ch. 2 released apr 10
mobile navigationthis blog is 18+
04.02.22 beta edits done
10.01.21 ch. 1 released
09.12.21 LI portraits done
Eye of the Moon
—an interactive fiction game by ate maarteRecovering from the consequences of a divine war, the pantheon of Kaluwalhatian adjusts to the shared rule of Mayari, the peacekeeping goddess of the moon, and Apolaki, the trailblazing god of the sun.
As the deity of lost things, you occupy yourself with discovery and exploration, using your gifts to guide the mortals that pray to you and to find forgotten treasures. But when the truce between the rulers of Kaluwalhatian begins to splinter, deity and mortal alike call on you to restore the balance.
Will you make your greatest discovery yet, or will you succumb to the forces threatening to tear the heavens apart?
Update status: Ch. 2 released on April 10, 2022
Word count: 38.9k
Features:
- an immersive world exploring the Philippines and its rich indigenous mythologies
- in depth character customization including appearance and personality. gender and sexuality are up to you!
- romances that are integral to the story, with two bisexual love interests and a poly route
- choices that influence the story and your relationships that lead to multiple possible endings
Rating: M (please note that the game blog is also 18+)
Play the game, join the Discord server (21+), and support me on Ko-fi here!
Eye of the Moon is set in Kaluwalhatian, the realm of the deities in Filipino mythology. As the deity of lost things you will travel all over the heavens, exploring the Philippines’ most majestic landscapes and visiting the mortals on earth when your adventures require.
The story is immersed in pre-colonial Filipino culture and history; it purposefully sheds Western concepts around gender, sexuality, and religion.
Within the game, you’ll set your pronouns and choose your love interest(s) but gender and sexuality are completely up to your headcanon! You’ll also be able to customize your Moonfinder’s appearance and personality.
There are three main personality archetypes in Eye of the Moon; these affect the Moonfinder’s overall demeanor.
Blue: charitable and sympathetic
Purple: playful and mischievous
Red: aloof and exacting
There are also two other variable traits. These have more to do with how the Moonfinder handles social situations and conflict resolution.
Proactive/reactive
Diplomat/fighter
The proactive/reactive trait also affects how the Moonfinder approaches romance.
Please note, the Moonfinder is not a blank slate MC!
Eye of the Moon features two love interests: Tala, goddess of the stars and navigation and Dumakulem, god of the mountains and hunting. You can pursue them individually or simultaneously through the poly route!
Tala pierces stars through the night sky, turning them into brilliant jewels that guide mortals through the dark. It is said that every time a new deity is born, Tala creates a new constellation in the ocean above to welcome them to Kaluwalhatian. Mortals worship her because without the stars as their map they would be lost in the seas.
Duma resides in the mountains on earth, teaching and protecting the mortals within his domain. He is one of the most revered amongst the pantheon because of his reputation as a provider: of sustenance, of guidance, of endurance. Whether hunters are still learning to notch their bows or are tracking down the most elusive of prey, Duma is the recipient of their prayers.
Find all the important links here!
New Chapter Released!
Hello again! Hope your winter has gone well ❄️
With the public release of this new chapter we’re setting up the Crown’s daily routine as a monarch, while romance and courtly intrigue continue to build:
- Diverging paths depending on your love interest, including scenes from your main LIs point of view! R and A accompany the Crown, but what are D and X up to in the meantime?
- While the Crown becomes used to ruling, each LI experiences a shocking revelation in their main route, one that will cascade into future chapters
- The Crown continues to grow and learn, being tutored in various subjects to increase their knowledge
- Tutoring is not merely in theory: the Crown enjoys physical training, as well. Choose your favorite weapon and shape future fight scenes!
- The Imperial Court is finally taking shape. Choose certain positions, receive political proposals, even form an alliance, if you have the points…
A few additional changes made to the game overall:
- The codex page for the Crescent Blades has been added, including character art! It should be unlocked for all saves that are past Chapter 1
- Changed various lore related names, mainly the ones referring to the Major Spirits, in order to better reference the Zoroastrian inspirations that Arsur’s religion is based on
- Darkened the background color further to be friendlier on the eyes. Some day, I’ll add a proper dark mode, but that day is not today haha
- Edited the Arsurian Calendar to match with the new background color, and also corrected the start and end dates of the months!
