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Middara: Unintentional Malum - The Complete Trilogy

Created by Succubus Publishing

An epic adventure for 1-4 players set in a unique alternate world fantasy setting.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Day 24: The Collector, Storage Upgrade, and Pocky's Fate!
over 4 years ago – Thu, Jul 18, 2019 at 01:53:11 AM

 WHOA! We hit 10,000 backers. This is unreal! We are so excited right now and we hope you are as well. 

This campaign has been so wonderful and will allow us to really turn Middara into what we've always dreamed of!

10000 Backers!

Unlockable Add-On: The Collector Bounty Pack! 

Imagine looting this axe and using it on your Adventurer...
Imagine looting this axe and using it on your Adventurer...

Our 10k Backer stretch goal brings more dangerous foes for you to crush... or die trying. The Collector and his collection of that which he values most will keep you on your toes as your party ventures to purge the lands of Elenia from this scourge to humanity.  

Our Bounty Packs are unlockable add-ons They provide unique side quests that can be attempted at rare moments in our narrative. 

Backers at our "With Swag" pledges level will receive these as part of their pledge. 

The Collector Bounty Pack contains a Bounty Book, multiple new Initiative cards, two new Combatants, a new Boss Monster, new Monster Loot, and hidden Item cards for you to uncover.  

This Bounty Pack expansion will require Act 1 to play.

Nail Vessel
Nail Vessel

Homies In The Industry

We love what we do and we love all the amazing people we've met along the way.

We just want to give a congratulation to Marcin and the team of Awaken Realms for their crushing success with the Etherfields Board Game Kickstarter campaign. We love seeing games in our industry continue to kill it! 

If you haven't seen this yet, you've gotta go take a look! 

Marcin reached out to us early this year and gave us some of the most invaluable information we could've gotten, and we appreciate his support and time. 

 $2.25M vs. $2.225M

We'll be honest, even we were confused about this. We woke up this morning ready to throw some unlocks your way and then realized that we hadn't technically hit our Cash Money Stretch Goal of $2,250,000.

But you know what? We don't care! Let's unlock some stuff because it's fun! 

$2,225,000 Stretch Goal Unlocked!

Act 1 Reinforced Shipping + BEEFIER Red Revealer

We're a fairly new company. Our first KS was a lot of trial and error and so was the fulfillment process. We learned along the way that we could include some things in the Act 1 box to keep it a little more snug.. So we're doing that.

This means barriers between the cards and books to keep everything nice and secure in the box as well as a beefier Red Revealer. Something you can really get some use out of without fear of it bending.

This beefed up Red Revealer will now be included in the 1.1 Update Pack as an upgrade.

Storage Solution for EVERYTHING... Finally.

Middara needs an insert. It's pretty obvious. We've been toying around with the best way to do this since we have split shipping waves and there's only so much we can cram into the KS2 Promo Box. 

So, with Wave 2 we will be optimizing our packaging and including an insert within Act 3 that will allow you to store the entirety of Unintentional Malum in a single box. It will included a detachable token tray, slots for tiles and 5x6 cards, and trenches to keep all your (sleeved) cards stored for all 3 Acts.

This is intended to be a basic economic utilitarian storage solution rather than a way to fancifully organize everything. This means that this will not compete with any aftermarket storage creations and won't be quite as fancy either. But we'll be damned if we have to carry three separate boxes to play the game at our friends' houses! 

Below is a blueprint of what we're thinking.

Tray the size of the box, plus an additional token tray for easy access to tokens
Tray the size of the box, plus an additional token tray for easy access to tokens

In addition to this, the box is being sized to hold all the miniature trays. Meaning, you'll be able to Tetris in all those miniature trays in addition to all the cardboard inside of a single giant box. 

Lastly, putting miniatures back into their corresponding trays was always a pain in the ass since it was so easy to forget what miniature went where. For this reason we'll also be including a diagram for where miniatures are supposed to be seated. This diagram will be printed in the most economical place we can put it. (likely just thrown in the box or added to the Adventure Book for Act 2 and 3. 

 So! Let's keep this train moving!

