Eons ago, before the time of man, a powerful entity known as Yaldabaoth brought forth into existence a pantheon of gods. Each of these gods was conscripted into his service, and each was given the responsibility of governing the various elements of the mortal sphere. Using their powers of creation, the pantheon gave birth the world of Escheron, and the mortal men who would walk its surface.

Mankind flourished on Escheron, and there he built many lustrous kingdoms. With the passing of time, mankind began to approach a level of unparalleled technological progress. The pantheon's governance was no longer necessary to protect and maintain the mortal sphere, and so Yaldabaoth recalled their powers. Many gods did not wish to surrender their powers so willingly, leading to a great conflict within the pantheon. All but few gods were destroyed at their own devices, and the essence of their powers was left lingering in the wake of their conflict. Many of man’s kingdoms fought to claim this power for themselves. Some succeeded, and Escheron saw an age of conquest that set a precedent for centuries of suffering and warfare. The Arcanians—the self-appointed guardians of these powers—finally came into their possession, and sealed themselves away in the ruins of the realm of the gods for all eternity. The conflict had finally come to a rest. Time passed, and such accounts were held only to be legends of a past mythology...

Centuries later, the kingdom of Asnoth, and the neighboring kingdom of Ragnoth to the South, have come into a proclamation of war. Lord Leonis of Asnoth has become paranoid of the secrets held by the descendants of the Arcanian people of Ragnoth. Fearing they might one day break the seal on the realm of the gods and unleash the gods’ power once more, he has petitioned a figure known only as the Shadow Lord to seek-out the secrets of the Arcanians and eradicate their kind.

Enter Maya Anson: A young girl, and the last descendant of the Arcanians. 10 years ago, her home village was taken under the military occupation of Asnoth’s Royal Guard, and her family slaughtered by the forces of the Shadow Lord. She has hence been orphaned into civil resistance, and is now leading a campaign to liberate her village from the occupation, once and for all.

Maya Anson
Age 17
A young girl from the Province of Ragnoth. Maya was orphaned into civil resistance after her home village was invaded by the forces of Asnoth, and her family put to slaughter. Since then, she has known only violence as her village has struggled to overcome the oppression of Asnoth’s constant military occupation.

Edmund Giovane
Age 32
Ex-Captain of the Knights Asnoth, and liaison to the prince. Edmund was relegated and exiled from the territories of Asnoth amid a royal scandal. He has vowed to return for the prince’s sake, and serves Ragnoth’s resistance faction to this end.

Prince Gielgud
Age 15
The youngest of the royal family, and former heir to the throne of Asnoth. Prince Gielgud is being held prisoner pending an investigation of a scandalous affair involving the Captain of the Knights Asnoth.

Princess Rose
Aged 21 (presumed deceased)
Princess Rose was the eldest sibling of the royal family. During Asnoth’s campaign against the Arcanians, the princess led many unsuccessful protests in opposition to her father’s obsession with war. 2 years ago, Princess Rose vanished, and her pendant—a family heirloom—was found discarded near a river. Many believe she was driven to suicide in a desperate outcry against the war; some believe she is still alive, and chose to estrange herself from the royal family.

Glenn Oswald
Age 25
Childhood friend of Maya, who fled the Province of Ragnoth during Asnoth's occupation. Although a superior fighter, Glenn often questions the strength of his own character, believing he can never make restitution for abandoning his people.

Lord Leonis
Age 56
A powerful monarch who rules the Kingdom of Asnoth. Lord Leonis was once considered a just and compassionate ruler, but many have begun to question his leadership in lieu of a proclaimation of war against Ragnoth and the Arcanians.

The Dark Knight
Age Unknown
A mysterious figure clad in dark armor. The Dark Knight appears to be a sellsword, or possibly an opportunist. Although his alignment—or his interests in Asnoth's affairs—remains unclear, some suspect he may have a more personal involvement in the war.

The Shadow Lord
Age Unknown
An eerie and malevolent figure serving as Leonis' right-hand man. The Shadow Lord led Asnoth into the war with the Arcanians, and was personally responsible for much of the slaughter that took place. Some suspect he may be manipulating Lord Leonis to fulfill his own agenda.

Custom grayscale. Iambian can probably go into better detail about it.

The Dark Knight is a recruitable character, too. Does that count for additional points?

Escheron game manual (PDF)

Special thanks to Hot Dog for converting the manual to PDF format.

This details the various gameplay mechanics, and lists essential game inventories.

Escheron game manual (PDF)

Special thanks to Hot Dog for converting the manual to PDF format.

This details the various gameplay mechanics, and lists essential game inventories.

character statistics randomly increase after every few battles, based on what the character has equipped. It's a pretty logical system: Equipping a sword means your STR would likely increase, as equipping a shield would likely increase DEF.

Went ahead and updated screenshots, since ImageShack keeps going down. (added some new shots, as well)

Actually, WabbitEmu's capture does that automatically. It's pretty handy, since you can just drag-and-drop screenshots directly to your desktop.

I would have thrown more shots in there, but I wasn't sure what else to show off. Much of the game is still incomplete. When airship exploration is possible, I'll definitely throw some shots of that in there. (yep - you get an airship)

Oh, my mistake. I think you're referring to the images in the manual. Those are actually mock-ups. I did a lot of them as references for Iambian. (who was constructing the menus at the time)

Those were quite tedious to make. I had to arrange every tile - every letter - one at a time.

Reviewing your screenshots I've realized two things that has been causing me much pain for the past year and a half... How do you use greyscale on the screen? and... How do you use the tile system?