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`Sep. 14, 2025` · [[Horseapple]] · #Cluster #Project
> [!quote-custom]+ [[Blog_12_The_Passage_of_Time]]
> “While the series' lore was kept to a minimum in Warband, being left to hints in dialogue, Bannerlord features its own storyline that will add some additional depth to the factions.” **~ TaleWorlds**
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![[squares_writing.webp|left|150]]**Who will be in the story?** Every character from Bannerlord as well as from it’s DLC. That means Istiana’s agents: Asaios, Taseil, et cetera. There will also be 12 central characters which we’ll follow. They’ll take up two separate war bands, one led by Echalera, the other by Monyr. They’ll explore the world encountering, working for or against, rulers like: Rhagaea, Garios, Derthert, Monchug, so on.
**What will the story be about?** This re-write will follow the same beats as the original. The main character’s parents die at an inn, their two siblings kidnapped, and they find a piece of the dragon banner after saving Tacteos. The same plot points will be present in this re-write. I also intend to keep the same core theme, about an Empire crumbling and the discovery of the Empire’s dark past with the Palaic natives. All this is to say that the pivotal role of Calradios’ Dragon Banner will not change.
**Where and when will it take place?** The re-write will still take place in Calradia, but will start in `1082`, two years prior to the in-game start of Bannerlord, in `1084`. The reason why is because I want to introduce Arenicos, the last emperor before the Imperial Civil War, properly. I feel he’s forgotten in the current story and offers a massive opportunity for the story. I’m going to introduce a prologue chapter, which will be cut in half, into 2 parts. The first half will follow Arenicos on the day of his assassination in `1082`. Arenicos will speak with Garios, Lucon, and Rhagaea — and all their conversations will end on a sour note. This way, when Arenicos dies later that night, his poisoning is that much more a mystery. Any one of them could have done it! Now the second half of the prologue will follow your created character in `1084`. You live in Garontor village and one day are forced to flee. Your family decides to go to the Southern Empire, but along the way something horrible happens. Resting at an inn within Onica village, right at the border between the Southern and Western Empire, your parents are killed and your two younger siblings are kidnapped. You and your older brother are barely saved by Rhagaea as she swoops in with her forces to invade the Western Empire. Upon saving you, however, Rhagaea mistakes you for some missing Imperial noble and offers you safety in Poros. Part of the reason she’s helping you, admittedly, is because you offer a good casus belli for war with Garios, who betrayed and/or failed said missing noble. Because Poros is directly next to the Training Fields, the positioning at the start of the game lines up, and from there, the player is free to explore Calradia as the prologue finally ends. All told, this prologue should be kept short as possible. Nobody likes long tutorials.
**Why re-write the campaign storyline of Bannerlord?** I chose to re-write the storyline because I’ve always liked storytelling, and this project offers up a good excuse to learn. Besides, I love the Mount & Blade series. Prior to working on this, I had little to no interest in history, culture, religion, medicine, and war.
**How will you accomplish this?** The storyline is still not written or completed as of the writing of this, so I don’t currently know. I also intend to turn this storyline into a film, and seeing as how there’s still no Replay Editor - which TaleWorlds mentioned years ago - I’ll have to record the same battle several dozen times to get every angle. Furthermore, as for how I’ll write the story, well, there are three major layers that make-up a story: Character, plot, and worldbuilding — in that order. I plan to prioritize Characters as they are the heart of the story and are what keeps an audience coming back.
(*Note*: The average reading speed of an adult is 183 words-per-minute. [^1] However, for the sake of cutting out as much fat as possible, I have used 175 words-per-minute as my baseline for these calculations. That way I’m forced to cut straight to the point.)
| **Act** | **Faction(s)** | **Time** | **Words** | **Space** |
| :--------------: | :------------------------: | :------: | :-------: | :-------: |
| *Prologue Pt. 1* | Calradian Empire | `15m` | `2,625` | `3.5m` |
| *Prologue Pt. 2* | Garontor Village | `15m` | `2,625` | `3.5m` |
| *Act One* | Vlandia & Western Empire | `30m` | `5,250` | `7m` |
| *Act Two* | Sturgia & Northern Empire | `30m` | `5,250` | `7m` |
| *Act Three* | Battania & Aserai | `30m` | `5,250` | `7m` |
| *Act Four* | Khuzaits & Southern Empire | `30m` | `5,250` | `7m` |
>   <br> [![[Encyclopedia_Calradica_Logo_2.png|center|400]]](Calradica.md)<br>
>“A massive **Mount & Blade** wikipedia!” <br> [— About Calradica](Calradica.md) <br>[— About Project](Project.md) <br>[— About Author](Horseapple.md) <br>  
[^1]: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0749596X19300786