Ultera and Norrathian Cosmology

Greyquill · 09-19-2009, 03:24 AM

Judging from some of the goodies that await us on Test, we're going to be introduced to visitors from a realm called Ultera. Is there any speculation from those who have been testing the new events as to where Ultera fits into the Norrathian universe? From the looks of the events, these "entities" are attracted to the work being done to restore and tune the Erudian teleportation network. So, is Ultera "The Space In between"? Where living matter resides temporarily while in transport? The name immediately recalls the device located at the top of the Oracle Tower in Antonica, the Ulteris... a possible connection? How long have the Erudites been sitting on this piece of knowledge? Is there a functional difference between Ulterian Spires (3 pronged and built by us prior to the release of the KoS expansion) and the existing Combine Spires (4 tined, very large, and usually made out of heavy gray masonry)?

Xalmat · 09-19-2009, 05:44 AM

I have a feeling it has to do with the rebuilt Nexus. I suspect Ultera, whatever it might be, will be a hub for accessing Odus as well.

Maergoth · 09-19-2009, 06:30 AM

I still believe Ultera was just a renamed Odus after the energy channeled by the new spire system elevated it to a planar state. It doesn't make sense for a plane of existence to just happen to be there for the past who knows how long.

Cusashorn · 09-19-2009, 12:18 PM

Maergoth wrote:

I still believe Ultera was just a renamed Odus after the energy channeled by the new spire system elevated it to a planar state. It doesn't make sense for a plane of existence to just happen to be there for the past who knows how long.

This. The Erudites probably renamed their own continent after they turned into the race of Quellithulians they are today.

DukeOccam · 09-19-2009, 02:00 PM

Maergoth wrote:

I still believe Ultera was just a renamed Odus after the energy channeled by the new spire system elevated it to a planar state. It doesn't make sense for a plane of existence to just happen to be there for the past who knows how long.

I certainly hope this is the case. I don't think this game needs more aliens from other dimensions.

Coniaric · 09-20-2009, 04:12 AM

Okay ... so ... if "Ultera" is a renamed Odus ...

Then why are there attacks from this Ultera?

Quellithulians are clearly able to travel to and from their home continent. Since Quellithulians are basically evolved Erudites and are from Odus, so why are the spires being attacked while it's being retuned and rebuilt?

kelvmor · 09-20-2009, 12:24 PM

It's not Odus. When you go into Ultera during the events, it's an endless dimension of the color caramel with a similarly colored haze. It's sort of a Nexus dimension.

Mary the Prophetess · 09-20-2009, 01:05 PM

PLEASE, no more alternate dimentions!!! I am dimentioned-out.

What is wrong with good ol' orcs, dragons, goblins, gnolls and the denziens of a fantasy milleu?

Do we HAVE to conjure up aliens, alternate dimentions, and planar villians for every expansion anymore?

It's starting to stretch this game into something bizzare, grotesque, and unrecognizable A caraciture of the sword and sorcery genre.

Maybe a little more plot development on the rivlries between Freeport and Qeynos might be refreshing.

Morghus · 09-20-2009, 01:15 PM

Mary the Prophetess wrote:

PLEASE, no more alternate dimentions!!! I am dimentioned-out.
What is wrong with good ol' orcs, dragons, goblins, gnolls and the denziens of a fantasy milleu?
Do we HAVE to conjure up aliens, alternate dimentions, and planar villians for every expansion anymore?
It's starting to stretch this game into something bizzare, grotesque, and unrecognizable A caraciture of the sword and sorcery genre.
Maybe a little more plot development on the rivlries between Freeport and Qeynos might be refreshing.

I'm sure there are many of us that are already sick and tired of the shadow odyssey's bizzare creatures. But I don't know what they could really do with our "next big threat".

The orcs havent been a real threat since Desert of Flames where they were at their strongest in their capital of Rujark.

The goblins united briefly in runnyeye 2 but were stopped.

The gnolls have been out of the picture really since splitpaw.

The dragon race as a whole has been on the decline since the first game and all attempts at regaining power on their part has ended with the deaths of their more influential members, and given their typically low rate of reproduction I dont see them being a major threat/player in the storyline for a long time..

kelvmor · 09-20-2009, 06:00 PM

To be honest, there's not a whole lot of dimensions. Ultera is only for an event, it's not going to be there forever, by the time this event's over Norrathians won't have to worry about them.

Also. There aren't any other dimensions with attackers besides the Void.

Unless you think the Order of Rime came from some ice dimension.

