The Guide
Below is
a basic explanation of how the site works, what it is and how you can participate in it. The FaQs, facts and tutorials can be found here, as well as an easy way to contact us for any questions you might have, that you can't find the answer to, here.
What is this place?
This website hosts the "Empire of Ice" Graphic Novel.
Start at the
Beginning please!?
The Known World : A place in our fictional universe of which the story takes place. It is all that is known about the universe and its inhabitants discovered so far. The term "the known world" suggests that there are parts of the world (planet and universe) that are still unknown.
- The Known World is the name of the planet in this fictional universe.
What is the Empire of Ice really?
The Empire of Ice is a place on "The Known World". A continent surrounded by the Atholas Ocean and the Green Sea. It's another name for the Vulsrian Empire of the northern hemisphere. It's called the "Empire of Ice" because of how harsh their winters can be.
It's also the name of the saga, as the story begins by focusing on the rulers of the Vulsrian Empire.
What is a
Graphic Novel?
Graphic Novel : N
1. A novel in the form of a comic strip
2. A manga or Story told in the form of images
3. Example | He’s teaching himself how to read, beginning with “Dog Man,” the Dav Pilkey graphic novel about a half-dog half-man superhero.
What are the forums?
Forum : N
1. An assembly or meeting place of the people to discuss opinions and questions of public interest.
2. A court or tribunal
In the forums, after sign-up, you can interact with other members, post questions and look through informational threads that your peers may have already posted.
How do I do this?
Participating on the website is easy, all you have to do is sign up. The content here is best viewed on a desktop because of the amount of detail and data the pages contain. Moving images, gifs and hover interactions may not operate correctly on a mobile device.
How much does
this cost?
Joining the site and reading the graphic novel is free. But there are options you have to alter your reading experience. By subscribing to our tiered system you can unlock exclusive materials that free accounts do not have access to.
BEFORE YOU CONTINUE
This graphic novel is written for the entertainment of adults only. Some of the content can be triggering to younger audiences due to it's realism. This story contains images of sex, drugs, violence and other situations that may be disturbing to some viewers. There are discussions and incidences that may cause question or concern to some viewers and trigger uncomfortable feelings or emotions. Creating an account and moving forward indicates to us that you've acknowledged this warning and cannot hold Us* liable for any disturbances these images may cause you. Some of these situations are a testament to the infinite human mind, it's fragility and the lengths we take to understand it.
In conclusion, none of the characters depicted are meant to represent anyone in reality and any likenesses are purely coincidental. As well as names, places, religions and beliefs - due to the fact that this is a fictional story.
I'm still confused...
It's medieval fiction. It's a romance story, drama...action. There's rivalry and revenge as well. We (meaning the writers) built a world and filled it with lore. There are a variety of characters, situations and events that take place within this world - which we will slowly reveal to you over time.
Examples of other sites?
To be honest, it's hard to find a site resembling this one, but here are a few that are slightly similar.
Be aware, both of these sites are hosting MULTIPLE comics, which is the opposite of our site - we want our graphic novel to help us build a community, not get lost in one.
Can I see a
preview?
Below is an example of how the graphic novel is laid out for our readers to enjoy.
To the left you can see the layout of the graphic novel. Clicking the small arrows on either side will turn the page. The graphic novel reads from left to right and is on average between 40-60 pages.
disclaimer : the pages above are out of order for the purpose of example.
This is the censorship sticker. Seeing this means that the content underneath is R rated and available for subscription holders only. Choose a subscription level to view uncensored conent.
Still not sure what to do? Just ask us.
We have big plans for this place
As avid role-players and gamers ourselves, we want to create a merge of platforms that has never been done before. A graphic novel, a forum, a roleplaying community with the ability to customize their profile, create their own alter-egos or MCs and get lost in "The Known World". But we have to take steps to reach our goals, here are our plans thus far...
1
Build the Site
This part will obviously take the most time. Right now we're still working out the functionality kinks and knots. Pages need to be completed optimized and designed. Currently we're still dealing with minor sign-in and sign-out issues. We also want to be sure our members can customize their profiles as they desire, but at the moment, the only options members have is their profile image, banner image and minor details like their displayed username and introduction.
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Basic Site Functionality
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Membership/Subscriptions Finalized
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More art added to the pages for descriptive purposes.
2
Add the Pizzazz
What is "Pizzazz"? That Oomph that makes the site go POP. Still don't know what I mean? Let me explain. When the site was born the design was, how should I say, all over the place. It didn't matter what it looked like in the beginning so long as the layout was determined. Now that the messy part is out of the way, we can focus on THE ART. Adding the characters to their about pages, adding world details like the calendar and the map.
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Site Beautification
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Adding the artwork - characters, maps...
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Membership level perks start activating
3
A Roleplayer's Paradise
Roleplayer's paradise? What is that? If you like to roleplay, whether it be a video game or a tabletop session with the boys; then boy do we have a suprise for you. Not only are we creating a world full of characters, lore and other secret stuff, we want you to be as immersed as possible. We want to be able to give our members the ability to create a character of their own, choose the details of that character according to their background and more badge options to show on member profiles. Access to cool forum pages will give certain members 'nobility' of which they can use througout the site to obtain perks. However, this part could take the longest to reach as we would need a large amount of members and a strong base.
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Creating a roleplaying forum for subscribed members.
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Character creation and profile details.
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Track member progress through the known world.
Is that it?
No. There is so much more to explain and go over, but the best way to do that would be to contact one of the admins directly with your questions using the contact form above, or simply sending a message using the chat box in the lower right corner of your screen.