Journey Quest
| Journey Quest by Lucid |
| 250px |
| Chapters 1-3 Chapters 4-5 |
Journey Quest (often referred to simply as Journey or JQ) was an epic quest by Lucid in a world of his own design. Journey's one of the better known quests due to a combination of drawing quality, gripping narrative, and the existence of a controversial antagonist that has tgchan split between two opposing forces of Fan Dumb.
On December 15, 2009, Journey Quest completed its 13th and final chapter.
But fret not, a comic is in the works!
More information on Lucid's world can be found here (not really).
Overview
Take control of Demesi of Angoldas and help guide him on his way through an unfamiliar world in his attempt to return home.
Characters
Player Chracters
Demesi of Angoldas
A young Nedynvor lad, who on his first solo trip away from his home island, awakes to find himself mysteriously at the bottom of a pit inside a cave. Completely out of his element, and not knowing anything about how the world outside his island works, he sets about exploring the tunnels, looking for a way home. Upon finding the cave to have been somehow sealed, he is left with no recourse but to venture further into the depths of the cave. A Kren merchant set up in the cave system informs him of a nearby Lohrke settlement. Demesi sets out to seek their aid to get himself back home.
Tav Unt'bel
Tav Unt'bel is a volunteer soldier in the city militia of the Lohrke city located in the cave system Demesi finds himself in. He has been waging a one man guerrilla war against an invading force in an attempt to buy time for the other inhabitants of the city to have made their escape through the the Evacuation Tunnel. He was originally the loader of a two man weapon team wielding a Shock Lance, however, his partner has since passed away in the line of duty. Tav has taken up their Shock Lance himself and now runs it as a one man army fighting against the invading Engsami forces.
Aggeia Snoow
Aggeia is a Jungle Lazuhrek Demesi encounters in a neighboring dungeon cell. She assists Tav and Demesi in escaping from the Engsami stronghold. She has been sent there by her superiors, the Hat'kal, for a mission, but is reluctant to carry it out, or inform her new comrades of what exactly it is. She possesses a silver tongue and is quite flexible and able to squeeze through many locations one would not expect her body to fit through. She loves the taste of fruit.
Binky
Binky is a Shocker Crab, a creature indigenous to the caves Demesi wakes up in, purchased from the Kren merchant via trade. Originally intended to simply be a tool used for some puzzles in the quest, the author found it difficult to actually come up with puzzles, and as such, created short "Crab quest" style chapters where the participants took control of this diminutive, shocking hero. Binky does not possess much brain meats, being a simple crab, but can launch bolts of electricity a short distance from his claws, and find his way into small locations.
Other Chracters
General Kyaos & Ga'nneda
General Kyaos is a winged type Engsami, and the leader in command of the invasion force raiding the Lohrke city. She rides on the back of her partner Ga'nneda, using his bulk as both a defensive tank, and powerful weapon. The two make a formidable team. Ga'nneda, usually fairly slow to react to things, being a large turtle type Leviathan Engsami, but with Kyaos directing him and providing an extra pair of eyes, he's a true monster, and his drive to protect Kyaos makes him almost unstoppable. Perhaps the link between the two is more than just a simple work relationship?
Admiral Denjold
The Admiral is the leader of the Denjold clan of Engsami. A ruthless band of land pirates who primarily deal in the slave trade. Kyaos is one of his top generals. He's more of a command from the rear leader, not due to lack of ability, or courage, more of "what are subordinates for?" mentality. Alternate names he is known by are "Scourge of the Sands," "The Great Dragon of the Desert," and others. He has lead his pirate clan to become the most feared Engsami in the desert, so much so, even the mighty Hat'kal empire fears the name "Denjold."
Plot Summary
Setting
Layridin setting
World
Races
Lohrke
Lohrke are a subterranean species of humanoid mammals closely resembling odd animate fungus. They begin their lives as immobile starfish-like decomposers. The parents of a newborn Lohrke place the young atop a compost pile of rotting animal and vegetable matter and keep watch over it to keep it safe as it develops. Over the course of a year, the young Lohrke develops a long stalk sprouting off the initial “foot” with a large bulb on the end, and lined with bioluminescent globes, as it develops its spine and skull. At this point the mother will slowly take over, breast feeding the young weaning it onto taking in food with its newly developed mouth. Over the course of another year, the young Lohrke’s stalk splits at the bottom into a pair of legs and a tail roughly ¾ the length of it’s body, as well as arms. The bottom of their feet and tail is lined with hundreds of tiny fibers that excrete a sticky mucous, allowing Lohrke to walk almost effortlessly along cavern walls and ceilings. When traversing walls or ceilings Lohrke drag their tail, making sure it is in constant contact with the surface they are walking on anchoring them. Lohrke eyes are developed for subterranean existence and as such, can see several feet ahead of them with little to no lighting, however, this vision is fairly simple, not really capable of making out specific details of certain things, thus, they frequently will light a cavern around them using their bioluminescent globes, located on their backs and shoulder/ collar region.
