The Return of Neriak

[Braen]

Originally Posted by renaissance

Pretty sure this whole concept was fleshed out years ago.

You never really 'killed' a god in EQ. The gods were mere corporeal representations of the concepts they represented. If you 'killed' Cazic Thule you were merely destroying the shape that the concept of 'Fear' prefers to take from time to time. In the world of Norrath, 'Fear' manifests itself in its own geographical location (the plane of fear), which it populates with its denizens (the chief of which, and lord of, is CT).

As certain high-ups at SOE (iirc) described, once you 'killed' one of these representations, the concept (Fear, Hate, Magic, Fire, Nature, etc) would simply reintegrate again to take the shape it prefers; the God in question. Thus, killing the Gods and clearing their plane every week makes a hell of a lot more sense than killing a dragon that 'respawns'... as they are simply animals.

You cannot 'kill' fear, hate, or any other 'concept', and you cannot really kill their creations. The lower gods of the pantheon are simply agents of their 'concept' which they use to exert their influence over Norrath - and are infinite.

Sounds like avatars to me. Avatars are the physical embodiment of the concept, the god is the power behind that concept. If you are just killing a concept... then why give them names like Innoruuk or Mithaniel Marr? Just call them hate or valor? You know... liek that Avatar of War or the Avatar of Fear that were already in the game.

You give them names and then they have an identity besides the "concept" they embody. In a game were gods are killable, you have an event when one appears and the first thing people think is not, "Oh cool a god" it's, "Let's kill the bastard".

Also, in a game where you follow a deity, a follower of said deity should have repercussions for killing other followers of their deity. it should have an effect on yoru character. I hated that, for example, a cleric of Innoruuk could take part in a raid against Inny and not have any effect on their powers. The game explains that the power of the cleric comes from the god they devoted their faith in. Killing said deity should weaken them, if not remove the deities favor from them.

[Jait]

Originally Posted by Braen

Also, in a game where you follow a deity, a follower of said deity should have repercussions for killing other followers of their deity. it should have an effect on yoru character. I hated that, for example, a cleric of Innoruuk could take part in a raid against Inny and not have any effect on their powers. The game explains that the power of the cleric comes from the god they devoted their faith in. Killing said deity should weaken them, if not remove the deities favor from them.

Well, Inny is the God of Hate. So he doesn't really mind people hating him, in fact, it's encouraged =p


But fear not, in EQ2 when you attack the Avatar of your chosen Deity you lose massive amounts of faction and any Blessings/Miracles you may have charged up on your character.

There are, in fact, penalties.

[Braen]

hah True but still I don't see the Dark Elves walking around saying they hate Inny for what he has provided them. He still needs their... "love and devotion".

AYe and that is why I have high hopes for what Scott and the other designers for EverQuest 2. They recognize the story/lore/design mistakes of EQ1 and original EQ2 and are improving them every day.

[Xusilak]

How's the population on AB server these days? I have a 52 SK, 45 Wiz and various other level 30ish characters on that server.

[McCheese]

Originally Posted by Laerazi

So the dark elves started building outside of Neriak? Where exactly does the dark elf forest connect to existing content; Nektulos?

I'd assume Nektulos, but I'm curious about this myself.

Man this looks REALLY great, I think I might have to pick up EoF when this goes live. I haven't played EQ2 seriously since launch. Any idea when this stuff is going to hit live servers?

Also, assuming I do pick it up, what would be a good class to pair with a swashbuckler?

[Braen]

Originally Posted by McCheese

I'd assume Nektulos, but I'm curious about this myself.

Man this looks REALLY great, I think I might have to pick up EoF when this goes live. I haven't played EQ2 seriously since launch. Any idea when this stuff is going to hit live servers?

Also, assuming I do pick it up, what would be a good class to pair with a swashbuckler?

Yes Nektulos but the Fallen Gate is in Commonlands.

[Jait]

There's also something called Darklight Woods. I assumed that's where the Tier'Dal were building. I haven't checked it out yet myself.

[Cuppycake]

Originally Posted by Slick Willey

Yeah, eh . . . that's a whole lot of fairy woman you created there. She's quite the "big" girl . . . .

That's as small as they get. =/

[LadyVex]

Ok I'm going to show my inner geek but...

In DnD when you killed an actual God his essence was just dispersed. If you've ever read the avatar series, the essence was what invaded the bodies of mortals, and then molded the body into whatever shape it wanted. Unless you destroyed the essence itself in it's entirety, killing the "shell" of the essence did nothing save to disperse that god's essence until such a time that it manifested again.

