The Aethra Chronicles
The Aethra Chronicles - Volume One: Celystra's Bane or The Aethra Chronicles (also known as Aethra for short) is an MS-DOS role-playing video game released as shareware in 1994. The game is based on the Rolemaster game system, a Pencil & Paper role playing game. It was written by Michael Lawrence.
| The Aethra Chronicles | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Designer(s) | Michael W. Lawrence |
| Programmer(s) | Michael W. Lawrence |
| Artist(s) | Philip Mann |
| Composer(s) | Matthew Mooney |
| Platform(s) | MS-DOS |
| Release | 1994 |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
The first volume of the game is split into three chapters: The Book of Prophecy, Gems of Power, and Demons Might. The Book of Prophecy was freely distributed. The other two chapters could be purchased through information in the first chapter. Two additional volumes were planned, but not created.
Plot
The small kingdom of Celystra was prosperous under its old king, "Korros the Wise". The prince, Lythare, has ascended to the throne and his wife has given birth to a child on his coronation day. However, two days later this newborn infant disappears, presumed kidnapped. Lythare blames the kingdom's Champion Knight-Paladin, as well as several members of the court for failing to protect the child, and imprisons them in the dungeon. The Champion's son, knowing that his father must not have deserved imprisonment, sets out on a quest to find the baby with his two companions.
Gameplay
The game is mostly played through a bird's eye view perspective where the camera is either showing the country scape, a town or a dungeon. Each version 'zooms in' closer to the ground and the resulting view shows more detail. For combat, the game uses a side view, that is dynamically constructed from the location the player's party was just before combat commenced.
The player is in control of the protagonist and two other characters and sets out to investigate the imprisonment of his or her father by the new King. Additional henchmen can be hired for a total of 6 controllable characters at the time.