Unveiled: Camelot Unchained Newsletter #37 - City State Entertainment View this email in your browser Share Tweet +1 Milestones with Mark -by Mark Jacobs Folks,



As summer begins to wind down and the days get shorter, things here at CSE pick up the pace for Beta 1. Once the leaves truly change, it will be time for another of my “State of the Game” messages. In the meantime, I thought this would be a good opportunity to reflect on two of the very important developments that you have seen from us in the last 30 days. Naturally, the first item for today is the “Thirty Day” document, the first parts of which have been posted on our website, here.



The Thirty Day doc represents another example of how we stick to our Kickstarter promise to always keep our Backers informed about our progress, as well as to give them a chance to share their opinions with us on the game’s design and development. This long-awaited document contains over 70 pages of information about the items that will be in the game for Beta 1, and includes my notes explaining our reasoning behind some of the items. This is very nearly the same document that I wrote for the team, which laid out what needs to be in the game in order for us to call it a proper Beta 1.



I cannot say conclusively that no other team has done this in the past, but I’m confident in saying that I believe this information dump is one of the largest ever done for a game that was still in a true Alpha. By adding the notes, I’m also sharing some of my thoughts about why I/we made certain choices for what will be in Beta 1. Now, while this doesn’t represent everything in Beta 1, and it certainly left out a lot of information (sometimes redacted for competitive reasons), our Backers will have a clearer and more detailed explanation of what to expect for the opening of Beta 1 than ever before.



I know you will be excited by some of the things in the document. I also know that some (okay, most) people will want even more information. While there isn’t a Part Deux of the document, more information is coming, especially about the classes. This will be revealed via a series of presentations with Ben as we get closer to Beta 1.



There's a second item for this article, one that is even nearer and dearer to my heart. Over the last three weeks, a milestone that was long in the making was finally met: large-scale battles using the new animation and ability system, along with the retooled VFX systems. When we launched the Kickstarter, we said that we believed we could deliver on something not seen in any MMORPG to date: large-scale battles (1K or more), where players could maintain a playable FPS without having the best rig from Alienware. While we achieved this last year using the old ability system, the new system is a lot more flexible and complex. Over the last three weeks, we have overdelivered on a stated goal and delivered a powerful message to the Backers that attended: “The future is now!”



Yes, this sounds a little hype-ish, but here’s the thing: it’s true. In these tests, we showed that we could manage to not only render over 2,600 Bots on the screen, but more importantly, that our ability system and network code could work as expected, delivering and managing the network traffic that followed. And not just handle it, but handle it well. On my machine (two-year-old-ish PC, plus a new GTX1070, since I’m filming videos now), I was at 28-30FPS (VSync off) at the end of the test, with over 2,611 fully-networked Autonomous Remote Clients. These ARCs (we are going to phase out the word Bots, since it was confusing some people) and the way our game handles them put the attendees in a position that no other MMORPG has put its players: in the middle of a monster-sized battle in a very small space while maintaining a very playable FPS. Hard to believe? Impossible, you say? Here’s a screenshot from the latest “Technicolor” Bot Build:







If you’re wondering why the ARCs/Bots look a little odd, well, if you really want to stress your system’s memory, the more unique-looking ARCs you have, the better. We figured the cheapest and easiest way to make the ARCs/Bots different is to dye them—so we did! It may look a little odd, but all that matters to your PC is the fact that each one has its own set of colors, which makes each ARC different from the others. Why did we really care, especially now? Because that was the best way to prove, as always, that we don’t take shortcuts, we don’t “rig” demos, or retouch screenshots. We have done and always will do things the right way, even if it takes us longer than we would all like it to take.



If you have any doubts about the test or about what I’ve said here, it’s easy to discover the truth; head to our Forums and the topic called “Now, that was a lot of fun!”, talk to our Backers, and see the messages they posted about the tests. For those that attended, there was a partial lift of the NDA. No screenshots or videos (yet) except from us, but other than that, they are free to speak the truth, and nothing but the truth. No requirements to only say good things: only to speak the truth. That’s how confident we are that those who attended the tests saw something groundbreaking and very, very special. And the best part: It only gets better from here. Improvements have gone in since the last Backer test, and we have more incoming over the next few months.



It’s still too early to declare victory (that never ends well), but over the last month we have done things for and with our Backers that nobody else has been willing/able to do before. We should be proud of that, especially in light of all the other Kickstarter-backed games out there. We may not be the fastest developers in existence, but what we showed our Backers last week certainly proved the truth of a phrase that Dean Devlin (Independence Day, Godzilla, etc.) once said regarding Mythic Entertainment and myself: “We can deliver the goods.” It was true back then, and it is true now.



As always, we thank you for your patience and support. It is being (not will be, as I usually say) rewarded. Team Tidings -by Max Porter Hey folks,



Happy end of August and start of September! I hope you enjoyed reading the Milestones with Mark update, above. Since he covered the most exciting events of the month, I’m going to keep this introduction relatively brief.



We’ve got a great pile of delicious articles for your perusal, from Ben’s Dose of Design article detailing his thoughts on a few key ideas behind Camelot Unchained, to Tyler hopping in to give you a special Artitup presentation, and of course Brittany’s excellent infodump on the State of the Build. I’ll close out with the latest lore update from yours truly, followed by some cool C.U.B.E. images that weren’t quite ready last month, but are now! :)



Here at the East Coast office of City State Entertainment®, we have continued our weekly schedule of streams this month, showing you everything from impressive creative work by artists and programmers to the latest updates and news. We have fun with it, but the streams are also very important to us, as we always want to be as informative as possible for our Backers and fans. If you want to catch up on any missed streams, they can always be found on our Twitch and YouTube channels. For a good read of our news, as well as our weekly Top Tenish updates, check out the News section of our website, and our User Stories to check on our progress.



I promised to keep this brief, so let me just say it’s been a blast and half to collate and edit this newsletter as always, and it just so happens to be the three-year anniversary of the very first time I started creating the Unveiled newsletter! Man, we sure have come a long way since that first issue, am I right?



