What is the connection between ethereal weapons and the new expansion

[Mixxit]

<p>At first glance I would think that the ethereal weapons (being named after the various mobs that we have killed) would mean we were going to ethernere, but in the video, where holly gave us hints into the new expansion, she mentioned it was an area of norrath we had never been to before</p><p>So, i do not understand what the connections are between a place and the people of the weapons!</p><p>I am certain it is to do with their death, and perhaps their return, but how can this be possible without involvement in ethernere? Are we dealing with chronomagery again?</p>

[Cronyn]

<p>That's not something we could answer just yet.  Okay, well, we CAN, but that would probably best be left to explain a bit later (like, the expansion).  <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[ratbast]

Its stated as a spiritual rift. If it was chronomagic is SHOULD be called a temporal rift. spiritual rifts go to places like shaman and beastlords pockets/dimensions or ethernere. (sf worldevent) had 'ethereal rift', with hostile planar monsters inside (storm, hate, flame, justice), which disrupted ulteran transportation. what we have now are spiritual rifts that cause ethereal weapons. lol! hates envy has sablevein rifts (fire elementals flooding from plane of fire/flame? except they look like earth haha, must be from lava). near non-obelisk entrances to OoLS, there are rift watchers (shadowmen). item clicky effect 'dimensional rift' transports you to Antechamber of Fate. item is reward for doing quest The Rift, learning about naiads and their mirrored world. (TSO worldevent)there are also void storms, which operate like rifts to the void, but needed a potion to make them even work 1 way. like a weaker link that needed stablization. if the naming convention has any ryhme or reason it should refer to afterlife. so portal till yonder(ethernere) or else pockets where lingering spirits hang out. OR portal to source of flow of souls. prenorrathian existence, that would qualify as spiritual. i dont know if this qualifies as a world event tho. no quests, no npcs. maybe quests are coming but will require an ethereal weapon.

[Anaogi]

<p>I suspect it's connected to what we learned from the new city quest lines, especially the Qeynos mage quests...</p>

[Mixxit]

<p><cite>Cronyn wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>That's not something we could answer just yet.  Okay, well, we CAN, but that would probably best be left to explain a bit later (like, the expansion).  <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" /></p></blockquote><p>that's ok, 'just wanted to speculate! </p><p><p><cite>ratbast wrote:</cite></p><blockquote>Its stated as a spiritual rift. If it was chronomagic is SHOULD be called a temporal rift. spiritual rifts go to places like shaman and beastlords pockets/dimensions or ethernere. (sf worldevent) had 'ethereal rift', with hostile planar monsters inside (storm, hate, flame, justice), which disrupted ulteran transportation. what we have now are spiritual rifts that cause ethereal weapons. lol! hates envy has sablevein rifts (fire elementals flooding from plane of fire/flame? except they look like earth haha, must be from lava). near non-obelisk entrances to OoLS, there are rift watchers (shadowmen). item clicky effect 'dimensional rift' transports you to Antechamber of Fate. item is reward for doing quest The Rift, learning about naiads and their mirrored world. (TSO worldevent)there are also void storms, which operate like rifts to the void, but needed a potion to make them even work 1 way. like a weaker link that needed stablization. if the naming convention has any ryhme or reason it should refer to afterlife. so portal till yonder(ethernere) or else pockets where lingering spirits hang out. OR portal to source of flow of souls. prenorrathian existence, that would qualify as spiritual. i dont know if this qualifies as a world event tho. no quests, no npcs. maybe quests are coming but will require an ethereal weapon.</blockquote>but it sounded like holly was saying it was physically on norrath - 'an area' of norrath you know? hmm!</p>

[ratbast]

<p><cite>Alluvial@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote>but it sounded like holly was saying it was physically on norrath - 'an area' of norrath you know? hmm!</blockquote><p>my interpretation was spiritual rifts and ethereals were not geographically connected to new area.</p><p>1 being prelude event relating to other plane (and spread to many many locations to drop), and the other being a specific location on hero plane.</p>

[Jait]

<p>Spoilers....</p><p>Hero's Rest</p><p>Long ago an ancient Behemoth known only as "The Kraken" survived the Age of Scale by burying itself deep in the area that would MUCH LATER be known as Lake Rathetear.  Ages later the being emerged during the Time of Turmoil only to discover Norrath had grown strong again.  The Kraken fearing its destruction returned to its burrow and dug deeper into the Underfoot of Norrath and there it summoned to him other powerful beings destroyed by the denizens of Norrath.  Most beings stay for only 15-20 minutes, while other more powerful beings like Lady Vox and Lord Nagafen were required 6 days of service for each time they were destroyed.  Some beings of slightly lesser strength were released after only 3 days, where they were then equipped with more gear.  Adventurers throughout Norrath have always known this to be the case and as a result, the time of death has become more important than any other Lore behind the powerful creatures they destroy week to week.  To this day you can still hear silent whispers as you travel through the Rathe areas of Norrath asking:  "When do we respawn?" and "Hey, nice armory Mr. Kraken.  Where did you find 50,000 Cloak of Flames?  No.  Don't put that on me, they'll kill me for it!" only to reawaken with no memory of their previous demise.</p>

