History VisualNovel / AsherSeries

Two additional games set in the world of Aeser have been released by the developer: ''Winter's Trumpet'', a short point-and-click set during a flu pandemic, which chronologically takes place before Asher ([[https://sunlabyrinth.itch.io/winterstrumpet itch.io]] and [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1342910/Winters_Trumpet/ Steam]]) and ''The Last of the Lords of Ice'' ([[https://sunlabyrinth.itch.io/lordsofice itch.io]]), a visual novel that continues from one of ''Tell a Demon'''s bad endings and focuses on Tell's character.

Two additional games set in the world of Aeser have been released by the developer: Winter's Trumpet, a short point-and-click set during a flu pandemic, which chronologically takes place before Asher ([[https://sunlabyrinth.itch.io/winterstrumpet itch.io]] and [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1342910/Winters_Trumpet/ Steam]]) and The Last of the Lords of Ice ([[https://sunlabyrinth.itch.io/lordsofice itch.io]]), a visual novel that continues from one of Tell a Demon's bad endings and focuses on Tell's character.

* IllGirl: Tell used to be prone to fainting spells when she was in her teens. Thankfully, her health as an adult seems sturdier.

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Aya and Julius, though ''Tell a Demon'' makes an excellent job at fleshing them out and showing they’re far from being simply evil.

* BiTheWay: The romantic options in ''Tell a Demon'' reveal that [[spoiler: Tetrine]] and [[spoiler: Tell]] are bi.

[[/folder]]

''Asher'' is a free dark fantasy visual novel first released by SunLabyrinth in 2014, and newly reissued with brand new art and double the word count on [[https://sunlabyrinth.itch.io/asher itch.io]] in 2018. It features 9 different endings and an (almost) entirely black-and-white retro aesthetic, in a world reminiscent of the 1920s, only populated by mythical creatures. The player can influence Tetrine’s personality to a degree but the main decisions have life or death consequences for her.

''Asher'' is a free dark fantasy visual novel first released by SunLabyrinth in 2014, and newly reissued with brand new art and double the word count on [[https://sunlabyrinth.itch.io/asher itch.io]] in 2018. It features 9 different endings and an (almost) entirely black-and-white retro aesthetic, in a world reminiscent of the 1920s, only featuring mythical creatures. The player can influence Tetrine’s personality to a degree but the main decisions have life or death consequences for her.

* MaybeEverAfter: [[spoiler:Tetrine and Markaius’]] relationship is at the core of the story of ''Asher'', but what it truly consists of is voluntarily written as ambiguous. [[spoiler:What we do know for sure is that they were in a happy romantic relationship around two years before the events of the game, but in the present, the situation is much more complicated. The canon ending, "Markaius", shows Tetrine giving him a chance and the two sharing an embrace/kiss, but the writing always makes a point in showing that she has yet to truly forgive him for stealing her memories and transforming her into a demon. On the other hand, Markaius admits he has very often told her partial truths, but doesn’t really show any signs of wanting to improve on that front. The ambiguity of their relationship continues on in ''Tell a Demon'', where Tetrine has the option to turn against him and romance Kalevel instead.]]

* MiseryBuildsCharacter: In some of the endings where Tetrine gets angry at Markaius, he can lampshade that she’s grown into someone who can finally face an uncomfortable truth and choose it over a sugar coated lie.

* TheChessmaster: Markaius, who is directly responsible for the Immortal Empress’s death, [[spoiler:and also Kalevel’s and Tetrine’s deaths and subsequent demonification. He’s also the one who put in motion the events leading to Julius and Tell’s meeting, knowing full well that getting near to her would awaken Julius’ dormant memories and allow him to break free from the Mind-Chain.]] Sakraia and Kialee both refer to this habit of his as "playing games", indicating he’s been at it for centuries, if not millennia. He directly admits to wanting to shape the future, but so far we do no not know what he actually hopes to achieve.

* FightingFromTheInside: Julius, against Kialee and her Mind-Chain.

* TheLostLenore: Senna is this for Julius.

* WhoWantsToLiveForever: While Kalevel doesn’t complain too much about her status as an immortal, she does say to Tetrine that it isn’t a normal state of being : ''"There is something wrong about what we are, dove. I wouldn’t expect roses if I were you"''. Markaius also tells Kalevel something around the lines of ''"I know you had imagined a way happier life for yourself"''. Considering the misery the Immortal Empress brought to her life, it’s understandable she would have preferred to live as a normal human.

