The Shadowwalkers

The Shadowwalkers is an Interactive Fiction game set in The Oath of the Landwalker universe. The game has a fully customisable MC with non-binary options, five romance routes with polya-friendly and aroace-friendly alternatives and a sprawling fantasy world meaningfully affected by the MC's choices.

[theshadowwalkers]

The Shadowwalkers is a high fantasy interactive fiction, set in the universe of The Oath of the Landwalker, a multimedia series including a book series, a comic, and the Shadowwalkers interactive fiction. The game is text-based with illustrations sprinkled throughout the work, and features a highly-customisable Main Character, as well as a full set of romantic partners, with alternative routes.

The Shadowwalkers will have a forever-free demo, as well as a forever-free full release with paid optional elements that won’t infringe on the core narrative, or rob the player of the full experience.

The Shadowwalkers takes places in the Oath of the Landwalker universe, on the fringe of the action set in the main book series. Enschka is a large continent, surrounded on all sides by seas, oceans and mountain ranges that keep it away from the rest of the world. Home to six very distinct races, Enschka has been the theatre to a thousand-year war between the traditional and ritual-heavy Ahn’né people of the Dreaming Woods, and the Islander warrior culture of the J’kaï. Each of the remaining four races had to take sides in this sprawling conflict that affects the entire continent.

The people of Enschka wield a power that has many names, but is commonly referred to as The Particles. Each race is able to use and master it in their own ways, and they’ve built their strengths around the Particles. The Ahn’né call it irha, ‘the centre’, and those who become skilled in its use, irhamek, or masters of irha. Fighting in such a long-lasting war has made most of Enschka’s people into warriors and soldiers, and the Ahn’né youth is no exception.

You are an Ahn’né soldier, on your graduation day in the Military Academy of Ahn-Seriel, the capital city of the Dreaming Woods. Born in one of three ethnic groups, you belong to House Haravel, and during your time at the Academy, you showed such incredible skill that you gained the Queen’s Notice, a rare and incredibly high praise. That recognition won you something else, however: a space in the secret Ashto’ïreq Guild, the Guild of the Shadowwalkers.

Now a graduate of the Military Academy of Ahn-Seriel, and a secret member of the Ashto’ïreq, you are sent to the front on the Coast to fight against the J’kaï for the very first time in your life. You will survive, whatever the cost, and help your unit with the unique abilities of your Guild.

Meet your unit, build your squad, train and improve your skills, but remember to take some time to get to know the people you’re fighting alongside of. And if you happen to uncover a conspiracy that seems to span the entire continent of Enschka and run deeper than the secrets of your own Guild, well...

You’re the one in control here. Let’s see what choices you make.

Customise your Main Character

gender: feminine, masculine and gender-neutral traits (human genders aren’t a thing in Enschka, but you’ll be able to pick between he/she/they pronouns, as well as customise things like your gender expression and presentation)

sexuality: your MC can be allosexual or asexual, with all characters still being romanceable and the world acknowledging either choice. Asexual MCs will get one sex scene per LI specifically designed for a sex-positive asexual if they so choose to play as one. Otherwise, the sexual content present for allosexual MCs won’t be present. There is also the possibility of going for an aromantic route with any LI, with access to the allosexual sexual content if you so choose. Finally, your MC can go for a polyamorous route with two specific LIs

personality: choose main personality traits and minor specialisations of those that will influence how you interact with the world and restrict or expand your dialogue options

place in the world: you’ll pick which ethnicity your MC is a part of in the Ahn’né  people, who House Haravel is and what its relationship to the other Ahn’né is like, what your stance is on issues of politics and morality specific to the world of Enschka

Get to know your squad

You’ll be able to experience special relationships with the people around you, including five LIs as well as a number of NPCs for you to meet and bond with

Choose your squadmates to fight on the battlefield and get closer to them by talking and training with them to improve your effectiveness during the war

Make decisions on the battlefield, and the squadmates you bring with you as well as your relationship with them will influence the outcome of squirmishes and larger battles

Choose how the story ends

Based on your choices and the time you spent with your squad, you’ll get one of three possible endings (plus a secret, hard-to-obtain fourth option) that will reflect on the time and work you put into getting closer to the people around you, getting to know your enemies and learning more about the world of Enschka by reading the codex entries related to events happening during the story.

