Based on a Junior Narrative Designer job application, the brief entailed: 

- The sidequest can be for any established setting/genre. 

- The sidequest must be described in a simple outline, consisting of no more than one page, describing how the player proceeds from beginning to conclusion. While simple, we ask that the sidequest have at least one major branch based on a decision the player makes therein.

- The applicant will need to write one branching dialogue which occurs during that sidequest, ideally, one where the decision is made or another major branch occurs. This dialogue must be no longer than 3,000 words, and would ideally be written in Microsoft Word (with hyperlinks for the choices) but Twine is also acceptable, provided it has been exported into a playable .html format.

- Assessed based on the cleverness of the quest design, the applicant’s command of language and branching structure, and the applicant’s flair for the written word (their ability to write evocative prose).

My Outline:

Set on an island off the coast of the Levant, circa 1500 BCE. This sidequest is available during the beginning of the game if you choose to hop on a ferry to the island. The main character has just turned 18, and the main quest is for the player to find an offering for the gods of their homeland, and follow a coming-of-age story about family and the future.

The player is first introduced to the Idyllic hub town of Yenidunya, their first option is to either speak to the merchant or follow a mysterious boy. When they choose the Merchant, they learn story information about the mysteries the island has to offer, as well as the money-hungry merchants of the land.

Following the boy continues the story, as he leads the player into the forest, he later reveals he is a Jinn and tricks the player into falling into a cave. Two talking voices reveal themselves and allow the player to ask questions, revealing more about the island, the cave and themselves.

The major branching choice includes two pots in the cave that the player must choose between. A perfect pot or a cracked pot, once chosen the cave begins the crumble and the player is forced to run to the exit that leads them to jump off a cliffside into the ocean back to the beginning hub area of the game.

Players come across a woman who gives another branching option. They can either learn more about their decision and the events that unfolded by following her inside to hear her story or go on their way and leave not knowing.

When players follow her inside and speak to her, she reveals two stories; a love story about a goddess on the land who fell in love with a mortal who subsequently died so with her two magical pots she created a cave with a pool for his voice to be kept in so they may always speak, as well as the love story between the old woman you meet and her husband who she had lost. He was obsessed with finding the reality of the first myth and brought his wife along the way, players may learn through the dialogue that one of the voices in the cavern is her husband and conclude he wasn’t able to pass through the magical cave and are forever parted because of his obsession.

The player's decision on which pot they chose informs them about an important value or a practical object. The perfect pot only does one job that many other pots can, whereas the cracked pot brings to light the things considered ‘abnormal’ or imperfect aren’t wrong or useless, they in fact produce advantageous quirks that others cannot.