Snowbound Blood

Snowbound Blood
Snowbound Blood title screen upon initially starting the game.
Series	Vast Error
Platforms	Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux
Released	Prologue: March 22, 2019 Volume 1: March 22, 2019 Volume 2: April 5, 2019 Volume 3: April 26, 2019 Volume 4: May 24, 2019 Volume 5: June 20, 2019 Volume 6: August 10, 2019 Volume 7: September 26, 2019 Volume 8: February 9, 2020 Volume 9: June 18, 2020 Volume 10: January 11, 2021 Volume 11: October 22, 2021 Volume 12: February 10, 2023 Epilogue: May 17th, 2024
Genre	Visual novel

Snowbound Blood: A Vast Error Story, or simply Snowbound Blood, is a Vast Error spinoff anthology of visual novels. Acting as a prequel to the comic, the story focuses around Secily Iopara as she investigates a crime that leads her down a rabbit hole of quirky suspects, dangerous cultists, and a mastermind behind it all. Snowbound Blood can be downloaded for free on itch.io here.

Snowbound Blood's visual and game design take inspiration from Hiveswap: Friendship Simulator, much in the same way that the Trollodex serves as a parallel to Hiveswap's Troll Call.

The Prologue and Volume 1 were released on itch.io on March 22, 2019. As of May 17th, 2024, all volumes have been released and the game is complete.

Plot

Prologue

Chief Regulator Secily Iopara strikes down a brownblood during an operation, giving him a message for Ahlina Robiad: She will send them as many as they need to avenge her, and she's sorry she can't join her just yet. She takes a picture of the scene to document her success to her superiors, and admits that she takes some pleasure in killing. She sheathes Proserpina, her blade, and returns to Corporate for her next mission.

Volume 1

Secily has been stuck onto a Priority Aleph case, the highest priority there is, and meets with Sestro Enthal, corporate heir. He explains Operation Snowbound Blood to her: thieves have killed two truck drivers in the Northern Wastes and stolen only a philter of The Vivifier's blood. The precision of their work is immaculate, and they had insider knowledge to know of the secret transportation route and where inside the truck the philter was. Secily notes that this is the first time she's heard of The Vivifier in a serious manner, as she's mostly known as a fringe religious figure. Secily creates a deck of trollodex cards of suspects and potential allies.

She drives to the scene of the murder/burglary to investigate and is able to come to the same conclusion as Sestro, that the culprit was clearly skilled and had insider information in some way.

On her way back to Corporate, she receives a call from an anonymous person, taunting her. He says he just wants to help her understand, and that she will by the end. He ends the call with the cryptic message 'Eidolic Acres. +2.111. Two days.'

At corporate she meets with Hamifi Hekrix, Sestro's matesprit and another of Secily's superiors. She reports her conclusions, and notes that Hamifi seems nervous about this case, which Secily thinks is out of character for her. She leaves, and plans out who she'll interrogate first.

Volume 2

Secily starts her case off by meeting with Rypite Koldan, whose ties with Skorpe put him on her list as it came out of nowhere and is now the dominating chat client. Despite an intense back and forth, Secily soon finds that Rypite is just as excitable and genuine a character as he appears with no hidden wrongdoing beyond offering comfort and recording podcast episodes on company time something Secily does not care to punish. He has no relevant information for Secily, instead telling her about his matesprit, Sirage Feltri, and giving her the card for his moirail, who he says is good at solving puzzles like this one.

As she already had Sirage on her list of suspects due to her past as a thief, she decides to interrogate her next, finding that she hasn't been at work since the wicend. Secily finds this highly suspicious, and sets out to find her, eventually stumbling upon her hungover in a park. After some conversation the two head to Sirage's office, where she admits she had a shipment on the truck that was stolen, but that it was just something she bought online. Secily coins the portmanteau 'murglary' to refer to the murder/burglary of the truck containing the philter while continuing to cast suspicion on Sirage, but eventually relents, admitting to herself that she feels sympathy for people like her, since her past is dodgy as well. Sirage mixes a cursed cocktail of whatever's on her desk, from ink to paper, and the two share a cup.

Volume 3

Secily wakes up hungover from her night with Sirage, before setting out to further pursue the case. She starts by following a hunch she has that Bytcon Krypto a notorious scam artist she has never been able to catch may have ties either direct or indirectly to the case. Entering the Currency Dome under an alias, she attempts to gain Bytcons favor by pretending to be a potential client. He leads her underground to a private room before proceeding to out her cover. Secily continues with her questioning nonetheless but it quickly becomes clear that Bytcon holds the upper hand, and Secily has no way of proving any involvement. Upon leaving, Secily attempts to attack Bytcon but is coerced into letting him go in favor of an alibi paired with external pressure from Bytcon's many supporters. He leads her to a closer, and in order to prove his whereabouts he refers Secily to Endari Vernir one of the 'Boys' he considers his closest confidants. Secily leaves the Currency Dome feeling utterly humiliated and vows to make more progress despite the dead end.

