A Storm Unsung News

Hello all!

We are proud to announce that as of now, A Storm Unsung has released into Early Access!



We are looking forward to working with you all to make ASU the best that it can be! I thank you for sticking with us to this point and look forward to the future. I hope you all enjoy your time with ASU!


Until then,
Thank you all,
Lucas

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Greetings,

As always, I am Xermillion Glass, and I have another accursed soul to talk about today.

Today, we will be talking about Leir Kel'berren, a knight by any other name from the distant Golden Blossoms.

I've never visited the Golden Blossoms myself, but it is said to be a beautiful land, filled with more species of flowering plants than the rest of the world combined. Leir spins the same tale, calling the Iron Kingdoms, Goldwrath, and Xerenia cold, dull, lifeless places.

Leir's family, the Kel'berrens, have been unlanded knights, Viirävkairar, Flower's Shields, for as long as he can remember. I've no records from Golden Blossoms, but unlanded knights seem to be the same here as they are there - barely better than sellswords.

Leir was born into the work, so he mastered his weapon of choice from an early age - his shield is far too large for him, though you would never know that, watching him fight.

He has told me that his first death was brutal - slow, bloody, maliciously done. He keeps the details to himself, but it is clear that it changed the young knight. His second, third, and fourth were much cleaner. It seems that he has died more than any other here, making his way across the Balmel Ocean, and all the subsequent landmasses and waterways that lead him here. I believe that he is the relative that has travelled the farthest to land here in Riilavkava.


Main

Leir's primary way to fight is to slam his shield, and his whole body, into anything in his path. This seems to embolden him, whenever he does, granting him some extra defense, whichever is most lacking, in return.

From the shroomery, he can learn to: knock those struck back, cause a delayed explosion of mana (not his own, as he is a null), or return both armor and shield values when striking a foe.


Secondary

He is also capable of charging at his foes, striking them hard with his shield and covering vast distances in the process.

From the monkey, he can learn to: knock those struck into the air, launch himself further and with more fury, or launch himself anew every time that he collides with an enemy.


Dodge

One of the queerer abilities he has is to shield himself entirely from harm, raising his guard, but not keeping himself from attacking.

The shroomery can teach him to: increase the number of blocked strikes, sure up his defenses when he blocks a strike, or to cause a mana explosion around himself when he blocks a strike.


Ultimate

He is also like to slam his shield to the ground, returning his defenses to him quickly.

From the monkey, he can learn to: harm enemies near him as he regains his footing, increase the amount by which his defenses are returned, or greatly reduce the time between slamming his shield.


And that, my dear readers, is our resident hummingbird, Leir. He boasts much more than one would expect from a man who has died half a hundred times, but he always seems genuine.

Another enigma, as far as my blood goes, however. He himself doesn't have any idea either. Most likely, it passed from some sailor to a lady in red and ended up in the Kel'berren that way.

Next week, we will be talking of Rowan Black, an Iron Sentinel from some tribe or another near the north of the Iron Sands - he's none too keen to talk about himself, but I recognize his sigil - the blazing bonfire of house Stoir. We'll get into all that next week, but he is one of the less fortunate of us, if I do say so myself.


Until next time,
Xermillion Glass

Greetings,

It is I, Xermillion Glass again, though this time my faculties are a bit dampened as I have been dealing with an imbalance of mana for a few days - my headaches and I can nary breathe, but a scholar does his due diligence!

Irenian, yes. Another priestess from another religion from another far-flung corner of Vaane. Priests and priestess' of blasphemous faiths should not be attempting to sway firm, true believers to their ends, at least this one has the courtesy to listen when told no.

Irenian was born a single daughter to a fisher's wife in a small village just on the tip of the Iron Kingdoms. Fisherman's Gate, I believe she called it, though she mentioned that it neither had a gate nor walls, perhaps the namer thought themselves clever, I shall not worry too much on it. In any case, it is a small village that I have never heard of.

She was never fond of fishing, she'll tell you, never liked the taste much either, but fish she did for some long time. Irenian is a bit shy on the details about what happened that taught her of her blood magic, but it must have happened before she was a grown woman, because the Blood Priestess' only take those that have not reached maturity, or so my research tells me.

In any case, she spent most of the rest of her life helping those in need. Blood Priestess' are both renowned fighters and healers. The first I can attest to, Irenian changes when she slits her palm. The calm, sweet woman melts away with a rabid beast replacing her. She fights like nothing I have seen from Xerenia or Goldwrath, like a monster in sjjena skin.

