Lore questions [Archive] - EQ2 Forum Archive @ EQ2Wire

Iskandar

02-22-2012, 06:53 AM

If you're interested, there's a pretty lengthy writeup <a href="http://eq2.zam.com/wiki/Freeblood_Vampire_Lore_%28EQ2%29" target="_blank">over on Zam</a> that gives the lore details behind the Freeblood's origins, and a few threads on these forums <a href="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?topic_id=507237" target="_blank">here</a> that discuss them further. It's a bit of a long read tho! <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/49869fe8223507d7223db3451e5321aa.gif" border="0" />To make a long story short... Sarkan, the vampire we beat at the end of the Somborn haunted house during Nights of the Dead, is the "sire" of the Freebloods. He was the result of an experiment by the D'Ryil vampires to strengthen their bloodline, but his creation left him with free will instead of being subservient to his clan. He escaped, set up camp in Somborn, used the holidays to lure players in, and whipped himself up a fresh batch of free-willed vampires just like him.As far as a lore reason why Freeblood are allowed to wander the streets in Qeynos unchecked..... I got no clue. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" /> There may have been some official lore explanation beyond the pseudo-XFiles bit that you can read on Zam, but I don't really find vampires all that interesting so I kinda glossed through it all. Station Cash is as good an answer as any I suppose. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/ed515dbff23a0ee3241dcc0a601c9ed6.gif" border="0" />

Zabjade

02-22-2012, 09:44 AM

With any luck, you might find out once the Qeynos revamp takes place and the Freeblood Racial quest gets into the game. (Hopefully we get house items rather then rings.)

Yimway

02-22-2012, 03:15 PM

<cite>Ragnaphore wrote:</cite><blockquote>1. SC trumps Lore for this one, even if "good" vampires aren't new (I remember reading Blade's comics as a kid in the 70's)2. Thexian is the Dark Elf's language and has nothing to do with vampirism. You're good so you don't know it "by birth". Most vampires in game speak Thexian 'cause they were Dark Elves (all vampire from Bloodline Chronicle and the D'Morte family, most of Mistmoor's)3. I remember some Lore being posted by a red name after they were released. Basicly, you are a vampire who broke his/her creator's grip and got his freewill back (hence freeblood)</blockquote>1) For sure, I remember some of those comics too, but even Blade wasn't 'a good guy' and excepted by society, as such I still am not really comfortable with how good faction in this game just accept freebloods.2) If freebloods broke from the current lineage in game, still seems to me you'd likely speak the language....New question, why are Beastlords scouts and unable to disarm chests/traps?

Yimway

02-22-2012, 03:17 PM

<cite>Iskandar wrote:</cite><blockquote>As far as a lore reason why Freeblood are allowed to wander the streets in Qeynos unchecked..... I got no clue. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" /> There may have been some official lore explanation beyond the pseudo-XFiles bit that you can read on Zam, but I don't really find vampires all that interesting so I kinda glossed through it all. Station Cash is as good an answer as any I suppose. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/ed515dbff23a0ee3241dcc0a601c9ed6.gif" border="0" /></blockquote>Honestly, I don't find them too interesting either, but when I decided to roll up a new character this past week, I decide to go wizard and the freeblood just look coolest with the gear I planned to put on him. I just started to question these lore things and wonder hey, why can't I even understand these other vampires screaming at me <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

Lodrelhai

02-22-2012, 06:52 PM

I'm not sure why you would've learned Thexian just because you became a vampire, unless your origin race was dark elf (per the Sarkon lore, only humans and elves were capable of surviving the change to this pseudo-vampire form; other races died in agony). Language isn't learned by osmosis.As to why the good cities are willing to put up with you, I'd say it's because vampirism is something that happened to you, not something you chose. You could very well have been a highly-respected city guard or a well-reknown traveling merchant before your unfortunate run-in with either Sarkon or one of his children. Necromancers choose their craft, or at least they are assumed to have chosen it by the majority of the populace.There were four lore stories posted in <a href="http://www.everquest2.com/news/?year=2010&month=12" target="_blank">Dec 2010</a> (they're all marked EQ2 Lore), but here's the general summary:1) The D'Ryils obtained notes from Mayong of Tserrina's turning and how it went unlike any other. They thought they might be able to use this if they could find more information on Tserrina, which they did. With those records, they developed a new method of turning people.2) Experiments with this new method did not go well - either they became weak and rebellious vampires (only seen in humans and elves), or they died after hours of writhing agony. Then they got one subject, named Sarkon, who went through the hours of agony and survived it. He was weak for a vampire, and had none of the innate submission to his creators or his clan that were expected. They figured they'd continue testing and observing for a while, then dispose of him.3) Sarkon escaped, in full daylight. After this, no one knows what happened or what he was doing until his little kitty-cat thralls started sending people to meet him in Sondborn.

Yimway

02-22-2012, 07:02 PM

But none of this is in game correct?I'm going back to me SC trumps all view I think.

Lodrelhai

02-22-2012, 07:16 PM

<cite>Atan@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote>But none of this is in game correct?I'm going back to me SC trumps all view I think.</blockquote>Sarkon D'Ryil luring people to Sonborn and turning them is certainly in-game, every Nights of the Dead. And while the lore letters I linked above were never published in-game, they were posted. The Ethernaut stories were never actually in-game either, beyond us interacting with them a bit and a reference to the records having been found in Trakkanon's layer after he was killed. Right now we've got more lore information for Freebloods than we do for Ratonga being a neutral race (for which all I've found is various npcs in Qeynos who comment on what they might be doing there).Edit: Oh, and the wings are enchanted constructs, as shown by the fact that we can take them off whenever we like. This as opposed to the fae and arasai, who's wings are genuine and permanent. Yes, some people may say their wings are natural to their character/magically sprouted, but generally the idea they are the Norrathian version of a rocket pack makes much, much more sense.

