[FE8] [WIP] Abyss & Ash: A True Fe8 Horror Story

If you’re a fan of dark, heavy, and emotionally provoking stories, but you’re getting tired of the common “Edgy political strife/war” or the “Unsung Hero, rising from the dirt” type of stories, then this just might be what you’re looking for. If you want a story that brings you face-to-face with unfiltered existential terror, then you’ve come to the right place, so take a seat friend, and witness the true fall of mankind from the perspective of Fe8.

WARNINGS AND READER CONSENT:

THIS HACK MAY CONTAIN INSTANCES OF POTENTIALLY DISTURBING CONTENT RANGING FROM STRONG ADULT LANGUAGE, POSSIBLY SENSITIVE RELIGIOUS ELEMENTS, STRONG VIOLENCE, AND ADULT CONTENT (NON-SEXUAL), WITH A FOCUS ON DEMONS, MONSTERS, AND POSSESSED HUMANS.

If you have read the warnings and choose to continue forward, then you are consenting to seeing and reading the above mentioned content. Continue at your own discretion.

Nothing stated or expressed in this hack reflects any of my own personal or religious beliefs, it is purely a story of fiction of my own imagining, for the sole purpose of entertainment. It is not intended to offend, slander, or insult anyone’s beliefs, religious or otherwise. It’s purely a combination of elements of stories from history and religion I find fascinating. The main inspiration is particularly from The Divine Comedy, which follows Dante along his journey through the 9 Circles of Hell. The Divine Comedy (La Divina Commedia) is a 14th-century epic narrative poem written in Italian by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and 1321.

Current Patch

MASSIVE updates in 0.3! Huge changes to prologue map, chapter 1, and chapter 2. Completely revamped dialogue, particularly the ending of chapter 1 during the conversation with King Hayden. Extensively expanded story page including full plot notes as well as multiple new screenshots.

Update 0.4 fixes various bugs, enemy placements, portraits, item rebalances, and complete item descriptions completed.

Update 0.5 fixes more enemy placement issues as well some inventory issues and a weird glitch that was preventing chapter 2 from completing.

Update 0.6 fixes Franz class to actually be soldier. Fixed character growths on various playable units. Fixed various typos and some awkward wording in conversations. Fixed and issue with the emerald not being sellable.

Update 0.7 adds a new custom animation or re-palette to every class. Chapter 4 level finished. Adjusted more items and rebalanced a few base stats and stat growths as well as implementing mines and light runes. Adjusted chest contents and chest key availability and preparations vendor inventory. Chapter 5 map finished and inserted but the level is incomplete, go ahead and start it up if you would like to see the map design.

Update 0.8 Another big update! First off, fixes a bunch of incorrect palettes from the new class animations as well as a bug that prevented Eirika from talking to ross and subsequently not being able to recruit Garcia. A few map treasures reworked/replaced as well as the final completion of chapter 5 map!

Update 0.10 Lots of bug fixes, a LOT.

Dropbox

Main Plot:

This is a reimagining of Fire Emblem 8: The Sacred Stones from the viewpoint of Hell and its demonic forces invading Magvel, rather than the traditional story of monsters rising and Grado unexpectedly invading Renais. This story will focus on Eirika and her place in this story. Ephraim will never be the “main” lord, there will be no route split, although they will both be playable together at a certain point. Grado is no longer an enemy country, this story will follow along the lines of the peace the lands had right before the traditional events of Fe8. Grado is in just as much danger as everyone else. Your first goal is to regroup and rally survivors of the initial attack and destruction, fleeing to neighboring ally, Frelia. Trying to find information on this newfound and devastating enemy, you are taken to the royal library of Frelia. There you will find a VERY minimally translated book of infernal codices, labeled as the: Tyranny of Ash. After trying in vain to decipher the demonic passages within, your next goal is to find someone knowledgeable on the inner workings of Hell, perhaps someone that can read and speak the language, maybe even someone that’s been there and back…

That’s all I’ll say on the main plot. The rest you’ll have to discover for yourself.

Character Changes:

There is a story set romance between Eirika and Seth, regardless of supports between them, as well as 2 possible romances for Ephraim with either Tana or L’Arachel that IS based on supports gained. If no supports are gained with either, then it will default to Tana.

Duessel, Cormag, Amelia, and Knoll, are no longer defectors of Grado, instead they are recruited into allies through alternate means from standard Fe8. I won’t spoil any of it here. Also previously unlockable characters will be available to play in the main story, for example: Selena, Glen, Vigarde, Mansel, Ismaire, Hayden, Carlyle, Orson, and 1 surprise character that I won’t spoil. The game also features 1 entirely custom playable character named Alariel. She is a half-angel and is very powerful against unholy type enemies, imagine her power is kind of along the lines of Myrrh when she’s attacking monsters, but a little more support focused. Her skills are based around aiding teammates, but she is not a healer, she is 100% a combat unit. She will make a brief appearance in chapter 5x taking the jaegen role of Orson in that chapter, and won’t be available again until much later in the game.