[Anaogi]

<p>I think you may be closer than you know.  Dialogue from Qeynos mage quests:</p><p><span style="color: #00ff00;">Festyana Naestra:Festyana Naestra/a says to you, "But not mine. Those portals you spoke of in your city... they are held in this plane by two anchors. One in the reality you know, and another in the plane from which the souls who inhabit the undead reside."You say to Festyana Naestra, "Wait, what plane is that? Are we still speaking of Ethernere?" Festyana Naestra:Festyana Naestra/a says to you, "No, though the undead portals do eventually connect there. The intricacies are more subtle than I care to explain, but the short version is that these portals have thinned the veil between our plane and the one on which the undead anchors reside. A skillful mage could exploit this state to step through the veil and detach those anchors."</span></p><p>Combine that with the messing about we see in the Freeport quest lines, and one starts to suspect the Ethereal weapons are a side effect of all this traffic with this sort of 'in-between' plane...</p>

[The_Cheeseman]

<p>Ethereal weapons are spiritual echoes of heroic encounters from the past. Each weapon is a trophy from a well-known, powerful foe. These spiritual echoes are entering Norrath from a place that has been mentioned in the past, but never explored in any EQ game--a place between the material realm and the planes of power and influence: the Realm of Heroes.</p>

[Cusashorn]

<p><cite>Jait@Venekor wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Spoilers....</p><p>Hero's Rest</p><p>Long ago an ancient Behemoth known only as "The Kraken" survived the Age of Scale by burying itself deep in the area that would MUCH LATER be known as Lake Rathetear.  Ages later the being emerged during the Time of Turmoil only to discover Norrath had grown strong again.  The Kraken fearing its destruction returned to its burrow and dug deeper into the Underfoot of Norrath and there it summoned to him other powerful beings destroyed by the denizens of Norrath.  Most beings stay for only 15-20 minutes, while other more powerful beings like Lady Vox and Lord Nagafen were required 6 days of service for each time they were destroyed.  Some beings of slightly lesser strength were released after only 3 days, where they were then equipped with more gear.  Adventurers throughout Norrath have always known this to be the case and as a result, the time of death has become more important than any other Lore behind the powerful creatures they destroy week to week.  To this day you can still hear silent whispers as you travel through the Rathe areas of Norrath asking:  "When do we respawn?" and "Hey, nice armory Mr. Kraken.  Where did you find 50,000 Cloak of Flames?  No.  Don't put that on me, they'll kill me for it!" only to reawaken with no memory of their previous demise.</p></blockquote><p>LOL Very nicely put. I remember the rumors of the Kraken that supposedly existed in Lake Rathetear and the Ocean of Tears. Sites like Allakhazam were the best place to learn rumors about them, but the pictures were ultimately proven to just be fake photoshops.</p>

[Mixxit]

<p>Wasn't that megalodin or something similar? <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> I remember seeing posts about it in the 98 newsboards</p>

[Jait]

<p>Yeah the Megalodin was real.  It was removed very early because it wouldn't path right and ended up being a Land Shark or flying like the ones in Erudin.  If I can find a link I'll post it.  But Cusa is right, on EQCasters and Alla there was a great photoshop, but it was fake.</p><p>Going to try and find a link and edit my post.  Pretty sure an EQ1 dev reconfirmed it about the same time the Ancient Cyclops mechanics were explained or was it Pyzjin(sp) Gimme a sec.</p><p>For the life of me, I can no longer find it.  And since I never personally saw it, it may very well have been a myth.  But I coulda sworn....</p>

[ratbast]