Thank you for all your patience and support, I hope you enjoy the new chapter with the nearing end of this winter 💖
For those that are unfamiliar with the game
A Tale of Crowns is a high fantasy romance story, told in the form of a text-based interactive novel with choice mechanics. The setting is inspired by Kurdish culture as well as other historical settings in the Middle East such as Ancient Persia, but it also draws heavily from other cultures and countries in the region.
Your character is native to Arsur, a vast empire overseen by a single ruler known as the Crown. Unlike traditional monarchies, however, the title is not inherited through blood. Whenever the Crown dies, their famed golden eyes pass on to the one chosen by the Spirits of this world to be the new Crown. In this story, your MC takes on that role.
There are four different love interests to choose from, whose genders will be customized to suit the preferences of your Crown. You can find more info about them on the blog page!
Also note that this current version of the game is safe for those 16 years and older.
Like the premise so far? Play it and give it a try! The entire game is free!
If you enjoyed the game, please reblog! Share it with your friends! Recognition and reader interaction is just about the only thing I get in return for creating it ❤️
Hi! First of all, i must say, love eye of the moon! I started last week or something and i am hooked! This being said, i'd like to know (if thats possible, of course, no pressure) if you have an even slightly idea when you'll be posting chapter 3. Anyways, thank you for this story thats has wormed it's way into my heart. Hope you're doing well <3
i’m glad you’re enjoying the game!
and to be honest, i’m not sure. real life is sucking up all my energy/time/creativity right now unfortunately 😔 i think if i can get an update out in the first half of the year that would be great but i’m also not going to burn myself out to hit a deadline i created myself.
thanks so much for the kind words! i’ll be back soon 💗
progress update: december 1, 2022
happy december everyone!
you know, i’ve never understood why nanowrimo happens during arguably the most depressing month of the year. shout out and congrats to everyone who can write a whole novel in november because i simply could not do it.
i mentioned last progress update that i started a new job and that i was anticipating the workload easing in early/mid november. it did, but then life hit me with a wrecking ball 😵💫 i’m just now starting to get back to my draft again. i really, really appreciate everyone’s kind words and patience with me. thank you so so much for your support. i promise i have every intent to update asap!
allow me to leave y’all with a lil snippet 😘
progress update: october 24, 2022
happy filipino american history month y’all! 🇵🇭 i can’t believe it’s already been over a year since i first published eye of the moon. it has been a fulfilling, creative journey putting this story together and i appreciate y’all for sticking with me through the process! i know i’ve been a little quiet the past few weeks but i’m back with some updates 💜
- good news: i finally got a new job! i’m really excited about my new role as i get to develop my career in cultural arts and be in inspired community with other creatives. bad news: i’m SO BUSY 😫 it’s a fulltime job instead of flexible freelance like i was working before. the next three weeks are a huge push for me at work, but i am finally adjusting to the transition and able to carve out time for writing
- with that being said, the draft is currently at 8k words—a little over 25% of my forecasted word count. the adventure is truly adventuring now! we’ve got more fight scenes, new enemies, and of course: birds, boats, and bisexuals
- even when i’m not actively writing the story itself is sitting in Narrative Marinade so i’ve been doing a lot of research (i’ve learned so much about volcanoes and earthquakes recently) and am considering what supernatural species i want to incorporate in the story. filipino readers, feel free to send me any folktales or lore that you think is super compelling! i might just get some inspiration that makes it into the game 👀
hope y’all have a good rest of the week! 💋
Congrats on the job!
For the supernatural creatures, I recommend watching Trese on Netflix since it features a lot of them. Otherwise, there is "Shake, Rattle & Roll." Iirc the movies feature the mga mananangal, aswang, and nonos. Both movies are very appropriate for halloween hehe
thank you nonny!! 🥰
i’ve watched trese! i really enjoyed it; though it definitely suffered from being way too short of a season. hopefully it gets renewed
i’ll look into shake, rattle & roll 🖤 i appreciate the rec!