After her encounter with Bytcon, Secily heads to the coordinates provided to her by her anonymous caller. Arriving at Eidolic Acres Secily is confronted by Husske Mayze, before recalling her first assignment as a Regulator. Partway through her recall, things start to deviate and Secily finds that she has been mysteriously drawn to the corn fields that surround the property. Husske prevents her from entering, and explains that the corn whispers things, although he admits he's never met an adult who could hear it before. As a result he considers her trustworthy before bringing her inside to meet the rest of the kids who live on the acres. After some minor questioning of their situation and religious discussions Secily is drawn out by a crash, revealing a violin case with a recording and a picture of Oricka Rourst inside. Secily speeds away from the farm without another word as a result to the perceived threat.

Volume 4

Secily does not allow herself a moment before hurrying to her next lead. Following up on the lead provided by Bytcon she arrives at the Stronghold's top theatre, flashing her badge to gain entry and heading to the top show of the night. Upon making it into the venue, Secily gets to witness the tail end of an illusory show by Endari Vernir a celebrity who has risen to fame in recent sweeps. Overwhelmed by the noise of the crowds, Secily slips backstage in the commotion of Endari's finale where she corners him after the show. After a brief discussion in the hallway, Endari takes her into his dressing room. Secily questions his past in the cultist scene, and after minor deliberation he shares his history with two notable groups. He describes his time with the Mora religious group, and how he left as a result of am extreme Resonator Ritual. He also mentions another group he was with affiliated with, the Mirthamaniacs which he escaped with the help of a young troll. After some more discussion of astronomy and his former cult history Secily leaves only to realize that she is being watched by Talald Hieron breaking into a pursuit after her. While she ends up unable to catch her, Secily now has confirmation that she is being closely monitored.

After leaving the Ediolic Acres, Secily arrives at a junkyard bordering the Depths entering a cave that serves as the location of Oricka Rourst's hive. When entering, Secily triggers the defense measures in the cave. After a messy sequence of events that led to Secily's visor being blown up, and Secily concussed against a rock Oricka turns up to help. Secily catches a glimpse of one of Oricka's projects on the way back to Oricka's hive and scolds her for its creation, despite that Oricka brushes her off in favor of bringing her inside. Secily shares the details of the case to Oricka and blows up in anger when she responds casually in favor of asking Secily if she got rid of the visor she'd made for her. After calming down, they have a heart to heart about the unfairness of life and Oricka leaves to go get some medical supplies and materials for a new visor. While Oricka is gone, Secily snoops around her room, reading through a discorpse conversation between Oricka and Secily's anonymous informant. There, what starts as a lighthearted back and forth shifts drastically as he engages in much more extremist behavior, something Oricka quickly finds herself opposed to. In a final confrontation between the two it's revealed that they know Oricka by name and warns her that he's sent someone to her hive. Secily concludes that whoever it is, must want her dead though she has to quickly step back when Oricka returns. As an apology for everything, Oricka provides Secily with a drone, modified to look like a Hummingbird Moth, something Secily comments she hasn't seen since her lusus died. Secily is brought near to tears by the gift.

Transcripts

Transcripts for every Snowbound Blood volume can be found on Google Docs. These transcripts are formatted and maintained by Snowbound Blood writer Alienoid.

Credits

Publishers

• Deconreconstruction LLC
• Snake Solutions Studio LLP (formerly)

Directors and producers

• Austin "austinado"
• Ed "eddieDraws"
• Heather "Sparaze"
• Kate Mitchell
• Andrew D. "Kohi"
• Xamag
• Austin "ValantWynn"

Programming

• Andrew D. "Kohi" - All Volumes
• VeritasUnae - Volumes 3, 7, 8, 10, and 12
• Alienoid - Volume 10, 11, 12, and Epilogue