Any pre-existing strife or conflicts with characters from Grado will not be present at all, including any and all of the imperial generals or commanders, etc.

All support conversations will be altered massively to reflect the current affairs. Conversations regarding a shared past between two units, unless related to the destruction of Renais or the invasion of Grado, will not be altered.

All characters have had their growths adjusted to be more in line with their class/previous bases. I made sure everyone has 300% total for their character growths with an exception to Myrrh. Buffed most boss characters that didn’t have any luck to have at least a little, like a minimum of 5 or so. Raised the base con of a few boss characters also.

Character Specific Changes:

Seth: His default class is set to cavalier instead with a B rank in swords and lances, and starts at level 15 with nearly the same stats he had a paladin, essentially a -1 or -2 to his stats. Technically now when he does promote he’ll be a little better. yikes.

Franz: His default class is set to soldier instead of cavalier. I also fixed Franz’s character description to no longer say “An earnest and compassionate cavalier of Renais”, it now says “A dedicated soldier of Renais. He’s young, but brave and honorable..”

Lute: She now has the Shadowgift skill giving her a C rank in dark magic, as well as creating a prf dark tome for her. I felt this was in line with character and knowledge of monsters and dark magic.

Garcia: He now starts with a prf axe that is effective against swordfighters (NOT a reaver weapon, it’s effective against the class, like mercenary, myrmidon, hero, sword master and assassin) and negates critical hits against him. This is more of a personal view on him being a former military leader and having extensive combat experience, his description did say he was feared after all.

Class Changes:

Changed the trainee classes to allow 3 base promotion choices without prerequisites.

Recruit: knight, cavalier, and wyvern rider.

Journeyman: fighter, pirate, and mountaineer.

Pupil: mage, shaman, and monk.

Lord Classes: The Prince and Princess class now have 3 class promotion options each. When first prompted to use the Lunar and Solar brace, decline this option, then use them afterwards in the inventory menu to access the 2 new additional classes. I won’t list what they are here, you’ll just have to see for yourself, but I will say that they do retain their default Great Lord promotion as an option for those that don’t like the 2 new options. Great Lord is the default promotion if you choose to use the Lunar and Solar brace when first prompted to.

Changed Great Lord class names to Lance King and Sword Queen.

Changed the Brigand class name to “Mountaineer” and added a new class animation as well a new class card for them.

Added a custom animation to a few classes, fighter, pirate, mage, sage, Erika’s base class and default promoted class.

Increased the base con on some classes, like soldier, mountaineer, summoner and druid.

Soldier: Can now promote to either general, paladin, or great knight.

Troubadour: You can now sacrifice the use of a mount to become a bishop. The options are now Valkyrie or bishop. (Mage Knight removed as an option from Troubadour)

Summoner: The summons have a max HP of 20 and a max Def and Res of 5. I also raised their con a little and gave them the Axefaith skill.

Bishops: They no longer have slayer as their class skill, instead they have the Sol skill now. Light magic inherently does effective damage to monsters and demons now so the slayer skill is redundant on them.

Gameplay Changes & New Mechanics

Quality of life features like viewable growths, the ability to talk and support without ending the turn, animation speed up while holding R, and dangerous enemy warnings.

Increased Difficulty:

Be advised as this is 100% a difficulty hack. It isn’t absolutely mind melting, but you will definitely need to pay attention to what you’re doing and be very aware of what the enemy is capable of and what they’re equipped with. Unit death is an ever present threat. Probably not recommended for an Iron Man run, unless you’re a masochist. Easy mode and tutorials are disabled.

Heavily adjusted enemy density, inventory, positioning, and ai. Bosses specifically received large upgrades, as well as receiving a personal skill and extensively upgraded inventories, but don’t worry, most of those powerful items will be yours, if you can defeat them.

Monsters are now very deadly, and their promoted versions are borderline lethal. Not even the humble revenant and entombed are easy picking anymore, they’re still pretty slow, but pound for pound, they’re some of the hardest hitters, and seem to bounce back awfully quick…

Thieves will receive a small spotlight in this hack. I personally guarantee multiple stealable items per map. Not all will be particularly valuable or “good” but there’s always a place for a thief on your side. And by no means will you substantially miss out if you choose to abstain from this particular feature, I simply added it as a way to incentivize the use of a thief beyond just opening doors and chests.

Light magic is effective against monsters and demons without the slayer skill, (the base slayer skill on bishops has been replaced with the Sol skill) but likewise hell-forged demon weapons are effective against holy units.

