Welcome to our second news update and lesson on the land of Osfeld. Today we'll discuss the history of humankind from their beginnings on the continent to their social structures today, as well as a glimpse into the lives of one of the more secretive races of the land: the mole people known as Moldoon! But before we get into it, I'd like to take the opportunity to remind you about our Kickstarter campaign! If the world of Whalefall has caught your attention, please consider pledging or simply sharing our campaign page: https://cozygames.pub/ks-whalefall. Every little bit helps, and we can't do it without you!

Now, without further ado, I present to you our lesson of the day:

The entirety of human history can be summarized with one word: conflict. Every story one could tell, every legend passed on from ancient times, all involve a fight-whether for survival or for conquest. Having once lived in a faraway, now inhospitable land, the explorers who found their way to Osfeld are the beginning of all humans on the continent. As humanity progressed and their settlements grew, many different beliefs rose and fell, ultimately resulting in three classical cultures that define the current state of human society.

In the past, the faction known as the Iron Chain once dominated the continent, leading all humans as one empire. Through bloodstone-fueled military might, the King, and eventually Emperor of the Iron Chain, marched his forces across the lands, growing his influence through conquest. As the emperor grew older, he transferred his rule to his two sons. The eldest was given control over the Mountain territory, while the youngest was given the Plains. As all empires rise, they too must fall, and after 50 years of his rule, the emperor was mysteriously assassinated, his sons both accusing one another of vying for power. This sparked a civil war between the territories under their leadership, eventually splitting them into two factions. While no one knows the truth behind the conflict’s beginnings, the nations still stand divided.

The humans living in the Free States of the Skygazer Plains value freedom above all. They live in harmony with the bison that roam their lands, mirroring their demeanor: wild, strong, and free. Their strength lies in their connection with and domestication of the bison, and though they are passionate agricultural farmers and merchants, their temper burns bright, always ready to defend themselves. What they lack in raw strength, they make up for with guerilla tactics and strategic prowess.

The humans of the Stoneshield Mountains are gruff and unshaking. As descendents of the hardiest explorers who dared to venture into the harsh mountains, laying claim to the rich ores that lay within, their settlements are founded on duty, honor, and fortitude. And while their sarcastic, laconic demeanor may be off-putting, they are bound by their word, for their survival in their isolated communities depends on trust.

The story of Whalefall begins when Lucretia, Queen of the Stoneshield and would-be heir to the Iron Chain crown, makes a bold move to reclaim the glory of the past. In an attempt to rebuild the long-dead Iron Chain Empire, she commands her bloodstone engineers to build a cannon and shoot down a Skywhale. Her reckless actions and thirst for conquest will spread across the continent, plunging all of Osfeld into the chaos of their lasting conflict.

The humans know little about the Moldoon and their history, save for the fact that their community is secretive, lives underground, and is distrustful of surface dwellers. The squat, stocky, Mole People that make their home below the dirt live their lives in near complete darkness, the dim lighting they experience coming only from bioluminescent algae, fungi, and the like. This is no issue for them, however, as their specialized eyes, sensitive whiskers, and ability to feel vibrations in the ground grant them more powerful perception than a human in broad daylight. Since their eyes are so attuned to the dark, the sun is far too bright, and any adventurous Moldoon that visits the surface must wear protective tinted goggles to spare themselves the stress and pain of the star’s light. The harshness of the sun is so striking that long ago, their people even believed that the sun would kill them. Though they now know otherwise, they still prefer to stay below ground.

From ages of whales landing on the ground, their remains sink beneath the surface over time, creating large underground deposits of whalebones and bloodstone. While the highly coveted bloodstone is toxic to humans, fortunately for the Moldoon, they do not share the same vulnerability. This immunity allows them to freely harvest the resource, researching and utilizing it for their technological advancements. In the past, the Moldoon dug small tunnels by hand, but through their wit and craftsmanship, their cities have flourished into large cavern systems filled with expansive, lavish buildings. The moles of today are the most experienced bloodstone crafters in all of Osfeld. Their population has grown and spread far across the continent, but for the sake of protection, their actual numbers are a well-kept secret.

For generations, the Moldoon have been led by a single bloodline of monarchs; the current King Raycraft and the royal family have kept peace and order through their rigid rule. Little information is to be shared with outsiders, and though they hold a deep-seated distrust of the other races that inhabit Osfeld, their self-reliance has served them well for over 500 years. While they prefer to stay separate from the world above, that does not mean they are entirely shut off, however. While their borders remain closed to the outside world, the Kings have grown less hesitant toward humans over the years. They view them as the least detestable of the surface dwellers, and have slowly begun to open up carefully managed trade routes in order to acquire certain goods they could not otherwise come by. The humans in turn receive engineering products and high quality crafted goods from the moles. Young Moldoon are even granted Internship Rites: a chance to leave their home underground and visit the surface to take a job in the human lands, sending back their earnings to their families at home. Often, a young Moldoon may accompany a trading shipment, teaching the humans how to use the goods as part of their Internship. After a year has passed, they are expected to return home, though some occasionally choose to stay above ground and as such are never allowed back.

Though the Moldoon choose to avoid the surface and all its conflicts, they are not immune to the rumblings of the world above. There very well may come a time when they can no longer sit idly by...

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you in the next update!

I'm Yared, one of the Community Managers here at Whitethorn, and I'm so excited to finally get to share Whalefall with you all! I just wanted to give a quick introduction post where I'll talk about our campaign launch, as well as give the first of our Whalefall lore dives-the inspiration behind our Skywhales. If any of that sounds interesting, read on!

We've only just launched our store page alongside our Kickstarter[cozygames.pub], and I'm looking forward to what's to come in the future. If you haven't seen it yet, here is our Kickstarter launch video. We would really appreciate if you could consider pledging to our campaign!

We plan to roll out updates (both here, and on Kickstarter) over the course of the next few weeks with more information about the land of Osfeld. I'm talking deep dives into some of the ideas behind the setting, character profiles for some of the characters you'll meet, and details on the game's mechanics and systems. For now, let's take a quick look into the real-world inspiration behind the whales of Osfeld.


In our seas, when a large whale passes, there are two general outcomes. One, in shallower waters, scavengers may quickly pick apart the remains leaving little to nothing behind. Or two, the body sinks deep down to the dark seafloor. In this second instance, the cool temperatures greatly slow decomposition, and the whale's carcass provides a massive source of sustenance to deep-sea organisms, creating a complex localized ecosystem. Many of these ecosystems even support life for highly specialized species, evolutionary branches that can only survive under these specific conditions.

Much like the baleen whales of our world, the Skywhales of Osfeld are filter feeders. They subsist off the latent magic present in the continent's cloud layer, and the energy gained through this process courses through their circulatory system, granting them their ability to fly. When their lifecycle eventually comes to a close, their bodies gracefully fall to the ground, and the magic in their blood begins to coalesce as it cools. Ultimately, it crystalizes into a material known as bloodstone-a magically potent resource rich in natural processed energy. This then becomes the fuel for innovation in the world below. Technological wonders, powerful weapons, blessings from a goddess, or a scourge on the planet? The different peoples of the world hold differing views of the magic of the whales and their bloodstone ore, but one thing is for certain. The political and economic ecosystem that develops around a whale will be shaped by those who dare to fight for its power.

Thanks for checking out our page, and I'll see you in the next update!