We’ve been quiet for several weeks, but I’ve hit a good point where I can delve into what Cronix and I have been up to while the fourth prototype episode awaits a small handful of remaining assets from the rest of the team. We hope you find them intriguing. ;)
A young woman's passion for a fed-up man has tempted him to abandon his brother. She knew what he wanted and made it her goal to give it to him. She asked for nothing in return, but is her generosity too good to be true?
While you wait for that answer, here's a quick look at what Cronix has designed for Treyton’s frostbitten hike and future projects that will have a level select option. Aren't the crystals and Arabic-themed buttons breathtaking? :O
Good evening, vampire hunters. Would you care to join me for a drink? A spot of tea will shield you from your troubled minds for now. You might catch a glimpse of July pouring you a cup on your tote bag or phone case once I've vectored it. Or a coaster would be more suitable. ;)
Certain herbs and dragonfruit used to brew medicinal tea can tame the beast within us all, but nothing unleashes it more than black magic. Humans are believed to be inherently greedy and the magic they steal from a creature so fragile like a pixie or a hippocampus becomes a reflection of that nature. Michaela is a rare exception of magicians that acquire power through the murder of a life form previously known in legend. To protect Einsam and herself, she killed man and animal alike, but her black magic did not fracture her humanity. Only when the odds are stacked against her and Michaela's stress becomes chronic does her befouled water magic take control, temporarily changing her into a humanoid elemental composed of liquid*. Why is it only that element that burdens her as opposed to earth, fire, shadow, lightning, etc.?
Water is a force of nature that closely matches Michaela's personality; calm, gentle, and serene one moment and the next, she's violent, destructive, and reckless. Magicians that have not received an Olympian's blessing are lucky to keep their benevolence after killing one creature for its power, but it takes enduring constant trauma and still keeping her cool for Michaela to bear enough dark magic that should've altered her appearance. To seek power not out of selfishness but to protect a vulnerable soul from potentially his own blood is what ultimately makes her incorruptible. Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust on Unsplash.
Sheer willpower is a quality Michaela lives on, but not every sorcerer is that gifted. Sipping medicinal tea brewed from dragonfruit and a few specific herbs is one other method to prevent their black magic from consuming them, which is why if they choose to go down that path and avoid descending into villiany, it is recommended they keep a teapot and the necessary ingredients handy.
As always, thank you for supporting the series and we'll be back soon with more previews of Chapter 4 in Waltz of Sepulchral Silence and The Heliotrope Chronicles.
Best wishes,
WN
*Cronix went the extra mile with his take on Michaela by giving her that form a couple years back. The concept embodies her at her scariest and devastating, but it's also the reason why she must control her crippling emotions.
We’ve entered 2023 with exemplary expectations, but the year is starting to look grim. Dracula is eyeing Mt. Greylock like a fox fixated on a chicken. The internal disarray within the United States has given him time to prepare for this takeover. He had some setbacks from a group of children and students leaving college realizing that the world is not kind to dreamers, but it’s water under the bridge. His battles with him were only the beginning. The magically gifted attending the school perched on the glorious mountain gazing over New England are soon to be at the mercy of a vicious monster. Like chickens, they are vulnerable. Easier to indoctrinate. Easier to feed on if they dare resist. They will be Dracula’s ideal commodities for conquering the United States. All that it takes is a devil in the shape of a bastard child. Photo by Andrés Gómez on Unsplash.
I’ve added a floral-themed couch to give the cramped study Frederick and Eforie enter a homey touch. All that’s missing now is the recipient of the love letter they’ve been tasked to deliver. Sidiyq Qadim is illustrating his weapon so he’s running behind schedule, but if Frederick has the patience, he can join Eforie and pick out a good book. 😅
When or if the update will be released depends on when this whipper snapper’s design is finalized, but Son of a Hustler’s release is looking certain. Chubbo completed a key character in the first installment before the end of the year so as of now, we’re making Michaela’s story our top priority. Just be like her and pay no mind to the portrait. <_<
Thanks for your support as always and we hope the New Year celebrations this past week have lifted your spirits!
I'm dropping in to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and we hope you're having a festive weekend. Yesterday was just what I needed to decompress and celebrate with family. How did you celebrate the holidays? ^_^
About a couple decades ago, Frederick, Eforie, Selim, and a middle-aged Elijah found themselves face-to-face with an insurgent of snow golems that have ambushed them while passing through a frozen river at sunset. A Veiled Nocturne-organized pagan celebration was unintentionally cut short when Elijah had stolen a vial of poison they planned to use on a group of brave (foolish in the eyes of the occultists) changelings that refused to join the Dark Lord's cause. The group Elijah and the children had saved are nowhere to be found, leaving them to fight off the golems. They can only hope that the battle is buying them time to escape, but for how long? Photo by kyle sanguin on Unsplash.