The Shadowwalkers has five possible love interests for you to meet and bond with, as well as the possibility to choose a polyamorous relationship, an asexual relationship, or a platonic/aromantic route. You can get more information on the LIs by going to the romance section of the blog.

The Love Interests are:

Olaÿ Erenalui (masculine) || Dreamer

a fellow graduate of the Military Academy, Olaÿ is a prodigy in the use of irha, with a pool of irha so big that the entire particle network of his body is visible underneath his skin. Olaÿ has all it takes to become one of, if not the most powerful irhamek in Ahn’né history. A gentle giant, Olaÿ desperately wants to control his strength, which tends to scare everyone away. It’s up to you to convince him he can count on you and put his fragile trust in your hands.

Olaÿ is canonly asexual. He’s also one of the two people potentially involved in a polyamorous triad with the main character.

Mehetÿl of Ashbloom Domain (feminine) || Sylvain

a soldier in the Queen’s army, who you meet during your first campaign. Mehetÿl has a secret past for you to discover, which is the key to understand why, despite her youth, she’s been put in positions that would normally be exclusive to much older soldiers. Withdrawn and secretive, Mehetÿl has the toughest shell of all LIs to crack, but you’ll be rewarded with a loving LI if you manage to prove yourself worthy of knowing her secrets.

Hé'noür of House Faon'den (gender-neutral) || Sept

Hé'noür is an apprentice under Jora Dil'norr of House Naradrilen, the Companion of Queen Anathÿ’s second child. For the better part of their life, Hé'noür has been learning how to be a healer, and more specifically, how to be a battlefield medic. The Healing Rooms of Ahn-Seriel train both civilian and military healers alike, and provide the latter with the opportunity to work with the Military Academy so that the future soldiers and healers coming out of these training institutions are used to working together before going to war. Hé'noür comes from an old House in the Septentrion, a House that used to produce irha master after irha master. Hé'noür’s decision to become a healer instead was very poorly received by their House, and for the entire duration of their stay in Ahn-Seriel, they’ve been essentially taken off House Faon'den’s records.

Aubiel, child of the Stone (masculine) || Fée

The Fées and the Ahn’né have been allies since the Treaty of Mirka was signed, only 80 turns after the Exodus that brought the Ahn’né to Enschka. No Alliance in the continent is older than the one tying the two people together. Aubiel is one of the soldiers sent to the Dreaming Woods alongside a battalion of Fées as part of said alliance. Since the beginning of the war, Fées soldiers have been sent to the battlefield to support the Ahn’né army; Aubiel has been training all his life to be one of the soldiers sent to fight in the war. Hot-blooded and with an iron will, Aubiel is as impressively stubborn as he is frighteningly competent.

Aubiel is one of the two people potentially involved in a polyamorous triad with the main character.

Sheoril Ashall'dil (feminine) || Dreamer

Sheoril is a hunter. Like many civilians, she’s been selected to join the campaign on the coastal front, for the unique skillset she possess in keeping the Ahn’né army alive and functioning. Hunters and other craftmen like her are taught to use their irha in very specific, highly specialised ways. Sheoril can disappear in any natural environment, follow a track for days, she knows how to freeze food in time so it never spoils. She’s invaluable to a caravan of marching soldiers who has neither time nor skill to provide for their own meals. But Sheoril isn’t an ordinary hunter. Member of an underground Guild, she has her own goals during this mission, and her use of irha might just go against all the rules set in place by the scholar world.

You can learn more about the world of Enschka by visiting the TOTL section of the blog, or simply sending an ask to talk about it! The first book in the series is in its final stage of drafting and will enter revisions soon after. The comic is being developed and is, for now, exclusive to my Patreon

Follow the progress of The Shadowwalkers and learn all about The Oath of the Landwalker universe by following this blog, and I’ll keep you all updated on the progress of the Demo for the game! If you have any questions, you can always check out the FAQ section or reach out via ask.

___________

Support me on Patreon and Ko-fi

Commission a piece of art

Commission a story

[theshadowwalkers]

Join The Shadowwalkers Discord!