<p><cite>Anaogi@Permafrost wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I think you may be closer than you know.  Dialogue from Qeynos mage quests:</p><p><span style="color: #00ff00;">Festyana Naestra:Festyana Naestra/a says to you, "But not mine. Those portals you spoke of in your city... they are held in this plane by two anchors. One in the reality you know, and another <span style="color: #ff0000;">in the plane from which the souls who inhabit the undead reside</span>."You say to Festyana Naestra, "Wait, what plane is that? Are we still speaking of Ethernere?" Festyana Naestra:Festyana Naestra/a says to you, "No, though the undead portals do eventually connect there. The intricacies are more subtle than I care to explain, but the short version is that these portals have thinned the veil between our plane and the one on which the undead anchors reside. A skillful mage could exploit this state to step through the veil and detach those anchors."</span></p><p>Combine that with the messing about we see in the Freeport quest lines, and one starts to suspect the Ethereal weapons are a side effect of all this traffic with this sort of 'in-between' plane...</p></blockquote><p>(there are atleast 2 ways to interpret <span style="color: #ff0000;">this</span>, but my first impression was this: undead are inhabited by souls in alternate plane)</p><p>that is some funky lore. implies that undead souls are on different plane, while their animated corpse is in hero plane. similar to lich doctrine (body/spirit separation: instead of soul contained in item, its contained inside another entire plane) and almost an inverse astral projection. like spirits in plane of undead astral project(hero plane project) and possess corpses (restated: astral projection combined with demonic possession and corpse reanimation) although ghosts only possess some out of phase protoplasm, not a corpse.</p><p>sounds like a demiplane(s) of ethernere to me.</p><p>anchors is reminiscent of djinn from plane of sky. (djinn lamp)</p><p>a demiplane of undead, full of spirits who astral project themselves into reanimated remains on norrath would certainly qualify as a spirit realm, hence spiritual rift.</p><p>if anyone is running an undead plane it ought to be anashti. she would best fit a hades type figure <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> (and the plane of undead would be like a chinese plat farming sweatshop, with anashti whipping spirits to work harder, while they are connected to projection devices, for the purpose of tormenting, then killing, mortals so they are so tormented when they die that they come to their plane and can slave away as new recruits)</p><p>in the end this brings up tons of questions. are undead even aware of whats going on in undead plane? or are they hooked up to device that functions like movie 'the matrix'? are lich really bound to item, or is it merely an anchor for astral projection from undead plane. where is lucans spirit? do all undead operate as protected sentience from another plane, including player races?</p><p>are there any known cases of an undead being cured and returning to mortality? if so, what ritual or process restored them? what happened to tserina anyway? her soul got tied up with dracoliche or something... are freeblood really undead?</p><p>it sounds like there are a series of undead portals creating alternate passage from hero plane to ethernere. that would be a creepy maze to get lost in. luckily my healers use grey fields to rezz.</p><p>i read most of the freeport revamp quest dialogue, but not all. is there any connection between the wraith and the qeynos dialogue?</p><p>in ascending reanimated corpse quality? ghost, skeleton, zombie, vampire, lich, i know im forgetting tons of undead too <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>what kind of undead are necro pets? i am guessing skeletons and zombies. finally we get some clue about their dark rituals. guaraneteed, necros are going to some undead sweatshop when they die to pay off their debt.</p><p>before this i thought of necros as summoning plane of influence creatures, mostly from plane of hate/fear. and conjurors summoning from planes of elements, usually fire. apparently there is a plane we had no idea existed. i like the twist. i had thought eq2 universe would become less complex as time went on. this would be significantly more complex.</p><p>if this is real lore, and not some sketchy quest narrative, its groundbreaking in the mythology of the eq2 cosmology. destroying this plane could end undeath once and for all. umad anashti?</p><p>aparently the ewer made all this possible, atleast on norrath. alternatively, the quote could also just be bad use of present tense. adding a d to <span style="color: #ff0000;">reside</span> changes everything.</p>

[Rainmare]

<p>more then likely, considering that woman was Opal and she uses soiulstones for her illusions...that the 'undead anchors' she's talking about are a subportion to 'Ethernere'.</p><p>considering Ethernere is like a trainstation to the other planes as far as spirits go, and run by Drinal, who is the grim reaper of norrath, it's not far fetched to think that it's divided into several 'sections' that are specific to certian things. this may well be that Anashti has a 'demi-plane of Undeath' that she is establishing in her move to eventually take on Rodcet for dominion of Health...that is a section/portioned off from Drinal's Ethernere.</p><p>We may find that with Varsoon destroyed in the Void, that Kyle Bayle has become Anashti's new 'right hand'...helping her carve her plane of undeath from Drinal..(hence he considers him and enemy) and thinks he's so powerful.</p><p>he might know Anashti from his service with Theer, and took up with her once she escaped the Void.</p><p>so we may see something like Kyle rebuilding an undead, anashti worshipping empire in the Dead Hills...with a link to 'ethernere' in it. or at least Anashti's portion.</p><p>so as well as fighting Kyle on Norrath, maybe we'll go to Ethernere itself and aid Drinal/his Steward with Anashti.</p>

[Cyliena]

<p><a href="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?start=60&topic_id=518816#5777460" target="_blank">Back in July</a> I thought Ethernere as well. <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Still sticking with it... if it's not directly there, it will be related somehow. If we go to a moon I might /ragequit for a while though.</p>

[Anaogi]

