Footage of a black fallow deer recently seen in Baryczy Valley, Poland.
(source)
I think Variables are beginning to make sense, just a lil bit. Which is good, happy about that.
Three hundred years ago, the Covens fell. Sovereign institutions of magick that had stood for a millenia, laid low by the Hounds of Víla, a viscous order of witch hunters that arose in the wake of the great tragedy at Mírgrave.
What witches survived took to the forests and mountains, scattering, forsaking bonds long held in the hopes of surviving. A brave few settled at the fringes of society, as apothecaries and wisefolk, eking out what meager lives they could.
Your mother is one such witch, the farmers nearby willing to look the other way in return for services only she can provide. This isolated existence was lonely, of course, but for love, at least, you never wanted. Until the Hounds caught wind of a hedge witch.
Your home is gone, your mother missing. Your only option is to run and hope to outpace the Hounds on your trail or bite back.
Customizable MC, from gender to appearance
Choose a familiar to join you on your journey
Romance your companions (or don’t!)
Kestrel: he/they
A Hound. He and his mentor destroyed your home. Prickly and hard to read, they spared you for a reason, you just don’t know why.
Appearance: Average height, with an athletic build. Tawny skin and hazel eyes with softly curled, ear length brown hair.
»»———- ———-««
Emery: she/her
The daughter of an innkeeper. She agrees to hide you while you figure out what to do next, on the condition that you take her with you. Insatiably curious. She wears her heart on her sleeve.
Appearance: Tall and chubby with pale, densely freckled skin. Shoulder length, frizzy red hair and large brown eyes.
TBA
The game is written in Twine and will be posted on itch.io.
This is my first time writing IF. Criticism is welcomed!
The vast stretches of lone trees and wild grass of the rural countryside lures the ego overboard, pulling consciousness off course into addiction, delusion and seduction’s disintegrating madness. You barely pull yourself home from there every evening, the sun telling your time, the birds your weather forecast. One day you might not return home at all.
From the Mud is a Midwest gothic inspired horror set in a solitary countryside occupied only by two small towns and stretches of untamed nature. You play a troubled cowboy/girl/puncher who‘s ground deep into a maddening, repetitive routine that a string of deaths suddenly upends. The sheriff of the neighboring town along with a driven journalist and an old friend whose bridge you’ve long since burnt comes to town having heard the news. As you’re hunting for the culprit and running from yourself, your quiet life on the ranch is disturbed, forcing you to keep your cards close and choose your company carefully. But the most pressing matter proves to be whether you can trust your own mind.
☆ Interactive fictional psychological horror written in choice script
Play as either a man, woman, or other
Choose your appearance from overall features to minor details
Experience nuanced romance as either straight, gay, or bi, or forgo romance altogether
Choose whether you’re religious or not in an overly christian rural town
Experience the world react differently towards you depending on who you identify as
Get wrapped up in the chaos to solve the mystery of several murders
Lose touch with reality and slowly question everything around you
Reject the possibility of unnatural forces at play, or believe
Rot in a jail cell
Ride a horse!
Play a game mostly not driven by numbered stats but meaningful actions and a fuck ton of trackers
Basics about some of the important characters and other below
The Sheriff ☆ Zachariah “Zach” Mallory ☆ a man in his mid thirties
Sheriff Mallory works from his office in Two Rocks, and though his occupation means working closely with other people and seeing to their needs, it would be indolent to describe him as being good with people. At all. Being abrasive and ill-natured, the man does, however, suit the role of authority well. When the angry crease on his forehead soften, you might find there is something else within his tired eyes.
The sheriff has dark brown, chin-length hair and a matching little effort short beard. His sand-colored skin is sun-kissed from being outside, the circles under his eyes almost a purple kind of shade. Under a heavy set of brows sits a pair of dark blue, almost stormy gray eyes. Standing at an imposing height, Mallory is nigh refused anything, and can’t be forced to wear the ugly uniform his rank requires. Instead, he sports a simple white fitted t-shirt and a pair of well-loved denim jeans.
The Journalist ☆ Candy Tillman ☆ a woman in her early thirties
Working for the local news station in Two Rocks, Ms. Tillman has through work experience and excellent mentoring from her predessessor become a hound chasing stories and truths. She is both idealistic and romanticizing (that which shouldn’t), and yet entirely unsusceptable to bullshit. When her facade falters who will accept her then?