Liched · 09-20-2009, 09:39 PM

To be fair it's probably all related to EQ1's ancient history that's starting to be unfolded now through various games. The whole story took an arc at 2003 to make way for EQ2 and probably for other games like EQOA but that's not to say that when EQ1's ancient history has finally been dusted off and a few things explained that we can't carry on the way we knew and loved Norrath but with a little more backstory and a few more of the older hidden races. It takes a little while to do it all across 3 games simultaneously and i'm sure it's been a busy busy few years for the devs since 2006. We've always known about the UFO in Qeynos and our alien friend Rodcet Nife since the early days so it's not like they've just run out of ideas and started sticking random things in. Hopefully it'll play out nicely over the next year or so, EQOA, EQ1 and EQ2 will finally be all synchronised lore wise then we start looking at the future rather than the past. *Fingers crossed*

Vanisher123 · 09-20-2009, 10:29 PM

kelvmor wrote:

To be honest, there's not a whole lot of dimensions. Ultera is only for an event, it's not going to be there forever, by the time this event's over Norrathians won't have to worry about them.

Well unless the Erudites find a away to teleport without using Ultera as a nexus, or find a way to seal it to prevent "leaks", I have a feeling we'll be hearing of it more, it would be worse to just fade it away without explaining why its no longer leaking.

Besides, these invaders "leaking" out of Ultera could be the danger the books have been hinting at. (Perhaps even thats why the old spires were destroyed, not by beings/events of Norrath, but Ulteran invaders presumably angry we're using their world as a shortcut)

Cusashorn · 09-20-2009, 11:38 PM

Vanisher123 wrote:

Besides, these invaders "leaking" out of Ultera could be the danger the books have been hinting at. (Perhaps even thats why the old spires were destroyed, not by beings/events of Norrath, but Ulteran invaders presumably angry we're using their world as a shortcut)

Reminds me of Nightcrawler from the X-Men. his ability to teleport actually takes him through another dimension where demonic creatures live.

They never notice that he's traveling there because he's doing it so fast, though.

Liched · 09-20-2009, 11:48 PM

Cusashorn wrote:

Vanisher123 wrote:
Besides, these invaders "leaking" out of Ultera could be the danger the books have been hinting at. (Perhaps even thats why the old spires were destroyed, not by beings/events of Norrath, but Ulteran invaders presumably angry we're using their world as a shortcut)
Reminds me of Nightcrawler from the X-Men. his ability to teleport actually takes him through another dimension where demonic creatures live.
They never notice that he's traveling there because he's doing it so fast, though.

Wow! I had never heard that, that's amazing!

RaphaNissi · 09-21-2009, 12:35 PM

Ultera is the dimension passed through during teleportation like used by the Ulteran spires or when certain classes shadowstep. Typically it's a place that is passed through so quickly that you don't even know it's there. Something obviously went awry to cause us to be able to spend lengthy time in this place. Come to think of it, it's more like WE are the invaders in this realm since we aren't supposed to even really be there like we are currently. If these beings are native to this realm, it's no wonder they don't want us there.

Greyquill · 09-21-2009, 12:38 PM

Cusashorn wrote:

Vanisher123 wrote:
Besides, these invaders "leaking" out of Ultera could be the danger the books have been hinting at. (Perhaps even thats why the old spires were destroyed, not by beings/events of Norrath, but Ulteran invaders presumably angry we're using their world as a shortcut)
Reminds me of Nightcrawler from the X-Men. his ability to teleport actually takes him through another dimension where demonic creatures live.
They never notice that he's traveling there because he's doing it so fast, though.

This is actually what I had in mind when they first mentioned Ultera in connection with the spire network. That the Erudites had co-opted some planar crack in the multiverse to allow their teleportation magics to function. What I'm left wondering is do the new spires on the Ulteran network function differently from the old Combine spires? Was Ultera ultimately responsible for the collapse of the Combine nexus and the explosion of Luclin?

Liched · 09-21-2009, 01:44 PM

i wonder if they will start hunting us Shadow Men down? SMILEY

Cusashorn · 09-21-2009, 04:48 PM

Liched@Runnyeye wrote:

i wonder if they will start hunting us Shadow Men down?

I C what you did thar.

DeBasilisk · 09-28-2009, 10:23 AM

Seems like it's pretty much the same as the Plane of Shadow from Dungeons and Dragons (3rd edition). It's the medium for a lot of teleportation spells, but also has it's own inhabitants. Kind of like a road.

It also reminds me of a Star Trek TNG episode where a character (Barclay) gets stuck in the transporter and is attacked by some trans-temporal worm alien.

I think it would be fun if, when you use the Ulteran spires, every now and then you would get a random encounter fight with a few mobs. Make it optional though, so you can decline the adventure if you're really in a hurry. The same should happen with boat travel - pirates off the port bow!

Spirit · 09-28-2009, 02:52 PM

Mary the Prophetess wrote:

PLEASE, no more alternate dimentions!!! I am dimentioned-out.
What is wrong with good ol' orcs, dragons, goblins, gnolls and the denziens of a fantasy milleu?
Do we HAVE to conjure up aliens, alternate dimentions, and planar villians for every expansion anymore?
It's starting to stretch this game into something bizzare, grotesque, and unrecognizable A caraciture of the sword and sorcery genre.
Maybe a little more plot development on the rivlries between Freeport and Qeynos might be refreshing.

