It is time for the current lore to change.

[Hyperion5182]

To explain my toipic name. Allow me to take you down memory lane.

Day one launch, everyone was fearful, Greenscale had yet to be found Alsbeth was raising hell all over Telara and everyone thought Regulos himself could appear at any moment. Then the returning Ascended and those Chosen by the vigil began to work their magic and create a path of light through the darkness and chaos.

Greenscale falls, the world lies in shock, this group of ascended who's power had never been fully measured had done the impossible. They didnt imprison a Dragon. They destroyed one. What took hundreds if not thousands of people to assemble and attempt they took it down.

Alsbeth makes her move: The Soulstream is ripped open and torn asunder, If not for the fast actions of the ascended the return of Regulos may not have been the biggest problem Telara Faced. Her death provided relief to all of Telara defiant and guardian who had suffered her incredible betrayal. The first hints of Guardians and Defiant working together were brought about. The Ascended had toppled two of the largest threats to the Ward. But more challenges lied ahead.

Hammerknell is opened: The opening of Hammerknell fortress was a terrifying moment. Few knew what was left and the events that led up to it had more questions than answers. War was waged like never before. Regulos's touch could be felt here as well, his taint was all over the place. But in the end...

A new king: Scotty If you were Guardian you knew him far better than the Defiant did, King of the dwarves and thankful of the ascended who were about to bring about even more than anyone could dream of.

Steamed crab Anyone?: Akylios falls. The second dragon, far more powerful than greenscale, more dangerous than anything they'd taken on previously. This dragon truly was a test for the power of the ascended a far more tactical battle with numerous obstacles and turns. His head priest fell as well. While Hylas was killed long before. In this case the Ascended Decided to destroy them both at the same time!

At this point Telara was in celebration, The ascended return has brought the promise of a new age, Defiant Engineers are ever closer to the possiblity of creating their own ascended not through the future. But in the present time. The Guardians while their battle with the Defiant would not end. Could also take a breather. Then...some little ****s decided to rear their fugly and i do mean FUGLY heads.

The Wanton Maw...Attacking a party? Yeah talk about responding in force. The Ascended truly went to war, breaking out mecha larger than houses to deal with the new threats. And in the process learning the location of Maelforge and Laethis. Which leads us to...

Greed falls: Dragon three of five. Yeah The third dragon has been defeated. This one was hunted down and killed like a dog. Beaten so badly that hope began to spring from the hearts of the common telaran.

And now Maelforge is on the near horizion. His fall will signal the fourth dragon body to fall to the might of the ascended. Leaving one, only one. And now to the point of all of this.

The reactions of the common people, the tone of the quests, everything. Its time for all of it to start changing. To quote what i said in another thread:

We're building up to a point where we'll have to take the war to the planes themselves and shut the bloodstorm down on their home turf and i mean planar transference. Not just opening rifts. Its time from the standpoint of the roleplay/story that we stop looking upon these creatures with fear and truly Rise. They've threatened us with war. We've responded. We've made war upon THEM! We've shattered their hiding places foiled their plots and have turned their husks into ash. At this point if the ward WERE to shatter i think Regulos would be brought down as well. The question posted on the loading screen is answered. The Ascended bring war down upon the bloodstorm with all the might and fury of true deities. Not the fake pathetic ***** of the bloodstorm.

[Maeloda]

I don't see how the topic relates to the content.

The lore itself is set to advance the Ascended in just the way you described.

Maybe, sadly, it won't be into the Planes, ok. But it WILL be a greater role for the Ascended, by far.

We'll see what Crucia brings, lore-wise. I hope some twists. I feel like both Regulos AND Crucia have their own master plans, and they just wanted their other 4 siblings to be 'taken care of' first.

[Milyssa]

the trick with progress lore is that you have to leave the original in for new players to catch up. No one wants to enter a game on stage 5 and have no way to experience stages 1-4.

So far it has worked that all major dragon battles are at level cap, while all story progression to get you TO that point is via questing. This is common in most games, but its still nothing that can be tampered with.

It would be a shame, for example if a story line progressed via raid encounters. Those of use who do not raid would be left in the dust. As it stands, we can at leasts see the end of the story through cronicles... an AWSOME and much needed story telling device designed by Trion. No longer do we who do not raid require secondhand knowledge to understand the story.

PS - I liked your telling of the events thus far. Very engaging.

[Maeloda]

the trick with progress lore is that you have to leave the original in for new players to catch up. No one wants to enter a game on stage 5 and have no way to experience stages 1-4.

So far it has worked that all major dragon battles are at level cap, while all story progression to get you TO that point is via questing. This is common in most games, but its still nothing that can be tampered with.

It would be a shame, for example if a story line progressed via raid encounters. Those of use who do not raid would be left in the dust. As it stands, we can at leasts see the end of the story through cronicles... an AWSOME and much needed story telling device designed by Trion. No longer do we who do not raid require secondhand knowledge to understand the story.

