Odus

[Quas]

As this is the continent from which my other favorite race (Erudites) came from, I have a few questions......Erudin: The capital of Erudites. What was this place like?Paineel: The supposed Heretics outpost. Were the heretics connected to the Teir'Dal? (see below)Toxxulia Forest: Was this forest at all special like Nektulos or Faydark, or is it your run-of-the-mill forests like Oakmyst?The Hole: I've heard conflicting stories. One suggested this is a place that got warped to Luclin (or caused something to get warped). Others said this is a hole into the underfoot itself. If it's the latter case, could that connect the Heretics to Tier'Dal? (although they didn't seem to worship the same god) Can anyone clear this place up for me?Kerra Isle: One of the places the Kerra went to after Erudites took over. Was there anything significant about it?Stonebrunt Mountains: I get the feeling this place would be a major focal point if Odus were added to EQ2, since a stronghold in this place is linked to Erudites transfiguration. Is there any other lore to these mountains?The Grand Plateau/The Vasty Deep/Barren Coast: Were these in EQ1?Abysmal Sea: Although not ON the continent, I thought I'd mentioned it. I kept hear about this place regarding the later EQ1 expansions. What was the story behind it and what was beyond the sea?

[Kamimura]

<DIV>Erudin was an interesting place. Most of the action took place in the large palace. That's where the mage guilds were, as well as a bank, a few shops, and the prison. Outside the palace were shops, and the two cleric/paladin guilds. It was right near the shore.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I believe the heretics first learned necromancy from the teir'dal. They were not connected other than that, and a teir'dal was most likely not welcom in Paneel and could not really enter the city. (You needed a key, and a certian amount of faction to get the key, to enter the city). You had to go down an 'elevator' or sorts to get into the main city. It's lay out was a little confusing, and teleporters were used a lot. (They had them in Erudin as well, but not as many.) The necromancers, shadow knights, and clerics of Cazic had guild halls here. There were undead and spirits all over the city.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Toxx was like no other forest really. It had it's own feeling and creatures which is hard to describe. It was almost a little more.. tropical.. than other forests. If thats the word to use. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The hole was created in the Erudite civil war. A lady in paineel tells the story, and here is a link to it.</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://allakhazam.com/lore/Story_The_Hole.html" target=_blank>http://allakhazam.com/lore/Story_The_Hole.html</A></DIV> <DIV>That bit of land, though it doesnt say, also had the Vah Shir on it.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Kerra Isle was a small island off the cost of Odus. There wasnt much special about it, which is probably why the Erudites left it alone. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Stonebrunt had a group of kerra living at the top of a mountian, they were the Kejek. They were angry at necromancers who were disrupting the spirits of the area. I dont know much more about it.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The Grand Plateau/The Vasty Deep/Barren Coast were not really zones in game. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The Abysmal Sea I dont know anything about, other than it was to the west of Odus.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>There was another zone, called the warrens. It was where the kobolds lived.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If you'd like, I could take some pictures of these areas in EQL and post them for you. I have the feeling my descriptions arent so good..</DIV><p>Message Edited by Kamimura on <span class=date_text>02-28-2005</span> <span class=time_text>10:33 PM</span>

[Maguu]

<DIV>Pretty good desriptions I'd say.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I really enjoyed the Stonebrunt mountains, it was a large zone with a nice variation in scenery. It went from forest to plains to maountainous, there was a nice kerran village as mentioned in the above post.  You coudl find some very large gorillas, tigers, and other animals. It was also very peaky terrain.. high peaks, and low valleys.  It had a dead end tunnel that was not oft seen, and a long river with a waterfall that fed into the sea.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If Erudin were to be compared to any real city, Rome would come to mind. It's all marble, and very open, but relatively small.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The Hole was just that, Paineel was an underground city which was destroyed, wether or not the Kerrans who ended up on Luclin were here or not is sort of arguable.  When leaving New Paineel, you coudl walk right by the hole, it was a very big hole which was the bane of many a new adventurer. the fall woudl kill even a level 70 adventurer unprotected. If you did manage to survive that fall into the hole for example with invulnerability, you would see a doorway with a sort of face carved aroudn it in the rock. That door should lead to a plane.. it is still inaccessible to this day. The carved face is likely of Brell Serillis..  Going back outside the hole again, there is an observation tower above the hole (accessed by teleporter) which serves to watch for invaders. or give a nice view over the nearby terrain.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[bar]