From March 15th-25th, the official Discord will have a limited beta. The invite will be open to anyone during this time, after which it’ll close for a time as we do a test run to see if it works as we want, get some feedback, see if Discord is the way to go for this project. If we go this way, then the server will open to the public at the same time as the demo releases, which will be pretty soon after if everything goes as planned. So if you want to be a part of the limited number of people who’ll join first, click the invite!

Also, we’re looking for a couple of mods, so if this is something you’d like to do, you can say so inside the server and try it out during this limited beta.

[theshadowwalkers]

Join The Shadowwalkers Discord!

From March 15th-25th, the official Discord will have a limited beta. The invite will be open to anyone during this time, after which it’ll close for a time as we do a test run to see if it works as we want, get some feedback, see if Discord is the way to go for this project. If we go this way, then the server will open to the public at the same time as the demo releases, which will be pretty soon after if everything goes as planned. So if you want to be a part of the limited number of people who’ll join first, click the invite!

Also, we’re looking for a couple of mods, so if this is something you’d like to do, you can say so inside the server and try it out during this limited beta.

[theshadowwalkers]

The Races of Enschka - Height Chart

This was created a few months ago for the supporters on Patreon and I’m releasing it in preparation for the demo release. The announcement will come very soon! As usual, I’m always up to answer worldbuilding questions if you have any, it’s literally my favourite part of creating and writing in this universe that’s so important to me.

[theshadowwalkers]

🌹🌺🌸🌼🌸🌿🌻

flowers for u

thank you for sharing your game and the amazing world u've made

omg how did I miss this???? never got the notif for it, this is so lovely, you've made my entire day. I love u. Please know that today's coding session of the demo is dedicated to you in my heart

[idrellegames]

Protecting Your Alpha Build, Early Access & Side Content

It’s an inevitable part of making an interactive fiction game that someone will, at some point, leak your in-progress work.

This sucks. It will feel personal. It will hurt. It’s not a great feeling knowing that something you’ve spent years creating, something that you’ve put your sweat, blood, and tears into is essentially being pirated. Developing an IF is demanding, to the point where many games cannot get off the ground if the author does not have enough funding to make ends meet. This is a full time job to many of us and we are dependent on Patreon and Ko-fi as platforms to make a living. Part of running a platform like that is offering exclusive paid-for content, often in the form of alpha builds, early access, NSFW content, and side stories.  

IF developers are not massive companies with billions of dollars to throw around. We are independent authors, often working alone, often just scraping by, making games that will eventually be fairly low cost to purchase or completely free. Unfortunately, some players are entitled enough to believe they deserve access to free alpha or side story content at no cost to them simply because they want it and they want it now.

These people are assholes. And, quite frankly, fuck them.

If you’re an independent IF developer making your game in Twine and releasing on itch.io, here’s a few strategies to help keep your private content private.

1) Keep Your Public and Private Builds Separate

If you have exclusive content, upload it as a separate copy of the game. Do not put alpha content in the public build of your game. Anything that is in the HTML file can be easily accessed through the browser.

When your game launches, it loads through the iframe, which will display all of the content included in in your game file. This includes your JavaScript, your stylesheet, and the contents of every passage, including ones locked behind a password. Even if you’ve password-protected sections of your game directly in Twine using something like HiEv's Simple Password Hiding, it can still be easily bypassed if it's part of the public build's files.

A solution to this is to make different builds depending on your needs. When you upload content to itch, set your builds that are not intended for public access to Restricted mode.

This will block the project’s page from being viewed by anyone who does not have the password. You can then input a password for your patrons and supporters, which will be properly encrypted by itch.

Restricted mode will prevent your game from showing up in search results and it will also not display on your profile.

In my case, I have three builds for Wayfarer:

Public

Playtester

Alpha

The top one is the public build, which anyone can access. The Playtester and Alpha builds are both in password-protected Restricted modes.

When I do my updates, I compile each build separately (I am usually changing version numbers and a few different things between them, so they contain slightly different information), treat them like three different games, and make three separate ZIP files for upload.

