Out of the Dark

if blog

[velena-if]

Out of the Dark is an interactive fiction in a medieval fantasy Rus' setting, inspired by slavic mythology, culture and folklore. DEMO (38.4k words)

You wake up after a vivid nightmare with almost no memories, except those of a dream you've just had. What happened before you went to sleep you don't know, and the room that greets you when you open your eyes doesn't seem any more familiar than the forest from your nightmare. In the small village in the north, that seems like it's been forgotten by the gods and most people, you have to collect the pieces of your life.

Friendly faces are scarce here and the few people that are well-disposed toward you act too suspiciously. Who to trust is for you to decide and that decision can hardly wait. Dreadful things start happening around you; monsters and malevolent spirits roam too close to the village and some think you are too blame. And maybe they're right. Maybe they can sense it, this unnatural hunger and darkness swirling inside you since you woke up. You can certainly feel it, clouding your mind and chipping off pieces of you.

And the ominous words from the nightmare are spinning in your head.

"Enjoy your gift. She will come to collect the debt soon. "

DANKO/DANKA. They are a dull winter sun, pale and barely warm. Their eyes are frozen rivers that only come alive when they settle on you. Their pale, frightened face is the first thing you see when you wake up from a teriible dream, hurt and devoid of all memories. They say they're your friend and you can't feel any threat from them, but a nagging feeling of uneasiness creeps up inside you every time they refuse to meet you eyes when you start asking questions.

VASILISA/VERAN. A witch, a healer, a recluse. In the village they are regarded with unease and grudging respect. You come to their home for help and they provide it, albeit reluctantly. They are guarded around everyone, but you, along with Danko/Danka seem to be the last people they want to deal with. Alas, neither they nor you have much of a choice; no one else can help you with the strange curse that afflicts you.

NEREV. ???

YARA. ???

Play as male or female; gay, straight or bisexual.

Something sinister has settled inside you: an impulse, a voice that is not quite yours. Giving in to it seems to feed your newfound power, make you stronger. If you're willing to pay the price.

Romance one out of four characters. Some of them you used to know well, some you barely spoke to. Not that it matters, now they are all strangers to you.

[speechless-if]

Speechless: The Musical IF

Demo/itch.io page - TBA | Working on prologue now!

Want more speechless content? Click here! If you'd like to know how the RO's look, simply click on their names for a description!

Synopsis:

Dreams are easy, making them real feels impossible.

For as long as you can remember, music was just about the only thing that truly spoke to you. Melodies had a way of reaching deep down inside you and pulling a sense of love and safety from you that nothing else could. Which is exactly why musical theatre seemed to call to you so fervently, a live performance with an entourage of like-minded people as the stage oozed a manic sense of love for the craft? What other form of music could fulfill you? None, simple as. 

You started chasing your dreams from an early age; joined theatre, a choir, studied music in your free-time, went to local plays, auditioned for local plays, anything that would get you closer to your dream really. But now, in your mid-twenties, you’ve little accolades to show for it. Background roles, followed by one or two supporting roles, that’s the most you have to your name. You have an amazing voice, your rhythm hardly falls out of sync, you work hard to study your lines and direction… and you’re still never the first pick. 

But that all changes when you're approached by a certain somone after an audition. Moxine Solstice, a driven woman who believes you have a draw to you that will turn her original musical from just another great play to a masterpiece. The pay is lower than you’d expect for a leading role and every song you have to sing has a plethora of demanding moments in every song, challenging notes and abrupt shifts in octaves clearly meant to show off range, but if she’s right… this show might just be your breakout role.

It’s time to make your dream a reality.

