A SHRIEK OF ASH AND FIRE 1(WIP) [approx 220K UPDATE, 1.43 Million TOTAL-27th September 2025] (1.48 Million on Patreon)

Hosted Games Works In Progress
,
121

Hi Denton, great to see you back in Behatland!

Yes, the dwarves are very interesting. As I’m writing, they are the main group of dissenters in the crawler too, though most of those dwarves were not forced into their position, unlike the Roachpedes.

Thanks for the awesome comparison with TES! By virtue of now having a second game in the same world, we get a natural deepening of the lore. It is more complicated now as I have to apply more chronological/historical/political logic (even if it is a warped fantasy logic) than in the first game. In the first game, I didn’t have to follow any presets.

I hope you continue to enjoy your adventures in future updates!

EDIT:

@Lucas_Gendron @anon12679161

Yes, the dwarves, in any version of the Green Emperor timelines, were not wiped out. Their civilization could have been smashed but the dwarves are stubborn and persistent. Also, even in the first game, there were many lost holds in the mountains of the Jagged Divide and north of it. But, these places were simply inaccessible at the time (notice how the new Behatland map gives the details of the northern realms, which were nothing but ruins and places of monsters in the first game).

The Green Emperor got to destroy the most powerful segment of the remains of an ancient dwarven empire but the orcs never conquered the greater mass of the northern mountains.

3 Likes
122

So in the real storyline the dwarves weren’t wiped out?

1 Like
123

To be fair, even in the warfare paths it is stated that there are dwarfs living outside of the mountain. Given this game takes place centuries after the first game it makes sense they’ve been able to recover their numbers even if the mountain was devastated.

3 Likes
124

Ahh ok that makes sense

1 Like
125

This WIP has genuinely surprised me how gripping this demo is and how invested I am on how it will play out.

I’ve spent my time trying out the different heritage choices and skills you can acquire, and I can confidently say that, the divergent paths and outcomes, has me excited to see how this story will develop.

I enjoy the banter with Sera and Vin and their personalities, I also enjoy the mc’s personality, not Oliver Twist nor are they Jack the Ripper (yet), when Shiv get’s into trouble at the Roacpede’s HQ, they don’t react with altruistic concerns, more Shiv is an asshole, but if you don’t do anything he’ll only make the situation worse.

Another aspect that I like is, the jobs you can be assigned on the crawler, feels like a grimy version of Downton Abby (weird comparison I know), seeing how the crew live and work on the various levels of the crawler, seeing how all the crew interact with different factions is going to be interesting. A desk dispatcher MC who with the help of Gibleti’s goblins to blackmail some of the nobles who threaten there position, an Etherneer MC who could help train the others while Ruven focuses on training Sera, integrating Roacpedes with the crew of the crawler and so on.

Slightly Off top

I found this WIP by accident, as I originally wanted to replay An Unexpectedly Green Journey, as I did play it back in August last year and wanted to see how much it had changed, after seeing the demo closed, I saw this demo and gave it a chance and loved it. I’ll be keeping an on this and once An Unexpectedly Green Journey is released I’ll be sure to pick.

3 Likes
126

@MrSpec84

Thanks for playing and for your great feedback! Haha, I love your Downton Abbey take. This was certainly not the inspiration but it makes so much sense, with the scheming, resentment and rumours.

If any TV producers are reading this, I’d happily receive a nice cheque to write Ashland Abbey!- Actually, this would 100% be a great show. Absolutely!!!

As you say, your MC is a happy-go-lucky tearaway, at the start. The Roachpedes, though criminals and not adverse to violence, are not mindless thugs. They would see what they do, rightly or wrongly, as pure ‘survival.’ Chaotic neutral to wider society, though perhaps more lawful neutral in terms of gang code- honour amongst thieves and loyalty to friends and your crew type thing. Of course, this varies with individuals.