Let me remind you, as usual, to click the “view this email in your browser” link on the upper right to view the whole newsletter. Read on for the in-depth inside look at the inner workings of game development here, and please enjoy this, the thirty-seventh issue of Unveiled. Hot Topics

The latest topics of discussion on the forums right now include in-game rewards, modding, and of course the released sections of the Thirty Day doc!



Join the discussion on the forums on our website to bring your thoughts and ideas to the table! The latest topics of discussion on the forums right now include in-game rewards, modding, and of course the released sections of the Thirty Day doc! Look What You Did Wow! What an incredible set of entries you folks turned in for this month’s “nasty surprise” fan fiction contest! There were so many incredible little vignettes to read, and it was an absolute pleasure to read them all. To everyone that entered, including Remus_, Kaiyne, Zombivore, Ortu, and FuntaC, please consider yourselves truly honorable mentions! The winner for this month is FlyingDutchman, with this dramatic surprise from two viewpoints:





Jar'ek moved silently through the forest with his small team trailing behind. Male St'rm were rarely warriors, lacking the physical size and strength of their females, but in the forest and the darkness his smaller and more slender body moved like a shadow. He'd worked hard to gain the right to lead but tonight's raid would secure his position. If he gained enough loot he might even gain Sher'zi's attention. His mind wandered off with thoughts of her glorious butt-wings and the inattention nearly cost him the entire mission. An arm caught the back of the tunic and a harsh voice spoke up from behind him.



"Stop.... Wisps!" His second hissed frantically into his ear. Jar'ek stopped and squinted into the darkness and mists of the forest. Sure enough, he could make out the faintest hint of purple light ahead. Swearing under his breath, he lead his men back into the forest.



It took his team nearly three hours to find a small deer-track that lead into the camp that wasn’t monitored, but they’d only gone a few yards when the ground fell out from under them and they plunged downwards onto waiting spikes.



************************************************************************



Ernan wrapped his long Luchorpán fingers around his mug of ale and lifted it once more to his lips. The sounds of pipes and strings filled the tavern as he watched sweet Caitlín dance on a few tables the men had pushed together.



“I thought you were supposed to surround the camp in traps. You’ve been drinkin’ in here all day.” Seamus grumbled as he plopped down in a chair next to Ernan.



“I decided that instead o’wastin the whole day diggin’ it made more sense to dig one trap and surround the rest of the camp in purple torches.” The small Luchorpán said with a wide smile.





Awesome, definitely cracked me up. Thanks again to all who wrote a bit of Fan Fiction for the contest!



For our next newsletter contest, it’s time to break out your art skills once more! In today’s lore offering, we have the huge, stony, one-eyed statue called Balor, ready to kill with its deadly gaze. How about you draw, paint, take a photo, or otherwise visually represent what you think such a being might look like. Post an image of your creation in the “Drawing Balor” thread you’ll see popping up in the Fan Art section of the forums, and we’ll show off a favorite in next month’s newsletter! Dose of Design -by Ben Pielstick RvRvPvP: Realm Versus Realm Versus Player Versus Player

Camelot Unchained is a game about the conflict of Realm versus Realm. As a player, when you create a character in Camelot Unchained, you will have to select which of our three Realms you wish to join. This is a very significant choice that free-for-all Player versus Player games, which don’t have a concept of Realms or factions, do not offer.



When you are playing Camelot Unchained you will of course be fighting other players, just as in any PvP game, but since CU is an RvR game, there is a lot more context than there would be in a free-for-all game. Being part of a Realm means you don’t have to fend for yourself. Instead, your day-to-day experience will include participation in a war effort where you always know what side you’re on, where you have allies you can depend on, and where your Realm has important properties that shape the way you experience the game.



Since each Realm in Camelot Unchained is unique, you will have to decide carefully which one appeals to you the most. The backstory, ideology, and aesthetic of each of our three Realms is designed to be very different from the other two. Also, the available classes and races are designed uniquely per Realm. This means that not only are there thematic differences between the Realms, but important gameplay differences as well. Facing enemies of a different Realm from your own will offer unique challenges that aren’t present in factionless PvP games. Encounters with one enemy Realm will be different from encounters with the other, so it will be important to use different tactics, and sometimes even different armor and weapons, depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy Realm you are facing.



Another benefit of playing an RvR game is that your Realm is something you can always depend on. As a player, you will always have allies, whether you decide to play entirely solo or join a guild. Having a Realm also means the other players of the same Realm can never turn against you, which creates an environment of trust and comradery that doesn’t exist in a factionless environment. As developers, we can make the experience of being part of a Realm even more valuable in many ways, such as ensuring there are rewards for veteran players who take the time to help new players of the same Realm when they join the game.



As you can see, there are a lot of benefits to RvR that aren’t present in PvP games that lack Realms or factions. We already have a good deal of information about each Realm, including some backstory as well as race and class details, posted on the CU website. Don’t worry, you still have plenty of time to think about which Realm you’re going to want to play on CU launch day.



If you decide to join us during our Beta testing phases, you’ll have lots of opportunities to try out characters of all three Realms to help you make a final decision. In the meantime, keep an eye on our updates, and if you have any Realm-related questions, feel free to ask them in our End-of-week Wrap-Up Q&A sessions. Developer Quote “As far as I know, there is no other developer that puts the kind of hours into the behind the scenes stuff that we do. We might not put out shiny videos, but anyone can watch as we develop the game and can interact with us during livestreams of almost every aspect of our game’s development.” - Mark Jacobs Artitup -by Tyler Rockwell Instructions Not Included

One thing we do every day as game developers is figure out how we’re going to turn ideas into reality--without an instruction manual. What can we imagine, and how are we going to make it? We require a fairly dynamic back-and-forth between different people, and typically different disciplines, to accomplish our goals. It’s usually quite fun, actually.



For me personally, the most difficult--and yet, most exciting--problem-solving task I’ve been a part of this month involves the animation system and corresponding animation assets. As a Producer with an art background, I tend to be part of “artistic problem-solving” conversations, which in this case involved not only several artists and a designer, but at times Lead Engineer Andrew as well.



Scott’s article in a previous newsletter covered how we approached the style of the movements, and the visual space our weapon swings occupied in terms of the animation work being done. At the end of July, we began tackling the one-handed weapons, particularly when holding one in each hand, or dual-wielding. I’ve volunteered to write up this month’s “Artitup,” so Scott can focus on what he does best: animating!



