Undercroft Studios

“Every word you speak shapes how others see you. Every choice you make ripples through the story. Every relationship you build -- or break -- determines who stands beside you when the world turns hostile.” --- (Update 4 is live. 140k words and counting.) ---

The kingdom of Vordoria stands on the edge of annihilation. Caught between warring powers, King Barbora has one desperate option left: a marriage alliance that could save his people—or doom them all.

You are the Custos, the king's trusted ward and agent, raised from infancy to serve the crown. Your task: escort Princess Thyra through lands scarred by ancient catastrophe to secure a marriage that will bring salvation, or something far more complicated.

This is a story where magic rots, trust is scarce, and the "correct" choice might still leave you with scars.

The Features

Genre: Gothic Fantasy / Grimdark Interactive Fiction.

Word Count: 30k+ words (Public Demo).

Protagonist: Male.

Magic: Dangerous, costly, and grounded in sacrifice.

"This was never about a choice. You walked down this shale to be slaughtered, and it is much easier to let the steel do its work than to watch you pretend you can survive it." - Etarr the Pale, The Auspex to the Custos and his party.

This is not cruelty. Cruelty requires appetite, and what you carry is older than appetite and far more quiet.

The road is underway. If you want to talk about what's in it - the choices, the companions, the things we haven't announced yet, or just connect with one another - the Discord is where that's happening.

Join Here

"The gap widens, admitting a current of raw, unmediated wind from the world outside. It smells of dead leaves and vast, indifferent distances."

The latest update to ENVOY: The King's Gambit adds over 50,000 words of branching narrative, taking the game to a massive 85k+ total.

Three routes out of the capital with companions to alienate or embrace. Every choice you made in the dark of the citadel travels with you into the country. The journey hasn't properly begun, and the road alone will exceed 300,000 words at the rate we're going

⚔️ Play the free 85k+ word update now

🗝️ Want to walk the deepest parts of the road before anyone else? The Patreon is where it's at.

"Through the pastures, then the treeline. The margins where most maps fail." - Kess Wendel --- The citadel is behind you.

The demo was the king's court — the briefing, the preparation, the weight of what you're carrying. Now the gates are open.

The Walls, the Royal Library, the Training Grounds. The departure sequence. The road.

This update adds 50–60k words to ENVOY: The King's Gambit. We sit at 90k total, and the journey hasn't properly begun. Three routes out of Vordoria await. I expect the road alone to well exceed 300k words before it's done.

Every variable you set in the citadel travels with you. Every relationship, every word spoken, every choice made in the dark. If you want to walk the road before anyone else, the Patreon is where that happens.

The Vanguard is approaching 100,000 words.

Later this week, a massive new update for ENVOY is dropping. The entire starting hub is officially complete. You will finally be able to comb through various texts in the Royal Library, cross blades with Gareth Voss in the Training Grounds, or step up to the threshold of The Walls.