Claire ThomasHi there! Y’all know me, I’m Claire, I do 3D art and narrative design things for Pine Drake Games! Today I wanted to get into the story of The Phantom Keeper and the circumstances surrounding the game. That way you can have more context when checking out our updates! Hope you enjoy!
In the universe of The Phantom Keeper, every person is made up of two different parts – a Soul and a Phantom. A Soul is exactly what you’d expect it to be; a culmination of your being, representing your thoughts and opinions and how you view the world, as unique as your fingerprint. A Phantom works in tandem with your Soul as a companion, and it drives all of your emotions. Your Phantom controls how you react to the world around you, how you deal with hardship, and how you are perceived by others. Your Soul is your identity – your Phantom is your gut instincts. Make sense?
When a person dies, the Soul and the Phantom are separated. Unable to follow the Soul or stay on Earth, the Phantom finds themselves in a different place. This world has many names – The Phantom Realm, the Great Filter, even Purgatory – but most refer to it as Akeron. Here, the Phantoms spend the rest of eternity, lost and alone without their Soul to guide them.
Nobody knows where Souls go when they die. It isn’t supposed to be Akeron. But yet, every once in a long while, a Soul ends up there anyway. No one knows how. Perhaps it’s fate, divine intervention, or just a complete accident. Regardless, these Souls trapped in Akeron have found each other, and built up small communities in this strange world. That’s where you come in!
You play as a Soul who finds themselves in Akeron. Against all odds, you are able to meet up with your Kindred – the Phantom who guided you in life. This type of encounter is incredibly rare, and it leaves some to believe that you are destined to become a Keeper. Keepers are wandering nomads who keep the peace in Akeron by harnessing the power of Phantoms. They catch and train them, and also utilize the strength of Phantom emotions that Souls themselves lack. There hasn’t been a new Keeper in centuries, and most of them have gone into hiding for mysterious reasons. But with mysterious kidnappings and missing Souls on the rise, a new Keeper in town might be exactly what Akeron needs!
Hope you guys enjoyed this little world-building dump! Feel free to leave questions in the comments (although some things may remain a mystery for now!) or start a conversation on our awesome discord server! Thanks for reading! 🙂