Blades of Light and Shadow, Book 1

**Blades of Light and Shadow, Book 1** is the first book of the *Blades of Light and Shadow* series. It is followed by *Blades of Light and Shadow, Book 2*.

## Summary

*Travel with your party of adventurers across the Kingdom of Morella to defeat the forces of the Shadow Court.*

*Create your character and rally your party in this truly epic adventure! The forces of darkness are rising... will you be the light that defeats them?*

## Chapters

#### **Chapter 1: The Adventure Begins**

> *Create your character and rally your party in this truly epic adventure! The forces of darkness are rising... will you be the light that defeats them?*
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#### **Chapter 2: Of Loss and Legends**

> *You reach the Temple of Ellara to find someone already there... and they're out for blood. What ancient secrets lurk within its vaults?*
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#### **Chapter 3: The City By The Sea**

> *Next stop, Port Parnassus... where your party of adventurers may find more than they bargained for!*
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#### **Chapter 4: Escape at Sea**

> *The forces of the Shadow Court have infiltrated the city! There's only one way out... by sea!*
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#### **Chapter 5: The Floating City**

> *Trapped between grobtars and pirates, your party fights for their life... but does hope lie in an unlikely alliance?*
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#### **Chapter 6: The Cursed Isle**

> *A mysterious island. A cursed Shard. And a whole lot of skeletons. What could go wrong?*
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#### **Chapter 7: The Deadwood**

> *Your party sets out for the ancient elven city of Undermount.. but first, they'll have to pass through the terrifying Deadwood!*
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#### **Chapter 8: A Tale Of Two Princes**

> *A frightening encounter in the Deadwood leads to new companions... but are these strangers friend or foe?*
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#### **Chapter 9: The Queen, The Prince, And The Exile**

> *You've been captured by the drakna! Can you fight your way out of this one unscathed?*
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#### **Chapter 10: The City of Glimmering Lies**

> *When you return with Tyril to the elven city of Undermount, what sort of welcome will await you?*
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#### **Chapter 11: What Lies Beneath**

> *The answer to Kaya's corruption lies deep below Undermount... where dark creatures await!*
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#### **Chapter 12: The Murderous Masquerade**

> *It's a race against time at Kaya's Duskraven masquerade... but who will be the last guest standing?*
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#### **Chapter 13: City Of Wonders**

> *The last step in your journey calls to you, the capital city of Whitetower. But everything there may not be as it seems...*
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#### **Chapter 14: City Of Horrors**

> *The dark secret of the Temple is out! Will you stand against them... and at what cost?*
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#### **Chapter 15: Into the Shadow**

> *Darkness falls.*
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#### **Chapter 16: Blade of Light and Shadow**

> *We fight. We die. And we pray we will be avenged.*
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## Gameplay Features

### Skill System

Skills will help you conquer challenges, befriend allies, and unlock special scenes. More skills can be unlocked by earning XP which you'll get by making correct choices, defeating enemies, and passing Skill checks. Some choices will require you to have a Skill to choose them. These unlock special scenes and often award XP.

### Collectibles

#### Lore Tablets:

Collect them to learn more about the world, its inhabitants, and the history of the Great War. Collecting all six tablets will unlock a bonus scene.

#### Legendary Weapons:

Collect all the legendary weapons to enhance your fighting skills and earn bonus XP.

## Gallery

### Sneak Peeks

Chapter 3 Sneak PeekChapter 4 Sneak PeekChapter 6 Sneak PeekChapter 10 Sneak PeekChapter 10 Sneak Peek #2Chapter 11 Sneak PeekChapter 12 Sneak PeekChapter 13 Sneak PeekChapter 14 Sneak PeekChapter 15 Sneak PeekChapter 15 Sneak Peek #2Chapter 16 Sneak Peek
### Pre-Book Sneak Peeks & Information

Tease for Fantasy Book on 03/22/19Andrew Confirms this is his top secret projectTeasing more news in May 2019 NewsletterInfo on Fantasy Book from Choices Insiders - May EditionTeaser of Characters Looks for Fantasy BookSneak Peek #2Choices Insiders (October Edition) - Release ScheduleChoices Insiders (November Edition) - Release ScheduleChoices Insiders (December Edition) - Release ScheduleThreep - Sneak Peek #3Sneak Peek #4Teaser featuring NiaTeaser featuring MalPotential CoverPotential Cover #2Potential Cover #3Potential Cover #4Choices Insiders (January 2020 Edition) - Release ScheduleTeaser featuring TyrilTeaser featuring ImturaSneak Peek #8 - CreaturesThumbnailChapter 1 SummarySneak Peek #9 - Character CustomizationHiatus explanation pg1Hiatus explanation pg2One week break on May 7, 2020
### Information from Tablets

