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Spira Mirabilis is a low-fantasy RPG, set in the world of Calurin. Humans are the most common race. While there are demi-humans, they are few and far between. They are not the kind of demi-humans that most people would expect to see, either: there are no beautiful and graceful, arrogant elves. There are no heavy-drinking, jovial, warlike dwarves. Gone are the beautiful and playful faeries. Calurin's demi-humans are mistrusted and mistreated by most humans and in turn, they do not exactly trust humans as a rule. As far as their races go, expect to see sentient monsters, rather than the commonly-accepted demi-human species.

Magic is extremely rare. Do not expect to see a sorceror in every town, or even every six towns. In fact, the few benevolent sorcerors and sorceresses are worried that they are going to be captured and studied because of their gifts. After all, magic began to decline five hundred years ago- and as such, the people who can use magic still are anomalies to either fear or respect.

The protagonist and her companions are not heroes. The main protagonist is a mercenary who finds herself in the middle of situations that she has no control over and is forced to take part in, or she and her companions would end up dying if they didn't do something about it. And they have no problem with letting it be known that they are none too happy about what is going on. Throughout the course of the game, they will not end up acting like the typical good and proper heroes. They also have no qualms about expressing their points of view at various times.

Do not expect to see a high fantasy epic here. Heroes and villains, good and evil, are all subjective concepts.

"Don't make me laugh! There's no such thing as pure "good" or "evil" and you want to get started on heroes? Well, let me tell you, just as there is no good or evil, there is no right or wrong. Can you not see it: that assassin who just killed a noblewoman, collected his pay and is now sitting in the bar, drinking? Well, he might not like his job very much and could only be doing it because there's nothing else he's good at. Might even be trying to take care of a sick wife and a little child, too. But anyone who doesn't know those things would say he's "evil" for killing people. But what about the kind and benevolent Queen? She certainly is beautiful and everyone looks up to her. She's been seen giving gold to beggars. She's given land and titles to young merchants who wouldn't have been able to do anything without her assistance. Hell, she's even rescued abandoned children. But what about the town she sent her legion to burn, because they refused to obey her ordenances? And the maid she had executed because the poor girl defied an order that made no sense? If you stop and think about it, neither the assassin or the Queen are right. But you can't say they're wrong, either. Everyone has their own idea about what good and evil, right and wrong, are. They are nothing more than a matter of perspective."

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I Realize All Has Been Quiet On The Western Front

I usually keep quiet when I haven't been doing anything that I think would interest most people; background work isnt always thrilling, even when progress is being made.

However, I now have seven people who will be testing my game once the Alpha Demo is released, which is a very good thing! I've got a good variety in them: smashers, one who enjoys completely dominating games, one who wants to test for the fun of it and two that really haven't played much of anything. The good thing about all of them is that they are very talkative, which makes things perfect.

Other than that, I have finally balanced the monsters, enemies, weapons and items. I've got to finish the dialogue for the second populated area, the second boss's dialogue, the final few cut-scenes, a world map and the dialogue that will occur once the final boss is defeated. (Two towns' worth of dialogue for that event. XP) But all is going well once again!
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  • 07/28/2015 01:52 PM
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Why Does Spira Mirabilis Have No Heroes Or Villains?

Countless games, whether they are released by a well-known company or one of us independents, end up casting the protagonist as a hero in one way or another. That is not to say those characters are always cheerful, upbeat people who are morally sound. It is to say that most games tend to cast the protagonists as people who do not do morally questionable things and in some cases, they are either "Chosen Ones," destined for greatness, or there was a prophecy written about them stating that they were destined for good things. Again, this is not all the time, but it does happen quite frequently.

The reason that the protagonists of Spira Mirabilis are not heroes is quite simple. To begin with, the main protagonist is a mercenary. Mercenaries, as a rule, aren't exactly heroes. They usually have their own fair share of vices, they aren't always chipper and typically do things their own way. Yes, they can do good things, but they do want and need to be paid for what they do, regardless of whether they are erradicating a group of monsters that are invading a town, or they're investigating something. At the same time, mercenaries, no matter what kind of person they might be, do find themselves having to do things they don't like or agree with.

As an example, Kashira Tvastri -the main protagonist- is not an upbeat, cheerful, gentle, soft-spoken woman with nothing but good intentions, nor is she under the age of eighteen. She is a sarcastic, outspoken, blunt, tactless lady who has no qualms about arguing when she does not agree with someone. She, like most mercenaries, does enjoy drinking and gambling (not exactly vices, but few typical "heroes" let it be known that they enjoy such things.) She also has a fondness for getting paid for the things she does, which should not be surprising. She eventually finds herself in over her head- and she gets involved in things she would rather not, because she has no choice in the matter. She is not out to save the world, nor are her companions.

There are no "villains," there are antagonists. They are not inherently evil people, even if the things they do are "bad" or "wrong." There are always reasons for the heinous acts that the antagonists commit. They may not be the sort of motives that are easily agreed with, but they are motives nevertheless. No one is "evil" just for the sake of "being evil."
In Regard To Magic In The World of Calurin


Magic is something very common in most fantasy games, including but not limited to high fantasy worlds. As it has been previously stated, Calurin, Spira Mirabilis's world, is a low fantasy setting. Therefore, sorcerors will rarely be seen or mentioned. In fact, the mercenary sorceress, Raela (whose house I have already posted a screenshot of) is the only magic user that will be met early in the game. There are other mages, but none of them will make an appearance until later.

No, they do not have their own hidden village, city, island, fortress, or anything of the sort to be discovered. If they did have something of the like, they would be hunted down and either studied, killed, or both, by those who want to study magic and find a way to replicate it so that normal people can use it. Instead, the handful of magic users who will be found, will live in towns, villages, or cities, among more normal people. Living in an otherwise mundane society allows them to basically hide in plain sight, making them more difficult to find than if they were strange hermits.

Yes, there are some sorcerors who wear the traditional robes, hats, hoods, gowns, et cetera. This is because those people are studying magic in the most traditional ways that they can read about, including attempting to adopt the "sorceror's garb" that prolific magicians in the past wore. Why? Because, today, those magic users are misguided in the thought that a mage's garb was more than just because of personal taste and for the sake of comfort. The mages today who dress similarly to the mages of the past do so because they mistakenly believe that a traditional mage's attire is a necessity, likened to a warrior's wearing armor. They do not realize that dressing the way they do can draw unwanted attention and is not necessary.

Magic has been on the decline for the past five hundred years and the people of Calurin do not understand why it is far more rare than it was in the past. Or why even now, there are occasional people who are born as magic wielding anomalies. These people are not children of or chosen by the gods, for there is not a single deity with a domain over the forces of sorcery, which only elicits further confusion among the inhabitants of Calurin.

As for healing: apothecaries, priests and those who run infirmaries do not usually wield magic. They typically rely on plants, potions, unguents, bandages, stitches and other healing concoctions that they can create. They are skilled in their area of expertise, but there is nothing mystical about their abilities.

Yes, Kashira will have a couple of magic users join her party. However, they will not make an appearance early in the game. They also have a reason to join, a reason that is not "I use magic, let me help you."
I must say, I'm interested in your game. When do you think we would be able to download it, and if it is already downloadable, where can I get it? I'm looking forward to play it ^^
I am very glad to hear it and I apologize for the delay! I'm planning on having the alpha demo finished by next week, actually- and after my testers are done, I will be hosting the demo here very soon~
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