I like the descriptions Kami, I always thought Odus was the most underutilized contient in the game the sea between itr and Qeynos was the most unique feeling area in the game as well, you just had a feeling of being totally alone, without aide or allies in sight. Just alone in a big blue ocean.. I miss that

[BLOODka]

<DIV>The Erudites came from Qeynos originally. They were an "enlightened" form of Humans who broke off and left for Odus. Then a sub-group of them broke off and found the Heretics in Paineel.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Toxxulia was odd, the whole continent of Odus was very ASIAN like, pandas, bamboo and such. But Toxxulia was a forest full of VERY TALL THICK TREES (think Redwoods in California) but there was a yellow haze thruought the forest.</DIV><p>Message Edited by BLOODkane on <span class=date_text>02-28-2005</span> <span class=time_text>09:29 PM</span>

[Maguu]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> BLOODkane wrote:<BR> <DIV>The Erudites came from Qeynos originally. They were an "enlightened" form of Humans who broke off and left for Odus. Then a sub-group of them broke off and found the Heretics in Paineel.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Toxxulia was odd, the whole continent of Odus was very ASIAN like, pandas, bamboo and such. But Toxxulia was a forest full of VERY TALL THICK TREES (think Redwoods in California) but there was a yellow haze thruought the forest.</DIV> <P>Message Edited by BLOODkane on <SPAN class=date_text>02-28-2005</SPAN> <SPAN class=time_text>09:29 PM</SPAN><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> Yes, its' a lot of splitting that happened to get to teh Erudites.  Erollisi and Mithaniel made the Barbarians. some decided tehy did not like to fight, and left, tehy are what we know as humans, the erudites split off from them later, then the Heretics, who practiced the necromantic arts split off from the Erudites.  They leanred the necromantic arts from spies sent to Neriak.  The Teir'dal learned it from Iksar who may have escaped from Kunark. 

[Kamimura]

<DIV>One thing I thought was interesting in Erudin was how they dealt with crime. Speaking with a guard in the palace jail and he tells you the punishment for any crime. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#ffff00>You say, 'Hail, Warden Lius'</FONT><BR><FONT color=#ccffff>Warden Lius says 'Hail, citizen!  This is no place for you.  Make sure you keep it that way.  We do not need any more [hollow men].'</FONT><BR><FONT color=#ffff00>You say, 'What hollow men?'</FONT><BR><FONT color=#ccffff>Warden Lius says 'There is only one sentence in Erudin, death!!  And death by purging is the most common. The insides of the criminal are literally pulled out chunk by chunk through the mouth.  Then the hollow man is set adrift to float the seas of Erud's Crossing, his body cleansed of all anarchy.'</FONT></DIV>

[Bur]