* Tablet 1
* Tablet 2
* Tablet 3
* Tablet 4
* Tablet 5
* Tablet 6

Human CharacteristicsHuman CultureHuman HistoryOrc CharacteristicsOrc CultureOrc HistoryElf CharacteristicsElf CultureElf HistoryOther Creatures

Human PoliticsElf PoliticsOrc PoliticsHuman Romantic CustomsElf Romantic CustomsOrc Romantic CustomsHuman ReligionElf ReligionOrc ReligionCombat

The Founding of the Shadow CourtThe Great WarThe Shadow Court's BanishmentDuke ErthaxDuchess XeniaBaron VostraszThe Shadow RealmCreatures of ShadowThe Realm's CorruptionThe Dreadlord

Human Myths - The Royal FamilyHuman Myths - Legendary HeroesHuman Myths - PropheciesElven Myths - The LightElven Myths - The Great HousesElven Myths - The Origin of LifeOrc Myths - The Origin of OrcsOrc Myths - Legendary HeroesOrc Myths - Mythical Weapons

Human MilitaryElven MilitaryOrc MilitaryHuman MagicElven MagicOrc MagicHuman MarriageElven MarriageOrc MarriagePets

MagicHistoryThe Shadow RealmThe Lands Beyond
### Skills

Elf SkillOrc SkillHuman SkillBlades Skill (Combat)Bows Skill (Combat)Brawling Skill (Combat)Charisma Skill (Diplomacy)Deception Skill (Diplomacy)Seduction Skill (Diplomacy)Beastmaster Skill (Survival)Medicine Skill (Survival)Woodslore Skill (Survival)Light Skill (Elite)Kaytar Skill (Elite)Stealth Skill (Elite)Fireball Skill (Elite)
### Miscellaneous

* Promo
* Other

Official PromoThumbnail CoverThumbnail Cover (Old Interface)In-Game Banner (Old Interface)Full Cover as Shown in the New UICover Featured on New Selection Screen

Constable & Grenn Dead1st Onyx ShardOrcish Feast (Roasted Octopus, Chargrilled Meat stuffed with Sea Berries, and Fried Fish Heads)Pirate Captain's JournalTreasureRock2nd Onyx ShardSkills Screen - Elite Skill AcceptedSkills Screen - Elite Skill DeclinedChapter 11 Puzzle DoorChapter 11 MapElven Desserts3rd Onyx ShardPastry in Whitetower4th Onyx ShardHilt from Onxy ShardsBlade of ShadowBlade of LightNew interface (May 21, 2020)Instagram crossword (May 31, 2020)New Chapters each week
## Promotional Videos

Choices - Blades of Light and Shadow, Teaser 1Choices - Blades of Light and Shadow, Teaser 2Choices - Blades of Light and Shadow, Teaser 3
## Spoilers

