Arkain News Network

[Shar Dundred]

23rd January 2024
Ladies and gentlemen!

While I have already thanked you for the reception regarding the final cinematics of the True Story
of Arkain in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER], allow me to once again thank you.
As stated in my previous newspost, we, Kasrkin and I, are proud of the community we have
established over the years and we appreciate every single one of you - sincerely.

Now, with the emotional part out of the way, it is my honor to announce the release of yet
another short story in the Tales of Arkain thread!

The new short story called "The Golden Schism" has been added - you can find it here. It has in fact
already been teased in the Farewell cinematic of the True Story of Arkain.
Give it a good read and leave your thoughts in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER] thread!

I know that this is one of many human stories but it has been something I wanted to write for quite some
time now - ever since the final chapter of the van Durce family in the True Story to be exact.
Do not worry, there will be stories of other races such as the Tribal Dominion coming as well - stay tuned for that!

Note: This does not mean that the Legends of Arkain will "only" continue in short story format. Just to get that
out of the way before there is any speculation.

Enjoy!

 

[Shar Dundred]

27th January 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

the time has come for yet another short story - or to be more specific, two stories in one!
That's right, @Jayborino has written two stories for Arkain again and these have been added
to the Tales of Arkain proper!

They are (of course) about the Tribal Dominion. The two stories have been added in a package
called "The New Dominion".

You can find them here.

Enjoy & leave your thoughts in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER] thread!

Huge thanks to @Jayborino for writing those stories! His dediciation to Arkain is a great example to highlight
the amazing community that we have become over the years!

 

[Shar Dundred]

29th February 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

not often that I get to write something on a 29th February, is it?
I wish to inform you that, after having taken some time off, I have once again returned to the drawing
board for the continuation of the Arkain storyline.
Take mind however that whatever media I choose to do so (I already know, I will however not
publish this piece of information at this point) does not exclude that I will also use other media as well.
Be mindful that I will first focus on writing the script of the next Arkain entry before you will actually
get to "see" much from it.
I highly appreciate your long time loyalty and continued support for Arkain Industries - that seat in
the first line for that war is basically guaranteed to be yours by now!
You might still have to pay for it, don't blame me, blame @Kasrkin, he wanted a more comfy seat for his office, someone has to pay for it.

I am however interested in one thing:
Would you prefer focus to be on a bigger piece of lore coming from me or would you rather have some
short stories in between?
ALSO: Can you guess what the next entry will be about?
Let me know in the Round Table of Arkain!

 

[Shar Dundred]

17th March 2024

"It doesn't matter who you are, countless people have lost their lives in that blasted war - either
literally or figuratively. An outcast traitor, a selfish deserter, a tragic survivor, you could be any
of these and I wouldn't care. All I care about is that you are a reliable brother in arms. Your past
is in the past."
Darkan Hammerfall

Three years have passed since the end of the Second Voidwar. A new era is upon Arkain. The survival of
mankind is no longer in danger, but they are split between the two remaining kingdoms on one side and
the reborn Zyainor with its black dragon allies on the other.
The Elves have firmly aligned themselves with Zyainor under their new queen while the Dwarves have
withdrawn to their own realm, refusing to enter negotiations with any other race.
Led there by their now both secular and theocratic leader Amari, the Orcs and their allies have made
their new home in Salria while the Demons have withdrawn into their own realm in the east and
the Undead... are no longer really united ever since Aridon left them.

It is here where our story has its humble beginnings. Within the outskirts of Zyainor, an unconscious human
is found by a group of mercenaries led by a man who calls himself Boranel Aspurex.

Stay tuned for further updates!
Also feel free to discuss in the New Content Discussion!

 

[Shar Dundred]

1st April 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

some of you might expect an April's Fools joke here but to be honest, I did not have much
time to "prepare" one and I didn't want to make up a bad one just to have made a joke
with inferior quality.
We at Arkain Industries do not tolerate inferior quality. That's why Veringar got the boot.

That being said, I hope you had a great Easter (or if you do not celebrate it, a great
weekend).

Progress on the next entry of Arkain is still going. Our favorite paladin has been polishing his
armor for literal weeks while the story script has been finalized.
Yes, it is very shiny now... and @Kasrkin is still grumbling about that thing with a certain reporter... Also why are there flowers in her office again?

I have actually recently spent some time with editing textures and models (crazy, I know, still very
limited, I am no magician) to prepare.
As much as I would like to show you the results, it would spoiler the medium in which the next entry
will take place and I do not want to do that just yet.

Boranel Aspurex and his companions (whose identities are about to be revealed soon) are awaiting you.