<p>So, more time to think, and a quiet moment...I suspect I see how this works now.</p><p>I'm postulating, based upon the recent available lore, that what we're dealing with is sort of a 'hereafter lobby', a place where souls go just before moving on to Ethernere.  When a creature that so qualifies dies, its soul goes to this realm for a brief period of time, until its final disposition is decided.</p><p>In other words, if you ever wondered where your soul was in between getting beat down by that undercon and either reviving or getting a rez?  This is where.  How long you can linger there will depend on how powerful you are, among other things; truly powerful entities will leave persistent echoes for extended periods of time.  This explains the Ethereal weapons--some of these echos are slipping through here and there...</p><p>That's essentially what we've been seeing in the recent lore, I suspect.  I need to properly finish the Freeport quests for the right classes to be sure, but it seems that this has a lot to do with how the Wraithguards (and potentially Lucan) work.  Something similar also looks to be in play with that necromancer you have to put down in the Qeynos mage timelines.</p><p>Conjecture:  Kyle's playing a larger game than we've suspected.  The Wraithguard are his bridgehead in Freeport, without anyone even realizing...except maybe Opal, whom I suspect is either in on the whole thing or taking advantage of it (or both, this is Opal we're talking about).  Combine that with his play for Qeynos, and I sense a truly epic power play in the offing.</p><p>And as a result, he's starting to blur the line between the lands of the living and the dead.</p><p>And that's <em>never</em> a good thing.</p>

[Rainmare]

<p>the Wraithguard are made by shoving the soul of one person into another. the soul that gets shoved in basically becomes a 'power source' for the now unliving/phylactery-like body.</p><p>the Wraithguard are insanely hard to kill becuase they are undead, but lichlike, in the idea that the other soul in ther body makes them akin to a 'living' phylactery. this process tends to wipe out thier memories save for the most basic information. those that retain thier memories through this process tend to go insane, and both souls conflict in the body.</p><p>in fact a Revenant is just that. a souls shoved into a new 'living' body. usually making them little more then a puppet, but a VERY VERY powerful puppet. unlike other undead, they retain all thier former skills and strengths..the living flesh takes on undead like properties. like not feeling pain, mortal wounds not being so mortal anymore, etc.</p><p>and Arch-Revenant, as kyle claims Lucan is, would be the same but in lucan's case, he remembers everything about who he is and what has transpired, and retains all his power and skills...and his relative sanity.</p><p>I wouldn't be surprised if Kyle Bayle didn't watch and learn about the Wraithguard/Lucan from ethernere, and that's where he got the idea of possessing a living person like he does. while the rituals for a wraithguard force the souls to merge in a manner, he's trying to shove the present soul out to give himself a 'revenant' type occupation.</p><p>Ethernere is supposed to be Limbo. it where everyone goes before they move on. you go to Ethernere, then from Ethernere if you've been devout enough to your patron god, you go to thier plane of influence/element. those that don't stay in Ethernere...wher you can 'earn' your way probably be going through or dealing with the Dethknell Tower.</p><p>if there is another plane, I suspect it'd be like Ultera. this is the spiritual plane you go through on the way to ethernere..or back to norrath...or from ethernere to your patron's plane. it might be the literal version of the 'Cloak of Drinal' that he's supposed to take you in and usher you to ethernere with.</p>

[Cyliena]

<p>I just had a horrible thought.. if it is the Ethernere... half of the zones will probably end up looking exactly like this overused zone:</p><p><img src="http://eq2.zam.com/Im/Image/207632.png" width="536" height="402" /></p><p>(not lore related but thought about it while reading Rainmare's post)</p>

[Cusashorn]

^ Actually, that's a very good point.

[Aneova]

<p>Item drops as lead in to any lore is quite frankly the worst idea ever. You kill random mob x and maybe get item Y with no real lore text or npc to take said item to in which to learn WHY such items are dropping or even giving us a carrot to gnaw on.</p>

[The_Cheeseman]

<p><cite>Aneova@Kithicor wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Item drops as lead in to any lore is quite frankly the worst idea ever. You kill random mob x and maybe get item Y with no real lore text or npc to take said item to in which to learn WHY such items are dropping or even giving us a carrot to gnaw on.</p></blockquote><p>Maybe you should withhold judgement until we actually know what is going on? These ethereal items are merely a hint, a clue, a taste of the whole story. Personally, I don't think the individual items themselves are particularly relevant to the lore, it's more what the items represent and where they are coming from. As I mentioned above, I believe we are being lead towards the Realm of Heroes, and these items are significant only in that they evoke certain past encounters. If my theory is true, I think the idea is elegant in its subtlety.</p>

[Celline-Layonaire]

<p><cite>Aneova@Kithicor wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Item drops as lead in to any lore is quite frankly the worst idea ever. You kill random mob x and maybe get item Y with no real lore text or npc to take said item to in which to learn WHY such items are dropping or even giving us a carrot to gnaw on.</p></blockquote><p>Funny. You haven't seen worse.</p>

[ratbast]