The Shattering is over. Done. Finished. History. Nobody needs 'sheltering' anymore. Yet Dark Elves and Iksar are still playing pat-a-cake with D'Lere. Barbarians, bred for war, curtseying in Qeynos. Everyone not going any further than giving each other "the frowning of their lives".

What the hell happened to Norrath?

It's about time a race stood up and did something about all this nonsense. There's a world out there, just waiting to be claimed. And it would be as easy to do right now, as just walking out those gates and taking it.

The real enemy isn't in some extra-planar void freak show. The real enemy is the Fae your Ogre is exchanging soft furnishing tips with. WAKE UP, races of Norrath.

Cusashorn · 09-28-2009, 03:28 PM

Spirited wrote:

The Shattering is over. Done. Finished. History. Nobody needs 'sheltering' anymore. Yet Dark Elves and Iksar are still playing pat-a-cake with D'Lere. Barbarians, bred for war, curtseying in Qeynos. Everyone not going any further than giving each other "the frowning of their lives".
What the hell happened to Norrath?
It's about time a race stood up and did something about all this nonsense. There's a world out there, just waiting to be claimed. And it would be as easy to do right now, as just walking out those gates and taking it.
The real enemy isn't in some extra-planar void freak show. The real enemy is the Fae your Ogre is exchanging soft furnishing tips with. WAKE UP, races of Norrath.

The Barbarians weren't "Bred for war". You make it sound like they're genetically engineered like the Sarnak, and are by nature, blood-thirsty warmongers like the Ogres. A Barbarian living in Qeynos among their human cousins is nothing out of character for them.

Rallos Zek and the Ogres realized that the world was out there, just waiting to be claimed. Thats why they started the 2nd Rallosian War. They tried to take the world by force, to claim it as thier own, and look what happened to them: They almost became extinct by the Greenmist. Only those who remained were the ogres who were already living in and fighting for Freeport of their own choice, the group of ogres who split off to attack the Frogloks and for some unexplained reason ended up fusing with the Greenmist, and any ogres who weren't involved in the war altogether.

I agree that this game needs to stop hashing up plots that involve an extra-dimensional enemy where the concequences for failure means the absolute annihilation of existance itself. I want to return to the days when the greatest threat were the orcs and goblins, or a power hungry dictator who wants to control all the inhabitants of the land, but right now we have to finish up the Void storyline with this next expansion.

shadowscale · 09-28-2009, 07:27 PM

Cusashorn wrote:

I agree that this game needs to stop hashing up plots that involve an extra-dimensional enemy where the concequences for failure means the absolute annihilation of existance itself. I want to return to the days when the greatest threat were the orcs and goblins, or a power hungry dictator who wants to control all the inhabitants of the land, but right now we have to finish up the Void storyline with this next expansion.

exept, even after the next expantion the dooms day clock is still ticking yes? while it would be nice for a break. i dont think the void suff is preventing ages end.

Liched · 09-28-2009, 07:33 PM

And it'll look great in the movie SMILEY

Cusashorn · 09-28-2009, 08:46 PM

shadowscale wrote:

Cusashorn wrote:
I agree that this game needs to stop hashing up plots that involve an extra-dimensional enemy where the concequences for failure means the absolute annihilation of existance itself. I want to return to the days when the greatest threat were the orcs and goblins, or a power hungry dictator who wants to control all the inhabitants of the land, but right now we have to finish up the Void storyline with this next expansion.
exept, even after the next expantion the dooms day clock is still ticking yes? while it would be nice for a break. i dont think the void suff is preventing ages end.

Well the devs stated clearly that the next expansion will be THE END to the Void story line, and yeah.. they pretty much want to erase Norrath from existance. It's just the way the shadowmen operate. They take over a world, destroy all life on it, and anchor themselves to it in order to prevent thier own eventual distruction by the giant black hole in the void until that world is eventually pulled in, where they start all over again.

Spirit · 09-28-2009, 09:01 PM

I'm relatively new to EQ2, having only really started playing seriously a short while ago, but I don't think I've been less enthused about lore since I went into space 500 years ago and found cat men on the Moon.

Have we got room for The Shadowmen revealing themselves to be Galactus, and all of Norrath collectively waking up in the shower after having a 'Bobby in Dallas' moment?

RaphaNissi · 09-28-2009, 09:51 PM

shadowscale wrote:

Cusashorn wrote:
I agree that this game needs to stop hashing up plots that involve an extra-dimensional enemy where the concequences for failure means the absolute annihilation of existance itself. I want to return to the days when the greatest threat were the orcs and goblins, or a power hungry dictator who wants to control all the inhabitants of the land, but right now we have to finish up the Void storyline with this next expansion.
exept, even after the next expantion the dooms day clock is still ticking yes? while it would be nice for a break. i dont think the void suff is preventing ages end.