Cusashorn

02-22-2012, 08:59 PM

Yeah the official lore on the Freebloods is that they're all experiments who managed to maintain their free will and break free from the people who turned them into what they are. Having Free Will as a vampire means that you don't *HAVE* to be evil, and Qeynos respects it's citizen's freedoms.

Iskandar

02-22-2012, 09:00 PM

And with the language, the vampires you're fighting speak Thexian because most of them originated from Dark Elves (tho Mayong leans towards High Elves as well).The D'Ryils originated from a Dark Elf that came in contact with the Ewer when it was in Neriak, before Anashti returned and took it back. They're a fairly recent clan, and the Queen forces them to keep their numbers small (and more controllable), which is why they were experimenting.The other vampire "clans" would be the D'Morte, who derive from a Dark Elf who possessed the Ewer some centuries ago (sorry, I'm REALLY hazy on the lore for him), and the vampires sired by Mayong, which are... uh... called something I don't remember offhand (or is it just Mistmore vampires?). Like I said, I glossed through a lot of the vampire stuff! <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/49869fe8223507d7223db3451e5321aa.gif" border="0" /> Mayong is more or less using New Tunaria as a vampire processing plant to experiment with and bulk up his forces in Loping Plains, D'Morte is hiding like a spooked rabbit in Nektulos Forest, and the D'Ryils are plotting away in Neriak and Darklight Woods.On the plus side, vampires in Norrath don't sparkle unless you set them on fire first <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/e8a506dc4ad763aca51bec4ca7dc8560.gif" border="0" />

Meirril

02-22-2012, 09:05 PM

<cite>Atan@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Iskandar wrote:</cite><blockquote>As far as a lore reason why Freeblood are allowed to wander the streets in Qeynos unchecked..... I got no clue. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" /> There may have been some official lore explanation beyond the pseudo-XFiles bit that you can read on Zam, but I don't really find vampires all that interesting so I kinda glossed through it all. Station Cash is as good an answer as any I suppose. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/ed515dbff23a0ee3241dcc0a601c9ed6.gif" border="0" /></blockquote>Honestly, I don't find them too interesting either, but when I decided to roll up a new character this past week, I decide to go wizard and the freeblood just look coolest with the gear I planned to put on him. I just started to question these lore things and wonder hey, why can't I even understand these other vampires screaming at me <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" /></blockquote>Well, if you started in Nerriak or another evil city you'd be able to buy the Thexian language primer right away. As it is you can still go buy it in either Gorowin or New Halas I believe. Paineel and Terran's Grasp also sell the primers but with faction restrictions.Freebloods don't spend time under a "master". Probably you wandered away from your creator before you even found out that you have changed into a vampire. What you were before probably has a lot to do with your home city, though it will be either a human or one of the four (common) elven races. I think the general assumption is that you were human, but for the grand cost of 5 silver for a language primer you can say you were an elf.I think the freebloods origionally didn't try to keep ahold of their "children" because they knew they were being hunted by the D'ryl clan. Creating more Freebloods offered a smokescreen of other vampires that could draw Sayron's persuers in the wrong direction. Those new Freeblood having no direction themselves continued the "tradition" and simply passed the curse and abandoned the new Freeblood to figure it out on their own (at least in the case of adventurers).What I find amusing about Freeblood is how unvampire like they are. Freeblood don't need blood, can walk in the light, arn't affected by wards that stop undead, don't take extra damage from powers that specifically target undead, and they gain benifits from eating. I'm not sure if they can drown or not but it wouldn't suprise me if they do need to breathe.But hey, at least they don't sparkle.

Yimway

02-23-2012, 02:18 PM

<cite>Meirril wrote:</cite><blockquote>Well, if you started in Nerriak or another evil city you'd be able to buy the Thexian language primer right away. As it is you can still go buy it in either Gorowin or New Halas I believe. Paineel and Terran's Grasp also sell the primers but with faction restrictions.Freebloods don't spend time under a "master". Probably you wandered away from your creator before you even found out that you have changed into a vampire. What you were before probably has a lot to do with your home city, though it will be either a human or one of the four (common) elven races. I think the general assumption is that you were human, but for the grand cost of 5 silver for a language primer you can say you were an elf.I think the freebloods origionally didn't try to keep ahold of their "children" because they knew they were being hunted by the D'ryl clan. Creating more Freebloods offered a smokescreen of other vampires that could draw Sayron's persuers in the wrong direction. Those new Freeblood having no direction themselves continued the "tradition" and simply passed the curse and abandoned the new Freeblood to figure it out on their own (at least in the case of adventurers).What I find amusing about Freeblood is how unvampire like they are. Freeblood don't need blood, can walk in the light, arn't affected by wards that stop undead, don't take extra damage from powers that specifically target undead, and they gain benifits from eating. I'm not sure if they can drown or not but it wouldn't suprise me if they do need to breathe.But hey, at least they don't sparkle.</blockquote>That's all creative and all, but none of that back story was in my game when I played this guy.As far as the sparkle, your sorta wrong, I'll try to get a screenshot of the bug I found lastnight. Not only does he sparkle, he's a freaking super nova.

