Refresher on Lore

[Storme2006]

<p>This may be asking for a bit much, and I don't expect complete answers, but Everquest and Everquest 2 lore has always been very interesting to me.  More so than any other game I've played, Everquest 2 has involved me and made me generally interested in the story.</p><p>Like many players, I recently returned to EQ2.  My break was 3 years, and I intend to stay and keep playing for the time being.  I have may questions about the recent lore, and I find that many people in the channels I join don't keep up with it.  I left right after RoK's release, and returned very briefly to see the release of TSO.  I don't know anything that happened in RoK or anything after that.  I saw a tree in Kelethin on fire today, and I realized I have no idea what's going on.  Then I remembered that Al'Kabor was supposed to play at big role in the new expansions.  Then I found the Duality.  And I'm more confused than ever.</p><p>Can anyone catch me up with the story up until this point?  Even if it's just bullet points at first, we can fill in the rest after that.</p>

[Cusashorn]

Here's the storylines in a nutshell. RoK: Venril Sathir has taken control of the Iksar inhabitants on Kunark. Creating his Sathirian Empire, he is forcing the citizens to acknowledge him as a god in the absence of Cazic Thule and the other dieties. Even though they have returned, that has not changed. Ultimately, there wasn't a major on-going storyline in ROK. I mean, it's not like you liberate the citizens and let them live free lives or anything when you defeat Venril. We did learn of what would become known as the End of Ages prophecy. After a long quest that has us literally killing the dragons in Veeshan's Peak for no justifiable reason, Mayong Mistmoore shows up to tell us that the Shissar had predicted on their calender a date when Norrath itself would be destroyed. This lead us to TSO, where denizens of the Void had started an invasion into Norrath. The ex-Goddess of Health, Anasthi Sul, was not pleased over the fact that the other gods had banished her to the Void because she accidentally unleashed the concept of Undeath on Norrath so many aeons ago. She wanted revenge, so she took control of a faction of Shadowmen and other inhabitants of the Void to try and take over Norrath. If Norrath were to be taken over, it would become an anchor for the Void denizens to take shelter on until a time would come where the galaxy sized black hole in the Void would eventually swallow up Norrath, and they would move onto other planets and continue the process all over again. We ultimately ended up defeating Anashti Sul, but killing her physical form in The Void had severed the proverbial leash that kept her there. She was now allowed to reform herself on Norrath and exist as the Goddess of Eternal Life. Not even she had predicted that her own death would allow her to be free. Anashti Sul wasn't the only one who had been banished to the void though. When Sentinel's Fate came out, we found ourselves traveling back to the long lost continent of Odus. In an attempt to create a second Nexus, what with Luclin being cut off and all, the denizens of Erudin and Paineel put aside their differences and banded together to dedicate themselves merely to the study of science. They created the Ulteran Network to try and bring transportation back to Norrath. One such erudite who was leading the project had been taken over by a shadowman who worked for Roehn Theer, the Avatar of the Nameless, and the only being who had the ability to actually kill the gods. It was his job to maintain balance in the pantheon. The other gods rightfully feared him, because he could actually kill them. Anashti Sul was originally working with Roehn Theer to plot a way for both of them to get out of the Void or destroy Norrath trying. Anashti got out and said "The hell with this, I'm outta here." When the gods learned that Roehn was back, they removed their avatars from Norrath and withdrew their presence once more. Back on Odus, the Ulteran Network experiment had gone wrong. It was intentionally sabotaged by that one erudite. They thought that the Nexus on Luclin had been destroyed, and when they started up the experiment, the feedback from the original Nexus had not only transformed the Erudites into what they look like today, but transported Odus to the Ulteran Dimension. There, the continent itself would become involved in a tug of war. On one side, the forces of the Void was trying to take over and pull Odus into the Void. On the other hand, Master Yael and the denizens of the Hole was trying to pull Odus into the realm of the Underfoot. The storyline at this point started involving a character named Fyr'emd Lorrak, who told us of a method to extract the mythical properties of our own epic weapons, so we could continue to use the effects they offered even if we were to lose the weapon and stuff like that. We as players figured this out pretty fast, but what we as adventurers didn't know, is that Fyr'emd Lorrak is an anagram for Lord Kerafyrm, the Prismatic Dragon now known as The Awakened. When we defeated Roehn Theer, Kerafyrm came up and stole away the mystical properties of the Qeynos Claymore and Soulfire, the weapons that allowed Roehn Theer to kill the gods. Kerafyrm now has the ability to slay both mortals and the gods themselves. He has become the ultimate threat to the very existence of Norrath and the universe itself. This is what brings us to Velious, where we are currently dealing with the Order of Rime and Rallos Zek himself. Zek believes that he is strong enough to take on Kerafyrm, so he locked up Sullon, Tallon, and Vallon Zek into the Fortress of Drunder, transported Drunder to Velious, and (If I have this right) plans to sacrifice them to absorb their powers. The Ry'Gorr orcs on Velious are not pleased about this. They want us to help them free at least Sullon Zek, because when she challenged Rallos to a battle, it ended in a draw- something that no other god has been able to do. We currently don't know how The Duality (the combined mentalities of Al'Kabor and Dartain) and Firiona Vie (yeah, she's back. She was disguised as the prophet of Tunare all this time) will play into the story once the 2nd half of Velious is released. As for Kelethin, they revamped the newbie quests in that zone, adding more quests, some of which involve killing some orcs who are trying to burn the city down again.