Features:

Decide your charcter's gender (Male, Female and Non-binary)

Customize your character's appearance (skin color, hair color and length, eye color, height)

Choose from three different singing voices (Soprano, Countertenor, and Baritone)

Establish your character's personality through two traits that will affect how they navigate the world around them and treat others (Outlook and Social)

RO’s:

Producer/Director/Writer/Lead Role/CEO; Moxine ‘Moxie’ Solstice, she/her (18)

To call Moxie ambitious would be a severe understatement. At 15, she was producing music and found a modicum amount of success online. At 16, she was the leading voice in her church choir and made her own band to play at parties, she also continued being a solo artist online, simply adding her voice to her music. Now 18, she has piled as much responsibility onto herself as one could take. She has founded her own production company for musicals: Solstice LLC. And now she’s a one-woman army to debut her newly written play; Speechless: The Musical. Will she go into generational debt if her show bombs? Yes! And a massive deciding factor of whether or not her dreams come true is her newly scouted talent she picked up on a whim… you. No pressure!

Assistant Director; Shyanne Williams, she/her (26)

A jaded, no-nonsense woman who only entertains Moxie’s big-time dreams because she’s being paid far more than is normal for her job title. Did she manipulate the naive Moxie to squeeze more money from her? Maybe. But that’s just business. If the aspiring broadway star makes it further than the play, she’ll learn that lesson in no time. But perhaps Moxie isn’t the only one who has room to grow. Will you be the one to thaw her icy exterior?

Supporting Role; Lou Leonard, he/him (22)

In a few ways, he reminds you a bit of yourself. From a young age he knew singing was all he’d ever want to do and pursued that dream with a dogged determination. And while he has landed a few roles that made an impression, he has yet to land a leading role. Now, if you were to ask him, he would likely tell a joke and say he’s simply happy to pay the bills and meet like-minded people. But in moments where he believes nobody watches… his smile drops and the jokes stop coming. Can you be the one to show him his value?

Dance Choreographer/Aspiring Singer; Ashley Havard, he/him (20)

One thing that is obvious soon after meeting him is his pride. Everything that he can flaunt about himself is self-taught; dancing, cooking, baking, drawing, hell, he even taught himself to swim by jumping into the deep end without floaters when he was six! The one hobby he’s not very open about is singing… It might just be the one thing he loves more than dancing, but when your work has you surrounded by people who were professionally taught and have years of experience? Yeah, best if he just doesn’t humiliate himself. Maybe you’ll be the one to help him find his voice?

Speechless: The Musical is a character driven, drama/romance interactive fiction. Each RO is a unique route that will involve heavy and personal themes. Furthermore, the game will contain optional sexual content in the later part of the story.

CW: Depression, suicidal ideation, internalized homophobia, family related trauma including physical & emotional abuse.

[velena-if]

Agree with other anon, if you don't like/want to include skill stats there's no point in having them, save yourself the trouble!

Seeing this and the results of the poll was reassuring)

I think I will substitute skill stats for something else that will hopefully be easier both for me and the people playing the IF.

I am still a little far from the point where stats are supposed to be used for the first time in the chapter, so I guess I will know better then, but that's where I'm at now.

[velena-if]

Accidentally pressed ‘leave them’ instead of ‘remove them’ but if it’s more work, and not fun for you, there’s no harm in removing them. In the end it’s all up to you and what you want your novel to be like

I would not change anything about the story itself, or the characters, or add new romances and things like that. But when it comes to things not directly related to the story itself, or just something minor, that I could think about, especially while I'm not yet too far into the story.

Still, I'm happy about how the poll is going. Auto win for MC in all combat scenes it is.

[velena-if]

I am so close to just removing skill stats altogether.

While outlining and writing chapter 2 it's becoming very clear that I have to sit and think where to even put the choices for gaining skills and the stat checks for those skills. So far all the branching is purely based on choices you make (or made in prologue and chapter 1) plus on stats that are related to plot, characters and MC's personality (though that is mostly for flavor text).

I myself never cared for them in other games, and rarely find it fun to micromanage them, but I want to hear opinions. I might still try to make them work, but so far this is what I'm thinking.

