War's End: March of the Victors

At last, the Genta wars have concluded! Today, we present the winners of this hugely successful Patron-fueled initiative to bring more variety to Newhome using ideas provided by you, the Patrons. We were unsure as to whether this bold experiment would prove fruitful, but as usual, our exploration into untrod creative ground yielded wonderful results. In order, let us welcome our victors!

1. Patron's Choice: The Yhara

Nearly as large as an adult Draak-Kin, these horrific beings of both light and darkness are among the most feared creatures on the planet. Able to extend their senses for kilometers using their rainbow sense-tentacles, being stalked by one in a dark underground labyrinth would indeed be a living nightmare. Sunlight is their greatest weakness, and they are unable to effectively exist above ground as their senses would be painfully overwhelmed, but they have had millions of years to evolve their contemplative minds, leaving whole epics composed in scent-code painted along the endless malworm tunnels beneath the surface. These codes hold the key to a massive secret which lurks in the shadows of the world, and the Yhara alone among known Gentas have also visited the mysterious Dark Side of the planet and encountered the indescribable beings which live there.

We extend our congratulations to the species' co-creators, Esivanemkihv and FloraOfTheDream. We hope you will enjoy seeing this species brought to life in Hierophant! We're also including an initial sketch of the Yhara done by one of the creators. We were immediately struck by how terrifying it would be to see something like this coming at you from the darkness. We'll do our best to do the Yhara species justice!

2. Draak-Kin Choice: The Fyrsa

The mighty morphin' mercury marsh dwellers known as the Fyrsa (or the Phyrsen, as they call themselves) are wonderfully original: having huge biological class differences and yet no vertical hierarchy, they are a living testament to the power of diversity, and when gathered together in a Communion of many of their kind, their wisdom and power are at their height. When alone, however, their decision-making capabilities plummet and they become overwhelmed, an interesting contrast to humans, who tend to make better decisions as lone individuals than as a mob (provided they have the right information to work with).

The Fyrsa's attraction to that which differs from themselves and aversion to similarity also stands in stark contrast to human behavior historically. Human marriages between people of radically different ethnicities have been challenging, but the opposite is true among the Fyrsa, who seek to make their genetics as diverse as possible and find huge morphological differences fascinating and beautiful.

Their culture, beliefs, philosophy, and physical abilities will add delicious spice to the world of Newhome. As previously noted, the Scout and Engineer classes are only two out of at least four, and we will release a more updated class list in the future. Hearty congratulations to the species' creator, Helen T., for their successful submission!

3. Dreaming Door Choice #1: The Chaka

The Chaka (Chaka'kyr in their own language) obsession with telling the future and their transcendent skill in weaving combine to make an unforgettable culture which contrasts beautifully with both other candidates and human culture. Hidden within their countless superstitions are some profound truths and some ridiculous falsehoods, and their stories will allow for excellent philosophical conversations about that mysterious force known as "luck". Both the light and dark sides of crazy folk beliefs will be explored through them.

However, it is their incredible loom-based artwork... towering silk banners stretching for dozens of meters clothing the trees and buildings of their homeland and telling epic stories about what has been and what may come to pass... that we're most excited about representing artistically. The Chaka will sometimes leave you wide-eyed with wonder at the beauty of their creations, and at other times will have you slapping your forehead in frustration as some ridiculous superstition or other complicates matters. Their use of hallucinogenic drugs, another two-edged sword, will also be an interesting subject to cover.

Hookah-smoking luck-obsessed weaver-prophets? Yes, please. We thank James Tobias, their creator, for the submission.

4. Dreaming Door Choice #2: The Nekora

The feline emotion-eating Nekora caught our creative eye early on. A true wild card capable of essentially "pruning" the spirits of others by preying on their emotional imbalances, some see them as evil vampires who hunt what should never be hunted while others see them as living saints sent to bring balance to the world.

How do they transmute emotions into energy and survive on it? How did such beings evolve in the first place? How do they reproduce if they avoid each others' company (and seem to lack the necessary organs)? At the end of the day, are they an asset or a threat to the Draak-Kin and all life on Newhome?

