World Building: Art Direction and VR Game Experience Pitch.

**art/photos, unless noted, are not my own and only serves to point in a general direction**

This is a pitch for a VR game experience and it's Art Direction- The goal was to create something more lighthearted and accessible. Below is a block-in for the narrative experience to hang the visual ideas on.

Narrative Background
The evil Crow Clan has made an agreement with the Bounty Dragon. He may eat his fill of crops
as long as the dragon continues to cast his powerful and destructive magic over the Golden
Lotus, hidden away near the summit of the tallest peak in the Jinhua Mountains.

The Golden Lotus is the font of the Chi that keeps this world intact, the source of the Chi flowing
from all the other lotuses in the land. Thought virtually indestructible, as the power of the Golden
Lotus fades, all the lotuses in the land wither. With the Chi diminished, order deteriorates and
chaos reigns, bandits run amok and power rests in the brutal hands of the Crow Clan.

Yet one village remains unaffected. The Chi is still strong within their small corner of the world
because of the spirit of the people. If they can defeat the Bounty Dragon, the spell he has cast
over the Golden Lotus can be broken and reversed and then health and vitality will be restored
to the land.

Act one: A mountain village, Xijing, rich with layers and colors.
The players learn of the location of the Golden Lotus via an old sage. They are passing through
Xijing on there way upriver, where the pace of their journey will slow.

The Crow Clan has learned of the players unique ability to retain their Chi, and they know that
they are the only real threat to ending the spell and their rule over the land. The leader of the
Crow Clan places a bounty on the players’ heads and sends out a war party to eradicate the
players. Every evildoer in the province wants to thwart their advance.

Act two: The Jade River where you commandeer a bamboo raft.
At first, it is peaceful until you are forced to battle the kappa(shuigui)and his enemies on other
rafts or dropping down from large river junks.

Act three: Bamboo forest
Again you are forced to confront the Crow Clan, but this time in the form of hardened bandits
living in the foothills. In the bamboo forest, you faceoff with the Crow Clan leader to gain access
to the path leading up the mountain.

Act four: The mountain summit
Whenever the dragon abandons his vile roost to feed, the spell that protects the Golden Lotus
weakens, making it vulnerable to the player’s combined Chi.The players unite their Chi and just
as the energy barrier around the lotus is at the point of shattering, it returns in full force! Their
Chi spent and diminished, they search their minds and each other’s faces for the reason of
their unexpected failure. Looking into the distance over the valley and the river far below
stretching toward the horizon, you see an impossibly large dragon gliding menacingly toward
you. In moments, it is upon you, circling the tower-like peak of the mountain and ready to protect
the Golden Lotus. Boss battle ensues.