The woman with the sweetest name has blonde hair that falls to the middle of her shoulder blades, which she loves to blowout. Her tan skin is contoured by a natural style of makeup, her small, light blue eyes painted. Candy is average height, reaching taller stature with her go-to minimalist pumps. The journalist prefers simple, feminine silhouttes of clothing, keeping up with the times.
The Best Friend ☆ Blythe Abel Goodwin ☆ a woman in her mid twenties
Blythe is your best friend who you grew up with in Ashley and who stuck around when everyone left, though you know she would’ve loved to leave just as much as you once did. In response to the death of her dreams and the narrow-minded opinions of the general inhabitation of the area, she has defiantly become a person of unique and unpredictable character. You’ve known each other through thick and thin, but is there a side to her yet to be discovered?
Your childhood friend is a contrast-filled woman just under average height. Long, black, cascading hair falls from her head down to her mid-back. Choppily home-cut bangs frame her small face. Her fair skin turns rosy in the cold. Blythe’s almond eyes that are sometimes obscured by a pair of reading glasses, are hazel. She wears whatever the fuck she wants.
The Colleague ☆ Ford Wiley Mallory ☆ a man in his early twenties
Ford Wiley is the younger half-brother of Sheriff Mallory and your colleague on the ranch. Working there only half-time, the younger Mallory is dedicated and driven only in the field of his passion; music. His band has only ever played at the local bar, though. Reserved and perhaps somewhat more thin-skinned than most living out on the countryside, Wiley makes do with refreshing optimism. Whether this optimism is genuine or fabricated is yet to be revealed.
Your part-time cowboy coworker has long, wavy brown hair that he sometimes makes an effort to style, and otherwise lets it live its own life. He and his half-brother have little in common, appearance included; Wiley has olive skin covered in freckles. His eyes are dark brown, and he is of average height. The musician’s clothes consist of unwanted (by himself) hand-me-downs from Zachariah and ill-gotten items.
The Old Friend ☆ Sawyer “Saw” Brennan ☆ a gender selectable person in their late twenties (m/f)
You grew up with Sawyer along with Blythe, and the three of you braved your childhood and youth in this godforsaken place for years. But they left when things got hardest, and you haven’t been able to get past it even after all these years. Over the years Sawyer has been away they’ve grown into a person you barely know anymore, and you struggle with their sudden return. Will you be able to understand and forgive them for leaving?
Sawyer has inky brown curly hair, worn long (f) or short (m) and loose, carefully taken care of and styled. They have warm brown skin and sharp eyes to match. Your old friend is tall, fitting their frame into oversized graphic t-shirts and either color matched sweats or baggy jeans.
My intentions with this game: It is not supposed to be a beautiful story, it is supposed to be ugly. Writing this game in the way I am is my taking a step away from perfection and seeing where my unpolished writing takes the story. I have been ruled by fear of inadequacy and a desire for ‘perfect timing’ long enough. If I continue to wait for the ‘right moment’ to create, I will end up not creating at all. My only desire now is to simply create, and continue doing so until I have something to show for it.
well, you see, the thing is: (instead of finishing my sentence i curl up comfortably in bed and go to sleep
You are the first child of the Florinius family, your birth had predestined you to become the next ruler of H'afeara. But it has been ten long years since the war between the Empire of Aea had declared war upon your home. Ten years fighting to keep your kingdom’s independence- for your chance to rule- only for it to ripped away from you. And it’s your own fault.
You had one more charge to lead against Aean forces, and you had lost that battle. Losing was no stranger to you, but none had been thorough and devastating. This loss had ended with you being taken as a prisoner of war, and the end of the war soon followed.
Now you are “free”, a welcomed “guest” in the Aean court. Being executed would have been a fairer fate.
[court intrigue, romance, mystery, slice of life elments ]
…
This side project is still in the planning stage, and things will be slow to come.
[Demo: TBA]
in progress…
- Semi Customizable MC (personality will be semi set)
- Make friends, enemies, maybe lovers? Still deciding who gets to be an RO
- Decide how you navigate life in a foreign court
- under construction
Keep reading
Knowing what my characters look like (and being able to draw them) really helps me get a feel of who they are. I figured I should show you guys as well, so you can get a lil bit of a sense of who they are while things progress in the background. Design is subject to change of course, but probably not too much.
But yeah, cool purple wolf knight! I kinda considered giving them a fake tail, like one of those clip on ones. I thought it'd be cute.
Through gritted teeth: my first draft is allowed to be awful. My first draft is allowed to be awful. My first draft is allowed to be awful.
Hik | They/Them | Aspiring IF writer, we're workshopping stuff rn | Expect project related art now and again
206 posts