Hello. C J here. I’m working through my list of setting locations and concepts with the goal of writing a full game manual about each one. I was going to start with Ascala but then I realized that I’ve done almost everything I’ve done so far in Ascala. Maybe I’ll do something more exotic for my first full supplementary book. I thought about my first video game project Duskbringer and it’s set in the setting’s Hell. Hell is a vast land that I have barely defined at all and I need it for a game. I should probably do that first. Here’s a sample of the Duskbringer script.
Snow: Tell me young one, what is your name? I never did hear it.
Dusk: I know better than to give my name to one of the Watchers.
Snow: Oh? That old myth? Trust me there’s no magic in Creation that can take a person’s name from them.
Dusk: Not that I trust you.
Snow: Fine. What do I call you?
Dusk: Call me Dusk.
Snow: Very well.
Dusk: And your name I already know.
Snow: Oh? Well isn’t that a surprise. And?
Dusk: Lady Snow, Lady of Lust and Bearer of the Duchy of Iron.
Snow: My name! You know my actual name! That is a rare piece of knowledge there.
Dusk: And I also know that you love coffee more than you love your job. All the spellbooks agree.
Snow: Well, so, I mean, really, well. Fine. I like a good coffee. Now I am busy you know. Back to killing you.
This features our playable character, a half-lion called Dusk, and one of the Watchers, the gods who rule Hell, Lady Snow. Dusk and Snow end up having to work together and the Watchers, and Hell by extension, are not as evil as they seem. The meddle in mortal affairs but they are still people on the inside. I’m going to see what I can to do expand on Lady Snow and the Duchy of Iron in a book. Here’s what I have planned for Legend – Demons of Lust. The book will also feature art and I’ll probably make some cards for the card game out of it as well.
NPC stats with a focus on melee combat.
Spells that draw on emotions but also physical traits like strength and resilience.
Weapons in black metal or volcanic rock with gold or brass accents.
Armour in brass with some purple and a lot of black for contrast.
Buildings are black stone brick with purple accents.
The Duchy of Iron grows most of Hell’s wine grapes and fine foods.
High ranking members of Hell’s ruling hierarchy take their vacations in the Duchy of Iron during their long, slow summers.
The Duchy of Iron doesn’t do its own iron or brass forging.
The Duchy of Iron has one central town called Snowmelt. It is named after the fact that it’s the only place in Hell where it snows but not all year. Snow named herself that in reference to the same fact.
I’m looking strongly to real life mysticism and spirituality to inform this one. Sacred sexuality is a discipline older than written record and putting some of this in a modern day format would make it a lot easier to digest. I’m also looking to the zodiac for metaphors about the genders, emotions and the meanings of the planets. I’m planning on mashing these two schools of thought together until I find a common ground.
I might also need to do a general purpose book about Hell and it’s economy first. They have a currency made out of the suffering of the damned. Also the damned are there for a reason. They are the people who aren’t fit too reincarnate through the setting’s other gods and so they are made useful to someone. I also need to think more about Snow and her history. She’s going to be playable with stats as well and I need to figure out how to portray a god through game mechanics without making them a plot hole.
C J Mcpherson
Hello. C J here. I've got four new recipes for everyone here. We have everything from Chinese chicken to homemade hot apple cider. Enjoy. The Emperor’s Potatoes Here we have the first food item I ever finished designing for Food of the World – Carthia. I tried three combinations of traditional Asian ingredients and pasta under the assumption that I was doing Italian-Chinese food for the book. I could not for the life of me get any of them to be exciting. They were fine. I don’t eat fine. I got bored of the pasta thing and then thought to myself, ‘what happens if I swap the pasta for another starch? What about a potato?’ It worked. Really well. It worked so well I named them The Emperor’s Potatoes. They’re mashed potatoes and I left the skins on because I like vitamins and then that got me thinking about the traditional medicinal food of Ancient China, ginger. Could I put ginger in a potato dish and have it work? Yes. I can. That surprised me. Be warned, these are almost dangerousl...
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