Wake in Whisperveil
Move across blockout islands, touch soul anchors, read lore, and test third-person movement.
Godot action-RPG prototype
Aethelgard
Death is not the end. It is the next layer down.
A dark fantasy action-RPG prototype where each death pushes the soul deeper through hostile layers above Hell. Touch anchors, spend posture carefully, burn enemies with Pyric magic, and decide how much risk your run can carry.
Engine
Godot 4.6.3
Current Build
Playable prototype
Demo Flow
Whisperveil to Burning Index
Next Big Need
Real art, SFX, deeper combat
The setting
Nine layers above Hell.
The current demo starts in Whisperveil, a pale first layer of floating islands, fog, wind bridges, and half-remembered records. The compressed prototype then drops into the Burning Index, a fire-lit bureaucratic hell where names, debts, and causes of death are catalogued like property.
The full game direction is larger: nine layers stacked above Hell, soul anchors, hidden tether pressure, multiple Aspects, and harsher consequences as the player is driven closer to the bottom.
Current playable route
Prototype demo loop
Cross the tear
Reach the exit rift or die once. Either path moves the run into the Burning Index demo layer.
Fight the Cataloguer
Use melee, Pyric Bolt, Pyric Wake, pickups, and posture management to clear the Warden gate.
Win or lose the soul
Force the Warden gate for the victory screen. Die in the Burning Index and the run reaches permadeath.
Implemented systems
Built enough to test the feel.
Posture Combat
Sprint, dodge, attacks, and spells all pull from posture, so panic has a cost.
Death Descent
The demo compresses the full layer descent into Whisperveil, Burning Index, and permadeath.
Soul Anchors
Checkpoint anchors save local run state, vitals, lore discoveries, and death count.
Pyric Aspect
Pyric Bolt gives ranged pressure. Pyric Wake leaves a burning field for area control.
Readable Testing
HUD prompts, lore panels, enemy HP labels, pickups, breadcrumbs, and victory/death screens are in.
Multiplayer Later
The networking file is only a scaffold right now. The current target is a clean solo prototype.
Layer preview
Layer 1 - Whisperveil
Pale fog, broken islands, wind bridges, memory fragments, and the first test of the run.
Closed beta
Get on the first tester list.
Aethelgard is still early. The closed beta list is for people who want to test rough builds, report bugs, and help shape the combat, layers, and death rules before the game is polished.
Playtest controls
Keyboard and mouse
WASDMove
SpaceJump
ShiftSprint
CtrlDodge
LMBLight attack
QHeavy attack
RMBOrbit camera
WheelZoom camera
1Pyric Bolt
2Pyric Wake
EInteract
EscRelease mouse / close lore