Lohrke society as a whole maintains a social taboo for going to the surface. Most believe that exposure to the sun will kill them; the idea of how this happens tends to vary from Lohrke to Lohrke. The effects of prolonged exposure to sunlight cause a Lohrke’s body to slowly burn. After about an hour, any part of their body exposed exhibits equivalent damage to very bad sunburn, within the next hour, that skin will begin to erupt in terrible blisters. Shortly there after, the blisters will rupture, exposing the lower layer of skin to the harsh sunlight. As this layer of flesh burns, it causes incredible pain to the victim leaving scaring similar to that of a burn victim.
As a species they have an affinity for SCIENCE. Depending on the region they are living in and the power sources that can be found in that region they tend to develop fantastical technological devices known to them as “Technomancy.” As an example, the cities that developed near underground lakes discovered an abundance of a crustacean known as “Shocker Crabs” which produce in their bodies a powerful electric charge. They harnessed this to develop electricity based devises. Another society that developed in a volcano developed a means to harness the heat from the earth to develop steam powered devices and using the chitin from a magma dwelling creature known as “Magma Divers” developed weapons, armor, and other such devices capable of withstanding the extreme heat of molten lava.
Lohrke society is run by a comity consisting of a mayor for each town and a council of his/ her most trusted advisors. Lohrke cities always include a section designated for outside visitors. Unlike the rest of the city, the buildings in these designated areas will be equipped with stairs or ladders, as Lohrke themselves have no need for such things, they are absent from standard structures.
The Lohrke worship Urn’kel, the God of the Depths. He is depicted as a large cloaked figure with a single eyed mask. One hand is visible as a large pincer. From the bottom of his cloak spews a swarm of either Shocker Crabs, Magma Divers, or similar creature, depending on the region. Urn’kel is said to have provided the vast tunnels of the depths for his chosen people, along with the bountiful creatures of the caves to be utilized by his people. He protects the Lohrke from the horrors of the surface world with his dark shroud, which ties in with the societal taboo the Lohrke have regarding the surface.
Nedynvor
Nedynvor are large avian humanoids that hail from the Island of the Great Sky Dragon. They are tall, long necked creatures with long, wide, wing-like arms that end in broad flat fingers. Males possess an extra finger in the form of a sharp claw-like index finger, they possess the same bones as a female, except rather than having two sets of phalanges in each finger, the male's have one set that breaks away to form the finger claw. Their tails are long and typically end in 3 or more prongs. Their tails also split along the prongs and spread out into a large tail wing. The male's tails possess colorful and intricate patterns across their plumage which is used for intimidation and to attract mates. Their legs end in sharp blade like extensions made up of a combination of bone and keratin. On the back of their head, Nedynvor possess an organ that collects additional oxygen supplying it to their brain, this allows them to function properly in areas with low oxygen content, such as very high altitudes. Their tongue is long and prehensile, extending several feet from their mouth at full maturity. At the end of the tongue a small, hard tip is capable of delivering a potent bio-electric shock, used for stunning food. Atop their head is a surprisingly hard plate of keratin that protects their cranium.
Nedynvor are insectivores, primarily dining on large insects, grubs, and worms collected with their long tongues. Nedynvor society revolves around their island, which is actually a very large living creature. The Great Sky Dragon, as it is known, relentlessly soars through the skies only landing in the ocean once a year, for the span of one month, to feed and rest. During this time the island is swarmed by Kren merchants seeking to acquire exotic Nedynvor wares, and sell their own to the inhabitants. The Nedynvor maintain the Great Sky Dragon; plucking parasitic insects, keeping order on the land located on its back, and even casting their dead into feeding pits. Nedynvor don't really actively worship any given deity. His kind acknowledge the “Great Dragon” (the flying island) and refer to it much in the same way as other races would acknowledge their own God(s). When a Nedynvor dies on the island, their body is prepared, and then a procession takes them to a “Feeding Pit,” which is actually a secondary mouth for the Great Dragon, in a ritual symbolizing the Nedynvor being returned from whence they came.
Lazuhrek
- river, jungle, mountain
Engsami
- winged, standard, leviathan
Kren
Ploverlor
Hat'kal
Tomias
Human
Trivia
- Due to their similar art styles and setting many Anons belived (some still do) that Deep and Journey Quest were somehow related
- Kyaos and Aggeia are available characters to play against (with Aggeia having two different sessions to play) in the tgChan Strip Poker project
- A nedynvor has appeared in Knight Blades, the Death Row Inmate Footsies. Speculation continues on shared universes.
