Other Things: Chronicles
Hello, and welcome to the B-Side of this blog! "Other Things" will often be follow-ups or unrelated topics to the main content that for one reason or another I want to expand upon. For this one, I felt the urge to take a separate look at my work on Paladins' narrative through Chronicles as well as talk generally about my approach as a storyteller.
When I initially joined Evil Mojo proper, it was at the lowest point for the game's narrative investment. There had been an internal "lore team" composed of passionate people from several disciplines in the past, but a variety of factors had led to its practical disillusion before I was added. Mainly, there was a lack of shared vision between art, gameplay, and marketing due to the stressors of each trying to meet expectations outside the narrative. This is a very common problem for any game (especially live-service) that doesn't have a dedicated writer nor narrative designer.
As I was coming in, my peer in Marketing Danny had an idea for a similar project to what Chronicles would become, that being short stories that expanded upon a lot of the narrative elements we couldn't afford to explore in game. This initiative was the first new aspect of Paladins I was able to get involved in before it released and just so happened to be where my deepest development passion resides.
I remember the very first Chronicle that came out of the initial meeting was a Vora-centric story to catch her up to modern plot. The Maw had been an antagonistic force built up for over a year that was very quickly dealt with and players rightfully wanted to know where those characters fit in the next arc. There was little to no cohesive vision for what Vora was up to (i.e. some internally wanted to fold her into the Abyss, others felt we should really explore the Maw again) so I realized we needed to rebuild a structure if we were going to tell stories again.
Danny would end up leaving for a new role elsewhere, giving me full ownership of the project and with that the confidence to lead something. Mind you, I was only on the team for a month before I took on an ambitious, outside of scope campaign that also involved reforming a voluntary team for lore. I'm still so grateful that not only did our EP support me, but the team was willing to give their time and energy again to narrative.
So, we set out to plan a "Series" of flash fiction to both reset the status quo as well as start to discover the best structure to tell these tales in. Resistance Reborn would act as a soft reboot of the current story, with us making the choice to shake up each faction's representation. Paladins had a long history of side NPCs that led each faction and ended up with dedicated fans who wanted to see them become playable, but we knew that reality was far away if at all. We also knew from experience that often Champion development led to changes to a character's appearance and personality due to what Design needed from a kit.
With all that in mind we decided to write out Valera, disbanding the Paladins, and letting her go on a solo journey that left her available should we ever want to revisit her in-game. This was the first major narrative shift we all worked together on and shockingly it was unanimous. We'd have other discussions that were less so, like whether or not to follow through on Zhin co-opting the Resistance. A narrative choice made due to tight deadlines and miscommunication in the past, it wasn't something that ever had a clear vision. However, we decided to use it to tell a new story entirely: Talus and his son-like relationship with Vatu. Ska'drin characters had often been relegated to their identities, so we really wanted to instead give them something beyond that to stand on their own as individuals.
This gave way to what we had done with Azaan and Nyx, basically setting up a new version of the Realm where the Abyss had broken all exiting power structures beyond the Magistrate, pausing the long-running Magistrate versus Resistance arc to focus on our latest Champion and fix continuity. While we knew players would obviously call out this reset, we knew it could lead to much better stories.
The idea of a Vora story still lingered and ended up being very close to my original pitch in Mending the Path, an exploration of the Maw post-defeat that recontextualized Vora's relationship with Io and Yagorath. This subplot is still one of my favorites and was the first fruit of our labors within these weekly lore chats, from rehashing the timeline to deciding which Champions we felt had stories we needed to tell. We decided to spend Series 1 revisiting and resolving various older story threads ahead of Omen's release (more on that later), which led to A Deal Fulfilled & Rise of Seris which revisited the 2022 arc of Pyre & Abyss conflict that led to Nyx while also allowing us to bring more emotion to the stories of Furia & Seris. That later story also had us finally curate a vision for what the Abyss's shaky alliance looked like, with Nyx as self-proclaimed queen but Seris holding the true power. We ended up giving all the factions and groups proper ideology and power structures to ground each Champion's motivations and actions, something that hadn't been properly documented prior.