I completely agree with you on this one. Though the void might play a "time" on the "clock" that we have uncovered, I don't believe it is all there is to it. Norrath is still ticking down the events to the Age's End. One of the symbols on the calendar is closely related to Odus that we have seen. I would suggest we are moving from one position on the calender to another one. Yes, we are suposed to see the void storyline "wrapped up" in the next expansion, but that doesn't mean it's ALL going to be about the void. There are other players waiting for their part to come in all of this. We don't know for sure what these extra-dimentional beings are doing. Seems to me they are invading us because WE INVADED THEM first. We are fixing the spires. We are entering their world. They are trying to keep us from patching things up with the spires. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say they are not after Norrathian world domination.

Meirril · 09-29-2009, 02:01 AM

RaphaNissi wrote:

shadowscale wrote:
Cusashorn wrote:
I agree that this game needs to stop hashing up plots that involve an extra-dimensional enemy where the concequences for failure means the absolute annihilation of existance itself. I want to return to the days when the greatest threat were the orcs and goblins, or a power hungry dictator who wants to control all the inhabitants of the land, but right now we have to finish up the Void storyline with this next expansion.
exept, even after the next expantion the dooms day clock is still ticking yes? while it would be nice for a break. i dont think the void suff is preventing ages end.
I completely agree with you on this one. Though the void might play a "time" on the "clock" that we have uncovered, I don't believe it is all there is to it. Norrath is still ticking down the events to the Age's End. One of the symbols on the calendar is closely related to Odus that we have seen. I would suggest we are moving from one position on the calender to another one. Yes, we are suposed to see the void storyline "wrapped up" in the next expansion, but that doesn't mean it's ALL going to be about the void. There are other players waiting for their part to come in all of this. We don't know for sure what these extra-dimentional beings are doing. Seems to me they are invading us because WE INVADED THEM first. We are fixing the spires. We are entering their world. They are trying to keep us from patching things up with the spires. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say they are not after Norrathian world domination.

As long as we're getting out the tinfoil hats and cooking up our own homebrew conspiricy theories for future events...

Maybe after the Shissar Callender is over and "Age's End" comes to pass we'll see a time-traveling Shissar City show up on the other half of Kunark (the part we didn't explore) and a whole new Iksar slave army will be driven to conquer Kunark lead by their Shissar masters.

Or maybe in fighting Theer we'll manage to release him from the void instead of destroying him. Instead of turning his attentions to the Norrathian Pathenon and taking his revenge the raid will get treated to a cut sceen where you witness Theer taking on truely epic size and proportions as he regains his full power. As he turns to Norrath he is attacked by a dragon that dwarfs both Theer and Norrath. Thus is herald the return of Veeshan, and the final test of the Norrath Pathenon as they all turn their efforts to repel Veeshan from reclaiming Norrath for her brood. Will Keryfym be an ally of Veeshan, or an enemy?

Will the release of Theer instead find him bound to the Tribunal as their executioner, and the gods of Norrath finally made to pay the price for their transgressions now that the Tribunal finally has the means to punish even them? Would Theer become the Final Hammer, with the ability to lead the Tribunal? Would he become a meer puppet under the Tribunal's cold impassionate justice?

Stay tuned true believer!

Rainmare · 10-02-2009, 07:52 PM

it seemst hat perhaps the Pantheon knows about Ultera and doesn't want us fiddling with it either. the raid spawns a tthe spires before thier final completion seem to be tied to the deities. Lavastorm was reported to spawn a 'Champion of Flame' that has some kind of zonewide emote upon spawning, and LP is reported to have apparently had a Champion of Hate. unfortunately thier zw emote isn't logged, so we'll have to wait for another one and hopefully someone will remember/ copy paste it so we can know what it is they do.

maybe Ultera is the source of all teleportation, and while the Gods who apparently recharged the 'Combine' spires can tap into it/access it without [Removed for Content] off the inhabitants (or as the case maybe, control the inhabitants), the Quellthulians are deliberatly punching holes in it for thier spires, which is why the Ulterians are fighting back.

Meirril · 10-02-2009, 08:47 PM

Rainmare@Oasis wrote:

it seemst hat perhaps the Pantheon knows about Ultera and doesn't want us fiddling with it either. the raid spawns a tthe spires before thier final completion seem to be tied to the deities. Lavastorm was reported to spawn a 'Champion of Flame' that has some kind of zonewide emote upon spawning, and LP is reported to have apparently had a Champion of Hate. unfortunately thier zw emote isn't logged, so we'll have to wait for another one and hopefully someone will remember/ copy paste it so we can know what it is they do.
maybe Ultera is the source of all teleportation, and while the Gods who apparently recharged the 'Combine' spires can tap into it/access it without [Removed for Content] off the inhabitants (or as the case maybe, control the inhabitants), the Quellthulians are deliberatly punching holes in it for thier spires, which is why the Ulterians are fighting back.

What leads you to believe that the Combine Spires have anything to do with dieties? Considering that Geomancy was an extremely powerful form of magic only known to the Combine, wouldn't it make more sense to attribute the Combine Spires to a form of Geomancy?

