idrellegames

[idrellegames]

Codex Entry: Aeda

Fun Facts

aeda were added as an ancestry option so melusine weren't the only "special" ancestry.

aeda having short lifespans came from an oversight during worldbuilding development, but it was much too late to change it so new lore got developed to support the disparity between them and elves/melusine.

Aeda and melusine used to be capitalized and then I changed my mind about it and then had to comb about 900,000 words to try to change all of the incidents of aeda vs Aeda (and I couldn't use find/replace en masse because it would change things in the code and break the game). If you see continuing errors where aeda or melusine is capitalized, it's because I still haven't found them all!

half-aeda do not have wings and cannot fly. This was to prevent having to write whole different sections of the game so the MC could fly over obstacles that other ancestries would struggle with.

aeda do not have wing ears - like melusine, their ears look exactly the same as elven ones.

aeda MCs are half-aeda, half-human and the half-human aspect of their heritage is lore important!

Codex Text

Aeda are rare winged sentient beings of Eleneid descent. It is unknown when ancient aeda may have first separated from ancient elves and melusine, but archaeological evident supports that the species we know today as aeda originated in the Gairloch Mountains, near Aos.

Aeda biodiversity is quite extensive. There are three major subspecies with similar, but distinct physiologies. Regardless, there are several traits that are present across all subspecies of aeda.

Like all Eleneids, aeda have pointed ears. Their nails are long, sharp, and curved, sometimes described as “talon-like”. Some aeda living in close proximity to humans, dwarves, and elves will file them down to resemble nails. Skin tones are in the same range as human, dwarves, and elves, ranging from very dark to very pale neutrals. However, their hair and eye colours are typically distinct and take on metallic and jewel-toned hues.

Their most distinctive feature as their wings, wing sprout from their mid to upper backs. Wings can take on a variety of types, dependent on an Aeda’s subspecies. Aeda often learn to fly before they learn to walk.

Aside from their wings, all aeda have crests. These naturally-occurring facial markings appear around their eyes and forehead, and grow in size and colour as an aeda ages. Crests appear in a wide range of patterns and shapes, ranging from distinctive spirals, to lines that resemble lightning, to specks that resemble freckles. Crest colour typically matches an Aeda’s hair or eye colour3.

Aeda have excellent hearing and some subspecies can see in the dark.

Subspecies

Arinna Arinnans live primarily in the mountainous regions of Istaran and Rhesainia. They are usually tall and of large builds. Their wings are feathered and they have the largest wingspan of all Aeda. Hair colours are predominantly black, dark brown, metallic gold or bronze. The most common eye colours are gold and bronze.

Syna Synans live primarily in the mountainous regions of Vergelnar. They are typically of medium height and build. Their wings are feathered and smaller than their Arinnan counterparts. White and silver are the predominant hair colours and the most common eye colours are silver and violet.

Asteria Asterians typically live in forested areas across the globe. They are of small to medium builds, but with a large wingspan. Unlike their counterparts, Asterian Aeda wings are membranous and often compared to butterfly wings. Asterian wings are brightly coloured and patterned, typically in jewel-tones that compliment the Aeda’s hair, crest and eye colour. Jewel-tones for hair and eye colour are extremely common in Asterians. Greens, blues, and violets that mimic emeralds, sapphires and amethysts are all common. Some Asterian Aeda have pearlescent hair and wings that shift colour in the light.   

Regardless of subspecies, all Aeda have comparatively short lifespans compared to other sentient beings. Many Aeda are reported to have an expected lifespan of 60 to 80 years.

Due to their location, many Aeda cities are inaccessible without aid. However, there are many Aeda who have migrated from their homes to live among humans, dwarves, elves, and Melusine. Many major cities in the world, such as Velantis and Varthrandir, boast small Aeda communities that have been established for centuries.

Notes on Mixed Ancestry

Aeda are sexually compatible with other sentient beings. Half-aeda tend to overwhelmingly assume the physical traits of their Aeda parent, with a one notable exception: half-aeda never inherit wings or night vision. They do, however, inherit crests and their aeda affinity for otherwise unusual hair and eye colour. Half-aeda often have the same enhanced hearing as their aeda parent.

A half-aeda’s lifespan will primarily be affected by their non-aeda parent. While they live longer than most aeda, by how many decades can change drastically depending on whether they have human, dwarven, elven or melusine ancestry. It differs greatly from individual to individual.

[idrellegames]

The seventh month, Harrowmere, is the only month of the Tempestal season. During this month, the moon goes dark and storms of all kinds wrack the continent’s shores, fields, and mountains, disrupting trade routes and making travel near impossible. Some say the storm is caused by Apokarys, the planet’s secondary moon, which is appears on the first day of the month and vanishes on the last. To the naked eye, Apokarys appears as a cluster of irregular silver-violet fragments. Meissandic scripture teaches that the storms are a manifestation of Meissa, the Hexatheon’s Progenitor Deity, who once divided their essence to give life to the world and the gods. As Harrowmere heralds no god, the season has no associated element or sphere. It is considered to unlucky to marry during this month. It is thought more magiani are born during this month than any other.

