About

Who?

Greetings, I'm Tom Brooks Jr.  I thought it would be nice to have a bit of background here on how the series came to be.  

What?

Iravelon's origins date back to the year 2007.  I came up with an idea for a story called Oblivion (incidentally having nothing to do with the Elder Scrolls game).  When I first started getting into game design, I decided I would try to make the story into a game.  However, I realized early on that the story wasn't really suited to the storytelling mechanics of a video game, at least not with my capabilities at the time. 

During this time, I came up with a few more ideas for stories.  I ditched the name Oblivion for something more suited to one of my new story ideas.  I wanted to come up with a title that was a bit more original and would describe the story in a subtle way.  That led to the beginnings of what I then called Resonant Shadows.  Resonant Shadows would later become the first game in the Iravelon series, Shades of Resonance.

As I explored the possibilities that Resonant Shadows held, the story itself began to grow both in length and in worldly scope.  Over time, the single story branched off from one game into a four part series. Since the name Resonant Shadows only really described the first part, I needed to come up with a name for the entire series.  I eventually came up with Iravelon, and Resonant Shadows became Shades of Resonance, which was followed by Echoes of Influence, Prominence of Aeons, and Age of Shadows.  Each game's title is a reference, either symbolic or direct, to the events that occur in the game.  The name Iravelon itself comes from a fusion of a few words, including "Ira," which is Latin for "Wrath."

Through discussing my ideas and vision with friends, I decided to add Variance of Fates to the mix.  Variance is a story that occurs alongside the main Iravelon series, and answers some of the questions left open by the main games.  It's basically my way of showing that I've considered as many possibilities as I can, and that there is an explanation for each and every event in the story.

I had previously added a game called Essence of Eternity to the Iravelon lineup, though I've decided to go in a different direction with that which is exciting in its own right.  It will be some time until I go into that, but for now just know that Iravelon represents far more than anyone, even I, can possibly imagine!

This site will be the source for updates on the entire series, along with any side projects I work on, such as my game REMIX.  Check back here often for additional information on all the games, including screenshots, character info, progress news, and eventually release information!

Why?

Because it's a story I'd like to tell to as many people as possible.  It's about friendship, adventure, war, and magic, but most of all I think it's a story about possibilities - the possibilities of the universe, and other universes, are endless and unfathomable.

Who else?

The Iravelon crew has grown a bit to include work from several people around the interwebs.  There's Neosky, who made the current Iravelon title graphic and the introduction animations for Shades of Resonance and Echoes of Influence.  We've got Catalyst Chaos and QueeZer, the two top-notch composers for Shades of Resonance.  There's avidgamer09 (or Corellios as some know him), who has helped with concepts and has done some seriously awesome mapping that has not yet been revealed.  Then of course there are influences from various others, both directly and indirectly throughout the internet and off the net.