[Storme2006]

<p>Well dang, thanks for all that.  Do you mind if I pose a few questions?</p><p>First, can Firiona Vie be found in the game at this point?  In Velious or otherwise?  I'm 77, and haven't purchased the expansion yet, but as soon as I hit 80 I'm going to get it and head that way.</p><p>How did Al'Kabor become the Duality?  Is it just the symbol that says Erudin and Paineel are now united?</p><p>Rallos Zek moving to kill The Sleeper is interesting, but odd to me.  How did the sleep become wakened in this dimension in the first place?  And since The Sleeper is now active, what has happened to the original faction of dragons charged with keeping The Sleeper in check?  Are they all dead?</p><p>The citadel falling in Freeport is another of my questions, and I'm wondering if there was a lore change there.  I had two evil aligned characters camped in Freeport - I've logged in to both and they were both killed instantly.  I'm now scowls to everything - good, evil, and exile.  Is there any faction change that would justify this?</p><p>Edit:  Sorry, one more question.  How does Theer effectively take the place of Zebuxoruk?  I thought only he had the power to kill the Gods.</p>

[Cusashorn]

<p><cite>Tombe@Unrest wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Well dang, thanks for all that.  Do you mind if I pose a few questions?</p><p>First, can Firiona Vie be found in the game at this point?  In Velious or otherwise?  I'm 77, and haven't purchased the expansion yet, but as soon as I hit 80 I'm going to get it and head that way.</p><p><span style="color: #3366ff;">Firiona Vie revealed herself in a time-limited world event that took place last Fall. She'll be brought back into the game when the 2nd half of Velious is put in.</span></p><p>How did Al'Kabor become the Duality?  Is it just the symbol that says Erudin and Paineel are now united?</p><p><span style="color: #3366ff;">I'm not exactly sure how the two became one. Someone else can probably answer that. They are two minds that share the same body, and frequently changes back and forth between each other's physical appearance. The Quellithulians are what the Erudites have become. They put aside their religious differences of worshipping Quellious and Cazic Thule aside in order to prioritize the study of magic and science. In Paineel (Erudin has been taken over by the Void), they openly acknowledge Necromancy as just another study, and mention the whole "Good and evil moral ethics" thing that other societies would view over it.</span></p><p>Rallos Zek moving to kill The Sleeper is interesting, but odd to me.  How did the sleep become wakened in this dimension in the first place?  And since The Sleeper is now active, what has happened to the original faction of dragons charged with keeping The Sleeper in check?  Are they all dead?</p><p><span style="color: #3366ff;">Everything that happened in EQlive up until July of 2003, when the Plane of Time was finally conquered in the Planes of Power expansion pack, is canon to EQ2's timeline. We adventurers had slain the 4 Warders and woke up Kerafyrm way back on Velious 2 years before Planes of Power had even been released.</span></p><p>The citadel falling in Freeport is another of my questions, and I'm wondering if there was a lore change there.  I had two evil aligned characters camped in Freeport - I've logged in to both and they were both killed instantly.  I'm now scowls to everything - good, evil, and exile.  Is there any faction change that would justify this?</p><p><span style="color: #3366ff;">Lucan D'Lere had been kidnapped by Roehn Theer's forces. Chaos broke out in Freeport, with the Freeport Militia, Dreadnaught Bruisers, and Thexians trying to each maintain what each side considered to be order in each section of the city. Lucan has since been rescued, and he never once thanks us for saving him. The citadel is currently being rebuilt, though there are still citizens fighting and killing each other in the villages.</span></p><p>Edit:  Sorry, one more question.  How does Theer effectively take the place of Zebuxoruk?  I thought only he had the power to kill the Gods.</p><p><span style="color: #3366ff;">Zebuxoruk is the Un-God of Knowledge. He was a mortal who learned how to obtain godhood, and throughout history has- against his will and for reasons unknown- switched back and forth between being a mortal Human and a god numerous. Roehn Theer is the Avatar of Balance. He's the Avatar of the Nameless, the god who allows Existence.</span></p></blockquote>