[idrellegames]

What made you decide to write a game instead of a book? I'm so glad you did, because I'm in love with it, I'm just curious haha

Non-linear, branching storytelling is very interesting to me, and it's not possible in a book.

Wayfarer was originally supposed to be a pet project to fill out my portfolio since I was applying to junior scriptwriting positions at video game companies at the time. And well... I've stopped applying since this is my job now!

[idrellegames]

Hi! I have a question about the various races in Wayfarer. Do the ages that they're considered adults at (like how for us, 18 and up is considered being an adult) vary depending on the race? I was just curious since some are much more long lived than others.

They don't! Adulthood for everyone, regardless of ancestry, is around 18-20 years old.

I did consider playing with it a little bit in early iterations, but to be honest I'm not interested in fantasy age tropes in terms of when/how people reach maturity (both the "long-lived but you're a baby until you're 50" trope, the "person who reached adulthood at age 11" trope and the "adult person who looks like a child" trope are extremely irksome to me).

It's opening a can of worms that I'd rather just not deal with, plus it doesn't really make sense for this world. Because Aeran and the MC meet as children and there is a set timeline (there's 21 years between the Prologue and Episode 1), they need to age the same way as him regardless of their ancestry. Playing around with that could be interesting for worldbuilding, but it's a headache in practice.

Now, that doesn't stop longer-lived ancestries from looking down on shorter-lived ones in some contexts. Age can very easily be used to discriminate. Humans in the Guild of Mages in particular feel a lot of stress competing with their elven, dwarven and melusine counterparts since they simply do not have decades upon decades to complete their research and make an impact.

Age can also be used to be dismissive or as an insult—there's a reason Quirinus (who is well into his 120s) calls Aeran "boy" and "child" despite Aeran being a fully grown man in his thirties. It's less about age of adulthood and more about "you haven't lived long enough to know the real way the world works, so therefore your point of view is invalid".

Compared this to Melchior, who is approximately ???? years old, and would never think to infantilize someone and dismiss their experiences, their contributions, and their understanding of the world like that.

[idrellegames]

https://www.tumblr.com/sowlmates/781652601236307968/best-friends-to-lovers-is-about-devotion-its

^^ I think a lot of PCs who are involved with Aeran feel this (as commentary on the “why did your wayfarer and Aeran fall for each other” question)

It can definitely be true in some cases!

-> link to the post here <-

[idrellegames]

Hihi I binged the public episodes in two sittings and now it's taken over my mind. Your writing is gorgeous and vivid and I loved reading the codex bits whenever they were unlocked. The flavour text is wonderful— gasped when the half-aeda convo came up at the gala and my thoughtless crest choice had some lore to it. I loved how your choices matter, even if it's just for flavour. The story is really immersive and responsive to your actions :D

The randomised element of skill checks always gave me a thrill whenever I chose to click one of them. But it's like "whatever happens, happens". I played through the two eps without save scumming and resulted in my MC crying over fighting with Aeran which is 💀 but I'll roll with this save lmaoo I Will Handle The Consequences. The timed choices were really good for immersion because I never knew when one of them was gonna pop up and I had to react based on my/MC's instinct. Nearly moved by accident when MC was supposed to distract the Crimson Count which felt very real to the tense situation.

I was so, so happy to have the option to take your mentor's last name— I struggled with naming the character so I went with a "whatever" last name and was immensely relieved I could choose something my MC felt a connection to. (My MC has a city origin so she was equally happy to ditch that name) Felt so proud to hear characters calling MC with the mentor's last name. Honestly one of my favourite features so far. (I had Cenric btw— choose to sit next to him because I was impressed by him fighting so hard for the kids, hope he's alright 🥺)

Aeran is such an interesting character and (un)fortunately he has a chokehold on me. I was genuinely devastated when my MC and him had a fight and kept losing points without reconciling that I went back and got MC stabbed for the romance route 😭 to me it feels like a constant tug and pull with my MC trying to be diplomatic/understanding/uncovering his backstory and him being aggravated and guarded. Like he fulfills the role of being the MC's closest partner but he's obviously hiding Things. It's a fresh take on the "starting companion/childhood friend" because it feels like you can both trust and distrust him depending on the MC and what he says. I've been scrolling through your blog and it's very fun seeing what people think of him.