We'll be doing little mystery teasers on the Stretch Goals..
We'll be doing little mystery teasers on the Stretch Goals..

We were curious to see how this would go. We definitely saw some moral arguments happening in the comments.

...But it looks like the community chose to save the doggo... by a pretty significant margin!

Command Card - Item Card

Thanks again for hanging out with us throughout this campaign and keeping the spirit of board game Kickatarters alive!

It's been a lot of work but very rewarding!

Let's keep hitting those stretch goals!

And as always... 

Day 23: Obedient Vigilance, an Imprisoned Witch, and a Doggo in Danger!
over 4 years ago – Wed, Jul 17, 2019 at 01:48:42 AM

For those that have fought him, did you kill him? Or did you steal his keys?
For those that have fought him, did you kill him? Or did you steal his keys?

The Eternal Sentinel

“No one goes through this door!”

The master's words resonated over and over in the animate's mind. All that it was and all that it had become was for this request. Many had tried to pass, but he had dispatched all of them. The door remained closed, its white marble surface undisturbed.

The animate took comfort in its armor. It was fashioned by master himself, a glorious relic of ancient times. Its massive, heavy blade was a special tool of destruction, and a constant reminder that the master was still watching to see if the door stayed shut.

The remains of the last foolish creature who tried to pry the door open, a cave sickle, lay dead at the warden's feet. It had struggled valiantly, thinking it could pry its frame through the small crack in the door. The warden had stood so still that perhaps the cave sickle didn’t even know it was alive, and not some kind of statue carved from stone. It must have been surprised when it died.

The master must have been pleased.

The warden stood still like always, vigilant. It wouldn’t let anything pass. It had sworn to the master, and it would never violate its duty. The stench of rotting bodies near the door drove the creatures of the vault away. It was a clever plan devised by the warden itself, and one the master seemed to be pleased with.

The warden...

The master had called it by that name. It was a strong name and further inspired the animate to protect the door. Nearby, at the warden’s side, an old skeleton rotted away with the passage of time. Its frail form crumbled against an inlet in the rocks of the vault. The skull's empty eye sockets stared up at the warden. The warden shuffled almost imperceptibly, proud of its most recent accomplishment of protecting the door and killing the cave sickle. After all, the master was still watching.

This will look so bonkers as a miniature!
This will look so bonkers as a miniature!

For our Day 23 unlock, we will be adding a unique miniature to the KS2 Promo Box that thematically represents a moment (or more) in Unintentional Malum. 

To be clear, this miniature is part of the KS2 Promo Box and is being given away for free as part of every pledge level at the "Through the Portal" level or higher

 Populated by Demons, Witches, Creatures and their Minions, Neemoss is a world infused with magic and cruelty.  Imagine the atrocities Girtiya must have committed to be imprisoned.

Virtually immortal, her punishment was to remain confined until she could escape.  An easy task if she could access her powers, but the Demon-hide gag cut her off from her spoken magic. 

Seething in her chains for uncountable decades, Girtiya finally found a way to grasp the magical essence of Neemoss through silent meditation.  But just as she freed herself from one prison, she was sent to another: the Conjunction swept her away! 

 Check out the cards: Adventurer Card | Item Card 1 | Item Card 2

Our take on Girtiya! Middara-fied!
Our take on Girtiya! Middara-fied!

As a Day 23 unlock we're excited to announce our cross promotion with the mysterious and dedicated team over at Dark Gate Games. These folks were one of the earliest connections we made in the industry. After our first campaign ended they reached out with questions and together we decided to lend them our very own Nyx for their Kickstarter The Order of Vampire Hunters. 

We've been excitedly waiting for the time when we could use one of their creations in Middara. Today, Dark Gate was finally able to tag us back with a wonderful design from their successful Kickstarter Dark Rituals: Malleus Maleficarum. They're accepting late pledges still, so don't hesitate to go check them out! 

With The Order of Vampire Hunters under their belts, we can't wait to play Dark Rituals. The theme and narrative really captured our attention. And the Witch theme was a perfect candidate for the story we wanted to tell on this campaign. 