<p><cite>Aneova@Kithicor wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Item drops as lead in to any lore is quite frankly the worst idea ever. You kill random mob x and maybe get item Y with no real lore text or npc to take said item to in which to learn WHY such items are dropping or even giving us a carrot to gnaw on.</p></blockquote><p>maybe youi represent a good portion of players, but i love the idea. i think a dynamic responsive world is a million times better than a promo world that is hyped from outside norrath. there is a place for selfpromotion, but its also nice to have a break sometimes.</p><p>having lore unfold in game is more organic than a press release.</p><p>i would be surprised if lore hounds in general cared. they just like to hear it. silence is what they dislike. i remember in tso the ydal collectibles had lore on them. i loved that.</p><p>it sounds like your objection is the quantity of info per release. you cant fit a lot of text onto an item description. but why does every lore tidbit have to be a sizable chunk? why cant you take it in micro samplings sometimes? i like the variety in quantity.</p>

[Celline-Layonaire]

<p><cite>ratbast wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Aneova@Kithicor wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Item drops as lead in to any lore is quite frankly the worst idea ever. You kill random mob x and maybe get item Y with no real lore text or npc to take said item to in which to learn WHY such items are dropping or even giving us a carrot to gnaw on.</p></blockquote><p>maybe youi represent a good portion of players, but i love the idea. i think a dynamic responsive world is a million times better than a promo world that is hyped from outside norrath. there is a place for selfpromotion, but its also nice to have a break sometimes.</p><p><strong>having lore unfold in game is more organic than a press release.</strong></p><p>i would be surprised if lore hounds in general cared. they just like to hear it. silence is what they dislike. i remember in tso the ydal collectibles had lore on them. i loved that.</p><p>it sounds like your objection is the quantity of info per release. you cant fit a lot of text onto an item description. but why does every lore tidbit have to be a sizable chunk? why cant you take it in micro samplings sometimes? i like the variety in quantity.</p></blockquote><p>Me likey !</p>

[ratbast]

<p>After this past double exp weekend I had a new toon who needed his epic weapon. That means grinding faction in Kunark. I needed Terrens Grasp. So I was doing the quest for the short little zombie Caleb Swifttoe. Im sure you know the one. The quest has you find his body (was lost), then siphon extra ether of KP ulteran spires, then finally kill his zombie so Caleb can RIP.</p><p><span style="color: #00ff00;"></span></p><p><span style="color: #00ff00;">You say, "Hail, Gauwren Tarix"Gauwren Tarix says to you, "Did you gather some badgers?"You say to Gauwren Tarix, "I did. Here you are."Gauwren Tarix says to you, "These are perfect. Thank you."You say to Gauwren Tarix, "You're welcome."Gauwren Tarix says to you, "I have another task for you, if you're willing. It is more dangerous than the other tasks, however. So you do not need to do it if you are not interested."You say to Gauwren Tarix, "What is it?"Gauwren Tarix says to you, "One of our scouts is missing. Caleb Swifttoe is his name, he's been with us for a long time. I am very worried for him. Sure, sometimes he gets forgetful and doesn't check in for a day or two, but it's been five days since we last heard from him. He was exploring the yeti caves. I fear he may be in trouble, or dead. I'd like you to go explore the yeti caves and find him."You say to Gauwren Tarix, "Where are the yeti caves?"Gauwren Tarix says to you, "If you go southeast out of Teren's Grasp and then left at the fork, you'll come to a path that leads down to Dreg's Landing. If you go north instead of down that path, you will get to the yeti caves."(You say to Gauwren Tarix, "Okay."You say, "Hail, Gauwren Tarix"Gauwren Tarix says to you, "Have you found Caleb yet?"You say to Gauwren Tarix, "Yes. Caleb is dead, I brought his body back."Gauwren Tarix says to you, "Oh, Caleb... poor, poor... Caleb? No! Why does this keep happening?"ou say to Gauwren Tarix, "What is going on?"<span style="font-size: medium; color: #ff0000;">Gauwren Tarix says to you, "His body has decided it doesn't want to be dead. I wish I knew what was causing this. It's happened before. Poor Caleb, it makes me sick to see him like this. Please, go talk with Moorha Tildaelaela in the Arcane Refuge. She will know what to do."</span>You say to Gauwren Tarix, "I will go speak with her."Gauwren Tarix says to you, "Oh, Caleb."</span><span style="color: #ff6600;">Caleb Swifttoe says, "Mrrf, mmm... gug. Guhh."</span><span style="color: #00ffff;">You say, "Hail, Moorha Tildaelaela"Moorha Tildaelaela says to you, "Greetings, I am Moorha Tildaelaela."You say to Moorha Tildaelaela, "Gauwren Tarix sent me."Moorha Tildaelaela says to you, "Why is that?"You say to Moorha Tildaelaela, "Caleb Swifttoe is dead and his body is walking around."Moorha Tildaelaela says to you, "Ah, Caleb. Poor guy. Everyone around here knew Caleb. As for his body..."You say to Moorha Tildaelaela, "Yes?"<span style="font-size: medium; color: #ff0000;">Moorha Tildaelaela says to you, "This city does that to our dead from time to time. We do not know why, but the bodies of our loved ones pull themselves from the soil and haunt our lives. I believe that echoes of the past still inhabit these lands, and seek to return to our world. When the connection between the ethereal and real worlds is strong, these spirits can cross over. A fresh corpse, for instance, will strengthen the connection between our two worlds."You say to Moorha Tildaelaela, "So Caleb's body is being controlled by spirits."Moorha Tildaelaela says to you, "As well as they can, yes. They are not complete spirits, however; they are but shadows of shadows. What we need to do is collect residual ether from their world and use that to force them back where they belong. </span>Luckily for us, just as this place is rife with residual spirits, so too is it rife with residual essences of that ethereal world. These essences are in highest concentration at the bases of the pylons that stretch above Teren's Grasp. I have an ether siphon. Take it and collect samples from each of the four pylons, that should be enough."You say to Moorha Tildaelaela, "All right."Moorha Tildaelaela says to you, "Return to me once that is complete."</span></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000;">[i used clicky on each of the 4 ulteran spires]</span><span style="color: #00ffff;">You say, "Hail, Moorha Tildaelaela"Moorha Tildaelaela says to you, "Did you siphon the residual ether?"You say to Moorha Tildaelaela, "Yes, I did."<span style="font-size: medium; color: #ff0000;">Moorha Tildaelaela says to you, "That will do nicely. I can use this ether to create an ether projector, which you can then use on Caleb's body."You say to Moorha Tildaelaela, "And that will remove the spirits?"Moorha Tildaelaela says to you, "Correct. It will also return Caleb's body to its proper state."</span>You say to Moorha Tildaelaela, "All right, thank you."Moorha Tildaelaela says to you, "You are quite welcome. And my thanks to you for helping Caleb."</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">[i killed caleb with clicky item]</span><span style="color: #00ff00;">Gauwren Tarix says, "Ugh... I definitely didn't need to see that."You say, "Hail, Gauwren Tarix"Gauwren Tarix says to you, "Ugh, poor Caleb. At least he's... better. I am glad you were able to... fix... him. Thank you."You say to Gauwren Tarix, "You're welcome."Gauwren Tarix says to you, "Someone should tell his brother, in person. I know you didn't know Caleb, but leaving Teren's Grasp is impossible for me right now. Can you please travel to Brathyk's Post and tell Drobbs?"</span></p>