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

3rd April 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,
it is time for you to meet the companions of Boranel Aspurex - who himself would rather
have you meet him in person than read much about him though there is some stuff to
read about him in the Arkain universe already as some of you may remember!
Without much further ado, let me introduce them to you!

Darkan Hammerfall
A young (by dwarven standards) warrior of the Hammerfalls living far from his people, in exile. Having spent the last few years as a wanderer and mercenary, he has spent much time among the other races and became an experienced fighter. However, since Dwarves are a rare sight outside of their homes since the war, he is often met with awe and mistrust.

Calere
A travelling bard who clearly has some magical talent but has never gone to any academy in the Kingdoms. Trying to keep a low profile, her past is shrouded in mystery and secrecy to any but those who are close to her. Running from her past, like many others in the company of Boranel Aspurex, the singing Calere seems to enjoy her travels even if she seems to lack a destination.

Morkin
A humorous (sometimes somewhat strangely sardonically so) hunter who is living in a small village in the borderlands between Zyainor and Kerrel. The villagers named him the "protector of the village" ever since he settled down there after fighting in the war. While not having joined Boranel Aspurex and his companions, he has been quite helpful and welcoming to them and seems interested in their goals.

Grazaz
A no-nonsense mercenary captain of the Blackthorn who used to be a soldier of Salria that fought against the Tribal Dominion until the surrender of the kingdom. He was among the Salrian soldiers that partook in the battle against the Redfist fanatics and Rengian opportunists side by side with the Tribal Dominion.

Orkar
An orc mercenary of the Blackthorn who works for Grazaz. As former shaman of the Ironthunder Clan back when that clan still existed, Orkar still wears the colors of his old clan with pride - despite this being frowned upon by many of his brothers and sisters in the new age of Orckind.

Nysara
An angelic of the Golden Guard that harbors a dark secret behind her bright and shining face. While she is a great supporter of Boranel Aspurex, she seldomly accompanies him personally. As the Golden Guard is mostly looked upon poorly in the Kingdoms these days, she prefers to remain in the background.

Stay tuned for further newsposts!

 

[Shar Dundred]

15th April 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

progress on the next entry of the legendary Arkain series is going well.
I want to thank each and everyone of you who follow this project for your loyalty.
Do not worry, more information regarding the nature of the next entry will follow soon.

For now, however, I would like to bring your attention to something else entirely.
My good friend @Jayborino has started a new video series for the True Story of Arkain.

As I am to understand, some people prefer their videos without commentary - and he
has now started to release videos offering just that.
You can find them in this playlist here.

If you prefer a commentated video series, you can find his complete commentated playlist here.

Huge thanks to @Jayborino as well as to all others who enjoy the Legends of Arkain.
As I have stated in the past, both @Kasrkin and I appreciate all of you, whether you make videos,
create assets and/or art for Arkain, are active in the forum or simply enjoy playing the project.

We look forward to sharing what holds the future with you!

Stay tuned for that!

 

[Shar Dundred]

19th May 2024
Ladies and gentlemen!

It has been a while, has it not?

Today I am bringing you a new short story for the Tales of Arkain called "Sunset", a story taking place
several years after the end of the Second Voidwar in the Empire of Rodan. A new character has entered
the stage, looking for answers and family.

You can find the new short story here!

Enjoy & leave your thoughts in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER] thread!

 

[Shar Dundred]

3rd June 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

as you are aware, for the past few months, I have been working on a new project for the
Legends of Arkain series - a new game to be modded, a new entry in the story, following the
mysterious Boranel Aspurex and his companions.

As you also know, I have been somewhat vague with information regarding this project.
While one of the reasons was definitely avoiding to give too much information before you
got to explore things yourself, one of the other reasons was also that while I was optimistic
about it and had modded the game before for quite some time already, I had never created
something on this scope which would have been a major overhaul of that game.
It would have been most unfortunate to go too deep into detail before checking if said project
was really possible at all.

To my dismay, due to technical and script-related issues, this has come to be the case.
Despite having spent quite some time on working around this in the past couple of weeks, I have
come to the unfortunate conclusion that this modding project has to be cancelled.

This is especially unfortunate since I had been able to do some things I had not been able to do in
WarCraft 3, things such as AI control or creating more complicated custom models and textures than
I had done i. e. for the True Story of Arkain.
This has not been an easy decision to make but I have made it nonetheless as I dislike the idea of just
having something in the "never to be finished" limbo hell without just putting an end to it.