Skill stats

Leave them

Remove them

For me, to see the results

Remaining time: 1 day 23 hours

[velena-if]

The practice of Mongolian and pagan Slavic societies (if any other cultures also do this I'm not excluding them on purpose!) giving their children negative names until they reach a certain age to deter evil presences is so underused in fantasy stories. Such an amazing part of real world cultures that no one thinks to add. This IF is bringing out my love for Slavic mythology and customs again!!! I've only read a bit of what's available so far but I'm liking it a lot. I like dreary and cold settings and stories.

Yes, I have read about it. Also remember reading that some people gave children the names related to nature or animals (Volk, Voron etc), because they believed it would protect them. And it was common to change names after certain events, and to have several names or aliases. I did think it was interesting, but I admit I decided to not implement it.

I should say, that doesn't mean that my characters don't have names that mean something, some do.

[velena-if]

The reason why there are so many sources in Russian on the deities is because Russians were somewhat lenient in comparison to others. That's why a lot of artifacts of the time that prove worship of them were found in or around Russia (tbf Russia is huge...wonder why /j and the origin/homeland of Slavs is around Ukraine...maybe that also has something to do with it). A lot of countries destroyed all evidence of the gods upon christianization.

I don't know if Russia was more lenient, we have much less sources left about mythology than the Greeks and Scandinavians XD We do still have some holidays that have pagan roots though, like Maslenitsa. But when it comes to mythology and gods... I have seen Russian speaking people, who, I imagine, know more than me, say that the majority of information you can find about Slavic gods right now has been made up relatively recently and it is all neopaganism. Veles's book is, for one.

Nav, Prav and Yav, as three sort of realms, those Slavic people may have believed. Veles and Perun, Mokosh were very likely worshipped, at least during — and obviously before — Vladimir's reign, before he brought Christianity. The rest... Who can say now.

[velena-if]

hello, velena! i just wanted to say i absolutely loved meeting the goddess of death. everything from Morana's demeanor to her physical characterization was so intriguing to me... anything about her you can share with us? perhaps from where you drew inspiration for her character and such!

Hello and thank you for the question) I feel like anything I share will give away too much XD But for those who don't mind getting a little more info earlier, I will ramble a little below.

I drew inspiration from whatever information about Morana I could find. Now, it is very likely that such a goddess never even existed in the Slavic pantheon and is a product of, I suppose, neopaganism. There is a lot of conflicting information and stories involving her in the sources I went through (all were in Russian language). So it took what I liked and what suited my story from different places, changed what I did not like and made up the rest.

I will first say, that I do not consider my Morana a one dimensional villain who tortures people for fun, in case someone gets that impression from her (which would be understandable). When she says, in the first chapter, that she can be generous when she gives as well as when she takes, it is somewhat true and those players who chose to serve her willingly will see it. But she also has somewhat selfish motives to make MC serve her.

She wasn't always a goddess of death and wasn't always a goddess of Nav. She is someone who has been stripped of a choice and feels entitled to strip others of their choices. In a way, what she is putting MC through — what she has put some other mortal through — is very like the experience she went through once.

[abeastlysong]

DEMO (TBA)

It all starts with a fertile womb, with life that gives and life that takes. It all starts with a birth.

Eugene Maximilian Von Stein is born glorious and restless, never wanting for anything, on July 1st, in 1715, firstborn to the blue-blooded Duke of Engel and his wife, the savage turned lady of the house, Marie-Ange, a name given to her by her own husband.

Inside Dawncroft Manor, however, the birthing scene that takes place is violent and, quite frankly, inhuman in nature.

Marie-Ange delivers a healthy son to her husband's legacy, but the servants of the manor and the people beyond whisper terrible things about her.

They tell tales of a witch. A man-eater demon.

They spread that when she first went into labour, the pain was so destructible and unbearable she turned into a jaguar, a beast so wild and untamed, seen only in nightmares, the last thing so many courageous hunters ever see. They say the disgusting animal almost devoured Eugene whole.

