ephemeron -transient mages-
ephemeron is a kinetic novel heavily based on the MMO Iris Online, and the webcomic it inspired, Arcanian Iris: Path of Rebirth. Nevertheless, I'll try to write the game such that you don't need to play to get the gist of the story. The following premise is based on the official game, but also uses ideas developed for Arcanian Iris.Summaries:
pt. 1 aestival
Hisaka and Kagiri are mages from an ancient war, incarnated to the present to fight new battles against an old foe: the Monarch of Darkness, Shulander Archane. To most, they're a pair of slightly odd but well-liked spell casters, with Hisaka working part-time as a teacher to children and Kagiri an actual legend come to life. But there's more to the war they fought in than the stories found in the history books, especially the tale of the frost princess who fought against an evil storm prince.
pt. 2 hiemal
Despite his genius in magic, Hisaka rarely teaches it in the Academy. Instead, he spends his free afternoons in the orphanage telling stories to younger children, disguising the tales of his time as fanciful adventures.
But today, he will be telling stories to a little girl in the forest outside the fortress city. She's not going to laugh or cry like the other children. She's not even going to hear him, but it's alright.
This is the story why Hisaka talks to the dead.
There's also an idea for a story focusing on the a couple of knight characters, but I won't be touching that until a) I can actually progress through this one and b) I can finally draw armor.
Characters:
Hisaka
An Incarnate and a wizard specializing in lightning magic. He's always smiling and polite, though some can see through his facade. Very knowledgeable about magic, but displays childishness and naivety at times. He lives with Kagiri and it's common perception in their neighborhood that they are lovers, if they aren't already married in a shotgun wedding before coming to Terminus.
Kagiri
An Incarnate and a wizard who mastered ice magic. Kagiri is the legendary 'Frost Princess' who fought several times against the evil king's right-hand man, the Storm Prince. She was among the heroes who made the final strike to Archane. Stoic and emotionless, she has a penchant of making most people feel uncomfortable with her mere presence. She lives with Hisaka and it's common perception in their neighborhood that they are lovers, if they aren't already married in a shotgun wedding before coming to Terminus.
Note:
ephemeron -transient mages- is a gift. See, I have a very lovely friend whom I met through an online game, Iris Online. She's passionate about art and loved the game, so she started a webcomic based on the MMO. It pretty much spiraled into something quite different from game lore, but the basic idea of the MMO was still there. We, along with a few more friends brought together by the game, had a blast developing the setting, the characters, lore and anything else we can think of -- I have fond memories of those crazy conversations!
However, our friend hit a rough patch lately, and had to go on hiatus with the webcomic. Our almost-regular conversations died after that, as well as communication with most of the MMO friends. The idea -- the stories, the characters -- aren't dead yet, but it sure is languishing for the meantime.
Since I can draw and write a bit, I decided to create something to remind my friend that we haven't forgotten about her story and the good times we had developing it. I chose the characters I'm most familiar with while trying to incorporate other elements of the story and setting without giving away too much of the 'future' plot points. Coding and GUI -- admittedly, I'm learning that as I go along. At the moment it's still a one-(wo)man endeavor, but as I trudge along I plan to share it with my other friends.
If you're curious enough, you can check the webcomic here. There's also a wiki, but it has spoilers for unreleased chapters.
I'd be grateful for any comments, feedback and suggestions! I'm curious as to whether the relationship between two formerly-dead-and-recently-incarnated mages and their past is interesting enough. Should I also consider writing their first meeting in the present time and their interaction in the past? ephemeron also seeks to expand the ArcIris setting a bit by giving a glimpse of the non-combatants and their lives during the present war. Of course, it's going to be a challenge trying to cram all the relevant info and context into a relatively short VN.
If you've read this far, thanks for taking the time to do so! Here's a b/w glimpse of our protagonists (I just finished lining 'base' Giri and I haven't got time to color them yet TuT):