Writers

• Kate Mitchell - Volumes 1, 3, 5, 6 and 9 (Prologue, Husske, Mshiri, Raurou, Cinare, Additional Writing)
• optimisticDuelist - Volume 1 (Sestro)
• Pip D. - Volumes 1 — 5 (Hamifi, Sirage, Husske, Oricka, Mshiri, Additional Writing)
• Alienoid - Volumes 2, 3, 7 — 10 (Rypite, Bytcon, Necron, Sabine, Glomer, Hayyan)
• Austin "austinado" - Volumes 3, 5, 7 — 9, Epilogue Acts 2 - 4. (Bytcon, Occeus, Necron, Sabine, Glomer)
• Heather "Sparaze" - Volumes 3 and 4 (Bytcon, Endari)
• Ed "eddieDraws" - Volumes 3, 5 , 11, and Epilogue Act 3(Bytcon, Occeus, Mshiri)
• Ciro Page - Volumes 4 and 10 (Endari, Crytum)
• VeritasUnae - Volumes 6 and 10 (Raurou, Cadlys, Hayyan)
• Leon - Volumes 7, 8, 10, 11, and Epilogue Act 3 (Necron, Valtel, Crytum, Noxious, Volume 11 Ending 2)
• Joseph C. "pN" - Volumes 7, 9, and 11 (Gerbat, Cinare, Volume 11 Ending 1)
• Neptune - Volume 10 (Crytum)
• Charlie - Volume 10 (Crytum)
• Julia Norza - Volume 11 and 12 (Yeshin, "Sesmifi")
• Valerie Serac - Volume 12
• Sarah Zedig - Epilogue Acts 1 - 2

Character artists

• Xamag - Volumes 1, 2, 5 — 7, 9, 10, 12, Epilogue (Secily, Sestro, Hamifi, Rypite, Sirage, Secily/Yeshin Dancing, Pozzol, Gerbat, Cretas)
• Ciro Page - Volumes 3, 6, 7, 9, 11 and 12 (Bytcon, Husske, Yeshin, Talald, Cinare)
• Big Chalupa - Volume 4 (Endari)
• Phil - Volumes 4, 7, 8, and Epilogue (Oricka, Necron, Valtel)
• Olschu - Volumes 5 and 10 (Occeus, Crytum)
• Neptune - Volumes 5, 6, 10, and Epilogue (Mshiri, Raurou, Hayyan)
• Charlie - Volumes 6 and 9 (Cadlys, Glomer)
• Banavalope - Volume 8 (Sabine, Noxious)
• Heather "Sparaze" - Volume 9 and Epilogue (The Executive)
• Eddie "eddieDraws" - Volume 11 (Yeshin)

Background artists

• Charlie - Volumes 1 — 4, 7, 8, 10, and 11
• Phil - Volumes 1, 3, 4, 6, and 11
• Lupa - Volumes 1, 3, 5, 6 and 10
• Xamag - Volumes 2, 3, 5, 7 — 9, 12 and Epilogue
• Chuchumi - Volumes 3, 4, 6 and 9
• Eddie "eddieDraws" - Volumes 3, 4, 6, 9 - 11
• Hallie Kane - Volumes 3, 5 and 8
• Bana - Volumes 4, 5, 7 and 9
• Ciro Page - Volumes 4, 6 — 8 and 10
• Donut - Volumes 4 and 7 — 11
• Heather "Sparaze" - Volume 5, 8 and 9
• Dia - Volume 5
• Olschu - Volumes 6, 8, and 11
• Dust - Volume 11 and Epilogue
• Tyson "Fireistuck25" - Volume 11

Ending illustrations

• Ciro Page - Volumes 1, 3, 5 and 10
• Big Chalupa - Volumes 2 — 4 and 6
• Phil - Volume 4
• Chuchumi - Volumes 6 and 8
• Alienoid - Volume 6
• Xamag - Volumes 7 — 9
• Neptune - Volume 10

