Ár-íshkiykára Stories, Last of Winter

Description:

Ár-íshkiykára Stories, Last of Winter was made for rpgmaker.net’s Seasons of RMN Event. It is a visual novel mixed with point and click adventure style game. It has 4-way outdoor movement with arrow key support as well as a minimap so the player doesn’t get lost. Can you save your village or will everyone succumb to the long winter?

Note: If some of the dialogue or word choice seems weird, it is because it is said in a Karuk way and does not fully translate to English. I only know a handful of Karuk words, but if you listen to speakers for a while you pick up on the way of speaking. In addition some mannerisms or cultural things may be quite different than what you are used to.

Also Note: Occasionally upon loading the Outdoors map the UI doesn't fully load. If you move 1-3 spaces it should reload. This is a timing-stack bug and is really difficult to fix with the way vnm handles events and processes. It is only visual however.

Story:

In the place between the holy mountain, the oak forest, and the blue river is the village of the people. Long has it been inhabited by the people, who grew strong off the bounty that surrounded them and wise from patient teachings of their elders. But then came the time of trials. A hot summer scorched the land, leaving the ground parched and the river dry. Then came fall and at first all rejoiced as the land turned green, but the rains and fog didn’t stop. Much food became moldy or rotten, the wrong plants grew and choked out the good ones. Finally came the long winter. A winter so long people have forgotten warmth and spring. Storms and blizzards occur often, around the village snow builds up taller than the maple trees, fish have swam away from the freezing cold river, and animals have perished. Now the village of the people is withering, relations dying from cold, hunger, sickness, or despair. Ár-íshkiykára the great fisherman wonders if there is hope left and picks up some ash and water.

Characters:

Ár-íshkiykára is the main protagonist of the story. Called Arish for short. He is a husband of Fáathuxra and father of Akvatkêem. Long ago he was a great fisherman and hunter, but the long winter has driven the fish away and decimated the game population. Now it is all he can do to prevent starvation from claiming those he loves.

Fáathuxra is the wife of Ár-íshkiykára. She was one of chief Pátvámtap’s children and is an accomplished storyteller. With the loss of many in the village she has taken up medicine training from Thivnurich and attended many women during their moon time.

Akvatkêem is the only son of Ár-íshkiykára. In his youth he was wild and mischievous, but as more and more of his relatives have died he has become responsible and taken on more duties to help his family.

Pátvámtap is the elderly chief of the village and father of Fáathuxra. He is always found with his walking stick and has trouble moving around even his house. As such he has not left since the great snows came. His wife Sárumasip tends to many village matters in his stead.

Sárumasip is the wife of chief Pátvámtap and a skilled cooker of large fish. Alas, with the long winter she has had little ability to do such and is now scraping rot off scraps of meat or nuts to feed as many as possible. She also handles many village matters for her ailing husband.

Iipsahsi was a powerful hunter who could track deer for days without rest. Then the snows came and the deer were gone. After his wife died he fell into a dark mood and rarely goes outside his house.

Chéemya is a skilled fruit gatherer and wise in the ways of berries and edible flowers. The long winter has not dampened her spirit much.

Ithkamya is a gardener of the hills and before the snows would tend roots, greens, and tubers on the hils facing the holy mountain. He still sometimes finds edible things sleeping under the snow.

Taakrípayi is a fisherman who lives near the river. Taakrípayi has always been hotheaded, especially towards Ár-íshkiykára who he regards as a rival fisherman, but his temper has been worse since the fish left the area.

Thivnurich is the medicine man of the village and powerful in the ways of healing. He laments the quietness of the land and how few spirits are around. Is the only one who can perform the cleansing ceremony necessary to climb the holy mountain.


Credits:

Everything not part of Visual Novel Maker’s resources are made by me. Yes, it was not a wise choice, haha. >.> Overworked and exhausted.