Speaking of changelings, the ones that Eforie has encountered in our upcoming Book 1: Scars of the Past Chapter 2 will be available as merch in my Society6 store by this coming weekend so keep an eye out for the announcement in addition to our New Year's celebration on our much-loved Rainbow Road. :)
Have a holly, jolly Christmas and we'll see you soon.
I just wanted to pop in to take a moment to wish everyone in the US a happy Thanksgiving. If you’re not from the United States or are a witch or wizard at heart that chooses not to celebrate, we wish you a Happy Harvest Day. Frederick, a couple members of their group, and an inhabitant of Baudelaire Village accompanying them as their guide are celebrating theirs in the ruins of a monastery lost in the mists of time. Frederick is not too hungry and has been keeping to himself since the group arrived. Ioana realizes that something about his mood is amiss so she decides to keep him company. She is not the type to pry, but she lets him know if there's anything he wishes to say, she won't judge him. Frederick thanks her, even though he cannot admit to her that he misses his other half because he still blames himself for his captivity. Ioana decides to hand her friend a radiant candle-infused weapon containing a mixture of potent earth and fire magic. She offers him to help her and their guide illuminate the area for the small shindig. She hopes that it'll help him feel more included in the group and hopefully, take his mind off of his other half. The stars are bright, but they are scarcely enough for the area to be visible to the naked eye. Frederick calmly accepts and the duo stands up. He glares at the orange trees and night sky. He takes a deep breath, softly smiles, and reminds himself that it is a big world and while it is okay to worry, it is a day for giving thanks and show gratitude for the positive aspects of his life he's been blessed with, no matter how big or small they may seem to be. Photo by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash.
Cronix has done such a marvelous job with the series so far that we thought we would start featuring a segment on our blog called, "Weekdays or Weekends with Cronix" where we will showcase his finished products, what our plans for them are going to be down the road, and have the whole day revolve around our star digital artist. Don't get used to it, though. He's a busy dude and our budget can be tight so this will be a once every blue moon thing. In the meantime, let's see what he's got;
An important word of advice that I learned from working with Cronix after I assigned him to illustrate his take on Treyton and Michaela is that I must learn to expect the unexpected. As artists, we must be spontaneous and passionate with our work by not only viewing the world through our own eyes, but also going wild with imagination. While I was on vacation, Cronix demonstrated that he embodies these characteristics by transforming these vampire hunters into monstrous creatures, an idea that wasn't originally planned for their respective stories. It surprised me so much that was brainstorming during walks around the shore in between my week long photo shoots, wondering how these concepts can work. Then I realized that they both had fewer obstacles that challenged their abilities to keep their tainted sorcery in check and put their friendships with the people they cared about to the test.
Does anyone remember when I established the negative effects that black magic can have on a mortal? If you either don't remember it or haven't read it at all, we got you covered. We saved you a ton of time spent scrolling by enclosing a link to the article. No need to thank us. ;) Michaela is well aware that her mental state is fragile so under normal circumstances, she has no trouble leaving emotions to the side. She rarely loses her composure even when facing situations where she's had falling outs with old friends and ex-lover. At the start of her quest, however, she had slain the reclusive cyclops, Polyphemus, in his hideout in the Victoria Oakley Bridge. His death allowed her to acquire water magic in large quantities, allowing her to seamlessly manipulate the element and survive underwater. In comparison to other types of elemental magic she would acquire later on, water magic has made it the hardest for the young swordswoman to control her emotions.
Bearing in mind Michaela has not been blessed by the likes of Poseidon nor has a blood relation to him or another ocean deity, prolonged use will temporarily transform her into a humanoid water elemental for a minute and a half. While Michaela is mostly invincible in that form and her water-based sorcery is far more dangerous, she loses her sense of self, causing her to go berserk. This side of her is a figment of the ocean’s wrath during a storm. It is a transformation that shouldn’t be triggered too often because Michaela can accidentally harm innocent lives assuming they’ll attack her next. She remembers everything that occurs while in this state and is not above remorse if she caused unnecessary, long-lasting damage. The stronger a water-based weapon Michaela is currently using, the faster she triggers this transformation so she needs to be mindful of that power. Her water elemental form is a testament of how badly black magic can affect its user if they let that power go to their head.
During gameplay in Heliotrope Journey: Son of a Hustler, Michaela's water elemental form will be enabled the same way that Frederick is transformed into a mimic after touch a coin bearing the likeness of the Dark Lord. Until that chapter is reached, Michaela will be temporarily wearing a different outfit.
Treyton's predicament is different because his transformation is not the result of black magic per se, but an external source that shared a body with him some years before the harvest moon ritual involving him and his older brother took place. The Sock and Buskin mask seen on his T-Shirt is a complicated parasitic dark spirit that relies heavily on a host body to stay alive, but only if the host themselves is alive. As you probably know, Treyton struggles with a curse that makes him subconsciously forgo eating and he starves himself. Throughout the prototype episodes, his condition is heavily focused on and the origins of it were finally revealed after his encounter with Mihnea cel Rau.