This should answer the questions about where necromantic magic came from, it explains alot about the erudites (The story of miragul from the official site):Over three thousand years in the past humanity was in its infancy. Mankind dwelled in the center of Antonica, spreading out slowly to inhabit the vast and fertile plains of Karana. Villages appeared and prospered, several reaching the size of towns, and two even became cities -- Qeynos to the west, and Freeport to the east. Humanity, much to the disdain of the elder races who watched from afar, was strong -- it rapidly gained a solid foothold in the world of Norrath and was there to stay.This is not to imply, however, that humanity was at peace. Early on small groups formed, some linked by similar appearances, others by common goals. Competition was fierce, and when resources grew scarce for one reason or another many groups abandoned the promises and alliances of their past and fought. A few leaders spoke out against the violence, urging the masses to remember why they had fled the cold north. They had broken away from the lands of Halas and their barbarian brothers in the name of peace, and these leaders insisted that humanity adhere once again to those principals to which all had agreed.Their cry was not totally ignored, and the fighting subsided. Villages were encouraged to trade with one another and to respond to competition nonviolently. An economy based largely on agriculture appeared and the villages and small towns were surrounded by large farms. Most of humanity�s leaders were pleased with this, wanting nothing more than peace and food on every man�s table after a hard day of work. A few, however, wanted more. Even though their people had risen well beyond the standard of living endured by their barbarian brothers to the north, they were not content. Explorers and adventurers returned from afar with tales of elves, dwarves, and other strange creatures, as well as descriptions of ancient abandoned cities. A few even came back with limited knowledge of sorcery and the mystic arts.And when that discontent minority of leaders heard all of this, they became both jealous and determined. A small, fragile man of great intellect called Erud led this group, and he formed them into a council. They quickly became irritated, even disgusted, by their fellow man. Leaving a small network of spies behind, the remainder of Erud�s followers fled the city of Qeynos and boarded a small fleet of ships. They sailed to the west and landed upon the barren coast of the island of Odus. The land was sparse and uninhabited and quite appealing to the council and their people. They quickly built a city of their own, dissimilar in almost every way to both Qeynos and Freeport, for it was almost entirely a towering castle. Erudin it was called, and within it the scribes and scholars, who called themselves High Men, gathered and analyzed reports, captured books and scrolls, and other artifacts brought to them by their spies. The first human mages were then born � wizards, sorcerers, and enchanters occupied the great halls of Erudin and grew immensely in both power and knowledge.One of the more adept practitioners of the arts was named Miragul. Unlike and more extreme than the others, he not only abhorred his human brothers on the mainland to the east, but he also grew to hate his fellow Erudites. To him they were both short sighted and narrow. They created schools of thought, categorizing magic into three groups and designing themselves to three classes: Wizards, Sorcerers, and Enchanters. Miragul found this limiting and thoroughly resented the thought of being restricted to one school of thought or another.He soon found others who felt similarly. They were a small but growing group of outcasts who often studied forbidden texts and other knowledge generally kept secret from the majority of students. The council was morally and ethically opposed to much of the information gathered afar by their spies. Miragul found that these outcasts not only studied the three schools of magic, but also a fourth. It was called Necromancy and a few lucky spies had returned from a distant underground city (Neriak, it was called, home of the dark elves) with both their lives and also ancient texts describing this art. Miragul was intrigued, and, by using powerful magic, created for himself four identities, four separate countenances and names, and joined all four schools without the knowledge of the council, nor anyone else for that matter.It came to pass some years later that the council, in its ever growing desire to know all there was to know, both in distant lands and also in its own city, discovered the group of Necromancers. They were branded heretics and a great conflict arose. For the first time in several hundred years, the Erudites fought. They engaged in a civil war not entirely dissimilar to that which they had loathed and fled from back on the mainland. But there was one very significant difference � they did not use swords and bows, but rather magic, and the result was terrible. Lives by the hundreds were lost, great buildings and structures destroyed, and eventually the heretics were forced to flee Erudin, to hide and regroup in the southern regions of Odus.Miragul, being a member of all four schools, was not blind to the implications when the conflict began. He left the heretics before they fled the city, abandoning his fourth identity and siding apparently with the council. But this was only a ruse in order to buy time. He soon gathered every artifact and tome he could discreetly steal and then left Odus entirely, taking a ship back to Antonica and to the city of Qeynos. The lands of men, however, were not only to his dislike, but also filled with Erudite spies.Miragul grew afraid, even paranoid, and soon fled again. He headed far to the north and then to the east, wishing to avoid the barbarians of Halas. After many weeks he found himself near the great lake called Winter�s Deep and he hid there for some time.While Miragul waited in secret his mind was not idle. He schemed and planned, and looked over every letter of