Congrats on the new job!
As for supernatural beings, i know the diwata, sirena, engkanto, duwende, nuno, kapre, tikbalang and the many variants of aswang.
No need to include all of them; i'm just throwing them out to see if there is any of them that tickles your fancy.
thank you! 😊
the sirena def have my attention 👀 i’ll read up more on the tikbalang, they seem to have a lot of potential to play with!
Congrats on your new work!!!
thank you anon!! it was a long job search but it paid off 💪🏽
congrats on the job! you asked about supernatural creatures, and the only one my (filipino) dad ever told me about is the aswang. whenever i mention i read or watched something with filipino myths or supernatural creatures the first thing he asks is always “is there aswang?” 🙈 so by no means feel like you have to include it but i would personally love even a little shout out to them 😊 thank you for all your hard work!
thank you so much!! 💗
and yes, aswang are in eotm! they play a pretty major role but haven’t made an “onscreen” appearance yet. that time is coming 🤭
progress update: october 24, 2022
happy filipino american history month y’all! 🇵🇭 i can’t believe it’s already been over a year since i first published eye of the moon. it has been a fulfilling, creative journey putting this story together and i appreciate y’all for sticking with me through the process! i know i’ve been a little quiet the past few weeks but i’m back with some updates 💜
- good news: i finally got a new job! i’m really excited about my new role as i get to develop my career in cultural arts and be in inspired community with other creatives. bad news: i’m SO BUSY 😫 it’s a fulltime job instead of flexible freelance like i was working before. the next three weeks are a huge push for me at work, but i am finally adjusting to the transition and able to carve out time for writing
- with that being said, the draft is currently at 8k words—a little over 25% of my forecasted word count. the adventure is truly adventuring now! we’ve got more fight scenes, new enemies, and of course: birds, boats, and bisexuals
- even when i’m not actively writing the story itself is sitting in Narrative Marinade so i’ve been doing a lot of research (i’ve learned so much about volcanoes and earthquakes recently) and am considering what supernatural species i want to incorporate in the story. filipino readers, feel free to send me any folktales or lore that you think is super compelling! i might just get some inspiration that makes it into the game 👀
hope y’all have a good rest of the week! 💋
Hi Ate! I hope you don't mind me bringing this up, and you don't have to answer this either way, but—50 years na ang nakaraan mula unang idineklara ni Marcos ang Martial Law sa Pilipinas. Kamusta ka? How are we feeling?
Ever since the results of the 2022 elections were announced, galit na galit at takot na takot ako para sa mga kapwa nating Pilipinong nakatira sa Pilipinas, lalo na kung iisipin ko nandon ang karamihan ng kaibigan at kamag-anak ko. And I can't even begin to imagine kung anong pinagdadaanan ngayon ng mga biktima ng panunupil ng rehime ni Marcos at ng mga pamilya nila. There's just no words that can fully encompass this heavy-heartedness.
I've been playing your game periodically these past few months to cope, so I wanted to thank you for that as well! I just hope that you and any other Filipino who might be reading this are also doing what you can to survive in this period of struggle, regardless of how much it directly impacts you. And despite everything, patuloy ang pakikibaka laban sa tiranya, and I think from here on out lalakas lang ng lalakas ang pagtindig ng sambayanang Pilipino 🇵🇭❤️
it really lightens my heart that you play eye of the moon to help soothe. that’s really what it is for me too, a way to just appreciate and imagine our culture and history and geography without the real life consequences of spanish colonization and us imperialism. admittedly my writing process for eotm is slow because while i’m researching and creating, i’m unpacking a lot of these feelings too and intently considering what i want to say and how i want it to manifest and resonate with the contemporary audiences engaging with the work.
heavy-heartedness is definitely the right word to describe my sentiments towards the election results as well. it seems like every time i see the marcos’ name i discover some sort of new historic atrocity. i have relatives in the philippines that were speaking up about how the marcoses stole fishing land from our family and then when they were done completely ruining it they just abandoned it completely.
though despair weighs heavily in our hearts, so can our solidarity and our will. i think ma'am leni said it best:
