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1Story Outline:
2
3*****  IMPORTANT NOTES	*****
4The following will happen after the player has connected to the server and signaled that he is ready to begin the story.
5
6Also, a consistent feature is that for each cinematic, there will be two black rectangles drawn over everything that is happening to create the impression of the classic cinemascope.  This will help to serve as a visual queue to the player that he should not be able to control himself on the screen for the moment until this "cinemascope" thing goes away.
7
8For each cinematic portion of the game, the player should always lose all control over his character and all GUIs must be hidden until the cinematic has finished.  The GUIs being hidden as the black rectangles form on the screen should help to provide a visual queue that a cinematic is beginning.
9
10For some cinematics, especially toward the end, there will be no fading to and from black.  Rather, the black rectangles mentioned above will simply retract at a moderately slow speed to allow the player to prepare to regain control and fight, after which the GUI will appear and the game will resume normally.
11
12Throughout the game, the mini-games and side quests are almost all just for fun and are unrelated to the plot of the game, though it should be possible to gain a reward in the form of some item(s) for doing well enough.
13*****************************
14
15======================
16Contents:
17	I. Prologue (Arriving at the island and settling in)
18	II. Part One (Exposition with the Governor and meeting the Hunters)
19	III. Part Two (The Delterian Mines)
20	IV. Conclusion
21======================
22	
23	
24I.  Prologue (Arriving at the island and settling in)
25	1. CINEMATIC:
26		* The screen will begin as all black, and the text message should pop up saying something along the lines of "Hey, adventurer! Wake up!  It's finally here!" (this is a reference to the fact that Delteria has been in development for many years)
27		
28		i.	(Fade in from black) The player is awoken aboard his ship by a member of its crew.  He is told that the ship has arrived at its first stop, the island of Delteria, and that the ship will set sail again in an hour to continue its voyage to Maloria.  The player is also reminded during the conversation that his voyage began as a migration from the isles of Valikorlia.  The player disembarks along with the other passengers onto the dock and is welcomed to the island by the Delterian Port Authority.
29		
30		ii.	After the player has finished the previous part of the game, the camera will pan across the surrounding area of the island while the name of the island "Delteria" (perhaps in the form of a logo/graphic if one already exists, but otherwise in just some fancy text or something) slowly fades in.  As the camera finishes panning, (Fade to black).
31			
32	
33	2. (Fade in from black) The player regains control after the previous cinematic and is allowed to explore the island to his content.  During this phase of the game, the player is allowed to visit the many areas of the island, but is prevented by guards from accessing certain buildings and the mines.  The reason why is not explained by the guards themselves, but the player can learn more about the current situation that the island is in by speaking to the locals that the player encounters while exploring the island.
34	
35		i.	If the player attempts to buy anything during this phase of the game, he will be told that because his currency is in Kerous (the Valikorlian currency), the shopkeepers will not accept his money and therefore not sell him anything.  The player will be advised to visit the local bank and exchange his money there into the Delterian currency: gralats.  
36			a.	Whether the player actually does this or not is irrelevant, because later in the game he will be forced to rent a room at the Delterian hotel anyway, so it'll happen in the immediate future, if not at this point in the game.
37			
38		ii.	At this stage in the game, the player is to obtain his first impression of the game and to get a vibe of the situation.  Some of the townspeople should have many criticisms of their Governor, but the majority of the townspeople should just make idle conversation with the player, should he or she decide to speak with the NPCs here at this point in the game.