Promotion: There is no longer individual class promotion items, only master seals, excluding Eirika and Ephraim’s bracelets.

Skill System:
I installed the skill system, but its very limited right now to avoid skill bloat, so basically everyone just gets one unique character only skill that usually is in line with their strengths or personal design, including every boss. Also all of the monster classes have 1 skill to make them more challenging. Also the classes that do get a skill already like the general, bishop, and assassin etc will have more than 1 skill for the characters as those classes. The thief class gets Steal+ at level 20. Eirika and Ephraim’s base lord classes both receive 1 additional skill at level 20 and their promoted lord class will also receive 1 more skill at level 10.

Weapon & Item Changes

I have rebalanced basically every single item in the game, as well as added descriptions to items without them and added more informative descriptions to existing ones. Massive changes to weapon durability, essentially anything not iron or steel will probably have around 20 durability. The hammerne staff will be a valuable asset, if you can acquire one. On that note, staves have been massively upgraded, just a few examples would be their range, almost every utility staff will have increased range, typically 1-3 range, like the unlock, barrier, restore, hammerne etc. Staff durability was also increased, all staves with 3 uses will have 5 uses. Base uses of heal, mend, and recover have been adjusted to, 40, 30, and 20, respectfully. (Trust me, you’ll need them) Also do keep in mind that with the increased durability, comes an increased price.

Silver weapons are now B rank and deal effective damage to demons and monsters. They have no effect on demon possessed humans, since their body is now technically mortal flesh. Brave weapons are now the pinnacle of standard weapons, with an A rank, they are the endgame weapons that aren’t legendary or unique. All legendary (sacred twin weapons formerly) weapons will most likely deal some form of magic, with only 2 of them being the exceptions to this, and those are the Vidofnir and Garm. All the rest will innately do magic damage and have a corresponding magic ranged animation. For example, Siegline does anima magic damage with the bolting ranged animation, Siegmund does anima magic damage and uses a modified version of Flametounge ranged animation. Audhulma will use the Fimbulvetr ranged animation and will also do anima magic damage. Those are just a few of the changes to the legendary weapons, more will be added later during the final edits.

The economy has been dramatically reworked, no longer are you swimming in gold like Scrooge McDuck, and the arena has been disabled for this reason, and to prevent massive over leveling. Silver weapons will be your best friends in this game, not only are they precious metals to begin with, now with the invasion of Hell itself, the prices have increased exponentially. Your main source of income will be the acquisition and bartering of weapons and enemy droppable and stealable items. Weapons like the Horseslayer, the Hammer, the Zanbato, are all now fairly valuable and powerful in their own right. It’s up to you if you wanna use them, or sell them.

Some items have been reduced to make things a little more challenging, for example elixirs are now 1 time use, and quite pricey, to encourage using healers a little more. Also, weapons like hand axes, javelins, spears, and tomahawks were reduced. Also the niche weapons like horseslayer, heavy spear, zanbato, etc all got large reworks and are much better. I have also removed all the reaver type weapons replacing them entirely.

Poison weapons got a pretty big buff, particularly their damage and accuracy. I never liked how they did substantially less damage and had way less accuracy than an iron weapon, because in my head I always viewed them as they should be doing at least as much damage as iron weapons and be similarly accurate.

All stat boosting items were made into various “rings” of different colors, and they were all made to have 2 uses each, but only increasing a stat by 1 point per use. The Angelic Robe also has 2 uses but it increases HP by 4 each time, so technically it boosts 8 total HP instead of the previous 7. May change this to 3 HP per use for a total of 6, so it’s more in line with the difficulty nature of the hack.

Changed the name of the legendary axe “Garm” to “Onyx Oath”

Monster Changes:

Major adjustments to all monsters to be more deadly, more in line with the terror and carnage I imagine they’d inflict. Make sure you carefully inspect the monsters before you engage them, some are far more deadly than they appear at first glance.

Changed Mauthe Doog and Gwyllgii to “Hellhound” and “Garm”.

Changed Bael and Elder Bael to “Stone Spider” and “Mountain Spider”.

Changed Bonewalker and Wight to “Skeleton” and “Skeleton Lord”.

Changed Tarvos to "Maelduin to “Centaur” and “Centaur Lord.”

Gargoyles remain the same, changed Deathgoyle to “Gargoyle Lord”.

Changed Revenant and Entombed to “Zombie” and “Undead”.

Vendor Changes:

Heavily modified the creature campaign secret shops to not all be so repetitive with what they sell, they all have unique weapons from one another now. One will now sell all the promotion items, one will sell all the stat boosters. Rausten will be primarily magic and Grado will be primarily non magic and Jehanna will be a mix of both.

