Unsurprisingly, Varnurud is home to many settlements, fastnesses, and facilities once occupied by Dwarves and their Inventor Kings during the last centuries of the Third Age of the Riven Realms. Since mines were common, so too were satellite towns, of which Ember Town is one.

In the northern reaches of Varnurud, a cavern exists that is dedicated to the memory of a Dwarf and his life’s work. That Dwarf was called Kahrav, and in many ways, it was his deeds – and words, written as they sometimes were – that brought about the founding of the Sons of the Mountain, one of Varnurud’s most dominant and prolific gangs. Known for their veneration of a long-lost Dwarven legacy that they have laid claim to, the Sons have also painted their home to commemorate such Dwarves, perhaps fittingly. Although they may lack the… artistic direction to truly pull it off.

The teaser this week is somewhat of a continuation of an earlier post, where we brought the Earth Elemental to you, explaining that a key aspect of its design included not just anger, but a range of human emotions felt and experienced by the cursed, suffering spirits that manifest them.

In many ways, the Fire Elemental is no different. Similarly, it is a host to restless spirits, yet in contrast, that spirit is perhaps more enraged than broken. The diverse denizens of Varnurud testify that the two elementals are different in that their anger is represented in disparate ways; the Earth Elemental holds a deep grudge and sadness, while the Fire Elemental manifests a furious rage.

What makes a great set of stairs, you might ask? Well, that’s a tough question, we say. In our At the Heart of Ruin expansion, there are many sets of great stairs, but only one is called the Great Stairs – at least that’s what the locals would say. Whether those locals are bloodletting miscreants who worship an unknown entity that demands depraved sacrifice, madmen who delight in the act of burning themselves and others alive, or men who believe themselves to be beasts after discovering a dead Wyvern that they thought was a divine creature of the skies, that’s what they would say. There are other… more cultured locals, of course – even ones that’ll talk to you – but they each share a different brand of insanity. Enjoy, we say.

As the day’s heat settles over the deserts and arid wastelands of Xeryn, travel becomes even more treacherous. In Vagrus, several game systems represent or contextualize this – Vigor loss, Movement Point costs (that include difficulty from “climate”), and even Events that deal with the hardships or challenges presented by scorching weather. In our upcoming At the Heart of Ruin expansion, the heat will be turned up even more. The Mountains of Fire might not be beaten by the cruel sun all day due to the blanket of ash obscuring the skies, but volcanic activities take care of raising temperatures to even greater extremes.

Patch 1.2100717/21 Codename: Dead Weight(less)

Performance Improvements

• We optimized the sizes of several art assets, resulting in smaller install size and a bit quicker load times.
• Slight Companion Combat performance improvement against certain enemies

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a rare issue that caused summoned/spawned Companion Combat entities to remain permanently in your comitatus (no more parasitic Deadweight!).
• Fixed an issue that caused Equipment drag&drop to drag the wrong piece of Equipment.
• Fixed an issue that misaligned Gear icons with names in their list on the Character Sheet.
• Fixed an issue that prevented loading save files in Dissonance mode.
• General controller-related improvements based on your Discord feedback.

As ever, more is coming, so stay tuned, and conquer the wasteland!

One of the best things about our upcoming expansion is the sheer number of fearsome foes one will be able to bump into. So this week, we’re going to show you one of our favourites: the Basilisk.

The fearsome Basilisk is a creature of legend that exists across countless worlds and mythologies, evoking dread in even the staunchest of warriors and adventurers. In the Riven Realms, these reptiles began to make their appearance in Xeryn’s Fourth Age, some time after the Calamity tore the realms asunder. Found only in the Mountains of Fire, some say that they are sluggish lizards, yet the truth is that they can be both cunning and lightning-fast when under threat.

We’re bringing you another locale this week, and this time it’s one of the many sites of grim ostentation that can be found throughout our upcoming At the Heart of Ruin expansion.

But what do we mean by grim ostentation? The answer can be found with the Wasteland Stalkers and their strict hierarchy. Stalkers’ ranks within the brood depend on the beasts they have slain, and most of their trophies can be found within the forum itself. Here, there are skulls of beasts and men alike, an unnerving offering of grim-faced reptiles, deadly serpents, and terrifying foes.

Today we’re paying homage to those holds, forts, and fastnesses that the Dwarves – at least those that lived prior to the Calamity – created all over their domain. It’s no secret that such bastions were symbols of Dvendar Tharr’s craftsmanship, military prowess, and ingenuity; indeed, the last of these (especially ones above ground) were the focus of the Inventor Kings. But more than anything, these fortifications speak to a prouder Dwarven past, one that endured until fire and destruction never before witnessed tore it asunder.

Hey everyone,

As you may have noticed, this last month was exceptionally busy for us on the virtual storefronts, especially on Steam, where Vagrus was featured in the Daily Deal program on May 30 (at a staggering 50% discount, the lowest price as of yet), then took part in the annual TurnBasedThursdayFest between June 2 and 9 (with a similarly attractive discount). The festival received a “featured” spot on the platform, which was a fantastic milestone for everyone involved.