An Armello Adventure

[Frog-Whisperer]

If Armello was made into a large novel/series of novels, tv series, or triology of movies, how do you think it would go down? A lot of fan works and the novellas have attempted to craft a story out of the lead-up to Armello (before the "game" begins), but I think an equally interesting story could be made of the characters' quest for the throne. I'm going to list the characters and what I think their role in such a story would be (also this saves me writing a fanfic haha).

The four main protagonists would be Thane, Amber, Mercurio, and Sana, but unlike in the game, they would be friendly towards one another and go on their adventure together as a party.

Thane would be the overall main character and has the same lore as before. He is the Prince of the WolfClan and a promising fighter. His goal is to prove his worth to his deceased father (is his father dead in canon?), but arc is learning to prove his worth to himself first, and to be more accepting of other Clans. The opening scene would be him in a fighting tournament and winning until he is faced by Horace. The badger beats him, but leaves him with some inspiring words that leads Thane to idolise and hero-worship the Knight. He embarks on his quest for the throne when Sana visits the Wolf Castle to seek information about the spirit stones: he wants to go with her but his mother forbids it, knowing what happened to Fang, so Thane sneaks out to join Sana

The two would meet Amber while questing in a dungeon, and after she helps them escape a peril, they invite her to join them. She still wants to reclaim her family's honour, but she figures joining in the quest will help her acheive this. Guppy the Frog is present, but would be killed early on, and this would form part of Amber's motivation.

Sana I've covered, but she sets out to cleanse the King using the spirit stones, but they are unable to find the fourth one in time before they decide to launch an attack on the King. One scene I can imagine with her would be the Guards surrounding the party, ordering them to surrender or(/and) be killed. Sana pleads with them to stop, as though begging for mercy, but when one grabs Amber she unleashes a fury of spells and slaughters them all. She is largely a placid and gentle character, but becomes a ferocious fighter when faced with Banes or creatures corrupted by Rot.

Mercurio would be the most morally dubious member of the main cast. He starts off as an antagonist, travelling with the heroes as an agent of the King, intent on selling them out and turning them over (i.e. an 'Ice Age 1' situation), but he has a change of heart just before the other three are siezed by guards, and he proves his worth to them again by breaking/bailing them out (possibly by rallying the Bandit Clan?). He would be tempted by the Rot at some point, and carry the infection, but he sees the effects the Rot has on other characters, and fears Sana's wrath, so he goes to her openly to be cleansed.

That's all I'm going to put in this first post, but I have a lot of ideas for the final confrontation, the Bandit Clan, the Rivals, and Brun, Zosia, and River. It's just the Usurpers I'm struggling to find a purpose for. Anyway, how would you write a long epic Armello adventure?

[noelwym]

Originally posted by Frog-Whisperer:

If Armello was made into a large novel/series of novels, tv series, or triology of movies, how do you think it would go down? A lot of fan works and the novellas have attempted to craft a story out of the lead-up to Armello (before the "game" begins), but I think an equally interesting story could be made of the characters' quest for the throne. I'm going to list the characters and what I think their role in such a story would be (also this saves me writing a fanfic haha).

Well, first thing's first, there are 16 heroes and only one crown. Presumably, the characters' quests for the throne are written by us players whenever we play a game. Hence, if there's going to be canon lore, it's more likely to be placed in the events before the events of the game.

I'd like to see some world-building tales that take place even before the King's arrival. How did the Great Clans come to be? When did the Bandit Clan first come around? What do Armellians know of the Rot's first appearance in Armello? Was there a previous ruler in Armello? What minor clans are subordinate to which Great Clan? Who are the Nine Families? What's the history of the Greymane dynasty? What other kingdoms are out there? How did Armellians first discover magic? What exactly are trolls and goblins in the Armello sense? The lore snippets of some of the heroes also raise many possible interesting stories. Take Horace for example. He's an old soldier and has seen things. Maybe tell the story of the Battle of Herald's Pass which he participated in. Or his foiling of the Black Paw Plot.

And yes. Fang and Thane's dad has kicked the bucket.

I personally have quite a fondness for the Wolf Clan, particularly for Thane since he's the sort of guy I'd like to know in person. I'm not sure how's his novella going to go, but I'm hoping for an insight to his relationship with his brother. This is how I hope Fang and Thane will be depicted, a time when they were best of friends and Fang was still a decent being with no hint of Rot. It'd make his descent into darkness all the more tragic, doubly so if he had little choice in becoming infected. I'd also like to see some interaction between Thane and River. I always assume that the two of them are of the same age, so maybe they were playmates during their puppy years. (I also regard them as being in a love-hate relationship, but that's my own headcanon).

[Chaoseer]

Interesting idea. I'll share mine. I haven't read any novella yet by the way.

Armello is an open-end game which means there's no canonical ending, which means something has to change to fit this new format.

Instead of everyone want to be a king, there should be a new character for this story. He is the rightfully heir to the throne and our protagonists must protect him while teaching him to not face the same fate as the current king (by sharing what would they do if they become the king). And of course there must be new villain, the "Mastermind" behind everything.

