Recruitable companions and a sneak-peak into the Herbalist Guide
about 5 years ago – Wed, May 01, 2019 at 02:16:29 AM

Ho there, adventurers!

This update offers an insight into the Isilbright Herbalist Guide and also presents some of the joinable NPCs you will be able to meet in the Backer Beta, as well as some of the concept art that our artist has been working on for the Rillow. The party members shown will be featured in our major gameplay video as well, which will be included in our next Kickstarter update on May 16th, 2019. This video will offer a significant overview of an early section of the main quest of the game, as well as highlighting new features and existing elements that have not been shown before.

The release of the Backer Beta is unfortunately delayed, and we are not able to give you more information at the moment. We will have specific details on the release date of the Beta in our next update.

There are two main reasons behind the delay: an internal and an external one. The internal reason has to do with project management risks: certain types of game engine bugs take more time to fix than what we estimated in our initial plans. For example, we could not publish the gameplay video today because Fog of War started having serious issues two weeks ago as an unexpected side effect of refactoring, and it took us considerable time to fix.

The external reason has to do with the funding schedule of one of our private investors. To be brief, while their investment is guaranteed and ongoing (the condition for the investment was a successful Kickstarter, which you helped us reach!), they proposed an altered schedule of funding milestones in January, and this negotiation is still in progress.

The combination of these internal and external reasons led to the delay of the Backer Beta. We haven’t posted an update recently because we knew there were going to be some issues with delays but we didn’t want to provide incomplete information on what players could expect, and it looked like our negotiations with the investor could have finished at any moment. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen, but we are nearing the end of negotiations and will give you specifics on the delay on the 16th. No worries, however! The delay of the Backer Beta does not endanger the future of the project in any way.

The Herbalist Guide reward

Some of our backers have been curious about what the Isilmerald Herbalist’s Guide contains. For this update we decided to give you a sneak-peek into what you can expect. The guide consists of the gathered wisdom of Jhevir Oakenson, famed explorer and Court Alchemist of Isilbright. Within its pages you will find his musings about the various ingredients that can be used in Brewing and Drying recipes, as well as details and hints about creating some of the more esoteric mixtures conceived by the herbalists and alchemists of Isilmerald and beyond. 

The Isilmerald Herbalists’s Guide is included for every backer from the Royal Herbalist tier on up, and available as an add-on in BackerKit while late backing remains open. Head over to our Backer Portal for more details!

Rillow concept art

Our artist has been hard at work making our vision for the game and its inhabitants become a reality. As players had been asking what the Rillow actually look like, we thought we would share some of the concept art he has created for the Rillow race. 

Also note that there’s one more Rillow to see in this update: check out Siracca in the section below!

Recruitable party members

We have mentioned in the past that there will be quite a few possible party members to recruit as you explore Isilmerald. We’ve decided to outline three of them here to give you a feel for the kind of characters you will meet on your journey. Each of these characters has their own personal quest that you can work to complete, but we don’t want to spoil them!

Siracca, the Heretic

Background and overview

Siracca, like most Rillow, came west along the spicelines to Isilmerald. But while most Rillow come seeking adventure, experiences or wealth before returning home, Siracca has come for a different reason… and she's never going back.

It's not clear whether the legends about the Rillow's creation are true, but Elenuator is definitely the race's patron, and a jealous one at that. Siracca has committed what amounts to the cardinal sin among the Rillow: she began to devote herself to a god other than Elenuator. In fact, Siracca is a Cleric of Alnarius. Among her kind, this makes her a heretic and an outcast of the highest order. While she was unable to stay in her homeland without the threat of summary execution, she feels little compulsion to hide what she is in Isilmerald; thus, she actually seems to go out of her way to be ostentatiously offensive to her kin, abandoning their social norms and many of the things that are normally associated with Rillow. Siracca wears no jewelry, and prefers simple, functional clothes. She has little desire for the hedonism her compatriots so often pursue. Instead, she has devoted herself entirely to her god, and travels Isilmerald to spread worship of Alnarius and help restore harmony wherever she goes. Her one concession to her race is a natural talent for Brewing, which she uses to aid in her healing abilities.