Rainmare

02-24-2012, 12:06 AM

like has been said, the lore we have says they started with Sarkon. the apparent thing is that the D'ryil vamps 'procreated' by using the Ewer on other Tier'dal. when Anashti took it back...well they had no choice but to figure out how to turn people without it.they also had to worry about Mayong and Malkonis' clans. so they wanted to strengthen thier bloodlines. they stole notes from Mayong and Tserrina..found out how the process works, and started tinkering. all thier subjects died horribly...until Sarkon. He was pathetically weak for a vamp, had little to no regeneration, and retained his free will. so they considered him a 'partial success' and planned to lean how he surived, refine thier process, and kill him.then he escaped in broad daylight. which scares the crap out of the D'ryil and they are apparently really interested in getting rid of him now.Nights of the Dead rolls around, Sarkon has his lackeys send people to him that he feeds on. apparently alot of folks got eaten before we dealt with him. and many of these became 'Freebloods'. and they tried to resume thier old lives. basically the freeblood are an entire race of Blades. they look pretty much normal. maybe a little pale, but that's it.they can walk in daylight, they can eat and drink. thier a little stronger then normal but still babies compared to a 'full' vamp. they've kept/attained some vampiric talents (cloud of bats/some of thier racials/thier 'demon' appearance)I think the general idea of why they are in Qeynos is probably becuase they keep what they are hidden...which is much easier for them given that most of the instant vamp signs (can't go in daylight, can only feed on blood) don't apply.as to speaking Thexian...the older clans speak it, mostly becuase they are composed of very old dark elves, and they speak the language they had when they were 'alive' general you woudl think a freeblood from Qeynos was a Qeynosian before they were turned, thus they probably didn't speal or care to speak, the language of the Tier'dal.

Lodrelhai

02-24-2012, 12:52 AM

Not sure what you're getting at by "not in game." All of this information was released before Freebloods were, is canon lore to the game, and is fairly easy to find. And certainly Sarkon D'Ryil's little party has been in game for YEARS before Freebloods, complete with the revelation that the pcs themselves had been turned. While it doesn't predate the release of Freebloods, their Freeport racial quest talks about the terms of their acceptance in Freeport and how the D'Ryil's are trying to bring them to heel, or at least sabotage their acceptance in Freeport. I've little doubt the Qeynos racial will have similar information.So yes, Sarkon indiscriminately turning anyone he could is canon to the game, as is that people were turned and managed to keep that information to themselves and/or suppress their vampiric nature. The priestess we report to at the end of the NotD quest has no idea that we are now vampires, and we go on to be our normal awesome heroic selves. So there's the hints that the kind of vampirism Sarkon imposes on us is not typical, otherwise we wouldn't be able to suppress it. Freebloods, it seems, are those victims who cannot or will not suppress their new nature, embracing it instead for what small gifts it provides.

Meirril

02-24-2012, 04:44 AM

<cite>Atan@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Meirril wrote:</cite><blockquote>Well, if you started in Nerriak or another evil city you'd be able to buy the Thexian language primer right away. As it is you can still go buy it in either Gorowin or New Halas I believe. Paineel and Terran's Grasp also sell the primers but with faction restrictions.Freebloods don't spend time under a "master". Probably you wandered away from your creator before you even found out that you have changed into a vampire. What you were before probably has a lot to do with your home city, though it will be either a human or one of the four (common) elven races. I think the general assumption is that you were human, but for the grand cost of 5 silver for a language primer you can say you were an elf.I think the freebloods origionally didn't try to keep ahold of their "children" because they knew they were being hunted by the D'ryl clan. Creating more Freebloods offered a smokescreen of other vampires that could draw Sayron's persuers in the wrong direction. Those new Freeblood having no direction themselves continued the "tradition" and simply passed the curse and abandoned the new Freeblood to figure it out on their own (at least in the case of adventurers).What I find amusing about Freeblood is how unvampire like they are. Freeblood don't need blood, can walk in the light, arn't affected by wards that stop undead, don't take extra damage from powers that specifically target undead, and they gain benifits from eating. I'm not sure if they can drown or not but it wouldn't suprise me if they do need to breathe.But hey, at least they don't sparkle.</blockquote>That's all creative and all, but none of that back story was in my game when I played this guy.As far as the sparkle, your sorta wrong, I'll try to get a screenshot of the bug I found lastnight. Not only does he sparkle, he's a freaking super nova.</blockquote>Ok, think back. Way back to 2005. How much backstory did your barbarian have? Anything to tell you where you came from? Anything to let you know what the hell Halasian is and why you speak it? There wasn't much, just a little flavor text here and there spoken by the toons in your specially designed racially motivated starting village. That was it. It took over 4 years for racial quests to get introduced to the starting areas.Freeblood are a SC bought race. As a starting player, you can't get one unless you buy it. Considering that most people are going to be on their free trial when they start...you'd have to be perty hard core to buy it upfront not even knowing if you want to play this 8 year old game. Putting in a racial quest would of been nice, but from a dev point of view its very little bang for the buck. Work on content that only a very small fraction of players will ever see, or work on another Freeport quest line that a huge amount of players will see over and over again on multiple toons?Yeah, it would be great to see Freeblood lore in the game. It would also be great to see giant flying squirl wranglers in Gfay or Lesser Feydark. But I also understand that things like this are going to be low priority with the devs. Right now I'd rather see content put in to get us out of Drunder and on to the Western Wastes so we can continue the main story.

Nrgy

02-24-2012, 02:58 PM

<cite>Atan@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote>...New question, why are Beastlords scouts and unable to disarm chests/traps?</blockquote>Beastlords do Disarm chests and traps; with all thier OP god given might, smash them into little pieces and laugh at any "trapped" detriment is absorbed making them stronger from the experience.It's kind of humorous, that you don't even care about the Lore, but chose to use it as an avenue for your SC > all agenda.

Yimway

02-24-2012, 04:09 PM

<cite>Nrgy wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Atan@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote>...New question, why are Beastlords scouts and unable to disarm chests/traps?</blockquote>It's kind of humorous, that you don't even care about the Lore, but chose to use it as an avenue for your SC > all agenda.</blockquote>I wouldn't say I don't care at all, I'm just not a lore nut that seeks it out in odd places. My post was genuine musings I had playing my new toon this past week.