The heroes must visit each clan to gain their support and trust by helping these clans, such as a rebellion in the Rat Clan, a rot madness in Bear Clan or something, and try to recover the Spirit Stone. While the villain keep sending Bane, assassin (Zorsha) and Bandits Clan to stop them. Some characters might change their heart and join the team along the way as well as other heroes from the game (and some just leave but will return to help the heroes in the end).

Might include some subplot such as Thane and Fang rivalry, Mercurio betrayal, or Amber being snobbish.

In the end, they face the King, and boom, the king is cleansed, the villain is dead. Then the king give the throne to the heir, everyone is rewarded and live happily ever after.

And then a black smoke puffing out from a dungeon, far, far away. Cliffhanger!

2 Seasons, 20 episodes each, 22 minutes per episode, with merchandise such as action figures, life size glowing Spirit Stone (batteries not included), and Nerf-brand Hargrave's cannon that shoot Nerf missle.

[Meeky]

Persoanlly, I don't think everyone needs to gun for the King immediately. What I want to see, though, is more interaction between the Heroes in these novellas.

Why don't we have, say, Horace and Sylas teaming up, their differences in attitude and in how they pursue the same goal contrasted by each other? They're perfect foils for one another. Why can't we have Twiss and Amber thrown together by unusual circumstances? They've both been thieves before, and they've both got surprisingly sad stories to tell even though their exteriors are happy-go-lucky. What about Sana and Ghor witnessing the banishment of Brun? Mercurio having to fight Griotte as a side-job? River being sent into the woods to chase ter a rumored bear witch that's been kidnapping people that stray too far from the roads?

We need more interactions overall. A greater overarching story should be told, but characters should be made part of the world - and part of each other's stories.

[noelwym]

Originally posted by Meeky:

Why don't we have, say, Horace and Sylas teaming up, their differences in attitude and in how they pursue the same goal contrasted by each other? They're perfect foils for one another. Why can't we have Twiss and Amber thrown together by unusual circumstances? They've both been thieves before, and they've both got surprisingly sad stories to tell even though their exteriors are happy-go-lucky. What about Sana and Ghor witnessing the banishment of Brun? Mercurio having to fight Griotte as a side-job? River being sent into the woods to chase ter a rumored bear witch that's been kidnapping people that stray too far from the roads?

Sana having to babysit Barnaby would be quite the story.

[Frog-Whisperer]

I had the same idea about Horace and Sylas! It's so interesting that their goal is the same, but their reasoning behind it and their means of achieving it are so starkly different. I imagine that Horace would be sympathetic to Sylas because of his backstory, and is willing to overlook his dark nature, but then Sylas would become corrupted with rot, and when Horace sees him kill an entire legion of King's Guards (his former friends and allies, despite everything), the badger takes matters into his own paws and lobs off the otter's head.
Twiss and Amber is another interesting one I hadn't considered, they would make excellent friends, and I actually had another headcanon that Twiss sees Horace as a sort of adopted father figure. My favourite 'crossover' relationship though is Horace being a mentor-figure to and the childhood hero of Thane (can you tell who my favourite is? haha)

I plan on actually writing something like this out in prose form, so here's some more information on selected heroes

River is Thane's sister (I could've sworn that was canon), and the preffered candidate for the Throne by most of the Wolf Clan. She is out in the wild when rangers inform her that Thane has left and is on a quest to find the spirit stones, so she resolves to track him down and return him to her mother and/or find the stones herself. She is willing to shoot Thane to slow him down, but is careful not to kill him. His new friends, however? That's a different story.

Zosia is still under the employ of the Night Mother, though to combine characters, I will be making The Night Mother and Griotte one and the same. Mercurio is also under a contract/in debt to the Butcher Baroness, so Zosia occasionaly shows up to remind him where his loyalties lie.

Brun I have nothing concrete for. He is still a feared scarcaster banished from the Bear Clan, so maybe Sana seeks out his help in dealing with banes or finding the spirit stones. He would be a dour, pessimistic character to belives Armello is lost. Whether or not he becomes an enemy corrupted by rot I'm not sure about.

Barnaby is another outlier character who I haven't given much thought to. Obviously he lends himself well to comic relief, so I can imagine him latching on a stoic and serious character like a Shrek/Donkey situation, either with River, Brun, or Elyssia.

[noelwym]

I'm not sure where the idea of River and Thane being siblings was ever insinuated. No lore material has ever given them blood ties. His only sibling is Fang. And Thane's short blurb of a story does state that he's pretty popular among his clansmen, though he was never a favourite of his father.

My head canon for the Greymane brothers is as follows. Fang was their father's favourite because of his being the stronger firstborn. Thane tried hard to get his father's approval for much of his childhood, picking up swordplay in one such attempt. He turned out to be good at it, but his father never bothered with him until disaster struck. Fang, whom Thane loved and idolised, was sent away without warning with little explanation. Despondent, the Alpha grew bitter at the loss of his favourite child and failed to pass on the necessary leadership skills to Thane, previously second in line to the throne. Despite his best efforts, Thane never got to be in his father's good books, always having some fault found within his conduct.

River I always regard to be the same age as Thane. Probably knew each other from childhood as playmates. I imagine the two of them having an on-off relationship. Thane seems like the sort of guy who would chase after Amazons.