I so want to draw tigers now.
Looking forward to a demo! The name is awesome.
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Ahh thank you so much. This is actually the third iteration of the title, and I like it the best by far - third time’s the charm, and all that!
if you end up doing any tiger drawings please do share! 
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I like this character already! And this story sure seems fascinating. I’m reminded a bit of of the Pon Para games - a fantasy based on various ancient cultures rather than the typical mediaeval influences. Looking forward to learning more about it!
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Armell is the only one I can see giving Elisei serious competition for my self-insert’s nerdy little heart. I can definitely see us bonding over our curiosity about how things work!
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@Haflaen I’m so glad, thank you so much! I’m really enjoying writing in such a different setting to what I’ve been for a while, and with very different kinds of stakes.
@AletheiaKnights Aww that’s so lovely! Would you like a not-very-spoilery tidbit about Armell and Kiriyak? I haven’t decided whether they’ve met in person before the game - possibly not - but they do know each other and are penpals. It’s not typical for most people to be able to read, but they both can, and nerd out via letters 
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What can I say? “Rich kid goes to posh boarding school” didn’t grab me, but this certainly does!
(No offence to fans of the Crème series, of course)
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Very reasonable, and I’m delighted to hear it!
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Ooooh, please tell me there’s at least one scene where we can all be nerdy together!
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Hey, “Rich kid goes to posh boarding school” is only in two games. One is “MC goes tutoring to the mysterious and gothic manor, commits crimes on their way out” and other is “Thrillingly traumatized military dude/tte gets to be a bodyguard to the rich kid that goes to posh boarding school.” 
TBH, school setting is my second least favorite setting, but I can easily ignore it when I like everything else, like writing and characters. Which I very much did.
Back to track, I think my MC will really get along with this one:
I bet that heart isn’t even theirs and it’s probably brass, but that just makes them more interesting. 
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Mind if I ask a bit more about the world? You mentioned literacy is rare but apparently it does exist - what sort of writing system do they use? Also more generally, what level of technology do they have - bronze, iron, neolithic? Or is it more advanced than that? Is it mostly tribal societies or are there cities/kingdoms/empires? Are there other religions other than Vastan? What different cultures might we encounter?
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@AletheiaKnights I think there will be some scenes like that!
@dorquemada Thank you for your kind comments! and I hope you like Val once you get to know them further, I’m really fond of them!
@Haflaen here is a big essay about the setting, it became long!
More here
For writing, there is an alphabet, and reading is generally the area of priests and medical folk, with some witchcrafters using writing to keep records of rituals (though others pass it along by word of mouth). Protective charms that are made from patterns of knots could double up as simple communication methods, though that would be more communicating concepts or single words rather than sentences.
Amikya is formed of a wide basin surrounded by mountains, and the land varies between steppe, marshes, and lakes. There are small villages and farmsteads scattered around the basin, which are very hardscrabble due to the danger of magical storms.
Larger towns do exist, which is where some of the major characters are based - while they communicate and trade with each other, they have their own leaders and leadership structures. These larger towns have various protective measures against the storms, making living there relatively easier than in the wilds.
Broadly Amikya is a remote/rural territory rather than a kingdom, and even before the tumult of a century ago it wasn’t very highly populated.
I’m being very fast and loose with technology as I’m not intending to match the real world, but am generally taking inspiration from (very roughly) some real world countries’ 11th century tech…ish.
There will have been more advanced technology available before Vastan’s Triumph - such as clearer/stronger glass, gunpowder, more complex and large-scale engineering projects etc - but a lot of knowledge and tech was lost during and after the fighting between Vastan and the demon. There are magical herbs that exist due to Vastan’s presence that do certain things that are outside of real-life medicine of that sort of era (such as more advanced antiseptic and painkilling properties, and some that enhance someone’s senses, etc - essentially, it’s possible to make magical potions).
Elsewhere in the world, there are other countries with more complex/rigid structures, larger cities, and different types of technology but I haven’t pinned them down yet (and the details probably depend on whether I end up writing more in this setting, and where I write about!). What I do know is that Vastan and the demon Nerekay are essentially the same type of entity, and there are multiple entities of this kind that exist and directly act in various ways on earth. Many of these, though not all, are worshipped - some on a large scale (eg as gods via a state religion), and some smaller. After Nerekay was destroyed, Vastan is the only active one in this area.
