The story

The story of Stoneshard takes place in the kingdom of Aldor. Our characters enter the story shortly after a great war has ended in a fragile truce between three Factions. The full story will be unveiled with the game's release. Until then, this page summarizes the bits and pieces offered through various Early Access updates, dialogues and dev commentary.

Story prior to the game
TODO

Story within the game
Spoiler warning! Information on this page includes events from the game itself. If you wish to experience these events for yourself, play through the game first before reading.

Gwynnel, the Alchemist
Gwynnel is an alchemist who also served under King Ethbert as the court physician. He's known for inventing a special elixir with miraculous effects to one's health. After some time it was discovered that there were also some unwanted side effects from the elixir. The details are not mentioned, but Verren says that ..some were lucky to just die. After that, Gwynnel had to abandon his post as a physician, and has been trying to find out what went wrong with the elixir. He relocated to Brynn and mostly stays holed in his laboratory.

At some point Gwynnel hired Verren to hunt down various scrolls and books for his experiments. Gwynnel often paid Verren in advance and always fulfilled his part of the contract, so Verren became fond of him and began to trust him. During one of the scroll hunts, Gwynnel wanted to get his hands on the scroll as soon as possible, and tagged along with Verren. It was inside an old Askonnian archive, in a half buried and flooded hall. As they were about to leave, Verren noticed a collapsed passage, and decided to dig through. After several hours, he uncovered another hall filled with stone pedestals, and on one of them, there was the first Stoneshard Verren found. Many magical items passed through Verren's hands throughout the years, but the Stoneshard seemed inert.

However, Gwynnel was ecstatic. He paid Verren ten times the money they agreed upon, and hastily returned to Brynn to investigate it. Few weeks later, Gwynnel appeared at Verren's home, banging on the door like crazy. Gwynnel informed Verren that there were in fact more Stoneshards, and that one of them was hidden somewhere in the dungeons of Abbey of the Holy Revelation. Gwynnel scoured through his impressive library, and found a mention of a Stone of the Holy Revelation, which was thought to be a miraculous relic, and was kept in a monastery near Mannshire. After an outbreak of the Crimson Plague, the monastery was abandoned and thought haunted by the local populace.

Gwynnel asked Verren to look for the Stoneshard in the Abbey of the Holy Revelation and bring it back to him.

"I'm surprised you've never heard about him. A renowned alchemist, a former court physician. You won't find a finer scholar to this side of the Aldorian Mountains. I hear king Ethbert used to trust him more than his first advisor."

- Verren, the Relic Seeker

Stoneshard: Prologue
Verren received reports from Gwynnel's scouts, saying that the monastery should be empty. Thinking this will be an easy task for a day or two, Verren gathered his group of mercenaries and travelled to the monastery. However, the reports were false and Verren's Caravan was attacked...

Verren finds himself imprisoned in the abandoned monastery. A guard greets him in his cell and walks away. Verren manages to escape his cell and overpowers the prison guard. Realizing that the fight didn't go well for them, he decides to explore this place and look for his companions. While wandering through the catacombs, he discovers Bern, Locke and Jorgen - members of his Caravan - deceased, as well as leftover items from the previous inhabitants - food, medicine, books and notes written by one of the brothers living in the monastery. The notes describe a local outbreak of the Crimson Plague in the past. As he walks through these dark corridors, tremors that keep getting stronger shake the foundations of this monastery. Verren explores the catacombs and manages to fight his way up. He discovers the corpse of a mercenary, who had a contract from Mannshire, asking mercenaries and noble knights to cleanse this monastery. Pocketing the contract, Verren continues upwards into the Chapel.

Outside the Chapel door, Verren discovers a letter from Abbot Vidian, which reveals that King Ethbert has apparently fallen gravely ill and has been bedridden for a week, fighting the disease. The Abbot prays for his safe recovery.

Verren enters the Chapel. It is riddled with corpses and blood. Above the altar, last three surviving members of Verren's Caravan are hanging in cages, and the Proselyte Archon stands at the chapel altar, preparing some kind of ritual. As Verren approaches the altar, the Archon declares that their souls and the Stoneshard will soon serve a higher purpose, but mercifully offers to spare Verren if he puts down his weapons. Verren declines and charges the Archon, who in turn shields himself with magic and uses the Stoneshard to raise zombies and living statues to fight Verren in his stead. Verren perseveres and destroys the statues, but the ritual has been completed and the Archon ascends, transforming into a gargoyle-looking monster. Verren fights the Ascended Archon, and thanks to his experience prevails, slaying the beast and saving the other mercenaries.

Verren frees the three mercenaries and collects the Stoneshard, then prepares to leave the monastery, but in the aftermath of their life threatening experience, Darrel, Rynward and Ahruz decide to abandon the contract and disband the Caravan. Darrel states that ever since Verren started working with Gwynnel, there was no end to their misfortune. Verren, disappointed that they want to abandon him, despite the fact that he just saved their lives, tells them they are free to go, but that he will complete the contract.

Stoneshard
Some time has passed after the events of Verren's fight at the monastery. Verren has rented a room in the Inn of Osbrook, a village south of Brynn, close to Mannshire and the monastery. He sent letters to several of his old acquintances, pleading for help in finishing this contract. The player chooses one of the Characters as the hero who responds to Verren's plea. In the Osbrook's Inn, sitting next to Verren, our hero's story begins as he listens to Verren telling his story...

Verren's plan is to first recreate the Caravan, since it would be difficult to travel through Aldor without one. Verren negotiated a deal with Osbrook's elder Odar - the elder will give him horses and a cart if he manages to complete several contracts for the Elder. Verren sends the hero to the elder to discuss the details...

TODO

The player then follows Verren to Mannshire on the horse and cart. After arriving he hands you an Old Contract and tells you to hand it to the elder of Mannshire to claim the reward. Unable to turn in this contract due to it expiring, the elder informs you that the governor, who lives in the castle just north of the elder's house is looking for men to slay a troll that has infiltrated a signal tower.