As for Green, since you last played I have added the Dark Path, Adventuring Guild Path, Arena Path, lots of ‘odd jobs’ for meandering mature orcs and an old age section for non-epic orcs (non-Emperor/ Dark Lord/ Great Shaman orcs), where you see out your time and, potentially, raise a young orc to future greatness. Oh, you also have the Shaman path, where you build a holy city and unleash Krog’s fullest glory upon the world.

I should have an update out in the next couple of weeks or so, which will double the size of the game (at least). Once it is out, would love to hear what you think.

Cheers!

7 Likes
127

UPDATE 1 (87k, 153k total- 5th July 2024)

-Expanded the Crawler paths for each profession. Now, you can settle into your new job, meet a few new people and get involved with some of the politics and mysteries of crawler life. This is the main content of the update by far.
-If you have fled the crawler, you have a small expansion of events heading north or south. Go north to find the town of Brakka, home of many outcasts, or south to New Yeirshee, where you will join ash pirates and be able to pick a weapon and vehicle.
-Added a new ‘pamphlet’ section to the stats screen, where I can handily add bits about lore which would be useful for playing the game. Right now, there is a summary of names for various mixtures of the races of Behatland- mostly because I found writing things like half halfling half-elf terrifying.
-Split up the lore stats screen a bit, to avoid scrolling issues on mobiles.

I find this tricky, as the crawler section combines the 5 different professions, all with unique choices and providing general choices for all. This was always going to take up the most time. In contrast, only light work has been done on the north and south escape paths so far.

For the next update, I have two very particular scenes that I want to add to the crawler path. Depending on how much time these take, I may or may not extend the escape paths (for the next update). If I don’t, I will work on these for the update after.

As yet, I am still unsure of the best way to add flavour options catering to those who completed the empire path in Green Journey. I am still planning to add this flavour text, activated perhaps by introductory questions about actions in the previous game, but not for now as it is quite a diversion of focus. Sadly, my brain is not very good at splitting struggling neurons and I have to keep on a certain track. It might be easier to add these flavour-style sprinklings of text when I reach a point in the main story where paths somewhat converge.

All the best to everyone and I hope you enjoy! Feedback and bug/typo pointers are most welcome.

26 Likes
128

What if you made the history a bit unreliable
there could be a conflicting narratives about how the green emperor was and there actions

I expect there would be many conflicting historical accounts mired by bias, propaganda, and just plain translation errors by kingdoms looking to make a claim for territory
for instance a elf historian is much more likely to write that Netherwood only fell to the orcs due to the ruling dynasty that there house was in disfavor with

plus since Behatland has gone through many wars and seen the falling and rising of many kingdoms since the decline of the green empire much knowledge could have been destroyed

also I don’t think orcs would have been the best record keepers since it would make sense that orcs would have a mainly oral history and one that is very prone to exaggerations
sure the green emperor may have slain a dragon but carving out Krog’s gift into a city in a day is bit harder to believe

As for flavor options you could add a scene where the mc hears a very bias retelling of the 2nd rise of the orcs and depending on the mc race they could have a more accurate account of there races encounter with the orcs

3 Likes
129

Here’s some history involving criminal organizations you might like involving Mafia and organized criminal groups most of those were ex-militate personnel who had a bad experience like the Great Depression or cut in pay or protecting their own nationality but a resorted to a lot of things changing for their groups like The peaky blinders the British gang was one small time became big time thanks to World War 1 and you got the commission of the great days of the mafia organized criminals some of them the soldier class who were soldiers and had a strict guidelines and rules they shall not break no matter the oath anyone broke those rules well some of them are painful that you can’t come back from pretty much but I think a father my look at him and how he organized all these individuals into his gang he was ex military in my opinion involving going dexterity and stealth I used to cut them off path and I realized one thing that is a military strategy even if it’s low grade that means I had some training even if it’s small

2 Likes
131
Summary

During the scene on the ash crawler where you are going to rescue father roach if you choose the option where you use the bogarts the scene repeats itself and asks you how you’re going to get inside to father roach

3 Likes
132

Good evening,

First I would like to say I absolutely love the new update especially in regards to the escape routes and finding out what happened to Father roach, which was an ingenious surprise that I look forward to learning more about. I must say it was also quite fun seeing the differences in the routes especially when it came to the dispatcher and ether routes which differ vastly to the majority of the other crawler routes.

