Welcome to my developer diary thread for The Earth Has Teeth, my new dark fantasy game of tragedy, conviction, connection, and survival!
The story so far:
Currently I’m writing Chapter 4. I started working on this game in December 2024, after an outline process of around six weeks.
Chapter 1: drafted, submitted, revised
Chapter 2: drafted, submitted, revised
Chapter 3: drafted
Chapter 4: drafting (39%)
Read the most recent progress report here!
The plan: to host this thread for questions, discussions, and feedback. At the start of April I’ll be posting the first two chapters. In the meantime, I’ll be regularly posting progress updates, plus, starting next week, more about the main characters.
Every so often, I will post chapters from The Earth Has Teeth for £6+ subscribers to my Patreon to play early, to support paying the bills while I work on the project. After a month of early access, they’ll be posted publicly for everybody’s perusal.
Chapters 1 and 2 are currently playable for £6+ subscribers here.
About The Earth Has Teeth
A century ago, the tiger god Vastan fought a risen demon over the steppes and mountains that are your home, battling for mastery over the earth below. Their war poisoned the land, causing magical storms that twist the mind and the elements alike.
At the moment of Vastan’s eventual triumph she was grievously wounded, retreating beneath the mountains to be cared for by a sect of worshippers known as the Guardians of Tulara.
You are one of those Guardians: a scout who ventures from the secretive monastery to hunt, forage, and trade with those living on the plains below. Protected from the storms by Vastan’s power even as she sleeps, you care for your wounded god in your small, safe community.
Until today.
After an attack on your monastery that leaves your comrades dead and scattered, you cut a piece of your god to preserve her in a weakened, half-alive state and run. Scraping together a living as a hunter, forager, and courier on the dangerous steppes, you must survive the gathering storms while searching for a way to bring your god back to life.
Will you rebuild your order or forge a new path of your own, align with Vastan or rebel against her? Will you bring back your god and protect your lands, or take this chance to seize power for yourself?
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Play as male, female, or non-binary; cis or trans; gay, straight, or bisexual; asexual and/or aromantic; allosexual and/or alloromantic; monogamous or polyamorous
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Befriend, romance, clash with, or destroy an ambitious, stubborn magic enthusiast with a lot to prove; a hard-bitten courier determined to be self-reliant while looking after their own; a haughty, visionary herbalist obsessed with preserving knowledge and their collection even when it’s frustrating; an outgoing, no-nonsense guard with a strong protective streak; a fast-talking witch-turned-con-artist who might have a heart of gold somewhere.
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Survive the storms: use your skills and knowledge to help the communities on the steppes–or only yourself
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Unearth dark secrets on the steppes: will you share them with the world, or bury them once more?
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Build your relationship with your dying god and rebuild her power, or use it for your own ends
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Give of yourself or others for the greater good, persuade your god to different paths, or rebel against her entirely
When the storm hits, what are you willing to sacrifice?
The MC of The Earth Has Teeth
The MC of The Earth Has Teeth
You’ve lived in the Tulara monastery all your life, along with a group of around fifty Guardians of Vastan. After your parents died in a storm when you were in your mid-teens, you were cared for by the other Guardians and have lived a comfortable, if hard-working, life.
You’re now 25 and an experienced scout, adept at travelling alone and surviving in the wilderness. Thanks to Vastan’s power and protection, you’ve rarely wanted for food and even if some of your trips outside were harder than others, the safe haven of the monastery walls was always waiting for you.
But not any more.
Vastan the tiger god
Vastan the Tiger God
In your holy texts, Vastan is described as a tiger larger than the sky who moves faster than the eye can see and has all-powerful influence. As you know her, she appears as a tiger striped black-and-gold the size of a house, who sleeps in a huge underground chamber deep in the Tulara monastery.
While the demon Nerekay had influence over and could warp the elements, Vastan’s power is entwined with nature, protection, and growth. She made unearthly plants grow and flourish in the monastery, and her presence improved the health of her Guardians. She can also provide protection from the hypnotic, mind-altering storm sickness and, before the attack, she shielded the monastery from storms hitting it at all.
You carry a part of Vastan with you now, and although her powers are diminished, she can still lend you help when you’re in need.
