The Wildsea: Sourdown

Surveys and Shrouds
4 days ago – Thu, Sep 10, 2026 at 03:23:18 PM

Welcome back, people - things have been going pretty well over the last few weeks!

Minor housekeeping note first, I’ve hopped across the big pond for most of the rest of the year, so get to experience some North American landscapes for a change. Will that mean that Sourdown is suddenly full of redwoods, beavers, and marshes? No, but it does make me think about future releases…

But there are more pressing things to deal with right now! Like surveys, and art, and even a quick update on the writing (though I want to keep as much of that under wraps as I can until it's time for the beta read next monthish)!

POST-KICKSTARTER SURVEYS

LT, our campaign manager, has put together a few paragraphs of information for you below regarding the surveys that have gone out. These surveys are particularly important if you backed for more than just Sourdown itself, as they’ll give you digital access to other previously published Wildsea stuff. But LT probably says it better than me, so I’ll pass you over…

Surveys have been sent! Check your spam folder if you don't see it, and reach out to us at [email protected] if you don't see it within 24 hours.

Digital downloads for the previously published Wildsea products are available as soon as you complete your survey. You can log in to Backerkit and download them that way, or await the email from Backerkit notifying you that downloads are available. Please be advised that if you selected "pay over time" for your pledge, you will not have access to the files until the installments of your payment are complete.

Note that these downloads do NOT include Sourdown yet - Felix and the artists are hard at work on it and you will receive an email notification when that is available for download in the coming weeks.

Downloads are packaged as zip files, except for the two largest books, which are presented as a url that will take you to the Mythworks website. You'll see a big orange DOWNLOAD button that will take you to those files.

Thanks LT! 

NEW ART

Just as LT is handling the internal logistics-style stuff for the campaign, Omercan has been overseeing the development of all of the character art. This is because, as some of you may know, every Wildsea character that has appeared in every Wildsea publication sprang directly from his well-skilled hands!

So while Essendi is handling our internal splash art, Omercan has been populating some of Sourdown’s pages with characters over the last couple of weeks. At the moment that takes the shape of adding faction illustrations, a character for each of Sourdown’s four major groups. I won’t share all of the in-progress art here, as I want to keep some stuff fresh and surprising for the release of the book, but I will show off a few snatches of the work-in-progress sketches I’ve seen recently. 

THE WRITING

And a quick one before I sign off for today, the writing is continuing pretty much as expected - a few more hazards added, a few more aspects wrangled and tested, and some more adventure writing done. 

The adventure content is actually the majority of what’s left to finish up. I know the story of it, the main NPCs, and a good amount of the connective tissue is in place, but there are some adventure specific locations I haven’t nailed down yet. This is thanks to Sourdown being a bit different to the previous Wildsea supplements - it’s a reach AND an adventure, rather than just an adventure that takes place in a limited set of locations. This provides a few new challenges, and is a little trickier for me to write (it turns out), but I think that’s going to be for the best in the end. The adventure is being written so that it can run absent the reach-specific locations detailed earlier in the book, allowing for a streamlined ‘adventure locations only’ experience or a broader, more exploratory take for those that want the adventure to underpin their explorations of the reach as a whole. 

Anyway, that’s enough rambling for me; I actually have a game of the Wildsea to play in this evening thanks to Mythworks Community Manager and Chief People Person Ric, and I’ve got a Shrouded Ektus Corsair to make. 

What’s the Shrouded origin, you may ask? 

All will be revealed in the dead-wood future. 

Felix

A SIlk-Wrapped Success, and the Journey Ahead
about 1 month ago – Wed, Aug 12, 2026 at 04:18:24 AM

Morning people, Felix here! 

Let's get it out the way right now - the response to this campaign has been brilliant. A horde of new and returning wildsailors, nice comments for me to read, and a very healthy amount of funding that ensures we get to make good-quality books (and keep making them for a while). It's great stuff, and I may say it every time, but we really couldn't do it without you all. 

Now, on to the future of the book itself!

HOW FAR IS THERE TO GO? 

I find it useful to be as transparent as possible in terms of where production stands when it comes to Wildsea products. To that end, I keep a 'finishing chart', a colour-coded table of page layout, art, and written sections (columns 1, 2, and 3 below). 

If it's red it's planned but not started, if it's yellow it's mid-development, and if it's green it's finished. There's also purple, which you won't see much of on the chart below yet, which is 'finished with feedback and edits applied', so essentially really finished. That bit mostly comes later, once the beta has been released and the Mythworks editor Ellan has done a couple of thorough run-throughs. 

With all that said, let's look at some colours!

As you can hopefully see, the book is in a pretty healthy place. A lot of the earlier scattered red is for art (though Omercan and Essendi are working on turning quite a few of those to yellows or greens already), whereas the later lurid chunks are for hazards and some of the adventure scenario content. Both of these require additional of playtesting AND writing, which is currently ongoing but definitely not finished.