39		
40		iii.	When the player is satisfied, he returns to the dock to leave.  The crewman who woke the player up in the opening cinematic will remain by the ship at the Delterian docks, waiting to set sail.  He will say that the player is the last one to board and that they are waiting on him to set sail.  (Fade to black)	
41		
42		
43	3. CINEMATIC:
44		i. (Fade in from black) When the player has confirmed that he wants to set sail and continue on his voyage to the island of Maloria, a member of the Port Authority enters the scene and stops the player from boarding.  The Captain of the vessel comes down and asks why, to which the member of the Port Authority tells the Captain that the Governor of Delteria has issued an emergency order to all vessels in the vicinity of the island to return to dock and remain there until further notice.  The reason for this is that too many vessels have begun to vanish or otherwise become lost at sea when they get too far from the island.  The Captain finds this ridiculous and demands to speak with the Governor. The member of the Port Authority then escorts the Captain to speak with the Chief of the Port Authority. (Fade to black)
45	
46	
47	4. (Fade in from black) The player regains control after the Chief of the Port Authority leaves with the Captain of his vessel. He is located on the docks, next to his ship.  The member of the ship's crew who originally awoke the player remains by the ship on the docks to apologize to the player for the inconvenience and advises that he or she perhaps find a place to sleep until things are sorted out because nightfall will be arriving soon.  From here, the player is able to go about the island and explore to his or her heart's content.  The next part of the game will begin once the player rents a room from the local hotel. NPCs that the player may interact with at this point should try to encourage or otherwise hint that the player should rent a room for the night somehow.
48	
49		i. Note that the price of the room should be equal to the amount of money that the player currently has remaining at this point in the game, save for 5 gralats.
50			a.	If the player has not already visited the bank to exchange his money for gralats, then the player will be told by the lady at the hotel's front desk that he must first visit the Delterian bank and exchange his currency for gralats because Kerous (the Valikorlian currency) are not accepted on the island.
51			
52			b.	When the player visits the bank, he will be asked for his name.  This is the point where the player is prompted for the name that he will use throughout this game, all the way to the very end.  Before this point, no NPC has referred to him by his actual name because there has not yet occured a situation where it is necessary.  The crewman from earlier simply should refer to the player as "adventurer", if by anything at all.
53			
54		ii.	During this conversation, as well as in many of the conversations that take place up to this point on the island, the fact that the player is an adventurer should be made known to the people.  This will be relevant in Part One below.
55			
56		iii.	Also, from this point forward in the game, if the player ever returns to the docks to speak to the crewman then he will be told that the Governor's order is still in effect and they are still not yet able to leave the island.
57		
58		
59	5.  After buying a room for the night, the player is able to roam around the island as he pleases (though it is now nighttime), but when he decides to go to his room and sleep for the night, the game will (Fade to black and progress to the next phase.
60	
61		i.	Note that the player should not really be able to do very much other than explore and become accquainted with the area.
62	
63	
64	
65II.  Part One (Exposition with the Governor and meeting the Hunters)
66	1.	(Fade in from black) The player awakes in his room, it is the dawn of the next day.  The player gains control once his character has left his or her bed.  When the player goes to the door to leave his hotel, the following cinematic begins.
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68	
69	2.	CINEMATIC:
70		
71		i. (Fade in from black)  The player leaves the hotel and is stopped by a man.  He asks if the player is [player name goes here] and then explains that he is Alex Stravier, the Chief of the Delterian Police force and he has been given special orders from the Governor himself to escort the player to the Governor's office for a special meeting. The player is lead off of the "stage" as the screen fades to black.
72		
73		ii.  (Fade in from black)  The scene is the Governor's office.  The Governor is standing with several other people (The C.E.O. of the mining corporation and the Chief of the Port Authority) on the other side of his sdesk (perhaps some piece of the conversation is shown) and they turn around when the Police Chief enters, followed by the player, approaching the Governor's desk.  The Chief of Police tells the Governor that this is the man who he wished to meet.  The Governor thanks the Police Chief for his fine work and asks him to wait outside.  The Police Chief agrees and then leaves the room.
74		
75		iii.	The Governor introduces himself as well as the other people in the room to the player.  The Governor explains to the player that he has heard from his assistant that you are an adventurer and that the island of Delteria is in a troubled time and needs help.  Because of a law imposed upon their island by King Stefan of the Graal Kingdom, the island of Delteria is not allowed to have any military with which to defend itself.  Because of this, their island is helpless against a very important situation that has unfortunately occured.  The Governor explains that he has done his best to keep this problem a secret from the people for the time being, but he is afraid that he may not be able to keep this secret for much longer.