[Meirril]

<p><cite>Anaogi@Permafrost wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I'm postulating, based upon the recent available lore, that what we're dealing with is sort of a 'hereafter lobby', a place where souls go just before moving on to Ethernere.  When a creature that so qualifies dies, its soul goes to this realm for a brief period of time, until its final disposition is decided.</p><p>In other words, if you ever wondered where your soul was in between getting beat down by that undercon and either reviving or getting a rez?  This is where.  How long you can linger there will depend on how powerful you are, among other things; truly powerful entities will leave persistent echoes for extended periods of time.  This explains the Ethereal weapons--some of these echos are slipping through here and there...</p></blockquote><p>The topic of Soulbinding isn't covered well in EQ2 since it isn't as obvious as it is in EQ1 but that is what prevents us from dying...well dying permanently.</p><p>There is a ritual where you bind your soul to this plane of reality. In EQ1 you litterally zone to the spot you bound yourself to and stand up completely nakid with your corpse where ever you left it with all your stuff on it. Here in EQ2 early versions of the game had you leaving "shards" of your soul lying around where you died and you had to recover them or suffer a weakness repeated deaths left your body with. That mechanic got scrapped a few months after launch (thank god!). However, it was a strong indication that soulbinding was continuing in the EQ2 world and that somehow we adventures found a way to improve the process to keep our equipment and even appear somewhere nearby instead of back in a bind spot.</p><p>So the reality of EQ says our (adventurer's souls) don't ever reach the Ethenere. If we did...I'm not sure Druinel would let us go. After all most of us should of been in the Ethenere several hundred deaths ago.</p>

[Anaogi]

<p>Did soulbinding ever actually get addressed in EQ2?  If not, my usual habit is to only regard things brought up within the context of EQ2 as binding, so to speak.  Which isn't to say it's not the case, just that I normally like details of lore to be more explicit.  (CF. "Ydal", "Mistmoore", "Ewer of Suldae", "Anashti'Sul", "Anaogi's headache remedy bills")</p><p>In any event, it seemed from what we've seen we're dealing with a place that isn't Ethernere, but is adjacent as it were, sort of a lobby for a waiting area, where things wind up immediately upon arrival, but before getting actually sent for processing.  The 'where you are before rezzing' was a bit more imperfect a metaphor than I'd like, but metaphysical structures tend to be messy like that...</p><p>Anyway, it occurs to me--might this be the lead-in for a second 'Animist' subclass (the first being Beastlords)?  Sort of spirit-binders, if you will...it would set up great with the combination of elements that seem to be stacking up here.  I guess we'll know when (if?) the next expansion goes to beta...</p>