That being said, this does NOT mean that the Legends of Arkain has met its "end".
The story I wanted to tell still exists, I just could not tell it in the form I wanted to tell it. There were also
(very early) plans for a dwarven story and another one focussed on certain people coming to Arkain from
a certain other continent.
It just means that the medium which I will use to tell these stories will be different - will it be a game, will
it be written, will it be a rap by @Jayborino on his Youtube channel? I cannot say for certain at this point.
I kinda doubt the last one though to be honest.
For the time being I am going to take a break - I am not leaving however, do not worry. I will still keep you
updated whenever there is something new to tell. There are currently other things I need to focus on - nothing
that you would need to be concerned about or anything, no worries, it is nothing bad at all, on the contrary, it just
is going to take some of my spare time away for the next couple of months.

I understand if some of you are disappointed about this development - I am as well however given the circumstances
this was the only correct decision.

Regardless, @Kasrkin and I both wish you a good start of the week and ofc stay tuned for more news in the future!

 

[Shar Dundred]

29th June 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

today I have added two new short stories to the Tales of Arkain.

One of them is a human story called "Fall from Grace" which continues the events of the
"The Golden Schism" short story.

The other one is an orc story called "A Fragment of the Past" which centers around Grofzag
and Zairmak in the days of the Tribal Dominion.

You can find both short stories in the Tales of Arkain in their respective post.

Enjoy and share your thoughts in the New Content Discussion!

 

[Shar Dundred]

2nd July 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

after almost a year since the last time and the conclusion of the True Story of Arkain, I am under the impression
that it is time for another Arkain Question Time!

For those of you that don't know, Arkain Question Time is an event where you can send me your various questions
regarding Arkain. I collect these answers and then answer them in a single great post.
As you can see in this thread, the questions also involve spoilers - and also some funny/less serious questions (and answers).
All these questions are welcome and I will include as many as possible.

This time however, I would like to do things a bit... differently.
I am not going to make any promises but this time I might make the event more easily digestible for you than
having to read a massive post at the end. More on that at a later date however.

I also intend to be more liberal regarding the questions I accept but that depends on the questions I get.

I will accept questions from now on. Consider it "open-ended" until further notice.

I am looking forward to your questions!

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

16th July 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to thank those who have sent their questions so far - already we are at ~70 questions for the Arkain Question Time.

There is currently no deadline for you to send the questions as of yet but I intend to set it sometime in early August.

Feel free to send more my way!

 

[Shar Dundred]

25th July 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

the tenth anniversary of the Legends of Arkain draws near.
On the 11th of August I can proudly proclaim that it has been 10 years since I first brought this project to Hive!

That being said, you have the chance to send your questions for the Arkain Question Time until the 3rd of August.

I am looking forward to your questions!

And... stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

2nd August 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

today and tomorrow are the last days you can send in your questions!
We are currently approaching the 100 questions - thank you to all who participated so far!

With that being said, I highly and most sincerely recommend that all of you keep an eye
out for the 11th of August this year.

This anniversary is going to be something special to behold, I assure you.
There is a surprise waiting for you...

Stay tuned & feel free to use the remaining time to send in more questions!

 

[Shar Dundred]

8th August 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

the anniversary is drawing near... and so... something wicked this way comes...

 

[Shar Dundred]

11th August 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

this is the day. Today the Legends of Arkain has its 10th anniversary. On this date ten years ago the thread has been posted.

We have come a long way since then. I still remember posting the original thread in Map Development back then.
A lot of time has passed since then and many things have happened.

I want to thank everyone who has been with this project - whether that be since the very beginning or even if only recently.
Your loyalty and engagement is really appreciated.
I also want to especially thank @Kasrkin for his long time helping me, @Jayborino for his enjoyable let's plays as well as all
supporters on Patreon and everyone who has contributed to Arkain through resources, art or feedback.

To celebrate this, two things have happened today.

First, Struggles of Arkain has been released and I wish you much fun with it!
It something that has been on my to do list for a long time and also been requested several times as well.
I hope you enjoy it and share your thoughts in the Round Table of Arkain!
It also has some minor lore hints...

Second, the Arkain Question Time has been released! You can find the questions and answers here!
I want to once again thank the people who have sent their questions for this!
Not all questions have been included. Some were too spoilery, others were answered in the past and
a lot, and I mean a LOT, were what if scenarios that would have required very long and complex answers.
I have included some of those but I did not include all of them.
Also, just like it was the case in the last Arkain Question Time, questions regarding the original books were not included.
I had at first considered doing it but most questions could be answered with either "It happened off screen" or "It was
a different timeline" so I decided against it.

Enjoy and happy anniversary!

A toast to ten years of Arkain! A toast to all that has happened in this time and what will happen in the future!
Cheers!

 

[Shar Dundred]

7th October 2024

Ladies and gentlemen,

it has been a while, hasn't it?
I hope you have had a chance to enjoy some of the Struggles of Arkain. If you have not, check it out!