2) Do Not Use Draft Mode to Share Content

Draft mode is another private mode on itch.io. It is intended to be a draft of your game page, so you can get all your information, assets and files together before you hit publish. When your project is in Draft mode, it is unsearchable and no one can access it except those with Editor permissions. However, Draft mode comes with something called a “secret URL”, which bypasses the restrictions. Anyone with the URL can access the game page.

Do not use the secret URL to share alpha or exclusive content. Because anyone with the URL can access the game page, it is essentially a public link. Secret URLs should never be handed to patrons or even your playtesting team. Only use it for situations where you need a second opinion from trusted individuals.  

3) Change Your Passwords Regularly

Passwords can still be shared, so it’s a good idea to change them regularly on a monthly or bi-monthly schedule.

If you run a Patreon, keep a pinned post at the top of your Patreon that has all your current build details, the link to your alpha build (or side content) and its current password. This way it is easy for your patrons to find the access information, as well as any patch notes or game updates they may have missed.

4) Download Keys

Alternatively, if you don’t want to use passwords, you can integrate your itch.io and Patreon accounts and give out access keys to your patrons. Download keys grant permanent access to the restricted project’s page, content, and files. Download keys are associated with a single itch.io account and cannot be shared.

Information about download keys is found under Edit game -> Distribute -> Download keys. You can create keys manually, or configure your settings to generate bulk keys for your patrons based on their tier level.

However, if you do decide to go this route, you may run into difficulties if your Patreon is in a different currency than your itch.io currency. (I ended up removing the integration as the troubleshooting was too time consuming to deal with on a month-to-month basis.)

These preventative measures are not guaranteed to work 100% of the time, but it should help discourage easy access to exclusive content. There is always the risk that your patrons and playtesters may abuse their privileges and share links and passwords. Ultimately, if someone wants to pirate the alpha build of your game, they will.

This is where the community comes in. If you are a player, discourage piracy where you can. If an IF dev is trusting you—whether you are a playtester or a patron—with early access, keep it to yourself. Don’t share links, keys, or passwords.

Even if you desperately want access to alpha work and can’t afford it, please keep in mind that IF developers are indie creators struggling to make a living. We are not major game studios. Don’t steal our work and pass it around. It’s disrespectful to us, our games, and our communities.

You are not entitled to early access simply because you like the game and you want new content badly enough.  

[theshadowwalkers]

hi! im interested in being an alpha reader if you still needed any

Hi! I didn't see your message, didn't get a notif for some reason. Send me a DM and we'll talk!

[theshadowwalkers]

22, for the spotify wrapped asks ✨

22 - EARFQUAKE by Tyler, the Creator

ahem there aren't many lyrics in this song, it repeats a lot lol I really like the hook though! So let's go with that

"Oh, you make my earth quake Riding around, you’re telling me something is bad And it's making my heart break"

•

Send me a number between 1-50 and I’ll give you my favourite lyrics from the corresponding song on my end-of-the-year wrapped list!

[theshadowwalkers]

43? :D

43 - Flower Maiden (Guda Folk Choir) by Dzivia

Well this song is in a language I don't understand lmao so I'll give you number 44

44 - Fair by The Amazing Devil

Honestly it is IMPOSSIBLE for me to choose between:

"It's not fair 'cause you make me weep when I'm just trying to watch The Office with my yoghurt"

and

"Darling I was born to press my head between your shoulder blades"

•

Send me a number between 1-50 and I’ll give you my favourite lyrics from the corresponding song on my end-of-the-year wrapped list!

[theshadowwalkers]

hi!

could you answer

🌼, 🍄, and 🍁 for any character(s) you like?

Oooh, a good mix of questions!!! Thank you for being curious about my game, and I've very excited to share more with you!

Ask me about the ROs in my game

🍄 what’s their favourite outfit?

I'll answer for Hé'noür! Hé'noür has, by far, the best fashion sense out of all the ROs. They do have it a little easier, being an irhashal, as it gives them a little bit of leeway in what they need to wear. The Ahn'né are very practical people, so you won't see much of a fashion culture from them.

Hé'noür is a Sept, meaning they lean towards blue, purple, grey and silver, colours that are light and cold. Not much leather, but a lot of fur, and very large, ample clothing.