every scroll and tome he had taken from Erudin. Time passed and his understanding and power grew. But he was unsatisfied and a deep hunger for even more arcane knowledge ate away at him. He soon left his hiding place and began to travel long distances in search of more ancient texts and artifacts. His power had grown and confidence overcame his fear of Erudite spies. Once again he cloaked himself in false identity and countenance and traveled the lands of men.Not far to the south of where his cache of artifacts lay, Miragul soon found another of the new races, the Halflings, and their town Rivervale. The mage feared these small people and their propensity to sneak and to steal, and as his treasures grew in both size and value, he eventually made the decision to move even farther north, and away from all intelligent life. He traveled leagues and leagues, far beyond the range of both Erudite spy and curious Halfling, and eventually came to a vast tundra. This land had no name, and was not until centuries later referred to as merely the Frigid Plain. This frosty and remote environment appealed to Miragul�s heart, for it had grown cold, obsessed with only knowledge and the abstract, and filled with only hatred for others. Creatures with intelligence forced him to be discreet and slowed his acquisition of knowledge and items. He had as little to do with them as he could, only hiding amongst them when absolutely necessary.Under the icy ground of the Frigid Plains, Miragul created a large network of tunnels and rooms in which to hide and study his collection. He used no labor, but rather deep magic to remove the earth from his way. Room after room, passage after passage, he did create to house his store of artifacts. He split his years, spending one score out in the world, exploring and amassing knowledge and items, returning them to his cache, and then the next dabbling with them, experimenting in one of several laboratories he had created.Many years passed, even centuries. Miragul grew old, even though he did his best to extend his life using magical means. There was a limit to his enlightenment when it came to aging, and he soon acknowledged that one day even he would die. Only one aspect of death did he fear, and being no longer able to learn and collect wrought him with terror. As his skin grew wrinkled, and his breath short, Miragul�s time was spent less exploring the world of Norrath and more studying the existential. He soon discovered the various hidden dimensions that neighbored his own, the Planes of Power and Discord. He discovered means by which he could traverse these planes, making portals that led between them. But his strength was leaving him, and his journeys into these realities were short and often unprofitable. More and more, his own mortality limited his reason for living, and the specter of death haunted him daily.The mage�s research into life and death was built upon a foundation he had learned from his fellow outcasts centuries before in Erudin. Necromancy, more than any other art, became Miragul�s obsession. Eventually he discovered a means by which to create portals within his own plane and made them to travel great distances in mere seconds. He traveled back to Odus, to its southern regions, in search of the other Necromancers. Perhaps, he mused, they had unearthed by now a way to cheat death.The mage soon found that the heretics of Erudin had built a city into a great hole that led to unknown depths beneath the earth. This chasm was apparently the result of that huge civil war from which Miragul had fled centuries earlier. The city, called Paineel, though somewhat suspicious, allowed Miragul to enter and after a time he earned its inhabitant�s trust. Many humored the old man and his claims, while a select few respected him and were willing to trade knowledge for knowledge, power for power. They revealed to him the true power of necromancy, the ability to raise the dead, creating zombies and wraiths obedient in every way to their master. Many of the heretics planned to assault Erudin with vast armies of undead, to wreak revenge upon the council that had exiled and made war upon them in centuries past.One important aspect of their necromancy interested Miragul, the fact that the undead ceased to age. Their lives appeared endless and the elderly mage knew that he must discover a way to be like them. He feigned interest in the heretic�s goals, learning spells to raise the dead, helping them raise their undead army. All the while, however, he was experimenting himself, hiding much of his research in the small home he was given in Paineel. After some time he discovered that which he had sought, a way to transform a living being, as opposed to a corpse, into the undead. Unfortunately, time was scarce, for he was tired and almost dead himself, his body deteriorating with age, and the heretics were almost ready to make war once again.Miragul then left Paineel, using a small portion of his dwindling life energies to make a portal back to his cache hundreds of leagues to the north. Upon arrival, he withdrew silently to his most secret laboratory and prepared his final spell. Dreaming all the while of endless exploration and discovery, he slowly made ready his ultimate experiment. The enchantment laced with necromancy was finally made, and Miragul hid his remaining and fragile life within the phylactery, a small device he had pilfered from the other necromancers. Clouds of mystical energy gathered and then dispersed, revealing a shell of the man Miragul once was, an undead mage, what ancient scripts and legends called a lich.In his haste, however, Miragul had made a miscalculation. The lich, while retaining all the mystical power of his formal self, lacked a spirit. Only the mage�s soul, now locked within the phylactery hidden deep in the cache, retained the ambition and desire to amass knowledge and power. The spiritless lich possessed none of these human traits, and Miragul�s soul screamed in silence as the undead creature began to aimlessly wander his menagerie of wisdom and enlightenment, his rooms filled with artifacts of power.

