#book of lore

[malachimoet]

Wanted to draw Tianhuo in her armor of sorts based on her Book Of Lore's beta design.

[forgottenvalorart]

[doubtspirit]

Lansenschlange from Grimm Aunt Marie's book of lore

[narwana-games]

Battlerite: Book of Lore - nowe życie czempionów

Ostatnimi czasy nie gram już całymi wieczorami w Battlerite (do tej pory spędziłam w tej grze 471 godzin, a w Battlerite Royale 175), zwłaszcza że pozmieniało się tam bardzo dużo - wprowadzono system nagród przypominający ten z Fortnite - i tytuł, zamiast zyskiwać na popularności, raczej się nią nie cieszy.

Na Battlerite przypada około tysiąca aktywnych graczy (tzn. tych, którzy w aktualnym momencie są akurat w grze), zaś na BR niecałe dwieście pięćdziesiąt. Jest natomiast jedna rzecz, o jakiej chciałam napisać post już parę miesięcy temu, a która wydaje się miłym dodatkiem od Stunlock Studios. Mowa tu o Book of Lore.

Czym jest Book of Lore? To strona umożliwiająca wejście w świat czempionów z Battlerite i poznanie ich od tej intymniejszej strony. Zacznijmy od tego, że mapa - stanowiąca jedną z dwóch zakładek - przenosi odbiorcę do Verdii podzielonej na kilkanaście krain różniących się klimatem, strukturą oraz mieszkańcami. Można tu sprawdzić, z jakiego obszaru pochodzi dana postać i z kim sąsiaduje. I nikogo, kto zna Battlerite, nie powinno zdziwić, że Alysia i Freya przed Areną zamieszkiwały Północ, a Shifu - mistrz Raigona - jest umieszczony na mapie nieopodal swego wychowanka. Nie dziwi także to, że Thorn - postrach leśnych stworzeń - pochodzi z półwyspu będącego domem Blossom.

Mapa jest bardzo duża i oprócz tego, że można poczytać o terenach Verdii i postaciach, to ukazuje także lokalizację wszystkich aren dostępnych w grze. Ale to, co interesuje mnie bardziej, to opowiadania przedstawiające życie każdego z czempionów osobno. Wszystkie te historie są napisane przez jednego człowieka - Christophera Harrow (Harrowa?). Nie mogłam się doszukać informacji o tym panu, bo Google wypluło kilkunastu takich Christopherów. W każdym razie mogę wywnioskować, że jest to pisarz z solidnym warsztatem, bo wciela się niesamowicie w postacie z Battlerite. Jedne opowiadania przypominają legendy, inne wyglądają jak zapiski z pamiętnika, a pozostałe są napisane standardowo, czyli w narracji trzecioosboowej z licznymi dialogami.

Do tej pory ukazało się piętnaście tekstów, w tym jedno o Talon Island (świat z Battlerite Royale). Jeszcze do niedawna publikacje ukazywały się regularnie, to znaczy co tydzień, teraz ukazują się znacznie rzadziej. Ja jednak wierzę, że za jakiś dłuższy czas wszyscy czempioni będą mieć już własne tło ujęte w ramy właśnie takiego opowiadanka. Jeśli chodzi o długość, tu jest naprawdę różnie, ale nie są to bardzo rozległe czy męczące teksty.

Dodam, że każdy z nich jest przyozdobiony pięknymi ilustracjami różnych twórców. Autorzy powinni być wymieniani, niestety nie są, ale pod względem stylów jest tu spory miszmasz.

Jak na razie nie umiem wybrać ulubionego opowiadania. Bardzo podobało mi się ukazanie wrażliwej strony Ashki w "The Living Shroud". Chłopiec o złotych oczach tak mnie ujął za serce, że natychmiast zapałałam do tego bohatera większą sympatią. Przepiękną historię w nordyckim klimacie otrzymała Freya, która swoje dwa młoty do walki otrzymała po ciężkiej batalii. Odczułam chłód, czytając o Alysii - mroźnej czarodziejce lodu - i jednocześnie współczułam, że wszyscy wokół niej byli tak surowi i największą wagę przykładali do bogactw. Dobrze czytało mi się też wiele innych historii, a najważniejsze jest to, iż w ten sposób czempioni otrzymali nowe życie.

I na koniec - teksty są dostępne jedynie po angielsku, natomiast autor w większości przypadków zachowuje prosty język i łatwe do zrozumienia sformułowania. W ostateczności można wrzucić je w Google Translate, jednak nie będzie to profesjonalne tłumaczenie.

Do następnego!

