Quest Failed: Chapter Two - Dev Log #32

Hi there, guys! How are we all doing? We're about mid-way through December now and the weather's only getting colder, so I hope you're all keeping warm!

For today's dev log, I've decided to mix things up a little and focus on a location you can visit in the game--rather than the character that may reside there themselves. Partly to preserve the mystery, but mostly to showcase some of the amazing work that's been going into the background assets, as I'm really amazed at how well they've been turning out. There's plenty of colourful, detailed locations for you to explore and I feel it really adds to the story to have so many new places illustrated--as I was really constrained with the budget in Chapter One to the point where I had to recycle the same few backgrounds endlessly, which really took from the experience I think.

So, we're going to be looking at this library, long since abandoned and forgotten to time, nestled deep in the heart of Rhan's academic district. Once an esteemed place to study and further one's knowledge for budding scholars, it's now sadly a relic of a bygone age, abruptly closing its doors when a horrible tragedy befell a young student there, resulting in their untimely demise.

The details of their death are fairly gruesome if one might research the case file--though to make a long, horrific story short, the gist of it was that one of the library's many, towering, heavy bookcases came toppling down onto someone for reasons unknown. It took many people to lift the bookcase. And what they found underneath...wasn't for the faint of heart. It was officially ruled as an accident, though the owner of the library took the series of events very hard, racked with guilt by what had transpired and blaming himself for not ensuring the bookcase had been properly secured. He fell into a downward spiral of depression, numbing the pain as best he could with bottles upon bottles of wine until finally he couldn't take the burden of it all any longer and ended his own life.

The library never officially opened its doors again after that.

Given the grisly history, rumours slowly began to surface that this particular library was haunted, with many who dared to venture the dark, dusty halls reporting strange activity; odd scratching noises, things suddenly toppling over, strange shadows shuffling from view the moment someone might catch them from the corner of their eye, and some have even sworn they can hear quiet sobbing if they listen hard enough. Some surmise that the spirit of the student still roams the halls, looking to pass to the other side. Or perhaps it was the ghost of the library's old owner, still looking for forgiveness? The theories are endless, each one more far-fetched than the last.

Is the library really haunted? Or are peoples imaginations running wild here, and something else is afoot? There's been a quest listing pinned to the quest board for quite some time, imploring someone to investigate and put a rest to this mystery--but the paranormal rumours have spiralled out of control, scaring even the bravest adventurers from wanting to set foot inside. And the ones that might muster up the courage to do so, soon find themselves fleeing the moment something seems awry. One thing is certain, though--there sure are a lot of cobwebs around...

It's clearly up to one fearless adventurer-to-be to put an end to this hysteria once and for all! Probably.