Are you ready for Ethernere?

[Dexella]

<p align="center"><img src="http://www.everquest2.com/images/en/features/lorefeature/banner_lore.png" /></p> <p>EverQuest II’s ninth expansion, <em>Chains of Eternity</em>™, will be taking adventurers to a realm never intended for living souls: <strong>Ethernere</strong>. What waits for them there? And what will happen to Norrathians as they cross the barrier between the living and the dead, a barrier that some seers argue never should have been breached?</p><p>Those questions and more will be answered when the expansion goes live! To prepare, let’s take a look at the story that’s unfolded from the sixth expansion, <em>Sentinel’s Fate</em>, to now…</p> <ul> <li>Roehn Theer, the ultimate arbiter, was banished to the Void. The Twin Swords of Destiny, which Roehn Theer used to keep balance, fell to the mortal realm as the Claymore and the Soulfire, which were used to found Qeynos and Freeport. </li> <li>Kerafyrm (in disguise) worked with adventurers to perfect the technique of enervation.  When the heroes of Norrath confronted and defeated Rohen Theer, Kerafyrm used the opportunity to steal the power of Theer from the Swords of Destiny. However, this was all part of Kerafyrm’s plan! He stole the energy from the mortals and disappeared, holding the energy within him.  With the powers of Theer, Kerafyrm can challenge the very gods of Norrath themselves, as he seeks to usher in a new, and everlasting, Age of Scale across Norrath.</li> <li>The god of war, Rallos Zek, enacted a plan to confront Kerafyrm in the fabled land of Velious.  His actions, however, imperiled all of Norrath, and the heroes of the world had to enlist the help of his children, Vallon, Tallon, and Sullon Zek in order to defeat him.</li> <li>With Rallos Zek defeated, the Heroes of Norrath once again focused on the threat of Kerafyrm.  They traveled to the legendary city of the Claws of Veeshan, Skyshrine, only to find it invaded by The Awakened – loyal followers of Kerafyrm.  The adventurers helped the Claws of Veeshan reclaim their city, and began to collect the final pieces needed to defeat Kerafyrm once and for all.</li> </ul> <p>But now, something strange and frightening is happening across Norrath.  The spirits of the living are being violently torn from their bodies, leaving behind only lifeless husks.  Worse, it seems to be occurring with ever-increasing frequency, leaving priests, scholars, and sages wondering if anything can be done to stop it.</p> <p>In EverQuest II: <em>Chains of Eternity</em>, adventurers will travel to the realm known as Ethernere in their quest to stop the siphoning of souls from Norrath.  Here, the heroes will fight to save not only the mortals of their world, but to prevent the collapse of the spirit worlds, and in doing so must discover what has become of the one who watches over Ethernere – Drinal, the Silver Reaper. They may yet find the answer lies not in fortunes and portents, but deep in Norrath’s past.</p> <p>The fate of the living and the dead are in your hands, heroes!  Are you up to the challenge before you?</p> <p><a href="http://www.everquest2.com/expansions">Pre-order <em>Chains of Eternity </em>now</a>!</p>

[Hirofortis]

<p>Would love to pre order if you would actually answer our questions. <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[SlashnGut]

<p>Agreed - want to pre-order but without more info it is not going to happen.</p>

[Teak]

<p><cite>Hirofortis wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Would love to pre order if you would actually answer our questions. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" /></p></blockquote><p>agree</p>

[Onurissa]

<p>So rather then answer our questions in the first Pre-order thread. You ask us to pre-order again in another thread. How about having someone answer the few questions we have THEN maybe you might see some of us click that link at bottom. I had set myself to pre-order but just cancelled it due to lack of consideration for our questions.</p>

[decator666]

<p>Yep without knowing about the merc I will not order the expansion.  I will wait until it actually has a benefit to my playstyle.  Thus far I haven't even hit 92 yet so ordering the expansion thus far is a waste of money.</p>

[Xenxex]

<p>Will xpac be a midnight release or will we have to wait until mid-following day to actually play?</p>

[Dexella]

<p>I have some answers for you! <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /> I'll post them in the other thread as well.</p><p>(1) The items in the Standard and Collector's Editions will be <strong>one per character. </strong>The only exception to this is the AA Boost feature, which is limited to two per account. </p><p>(2) The mercenary design is still being worked out. The decision to make it <em>either </em>a healer or a Paladin was just made this weekend at SOE Live. Factors including type of healer, stats, upkeep, etc. are still being determined. We will update you once this is finalized. You <em>will </em>need to own <em>Age of Discovery </em>in order to use the mercenary.  </p><p>(3) I'm working on getting screenshots of the cloak and other items. Those will be posted in another thread. </p><p>(4) The expansion will only be available in digital download from <a href="http://www.everquest2.com." target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.everquest2.com.</a> There will not be a boxed version.</p><p>(5) The preorder ends at 11:59pm on November 12th. The expansion launches on November 13th. </p><p>I think that's all the questions I've gathered from the various threads. If there are more, please keep asking! I'd ask that you keep them in another thread, though...this feature is about the lore to prep for the expansion. If you have lore questions, those are fine here. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" /></p><p>~Dexella</p>

[Sharann]

<p>Many thanks for the update Dexella!</p><p>Questions:</p><p>1) Will we get full stat details on mercs at least a couple of days before pre-order ends? I am waiting for this info to decide whether I will buy CE or not (i.e. I will buy CE only IF merc stats are +/= to Kenny-type of merc, not if it's of average stats, especially since healer-type mercs heal only when everyone's dead <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" />).</p><p>2) Will we have to pay a mercenary rent (i.e. X amount of plat per 30 min) for CE mercs?</p>

[Xenxex]

<p><cite>Dexella wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I have some answers for you! <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /> I'll post them in the other thread as well.</p><p>(1) The items in the Standard and Collector's Editions will be <strong>one per character. </strong>The only exception to this is the AA Boost feature, which is limited to two per account. </p><p>(2) The mercenary design is still being worked out. The decision to make it <em>either </em>a healer or a Paladin was just made this weekend at SOE Live. Factors including type of healer, stats, upkeep, etc. are still being determined. We will update you once this is finalized. You <em>will </em>need to own <em>Age of Discovery </em>in order to use the mercenary.  </p><p>(3) I'm working on getting screenshots of the cloak and other items. Those will be posted in another thread. </p><p>(4) The expansion will only be available in digital download from <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.everquest2.com." target="_blank">www.everquest2.com.</a> There will not be a boxed version.</p><p>(5) The preorder ends at 11:59pm on November 12th. The expansion launches on November 13th. </p><p>I think that's all the questions I've gathered from the various threads. If there are more, please keep asking! I'd ask that you keep them in another thread, though...this feature is about the lore to prep for the expansion. If you have lore questions, those are fine here. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" /></p><p>~Dexella</p></blockquote><p>Ok but does that mean the xpac will be preloaded by the 13th and we can begin lvling at midnight of that night or?</p>

[Anestacia]

<p>The lore seems interesting.  I kind of like the idea of blending the eq1 and eq2 universes again, even if its in subtle ways.</p>

[feldon30]

<p><cite>Xenxex@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Ok but does that mean the xpac will be preloaded by the 13th and we can begin lvling at midnight of that night or?</p></blockquote><p>Typically, the expansion becomes available around 8am pacific after 3-6 hours of downtime. But it could be totally different this year.</p>