The Way of Ira

The Way of Ira

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Developer: MariusArmand

Publisher: ModDB

Designer: MariusArmand

Engine: Build Engine (Blood mod; BloodGDX, NBlood, Raze), Kex Engine (Fresh Supply)

Version: v1.1.2

Released: September 22, 2019-July 28, 2021

Genre: First Person Shooter

Modes: Single-player, Multiplayer

Platforms: MS-DOS (original executable), Java VM (BloodGDX), Microsoft Windows (NBlood, Raze, Fresh Supply), Unix-like (NBlood, Raze)

UPC/A7: N/A

ISBN-10: N/A

Media: Download

The Way of Ira is a fan add-on for Blood by MariusArmand currently featuring two chapters, the first released on September 22, 2019 and the second on July 9, 2021. The title is derived from "ira", the Latin word for "rage" (or "ire"). The add-on features narration and new Caleb dialogue performed by David "Tekedon" Wikström, as well as tracks from the Blood Music Project.

Story

Chapter One

THE WAY OF IRA: CHAPTER I

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• IE1M01: PURGE NIGHT
• IE1M08: LAKESIDE GENOCIDE (Secret Level)
• IE1M02: KNEE DEEP IN SLUDGE
• IE1M03: CABAL TOWN
• IE1M04: ASYLUM FOR CRITICS
• IE1M05: DARK ABBEY
• IE1M06: UNDERWORLD
• IE1M07: RETRIBUTION

Purge Night

^{"Years after dealing with the Cabal, Caleb lives on the outskirts of a small village. After having been almost fully erradicated, the last Cabal infiltrated the highest ranks of most religions and governments. Years passed by, more Cabal got recruited and step by step the people got mentally prepared to obey what was coming, one religion, one government, ruled by the Cabal. Cramon, an occult high-priest and new leader of the Cabal envisions to become the next incarnation of Tchernobog. To free the essence of Tchernobog from Caleb's bones, Cramon wants to face Caleb where fear and desperation rule, the Underworld. In the Underworld, Cramon is able to take on a demonic form, in which he can surely kill Caleb. To lure out Caleb, Cramon came up with a radical plan. Those that were expected to resist the Cabal were listed to be purged. Seeing how the Cabal would once again kill everybody around Caleb would surely trigger his rage. On purge night, all homes of possible insurgents get bloodmarked by cultists, that's the sign everyone in those homes can get killed by the Cabal legion. Caleb hears screams of agony and a neighbour runs into his house. Seconds later the whole door gets punched in and the neighbour gets shot, leaving bloody holes in the wall. Caleb gets knocked out. A cultist sees Caleb's cat Cleo cowering in a corner and grabs her. Things are about to get real bloody again." — Opening cutscene}

Caleb storms out of his home, defends his yard and garden, and trudges down the rocky hillside into the besieged village. Fighting through some store fronts and façades, and around a newly central guillotine, he faces a throng of cultists praying in the nearby chapel.

This unlocks the graveyard gate and reveals the primary way out; the more persistent however, can reach a locked back alley leading out into the woods by blasting a wall crack in a wine cellar (IE1M01: PURGE NIGHT).

This more obscure route will take Caleb to a sprawling lakeside town, showing the full extent of purge night as the Cabal slaughter and torment from all sides and corners. Collecting a key to access a liquor store, he then discovers rail cars full of prisoners at the train tracks, then moves on to the police station, library, a restaurant, and finally a spider-infested dwelling (IE1M08: LAKESIDE GENOCIDE).

He then emerges into a forested area ran through with intersecting swampy rivers, and battles his way through several outposts, cottages and forts, collecting keys to access a subterranean passage (IE1M02: KNEE DEEP IN SLUDGE).

This exposes a molten pit connecting with a series of winding chambers, including drinking halls, ore smelters, holding areas and occult temples, all of which must be unlocked one by one (IE1M03: CABAL TOWN).

Caleb scrambles out onto the surface and comes across a Cabal operated asylum clearly engaged in punitive psychiatry, clearing the grounds and scouring the wards (IE1M04: ASYLUM FOR CRITICS).

Sailing into a loading bay, he accesses an atrium directing admission through various stretches of an abbey, culminating in a showdown in the main congregational hall that hides a pit into darkness (IE1M05: DARK ABBEY).

The underworld is revealed to be a sulphurous realm strewn through with rivers of blood. The Cabal have excavated a base encasing the skeleton of a massive plesiosaur-type monster. Caleb ascends a winding path around a circular cavern, before breaking through the barricades protecting the crumbling bridge to Cramon's palace (IE1M06: UNDERWORLD).

The main chamber contains a series of seals unleashing Cramon's top legions, as well as ultimately a stone gargoyle and Cerberus. Finally Cramon, dressed in red priestly robes, shows himself and Caleb eviscerates him and his beastly manifestation, rescuing Cleo from her cage (IE1M07: RETRIBUTION).

