So @synstoria earlier announced a fan art competition to help promote the Imperial Grace Kickstarter! Since I'm pretty out of practice at drawing, I instead designed miniatures on Hero Forge of the protagonist and our girl Asha. I did the best I could on the outfits, since Hero Forge doesn't have quite the same aesthetics as the game. On the other hand, I'm quite pleased how their haircuts turned out.
Here're links to minis, in case anyone wanted to buy or download them!
MC: https://www.heroforge.com/load_config%3D39341495/
Asha: https://www.heroforge.com/load_config%3D39341732/
Dance: https://www.heroforge.com/load_config%3D39342520/
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Get Medieval at the Steam VN Fest
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The Steam VN Fest starts today. Are you feelin' Medieval? Make sure to wishlist Made Marion if you haven't already, and also take a moment to check out the lovely Imperial Grace!
If you're a fan of Made Marion, you probably enjoy a kickass Medieval woman and some politically-charged romance. You should also check out Imperial Grace, which shares a lead artist with Made Marion. Play as a powerful empress, guide your empire to prosperity or ruin, and perhaps find love along the way! Check out the demo, it's a lot of fun! Personally, I have a weakness for the grumpy Theodore and the charming Asha, but fans of devoted knights will also love the handsome Alexander!
Check us out!
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from darkness to light
A very last minute entry to the fanworks contest being run by @synstoria for the game Imperial Grace! I’ve been excited about this game since the day I found out about it, and literally backed the kickstarter day one, but never got around to writing anything for the Master of Murmurs campaign. I’m so glad the goals got reached, and hope a belated offering in his name serves to show how excited I am about it!
Since we know very little about him, I am quite literally making things up as I go (why I thought it would be a good idea to WRITE from the Master of Murmur’s POV, I do not know), but it was fun to think about (shoutout to @teaandinanity for putting up with my shenanigans in DMs). Fair warning that it may be full of inaccuracies because of that, but hey, it was fun to write nonetheless!
From the beginning, he has stayed carefully in the shadows.
At first, it was partially out of precaution—he was young, far too young, to be taken seriously by the majority of his men, a clear liability given his position in the empire, his role in the veritable web that was woven around the palace and its rulers. His emperor knew him, of course, and those few most influential, most reliable of his people, but trust, genuine trust, is a rare commodity, even for an average noble caught in the mire of Calidyan politics, and downright impossible for one such as him.
Even with the passing of years, as he grew into his role and himself, it has been habit to remain hidden, out of sight and out of mind. In some convoluted way, it has allowed him freedom, even some semblance of safety, to remain ambiguous, part phantom and part bogeyman in the mind of the empire’s citizenry. He retains his position, and in return, they their innocence. So it has been, and so it has remained.
After all, one cannot see into shadow from the light.
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All is for the good of the empire.
It is on this premise that he makes his moves, for which he and his spies have lived and died. All is for the good of Calidya its continued success, in whatever way necessary. In whatever way that may mean.
All is for the good of the empire.
It is a lesson that was impressed upon him, those years ago when he first stepped into his role, that all of his men are familiar with. That in times of strong leadership, it has meant protecting the throne and its allies, promoting and protecting with impunity, but in times of trouble, of political weakness and strife, it has meant doing what needs to be done.
All is for the good of the empire.
It is a lesson that Emperor Magnus V seems to have forgotten, in his confidence and brazenness, in his heavy-handed ruling of the land, focusing more on personal gain and power than on its people. It is a lesson that he will not live to relearn.
(He does not act, not in the way that he knows some whispers must imply. But to knowingly stay one’s hand is an act of its own. After all, all is for the good of the empire, and he has seen enough to know with whom its future lies.)
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He has met the woman before, of course. It is unthinkable for it to be otherwise, to be unaware of the sole surviving child of the emperor, the daughter and heir following the death of her brother. But then, he had been hidden as he ever was, his features obscured by his hood and the palpable nervousness of the girl, then still a child, off-put by rumor and his own mysterious reputation.
That memory bears little resemblance to the confidence young woman before him now.
They share the same in essentials, naturally, but years of growth, of training and preparation, have matured her as much as they have him. Even amidst the unexpected turmoil, she keeps her manners calm, collected, thinking of long-term ramifications as much as she does instant gratification. She is still soft-hearted where Alden is ruthless, perhaps, but after the behavior of the former emperor, that can hardly be considered a fault on its own.
No, while he has been kept apprised of her development, as was necessary for the heir apparent, it is another thing still to see it laid out before him, poised and elegant and determined to fight for the throne. Her throne.
Though, perhaps, she is not quite so different as he had thought. The thought is almost enough to make him smile, as she takes in his appearance with almost childlike surprise, as she replaces that childhood fear with something more sensible. With acknowledgement, perhaps, or recognition.
Perhaps even, someday, trust.
It is a foolish, irresponsible thing, he knows, both frivolous and inappropriate in equal measure, but even so, as he stands before her, lit only by the faint glow of the moon, and sees the compassion in her gaze as she speaks of his men, he can’t help but hope.
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