76	
77		iv.	The Governor explains that the Mining Corporation, which has sole mining rights to the mines on this island, is being put out of business because of a terrorist group called Veracity that has occupied their mines.  They are doing it in protest of the Governor's program for a "New Delteria" to try and shut down the government and bring chaos to the island.  Because of this, the Mining Corportation  has had to put all of their workers on indefinite leave until the matter has been sorted out.  The Government has worked with the Mining Corporation to ensure that the workers all receive their salaries, even though they are not able to contribute anymore to the economy while the terrorists remain occupying the mines.  Add to this the fact that so many ships have been disappearing off the shores of the island recently, the island has not been able to receive any imports or even so much as send away any exports to the other neighboring islands!  The mining corporation and the fishing industry by far compose almost the entirety of the Delterian economy and thus without access to any of them, the island is in grave danger.
78		
79		v.	The Governor, after having explained all of this to the player, asks of the player to help investigate the cause of these problems to and to try and find a way to put an end to the Veracity threat and free the mines so that Delterians can get back to work and help bring an end to this economic turmoil.  Because of the law imposed upon their island by the Graal Kingdom, they are not allowed to have a military with which to defend themselves from the Veracity threat.  Furthermore, the Delterians are a peaceful people and therefore are not able to fight for their island, even if they would be willing.  Because the player is a foreigner to this land, and therefore not under the rule of the Graal Kingdom, he is their only hope since they are not able to communicate to the other islands due to this strange situation with ships becoming lost at sea.
80		
81		vi.	In return for the player's help, the Governor has made a deal with the C.E.O. of the mining corporation to arrange for an assortment of very rare gems to be given to the player.  Furthermore, the Governor will arrange for the player to be given quarters aboard Delteria's finest seafaring vessel and be sent on his way to his original destination of Maloria.
82		
83		vii.	Upon accepting the Governor's offer, the Governor is very much thankful and calls for his assistant to enter the room.  The Governor introduces his assistant to the player and says that his assistant will be available to help the player and to keep the Governor informed as to your progress and activities on the island.  The Governor instructs the assistant to give you a map of the island as well as a weapon that is normally reserved for the island's police forces.
84			a.	The Governor will also mention that if the player needs a different weapon at any point, he can simply visit the Police station on the island and speak with Alex Stravier.
85		
86		viii.  The Governor informs the player that if he needs any help, his assistant will be available for him.  The Governor then says that he has to continue to make plans for what to do to deal with these problems in the meantime while the player does his work.
87		
88		
89	3.	From this point on in the game, the player is allowed to roam around where he pleases.  This is essentially where the actual game begins.  If the player bothers to talk to the NPCs around the island, there is the common theme of worry and apprehension about the Governor and the problems of the island.  Some are pessimistic, some are optimistic, et cetera.  A couple people are even doubtful that ships are even disappearing!  They believe that the Governor has allowed the power to go to his head!
90		
91		i.	This is also the first part of the game where the player is allowed to play mini-games or otherwise earn money.  The various shops and other places throughout the island will become open to the player at this point to allow him to play games and reward prizes for good performance.
92		
93		ii.	If the player attempts to go into the mines main entrance, which is guarded by the Delterian police, the NPCs will allow him to pass reluctantly, but if the player actually tries to go in through this direction, then he will be greatly overpowered and die every time.  This should encourage the player to try and find a new way to get into the mines.
94		
95		
96	4.	As the player explores more of the island, he will find opportunities for quests, which will reward him with better items, money, and the like.  One part of the island, particularly a cave entrance (or perhaps underneath the church) is to be blocked off with a large rock that the player will not be able to lift.  After saving up enough money, he will be able to buy a better glove that will allow him to lift the rock (after which the game will automatically default to night-time and stay that way until he lifts the rock and enters the cave - so he cannot go to sleep in his hotel room).  When the player enters this cave, he will encounter a place that is very different from the rest of the island.  This is the MHX lair.  As soon as he enters the cave, he will be engaged by a hunter in full red-black-and-gold regalia, who will overpower the player (the player must not be able to escape, as this scene forwards the plot).  Upon dying, the screen will fade to block and a cinematic will begin.
