Fufufufufu… only 10 days into the new decade, and I’ve already finished a very small game, one that I had quit before… Much like Araiah had, this one was given a chance at a revival, and I took it, surprising myself. AND I actually managed to finish it… I dunno if they put anything in the water around here recently to make me get so much more done instead of lazying away for months, but I don’t hate it ( unless whatever chemical causes cancer… and then it’s a very passive hate ).
In the end, it is significantly different and significantly smaller than the original plan, but that’s the move you have to make to see some things to completion. I didn’t like where it was going, so I sent it in the opposite direction, thanks to a little outside suggestion that’s come since quitting it in round one. And man, has it turned out better. At the very least easier to write. I pounded away a surprising 1500 words one night to finish the thing up, which is way beyond my usual attention span.
But I’m keeping it to myself for a little while~~~ I do hope that those who haven’t seen the cookie wrapped inside this little project get a kick out of it, and I hope those that already have, get a kick out of the wrapping. I did… it was a really fun and breezy experience. Now if all things can go so smoothly for me.
“Again.
Again.
Again.”
Ria’s hand glows with a growing light. Mana gathers towards her brighter and brighter palm. A subdued bang, like a pistol smothered by pillows, sounds from her hand as it jolts up from the recoil. The magic bolt whizzes through the trees of the woods, seeking out a target 100 yards away. A crash as it makes contact with a thick tree.
“Bridgette, how far off?” I whisper into my sleeve.
A buzz in my ear replies “About 20 feet.”
“20 feet, Ria. Improving, but that better not be your best. Again.”
“Again? Can’t I take a short break?”
“Not till you hit that target.”
“Impossible…”
“You are the only one who can’t do it at this distance. Do you really want to flunk out?”
“N-No….”
“Give me your hand. I’ll show you how it’s done.”
Ria holds her hand out and I grab it quickly. I can’t do this without her, actually, but this is the method to use regardless. With this contact, she should retain a hint of kinetic memory. She’ll know what to do instinctively next time, but not consciously. Which is why I try to avoid this method where possible. Instincts are great until they turn into bad habits. She needs to learn the skill properly one day. But this one… is kinda hopeless…
I begin channeling mana through Ria’s arm, forcing my will into the light at my palm. A roar close to that of a shotgun erupts from my hand and the magic bolt meanders between dozens of trees to the bullseye 100 yards away. Bridgette, who was watching the target, creeps away a safe distance before my shot hits its mark. The tree the target is nailed to tears right in half. It could’ve easily traveled the same distance my bolt did if it didn’t get caught on the other trees behind it.
“Did you feel that?”
“Y-Yes.”
“Good. Your turn. Bridgette, repair the target please.”
In almost an instant, the tree is back on its trunk. Ria is at the ready. She takes a long deep breath before firing again. The magic bolt snakes through trees and air and connects to… the wrong tree again.
“Bridgette, how far off?”
“I’d say about two feet.”
“It’s progress at least. Take a break, Ria.”
“Phew.”
“It’s time for a brief lecture.”
“Wha?! I thought you said break?”
—————
“So why do you think your aim improved a whole 18 feet? 5 yards, pretty significant.”
“Imprinting, sir. When us magicians join in on a group spell, it has been known to increase its power exponentially from the same input than everyone individually. But there is also a side effect — the imprint, a psychic impression of the instructions and/or incantations of that spell.”
“Good. Now why was my spell significantly stronger than yours?”
“The sword and the chalice, sir. While training can help close the gap, and in the case of us Sieges, surmount it entirely, there is a notable difference in the ability between the sexes. Males are quicker casters and have higher output while females have a better ability to draw and store mana, so they have more variety and stamina.”
“Very good. At least you know your theory. It’s the practical that’s your trouble. Marti. Lend me an arrow.”
Marti doesn’t even bother looking up from her card game with Lillian. She just reaches into her quiver and blindly tosses an arrow right at me. If she wasn’t already occupied, I wouldn’t be surprised if she had decided to fire it instead, and expect me to catch it.
“Now, I want you to hold this as if you had a real bow to fire. Channel your mana through that and then take the shot. Sometimes, you need the reassurance of a physical aid to better learn.”