[Zekialray]

<p><em><span>How did Al'Kabor become the Duality?  Is it just the symbol that says Erudin and Paineel are now united?</span></em></p><p>There is a lengthy sig quest in the sentinels fate expansion where we attempt to track down the powerful erudite necromancer Dartain. While on his trail we find all the experiments he's been working on across odus. Something to the effect of ripping souls from bodies and implanting them into others. By the time we catch up to him in the erudite royal palace he has used the remains of a once powerful erudite wizard Al'kabor and combined their souls / minds into one body that is the duality. He tells us he needed al'kabors knowledge to help him research the ages end prophecy and from there he has been guiding us in stopping it.</p>

[Rainmare]

<p>actually that's not entirely correct in the sig line about Dartain.</p><p>Dartain is a necro, and a [Removed for Content] powerful one at that. who had been exclusively studying the Hole/Vault of living stone. he was entirely concerned with the Underfoot consuming Odus. he experiments were basically cannabalizing the minds/souls of others to increase his own power/knowledge/potentially life span.</p><p>we find during the sig line several of the remnants of his experiments. once he had 'perfected' his new talent, he attempted to steal the power/essence of the most powerful wizard we know of, Al'Kabor.</p><p>unfortunately for Dartain, Al'Kabor fought back. and was strong enough to basically force a stalemate. so they decided instead to share the body, combine thier power/essence and kinowledge. which allowed Al'Kabor to know what's been going on and add the information to his research, and Dartain learned about the Ages End prophecy and took and interest in that as well.</p><p>while I wasn't familiar with Rallos' logic on locking up his kids...the basic problem with Rallos right now is that Kera possesses the power of the Swords of Destiny(claymore/soulfire) but it's unstable. he can't really control it. Rallos is looking to try a premptive strike...while the other gods are debating what to do.</p><p>because there's apparently a very real chance that if Kera dies with this power in him, he'll basically become a huge reality bomb that coudl undo creation...killing gods/mortals/destroying norrath. Rallos of course thinks the other gods are wusses, and has taken matters into his own hands.</p><p>the gods aren't coming to stop rallos in force, becuase apparently a war of the gods on norrath would destroy it as well. So it's up to us on that account.</p><p>the way it seems to me though about his kids is that Tallon/Vallon/Sullon agree with the Pantheon that this is not a good idea...and have been imprisioned for it....though either way they are probably facing sacrifice/execution.</p>

[Aneova]