Siracca is highly opinionated, but not unkind. She will loudly protest the player doing outwardly chaotic or greedy things. Additionally, having her in the party may cause conflict with other Rillow, either in the party or out in the world. Other Rillow view her very existence as offensive, to the point of it sometimes inciting violence. She remains cheerful in the face of adversity, however, and is prone to even unrealistic optimism. She also happens to be remarkably resilient to greed; having come from a society which favors displays of opulence and turned her back on it, Siracca's faith and force of will keeps the curse at bay. That said, should she believe that a greedy action is the only way to spread love and harmony in a given situation, she may be prone to choosing the lesser of two evils.

Gameplay

Siracca is first and foremost a healer. She prefers peaceful solutions to problems, but because of her past she also understands that sometimes violence is unavoidable. Still, she serves in the Healer/Buffer role and should be kept off the front line.

Siracca is nearly immune to greed. While she will loudly complain about greedy choices being taken by the player, it actually takes a great deal for her to leave the party. She is endlessly optimistic and believes anyone can be redeemed, so the player must do things either specifically in opposition to Alnarius or commit incredibly heinous crimes before she considers leaving. 

Other Rillow in the party will frequently argue with her, possibly even refusing to join a party with her in it to begin with. Siracca does not wear jewelry of any kind; all inventory slots for rings, earrings or necklaces are unusable for her. 

Appearance

Siracca is plain, for a Rillow. The tusks jutting from her cheekbones are short, unadorned and white. She tends to wear simple robes and has few features to distinguish her from her compatriots. The one thing that stands out about her is a brand in the middle of her forehead, symbolizing her heresy against Elenuator. She makes no effort to hide it, intentionally her hair short to make the brand visible. 

While tall compared to other races, she is relatively short for a Rillow woman, standing only about the height of a Human man. She lacks much of their typical broad stature as well; in fact, were it not for her tusks and ears, she might be able to pass for a tall human woman in dim light. She makes no effort to hide her heritage, however.

Helgenhar, the Trueheart

Background and overview

Helgenhar comes from a family of renowned Stoneseekers. For some time, he was content with his lot in life and enjoyed time spent with family and clan. But over the years Helgenhar started to notice subtle changes within his home. Dwarves naturally covet beautiful and valuable things, but for most the journey of finding and creating is more rewarding than ownership itself. Over time his clan’s sense of exploration and strong community started to unravel. Greed and suspicion worked it’s way into their hearts. Fathers began to image their sons plotting against them, and communication and trade began to break down with other clans. Helgenhar knew the answers lied above in the realm of men, and journeyed out to seek the truth and prevent his people from going to war.

Helgenhar Stoneseeker is a stout ally and potentially a good friend for the player character. His strong moral fiber has allowed him thus far to resist the temptations that seem to be seeping into the world. He hails from Stundur Hum, dwarven for Stone Home, which rests deep in the roots of the Skegg mountains.

Family and home are of paramount importance to Helg. He will agree when the player aligns with those interests and become upset when they go against them. He is resistant to the effects of the Greed that is infecting world, but he is not immune.

Helgenhar is very brave but can also be quite shy. He is very deliberate and carefully observes his surroundings. As such he is slow to speak and only when he is fairly sure of his words and his intentions. Many take his silence and ponderance as cowardice, but little could be further from the truth.

Gameplay

Helgenhar acts as a “Tank” role within the party. He is powerful and slow and does what he can to attract enemy attention to himself. As a dwarf he is very resistant to damage and has a large pool of hitpoints.

Helg fights against greed in the world, but it may still affect him if the player isn’t careful. In the end he can be turned and give his heart over to the curse that plagues his clan. However, he will likely leave his companion before then if the player seems to be making too many greedy decisions. A persuasive character may be able to get him to stay, but there is a fine line between keeping his friendship and maintaining his sanity in the face of greed.

Appearance

Helgenhar has a bright red beard and matching hair. He keeps his beard long and braids it to signify his role within his clan, as is dwarven tradition. He is short, stocky and has a powerful frame. His green eyes darken and burn with intensity when he is angry.

As a particularly long-lived race, Dwarves appear younger than they actually are in human terms. Helg seems to be in his early 20s, but in truth he is nearly a century old.