[[caption-width-right:350:Alas, in restless sleep you lie / With dying breath and dusty cry. / As you lie now, so once did we / Prepare to rise and follow me. (Early Imperial Burial Curse)]]

Tetrine Reish is a librarian -all right, librarian’s assistant- who lives in the city-state of Asher. In spite of her leading a seemingly normal life, things start to take an ominous turn when she begins to dream of strange hallways and receives the visit of a mysterious woman asking for a book. A book that doesn’t belong to Tetrine’s library, and is written in Nell marks, the language of demons. Tetrine is one of the few people who can actually read them, but her secret is threatened when two suspicious individuals figure it out. A kidnapping and an attempted murder (or two) ensues, and Tetrine’s life will never quite be the same again.

* GoryDiscretionShot: In what is arguably the worst ending, "Haunted", the walls of [[spoiler: Tetrine’s Auros house]] are shown to be splattered with blood as a result of [[spoiler: her killing her tenants]] after the Hunger takes control. Interestingly enough, there originally was an additional CG showing [[spoiler: her]] curling up in a corner with blood all over [[spoiler: her]], but it got deleted in the remake.

* MaybeEverAfter: [[spoiler:Tetrine and Markaius’]] relationship is at the core of the story of ''Asher'', but what it truly consists of is voluntarily written as ambiguous. [[spoiler:What we do know for sure is that they were in a happy romantic relationship around two years before the events of the game, but in the present, the situation is much more complicated. The canon ending, "Markaius", shows Tetrine giving him a chance and the two sharing an embrace/kiss, but the writing always makes a point in showing that she has yet to truly forgive him for stealing her memories and transforming her into a demon. On the other hand, Markaius recognises he has very often told her partial truths, but doesn’t really show any signs of wanting to improve on that front. The ambiguity of their relationship continues on in ''Tell a Demon'', where Tetrine has the option to turn against him and romance Kalevel instead.]]

* RetroUniverse: A lot of the aesthetic is inspired by 1920s clothing and technology.
* StoryBranching: The game has this, as it's a multiple choice visual novel.

* LoveEpiphany: To which point it’s an epiphany is left a bit ambiguous, but if the player chose this option earlier, Tell’s memories of Julius kissing her on the cheek in the catacombs lead to her having difficulties to leave him at the end of the game, thus inviting her into her house, where she and him share a (real) kiss. An alternate playthrough can lead to Tell referring to this behaviour as something a "silly, lovestruck girl" would do…

* StoryBranching: The game has this, as it's a multiple choice visual novel. Notably more developed than in ''Asher''.

Tetrine Reish is a librarian -all right, librarian’s assistant- who lives in the city-state of Asher. In spite of her leading a seemingly normal life, things start to take an ominous turn when she dreams of strange hallways and receives the visit of a mysterious woman asking for a book. A book that doesn’t belong in Tetrine’s library, but is written in Nell marks, the language of demons. Tetrine is one of the few who can actually read them, but her secret is threatened when two suspicious individuals find it out. A kidnapping and an attempted murder (or two) ensues, and Tetrine’s life will never quite be the same again.

* AfterlifeAntechamber: The Nell. It's a river containing the names of the demons who bargained to obtain its power, but is also the first step to entering the afterlife, which is symbolized by a massive floating city.

* BittersweetEnding: Some of the endings, albeit the non-canon ones. It’s even highlighted in the names given to them (« Regret », « Best Forgotten »).

* CuttingOffTheBranches: Any ending in which Tetrine [[spoiler:is a demon, more or less enters a relationship with Markaius, and works for Kalevel. Aka the « Markaius » ending.]]

* FictionalProvince: Asher itself, which is both a city and a state, and also several others: Cupra, Auros, Ithus…
* GoryDiscretionShot: In what is arguably the worst ending, « Haunted », the walls of [[spoiler: Tetrine’s Auros house]] are shown to be splattered with blood as a result of [[spoiler: her killing her tenants]] after the Hunger takes control. Interestingly enough, there originally was an additional CG showing [[spoiler: her]] coiling in a corner with blood all over [[spoiler: her]], but it got deleted in the remake.
** Another example of the remake toning down a bit the graphical violence of the original is [[spoiler: Julius’]] death, which is now off-screen, with only a blood-splattered background instead of [[spoiler: this terrifying image of Kialee piercing his neck with her awfully long fingers/nails.]]
* HauntedHouse: In one of the endings, Tetrine mentions having grown up in a house haunted by the ghost of her grandmother. Ghosts are a pretty common occurrence is Aeser, though. There is a short story expanding on this story on the developer’s site: [[https://www.sunlabyrinth.com/gorh-part-i/ The Ghosts of Reish House.]]