If it isn't obvious at this point, my personal belief when working on Paladins' narrative was that it was a collaborative process where no single creative has ownership. We all had stories or Champions we loved, but there isn't room for ego in narrative crafting. The best stories come from unexpected perspectives that not everyone originally thought of, but once spoken led to excitement and inspiration. An AU based on a skin line? Why not! An actual ending for a Champion, something players never thought we'd do? Ship it. These were the lifeblood of ensuring no matter how little resources we had, we always kept the spirit and joy the writing process necessitates. While I was the person who wrote every draft, everyone's ideas flowed through my keystrokes and all played a role in editing to the point where the final product felt truly communal.
So, Omen. Despite all the creative freedom and trust the team had given me, his trailer was written before I was on the team and already recorded with VO. This locked myself and the team into a background that we had practically no input on and was a real challenge to navigate. After a lot of discussion, we decided to lean into the Shakespearean amount of melodramatic hater energy Omen exuded and subvert expectation by having this very "jobber"-esque character play a pivotal role in our finale for Series 1. However, we needed to bring back the Paladins in the form we wanted them in headed into the future.
Champions of the Realm, Part 1 was the follow-through on our soft reboot vision, giving exposition on the state of the Realm and revisiting one of Paladins' earliest Champions: Grohk. One of our many goals with Chronicles was to bring depth to a lot of our species, and Orcs had not been spoken upon in half a decade. We decided to contextualize the exposition as him speaking to his tribe, showcasing his leadership skills despite his comical personality. I love silly characters, but Paladins had a bad track record of letting some fall into parody and Grohk deserved better. The metanarrative of one of our earliest Champions reforming the Paladins under Inara, a beloved tank whose personality and playstyle is that of a kind leader, is one of the proudest moments I have as a narrative writer.
Part 2 is a much more simple story, craft-wise. We needed to introduce Omen in Chronicles, connect to his trailer, as well as explain a bit of Nyx's plan. We got to showcase Paladins and others working together to save the Realm from a familiar threat, almost like an episode of what a cartoon version may look like. We joked that if we got to make Omen's trailer and had a budget, this story would likely be what it would look like. Speaking of budget, it's worth noting that Chronicles had none. Everything we did with it had to be zero cost besides the logo which had been made prior, and I couldn't let writing detract from any of my "actual" work, same with others attending the meetings and reading the drafts. This was a passion project through and through, and like many Evil Mojo passions it outperformed expectation.
Fall of Ascension Peak was the story we had been building to, a final reference to prior arcs as well as bringing together every force in the Realm for a proper event. Our goals here were twofold: give Nyx and Omen an actual victory that changes the status quo further, and establish the new tensions and relationships that would guide the future. Zhin and Lian's rivalry, Inara and Furia's alliance, and Seris having a grander plan were the building blocks of what a Series 2 would look like, and luckily for us players seemed to still enjoy Chronicles enough for us to deem it worthwhile.
Series 2 was a different beast. We had a version of the Realm we had more authorial ownership of, we had characters set up in locations we wanted them in for important tales, and most of all we had no more new Champions who were going to derail our existing planning. This really excited us all since it meant that we could have much more connected and purposeful storytelling headed into this next arc. We deliberated a lot on what would end up being the focus of Series 2, until we landed on character moments and deepening the understanding of each faction.
We started with Shattered Goddess, Restored Faith, a sequel to Mending the Path that showed Vora coming into her own as an antihero & deciding neither Io nor Yagorath would define who she is. We had a lot of true antagonists or self-centered vigilantes in our narrative toolbox, but Vora could grow into a unique case of a villain-aligned Champion who will work with heroes not for herself but because she still has a belief system. I think the nuance may have required more time than we had, but I'm still very proud of what we did with her.