Truth be told, I have been somewhat absent for most of the last month. Now that I am back,
I once again find myself spending more time pondering on new Arkain entries - I have several
ideas for short stories as well as other things.

Today however I wish to do something that I have not done in a while - a strawpoll!
With the True Story concluded, I want to know what time period of Arkain you are most interested in going onward.

The options are:

• The "direct" aftermath of the Voidwar (direct as in a short time after it)
• Future events after the Second Voidwar (no sci fi StarCraft, I know some people would like to see Gardon take to the stars and Ornasion wear a space suit and leading an army of undead demons through space but no, this is about 10 to 20 years after the war)
• Events during the Second Voidwar (no retconning but other events happening during the time period)
• Events BEFORE the Second Voidwar
• The distant past (not as distant as the days of the Four but before the events of the True Story)

If you wish to further specify, you can do so in the Round Table of Arkain.

Here is the link to the poll: What time period of Arkain are you most interested in seeing more of? - StrawPoll.com
Thank you for participating & feel free to share all your thoughts and ideas!

 

[Shar Dundred]

11th October

Ladies and gentlemen,

first off, thank you to all who participated in the poll - for those of you who haven't, it is still going!

In other news, Struggles of Arkain has received an update.

Along with several fixes and some rebalancing, it adds some new content such as new maps and new heroes like the old King Dorten for the Royal Army, the ambitious Soryena for the Dark Elf Families and the capitalistic Maronogin for the Goldaxe Clan.

You can find the full changelog below.

Enjoy!

Version 1.10

- Fixed Spirit Legionnaire Dispel Magic hotkey

• Fixed Doomriders training hotkey
• Fixed Hook Attack learning hotkey
• Fixed a graphic glitch for Kobold Mutants on the latest version of WC3 (thanks @tillinghast, @General Frank and @Chaosium for the fix)
• Fixed the issue with a second heroes being available before upgrading the main structure
• Fixed Ancient Fire Golem's air attack
• Unholy Regeneration now requires its upgrade
• Ardoz Nexus now has access to Cannibalize
• Non-AI players' starting Ghoul is replaced with a Skeleton Lumberjack
• Skeleton Lumberjacks now cost 1 food

• Krag Wyrmslayer now has Shadow Strike instead of Shadow Bolt
• Increased attack range of Quiraness from 500 to 600
• Limited the amount of Black Dragons, Sand Dragons, Red Dragons and Armored Swamp Dragons for each player to two
• Increased the food cost of Merciless from 4 to 6
• Increased the food cost of Lifescorchers from 4 to 5
• Removed the Stalk upgrade as undead Stalkers did not need it to have access to their invisibility
• Reduced hit points of undead Stalkers from 500 to 400
• Fixed the stats of Golden Guard heroes
• Fixed the stats of Krogar the Conqueror
• Slightly increased the Scaling Value of Progaderas the Smoking
• Decreased the area damage of Firebomb from 200/400//600 to 150/300/400
• Decreased the effect of War Aura from 60% to 50%
• Decreased the damage reduction of Plating and Hardening from 7/14/21 to 5/10/15
• Increased the minimum damage of Plating and Hardening from 3 to 10

• Added War Zeppelins to the Goblin Federation
• Added new heroes:

• King Dorten for the Royal Army
• Edward van Durce for the Golden Guard
• Lord Margazar for the Kezzar Nexus
• Mirazeyl the Ascendant for the Dark Elf Families
• Soryena for the Dark Elf Families
• Maronogin for the Goldaxe Clan

- Added new maps:

• Deathrose
• Stromguarde
• The Crucible
• Emerald Gardens

 

[Shar Dundred]

14th October

Ladies and gentlemen,

once again I thank all of you for participating in the last poll!

It is always great to see many people participate and being interested in the series!

The result strongly suggests going into the future while showing that there is also an interested in past and present events - all of which are completely reasonable.

The poll is still going for a week so the result might still change but it has had this relation between all options for a while.

Now the real fun begins: What faction are you most interested in seeing more of?

This time the poll is about what faction you want to see more of.
If the faction you wish to see more of is not in the list, you wish to specify or want to see specific characters, make sure to post in the Round Table of Arkain
Thank you for participating!

 

[Shar Dundred]

21st October 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

once again I thank you for participating in the latest poll.
The results are very interesting and unlike the timeline poll the results have been more in motion
for this one - the Redfist overthrew the Tribal Dominion in votes just this weekend when the Tribal
Dominion had been on top of it for quite some time.
It is still going for a week, I am cruious to see how it will continue to develop over this time!