PS - I liked your telling of the events thus far. Very engaging.

GSB Chronicle was good in many ways but I don't like that you actually kill these bosses. What, you let Hylas run away but Greenscale gets KILLED? Whaaaa. Totally breaks the story imo and I would love a stealth update where he blasts everyone back and Shyla and Uriel get to argue with each other and prepare their own 'raids' to enter the Blight.

Hammerknell Chronicle works overall well but Estrode isn't exactly going to be known by Defiants... and killing Murdantix is an issue to me, but not a major one.

River of Souls is JUST how to do it. It as extra story, a layout of the main raid, different bosses (Warmaster is replaced, the foci are not bosses ,Garuth becomes a boss you only subdue, and you just speak to Alsbeth and Plutonus), and even advancement of the MAIN story exists here (with Zareph).

If a 2nd Hammerknell Chronicle and 1-2 Infernal Dawn Chronicles go the way of River of Souls, I'll be quite happy about it. And yes, I want a 2nd Hammerknell Chronicle to deal with the Water side of this Death/Water raid.

[TechnoMage]

And now Maelforge is on the near horizion. His fall will signal the fourth dragon body to fall to the might of the ascended. Leaving one, only one. And now to the point of all of this.

Did Crucia and Regulos merge into some wierd Super Saiyan Dragon 5? Other wise there are still 2 dragons left.

[Maeloda]

Did Crucia and Regulos merge into some wierd Super Saiyan Dragon 5? Other wise there are still 2 dragons left.

Regulos' body is shattered. What he is now is:
1)Shards of Regulos, gradually possessing Kain.
2)Spirit form on the Plane of Death, thus only able to really enter Telara through specific means.

This is why in Terminus as a Defiant you see Regulos as a humanoid form (likely the result of creating another Shade in a person like Aedraxis), and the 'spirit dragon form' in the background. But.. in Mathosia as a Guardian, you see Aedraxis as the Shade of Regulos, but with the REAL dragon behind him roaring.

The only LIVING dragon left is Crucia. Regulos is his own special deal.

[TechnoMage]

Regulos' body is shattered. What he is now is:
1)Shards of Regulos, gradually possessing Kain.
2)Spirit form on the Plane of Death, thus only able to really enter Telara through specific means.

This is why in Terminus as a Defiant you see Regulos as a humanoid form (likely the result of creating another Shade in a person like Aedraxis), and the 'spirit dragon form' in the background. But.. in Mathosia as a Guardian, you see Aedraxis as the Shade of Regulos, but with the REAL dragon behind him roaring.

The only LIVING dragon left is Crucia. Regulos is his own special deal.

Considering he's always been the dragon of Death, I don't think he was ever a "living" dragon.

[Maeloda]

Considering he's always been the dragon of Death, I don't think he was ever a "living" dragon.

I do. I think he is, if he's just a dragon - then he is a dragon which holds Death planar power. One can still be alive and be that.

Kain can still hold the Shards of Regulos and live.

I think the Plane of Death is a little less about oblivion itself, and more about dying/necrosis/despair/horror/afterlife, not just... being dead.

I see what you mean, but I'd say that (pre-Shade) if you separated the planar power from the dragon, you'd have a living dragon. Barely living, but living. Just as how if you separated the planar power from

Lore and future lore might prove me wrong though. I'm going on the assumption that the dragons are but avatars of planar power.

http://telarapedia.com/w/images/thum...los_future.jpg doesn't look quite dead or rotting to me!

http://jolstatic.fr/www/captures/1014/5/37755-800.jpg This is him without his body.


So I guess I'd go half way with you:
1)Prior to the Mathosian Civil War, he was an entirely living an breathing dragon, banished to the Plane of Death.
2)After his body was shattered, he only exists in 'essence', on the Plane of Death. His memory/being/planar power is, however, scattered throughout Telara as the Shards/Fang/etc of Regulos.

So he went from live dragon to ghost dragon. I don't think he needs to be undead, just as I don't think Alsbeth needs to be dead in order to embrace the power of death and necromancy, etc.


NOTE: Forget most of my post here. I was wrong.

"Regulos lies. He promises his cultists peace through death, but the peace of the void is not prosperity. He promises his lieutenants eternal power over the undead, but will unmake and consume all of reality to sate his hunger. Even his dragon form is a lie, rotting flesh disguising his incomprehensible nature within a cage of bone and sinew.

The Destroyer hungers, seeking to end the keening screech of life. Thanks to the treachery of his fellow dragons and the unforeseen heroism of Telara’s defenders, Regulos remains banished to the Planes. But when his pawn Aedraxis Mathos broke the Ward, Regulos’s hideous energy flooded once more into Telara. If he is not stopped, the Devourer of Worlds will consume everything, and stretch his bloated form across all creation."

[Maeloda]

I guess he/his body is technically 'undead', but was just really really intact. Like.. um, a Sith needing the power of the Dark Side to keep his body intact, even as it rips it apart at the same time.