* On October 5, 2018, Andrew Shvarts, one of the writers at PB, revealed he had just received first concept art for a *Super Secret New Choices Project*.
* On November 26, 2018, Andrew Shvarts also confirmed on that *The Heist: Monaco* was not the secret project he was working on.
* On December 22, 2018, Andrew Shvarts revealed he is working on five books for the Choices App and hopes to be able to release them in 2019.
* On February 6, 2019, Andrew Shvarts revealed that he had just seen the cover for a new Choices book and deemed it *beautiful*!
* On March 19, 2019, Andrew Shvarts tweeted that he had just received the first official art for his Super Top Secret Project.
* On March 20, 2019, a fantasy genre book was teased in the "Summer Reads and More" blogpost.
* On March 22, 2019, revealed that the top secret project he had been working on, and teasing players with since October 2018 was in fact this new fantasy book.
* On April 9, 2019, in their first ever *Choices Insiders* newsletter, PB teased that the newsletter in May will have more information on this new book series.
* During the livestream on April 26, 2019, it was teased that the new fantasy book is very new and very different with amazing art and love interests.
* On May 3, 2019, in the May edition of *Choices Insiders*, PB revealed an extra early sneak peek of the book as well as going so far to say that the book is a *"thrilling fantasy epic that will redefine how you play Choices."*
	+ In one of his tweets, Andrew Shvarts, one of the writers of this book, said that the characters on the sneak peek were options that we would be able to choose from. With them looking like a female and a male option, he thus confirmed that players would be able to pick the gender of the MC.
	+ On this same day, they revealed this book will feature a skills system that will redefine how you play Choices.
* On August 16, 2019 the title of this book was revealed to be *Blades of Light and Shadow* from their blogpost, "Three Years of Choices".
	+ The blog post confirmed that the player would get to play as elf, human, or orc, and choose your character's skills.
	+ It also includes a sneak peek featuring a male human and a female orc.
	+ They teased that the story takes place in the Kingdom of Morella and that the player has to defeat the forces of the Shadow Court, hinting at a potential Big Bad.
* On August 20, 2019, Andrew posted a tweet about the brainstorming process for the female orc on the sneak peek, calling her "your buff orc girlfriend", hinting at her being a potential love interest.
	+ On the same day, writer Emi replied to his tweet, indicating that she was involved in the writing.
* On September 10, 2019, PB described the book on Twitter by using a string of emojis.
* On September 30, 2019, PB announced that the book had been moved up to release in Winter 2019 and called it one of their more experimental books.
* On November 1, 2019, writer Andrew Shvarts tweeted a picture of himself dressed as the character from the sneak peek and wrote that the "reference will be good in like 2 months", hinting at a possible release date.
	+ On November 5, 2019, in a reply to Andrew's tweet about Flynn O'Malley, Jake McKenzie, and the currently unnamed man from the sneak peek, Kara Loo wrote he keeps calling them "Mal". Andrew therefore warned of spoilers, hinting at a possible name.
* On November 8, 2019, in the November Choices Insiders, PB revealed the list of books they would wrap up 2019 with. *Blades of Light and Shadow* was not included in this list, thus revealing that the book would not be released until early 2020.
* In the December 2019 Livestream, it was confirmed that this book will be released in January 2020. The lead writer, Andrew, stated that this book will feel more like an RPG (Role Playing Game). They have been working on it for almost two years and it will feature more than one female LI.
* In the newsletter on December 13, 2019, PB shared a sneak peek of a creature named Threep.
* On January 6, 2020, PB released the first teaser video.
* On January 8, 2020, PB released a second teaser showcasing a map of different places.
* On January 9, 2020, PB released a sneak peek showcasing the skill system.
* On January 10, 2020, PB released a teaser featuring Nia, the Priestess.
* On January 13, 2020, PB released a teaser featuring Mal, the Rogue.
* On January 14, 2020, PB released a teaser featuring Tyril, the Mage.
* On January 15, 2020, PB released a teaser featuring Imtura, the Warrior.
* On January 16, 2020, PB stated that the trailer will be out the following day, on January 17th.
* On January 17, 2020, PB released a trailer along with the release date being January 29th.
* On January 23, 2019, PB released a sneak peek featuring creatures we will discover.
* On January 24, 2020, PB released the Chapter 1 description.
* On January 28, 2020, PB released a blog about this book which includes a sneak peek.
* On January 30, 2020, PB asked in a poll who players chose to play as. Most players answered that they play as human, followed by elf.
* On February 3, 2020, PB released a sneak peek for Chapter 3.
* On February 11, 2020, PB released a sneak peek for Chapter 4.
* On February 25, 2020, PB released a sneak peek for Chapter 6.
* On March 11, 2020, PB announced a mid-book break.
	+ Later on the same day, they specified that the break will begin after Chapter 9.
	+ Andrew Shvarts also further clarified the reasoning behind BoLaS going on hiatus.
* On March 30, 2020, PB also revealed that BoLaS will return from its hiatus on Wednesday, April 8, 2020.
* On April 3, 2020, a sneak peek for Chapter 10 is included in the *Choices Insiders* April 2020 edition.
* On April 6, 2020, PB released another sneak peek for Chapter 10.
* On April 13, 2020, PB released a sneak peek for Chapter 11.
* On April 20, 2020, PB released a sneak peek for Chapter 12.
* On April 27, 2020, PB released a sneak peek for Chapter 13.
* On May 5, 2020, PB released a sneak peek for Chapter 14.
	+ On the same day during the Choices Book Club, PB confirmed that Elves don't track age the same way humans do, but that Tyril is the elven equivalent of 25 human years old.
* On May 6, 2020, PB announced a one-week break until its return for the finale on May 20, 2020. They also revealed that it's going to have a sequel.
	+ On May 14, 2020, PB announced that team needs one more week before they share the finale and released a sneak peek for Chapter 15.
	+ On May 20, PB revealed that there are two more chapters of Book 1.
		- It was later clarified that only Chapter 15 would be airing the following week.
* On May 25, 2020, PB released another sneak peek for Chapter 15.
* On June 3, 2020, PB released a sneak peek for Chapter 16.

