Part 1: That's what it means to be a Geohound

Before we begin, I'd like to recommend that you watch these two videos rather than (or in addition to) reading this post, as the intro loses quite a bit without the animation and timing of the soundtrack. You can ctrl+F "Geohounds" to get to the end of this post. That said, screenshot verison follows.





The intro FMV opens with a sunrise.



The God of Light -



Illuminating the world.





An age of prosperity.



An age of unfortunate architecture.



An age about to come to an end.



The God of Darkness looms.



His armies march.



Destruction in their wake.



This was the Battle of Good and Evil.





At the climax of the struggle, the Gods themselves clashed.







The conflict left scars on the planet itself.



An eternal reminder.





Well, that was some serious stuff! But it happened long ago. Our story begins here:





We see some girls in strange uniforms conversing with others. This entire segment is done without dialogue or voice, these being replaced by musical cues included in the above track. This, in particular, is why I recommend the video over the screenshots.



They wave goodbye -



And walk away, talking amongst themselves.



SUDDENLY, ACTION BIRD



It startles the girls as it flies right below the bridge they're crossing.



Soon after, it disappears into the forest with whatever it was carrying.



At last, we join our protagonist, hanging from a rope.

Don't let me down... Skye.



Monsters rush out from the nearby forest...



...meeting up with others of their kind...



...right below him.



Suddenly, explosions in the distance!



The monsters run to investigate, leaving their leader alone.



The perfect time to strike!



Black out. Fade in.



Our spiky-haired friend takes some undoubtedly valuable item from the slain monster.



He has little time to congratulate himself, as spears come flying at him!



They're coming back!



He whistles for his feathered friend to come to his rescue.

Skye! Over here!



He then jumps off a cliff as the monsters catch up. Not to his doom and a game over, though. Those jokes are played out.



Skye catches him in time.



Turns out our protagonist's name is Ryudo! We've known this since the first text box, but I prefer to let the characters introduce eachother. Now, time for slapstick.

Quit your bellyachin' and fly, dammit!



WHOOOAAAHH!

MUSIC: Silence



I finished the job, didn't I?



Father! Don't be rude...

Don't bother. I'm used to it.





It's work. Not a barrel of laughs.

Well, well. You're growing up, Ryudo.

Ugh. If it weren't for work, I'd have nothing to do with that guy! But... business is business.



She was a fine looking girl, though.

I don't care for her, or the kindness of strangers.

We fade out as they walk on and rejoin them as Skye notices something.

What is it, Skye?



He flies to a nearby tree, to which someone appears to have tied a bandage. A touching sight.



Perhaps a small child saw its branch fall off and hoped to heal the tree's grievous wound?



Perhaps it thought the tree would appreciate the gesture and, come autumn, lower its branches and offer its fruit as a reward.

It's good to have work, right?





oh.

oh it's a message.

It says, "The Church of Granas wants to hire you as a bodyguard..."

So, working for Granas, huh... Now I REALLY don't want to do it.

A job's a job. Right?



That marks the last screenshot for this update, and the first mention of Geohounds - a funny word for mercenaries, but it makes the introduction to the game's world a little more memorable. This is also the first of what will be literally hundreds of PC Port Bugs, as if you watched the video you will have noticed that the texture on the message Ryudo is reading flickers like crazy. I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to do that.

Official Art: Ryudo & Skye

New Voice Credits: Cam Clarke (Ryudo), Paul Eiding (Skye), John Cygan (the rude client), Kim Mai Guest (the client's daughter)