(foreword: Thanks, Stew and James! I take it that the ugly background isn't a distraction, then)
Update 023
(ART) Freaking Maptiles and a Big, Heavy Plot Hammer
Other screenshots:
1 2 3
Today I got started on something I have been loathing for a
very long time - map tiles. I focused entirely on the Diamond Star Inn, which is one of the two places where the player can decide to adventure during the day or at night. I borrowed liberally from Vikings of Midgard, making little edits where I needed them, and made the rest from scratch. The tables came out a bit weird since I forced them to be squares; I'll edit them later to become flatter rectangles so that we can actually see a character's face behind them.
The character in the top-left with the black hair is a mercenary named Puzon who I've written a lot about. He has a lot of significance to the main plot of
Viridia, but
Expedition (this chapter) is only covering a side story, so his purpose is to relax in the Inn and regale you with a passionate tale.
Puzon and his comrades are stopping for the night at the Diamond Star Inn before returning to their headquarters; they just finished dealing with some sinister "greenblood" (also known as "Lisen") people that supposedly set a distant missionary camp on fire and murdered everyone there, including the clergy and civilians.
... Actually, wait a minute, I've never detailed the basic plot of
Viridia, have I? I think the last thing I posted about that was "So there's these mercenaries, and the whole setting is a desert, and a child will lead them, and... um... Dragons? Wizards?"
Well, hell, now's as good a time as any to lay it out in plain terms for everyone to see.
The country, Ebbaron, located in the south. A war-torn wasteland occupied by vicious eastern Grit clansmen, tyrannical Dankenian imperials from the north, the remnants of the conquered Scape and Bullhorn tribes, magic-wielding Lisen tribe fugitives from distant lands, and the poor mercenaries and civilians caught in the middle.
The hero, Krish, an illiterate orphan raised by a mercenary. He solves his problems with his speed, wit, and charisma. The mercenary troop he lives with is going under quickly due to imperial meddling and a lack of clients, and their situation gets worse after Krish rescues and harbors a Lisen, called Katrina, with a humongous bounty on her head.
Many of Krish's comrades abandon him for this - some even betray him and try to take Katrina's bounty for themselves. Rival mercenaries led by Puzon, imperial mage fighters under General Mars, and sinister hooded cultists following Doragon all seek this girl for some nefarious purpose or another, and Krish and his friends are chased around the country, risking their life at every turn.
Krish never forgets who he is, though, and continues to help other people and perform small heroic deeds along the way. He finds new allies in the most unexpected places and learns new ways to disarm and cripple his opponents. Krish and his friends eventually have a showdown with their pursuers and manage to scrape out a victory, buying themselves some time to plan a new course of action.
From here, they discover that Doragon and the cultists had a much bigger scheme in the works and could end up wreaking havoc the world over if left to their own devices. Stopping them becomes Krish's top priority - no one will be safe until the cultists' leader is taken down and their operation is destroyed.
... But don't expect
any of that in
Expedition.
Expedition's plot goes more like this:
Wade and Jerry, foreign allies of Krish, receive a missive from their homeland and travel to meet with an envoy to exchange mail and information in private. Wade and Jerry's mail was lost, however; snatched by birds native to Mt. Garra. Apparently there was a gift from their king enclosed, so the foreigner knights move out immediately to retrieve it. Along the way, their progress is unexpectedly slowed by a massive wall of brambles, an aggressive, misguided warrior (who later joins them), and a bunch of poachers or monsters that have seriously agitated the local wildlife. Only once the issues on the mountain have been resolved do they locate their mail and revel in their rewards.
Incidentally, the brambles and the monsters on the mountain were the handiwork of Doragon's cultists.
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