Yimway

02-24-2012, 04:11 PM

<cite>Meirril wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Atan@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote>That's all creative and all, but none of that back story was in my game when I played this guy.As far as the sparkle, your sorta wrong, I'll try to get a screenshot of the bug I found lastnight. Not only does he sparkle, he's a freaking super nova.</blockquote>Ok, think back. Way back to 2005. How much backstory did your barbarian have? Anything to tell you where you came from? Anything to let you know what the hell Halasian is and why you speak it? There wasn't much, just a little flavor text here and there spoken by the toons in your specially designed racially motivated starting village. That was it. It took over 4 years for racial quests to get introduced to the starting areas.</blockquote>Actually, it was this comparison that motivated my post. My barbarian from inception was able to talk to all other barbarians in the game. When I ran into the guy gating me at the bridge in TS I was able to speak his language and get his quests when my dwarf friend could not. I never met a barbarian in game I could not communicate with.So I found it really strange that my vampire could not communicate / understand other vampires.

Cusashorn

02-25-2012, 12:41 AM

Because your vampire *WAS* a Human (or elf. Your call) who was involuntarily transformed into a vampire and escaped before they could perform any more experiments or give you enough exposure to learn more about your captors.. That's why you can't understand other vampires.

Lodrelhai

02-25-2012, 02:25 AM

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>Because your vampire *WAS* a Human (or elf. Your call) who was involuntarily transformed into a vampire and escaped before they could perform any more experiments or give you enough exposure to learn more about your captors.. That's why you can't understand other vampires.</blockquote>This. Your barbarian was born a barbarian. He or she had at least one barbarian parent. Probably lived around several other barbarians. Spent the first year of his/her life learning the basics of the Halasian language and the rest of it using the language regularly. Assumedly you learned common because either the character also grew up with it or learned it later as a matter of necessity, like children who grow up in bilingual communities or people who move to another country.Now, if you want your personal freeblood's story to include spending years with his master before breaking away, you're free to do that, and the game mechanics let you build the correct skills for that background very quickly (buy the thexian primer, among other things). But the default background the game assumes is these pseudo-vampires either were left to their own devices or escaped their master's influence shortly after being turned.

Meirril

02-25-2012, 10:02 PM

<cite>Lodrelhai wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>Because your vampire *WAS* a Human (or elf. Your call) who was involuntarily transformed into a vampire and escaped before they could perform any more experiments or give you enough exposure to learn more about your captors.. That's why you can't understand other vampires.</blockquote>This. Your barbarian was born a barbarian. He or she had at least one barbarian parent. Probably lived around several other barbarians. Spent the first year of his/her life learning the basics of the Halasian language and the rest of it using the language regularly. Assumedly you learned common because either the character also grew up with it or learned it later as a matter of necessity, like children who grow up in bilingual communities or people who move to another country.Now, if you want your personal freeblood's story to include spending years with his master before breaking away, you're free to do that, and the game mechanics let you build the correct skills for that background very quickly (buy the thexian primer, among other things). But the default background the game assumes is these pseudo-vampires either were left to their own devices or escaped their master's influence shortly after being turned.</blockquote>The funny thing is from a RP prospective staring characters in Nerriak don't make any sense. If you arn't a Teir'dal, you should still speak Thexian since this is the city of Thex and that is the language of the ruling ellete. Common should be a language you have to learn, not a default. You own racial tongue makes sense, though it is just as easy to explain that the Thexians would supress any "slave" languages.To say your parents are perparing you to live the life of an adventurer and leave Nerriak still ignores the whole thing that you should use Thexian in every market and school in the city. Yes, all Teir'dal are probably taught common so they can be more useful agents for their families but that doesn't mean that slaves should be allowed to speak it. Letting them learn common only enables them to escape easier. Denying them common means they can't ask forigners for help and they stick out more as slaves because they can't speak the common trade language.

Cusashorn

02-26-2012, 09:22 PM

^ That would probably be true if not for the fact that Neriak housed multiple races even before the Frogloks kicked the Trolls out of Guk, and the cataclysms forced even more races to move in. Speaking Common has become a necessity of every day living for every city on Norrath because the situation became the same all around.

Resstful

02-26-2012, 10:57 PM

@Atan I'm still waiting for the screenshot of the supernova!! Please, pretty please?

Rainmare

02-27-2012, 01:54 AM

<cite>Meirril wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Lodrelhai wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>Because your vampire *WAS* a Human (or elf. Your call) who was involuntarily transformed into a vampire and escaped before they could perform any more experiments or give you enough exposure to learn more about your captors.. That's why you can't understand other vampires.</blockquote>This. Your barbarian was born a barbarian. He or she had at least one barbarian parent. Probably lived around several other barbarians. Spent the first year of his/her life learning the basics of the Halasian language and the rest of it using the language regularly. Assumedly you learned common because either the character also grew up with it or learned it later as a matter of necessity, like children who grow up in bilingual communities or people who move to another country.Now, if you want your personal freeblood's story to include spending years with his master before breaking away, you're free to do that, and the game mechanics let you build the correct skills for that background very quickly (buy the thexian primer, among other things). But the default background the game assumes is these pseudo-vampires either were left to their own devices or escaped their master's influence shortly after being turned.</blockquote>The funny thing is from a RP prospective staring characters in Nerriak don't make any sense. If you arn't a Teir'dal, you should still speak Thexian since this is the city of Thex and that is the language of the ruling ellete. Common should be a language you have to learn, not a default. You own racial tongue makes sense, though it is just as easy to explain that the Thexians would supress any "slave" languages.To say your parents are perparing you to live the life of an adventurer and leave Nerriak still ignores the whole thing that you should use Thexian in every market and school in the city. Yes, all Teir'dal are probably taught common so they can be more useful agents for their families but that doesn't mean that slaves should be allowed to speak it. Letting them learn common only enables them to escape easier. Denying them common means they can't ask forigners for help and they stick out more as slaves because they can't speak the common trade language. </blockquote>the same could be said of Freebloods in Neriak. because more then likely, your freeblood isn't a Tier'dal. remember Cristanos has imposed some strict limits on the D'ryil reguarding that...not to mention a 'true' D'ryil is subserviant to her maker/bloodline.your an experiment. you are them trying to 'refine' the process that created Sarkon..thus your a slave/captive rather then a DE. Or, your are someone that was turned during NoTD. which again is highly unlikely to be a Neriak-born Tier'dal. (I beleive the 'lackey' is only in Freeport). and the Freeport Tier'dal still speak common primarily becuase they live in freeport. and there, Thexian is probably a language to use to keep secrets. like a bilingual household that says things in spanish they don't want the english speakers(friends/boyfriends/girlfriends) involved with. and seeing as DEs don't trust even thier own children till they are certain no one can get information out of them, it's not likely they'd teach you Thexian until you were deemed 'trustworthy' or 'faithful' enough.