[Windstalker]

<p>Lots of good ideas here...and an attention to detail I admire. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Mixxit]

<p>tease!</p>

[Celline-Layonaire]

<p><cite>Windstalker wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Lots of good ideas here...and an attention to detail I admire. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></p></blockquote><p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">But.... shouldn't you be writing September Producer Note by now?   =)</span></p><p> <span style="color: #ff0000;">(oh, nevermind. Just acknowledged that the September Update is up)</span></p><p>Is it true that there will be an announcement about expansion announcement late this Friday? </p>

[Wilin]

<p>I'll be looking for:</p><p>- the Harrowing Horde</p><p>- the song of ghostly libation in the Tavern of Lost Souls</p><p>- the shade of myself</p><p>- the Deathtoll Tower</p><p>- a ringing bell</p><p>- an eternal blood red sky</p><p>- a spiral maw</p><p>- the final foe</p><p>- fields of skulking haunts and a million headstones</p><p>- a headstone with my name on it that is the zone out <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Celline-Layonaire]

<p><cite>Wilin wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I'll be looking for:</p><p>- the Harrowing Horde</p><p>- the song of ghostly libation in the Tavern of Lost Souls</p><p>- the shade of myself</p><p>- the Deathtoll Tower</p><p>- a ringing bell</p><p>- an eternal blood red sky</p><p>- a spiral maw</p><p>- the final foe</p><p>- fields of skulking haunts and a million headstones</p><p>- a headstone with my name on it that is the zone out <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></p></blockquote><p>Hahahaha lol!</p>

[Rainmare]

<p><cite>Cyliena wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I just had a horrible thought.. if it is the Ethernere... half of the zones will probably end up looking exactly like this overused zone:</p><p><img src="http://eq2.zam.com/Im/Image/207632.png" width="536" height="402" /></p><p>(not lore related but thought about it while reading Rainmare's post)</p></blockquote><p>I think this might be the 'inbetween plane' for spirits, yes. when we were building the Ulterean Spires, the events lead to a similar zone with it being yellowish/gold.</p><p>but considering that, I don't think this 'inbetween' plane is wher we'll go. I still bet money on it being the Dead Hills, with Kyle's attempt on Antonia's life being thwarted and the means to perform his ritual confiscated. if he wants power now, he's going to have to take it. which means taking on the Qeynosian forces directly.</p><p>he tried the cloak and dagger, now it's time to try the broadsword. But, the Combine alliance means taking on Qeynos will result in taking on the other cities as well. so even with Qeynos' soldier mostly deployed, he'll still need an army to deal with the Combine's forces.</p><p>hence he'll retreat to the Dead Hills. probably there now, I wouldn't be surprised if that portal he leaves through during the speech in front of the castle isn't to a throne room of his long dead former empire. he'll rally the souls of his dead, probably even convince souls of other empires (like Kraytoc) to join with him to avenge themselves agains the adventurers that bested them.</p><p>he may only be after Qeynos to turn it into a Santcus Seru like city...but to get toe qeynos he'll have to take on the entire Combine.</p>

[Mixxit]

<p>Maybe Erus can help him out!</p>

[Cyliena]

<p><cite>Rainmare@Oasis wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>but considering that, I don't think this 'inbetween' plane is wher we'll go. I still bet money on it being the Dead Hills, with Kyle's attempt on Antonia's life being thwarted and the means to perform his ritual confiscated. if he wants power now, he's going to have to take it. which means taking on the Qeynosian forces directly.</p><p>he tried the cloak and dagger, now it's time to try the broadsword. But, the Combine alliance means taking on Qeynos will result in taking on the other cities as well. so even with Qeynos' soldier mostly deployed, he'll still need an army to deal with the Combine's forces.</p><p>hence he'll retreat to the Dead Hills. probably there now, I wouldn't be surprised if that portal he leaves through during the speech in front of the castle isn't to a throne room of his long dead former empire. he'll rally the souls of his dead, probably even convince souls of other empires (like Kraytoc) to join with him to avenge themselves agains the adventurers that bested them.</p><p>he may only be after Qeynos to turn it into a Santcus Seru like city...but to get toe qeynos he'll have to take on the entire Combine.</p></blockquote><p>Possibly, it definitely sounds more interesting than running around in another one of those "in-between planes" zones. I have to admit I don't know much about the Dead Hills aside from reading what you guys have talked about here. Every time it's mentioned though, it makes me think of the <a href="http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/zone.html?zstrat=531" target="_blank">Hills of Shade</a> from EQ's SoF expansion and <a href="http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/zone.html?zstrat=611" target="_blank">Oceangreen Hills</a> from the SoD expansion. Guessing neither are related to the Dead Hills though?</p>

[Mixxit]