Now as a massive lore fanatic in anything I play I can’t help but be exited with all the new deity’s were being exposed to in the story so far. Previously we were exposed to the goddess faith and basilisk cult which represented factions we could join on the crawler. Now with this latest update we get to see the religious reverence attributed to snakes on the southern escape route once we arrive at New Yeirshee, and on the northern escape route once we meet the dwarven couple we hear mention of the mountain god, and of course we know of Krog from the previous game.

Now I know the different faiths aren’t a major pathway for this game as it was with the shaman route in the previous, but I was still curious if we would be presented with more lore surrounding these gods and faiths and any others we might encounter or if we’d be present with the opportunity to join them just like we were with the basilisk and goddess on the crawler.

Finally Thank you for the great game so far!

3 Likes
133

Hi Denton,

Your points are that of a true historian!

This is also the way I thought it through- no version could be considered reliable, no matter how valid the source. The orc empire could be likened to the third-century crises in Rome when we are not truly sure of almost everything. And every race would, indeed, have their own retelling. Also, the memory of the entirety of the orc empire is not just about the Green Emperor but his descendants.

The player MC in the previous game might have killed a dragon- or might have run away or never met a dragon- But, by Krog, the stories all say he certainly did kill the dragon, and the dragon was the size of a mountain and belched suns. Though the goblins, who rebelled against the last orc emperor, might have concocted their own nasty version. In this case, perhaps the Green Emperor was actually eaten by the dragon but somehow survived the process and was freed the next time the dragon visited the long drop.

I do like the idea of flavouring things with corrupted oral histories. As has been suggested before, certain stylistic elements (piercings/tattoos and turns of phrase) might date back to orcs, even if the modern wearers do not know it.

I will certainly add more flavourings- though right now this is not my main priority. It may be best to approach this with vagaries that leave history open to question, being corrupted by lazy scribes, imagination and flawed memories.

Love your ideas here!

@Takashi_Shin

Hi Takashi,

Thanks for the info. I agree, that there is a similar sense of duty, in some respects, with soldiers and gangs, a ‘band of brothers’ mentality, especially in squads and small units. Of course, in some sense, they are the opposite as some would view criminals as anti-nation, while the army would try to prize patriotic sentiments. Saying these, though they have little respect for abiding by the law, criminal elements have, throughout history, proved to also be patriots in times of national crisis (rightly or wrongly.)

And yes, we haven’t fully explored Father Roach’s history yet. Perhaps he has experienced more than the life of a criminal and gang boss…

Oh, and Peaky Blinders, and earlier street gangs from the Victorian period onward, are the inspiration for the Roachpedes. Thanks for adding to that inspiration too!

@Chickenboy11

Hi Chickenboy,

Big thanks! Caught it, changed it and uploaded it. It should be okay now.

@Ghost6160

Hi Ghost,

Thanks for playing the game and leaving feedback. Love how you have examined and processed the lore.

In this game, we are in a time of declining faith, though the desolate landscape of Zthullu does seem to instil faith in many of the unfortunate who have ended up there, what with the apparent hopelessness of the situation. Finding something to worship comes across as a better option than utter despair if there is not enough grog to drown your sorrows.

With the dwarves, the mountain god is not a god in the sense that most would understand. The dwarves believe the mountains are god(gods). Cold, hard, demanding and slow to act, dwarves believe that it is they who must make the most of their god. They reject the passive acts of ritual and prayer others use to coax a deity into purposeful action. They would not pray to the mountains for trivia, indeed it is an admission of utter defeat and incompetence to have to turn to prayer. But, in the northerly mountains, some dwarves have indeed turned to darker forms of worship.

I do plan for ways to become involved with the Nagarese snake cult/religion. Nagaswelt has maintained its national faith as a foundation of society, unlike Ardland which has let things slip.

Cheers to all of you. There is much to come!