The healing though - I would never let a Blood Priestess near my wounds and it seems that no one else around will either. Irenian is not bothered by this, queerly enough, saying something about all blood being one blood. Which is ridiculous, but easy enough to believe for a low-born fisherwoman from a dusty hovel in the Iron Kingdoms.

Ah, yes. Irenian is a blackblood as well - fire, earth, and water. It is what allows her blood magic and her obsidian summoning as well.

Main

Despite being a magi, Irenian's first line of defense is a queer wooden sword lined with obsidian shards. She uses this as one would normally use a sword, though she seems to draw power from the blood that it draws, empowering her melee attacks along with her blood magics.

From the Shroomer she can learn to: allow all of the strikes she causes to heal her own wounds, increase the range of her melee swings, or create a bloody explosion with every third swing, healing herself for all the foes struck.


Secondary

She is also capable of condensing and detonating blood. I'm almost sure it is her blood that she uses. This process takes a moment though, and the actual effect seems to happen moments after she slices herself.

The monkey can teach her to: cause the explosion to leave burning blood upon the ground, increase the harm dealt by her third strike, or force the blood to explode over a much larger area.


Dodge

The way she uses obsidian is most likely how she earned her title Nitesaa'dar - one made of obsidian in keili. She at least has the good sense to translate it better into sjjen. But! She is able to form a massive slab of obsidian underneath herself, forcing it upwards and creating a wall. She cleverly angles it as well, to allow herself to climb atop it.

The shroomer can teach her to: cause the wall to pulse blood - burning those nearby, increase the size of the wall substantially, or heal her own wounds when standing near the wall.


Ultimate

Irenian's last trick is to summon an ever-expanding ring of obsidian shards, which shred those they touch - as obsidian does.

From the monkey, she can learn to: imbue the shards - having them leave burning blood behind, massively increase the harm the shards can cause, or knock those struck high into the air.

Irenian, heretic that she is, is a nice sjjena, do not get me wrong. She just has misplaced faith in her Misate Sjyen.

Next week, I will be speaking of a diminutive man, Leir Kelberen - a hummingbird from the Golden Blossoms.

Until next time,
Xermillion Glass

Greetings,

Once again, I am Xermillion Glass with more information for those that wish to learn of the Glass bloodline.

Today, I will be writing of Koria a Glassshaper from the Forest of the Winds.

As I mentioned last time, a lot of what I will be discussing is conjecture and my own observations, mixed with a healthy dose of history, as Koria herself does not talk much about herself. She will talk to you about tonics, she will talk about tea, but she will not talk about herself, nor her mana.

Koria is a Glassshaper, So'ora in her mother tongue. I do not speak Koria's mother tongue, whatever it may be, and in my research, I have nary come across the word So'ora. The only reason that I know that it does, in fact, mean glassshaper is from a tome I chanced upon in Granforn some years ago.

The tome was penned by another Glass scholar, Minolean Glass. He was from a lesser house of Glass, if my records are to be trusted, but we are not here to talk about Minolean.

So'ora are gifted magi, having access to three separate types of mana: earth, air, and fire - blackbloods, they are called for their mixed, unpure blood. They utilize their mixed mana typing to create glass, with which they have access to an untold trove of capabilities - or so the stories say.

I'm not one for folklore, but there is such a dearth of stories about them and so very little actual knowledge. They are said to be able to fly. To be able to see the future. To be able to breathe underwater and spit lightning. They are made out to be monsters by any other name, but the low-born seem to trust their healing capabilities, if nothing else.

Koria herself is a bit of an empty scroll, however. From what I can gather, she is, in fact, a very gifted healer - at least when it comes to tonics and tinctures. She is obviously advanced in age and seems to dance around me in conversation, keeping me guessing what she means and where she is headed.

Main

Her main form of defense is her ability to conjure glass almost instantly and she uses this capability throughout her arsenal. Primarily, she will form a sphere, which shatters on impact, sending shards into all those nearby.

From the Shroomer, she is able to learn to hone this ability, though it boggles the mind a bit that she would be able to learn anything from that imbecile. She can learn to: change the shape of the explosion - from a cone to a simple burst, fire a salvo in a cone, or make the sphere denser, keeping it from shattering, but causing more blunt trauma to those hit.


Secondary

She also has a penchant for sharp bits of glass. She will form a massive shard of glass and slam it directly into the ground, harming all nearby and causing them to become stunned for a time.

From the monkey, she can learn to: fire the shard a great distance, increase the size of the shard, or increase the length of time that those struck are stunned.


