The Moonless
You are one of the illune, a moonless guard tasked with the protection of the minds of the Royal Family of Spala, and now with the mysterious disappearances of an increasingly large amount of your people.
Set in a fantasy world inspired by ancient mediterranean civilizations, you play as an illune - a moonless mind guard - of the royal family. Unlike humans, moonless have no magical talents but the ability to walk the sleeping minds of others. It is something which historically has made the moonless outcasts of Spala’s society, but since gaining the trust and favor of both the royal family and the senate, things are changing for the better for your people.
Or they were, until moonless started disappearing under mysterious circumstances from the capital city Amelare.
Tasked by the royal family, with only rumors of the missing moonless suffering from strange dreams leading up to their disappearances, you and a small group of companions set out to find out why this is happening. But what will happen when the very same dreams begin to affect you? And what will you do when you discover a far bigger scheme than you could have ever imagined - and truths about the moonless people that will shake the realms to their cores?
base sugarcube template by ccberus
The Moonless is the first book in a series of interactive novels, with features including:
- The Moonless. Play as a moonless, a homebrew fantasy race of giant, magicless beings.
- A fully customizable MC. Decide name, gender, pronouns, appearance, weapons and specialization, among other things.
- Build relationships. The Moonless is a relationship driven story, with six potential romance options of different sexualities and genders: two gender-selectable, one non-binary, one female and one male, as well as one (potential) poly route!
- Investigate a mystery. Discover the reason behind the disappearances of the moonless people - and the history of both your people and yourself.
- Choices that matter. This game is heavily character driven, with choices that will affect your character, your companions and the world at large!
- Note: THIS GAME AND BLOG ARE MEANT FOR A MATURE AUDIENCE (18+). Minors DNI. Content warnings will be listed in the demo, and include (but are not limited to) violence, strong language, and sexual themes.
the doppelgänger. SILAS [late 20s, trans gender-selectable, romanceable by any mc]
As the proxy of the heir to Spala’s throne, Silas has spent most of their life living as someone else. Now outside the palace, they are free to lead their own life and yet they seem content to quietly follow you. What else do they hide underneath their mask beside their face?
the smuggler. RAINN [early 30s, non-binary, they/them, romanceable by male / nb mcs]
Like all moonless, Rainn has a distinctly non-human appearance. Dark indigo skin with white, cloud-like patches, lavender hair, and bright silver eyes, they are the very image of a stormy night. But through they easily stand out in a crowd, they’re a master at stealth and an active part of Spala’s moonless underworld. A face from your past, but what are their feelings on your reunion?
the apprentice. KHALIDA [early 20s, trans woman, she/her, romanceable by female / nb mcs]
Though young and untested, there is more than meets the eye with Khalida. Quick with a blade and nimbler than most, she relies more on her physical skill than her magical talents. Loyal to a fault, she was devastated when her mentor became another moonless to have gone missing. Determined to find them, she will stop at nothing to bring them home.
the captain. MAL/MALIK/MALIKA [mid 20s, gender-selectable, romanceable by any mc]
Always with a twinkle in their dark eyes, M would hardly strike anyone as a mighty warrior, and neither do they want to. As the Captain of the Little Fortune, a private merchant vessel from al-Makāni, all they wish for is fun adventure, passionate romance, hold the danger, please.
the unknown one. [REDACTED] [age unknown, cis male, he/him, romanceable by any mc]
He calls to you in your dreams, but there is no face to put to his voice. Moonless - because who else can walk the dreams of others? - with motives as murky as any marsh and a rage to rival the seas. As you search for answers, one question echoes louder in your mind than any other: why does he sound so familiar?
Comments
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Do anyone know of the next update?
Is this still being worked on? It seems like a great start.
I didn't know this was only a demo T^T,
Can't wait for more updates!!
Hey, I saw y'all were having issues about not being able to start a new game on PC? Well I am on mobile and now mine is having the same issue. Hope I can figure it out 😅
I couldnt figure it out on phone but on PC you can just click
Ctrl and -
It should work after!
i have the same issue of whenever i press new game all i get is a blank screen, i have the game downloaded so im so sure on how to zoom out, im also on pc
Same here I think its possible to work only/better on mobile so try that out if you haven't already.
hi! i answered in the comment above already, but i honestly can't figure out where the problem originates. you should be able to download and play it without issue on pc, but if none of the previous solutions work (zooming out, checking cookies if they're disabled) then yes, mobile version or playing right in the browser might work better! 💕
hi! i'm honestly not sure where this problem originates, since the only thing i've edited before this problem started coming up was adding the art to the start screen, but it seems like you can "get past" the start screen before the problem really appears.
besides zooming out (maybe try ctrl +/-? i'm not sure how to zoom out on a downloaded game either)have you checked if your cookies are disabled? otherwise it might be better to try on mobile or playing right in your browser instead of a download.
hopefully, i'll be able to fix this in a next version of the game, but right now that's unfortunately all the help i can offer 😔
oooo, me likey
💕 thank you 💕
Very curious to see if you plan on continuing this, intriguing set up and I'm always down for a homebrew species.
thank you, i'm glad i've managed to pique your interest! i've been on a bit of an extended break from The Moonless, but am getting back in the swing of writing again so hopefully i won't disappoint with the continuation!