The poll I present to you this week is a bit different yet just as important. This time you are given
only one singular vote as it is about the single ONE most important for you.
What is the most important aspect of Arkain for you?
If your most important aspect is not in the list, make sure to post in the Round Table of Arkain.
Thank you for participating!

 

[Shar Dundred]

23rd October
Ladies and gentlemen,

surprise! The next poll came a bit earlier this time!
Make no mistake, the last polls are still going of course.
Yet I assure you, this is going to be a surprise poll that you will find quite pleasant.

This time you get to decide: What short story project would you like to see next?
Yes that's right, you get to pick out of a selection of short stories that I have ideas for.
There are more on my mind than in this poll, I am deliberately not showing all of my cards yet.

However, there is a caveat:
The poll is making use of project names rather than the actual short story names.
This is the case to make it a bit more mysterious as to what is actually behind the votes.
Even @Kasrkin doesn't know the meaning behind them.
The project names are not random or anything of course, that'd be boring. They are still
related to the content of their respective short story - can you figure it out before the curtain falls?!
Let's find out in the Round Table of Arkain!

Thank you for participating and speculate away!

 

[Shar Dundred]

29th October 2024
Ladies and gentlemen

the results of the faction poll are in - and while the results are not that close, there were
moments when it was not entirely certain who would come out on top!

Watching this poll has been quite interesting - as was to be suspected.
During the first week it looked as if the Tribal Dominion would be on third or even second place but
that weekend the votes shifted and especially the Redfist got boosted by votes - the Duke and
best father figure of Arkain would be proud!
The irony of the Redfist winning a democratic poll against the Tribal Dominion is not lost on me.

Zyainor, the Golden Guard and the Empire of Rodan are the three winners of this vote. President Gardon
and Vice President van Durce will be preparing for the promised political programs of the coalition for the
United States of Arkain.

Once again, huge thanks to everyone who participated in this poll.
Your choices in that poll have been a factor that has been taken into consideration when picking which
short story projects to write on next. Said poll is still going for ~30 hours from the moment this newspost is published.

This poll has been also interesting and very much in motion - I appreciate all who participated.
It is still a very close one there!
There has been some speculation in the Round Table of Arkain and some
guesses were correct while others were not. I think in some cases it is not that difficult to have an idea while others
are somewhat misleading because I am Lawful Evil. =P
I am curious to see how the poll is going to develop over the next day - and you can be too!

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

31st October 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

the vote has concluded - and it was very close until the end!
But the winner is the Dragon of Kerrel - coincidentally it was just released in the Tales of Arkain!
You can find it there under its actual name "A New Power in Kerrel"!

Enjoy and share your thoughts in the Round Table of Arkain!

Stay tuned for further updates and happy Halloween!

 

[Shar Dundred]

3rd November 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

You didn't think I'd let you wait so long for the close winner of the short story poll, did you?
It is time for the second place to shine: The short story "Gilden Resentment" has been added to the Tales of Arkain!

It is split into two parts that are however quite connected - check it out and, as always, share your thoughts in the Round Table of Arkain!

 

[Shar Dundred]

8th November 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

today I bring to you yet another short story - this one is quite different from most others, in more ways than one.
One of these differences being that it is listed in "Other Stories" in the Tales of Arkain.
It is called "Embers of the Forge" and, as the name suggests, it gets quite hot there.
I highly recommend checking it out, I am sure you will find it quite interesting to read!

And once you have cooled off afterwards, share your thoughts in the Round Table of Arkain!
Enjoy!

 

[Shar Dundred]

13th November 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

as you might know, WarCraft 3 has received an update today.
Unfortunately that update seems to break custom model portraits.

I can only advise those of you who play any of the Arkain projects on newer versions of the game
not to use the latest version of WarCraft 3 and instead return to 1.29.2 or other pre 1.32 versions
for the time being.

 

[Shar Dundred]

24th November 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

today I have released another short story in the Tales of Arkain.
Smile everyone, smile, as you get to read the new story "Grave Conspiracy" and it is listed
under Undead Stories.
The most beautiful woman of Arkain is expecting you to come and visit her!
Enjoy and share your thoughts in the Round Table of Arkain!

 

[Shar Dundred]

28th November 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

I hope you enjoyed the latest short stories!

It was my wish to inform you that I will be putting the rest of the stories on hold for now.

I am currently tinkering with a bigger Arkain project that I wish to focus on for the time being.

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

4th December 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

while I am still tinkering on a bigger project, I would once again like to ask you for your votes.

As you might remember, a previous poll revealed very clearly how important the story of Arkain is for you.
This is of course something I am very proud of as the story and worldbuilding of Arkain has been what I
spent a lot of time on and greatly enjoy doing.
This time I would like to further specity this matter, however: Which way of storytelling do you prefer for Arkain?

