'They may be called the 'Children of the Calamity' but make no mistake, dominus. These terrible creatures are far from being child-like. When you see one, do not hesitate; they won't.'

Another week, another location artwork! This time, somewhat of an odd 'location' at that, one that is not really a region of its own right but a road that crosses many areas. Chances are, you'll see it a lot.

Another non-human character joins our cast, this time a Dwarf! Dwarves are typically lonely, cranky, calculating fellows in the Riven Realms. Their homeland was utterly decimated in the Calamity and has remained uninhabitable ever since. All the magnificent achievements, inventions, and treasures of the mighty Dwarven kingdom went up in flames when it was engulfed in a volcanic cataclysm. And because the volcanoes are still very much active, there is little hope of reclaiming anything from the ruins. Most Dwarves were killed during the Calamity and today, only several thousand remain. For all intents and purposes, they are a dead race.

As we've previously hinted at, parts of the game Vagrus has a narrator in the person of Agos the wanderer. An older man and a vagabond, Agos stumbles upon the player one evening on the road and begins telling stories of his travels (if you let him, that is). One such story is the Prologue that you can play through to be introduced to the world and gameplay at the same time, essentially playing through the story Agos is telling.

Markets and bazaars are the throbbing heart of the rebuilt cities of the Riven Realms. Due to the isolation of many settlements and regions thanks to the Calamity, trade - propagated mostly by comitati - is key to the survival of these regions and thus to the survival of the Empire.

The next character to be revealed is another enemy, although this one can often be encountered as a temporary ally as well: the elemental shaman of the Sadirar people.

The ancestors of the Sadirar survived the Calamity in underground vaults and left those several generations after the catastrophe. Upon going back to the surface, they found endless sand dunes, blinding sunlight, and searing temperatures in place of their dense forests and hills. In their hour of despair, however, the Great Spirits spoke to them and guided them to oases in the cruel desert. These spirits have been worshiped by the Sadirar ever since. Each spirit is the embodiment of an element: Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. Those that communicate with the Great Spirits and in turn command these elements are the shamans. The Sadirar are now a nomadic people who thrive in the deserts called the Searing Plains. They rose above cruel barbarism through spirit worship but are far from docile.

One of the largest continuous desert areas on a continent of many deserts, the Searing Plains spans several provinces that used to be forested regions and fertile plains before the Calamity, but became scorching hot and arid lands of sand dunes and little else. Some parts of the plains have low mountain ranges, rock gullies, or ravines, but, yellow sand dunes and salt flats remain the most common features. A constant, hot wind blows from the East and North, creating sandstorms regularly.

The Calamity burned down the great forests, tranquil glades, and neat hedges of the region that is now the Searing Plains. A part of it, what is today called Smolderbone Flats, used to be a series of large lakes and islands surrounded by these forests. During the cataclysm, the lakes became sour and salty in a matter of hours and everything in them died. Today even the traces of them are gone. What remains is a barren, infertile, salty flatland that is only inhabited by weird monsters that thrive in such environments: salamanders, fire lizards, even fiery elemental creatures. 

Another horrifying undead joins our creature roster: the Congregated is here. It'll be one of the more challenging enemies in the game.

A unique kind of undead was formed when the lethal hot ash of the volcanic cataclysm hit the regions at the foot of Dvendar Tharr in a wall of searing death on the eve of the Calamity. The ash cloud covered many human settlements in a heartbeat, finding people on streets and inside homes. These unfortunate souls died an agonizing, fiery death, and did so in the most unexpected positions, often clinging to each other in their final moments. The ash blanket preserved them, and the curse of the region later reanimated them: amalgamations of corpses that are drawn to all life and bent on extinguishing it. The Congregated. They are fused together forever by the ash and the curse, encased in a grotesque, porous, stone-like form. These sad beings roam the area near the lost kingdom of Dvendar Tharr, a lethal threat to all travelers.

So the big news is that the game's title is finalized at last! For now. :D

Check out the title reveal short video!

The word vagrus is the same pseudo-Latin that most of the Imperial Tongue used in the game (as it hearkens back to the Roman Empire in material and immaterial culture). It meant 'wanderer' or 'vagabond' in Imperial, but nowadays it only refers to the men and women who lead a comitatus across the wasteland. It is short, easy to remember, and easy to be associated to the English word 'vagrant' (which also originates in Latin).