Religions and cults in Yerengal
about 5 years ago – Fri, Mar 12, 2021 at 10:50:17 PM

Ho there, adventurers!

Last week, we started collecting input from backers with the following reward tiers: Royal Herbalist, Boxed Edition, Undead Miser, Early Access, Royal Historian and all higher-level tiers that include their rewards.   If you have any of these reward tiers and haven't yet filled out the survey we sent you for the corresponding reward items (such as a message in a Catacomb/Crypt, Undead miser loot, or a herb choice), please make sure to do so before 26th March 2021. Since the development of the game is concluding these months, we have to lock down the design of many things on 26th March, which means it will not be possible to add your input into the game after this date. 

Input for reward items with more advanced design (such as helping us in the creation of an item, NPC or adventurer party) hasn't been initiated yet, so the above deadline doesn't apply here.

The Cults and Beliefs of Yerengal

In the current update of our lore series, we will discuss cults and beliefs in the world of Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness.

Kingdom of Isilmerald 

Religion is a simple matter in Isilmerald. The people living here believe in a pantheon of gods, of whom the most important are Alnarius the king-god, and Tilindia the mother-god. Various aspects of the world are attributed to each of them, and all of them are worshipped to some extent. Those living in the bustling cities traditionally built churches for Alnarius. While many of them ended up joining the expanding human cities, the wood-dwelling Deroni elves centered their beliefs around Tilindia. It is also common for folks living close to nature in remote areas, to pay more attention to the mother-god. In port cities and fishing villages, Omeyrenon, the god of seas is worshipped.

Gods of less benign nature are respected, but seldom worshipped on the lands of Isilmerald. Those who do are shunned and cast out of society. Thus, these outcasts will often gather into sects and cults, to carry their rituals out in secret.

 The Eastern Empires 

For the people of the Eastern Empires, there is only one true god – albeit a demigod himself -, named Elenuator. It is natural for the Rillow to regard him as such though, as Elenuator himself breathed life and soul into the desert sands to create this elephantine race. Their fanatic respect for their creator is above all. The few Rillow who still dare defy his will, or turn to another religion, are quickly exiled and treated as traitors. Assassins are often sent out to rid the world of such heathens.

The Cult of Rothgor

Out of the many cults respecting the forbidden gods of Yerengal, the one that worships Rothgor is probably the most secretive. Members must advance through many ranks of initiation before they are allowed to feel the true influence of the devil-god. They are kept on a short leash, and those who lack devotion often end up as sacrifices for their various rituals and experiments. There is of course no way out of the cult, once one is initiated. Therefore, barely anyone knows about this sect other than its members. Devotees that have proven themselves receive the mark of Rothgor, a black rose that is the symbol of the devil-god. As their minds and bodies are corrupted by his influence, the whites of their eyes turn black, and their skin pales. The most trusting believers get to be joined by a Courier. A spirit under the direct influence of Rothgor is imparted in their minds, controlling every move they make. It is the greatest achievement for these vile fanatics to live this way.

The Cult of Zoria 

Members of the Cult of Zoria devote their lives to strengthening and supporting the goddess of night. She is a goddess of death and decay, with motives beyond the understanding of mortals. The cult seemed to surface and disappear many times during the past decades, as if Zoria’s power has vaned and returned over and over again. The cultists of Zoria often practice necromancy, channeling the essence of undeath to strengthen their goddess. Disobedience among their ranks is punished severely. Such members are turned into Abominations and Moon Horrors, hideous creatures that roam the night. Other unfortunate souls might be slain, then resurrected as mindless ghouls to protect cult members from outside harm.

Monks of the Broken Monastery 

Little is known about the religion that formed around the god believed to reside over the mountain range to the west of Freynagar. Those who dared to set their feet in the forlorn halls of the Broken Monastery have found similarities between their icons and later depictions of the god of frost, Böor. The people of Yerengal can never be sure, as the monks who used to reside here have seemingly disappeared without a trace. What has become of them is unknown, and their many books and scrolls have not withstood the test of time. 

Our next update will cover the lore of some creatures and monsters tied to the dark cults of Rothgor and Zoria. See you later next week!

Key regions of Yerengal
about 5 years ago – Sun, Mar 07, 2021 at 12:41:33 AM

Greetings, adventurers!