Great to hear! Of course take your time/ work at your own pace, but I'll be excited to see what's made regardless. Try not to worry over "disappointing" people, just focus on the story you want to make . Easier said than done of course haha, but still.
Um excuse me please, but anytime I press new game I always get a blank screen
hello! that sounds familiar to the issue a couple of other players have been having, which was solved by zooming out or checking to see if cookies are disabled on your web browser! 💕
if neither works, please let me know what browser you're using, so i can look into it!
I'm really sorry if I'm stressing you out but it didn't work and my cookies are enabled. I am not using a web browser I am using the itch app but I downloaded it from edge
hi again! unfortunately, i can't recreate the issue you're having or find a solution for it. have you tried playing the game directly in your browser? it might be the esiest way to get it to work 💖
okay thank you, sorry for the trouble
no trouble at all, i'm sorry i couldn't be of more help! i hope it worked out for you! 💖
back again & still obsessed ♥️
💖💖💖
Thank you for the many customisation options that we can make our main character, love the worldbuilding and I'm looking forward to seeing if Rainn and I pull the heist off! Hope you're doing well and that writers block isn't troubling you, if it is I hope you can take some time to recharge but I'm very excited for whenever the next update to this is :)
thank you for your kind words! 💖 i am dealing with a bit of writer's block (and lately bg3 brainrot) but getting comments like these does amazing things to keep me motivated! 💖
i'm glad i could boost your mood a lil <3 remember to take breaks and have water, take care of yourself :D
Hi, when ever I start game I always get a blank screen when i press new game
hi! that's very odd, but it sounds familiar to the issue a couple of other players have been having, which was solved by zooming out or checking to see if cookies are disabled on your web browser.
if neither of those options work for you, could you let me know what browser you're using to play the game with, and maybe it'll help me find another solution?
It was resolved with zooming out, Thank you so much!!!
that's great, i'm so happy it helped! 💖
i hit start game and i'm just sitting on a black screen..
me too
hi! i was able to recreate the issue (assuming it was following an error message regarding "no valid storage adapters found") and it seems like the issue is that either your web browser version might be too old to support the local storage functionality required by SugarCube engine, OR you've got cookies disabled on your web browser.
i'd try enabling cookies (cookies may be automatically disabled if you're using google chrome's incognito mode) and test it out again, but if you're still having problems, please let me know, and i'll see what i can do! 💖
hi, that's very odd! i'm not encountering any issues when i test it, would you mind telling me what browser you're using and if you're on desktop or mobile?
it was the zooming like the other reader suggested. I zoomed out to 80% and i saw the texts lol/
that's great that it worked out! i'll keep this in mind for future updates so maybe it can be avoided if i rewrite the code for the UI a bit, or at least i'll have a possible solution if anyone else has the same problem!
hello again! i managed to recreate the issue (assuming you received an error message that said, "Apologies! A fatal error has occurred. Aborting. Error: no valid storage adapters found.")
the most likely issue seems to be that you're either using a web browser version that's too old to support the local storage functionality required by the SugarCube engine, OR you've got cookies disabled on your web browser (cookies seem to be automatically disabled for google chrome's incognito mode).
i'd try enabling cookies and test it again, but if you're still having problems, please let me know and i'll see what i can do!
Idk if we have the same problem, but if you're on pc try to zoom out the game (with the three dot on the right corner of the screen). When the game started I too had a black screen, but when I zoomed the site page from 100% to 80% I was able to see the text.
it was the zooming lol sorry for ghosting after my initial comment. but yeah i zoomed out and that worked. thanks to you both.
is this abandoned?