The good people over at Dark Gate Games have always been willing to make time and chat whenever we reached out. We wanted to give them a huge shout out for all their feedback and time they've put into helping us anytime we needed it.

Trenchworx is hard at work making the Resin miniature for Girtiya as we speak. As soon as we have something to show we'll be posting pictures of the resin kit. (Hopefully in the next three weeks.) 

Girtiya, The Imprisoned Witch Resin Kit comes with a beautiful Resin miniature (that will require assembly), an Initiative Card, two Item Cards, an Intelligent Combatant Card, and an Adventurer Card. This kit comes in all "With Swag" Pledge levels and can be added as an individual add-on for $20.  

For those curious, the Intelligent Combatant card will come with rules to spice up Unintentional Malum by adding some variety to some of the spawn options during Encounters.

You can find more information about Dark Gate Games on their website, facebook, or Pre-order Site

Dark Fantasy? Yes please.
Dark Fantasy? Yes please.

Now! On with Nyx's story!

They came. Nyx knew they would—there was no new bargain to strike here, no desperation. The Sardonic Vultures would come when she called and enjoy what taste of Middara she could give them. Even if that taste was fighting for their lives. She reached out, and they listened, and abruptly the bargain was struck.

For a moment, Nyx was somewhere else, seeing into a bleak corner of Arkalla where an angry sun ruled over the crystalline bones of slain monsters. Little grew here and even less lived to feed on it--but whenever something moved, predators would swoop in to devour. 

They were exactly the sort of allies she would need, with claws that could tear easily at unprotected flesh, and no fear for the blood they would shed.

Then the moment of exchange was over, and Nyx’s vision returned to Middara. There was the armory, and the Incubi in their overwhelming numbers. At least until the first of the Vultures poked its hoary head through the ruined stone rafters, wedging through and tearing rock to break in. Another crawled through a broken window, ignoring the spears of glass that tore at its flesh. 

Sardonic Vultures
Sardonic Vultures

Several tore through the door behind them, passing overhead and descending on the nearest Incubus with another shriek. He fell with a gurgle of pain, and several of his fellows retreated.

Nyx did her best to stay behind as many of her summoned esper as she could, where she could send silent commands and direct the battle. Assemblage was far more an intellectual school of magic than Curor or the marshal crafts. Before the battle came the research and the exploration, to find espers that might be friendly to an agreement.

But now, when the battle raged around her, her fight was tactical. She watched a dozen Vultures at once, directing each one with a thought or a shout when they grew distracted.

It was nothing like that for the others.

Christopher Amaya
Christopher Amaya

Christopher advanced on the witch, his massive blade clutched in both hands. He was a center of calm as Incubi and espers died around him, muttering a quiet prayer in Spanish. It looked as though an unseen light shone on him from above, getting brighter with each step. A white and gold breastplate settled over his chest, then a set of glowing pauldrons, linked by a fine weave of gold scales. The first Incubus to strike him lost his arm in a spray of sickly black blood. The rest backed away, letting him meet Girtiya near the center of the broken armory.

The witch lifted objects at random from around her, tossing wrecked stone and ripping iron sconces right off the walls, hurling at the knight like bullets.

I hope you’re as good at this as you say you are, Nyx thought, focusing on the others. She was losing espers fast, that was the disadvantage of a swarm. Though three Incubi had fallen before the rest could react, the ones still standing seemed like better fighters. When three Incubi came at an individual summoned vulture at once, they didn’t stand a chance. They swept across the battlefield in groups of two or three, and Nyx’s numbers were dwindling.

They were doing the same thing to their human opponents. 

Ai had left a bloody trail back into a corner, with four Incubi surrounding her. She’s not healed yet. She can’t move as fast as before. Nyx took off, drawing the attention of at least two more Incubi as she curved down towards Ai. 

“Get away!” Ai roared, shedding her gauntlets at her feet. Her arms sped up again, blurring as she yanked barbed daggers apparently from open air, throwing each one before reaching for the next and throwing it in turn.

Nyx landed in a crouch beside her, right as two of the Incubi dropped. Two more retreated together, back towards their mistress at the center of the room.

