The King's Hound
Last Updated on 7/01/2025: Chapter 2
Total wordcound: 50k words (average playthrough of 40k words)
The King's Hound is a text-based fantasy game in the form of an interactive fiction where you play as the legendary King Arthur Pendragon's spouse. The game will be released chapter by chapter and it will remain free to play until its completion. This story's main themes are platonic bonding and character developement during the span of many years. As such, you will be able to interact with the ROs both romantically and platonically, with relationships that will evolve during your years spent in Camelot.
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SUMMARY
You are the King’s spouse, his right and left hand, the unstoppable executor of his will. Your name is whispered by enemies and allies with fear and respect alike, some says it’s your arm that bears the weight of the entire kingdom.
They call you the King’s hound. It started as a way to taunt you but it’s not that far away from the truth. Your loyalty is blind, your devotion absolute. The King’s vision is your vision.
Your name will forever mark history alongside theirs.
But for now, you are being shipped to your betrothed, alone and powerless on your way to Camelot.
As the seventh child of the Venegard House, you’ve always had little to look forward to other than an arranged marriage to achieve a political alliance. That’s exactly why, after your parents lost the rebellion against King Arthur, you were the one sent to him as a sign of newfound peace.
You don’t know what awaits you now, but after you Camelot will never be the same.
LOVE INTERESTS
King Arthur (he/they pronouns)
The noble, compassionate and fair leader of Camelot. Protective and respectful, Arthur is going to give you as much freedom, space and support as you may need. Play your cards right and, if you choose to be their spouse only by name, they’ll become a very supportive wingman. No matter what you’ll be to them, you are enchanted by their vision from the moment you understand what they are fighting for. You know you’ll stand by their side no matter what. [25yo]
Knight Yniol (M/F/NB)
One of the knights at the Round Table, almost 6’6” (2.00m) and the only one who fights with a spear, Yniol could be intimdating at first, but only to those who do not know how much they care for every single one of you. Composed and focused, they are the most gentle knight you’ll ever have the pleasure to meet. They’ve had their eyes on you from the moment you first arrived to Camelot and, close or not, you are now under their protection. [26yo]
Knight Evaine (M/F/NB)
The most mysterious knight of the Round Table. You know they hide something under that carfree attitude because their façade craks most often than not. They recover fast, but every time their eyes are lost in the void at your shoulders a bit longer. They treat you like something fragile and delicate but maybe that’s the care they need themselves. Despite what some other knights say about them, they are not careless at all. In fact, all their movements and words are carefully measured, expecially around you. [24yo]
The physician Morien (M/F/NB)
They are the caring, if a bit pragmatic, physician of the Round Table knights. Reserved and, at times, abrasive, they bear in their eyes the horror of a war that should never have happened. Despite this, or maybe because of this, you feel like they are one of the only one who can understand what you’ve gone through. They could become your most trusted confidant or, if you want, you could be for eachother the support pillar you both desperately need. [27yo]
Your personal servant Gwyar (M/F/NB)
They are the one who’s been tasked with assisting you, and they have all the intention to make you feel comfortable and secure under their care. Born in the wild lands, they have traveled many miles towars Camelot in search of a future at court. Understanding, even while mantaining the proper distance, they will remain composed and mildly humorous until you show them signs of your interest. Expect them to be one of the most flattering and tender of all the ROs. [22yo]
Poly routes: Arthur/Gwyar, Arthur/Evaine, Morien/Gwyar, Morien/Yniol.
FEATURES
- Costumize your gender, pronouns and sexuality.
- Take Mordred, the young bearer of powerful magic, under your wing and let this bond heal the both of you.
- Train two beautiful hounds as loyal dogs and emotional support animals, just because you can.
- Pursue a romance with King Arthur or one of the other four Ros. Or, you could always direct your affections to more than one person (there are four total poly routes available).