[Lutinz]

GSB Chronicle was good in many ways but I don't like that you actually kill these bosses. What, you let Hylas run away but Greenscale gets KILLED? Whaaaa. Totally breaks the story imo and I would love a stealth update where he blasts everyone back and Shyla and Uriel get to argue with each other and prepare their own 'raids' to enter the Blight.

Hammerknell Chronicle works overall well but Estrode isn't exactly going to be known by Defiants... and killing Murdantix is an issue to me, but not a major one.

River of Souls is JUST how to do it. It as extra story, a layout of the main raid, different bosses (Warmaster is replaced, the foci are not bosses ,Garuth becomes a boss you only subdue, and you just speak to Alsbeth and Plutonus), and even advancement of the MAIN story exists here (with Zareph).

If a 2nd Hammerknell Chronicle and 1-2 Infernal Dawn Chronicles go the way of River of Souls, I'll be quite happy about it. And yes, I want a 2nd Hammerknell Chronicle to deal with the Water side of this Death/Water raid.

Why wouldnt Estrode be known by the Defiants? They fight her at the end of Moonshade Highlands questing too. The quests is infact almost identical to the Guardian one.

I wasnt a fan of what they did with the greenscale one either. The only aspect of it I really did like was that the rezing of my favorate Satyr. The River of Souls one was just about perfect in how they should tell lore.

To be honest I think we will soon be seeing a lore blowout. Ive had a suspicion that we have actually only seen part of a much larger stage. I think we are soon going to get the feeling that all our accumplishments thus far have only been the easy bit. Thats the feeling Im getting from Storm Legion anyway.

[Maeloda]

Why wouldnt Estrode be known by the Defiants? They fight her at the end of Moonshade Highlands questing too. The quests is infact almost identical to the Guardian one.

I wasnt a fan of what they did with the greenscale one either. The only aspect of it I really did like was that the rezing of my favorate Satyr. The River of Souls one was just about perfect in how they should tell lore.

To be honest I think we will soon be seeing a lore blowout. Ive had a suspicion that we have actually only seen part of a much larger stage. I think we are soon going to get the feeling that all our accumplishments thus far have only been the easy bit. Thats the feeling Im getting from Storm Legion anyway.

Oh sorry, I didn't remember. Actually ya, I think you're right about Estrode.

And while Atrophinus returning is welcome and funny, I don't like how it seems to make no damn sense. So...Shyla can bring back satyrs from the Plane of Death (or beyond) and purify them? Seems even beyond Asha coming back by Orphiel's tech, imo. I see nothing to support she should ever have this ability...

GSB is a funny Chronicle and nice to learn the layout and basics of the raid, but I REALLY try to ignore its lore inconsistencies. HK is better in this, and RoS is nearly perfect.


I agree with the last part. I think we'll also, at some point, see a return of Water and Life content either this year or next.

-I think if Planetouched Wilds DOES come out this year ("Surprise! 1.10 has a zone for you to munch on for 4-5 months!") it will involve the Elves and thusly Life and maybe Aelfwar.

-Akylios is madness beyond death. I think that even if he IS completely dead, and even if his form/soul is brought to the Soulsteam and Regulos, his legacy will live on and there will be a much more crazy endgame for him that could even surpass Crucia and Regulos. Not a 'plan' like they would have, but simply an overwhelming knowledge that he has not shared yet. And his death would even fit into it. Or not. It is madness, after all.

-I think Laethys herself is not done with, and we'll see her again in a more complete (though maybe not similar to Infernal Dawn) form. Quite a while from now though. I just don't think Earth has had its complete focus yet, but we're really done with it for a while.

-Maelforge is probably gone with, but there may be a teaser about where Trion is going with him, with his eggs. But yeah, for a while and excepting any Fire zones in Storm Legion, we might be kinda-sorta done with the Wanton and Storm Legion

I think Storm Legion will be about, in order of importance:
-Air
-Death
-Earth
-Water
-Life
-Fire

As 1.0 Rift (even up to a 1.10 PTW, if that does happen) was about, in order of importance:
-Death
-Life
-Water
-Fire
-Earth
-Air

Basically, it's time for Air and Earth, instead of Life and Water, to have the spotlight. Death will still be a major, major force, but it will also not be the TOP story-element in this expansion. The story for it will certainly continue in a big way though, and I guarantee at least 2/6 (maybe up to 4/6) zones include Death in some significant way. It just won't be the main story, overall.


In terms of 'scope', I think this expansion and its patches through 2013-2014 will be all about finishing most of Telara, imo. It will probably be less about killing dragons, and more about understanding why the hell they came in the first place to Telara, and what made them what they are. It'll explore the history of the Blood Storm Wars beyond the efforts of the soul-heroes, and dive into the creation of Telara, the Vigil's role in it, and the origins (possibly before Eth) of a form of 'magitech' (Eldrich tech?). Basically what we have now, but a much broader scope, in order to explore concepts beyond just cults and 'what happened to this part of Mathosia'.