Currently, we know very little of what Geomancy was capable of. It can certainly be believed that Geomancy was responsable for a lot of the great works the Combine Empire was able to accomplish.

Meirril · 10-02-2009, 08:59 PM

Mary the Prophetess wrote:

PLEASE, no more alternate dimentions!!! I am dimentioned-out.
What is wrong with good ol' orcs, dragons, goblins, gnolls and the denziens of a fantasy milleu?
Do we HAVE to conjure up aliens, alternate dimentions, and planar villians for every expansion anymore?
It's starting to stretch this game into something bizzare, grotesque, and unrecognizable A caraciture of the sword and sorcery genre.
Maybe a little more plot development on the rivlries between Freeport and Qeynos might be refreshing.

I'm just going to point out a few "normal" fantasy creatures that come from "alternate dimensions":

Deamons/Devils (unless your cosmology includes flaming pits and a hole underground that is unexplainably accessable anywhere and holds more than it should.)

Elves (both in Norris and Gaelic mythology)

Genies (Efreet, Dijin)

All of these are very traditional, very old "extra dimensional" creatures. More recent fantasy litterature (20th century) is chocked full of beings that come from other dimensions. While I'd like to get back to exploring Norrath myself, having an extra dimensional threat in a fantasy context has a lot of history behind it. Especially when you have a history of teleportation, dimension travel, and extra-planar conquest which is all represented in Norrathian history without the void invasion being taken into account. (In fact, the first Rallosian Army invaded another dimension where it was defeated by the Rathe.)

09-19-2009, 05:44 AM	#2
Xalmat EQ2Achieve.com Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 5,895	I have a feeling it has to do with the rebuilt Nexus. I suspect Ultera, whatever it might be, will be a hub for accessing Odus as well. __________________ EQ2Achieve - Your guide to all EverQuest II Achievements

09-19-2009, 06:30 AM	#3
Maergoth Loremaster Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 733	I still believe Ultera was just a renamed Odus after the energy channeled by the new spire system elevated it to a planar state. It doesn't make sense for a plane of existence to just happen to be there for the past who knows how long. __________________ Jaraxx tells you, 'Why did you die? Man up. Ask for DI from your priests' You tell Jaraxx, 'I had a "save" running..' http://tinyurl.com/PaladinFeedback

09-19-2009, 12:18 PM	#4
Cusashorn Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Cheeseland, USA Posts: 14,919	Maergoth wrote: I still believe Ultera was just a renamed Odus after the energy channeled by the new spire system elevated it to a planar state. It doesn't make sense for a plane of existence to just happen to be there for the past who knows how long. This. The Erudites probably renamed their own continent after they turned into the race of Quellithulians they are today.

09-19-2009, 02:00 PM	#5
DukeOccam Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 339	Maergoth wrote: I still believe Ultera was just a renamed Odus after the energy channeled by the new spire system elevated it to a planar state. It doesn't make sense for a plane of existence to just happen to be there for the past who knows how long. I certainly hope this is the case. I don't think this game needs more aliens from other dimensions. __________________

09-20-2009, 04:12 AM	#6
Coniaric Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 756	Okay ... so ... if "Ultera" is a renamed Odus ... Then why are there attacks from this Ultera? Quellithulians are clearly able to travel to and from their home continent. Since Quellithulians are basically evolved Erudites and are from Odus, so why are the spires being attacked while it's being retuned and rebuilt? __________________

09-19-2009, 03:24 AM	#1
Greyquill Loremaster Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 57	Judging from some of the goodies that await us on Test, we're going to be introduced to visitors from a realm called Ultera. Is there any speculation from those who have been testing the new events as to where Ultera fits into the Norrathian universe? From the looks of the events, these "entities" are attracted to the work being done to restore and tune the Erudian teleportation network. So, is Ultera "The Space In between"? Where living matter resides temporarily while in transport? The name immediately recalls the device located at the top of the Oracle Tower in Antonica, the Ulteris... a possible connection? How long have the Erudites been sitting on this piece of knowledge? Is there a functional difference between Ulterian Spires (3 pronged and built by us prior to the release of the KoS expansion) and the existing Combine Spires (4 tined, very large, and usually made out of heavy gray masonry)?

09-20-2009, 12:24 PM	#7
kelvmor Loremaster Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 1,036	It's not Odus. When you go into Ultera during the events, it's an endless dimension of the color caramel with a similarly colored haze. It's sort of a Nexus dimension.

09-20-2009, 01:05 PM	#8
Mary the Prophetess Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 1,472	PLEASE, no more alternate dimentions!!! I am dimentioned-out. What is wrong with good ol' orcs, dragons, goblins, gnolls and the denziens of a fantasy milleu? Do we HAVE to conjure up aliens, alternate dimentions, and planar villians for every expansion anymore? It's starting to stretch this game into something bizzare, grotesque, and unrecognizable A caraciture of the sword and sorcery genre. Maybe a little more plot development on the rivlries between Freeport and Qeynos might be refreshing.