* MaybeEverAfter: [[spoiler:Tetrine and Markaius’]] relationship is at the core of the story of ''Asher'', but what it truly consists of is voluntarily written as ambiguous. [[spoiler:What we do know for sure is that they were in a happy romantic relationship around two years before the events of the game, but in the present the situation is much more complicated. The canon ending, « Markaius », shows Tetrine giving him a chance and the two sharing an embrace/kiss, but the writing always makes a point in showing that she has yet to truly forgive him for stealing her memories and transforming her into a demon. On the other hand, Markaius recognises he has very often told her partial truths, but doesn’t really show any signs of wanting to improve on that front. The ambiguity of their relationship continues on in ''Tell a Demon'', where Tetrine has the option to turn against him and romance Kalevel instead.]]
** It should also be noted that [[spoiler:Markaius]] can be downright awful to Tetrine in some of the endings, such as « Betrayal », where [[spoiler:he kills her in cold blood]]. Not exactly ideal for a loving, healthy, long-term relationship.

* TraumaInducedAmnesia: Subverted. [[spoiler: Tetrine was indeed extremely shocked when she saw Markaius kill a shadow demon who was threatening her, but it’s Markaius himself who removed her memories.]]

* TheChessmaster: Markaius, who is directly responsible for the Immortal Empress’s death, [[spoiler:and also Kalevel’s and Tetrine’s deaths and subsequent demonification. He’s also the one who put in motion the events leading to Julius and Tell’s meeting, knowing full well that getting near to her would awaken Julius’ dormant memories and allow him to break free from the Mind-Chain.]] Sakraia and Kialee both refer to this habit of his as ‘playing games’, indicating he’s been at it for hundred of years. He directly admits to wanting to shape the future, but so far we do no not know what he actually hopes to achieve.

* CuttingOffTheBranches: The ending where Kalevel [[spoiler:is sleeping in the catacombs, defeated by Markaius]], and Tell and Julius [[spoiler:are working together to uncover the secrets of Asher]] is canon.

* EverybodyLives: It is possible to achieve endings where all three leads and all NPCs are still alive. The canon ending is also this, as [[spoiler:both Tell and Julius are safe and sound from their various demonic encounters, and Kalevel, albeit defeated by Markaius, still lives.]]

* FarmersDaughter: Tell is literally the daughter of a couple of farmers, and is implied to have followed a lot of strict rules in her life, something against which she begins to rebel.

* HumanSacrifice: To the Demon Goddess Sakraia, « protector » of Asher.
* IllGirl: Tell used to be prone to fainting spells when she was in her teens. Thankfully, her health as an adult seems better.

* LoveEpiphany: To which point it’s an epiphany is left a bit ambiguous, but if the player chose this option earlier, Tell’s memories of Julius kissing her on the cheek in the catacombs lead to her having difficulties to leave him at the end of the game, thus inviting her into her house, where she and him share a big damn kiss. An alternate playthrough can lead to Tell referring to this behaviour as something a « silly, lovestruck girl » would do, so make of that what you will.
* PlayingGod: Markaius was literally known and referred to as the god Markos in Mevayrea, Kalevel’s [[spoiler:and Kialee’s]] homeland. He can literally give life through his elixirs, which Tetrine discovers he deliberately manipulates with Nell marks so he can create demons with specific attributes.

* TheStinger: When the player unlocks all the canon endings for each character, it becomes possible to play an epilogue, from Tell’s perspective. It’s an additional scene featuring a character whose name has been dropped since ''Asher'', [[spoiler: Antonine Harus,]] who is very probably going to plat a major role in the future. The sequel to ''Tell a Demon'', ''The Empress of Aeser'', is also directly announced in this epilogue.

* WhoWantsToLiveForever: While Kalevel doesn’t complain too much about her status as an immortal, she does say to Tetrine that it isn’t a normal state of being : ''« There is something wrong about what we are, dove. I wouldn’t expect roses if I were you »''. Markaius also tells Kalevel something around the lines of ''« I know you had imagined a way happier life for yourself »''. Considering the misery the Immortal Empress brought to her life, it’s understandable she would have preferred to live as a normal human.

''Asher'' is the first opus in a trilogy of visual novels following the same group of characters, which include ''Tell a Demon'', available on [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/679230/Tell_a_Demon/ Steam]] as well as on [[https://sunlabyrinth.itch.io/tellademon itch.io]], and ''The Empress of Aeser'', which is still in development as of late 2018.