The Aethra Chronicles: Volume One - Celystra's Bane

The small kingdom of Celystra was prosperous under it's old king, "Korros the Wise". The prince, Lythare has ascended to the throne and his wife given birth to a child on his coronation day. However two days later this newborn infant disappeared, presumed kidnapped. Lythare blames the kingdom's Champion Knight-Paladin, as well as several members of the court for failing to protect the child, and imprisons them in the dungeon. The Champion's son, knowing that his father must not have deserved imprisonment sets out on a quest to find the baby with his two companions. However not much is known of the fate of the child, so perhaps other quests and objectives will need to be accomplished first.

The Aethra Chronicles: Volume One: Celystra's Bane is a shareware medieval rpg in the tradition of SSI's classic Dungeons & Dragons licensed Gold Box RPGs. Taking it's inspiration from that, the game uses a similar system based on die rolls against stats/skill combinations. Players begin by creating 3 characters, choosing their class and stats in various stats such as Strength, Agility, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Presence, Memory and Reason. The player then assigns skill proficiencies in a variety of abilities dependant on those stats (such as Spell Lists, Pick Lock, Woods Lore, etc.). Combat between characters and monsters is turn-based and the player can recruit an additional 3 characters for a total of 6. As with most shareware games, the first episode ("The Book of Prophecy") can be freely distributed, with the other two ("Gems of Power" & "Demon's Might") available only to registered users.