I can promise you this, though... Next time you see this chart, there's going to be quite a bit more green.

I ASKED, PEOPLE ANSWERED

So after campaign close yesterday I took a bit of time to relax, wind down, and not stare obsessively at a screen for a while. But before I did, I asked a question on the discord - what would people like to see early from the upcoming Sourdown release? 

'Bee Stuff' was the pretty clear answer, so here's a couple of sneak peeks at the territory of the Golden Legion, the hexicrae-dominated faction of Sourdown's livelier waves. This is all first-draft, so don't be surprised if you see some revisions (or even total replacements) when the beta releases, but hopefully it gives a bit of a window into the world-in-progress. 

... And, because it can't be all bees all the time, here's a little snippet from one of the new up-and-coming origins...

Anyway, that's enough yapping from me for today, I think, but you can expect a rough one-update-a-month schedule until we hit production and printing (where news tends to slow a little unless it's directly related to manufacture or shipping, as backers of previous campaigns will be aware of). 

Now it's time for me to get back to writing!

Thank you again, all of you, and sail safe. 

 - Felix

The Other Felix
about 1 month ago – Sun, Aug 09, 2026 at 10:33:56 AM

Afternoon folks, Felix here. Felix the writer, I mean. 

Normally I wouldn't have to clarify, but this time I actually do. Why? Because there's another Felix on the team for Sourdown, a new artistic Felix that some of you might know from certain other popular tabletop games. But before all that...

... That is an unexpectedly, and wonderfully, large number. Thank you to everyone that's backed so far - I know I say it every time, but we really couldn't do it without you. 

The amount of returning backers from previous campaigns is great, but it's also lovely to see how many people are new here, and who are interested enough to go all-in on the core books too. I know in the grand scheme of things we're still in a tiny corner of the much wider TTRPG pond, but past Felix would never have believed there would be this level of support behind his weird, leafy world. Even present Felix finds it pretty hard to believe sometimes too, to be honest.

So yes, thank you. It means the world.  

And with all that talk of Felixes (Felixi?), let's get back to the other Felix I mentioned earlier. 

I'm proud, and a little bit starstruck, to say that...

Felix Miall is our guest artist for the limited edition cover!

If you don't know them by name, you'll almost certainly know their art - among (many) other things, Felix is famous for illustrating Heart: The City Beneath, one of my all-time favourite TTRPGs. Having them join the team for Sourdown is a real honour, and I've also got the green light to share some very early concepting for the alternate cover art too, a scene from the start of the Thousandfold Murder adventure that makes up the third chapter of Sourdown.

As with many concepts, the images below aren't exactly what you're going to see once the cover's done. They're early takes on lighting and composition, establishing title-placement and form. Concepts, essentially, in the truest sense of the word. But they do a good early job of setting the vibe, a mysterious scene that's perfect for Sourdown's general uncanny feel. 

... And they're so, SO useful for me as a writer. 

You see, we've had loads of tzelicrae art from Omercan over the years, but we've actually never illustrated a huskpa (the largest and oldest of the tzelicrae) in the books before. They've been mentioned here and there, but this is the first time we actually get to see one on the page. So many questions come up - just how spidery are they? Do they have humanesque arms, heads, hands, bodies? If so, how many? How would an elder tzelicrae the size of an elephant dress, or move, or dance? And once that's decided, how do I communicate that with words, or through a hazard entry? 

In fact, Essendi and I are going through a similar concepting process for one of the internal splashes. Just what would one of the Silk Brothers, the protoleviathan gods of the oldest tzelicrae cults, actually look like? 

You'll have to wait another few weeks to see the final versions of what we've come up with for both of the above, but I can pretty much guarantee they're going to be weird. And probably cool. But definitely weird. 

In the meantime, I should get back to writing. You'll hear from me in another couple of days, at campaign close, but until then...

Thank you, and sail safe. 

  - Felix (Isaacs)

The Mid-Campaign Climb
about 2 months ago – Wed, Jul 29, 2026 at 04:12:15 PM

Evening people, Felix here with a burst of good news for you (and for us)!

+ Today the Sourdown Campaign hit $74k, officially now slightly more than we managed with the last supplement campaign! There's little better when it comes to crowdfunding than exceeding your goals, and it's even nicer to break a past record too. Thank you all, and here's to a good next 11 days! 

+ Mythworks have a booth at Gencon, which starts tomorrow! I'm not going to be there myself, but there will be some Wildsea types around (including Ric, the creator of the fan-favourite Steep post from the core book). Drop in an say hello if you can - they're at booth 2945. They'll also sign books, and are generally friendly types. If you're social media savvy (which I am definitely not) I'm sure they'd also appreciate some pictures being taken of them. Well, Ric would at least. He's a photogenic guy. 