Dodge

The most queer thing that Koria does is launch herself with the glass. I'm not quite sure how this works, as I am not a mixed mage, but she launches herself high into the air with this, far above those that would do her harm.

She can hone this by learning to: somehow be able to cast it in the air as well, conjure a mana explosion on cast - damaging nearby foes, or vastly increase the height she propels herself.


Ultimate

Koria's last line, as it were, is to fire a large amount of bursting spheres in all directions at once.

From the Shroomer, she can learn to: condense all the glass into a point - causing an explosion instead of tossing her spheres, double the already large number of spheres fired, or fire bursting spheres, as one of her choices for her primary ability.

Koria is not the kind of woman to give too much away, unless you are willing to talk about tea. I wish I knew more of the woman and the So'ora, but, alas, here we are. I shall continue digging and will inform you if there are any developments.

Next week, I will be writing on Irenian, the Obsidian One. She is a blood priestess from the Iron Sands. At least she is more forthcoming with my questions and the blood priestesses are a well documented group. Alas.

Until next time,
Xermillion Glass

Greetings,

Xermillion Glass once again with more information on another of our accursed souls. This week, I will be talking, of course, about Naan Solverian, the heir to some-such kingdom somewhere.

Naan Solverian

You can hear this whole story for the price of even a shred of interest, as Naan enjoys the sound of his own voice more than most.

Naan was born to a king-by-another-word in the Solverian Kingdom far to the north of Goldwrath and Xerenia proper. As is the custom on Solveria, Naan was raised as a warrior and constantly accompanied by a group of lowborn soldiers that he calls retainers.

Naan's life was one filled with joy and decadence as he tells it - being the heir to a kingdom does that. The only tragedy that ever struck him before this was the death of his youngest brother, Benn, and his whole family in a fire.

But, as all stories do, this one turns sour somewhere in the middle.

Naan's father, Toffer, took ill with the wasting disease and it came on strong and quick. Naan was poised to succeed his father, non-too-happy about his death, but the prospect of running his kingdom excited him. Toffer passed peacefully one night, surrounded by loved ones.

Then the curse reared its head.

Naan's family seems to be of old Glass blood, as I cannot find a direct link in my research anywhere, neither does Naan himself know from whence the connection came. But Toffer reanimated the next morning, barely worse for the experience, and Naan and his entire family were relieved, if only somewhat confused.

After the second reanimation, if was clear that something was amiss. Toffer was dying and reanimating, returning less and less himself, both physically and mentally, as the wasting disease itself was brought back with him each time.

By Naan's telling, Toffer had reanimated some forty times by the time that Naan was sent on his quest. There is no telling how many more times it has happened since he left.

Main

Naan's primary way of dispatching foes is with his queer curved blade. He seems to revel in it, speeding up the more danger there is about. It also allows him to gather some sort of power that he utilizes elsewhere

From the Shroomer, he can learn to: increase the amount of power charged, add some-sort of trail to the swing, increasing the area, or his bloodlust can be fueled faster.

Secondary

Releasing the stored power, Naan can swing his sword faster than any other I have seen without the aid of magic. Naan and his whole family, to my knowledge, are nulls.

He can learn to: increase the max stored power, increase the damage ratio of the power stored, or fire some sort of wave from his blade. Very queer power for a null.

Dodge

Naan is quite nimble when he wants to be, thought looking at him walk, you would never guess. He is able to quickly jump into the fray, generating energy, and dealing a deadly overhead strike.

The monkey can teach him to: jump farther, cause harm to those near him at the start of his jump, or increase the arc of his sword at the end, hitting more targets.

Ultimate

Naan is either asleep or talking, sometimes both. His crowning ability is his ability to scream at such a pitch, that all those nearby are stunned momentarily. He seems to take some sort of odd pleasure from this, as he is often revitalized by this maneuver.

From the Shroomery, he can learn to: greatly increase the amount of defense he is returned, increase the stunning effect on foes, or speed up his recovery, allowing him to scream all the more.

Naan is one of the few that are here by his own choice. He could have stayed home, allowing his family to suffer, but he chose to quest out of his own volition and try to stop the evil that is Saren Glass.

I apologize to all nulls in the audience. There isn't a succinct word to describe those without mana affinity that I am aware of in the common tongue, else I would have used it.

Next week, I will be writing of our resident poultice maker, Koria. Unlike Naan, Koria is not quite as much of an open book, and as such, a lot of my ramblings will be purely conjecture.


Until next time,
Xermillion Glass, Scholar