We’ve been working on the first phase of swords and maces and will soon get into spears, daggers, and spellcasting. Swinging a weapon in the game may seem simple enough, but the case of dual-wielding has required lots of conversation and swinging of dummy weapons in the office to work through. The division of labor works like so: animation work is broken up between Scott and Sandra, combat techniques and design oversight come from Ben, system support from Andrew, and art direction input from Michelle. For this month’s article, I’d like to share with you some of the exciting work we’re tackling to make using multiple weapons come to life.



Let’s start at the beginning of dual-wielding animations. As a small studio, we need to work smart. We’ve mentioned how Andrew’s new animation system allows us to append multiple animation clips of different body parts together. The cool thing here, as Andrew has hilariously pantomimed many times in the office, is that your player can run around, swing a mace, cast a spell, and jump--all at the same time, without us having to make that exact animation. This keeps us from having to, say, animate the spellcasting arm every time the other arm is doing something different. We no longer HAVE to animate the entire body if all we want is part of it to do something we haven’t previously animated before. From the standpoint of designing the system, it saves us a bunch of time. However, figuring out how to use it effectively has really come to the front while working on single-handed weapons.



In the case of more complex animation clips such as are used when dual-wielding, we began to refer to the attacking arm and upper body as the parent, and to the other arm as the child. These are common terms in the animation world. As we work with this system, we’re creating a hybrid approach to animation that we really haven’t discussed yet, as we are still defining it as we go.



One of our earliest discoveries was the requirement that the entire body needed to be animated to show the intent of the primary movement. We discovered this during our first tests when pairing a left arm holding a torch as the child, with the rest of the body--the parent--playing a fidget when idle. The fidget in question had the torso turning from side-to-side as the character looked about. The left arm here was playing a subtle idle loop, or in animation terms, a “moving hold.” The problem was, the arm had no additional secondary movement to it, which should occur when the rest of the body sways.



Once we made a small, quick animation of the arm moving slightly beyond that idle loop, it looked great! Now if we create additional small movements, like this fidget, we’ve found we can re-use this small clip. Win-win! This is one of those things in animation that while small in scope, really can make or break how things feel when you’re playing a game. Part of our job is to figure out how best to use the tools given to us, and systematically approach things in a manner that can define the look and feel of the game.



We took that lesson and added some necessary animations onto the to-do list for swords and maces, so the child arms would have that additional movement during their swings. To start, we began with a new “unarmed” set of animations. I say set, as this encompasses the entire body in a starting pose, from which we base our idle, movements, jumping, flinching, and dying. To use the “re-animation” system effectively, we think of the body as parts instead of as a whole.



In the next logical step, we peel off the right arm, and give it a new, one-handed sword idle animation. In this case, the only additional animation done is with the right arm. Here’s where there’s a bit of back and forth. We really wanted to make sure that the player’s silhouette looked good holding the weapons. We also needed to make sure you could see the weapon itself, and that the pose showed, in this case, an offensive intent to the movement. Making this work with different combinations of weapons, even an unarmed fist, made this a little more difficult, but not something we couldn’t figure out.



Building on the first discovery, we animated the right hand as the parent, moving the body to “sell” the swing of the sword, visually. The left arm now plays a small amount of movement, which is reactive to the right arm swing. The cool thing here is that if we switch up the right arm animation with, say, an axe swing, we can either completely re-use that left arm movement, or make small adjustments if necessary, vs. starting from scratch.



Now that we’ve got the right arm making a swing with a sword, we add a mace into the left hand. The next thing we had to work through was the left hand position and silhouette. Ben patiently worked this out in a way that looked cool, but also made sense as a starting position to swing from.



Once we have the right hand swinging the sword and the left hand carrying the mace doing a reactive movement, we switch to the left-hand swing, and right reactive. The trick here, which I’ll explain in a moment, is keeping the two swings from overlapping each other too much. As our ability system runs two simultaneous timing tracks for each weapon, it’s possible your swings could both go off at the same--or nearly the same--time. When they do, we don’t want your swings to break time and space by overlapping! In the below links in the images, you can see the mace and sword combo movements. And now that we have two sword swings, we can animate them together, without the maces. Now let me add in one more complication…



All weapons have a passive deflect timer ticking away in the background, which is currently not yet hooked into the animation system, but exists in the ability system. What this will do is activate a “deflect” animation during an opponent's attack. We represent this with a quick animation of your player placing his weapon in front of himself, defensively. This, too, should not grossly overlap with the swings. We also have an active block ability, but as it currently plays the same animation as the deflect, that ability does not over-complicate things too much. As mentioned, the simultaneous ability triggers will be the next thing to tackle, with engineering support.



Conceptually, this work has carried over into how we approach the jump, fall, and death animations. Entire full body animations no longer need to be created, as we can piece together separate parts to make a new whole. Where this doesn’t work, we still have the option to make animations that use more parts of the body than just a solitary piece.



We have yet to discover all the things we can really do with this system, which is really exciting. We want to try and create systems that can grow with the design and features of the game, and so far, it looks like the new animation system supports this motto.



We have continued to update all the previous rough pass animations with all-new movement, jumps, deaths, mid swings, deflects/blocks, and flinches, adding in an extra level of polish we didn’t previously have time for. Doing so has given us a lot of insight into our system, and has spawned a lot of new ideas and feature requests.



As of this writing, Gabe just added the ability to create different types of reactive flinches (something we’d talked about internally months ago), so we can differentiate your characters reaction based on the ability component.



The animation system is in a great state to build upon, with lots of great ideas and improvements still to come. How we communicate the combat design of the game to the player through the animations will be a work-in-progress for some time, as we have lots of upcoming testing and Backer feedback ahead of us. Our goal is to not only create something new and exciting, but something that looks and feels good--and will just be plain fun to play. I’m proud to say that as a team we’re not only managing to write our own instructions as we go, but achieving our goals with some great tech and hard work. State Of The Build -by Brittany Aubert As evidenced by the weekly updates, getting lots of Autonomous Remote Clients (ARCs, formerly known as Bots) on screen was our primary focus during the month of August, so much so that they had a huge impact on the rest of the engineering schedule. This was a conscious decision, as sometimes hitting a goal requires support from multiple fronts. When you’re talking about battles, particularly those with hundreds (sometimes thousands) of ARCs, flanking the problem from multiple sides with multiple troops is a necessity. Whatever tasks were planned in the queue are temporarily set aside. But does the end justify the means? As we’ve seen this month, yes, absolutely!



