I’m still working on our next VRChat charr, but as a quick weekend project I thought I’d try making a (very short) visual novel with Ren’Py. You can play it in your web browser! Don’t expect anything spectacular - I used only screenshots from Guild Wars 2 for this, and dialogue I originally wrote for a Q&A thing on Tumblr. But it was a fun project, and I might play more with the idea in the future.
Visual Novel, Writing — March 27, 2021
“For a long time I was angry with her warband for not having her back when she was killed in that pointless bar fight, but in recent months I’ve come to realize that life is too short to waste our time with old grudges. It’s not helping her, it’s not helping them or me - time to move on. “Remember the past, but look to the future.” And this concludes this year’s Charrtober!
3D Art, Writing — October 31, 2019
“You damn coward! If you don’t have the guts to stand up to your centurion, at least stand up to your own warband.” “Storm was close to leaving the warband that day, and he would have been right. There can be no loyalty without trust. “As a soldier you often don’t have the luxury of fixing your mistakes—what’s dead is dead. You can only make sure you don’t repeat them, and so I made Storm my second-in-command that day.
3D Art, Writing — October 25, 2019
“Our orders were to destroy a Flame Legion camp near the Black Citadel. We were quick and efficient, it was over in a matter of seconds. “Only they weren’t soldiers. They were defectors. Centurion Duskmane had told me this quite plainly—and then gave the order to leave no survivors. “l objected, but orders were orders. When I briefed my warband… I misled them. I told them we were preventing an attack on the Citadel.
3D Art, Writing — October 24, 2019
“As legionnaire I’m not just commanding soldiers, I’m taking care of the closest thing I have to a family. They trust me, and I must not let them down.” “But in our first year as a warband, I did.”
3D Art, Writing — October 23, 2019
“You think warriors don’t use magic? When you’ve got a blade stuck in your chest or deadly poison gas in your lungs, all your muscles and determination are not going to save you.” That was a lesson I received from our primus during our first warrior training. As a cub I never wanted to deal with magic—didn’t trust it. I’ve always preferred simple, tangible things, but it turns out that even warriors tap into energy that is… beyond.
3D Art, Writing — October 3, 2019
“Legionnaire.” Kianga’s hand twitched to his dagger, almost spilling his mug of ale. The atmosphere in Blood Keep had been getting more tense every day, but what’s worse: he knew that voice. He turned around towards a massive hulk of a charr. Blood Legion armor, no helm, gray fur, with a deep scar running across her nose and forehead. Her eyes were clear and fierce. “Foeraze.” She raised her right paw—empty—in a gesture of peace.
3D Art, Writing — October 1, 2019
Bao asked via Tumblr: “Kianga - Do they have many fond childhood memories?” Kianga: “When we were a little older, our primus took us to the Loreclaw Expanse, old human ruins south of Ascalon Basin. That was back when the area wasn’t crawling with separatists. He warned us about the traps in those ruins but let us explore freely, so we went looking for ghosts, and treasure! “And it was awesome.
3D Art, Writing — September 7, 2019
Ark stood in the doorway, looking back at Storm. “I’ll be back, I promise…” The chamber beyond was brightly lit. A large golden brazier stood in the center, burning so brightly that Ark had to shield his eyes. Coming closer, he could make out another doorway on the other side of the room, but it was blocked by solid stone. The was no other way out than the one he had come from.
3D Art, Writing — April 30, 2019
“Storm? Wake up…” The faint glow from the Mists energy that had softened their fall faded away. Ark had tried to protect both of them, but he had been so drained already… He touched Storm’s paw, but there was no reaction. It was utterly quiet here, no sounds from the jungle above them, yet it took Ark a long terrifying moment until he could make out his friend’s breathing, faint and shallow.
3D Art, Writing — April 8, 2019
Ark slowly worked his way along the vine towards the nearby cliff wall, the whole thing swaying dangerously with every movement. The wall was steep but weathered enough for his claws to find some purchase. A crack of thunder echoed through the chasm from above, and Ark knew immediately what that meant: “Storm!”, he shouted. He was answered by a roar, too feral to come from a charr, followed by more thunder, and suddenly a roar of pain.
3D Art, Writing — March 30, 2019
Moving quietly, Ark left the path he had come from and hid between two bushes to the side. They were dense enough to cover him, but still allowed him a view of the path. Suddenly he felt silly. Storm had the first watch, and had probably followed him to check if he was alright. That would explain the noises: Storm was great with fire and lightning, but stealth? Ark grinned to himself—he’d teach him a lesson about that.