The poll in question is about personal preferences when it comes to how certain events come to pass.
Would you rather have a more linear, "canon" experience - or shape it yourself?
Do you want to put the crown on the heads of people - or put those heads off their necks?
Or would you rather behold events unfold in front of you instead and see what the characters do without
the intervention of you, the "player"?

Let me know!

 

[Shar Dundred]

16th December 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

Christmas is coming soon once again - and just like last year, why not celebrate it as well as
the end of another year with a little (early) Christmas gift?

Unlike 2023 there has not been much Arkain content coming this year after the release of the
True Story of Arkain - at least as far as playable missions or anything like that was involved.

However... I believe it is time to change that. After ten years of the Legends of Arkain...
There is, shall we say, a legacy to the series.

Happy holidays everyone - have a great time with friends, family, games,
however you wish to spend the time.

See you all next year, for more content to come.

Regards,
Shar & Kasrkin

 

[Shar Dundred]

21st December 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

a couple of days have passed since the teaser trailer for Legacy of Arkain has been
released - and I would like to use this opportunity to say: Thank you.
The reception of that video has been overwhelmingly positive which was delightful to see.

Furthermore I believe it is time that I share some details regarding the project with you.

A certain poll has shown pretty clearly that a certain level of choice is something that you
enjoyed a lot. I also understand that it was one of the big factors of the original books even
if I still stand by saying that the True Story of Arkain is objectively generally superior.

Therefore I have decided that Legacy of Arkain shall go a path different from the True Story
of Arkain.
Who knows maybe there will be a True Legacy of Arkain one day? @Kasrkin would want me to make it one thousand missions...
Legacy of Arkain will feature the so-called "paths" - some of which have been shown in the teaser.
Yes you read that right, some, not all. All of you who have been panicking about a lack of
Amari (cough @Jayborino cough) do not need to worry in the slightest.
I don't intend to have one path per character however. Definitely not, no matter how much you want
a path where Gary somehow ends up winning in Arkain.

These paths in themselves are to be understood like the original books but smaller in scope.
Not as in one/two missions small but definitely smaller than the books with their 10ish chapters were.
The idea is that Legacy of Arkain starts with a "prelude path" of a few missions to start off the events,
followed by a decision which path you wish to go.
Like the books, the paths will feature different/alternative timelines; however there will also be overlapping
story elements and events such as the return of the Imperial Army - which will affect some factions more than
others or in a different way depending on your choice of path.
An example would be a certain event making Thanok make some... rash decisions in one path that make him
become ever more unhinged in the Path of the Dragon while said event never comes to occur in the Path
of the Bloodclaw.

Furthermore there will also be choices involved that go beyond choosing your path. That being said, there
will be differences between the paths regarding the scope and existence of this feature.

For those of you who are curious, I have included some of the paths in the hidden tab below - most of them were
in the teaser trailer but one or two you may not have seen there.

Some Paths SPOILER

Path of the Dragon
Path of the Circle
Path of the Watcher
Path of the Dark
Path of the Two
Path of the Flames
Path of the Guardian

Now, this time for real:
Happy holidays everyone - have a great time with friends, family, games,
however you wish to spend the time.

See you all next year, for more content to come.

Regards,
Shar & Kasrkin

 

[Shar Dundred]

25th January 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

I hope you had a great start into 2025!

Work on Legacy of Arkain is going well. Right now the tech trees are being looked at and edited.
Naturally several of the old factions of the True Story of Arkain are no more - others however are
eager to take their place such as the new Imperial forces, from the simple Infantryman to the powerful
Aetthrix units - a special group of units that form the Emperor's finest in this new age.
As time progresses I intend to publish character spotlights, either to introduce new characters or
to show what some characters have been up to in the time between the True Story of Arkain and the Legacy of Arkain.
Before reaching that point I intend to write more in regards of the story.
For those of you who don't follow the New Content Discussion thread, I have attached images I have shared there to this
newspost, showing a new model for Fiona van Durce (who will play a far more important role in Legacy of Arkain than before),
a model for Thanok - yes, he will be playable at long last - and a third character whose identity I will not reveal for the time being...
You may be able to guess who it is though!

Legacy Characters

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

29th January 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

work is still going well.

Today I want to show you a little sneak peak into what is yet to come - if you want to be spoilered that is.
What is lurking beneath the surface? And what surface am I even talking about?

Enjoy and feel free to discuss this sneak peak in the New Content Discussion!

Sneak Peak

 

[Shar Dundred]

4th February 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

work on the Prelude missions of Legacy of Arkain has begun.
These first missions will set up the stage for several large events.

