Fatherdale: The Guardians of Asgard is an intricate RPG/Adventure for the PC where the battle between the Gods and their eternal enemy unfolds in the true medieval world of AD 1072. As one of the few immortal Heroes who protect the ancient artifacts of knowledge, you take on the reins of a warlord in a secluded northern valley of Fatherdale just days before it becomes the Battlefield of Fate to experience a story-driven multi-genre gameplay focused around RPG, RTS and Adventure. With over hundred and fifty unique characters, thrice that much in hand-crafted inventory items, more than sixty locations in steppes, woods and swamps, on plains, river banks and even inside the wooden Keeps of the Guardians, you have a whole world to explore, protect and die for -- and seven full-fledged Episodes to play through a number of styles and genres before you face your real Enemy.

Part 1 of our interview with Sergei Klimov dates from april. So it's about time we bring you the next part of this interview. I've asked Sergei a few questions, one at the time, over the past weeks and here are his answers. As I haven't finished asking them, there will be more after this one.

RPGDot: Who will I be playing in the game and what is my goal?

Sergei: You play for Reinar, a mercenary. He's sharp, he's experienced and because of that sometimes he's a bit too ironic. He's coming from the western part of medieval Europe, from the larger cities and armies, and at first he can't help but make fun out of the small villages and local superstitions.

One of his friends -- Vsevolod, a prince of the small northern valley named Fatherdale -- sends him a call for help. The call sounds more desperate than the situation permits: the prince is young and in sorrow over the tragic loss of his father, the famous Guardian Warrior, and he is talking about gods and spirits, about falling Shadow and approaching Darkness, and about the family curse.

To Reinar, it sounds like a different person. Back when they have been tracking the paths of the nomad steppes together, the prince was full of ideas, full of energy, he was the charismatic young leader always there to explore, to take on, and to dare what was left unchallenged by his father. While Odin most certainly the god to consult with, and Veles and Peroon are out there watching over the common folk as well, they give power and make a man stronger -- while what is happening with the prince sounds like a mischief, like someone taking advantage of the young lad in sorrow.

With this in mind, Reinar starts his journey towards the valley, and we come to senses on the road to Kozelsk Gates in less than four days of travel to the western border of Fatherdale. Somehow the closer to the valley, the stranger it looks -- people see horrible omens, travelers are affraid to take the direct roads and the familiar gods that took good care of the folk are now silent. What sounded like a scary tale when he read Vsevolod's message in a tavern at Magdeburg starts to take shape as a nightmare, but Reinar hasn't spent years on the road and at the battlefield for nothing: let the locals believe in the anger of gods, Reinar knows that Odin is just and will not act like a cowardly evil. Let the locals gossip about the Dark Year and angry spirits, Reinar has seen the death up and close and every "spirit" must have at least a tooth with which to bite -- and as mighty as it is, this tooth won't stand against a sharp sword. The question is, who is behind this nightmare that breeds on the sorrow of prince?

Then, there's one more problem: the visions return. The visions of his own death, the hints of immortality, the whispers of knowledge hidden in his own head, and the mirage of the citadel on the shore of the biggest sea he has ever seen... They have been vivid in the days of his youth, and he fought them by exhausting his body in training, leaving no time for the dreams -- neither good nor bad. They went away after he killed his first enemy, but now -- as he draws near the valley -- they return, and return like a waterfall.

Reinar believes in the gods -- but not in the dark veil of magic. When Odin takes a fallen warrior to Valhalla, that's not magic -- that's a reward for the bravery. When Veles brings stray boars to a hunter, that's not magic -- that's a reward for the loyalty. Awake in the gray hour of dawn, with the shadows of visions of immortality slowly fading in his mind, he wonders if he is going mad or if he is really the chosen one -- chosen by the yet unknown god who will demand a separate price at the end of this journey.

As Reinar walks into the valley of Fatherdale, the two questions come together. He knows he will find his death there, that much he can feel. But every man is mortal. It is the good name that never fades, and his gods will help him face this challenge with honor.

