Keeper of the Seven Keys

How the worlds came undone

Once a generation, the seven bells ring

The Hinge, the citadel-city where every Door meets, fills with lanterns for the Rite of Turning. You are the Keybearer, chosen to carry the Seven Keys to the Lock and turn them, so the seven worlds stay whole for another age.

The bells stop mid-toll

Pale shapes of blank parchment and ink pour through the streets: the Unwritten. They do not kill. They erase, colour first, then the face, and last of all the name. Those they catch rise again as Husks. A Husk is still someone.

The Keys shatter

At the Lock waits Vael, the Archivist, your mentor. You turn the Keys, and they break: seven streaks of light fall into seven worlds, and the Doors swing loose. Your memory of the last seconds is gone.

Give me the keys. We closed something that should never have been closed. (Vael, the Archivist)

Write the world back

You wake in the ruins holding an empty Keyring. Speak the names of the erased and bring them home, rebuild the Hinge with the people you save, still the Verge, hold the Mines, and open the first Door.

Seven Keys. Seven verbs.

• Edge severs: Cuts chains, bindings and rope bridges. Your Attack.
• Ruin breaks: Smashes cracked walls and seals. Your Heavy, which breaks a foe’s Poise.
• Passage parts: Parts the veils that hide the way. Your Dash, safe from its first moment.
• Bloom grows: Grows vine bridges and ladders. Your Heal.
• Embers burns: Burns brambles and ink, lights braziers. Your race’s first special.
• Tides freezes: Freezes water into paths. Your race’s second special.
• Echoes rewinds: Rewinds what broke; an echo holds what you cannot. Your race’s ultimate.

Choose your Keeper

Elven Keeper

Staff · ranged elemental. Tall, white-haired elves of the Archive’s oldest line, who remember the first names and keep the Doors from falling open.

Ranged elemental focus. Builds Focus quickly to fuel your Keys.

• Cinderbolt: A searing bolt that burns and passes through the first foe.
• Frozen Tide: A wave of frost along a line: it freezes what it touches, staggers and pushes back.
• Requiem: Spend all Resonance: a thunderclap of every echo you carry, shocking everything around you.

Delver

Blade & shield · steadfast. Stocky mountain folk who cut the Hinge’s stone and its key-light crystals in the Mines: broad as a door, slow to fall, slower to forget an oath.

Balanced melee. Fast combos; your Heavy braces behind the shield, then bashes. Block at the last moment to Riposte.

• Forge Breath: The blade drawn through a cone of forge-fire: everything before you burns.
• Rime Bulwark: The shield struck to the ground raises rime before you: foes in front freeze, and the shield holds the line while the frost lasts.
• Oathbell: Spend all Resonance: the shield rung like a bell, and the oath’s toll throws back and staggers everything around you.

Human Wayfarer

Bow · swift and far-reaching. The Hinge’s road-wardens, who walk the borderlands and the thresholds of the Doors: lean, weathered, never where the danger expects them.

Ranged and mobile. Charged shots pierce; keep your distance.

• Fire Volley: Burning arrows loosed high come down on the ground ahead: everything there burns.
• Frost Snare: An arrow of rime: it freezes the first two foes it strikes, and stills the water it falls in.
• Rewind Shot: Spend all Resonance: a shaft of key-light pierces everything along a line, then flies back along it.

Chainbound

Ashen chains · crowd-breaker. Towering forge-born giants with chains wound up their forearms, who carry the embers of the forges they came from.

The Chainbound’s two hooked blades on chains: wide, long sweeps that hold a crowd at bay. Hold the Heavy to whirl the chains overhead and bring them down in fire; out of a dash, a chain drags foes to you.

• Burning Coil: The chains flung out in a wide coil of fire: what they catch beyond arm’s reach burns and is dragged in.
• Rime Chain: A chain flung straight ahead with frost along its length: the foes it binds are frozen and hauled in.
• Chain of Ages: Spend all Resonance: chains of key-light lash every foe around and snap back through time, dragging them to you.

Never rewarded only for killing

• Every foe is a question: Study it, still it, speak its name, or answer with steel. Killing is only one answer, and never the only reward.
• Seven Keys, seven verbs: Each Key is a power in battle and a verb on the world. Sever, break, grow, burn, freeze and rewind your way through.
• A world that remembers: Your world keeps every change. The people you save come home and rebuild the Hinge, district by district.
• Contracts, not clears: Choose a job with its objective, its twist and its rewards shown up front. Sometimes the best run is the one without a fight.
• Craft, don’t sift: No piles of loot to sort. Find patterns and materials, and forge gear at the Keysmith’s anvil that stays with you.
• Fair by design: Every dangerous blow is telegraphed, and the first that would fell you leaves you on one last breath. Learn a fight and you will win it.
• Play anywhere: In your browser on keyboard and mouse, gamepad or touch. Nothing to download, nothing to install.
• Better together: Co-op in each other’s worlds and fair PvP arenas are on the road ahead.