“You’re bleeding,” Nyx realized, eyes widening as she saw the red spreading from Ai’s belly. She’d taken another hit there, tearing open Nyx’s haphazard treatment. Ai slumped sideways, and Nyx caught her against the staff.

“No shit.” Ai used one arm, pressing the wound closed. “Got any juice left for more summons? Christopher needs us too.”

Nyx surveyed the battlefield. They’d killed or incapacitated over half the Incubi servants. But there were more, closing in around her and fighting Christopher. 

The Spaniard’s summoned armor had taken a beating. Even as she watched, Girtiya slammed a rotten wooden shelf into him from one side, exploding it into splinters. He stood firm, wobbling for a few seconds and nearly dropping. Then his armor mended—and she suspected, so did the person underneath. “The archangel fights beside me, witch!” he roared. “What can demons and false gods do against the might of Michael?”

Nyx couldn’t magically heal Ai’s injuries, or she would’ve just done that the night before. But there was something else she could do. “Hold still.” She aimed her staff at one of the Incubi, just as he slung his fire axe down into the last of Nyx’s summoned vultures. Mist pooled at his feet, then reached up and connected to him. He wouldn’t see it, but Nyx could feel it. He’d been bonded to and he looked up, turning to face her and Ai. 

Together with his companion, they blocked the path to Christopher, who was fighting more desperately by the second. 

“Was that supposed to do something?” he asked, laughter in his voice. “You should’ve joined us instead. The Mother would give you power that I could never taste.” They began advancing. 

Nyx
Nyx

Nyx gripped her staff a little tighter, settling her other hand on Ai’s shoulder. “You mean like this?” Nyx’s Soul Steal couldn’t bring back a corpse cut to pieces, but she didn’t have to. Ai was still alive.

The Incubus froze, dropping his axe. He screamed as his belly opened in a spray of blood, dropping weakly to the ground. “You can’t!” he croaked, looking between the two of them. Ai’s wound stitched closed again, though her own blood still smeared across her clothes and her skin was still pale.

“Couldn’t do that last night?” Ai asked, replacing her gauntlets. Without his companion, the uninjured Incubus didn’t put up as much of a fight. Ai slashed, and he parried, but he was too slow. Soon he fell bleeding, joining the other on the floor. “Myrtle was way worse than this.”

“And give it to who?” Nyx asked angrily. But there was no time to argue about something stupid—Christopher needed them.

Nyx took off again, flying towards the embattled knight. Two more of her Incubi companions had been “harvested” during the fight, but Girtiya herself seemed intact. Her human guise was far sturdier too—she hadn’t let Christopher batter her until she was a fleshy mass to be puppeted. Pocky also seemed intact, lurking near the edge of the fight. He stayed away from the others, warping to another part of the room whenever the enemy grew too close.

But there were only a few Incubi left now, all too injured to keep fighting.

Thick metal chains tore up from the dirt around Christopher’s armored boots, wrapping thickly around his arms and yanking him to his knees. He dropped his sword with a rough thunk, yanking against them and trying to struggle back to his feet. The witch didn’t even sweat. Her fingers moved through the air in wild, discordant patterns, leaving a trail of floating symbols around her. They were so thick that Nyx could barely even see her.

“I thought it was funny before. Walking right up here. Flew right to the gate, marked one is a boy. Stuck a soul in your dog. Not so funny anymore.” She glanced around, at the corpses and ruined bodies of the Incubi. “Not easy to replace. Maybe you want to take their place, paladin.”

“I’m not afraid of death, witch! My parents are waiting for me. Who waits for you in hell?” He laughed, but then she yanked the chains apart, causing his laugh to change into a scream.  

Nyx reached him then, swinging her staff forward in a simple cleanse spell. Instead of ripping Christopher apart, the chains around him dissolved into smoke, and their heavy metal ends smashed against the walls, flung back with sudden force.

Christopher shuddered, then his broken armor lifted back into place, glowing almost as bright as before. He took her offered hand, then rose.