In this month’s piece, I’ll talk about some of the specific struggles we ran into and tasks we completed along the way to help us hit our massive ARC numbers. Plus, I’ll touch on some things not ARC-related. Let’s jump in, shall we?



How ARCs Got Their Groove Back: At the end of last year, we had over 1500 ARCs running around causing havoc. Fast forward to now, and Camelot Unchained has made a considerable amount of progress in all areas. With each new feature or architecture update that gets implemented, we often have to go back and update our old systems to support the new hotness. In the case of ARCs, the major two are the new animation system and the updated VFX system.



The goal stated by our fearless leader MJ was to get over 1000 ARCs running around again using newer, flashier abilities with SFX and VFX. After resurrecting support for both melee fighters and archer ARCs in July, we cranked up the number of ARCs and tackled issues as they arose, one by one. We far exceeded the 1000 ARC goal, and you can read more about the numbers we hit this month in MJ’s piece at the beginning of this very newsletter! MJ can get a little giddy talking about this in updates and on the weekly stream, but I assure you that this is worth getting giddy over.



A lot of our initial struggles with getting back over 1000 were a result of the issues with the scene rendering, touched on in my article in last month’s newsletter. Before the improvements, ARCs would randomly crash. It’s really difficult to hit desired metrics when your ARCs keep dying in the middle of tests. Once the crashes were addressed, the focus turned quickly toward the server hangs we were seeing. Over time, enough memory allocations were happening that everything came to a screeching halt. These are the kind of problems that cause us all to scratch our heads, but eventually, with the combined brainpower of some of our top dudes (Tim, Colin, Matt, and Marc), we were able to identify and fix the issues.



Release the Cavalry: Once ARCs were headed in a good direction, we brought in some more people to fix issues found through ARC testing, or to improve our ARCs to feel more like players, utilizing existing systems.



We turned our focus to some client lock ups. After some investigation on George’s part, it was identified that there were eight separate dead-lock bugs, most of them the result of known issues within ParLL that we wanted to fix anyway. So while these fixes from George aren’t ARC-specific, ARCs have served their purpose and helped us find issues.



All while this is happening, Ben, Mike, and Scott have been combining their forces to stretch the look and feel of existing melee and archery abilities utilizing our existing technology. Up to this point, many of our assets were created to serve the basic needs, knowing we would go back later and add more detail and polish. After Mike's forward progress was halted, Andrew jumped in to expose some more parameters for Mike to tweak in order to make weapon trails look smooth and buttery.



So if it’s not clear by this point, our recent achievements really were a team-wide effort.



Visual Uniqueness in ARCs: The largest single technical difference in our ARCs this time around versus last time was Dave’s work in making them visually unique. ARCs were created with the purpose of giving us a way to stress test our game, making sure both the client and the server could hold up and remain performant with a heavy load. It’s one thing to have a bunch of headless clients connecting and player entities running around, but it was important that we make the ARCs as unique as possible.



But beyond just the visual variety, it’s important to highlight the technical reason for the change. With each ARC looking different, it means we’re rendering a unique mesh and texture for each and every ARC. This increases the amount of data we’re not only loading and processing but also rendering. By making the ARCs unique, we can’t take shortcuts.



Recently, Dave revisited character model LODs. Many of the models in our game, not just the characters we use for ARCs, have multiple versions. We typically render a high-fidelity version of a model when the player is a short distance away, so they can see all the detail our wonderful artists build into our assets. However, when players are a further distance away, there’s no need for us to render the high-rez version of models. This is where LODs come in. With so many ARCs on screen, it’s critical to not render the model with the highest polygon count for each and every ARC, because there’s no reason to, either visually or logically. Rendering lower LODs, meaning the lower-rez versions of models, on the models in the distance is an easy way for us to maintain great performance with so many models in the camera viewport at a given time.



I’d like to give Dave a little extra shout out. He tackled a lot of issues that fell out of last month’s scene updates, and then got thrown back into the fire to tackle another pile of random performance issues. He is a big reason why we are in the great position we’re in at this very moment. Thanks, bro!





While ARCs were our primary focus, they weren’t our only focus. We are making a game, after all, and this work on ARCs is moot if it doesn’t lead us toward an epic gameplay experience. Keep reading for more about the progress made on many other aspects of our game.



Siege Engines: Many small but important updates for siege went in this past month. Not only can characters now move with the siege engine as they aim it, but siege engines now have their own health. Supporting siege engine health required some behind-the-scenes updates to extend our stat management, as entities other than players need to display stats, but not necessarily every stat (for example, siege engines don’t have blood or stamina).



Another critical update was the ability to place siege engines (as well as other items) on buildings. Before this change, if a player attempted to place a siege engine on a building wall, the engine would automatically snap to the terrain, and visually clip through whatever model it was currently intersecting with. Once siege engines could be placed elsewhere, aiming was updated to support the fact the siege engine was now in a different position in 3D space. If the siege engine is a few feet higher than it was previously, aiming should probably factor in the new height difference. No one wants shorter-than-intended shots.



All the pieces are coming together as the start of Beta 1 draws ever closer. It’s going to be so incredible to watch hundreds of players rain bolts down on each other in the middle of siege warfare.



Items: Christina has been spending her time wrapping up loose ends with items before diving into her next big task, which will be player progression. Over the course of the last month, she’s provided more updates to items, one of which was secure trading, which is now supported on the backend. We allow players to pick the player they want to trade with, select all the items they wish to trade, and confirm a trade. It makes the process a little more legit than just dropping something on the ground and saying, “Here ya go!” It currently only works with slash commands, and the UI will come in the future, but it’s one step closer to feeling like a game.