The role that the dark spirit plays is that should Treyton come close to death from starvation, it easily takes control of his body and feeds on black magic that gets converted to energy even if it means slaughtering a mythological creature to do so. Treyton has little control of himself in that state, but with a smidge of willpower once he has enough “nutrients” given to him by the dark spirit, he’ll be able to snap out of it and it retreats back to his T-Shirt. It doesn’t seem parasitic because the spirit is keeping his body alive, but it is still imperative that he eats actual food to combat his condition. It is feared that if Treyton makes no effort and lets the spirit gives him the nutrition his body needs, it would allow the dark spirit to completely take control and chances are he wouldn’t be able to revert back to normal.
For the time being, Laifl, Annalise, Ike, Clara, and Professor Onionhead are oblivious to the spirit's existence, but they nonetheless still coax Treyton to eat a healthy diet to delay the Veiled Nocturne's desire to claim his soul. Our heroes are, thankfully, being safe than sorry.
And last but not least, a new version of The Heliotrope Chronicles can be previewed on my channel. Anthony Cronander's skeleton key will allow players to unlock doors leading to boss battles and Cronix has fashioned crystal bullets to contain with flying enemies. Up next; the actual boss fight. Will you be ready to face it? D:
Thank you for your support as always and have a great weekend!
We have exciting news to share with you; Anthony Cronander is back on the squad!!! He's super excited to help out once more and cannot wait to show you guys what he is stirring up in between his romantic hiking trips and busy schedule. :D
For the time being, let's take a look at a skeleton key he fashioned to help Frederick unlock a door that one might conveniently find in an enchanted swamp. It's unfortunately out of reach for an average mortal, but once he takes the form of a mimic, he'll leap to extraordinary heights. It will allow him to not only find shortcuts, but quickly escape . Be careful. Coins that bear the likeness of the Dark Lord will only reappear when you turn back on the area so once you're stuck, you might as well return to square one. *shudders.*
Sidiyq Qadim, KawaiiPixelArts, Chubbo, and The.Pixel.Junky have also been assigned their respective projects to help prepare for the holiday seasons ahead in addition to upcoming content for The Heliotrope Chronicles and Michaela's story arc; Son of a Hustler. The development process for the latter will begin as soon as the demo for our new engine is completely fleshed out. But before we go wild, I first need to flesh out this seashell. 😅
Stay tuned for next week when I showcase two shocking, out-of-this-world storyline ideas I improvised on vacation when I discovered Cronix went above and beyond by giving Michaela and Treyton monstrous forms. What can I say? After a while, I learned to expect the unexpected from this imaginative dude.
Our artists have been busy bees lately. Cronix has just been given a long-term project to keep him occupied for summer's second leg (His own endeavors also take up some of his space. Have you seen his fanart for another fantasy game? It's stunning. :D), Sidiyq Qadim is tirelessly forging new weapons for our heroes and their enemies alike, and Chubbo is currently carving two ancient statues to decorate the Leafgroove Mountains as millennial adventurers from the magical sector
recognize it. Long before Treyton's untimely visit, it was once a vibrant dwarven settlement. Outsiders were mostly welcomed with open arms and help during times of need were greatly appreciated as we'll soon see when Frederick and Eforie make a detour of their own. Unfortunately, heavy fighting during Humanity’s Abnegation had ravaged the settlement and some if not most of the surviving dwarfs have moved deeper underground. Those that remained behind guard their former home with their lives to prevent their remaining relics from being looted or destroyed. What preservationist wouldn't blame them? Photo by Biel Morro on Unsplash.
An old amateurish animation I created in Autodesk Maya during my senior year in high school will soon be getting a 2D remake. Its storyline will remain the same, but it will be revised to feature Vlad Tepes's failed attempt to invade London in the 21st century and how three bystanders bravely helped Frederick, Eforie, and Abiataka thwart it. I've decided to try something by requesting KawaiiPixelArts to begin designing characters for a change and she started off with Esther, one such bystander whose best friend was abducted by the seductive Lucy Westerna. KawaiiPixelArts did such a beautiful job capturing Esther's innocence and beauty in her one-of-a-kind style that I decided to assign her with designing the remaining two bystanders next month. So brace yourselves for an imminent cuteness overload when she crosses that bridge. ^_^
As for me, I got back to work on a demo I started producing in Game Maker Studio last summer and it's looking promising. I've always wanted to develop a video game using real-world photos as backgrounds for the levels. I believe it will be an innovative way for the team to integrate fascinating world of photography into gaming and encourage our audience to educate themselves about our Spaceship Earth as well as interpret it through their own eyes. If all goes well, and that's a big "if" assuming boss battles can be implemented with this engine, I will be pleased to tell you this will be where we'll be producing future installments for Heliotrope Journey from that point forward. :)
Enjoy this preview of what we've got so far and have a good weekend.