Bjalla, the Destined

Background and overview

The life of a Feldegug is full of harsh realities and bitterly-earned truths. Living in one of the more hostile climates, white elves have remained reclusive and xenophobic since their adaptation to the icy northern tundras. Few enter their lands, and few leave. Those who do venture away from their homeland tend to keep their own counsel, preferring to deflect attention from themselves and avoid uncomfortable questions. So it is particularly notable when a white elf makes a name for herself and does little to avoid prying eyes. When Bjalla Adelis walks down the streets of Isilmerald, people take note. And she doesn’t seem to mind.

Bjalla is a young Spellweaver of notable talent. From a young age, her greatest strengths put her at odds with Feldegug society; endless curiosity led to unanswerable questions, and those questions led to uncomfortable silences. When such questions persisted, silence became anger. As Bjalla would tell it, that anger spoke more of the white elves’ ironic resistance to change (given their origin) than it did to any sort of reasonable judgement about what Feldegug society ought to be aiming for. So it was not a surprising turn of events when she was cast out, exiled to die in the frozen wastes for one too many offensive inquiries. What the Feldegug elders likely did find surprising was that Bjalla not only avoided death in the harsh winter of the northern climes, but she managed to thrive on the experience. Escaping restrictive customs was precisely what Bjalla needed to explore her full potential, and the frozen wastes were no barrier to her goals.

In recent years, the young Spellweaver began wearing a particularly ostentatious diadem across her forehead. It was with some surprise that Isilmerald’s sages recognized the central decoration as the Third Eye: a legendary gemstone said to grant control over fate itself. Bjalla has avoided discussing either how she acquired the gem or what it actually does, though in a number of conflicts she has been involved with, witnesses reported seeing a frightening, wolf-like creature with three eyes, which invariably destroyed her opponents. Sharper-eyed viewers might have seen the Third Eye glowing in synchronicity with the raging wolf, but it would be hard to reconcile such reports with the calm and collected demeanor of the nearby sorceress. Bjalla certainly hasn’t said a word about it.

But few would deny that behind her cool gaze is a woman of purpose. A mage who will play a part in the turbulent times to come. 

And for her part, Bjalla Adelis has never denied it.

Gameplay

Bjalla is a Spellweaver, and not one prone to specialization. Her endless curiosity leads her to embracing most knowledge she encounters as being equally important. She is a wizard without a dedicated focus to her practice. But her versatility can make her less adept at any one thing. Smart characters may convince her to focus on the magical aptitudes they most need to fill in any gaps in their abilities. But they will also remember that such curiosity leads to Bjalla being a capable advisor when it comes to matters of magic. 

Bjalla cares little about material possessions, but that does not mean she is resistant to the effects of greed. Greed takes many forms, and she may well find herself overwhelmingly tempted by her desire to acquire rare or forbidden knowledge. Should a player wish to avoid her corruption, they would be best advised to keep her grounded. Bjalla may need reminders that some things are better not knowing if the price is too high.

Due to her reputation as a remarkable wizard, Bjalla may draw attention during her travels. This may have both positive and negative effects, depending on what the player wishes to accomplish at any given time. Stealthy characters may find it difficult to avoid notice while Bjalla is in the party. More ostentatious characters may find her notoriety a boon when trying to impress NPCs with the company that player keeps.

Bjalla Adelis is a romanceable character. To garner her interest, the player should show interest both in her and her goals. Bjalla seeks knowledge and the revelation of mysteries; if she finds the player character sufficiently interesting, she may be more willing to share her secrets and her person in exchange for theirs.

True to her ancestry, Bjalla remains cold (and often sarcastic) in her conversations. But as a break from tradition, characters who get to know her may find a fiery interior behind the calm veneer; this may extend beyond her thirst for knowledge into personal (and sometimes emotional) interests. To be close to Bjalla, a player must be willing to deal with the negative outlook inherited from her people, as well as the passions that define her.

Appearance

Bjalla Adelis is an average member of her species. Both Feldegug and Deroni elves tend to exhibit physical characteristics that other races consider beautiful and delicate, and she is no exception. But unlike the somewhat more carefree personalities of Deroni elves, Bjalla has inherited the serious demeanor of her upbringing, and appears generally aloof and uncaring compared to those of more emotionally expressive mortals.  