Realm Control Changes: When a Realm takes control of a specific area, we want the terrain and foliage in the surrounding area to update based on which Realm currently holds control. For something that can be summarized so succinctly, this is actually a very complex technical undertaking. Keeping everything performant is a huge concern, as players will see this control change happening. It needs to not only look visually interesting and show off our beautiful assets, but the framerate can’t significantly drop while it’s happening.



Brad spent some time looking into how the way we manage our memory was affecting the performance of Realm control swapping. He discovered some resource contention around memory allocation. But while this has significantly increased the stability of the main thread, there’s still a slightly noticeable hitch every now and then. So far, any profiling has been done on a smaller sample map put together by Brad to remove external variables. How we tackle this next hitch will need to be determined, following thorough testing with a map that is more akin to what players would see firsthand.



That’s all for now. Let’s go make a video game! Brittany out! Lore Corner -by Max Porter Hey folks, welcome to another story in the Lore Corner! This month, allow me to present to you a rewritten, revamped, and refreshed version of part 5 of the epic story of the Silverhands! This sprawling chronicle was originally written by Mark Jacobs in seven parts, which were then collected into one massive Becoming™ story. Please read on for the developed version, as we call it, of this Becoming tale, which not only tells us a great adventure of the first Silverhand, but also presents some of Mark’s thoughts on The Depths™ and the beings therein. Here's parts one, two, three, and four, in case you want to catch up. Without further ado, I hope you enjoy! The Becoming: The Silverhands Part 5

The tale of Nuada Part 5

The city was empty, devoid of life. Not even vermin crawled through the streets or ruined houses. The vaunted watchtowers stood silent and empty, as their watchers had abandoned them. Once, that had been a crime punishable by exile or death in the harsh code of the Tuatha Dé Danann. That seemed so ludicrous now.



A few corpses lay here and there in the streets, stripped of valuables. Nuada felt his blood boiling: the hot, itchy feeling descending upon him once more. His arm twitched to punish someone for this horror and humiliation.



He knew now that it was the influence of his spider’s arm and the strange bone sword he’d carried for far too long, amplifying his anger and feeding on his desire to wreak terrible vengeance upon Bres. The strange thoughts in his head, the uncontrollable impulses that ran through his body like a cold fire...they bubbled up from something dark within. He had become a corrupted being.



As he neared the city’s main square, he saw warning signs and graffiti dotting the walls of the collapsing buildings. There were obscene references to himself, Bres, and Balor. By the edge of the central square, charred corpses littered the street.



Judging by the dust and scattered armor and weapons, the bodies had lain undisturbed for a long time, as if nothing dared to touch them.



As Nuada approached, keeping to the edge of the dusty street, he choked down disgust. There was something wrong with the bodies. They were too short, burned, and covered in ash. He was almost ankle-deep in the grey stuff. Short, and oddly flat on one side… finally, he understood. They had all been cut neatly in half. They must have also been torched: There was a dry, smoky miasma that hung in the air, the ash disturbed by his tread.



Nuada turned a corner and came to a halt. Blocking the entrance to the main square was a barricade. Someone had erected it out of whatever was at hand, including the charred half-bodies of Tuatha Dé Danann soldiers. Looming over the city square, he recognized a familiar silhouette in the sunny distance: The statue of Balor.



Somehow, it had grown in size over the years, rising taller than any of the surrounding buildings. The smooth grey statue’s one eye was firmly shut. Though gigantic and deformed, the statue called Balor was incredibly lifelike. It looked like a creature covered in stone armor, waiting for something. Nuada thought better of approaching the thing, and stood at the barricade of corpses for several minutes, watching dust and ash blow in the wind.



He heard a step behind him. “I thought I’d find you here,” said the Hamadryad. She had retrieved her sword, and it hung at her hip, while her tail tapped the scabbard. “You know, Nuada, among honest souls, rarely are a person’s deeds as good or as bad as they believe.”



“That is small comfort,” said Nuada, never taking his eyes from the barricade. “These soldiers trusted me and my decisions.”



“Your arrogance cost your people much,” she said, “Though it is not too late for us to rise from the rubble once again.”



“I don’t know if...if I can bring vengeance on our enemies. I am too easily deceived by myself.”



The healer stepped closer. “You think about yourself too often. Instead of swearing revenge, decide how best to serve our people. Don’t drown in self-pity now as you have been drowning in hatred for so long. This world is under siege, and those that are strong enough must help. Or the Tuatha Dé Danann shall perish.”



Nuada glanced at her, then back at the piles of the dead. “Can you tell me why these bodies are so strangely scarred?”



“You see before you the handiwork of the one-eyed horror that is Balor. When your people first learned of the treachery of Bres, they took up arms and stormed his tower, not expecting what lay within. As they neared the statue, its eye opened and a black light emerged. This beam of light sliced through all who ventured into the square, cutting them cleanly in two, like a butcher slicing a slab of meat. As their bodies fell to the ground, they caught fire and burned.” The healer was matter of fact, watching his face.



Nuada shuddered. “How is such a thing possible? Our mages can summon powerful spells, but this is beyond the greatest of them.”



“Magic has advanced much in your absence. Even so, our scholars could not come up with an explanation for such power. Over the next few years, many different assaults were launched against Balor, but none succeeded. Balor feasted on our deaths and grew to incredible size. Not much was gained, but…” She paused, weighing her words carefully.



“What? What is it?” Nuada asked urgently.



The healer sighed in resignation. “I did notice something: If Balor is approached by a single warrior, his eye will open, but no beam will emerge.”



“He will let us walk right up to him?” Nuada was puzzled.



“As long as a being poses no threat to him, Balor simply watches. Perhaps he studies us as we study him.”



“Have any tried to talk to the statue?”



“Yes, but he doesn’t react in any way. He simply watches, and sucks life from the earth. People withered and died. Those were very dark days, but when we realized that Bres was only helping Balor to feed, the few survivors fled the city. I had just discovered that his life-sucking tendrils had been retracted when your sentries captured me.” She smiled.



“This I must see for myself,” said Nuada, with a little bit of the old bravado returning to his voice.



“Perhaps that would be best. Be forewarned, however...any threat will awaken him.”