09-20-2009, 01:15 PM	#9
Morghus Loremaster Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 2,105	Mary the Prophetess wrote: PLEASE, no more alternate dimentions!!! I am dimentioned-out. What is wrong with good ol' orcs, dragons, goblins, gnolls and the denziens of a fantasy milleu? Do we HAVE to conjure up aliens, alternate dimentions, and planar villians for every expansion anymore? It's starting to stretch this game into something bizzare, grotesque, and unrecognizable A caraciture of the sword and sorcery genre. Maybe a little more plot development on the rivlries between Freeport and Qeynos might be refreshing. I'm sure there are many of us that are already sick and tired of the shadow odyssey's bizzare creatures. But I don't know what they could really do with our "next big threat". The orcs havent been a real threat since Desert of Flames where they were at their strongest in their capital of Rujark. The goblins united briefly in runnyeye 2 but were stopped. The gnolls have been out of the picture really since splitpaw. The dragon race as a whole has been on the decline since the first game and all attempts at regaining power on their part has ended with the deaths of their more influential members, and given their typically low rate of reproduction I dont see them being a major threat/player in the storyline for a long time..

09-20-2009, 06:00 PM	#10
kelvmor Loremaster Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 1,036	To be honest, there's not a whole lot of dimensions. Ultera is only for an event, it's not going to be there forever, by the time this event's over Norrathians won't have to worry about them. Also. There aren't any other dimensions with attackers besides the Void. Unless you think the Order of Rime came from some ice dimension.

09-20-2009, 09:39 PM	#11
Liched Server: Runnyeye Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 167	To be fair it's probably all related to EQ1's ancient history that's starting to be unfolded now through various games. The whole story took an arc at 2003 to make way for EQ2 and probably for other games like EQOA but that's not to say that when EQ1's ancient history has finally been dusted off and a few things explained that we can't carry on the way we knew and loved Norrath but with a little more backstory and a few more of the older hidden races. It takes a little while to do it all across 3 games simultaneously and i'm sure it's been a busy busy few years for the devs since 2006. We've always known about the UFO in Qeynos and our alien friend Rodcet Nife since the early days so it's not like they've just run out of ideas and started sticking random things in. Hopefully it'll play out nicely over the next year or so, EQOA, EQ1 and EQ2 will finally be all synchronised lore wise then we start looking at the future rather than the past. Fingers crossed __________________ Bolly --------------------- Follow me on twitter! twitter.com/michaelbolland

09-20-2009, 10:29 PM	#12
Vanisher123 Loremaster Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 314	kelvmor wrote: To be honest, there's not a whole lot of dimensions. Ultera is only for an event, it's not going to be there forever, by the time this event's over Norrathians won't have to worry about them. Well unless the Erudites find a away to teleport without using Ultera as a nexus, or find a way to seal it to prevent "leaks", I have a feeling we'll be hearing of it more, it would be worse to just fade it away without explaining why its no longer leaking. Besides, these invaders "leaking" out of Ultera could be the danger the books have been hinting at. (Perhaps even thats why the old spires were destroyed, not by beings/events of Norrath, but Ulteran invaders presumably angry we're using their world as a shortcut)

09-20-2009, 11:38 PM	#13
Cusashorn Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Cheeseland, USA Posts: 14,919	Vanisher123 wrote: Besides, these invaders "leaking" out of Ultera could be the danger the books have been hinting at. (Perhaps even thats why the old spires were destroyed, not by beings/events of Norrath, but Ulteran invaders presumably angry we're using their world as a shortcut) Reminds me of Nightcrawler from the X-Men. his ability to teleport actually takes him through another dimension where demonic creatures live. They never notice that he's traveling there because he's doing it so fast, though.

09-20-2009, 11:48 PM	#14
Liched Server: Runnyeye Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 167	Cusashorn wrote: Vanisher123 wrote: Besides, these invaders "leaking" out of Ultera could be the danger the books have been hinting at. (Perhaps even thats why the old spires were destroyed, not by beings/events of Norrath, but Ulteran invaders presumably angry we're using their world as a shortcut) Reminds me of Nightcrawler from the X-Men. his ability to teleport actually takes him through another dimension where demonic creatures live. They never notice that he's traveling there because he's doing it so fast, though. Wow! I had never heard that, that's amazing! __________________ Bolly --------------------- Follow me on twitter! twitter.com/michaelbolland

09-21-2009, 12:35 PM	#15
RaphaNissi The Athenaeum Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 721	Ultera is the dimension passed through during teleportation like used by the Ulteran spires or when certain classes shadowstep. Typically it's a place that is passed through so quickly that you don't even know it's there. Something obviously went awry to cause us to be able to spend lengthy time in this place. Come to think of it, it's more like WE are the invaders in this realm since we aren't supposed to even really be there like we are currently. If these beings are native to this realm, it's no wonder they don't want us there. __________________