Magic in Amikya
Magic in Amikya
In Amikya, the land in which you live, priests draw magical power from Vastan through time-honoured religious ritual, whereas witches do so through practices more like folk medicine and superstition passed down through generations of folklore. Not all witches consider their power to come from Vastan: some see it as drawing magic from the earth or sky.
There are blurred lines between the practices, though not every witch or priest would like to admit such a thing, and not all towns approve of witchcraft at all.
Major Befriendable, Romanceable, Or Backstabbable Characters
All the romanceable characters are gender-flippable. All characters can be romanced monogamously; some can be romanced polyamorously in various configurations - more on that later!
Armell Bassar (23): the only child of a town leader, Armell is passionate about learning more magic to protect and expand their home. With a keen mind and more intensity than they know what to do with, Armell is eager to prove themself to their community and to their mother. (cis man/cis woman/agender)
Elisei/Elena/Elis Kiriyak (32): an expert herbalist and potion-maker, Dr. Kiriyak is near-obsessive about their collection of seeds and potions and the knowledge they’ve amassed. Some might call them arrogant; Kiriyak would say that’s irrelevant. (trans man/trans woman/genderqueer)
Nikita Leu (25): a courier carrying items and messages as well as escorting people, Nikita is an excellent survivalist and has endured a dangerous itinerant life on the plains despite experiencing tragedy. Nikita is generally withdrawn and self-reliant to a fault. (cis man/cis woman/transfem)
Serhii/Sara/Saba Roschin (39): the leader of a town guard, Roschin is boisterous and cheerful, and likes to be the first to dive in to fix a problem. Roschin is a bold fighter and protector who may go too far when joking around but will stand up for others when it matters. (cis man/cis woman/transmasc)
Valeria/Valerio Chernenko (26): a flamboyant witch who guides travellers through storms and sells magical charms, Val’s trinkets aren’t always as effective as they claim. Living a transient life, Val relies on their wits to avoid trouble - not always successfully. (trans man/trans woman/nonbinary transfem)
More Characters Of Note
More Characters Of Note
More characters will be added here as more are encountered during the game!
Guardians of Tulara
More Guardians than this live in the mountain monastery, but here are a selection of named ones:
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Superior Merle (late 70s, they/them): one of the leaders of the Guardians
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Akim (late 50s, he/him): a farmer turned head cook
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Alyona (early 20s, she/her): a junior scribe and librarian
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Jelena (early 30s, she/her): a member of the warriors who protect the monastery
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Kira (late 20s, she/her): a cook, primarily a butcher
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Oskar (6, he/him): a studious young child
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Valya (mid thirties, they/them): a cook
In Ven Lake
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Mayor Simeon Karlo (mid 30s, he/him): Mayor of the town council of Ven Lake, a calm, welcoming farming town
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Isabel “Issi” Loran (15, she/her): a rookie courier. Earnest and chatty, Issi is keen to support her family who live in Ven Lake
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Tanel and Nina Loran (early 40s): Issi’s parents
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Danylo Loran (early 20s): Issi’s older brother
In Yarigana
- Mother Armell Bassar (early 50s, she/her): Leader of Yarigana, an insular town whose partially-underground location makes it one of the safest places on the steppes
In Rizhala
- Warden Jan Chura (early 60s, they/them): Leader of Rizhala, a prosperous, popular town in the centre of the steppes
Content Notes
Content notes below. By the nature of these notes, some plot elements may be spoiled.
General Notes
The player character of The Earth Has Teeth is a member of an insular religious order. Paths through the game may include onscreen cruelty and violence to humans and animals, including blood, gore, injury, and death; dead bodies; duststorms; floods; dysphoria; earthquakes; landslides and avalanches; recreational alcohol and drug use; starvation; trauma responses; wildfires; various other environmental hazards and disasters.
Some paths contain optional sexually explicit scenes. These can be played through in detail, or played as fade-to-black.
About trans PCs and NPCs
In this setting, PCs and NPCs can access magical equivalents of HRT with the use of herbal potions. PCs can choose to have accessed top surgery, hysterectomy, or orchidectomy prior to the game. Where a trans PC or NPC’s body is described in detail, it is done so in a gender-affirming fashion regardless of medical transition.
I hope you like Kiriyak; they may be standoffish, but they have a lot of vision and really do want to build a good future!
A lot of my writing from some years ago was fantasy, so it’s been really nice to jump into that genre and style again, magic and gods and all!