She stands at normal height for her race, with golden-blonde hair and sharp features. She tends to dress in finery more out of habit than anything else. Seeing her smile is a rare occurrence, though someone close may be able to break her out of her usually neutral demeanor.

Happy Böoreste!
over 5 years ago – Sun, Dec 23, 2018 at 01:20:10 AM

Ho there adventurers,

The Festival of Böor draws nigh! Each year in Isilmerald, the people prepare for Böoreste, Night of the god of Cold. Children gather bundles of sticks to burn as offerings to Böor to ward off the cold; women and men prepare for the heart of winter with warm blankets and strong drinks (it is of little surprise how many children seem to be born in early autumn every year). In Isilbright, a massive effigy is built for Böor, and burned at the stroke of midnight on Böoreste to ensure the god's favor in the months to come. With any luck this year, spring might come a bit early. But it has begun to look like the snows may last a while, and rumors are spreading that dangerous things have begun to walk the countryside on particularly cold nights...

The past three months were the busiest we have ever been while working on Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness. Our initial plan was to extend the brewing and drying system and finish one of the most complex quests. While implementing this complete quest and its subquests, some unexpected bugs emerged. To maximize our efficiency, most of our developers and QA team were assigned to bugfixing, getting rid of the issues in the quest and many of the bugs from our pre-Kickstarter development as well. To summarize, over the past few months, we focused on three things: 

• Processing inquiries from you regarding the BackerKit surveys (mostly in September)
• Extending our crafting system and implementing it in the game engine and UI
• Lots of bugfixing (we fixed many old and new bugs)

Funding status and surveys

You are awesome! Due to late pledges, our total funds raised from crowdfunding are now nearly $150k! We processed all inquiries that required manual action in BackerKit, so there are only 2 errored credit cards and 57 (of 3708) backers who haven't completed their BackerKit survey yet (if you are one of these, please contact us, as it seems we were not able to reach you through the email address you used when backing).

Brewing and Drying

We have extended the concepts of the brewing and drying systems based on your feedback, making them much more complex and exciting.

Brewing. We have introduced a heating device slot to the UI, which allows magical items (typically cauldrons) to be equipped. They allow you to regulate the heat of Brewing on a three-tiered scale (Low, Medium, High), opening tons of new options provided you have sufficient ability in the Brewing & Drying skill. While the maximum heat level (High) is rarely used (it usually overheats your mixture, spoiling your ingredients), some extremely rare recipes will succeed only on High heat. In the hands of very experienced alchemists, these recipes allow the creation of the most potent potions in Isilmerald.

While Brewing is enabled only once a character has invested a minimum amount of points into the Brewing & Drying skill, characters with zero skill can still use the new "Infuse" feature. Infusions involve combining ingredients in the absence of heat, allowing their essences to blend together without any skillful manipulation. There are fewer options available to a character choosing to Infuse instead of Brew, and ordinary potions created in this way are typically much less potent than their brewed counterparts. However, some plants have traits which react poorly to heat; thus, you will find some unique recipes for powerful potions which require Infusion and strictly prohibit the use of any heat in their preparation.

We are currently working on the concept of "additives,” which allow you to add certain ingredients (typically powders) after the brewing process has started, in the same fashion that you might add salt or pepper to a soup. Since this is work-in-progress, we can't reveal many details about what additives might do; suffice it to say that they will add interesting complexity to Brewing.

Drying. Here we have also introduced a heating device slot, enabling magical items (typically candles and lanterns) to be equipped in the Drying process. Candles will always provide Low heat, while lanterns allow you to regulate the heating on a three-tiered scale in the same fashion you do it when Brewing. The second tier (Medium heat) will change the chemical makeup of your powders, resulting in some unexpected changes in the powders' effects. Just like with Brewing, the third tier (High heat) normally ruins your ingredients (turning them into ashes), so this heating level is only used by the most competent alchemists.

One additional note on Brewing and Drying: Always make sure to identify magical cauldrons, lanterns and candles before use (you don't want to imagine what a cursed, evil lantern or a candle enchanted with wild magic will do...) Keep this in mind before deciding to replace your good ol' ordinary candle with a shiny magical lantern that your Lore skill is too low to identify.