Answers to all of these questions will be revealed in-game, but for now, we'd like to thank creator Yuka for the splendid idea. Some minor changes have been made to the Nekora behind the scenes and some of the background and traits have been fleshed out, but the Nekora will remain true to their creator's basic intentions, and will appear in Hierophant.

These four submissions are now slated to join the Coba, the Tapa, the Luxa, the Kaga, the ORO, the Milli'li, and the Draak-Kin as fellow Gentas of Newhome. We would, however, like to offer congratulations to the following creative offerings which were not chosen, but which inspired loyalty, conversation, and wonder, and whose creations may someday be featured in some form or other, if we have the time and space:

Honorable Mention: The Rhusa. The exothermic Rhusa performed excellently in the polls, and there was much to love about them. With their love of hot baths, powerful and deadly females, gentle males, and symbiotic relationship with great beasts who provide heat as they journey from one hot spring settlement to another, the Rhusa were a brilliant addition to the competition roster. It broke our hearts not to include them, but they remain in our thoughts, and may inspire something further down the line. We offer many thanks and congratulations to their creator, BeeMorpho.

Honorable Mention: The Pikalka. A gerbil-sized Genta race whose small figures made their pioneering spirits all the more impressive, the Pikalka, like the Fyrsa, had multimorphic castes, but in a more familiar insectoid way, with a strong hierarchy and underground hives warring with each other. Having both them and the Fyrsa along for the ride seemed a bit repetitive, but we loved the idea of the smaller size being able to still support a deep intelligence as well as some interesting new caste ideas such as the "Prince" caste. Congratulations to their creator ZirraNova on a powerful and popular entry!

Honorable Mention: The Valsa. Both Mystes and Ludwig fell in love with this species, whose way of life was filled with tender love and extreme brutality in way which no one would have guessed would be so functional and fascinating. Injecting their prey with a euphoria-based venom, these flesh-devouring predators had created a beautiful society of set generations, and their euthanizing and eating of their own elderly at a specific age was shocking, and yet we could not deny its evolutionary efficacy and potential. The Valsa clearly show that a loving, compassionate existence completely outside the bounds of what humans consider right or wrong is indeed possible. Though they didn't win the competition, we are dedicated to bringing out the great ideas of this species somehow in the future, possibly by combining them with the Rofsa to make a new species of predator. Congratulations to their creator, Loviare, and we assure you: the spirit of the Valys will live in one form or another, if we have anything to say about it.

Honorable Mention: The Rofsa. An ice-clad tundral island amidst the equatorial archipelago is a fascinating idea on its own, but add in the pack-hunting, ancestor bone-wearing warrior aspects and it becomes truly special. We envisioned a warrior people who could barely tell the difference between past and present: they were themselves, and yet they were also their ancestors, whose spirits and even bodies were mixed in with their own. We're considering combining them with certain traits of the Valsa above to make a new species, though we can't guarantee it will make the final cut for Hierophant. In any case, many thanks to their creator, Kerrovitar Terragon.

Honorable Mention: The Shenka. Introduced as the Srenkarr, Patron Velcarx's vision of the triple-tailed, brutally honest tower-children fit in well with the others as an original entry which would work well on Newhome. The tail is a magnificent appendage, and no other species had the ability to explore its capabilities. Tail-based styles of dancing and martial arts would have been great fun to depict, though also challenging. We offer our congratulations!

Honorable Mention: The Idiva. The species' creator, Crimson Aggro, said that the species was partially inspired by films like Idiocracy. Like the Pikalka and Fyrsa, these were a morphologically diverse caste-based species, but having to cope with about a third of their number being born epically foolish was fertile ground for a huge number of stories about the nature of intelligence itself as well as how differences in class and intellect can change history. We laughed heartily imagining the kind of legendary bungles the Idiot caste would be responsible for, and how wonderfully they would both entertain and frustrate a Hierophant who tried to do right by them (or possibly tried to dominate or exploit them; the results could be hilarious either way). They may not have made the final cut, but we'll remember the Idivin and their doomed attempts to succeed despite their own people for a long time.

Once again, congratulations to all who participated in the Genta Wars! Newhome will now shine with more incredible forms of life than any one of us could have guessed. Stay tuned for more on the cultures and peoples of Newhome, both new and old, and as always, thank you all for your patronage, which makes Hierophant possible.

-L