“I understand.” Nuada stripped off his armor and daggers, placing the obsidian sword on top of the pile. He let go with hesitation. Releasing the sword was becoming ever more difficult as it fought to regain its hold on him.



Stripped of his weapons, the former king of the Tuatha Dé Danann felt naked as he climbed over the barricade of corpses and slowly made his way to the thing called Balor.



As if Nuada had crossed an invisible line into the square, glowing energy began to flow toward the mighty stone edifice. Nuada could feel motion all around him, as if he were being sucked in by a whirlpool.



Nuada continued to walk across the flagstones as Balor began to stir. Slowly, inexorably, the eye opened and shifted its focus to Nuada. For a brief moment, Nuada’s right arm tingled and itched.



Feeling tiny, he stood before the statue and met its gaze with his own. Reaching out with all his senses, he tried to read Balor’s aura, but came up empty and confused. “Speak to me,” he whispered, repeating it in every language he knew, many of them forgotten by the world. However, there was no response but the occasional blink of that inscrutable eye.



Despair rose within him. This was pointless. All of his struggles in The Depths, gathering an army, pushing himself ever onward...and what had he accomplished? Dead companions, dead Tuatha Dé Danann, dead dreams.



Nuada made a fist with his left hand. The eye widened in anticipation. Watching it, Nuada thought he saw a hint of amusement there, a slight smirk at the corners of the statue’s twisted lips.



He looked back at the barricade. Desperately, the Hamadryad was waving her tail and shaking her head. Her whisper carried across the square: “No! This is the coward’s way out.”



Her last word echoed around the empty square as Nuada looked back up at Balor’s face and opened his fingers one by one. The swift relief of death would be too easy. It would be no more than deserting his people again, forever.



In a low voice, knowing it did not care and would not answer, Nuada spoke to the statue’s toes. “No matter the price, I will pay the butcher’s bill to restore my people.” Then he turned and walk away. Balor’s eye watched him climb back over the barricade and disappear, lingering a moment before closing.



“I see you have returned intact,” said the Hamadryad, a small smile curving her lips.



“Yes… but I almost didn’t.”



“I know. Your thoughts were as evident to me as the evil in Balor’s eye.”



Nuada raised an eyebrow. “How do you know my thoughts so well?”



The Hamadryad laughed. “Being a healer requires a talent for reading symptoms; it is not just magic, as some believe. Have you decided on your path?”



“Yes. I know what I must do,” said Nuada.



“And what is that?”



“I must rid myself of this accursed arm, sword, and other tainted treasures from The Depths. Then I must confront and defeat Bres to regain the four mighty treasures of our people,” said Nuada, as confidently as if he were listing a number of household errands.



“Is that all?” laughed the Hamadryad.



“It is for now,” Nuada declared.



“Excellent. I can find those who can help you. Gather the remains of your army and wait for my return.” The healer fixed him with an icy glare. “You will have to be patient.”



Nuada grimaced as he strapped his armor back on and reluctantly picked up the evil sword. “I will do as you ask.”



As the Hamadryad walked off through the ruined city, Nuada realized that he had never bothered to ask her name.





It was a long wait for Nuada and his troops on the outskirts of Tír na nÒg. Much of his army had already melted into the countryside. Perhaps they lost interest when he forbade them to strip the city of whatever it had left, or perhaps they were too disgusted by their leader’s true appearance. Only a few loyal Tuatha Dé Danann remained to wait with Nuada.



Almost another year passed before a familiar figure rode into town, accompanied by a young Dvergr who carried the tools of a craftsman. Reaching Nuada’s camp, the Hamadryad gracefully dismounted her Phouka, the crafter trailing behind her.



“Greetings, Nuada. It is good to see you again,” said the Hamadryad, extending her hands in friendship. She only recoiled a tiny bit when Nuada clasped her warmly, greeting a long-lost friend.



“It is good to see you again. I was wondering when you would return,” said Nuada.



“When, not if? You did not doubt my return?” asked the Hamadryad with a smile.



“No, I did not. How could you resist the opportunity to patch me up again?” Nuada returned, making her laugh. “And I see you have brought another to join us. Who are you, young sir?”

As the Dvergr drew closer, Nuada saw that the tools he carried were beautifully intricate objects, crafted with mastery.



“Greetings, Nuada. My proper name is too long for even you to say, but I am known as Miach, son of Dian The Smith. Also...you call me young, but I feel very old and wise.” The Dvergr gave him a big wink like an old friend. “So. I’ve been told that you have been to The Depths, and have returned greatly changed, bearing powerful artifacts from that place.”



“Yes, Miach.” Nuada eyed him carefully. “My arm is that of a spider, my sword is forged of some strange material, and I have some other treasures which I dare not touch.”



“Well, I could remove your arm quite easily, but I’ll leave that task to another. I do want to study your sword carefully, as well as the other treasures,” said Miach. He had an oddly precise way of speaking. “Give them to me, and show me where the nearest crafter guild is in this barren city, so I can be about my work. When I learn their true nature, we will talk again.”



Nuada ordered his treasures to be brought to Miach, and tried to hand his dark sword to the crafter. However, every time he reached out, he found he couldn’t release it.



“You must let go of the weapon if you wish me to study it, Nuada. It will be much more difficult if I have to hammer at it with your hand still hanging on,” chuckled Miach, “But if you insist, I’ll be happy to try. That might be fun for me!”



Grunting and straining against his own grip, Nuada found that he could not let go of the sword. He began sweating, and his arm itched.



“Nuada. Think about what you said to me when last we stood here together,” said the Hamadryad gently.



Wordlessly, Nuada cast his mind back to the way he had felt, turning away from the statue. As his anger left him, he found he could let go of the pommel, though reluctantly.



“Well. That was a bit of a sticky situation, wasn’t it?” said Miach, laughing as he took the sword from Nuada. “Now comes the fun part, at least for me. Your part is a little less fun. You had better go with her and have that spider-limb removed.” He pointed at the Hamadryad.



Nuada glanced at her apprehensively, his arm twitching as it amplified his hesitation into fear. The healer clicked her teeth with disapproval. “Before you say anything, Nuada, remember how I feel about self-pity,” she said, and patted him on his left shoulder. “Let’s go find somewhere to remove that accursed arm of yours. Your tent will do.”