Musicians

• Joseph C. "pN"
  • Title Theme, "Welcome to Night Vasterror"
  • Sestro's Theme, "Kid Business"
  • Investigation Theme, "Total Recall"
  • Hamifi's Theme, "Shh! The Adults are Talking"
  • Rypite's Theme, "Sirage, You're Not Gonna Believe This"
  • Sirage's Theme, "You Act Like You Never Answered a Boot Before"
  • Endari's Theme, "Heathen (An Evening with Chris Angel's Gay Cousin)"
  • Oricka's Theme, "Aeh... Geu Lageune..... (Damn Fish, You Live Like This?)"
  • Occeus's Theme, "Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Ethics Violation"
  • Raurou's Theme, "Rautatouille"
  • Cadlys's Theme, "Potion Seller. Enough of These Games."
  • Necron's Theme, "tinyurl_dot_com_slash_y48fbov8"
  • Gerbat's Theme, "Don't Shake The Hand Unless You Mean It"
  • Cretas's Theme, "You've Opened the Door."
  • Valtel's Theme, "for me, its always like this"
  • Glomer's Theme, "Raison D'ohtre"
  • The Executive's Theme, "Executive Decisions"
  • Cinare's Theme, "No Cops At Pride"
  • Ahlina's Theme, "Ahlina"
  • Hayyan's Theme, "the sound of 1,000 mosquitoes inhabiting the corpse of James Bond"
  • Crytum's Reflection Theme, "Loved You"
  • Vol 11 Trailer Theme, "You'll Have To Speak Up, I'm Behind Seven Proxies"
  • Revelation Theme, "Or Else."
  • Various Sound Effects
• Kate Mitchell
  • Secily's Theme, "Beatriz (Secily Cut)"
  • Secily's Combat Theme, "pessimistic duelist"
  • Cornfields Theme, "x marks the field"
  • Mshiri's Theme, "mshiri dearest"
  • Yeshin's Theme, "yeshin, somehow irresistible"
  • Harbingers of the Alpocalypse Theme, "The Black Depths"
  • Cinare's Garage Theme, "machine shop"
  • Yeshin's 2'nd Theme, "yeshin plays this on a boombox outside secily's hive at 4 in the morning"
• James Roach
  • Bytcon's Theme, "the wizard of oz is an isekai if u think about it"
  • Husske's Theme, "THERE SHALL BE NO PEACE WHILE JAMES ROACH HAUNTS THESE HALLS"
• SplitSuns
  • Sabine's Theme, "I ADMIT IT, I DON'T KNOW HOW KING CRIMSON WORKS!! HE ERASES TIME BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?! IF YOU ERASE TIME THEN SHOULDN'T IT NOT BE THERE? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN- WHAT DOES HE MEAN HE ERASES TIME?!"
  • Crytum's Theme, "thank you captain valken david"
  • Seinru's Theme, "Rejoice And Be Merry"
  • Additional Sound Effects and Foley
• Viridian
  • Cultist Party Crashing Theme, "Refutation"
• Kurt 'Rnd' Burton
  • X Theme, "Beyond the Wall (Intermission)"
• Moonsweater
  • Monorail Theme, "Corporate"
• CRISTATA
  • Tense Conversation Theme, "Nothing Special"
  • Yeshin's 3'rd Theme, "yeshin, again unfortunately"
  • Yeshin's Confrontation Theme, "deadly beloathed"
  • Secily/Necron Theme, "Checkmate 6 Romeo"
  • Secily/Sestro/Hamifi Theme, "very normal and healthy troll "familial" relationships"
• Kal-la-kal-la
  • Noxious' Theme, "You Aren't The Only One Cursed With Knowledge"
• VeritasUnae
  • Noxious' Hideout Theme, "[No E x i t .]"
  • Credits Theme, "Snowbound Blood"
• Rom M
  • Edolon's Theme, "corruptedcultist"
  • Kheparia's Theme, "Absolute Recall"
  • Credits Theme, "Snowbound Blood" (Producer)
• Heather
  • Talald's Theme, "Small But Knowing Jester"
• dbnet
  • White Noise's Theme, "Waltz in the Static Void"
• bright0n
  • Sestro Breakdown Theme "To Heaven, We Burn"

Character creators

• Kate Mitchell - Secily Iopara, Mshiri Libeta, and Yeshin Laevis
• Austin "austinado" - Sestro Enthal, Occeus Coliad, Necron Exmort, Pozzol Broyer, Talald Hieron, Sabine Berare, Glomer Hicner, Cinare Montor and The Executive
• Heather "Sparaze" - Hamifi Hekrix, Endari Vernir, Oricka Rourst and Valtel Gurtea
• Xamag - Rypite Koldan, Sirage Feltri, Gerbat Batrav, and Cretas Mglina
• Ciro Page - Bytcon Krypto
• Diz - Husske Mayzee
• Fear - Raurou Dersal and Cadlys Rankor
• Donut - Crytum Lydian and Hayyan Refero

Special thanks

• Xtine - Mshiri Libeta Concept Assistance
• Izu "princepeachu" - Additional Assistance for Hayyan Refero
• Daniel "Wattson" Westfall - Wave Shader
• Lup, Biscuit, Mocha, Peko, Tiny, and Sneeze - Moral Support Mousies
• Andrew Hussie, What Pumpkin Games, and the creators of Hiveswap: Friendship Simulator - Inspiration

Trivia

• Snowbound Blood's title screen continually updates as the player completes both routes in a single volume.
• Despite the game having a linear plotline, volumes can be loaded and launched in any order. This is to avoid players having to replay through earlier volumes if they redownload the game to play a newly released chapter.

See also

• Secily Iopara
• Trollodex
• Intermission 2 Side 2