Hey everyone,
We often get requests for some more material to dive into the Endless Universe outside of the games. Something to keep immersing oneself into the lives of heroes and villains, as a hero holding a standard or a fly on the wall... So we listened and thought real hard about vignettes that could capture the spirit of each civilization in Endless Space 2. Comics seemed a great material to convey an atmosphere, and we hope you like these. In this sixth installment in our series, set aboard a Vodyani Ark, justice is meted out.
Steve, our resident physics teacher-cum-writer, gives you a hint of things to come:
The challenge for all our Endless Space 2 Stories comics series is to create self-contained tales that appeal to both readers who are familiar with the universe and those fresh to the scene. In the case of the Vodyani, a brand new faction to the Endless Space universe, this imperative is an especially difficult high-wire act, since the Vodyani play a key role in the wider story of the galaxy.
As revealed in the Vodyani's intro trailer, the race's fortunes were transformed by the discovery of Virtual Endless artifacts, saving them from ecological collapse and galactic irrelevance. Enrobing themselves in the Virtuals' Holy Cloth, the Vodyani buried their mortal forms within the suits, and formed the Church of the Virtual Saints--a religious-oriented government that elevated the Virtual Endless to an exemplary ideal. These fanatical beliefs, as well as unifying the society, gave the Vodyani the justification to enslave lesser races in pursuit of their goals. Their leader, Isyander St Shaiad, however, became increasingly troubled by the worship of the Virtuals. Who was this dead race the Vodyani emulated? How had they secured their power? Was survival enough to warrant others' enslavement? By the time Endless Space 2 begins, all we know is that Isyander has become a Heretic in Vodyani eyes, and has escaped to found the mysterious Academy.
In short, a lot of backstory! For the comic then, we decided to focus on the critical moments that underpinned Isyander's transformation from Vodyani leader to exiled Academy founder. For lore experts, they would have a key part of the Academy backstory filled-in, while for new blood they would get a cool little redemptive tale about a fallen leader, imprisoned by his own sister. Enjoy!
The Cravers comic opens our second series. We hope you liked it! If you have any questions or comments, you can shoot them in this thread at Arkel, who leads the project. And if you want to learn more about our comics, you can rewatch our comics livestream on Youtube!