I think this is a really interesting premise because a lot of fantasy stories highlight how strong and special the MC is, but the MC here is "special" precisely because of their lack of magic. And how that gives them unique advantages. Being hit by the whammy of losing the Spire in the first chapter made me go ;-; I was relieved that we got to travel with Aeran lol and didn't lose him as well ;-; (I was half convinced he was going to show up mid-game as like an Enemy or a backstabber)

Adore the intricate worldbuilding and maps, this is a super ambitious project and I'm really impressed by how well and natural the story flowed! I'm super invested in this now. Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into this and I look forward to ch3! 🙏🙏🙏

(Also these are just my rambly thoughts after the playthrough because I have to get them out of my head, you don't have to answer this ask)

Oh gosh thank you so much, this is so kind of you!! 💕

[idrellegames]

Went and got knocked out at the end of Chapter 1 on my first ever run and was soooo surprised to see so many people be mad at Aeran... Until I replayed the game without getting knocked out. It's INSANE how different he is if you're not the one that made that deal, I love it so much.

How you (or your MC) feel about Aeran is going to be highly dependent on what content you see with him! Events can and do shift things, and in some continuities he may be pushed to a certain brink that he is not on others.

[idrellegames]

Codex Entry: Elves

Fun Facts

elves are the third of the original three options for ancestry

their connection to their Eleneid heritage is not the same as melusine and aeda; many modern elves have human or dwarven ancestry somewhere in their family

elves often find themselves in positions of power, whether it be founding a dynasty and ruling a nation, or leading an organization like the Guild of Mages

Codex Text

Elves are the most common of the sentient beings of Eleneid descent[1]. Archaeological evidence supports that ancient elves may have first separated from the melusine and the aeda of the Maribian Basin.

Elven physiology is diverse. Like all Eleneids, their ears are distinctively pointed. Ears vary in size, length and shape, with some ears smaller and closer to the head and others long and extended.

Unlike other Eleneids, elven skin shades and hair colours range from dark to very pale neutral shades. This is reminiscent of dwarven and human characteristics, which may imply that modern elves may share more common ancestry with dwarves and humans than their melusine and aeda counterparts. Facial and body hair appears on individuals of any gender.

Gold is one of the most common elven eye colours, and others include green, blue, violet, red, and brown. Their eyesight is particularly sharp and most elves and half-elves can see in the dark.

Elves are long-lived, with their average lifespans ranging between 160 and 180 years.

Elves live in all areas of the world, though the largest populations are found in Istaran. Calantha boasts a population that is almost entirely elven, as the Maribian Basin prevents humans and dwarves from crossing its borders and its dense rainforests are unfavourable to many melusine and aeda. Mathara, an independent pirate nation in the Dravaden Isles, is also almost entirely comprised of elves.

Notes on Mixed Ancestry

Elves are sexually compatible with other sentient beings, barring some melusine. Half-elves[2] tend to assume the physical traits of their elven parent, particularly the pointed ears and night vision. Half-elves tend to have a shorter lifespan than their elven parent, but many of them live well past 100.

1 The Eleneids. Ancient sentient beings who are the progenitors of elves, Melusine and Aeda. Remnants of their advanced civilization can be found throughout the world, but are primarily concentrated in western Istaran and south-eastern Eredion. For more information, see page 66.   

2 How a person of mixed ancestry identifies differs greatly from person to person and culture to culture. For the sake of clarity, I use the term “half-elf” here to refer to any person with one elven parent and one non-human parent. 

[idrellegames]

The fifth and sixth months, Firstfall and Stormwind, are the Autumnal months. As harvest ends and the days darken, Rhesainia readies for the storms that are soon to wrack its shores. Nations across Rhesainia honour this change with a festival on the final full moon, preparing for the dark days to come. Heralding the god Antares, the season is associated with the element of air and the Sphere of Disruption. Partners seeking to marry during these months may present each other with rings, earrings, or pendants crafted from quartz representing a union blessed by the god.  

[idrellegames]

hey i understand how eager everybody is for the new chapter - this game is amazing and honestly has a death grip on me LMAO - but i hope the pressure isn't getting to you!!!

i appreciate the time you're putting into this and it really, really does pay off. the wait will 100% be worth it

make sure to take care of yourself too!! i hope you're doing well<3

Thank you very much! The pressure isn't getting to me (yet), but I am tired. 😂It's been a long road and Episode 3 has been my personal beast for a couple years now.

I'm excited to have it done!

[idrellegames]

Personally- i'd never put up w Aeran's BS. However, my MC is traumatised and was sold by his parents as a kid and his new found family all died except for Aeran and he will put up with too much shit to not feel lonely and abandoned again lol. (My 2nd mc argues w aeran all the time bcs he's also a bit of a grumpy asshole and instead went and lost his v card to Mel heheh) and i love u for making all these options work!!!

How you view him really depends on your personal experience and also how you're playing your MC (which may end up being two different things entirely!). As always, no wrong answers, only options!