Ria sits the arrow between the base of her left thumb and index finger, the best substitute for a bow she’s gonna get, and notches it back. Hands and arrow both glow with the faint iridescence of mana before she fires it. The arrow remains in hand, but that light, that mana, shoots straight from the arrowhead into the thick of the trees, careening with grace towards its specific prey. CRACK!
“Bullseye, Mr. Oliver.”
“Hear that, Ria?”
“Whoo hoo!”
“Now, again.”
“Wha?!?!”
In about two weeks is the first birthday of Songs of Araiah. Despite almost having not thought about it at all this month so far, I am suddenly swept up by these feelings of nostalgia and looking back. Probably because I just finished my article for BTW about Araiah, but anyway… I actually decided to write an article for it for once, because I felt like I could actually say something about the theme, even if my article is more narrative than informative. In a beautiful coincidence, the month I wrote the article about Araiah for just so happens to be the month of Araiah’s release… I revisited a lot of different moments and feelings tonight, and I have to say it was a fun trip.
I thought of doing something to celebrate. But what more is there to do? I have said on a few occasions that there’d be nothing of a sequel from me, even though some people feel some things were left unfinished. I’ve moved on from Araiah already, and I don’t have any regrets about it. It’s fine as it is and I’m quite proud of how it turned out and how it was received. Of course, that isn’t to say there weren’t efforts to add more to Araiahverse. When I started the project, now three years ago (holy hell!), I had always kept in the back of my mind the idea for a sequel. But I quit that before I quit the story proper. When Enerccio and Yvanc started their revival, and the script itself was mostly complete, Enerccio and I killed some time by writing side stories that were due to be featured in the vn after the main story was played through. But we had to drop that during the release crunch of course, and many of them were just left undone anyway. A few weeks after Araiah was released, Enerccio mentioned a revised or deluxe edition of Araiah, featuring all the things we left out and all the details people mentioned in their critique of the work, like the menu customizations and so on. I even agreed to write one longer side story detailing the day Denz and Melissa met, probably the only serious side story we were going to add, because I felt that that was a scene that would be nice to have. But I only got a few lines in and the whole deluxe Araiah idea just fell to the side in the face of more important things and new creative endeavors.
Araiah wasn’t meant to have more. For me, now, it’s a complete experience and there isn’t room for other words or images or moments or minutes. Just moments before I made this post, joining me in my looking back, Enerccio suggested a manga side story featuring Melissa and Hanasia. A few days ago, Yvanc approached me about writing a story in the Araiah universe. Of course, I OK’d both projects, but I don’t plan on actively participating. For me, Araiah really should’ve ended that two or so years ago when I quit it, and I feel extremely fortunate that wasn’t the case at all. I’m really glad this game was pulled together in the end. But a year ago was the real end of it for me, and I’m not going back anymore. Even just now, I had to fight off the urge to finish that Denz/Melissa story and even simply posting it here in the blog. But it didn’t take me more than a minute to realize that wasn’t going to happen. I don’t have to do it, and upon thinking on it, I realized I didn’t want to. I just wanted to celebrate Araiah. So this here, this blog post, and the BTW article too, is my gift to Araiah on its first birthday, after so much time I’ve put into it. And I’m moving on for good, this time. I’m not letting those two teammates of mine talk me into anything, or let anyone else do it either. Jason may be able to live a life trapped in that mansion for eternity, but I can’t do it. I gotta move on and tell other stories. Sing other “songs”, in a sense. The end is the end, no matter how happy I am because I made it… it’s gotta end, right?
So, Happy Birthday, Araiah. See ya around, kid… or maybe not…
Time for an uncharacteristically short post, hopefully. Just did a little playing around with the links on my blog. Editing, adding, that kinda thing. The addition of Mugen’s blog was pretty much a must, but I also threw MaiMai’s up there too, a little surprisingly… The more and more I look at the art, the more and more enamored with it I become… What else is there to say except I think it’s cute? Anyway, maybe I’ll find a few more blogs to add in the near future, even if Planet EVN does most of the work for me.
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