+ Sourdown writing and art is going well, and is (surprisingly) on schedule. Playtesting has also been a blast so far, and I can't wait to get the books into your hands! And speaking of books, the previous campaign (Tigers on the Wire) is now mid rollout, and the people that have their hard copies seem really happy so far. This bodes well for a spiderish future! 

+ And finally, some Felix-related news - PICO is up for an ENnie this year, in the Family Games category. Voting closed a while back, but whether we win or not it's always a pleasure to be nominated. I know a lot of Wildsea-backers also backed PICO, so to those of you that did, a special thank you. And it's not the only ENnie-nominated Mythworks game, either...

That's all the news I have for you for this update, but before I go I thought I'd share a snippet of some of the new art we've got on the page in the last week. This one's from Essendi, our fantastic splash artist (I've cropped most of the picture out so it's still a surprise when the book comes, but hopefully what you see below will be enough to get the old mind-cogs turning). 

The rest of this week is going to be given over to adding the new options unlocked by stretch goals, so expect to see some news, and hopefully art, related to those in our next near-the-end-of-the-campaign update! 

Until then, and thank you for the continued support!

Felix

The Webs We Weave: Sourdown is funded, and then some!
about 2 months ago – Tue, Jul 21, 2026 at 10:18:50 AM

Afternoon people, Felix here! It's time for the first campaign update for Sourdown, so let's dive in...

GOALS, THANKS, AND MORE THANKS

The campaign's been live for a few hours now, and I spent that time 'wisely' - obsessively checking numbers for half an hour, then having a stress-fuelled nap. It's almost a tradition at this point, as watching funds roll in is impressive, wonderful, and terrifying all at once, a part of the kickstarter experience that I don't think you ever quite get used to. 

So having recently woken from said nap, I've got to say it was a really pleasant surprise to find out that that we've not only hit the funding goal, but that we've also unlocked all of the stretch goals on day one as well! That means I get to add the Silk Brothers as a faction (a group that have been talked about since the very earliest days of 2018 playtesting, but have never appeared in print), AND that I get to add a new origin (which Omercan Cirit, our resident Wildsea character artist, is already hard at work on an illustration for). 

I'm going to call that bundle of news a solid success, and that's entirely up to you lot. So thank you, everybody, for throwing some money at the rustling waves and making this all possible. I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again - we really couldn't do it without you, new wildsailors and seasoned veterans, and as far as I'm concerned, you're all stars. 

But that's enough congratulating for one update, so let's go with some solid info to finish this one up instead! 

THE PALE WAVES YOU'LL SAIL

It would be easy to say that Sourdown's most important feature is an unusual one for the Wildsea, and it wouldn't be entirely inaccurate either. The Pale Groves that make up the majority of the reach are leafless and brittle, bereft of the unusual chemicals that make the verdant waves possible. The trees are still huge, but they're dead. The branches will still support a ship's hull, but only barely. 

That's how the reach was described back during early playtesting, and it's how it sat in my head for a long time too. But when it came time to actually put that on the page, it didn't feel quite right - so much of the world of the Wildsea is about the struggle to not just survive, but to thrive, and a bleak, funereal treescape covering the entire region didn't play to those core concepts. 

So things changed!

The Pale Groves are still there, acting very much as the region's default, but you'll also get to see how each faction within the reach has adapted to suit their environment, or how they've adapted their environment to suit themselves. You'll find...

+ The Silk Brothers Cult: All dust and spiderwebs, these tzelicrae devotees embrace the waves as they come. Why change perfection, even if that perfection comes in death? 

+  The Weavers: The counter to the Silk Brothers, using the same tzelicrae tools but in a completely different way. The Weavers transform their territories into vast, woven artworks, leaves and flowers and beasts all spun, sewn, and carefully threaded through the pale canopy. Weaver strongholds are elegant and industrious, relying on dyes and mimicry to make Sourdown something more akin to the livelier surrounding wilds. 

+ The Family Hyphaera: A gau-dominant faction using the dead trees as fuel for their own growth, spreading slowly but inexorably throughout their territories via the mediums of spore, tendril, and shelf-fungus. 

+ The Golden Legion: Newcomers to the wild waves, and a dramatic departure from everything else around them in terms of their approach. The Golden Legion leadership is made up of Hexicrae, bee-based version of the more common tzelicrae hiveminds. Unlike the others in the reach that make the most of their bad situation, the legion are locked in a battle with the waves themselves; importing new crezzerin to kick-start new growth, dabbling in arconautic energies to coax parasitic lavender from dead wood, or dousing entire tree-crowns in untested alchemical solutions to see if something, anything, might revive them. Their home is dead, but it won't stay that way for long. 

UNTIL NEXT TIME

And with those snippets thrown your way, it's time for me to get back to the business of writing, playtesting, and commissioning more cool stuff from the Wildsea artists! But you'll hear from me again soon, probably somewhere around the half-way mark. We have art to reveal, after all, and a whole new origin that we unlocked to talk about...

So until then, thank you again, and stay safe!

 - Felix