Yimway

02-27-2012, 03:06 PM

<cite>Resstful wrote:</cite><blockquote>@Atan I'm still waiting for the screenshot of the supernova!! Please, pretty please?</blockquote>Sorry, my Cella timer ran out where this bug exists. I'll try to find someone elses so I can run in there and get a screenshot.

Cusashorn

02-27-2012, 04:09 PM

As far as I can tell, the game really gives very little wiggle room for any Freeblood roleplayers. It's pretty much defined that you were a human or light-skinned elf who had been kidnapped by vampires, transformed into a vampire yourself, experimented on, escaped, and then chose to start a new life at the city of your choice. Regardless of what vampire tribe it was that turned you, you escaped and traveled around Norrath until you came to the city you wanted to live in. The same can be said of everyone who starts in New Halas. The storyline explicitly states that you had a life before the ship you were traveling on was attacked by Ry'Gorr orcs, and that dwarf woman found you washed up on the iceberg. It doesn't matter who you are or what you had done with your life before that moment, you were now a citizen of New Halas, and you were forced to start over whether you liked it or not.

Zabjade

02-29-2012, 11:43 PM

You might be able to at least create a back-story for whichever race you where before your "embrace."Where you an Elf investigating the disappearance of people sent by the fake goblin, or where you one of the human races who figured you could handle whatever came your way when that obvious fake goblin sent you on a wild goose chase.

Rainmare

03-01-2012, 09:10 AM

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>As far as I can tell, the game really gives very little wiggle room for any Freeblood roleplayers. It's pretty much defined that you were a human or light-skinned elf who had been kidnapped by vampires, transformed into a vampire yourself, experimented on, escaped, and then chose to start a new life at the city of your choice. Regardless of what vampire tribe it was that turned you, you escaped and traveled around Norrath until you came to the city you wanted to live in. The same can be said of everyone who starts in New Halas. The storyline explicitly states that you had a life before the ship you were traveling on was attacked by Ry'Gorr orcs, and that dwarf woman found you washed up on the iceberg. It doesn't matter who you are or what you had done with your life before that moment, you were now a citizen of New Halas, and you were forced to start over whether you liked it or not.</blockquote>actually I think the Freebloods give more wiggleroom then any other race, due to the massive 'ethnic' streotypes permeating the game.I.E. Dark elves are all lying, conniving, backstabbing power mongering blackhearted deviants. there's not 1 dark elf in the game, npc wise, that doesn't fit that. not 1.even the one DE you think 'breaks the mold' in Great Divide....turns out yep, he was lying to you the whole time to get you to do his dirty work.the entire city of Neriak is run that way. if your born in Neriak, the only way you could possibly have lived to adulthood was either you never set foot outside your home and hid in the closet, or you got very good at learning your 'profession' and 'taking care' of your rivals. the baddest of the bad in Neriak are not just really good at what they do, they also have eliminated any potential competition...which is how they keep themselves at the top of the mountain.there's not a single high elf that doesn't think thier farts don't smell like roses. even the ones in new tunaria think they are 'pure' and everyone else is 'dirty' even other high elves becuase of thier association with other races. go to Qeynos and hang around the high elf npc in SQ...he talks to other high elves like they both should know that everyone else should be grateful to be in thier presence. things like about how the asthetics of the place improve just because there are high elves there. we're so upper class that just being here make your CITY look better.,,I don't have to do anything, I make it better by simply breathing the air and letting you grace my presence.at least with a freeblood, you have the wiggleroom since your 'not' a elf or human anymore, to make up what happened to you after your turning/before you came to your chosen city. heck your transformation doesn't even have to be an accident. you can say you sought out Sarkon specifically to be turned for greater power/vampiric gifts. then your story can be how your pleased with the result, or upset that it's not what you thought it would be, or annoyed that other vampires seem to be naturally stronger and that you got a raw deal.about the only other race that has wiggleroom is a half elf. since you can 'pick' which elf your parentage is and how much it affected your upbringing.and then there's Betrayal. but even that is more game mechanic then lore/rp. there's not a dark elf that would make it out of neriak..or probably even survive to adulthood...if they were a 'good' person. same thing for an iksar...those races don't tolerate 'weakness' and will cull thier 'weak'. most races though are more a neutral bend. ratonga even were neutral in the stories. remember they did try to get both main cities to accept them...just Qeynos had refused.the real problem is there are very few actually 'evil' races. in fact I can only think of five. Dark elves, trolls, iksar, arasai and ogres.good races are Dwarves, high elves, wood elves, frogloks, fae.neutral are Kerran, ratonga, humans, barbarians, Sarnak, freeblood, half elf. they are the only races that would have an upbringing/leeway that could go either way. the 'good/evil' races are indoctrinated from birth about thier creator, and the morality of said creator.I even tried it. I tried to come up with a story for a fae warlock. I couldn't think of something that didn't stretch plausibility laughably. about the closest I came was he's a 'fanatic' about a particular Tunare inspired cause. He wants to kill every last Orc...make the entire race extinct. that's what pulled him to the warlock's path..he's trying to create a magical 'superplague' that's orc specific.and why is that? becuase I took the spiritbud 'memory' idea and ran with it to him having nightmares about the events/burning of kelethin during the Burning Ring. to ensure that never happens again...he wants to eliminate the ones responsible...the orcs. after that probably he'd turn his sights to the dark elves.