[Quas]

Is that why there's a "Miragul's Menagerie" in Everfrost?

[BLOODka]

<DIV>yes</DIV>

[JayemJa]

There is also a kerra in Stonestair who talks about their more recent history. Apparently the Erudites and Cazicites made peace and build a new city. It was around this time that they cast a spell which changed them into what they are today.

[DruVir]

<DIV>I don't know if there's anything significant about Toxxulia Forest, like there is with Kithicor and the god's fighting over it, but I do believe this is where the civil war of the Erudites took place. All that magic flying over the place for years must've done something. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Erudin was a very regal city. Much like Felwithe. It had marble floors and the like, and you traveled from each place by teleportation pad. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Paineel was carved into the side of The Hole, after elementals rushed from the Plane of the Underfoot by Old Paineel. Luckily they sealed it, needing to send one man onto the other side to complete the seal. Al'Kabor's secret chamber is down here, though hidden from all but Firiona Vie.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Stonebrunt held the Kejekan, the third race of kitties, which, like most of Odus, was constantly at war with Kobolds. They are very attuned to spirits and the like.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The Abysmal Sea is said to be uncrossable. I believe it was Cazic Thule which cursed it, making it so only hours after setting off into the Sea, a tremendous terror and confusion would be swept over all crew, inevitably forcing them back to land. However, in GoD, it is crossed by using the Gromzek Stone, which possibly shielded them from Cazic's touch.</DIV>

[Quas]

<span><blockquote><hr>Burem wrote:In his haste, however, Miragul had made a miscalculation. The lich, while retaining all the mystical power of his formal self, lacked a spirit. Only the mage�s soul, now locked within the phylactery hidden deep in the cache, retained the ambition and desire to amass knowledge and power. The spiritless lich possessed none of these human traits, and Miragul�s soul screamed in silence as the undead creature began to aimlessly wander his menagerie of wisdom and enlightenment, his rooms filled with artifacts of power.<hr></blockquote>Tough break eh? <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></span><div></div>

[Cusashorn]

<DIV>Just want to pop in one thing about Miragul:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Lost Dungeon Of Norrath lore states that Miragul lived somewhere around 1200 years *BEFORE* he even thought about using Necromancy to extend his life.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Just something to think about for racial life spans. Other races have reported characters who lived just as long as well.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Back on topic:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Toxxulia forest still is statistically the worst newbie zone in the entire game.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I thought Erudin was one of the better looking cities though.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The whole continent had a bit of a... Calypso Carribean-Slash-Oriental Mountains feel to it.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I don't think they ever really explained why the Heretics of Paineel stopped worshipping Bertoxxulous and switched over to Cazic Thule though.</DIV>

[BLOODka]

I enjoyed Toxxulia, heck all of Odus actually, most people hated Odus but I love it, it had a mystical, quasi-Asian feel to it with wicker armor, bamboo, pandas, foggy forests....it was a neat continent.