While she helped the Spaniard, Ai Chen darted past her in a blur of motion, ignoring them and going straight for the witch. Suddenly the two of them were a blur, dissolving the cloud of white symbols far faster than Nyx could follow. Nyx tightened her grip on her staff, hoping they would hold still long enough for her to fire off a gore-shot.

She saw the flash of Ai’s gauntlets, an occasional spray of blood. Then as soon as they had started fighting, they fell suddenly still. Nyx stared in horror as she saw why—Girtiya held Ai viciously by the hair with one hand, a dagger digging into her neck with the other. The witch was bloody herself, though whatever wounds Ai had inflicted weren’t enough to incapacitate her. “No more!” the witch yelled. “One more step, and your friend is dead! You wanted to see the Ziggurat? Fine. Open the gate with blood!”

AI Chen
AI Chen

“How about a trade?” Nyx settled one hand on Christopher’s shoulder, stopping him. “How about you let go of our friend, and we let you live? That seems fair.”

“More than she deserves,” he spat. “She’s too dangerous to let live, Nyx. She will bring suffering wherever she goes. Her sin soaks into the soil wherever she stands.”

Girtiya only laughed, digging the dagger deeper into Ai’s neck. Blood welled from the point. Ai’s eyes were wide and pleading, settling on Nyx. “No trusting, anymore. I obey the coven’s laws—sacrosanct, sworn. What oaths do you keep? Your paladin drips with hypocrisy. And you…” Her eyes settled on Nyx. “You are worse. Not so far from a sister yourself. Real reason you’re here, maybe? These others are an offering.” Her eyes were wide and unfocused. Magic billowed out from around her, but didn’t seem to be targeting anything. She left a dozen glowing runes in the air, spelling out nothing and apparently serving no purpose.

She’s completely lost her mind. We can’t reason with her. Nyx didn’t have any spells, or at least nothing that could disable a witch before she cut Ai’s throat.

Then Pocky appeared in front of her. His bright yellow eyes fixed on the witch, apparently unafraid to be standing so close.

“Pocky, no!” Ai had been still in the face of death, but now her face was white with pain. One arm twitched towards the dog, even as her movement let the dagger dig in deeper. “Run!”

Pocky didn’t run. He couldn’t speak, just stood there, meeting the witch’s eyes. Somehow, that seemed more effective communication than anything they’d said to her so far.

“It was your life that the coven demands,” Girtiya declared. She yanked Ai by the hair, until she finally stopped squirming. “Not your master. Your life for hers?”

“Or you could die,” Christopher said. “If you hurt either of them, you won’t leave here! You already deserve worse than death!”

Nyx wobbled on her feet, she caught herself on her staff, leaning forward as strange magic surrounded her. Some clever attack from the witch? Was she casting another spell after all?

It took her only a few seconds more to realize what was going on—another canine figure walked up beside her, watching. No one else moved—Christopher didn’t look up, even the insane witch didn’t see. Lymn sat on her haunches, and when she spoke it was with placid serenity. “You must not turn away now, Nyx. Do you feel it?”

She shook her head, without looking at the strange spirit. Not an esper, she was certain of that now. She could arrive without Nyx calling, without using her own connection to Middara to manifest. 

“A terrible ritual has begun. It frays the fabric of your reality, widening the weft until something from Outside can reside here. The Mother will unmake all that she touches, starting with the marked child.”

Girtiya jerked suddenly, shoving Ai away to land in the dirt and taking Pocky around the neck in the same motion. Thin chains appeared from nowhere, binding him down. Nyx could feel the binding even from here—he wouldn’t be getting away.

Pocky, Ai Chen's Best Friend!
Pocky, Ai Chen's Best Friend!

Ai squeaked again, crawling towards them. “Pocky, no!” She didn’t get anywhere close. Girtiya gestured, and another thick chain emerged from the ground, wrapping around her ankles and binding her there.

“Wait!” Nyx called, her voice so sudden and urgent that everyone froze, watching her. “Everything you said about the Marked One,” she began, reaching down towards her satchel. “How important is she, really?”

Girtiya did stop, meeting Nyx’s eyes.

Christopher didn’t. He lurched suddenly forward, no longer contained now that Ai’s life wasn’t in immediate danger.