Zabjade

03-01-2012, 11:56 AM

You are incorrect, There is a Dark Elf Greenhood on the Warship Docks in Zek by the name of Shadow, he stands next to Bouncer.

kelvmor

03-01-2012, 05:15 PM

There's also an ogre worshipper of Erollisi Marr in Everfrost (Mundung, I think is his name), along with Bouncer, a Green Hood ogre. There's an evil halfling and dwarf in Haven, and a good dark elf, along the various 'Evil', 'Good', and 'Neutral' races that mix in Teren's Grasp.Also, about Shadow, that dark elf in Zek, if you listen to him he says he was captured by the orcs and made a slave, toiling in the mines until the Green Hoods freed him and showed him a better path. For dark elves, of course, you could always pull off a Drizzt Do'Urden, though that's generally frowned upon in the RP community, because it used to be sickeningly common and is often still viewed as such.There are many different options to make up a backstory that fits the personality of your character. Stereotypes are just that; stereotypes, though in EverQuest they do tend to make up the majority of a race. Still, I don't see why that should discourage you.

Meirril

03-01-2012, 11:39 PM

<cite>Rainmare@Oasis wrote:</cite><blockquote>the real problem is there are very few actually 'evil' races. in fact I can only think of five. Dark elves, trolls, iksar, arasai and ogres.good races are Dwarves, high elves, wood elves, frogloks, fae.neutral are Kerran, ratonga, humans, barbarians, Sarnak, freeblood, half elf. they are the only races that would have an upbringing/leeway that could go either way. the 'good/evil' races are indoctrinated from birth about thier creator, and the morality of said creator.I even tried it. I tried to come up with a story for a fae warlock. I couldn't think of something that didn't stretch plausibility laughably. about the closest I came was he's a 'fanatic' about a particular Tunare inspired cause. He wants to kill every last Orc...make the entire race extinct. that's what pulled him to the warlock's path..he's trying to create a magical 'superplague' that's orc specific.and why is that? becuase I took the spiritbud 'memory' idea and ran with it to him having nightmares about the events/burning of kelethin during the Burning Ring. to ensure that never happens again...he wants to eliminate the ones responsible...the orcs. after that probably he'd turn his sights to the dark elves.</blockquote>Gorowin Sarnak as free willed individuals? Really? Very small population, only exist in a single city, raised by the government in a single nursery. You don't even have parents, your from the batch of eggs that were created by Bethazid Sarnak experiments into a super soldier program. Even if you have parents, your still raised in the hatchery.Also no halflings or gnomes mentioned. Nobody is more free than a gnome. Even humans arn't as well known for spawning evil meglomaniacs as the gnomes without the race being considered evil. Even "good" gnomes are seen as a menace to society just because of their natural curriosity combined with carelessness.Halflings, a good race. Except for all those shadow touched buggers plauging the enchanted lands. And the halfling assassin in the Bone Bladed Dirk HQ. Can you really call those that follow the God of Thieves "good"? Halflings are all pie and smiles until things get rough, then out come the knives.As for explaining a Fae Warlock... evil is all about allure. An innocent Fae, who witnesses a warlock killing a non-fae could etch a deep impression. That young Fae begins to study magic. At first just the accepted kinds. Eventually the Fae begins to ask questions about that other kind of magic. Curriosity and facination lead out young Fae to study forbidden rituals, unlocking the secrets of the void. Delight in his discoveries drives him further. Does this path lead to madness? Does this path feed his dark desires? Our young Fae never questions how Tunare would feel about his choices. He never even thinks about the results of his work, he only takes great personal satisfaction in his growing power and understanding.Someday he may regret his path, but for now he forges on with a single minded determination. He uses this form of magic to defend what is important to him whether that be his studies, his home, his friends or even Tunare. Magic is a tool, that the wielder shapes, and is in turn shapped by.As for my own Teir'dal: Terrible storms have been punishing Sister's Isle for more than a month now, ever since The Shattering and the flash of light that came with it. The storms prevent the usual patrols from leaving the santuary. The guards have grown complaicent knowing that no living creature would be able to approach the entrance. They are taken by suprise as a massive earth elemental enters the cave.The sisters ready their spears and bows preparing to defend the santurary from the intruder. To their suprise the earth elemental turns toward them, shudders and crumbles to peices revealing a soaked bundle. As the bundle reaches the ground a baby's cry comes from it.The cry breaks the guards out of their shock and one of the sisters approaches the bundle. Inside is a teir'dal child, and a note. The unsigned note says "To anyone that finds my child, I beg that you care for her. Our ship has cracked upon a reef and there is no hope of escape in these seas. I have sent my servant to carry my child to safety. Please, take good care of her."The sisters raise the child as one of their own. The girl notices that she is different than the other women here. He skin is a dark blue, while they are all white to brown. Eventually she learns about the Teir'dal from the sisters, and abut Innoruuk. The knowledge of it saddens her, but she wants to see the truth for herself.Twenty years later merchants from the Far Seas Trading Company visit the isle, and offere to take refugees to the two great cities. The girl desides it is time to leave the isle and see the teir'dal for herself. The first ship is destroyed by a freak storm. Just as the girl begins to think she will share her mother's fate another ship rescues her from the sea.And the rest is as you know it.