Thanks for sharing. 💖

[idrellegames]

If I gave you both my kidneys (and perhaps a lung..), could ep 3 be released?? Please? 😣

(Also there is an option to reconcile with Aeran after that ending?? Right? RIGHT? Your wonderful writing is making me feel too many things >_<)

Please keep your internal organs to yourself, you need them!!

And yes, there is an option to reconcile with Aeran in Episode 2! It depends on what you do after leaving the courtyard, and also what your approval/romance levels are (there's a few different guides in my walkthrough tag, but this one should help).

There's two different versions of reconciliation, one for friendship and one for romance. There's also two different endings for romance reconciliation, depending on whether you choose the allosexual or the asexual option.

If you're on a different path, then you'll have to wait and find out how reconciliation works... if you haven't passed the point of no return. ☠️

[idrellegames]

Since I've been getting a few more asks about Episode 3—no I'm not hiding it from anyone, no it's not going to be released for the public any time soon, and yes, it is being worked on, and yes it is getting closer to being finished!

The majority of it is available to play as an alpha demo on my Patreon, although what currently playable is locked to specific Episode 2 endings.

My quarterly roadmaps are posted both here and on itch.io, and have all the updates about what's going on with Episode 3 and where I am currently am in development (Q1 report is here, Q2 report here!).

Episode 3 is the finale of Act 1. There are a lot of choices, a lot of decisions that will impact the future of your playthrough and your Wayfarer's journey. Many of your decisions from Episode 2 will come back to haunt you (in a good way or a bad way) in Episode 3. This episode is going to change everything, and the game and your Wayfarer will not be the same afterwards.

Finally, Episode 3 is the length of a full IF game due to its complexity. There is a reason why it is taking so long to develop. I know folks are impatient for more, but Wayfarer's episode structure is more like installments in a long-running series than chapters of a book. It takes time to pull off something like this, and I promise it will be worth the wait!

Green parts are playable and in the alpha build; blue is completed but not coded (and therefore are not in the alpha); yellow is in the drafting process; red is not started. word count is cumulative for all variations/routes/paths; single playthroughs will vary greatly in length depending on choices made.

I am very close to the end now, but it is very difficult to accurately estimate how long it will take me to finish. I know some people are angry about this, I know some people are disappointed and frustrated because the game is in-development and not a finished product. I know some people think I died and fell off the map or abandoned the project because it hasn't had a public update in a very long time (I didn't, I've always been here, working away).

I don't like releasing content before it's ready. I also don't like releasing episodes in bite-sized pieces even if it means more regular updates. I don't think that would make the game very enjoyable, and it also would make it buggier, with more time spent fixing stuff that I would have normally caught in the editing phase if I finished more things before coding.

I am well aware that Wayfarer is extremely ambitious in its scale, and I am going to live up to how ambitious it is. Ambition takes time, and also sometimes life hits hard. When you're a solo developer, no one else can pick up the slack if you get sick or have a family crisis or need to take time off, so you are going to perpetually be behind schedule.

(And no, other episodes are not going to be as long or as complicated as Episode 3!)

So, at this point I can't say when Episode 3 is being released. Only that it will be!

[idrellegames]

hello! i wanted to ask for help on coding heterochromia into sugarcube format for mcs

Hi!

So I would just create two variables for eye colour instead of one in your CC - something like $eyecolour_left and $eyecolour_right, and then create a flag for whether the character has heterochromia or not. You could do this in a few different ways (setting the flag by asking the player if they have heterochromia before they make their eye colour selection, setting the flag after the player has made their eye colour selection and setting it to true or false based on whether the variables for $eyecolour_left and $eyecolour_right are the same). It depends on how your CC is set up and how many variables you want to manage.

When implementing in the text, you can do something like this with if statements (in this example, for non-heterochromia I'm just using the variable for the left eye since both eyes are the same):

"I think your <<if $heterochromia is true>>$eyecolour_left and $eyecolour_right<<else>>$eyecolour_left<</if>> eyes are pretty," she says.

Hope that helps!

[idrellegames]

available on patreon!

[idrellegames]

pretty pretty please, i will give you my entire collection of discarded beer bottle caps if you just go ahead and drop the third episode already, even if its only one beer cap and his name is oscar. PLEASE.

If only a discarded beer bottle cap named Oscar could make the writing process go faster!

[idrellegames]

I was looking at the JB and BL drama and they mentioned JB’s company Wayfarer and I was like hey I know a game that goes by the same name and now I’m replaying the game all over again and reliving the stress of being a wayfarer

Three things I've had to filter out so I can actually catch the posts relevant to me:

Hollywood lawsuits

Ray-Ban

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (which I have heard from reliable sources is extremely excellent sci-fi and everyone should go read it)