The room in which Qiang Gāo came back to his senses in was barely holding its structural integrity. Nevertheless, the cracked windows meant no immediate danger thanks to the outer security bulkheads that had closed after the deflagration. Unfortunately the floor hatch, which was their way out, was undoubtedly disabled.
He quickly scanned the area for his teammates. Uma and ‘Jazz’ were regaining consciousness; Cadin, on the other hand, was already growling and crouching like a beast next to the wall of the only open door, and was about to hurtle through the opening.
On the other side, two figures took advantage of the shadows cast by the alarm lights to approach them through a maintenance corridor where some containers and cables lay scattered after the explosion.
“Hostile Shasvastii troops in evac route” Qiang whispered in the communicator.
Cadin needed nothing more to jump ahead, roaring!
That’s how I imagine the beginning of the narration of the events of Infinity Defiance - you know, the Dungeon Crawler we’re soon to publish through a Kickstarter campaign (really, if you didn’t know about that you should check Infinity Defiance’s website). This short story could have become notes for the artist, Keith Lowe (Instagram @keithloweart), to get inspired for the design of the set of tiles I’ve baptized as the “Human Interior 1”.
Nonetheless, it’s been just the opposite, I’ve created this text from your awesome submissions. These miscellaneous tiles can represent large areas, rooms, and corridors present in ships or facilities made by humans. The main challenge lies in being graphic enough to establish an ambience, but neutral enough to be useful in many different situations, and Keith has amply achieved this goal.
We have many large areas that can act as the facilities’ engine, storage, or cargo rooms, docking bays, or a command center. Smaller rooms for cabins, labs, communications, detention or recreation rooms, and corridors to link them all.
When ‘Jazz’ saw Cadin so carelessly go through the thick dark green bush, riddled with bulbous fruits, she knew she was the one to suffer it the most. Each of the colorful bulbs dispersed its acidic load, spraying them both. She clenched her jaw to avoid screaming while Cadin didn’t even flinch, The Taigha creatures had been hunting them for hours, and they were barely managing to be rid of them.
“We’ll need air support from the Stalker, but comms beyond our local network are impossible” Qiang urged.
Through the eyes of Billie, her trusty remote, ‘Jazz’ had just found the remains of an O-12 ship sunken in a quagmire, covered by thick lianas not on hundred meters away from them.
“I’m working on it” She instantly replied.
Before commissioning this project to Keith, we were considering exterior ambience and it quickly became clear in the studio that we wanted to see Paradiso, and even more, that you could make a mini jungle board for Infinity by putting all the tiles of that environment together. While for the Human Interior we designed each tile in a separate way that can fit any combination, this time we designed a great jungle sheet that we’ll divide in many multi-combinable tiles.
The Defiance is close to the point of no return, with impulse power at 100%, closing in on its destination. Its hull was distorted to the eye due to the effect of the Sorel field, which protected her from the titanic strain produced when entering Acheron - a subtle flash and then the void. The Defiance is now alone in enemy territory, on the other side of the infamous wormhole.
If you’re wondering if any of the tiles will represent some of that territory the Combined Army’s Evolved Intelligence lords over, I can only tell you that they will - but it’s not the time for that yet. Keep your eyes on the Kickstarter for new and revealing updates.