Celline-Layonaire

03-02-2012, 02:00 AM

<cite>Atan@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote>Now see, thats not what I was hoping to hear.Is it really true that Station Cash trumps lore? ...Why am I even asking that question? We all just sprouted wings and started flying around like superman for no apparent reason.</blockquote>It has been the case for the last several years. Surprised?(and we have ice-cream machine, casino items, and freakin' disco ball. Lol)

Zabjade

03-02-2012, 11:43 AM

If the Dev's really want to mess with people's minds they could discover a small settlement of Tier'Dal who have long been cut off from Neriak for generations (Talking Elvish Generations here) and have just concerned themselves more with survival in the Underfoot than backstabbing, since cooperation means survival and betrayal means death for all.A kind of Underground Venice...might have to design this in my mind for S&G's

Anaogi

03-02-2012, 12:47 PM

<cite>Atan@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Resstful wrote:</cite><blockquote>@Atan I'm still waiting for the screenshot of the supernova!! Please, pretty please?</blockquote>Sorry, my Cella timer ran out where this bug exists. I'll try to find someone elses so I can run in there and get a screenshot.</blockquote>If you're talking about the spider room, that's a graphical glitch everyone's running into. Seems to be related to the disappearing book/feather business, nothing specific at all to do with freebloods.

Rainmare

03-02-2012, 10:37 PM

see that's just it. a Fae would ALWAYS wonder what Tunare thinks of things. they are indoctrinated from birth to the teachings of Tunare. there's no wiggleroom in that. from the time they are born, through thier entire life in Kelethin, they are molded to Tunare's faith as thier creator. a warlock's source of power, poison and disease, would be seen as an evil thing. it's the kind of power Bertox has, and Bertox is Tunare's enemy.a fae that wields that power is either insane, really an Arasai, or has some other twisted thought process that makes him believe Tunare is alright with it. My fae thinks Tunare is alright with it becuase he's using the logic of 'the end justifies the means' he's saving nature...because he's killing the orcs.it's just like Shadow and Bouncer and Mundung. they have massive plotholes in thier stories. the only way for Mudung or Bouncer to NOT be rallosians is if somehow they were taken from thier ogre parents near or around birth. because like every other 'single diety' race, they are again indoctrinated from birth to that faith. and with Bouncer and Mundung...the only place Ogres even exist after the rallosian war is freeport. not exactly conductive to 'good' thinking.and then there's Shadow. the supposed 'good' dark elf, having seen the error of his ways. right. lets take his story. he was a slave to the orcs, freed by the greenhoods, and joined thier ranks. so how did he get there. there's only 2 places he could have come from. Freeport, or Neriak. So here are the two methods most likely of his arrival and capture.1. he's a darkie from Freeport, looking to spread the Overlord's influence over the Orc/island of Zek. he gets captured, forced into slave labor, freed by greenhoods. which means, again, more then likely, that he's the reason the 'freeport ambassadors' seem to be so easily able to counter the greenhoods. he's thier informant, seeing as he's been indoctrinated since birth on the ideals of unity in lucan and freeport as well as Inny. the Greenhoods may be able to provide protection/support agains the orcs, but his loyalty is to Lucan/Freeport/Inny.2. he's from Neriak, and was sent probably there to do what D'vinn did in Crushbone. subjegate the Orc, yoke them to neriak's needs. he probably wasn't sent alone, either. so he's the last survivor of Neriak's attempt to yoke the deathfyst orc. he gets freed by the greenhoods, and joins thier ranks. the nicest outcome of this is he's using the Greenhoods to seek vengenance on the orcs.(inspired by Hate toward his former captors). The other outcomes are he's playing nice to earn rank in the greenhoods to turn the organization to his own needs, or again he's playing informant to neriak or the orcs themselves, his slavery and rescue being orchestrated to that point.because like it or not, Shadow, from birth, was also taught to follow the ideology of Inny. and the only way a follower of Inny would work for the tunarian greenhoods is if there is something to gain for himself. and even then he's not going to give a fig about thier cause, they are just a tool to be used, and discarded when thier use has run out.the Gorowynian Sarnak are pragmatists. as in, they will take the method that works best for what they want to do. in fact, the Sarnak are probably the ONLY race that will do what is needed reguardless of ideology. they are all 'evil' bent because the only tools they had for self defense were 'evil'. teachings for necromancy/shadowknights. they would accept a conjuror or a paladin in thier ranks, if such professions could show a use or advantage thier sister occupation lacked. however since the very presence of necros and SKs means pallys and conjies won't set foot there except as enemies, the point is pretty moot on that.I did leave out gnomes and halflings. both of which I consider neutral. Gnomes have always been neutral. while they are most known for producing Meldrath the Malignant, they also produced Meldrath the Magnificent, who created/runs the Plane of Innovation. there are followers of Bertox in thier ranks, as well as Brell. and yes, most races keep them at arms length due to thier habit of blowing themselves up tinkering.even in EQ1, halflings had a darker side. thier rogues guild then was run like the Mafia. it's not a stretch to think of halfing hitmen in that organization. Bristlebane yes, is known as a prankster god. but he's also known simply for luck or chance. he's the go to god for things like wanting a bankrobbery to go in your favor. or hoping you can pick a lock before you get caught, or that your target won't catch you before you can slip your dagger into his back. Brsitlebane is the Twoface of gods. there's a good side..and a bad side...and he can go from one to the other as quick as you can flip a coin.