<p><cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Tombe@Unrest wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Well dang, thanks for all that.  Do you mind if I pose a few questions?</p><p>First, can Firiona Vie be found in the game at this point?  In Velious or otherwise?  I'm 77, and haven't purchased the expansion yet, but as soon as I hit 80 I'm going to get it and head that way.</p><p><span style="color: #3366ff;">Firiona Vie revealed herself in a time-limited world event that took place last Fall. She'll be brought back into the game when the 2nd half of Velious is put in.</span></p><p><span style="color: #008000;">Oh you'll see her much sooner then that, you may wish to take a peak at Test.</span></p><p>How did Al'Kabor become the Duality?  Is it just the symbol that says Erudin and Paineel are now united?</p><p><span style="color: #3366ff;">I'm not exactly sure how the two became one. Someone else can probably answer that. They are two minds that share the same body, and frequently changes back and forth between each other's physical appearance. The Quellithulians are what the Erudites have become. They put aside their religious differences of worshipping Quellious and Cazic Thule aside in order to prioritize the study of magic and science. In Paineel (Erudin has been taken over by the Void), they openly acknowledge Necromancy as just another study, and mention the whole "Good and evil moral ethics" thing that other societies would view over it.</span></p><p><span style="color: #008000;"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000;">He was doing Soul Transfer research and wound up getting fused together, that's the short version. There is a signature quest that reveals what happened to him. This is also linked to Kerafyrm and transfering your Epic Weapons energy into yourself.</span></p><p>Rallos Zek moving to kill The Sleeper is interesting, but odd to me.  How did the sleep become wakened in this dimension in the first place?  And since The Sleeper is now active, what has happened to the original faction of dragons charged with keeping The Sleeper in check?  Are they all dead?</p><p><span style="color: #3366ff;">Everything that happened in EQlive up until July of 2003, when the Plane of Time was finally conquered in the Planes of Power expansion pack, is canon to EQ2's timeline. We adventurers had slain the 4 Warders and woke up Kerafyrm way back on Velious 2 years before Planes of Power had even been released.</span></p><p>The citadel falling in Freeport is another of my questions, and I'm wondering if there was a lore change there.  I had two evil aligned characters camped in Freeport - I've logged in to both and they were both killed instantly.  I'm now scowls to everything - good, evil, and exile.  Is there any faction change that would justify this?</p><p><span style="color: #3366ff;">Lucan D'Lere had been kidnapped by Roehn Theer's forces. Chaos broke out in Freeport, with the Freeport Militia, Dreadnaught Bruisers, and Thexians trying to each maintain what each side considered to be order in each section of the city. Lucan has since been rescued, and he never once thanks us for saving him. The citadel is currently being rebuilt, though there are still citizens fighting and killing each other in the villages.</span></p><p>Edit:  Sorry, one more question.  How does Theer effectively take the place of Zebuxoruk?  I thought only he had the power to kill the Gods.</p><p><span style="color: #3366ff;">Zebuxoruk is the Un-God of Knowledge. He was a mortal who learned how to obtain godhood, and throughout history has- against his will and for reasons unknown- switched back and forth between being a mortal Human and a god numerous. Roehn Theer is the Avatar of Balance. He's the Avatar of the Nameless, the god who allows Existence.</span></p></blockquote></blockquote><p>FIXED with what little i know and have been able to keep track of.</p>

[Nebbeny]

<p>According to the sig quest in DoV that you do, Rallos's kids are locked up so he can sacrifice them when he ports through to the mortal realm, and regain their energies etc.  And that's needed because for a god to fully manifest into norrath apparently takes alot of stuffing out of them, and in that moment he's going to be very weak.</p><p>Sullon knows whats happening, and she isn't very happy with it at all, Tallon and Vallon are supposedly clueless, but you have to remember this is all from the duality, so it could be wrong.  I personally find it odd that Rage knows whats happening, while Tactics and Strategy don't grasp the plan.</p>

[Rainmare]

<p>Or Vallon and Tallon assume it's just Sullon that's going to get the axe, so to speak. Or, they DO know the plan, and the Tallonite invasion of the Vigilant was part of a plan to get the brothers out and leave Sullon behind.</p><p>since ALL the zek kids...and even a few of the full fledged gods, are scared of her...and with good reason. how many mortals can you think of that can actually stand toe to toe with Rallos in combat? and then he made her a demigod. who who knows how badass she really can be now.</p>

[Cusashorn]

<p><cite>Rainmare@Oasis wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Or Vallon and Tallon assume it's just Sullon that's going to get the axe, so to speak. Or, they DO know the plan, and the Tallonite invasion of the Vigilant was part of a plan to get the brothers out and leave Sullon behind.</p><p>since ALL the zek kids...and even a few of the full fledged gods, are scared of her...and with good reason. how many mortals can you think of that can actually stand toe to toe with Rallos in combat? and then he made her a demigod. who who knows how badass she really can be now.</p></blockquote><p>Yeah, no other god can come close to Rallos when it comes to battle, and yet a mortal fought him and ended in a draw. Sullon gains strength and focus the more enraged she becomes. Locking her up in prison isn't going to make her a happy camper.</p>