An epistolary fairy-tale mystery

about friendship, stories and dreams

Synopsis

Mirabelle and Célia have always loved inventing stories, and acting on stage too. They used to entertain their friends by running story nights for them, in the woods near their village. Not anymore, though.

Three months have past since the incident which shattered their friendship, and Mirabelle has begun a new life far away, in a bustling city by the sea.

One day, Mirabelle receives a letter from Martin, another friend of hers:

This is none of my concern, surely, but I fear I must ask...

Has Célia written to you yet?

If I may hazard a guess —she has not at all, has she?

I do not believe that she has spent a very pleasant summer, but I would like to believe that very soon, life will turn out all the better for her.

If you ever find the time, do not hesitate to write to her.

Could this mark the beginning of a renewed friendship? Perhaps.

But not all secrets can be told truthfully, even to one's closest friend.

About the story

Sylvan Disappearance is a mystery visual novel with an epistolary component. In the course of the story, you follow Mirabelle's life in a seaside city, and read the correspondence she receives from her friends Martin and Célia.

Besides the mystery, the story features:

Psychological and folk horror

Strange, persistent dreams

Light yuri romance

Mysterious woods

A pseudo-historical setting

Among other influences, it was inspired by Emily Carroll's horror comics, the Dream Pop music genre, tabletop role-playing, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Daphne du Maurier's Monte Verità and the seaside city from Kiki's Delivery Service.

The story is about 53 000 words long.

It should require between 4 and 5 hours of reading depending on your speed.

There are no choices, though you may read some of the letters that Mirabelle receives in the order you wish.

Credits

Writing, Programming & Design

Lord Rastagong

Character Art

Hyanide

I could never have written this story without the work of talented composers, photographers and sound enthusiasts who made their work so easily available to creators. I would like to thank them as much as possible for doing so, however I cannot name them all here. Therefore please refer to the Credits menu inside the game for more information.

Besides attributing every asset in use in the story, the menu provides contextual information on the people and places who made this story possible.