Ecliprypha Developer Log 1: What the hell is an Ecliprypha, anyway?

Introduction

If you’re reading this, I’m going to assume you have some interest in the setting which my co-developer, Sam, and I are working on. That setting, of course, has the odd name of ‘Ecliprypha’, which may raise a few eyebrows. First, though, let me do some house-keeping.

This is the first in a series of developer logs that’ll be published to the site. They could be on a variety of things, from mechanics talk and lore to more niche subjects which potentially only interest one or the both of us, like the dietary habits of Dwarven survivors in Winter. Whatever the case may be, hopefully you’ll find some insight contained within. An insight into what, exactly, I can’t quite say. Let’s find that out together.

The Ecliprypha

“Two men tumble down a hill, their bodies broken and bruised, fleeing in desperation from some unseen threat. They have hit a dead end: a sheer drop into a bottomless chasm lies in front of them, their pursuer behind. Their only hope now is to take a leap of faith and pray they can make it to the other side in one piece.

The bolder of the two men makes the first move, leaping with all his might from the chasm’s ledge. He flies with great speeds to the other side...but, something is wrong. He does not descend, nor does he slow down. Instead, he keeps ascending and accelerating without resistance. In the blink of an eye, he has become a speck on the horizon in the skies above, his screams no longer audible.

His companion falls to his knees as a shadow of some thing looms over him from the top of the hill. How did this happen? Why? And did he join his friend and leap into the beyond, or did he leave himself to his fate? Only the moon in the sky knows, glowing with its golden light as it trembles erratically, as if laughing at the misfortune of the men. Of all men caught up in its chaotic, unknowable effects.

This moon, this Ecliprypha, will be the end of everything.”

So, what exactly is an Ecliprypha, anyway? Is it a thing, event, or idea? Hopefully the above passage gives a vague idea, but let’s make things clearer. The Ecliprypha refers to an event that occurs each night within the Ecliprypha setting, one where the moon takes on an otherwordly appearance: it glows with an ephemeral, golden light, as its surface begins to burst open and become covered with what look like the veins of a heart. Just like a heart, it also begins to pulse with rhythm. The skies surrounding the moon then gradually begin to change colour, swirling with reds, blues, and greens.

The effect of the Ecliprypha is far from just aesthetic, either. It is taken by many of the people in the lands of Sanguir, where all campaigns take place, to be a harbinger of the end of the world. On the first night of its appearance, many creatures – humans, elves, and dwarves among them – which became bathed in its light were warped and mutated beyond recognition into abominations. They turned on all unlike themselves, murdering many of those unaffected in one fell swoop. 

Those fortunate enough to survive that first night, if you want to call them that, soon found out that this was not the only thing the Ecliprypha brought. Reality itself, including natural laws, began to break down. In some areas, time itself would cease to move forward, or would endlessly repeat the same moment until the sun rose once again. In others, the forces which bound others to the Earth ceased to function, damning unfortunate souls to an eternity spent in the stars. Even the cycles of life and death were broken, with many people returning to life even after being slain.

These effects, and many more, occur each night without failure. None can predict what strange phenomena might be encountered each night, nor what beasts may come out to hunt them. As a result, most who continue to live in Sanguir have largely abandoned their countryside in favour of congregating in only the most defensible locations in the land – the great citadels of humanity, or the ancient holds of the Dwarves.

Still, these locations cannot survive isolated; trade amongst each other for resources is essential, the gathering of vital resources outside the safety of their borders a must. That is where the player characters come in: they are those people who leave the relative safety of the last remaining settlements to face the dangers of the Ecliprypha head-on. In so doing, they are handsomely rewarded, both by the settlements they serve and through the secrets they uncover as they explore the dying world.