## Trivia

* The title can be abbreviated as "BoLaS". "Bola" is the Spanish and Portuguese word for "ball", bolas is the plural form. PB usually abbreviates it as "Blades".
* The following chapters have slightly different titles between the interface/index and the first page. On the wiki, we use the in-game first page title rather than the interface/index title:
	+ Chapter 9: The Queen, The Prince, and the Exile
* This is the second book that lets players know in advance which options are romantic after *Mother of the Year*.
* The music of this book was not composed by PB but rather by an external studio called "The Noise Distillery". You can find all the tracks here.
* In Chapter 4, if you choose to kiss the mermaid on the lips, the achievement is called "Part of your World" - which is also the title of a song from Disney's *The Little Mermaid*.
* In Chapter 8, if you choose to kiss Aerin, the achievement is called "The Royal Romance". This is a reference to The Royal Romance series.
* In Chapter 9, Tyril says "vashta nerada del paravos!" when attacking the drakna queen with the Sphere of Dan'taelyn. The Vashta Nerada are swarmlike villains in *Doctor Who*, Season 4.
* During Blades AMA, it was revealed that the location "Deadwood" was actually "Dreadwood" as an error.
* If you choose to get fake married to Gabe Ricci in Chapter 7 of *Laws of Attraction, Book 1*, you can choose to have a reenactment of *Blades of Light and Shadow*, as it is a TV show in that universe.

*Click here for the walkthrough of this book: Blades of Light and Shadow, Book 1 Choices.*

## References

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/Shvartacus/status/1048369528650878976
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/WoShiSilvia/status/1067235522072989696
3. ↑ https://twitter.com/Shvartacus/status/1076685916738019329
4. ↑ https://twitter.com/Shvartacus/status/1093308133496172544
5. ↑ https://twitter.com/Shvartacus/status/1108069617602195456
6. ↑ https://www.pixelberrystudios.com/blog/2019/3/22/summer-reads-and-more
7. ↑ https://twitter.com/Shvartacus/status/1109232988523421696
8. ↑ https://mailchi.mp/b88c34cda3ab/up-next-bloodbound-nightbound-and-the-royal-89677?e=24f7afd6af
9. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1115743317742968832
10. ↑ https://mailchi.mp/f05a8d1015a3/lights-camera-choices?e=24f7afd6af
11. ↑ https://twitter.com/Shvartacus/status/1124406294511640576
12. ↑ https://www.pixelberrystudios.com/blog/2019/5/3/summer-updates-and-answers
13. ↑ https://www.pixelberrystudios.com/blog/2019/8/16/three-years-of-choices
14. ↑ https://www.twitter.com/Shvartacus/status/1163871161370853376
15. ↑ https://www.twitter.com/MooreScribes/status/1163875697439285254
16. ↑ https://www.twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1171522594425593861
17. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1178813060850405376?s=20
18. ↑ https://www.pixelberrystudios.com/blog/2019/9/30/1000-chapters-and-counting
19. ↑ https://twitter.com/Shvartacus/status/1190057781140717568
20. ↑ https://twitter.com/Shvartacus/status/1191815795543724032
21. ↑ https://mailchi.mp/cd0766314a79/the-royal-heir-and-summer-love-12035225?e=365d4b19a6
22. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/Choices/comments/e73mjg/all\_info\_from\_livestream\_in\_a\_nutshell/
23. ↑ https://mailchi.mp/68adbf9f8976/the-royal-heir-and-summer-love-12056509?e=87a8aee2ef
24. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1214330841989410816
25. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1215030443403288576
26. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1215423124709236737
27. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1215747959544930305
28. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1216834985870516224
29. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1217204320879276032
30. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1217562354751135744
31. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1217981522239578112
32. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1218284535378587654
33. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1220481859509006337
34. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1220899611948113921
35. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1222275752919363585
36. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1223006835516428288
37. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1224422609431023616
38. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1227329013947019264
39. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1232413732636102657
40. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1237802129655574530
41. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1237859167735410689
42. ↑ https://twitter.com/Shvartacus/status/1237896832514052104
43. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1244759405666553856
44. ↑ https://mailchi.mp/b3b82f92eb55/the-royal-heir-and-summer-love-12294506?e=87a8aee2ef
45. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1247230128909885441
46. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1249789721628336130
47. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1252356516868272129
48. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1254908254116814849
49. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1257777239674019840
50. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1257759574435565568
51. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1258087899033149441
52. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1261038790338109440
53. ↑ https://choices-stories-you-play.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000001141
54. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1264994915488071680
55. ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1267961941676482561