09-21-2009, 12:38 PM	#16
Greyquill Loremaster Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 57	Cusashorn wrote: Vanisher123 wrote: Besides, these invaders "leaking" out of Ultera could be the danger the books have been hinting at. (Perhaps even thats why the old spires were destroyed, not by beings/events of Norrath, but Ulteran invaders presumably angry we're using their world as a shortcut) Reminds me of Nightcrawler from the X-Men. his ability to teleport actually takes him through another dimension where demonic creatures live. They never notice that he's traveling there because he's doing it so fast, though. This is actually what I had in mind when they first mentioned Ultera in connection with the spire network. That the Erudites had co-opted some planar crack in the multiverse to allow their teleportation magics to function. What I'm left wondering is do the new spires on the Ulteran network function differently from the old Combine spires? Was Ultera ultimately responsible for the collapse of the Combine nexus and the explosion of Luclin?

09-21-2009, 01:44 PM	#17
Liched Server: Runnyeye Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 167	i wonder if they will start hunting us Shadow Men down? __________________ Bolly --------------------- Follow me on twitter! twitter.com/michaelbolland

09-21-2009, 04:48 PM	#18
Cusashorn Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Cheeseland, USA Posts: 14,919	Liched@Runnyeye wrote: i wonder if they will start hunting us Shadow Men down? I C what you did thar.

09-28-2009, 10:23 AM	#19
DeBasilisk Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 137	Seems like it's pretty much the same as the Plane of Shadow from Dungeons and Dragons (3rd edition). It's the medium for a lot of teleportation spells, but also has it's own inhabitants. Kind of like a road. It also reminds me of a Star Trek TNG episode where a character (Barclay) gets stuck in the transporter and is attacked by some trans-temporal worm alien. I think it would be fun if, when you use the Ulteran spires, every now and then you would get a random encounter fight with a few mobs. Make it optional though, so you can decline the adventure if you're really in a hurry. The same should happen with boat travel - pirates off the port bow! __________________

09-28-2009, 02:52 PM	#20
Spirit General Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 75	Mary the Prophetess wrote: PLEASE, no more alternate dimentions!!! I am dimentioned-out. What is wrong with good ol' orcs, dragons, goblins, gnolls and the denziens of a fantasy milleu? Do we HAVE to conjure up aliens, alternate dimentions, and planar villians for every expansion anymore? It's starting to stretch this game into something bizzare, grotesque, and unrecognizable A caraciture of the sword and sorcery genre. Maybe a little more plot development on the rivlries between Freeport and Qeynos might be refreshing. The Shattering is over. Done. Finished. History. Nobody needs 'sheltering' anymore. Yet Dark Elves and Iksar are still playing pat-a-cake with D'Lere. Barbarians, bred for war, curtseying in Qeynos. Everyone not going any further than giving each other "the frowning of their lives". What the hell happened to Norrath? It's about time a race stood up and did something about all this nonsense. There's a world out there, just waiting to be claimed. And it would be as easy to do right now, as just walking out those gates and taking it. The real enemy isn't in some extra-planar void freak show. The real enemy is the Fae your Ogre is exchanging soft furnishing tips with. WAKE UP, races of Norrath. __________________ __________________________________________ Qeynos vs Freeport. Lets go to WAR!

09-28-2009, 03:28 PM	#21
Cusashorn Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Cheeseland, USA Posts: 14,919	Spirited wrote: The Shattering is over. Done. Finished. History. Nobody needs 'sheltering' anymore. Yet Dark Elves and Iksar are still playing pat-a-cake with D'Lere. Barbarians, bred for war, curtseying in Qeynos. Everyone not going any further than giving each other "the frowning of their lives". What the hell happened to Norrath? It's about time a race stood up and did something about all this nonsense. There's a world out there, just waiting to be claimed. And it would be as easy to do right now, as just walking out those gates and taking it. The real enemy isn't in some extra-planar void freak show. The real enemy is the Fae your Ogre is exchanging soft furnishing tips with. WAKE UP, races of Norrath. The Barbarians weren't "Bred for war". You make it sound like they're genetically engineered like the Sarnak, and are by nature, blood-thirsty warmongers like the Ogres. A Barbarian living in Qeynos among their human cousins is nothing out of character for them. Rallos Zek and the Ogres realized that the world was out there, just waiting to be claimed. Thats why they started the 2nd Rallosian War. They tried to take the world by force, to claim it as thier own, and look what happened to them: They almost became extinct by the Greenmist. Only those who remained were the ogres who were already living in and fighting for Freeport of their own choice, the group of ogres who split off to attack the Frogloks and for some unexplained reason ended up fusing with the Greenmist, and any ogres who weren't involved in the war altogether. I agree that this game needs to stop hashing up plots that involve an extra-dimensional enemy where the concequences for failure means the absolute annihilation of existance itself. I want to return to the days when the greatest threat were the orcs and goblins, or a power hungry dictator who wants to control all the inhabitants of the land, but right now we have to finish up the Void storyline with this next expansion.