According to our BackerKit system,  all emails with the survey links have been sent for the rewards where (depending on your reward tier) you can specify locations of brewing-drying ingredients, Undead Miser loots, and set your custom message in a catacomb/crypt or your custom winery name for a barrel in the game.

If your reward tier includes such a feature and you haven't received an email from BackerKit, don't hesitate to contact us.

As discussed in Update #40, we will send emails at a later date regarding the input for the higher reward tiers (helping us design items, spells, encounters or NPCs).

Shamans and curses - not only in Black Geyser

Before we proceed, we want to mention an interesting project to you. The Way of Wrath is a story-driven, open-world, tactical RPG set in a pre-historic shamanistic world, inspired by Baldur's Gate, Gothic, & Legend of Zelda. Your goal is to lead your people through one hell of a siege launched by your enemies, in a world of shamans, curses, and dark rituals. You can back them on Kickstarter here - only a couple of hours are left before their campaign ends!

Centers of global power in Yerengal

In our current update, we will discuss the most important centers of power in Yerengal that may directly or indirectly affect the plot of Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness:

• Northern Isilmerald (ruled by King Velianrick, his Court is located in the capity city of Isilbright)
• Southern Isilmerald (governed by a rebel Council of Nobles from the city of Deron-Guld)
• The Northern Realm (governed by the twin cities of Freynagar and Riznagar)
• The Eastern Empires (many semi-autonomous nations controlled by Elenuator, a demigod)

Northern Isilmerald

The kingdom of Isilmerald is currently torn in half due to the civil war that erupted in the wake of the Curse of Greed. The northern half is governed from the capitol, Isilbright, by the rightful ruler King Velianrick. While he is supported by most of the nobility, the rest of the populace does not think so highly of him. The commoners of Isilbright are becoming ever more displeased by the luxurious lifestyles led by the lords and ladies at the expense of their own well-being. Isilbright currently holds the upper hand in terms of military power, but their resources are dwindling, and a drawn out conflict could surely tip the scales in favor of the rebels in the south.

King Velianrick tries to maintain his image as the absolute ruler of Isilmerald, refusing to acknowledge the souther rebellion as a valid threat to the kingdom. He treats the Rillow traders of the east as harshly as ever – hoping to stabilize the economy through their heavy taxation -, and maintains neutral diplomacy with the Northern Realm.

Southern Isilmerald

Southern Isilmerald is ruled over by a rebellious group of nobles, under the military leadership of the War Council. The Council consists of the nine strongest lords and ladies of the south, but many other have joined the fight against the king. The rebellion is coordinated from Deron-Guld, a prosperous mining city surrounded by the mountain ranges marking the southern border of Isilmerald. While currently the fighting forces of Deron-Guld are less organized and well-equipped than the soldiers of Isilbright, time is on their side. The mines and land they took hold of will support the war effort for possibly years to come. All would seem well for the rebellion, if not for the surprisingly potent illness that started decimating the people of Deron-Guld.

The War Council tries to show an open and cooperative attitude towards the neighbors of the kingdom. They maintain a steady trading relationship with the Rillows of the Eastern Empires.

The Northern Realm

The Northern Realm is a narrow slice of land consisting of boreal forests and snowy mountains, situated between the Kingdom of Isilmerald and the frozen, inhospitable wastes roamed by the Jötnar. It is the home of humans, dwarves and white elves alike. The Realm is governed from the twin cities of Freynagar and Riznagar, their rulers traditionally working together in upkeeping peace an order in their territory. The current pair of rulers however, have had long lasting grudges against one another. Their disputes have worsened to the point where armed conflict wasn’t out of the question anymore. That was when the Keeper of the Peaceful Winter stepped in. This ancient, mighty being keeps his watch over the Northern Realm and its peoples, ensuring that peace and order stands. The lord of Freynagar was the one who overstepped the line in the end, and for that, the Keeper erected an immense dome of magical ice over the port city, sealing it from the outside world.

By to the Keeper of the Peaceful Winter’s will, the Northern Realm maintains relatively neutral relations with the other nations of Yerengal. Most of their trade routes lead into Isilbright and the Lands of Zida-Suda.