Meanwhile, we finally revisited Azaan in He Who Persists, which started from a need to address his absence during Series 1 but also allowed us to showcase his perspective and that of the Pyre outside of Furia. The last glimmers of lost humanity, the indifference to the passage of time and its consequences, and the stoic serious nature of his role made us want to contrast him with our most whimsical roster. With Moji getting a rework the following spring, it felt like the perfect time to bring back the Nature faction and set up a buddy cop style tale.
Warder's Future would tie into the return of Dragon's Call as well as act as a soft ending for Imani, another Champion who deserved a place in the status quo and could serve future stories in a more sage role. We really wanted to have some Champions whose goals were more attainable, or even achieved, because it meant that they were unpredictable in how they would interface with others in the next threat.
It was around this time that the team had finally taken enough hits where the lore team was fractured once more and those of us still around simply sat together to plan out the rest of Series 2 and release it "whenever we could". Trying to keep up a cadence as we took on more responsibilities and the team's time shrunk was impossible, so I knew each Chronicle we got to publish would be a luxury.
To wrap up the year, Houses at Odd finally focused on the Magistrate and its renewed strength within the Realm. We wanted to do it all; add mythos to the past houses, bring back the petty politics and infighting that inspired the concept, and most of all showcase the dynamics that drive House Aico. Internally, we always had notes on Champions' canon and/or potential identities which we would revisit and discuss whenever a story came up that may reflect them. My personal stance was always to only canonize relationships whenever it led to a better narrative, while others naturally felt keeping all the ambiguity possible was key. In this rare case, as the person who wrote the Chronicle, I will say: Lian and Rei are intended to be a romantic couple. Whether that is due to a genuine affection, underlying lust for power, or even convenience is up to a reader's interpretation but there is no avoiding that the two are deeply connected for this story. I honestly would've preferred to more actively showcase characters in relationships, but I understand the hesitation from others and the fear fandom would feel slighted. Crackship whoever you wish as long as you respect the identities and personalities of the characters.
The final Chronicle released officially was Burrowed Within, the aforementioned Nature-focused story where Moji embraces being a Support to defeat Yagorath and Azaan gets his rematch against Raum. This was intended to play a role in the future status quo of the Realm, with the implication being that the 3 astral factions kept eachother in line. Nyx > Azaan > Yagorath > Nyx, a triangle that would anchor future stories and drive tough choices for the Paladins and others on who to ally or fight with when. That aspect is my second biggest regret we didn't get to see narratively.
My most major regret was not getting to finish Series 2. The layoffs that fully swept up Evil Mojo struck the same week I was preparing to release the next one, which I've shared the draft of for catharsis in the past. There were around 4 main Chronicles left, as well as a Pride one we had constantly edited but never released when intended. I won't say too much as I'd like to share the info in a better format, but the end of Series 2 revolves entirely around Corvus, Karne, and Kasumi. Do with that what you will, any remaining theorists.
Writing for Paladins was the most enjoyable part of my job, and confirmed for me that my goal of being involved in narrative design and/or further writing was the most fulfilling possible route. I really felt as time went on I not only improved my craft and ability to meet the audience's expectations, but I also got to lead a collaborative space where anyone could suggest a story to be told and play a role in how we convey it. It's one of the most magical aspects of the creative process is watching everyone toss ideas around to each other until a single, shared narrative comes out. There's a lot to be said about the state of the games industry and specifically narrative, with layoffs and AI acting as existential threats to the craft.
Simply put: you cannot replace the humans involved in the narrative process. It's not simply the words on the page but the emotions felt and identities imprinted at every single step of the process. There's little bits of so many Evil Mojo alum within each Champion, and those characters would be nothing without the soul given to them by those of us with them in the first place.
I hope I get the chance to write for games again one day, in those moments where everything clicked...I've never been happier.