Edited a few starter shops and armories, specifically Ide by removing Hand Axes and Javelins and adding torches. Also added a couple utility staves to the Serafew shop to help prevent potential early staff shortage issues.

Added the option to purchase steel weapons from the convoy as well as single use vulneraries.

Screenshots:

WARNING: Optional Spoilers Ahead!

You’ll eventually fight the embodiment of the 7 Deadly Sins as major plot point bosses, kind of like the Grado imperial generals in base Fe8, or the Black Fang in Fe7

There are various “silver coins” that are obtainable throughout the game, 7 of them to be precise, and they are numbered accordingly. Each of these will be very difficult to collect, but not necessary for plot or story continuation. So don’t worry if you miss a few, or even all of them. Each of these coins have unique abilities, some are useable items that can grant stat boosts, a skill, etc, some are simply hold items with various effects. These are secret in game items related to the story of Judas betraying Jesus Christ for 30 pieces of silver. Obviously from a gameplay perspective this would be a LOT of items to find. So it’s 7, think of it as a dual nod to the 7 deadly sins as well. During the final release or final integration of them, spoilers will be added with their exact requirements to obtain them.

In a gaiden chapter after the base game final battle, you’ll fight a supreme demon overlord named Xolgrammand. He is completely optional and not at all considered a “true ending” or anything canonical, so if you made it to that point, congratulations you’ve already won the game 100%. He is entirely just for fun or bragging rights, because he is immensely powerful. His concept came from an endgame boss in a D&D story that I wrote many years back.

The Full Story. -MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS- Read at your own discretion!

For clarification, do not read this unless you don’t mind the biggest plot points spoiled, there’s still time to go back and play the story first, then come back here to confirm or deny any questions or anything you may have misunderstood, or just to read it all in one cohesive part. Anyway, last warning. Moving on to the actual story now:

The time before:

This story starts long before the founding of the nations of Grado, Renais, Jehanna, Rausten, and Frelia, in an ancient kingdom long lost to time, it was called Ferinon. There was a sorcerer named Xolgrammand (Zole-Gruh-Mond) that was a devout student of the arts of dark magic, despite being exceptionally gifted in all fields of magic, eventually he grew dissatisfied with the meager knowledge of man and sought greater power, darker power. He turned his research to the original creators of dark magic itself, the demons of the flaming abyss, the 9 Circles of Hell. Man had learned only the most basic forms of dark magic through the research of monsters and the few valid cases of demonic possession, but none of this would sate his thirst for real power. So through vile and wicked rituals he was able to communicate with the inhabitants of Hell. They promised him greater power, immortality, and heights of knowledge he couldn’t believe possible. His seduction into true evil was a swift descent into the depraved depths of insanity and corruption, the likes of which no mortal had ever experienced.

The Fall of Man:

Now with his great and terrible power he brought true calamity and widespread ruin across the entire land. He began summoning the spirits of Hell to inhabit the earth, and spread their dominion far and wide. Little by little the demonic force slowly crept through the race of man, slowly toppling entire kingdoms and nations. The more demonic essence that tainted the world, the more powerful Xolgrammand became, and with that power it allowed more demons to cross over, weakening the veil between the mortal world and Hell. From ocean to ocean the very soil itself was stained with the blood of mankind. The lakes and rivers became stagnant and diseased, the fields were barren, the crops rotted, the animals seemed to simply vanish, and man killed man indiscriminately in savage attempts at survival. The land, the very world itself started dying, no life could flourish amongst the widespread death and destruction inflicted upon it. In the heavens far above the world of man, the angels watched and wept from their silvery clouds, their cries were an orchestra of heartbreak and sorrow and even God himself could no longer bear to watch the world he had created become so twisted and corrupted. So with his heart heavy, already breaking at the idea of so much suffering, he sent his angel of war to cleanse the world of those that dare to defile it. With the divine might of heaven’s immaculate arsenal behind him and the word of God in his ear to unleash his full might upon the corruption that plagued the earth, the angel of war, Zerinae (Zare-In-Ayah) crashed to the surface of the earth with a thunderous slam that shook the very foundations of the world itself. His massive, feathered wings brought with them a storm of fury the likes of which no man had seen before or since. For 3 days he fought endlessly, tirelessly, slaying one after another of the damned, his magnificent silver blade glittered through the blood of the damned, never tarnishing. It seemed there was no end in sight to his battle. He called to the heavens, asking for guidance, and God revealed to him a terrible truth… The barrier between Earth and Hell had been sundered. The unfathomable amount of blood that had been spilled, human and demonic alike, had tainted and twisted the connection between worlds, allowing one to cross over to the other. Facing this profound realization, Zarinae sought the counsel of God once more.

