I would not expect a release by Christmas. I haven't been working on Solid and Shade at all lately - been working the early shift (2:30am - 11am) at a coffee shop, and therefore my schedule lends towards a rather sleepy life. Also found my soulmate, and I spend a lot of time with her. Priorities. And a lot of my personal darkness, which I previously expressed via Solid and Shade has vanished entirely, thanks to her. She is a truly beautiful human being, through and through.
However, I have been feeling the itch to work on it more, and some things have started up again, namely:
* Added a Straightrazor as a regular merchandise weapon. It is rather fast, and deadly due to doing piercing damage, though you cannot parry with it.
* Concurrently, I plan to add a suicide option for human characters. You will have to have a Straightrazor equipped or in inventory. This will be like a quick jump to permadeath, with failure being possible - i.e. you will have a chance of triggering a nightmare or dream sequence instead, and you can become a ghost this way as well (with a unique dialog, since the other dialogs indicate the enemies who took your life).
* I will be adding the Barber character creation choice, as a profession choice. Stat bonus will be similar to choosing Neophyte Necromancer (Agi+1,Cha+1). With this will be the ability to sell your trade at towns, similar to Mummers and Troubadours. Especially in ancient Greece, the Barber (or Cureus) was very important, as going to him for a haircut and a manicure was a threshold of manhood. Barbershops were, and still are, a huge focal point for news and debate. For those paying close attention, and Sweeney Todd fans, this will enable you to play a character who Is a Butcher's Helper Barber.
* The concept of a weapon made from the iron in the blood of one's enemies is something I have begun to nebulously consider - apparently it would take approximately the blood of 359 people to make a longsword. That is a lot of inventory space, so perhaps there will be a particular character you give Human Blood to over time, who will forge the sword when they finally have received 359 of them. I see this as a perfect excuse to create a sword that looks just like a normal bastard sword in the game, but functions as well as Hematite, the Sword of Hades - for those purist Antihero characters who want a good weapon that still represents the human factor.
