Insidious Decorators Inc. Makeover for Freeport [Archive]

Chips

07-24-2006, 03:30 PM

<DIV>having never played EQ1 i am guessing this lore opinion on Freeport and Lucan , so if i have some things wrong please understand my situation.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>first, I understand Freeport is run by an undead , wether or not Lucan is under the sway of a dark elf controller is yet to be seen but i have my suspicions , and i understand that undead dont care too much for appearances , except to instill terror or fear , cause thats how they maintain control. but man , i must say it is a little tedious looking over the rusty browns and tans over all of of freeport , it indeed looks like a forgotten tomb,which may be the intent of the designer......However i stated playing in qeynos and never set foot into Freeport for the first 4 months of playing this game , and when i thought of freeport i thought more of a city like something out of Dante's Inferno or Paradise Lost by Milton...large basalt towers, black leering demonic sculptures etc....and what i saw was plain depressing (again undead dont understand upkeep so i see the point), but it may be time for an overhaul of the town of Freeport.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>i also understand that FP was a human city at one time , so all those wonderful things i mentioned above about sculptures etc.may not fit with the lore , but things change and evil has soaked itself fairly deep into the core of FP so i would assume some kind of achetectural changes would be made to suit that primal abyssmal saturation. perhaps like you have done in Fallen Gate there could be some drastic change, perhaps add dark statuary similar to the living gargoyles at the library but on a smaller non living scale inserted in various locs in the city., black polished marble-like walls etc. not sure it can be done , but just shooting out ideas. feel free to comment and or add ideas...</DIV>

ElnAckom

07-27-2006, 07:40 AM

Taking that all of this is non-EQ2 canon, and is backstory from a variety of sources... and that there are experts on this subject in the History and Lore forums far more savvy than I, including Jaranna, from whom I am paraphrasing some material... I can try this one.Overlord, once Sir, Lucan D'Lere was a Paladin of Marr once upon a time, and in his capacity as such, was posted to oversee the ancient city of Freeport while the majority of the Marr faithful went on the Crusade of Tears. When the Marr priests and paladins returned, Lucan, who had established a stronghold of power in the city, refused to relinquish his dominion over the city. The Academy of Arcane Science - which was once housed within what we now know as the Twilight or "Floating" Citadel - coupled with the Ashen Order monks and stepped in to allow the Marr faithful to return to their temple in the north of the city, effectively dividing the city down the center. Lucan is excommunicated from the Knights of Truth, after which, if we accept any part of EQ Live lore, he is able to survive what would ordinarily kill a mortal. Indeed, there are reports of his appearing in skeletal form from this period.Keep in mind that this is in the ballpark of 500 years prior to the events of EQ2.The source of his longevity has been long-debated, ranging from a curse gone wrong imposed by the Marr faithful to necromancy by the Tier'Dal, possibly Tayil, his long-time dark elf companion. What is clear is that at some point between his fall from Marr's grace and the rise of the Rallosians, he became a human lich and gained his immortality.The definition of "lich" appears to be very specific across fantasy genres, and EQ2 seems to be no exception. A lich is almost universally an undead wielder of magic, and most specifically, the product of improper or absent burial rituals. Whereas the zombie, for example, is an undead creature that is buried and then later reanimated, a lich is never buried to begin with. It is the case, in some analyses of the concept of the lich, that lichhood can be self-attained through dark ordination and arcane study.However, we must take canon into account: Lucan is indeed a lich - SOE says so - and has been the effective master of Freeport for the better part of over 400 years by any estimate. He is also, to all outward appearances, wholly human in appearance, free of decomposing flesh. HOWEVER, if you note carefully in the EQ2 introduction video, Lucan's skeletal form flashes through for a moment when he is spellcasting, and Tayil N'Velex is present during the conjuring. I don't think there are any serious proposals, by the way, that Tayil is really the one pulling the strings. Lucan being "under the sway" of anyone seems a little off-base.Is he nearly completely decomposed and his outward form is a manifestation supported by his relationship with Tayil? Is he whole of flesh, given longevity by other means described above and elsewhere? Or is everything we know so convoluted by mythology and heresay that it's completely off base? We don't know.What we DO know are a few things that can help us understand Freeport better, and maybe your perceptions of it:1. Freeport predates Lucan. Lucan didn't design its architecture, though his influence is apparent throughout. There have been citations of his armor as being the model for the spires, but as Freeport predates Lucan, it is possible that his armor was created to give the people that very impression. Either way, Lucan isn't responsible for the creation of a large portion of Freeport as a city.2. Dante's "Inferno" doesn't describe much in the way of architecture from what I recall of my reading it back in my undergraduate days. Aside from several archways and bridges, and the main gates and their inscriptions, I'm not sure if much more of the Pit is vividly described. It seems to me that Virgil's descriptions adhered more to the suffering of the sin-corresponding punishments than anything else. However, that said, the stepped-terrace layout of Freeport does, now that you mention it, conjur some visions of that very idea!3. If you were totally depressed by the drab, slab-like construction of the ancient merchant city of Freeport... I consider that developer mission accomplished. It's a city of total repression. (Except for those of us who curry favor with the Scarred Master. We enjoy a fine living in the great shadow of his might, MWAHAHA! Er... I digress.)4. As you say, Lucan as a lich is probably hardly concerned with appearances. Lucan uses his words and his actions to exert control, and I hardly think he'd invest any large amount of any resource in "dressing up" the city he has known and commanded for half a millennium. Obsidian is expensive, after all! (Try changing the walls of your home sometime!)In short, it doesn't seem to me that Lucan, from a Lore perspective, would feel Freeport needs to "look evil." It seems to me it would only serve the sycophants, and Lucan doesn't tolerate such things. I would imagine that Lucan genuinely believes, to his core, that his way is just, and right, and true, and the only possible way to go forward. He is Daxus from Ultraviolet, believing that civilization would tear itself to pieces without guidance so solid, so constructed, that it treats life and death itself as a commodity, to be bought and sold only by the elite who have and underestand power, and that at the end of the day, all Norrath's puppets need a puppetmaster, and he's it.An interesting proposal... but on a personal note... Freeport being my hometown, I adore it the way it is.Now if you want to talk about what I think old Sebilis or Cabalis should look like in a Kunark Expansion... well, don't get me started. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /><div></div>