That is the tale they whisper, in intrigue and in fear, of your forefathers.

Now, however, the years have passed, as they always do.

In 1860, you are the eldest heir of the Von Stein legacy, sibling to children that still blabber incoherence and crawl on all fours.

When you are sent to a mysterious boarding school on the outskirts of Vexmoor, you must deal with the nightmarish horrors that plague you, the beast that lies dormant inside, but longs to be set free, and a few mysteries that shouldn't exist in a seemingly mundane boarding school.

> play as the eldest Von Stein heir, choosing your name, gender, and pronouns, appearance from height to build and everything in between, and how you approach the world and its beauty and cruelty.

> romance four love interests: a woman, a man, and two gender-selectable... individuals.

> learn more about your ancestors and the secrets that haunt your family, and bond with the beast inside you.

SKYE CALDERA (f) is the "fuck all the rules" type of girl. experiencing a combination of puberty-induced hormones, humour oscillations, pent-up rage and equal sadness, Skye turns to drugs and petty crimes to ease her pain. perhaps strangely, she is the first person you befriend on your first day at boarding school.

skye is of short height and slender build, ivory white skin that flushes pink easily, hooded green eyes, and ash blonde hair always kept in a messy ponytail. you are welcome to braid her hair. she's quite fond of it.

??? MORIKA (gender-selectable) is the very serious, very respectable Headmaster/mistress of Alcaraz Boarding School. their eyes see everything, always watchful, and their words are clipped, measured, and always cut deep. every word is carefully chosen, and it seems as if they feel that the very act of talking is a waste. perhaps if no one spoke to them, Morika would never open their mouth. quite ironic, given that they are very chatty when around you. ah, you their eyes follow with particular interest. maybe even with a glimmer in them.

morika is of towering height and commanding presence, with olive skin, black hair, monolid dark grey eyes, and a mouth that is always pulled into a frown. but please, do engage them in inane conversation, how lovely it is.

DALTON GREENWOOD (m) is head of security at Alcaraz Boarding School. he seems quite young for the important position, however, even a touch inexperienced, clumsy, an ingenue akin to a deer caught in headlights. a poor thing, really. perhaps Dalton is not employed out of his own volition. but at least he has your back, when the horrors creep in or when you follow Skye for some mischief after hours and is inevitably caught.

dalton is of tall height and lean build, with tawny skin with freckles scattered across his face, auburn brown hair, and black eyes that seem almost lifeless. your classmates usually whisper he's more fit for a modeling career than this "hungry security business".

FEBRA (gender-selectable) is the poster child for the type of person your parents begged you not to get close to, and much less fall in love with, lest you ruin the family's legacy. obviously, whether you're the type to list to your sires' ramblings is up to you. the thing is, this Febra individual is a drug dealer, and when your friend takes you with her to meet them, the two of you inevitably cross paths. how surprising it is, to find they also attend the very same boarding school you do, though under much duress, they assure you.

febra is of average height and scrawny build in whatever gender they are selected as, with medium brown skin, hazel eyes that are almost dark brown, and black hair cut short. oh, so you're not a new customer? how dreadful for you, going through life in Alcaraz completely sober.

this story deals with heavy themes and is better suited for +18 audiences, but in any case, read with caution.

the romance routes are not without toxicity, and Morika's route does deal with themes of grooming. romance the ROs at your own discretion and inevitable peril.

@interact-if

@if-news-again

[velena-if]

vampir(e): I'm so cold... I need someone to keep me warm... Please walk into the endless winter night for me...

me: YES MA'AM RIGHT AWAY MA'AM

D: Stop that right now!

me: WHY DO YOU HATE MY HAPPINESS

I mean... I understand completely, hence the option where MC is ready to go XD

You might meet the woman again though, it's not just some random monster))

[velena-if]

I have updated the demo with small fixes.