The witch didn’t have to fight Pocky the way she fought Ai—she gestured with her free hand, and more thick chains appeared, dragging Christopher to his knees. He roared in empty frustration, slashing at them with his impotent sword. 

Girtiya, The Imprisoned Witch
Girtiya, The Imprisoned Witch

“There is no occasion more celebrated,” Girtiya declared. “Whoever discovers her would be a celebrated hero in our sisterhood until the end of time. I probably should kill all of you for lying about something so sacred, but…” She glanced around again. “I think this last life will be enough.”

“What if I had proof?” Nyx asked, reaching down inside. “What if I gave it to you? Would you let us into the Ziggurat, and leave the dog alone?”

The Mysterious Lock Box
The Mysterious Lock Box

“No!” Lymn was still only an apparition, but her single red eye fixed on Nyx, suddenly intense. “It was madness to bring that object here. Do not return it to them, no matter the price they ask.”

“Please…” Ai whispered again. She’d given up struggling, just hanging against the chains, reaching towards Pocky. “Anything but him.”

Nyx rested one hand on the smooth metal of the lockbox, feeling Girtiya’s gaze settle on her intensely. It was her decision to make.

Nyx could give up the lockbox and whatever it contained, saving the life of Pocky, earning his friendship, and hopefully gaining access to the Ziggurat.


Or…

Let Pocky sacrifice his life to get inside the Ziggurat, keeping the lockbox away from the Mother’s cultists.

The Mysterious Lock Box
The Mysterious Lock Box

Day 22: Update Pack Information, Horrific Espers, and Bonus Freebies!
over 4 years ago – Tue, Jul 16, 2019 at 01:55:55 AM

1.1 Update Pack

Hey everyone, Brooklynn here!  

I finally got sorting out some of the information I had written months ago. I've uploaded an Incomplete Beta Version of our 1.1 Update Pack here.  

Despite it being incomplete, it does have an itemized list of everything that is included in the Update Pack as well as a good list of the changes you can expect. We will make sure to have this updated and finalized along with the PDF Print & Play by 8/09/19.  

You can also find the Updated Rule Book in 1.1 here. This Rule Book will be seeing some further updates by 8/09/19 since some of our backers have already reported inconsistencies and spelling errors. Regardless, this Rule Book is well beyond where we were three years ago and contains all the relevant information to put the items in the Update Pack into context. 

As a side note, we will be releasing an online poll for feedback before we submit our files to the manufacturer in October. We will also be very specific about what issues we are looking to get feedback for when we release the Kickstarter Update with the final Pack on 8/09/19.

Also, for those interested, the information marked as currently not present until 8/09/19 is only not listed due to time restraints on my end. The corresponding files are in fact completed (with some very rare exceptions.) As I find time, I'll prepare the document more and more.

Thanks everyone!  

Act 2 and 3 Esper Upgrades

Hey friends! Alex here.

There has been some confusion as to how the Espers for Act 2 and 3 in the KS2 Promo Box will work. 

Well, we're here to clear that up! And you'll probably be happy with the decision.

All Espers in our Core Game and Expansions are cardboard standees. These unlocks that we've been giving away in the KS2 Promo Box will provide you with figures to use instead of said standees.

On our last campaign, we gave away two of each Esper so that players and bad guys could both replace their standees with sweet figures.

Brooklynn and I battled it out in the office today and decided that we love you all and we're going to do the same thing for this campaign. All Esper unlocks on this campaign will be doubled up! All graphics on the campaign will be changed to reflect this.

That means that the Swarm Esper that we've unlocked today will include 6 new figures in the KS2 Promo Box! 

The winning Espers of today's community choice unlock are The Carnivorous Fow...

Just kidding..

Sardonic Vultures crushed it. And I'm a little bummed... I voted for the cyclops birds. 

But alas... Nyx Summons the Swarm Espers, Sardonic Vultures


For our Day 22 unlock, we will be adding the community chosen Espers to the KS2 Promo Box. 

Six in total! 