Just before he walked away, Miach grunted, “You have my sympathy, Nuada. What you are about to go through might make you wish you had not let go of the sword.”



The dawn was far too slow in coming, for the deserted city echoed with screams of pain and even the sounds of battle. No one dared go near the general’s tent to find out what was happening.



As the sun’s first light finally made its way across the horizon, the healer emerged from the tent flap, covered in blood and ichor. In her hands she carried the spidery phantasm of Nuada’s arm, which still twitched in her grasp. Walking to the camp’s central fire, she threw the limb into the angry flames and uttered a quick spell or prayer. The limb tried to escape, but she kicked it back in. The campfire flickered and roared as the soldiers nearby looked on in wonder. After a few minutes, the arm was finally reduced to ash. Sighing, the healer went back to the tent to continue her treatment of Nuada.



It was months before Nuada was strong enough walk on his own, but when he finally emerged from the tent, he had a new air of determination.



His most loyal followers gathered to see. The Nuada who now stood before his people had aged, but without frailty or weakness. His eyes reflected a hard purpose, eschewing folly and overconfidence.



That fine spring morning, as Nuada and the healer were eating their breakfast, Miach ran up to them excitedly.



“Stop stuffing your faces, I have something to show you. Follow me!” Without even waiting for a response, the crafter ran back to his tent.



“He is a strange fellow,” said Nuada, which earned him a familiar look from the healer. “Never mind,” he sighed.



Upon entering Miach’s tent, Nuada found it surprisingly tidy. The tools of Miach’s trade were neatly arranged on various shelves. In the middle of the tent, on a great stone table that had been raised right out of the earth, sat three items: The black obsidian sword, his father’s old magic sword, and a gleaming silver arm.



Nuada’s eyes lit up. “How did you… What are… I…”



“You are quite eloquent when you’re excited, aren’t you?” quipped Miach, “You really have the gift of words!”



“Miach!” said the healer, trying not to laugh herself.



“Oh, he’s a big, grown up Tuatha! He can take a joke, can’t he?” said Miach, grinning. “Can he handle my magnificent craftsmanship?”



Nuada raised his eyebrows. “Yes I can, sir Dvergr. My cup overflows with joy! You are truly a master craftsman. A Dvergr without peer.”



Miach bowed, accepting the compliment as his due.



“An amazing Dvergr, and a powerful crafter. I could see it the first time you came to our camp,” continued Nuada, a sly grin spreading across his face.



“Thank you!” said Miach, nodding and folding his arms as he looked over the items. “My hard work--”



“Your prowess shall be sung among all the peoples of the Realms. I will spend the rest of my life telling all of your mighty work,” Nuada interrupted, raising his hand. “Those in the One True City will also sing your praise. They will bring you laurels and give you hearty handshakes in return for what you have done here!” continued Nuada.



“Umm…” said Miach.



“No, even more. I will contact the Emissaries and tell them of your prowess, of your greatness, of your…” continued Nuada, barely keeping laughter from taking over. The healer was holding her hands over her mouth as if she might burst.



“Well…” said Miach.



“They will want to take you into their world to share the secrets of your ‘magnificent craftsmanship,’ as you call it...” said Nuada.



“Enough!” said Miach angrily, “Stop! For the love of the Allfather, stop!”



At this, both the healer and Nuada began laughing uproariously. Miach turned bright red, and some of the stones in his arms lit up with a vivid glow. The Dvergr had to take a deep breath.



“Well done!” Miach finally burst out. “You stung me nicely!” As he joined their laughter with his own, he added, “I had no idea you possessed such a sense of humor. Now, enough. Let me show you what she and I have been up to these past few months.”



Nuada sat on a very uncomfortable stone chair next to the table, but still looked smug with satisfaction at having bested the master crafter with a jest.



“First, I re-forged your sword from the pieces you had been lugging around,” said Miach as if that were a simple thing that anyone could do. “It is as it was, no worse, and maybe even a little bit better. I know that it will serve you well. Pick it up.”



Nuada rose unsteadily from the chair, for he still had not fully recovered, and picked up his sword. It felt wrong in his left hand, but he still remembered the feel of the handle. He nodded to Miach in acknowledgment of a job well done.



“Next, I made you a new arm of silver,” continued the crafter, “Unlike your last arm, this one will not poison your soul. The metal has been treated with powerful spells by our wonderful healer, and she assures me that it will bond nicely with your body. Once this is done, it may feel a little different from your natural arm, but it will perform even better once you train it.”



“Train it?” said Nuada, “Is it alive?”



“Not truly, but you need to practice a while before you go out into the world and use it in combat,” said Miach.



“How long will that take?” Nuada frowned.



“Fifteen years,” said Miach, “Fourteen and a half if I cut some corners!”



“What?” exclaimed Nuada in exasperation.



“Got you!” said Miach, “Never go against a Dvergr in a battle of wits!” With exaggerated joy, he clenched his fist in triumph.



“Oh I see,” sighed Nuada, hanging his head in mock shame. “Truly, how long?”



“No more than three months, if you work diligently and do as I say,” said Miach, “And that means resting when she or I tell you to rest.”



“I’ll do as you ask,” said Nuada.



“Good. Now here’s what was truly challenging. This damned sword of yours,” said Miach, casting aside all levity, “Was a truly evil piece of work.”



“How so?” Nuada asked, staring at the smaller, stone-studded man. In a matter of moments, Miach’s whole posture and aspect had changed from jovial to somber and critical.



Miach’s voice was cold and matter-of-fact. “Whoever made this sword, the Merchant you spoke of, is truly a legendary crafter. Insane and evil, yet his talent is undeniable. This sword was designed to drain your soul and the energy from your victims and feed it somewhere else.”



“Feed it where?” asked Nuada.



“Can you not guess?” said the healer, raising an eyebrow.



“The Depths… it has to be” said Nuada, feeling a cold touch in his stomach. He had been so thoroughly fooled.



“Correct,” said Miach, “While you were using this sword, its foul tithe was passed into The Depths. It is why you aged so swiftly, and why you became so weak.”