97	
98	
99	5.	CINEMATIC:
100		
101		i.  (Fade in from black) The player is in a dark cave, sitting at a table (as similar to the one in Chance's forum signature as possible).  There are several people, perhaps between 5 to 10, around the table, sitting and standing.  The atmosphere is intended to be that the player has fallen into the hands of some kind of cult.
102			a.	Almost all of the people who are present should be recolored NPCs of various town people that the player will have most likely seen or otherwise encountered around the island before this part of the game.
103		
104		ii.	The player awakens and is greeted by Zeromous Hunter, who introduces himself to the player and asks for what reason the player has created "... this violation of our SANCTITY" (which is an inside joke to old Delterians).  The player explains that he is an adventurer who is trying to help the Governor by getting rid of the Veracity terrorists in the mines, Zeromous Hunter informs the player that they are on the same quest and that they are almost finished with forming a new tunnel that leads to the Delterian mines.
105		
106		iii.	Zeromous then explains where the player currently is and what the Hunters are about.  They are a group of Delterians who disapprove of King Stefan's law that Delteria should not be allowed to defend itself if invaded and that the Delterian police force are far too weak to properly control the island's people, much less to control any invasion from the neighboring islands of Valikorlia, Maloria, or even the Unholy Nation, about which Delterians are not allowed by law to even speak.  The Hunters therefore believe that they are the only people who can save Delteria in this dark time of economic turmoil, though their existence must at the moment remain a secret, because they will be executed if they are found out.
107		
108		iv.	The Hunters wish to rid the mines of Veracity to prove to the Delterian government that they are not sufficient to protect the island from any dangers and to convince them to either disband or become their own sovereign nation, separate from King Stefan's intrusive laws.  He has no right to tell Delteria that it cannot defend itself!
109		
110		v.	Zeromous explains to the player that when the tunnel is complete, they will let the player know and they will invade the tunnels together to deal with Tortoise and his terrorist group.  Because the player has access to the Governor, he is of use to them and so once the tunnels are clear, the player must deliver a message to the Governor personally on their behalf.
111		
112		vi.	At this point, the player is knocked out by the Hunters.  When the player wakes up, it is the morning of the next day and he is in the bed of his hotel room.  From here, the player regains control after the player gets out of bed (as is normal when he awakes in the morning at his hotel room) and the cinematic has finished.
113		
114		
115	6.	After this cinematic has finished, the cave that the player entered is to be boarded up or otherwise made inaccessible.  If the player interacts with any of the townspeople who were recolored into MHX costumes, the townspeople will remind him to keep their group's existence a secret (as well as a reminder that they will come for you when the tunnel is finished) after their normal conversational chat text, whatever it may be.  Ideally, the vibe that they are meant to give off is a cult-like, delusional creepiness.  Perhaps even a few townsfolk will be missing from their normal places.  Maybe someone will even comment that those missing people are sick, when really they are secretly digging further in the tunnel.
116	
117	
118	7.	From here, the player is allowed to continue as normal in the game, as though nothing had ever happened.  The player is able, as before, to continue doing mini-games and quests and whatnot for the townspeople.  The "trigger" that will progress the plot to the phase, where the Hunters have finished their tunnel and therefore come for the player, will be when the player has obtained the minimum items necessary for completion of the "dungeon" and final battle.
119		
120		i.	The player has attained a certain item (which can be determined later) through quests or mini-games that will be necessary for navigating the mines or otherwise be useful for defeating Veracity in the mines.
121		
122		ii.	The player has ... 
123		
124		**** Actually, lets just figure that out when the story gets more fleshed out ****
125	
126	
127	8.	To begin the cinematic of the Hunters abducting the player and bringing him to the tunnel's entrance to the Delterian mines, the player must simply go to bed in his hotel room.  To encourage him to do so, nightfall will arrive and stay there when the player has finished completing all of the necessary things mentioned above to allow him to progress to the Delterian mines and complete the game.