These creatures can be used in the Assemblage tree via the Discipline Summoning

To be clear, this miniature is part of the KS2 Promo Box and is being given away for free as part of every pledge level at the "Through the Portal" level or higher. Their 5x6 cards and Initiative cards will be included alongside cardboard standees in Act 2 of Unintentional Malum.

Day 21: Soul Butcher Boss, Carnivorous Fowl, and Sardonic Vultures!
over 4 years ago – Mon, Jul 15, 2019 at 01:21:07 AM

Hey backers. Alex here.

My alter ego, Zeke.
My alter ego, Zeke.

We don't have any real news today, we just want to say that we appreciate all of you guys. We're having a really fun time putting this campaign together for you. We hope you've enjoyed it so far.

Brooklynn and I have been able to spend the last couple of days getting ahead of the updates as far as art assets, links, narrative, and other content.

Because of this, you may have noticed that we've been in the comment section a lot more this weekend. 

We plan on being more involved in the real time comments from this point forward. We can't thank our collaborators enough for their hard work in keeping the comment section running smoothly.

Also, we're committed to sticking to our deadlines and we'll have a nice update regarding the 1.1 Update Pack for you all tomorrow.

Now, to the unlock!

Daedalus rose above other soul butchers. He was fierce and vicious, even as soul butchers go, and none defied him. He silenced any dissenters when he killed and ate Grotus the Vast after Grotus challenged his superiority. While soul butchers are violent and voracious, they’re intelligent, and do have a culture, and while cannibalism isn't unheard of, it definitely made a statement.

Daedalus led a fearsome group of soul butchers that marauded around the lands of Greyhaven. After a successful raid, they would retreat to the Eerie with their spoils. They were feared and fearless, until the day that Ida and Lo Jeong sealed the Eerie, and their lair.

Unwittingly trapped underground, they had to forge a new way of life. Luckily for Daedalus, there were plenty of other creatures who were also stuck there.

The soul butchers would not go hungry.

When the shadow lord made his domain among the Eerie, Daedalus was not pleased. He confronted the shadow lord, who wasted no time establishing its dominance by ripping the massive tongue from Daedalus' gaping maw. Rather than simply killing him, however, the shadow lord accepted him as a servant. He knew of the soul butchers' appetites. They would bring many more souls to him if allowed to live.

To hide his shame, Daedalus fashioned a huge suit of armor that hid his mouth from the other soul butchers. He only removes his armor in private now, and when he eats, it is in solitude. None of the other soul butchers have dared to question his reclusive behavior, at least not yet. For the time being, he continues to lead the soul butchers of the Eerie, making the most of his forced imprisonment, slaying and devouring the weaker creatures they now shared their home with.

Despite his misfortune, Daedalus is rather content with his new way of life. He still fears the shadow lord, but it rarely interferes with his activities, and on occasion actually provides him with prey. In exchange, the shadow lord adds his victims' souls to his ever-growing collection.

What's wrong with this dude??
What's wrong with this dude??

For our Day 21 unlock, we will be adding a 2x2 miniature to the KS2 Promo Box. Daedalus is featured in Unintentional Malum: Act 1. 

To be clear, this miniature is part of the KS2 Promo Box and is being given away for free as part of every pledge level at the "Through the Portal" level or higher. 

The cardboard standee version that is already a part of the contents of Unintentional Malum: Act 1 will remain a standee. 

No telling what she’ll be able to do to us if she gets her hands on objects connected to us. It’s not like she needs our random crap. Nyx shook her head confidently. “I don’t like those terms. Now, uh… how about you just get out of the way. We’ve killed one of you, we can stop you too if we have to.”

Their items dropped roughly out of her magic. Nyx caught hers carefully, slipping it away before harm could come to something so important to her.

“I don’t believe you.” Girtiya retreated a few steps, expression dark. She began circling like a predator, both hands extended into claws. But she didn’t lurch forward to attack right away. “We share the blood of a Goddess. Her heartbeat moves us to the revel. Laws that bind you can’t contain us.” Then she froze, her eyes settling on Pocky. They grew suddenly wider, and she stumbled back as though she’d just been struck. “They carry Katya’s spirit with them,” she said, her voice commanding. “We must kill the animal and free her.”

