You are a traveller from the southern part of the Doriel continent where you have spent your entire life up to this point. With your parents having died while you were still young you've spent most of your time since wandering between various settlements and taking work where it was available. In search of something more in your life you booked passage with a caravan heading north and taking only the heirloom pendant given to you by your father, set out in search of new adventures.
You end up in the small town of Fae'el, a settlement attached to the nearby excavation of ruins belonging to the legendary nation of Rhyvian. Fae'el has run up on hard times, although the caravan leader assures you that you'll be able to find work here. As you disembark the caravan you wonder what's in store for you, but even in your wildest dreams nothing could prepare you for the adventure ahead.
Hey Everyone, it's Brian, the mod's author here. I've got some good news and bad news, but first I'd like to thank everyone for their support of my work over the years; I wouldn't be where I am now without you guys. First the Bad News. It doesn't look like I'm going to be able to finish the A Line in the Sand series of mods anytime soon. The reason for this is the Good News. I've landed a job as a Game Content Developer at Mythic Entertainment. I'm going to be working full-time with a great group of people, making sure that Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is totally awesome and I just won't have the time for mods. I do plan to continue my work on the Tales From the Rift World wiki and I may even include what I had planned for the A Line in the Sand storyline in there somewhere. now if I can answer some questions raised by hmdai: 1. You're right about the history of Rhyvian present in Dark Artifact being different than what occurs in City of Wonders. After CoW I went back and rethought a lot of the history of the Rift World universe and decided that while I liked what I did in City of Wonders, it happened at the wrong point in history and that I could use it to much better effect much earlier in the timeline and with some added tweaks. The basic them of the fall of Rhyvian remains the same however, but nothing in City of Wonders actually happens in the current (and presumably final) Tales From the Rift World timeline. 2. There are a couple brief explanations about the amulet here and there, the main one being when you examine it. All you know about it at this time is that it was passed down within your family and not even your father was sure of it's origin. The amulet's effect on the mind control spell was to be the first indication that there was more to it than met the eye. Over time the amulet would gain additional powers and figure into the story more later on. 3. I'm a big fan of Evangelion and although the idea may sound familiar, it's actually quite different. There are those who believe that the Rift can imbue them with power like unto the Old Gods of the universe and what we see in Dark Artifact is a case of someone attempting to create a world full of godlike beings...a so called perfect world. This was a concept that I would have touched upon much more in later episodes and was in fact a major theme as it relates to the fall of Rhyvian. 4. You would have seen your first Rift Rider in episode 2 of the series and upon reaching Tairun in episode 3, Rift Energy would be more prevalent. Ultimately the Rift Riders would figure heavily into the story. In the new timeline, Rift Riders are a clan of people who have the same abilities as the Rift Shapers did before the Rift Crisis seemingly wiped them out. People have become wary of the powers of the Shapers and thus the Rift Riders have kept themselves hidden. _________________________ Brian J. Audette Tales From the Rift World - Official Wiki Please don't forget to vote.
Posted by hmdai at on09/09/06
Although the dialouge still need some polish, the story is appealing. However, the history of Rhyvian in the book does not match the story in "City of Wonders". Is it due to the distort of history or some other reasons? Also, === May contain spoiler === - the mod does not explain where does source of the amulet the PC inherit? Why does it could resist the mind control of the rift wrath? - hmm....the idea of merging all of the people with the rift does sounds like the plot in anime "Evangelion" - It seems like there is no direct involve any rift riders or any rift power? Maybe in the future mod the PC will gain some special feats which draw power from the rift? _________________________ Overlooked Module Report February 2009 | Master List | Forum Thread Academy of Modding Excellence Romance Module List Horror Module Collection Starlight's favorite module list
Posted by gruedragon at on08/23/06
I liked this. It was a fun adventure in a unique setting. Not too long, not too short. I liked the setting and how the "flashback" nature of the module. Looking forward to the next one.
Posted by dra at on08/21/06
Decided to vote. Was having fun playing it, despite aforementioned cutscene problems.
Posted by Blatob at on08/15/06
Good module. Only one annoying thing - respawning cobolds in the area before ruins. I like when the things that I killed stay dead. Also, it would be good if you put some transitional area so we could rest and save PC (given the fact that this is a first mod in a series).
Posted by Dakushna at 2006-08-1312:40:23
Dark Artifact is short by design and subsequent chapters will likely be of similar length. This is partly due to the fact that I have little time to spend making mods and due to my desire to release more than one mod a year making things smaller is the only way to go. In addition the smaller size fits in with my episodic goals for the series where each individual mod will be a singular adventure on it's own, but certain themes, characters, and plots will carry over between episodes to create a larger story on the whole. As far as more interaction with the henchmen goes, I totally agree and in fact the next mod's gimmick is going to be dealing with henchmen. Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed the mod and thanks for the vote. _________________________ Brian J. Audette Tales From the Rift World - Official Wiki Please don't forget to vote.
Posted by catelee2u at on08/12/06
Very decent module as a start to a series. Hope any future modules would be longer. Relationships with henchmen would be pleasing. It seems to have a decent storyline and my Paladin enjoyed herself. Would like to see more loot.
Posted by dra at on08/21/06
O.K., 'll try it with dialogue zoom disabled. Thanks for the clue!
Posted by Dakushna at 2006-08-0707:33:26
I did some tests and this is most likely happening because you have "dialog zoom" enabled. I'm using Gestalt's camera scripts for my cutscenes, but an early version of them and that might be why the problem doesn't exist in other people's mods with cutscenes...they might be using a more recent version or a different method. I'm going to try and find out if I can upgrade the mod to a better version of the scripts without breaking everything and hopefully that will fix the problem, but otherwise...disable dialog zoom. _________________________ Brian J. Audette Tales From the Rift World - Official Wiki Please don't forget to vote.
Posted by dra at on08/21/06
I did like the module - the story was engaging, sound and visual effects well used, but ... nearly all the cutscenes gave the terrible screen - shakingk effects, making dialogues almost unreadable. I didn't encounter this problem playing another modules using cutscenes.
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