<p><cite>Cyliena wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Rainmare@Oasis wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>but considering that, I don't think this 'inbetween' plane is wher we'll go. I still bet money on it being the Dead Hills, with Kyle's attempt on Antonia's life being thwarted and the means to perform his ritual confiscated. if he wants power now, he's going to have to take it. which means taking on the Qeynosian forces directly.</p><p>he tried the cloak and dagger, now it's time to try the broadsword. But, the Combine alliance means taking on Qeynos will result in taking on the other cities as well. so even with Qeynos' soldier mostly deployed, he'll still need an army to deal with the Combine's forces.</p><p>hence he'll retreat to the Dead Hills. probably there now, I wouldn't be surprised if that portal he leaves through during the speech in front of the castle isn't to a throne room of his long dead former empire. he'll rally the souls of his dead, probably even convince souls of other empires (like Kraytoc) to join with him to avenge themselves agains the adventurers that bested them.</p><p>he may only be after Qeynos to turn it into a Santcus Seru like city...but to get toe qeynos he'll have to take on the entire Combine.</p></blockquote><p>Possibly, it definitely sounds more interesting than running around in another one of those "in-between planes" zones. I have to admit I don't know much about the Dead Hills aside from reading what you guys have talked about here. Every time it's mentioned though, it makes me think of the <a href="http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/zone.html?zstrat=531" target="_blank">Hills of Shade</a> from EQ's SoF expansion and <a href="http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/zone.html?zstrat=611" target="_blank">Oceangreen Hills</a> from the SoD expansion. Guessing neither are related to the Dead Hills though?</p></blockquote><p>You could connect Oceangreen by Bertoxxulous due to the shrine there to Dead Hills simply because of his involvement down in the area of Dead Hills but it's not a direct link</p><p>Hills of Shade is fascinating in the EQRPG books and has a link back to the shadowed men who (we now know) are related to the Jal'Raeth of Dead Hills but again there isn't really a direct connection sadly</p>

[Mixxit]

<p><p><em>Zazoo of the Black Sun Sea says to you, "A struggle ensues beyond the deaths of many. The <strong>walls of Ethernere have been ripped</strong> and the spirits of the evil now hope to escape eternal damnation by claiming the corpses of the fallen."</em></p><p><em>You say to Zazoo of the Black Sun Sea, "How have the walls of Ethernere been ripped?"</em></p><p><em>Zazoo of the Black Sun Sea says to you, "I am no necrochronotheologist. I don't know! But I do know that dark rituals claimed from below are now being used unwittingly. There are those in evil hordes that howl to call forth their ancestors, <strong>never knowing that they have opened a portal for the wicked</strong>."</em></p><p>Possibly related to all this? </p></p>

[Resstful]

<p><cite>Alluvial@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><em>Zazoo of the Black Sun Sea says to you, "A struggle ensues beyond the deaths of many. The <strong>walls of Ethernere have been ripped</strong> and the spirits of the evil now hope to escape eternal damnation by claiming the corpses of the fallen."</em></p><p><em>You say to Zazoo of the Black Sun Sea, "How have the walls of Ethernere been ripped?"</em></p><p><em>Zazoo of the Black Sun Sea says to you, "I am no necrochronotheologist. I don't know! But I do know that dark rituals claimed from below are now being used unwittingly. There are those in evil hordes that howl to call forth their ancestors, <strong>never knowing that they have opened a portal for the wicked</strong>."</em></p><p>Possibly related to all this? </p></blockquote><p>Holy Cow! What a great opening for a ginormous Nights of the Dead event!!  I remember being a lowbie in EQLive and getting slaughtered by skellies on the way to Qeynos Hills and again on the road to High Pass Hold (is that the right name?) the first or second NOTD event. A HUGE amount of fun.</p>

[Cyliena]

<p><cite>Resstful wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Alluvial@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><em>Zazoo of the Black Sun Sea says to you, "A struggle ensues beyond the deaths of many. The <strong>walls of Ethernere have been ripped</strong> and the spirits of the evil now hope to escape eternal damnation by claiming the corpses of the fallen."</em></p><p><em>You say to Zazoo of the Black Sun Sea, "How have the walls of Ethernere been ripped?"</em></p><p><em>Zazoo of the Black Sun Sea says to you, "I am no necrochronotheologist. I don't know! But I do know that dark rituals claimed from below are now being used unwittingly. There are those in evil hordes that howl to call forth their ancestors, <strong>never knowing that they have opened a portal for the wicked</strong>."</em></p><p>Possibly related to all this? </p></blockquote><p>Holy Cow! What a great opening for a ginormous Nights of the Dead event!!  I remember being a lowbie in EQLive and getting slaughtered by skellies on the way to Qeynos Hills and again on the road to High Pass Hold (is that the right name?) the first or second NOTD event. A HUGE amount of fun.</p></blockquote><p>I remember that. There was a GM triggered event in East Karana where some unique loot dropped. My main on EQ still has three items from that event in her bank, couldn't bear to part with them. It was epic and fun.</p>