- Become a living legend, your King’s most loyal shadow or his fiercest commander. You’ll be given many names, it all depends on how you play this dangerous game of chess
Status | In development |
Platforms | HTML5 |
Rating | Rated 4.7 out of 5 stars (724 total ratings) |
Author | Kal Down |
Genre | Interactive Fiction |
Tags | Character Customization, Fantasy, LGBT, Romance, Story Rich, Text based, Twine |
Average session | About an hour |
Languages | English |
Development log
- Chapter two - second half RELEASE95 days ago
- DelayNov 21, 2024
- Rewritten demo update - NO NEW contentOct 31, 2024
- Chapter Two - first half RELEASEApr 04, 2023
- Chapter one - second half RELEASEMay 04, 2022
- Game optimized for mobile usersFeb 23, 2022
Comments
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I love this game ^^
Yniol and Morien are an interesting combination.
I had to laugh at the idea of the MC lifting Mordred up. See, I’ve chosen to make the MC as short as possible and also petite.
Which considering the average height of an eleven year old, means that the MC is barely bigger than Mordred (if at all)
Imagine a hobbit trying to lift another hobbit onto a horse.
Anyways, I hope we’ll be able to befriend Arthur even if we don’t pursue him
cant wait for the next chapter but i had a small glitch i think
the trigger warning list didn't work
Pretty good so far! I'm confused about Mordred though, is he not Arthur's son then? Maybe adopted? I guess I'll never know.
I wonder if we can have an option of having heirs with Arthur (biological or adoptive) even though Mordred seems to be a heir already. I just need to fill my heart with bliss of more children!
Really hoping for more poly routes T-T
hey I'm having a problem that there's no "character" section despite the text saying so, I also remembered there being a tab where MC's info was saves to, did you re-write this out?
I found an issue with downloading the saved game to files. When you try to load the file back into the game it gets rid of your character customization so instead of referring to your eyes as blue or another one of the options it will say $eyecolor and when you have dialogue it won’t specify weather your mute or not and will read sign/say. I don’t know if someone told you about this but I figured I would just in case. Thanks!
I'm having the same issue. Hopefully this will be seen and it can be fixed soon. :)
yeah. I’m sure it will get taken care of soon
I have a recurring issue, that being that I've chosen for the other love interests to be male, they keep getting referred to with she/her pronouns. Other than that, and some typos, I have no gripes with the game so far. I love how the MC can be trans, and that no one bats an eye at that.
POV: Everyone is just trying to adjust to MC’s presence and figure out their intentions but MC is one minor inconvenience away from a complete mental breakdown and not handling the isolation well. 💀💀
As usually. A delicious update.
OMG AN UPDATE, so glad this wasn´t abandoned
THIS IS SO GOOD THANK YOU FOR BLESSING US WITH AN UPDATE
YAY MORE SIBLINGS
delicious thank you so much for feeding us
I loved the interaction between the MC and Morien (I wish there was more and more with Yniol as well ahhhhh). I want to help all of the MC's siblings so much! ;~; I hope there's things later where we can. I can't wait for more!! Keep up the fantastic work. =')
Love it!
This was such a good update also that gifted poisoner ring is such a chekhov gun I'm excited to see where that goes 👀
Loved the update! Excited to see where this goes!
love love love a lot
Really enjoyed the update. Thanks for posting it.
Hello, I noticed this while playing:
Could you make a downoladable version, please? Also is there a guide to the routes of each character? I'm trying my hardest in romancing Yniol and I don't even have an affection point with him...
Hi! The downloadable version is available if you use the app for dekstop for Itch.io (as I know of). Let me know if you manage to get it.
As for the routes: in this game, you will start to get romance points with a RO only after a certain amount of platonic points (basically, you need to get to know them and want to spend time with them first before feelings may develop on either side).