The search for the Grail is coming to an end - or is it? What will be the consequences? And who will wield it? There are multiple interests connected to the chalice of High Lord Inquisitor van Durce, both righteous and otherwise.

The return of Aridon after twenty years of absence will be different from what many of you will expect. With the time of secrecy having come to an end and after a long time of inactivity, what will the Watcher of Arkain do? And what will his servitors do?

Meanwhile the drums of war can be heard in the south. A mighty Dominion surrounded by its enemies finds itself in conflict once again. But who in their right mind would challenge such a powerful nation, a multitude of races united under the Supreme Shadessia?

The Human nations however stand less united than the "savages" in the south. Relations are at an all time low. All it takes is one tiny spark to ignite the flames of war.

And what is stirring in the east?

Stay tuned to find out!

 

[Shar Dundred]

19th February 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

work is going well and I don't want to promise anything just yet, but I am optimistic that there will be something to look forward to this weekend - something... shining.
But watch your back... the trees move. Do you not see it?

 

[Shar Dundred]

22nd February 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

it has been a long time since I have last uploaded a map with new story content. Over a year in fact!
The absence of new Arkain content seems to have caused quite a ruckus on the world stage.
Today, my dear ladies and gentlemen, we take the first step to fix that.

Today, @Kasrkin and I proudly present to you:

The time of legends is over.
The time has come to forge your legacy upon the very face of this world.

Ladies and gentlemen, today we are releasing the first prelude mission of Legacy of Arkain.
I do not wish to spoil too much with this newspost but I will say that remembering yourself of the content of this post might
be a good way to spend your time while you are downloading the file.

As has been the case with all previous installments of Arkain, Legacy of Arkain is being developed in version 1.29.2.
I am still fully committed to staying on this version of WarCraft 3, it has been proven multiple times that not moving to
any newer versions was the only correct choice - which comes of no surprise.

You can find the very first public version of Legacy of Arkain here in Downloads.
Prepare yourself for a long adventure - and watch the trees.... They're whispering something... ominous.

Enjoy the new content and share your thoughts in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER]!

Special thanks to @Mr.Goblin for the fantastic ingame logo and to @Vinz for the excellent campaign logo!
Oh also, Praxeus has received a new model thanks to the outstanding work of @Rhapsodie - check it out ingame!

 

[Shar Dundred]

23rd February 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

a sincere thank you to all of you who have enjoyed the new content.

I was curious to read your thoughts on this map.
While RPG maps have been a part of Arkain from the very beginning, such a long example with this type of gameplay and even including a ton of optional character dialogue has been somewhat of a first for it.
The results speak for themselves!

Within less than a single day, the Legacy of Arkain demo has been downloaded close to one thousand times!
In spite of the long drought of playable Arkain content!

This is an amazing early milestone and the positive resonance has been great!
A special thanks also goes to those who participated in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER]!

Therefore I have been working on a small update.
It features not only some fixes like SOMEONE NOT DROPPING A CROWN, but also some new content.
While small in scale, I believe this fills in some gaps quite well while also encouraging some thoughts.

For those of you who are curious, I have uploaded a video with the new content on Youtube.
I will upload this patch laterish.

Enjoy!

 

[Shar Dundred]

23rd February 2025
"Two newposts in ONE DAY? What is this madness?!"
No madness, Gary you imaginary user, why are you even still here?

Anyway, ladies and gentlemen!
I have published an update to yesterday's release as mentioned earlier today.
This update includes a couple of fixes as well as the new content shown in the video.

Furthermore, I have decided that the time is right to pos a new Character Sheet.
I have renamed the existing Character and Faction sheets into Legends Character/Faction sheet respectively.
I am not going to remove or unpin them as they are still very relevant but the entries for characters who
are now in Legacy of Arkain are a bit outdated - by about 20 years.

I intend to add both existing and new characters to the new sheet as time progresses - with updated entries.
For now I have added the new characters Veln, Darkan, Calere and Nysara, you can expect more to be added over time.
You can read them here.

You can find the new version here in Downloads.

Enjoy & stay tuned for future updates!

Changelog

Prelude One:

• A second Tanara now properly disappears in the Epilogue cutscene
• Fixed the Crown of Kings not dropping because SOMEONE WAS A GREEDY, GREEDY MAN WHO DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE IT BEHIND
• Added Tanara and Tanara-related dialogues to the camp segment (Tanara appears as a hero in the camp to make it more obvious that she can be talked to)
• Fixed Calere's formation rank to stop her from going to the front
• Fixed Praxeus' selection priority
• Decreased Nysara's model size for her final scene
• Slightly adjusted the tooltip of Swansong to clarify that it is a channel ability
• Disabled Resurrection for this map

 

[Shar Dundred]

27th February 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

the Legacy Character Sheet has been greatly expanded today!
Many Humans, Elves and Dwarves of Arkain have been added to the list - you can find both edited old entries and
entirely new entries there.