At the end of one of the books in the series, Mystra is totally destroyed and her essence is beyond the grasp of even the God of Gods, but Bane and Myrkul when they were destroyed simply had their essence dispersed, and as punishment Ao did not reincorporate their essences into a new form.

Someone above had it right; whether in a book, a game or a movie, the god itself is the "concept" and it will take whatever form it wants, you can't ever kill it. An avatar is just a piece of the essence, and is never the god but is a more vulnerable form. AoW was a much easier adversary than Rallos Zek himself, even those RZ was simply just a manifestation of the physical embodiment of a god.

So, avatars = small, vulnerable versions of the gods, the Named Gods = manifestations of that circle of power. The "powerline" and the concept will always exist, it is merely a matter of giving them forms and such. It is why the mantle of one god can be transfered onto another. The form is expendable; but the whole issue with killing gods is that you were arrogant enough to think you could ever kill a "concept".

Losing faction when you attack a god is cool though. My only problem with PoP in EQ was that in order to go through the chain I always had to kill my own god. Killing Innoruuk was no big deal, because he was the physical embodiment of hate and if you enjoy RP you could basically work around it like he would reward you for your arrogance and your hatred, and if you succeeded, your power.

However, when I went there with my enchanter (She worshipped mithaniel marr, no I don't know why) I always thought it was pretty ridiculous that now only did I have to kill him but that he was scowling at me. :P

[Ionsniper]

He was scowling at you cause you invaded his Pimped out home. If you ever look at the vases just outside the door of his home you could see an image of Mithaniel Marr holding his sword with the words letters PWNED in a bubble pointing to his sword.

[Jait]

Well, I think the overall point with the "scowling" in PoP was due to the fact the Gods were misleading us, and using us. That was frozen jesus err Zebux entire point, they weren't really Gods. Just beings who had amassed power enough to ascend into the Pantheon.

EQ2 has gone a bit deeper into this, even introducing a dead God in DoF, who once wielded powers greater than even the EQ1 Gods.

I'd love to hear more on this subject, and if any EQ1/2 Devs would like to jump in and correct/explain this further, feel free! =)

[Bizanich]

Originally Posted by Jait

Well, I think the overall point with the "scowling" in PoP was due to the fact the Gods were misleading us, and using us. That was frozen jesus err Zebux entire point, they weren't really Gods. Just beings who had amassed power enough to ascend into the Pantheon.

EQ2 has gone a bit deeper into this, even introducing a dead God in DoF, who once wielded powers greater than even the EQ1 Gods.

I'd love to hear more on this subject, and if any EQ1/2 Devs would like to jump in and correct/explain this further, feel free! =)

I'm a freely acknowledged lore whore, anywhere I can read that bit about the EQ2 mythos?

[Jait]

The plotline of DoF, especially the Peacock Club deals with all this. Way too in-depth for me to retell, without screwing up major details. Do a search on the EQ2 forums instead

Gods name was: Anashti Sul

And it appears when Neriak goes live, the Tier'Dal reclaimed her most powerful artifact: The Ewer of Sul'Dae. Which iirc, grants life eternal (or unlife?) to those who drink from it.


edit:

Here's a couple things including a pic.

Lect'Zadh

The Godking Anuk is the founder of the City of Life, Ahket Aken. He is also the prophet of the lost Goddess of Life, Anashti Sul. Long ago did he discover her lost shrine within the Elddar Empire. Through her forgotten words he rose from the ranks of the Elddar Empire and cast free the Dal religions. He is the only known chosen prophet of Anashti Sul. He is the all powerful ruler of Ahket Aken and is the harbinger of the gift of Anashti Sul, the gift of undeath. The Godking Anuk resides in the Inner Temple of the royal districts of Ahket Aken.

Phar'Ahkt

Anashti Sul is our lost goddess. Long ago the powers above did smite our goddess and send her forth into oblivion. She was lost to existence. It was not until she graced the Godking with her ancient words that she would be revealed to us, the chosen. Only we shall live on to spread the faith.

[Braen]

That seals it. I love EQ2 god lore.

[Cuppycake]

This is an excellent website for EQ/EQ2 lore, however I don't know how far into the recent lore it gets.

History of Norrath by Lumena Naktame - Traders of The Edge guild on Faydark