Their favourite outfit is a short-sleeved, long dark blue robe that wraps around the torso like a qipao, with a high neckline and a looser, open bottom half. They pair it with large, high-waisted light grey pants that wrap around the waist with strips of fabric. Then fur-lined ankle-high boots in supple leather. Then, a sort of short cape made of fur resting over the shoulders.

Here's what it'd look like:

🌼 what is their goal/dream?

I'll answer for Mehetÿl!

Mehetÿl is a very insecure person, hidden under a very convincing mask of confidence. She’s incredibly competent, and absolutely deserves the recognition she got, as well as her current post in the military. But she doesn’t lack for people doubting her, and that has been the case her entire career. It got to her. Enough that she has a bad case of impostor syndrome, and an unhealthy dose of self-doubt.

For all these reasons, Mehetÿl dreams of being recognised for the highly competent soldier she is, and the strong person she wants to show the world. She wants recognition, she’s desperate for the praise she rightly deserves. After that, her ultimate dream would be to become part of the Queen’s Guard, the highest honour for a soldier in the Ahn’né military.

🍁 do they have a disability/neurodivergence?

I'll answer for Olaÿ!

Although the word doesn’t exist, and it doesn’t work the same way as it does in real life, Olaÿ is definitely coded as autistic. His personality is deeply influenced by it, as well as his decision-making and expectations of life and social interactions. It doesn’t help that he’s a massive guy, with a truly frightening amount of power compared to pretty much anyone around him.

Like I explain in the TOTL Universe section, I started writing the book series in part to cope with my own chronic illness and disability, and it’s a central theme to the books, especially for the three main characters who are all disabled in some form or another. For that reason, a lot of characters both in the books and in the Shadowwalkers game are explicitely disabled or at least coded as such.

--

Thank you again for your questions!

Anyone else, don’t hesitate to participate in this little game ♥

[theshadowwalkers]

Send me an ask with an emoji and I’ll give you lore about the ROs of The Shadowwalkers

(if you don’t mention a specific RO, I’ll answer for one at random)

💚 💚

🌲 what’s their favourite place in the Continent?

🌳 what hobby(ies) do they have?

🌱 what do they think of the MC when they meet?

🌿 what do they think of the other ROs?

☘️ who do they care most about in the world?

🍃 what do they think of the Tribute War?

🍂 what age are they?

🍁 do they have a disability/neurodivergence?

🍄 what’s their favourite outfit?

🌷 what’s their favourite time of day/year?

🌹 what makes them angry?

🌺 what makes them sad?

🌸 what makes them happy?

🌼 what is their goal/dream?

🌻 how would others describe them?

🌕 what’s their blind spot?

🌗 do they keep secrets? How big are these secrets? Are they good at it?

🌘 what do they regret?

🌑 do they have scars? Where do they come from?

🌙 do they have tattoos/distinctive marks?

🌍 are they well-traveled?

⭐️ do they have family?

🌟 what’s their specialty? (combat/magic-wise)

✨ would they kill for those they love?

🔥 what’s the worst and the best thing they remember?

🌈 if they were a song lyric? a colour? a season?

☀️ what are they afraid of?

🪐 what do they fight for?

☁️ are they religious? what roles does that play in their life?

❄️ what are their turn-on/turn-off?

Ask away!!! Get to know your future romantic options ;))

[theshadowwalkers]

Send me a number between 1-50 and I’ll give you my favourite lyrics from the corresponding song on my end-of-the-year wrapped list!

[theshadowwalkers]

Looking for an artist

Hello artists of tumblr!

I’m looking for an artist to create a couple of character pieces for The Shadowwalkers, my IF (in case you don’t know why you follow me lmao). I’m looking for a rather rendered style, fairly realistic is preferred. If you’re interested, please send me a private message with your prices and a couple of examples of fantasy character pieces you’ve created.