Go check them out & enjoy!

 

[Shar Dundred]

5th March 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

despite being very busy in March, I intend to release the next chapter this month.
I will do so as early as conceivably possible but I cannot say when exactly this will be just yet.

The third prelude mission will definitely not be released this month.

However, I wanted to share two little sneak peaks that should give you an idea what you will
encounter in the next chapter.

An old friend reappears. Or well, whether or not you consider him a friend or not might depend on your opinion
of him. That being said, he intends to fix past errors - and he cannot wait to tell you what his plan entails.
Also, there is something hiding closeby... The trees.... Are they... whispering something? Or is that just burning buildings?

Sneak peak

 

[Shar Dundred]

8th March 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

work on the next chapter is going well.

Let me reintroduce an old friend to you... I am sure you cannot wait to meet that friend again and... to hear the whispers again...

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

10th March 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

the mountain calls for you. Will you succumb to its ice and inhabitants or will you master both?

After having searched for the grail in Salria following a disciple of the light, you shall be surrounded by the
chilling silence of the grave.

After twenty years of silence, the Watcher of Arkain returns and, after considerable thougt and deliberation,
the master of all that is undead has come to a conclusion. Aridon knows what must be done to save this world
from itself. No longer searching for balance but instead aiming to create a pure and innocent world.

You can find the new version here in Downloads.

Enjoy and share your thoughts in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER]!

 

[Shar Dundred]

18th March 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

I am glad to see that you all enjoyed the latest addition to the Legacy of Arkain!

It will be a while until I am able to work on the next prelude mission, but don't worry!
To keep you good company while you wait, the Dominion related characters have been added to the
Legacy Character Sheet!

Give them a read and share your thoughts in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER]!

A certain Goldaxe raider is missing from the list at the moment but do not worry, he will join the others with the next update!

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

28th March 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

the time has come to make some additions to the Legacy Character Sheet once more!

Not only have I added the Undead, no, the Humans and Orcs also have some new entries: Grand Admiral Zora Seawolf, Hortnog and Princess Ferina of Kerrel, formerly known as Princess Felicia. I have decided to change the name as it was originally made up for a not-serious map and has not been used THAT much (not at all in the campaigns themselves, only in a few short stories).
I don't think Felicia is a bad name, I just wanted to use a name I actually put effort into instead of a name invented for a joke map many many years ago. I will edit the short stories with her old name in the next couple of days.

Anyway, enjoy the new entries and share your thoughts in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER]!

 

[Shar Dundred]

1st April 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

we hope you are doing fine - and that you will endure this day without falling to too many April Fools' jokes.

In order to prepare you for this... perilous journey of a day, I believe it is only fair to also prepare you for what
is yet to come in the Prelude of Legacy of Arkain - by giving you a look at it.
No, this is not a joke. I am just feeling generous. Or maybe I just want you to suffer the anticipation while you have to wait - who knows?

Enjoy - and be invited to share your thoughts and speculations in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER]!

Stay tuned!

Sneak Peak Times Two

 

[Shar Dundred]

7th April 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

once again new characters have been added to the Legacy Character Sheet!

This time you will find the following additions:
For the Humans, the three children of Gardon and Vail - Garan, Hotar and Zurae - have been added along with the two children
of Larine and a certain Laura Greendale.
For the Demons the elusive Ebira, the dreadlords Erganoth and Vermon and finally the succubus Lisara have been added.
Finally in a new "Unaffiliated" section, Mr. Maronogin himself has decided to show himself.

Enjoy - and be invited to share your thoughts and speculations in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER]!

And rest assured, the next time I make a post here it will be related to the next prelude chapter that I know you are all waiting for.

 

[Shar Dundred]

20th April 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

work on the next prelude mission is going well.

I have added a little WIP screenshot below to show what you can brace yourselves for...
And, given what day it is today, I have decided to throw in a lil easter egg.

Happy Easter & stay tuned!

Spoiler: WIP

Spoiler: Easter Egg

 

[Shar Dundred]

25th April 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

the time has come for the next prelude mission to be released!

We are going back to Salria - not to Praxeus and his group, no, they are leaving, instead you
get to see old friends such as Vanessa and Grofzag again!

You can find the new version here in Downloads!

Enjoy!

Changelog

General:

• Fixed Parry description
• Decreased the Critical Strike chance of Calere's Lute from 20% to 15%

Prelude Two:

• Fixed the player color of the neutral Splecir Nexus
• Opened most gates
• Fixed the title of Character Knowledge 2