[reflection-of-no-one]

Book of Lore - Chapter 3: War of the Realms & Fall of the Venator

The Venator’s used the same techniques they had seen beings of other beings use to open gates to other realms. They rallied people behind them under their banner, convincing hundreds, thousands even, that the only way to guarantee there safety was to destroy their enemies at the source. The Armies of the Venator’s marched, lead by the hunters, into the Realms.

The other realms had been used to visitors, but nothing of this scale, thousands poured through in an effort to bring death to all those within the realms that bordered Eternia. Two realms had nearly been fully cleansed of life before the word spread and resistance was built, and a total of five realms had been cleansed of life or destroyed entirely before the Venator’s armies were able to be brought to a stop. It required several things to bring about a halt to the ever advancing hunters, several races who had never before even spoke had to become strong allies in order to stop them, sacrifices made that thought impossible before. The war waged on for centuries...

The Venator’s were masters at what they did, but they were yet still mortal, they had to eat, sleep, and sire the next generation, it is thought by some the soul reason that the longer lived races began to be able to push back. It wasn’t until two legions of Venator troops, lead by some of their greatest hunters, was separated from the rest when a world they went to invade was closed behind them as a trap, that the tides began to turn. The human armies were pushed back, all the way back to Eternia itself... and that is where things went further south for the Venators.

As it turned out, people became rather cross when the safety they were promised was compromised, and it was within only two generations that a deal was struck between the humans and the other worlds to end the war, and to disarm the Hunters, branding them as outsiders instead of leaders. The elders of the remaining Venator’s were put to death, not by hand of Demon nor Monster, but by man, and with that the war, and the Venator’s, were over, the remaining dispersed among the human populace...

Meanwhile, the lost legions discovered the risk of being cut off fully from their home Realm... the energy, the magic, that fed the hunters, was cut off, no longer able to give them strength. It left a void in them that could not be filled by classic means. They began to turn on each other, take what little remaining hunter energy was left from one another. 

The legions war’d among themselves for decades, all the while, their supply of the red magic of their home, was quickly dwindling. Things turned desperate near the end, with one of the few remaining hunters turning to the magic of the now death world they lived in in order to gain an upper hand. What happened next was the creation of something terrifying.

The Hunter commander, known as Searle, one of the few pure blooded Hunters remaining, had a massive gem carved from him, a clear gem of massive proportions(for gems). Using a corrupted form of the gate spells, he used the gem in an attempt to drain all the remaining red hunter magic to it, for him to wield. Unfortunately, it didn’t go quiet as planned, and the gem began to absorb all energy to itself. His armies fell quickly to the spell, as did that of his enemies, and the remaining hunters, then beyond, the animal life and plants withered as there life force was drained, even the seals that kept the realm closed off were eventually sapped. And so it became known as Passage Hills, the Realm of death.

In the next Book of Lore, we learn of the fate of the last pure blooded family of Hunters in the realm of Eternia, the Devereux Family.

[reflection-of-no-one]

Book of Lore - Chapter 2: The Rise of The Hunters

In certain realms, there are individuals that somehow tap into a greater power, the very power that helped form the Realms in the first place. How it manifests itself varies from person to person, one of the most common forms has become to be known as Magic. Magic comes in all variety of shapes and sizes, so much so that two forms can seem worlds apart yet do the same thing.

In the realm of Eternia, which as a reminder, is a crossworlds Realm, where many other realms pass through, one clan of ancient man came across a very peculiar form of this power, this magic. This isolated clan of primitives somehow became infused with great yet subtle power, possibly by some ancient goddess, or possibly by some tare in the fabric of space time, the details are unclear.

Whatever it was that granted this power, one thing became clear, this ancient clan became exceedingly good at slaying the horrors of other realms, the ones that would invade the crossroads and turn it into a barren wasteland simply used for travel. This clan thrived as it hunted, besting demon, monstrosity, and even divine, all in the name of humanity. 

Other tribes came and fell under there protection, allowing the world they lived on to start to prosper as the threats from the outside became less regular, most learning to leave this Realm alone for there own safety. Such a thing that has happened many time before, crossroads being pushed from there position as they are deemed too dangerous or troublesome to use as pathways. As would have been the fate of Eternia, if not for the same tribe.

You see, the tribe, now gathered under a common banner, black and red in color, a sword wrapped in a thorned rose, they took the name of The Venator, and they were born and bred warriors. They were well sought after in the wars of man to slay eachother, but common human were mere bores to the Venator, they sought greater game, the kind which had been frightened away from there realm for several generations.

So, in a bid to continue there craft, they switched from the protectors of Eternia, to Invaders of the Realms.

Next time, we will speak of the wars of the Venator, the rise of the Fallen, and the Fall of the once great hunters...

[drwolf001]

With characters partly influenced and even partly created by Lauren Faust herself, I'm rather intrigued by the world they're creating for this game...