Synopsis

Bel has a purpose in life – if only someone could tell her what it was. Her adopted sister rescued her from Technis’ High Temple to use as a weapon against the despotic god of Satrap, but since then Bel is sure that she’s been nothing but a disappointment. She is frail, clumsy, can’t harness the essence of Olympos as nearly every living creature of the world could do naturally, and her head is covered in dead snakes instead of hair. Thinking that she can fight against a god powerful enough to trap an entire nation inside of an impassible barrier defies all reason.
The only person who sympathises with her plight is Bel’s former whipping boy, a hapless teenager who was pulled into Satrap from a mystical world of airplanes, soft beds, and endless food. But he is almost as helpless as Bel, and neither of them can guess Bel’s origin or Technis’ plans.
Is Bel as helpless as she feels? Or is she a potent weapon against the god, as her sister believes? Bel and her siblings will have to search far and wide to find their purpose in this strange world, but they may not like the answers they find.
A few years ago some friends and I, as many friends do, talked about making a video game. We never did, but I had already made this nifty setting, so eventually I thought that I shouldn’t let it go to waste.
Outside Influences is a weak to strong progression fantasy about a confused gorgon in an enormous fantasy world. I’ve always enjoyed when fantasy has some really surprising elements – stuff like babies growing on trees – so expect a bit of that.
The setting has game elements, such as levels and abilities, but no blue boxes or disembodied voices announcing level ups. It takes until around chapter 10 for the game elements to show up for the MC, but the prologue is told from the viewpoint of someone who does have abilities, if you need a quick look to see what they're like.
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