— some typos that have been reported to me have been fixed.

— the last choice has been fixed. Apparently, if you refused to do something at the end of the chapter, the next choice wasn't working as intended, I messed up the labels a little.

— I have also added the option to do something even if you were able to resist Morana's influence.

— I also apparently forgot to make the stats screen visible. It will be visible now after you finish customizing your character's appearance. Bear in mind it is still in the works and subject to change.

[velena-if]

Now everything, including the last choice, should be fixed.

[velena-if]

I have updated the demo with small fixes.

— some typos that have been reported to me have been fixed.

— the last choice has been fixed. Apparently, if you refused to do something at the end of the chapter, the next choice wasn't working as intended, I messed up the labels a little.

— I have also added the option to do something even if you were able to resist Morana's influence.

— I also apparently forgot to make the stats screen visible. It will be visible now after you finish customizing your character's appearance. Bear in mind it is still in the works and subject to change.

[velena-if]

Full fucking offense, I am punching Danko the moment I get the chance. Bro, I know I'm a cold nasty asshole but I don't like being enslaved and I certainly don't like being made to do things I don't want to do, which is killing people on the whims of a spoiled brat.

Seeing someone get such feelings about D makes me so happy, because everything is going as intended xd I imagine D, as well as V and Nerev will be pretty divisive characters.

You'll get your chance to confront D in the next chapter, it will be... fun)

[velena-if]

(starts shaking D) IM SO NOSY but i already have some theories on what exactly happened in the forest though at first i thought D stabbed us ngl

They need to be shaken, to be honest.

Now I want to know what theories people have on what happened xd I wonder how many will get close.

Thinking it was D who stabbed MC is wild though. They would never unless... I suppose you haven't taken the path that pretty much shows the moment of MC's injury/death in the prologue.

[velena-if]

I'm imagining this story and setting to be an amalgamation of the Slavic peoples and that they all speak Interslavic, is this right? My character is Slovák and I adore him. Maybe I'll mix it up for my other characters if I create any more.

Sort of) I answered the question in a little more detail, you can find it just under this ask. I was mostly taking inspiration from eastern Europe/11-12 century Rus'.

[velena-if]

What country is this supposed to take place in and what is mc in relation to it?

Thank you for the ask.

I'm pretty sure I mentioned somewhere in text, but it is alternative medieval Rus (11-12 century approximately, but I have taken a lot of liberties). Some smaller princedoms/principalities (aka knyazestva) are completely made up, including one where MC's village, also made up, is situated. I am also not using any real historical figures.

I am, however, using eastern European culture, fashion and some names (some are made up/just slavic-sounding) in the setting, obviously. Also the gods (although mythology is largely made up by me as there are very little surviving texts related to slavic gods) and the mythic creatures.

MC was born there, if I understand your question how they are related to it. MC's mother's parents weren't, however, they were traveling merchants and could be from anywhere, hence why MC may not be strictly white slavic.

I hope I answered your question)

[velena-if]

Omg this bitch forced me to do it 😭😭😭

Also that whole confession flashback was so peak. Especially loveeed the lil flavor text it they are both the same gender and the mention of the elders kid 🤣

Omg i loved your update so much. I dk who to pick between your ROs tho so toxic love triangle here i come. Like you told me to forget it so I'm moving on with the weird isolated grumpy healer. Maybe....

Thank you!

I was so nervous to publish, my brain was jumping between hating everything I'd written and then liking it, so seeing the first asks, including yours, to be positive, made me happy)

I'm glad you liked the confession scene, considering it's my least favorite scene in the chapter (meaning I am not fully happy with how it turned out) and I will be tweaking it a little, and likely expanding it.

You might rethink getting into any love triangle including D, though 👀 (don't, actually, make them suffer, the scenes I have planned for if you confront them about their confession in the flashback and then go and romance someone else — or romance someone else and D — will be... something)