There's been a lot of character reveals for Vagrus - The Riven Realms here on our website and on our social media since we began posting about a year ago. We figured it behooves us to talk a little more about who these characters are and what their role is in the game.

The vast majority of the characters you see revealed are enemy characters, even if sometimes they can be allies in the game for short periods of time (or versions of them, anyways). Although Events will involve these enemy characters often, you will mainly see them as shown in the artwork in turn-based combat. All of them have their unique combat skills and synergies with other enemies.

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.

The Empire in the Riven Realms is based on the Roman Empire of our history, so it's no surprise that the gladiators of these cultures are also very similar.

This character artwork is that of the gladiator enemy that you can come across in arena battles. These arena or pit fights will feature in larger settlements, as the Empire of the Riven Realms is very fond of such bloody games.

Javek is one of our main characters in the Prologue and he'll hopefully make his return in the main game, too. A budding sorcerer with telepathic powers, he can read thoughts, see glimpses of the future, and even cause pain and damage to someone's mind.

His combat phases/poses reflect these abilities. Here's a list of skills the above displayed images are connected to:

The Codex is a tool in Vagrus that lets players read up on the world, its inhabitants, locations, lore, characters, and whatever else that has an entry. The idea was to provide players who wish to know more a place to find it and to allow you to look up things you may have forgotten; but to make this absolutely voluntary. If you do not wish to read these entries, you can still absolutely play Vagrus, as this is basically additional fluff.

It's spring 1990 and I'm in elementary school. My best friend brings a book to school that he reads aloud to a small group of us during our big walks at lunch break. The book has a weird old wizard on the cover conjuring smoke from a crystal ball. More interesting are the illustrations on the inside: intricate black and white drawings of strange fantasy creatures and dungeon locations. The little book is Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson's Warlock of Firetop Mountain, translated to our native language. Most of you probably know that it's a gamebook that you do not read from start to end but in branching numbered chapters that make the story personal and add replayability. Yet they are much more than simple choose-your-own-adventure books because they include a stat and combat system you have to manage throughout the adventure - albeit a really simple one.

Here are some character poses for the Orc Marauder enemy to feast your eyes upon!

The Bruiser returns with some combat phases/poses! These are:

• Cheap Shot (top left): A melee hit that puts a severe debuff on the target. Also, ouch.
• Dodge (top right): Triggers when the Bruiser avoids an attack.
• Bull Rush (bottom left): The Bruiser rushes the target and pushes it back.
• Smack (bottom right): A melee attack against a single target.

The Bruiser is a basic frontline character in the outlaw roster. Though not armored or particularly good at avoiding damage, he is fairly tanky and is able to dish out a lot of pain as well as debuffs and other effects. It can be extremely effective in cooperation with the Brigand and the Slinger.

The time has come to show you the Main Menu of the game, which might not sound super-exciting at first, but with the title screen artwork in its background it's quite a beauty. I'd rather not waste words on the menu points, they speak for themselves.

Another character who plays a very important role in the Prologue, Javek is a young sorcerer who uses telepathic abilities. He is of Tarkian origin and because the Imperial province of Tark is based on early Persian and Turkish cultures from real life, Szonja designed Javek's appearance to match those in clothing and equipment.

Calm and easy-going, Javek's ability to pick up surface thoughts and glean motives can be very useful. He is also skilled at handling animals and beasts of burden. That skill is enhanced by his telepathic ability which works even better on animals. Does that remind you of someone? Hmmm. It makes you wonder, doesn't it? :)