Conclusion

With the crafting system more fully in place and the worst of the bugs fixed, we can continue polishing the complex primary quest we have been working on, and can also resume working on content development in general (including the implementation of Kickstarter stretch goals). Stay tuned for the next update. We have a lot in store for the next few months.  

We wish you a warm and joyous Böoreste!

The Draught of Remembrance
over 5 years ago – Fri, Aug 31, 2018 at 10:10:48 PM

Ho there adventurers,

It’s been a busy month here as we work on adding new content to the game. We wanted to give our backers a little taste of what we’ve been doing and a feel for Yerengal. The following story and music are to give all our backers a chance to imagine the Garden of Delights and better understand the game world. An item we’ve recently added to the game is highlighted, and we hope players will enjoy the way it fits into a quest they will encounter in the Rillow’s pleasure palace. Step for a moment into the Garden of Delights and try to remember…

The red moon rose over the horizon, and Ambros watched it come. The sun had not quite set, and he imagined that somewhere off to the west he could hear the echoes of battle. Blood turns the moon red, they say. It pools in the corners of the world, and the moon bathes in the carnage before rolling across the sky, searching in delight for the source of violence. The young man thoughtfully leaned back and sipped his spiced brandy. The moon, it seemed, would have much to revel over in the coming years. Isilmerald had split, and these skirmishes were only the beginning.

Around him, the smoke smelled less like the destruction out west and more like amber and lilacs. Between the strands of incense floating from the censers, the open courtyard thrummed with casual words and a low, insistent drum beat. Dancers of varying races moved gracefully through the café tables, their colorful, transparent clothes brushing against patrons’ skin as they passed (accidentally of course!) and their perfume mixing perfectly with the scented air. Ambros tried not to marvel. He’d grown up hearing about the Rillow and their decadence, but seeing it first-hand in the Garden itself? More than a little distracting. He needed to keep his head clear for what came next, he thought, as he set down his third empty glass.

Unaware of their source at first, he felt someone’s soft fingers snake into his. Ambros jumped in surprise and looked up to see the loveliest girl in Yerengal (surely!) smiling at him from under a laced purple veil. “Hu’dai will see you now,” the girl cooed, tightening her grasp slightly. Forgetting why he was there, the young man let himself be led between tables of laughing dwarves and whispering elves, over a puddle of sticky wine and through a silk curtain. Not until the girl released his hand and left his side was the spell broken. He blinked a few times in confusion.

Ambros stood in a small room, surrounded by shelves of bottles and jars. Some had contents which sparkled in the candlelight. Others seemed to devour it greedily, pulling the glow into dark and hostile depths. Most seemed unremarkable, though one might not find that much solace in the uncorking. He felt a slight twinge of danger as his eyes came into focus on the Rillow woman at the table before him. “Sit, child.” He shook his head. But still sat.

Hu’dai held her long, grey fingers in a steeple-shape; bright gold rings and ostentatious rubies suggested to Ambros a cathedral to wealth. Her smile was slow and practiced. “You come looking for dreams.” He shifted, uncomfortable on the lush satin pillow that supported him. “No, I… I need to remember something. When I was a babe, something bad happened, but I can’t-“ The Rillow alchemist let her cathedral crumble to dust with a loud rap on the table. “Dreams, child. May be true, maybe not. I can offer you knowledge, but it’s up to you to decide what it might mean.” He squirmed again, but he wouldn’t have been there if he hadn’t been sure of why. “Fine. Then I’m looking for dreams.”  

The alchemist flicked her wrist, and he suddenly felt an odd weight in his pocket. Reaching down with caution, his fingertips closed around a hard glass vial. With his other hand, Ambros searched for the coins he’d brought, but hesitated as he saw her expression. The cathedral stood tall again, the woman’s onyx eyes just beyond like dark stars in the sky above it. “You’ll pay only for what you learn. Drink, child, and dream.”

Ambros looked again at the strange draughts on the shelves around him. Uncapping the bottle in his hand, he decided that he’d rather not know what it looked like. Head back, eyes closed, mouth open, and potion tilted, he let the liquid slide past his tongue. It tasted like nothing. It seemed to be doing nothing, either. Eyes still closed, a fly buzzed past his ear. He swatted at it, annoyed at the distraction, but missed it entirely. It buzzed again, growing insistently louder. He opened his eyes.