hi! it's not abandoned, i've just had a hard time balancing every day life with working on this, but i am working on it still, and am hoping to have an update out with the rest of the prologue at the start of summer! 💖
I'm happy to read it's not abandoned. Please take care of yourself first and foremost. I'm looking forward to read more about your wonderful story ❤️
thank you! i might have taken a bit long between release and this next update (trying to balance work as a teacher and writing this and everything else in life proved to be not as easy as i had thought), but i have no plans to abandon this game! i will continue to chug on with it at my own pace and am happy to hear people are willing to wait for it to continue! 💖
Love this and I'm already in love with Rainn. And since I'm a self-inserter with my MCs my moonless is only 5'6, and all I can think of is when Rainn and my MC kiss Rainn has to pick them up off the ground to kiss them better. I keep laughing everytime
hi! i'm so happy you enjoyed it! as for the height, absolutely feel free to headcanon a specific height for your mc, though i will warn you that the game will generally think of a very short mc to be around the same height as Silas (6'1)/taller than Khalida (5'7), since 5'6 would be tiny for a moonless, but when it comes to Rainn, being 5'6 or 6'1 isn't much of a difference to their massive 8'2 💖
I'm not sure how I could save my progress when playing, but nonetheless I like this and hope for more content! And yes I am making my MC short asf because height difference is just pure comedy for me
hi! you can save your progress by going into the menu in the bottom right corner - from there you can save to the browser (although these will disappear if you delete your browser history) or you can save to your desktop! more story is being written and prepare for even more ridiculous height differences in the future! 👀💕
I really like what im reading so far!!!! hope for more to come
Thank you so much! There's definitely more to come, especially since summer break is almost here and I'll have a lot more time to write! ♥️
hell yeah for summer break!!
Having the issue with inputting custom skin color: " Error: the passage "prologue26 skincolor" does not exist"
other than that, great story!
Thanks for bringing it to my attention, that shouldn't be happening! Definitely make sure to patch that for the next update! ♥️
just finished the prologue, and the world you're building is absolutely fascinating! super excited to see the customizable gender and pronoun options - i don't personally use neos but have multiple friends that are going to love this. cannot wait to see where you take this project!
Thank you so much! I really do hope that your friends enjoy the gender and pronoun customization, as it's something I myself feel is really important to include, rather than simply just male/female and then non-binary as an umbrella term for any other gender presentation/identity, even if that's not the focus of the game ♥️
whoa this is fascinating. it was a bit difficult to get into with a lot of text right off the bat but once I could get my bearings, it didn't take long for me to get deeply invested.
one "complaint", I guess: there's an undefined choice during character design. second to last one, I think? no explanation for what I choosing the color of.
Hi! Thank you so much for the feedback! I'll definitely look over what you've mentioned for the next update!
I'm not sure if the amount of text in the beginning you're talking about is the summary before the story starts (that's definitely something I'm looking to trim down a bit!) or if you meant the actual story, because then it might just be something to get used to? Either way, I'll look over it myself and see if maybe I can divide up some passages at the start to ease into it a bit more!
This story is very interesting and I'll definitely look forward to the updates.
However, I have an issue with the saves (not the menu bar). Whenever I used every single save slot, the ability to save disk or load disk are gone. I had to use maximum 4 slots so that I can use the button. I'm suggesting that you should put the saves table in the middle of the screen with much more width like any other interactive fiction.
Here's a screenshot to show you what I meant.
Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention, I'll definitely make sure to get this fixed for the next update! No point in having eight save slots if they make the save to disk/load options disappear.
this story it soo good!! I can't wait for more <3, also is there a save button? Because I can't find one and can you tell me are the RO will all be moonless??
Thank you for the kind words! There's a save button under the menu (located in the lower right corner of the screen, you can also find the settings and the restart buttons there, and profile and codex will be added in the next update!)
There'll be Rainn who's a moonless RO, Mal/Malik/Malika, Silas and Khalida are human ROs and The Unknown One is a secret until you find out in-game what species he is!
oh yeah I found it thank you:D
Oh my gosshhhhhh, this is SO good. Your writing style is really entertaining, and the imagery is really nice! I can't wait for more!!!
Thank you so much! It makes me so happy to hear that you enjoy it! ♥️
can’t type anything for some reason, lol
Hi! I’m not entirely sure if you meant you can’t type anything in the game, but I will check to make sure it’s not a bug! ♥️
It was a problem on my end; took a bit, but eventually I had to restart my computer and it fixed itself lol.
Oh good, cause I could not recreate the issue myself lmao!
I will quietly admit you had me at "giant"
:D
And now that I've actually read it, I'm excited to see where it will go :)
thank you, i’m so happy the “giants” lured you in! ♥️
I absolutely love this so far. I'm so invested in the story, I want to see more of it. Thank you for making this :)
Thank you so much, I'm so happy you enjoyed it! ♥
Great demo: can't wait for even more updates! <3
Thank you so much, I can't wait to share the continuation with you!
When I chose my own skin tone: Error: the passage "prologue26 skincolor" does not exist
Thanks for letting me know! I'll fix this as soon as I'm able to!
Trying to put a custom name wont allow me to proceed further ;v
Hi! Thanks for bringing it to my attention, it should be fixed now where after you put in own name, you just hit the "continue" below and it'll lock in whatever you chose!