Lore Deep Dive! Project Oni - Geography & Factions (Patreon)

The results of our Lore Deep Dive poll are in!

Please keep in mind that some details may change as we continue development and that this post will contain some spoilers! 

At the time of this writing, the overall world doesn’t have a name. However, you can see that we still have a lot of locations to cover. 

There are a few things to talk about first, so let's start with the game's races.

RACES 

There are a few primary races within the world. Most characters that will be encountered will fall into one of these. 

Humans 

Humans are a common and flexible group. They inhabit every region of the world but tend to be more common within the Acrux kingdom. The majority of them do not have any extraordinary powers but can pose a threat when they specialize in something. 

Geist 

Geist is an umbrella term for any being with either an abnormal appearance or abilities. Going forward, any "oni" is going to be called a Geist since they won't just be based on Japanese yokai.

It’s possible for a Geist to have an inhuman appearance but no abilities, and vice versa. Crossbreeding with humans is possible depending on the physiology of the Geist. Hisaki for example is a pure Geist with fire-based abilities, while Reila with the axe, has immense strength. Serena on the other hand has the abnormal cat ears but no abilities that we know of yet. 

Purified Spirits 

These spirits are seemingly detached from a mortal form. Not much is known about how they came into existence, but they appear to be otherworldly. They are highly sought after in some regions of the world due to an ancient craft of enchanting weapons with them. The human girl up above with the talking hammer is a concept of a purified spirit weapon.

FACTIONS 

Veloria’s Devoted 

This faction is deeply dedicated to the queen. They mostly reside within the Acrux Citadel, but you are sure to find some in other regions of the world. Her knights, civilians, and confidants all fall into this faction and will fight tooth and nail to defend Queen Veloria. Due to how the kingdom sees Geist as monsters, nearly all of Veloria’s Devoted are human. 

Zankoku’s Forces 

Zankoku is a powerful Geist that has taken over the continent of Nisshoku. Those aligned with him are usually horned Geist with a lust for power. Zankoku’s forces are known to be highly aggressive towards anyone who is not an ally. His forces are constantly attempting to claim more land for themselves.

Nisshoku Rebels 

The rebels of Nisshoku are stragglers that were left in the wake of Zankoku’s conquest. The vast majority of them are humans with nowhere to go. Though there is a rumor of a group of geists that are putting up a fight. 

Pirates 

This is the main anti faction. There are both human and geist pirates, most of which operate in their own individual groups and for their own gain. As expected, they have no alliance and each have their own reasons for taking up piracy. _ Any character that doesn’t fall into these groups is most likely a normal citizen of whatever location they may reside in. There’s one more major group involved but we can’t bring that to light until we have more details ironed out. All we can say is that they will play a major plot role later in the game! Now! Onto the continents and regions!   

Acrux Continent 

The Acrux continent is the largest landmass in the game world. This region is currently ruled by Queen Veloria, who’s monarchy has maintained power for several generations. The climate in the region is temperate with some tropical regions near the southern ocean. In general, the people of Acrux are highly religious. Queen Veloria herself is seen as a deity and has been known to perform miracles. Unfortunately, because of this, anyone with a link to the Geist is seen as an evil threat. Those with special abilities are persecuted and forced to find a way of life in the wastes, Nisshoku, or out at sea. 

Acrux Citadel 

This massive citadel rests at the heart of the Acrux Continent. Surrounded by water, it’s environment lends itself to its formidable defense. Queen Veloria’s castle is located here and the citadel’s bridges connect the major regions of Acrux. Its location makes it the largest trading port in the world. 

Tabu’s Orchard

Tabu’s place is located within the Acrux Continent and most of his business comes from the citadel. A bit further north of the orchard there are the ruins of an old dock. Ships rarely drop anchor there anymore, so anyone that does is probably up to no good. This dock was razed at the previous King’s command due to the rising threat up north in Nisshoku, and was previously the main way of trading between the two continents. 

Nisshoku 

Nisshoku was once the land where Geist originated from. Humans and Geist both inhabited the land and had a prosperous economy. Unfortunately, Zankoku staged a massive coup and murdered the previous ruler. With this action, his conquest began and he nearly eradicated all humans from the continent, along with any geist that dared to oppose him. Nowadays, the land is rife with conflict. Humans are struggling to survive and Geist are unable to escape to Acrux due to being persecuted there as well. 

Open Seas 

The open seas are an interesting place! We plan on using this region to implement crossovers with other developers as well as secret islands to explore. The player's home base island will most likely be located somewhere out at sea, but we have yet to decide it’s exact location. The mechanic for finding secret islands is still in the planning phase but will be added to our roadmap. 

The Wastes 

This is admittedly the least planned out place at the moment since it will come into play later in the game. We have some scattered ideas about this region and a few key plot points that will tie in. Most of this region will probably be composed of desert and mountainous terrain. Deep in the desert, there lays a massive pit in the earth, which is marked by the dark spot on the map. So that about covers it! There will probably be additional regions and sub-regions added as we continue to flesh out the story. For now, this encompasses the main world and what players can expect. We’ll be doing another one of these posts soon enough where we start to go into some characters! 

-Vanis & Doku