The Eastern Empires

The Eastern Empires – called so by the people of Isilmerald - are a vast set of semi-autonomous nations among the deserts to the east of Isilmerald. They are lorded over by a powerful Djinni by the name of Elenuator. The westernmost nation among them, inhabited by the Rillows, plays an important role in the conflict in the uprising in Isilmerald. Their great trading road, the Tarq Al’azim spans many lands, and opened way for system of trading never seen before. The both sides of the conflict in Isilmerald might end up depending on their seemingly endless resources, and the Rillow will provide these resources gladly for either. It’s just a question of gold.

Their military force is said to be immense either, and both factions have interests in trying to win the Rillow over to their sides. If these rumors are true, the Rillows could become the deciding factor in the civil war. However, they did their best to stay neutral so far. Might this change in the times to come?

Backer input for reward tiers
about 5 years ago – Mon, Mar 01, 2021 at 02:12:19 AM

Greetings adventurers,

Finally! We have started contacting backers whose Kickstarter rewards require additional input:

• Help us set the location of an uncommon herb, mushroom, or insect
• Help us prepare the hoard of an Undead Miser
• Your name and message in a catacomb/crypt of the game

We use BackerKit for this purpose, so make sure to check your spam folder for notification emails that are sent to the email address of your BackerKit account. If you haven’t received such a notification until 5th March 2021, please contact us.

Input for more complex reward tiers (helping us design items, spells, encounters or NPCs) will be requested at a later date, since we want to polish the context and options for these elements as much as possible to make sure they fit seamlessly into the game’s atmosphere.

Kickstarter updates and launch date

From now on, we are going to post an update once per week featuring an interesting aspect of the game.

Numerous regions, cities, factions, guilds and cults (both active and long forgotten) exist in the world of Yerengal. Their symbols are depicted in the picture below. We will discuss some of them in our next update.

At the moment, we are not able to tell more about the launch date, but we will do this in one of the aforementioned updates as soon as we can. Our Steam page is under construction and will be published in March. Stay tuned!

Release next year with Temple of Alvilmelkedic
over 5 years ago – Fri, Nov 13, 2020 at 08:35:29 PM

Ho there, adventurers,

First and foremost, thank you for your continuous feedback on the Backer Beta. Thanks to your bug reports and suggestions, we have managed to fix many unknown and subtle bugs and improve the overall experience of playing Black Geyser.

Our studio had several talks lately – both as a team and with our partners and investors. We came to realize that Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness has become a bigger project than we ever imagined. Which is a great thing. On the other hand, huge projects require tons of refinements, polishing and Quality Assurance. Black Geyser is no exception. Taking this into account, we have concluded that Black Geyser will be released in early 2021.

Some reward tiers for Kickstarter and Crowdfunding rewards require input from backers. If you have such a reward tier, we will contact you for your input during January. Thank you for your patience!

With launch coming early next year, we are going to start updating you more often. We are getting close and its time to start getting prepared for Black Geyser!

Temple of Alvilmelkedic

In the second part of this update, we will briefly showcase an interesting part of the game. The Temple of Alvilmelkedic is a place of mystery, but also a place to find answers. Coiled up a winding path above an abandoned village, this temple predates the modern history of Yerengal.

In fact, prophets and mystics predating the Xurxur beast itself made their home in the temple. They left it filled with their stories. Ancient lore and whispers of the past echo through its corridors. Even a few of its previous residents may yet still lie in wait for the unwary explorer.

In the final chapter of Black Geyser, unsolved riddles may lead you to Alvilmelkedic. Riddles with potentially world-shattering answers. What secrets lie in wait for you in its dusty, forgotten depths?

Backer Beta add-on for existing backers
over 5 years ago – Tue, Jul 14, 2020 at 11:19:04 PM

Ho there adventurers,

First of all, many thanks for your gameplay and bug reports regarding the Backer Beta! Your feedback is extremely valuable for Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness.

We received a lot of "Can I upgrade my pledge" requests from existing backers who didn't preorder the Backer Beta add-on (or any appropriate reward tiers) during our Kickstarter and late pledging campaigns. After careful consideration, we have decided to open the possibility again to pledge for the "Backer Beta add-on ($26)" for existing backers of Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness, for a limited period of 45 days.

You can now use our Backer Portal upgrade page to pledge for the Backer Beta add-on. It's the last item in the first dropdown list ("Early Access to Backer Beta add-on $26").

It is important to note again that this only applies to our existing backers as an upgrade/add-on possibility. Since our late pledging campaigns ended before, it is not possible to pre-order Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness from scratch if you are not an existing backer.