Divine Realization:

God told Zarinae there was but one way to seal the gap between worlds, to reverse the damage done to the veil. It required the blood of an angel, the purest, most divine substance in all of Heaven. The blood of the children of God themselves was the only thing that could purify the tainted blood soaking the ground they walked upon. This revelation weighed heavily on Zarinae, never before had the blood of an angel been spilled, let alone sullied and cast into the dirt. The angel of war decided that of all angels, none were more deserving to give their life to end this war than he, the one who had unknowingly contributed so much bloodshed. Zarinae stood outside the gaping maw of inferno, a swirling vortex of accursed flame and darkness, the tear in the veil that had allowed traversal between the human world and the 9 Circles of Hell, and there he witnessed the very fingertips of Satan attempting to claw their way into the world. He took his winged blade, and plunged it into his own chest, and as the golden blood poured forth in a stream of sparkling light, every choir of angels in Heaven played the songs of creation, with tears pouring down their faces. The flaming portal to Hell was extinguished, and along with every foul being that had come forth from its depths, was finally gone. Zarinae looked above to the heavens, to God, to every brother and sister he had known before the creation of time itself, and he wept, but not out of sorrow, but out of joy, for what greater cause could the angel of war’s life serve than to end the greatest war of all? As the final breath left his body, he turned to peerless, shining crystal. Never before or after had a crystal so beautiful, so pristine and perfect existed. When light shone upon it, the range of colors it reflected was like the very rainbows of Heaven itself. From this spot, a massive crystalline structure arose, forming a temple around the area, protecting the place where the veil was thinnest. When the light of the new days sun shone upon its walls, God inscribed a word of warning to mankind:

“Never again shall the dominion of Hell walk amongst the world of man, so long as they do not stray from the path of righteousness and godliness. So let this monument be proof one and all to every man of every age, color, creed, and standing, as a testament to the temptations of sin and the dark allure of power, and if man shall ever dare to delve into such wicked ways again, Heaven will not hear their cry for help, then all shall be damned in the flames of Perdition.”

The Modern Era:

Millenia had passed, and all but the oldest and most well preserved books had any knowledge of these events anymore, and had all but faded from stories. The year is now 3E-621, and a young man, out of desperation, will put the entire world and every soul of mankind into ultimate peril.

The capital of Grado, the largest military nation of the land, was known far and wide for their military might. The king Vigarde, known as the Silent Emperor, was a man of great fairness and peace, but he would not hesitate to strike down those that threatened that peace or to any of his allying nations. His good and dear friend king Fado of Renais also shared in these ideals, so together along with king Hayden of Frelia, queen Ismaire of Jehanna, and pontifex Mansel of Rausten, they forged an ironclad treaty of peace and equality. This peace lasted many years.

Years later strange and unexplainable omens began to appear all over Magvel, the events regarding the heirs of the kingdoms, their very births. King Fado bore 2 twin children, Eirika and Ephraim, born during the eclipse of the wyvern moon. Emperor Vigarde’s son, Lyon, was born during the eclipse of the wolf moon. King Hayden bore 2 children as well, Innes and Tana. Innes was not born under any moon, but Tana was born during the eclipse of the owl moon. Queen Ismaire’s son, Joshua, was born during the eclipse of the serpent moon. And finally, of all the royal heirs, last born was L’Arachel, she was born during the eclipse of the sword moon.

Some time later Vigarde’s wife would fall ill with a terminal sickness, despite the efforts of the best medicine and doctors in the land, she eventually lost her life to the illness. Vigarde remained ever steady despite this, holding onto his duty as emperor. Their son Lyon however, was grief stricken beyond words. He spent countless nights pouring over old tomes, through dusty scrolls, crawling through every inch of the largest libraries available, even traveling to the furthest corners of Magvel in pursuit of knowledge. He thought to himself “With all the might of the world at our fingertips, how are we still at mercy to such trivial things like an illness?” These thoughts tormented him relentlessly for years. One day he discovered something truly magnificent. A legend, the last bits of an ancient story on a piece of crumbling parchment. It spoke of the sacred stones and the power they each held. The sacred stone of each nation possessed certain magical properties. Renais was the stone of water, of healing. Rausten was the stone of light and truth. Jehanna was the stone of fire, of passion. Frelia was the stone of wind, of the air itself. Grado had the stone of life and death, the dark stone. Lyon began to study the dark stone every day, and any chance he could he would steal it away on his person for closer study. One day he suddenly began to hear voices, whispers, like voices coming from the very walls, but he assumed it was merely exhaustion, anxiety, or even paranoia. Eventually the voices grew louder, and the words became clearer. They spoke to him of dark things, things that no mortal should dare to know. They told him of the delicate balance of life, and how the same forces that choose to create life, also choose to end it. He began to believe his mother’s death wasn’t unavoidable, perhaps it was intended, some cruel cosmic joke, not random and indiscriminate. He believed that she was taken from him, and he could take her back.

