At this point, with a total of $174,205 pledged and 13 days left to go, Tactical Adventures’ Kickstarter campaign for Solasta: Crown of the Magister will surely reach its initial goal of roughly $200,000. Once that happens, either Paladins or Rangers will be added to the game, and this update tells us a bit about Solasta’s implementation of those classes. Then, the following update covers Solasta’s backer referral program, and then the latest one shares some lore related to the game’s dwarves and elves.
Let’s start with a look at the classes:
Paladins
Paladins of Solasta are elite warriors who swore an oath to fight against evil. In addition to weapons and armor, they wield the divine power of their deity.
Between tours of duty guarding temples and other sacred places, paladins wander the world in a quest to spread justice and to uphold their sacred oaths. Bound to their faith by this unbreakable promise, they are granted divine powers and clerical spells, as well as powerful abilities that serve them in battle.
The Oath of the Motherland
Paladins who follow the path of the Motherland are generally lone wanderers who do not find comfort within standard religious tenets.
Having encountered the mesmerizing power of the volcanoes of the Badlands, they embraced the creed of the Motherland, and hope to restore the Badlands’ purity by cleansing them of monsters and turning the fallen lands of the Manacalon Empire into a new world – one of fiery brutality and pure wilderness. That is why they call the dreaded Badlands their Motherland.
Masters of fire, they worship Arun, the prime god of the elements, and consider the volcanoes of the Badlands as the supreme manifestation of his power. Their powers seem to embody the fury of the volcano in their very soul.
Oath of Tirmar
These paladins belong to an ancient order, inherited from the Tirmarian Inquisition. Some regard them askance, as they continue to be obsessed with the ancient archenemies of humans from Tirmar, from the time before the Cataclysm. Despite this – or perhaps, because of it – their creed remembers the pain inflicted by their suspicious ancestors on their own people, and emphasizes the need to be sure that one is not fighting the wrong people. They conduct their rituals in the ancient language of Tirmar and bear the symbols of the old Inquisition, but instead of the fallen god Arivad they worship Einar, the god of valor and fidelity.
Their powers are those of a truth-seeker, designed to bring light to darkness, to reveal hidden secrets, and to embody truth with their own voice.
Oath of Devotion
The “classic” paladin is clad in bright armor and fights for justice, virtue, and order, following the path of honor, courage, faith, and chivalry. Such paladins worship either Pakri, the goddess of the law, or Maraike, the patroness of healing and mercy.
Paladins of Pakri are vigilantes first and foremost, seeking to punish lawbreakers and support those who maintain order through the land. Followers of Maraike are healers and providers of comfort for the weak and the poor.
Their powers make them perfect fighters of evil, and the undead, and protect them from the dark powers of their enemies.
Rangers
Wanderers of Solasta’s wilderness, rangers are the kind of people who prefer to sleep out in the woods rather than in a town inn, listening to the sounds of nature rather than the chatter of people.
Trained survivalists and hunters, they are fierce combatants but have enough subtlety to be stealthy when needed. Excellent trackers and archers, they can also have the ability to cast spells that channel the powers of nature.
Hunters
Masters of the of melee and ranged combat, these are Solasta’s supreme predators. Able to track their prey for days through the worst terrain, they dedicate their whole being to the art of the hunt.
They develop a variety of combat techniques, depending on their prey of choice. Some hunt giants, while others specialize in fighting hordes of smaller monsters.
Marksmen
Heirs to the high elf archery traditions of the old Empire, these are undisputed masters of their art and the deadliest ranged combatants on Solasta. Their specialized training includes many different techniques:
- Fast shooting, to react to opponent moves with a deadly shot.
- Close quarters combat, to remain efficient at close range and avoid being cornered by melee combatants.
- Arrow recovery, to avoid running out of ammunition.
- Poisoning arrows, to defeat even the toughest enemies – although high elf historians deny that this was a routine tactic of the Imperial ranger forces.
- Rumors have also been heard of rains of arrows, so far without proof.
Shadow Tamers
Used to wandering the desolated Badlands, these rangers know the lore and languages of darkness, traps, and the underground world. They walk without fear where others would hesitate to tread.
Simply put, a shadow tamer is at ease when others are not. The numberless hazards of the Badlands include darkness, monsters, rough terrain, bad weather, and chaos. Shadow tamers take all of these dangers in stride.
Heights, depths, darkness, monsters: none of these bother them. In fact, they make them deadlier. In the monster’s den, they are the greater monster.
And then check out the races:
The Dwarves of Solasta
Origins
Children of earth, the dwarves evolved underground, and came to rule an extensive realm beneath the mountains in the west of the continent, with great tunnel-highways connecting the dwarven undercities.
Toward the end of the Elven Wars, a series of earthquakes led to the creation of the Inner Sea. Many tunnel-highways collapsed, and others were flooded. The dwarven realm was broken two parts: the hill dwarves to the south and west of the Inner sea, and the snow dwarves to the north and east.
The Hill Dwarves
The hill dwarves have changed little in the intervening millennia. They still live mostly underground, and their skills in working stone and metal are legendary.