Not a lot of people come to Amikya from outside, because it’s not very safe or desirable, but within it there’s a variety of cultures. Some places are more casual about their worship of Vastan than others; some have more/different technological advances; some accept/respect witchcraft more, whereas in some places it’s forbidden altogether.
That’s roughly what I have so far. I haven’t written about the PC visiting many of the places yet, so these things are not entirely set in stone yet - I often find myself feeling out more details once I get there.
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So we’re essentially in a post-apocalyptic setting? That’s not what I was expecting, but I love it! Thanks for the detailed answer; man, April can’t come around soon enough.
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Thank you so much, I’m so pleased!
The Earth Has Teeth Progress Report: February #2
I did some Chapter 2 revisions and stat tweaking this fortnight! And I’ve been continuing writing Chapter 3, and it’s so Large. (This evening I’m 84% through the draft.) It makes sense, because a lot of it is about exploring a new place and meeting new characters, and having some new kinds of interactions, but my goodness. I just checked my spreadsheets and it’s larger than the Chapter 3s of Noblesse Oblige, Blood Money, or Creme de la Creme!
(This is what always happens when I go into a project with the aim of making it shorter than my last one…)
Anyway, it’s been really fun putting the PC in new situations and letting them explore more unfamiliar parts of the world. They’ve certainly been through it in the earlier chapters, so this is a chance for them to recover a bit. Or not, if they’d rather!
Aside from that, it’s been really fun to tell more people about the game - thank you to everyone for your kind comments!
Next fortnight, I’ll be continuing with Chapter 3 which isn’t much of a twist, but! I’m aiming to have the Chapter 3 draft finished and tested by the next time I do one of these reports in two weeks’ time.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a good weekend!
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Glorious!
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Here’s a little rundown about one of the befriendable, romanceable, or backstabbable major characters, Dr. Kiriyak!
Full name: Elisei/Elena/Elis Kiriyak
Age: 32
Gender: selectable between trans man (he/him), trans woman (she/her), and genderqueer (they/them)
Background: Dr. Kiriyak has been a herbalist for most of their life. They’re very strongly attached to their work, seeing it as an integral part of their community’s health (correctly) and the most important aspect of the town (perhaps incorrectly). Their life’s work is a seed bank preserving herbs and documenting them for future generations. They were married for some time to the mayor of their town, which ended last year.
Personality: direct, precise, visionary, haughty
Appearance: tall and imposing, with thick black hair, light brown skin, and hooded grey eyes. Strides about in a way that suggests they’re always busy with something very important.
Style: Dr. Kiriyak wears stylish, somewhat dandyish clothes: fine linen shirts with a long, swishy skirt or trousers and embroidered tunics over the top. They have a few accessories, such as copper brooches or gold torque necklaces. When it’s cold, they wear a long, robe-like coat made of wool, a scarf, and a fur-lined cloak over the top with a nicely-worked clasp. Male Kiriyak wears their hair long and tied back, female Kiriyak has hers in a bob, and genderqueer Kiriyak wears theirs short. None have facial hair.
At their best: incisive, pragmatic, forthright
At their worst: arrogant, hard-hearted, uncompromising
You’ll like Kiriyak if you like… an intellectual who speaks bluntly, who has a vision for the future, who is very certain of their place in the world, who will work with you to change the world, who is passionate about their obsessions.
You’ll like romancing Kiriyak if you like… melting or flustering an ice monarch (or being ice monarchs together), being bossed around (if you’re into that), direct communication, an unexpected connection.
A song from Kiriyak’s playlist: Love Is Blindness cover by Jack White
Face cast ideas: (bear in mind that this isn’t the be-all-and-end-all - feel free to imagine as you like) Martin Sensmeier, Julia Jones, Cherokee Jack
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We are going to be so nerdy together.
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I hope so! I’ve been writing them this week and enjoying getting into their tone of voice/behaviour/mannerisms a lot!
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After a big push of writing this evening, I’ve just finished coding Chapter 4! I’ve not been focusing on/talking about wordcount very much for this project, but it is exciting to reach big numbers so - I’ve also just gone past 100,000 words 
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