Religion

Akashic Records – Celestial Sisters and the Virtori

~ victoriarachel ~ Leave a comment

Soulbound Studios have a released a new layout for their updates and I was happy to see one of the topics they will cover on a regular basis is lore. In fact, this week’s KickStarter update did indeed include some more gorgeous concept art of the characters in the games story and an explanation of who they are believed to be. Though that is not all we have for you this week as we managed to get Jeremy ‘Caspian’ Walsh to drop some lore over in the IRC channel too.

One important thing that Caspian also confirmed was that the lore we are getting is just a part of the overall fabric of Elyria. There are many different religions in the game, in fact, he confirmed there would be five of them! They all have different beliefs of the world, different explanations for what is going on. Neither we as players nor our characters know which is the ‘true’ story of Elyria. For example:

Only the Qin recognize the Qindred, per say. Their belief that all Mann-kind has descended from Qin is a belief held by them alone.

Speaking of Qin, why don’t we meet two more:

Concept art showing Anelica and Luna, from Chronicles of Elyria. Continue reading →

Akashic Records – Ring of Erathor

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There have been many big announcements coming out in the final hours of the KickStarter. Significant partnerships seem to be the theme of the day. Partnerships between Soulbound Studios and Improbable, developers of SpatialOS which is the most outstanding technology (which I will not cover because it goes right over my head apart from being utterly great news). We had a World Interation Video that not only demonstrated the way we connect with items in Elyria, but also the partnership between the thief and the shadows. And now we have lore describing what might be the most heartbreaking partnership I have read of for some time.

This lore also came with art. Deamon, the God of Fire. Or perhaps we should refer to him as the Qin of Fire now that we have some more information about the different religions of Elyria and a slight update in the spelling of Kin seen before. The art depicts his terrifying form forging a ring, a ring that has a deep story to it.

Deamon, Qin of Fire, concept art from Chronicles of Elyria. Continue reading →

Akashic Records – Lore Video

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We have had gorgeous videos introducing us to the world, the team and some of their technical capabilities. Now though we have had the video that really matters, Lore. The topic of the video is rather apt for this series of posts as it is the Akashic Records themselves. What are they? Why do we go there? More importantly, where do we go from there?

Finally, we do not have to read what Anara Starsong has to say, we can hear her tell us herself.

So now you have watched that on repeat, for an hour if you are anything like me, let’s see what we lovely lore we have learnt! Continue reading →

Mega Muster – The Team, Children and Snow!

A narrow street with carts and goods rom Chronicles of Elyria.
~ victoriarachel ~ Leave a comment

Yes, it has been a quiet few weeks here at the Echo but Soulbound Studios have been far from silent. In fact, we have an awful lot to cover including two videos (which has now become three while I was writing!), two Q&As, loads of social media and there has been chatter on the IRC too. So you better get ready, grab some tea, and settle in because this is going to be a long one!

In chronological order we are going to be covering, deep breath now; priests, barbers, tattooists and who are those people over at Soulbound Studios and what are they doing? Children, self-defense, artifcats, relics and of course snow! Continue reading →

Akashic Records – The Burning

The Burning, from Chronicles of Elyria.
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Lore is what brings a world alive for me. Chronicles of Elyria does not yet have enough lore revealed for me to really sink my teeth into, but, I am not worried. They have good reason not to expose everything yet. Soulbound Studios are looking to employ a Story Director, attracting the best talent means leaving them space to do their job. Why become Story Director of a finished story, where you cannot leave your mark? The team has built up the lore over the last 10 years, it is not that they are lacking in it, it is just that it is not final. They hear our cries for lore though and they have responded! Just be aware that this is subject to change.

This image is not our view of Elyria. Do not worry this has not suddenly become a Sci-Fi game! That is art made by an Elyrian to represent a cataclysmic event they believe to have happened in the past. The artist follows the same religion whose name we do not yet know, as Anara Starsong. The image shows us the effects of the Burning. Continue reading →

The Muster – PVP, PAX and Developer Discussions

~ victoriarachel ~ 2 Comments

Gather round as we look back over the last week and collect together some of the highlights you might want to look back on. The Muster, gather up all those interesting Q&A answers, forum posts across the net, and chatter in the IRC and give you a pointer in the right direction. This will normally go out on a Sunday night, but it is always best to be late on the first one…

This week we are looking at the plans the Soulbound Studios team have for PAX East in April, how the team see PvP working in Chronicles of Elyria, time, religion, brain food and also why the developers have not released DJ #17 as planned. And just for fun a quick bit about why you should not mess with Jeremey ‘Caspian’ Walsh! Continue reading →