The Sacred Emblem of the Elven Alliance

Every race in Nevendaar has its own emblem - we'll face it or its separate parts and elements throughout the gameplay. Our artists designed emblems for each race and we'll cover them all in our Newsletters.

Actually, an emblem is what is described on the shield but very often it's decorated with various additional visuals - creatures holding the shield, helmets, bands, etc. - all of them strictly hierarchized and regulated.

Of course we were not supposed to strictly follow the rules of official heraldry accepted in our world. Nevendaar has its own history and future, and what makes difference in our realm may not actually matter there. Yet, as a whole, we decided to keep some commonly acknowledged heraldic elements.

As we believe, the visual elements in the Elven decoration structure should be more ethnic, if compared with Empire and Legions of the Damned. Besides, they are true forest inhabitants despite their heavily armed warriors. Thus they have quite a primitive shield - oval, with the fur skin pulled on the hull made of entwined twigs. Two trees with the same root are depicted on the fur skin.

Why is that we chose a maple with two stems as the basis of the emblem? Well, long ago the Elves had a different emblem but after breaking into Noble Elves and Wild Elves they changed their priorities thus changing the emblem. Now it shows a sacred tree - maple with white bark and red leaves just like trees have in autumn. It implies that their souls are full of autumn - sad and bright at the same time. Two entwined stems coming from the same roots symbolize their previous division into two factions. They're doing their best to join efforts and unite these opposites.

The Elven colors are white, red, gold, and black.

White - dignity, open-heartedness, purity, innocence and commitment to truth. The color of the stem.

Red - courage, love and...blood shed in constant struggles. The color of leaves.

Gold - autumn that reigns in their hearts; justice and generosity.

Black - carefulness, wisdom, endurance in trials; sadness and mourning for Gallean and Soloniele - creators of the Elven race.

The shield holders are white unicorns with red horns. They are quite unusual unicorns, though they are depicted with the head of a horse and the body of a lion.

The unicorn is a symbol of purity and innocence. Our unicorn has the body of a lion - it symbolizes strength and courage. Besides, the unicorn is often associated with beautiful maids - Elves do have a lot of female units in their squads.

According to the heraldry rules, the shield holders if they aren't winged creatures should stand on some foundation. Our foundation is the root of these two trees depicted on the shield. Their twigs are entwined over the shield making a crown which symbolizes Elven hope for the future union of their divided races.

The shield is usually decorated with a helmet or a crown. We decided to give each race its own headgear. The Elves as great explorers, pathfinders and searchers received the mask. The mask is very archaic and is decorated in traditional Elven colors - while and red. The image resembles war paints on one of the Elven warriors.

The red color points to the Elven connection with demons...which unfolds in the storyline.

The motto is usually written below - instead we placed the "Elven Alliance" words there.

{pagebreak}

Unique hero in the Legions of the Damned

Demons...Legions of the Damned, spawns of Bethrezen's bosom - those who were brought to life by this cursed angel. Dark hour it was that they appeared in Nevendaar pursuing power and longing for their sovereign's freedom. Their hearts are mere stone and sand. Their need in taking revenge gives birth to demonic essence that overtakes their souls. Each and every of them has its own source of hatred, his history of Falling, though...

The game start-up positions are as follows: The Empire that was severely tortured and heavily beaten while fighting the Elven Alliance is licking its wounds, the Dwarfs moved deeper into the heights of the land and no one have heard about them for a long while. Only Elves appear to live a fruitful and prosperous life exploring and reclaiming the territories that once the Empire possessed.

Demons...demons would strive for the same values they did over these years - revenge, cold and outrageous, and power, strong and unlimited. They'll be deeply involved into bringing chaos and destruction.

Their routine strategy in attacking foes is sudden emerging on the surface, setting the heather on fire and vanishing into thin air (not air, actually) before the opponent has enough time to react. Very seldom do they embark on more challengeable, massive offensives since it's too hard to Bethrezen to keep so many portals open simultaneously. It takes up too much strength.

We'll meet our old friend Ashkael, demonic capital's guardian, and many other units we're familiar with. Most of them can be proud of having a new look and outfits, however they'll be quire recognizable. You'll face something brand new and appalling, though. One of these daunting creatures is Bethrezen's avatar. The key hero of the Legions of the Damned is Haarhus, Bethrezen's true disciple, an invincible warrior whose sole life target is to serve his sovereign. That's Haarhus who'll be there with the player walking the lands of Nevendaar and scorching it in the demonic campaign that starts with...a blinding flash.

A new star appeared in the sky over Nevendaar torn apart with endless wars and sufferings. The star blazed through and fell down in the outskirts of the Empire. Every faction has its own explanation and interpretation of what happened and what a new prophecy they should await. While priests were attempting to unthread the sign, Bethrezen already knew the answer. He, who once was raised to Heavens, couldn't miss the correct answer. He just darted a look at the sky and realized that gods decided to intervene in the deeds of mortals and sent over their messenger whose sole target was to determine the fate of Nevendaar. The messenger's mission was something beyond Bethrezen's sphere of interest, though. He made up his mind to capture a marvelous creature and use its power to get back to Heavens.

Bethrezen summoned his most devoted and faithful servant - Haarhus - and ordered him to deliver the sky messenger. No matter what costs incurred.

As the game starts Haarhus doesn't perceive himself as a personality. The most important thing he faces is completing Bethrezen's tasks and serving him like a one-man dog. Haarhus is an unusual demon, though. Despite all the rituals performed on his body and soul he still keeps some of his original identity.

Being so close to the sky messenger makes his soul start melting which causes the inner conflict. First this conflict was only superficial but as the story unfolds it is getting even harder for him to suppress his feelings. Traveling around the sacred lands with the angel besides he meets some places that seem to be vaguely familiar, creatures that seem to have known him before...He can't escape a "trapped" feeling...that some unfinished duty is awaiting him. He faces a hard choice: keep serving his master or step into uncertainty...

{pagebreak}

Hex system

The game combat is now based on a hex system. A former square grid was replaced with a hex one which, to our mind, is something very natural. Say, honey combs, snow flakes, retina of insects...

Our transferring to the hex system enabled us to solve some problems. For example, diagonal link-up of units - square units touch each other in the diagonal positions. Units have different nodes and there can be complex and entangled intersections when squares are tangent to each other with cells or on the cross. When you were to strike a diagonal blow it's difficult to realize whether it's actually feasible or not. Once the hex system is introduced, a unit surrounded by enemies is actually surrounded in a kind of a circle. Thus it's quite easy to see whether the unit is tangent to some other unit's cells/hexes and whether it's possible to attack. The picture got more illustrative and logic.

Now that we've applied a hex system we can implement some innovative solutions re arena tactics, generating arenas, and introducing zones of influence. This can help avoid a great number of challenges, for example, a one-node unit's upgrade into a two-node one. From now on, all the units take up one hex; heavier units possess some special points, though. These are defense points and cover points that enable heavier and stronger units cover weaker ones once the latter are in their zone of influence.