unholygrail-rpgmaker

[unholygrail-rpgmaker]

This is Luna, Grail’s faithful hound.

Luna served Master Cesare for 19 years, having been brought home to Grimmblade Manor on the same day newborn baby Grail was brought home from the hospital in Devilicus.

Luna is the first party member that will join Grail.

I got the idea for this character from the Wolf Edit I did to the RTP Cerberus from RPG  Maker MV.

Luna can sniff out buried items and treasure that Grail wouldn’t notice on his own, and can sense if there are enemies lurking around, initiating optional battles.

[unholygrail-rpgmaker]

Grail Grimmblade, a young man who grew up in a fancy manor, situated on the outskirts of the ancient city, Devilicus, in the Kingdom of Gaia. He spent his school semesters in the distant, DeLion Academy, in the Impenetrable, capitol city, Angelica, where he studied Fine Art. He was in class, painting serine landscapes of the baroque period, when he received a letter with his family crest on the front, sealed with wax. Penned by Reznor, the family caretaker, the letter stated that his father, Master Cesare, had absconded, having departed in secret or been taken mysteriously away, no one could say. Lady Ilyana, Grail’s mother, had committed suicide three days later. Grail, beyond heartbroken from his mother’s death, and unable to come to terms with his father’s disappearance, made the month long trip home by carriage, to Grimmblade Manor; There he would search for his father, and find out why his mother had killed herself. Grimmblade Manor has been in the family for 13 generations, and dates back to Gestalt, a retired Knight in service of the Kingdom of Gaia, who helped settle the area, clearing it of beasts and monsters with the help of his friends. Gestalt took his last name from the long sword he had employed while defending Gaia in a terrible war, fought with the Demons of Manifestus from the Abysmal Depths, a realm of Hel. The Grimmblade had been passed down through 12 generations of peaceful years, and would pass to Grail on his 20th birthday, next year. But Grail didn’t care for weapons, or war for that matter, but rather enjoyed spending his free time painting, drawing, and sculpting. What will Grail find when he returns to Grimmblade Manor? How far will Grail have to go to find out what calamity has befallen his family? Will Reznor prepare Grail’s favorite dish, Guilding Eye Soup with Noodles? Unholy Grail will seek to answer all these questions, and more!

[unholygrail-rpgmaker]

WIP intro pics to set up the story in five panels.

[unholygrail-rpgmaker]

Please Be Patient. This May Take A Few Minutes.

As I reinstalled a driver for my Wacom 3, for the second time this week, I was struck by the instillation message: “Please Be Patient. This May Take A Few Minutes.” It made me smile, thinking how “key to life” those words are; and coming from a loading screen. It made me think about how lately my patience has been rewarded, mostly in the area of my 11:30am - 8pm job. A great job that has made it possible for me to once again get creative in my free time!

I’ve fully settled on building Unholy Grail with RPG Maker MV; having put all other projects in the archives, for the time being.

The first game I worked on, Eternal Odyssey, was based on my wife, at the time, who is in the US Navy. It was about a young island girl, who dreamed of exploring the whole world. When my marriage started to fail, that fire to create died, and I archived the project.

When things were beyond tolerable with my marriage, I would go out into San Diego, just walking anywhere, taking in everything I could. A chance encounter with a homeless Vietnam Veteran while sitting on a bench, and a conversation that I’ll never forget, gave birth to my idea for Titan City, also created with RPG Maker MV. I put as much time as I could into it, but my living situation was deteriorating rapidly, so I stopped building it when I left San Diego and my wife behind, and drove east, back to Pensacola, FL.

When I got here, I couldn’t find the heart to work on either of my previous projects, I really didn’t want to work on anything that reminded me of the West Coast and my failed marriage. So, at first, I didn’t start another project. I started binging Netflix/Hulu/Amazon Prime and playing “All The Games” on my PS4.

RPG Maker was often in the back of my mind, somewhere, but I hadn’t come across an idea of any merit, so I just waited for inspiration.

And then the idea for Unholy Grail began to form.

Grail Grimmblade, a young man who grew up in a fancy manor, situated on the outskirts of the ancient city, Devilicus, in the Kingdom of Gaia. He spent his school semesters in the distant, DeLion Academy, in the Impenetrable, capitol city, Angelica, where he studied Fine Art. He was in class last month, painting serine landscapes of the baroque period, when he received a letter with his family crest on the front, sealed with wax. Penned by Reznor, the family caretaker, the letter stated that his father, Master Cesare, had absconded, having departed in secret or been taken mysteriously away, no one could say. Lady Ilyana, Grail's mother, had committed suicide three days later. Grail, beyond heartbroken from his mother’s death, and unable to come to terms with his father’s disappearance, made the month long trip home by carriage, to Grimmblade Manor; There he would search for his father, and find out why his mother had killed herself. Grimmblade Manor has been in the family for 13 generations, and dates back to Gestalt, a retired Knight in service of the Kingdom of Gaia, who helped settle the area, clearing it of beasts and monsters with the help of his friends. Gestalt took his last name from the long sword he had employed while defending Gaia in a terrible war, fought with the Demons of Manifestus from the Abysmal Depths, a realm of Hel. The Grimmblade had been passed down through 12 generations of peaceful years, and would pass to Grail on his 20th birthday, next year. But Grail didn't care for weapons, or war for that matter, but rather enjoyed spending his free time painting, drawing, and sculpting. What will Grail find when he returns to Grimmblade Manor? How far will Grail have to go to find out what calamity has befallen his family? Will Reznor prepare Grail's favorite dish, Guilding Eye Soup with Noodles? Unholy Grail will seek to answer all these questions, and more!

I have the benefit of knowing that Grail will come to find dark, sinister forces at work in his father’s current predicament, and that he would need to harness an equally dark magic to contend with those forces; Grail would eventually become a powerful Necromancer to track down his father.

As a Necromancer, Grail will be more than capable of holding his own against the forces influencing his father’s fate.

Here are a few work in progress screenshots:

And thus, Unholy Grail was conceived.

Now it’s the being born part I need to get to work at.

I’m hoping to have a short demo by end of the year. It will showcase Grimmblade Manor, the surrounding areas, and set up the beginning of the game.

“Please Be Patient. This May Take A Few Minutes.“