A world that remembers

• The Hinge: The city where every Door meets, in ruins after the Night. Rebuild its six districts with the people you save.
• The Verge: Where Thornwild’s forest presses through the frayed edge. Rescue captives, fell marked ashwood, plant ward-lanterns.
• The Mines: A quarry valley of three territories. Kindle the Lantern Line, survive the Vigil, and the Mines stay yours.
• The Door of Thornwild: Restore the Hinge, still the Verge, anchor the Mines, and the first Door holds open on the living Fold beyond.

Whispers of the Sevenfold

• Once a generation the seven bells ring, and the Keys are turned in the Lock. This time the bells stopped mid-toll.
• The Unwritten do not kill. They erase: colour first, then the face, and last of all the name.
• Mythril is key-light made solid. Where it pools richest, a shard of the Keys fell.
• Count the Doors in the Court of Doors. Then ask the Archive why its oldest maps leave room for one more.
• Vael taught you the Rite. On the Night she asked for the Keys and said: we closed something that should never have been closed.
• You turned the Keys, and they shattered. Your memory of the last seconds is gone. Who broke them?
• Without the Keys the Folds re-weave themselves each time a Door opens. Only what is anchored stays put.
• Each Fold's Warden caught a shard's heart and was twisted by holding it. Not every Warden needs to die.

Where the journey goes

Public demo

• The Night of Seven Bells: The prologue: the Rite, the Erasure, the Archivist and the Turning.
• The Borderlands: The Hinge rebuilt by its people, the Verge stilled, the Mines held for good, and the first Door opened.

Closed Alpha

• Thornwild, the Living Fold: The first living world: territories that change hands, peoples to parley with, puzzles and Rifts, and Ysolde, the Grove Mother.
• Open Weaves: Co-op for up to four: play together in a friend’s world, then carry on in your own.

Beta

• Paths, Covenants and Origins: Six Paths to master, three Covenants to pledge to, and new races earned through a people’s trust.
• The Crucible: Duels and arenas where build and skill decide, never grind.

Early Access and 1.0

• The Six Folds: Cinder Reach, Tidefall, Skyreach, the Ashen Barrows, the Rime and Mirrorwaste, each with its Warden, its people and its Key.
• The Eighth Door: The finale. Some Doors were never meant to be counted.

Beyond

• The Confluence: A shared world where every Keeper’s weave meets.

Claim your Closed Alpha key

Join the Keepers’ list for news from the Hinge and a personal key to the Closed Alpha: Thornwild, the first living Fold, and co-op with friends. Already playing? Every registered Keeper receives a key too.

Questions

What is Keeper of the Seven Keys?

A dark fantasy action RPG that runs in your web browser. It pairs Diablo’s atmosphere and exploration with tight, readable, Hades-style combat, in a painted storybook world. You are the Keybearer who broke the Seven Keys, and the one who must write the erased worlds back.

How do I play the demo?

Press “Play the free demo”: it runs in your browser, with nothing to download or install. Play as a guest straight away, or create an account to keep your progress on any device.

Which devices and controls are supported?

Keyboard and mouse, gamepad and touch are all first-class. You need a modern browser with WebGL; a desktop or laptop gives the best experience.

How long is the demo?

About two hours for a first playthrough: the Night of Seven Bells, then the ruined Hinge rebuilt, the Verge stilled and the Mines held, up to the moment the first Door opens.

What is a Closed Alpha key?

A personal invitation to the Closed Alpha, which brings Thornwild, the first living Fold, and co-op. Join the newsletter or create an account to receive one. Each key is bound to the email it was issued to.

Can I play with friends?

The demo is single-player. Co-op for up to four players, joining each other’s worlds, and fair PvP arenas are on the roadmap.

Is it pay-to-win?

No. Power is bounded: you grow through knowledge, skill and the gear you craft, not by grinding or by paying for strength, and in PvP every Keeper stands on even footing.

Where can I follow the game’s development?

In the Chronicle, the game’s blog on this site: news, dev diaries and the roadmap, with an RSS feed. Join the newsletter, or tick its box when you create an account, and each new post comes to your inbox with your Closed Alpha key.

What makes it different from other action RPGs?

You are never rewarded only for killing. Foes can be studied, stilled and named back to life; each Key is a verb that changes the world; contracts replace dungeon clears; and your world remembers every choice.