128	
129	
130	
131III.	Part Two (The Delterian Mines)
132	1.	At this stage of the game, the player should at least have the minimum items necessary in order to complete the game.  From here on out, the player is no longer allowed to exit the mines until after the game has been completed.
133
134	
135	2.	CINEMATIC:
136		i.	(Fade in from black) When the player awakes, he is at the end of the tunnel.  He is to be accompanied by several Hunters, including Zeromous himself.  The player is to be informed that the tunnel has been completed and that it is finally time to get rid of the Veracity menace.  Zeromous will tell the player that many of the Hunters have already entered the tunnel and are in the process of fighting off the Veracity terrorists.  He will not specify whether the fight is going well or poorly for the player.  That much will be discovered later.
137		
138		ii.	After Zeromous explains his plans and gives the player his instructions, they will enter the tunnel without the player.  The player will pause for a moment and he will regain control in this area of the tunnel.
139		
140
141	3.	When the player regains control, he will be alone with a few Hunters standing guard to prevent him from leaving the tunnel.  The only way out of the room is to enter the mines and go in the direction that Zeromous and his hunters have just gone.  The player can take the time that he wants to prepare himself for the battle, but eventually he must go into the mines in order for the story to progress.
142	
143	
144	4.	While going through the mines, the player, when entering certain areas, will be forced into a brief cutscene where he witnesses Hunters falling to members of Veracity.  A common theme is that he will always arrive as the fighting has ended, which will give the player the opportunity to fight the Veracity one on one.
145		i.	Perhaps earlier on in the dungeon, though, there will be a couple Hunters to help the player kill off the Veracity members, but the Hunters should be very weak compared to the Veracity members and the player.  Their help should only be minimal to keep the game focused on the player's efforts to complete his quest.
146		
147		ii.	At some point whilst fighting his way through the mines, he will encounter a dying Hunter.  The Hunter will give the player a map of the area so that he or she can better navigate his way around.  This should happen between 10~20% of the way through the mines.
148	
149	5.	CINEMATIC:
150		i.	After making it almost all the way, the player will enter a cinematic as he enters a new area/level where he will see Zeromous, alone, slaying two Veracity members on his own.  After the player has had to spend all of this time fighting his way through Veracity members, this sight will hopefully make the player feel more safe now that Zeromous is with him.
151		
152		ii.	Zeromous will say after the room has been secured that he is glad to see the player.  He will inform the player that Tortoise is just beyond this room and that they will fight together, for all of the other Hunters have died honorably in battle in defense of their homeland.
153		
154		iii.	Zeromous will tell the player that there is little time, but that since Tortoise has been cornered he will stand guard until the player is ready to face him.  Together, they will save Delteria!
155		
156	6.	The player will regain control in this room.  The corpses of the two Veracity people will still be there and Zeromous will be resting beside the door that leads to Tortoise.  The player, though, will be able to go through the doorway to proceed to the final battle on his own with Tortoise... or he can simply talk with Zeromous and say that he the time has come to fight.  Either one will move the plot to the next scene, though whether the player has chosen to go with Zeromous or without him will be irrelevant.  When the player has either gone into the doorway or told Zeromous that he is ready to fight, the screen will simply fade to black with Zeromous' message saying simply that "It is time."
157	
158	7.	CINEMATIC:
159		i.	Zeromous, followed by the player, will enter the room.  Tortoise will be before them with a few members of Veracity at his side.  A few Hunter corpses are on the floor between the player and Tortoise.
160			a.	The atmosphere for this room must convey that this is the final scene and therefore the final battle of the game.
161			
162		ii.  After some words between Zeromous and Tortoise, with Tortoise at one point pointing out that Zeromous has run out of Hunters to fight him and so he has kidnapped a simple commoner to come fight him, the final battle begins and the player will regain control.
163	
164IV.	Conclusion