The voices told him of a prophecy, one that was stricken from the history books, all words and stories of it were lost to time. A prophecy about the end of death, the end of suffering. A paradise awaited just in the heavens above, but the angels jealously guarded it from mankind. This knowledge infuriated the young prince, so he decided he would be the one to complete this prophecy himself.

So much pain and suffering, and it all began from faint whispers in the dark, the words in his dreams. He would complete this prophecy, he would bring an end to suffering and death, he would see his mother again, and together with his father, they would all be happy again, just like it should have always been.

But the young prince was fooled, for no paradise awaited him or the unfortunate victims of what came next. The prophecy he was told of, was created by Xolgrammand himself. A foul, apocalyptic ritual that would tear the veil between Earth and Hell asunder once more, and this time there would be no help from the angels to save the world. with this, Xolgrammand could finally create his own Hell on Earth.

The true prophecy states that when the blood of the heirs of the moon is spilled upon the nexus beneath the crystalline temple, an ancient dark god will awaken and shatter the veil between worlds, and darkness and flame will consume all.

The legion of Hell will hold dominion over the world once more. The rivers and oceans will run red with the blood of man. The ashes of the burning kingdoms will blot out the sun. And on the morning of the 6th day, the very fingertips of Lucifer himself will claw into the world and subsume it into the realms of Hell.

Without the sacrifice of another angel’s divine blood, the only hope mankind has is with the fate of the Heirs of the Moon. Their combined power along with that of the sacred stones might just be enough to stop the infernal invasion, and if not, then all is damned and lost.

Credits:

Programs and Utilities:

FEBuilder by {7743}

Map Sprites and Class Cards:

Gladiator (M) class card by {L95}

Gladiator (M) standing & walking map sprites by {Pikmin, L95}

Item Icons:

FE14 Gold item icon by {Zelix}

Portraits:

Ross (Alt armor 2) portrait by {DarkJaden}

Garcia (Alt armor) portrait by {DarkJaden}

L’Arachel (Mage Knight) by {Nuramon, Plant_Academy}

Lute (Alt armor) portrait by {DarkJaden}

Selena (Alt armor) portrait by {DarkJaden}

Vanessa (Alt armor 1) by {DarkJaden}

Eirika (Beta version, pale) by {Natsumi}

Seth (Alt armor) by {DarkJaden}

Gilliam (General) {Nuramon} [F2E]

Franz (Alt armor 1) {DarkJaden} [F2E]

Moulder (Sage) by {Nuramon, Plant_Academy}

Neimi (Sniper) by {Nuramon, Quotedotlass}

Colm (Rogue) {Nuramon, Atey} [F2E]

Innes by {UltraFenix, Leo_Link}

Natasha by {Plant_Academy}

Cormag (Wyvern Shifter FE8R) by {Momin}

Ephraim by {flasuban}

Forde (Alt armor) by {DarkJaden}

Amelia (Alt armor 2) by {DarkJaden}

Artur (Sage) by {Nuramon, Plant_Academy}

Gerik by {BuskHusker}

Saleh (Archsage) by {Nuramon}

Marisa (T2 v2) by {Nuramon, Jeorge Reds}

Dozla (alt) by {Nuramon, Ereshkigal}

Ewan (Sage) by {Nuramon, Plant_Academy}

Rennac (right Hand) by {Nuramon, Redbean}

Duessel (Alt armor) by {DarkJaden}

Syrene (Alt armor) by {DarkJaden}

Joshua (SM) by {Nuramon}

Orson by {Plant_Academy}

Glenn (Alt armor) by {DarkJaden}

Joshua (Female Ismaire Replacer) by {Plant_Academy}

Fado (alt2) by {Plant_Academy, Nuramon}

Miss Fortune by {Garytop}

Soldier by {Nuramon}

Mitan by {Garytop}

Knight (FE8) by {Kurayamiblack}

Soldier (Version 1) by {helix0981}

Aimee by {Cygnus}

Shopkeeper (FE8 Colours) by {HyperGammaSpaces}

Anna (FE8 Colours) by {HyperGammaSpaces}

Arena (FE8 Colours) by {Vilkalizer}

Yunaka by {RedBean}

Angel by {Alex-the-Retrogamer}

Animations:

