Hi everyone! Welcome to the first devlog of The Priestess, the Shepherd and the doom of Patras, my mythology VN jam entry which accidentally ended up being my otome jam one too (and this against all odds lol).

As usual with me, I didn’t plan this game to be my Mythology VN Jam or my otome jam entry, because I had other ideas first.

For otome jam, quite easy: I have a dream project, named Margarêve, narrating the story of a fifteen year-old high schooler promised against her will to a twenty-three year-old man by her parents. And against all odds, perhaps, her dreams are what will show her a way out. It’s a very personal project of mine, on which I’ve been working ever since 2020 (right after I finished writing La Vie en Rose for the Abyss Team), and it even has its dedicated twitter account if you’re curious.

For otome jam, I wanted to make an introductory game depicting a scene which doesn’t happen in-game: Margaret learning her parents engaged her with an older man. Her dreams would offer you three routes in which she deals with this situation differently.

In the end, I quickly realised it was a bit unrealistic to develop it for otome jam, and I refuse to rush anything Margaret-related. I think I could have released one of the routes, but there was no way: the whole point of Margarêve will be to let you explore dreams and their various tones, so forcing you to follow one route and “one tone” of dreams is against the very point of it. So I just decided I would release it later, especially as I’ve been trying to take it easier on myself!

For Mythology VN Jam, it was more complicated: basically, I’ve been having an idea for months. But let me tell you about one of my secret passions: classical French poetry and classical French theatre.

I’ve been learning and practising the numerous rules of French poetry for almost nine years, and I’ve had fun writing theatre plays (currently working on a tragedy about Tristan and Isolde). And a few years ago, I wrote a theatre play about the myth of Chrysippus and Laius. The tone was less classical than romantic (in the French literary meaning, not in the standard one), but it was my usual kind of story.

Chrysippus was a young prince, illegitimate son of Pelops, king of Peloponnese. His father loved him and wanted him to receive the best training: therefore, he asks his friend, Laius, king of Thebes, to train the young Chrysippus. But Laius ends up raping Chrysippus, who commits suicide, dishonoured.

In my play, I fleshed out their relationship and made Chrysippus in love with Laius, and yet, falling out of love after the rape.

If there’s anyone speaking French reading me, and if you’re curious about the play… I would like to rewrite it so no way I share it, but here is a short excerpt of Chrysippus planning to murder Laius after his rape:

(For my English speakers, if you want a translation, although it’s not the same thing since you lose the rhymes:

CHRYSIPPUS, he gets closer to Laius, as to progressively threaten him. –
What? You come to me, miserable viper?
Would you like to show me your snake’s tongue
And, crawling, put your venom on my body?
I do not want. Get lost. Get out of my sight,
And let me take care of my frenzied pain.
Leave, flee, don’t come closer, I’ll know how to avenge myself,
And my hands aren’t afraid of plunging into your blood.)
And if you’re curious about a tone closer to actual classical French theatre:

(Yes, this excerpt is longer because the verses are better… at least I think so… and if you guys want a translation in English…

ISOLDE. –
When I lose a lover I am enamoured with,
Cruel, what do you want me to swear or tell you?
When I have to see you leave this place,
And spread your glorious name in Carhaix,
When the whole universe murders me over and over again,
You take a knife to pierce my breast!
I love you, you know it, I’ve already told you:
But don’t you understand that everything bans it?
I would love to say “I hate you”,
Curse your love and only see incest in it,
Call my honour, my glory and my virtue,
Abhor this path forbidden to us;
Or, if I could follow this perfidious fire
And not dread this parricidal love,
If I could embrace my criminal ardour,
And not find horror in such pleasures;
Don’t you think that, peaceful, without doubts, without worries,
I would have breathed better than [I do when] coughing under my tears?
When the whole universe crushes me with its weight,
And finally, in the miserable state in which you see me,
You dare ask me without pity or mercy
To pronounce words filled with vehemence,
But I cannot; and despite me I feel
The love, the acid love that I have for you.
I’d dare to offend you? The thought is awful,
And already devastates your sinister lover.

TRISTAN. –
Heaven, you’re getting pale!

ISOLDE. –
Wouldn’t you too
If I dared to ask…

TRISTAN. –
Here, fall into my arms.

Tristan takes Isolde in his arms.)

But enough of my theatre, let’s get back to the main topic! So, I wanted to tweak my Chrysippus and Laius play and turn it into a game.

However, I realised a little problem: my Once Upon A Time VN Jam project for this year is a gay rewriting of The Little Mermaid (the tale is already gay, but I mean, I want to make a plot out of it, rather than having a gay-coded story), naturally ending on the death of the merman… And my yaoi jam project, The Fragmented Butterfly, is about a man who is a survivor from ritual abuse and programming, so not happy gay stuff (there’s actually even more, but spoilers territory).

Overall, I didn’t feel comfortable making one more angsty gay story, especially when the story in question is about a grown-ass man raping a teenage boy to suicide (and while I would have made him 15-16 in-game, and he’s certainly 17-18 in my play, I’m pretty sure Chrysippus is like 12-13 in the myth dfvdf).

So, I considered I should change my Mythology VN Jam project. I started exploring some unknown myths and stumbled upon the myth of Comaetho, priestess of Patras, falling in love with a boy named Melanippus. However, their parents refused the union, forcing Comaetho and Melanippus to show each other affection in the temple Comaetho was fulfilling her duties in… But plot twist, she was the priestess of Artemis, an ace goddess… so plague and famine spread in Patras, and the people had to sacrifice the two lovers, and then, a boy and a girl each year.

Fortunately for me, the only source about this story I could find was in Pausanias, and he was really vague: in conclusion, I could twist the myth as I wanted, and it was enough to spark my imagination. After all, it was giving Romeo and Juliet, and I quickly thought of a Priestess rebel to her goddess, falling in love with a shepherd. Of course, the Priestess would have a special status, and therefore, her parents would refuse to let her marry a mere shepherd.

I’ve also developed other aspects of the story, and without spoiling too much, I really loved the idea of having Comaetho as a more villainous protagonist: I think she’s my first non-ironic yandere-ish protagonist. Not that she’s possessive, but she’s very protective, and honestly, she’s kind of a sociopath. I’m really excited to update the game and show more of her!

For Melanippus, I wanted him very sweet. I don’t know if I can really say he’s sweeter than the love interest of my previous otome jam entry, Peter, but.. Honestly, I think so?? Peter feels more authentic as a character, which makes sense considering Melanippus is a mythological one, but the soft boy between the two is Melanippus I think lol.

For now, I’ll try to work on the extended demo, involving all the story until the moment when Melanippus and Comaetho woohoo on Artemis’ altar. So far, I’ve got a good chunk of Comaetho and Melanippus’ second “date” written, and a lot of scenes happening after the fatal fornication, so which won’t be included in the extended demo, but only in the full-game… involving a lot of angst, but also a lot of romance! Little snippet:

And that’s it! So I hope you guys are looking forward to the game! If so, don’t forget to follow me either here on itch or on twitter (or on both… why not…).

See you!