Chapter Two

THE WAY OF IRA: CHAPTER II

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• IE2M01: ONSLAUGHT
• IE2M02: CRYPTIC RITUALS
• IE2M03: SINS OF FLESH
• IE2M04: CONTINUITY EXPRESS
• IE2M05: BEHIND CABAL LINES
• IE2M08: DAMNED REPENTANCE (secret level)
• IE2M06: CITADEL (A-B)
• IE2M07: DESCENT

^{"After going through the Underworld's portal, Caleb and Cleo arrived at Cramon's castle. Enjoying the view, Caleb claimed the castle as his own. Cramon's corpse did not have time to rot away before the Cabal high council appointed a new leader: Ursus. During Cramon's reign, Ursus became notorious for the ruthless genocides across the lands. From the citadel, Ursus demands an obliterating offence on Caleb's castle. It's late when Caleb hears uprour. He was expecting the Cabal to strike back sooner or later. Caleb says goodbye to Cleo and prepares for the inevitable." — Opening cutscene}

Caleb awaits the onslaught from the bedchamber of his new castle, seized from Cramon, saying farewell to Cleo. He battles over the balconies, before scaling down the rooftops to the outer courtyard. He swims through the icy moat to gain access to the base of the castle, fighting through some libraries and dining halls before collecting the key to gate. He heads off into a small village where the Cabal has made an example of the locals, collecting more keys from the shops before entering the graveyard and facing a few Phantasms. Caleb descends into the crypt (IE2M01: ONSLAUGHT).

He enters a vast catacomb, descending into the darkest depths to claim a key from some Mother Spiders and passing through some jumping trials and crushers (encountering the fallen Lo Wang). He detonates some dynamite to clear the path into a deeper chamber, coming across a Cerberus held within, before clearing out a congregation of cultists in a chapel (IE2M02: CRYPTIC RITUALS).

Caleb comes out onto snowcapped streets, tearing through some Cabal barricades before coming upon the tantalizing prospect of the Club 666 gentleman's establishment, complete with exotic dancers. He clears the front parlour and private booths before assaulting the back rooms, upstairs bedrooms, and finally out into the alley. Engaging in further battles along the thoroughfare brings him to Miskatonic Station, which features book and clothing stores, a vault, and finally a furnace Caleb must blow up. Descending to the platform, his train awaits him (IE2M03: SINS OF FLESH).

He begins from a storage car, moving on through low-class lodging, some kind of fluid processing, prison cells, a spider terrarium, a hell hound hold, high class accommodations, kitchens, dining car, bar, piston room and finally the front controls (IE2M04: CONTINUITY EXPRESS).

Caleb pulls the engine into Citadel Station, claiming the skull key, and takes the war to the city. He smashes through a the Sav-A-Lot grocery store to pick up the eye key, Methany Meats butcher shop for the fire key, a show down in the The Bloated Liver pub for the dagger key, and the Sorot Bank for the spider key. Now its time for a hospital visit, which conceals the moon key and the downstairs morgue. The Seal of Tchernobog marks the path to the Citadel proper, or a hidden sanctum reveals a portal (IE2M05: BEHIND CABAL LINES).

The portal materializes Caleb in a temple surrounded by moats of lava, with a passage through a cave bringing him to a cursed town. He ventures through a brothel and then an opera house, and a casino. He enters another building and discovers a prison in the basement, and another teleporter (IE2M08: DAMNED REPENTANCE).

New One-liners

As performed by David "Tekedon" Wikström.

• "They should have killed me better"
• "I will find you Cleo"
• "She reminds me of Ophelia"
• "Hmm, maybe this opens somewhere else"
• "I hear a gate opening underwater"
• "It's over Cleo, let's go home"
• "Where's the switch to open this?"
• "Who Wants Some Wang"
• "There's a draft"
• "100 years and still no beard"
• "This used to make the women crazy"
• "I like my face bloody"

Development

^{"I've used my holidays to start mapping for my favourite game. Name of the episode (seeing it big again): The way of Ira. Name of the first level: Purge Night. The story in a nutshell: After a rough life, you've been living in the woods near a village. Over time, the cultists in the village became more and more corrupt until they finally decided to purge everybody in the village and you during Purge Night. You somehow survive and immediately start your revenge." — MariusArmand, Duke4}

The project was first announced on January 3, 2019.

Versions

• v.1.1.2 - July 28, 2021
• v.1.1.1 - July 09, 2021 (added chapter two)
• v1.0.2 - February 1, 2020
• v1.0.1 - December 31, 2019
• v1.0.0 - December 4, 2019
• v0.9.4 - October 16, 2019
• v0.9.3 - October 13, 2019
• v0.9.2 - October 5, 2019
• v0.9.1 - September 27, 2019
• v0.9 - September 22, 2019

Reception

^{"I have played through the episode two times and had a lot of fun on both runs. It lacks polish at times but it's definitely in the top ten of user episodes released for Blood. Some maps like "Asylum for Critics" were bland and may need more detail and fleshing out in future updates, while others like 'Lakeside Genocide' stood out well. One thing that was definitely gotten right was the enemy placement, neither too cheap or too easy/predictable. The bits of new art and references were also nice." — Dead Reckoner}

^{"I don't like the temple designs much, but the exterior areas remind me of the minimalism of Craig Hubbard's levels, except perhaps not as expert in terms of scaling and texturing. Your shading skill has definitely improved a lot from where you started. You should perhaps start fresh with an entirely new campaign and plan things more carefully and think about thematic consistency and things like that. Maybe look into Craig Hubbard's levels specifically for reference about scaling and enemy placement as well since his style seems to be compatible to what you are doing. The level flow in retail maps is pretty much a golden standard so you can't go wrong if you try to mimic that in your own fashion. Overall your work is getting pretty solid. But I'd like to see a better opening to a campagin. Maybe do your best work on an episode and then make that the first chapter. But what I would do is call TWOI done and make a brand new thing, and maybe revisit this one later on when your skill has improved even further." — Dimebog}

External Links

• Page - ModDB
• Mirror - Game Pressure
• Thread - Altar of Stone
• Thread - Steam Community
• Playthrough - pagb666

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