[Soldier-Custom] FE10-Style [M] by {Flasuban}

[Pirate-Custom] DS-Style [M] by {Der}

[Cavalier-Variant] [M] Generic by {SALVAGED}

[Cavalier-Variant] [F] Generic by {SALVAGED}

[Paladin-Variant] [M] by {SALVAGED}

[Paladin-Variant] [F] by {SALVAGED}

[Knight-Variant] Generic [M] by {SALVAGED}

[Knight-Variant] Amelia [F] by {SALVAGED}

[General-Reskin] Amelia [F] by {Redbean}

[General-Reskin] Shield v2 [U] by {Nuramon}

[FE8 Ephraim-Base] T1 Repal by {Teraspark}

[FE8 Ephraim-Base] T2 Repal by {Teraspark}

[FE8 Eirika-Reskin] [F] T1 Leotard and no cape by {Kimeru el perro}

[FE8 Eirika-Reskin] T2 Eirika by {Redbean}

[Mercenary-Reskin] Armored Style [M] by {SALVAGED}

[Thief-Reskin] Matthew Repal [M] by {Red Bean}

[Swordmaster-Variant] Stefan [M] by {Greentea}

[Hero-Variant] Vanguard [M] by {Nuramon}

[FE7 Lyn-Variant] T1 Blader Myrmidon V2 [M] by {Leo_Link}

[FE7 Lyn-Variant] T1 Blader Myrmidon V2 [F] by {Leo_Link}

[Swordmaster-Variant] Karla [F] by {Redbean}

[Hector-Reskin] T1 Gladiator Repal v2 by {Waleed}

[Fighter-Reskin] Tellius-Style Clothing [M] by {Leo_Link}

[Mage-Reskin] [M] Hatless by {GabrielKnight}

[Sage-Reskin] [F] Lute FE8 Variant by {Levin64}

[Assassin-Reskin] Hood [M] by {Jey the Count}

[Assassin-Reskin] Marisa [F] by {Redbean}

[Archer-Variant] Improved [F] by {Der}

[Archer-Variant] Improved [M] by {Der}

[Ballista] FE5 Ballista [M] by {Spud}

[Sniper-Reskin] Adventurer [F] by {ltranc}

[Sniper-Reskin] Adventurer [M] by {ltranc}

[Ranger-Variant] [M] Leo-Style + Weapons by {Leo_Link}

[Ranger-Variant] [F] Leo-Style + Weapons by {Leo_Link}

[WL Variant] [U] Armless Wyvern by {Leo_Link}

[WR Variant] [U] Armless Wyvern by {Leo_Link}

[WK Reskin] [U] Fellbeast Knight by {Nuramon}

[Mage-Custom] Mage Lord v1 [M] by {Eldritch}

[Mage-Custom] Mage Lord v1 [F] by {Eldritch}

[Sage-Variant] Mage Fighter +Weapons [M] by {Obsidian Daddy}

[Sage-Variant] Speedy Sage [F] repal by {L95}

[MK-Variant] Fire Caster MK [F] by {Tíxamas}

[MK-Variant] Fire Caster MK [M] by {Tíxamas}

[T2 Bishop-Base] Repal Revamp (Dark) [F] by {Eldritch & Roxannity}

[T2 Bishop-Base] Repal Revamp (Dark) [M] by {Eldritch & Roxannity}

[Custom DM] Awakening Dark Mage [F] by {BatimatheBat}

[Custom DM] Awakening Dark Mage [U] by {BatimatheBat}

[T3 Necromancer-Reskin] Generic [M] by {Eldritch}

[T3 Necromancer-Reskin] [F] by {TytheBub}

[T3 Necromancer-Reskin] AS Kangax [M] by {NamelessX}

[GK-Base] [U] Repal by {Skitty}

[GK-Base] [F] Repal + Helmetless by {Skitty}

[Recruit-Amelia] T2 Halberdier [F] by {Spud}

[Journeyman-Base] Vanilla Repal [M] by {SamirPlayz}

[Pupil-Reskin] Lugh [M] by {UltraFenix}

[Berserker-Variant] Sideslash Vanilla-Style [M] by {Der}

[Monk-Base] Repal [M] by {eCut}

[T1 Priest-Base] Repal v2 [M] by {Eldritch}

[Peg T1 Base] [F] Repal v2 + Weapons by {Flasuban}

[Peg T3 Base] [F] Seraph Knight Repal by {Dinar}

[T1 Cleric-Base] Improved Repal [F] by {Eldritch}

[Troubadour-Base] Repal +Sword [F] by {Teraspark}

[Valkyrie-Reskin] Ascended [F] by {UltraFenix}

[T3 Custom] Dark Prince Lyon [M] by {Obs}

[Manakete-Base] [F] FE8 Myrrh Repal {Teraspark}

[Dancer-Base] [F] Vanilla FE8 Tethys +Weapons by {Marlon0024}

[Gorgon-Variant] [F] Lamia Ver 2 by {DATonDemand}

[Centaur-Reskin] [M] High Maelduin by {Seal}

[Centaur-Variant] [M] CentaurZerker by {Alexsplode}

[Mogall-Reskin] [U] Gazer by {Seal}

[Goyle-Reskin] [U] Gargoyle Promoted by {Teraspark}

[Zombie-Custom] [U] Gore by {Alexsplode}

[Cyclops-Variant] [U] Two-Headed Armored by {Teelvade}

[Monster-Custom] Tiki Half-Dragon Generic by {Tykky.ryu} and {By Furious}

All custom item icons done by me unless specified otherwise!