3D Art, Writing — March 13, 2019
Ark got up and left the camp quietly, telling himself that he just needed to clear his thoughts for a moment. These nightmares were ridiculous—he would never hurt one of his ’bandmates. Walking a few paces, he thought back to the airship crash. He had been talking with a sylvari, a fellow revenant, when it happened. The sylvari had stumbled, and when Ark had tried to help him up, he saw his eyes—
3D Art, Writing — March 2, 2019
Most of Ark’s ‘bandmates were asleep, and he should have been too. They’d been marching all day through the jungle, felt like getting cooked alive in their armor. But lying here in their makeshift camp, Ark wished he could have marched through the night anyway - so he wouldn’t have to face those dreams again. Maybe it was just the heat messing with him. His thoughts kept wandering back to that moment when everything went wrong: When their friends and allies suddenly turned against them, and their airship crashed into the jungle.
3D Art, Writing — February 20, 2019
The bartender walks over to Kianga´s table and serves a cup of hot chocolate." So, one cup of hot chocolate for our brave and fearless warrior. You already told us about the years in Fahrar, but how was it after that? Tell us about the first order the Snow Warband received." — Sidewinder30k, January 30th, 2019 Kianga: “Fresh out of the fahrar, we felt ready to take on anything. We would have charged straight at Zhaitan if they had sent us.
3D Art, Writing — January 30, 2019
What’s it like growing up in a warband? — Fuwyfox, January 22nd, 2019 Kianga: “Most charr will have a hard time imagining what it’s like growing up without a warband. There are friends and ‘bandmates around you all the time, always ready for a joke.” “In our first year at the fahrar, just when we were getting used to working and fighting as a team, our primus woke us up in the morning and told us that we’d be split up.
3D Art, Writing — January 22, 2019
“We honored Fyre as we would have honored any soldier of the Legions. There is no sense in holding grudges - we move on, and we keep fighting.” I wondered if charr would have any funerary practices. Cremation was common in the Roman Empire and it seemed to fit the charr kind of thinking (quick and efficient), but I was worried about the Flame Legion association. However, after a bit of searching, I learned that it’s actually canon!
3D Art, Writing — October 27, 2018
“We didn’t speak another word, yet we both knew that only one would leave the arena that night. Somehow the crowd felt it too - the Bane was eerily silent. When he attacked, it was with a speed I had never seen of him. His claws slashed across my chest, and when I swung to the side to evade him, I left my head unprotected.” “There was a crack and I found myself on the floor, unable to breathe.
3D Art, Writing — October 26, 2018
“With two of my soldiers in the infirmary after what Fyre called a ‘mortar exercise’, I confronted him. I wasn’t subtle. He hit me. Another charr would have kicked his ass right there, and maybe that’s what he was hoping for, so he could send me to jail again. I stayed calm and did what I should have done long ago: In front of his officers, I challenged him to a fight in the Bane.
3D Art, Writing — October 25, 2018
“The legionnaire alone bears responsibility for the actions of his warband. No matter how much he hated them, Fyre could not touch my soldiers - and I reminded him at every opportunity. This meant I spent some nights in the stockade for things I didn’t even do - that none of us had done, in fact. It didn’t matter to him, and it didn’t matter to me. We just played this game for a while.
3D Art, Writing — October 24, 2018
“Strangely enough, Fyre never threatened to throw us out of Blood Legion. Maybe he saw it as a waste of resources. Maybe he wanted to keep tormenting us. Or maybe he knew it was the one thing we feared, and thought he could use that fear to keep us under control. He was also wrong.” A “what if” scene that didn’t actually happen. As a gladium, he would have to give up his favorite Blood Legion shirt - unthinkable.
3D Art, Writing — October 23, 2018
“Fyre and I clashed horns plenty of times: he called us a pitiful excuse for a warband, I called him a disgrace to the Legions. I thought it was just the usual Blood Legion tone, and that it would get better with time. I was wrong.” Ahh, that second character model is like a whole new toy to play with. So much fun!
3D Art, Writing — October 21, 2018
“During our first months as a warband I spent many nights in the Bane. It’s a simpler world: No politics, no scheming - just your opponent and your claws and the roar of the crowd after a good fight.” A different take on the “Champion of the Bane” scene I posted a while ago: with an additional character, and Kianga without his eye patch. This is before he “earned” it.
3D Art, Writing — October 20, 2018
“Fresh out of the fahrar, I left behind the best primus a cub could wish for, and got the worst scum of a centurion a legionnaire could imagine.” I’d like to introduce Fyre Duskmane, Kianga’s first centurion. If you think he looks unpleasant, be glad you never met him in person. Can I make a new charr in one day? Yes, apparently I can. He’s based on Kianga’s model, with some modifications to the face and horns, and a completely new texture.
3D Art, Writing — October 19, 2018