Asterwyn / Read Me First / The World Grows
Published · ready for playtestA school worth lingering in. Small lives beside the paths. A proper home for the Battle of Self. Pick one short route and bring back the moment that matters.
01 / Mercy Square
Find the Hall of Reflection in Mercy Square, or choose its public foyer with the Tester’s Compass. The lobby is open to everyone. Its fitted inner door checks whether your character has enough XP for the next level.
Not ready yet? A clear refusal is a useful check. Your XP, level and possessions stay intact. An already-open door must not authorise a second unready visitor.
Ordinary levels use instruction. Advancing into 3, 6, 9 and every third level requires the Battle of Self. There is no separate current-level catch-up challenge.
Cancelling the level screen should preserve unused permission. For a reflection, inspect your returned gear before accepting the new level.
| Current → next | What Caelen requires |
|---|---|
| 1 → 2 | Ordinary instruction |
| 2 → 3 | Required reflection · first milestone |
| 5 → 6 | Required reflection · second milestone |
| 8 → 9 | Required reflection · third milestone |
The academy still teaches its students. Garran remains its practical tutor; Caelen owns player advancement here in Mercy. A character merely already holding level 3 or 6 is not invited to repeat that milestone.
Use clearly named disposable test characters. Record each current level and XP, then use the normal DM XP grant to top up only the amount needed for its next level. Use separate legally progressed characters for the 2→3, 5→6 and 8→9 checks; there is no need to reset an established character.
For the door boundary, try one XP short first, then grant the final point. Ordinary instruction can be checked on a level-1 character ready for level 2. Do not reduce or reset XP, alter a live character's level, or use the retired catch-up route to manufacture a result. Record which rows were actually tried; the others remain untested.
Record worn items, gold and XP. Leave room to unequip possessions and let active effects expire. After victory, compare original equipment and check the earned permission. If you naturally lose, let recovery finish and compare the same record; nobody needs to fail deliberately. If a recovery receipt holds the process, report its text and stop trading items.
02 / Starshine Academy
Compass → Magic, gardens and school → Academy – Outer Gardens. Enter through the tower door. Choose two or three rooms rather than auditing every corner.
The rotunda has shared seating; the classroom has reference storage; the library has a working catalogue; the laboratory has benches, books and properly seated scales.
Visit a bedchamber and kitchen, a recovery bay, or the female elder elf High Mage’s office and observatory. Check the arrangement, tabletop contact and useful light—not just the object count.
Edric Vale and Tessa Rowan practise outside from 08:00–20:00. Garran and the eight adult resident students join at 11:00–12:00 and 15:00–16:00. Watch a circuit and measured Magic Missile practice. The main avenue remains passable.
These are adult students. The existing twenty roaming children keep their homes, voices and family schedules. Outdoor practice must not target visitors or award resources. The separate indoor lethal demonstration and cleric Resurrection continue as before.
03 / Mercy Square or the Enchanted Garden
Spend one or two minutes in Mercy for hounds, ravens and hens, or the Enchanted Garden for deer, ravens and a badger. Small populations arrive gradually while a player is present, then walk, pause and sometimes run along nearby routes.
Most day animals rest from 20:00–06:00; badgers and rats favour the night. Resting is not a failed movement test. The new animals are protected scenery, separate from existing huntable wildlife.
Record a wildlife moment →Native rain and occasional lightning are possible outdoors, with modest regional variation. Weather must be enabled in the client. No storm is promised for a particular visit.
If rain arrives, compare outdoors with a sheltered interior. If it stays clear, leave the case untested and note “weather not observed.” Clear skies alone are not a bug; there is no reason to wait for a storm.
Record observed weather →04 / People you meet
Speak to one familiar town NPC and one academy resident. Choose a few topics. Listen to an ambient exchange if it happens nearby. Text stays visible; it should agree with the voice and speaker.
Tell us the NPC’s name, the first few words, and whether the line was pleasing, silent, clipped, mismatched or repeated too often. Check that other game sounds work before reporting silence. You do not need to listen to the entire population.
The matching voice assets passed strict packaging and are included in this published release; listening and character acceptance remain player checks.
Bring back one useful moment
Area and room, NPC or species, and game hour. For advancement, add current level, XP and the next level.
What you tried and what you saw or heard. A screenshot or short clip helps with layout, timing and sound.
Report only the steps you tried. Existing results and reports stay recorded; a new release does not turn untested crafting into a pass.
The existing crafting route remains available →
The academy pictures come from the staged native model geometry and textures rendered offline. They do not show engine particles, NPC motion, client camera behaviour or final light and sound. Native server checks cover selected mechanics separately; neither is a human playtest.
Publication is recorded only after the deployment receipt matches the current module pointer. The new guide never clears tester accounts, reports or prior outcomes.