Gladiatrix III Has Been Released!

The day I have long awaited for has finally arrived! I have posted the completed version of Gladiatrix III to the vault. This is the final chapter of the Gladiatrix trilogy. Now we are simply at the mercy of the vault managers on how quickly they authorize the submission. So keep an eye out for it on NWN Vault. This is easily the biggest project I've ever tackled in my life, so I'm breathing a huge sigh of relief!

Beta testers, if you want to see what additions have been added since the beta release just check the beta blog. I'll be posting there about what extras I've added. 

Thanks to all for sticking with me and being so patient. It really means a lot to me that so many of you stood by and watched this build slowly from the ground up. I hope you enjoy it!

New survey added:

I also added a new survey to the right just to get an idea of the male/female player demographic of those who play this series.

Beta Test Signup

Thanks to Can Ozcelik for putting this image together!

Sierra in her red dragon armor and katana. Nice photoshop edit from a fan!

A long overdue reunion.

I'm now taking requests for beta testers. If you are interested you can send an email to fallyn_rayne(at)hotmail.com and let me know that you'd like to beta test. Replace (at) with @

I'll reply to your email when the beta is ready to download. It will be several days since I still have to finish my own testing but hopefully not more than a week. I'll make an announcement here when it has been posted, so you don't have to worry if you somehow missed the email. I had a blast interacting with the beta testers on G2 and everyone was so helpful. I'm really looking forward to it! 

Gladiatrix III - Week 47 Update

The war of the realms is upon us. Members of the Shroud must break off into separate fighting units for the campaign. Sierra must pick the force that she will lead. Will she choose the towering treants from the Crystaline glade, the elite Valtrescan archers, the mighty Dakari warriors or the illustrious wizards of Sylvandaryn? The fate of all the lands is in her hands.

Gladiatrix III - Week 46 Update

For those who demand more sexy, well here she is! Meet the Handmaiden of Lolth. Isn't she lovely with her many all-seeing eyes? Matron SinDreeza has ordered the Devir household to the temple in a ritual to summon Lolth's handmaiden. She comes forth, but she is royally pissed about being disturbed in her infernal realm. The handmaiden relents and indulges the matron by telling her that the rival house is not in favor with Lolth but is making strides to appease her. The handmaiden also warns SinDreeza that the slightest misstep could spell doom for her own house. She also warns SinDreeza that if she disturbs her again it would be at her peril.   

This screenshot is backtracking a little. I've actually completed the Everdark chapter of the module. I didn't really have a good shot to use with what I'm currently working on without giving too many spoilers away. 

Gladiatrix III - Week 45 Update

A raven has delivered a letter to Sierra. The message claims to be from Kristaly Windsong, a friend that has been missing for some time now. The note says to go to a remote shipyard and look for her on an airship called Tempest. The message requests her to come alone. Sierra is anxious to see her dear friend but has no way of knowing if the letter is really from Kristaly or if she is even alive. Could this be the reunion she has been looking forward to or a trap?

Gladiatrix III - Week 44 Update

Tessa has been missing. Your search for her leads you to this freak of nature. Are you too late?

Gladiatrix III - Week 43 Update

Sierra has agreed to join House Devir in an assault on House De'Mizzare. If House Devir successfully destroys the rival house then they will move up in the city hierarchy. In other parts of the world it is considered the ultimate treachery to blindly attack a neighbor without provocation. In drow culture it is applauded when a house makes a well-planned and strategic attack on another house as long as there are no surviving nobles to name the attacker. If a single noble survives then the attacking house is set upon without mercy by every other house in the city. Sierra has no interest in the political maneuverings of these dark elves, but she does have an interest in the attack on this particular house.

I hope to be finished with the Everdark portion of the module this week or next week at the latest. After that I'll be setting the stage for the grand finale. 

Gladiatrix III - Week 42 Update

Sierra is now known as Sienza Westyn'tavian in her Everdark disguise. She is introduced to SinDreeza Devir, matron of the eighth house of the city of Nar'Kasteel. Xanderfein explains that Sienza would be an asset to the house's strength, but the matron is skeptical. Sienza will have to prove herself in order to gain admittance, but will she survive the trials?

I made good progress this week reworking what I lost. It is much quicker a second time around since I already had everything in my mind. I should be finished this week reworking what I lost and hope to be back on track. 

Gladiatrix III - Week 41 Update

 

Well, this isn't my usual fun update. That is because disaster struck over the weekend. I walked away from my laptop for about twenty minutes and when I came back, the system had completely locked up while the toolset still had my module open. This has happened before, so my normal routine is to make a copy of both the module file and the backup file before attempting to open the toolset again. This usually keeps at least one of the files intact. Well, not in this case! Somehow both files ended up FUBAR. Okay, so I take a deep breath. I've been a little more diligent making backups of my module since I had a similar disaster while making the first module... or so I thought. I went to my offsite storage, and to my dismay, the last good copy of my module was from Feb 18! I was certain there must be a more recent copy, but none was to be found. I guess I've gotten complacent since my last disaster was over a year ago. 

Anyway, the good news (if you can call it that) is that I was able to open the backup file in the toolset and export the areas I created. The bad news is that the conversations can't be salvaged. So I'm having to rewrite, relink and rescript several thousand words of dialog that I had written over the past few weeks. And the past few weeks just so happen to be some of the most diligent work I've done on this module. The evil spirits of computers timed this perfectly and they laugh at my torment!

