THE MOONLESS DEMO IS NOW AVAILABLE TO PLAY ON ITCH.IO!
You are one of the illune, a moonless guard tasked with the protection of the minds of the Royal Family of Spala, and now with the mysterious disappearances of an increasingly large amount of your people.
Set in a fantasy world inspired by ancient mediterranean civilizations, you play as an illune - a moonless mind guard - of the royal family. Unlike humans, moonless have no magical talents but the ability to walk the sleeping minds of others. It is something which historically has made the moonless outcasts of Spala’s society, but since gaining the trust and favor of both the royal family and the senate, things are changing for the better for your people.
Or they were, until moonless started disappearing under mysterious circumstances from the capital city Amelare.
Tasked by the royal family, with only rumors of the missing moonless suffering from strange dreams leading up to their disappearances, you and a small group of companions set out to find out why this is happening. But what will happen when the very same dreams begin to affect you? And what will you do when you discover a far bigger scheme than you could have ever imagined - and truths about the moonless people that will shake the realms to their cores?
DISCLAIMERS [and mild spoilers] UNDER THE CUT
The current version of the demo contains the first scene of the prologue and is just under 13k words in total. The Moonless is still a game in (very early) development and changes to the story might occur along the way.
The prologue takes place about a decade before the main game and thus Rainn is the only RO that will appear in-game at the moment as they have a previously established relationship with MC. Their relationship will remain unaffected by any choices you make in the prologue (so far, at least).
If you encounter any bugs and/or error messages, feel free to contact me here via asks/DMs, or through my email: [email protected]
Plans for implementing a light mode and adding a dyslexic-friendly font are in progress, as well as adding custom artwork but I was unable to complete that in time because of procrastination and will hopefully be completed within the next week.
Oh hey it's The Moonless! In which I wanted to draw a werewolf Snufkin and an Inugami and make them friends lol
I really like Shifty's design, I saw it real clearly and I actually managed to capture it pretty well!! And Makari is a cutie because I love Inugami ;w;
[image description: text on a back background. the text reads:
“Take heed, of the Deity of Plenty, breaker of oaths
a Creator of dissent, Their betrayal brought ruin
to the Divine lands They sought to usurp
Cast out by the Moon, Queen of the Nine,
the Deity of Penty [Plenty] lies forgotten, erased for Their deeds
in the shadows They wrought
waiting, to be set Free”/end id]
The Moonless demo is finally here!!!! You can find it here
You are one of the illune, a moonless guard tasked with the protection of the minds of the Royal Family of Spala, and now with the mysterious disappearances of an increasingly large amount of your people.
Set in a fantasy world inspired by ancient mediterranean civilizations, you play as an illune - a moonless mind guard - of the royal family. Unlike humans, moonless have no magical talents but the ability to walk the sleeping minds of others. It is something which historically has made the moonless outcasts of Spala’s society, but since gaining the trust and favor of both the royal family and the senate, things are changing for the better for your people.
Or they were, until moonless started disappearing under mysterious circumstances from the capital city Amelare.
Tasked by the royal family, with only rumors of the missing moonless suffering from strange dreams leading up to their disappearances, you and a small group of companions set out to find out why this is happening. But what will happen when the very same dreams begin to affect you? And what will you do when you discover a far bigger scheme than you could have ever imagined - and truths about the moonless people that will shake the realms to their cores?
The Moonless is the first book in a series of interactive novels, with features including:
The Moonless. Play as a moonless, a homebrew fantasy race of giant, magicless beings.
A fully customizable MC. Decide name, gender, pronouns, appearance, weapons and specialization, among other things.
Build relationships. The Moonless is a relationship driven story, with six potential romance options of different sexualities and genders: two gender-selectable, one non-binary, one female and one male, as well as one (potential) poly route!
Investigate a mystery. Discover the reason behind the disappearances of the moonless people - and the history of both your people and yourself.
Choices that matter. This game is heavily character driven, with choices that will affect your character, your companions and the world at large!