kelvmor

03-03-2012, 02:32 AM

Shadow could only have come from Freeport, as he was introduced before Neriak came about. Talking to him now, this is what he says about himself:Shadow says to you, "I am Teir'Dal, and it was in these wastes that I found my purpose. I sailed aboard the Far Wind, a refugee boat en route to the Isle of Refuge, when orc raiders seized our vessel and took us all for slaves or slaughter."You say to Shadow, "How did you escape?"Shadow says to you, "After many long months toiling in a great mine pit, a band of rescuers happened upon us. Our rescuers were silent and deadly accurate. They were the Green Hoods. They saved me and gave me new purpose among their ranks."I suppose, at best, he's neutral, but the Green Hoods wouldn't tolerate anyone blatantly evil, I think. Now, Bouncer seems to be a regular ogre, admittedly. Let's go talk to Mundung, in Everfrost, just outside the cave to Miragul's phylactery:You say, "Hail, Mundug Stonefist"Mundug Stonefist says to you, "Do you love Erollisi Marr as much as Mundug?"You say to Mundug Stonefist, "Umm... sure?"Mundug Stonefist says to you, "That's good to hear. Perhaps you would like to help Mundug help Erollisi."You say to Mundug Stonefist, "If you'll excuse me for asking, what interest does an ogre have in the goddess of love?"Mundug Stonefist says to you, "OGRE HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO LOVE EROLLISI! You think an ogre does not love? Ogre need Erollisi more than anyone... even ogre needs love, but sometimes ogre need help. Mundug want to love, and Mundug want Erollisi back."You say to Mundug Stonefist, "Whoa there... I see, I see. You want love, sure, but sometimes it's tough when you're the color of stone... I got it."Skipping a bit forward, you get to this, as Mundug explains that Erollisi might be connected to Miragul's Phylactery:You say to Mundug Stonefist, "I see. So you want me to find out whether there is a connection?"Mundug Stonefist says to you, "Yes. Mundug is lover... not fighter. Go in. Find what you can, and bring what you find to Mundug."Earlier, though, he does ask your character if he or she values their neck bones.

Rainmare

03-03-2012, 03:07 AM

So Shadow is at best Neutral. a refugee that got captured on the way to Freeport/Isle of Refuge. I'll give that. Bouncer is probably a rallosian, with the greenhoods just for the chance to smash something's skull in.Mudung...well I'd say Mudung is simply infactuated with Erollisi as a potential bedmate, not that he's an actual 'follower' of the goddess in any ideological sense. by the way he talks, it's very easy to take his 'ogre' and replace it with 'I':'I have every right to love erollisi! you think an ogre does not love? I need erollisi more then anyone...even I needs love, and sometime I need help. Mundug want to love, and Mundug want Erollisi back.'now he sounds like a creepy stalker heh.

kelvmor

03-03-2012, 04:05 AM

Lol. Still, weird seeing an ogre worshipping Erollisi, whatever his motivations. It'd be like finding an orc who worshipped Mithaniel. Though if you were going to choose a god for the orcs outside of the Zek family, I suppose Marr would be the closest fit, if not Innoruuk.

Zabjade

03-03-2012, 06:21 PM

Ogre's have a tendency to identify themselves as members of any race that raises them. I also get the feeling that females are not very attentive to their young or put them in the path of someone who has better resources to raise them.NPC Iksars I could see them going good, just to be a true monk (Before Monk's became a Neutral Class) Maybe they just didn't like how Lucan was running things (I doubt the Kunark Iksar aare going to betray other then the Court of Pain sending a few Prospects out or those who lived in Teren's Grasp already)

Fugazl

03-03-2012, 09:27 PM

"Slowly they began to free captives the orcs had enslaved. These slaves were of a variety of races including the ones often thought to be "evil".<a href="http://www.warcry.com/news/view/65993-Everquest-2-Exclusive-first-interview-with-Tony-Vhalen-Garcia">http://www.warcry.com/news/view/659...y-Vhalen-Garcia</a>

Cusashorn

03-03-2012, 09:30 PM

Monks only became a neutral class due to game mechanics. The swifttails have always been Lawful Evil monks in EQlive... Lawful Neutral at best. Their rigorous methods of training by putting pain before sympathy has always been their style, and it's so radical that it makes them aggressive towards others. They always were "true monks" as you put it. They just chose a radically different style from that which was offered only from a race who keeps a more open mind towards the well-being of others. It was only for mechanical reasons that they couldn't be monks when the game started. They have stated that they will not ally themselves with Venril Sathir, but they will not go against him either. They have chosen to remain completely neutral to the affairs on Kunark, but have also been able to convince Lucan D'Lere that allowing them to offer their method of training to Freeport would only make the city stronger.

kelvmor

03-04-2012, 02:06 AM

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>Monks only became a neutral class due to game mechanics. The swifttails have always been Lawful Evil monks in EQlive... Lawful Neutral at best. Their rigorous methods of training by putting pain before sympathy has always been their style, and it's so radical that it makes them aggressive towards others. They always were "true monks" as you put it. They just chose a radically different style from that which was offered only from a race who keeps a more open mind towards the well-being of others. It was only for mechanical reasons that they couldn't be monks when the game started. They have stated that they will not ally themselves with Venril Sathir, but they will not go against him either. They have chosen to remain completely neutral to the affairs on Kunark, but have also been able to convince Lucan D'Lere that allowing them to offer their method of training to Freeport would only make the city stronger.</blockquote>They did that at the bidding of Rile Sathir.

Cusashorn

03-04-2012, 03:27 PM

Ahh, right. Forgot that Rile was the one that ordered them there.

Zabjade

03-05-2012, 01:22 PM