RPGDot: No magic in Fatherdale, that's a novelty for a fantasy type of RPG. Why is that?

Sergei: We like magic worlds as much as other teams do, but I can't refrain from a little bit of critics here: over the last ten years, the magic kind of devaluated and quite a few RPGs now have standard fantasy scenarios just like the RTS crowd has those "three great alliances fight for the global domination" things. I respect Blizzard a lot in mane senses, but what they have done to the fantasy perception is not too far from a crime -- the popularization that they have undertaken brought about a great deal of simplification, and the "bloody fighters and breasty amazons" of Diablo are as much about character development as Tomb Raider is about the glorification of female heroes ;).

In its essence, magic is like love -- when you go to a play, or pick up a movie, the actors rarely start hugging and kissing from the first scene just to show us the love is there. Love and magic exist at the tips of the fingers, they are there, dancing in the shadows, and casting too much light on them might just as well burn the delicate flowers. Do I believe that we are not alone in the universe, for example? Yes, I do. But does it equal to the little green man on flying saucers who impregnate and torture casual observers? No, not really.

Fatherdale is back in XI century, when the world was much larger and the relationship between a single man and his environment was much stronger. To put it into a single phrase, I believe that the power of the spirit not burdened by hammering down the "accepted" dogmas of today was as powerful a survival tool as the quantum physics is today :). Odin, Peroon, Veles, Thor -- these are the gods who are here and close, the gods with whom we may converse, the gods who make mistakes, play jokes and can be challenged. Their magic does not account to walking on the water, their magic is in the bravery of the warriors, knowledge of the hunters and talent of the healers.

As a designer, my goal is to keep this magic as the very essence of the Fatherdale -- and the only way to achieve this is to reject the obvious fireballs, demon summons and lightning strikes. To converse with the mighty, you don't pin them down in a tavern -- you keep listening, and sometimes they just might answer.

The old man you encounter on the road could be the one-eyed Father Odin, roaming around to solve one of his many mortal riddles -- or he could be just the old man returning to his village, it all depends on how much you believe. There's no tips, no bold font indicating the magic at work, just the shadows and the possibilities. Dare to believe and risk facing the hard facts of the world deaf to chants -- dare not to, and run into a situation where pure logic fails. In Fatherdale, your belief has the power to change things... So there is magic in the game -- but it's a thin and delicate substance.

RPGDot: As there is no way to heal by magic, are there any healers in fatherdale?

There were healers of course in those days-- think "mother of a big family", if you couldn't heal your kids on your own you could very well end without any kids at all ;). And there were the special people who knew the herbs and potions (understood as a herbal brews, not as a "flask of bright magic liquid" :)), they were as much the doctors as the psychologists as a lot of what happened was on the power of persuasion. The more you believed, the better the effect.

In Fatherdale, there is a Healing skill. If you get hurt really bad, you transport the poor chap to the nearest talented healer and he gets the wounded back to life. after certain time, of course -- which is the only penalty there is, you don't have to dig for mushrooms or do any other boring errand quests to get your fix of medicine :-).

RPGDot: I understand there are several statistics that apply to a character. Can I influence them at the start of a new game?

Our characters have Health, Strength, Endurance, Intelligence and Dexterity which are the BAs (Basic Attributes) and in turn create the RAs (Regular Attributes) of which there is about a dozen (e.g.: Hearing Range, Speed of Movement) that often are affected by individual marks (e.g.: blind eye, stiff legs).

Then there are the skills, of course -- regular like Sword, Axe/Mace, Spear, Bow, Shield, Scout (which can enable special abilities like Battle Grace, Deafening Stroke or Sixth Sense (Sword), God's Hand and Golden Fingers (Bow) and so on) and unique skills like Heal or Repair (which require a Teacher to start their development).

Because you role-play for Reinar, you can not influence his stats or skills -- he has a personality, and personality goes a long way (as we all know :-). As you play, though, you are free to affect the character on issues like the believer/unbeliever, aggressive/intelligent and a few other scales which not only change your character's attitude, but also change those party members that fall under his influence.

To be continued....