quest to seek the hero. This is the main quest of the game, but the underlying quest is rather internal and personal than a worldly one, it is set in the vein of Monomyth, a.k.a. The Hero's Journey: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Heroesjourney.svg
First Chapter: Hero travels to the west of the Land. Goes into many caverns, underground towns, (a fallen, ancient city?) or even dungeons. Protagonist learns that there's more than meets the eye. Fights the White Tiger who protects one of the artifacts of the ancients.
Second Chapter: After defeating the legendary creature, his transformation to a hero already began. He has his doubts about the ancient legends speaking of a saviour but on the other hand he continues his quest nevertheless. He, then travels to North, to the land of Ice, where frozen steppes lies unbound. In this unexplored land, he meets tribes new to him, learns new ways of living and whatnot. A local legend speaks of a black tortoise in the Ice Temple of the Old, which keeps the sacred relic.
Third Chapter: His path now leads to the Great Forest of the East, full of scary creatures, swamps and poisonous ivy. There he meets many of the legendary creatures told in fairy tales. He now believes what he heard before but still has strong doubts about the One. In the end he defeats the Blue Dragon which reveals him the path to the hero he's seeking for.
Fourth Chapter: With the knowledge he gained from the Blue Dragon he leads to the Desert of the South, devoid of all life save for evil spirits and the fortress of the evil powers. This is a kind of a netherworld for the protagonist where he descends, "dies" and is reborn as the awaited hero. (This is clearly symbolized by the Phoenix he's to defeat in this chapter.) But he's still not fully aware that he's the hero he's looking for.
Epilogue: After his transformation, the hero turns back to his homeland just to find it under invasion of the evil lords. Now a hero, he clears his palace of the evil powers thus saves the capital, land and therefore world. Probably he kills the gold dragon, (he becomes the new sun.)
Actually the protagonist's journey is just a reflection of the change of seasons; (Fall>Winter>Spring>Summer) thus it can be considered as the path of the Sun. (His quest roughly takes one year to complete.) So, in a way he is related to the sun, thus is one of the many interpretations of the Sun-God myth. (Check The Golden Bough by J. Frazer for reference) Thus, it makes it easier to enrich it with mythical symbols and expand the lore of the game.
Here's a plot idea I made up in accordance with what you have in mind:
After the catalysmic war fought against the evil armies of the darkness sent to the face of the earth to cleanse and destroy all that is living and turn the continent into an empire of undead to serve the fulfillment of the evil lord's higher destiny, everyone that is left; people, nobility, magicians and the priests of the Land are in need of an extraordinary power that will serve their purpose in search of freedom and a world free of eternal darkness. The wisdom of the ancients, the verses of the holy scripture, the prophecies of the oracles and the legends of the common folk speak of a man who will appear in the hardest of times from the heart of the Land and will bring order, peace and prosperity to chaos. But all is written, told or heard is not fact but fiction and there is no brave hero around. Heavy is the head that wears the crown: Heir to the throne, the one and only son of the king who was killed in the cataclysmic war, sets out to find the said hero. On his quest for the hero that will save the Land, he journeys to four corners of the Land, from the merciless deserts and miraculous mirages of the South to the frozen and barren steppes of North, from green and merry land of East to the cavernous cities of the West. Each of his destionations has its own secrets within. And as the prince wanders the land he encounters many tribes, towns, cities and landscapes and he experiences many things; slaughtered kins, mad sorcerers, doomsday preachers, corrupted traitor priests, remanants of the evil armies of darkness and whatnot. As he ends each feud and solves each problem his reputation as a hero than a prince grows wider and his quest for the legendary hero becomes a quest for his inner hero. One by one, he brings peace to each land and collects each of the four artifacts of the ancients. By the time he returns to the capital he finds the land invaded by the evil army. Equipped with the ancient artifacts he fights the enemy and saves his land, people and fulfills his destiny written thousands of years ago both in holy scripture and tales etc. He is the awaited hero.
I know it sounds very generic with the phrases such as "evil armies of darkness" etc but a name can be given each of these also backstories to deepen and expand the lore of the game.