Note: THIS GAME AND BLOG ARE MEANT FOR A MATURE AUDIENCE (18+). Minors DNI. Content warnings will be listed in the demo, and include (but are not limited to) violence, strong language, and sexual themes.
the doppelgänger. SILAS [late 20s, trans gender-selectable, romanceable by any mc]
As the proxy of the heir to Spala’s throne, Silas has spent most of their life living as someone else. Now outside the palace, they are free to lead their own life and yet they seem content to quietly follow you. What else do they hide underneath their mask beside their face?
the smuggler. RAINN [early 30s, non-binary, they/them, romanceable by male / nb mcs]
Like all moonless, Rainn has a distinctly non-human appearance. Dark indigo skin with white, cloud-like patches, lavender hair, and bright silver eyes, they are the very image of a stormy night. But through they easily stand out in a crowd, they’re a master at stealth and an active part of Spala’s moonless underworld. A face from your past, but what are their feelings on your reunion?
the apprentice. KHALIDA [early 20s, trans woman, she/her, romanceable by female / nb mcs]
Though young and untested, there is more than meets the eye with Khalida. Quick with a blade and nimbler than most, she relies more on her physical skill than her magical talents. Loyal to a fault, she was devastated when her mentor became another moonless to have gone missing. Determined to find them, she will stop at nothing to bring them home.
the captain. MAL/MALIK/MALIKA [mid 20s, gender-selectable, romanceable by any mc]
Always with a twinkle in their dark eyes, M would hardly strike anyone as a mighty warrior, and neither does xe want to. As the Captain of the Little Fortune, a private merchant vessel from al-Makāni, all xe wishes for is fun adventure, passionate romance, hold the danger, please.
the unknown one. [REDACTED] [age unknown, cis male, he/him, romanceable by any mc]
He calls to you in your dreams, but there is no face to put to his voice. Moonless - because who else can walk the dreams of others? - with motives as murky as any marsh and a rage to rival the seas. As you search for answers, one question echoes louder in your mind than any other: why does he sound so familiar?
PSA. While I’m perfectly comfortable with anyone headcanoning the cis ROs as trans, DO NOT feel free to imagine my trans characters as cis. Period.
The Unknown one speaks to you in your dreams, calling you to come to him like a siren from the depths of the ocean. An obvious mystery, he seems to know as much about himself as you do. From what little you are able to glean about him, he seems genuine and his only request is for your aid, but for what you cannot tell.
He seems full of rage, but you don’t know where his anger comes from. You don’t know if he knows where it stems from, you aren’t even sure if he is aware of his wrath. On the surface he is calm, but you can feel it under there, slowly reaching its boiling point.
As he appears in your dreams, you have to assume he is moonless.
Somehow, he seems familiar, and yet you can never really remember what he looks like when you wake up. Pale skinned, with freckles covering every inch exposed. Brightly colored eyes that nearly glow. Short hair. He feels larger than life, a mountain of a man. But nothing more distinctive than that. No hair color, not the hue of his skin.
Everything about him always feels just beyond your reach.
the doppelgänger. silas. late 20s. gender-selectable.
As your charge, you have wandered through Silas’ mind every night for the past decade, keeping them safe as they sleep, but how much can you truly know someone from only their dreams? What more is it to them than what their subconscious mind has shared with you?
Quiet and reserved, they share very little about themself with others besides their silent loyalty towards you, their vow to protect you on this quest as you have protected them.
Around strangers they’re shy, and a little bit cautious, but there is a tentative excitement about them, getting to truly experience life outside the royal palace for the first time.
Just above average height for a human, with an athletic build, Silas has golden brown skin spotted with numerous moles, birthmarks and scars - the most prominent of scars is one across their right cheek, stretching from the top of their upper lip, across their eye and to their hairline.
Their black hair is thick and curly, just reaching their shoulders. They have downturned eyes that are a warm green, with flecks of brown, an aquiline nose and thin lips.
A moonless from your past, you and Rainn grew up together at the same orphanage. When the two of you got too old to stay, you left together. You were partners in crime, literally. Perhaps you were even friends. Then you were recruited by the Illune, and the two of you lost touch. Now more than a decade has passed since you last heard from them.
Rainn is a person used to standing out in a crowd, but they are just as capable of blending in - or even disappearing entirely - should they wish, having been a part of the moonless underground for most of their life.
A hard one to pin down, they rarely show what they truly think and feel. To most people they seem pleasant enough, sometimes even funny, never letting insults or adversity get under their skin. But rarely does Rainn let anyone past the many walls they’ve built around themself.
Taller than even most moonless, Rainn has a lean build, fit but not overly muscular. Their skin is indigo blue in color, with a white mark across the left side of their face, like a cloud lit up by lightning across their eye, a reminder of the stormy night they were born. They have heterochromia, one of their eyes pitch black, like a large majority of moonless’ eyes, while the other one is as white as the cloud around the eye. Their slightly hooked nose is pierced.
They keep their lavender hair shaved at the sides and longer at the back, on occasion styled back in a ponytail or braid, and their chin is usually scruffy with a two day stubble.
