If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if you took a group of questionably qualified individuals and pointed them in the general direction of “heroism”… well, you’re about to find out.
Questline begins with a simple, uncomfortable idea:
What if heroes aren’t real… and questing is just a well-polished sham?
Naturally, the people who stumble into uncovering that truth are the exact sort of people you would not trust to responsibly handle it.
Let me introduce you.
Donivar (Aspiring Hero, Occasional Hazard)
Donivar wants to be a hero.
Not in a quiet, respectable way—but in the grand, sweeping, someone should really be writing songs about this kind of way.
Unfortunately, reality has not quite cooperated.
Instead, Donivar has built a career (if we’re being generous with the term) out of entrepreneurial “ventures” designed to improve his and his brother’s lives. These have included:
- A knife-spoon hybrid (excellent for efficiency, disastrous for soup consumption)
- A chicken-based egg delivery service (logistically impressive, emotionally confusing for the chickens)
- Several other ideas that were, in hindsight, better left as thoughts
Despite a track record that might generously be described as “educational,” Donivar remains relentlessly optimistic. He’s scrappy, determined, and absolutely convinced that if he just tries one more thing, this will be the one that works.
And if that “thing” happens to involve becoming a hero and fixing the world?
Well… all the better.
Roland (Strategist, Spectator… For Now)
Roland is Donivar’s younger brother, and if Donivar is the engine, Roland is the voice from the passenger seat saying, “Have we considered not driving off that cliff?”
He has a knack for seeing how things should work. He can refine plans, poke holes in ideas, and explain—in great detail—how Donivar’s latest scheme could theoretically succeed.
What he doesn’t do is act on any of it.
Roland prefers the sidelines. It’s safer there. Cleaner. Less likely to involve knife-spoons.
But when events begin to spiral far beyond backyard business ventures and questionable inventions, Roland finds himself facing something new:
A situation where thinking isn’t enough.
And for perhaps the first time, he’ll have to decide whether he’s content being the observer… or if he’s willing to step into the mess himself.
Sal (Tavern Maid, Reluctant Participant in Chaos)
Sal works at the Dusty Saddle, where she has developed two key skills:
- Managing customers
- Managing Donivar and Roland
She’s the one who’s helped the brothers scrape together meals, find odd jobs, and occasionally avoid completely ruining their lives.
Unlike Donivar, she doesn’t chase wild ideas.
Unlike Roland, she doesn’t sit back and analyze them.
She simply deals with what’s in front of her—with a practicality and quiet strength that neither brother quite realizes they rely on.
Of course, proximity to chaos has consequences.
What begins as a well-meaning attempt to help the brothers out of trouble quickly spirals into something far bigger than she ever intended. Before long, Sal finds herself caught in the orbit of something dangerous, secretive, and far-reaching.
And unlike the brothers, she doesn’t have the luxury of treating it like an adventure.
She has to survive it.
So… What Happens When These Three Cross Paths with Questline?
That’s where things start to get interesting.
Because when you take:
- One overly optimistic would-be hero
- One reluctant thinker who’d rather stay out of it
- One grounded realist who just wanted a normal life
…and drop them into a world where heroism itself might be manufactured—
You don’t get a clean, noble quest.
You get questions.
You get complications.
You get a growing suspicion that the world isn’t what it claims to be.
And you get three people who are wildly unprepared to deal with that truth…
…but might be the only ones willing to try.
If you enjoy stories with a bit of humor, a bit of heart, and a willingness to poke at the idea of what makes a “hero” in the first place, Questline might be worth keeping an eye on.
More to come soon.
If you want to get an early edition of the novel it is releasing now on Royal Road and can be found here! Royal Road also has a decent app for reading, if that’s more to your interests. I would love to hear your thoughts on the story in the comments there and I plan to publish the finished story later this year.
JRileyPeak 
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