A word of warning to anyone who designs NWN modules, and I know a few of you do. After any significant amount of work has been done on your module always back it up off system. When you least expect it your system WILL crash and the toolset WILL eat your module. This is a guarantee. The toolset is unbelievably fragile and destructive to modules. Never leave the toolset open when you're not working on it. If your computer locks up or crashes while your module is open in the toolset, be scared. Be very scared and prepare to go digging for the last backup you saved. Don't think that saving it somewhere on the same system is good enough. The evil spirits of the computer world will take advantage of your misstep and just destroy your whole system to achieve their nefarious schemes. This is a guarantee. Let my ill-timed neglect be an example and ominous warning to other builders. It's daily backups for me from now on, no matter how much of a pain that is.

Never fear, I'm not letting this get me down (too much). I'm making progress rewriting what I lost. Unfortunately, this is going to move my target date well into April, so you'll have to indulge me just a little more time to finish. I should have a more positive update next week.

 

Gladiatrix III - Week 40 Update

Sierra needs to infiltrate the drow city of Nar'Kasteel, but that's no easy task being a human. She has formed an uncertain alliance with Xanderfein, weapon master of House Devir. They have a common goal and have agreed to work together. Karlaxel is a rogue wizard that belongs to no particular house and owes Xanderfein a favor. He has asked the rogue wizard to give Sierra the appearance of a drow so that she can enter the city. Karlaxel prepares an ointment and applies it to her body, thus darkening her skin to a lustrous ebony tone. He carefully uses shading techniques to give her a more slender appearance. There isn't much he can do about her height but on rare occasion there have been female drow that are taller than usual. Karlaxel dyes her hair and molds prosthetic ear tips to finish the transformation. Let's hope Sierra can maintain her disguise or she could face the wrath of the drow matron of the house!

Gladiatrix III - Week 39 Update

Alone in the Everdark and separated from her companions, Sierra finds a secluded spot to bathe and wash the dirt, blood and grime from a previous battle off of her. But this place is not so secluded after all as she is being watched.

Gladiatrix III - Week 38 Update

In between arena battles, Sierra is selected for a task that brings her much pleasure. It is even more pleasurable than fighting for her master. This task that she looks forward to more than anything is massaging the elder brain. She loves nothing more than to press her fingers into the spongy, wet tissue and caress it lovingly. She knows she is doing a good job when the brain pulsates in contentment and burps bubbles into its brine pool. She doesn't know why, but the whole process is strangely erotic. On one occasion, Sierra got overly zealous with her massage and pressed too hard. The brain responded with a swift blow to her head using one of its tentacles. It left a nasty bruise, but Sierra knew she would recover. She was more concerned about causing the elder brain discomfort. She couldn't possibly live with herself if she caused it harm.

Sorry to have to add the word verification to the comment section. Was getting tired of deleting all the spam about online casinos and "captivating" career opportunities. Hopefully this will keep them away.

 

Gladiatrix III - Week 37 Update

Sierra's master has taken her to the arena to attend a contest as a spectator. Her master plans to gauge her reaction to this particular battle. Sierra is intrigued by the fact that one of the competitors is human. It has been a while since she's seen another of her own race. She is left wondering if he would become an ally in the arena or foe. He has to survive this battle first. His fierce opponent is a drider, a former drow punished by their goddess Lolth for falling out of favor. It will be a difficult battle as the tormented drider is focusing all of her hatred at this human male.

Gladiatrix III - Week 36 Update

Sierra's first battle in an Everdark arena. All battles are to the death, so she's fighting for her life every night. But more important than her own life is pleasing her new master. She doesn't know where these strange, overwhelming desires came from because these qualities are opposite of everything she represents. She's still very much aware of who she is and her mission, but for some reason, she feels that disappointing her master would be worse than death itself. Many bets are being placed in the gallery and very few of the onlookers think that Sierra will survive. But she must... for her master.

Gladiatrix III - Week 35 Update

Welcome to the Everdark slave market where you are always sure to find something new. Take for instance, this exotic creature from the overside. On rare occasion you might find one of the fair elves from the surface world, but not today. The alluring curves of her form, bronzed skin and rounded ears make it clear that this is no elven maiden. She is sure to make an enticing addition to her future master's collection. Highest bid wins!

Gladiatrix III - Week 34 Update

Sierra and Tessa enter Darkenrealm, a place thought by many to be a myth, but they discover it is definitely real. One of their first encounters is with a troop of myconids, a strange plant and humanoid hybrid that closely resembles mushrooms. The colony seems peaceful enough, but they are cautious of our companions' otherworldy appearance. What the myconids don't realize is that the real threat to their colony is looming in the darkness.

To all who guessed that we would be taking a trip to the underdark, you guessed right! I don't really want to call it the underdark because that is too forgotten-realmy, and this world isn't really a forgotten realms world even though there are similarities. For now, I'm calling it Darkenrealm, but I'm not completely sold on it. If any of you have any ideas for a name for this underdark-like realm feel free to offer your suggestions, but I reserve the right to be very picky :)

Shamelessly tooting my own horn: Gladiatrix is currently ranked #3 of all files on the Neverwinter Nexus, which is primarily a place for NWN2 modules and files. Gladiatrix II is ranked #5. Not sure how long that will last, but I'll take it for now :)

Gladiatrix III - Week 33 Update

These peaceful elves were simply enjoying a celebration in their grove when terror struck. Many families were massacred, but who would do such a thing? Sierra's search for the culprits will take her to the darkest of realms. If she manages to return, she may never be the same.

 

Gladiatrix III - Week 32 Update

Sierra and Tessa finally reach Sylvandaryn, the elven lands. When they arrive, they are surprised at how hospitable and welcoming the elves are, but something is amiss. Our heroes will soon be facing a danger like they've never experienced before. It threatens to send them tumbling into a realm of darkness and unknown horrors.