If you’re interested in joining the discord, the link is below.

Discord Link:

Abyss & Ash

10 Likes

Is there a patch?

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seems interesting, is there a demo patch we can play?

1 Like

I like the concept, i’d love to try it out when it gets released.

1 Like

Sorry guys, so I originally almost attached a…I guess you could say a developer patch? Like the characters had OP 1 shot weapons just to speed through the chapters without actually skipping them in the febuilder debugger. I will attach the playable one as soon I get off work. It’ll be a very brief playable patch, first couple chapters only. I want to release it in fairly large chunks.

1 Like

Whats with the Ai stuff?

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What do you mean, what’s with it?

I’m going to phrase this as blandly and neutrally as possible: AI-generated images are not going to create an appealing picture of your hack, and using them is not going to be good for your reputation in this community. So long as they are up, they will be the topic of discussion, not what you’ve actually made. You should reconsider.

7 Likes

Meanwhile the thread still doesn’t have either any screenshots or a patch, so it feels more like a ramble of ideas than an actual wip hack. The ai art only makes it feel more like the former and less like the latter.

2 Likes

Yeah, I just got off work. I’m in the process of getting those ready as we speak, but I saw the notification.

how about some gameplay screenshots as teaser .. before u post the patch ..?? .. original bright colour maps won’t match with your hack .. dark colour like gba colour correction .. ??

2 Likes

For the record hun, most hacks don’t have banner art to begin with, and an AI art banner isn’t going to wow and dazzle. This is a community of creatives, we generally understand that if somebody can’t do something, then they don’t.

At the moment, you have a thread with no screenshots, no patch, walls and walls of text to describe ultimately minor changes to the sandbox in exhaustive detail, and a huge AI art banner at the top. I know you’re working on adding a patch as we speak, but the overall first impression on this thread is bad. This isn’t an indictment of your person or your hack - this is advice on how not to shoot yourself in the foot.

Culturally, this community just doesn’t like AI art. Many of our community members have their livelihood threatened by it, many more just find it distasteful and tacky, and ultimately the response to “I don’t want to commission an artist for this” is “then don’t have the art.” Nobody is going to get upset if you just requant a picture of a generic hellscape, slap it on as your title screen background, then screenshot that as a banner - in fact, that’s par for the course if anything. However, people will get upset over AI art in the thread, so if you’re going to continue using it, then just understand it’s going to distract from the hack itself, which is what deserves to be the main topic of discussion.

7 Likes

Fair enough, that were good points. I guess I can just make a plain one.

There, hopefully that looks okay enough for now, and won’t upset anyone else. I wasn’t intending to upset anyone, I just figured it was a quick way to get some art for my page. There was no malicious intent behind it.

Alright I uploaded a patch, its prologue and chapter 1 for now. I have misplaced my map files for chapters 3 - 8 so only chapter 1 & 2 have their custom maps. The prologue map is unchanged. The scripting for the placement of enemies on chapter 2 is a little weird, and I’m too tired to figure it out right now, the boss keeps spawning on the top left of the castle tile, and the gate is unseizable. But prologue and chapter 1 are finished. Feel free to go to chapter 2 to check out the map if you’d like.

please use ominous background soundtrack from tower of valni or ladou ruins .. joyful soundtrack don’t match with your intended dark lore ..

1 Like

Hey that’s a good idea. I hadn’t considered that. I will look into it as soon as I get home. Thank you!

Big update! First 3 chapters are almost done. Prologue is fully done, chapter 1 needs a few more enemies, chapter 2 should be fully done as well!

2 Likes

MASSIVE updates in 1.3! Huge changes to prologue map, chapter 1, and chapter 2. Completely revamped dialogue, particularly the ending of chapter 1 during the conversation with King Hayden. Extensively expanded story page including full plot notes as well as multiple new screenshots! LOTS of new dialogue to read. Prologue and chapter 1 text is fully finished. A side note on chapter 1, due to the nature of it nearly being an “escape” chapter, you may want to turn off animations or use a speed up function if you’re able, as there are multiple battles taking place on both sides of your path. I wouldn’t recommend getting caught up in them either.

1 Like

Welcome back pokemon snake wood

1 Like