The young man sat on a small hill in a meadow. Dragonflies and bees flew lazily about him in the warm sunlight, as above him songbirds called to each other in the trees. Shocked, he grabbed for the pillow he had been sitting on, but his hands instead found blades of grass. He took a moment to reorient himself as the (by the gods, magic!) scene continued to unfurl around him. Below the hill was a hamlet of thatched roofs and cobbled stone, just like the one he remembered in his dreams. Children played in the dirt streets, chasing a cat and shouting in joy. He could smell flowers, and leather, and baking bread. Gaining his feet, he made his way down onto the road.

It all felt familiar. He knew now, as he’d known while he slept, that he’d been here before. But while in his dreams it had all looked blurred and felt distant, everything around him now buzzed in his senses like the errant fly. This surely wasn’t a dream. He ambled through the street, taking it all in. Each house, while built from the same elements in about the same way, had its own distinct details. Herbs hung from racks in the windows and wreaths hung on doors. The doors themselves were carved to be more than plain entryways, depicting scenes of gods and family histories. This village had been here a while, he knew, and it would be here longer still. But at that last thought, he felt a sudden twinge of sadness. Searching his feelings, he couldn’t decide why, but it seemed like… something would happen here. The dreams never lasted long, so he couldn’t say what that something might be, but it made him sad in a way that he couldn’t explain.

To cheer himself up, he approached the laughing children, waving and calling out to them. None of them acknowledged him, lost in their games. Coming close, he laid his hand on an older boy’s shoulder. But the boy didn’t notice, instead grinning at his friends as he moved a branch through the dirt, drawing an obscene symbol (ha, I wonder where he learned that?) for his co-conspirators. Ambros frowned, pulled on the artist’s arm and found himself unable to move it. For all his pulling the boy wouldn’t budge an inch, and not one of his friends seemed to notice the strange man and his violent tugging (are they really here, but I’m not?). Realizing his efforts would bear no fruit, Ambros walked further into the village.

Before long, he came upon something which immediately caught his gaze. Another simple house, thatched and cobbled like all the others. But in a neatly kept garden before it grew rows of roses. Beautiful roses, violet to gold to crimson in hue, and their perfume washed over him in waves; waves not only of sensation but of more feelings he couldn’t explain. Calm, and happiness, and longing… and again, an aching sadness. He stood there for only a moment before his emotions turned to an unbearable compulsion to step inside the house (No. The home.).

Coming to the door, he tried to pull the handle but found he couldn’t move it. Overwhelmed by his desire to see what was inside, Ambros pounded on the carved wood. “Hello? Let me in! Please, let me in!” There was no reply, at first. Then he heard a woman’s voice, gentle and sweet as the roses. His compulsion reduced again to contentment, the man slumped against the door and listened to her sing.

"I once knew a boy with eyes like the sea
And I felt the tides turn when those eyes turned on me
When I saw him I knew just who I'd like to be
And around us we'd leave the world burning"

He knew the song, though with somewhat different words. Her voice though: that he knew in the deepest parts of his soul. It filled him with peace. Standing, he moved to the window to look in. A young mother rocked a yearling on her lap, smiling down at him and stroking his hair. Ambros reflexively touched his own hair, as though it were him there on her lap. He smiled despite himself as she continued to sing.

"From Freynagar's mountains I traveled afar
I followed the currents to old Dalkivar
I journeyed the spicelines t'ward the great Eastern star
With my heart for my dearest still yearning…"

And then, from somewhere behind him, came the scream.

It pierced through the calm and the joy, a keen note of terror on the breeze. Turning from the window, Ambros looked about frantically for the source. Before long, it was joined by another, and another. From the house’s garden he saw a great mass of distant shapes coming toward him. And no longer could he smell the roses; they’d been replaced by smoke. Not the smoke of hearth-fires burning, or the smoke of rare and exotic incenses. The smoke of destruction. The smoke of war.