EDIT:

Hi all, I have decided to open a patreon. I am new at this and have set tiers and expectations. It is strange because my first IF games isnt even released yet! Still, the determined orc in me wanted to give it a go…

Very bare right now but it will build up over time.

My brand new patreon!

8 Likes
134

Ok so just played the new update pretty nice. But there are something’s I think could be better. First I noticed a small bug. Has a thug that escaped the train and went south, in the my weapon description I had the ash marine description and the weapon I chose description together.

Now for a thing I think should be better is the salaries. Etheneers are supposed to be super rare yet some charming fella makes more than them? Doesn’t make sense I think salaries should be: ether 250, engine fellas 200, charmies 150 and should live in mid-deck maybe, ash marine 100, snek fellas 50.

2 Likes
135

@Francisco_Crespillo

Good catch with the bug. I will look into this. Adding a variable check will probably solve it.

I see your reasoning. The Dispatch gets more as they are seen as being, socially, a cut above the rest of the mob, one who deals with the upper ranks and, therefore, needs to look the part and to be trusted to pass on messages. They are seen as those capable of social graces. They also reside on the top deck so as to be closer to those whose words are most important. Minor messages are simply relayed through the clarion system. There are only a few Dispatchers- too many risks and even more breaches of trust and secrecy.

Also, a charming, tactful individual is exceedingly rare amongst the myriad conscripts and workers on the crawler. No one chooses to be there if they have options…

Etherneers, though rarer in the world as a whole, are more numerous in the crawler/ They are seen as living power sources who will, one day, be replaced. They are paid well, but seen as social inferiors. This is not a meritocracy and the nobles, frankly, see those who deal with magic as very passe.

If you have a problem with it, you should plot to overthrow those damned nobs at the top! Always stepping on the heels of the working man and woman!

Great post and suggestion.

6 Likes
136

@NumberedEntity ive encountered two game breaking errors one is when trying to get into the stat screen. The other is in the game itself just exiting the tunnel it says.

enterzthullu line 2: Non-existent variable ‘nocrawl’

1 Like
137

Gotcha!

I made a correction before but forgot to upload the start file.

Should be fine now.

Thanks, Valixon

3 Likes
138

Ah the nobles yet again place their boots on the etherneers head. The class struggle must begin

2 Likes
139

I was asked, several days ago, about character customization. I took this to mean ‘character creation and appearance.’ From my perspective, I feel being able to customize a character’s gender (just binary m or f here), fantasy racial heritage and skill set are pretty substantial, considering these all affect the story, to a degree.

Eye colour, hair colour, hairstyle, skin colour, height, weight and all this other stuff (if not assumed due to your pick of fantasy racial heritage) are completely up to the player’s head cannon. If I suddenly thought eye colour would be used to move the plot, I would surely go back and add it. I have not included such options as they are irrelevant to this story and will not be the basis of choices.

In many stories, particularly ‘charisma-focused’ choice stories, these more superficial things can resonate and be used to reveal insights into the plot and characters. I also know that some just love the ability to customise a character, even in textual form, despite it having no impact on the story.

All choices are valid, of course. There is nothing wrong with preferring it one way or the other, nobody is being hurt by excessive customization even if it is surplus to story requirements.

I just wonder what some of you think about this. Quick poll- will present a few things to think about.

How much ‘character customization’ do you prefer in your IF games?

  • I like as many options as possible, regardless of their effect on the story.
  • Some extra customization can be immersive, even if not everything is relevant to the story.
  • I prefer only story-relevant customization.
0 voters
3 Likes
140

Frankly, I never really got into this whole character customization thing, but some folks here really seem to like it. You could always make it optional, or make it such that these choices have some kind of impact on the game, even if it’s just a minor comment from another character.

1 Like
141

@NumberedEntity loving seeing the new stuff and defintly going to half to spend a while trying out the different combinations of things and choices. Out of curiousty i was wondering after our stop at the fort after months of travel no matter what happens there will there be more moments like we experianced enroute continuing after?

1 Like