Numerous inventions have been developed to make life easier and improve the quality of dwarven crafts: not least among them are the great pumps that emptied the flooded tunnel-highways and continue to keep them dry.
The Snow Dwarves
Cut off from the rest of the dwarven realm, the snow dwarves adapted to survive and thrive in their harsh, frigid environment. While still a predominantly underground people, the snow dwarves spend more time above ground, hunting and trapping food and prospecting for minerals. They have developed considerable outdoor survival skills as a result, perhaps, becoming even coarser and rougher in the process.
The Cataclysm and After
The Cataclysm further devastated the hill dwarf kingdom. Ancient enchantments had kept two great volcanoes dormant for uncounted ages, but as mana drained from the land in the aftermath of the Cataclysm, the protections were broken.
Countless lives were lost to earthquakes and lava, and more to flooding as the Inner Sea claimed more of the land. Whole settlements were destroyed, and the hill dwarf lands were cut in two by a new volcanic wasteland. The northern and southern kingdoms survived thanks in part to some expansion on the surface, as many of the deeper tunnels were still unsafe.
The snow dwarves fared better, being far from any active volcanoes. They were affected by the loss of mana from the land, but having been among the first to welcome human refugees, they profited greatly from their divine magic.
Enjoying the wilderness and the simplicity of life in the wilds, the snow dwarves also forged an alliance with the like-minded sylvan elves living in their territory, and the Snow Alliance, as it was named, has enjoyed prosperity and peace with its neighbors. Its people remain vigilant, though, as the time since the Cataclysm has not been without strife.
Appearance
Dwarves are shorter than humans by a head or so. However, their broad and muscular build means that they weigh about the same.
Snow dwarves are a little taller and slimmer on average, but still significantly shorter and stockier than humans. Their overall range of skin tone is similar to that of humans, although snow dwarves often have a slight blue-gray tint, almost the color of slate. Dwarven hair color varies from black through chestnut brown and red-brown to gray. The hair is most often bound up in a braid or a ponytail. Their eyes are generally on the dark side.
Clothing usually reflects the colors of a dwarf’s clan. Hill dwarves favor sashes in their clan colors, while snow dwarves wear clan emblems embroidered into the trim of their cuffs and collars.
The Elves of Solasta
Origins and History
The elves are native to Solasta. Not even they know how old their race is, or how it came to be: it seems as though they always existed, surrounding and watching as the world came into being, yet remaining apart, just as the air surrounds and permeates the world without being noticed. Some elves say that their race was never created, but has existed since the beginning of time. Others claim that they are the children of air and mana.
The elves came into being into a region which they called Aer-Elai. This region became the heart of their empire, and, later, the Badlands. After the Elven Wars, the elven race underwent as schism as some pursued imperial power while others preferred to stay close to nature. The Manacalon Empire expanded steadily thanks to the elves’ natural affinity for magic, while the forest of Colthannin became a secretive refuge.
The Cataclysm tore the heart out of the Empire. The New Empire was born from the only former Imperial province that managed to keep the old ways. Its high elves dream of restoring lost glory and still follow most of the ancient customs aimed at bringing civilization to all races.
High Elves
The elves of the Empire had called themselves Sitherna, which means “lords” or “exalted” in their language. In the common tongue, it is generally translated as “high elves.” They consider themselves superior to all other races, including their sylvan cousins. They take great pride in the purity of their blood, their mastery of arcane sorcery, and their self-appointed position as the rightful rulers of Solasta.
Sylvan Elves
Some elves refused to follow the way of Empire and civilization. These “followers of the old ways” (dilynwyr henfyrd in the elvish language) used their magical heritage to grow closer to nature and strive for harmony rather than civilization, as they felt it should have been for all elves. These elves moved far from the lands of the Empire, settling far to the east in the forest of Colthannin. In the millennia that followed, these sylvan elves effectively became a separate race from the high elves.
The Sylvan Realm does not welcome visitors, but many of its sons and daughters suffer from wanderlust and can be found outside its borders as traders, trappers, travelers, adventurers, and explorers. Colthannin is said to be a place of wonders, which shows not traces of the Cataclysm. Keen-eyed archers and subtle greenmages patrol its borders, watching for invaders and punishing those who threaten the balance of nature.
Outside Colthannin, smaller sylvan elf settlements may be found in forests all over Solasta. Many sylvan elves live in the lands of the Snow Alliance, and a few may be found further to the west in the dwarven kingdoms.
Appearance
Most elves are slightly shorter than the average human, and lighter of build. To most other races, their pointed ears are the elves’ most distinctive physical characteristic.
If it were not for the differences in their dress and demeanor, most non-elves would find sylvan and high elves very difficult to tell apart. High elves tend to have pale, almost silver-white skin, with hair ranging from ash-blond to pale red and eyes of pale blue, silver-gray, and pale gold. The skin of sylvan elves has a slight copper hue, and their hair tends to be a little darker than that of the high elves. Red hair is not uncommon. Sylvan elves frequently have green or amber eyes.
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