If you want an idea of what I’m looking for, here are a couple of artists I’ve either commissioned in the past and loved it (but they’re not taking commissions anymore) or I’ve just found their art recently. If you feel your art is similar, don’t hesitate to contact me! Also, you can go to https://theshadowwalkers.tumblr.com/tagged/totl+art to see the art already made by me, to get an idea of what I’m looking for, or here https://theshadowwalkers.tumblr.com/totl for a commissioned piece I got a while back by an amazing artist.

https://harumeau.tumblr.com/

https://shalizeh7.tumblr.com

https://twitter.com/aerroknot

https://bluerbell.tumblr.com

https://marceline2174.tumblr.com/

I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

reblogs are very appreciated, as well as sending this to your artist friends!

[theshadowwalkers]

Demo Alpha-Readers Needed

Hi everyone!

With the release date getting closer, and me being close to finished with the writing part of the demo-making process, I’m looking for alpha readers who’d be interested in trying it out in advance. To be clear, I’m not looking for beta readers, meaning I don’t need someone who can professionally critique a work, or grammar/spellcheck, or anything like that. I’m only interested in people who’d like to play it in advance and give their general opinion. As if you were a normal reader sending me a comment to talk about the game, only you’d get access to it before everyone else.

Ideally, I’d like around 5 people for this, but more is always better, that’s just a minimum I’m shooting for. if you’re interested in being an alpha reader, just send me a message here, either an ask (you can’t be anon for obvious reasons) or a PM. If you want more information on what The Shadowwalkers is about, check out the pinned post on my blog, and there’s a dedicated section for the LIs on the sidebar.

Reblogs are much appreciated, as well as sharing to people you think might be interested. Thank you!!

Mako.

@interact-if​

[evertidings]

you asked for angst, i delivered. i’m happy to say that chapter eight is officially out on itch.io now!! saves will and should work so play to your heart’s content (and trust me, some of the ros scenes are worth reading).

IN THIS CHAPTER.

face the consequences of your disastrous night at crimson rouge

discuss what you learned and what you’ll do next (while ignoring the complaints of a certain warlock moaning about going home)

witness some bickering between K and Rylan (they’re simply a variant of A and Blane, just saying)

see sebastian again (how is he doing you ask? not that great. he appreciates it though)

experience, uh, some blood

STATS.

word count. 355,422 (+76k)

LINKS.

ko-fi

patreon

please email me ([email protected]) for large bugs and issues or shoot me an ask if you catch something! otherwise, enjoy and let me know what you think (i’m dying to hear). as always, thank you for your support <3

[theshadowwalkers]

Chapter 2 preview

I thought I’d share a little sneakpeek of what you’ll be doing in chapter 2! The demo is still on track to release during the winter months, I’ll get more precise as I work on chapter 3!

As you walk through the capital city of Ahn-Seriel, you’ll get to meet one of the ahns, the little fae creatures who give their name and their power to the Ahn’né people.

Your exhaustion is drawing in a cloud of ahns, flying around you at a small distance. You see people giving you quick glances when they notice, your upper body almost glowing with the many little lights, dancing as they follow you. One of the ahns comes closer and closer, until they land lightly on your shoulder. Completely weightless, you only notice them because of the light they emit hitting right into the corner of your eye. [[You accept the help of the ahn.|2.2.1]] [[You politely decline the help of the ahn.|2.2.2]]

You’ll cross paths with the barge docks, where the Ondines man the barge system that runs through the Dreaming Woods.

The capital city is split in two by the river, barges passing through multiple times a day and offering the fastest way of travel through the Continent that doesn't rely on irha. You've never personally interacted with an Ondine before, despite a few of them living on the docks of Ahn-Seriel, and many more in the waters flowing directly inside the city. [[That's one of the reasons you're so excited to ship out soon.|2.5.1]] [[You're a bit apprehensive at the idea of leaving the city.|2.5.2]] [[You've never cared much about meeting the other races.|2.5.3]]

And as you finally get home, to the mother-tree where House Haravel resides, you’ll get to interact with a member of House Haravel, your kin.

House Haravel is the largest Dreamer kingroup in Weavers Grove. An entire mother-tree serves as home for your kinsmen, whereas most Houses and other citizens of Ahn-Seriel share the space of the giant dreaming elms throughout the city. [...]

