Sub-Verge - Novella

In a city sustained by an eternal waterfall, an idle fisherman from the upper class takes an opportunistic shot at the High Commissioner. Accused of attempted assassination, he is cast into a subterranean labyrinth, where he uncovers the scaffolding of lies that has kept the Surfacers’ city sundered from the sea. But can he reach the safety of shore, before he’s swallowed by a past that is slowly resurfacing?

Subtle Mind is a prequel to the narrative puzzle Sub-Verge, told in 74 pages across eight chapters, which include exclusive character portraits from the game's artist, Tiia Reijonen. Follow the origin story of The Mind, the enigmatic leader of a fractured band of renegade divers hiding out beneath the waves, and the depths he must go to in order to find himself once again.

The Mind survives with the help of the krake, an unnatural crustacean that keeps its prey in suspended animation. The relationship of fisherman and bait becomes impossible intertwined as they are cast towards a fate that can’t be untangled. The Mind, a Landed gentleman, is first repulsed by the freakish lifeform that follows him as he flees his pursuers. But could this ungainly creature provide a link to the beautiful and mysterious Klara?

Many of the characters in Sub-Verge have their own stormy histories with The Mind. Some called him a friend, drawn to a cause he never claimed. Others swore vengeance, for the threat he presented against the Surface way of life. In Subtle Mind, glimpse the fragile alliances and ruthless persecution that shaped The Mind long before he built a hideout deep beneath the waves.

With the unlikely krake at his heels and Officer Cromby determined in her murderous pursuit, The Mind flees the only life he’s ever known. But each abetter he finds, each truth he uncovers, only serves to foment the rising rebellion. Hunted and cornered, he must finally face what is sunk deepest: the truth of who he was—and what he might still become.