Return to Taraz: By the light of the eternal moon™ heads to free community playtests

A fragile peace shatters in sands drenched by long-lost rain. What is unearthed will shake the foundations of the world for an entire people.

Chicago-based JAY Games® is returning to Taraz. By the light of the eternal moon™ is the next official A Qán adventure™ release and the dark sequel to Under the desert sun™, published on May 31, 2025. It is a two-shot TTRPG running on the Just As Yourself® system, where math takes a far backseat to storytelling. Free community playtesting is expected to open on StartPlaying in January 2027 ahead of the game's official late-winter 2027 launch.

When the skies open wide,
and tears are shed anew...
look to the east,
where she calls us to

Taraz still has stories to tell

After 5,000 years, the rains have returned to Taraz. Three seasons after the events of Under the desert sun™, things look... fine. On the surface. A "corrupt bargain" between the leaders of the Qaytish (the Return), and the Cult of Ikita has left the average Tarazi and Qán in a state of limbo with each faction carving up the land into competing spheres of influence. Slowly, it's becoming clear that only the elite will survive, just like during the cataclysm that followed the disappearance of the Zumrut millennia ago.

Then... the bodies start turning up. Along the western slopes of the Fırtına Sıradağları, the Mountains of Storm that divide the coastal lands from the Tarazian Wastes to the east, women are dying. Their white hair marks them as Qán, but their near-translucent skin makes them seem altogether unworldly. Who is killing them? And who are these women? Players must return to the port city of Kazgar to find out, while far to the east, beyond the wastes, the distant mines of the Adaghanki Range and the Onataglannar, the Forgotten Ones, are stirring. What happens next will force a choice that no one should have to make.

Conceptualized as a duality story steeped in the occult, By the light of the eternal moon™ challenges Players to wrestle with Otherness, genocide, and the high cost of complacency, from the cresting waves of the White Sea to the back alleys of Kazgar and the towering cliffs of Krim.

What's new

🗺️ Explore entirely new maps and treacherous areas - Can you keep your footing over the cresting waves or the towering cliffs?
🗣️ Meet brand-new characters and peoples with their own hidden agendas - Can you find out what truly lies beneath the sands?
⚔️ Choose from a completely new Archetype - Can you leverage its potential to bring your Party to victory?

By the light of the eternal moon™ is a sequel that can be played on its own. Knowing Under the desert sun™ adds weight, but it isn't required. Playing it before Under the desert sun™ may provide new insights into the original game... Perhaps even revealing the hidden machinations behind the rain. Who really survives in Taraz?

How it plays

This is a high-RP, medium-octane two-shot centered on a classic trolley problem story mode. The Just As Yourself® system minimizes the math so the table can focus on storytelling, streamlined character development, and having a genuinely good time. Players bring an Archetype playbook, a d20, a d6, and their imagination. The Meddah (the game master, named for the traditional Turkish coffeehouse storyteller) brings the probability and the story without railroading anyone through tactical combat rules, item management, or the story itself. Players, not the Meddah, decide how to progress and what story track to go down.

• System: Just As Yourself®
• Setting: The high-fantasy, Turkic-inspired world of the Qán
• Format: Two 4-6 hour sessions (for the free playtests, each session will be joinable on its own)
• Group size: 4-6 Players
• Dice: 1 d20, 1 d6

Session 1 - The Voyage: Enter Taraz, start unraveling the central mystery, and set sail on a perilous sea voyage that ends in a high-seas pirate skirmish. Perhaps... these foes may end up aiding you. If you can win them over. Or end them. It's up to you.

Session 2 - The Dilemma: The mystery peaks and the true weight of the story is revealed. Players face a massive trolley problem and must make a high-stakes decision that will have devastating consequences for an entire people.
Playtesters only: If joining just Session 2, new Players will be brought up to speed on the story from Session 1 before facing the trolley problem.

Playtest with us for free

JAY Games is running official community playtests on StartPlaying beginning late-January 2027. Playtesters will get early access to the By the light of the eternal moon™ Player's Pack, and their feedback will directly shape the final game. Sign-ups open in December 2026.

Safety at the table

The game deals with heavy themes of Otherness, genocide, and the high cost of complacency, so safety is built in from the start. Players' safety is paramount, even when it violates the Rule of Cool.

• Lines and Veils: Players fill out a private "Acceptable Activities" form before Play that feeds into a shared Master File without disclosing who selected what, and they can update their private forms at any time mid-session. The Meddah is bound to follow any updates, including ending session early if necessary.
• Session 0: Every session begins with a table review of the safety rules, what's off-limits, and an introduction for all new Players.
• Fade to black: Players can DM the Meddah at any time to skip or veil any content. The Meddah's goal is a safe and inclusive Play experience - even if that means cutting something short.
• Debrief: After each session, Players transition back into the real world. This is a dedicated time for Players to celebrate what everyone did and decompress. It may not necessarily fit within the established 4-6 hour run time, but it is a required component of all Just As Yourself® Play experiences.

Content warnings: Alcohol use, execution, violence, language/cursing, classism, body horror, and genocide. Not every table till encounter all of these, but each is possible. Genocide appears only as the stakes of the trolley problem and is never depicted on-screen. If the Party doesn't intervene, it happens entirely off-screen; if they step in, they fight to stop it from happening at all.

Availability

By the light of the eternal moon™ launches in late winter 2027. The Digital Edition will be available globally on Itch.io, with physical editions shipping to the US and Canada through jay-games.com.

Return to Taraz
Follow the game on Itch.io: games-jay.itch.io/eternalmoon
New to the world of the Qán? Start with Under the desert sun™
Learn the system: jay-games.com/quickstart
Playtest sign-ups open on StartPlaying in December.

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About JAY Games®:

JAY Games® - Just As Yourself®  Games - is a game development company based in Chicago, Illinois that is committed to a safe, inclusive Play environment where anyone, regardless of experience, can enjoy a story. JAY Games's inaugural release, Under the desert sun™, was released on May 31, 2025 on Itch.io and jay-games.com. Inquiries can be directed to inquire@jay-games.com.