“I didn’t feel weak,” Nuada began.



“No, that was part of its evil. You would have felt strong up to the moment your entire soul was drained, and then your body would have died. An empty shell with nothing inside,” said Miach, his face twisting slightly into an expression of revulsion.



A shudder of horror went through Nuada as he realized how close he had come to true death, and how deep was the crime committed against him by the Merchant. He also wondered what had happened to the power that was passed into The Depths.



“And what about now?” asked Nuada, “What must I do with this weapon?”



“Nothing,” said Miach. “I have rendered it harmless. I will study it further and try to unlock its secrets, but it will never harm anyone’s soul again, that much I promise.”



“Good,” said Nuada.



“Now, let’s get to work,” said Miach, a very broad smile crossing his face, “We have a lot to do if you are going to be the savior of your people.”



“I am no savior,” said Nuada, “But I’ll do whatever is needed. I will erase the damage I have done.”



They began their work. For the next few months, Nuada trained daily with his new silver arm. At first, practice was very difficult, and he endured numerous mockery-laden sessions with Miach. However, with the gentle touch and support of the healer, and the slow return of his once-legendary dedication, Nuada made steady progress. When she was sure that neither Miach nor Nuada could see her, the Hamadryad smiled secretly, for she knew that deep within The Depths, the Merchant was no longer laughing.



When he was truly convinced that this arm wasn’t evil, nor would it just fall off, Nuada began pushing himself as he had in his younger days. His silver arm brought him new strength and grace, opening a whole new world of combat to him.



When Nuada sparred with other warriors, they seemed to move and react more and more slowly. Nuada’s actions flowed from one to another as if it were all some part of a rhythmic dance. Each swing, block, and parry was effortless, and his silver arm moved as comfortably as his arm of flesh. After three full moons, Miach declared that Nuada was ready.



As much as Nuada wanted to return to The Depths, he knew he had other priorities. Over the next few years, Nuada, Miach, and the healer traveled the forested lands of the Tuatha Dé Danann together, searching for the scattered Children of Danu. Though they formed an army, it was not one of conquest but of restoration.



Where they found their people oppressed, they restored balance. Where they found need and want, they shared what resources they had. Where they found prosperity, they took what they needed, not in treasure, but in knowledge. As they traveled, their army grew in number. Many Tuatha Dé Danann rallied to the banner, and cheered for Nuada’s great golden armor that Miach mysteriously found time to craft while on the march.



Everywhere they went they searched for word of Bres, but it was as if he had vanished. They sent riders to the One True City and to the other capitals of the world, but there was no sign of Bres or the four great treasures of their people. Though Nuada and his ragtag army gained some success, Nuada knew it was not enough. In order to rebuild after a century of damage, they needed to bring Bres to justice and find the lost treasures .



On one particularly frosty winter night, Nuada sat by a roaring campfire, while Miach and the Hamadryad laughed over a joke.



“You look troubled tonight, Nuada,” said Miach, “Cait Sith got your tongue?”



The unpleasant rumor of the way that the Cait Sith dealt with betrayal instantly leapt to mind, just as Miach had intended. “Yes, I’m unable to form a whole sentence this evening,” said Nuada dryly.



“Still worrying about the elusive Bres?” asked Miach, “He can’t hide from us forever.”



“We don’t have forever,” countered Nuada, “We shouldn’t be lollygagging around here.”



“I don’t know who lolly is,” said Miach, “But sometimes you could use a gag.”



“That’s enough, you annoying, rock-brained…”, Nuada growled before he could stop himself. “Wait. That was the old me. I’m sorry, Miach, truly I am. Bres’ ability to hide from us is starting to frustrate me.”



“Starting? You’ve been stomping around for the last few months,” said Miach, “Some of my relatives in the Inner World can probably hear you.”



“Has it been that bad?” asked Nuada, looking to the healer for a sign of support.



“You have been…difficult, these past two seasons. Your journey has been a challenging one so far, but this is still your journey, no matter how long it takes. Miach and I are here to help, but it is up to you to determine the outcome,” said the healer, her voice neutral.



“I know. Every attempt I make to find him fails. I’ve sent out enough riders to find a tiny Luchorpán in a great forest, but they come back empty-handed.” Nuada began to grow red.



Miach shook his head and sighed. “You’re not listening to her, Nuada. She just said it was up to you.”



Nuada was about to snap back at him, but managed to swallow it this time. He let out a long breath and stared up at the sky instead of letting his anger take hold. The night was dark and moonless, for it was the time of Shadow’s Delight. There was no light but for the distant stars. It was like staring into an abyss. “...Oh,” Nuada snorted. “Curse me for a blind fool.”



“Hmm?” The Hamadryad answered, as if absentmindedly. She was engrossed in organizing some of her healer’s herbs and tools.



“That traitor is hiding in the only place he could hide. The Depths!”



“Where you wanted to go originally,” Miach chuckled dryly.



Nuada jumped up, ran to his tent and put on his golden armor. He raised the Siren’s Call to his troops, and the ground began to tremble with the sound of marching feet.



In seeking the entrance to The Depths, they found that it had moved, and the monolith in the ravine was no longer useful. As the army traveled, Nuada chose eleven of his most loyal Tuatha Dé Danann to accompany him into the dark place he would go.



It took a full year, but Nuada finally sent all the rest of the soldiers back to their homes and entered the land of the Arthurians. He and his chosen companions sought an entrance encased in a green hill by a lake.



Walking through the lands of his Sword Brother reminded Nuada of Nimue, who had spoken so fondly of her homeland and its leader. Nuada hoped he would find no sign of her in The Depths. He prayed that she was truly dead, for the other possibilities made him shudder.





Thus ends the fifth part of the Silverhands Becoming story. Bonus Images -by Max Porter Of course we can’t let you go without showing you a cool C.U.B.E. creation! This impressive “Healers Guild House” was created by the amazing Backer known as Bosk. We can’t wait to see epic creations like this in game, with the improved lighting and rendering changes we’ve made, and will push to C.U.B.E. later. Check out the various angles below! Well, thanks for reading the newsletter. I appreciate it! Until it’s time to put together the next issue of Unveiled, I’ll CU later!



Max out!