Rune Stones

Star Rune in the rune lock.

Rune Stones, also known as Rune Keys or Runes, were artefacts found throughout the land of Gallowmere in medieval times. They served as magic keys for large gates and doors that would otherwise bar an adventurer's path to progress.

History

Rune Stones were created by the ancients who trapped the innate magical energies of the land of Gallowmere within them. Runes were used as keys at least until the late 14th century.

List of Rune Stones

• Chaos Rune
• Earth Rune
• Moon Rune
• Star Rune
• Time Rune

Gameplay

"That is a rune key, Dan! Place it in the claw of the rune gate, and Open Sesame!" ― Al-Zalam explains rune keys to Sir Dan.

Overview

Rune Stones are placed in Sir Dan's auxiliary inventory upon retrieval, and are automatically placed when he touches a claw lock of the same colour as the stone.

MediEvil: Resurrection

The claw locks as enchanted; thus, they are seen swiping for their key when approached.

Behind the scenes

Development

MediEvil (1998 original)

Rune Stone concept art.

Concept art by Jason Wilson reveals early designs for the Rune Stones. Of note is the symbol on the Chaos Rune, which is completely different. The colours of the Rune Stones are also assigned differently, with the Star Rune being green, Time Rune being yellow, Earth Rune being blue, and Moon Rune being grey.

A note on the concept art also says "chaos becomes sun," though it is unclear what exactly this means. Wilson does not remember what this note might have meant. It is possible that Chaos Runes were going to be Sun Runes instead, but the idea was scrapped.

Rolling Demo panel.

Before the introduction of an inventory system into the game, runes were displayed as part of the game's heads-up display instead. They would appear after collecting a rune or approaching a rune-locked door. In the MediEvil Rolling Demo, they are placed in their own vertical panel, but this was removed by the time of the MediEvil ECTS Pre-Alpha where they simply appear below Dan's Life Counter and current weapon, ordered horizontally.