“She will join the Mother,” said the nearest of her servants, his voice intense. Several others whispered after him, repeating. “With the Mother.”

“You’re fools, intruders! You’re giving up a life of bliss in the Mother’s presence! Her pleasures would teach you to know yourself, as they taught me! You sacrifice your lives over nothing! Listen, I know you can hear it. Feel its embrace enfold you!”

Christopher twisted to one side, settling the flat of his massive blade against his shoulder. “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”

Girtiya laughed madly, lifting her arms. The space around them changed, broken wood melting into crushed stone. A different ceiling rose above them, with crumbling wooden racks around the walls. Racks weighed down with ancient weapons too large for humans to easily use. “They’ve chosen death! Wake from an eternity of senseless hedonism, and taste blood instead! Protect the Mother’s temple!”

They moved. Many of these men seemed unsteady on their feet, but still they moved. But they were strong, strong enough to lift even the oversized weapons without much difficulty.

Ai straightened her hat, pulling on her gauntlets one at a time. Beside her, Pocky’s horn cracked and sparked, filling the air with the harsh stench of ozone. “I hope you’re going to help, Nyx. Show us just how great esper-summoning is.”

Nyx gritted her teeth, slamming her staff into the ground with all her might. She hadn’t completely recovered since the day before, but she wouldn’t have come without some magic. “Something dangerous,” she repeated. “Maybe a lot of somethings.” Maybe she could even the odds…

Two different and strange creatures reached out...


Who does Nyx summon to help her defeat the witch? 

The Carnivorous Fowl, a flock of deadly bird-like monstrosities with a taste for blood. 

 Or, A group of vile Sardonic Vultures! 

Day 20: Translation News and Preparing for a Fight!
over 4 years ago – Sun, Jul 14, 2019 at 01:53:51 AM


Translations

Alex here!

Since the launch of this campaign, we’ve seen an extraordinary interest in having Middara printed in multiple languages. From Spanish to Chinese and everything in between.

Every suggestion is taken to heart. Of course we’d love to provide Middara in all these languages, why wouldn’t we? We want everyone to enjoy the world and game that we’ve created. 

It really just comes down to what Brooklynn and I feel comfortable with and what we’re confident that we can deliver on. This campaign has a lot on it! Completing everything in English is already a task! But to translate and print everything in 4+ different languages just seems unrealistic for our current team and schedule.

We’d hate to delay delivery because we are stuck trying to coincide printing schedules with multiple publishers. It’s simply a huge shift in our business plan that we can’t commit to for this campaign.

But we don’t want to leave our foreign backers completely empty-handed. Today we want to provide something for them.

We’ve decided to move forward with having the Adventure Book for Act 1 translated in its entirety into the following languages:

Spanish, German, Italian, and French
Spanish, German, Italian, and French

These translations will be available in PDF format and will be downloadable for free on our website for all to enjoy. This is essentially what we promised on our first campaign and we'd like to at least honor that.

After our previous campaign, we now know what kind of work is truly involved with this project and we will be hiring help to make these PDFs a reality.

We’ve been given timelines by our team of translators and we can safely say that we’ll have these translations completed by the delivery of Wave 1 in May of 2020.

It may not be the same as a full game in your native language, but we hope it's a good start for allowing our foreign backers to enjoy Middara and become immersed in the world.

In the meantime, here are a few things to sink your teeth into.

Below is the homepage of a fully-voiced over Italian version of Chapter 1 of Act 1.

You can find the table of contents in the description of the video here.


And here you can find the text document of Chapter 1 completely translated into Spanish.


And now.. Onward to the daily unlock! 

The community has chosen to FIGHT THE WITCH! Your choice will ring through the rest of this campaign as our story diverges into some exciting new decisions!   

For now, our heroes hang onto their keepsakes. (And you do too! The Unique Mundane Relic Christopher Amaya's Locket and the Unique Rare Core Ai Chen's Silly Sentient Hat have been added to the Promobox!)

Furthermore... 

You retain the Etched Violin of Amdusias! 


 Thanks for checking in today!