Dozens of men, clad in furs and bloodlust, tore into the hamlet on horseback. The stick-wielding artist threw up his weapon in the street, in a vain attempt to parry a descending battleax. Ambros thought he could see the boy’s eyes still blinking in disbelief as the head rolled through the dust. Men and women rushed out to defend their homes but met much the same fate. Ambros turned back to the window in despair and saw fear in the young mother’s eyes. She fell to her knees, setting the crying child on the floor. Looking about wildly, she settled her gaze on the sleeve of her dress, then ripped off a strip of cloth and pushed it into her child’s mouth. Ambros again heard something from behind him.

An impossibly large man dismounted his charger, merely twenty paces from the house. He was dressed strikingly different from the other raiders, in tarnished plate, dented and rusted through in many places. From each such hole, blood ran out in rivulets and dripped to the ground. Ambros couldn’t tell for sure, but it sounded like each drop sizzled for a moment in the dirt, like a splash of water falling into a fire. The giant walked slowly through the roses, reaching out a gauntleted, bloody hand as though to stroke them for their beauty; each fair flower seemed to lean toward his touch, then upon tasting his blood they each caught fire.

Ambros turned back to the window, screaming and striking it in terror. “You have to get out! Go! Go while you still can!” But the woman couldn’t hear him. He watched as she closed a cabinet, tears streaming down her face, the child hidden. Turning her back to it, she sunk to the floor and continued to sing.

"On a ship I booked passage and sailed through a stormOmeyrenon raged in his oceans unwarmAnd my last drowning thought was the waters of homeIn the eyes of the lad I was missing "

The man-thing reached her front door and stopped for a moment. “No!” shrieked Ambros. “Please! Leave her! Let her live!”

The rusted steel helmet turned toward him. A hole in its faceplate seeped burning blood, but behind it Ambros could see pointed teeth and a rotting mouth. Its lips turned upward at the edge, contorting into a grim mockery of a smile.

Inside, his mother cried on the cold floor. She would die, but her child would live. He’d grow to have children of his own.

The last thing he heard was her voice.

"…and around us we’d leave the world burning…"

------

Inside her shop, Hu’dai was opening a door. A well-muscled Rillow man came in, glancing toward the table. “Another one chasing a memory, eh mistress?” She sighed. “Yes. And like all the others, he was lost chasing a truth he could never catch.” The alchemist bent low over Ambros’ corpse, scraping the bubbling, burnt flesh from around his neck with a metal tool and dropping it into a bottle. She capped it quickly, then turned back to her servant. “Take him back with the others. I think we have enough now for the next batch.”

The Rillow have a long alchemical tradition, and their mystics and scientists are always coming up with new and unique items. Players who visit the Garden of Delights will be able to acquire many such wonders from vendors, or even on quests. The Draught of Remembrance (top right item in the above picture) is a unique potion that players will encounter in such a quest. But beware: the knowledge you find might not be the knowledge you seek.

The Garden of Delights is reached!
almost 6 years ago – Fri, Jul 13, 2018 at 01:24:28 AM

You did it! The Garden of Delights will become a reality thanks to your support!

It is a hub of unknown pleasures, where the rich and powerful meet to try the most exotic experiences offered by the Rillow's most veteran hedonists. While it may seem like a paradise, beyond the swaying courtesans and heady incense lie corruption and intrigue. Players who visit may discover secret plots or perhaps just fall prey to sweet sensation. Can you resist the lovely facade of the Garden of Delights long enough to delve deeper?

We have raised more than $145,000, reaching our final stretch goal. Even though this was the last stretch goal, late backing is still available via PayPal and BackerKit as well. Every additional dollar will be used to enhance Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness.

Completed surveys were locked down in BackerKit. Backers who haven't filled out their survey yet should choose any add-ons and complete their survey as soon as possible. We will process these orders manually.

Locking surveys in 24 hours, Garden of Delights is close!
almost 6 years ago – Tue, Jul 10, 2018 at 01:03:56 AM

Ho there adventurers,

We will lock down BackerKit surveys in 24 hours. Please make sure your credit card details are correct.

Now we are very close to the Garden of Delights stretch goal thanks to your contributions. We  just need some more upgrades, add-ons and a couple of new late backers!

Visit the Rillow's pleasure palace, where corruption festers behind a delectable veneer.