Wrote a bit more backstory. I came up with an idea I kind of like, but it's not well integrated at the moment. I'm still trying to figure out the direction and structure of the story. I am pretty sure what is going on with the main character, at least in very general terms, but less sure about the events happening on the periphery, which are actually pretty important. I don't need everything, but I at least want to nail down what is going on right before act 1 starts, so I can write the intro. I plan on nailing the intro tomorrow.
In coding world, I am tweaking the perception of npcs. I had a very basic vision cone down, which would register objects in range instantly, and then it had a slight delay when objects went out of range before it forgot about the object. While testing a stealth-related section, I found it was far too easy for the npcs to see me. They change direction so quickly, and there is no line of sight or objects to hide behind yet, so it is almost random whether you are able to stay out of the cone while the npcs move around during their conversation. I've added a delay to the start of the vision process as well as on the end. It takes a short time after seeing you before they can perceive you - and the longer they have seen you, the longer it takes before they forget where you are.
It's still coming along. Needs line of sight. Might need to rotate it independently to get away from instant directional changes as well.