Speficially, for Yniol you might get a maximum of two platonic points: one when you glance back at them before they are dismissed by the King (ch.1), and the second when you try to look for them after the banquet (ch.2). It is also true that the values might not work correctly, and if you already chose those, there may be bugs
Do I have to avoid being nice to the other characters to get into Yniol's romance route?
No, absolutely not. You can keep picking their platonic choices with everyone else while never choosing their romantic options (which will be clearly labelled)
Man I feel bad for my MC, he's so entirely broken and really needs someone to hold him and let him cry. Of course he won't allow that at the moment but nevertheless!
So excited for an update. I often reread this, so yay! I'm coming, Arthur my love. My MC and all their trauma. xD
Arthur when his new husband is the equivalent of a traumatized shelter dog
More feral cat for my Gwen, but same "I'll bite you" vibe it sounds like.
Yeah despite the 'hound' moniker, MC is very feral wet cat coded. It's like a whole meme on the blog.
I said dog because of the tumblr post "I want a boyfriend who will sit next to me on the couch and sigh sadly at random times like a rescue dog" or something along those lines because mine would.
47 MINUTES????? OMGOMGOM
YAYAY IM EARLY FOR THE UPDATE ^_^
Let me start off by saying that I am sorry to hear about your health struggles and I hope your recovery goes well. Please don´t rush getting better, your wellbeing is paramount.
I just want to add that I love this story and all of the characters that I´ve met so far. The Main Character´s background is very interesting, and I can see multiple personalities possibly forming from that background. Your writing is beautiful and concise, I could seriously read a whole book series in one night if it was done this expertly!
I´ll definitely be reading any and all future updates. Take care of yourself!
<33333
take care of yourself!!!
I hope you get better ): just keep yourself healthy and happy
Health always comes first.
Take care. Love your work. :)
not me counting the days down, till the 23rd
heheheh five more days >:33
Definitely a different feel but still so good. Am looking forward to the 23rd.
I found a bug ? “he if a battle mage. The one who disfigured Bedivere.” also curious curious 👀
Unsure about the rewrite in regards to MC's family dynamic. I rather enjoyed the old more strained relationship with parents and the desire to get away from that. But I do like the inclusion of Uther's history with mages and how that colors MC's fears about his new spouse.
Still, even with these changes, I love this story and look forward to more. And maybe FINALLY getting to talk to Arthur. Lol. 👍
And adopting Mordred.Enjoyed the rewrite and am looking forward to more!
Some subtle, some not so subtle changes. I may have missed some of note, but it’s been a while since I last went through it so I might just not be remembering correctly. I do very much appreciate the changes and additions for the MC’s backstory. Exquisite work! I have no doubts you’ll keep it up. = )
Hello! I hope you are doing alright! I know you mentioned this a little under a month ago but I was just wondering if there were any newer updates on when the release of the next update would be? I love this story and Yniol is my favorite!! I need more of that giant man so bad 🥲
i think they're busy with university and it delayed the process of rewriting a bit
I hope this game to update soon! Such a lovely story and lovely characters too🥰
If the pace is kept the same, with half a chapter once a year and considering there are around 15 chapters planned, there is a very high chance I will die of old age before I see this finished. That is not considering any rewrites and final edits, which can take years as well. Also, usually later chapters take much longer to write because there are more branches determined by variables chosen. And there's a big assumption here - that the author will keep interest in writing this for at least 3 more decades... So while I liked what I read, I'm not gonna get my hopes up of seeing this even half done.
I am doing everything I can🥲 if I could release more content, I definitely would!
No need to be pressured, I imagine these detailed type of stories takes a lot effort to get it done. but I hope you will continue to write! 🤧❤️
Aw thank you! I am actually 95% done with the update, I still have to code it and edit it a bit, but some stressful things have happened lately so I will take a bit more time to do so than anticipated. Still, I assure you I am consistently working on TKH💞
Bless the Irish :D the story was amazing, the characters are well-written and atmospheric <3 I hope to see/read a continuation soon <3