[[At last, you enter.|2.8]]

Every last one of your senses is assaulted as soon as you cross through the veil. A loud clamor is accompanied by a flash of blue light, and something heavy barrels into you with all its might. [[It's Enor, your twin.|2.8.1]] [[It's Dülla, your neqe.|2.8.2]] [[It's Sÿlen, your best friend.|2.8.3]]

I hope you’ll enjoy playing through the Shadowwalkers at least half as much as I enjoy writing it! All questions about the world and the story are more than welcome as we wait together for the release.

-Mako

[theshadowwalkers]

Eranuil & Sheoran

Meet Irhamek Eranuil Erensil & Ashto’ïreq Sheoran of House Noheron

Eranuil Erensil || masculine — Dreamer

Eranuil is an irhamek, a battlemaster of irha. He’s the first irhamek of his family, his ability with irha so incredible from his early years that he won the Queen’s Notice before he even joined the Academy. That recognition, as well as the promise to control a power he was lost against, pushed him to move to Ahn-Seriel and join the Academy. He was trained from a very skilled irhashal into an irreplacable irhamek for the Ahnian military.

After he left the Academy in 355 ESA, Eranuil lived through the assassination of Queen Antahnaril, the coronation of Queen Anathÿ, and fought in the bBattle of Ahn-Maÿ, the closest the J’kaï warriors ever came to the Dreaming Woods. Eranuil was also one of the fighters in the port-city of Nechka when it fell to the hands of the J’kaï, forcing him and the surviving members of his battalion to retreat. Because of his status as a prodigy, he’s been in many of the most dangerous theatres of operation of the Tribute War.

Since the early 890′s, he’s been stationed in the delta of Rekka, now the closest Ahnian city to J’kaï forces since Nechka fell. In 899 ESA, when he’s introduced in the main book series, he and his Companion Sheoran have just escaped from more than a full moon cycle of torture and interrogation at the hands of an enemy force. Eranuil and Sheoran then travel from the delta to the capital city, where they’re meeting Queen Anathÿ to tell her about what they learned during their capture, and finally recover from their trauma and injuries.

Sheoran of House Noheron || neutral — Sept

Sheoran was born of House Noheron, one of the oldest Houses in Ahnian history, since they were actually part of the original group that decided to leave the Lost Tribes behind and follow Queen Seriel, the first queen of the Ahnians, in the Exodus. House Noheron established itself in the mountains above Ahn-Ant, up until 108 ESA when the ongoing Treaty of Mirka between the Ahnians and the Fées meant a delegation of each race was going to swap homes and go live in the other’s nation.

House Noheron volunteered for the change and they were sent by Queen Ant to live in the Fée Republic’s capital city, Aubiel. But Sheoran’s parents were in the process of making Sheoran when that happened, so they stayed behind and moved to Ahn-Ant to complete Sheoran’s creation.

Growing up, Sheoran was primed to become another irhashal, or master of irha, like most Septs are. But having lived their whole life in Ahn-Ant, they had more than a little crush and adoration for Queen Antahnaril. So when the Queen was assassinated the 29th of Slowdays 356 ESA, Sheoran took it to heart, and decided they would join the Queen’s Guard. While going through Ahn-Seriel’s Academy however, they showed promise in a whole other area of expertise, and they were offered a position in the secret services of the Queen, the Guild of the Ashto’ïreq, or the Shadowwalkers.

After completing their initiation, they joined the battlefield just before the Battle of Ahn-Maÿ, where they met Eranuil for the first time. They fell in love quickly and have been stitched together ever since. They both took a leave of absence for the express purpose of the Bonding Ceremony, since it takes so long, and have been Companions since 633 ESA.

In 899 ESA, after a grueling campaign in Rekka, Sheoran, Eranuil and their squad are relieved for a well-deserved rest. On the way back, the Companions decide to take some time to enjoy the countryside along the beautiful Viper river, when they’re both captured. Their status as Bonded made every second of torture exponentially harder, and only Sheoran’s skills as a Shadowwalker allowed them to escape capture.

The two Companions had to drag themselves up to Arani where a large military base is established as a last rempart to protect the Dreaming Woods, and they were helped by their squad who knew they’d gone missing. Using the Ondines’ barge system, they sailed up the Maÿ river and into the heart of Ahn-Seriel, where Queen Anathÿ meets them in the book series for the first time.

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