09-28-2009, 07:27 PM	#22
shadowscale Forum Dragon Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 1,535	Cusashorn wrote: I agree that this game needs to stop hashing up plots that involve an extra-dimensional enemy where the concequences for failure means the absolute annihilation of existance itself. I want to return to the days when the greatest threat were the orcs and goblins, or a power hungry dictator who wants to control all the inhabitants of the land, but right now we have to finish up the Void storyline with this next expansion. exept, even after the next expantion the dooms day clock is still ticking yes? while it would be nice for a break. i dont think the void suff is preventing ages end.

09-28-2009, 07:33 PM	#23
Liched Server: Runnyeye Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 167	And it'll look great in the movie __________________ Bolly --------------------- Follow me on twitter! twitter.com/michaelbolland

09-28-2009, 08:46 PM	#24
Cusashorn Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Cheeseland, USA Posts: 14,919	shadowscale wrote: Cusashorn wrote: I agree that this game needs to stop hashing up plots that involve an extra-dimensional enemy where the concequences for failure means the absolute annihilation of existance itself. I want to return to the days when the greatest threat were the orcs and goblins, or a power hungry dictator who wants to control all the inhabitants of the land, but right now we have to finish up the Void storyline with this next expansion. exept, even after the next expantion the dooms day clock is still ticking yes? while it would be nice for a break. i dont think the void suff is preventing ages end. Well the devs stated clearly that the next expansion will be THE END to the Void story line, and yeah.. they pretty much want to erase Norrath from existance. It's just the way the shadowmen operate. They take over a world, destroy all life on it, and anchor themselves to it in order to prevent thier own eventual distruction by the giant black hole in the void until that world is eventually pulled in, where they start all over again.

09-28-2009, 09:01 PM	#25
Spirit General Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 75	I'm relatively new to EQ2, having only really started playing seriously a short while ago, but I don't think I've been less enthused about lore since I went into space 500 years ago and found cat men on the Moon. Have we got room for The Shadowmen revealing themselves to be Galactus, and all of Norrath collectively waking up in the shower after having a 'Bobby in Dallas' moment? __________________ __________________________________________ Qeynos vs Freeport. Lets go to WAR!

09-28-2009, 09:51 PM	#26
RaphaNissi The Athenaeum Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 721	shadowscale wrote: Cusashorn wrote: I agree that this game needs to stop hashing up plots that involve an extra-dimensional enemy where the concequences for failure means the absolute annihilation of existance itself. I want to return to the days when the greatest threat were the orcs and goblins, or a power hungry dictator who wants to control all the inhabitants of the land, but right now we have to finish up the Void storyline with this next expansion. exept, even after the next expantion the dooms day clock is still ticking yes? while it would be nice for a break. i dont think the void suff is preventing ages end. I completely agree with you on this one. Though the void might play a "time" on the "clock" that we have uncovered, I don't believe it is all there is to it. Norrath is still ticking down the events to the Age's End. One of the symbols on the calendar is closely related to Odus that we have seen. I would suggest we are moving from one position on the calender to another one. Yes, we are suposed to see the void storyline "wrapped up" in the next expansion, but that doesn't mean it's ALL going to be about the void. There are other players waiting for their part to come in all of this. We don't know for sure what these extra-dimentional beings are doing. Seems to me they are invading us because WE INVADED THEM first. We are fixing the spires. We are entering their world. They are trying to keep us from patching things up with the spires. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say they are not after Norrathian world domination. __________________

09-29-2009, 02:01 AM	#27
Meirril Loremaster Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 3,552	RaphaNissi wrote: shadowscale wrote: Cusashorn wrote: I agree that this game needs to stop hashing up plots that involve an extra-dimensional enemy where the concequences for failure means the absolute annihilation of existance itself. I want to return to the days when the greatest threat were the orcs and goblins, or a power hungry dictator who wants to control all the inhabitants of the land, but right now we have to finish up the Void storyline with this next expansion. exept, even after the next expantion the dooms day clock is still ticking yes? while it would be nice for a break. i dont think the void suff is preventing ages end. I completely agree with you on this one. Though the void might play a "time" on the "clock" that we have uncovered, I don't believe it is all there is to it. Norrath is still ticking down the events to the Age's End. One of the symbols on the calendar is closely related to Odus that we have seen. I would suggest we are moving from one position on the calender to another one. Yes, we are suposed to see the void storyline "wrapped up" in the next expansion, but that doesn't mean it's ALL going to be about the void. There are other players waiting for their part to come in all of this. We don't know for sure what these extra-dimentional beings are doing. Seems to me they are invading us because WE INVADED THEM first. We are fixing the spires. We are entering their world. They are trying to keep us from patching things up with the spires. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say they are not after Norrathian world domination. As long as we're getting out the tinfoil hats and cooking up our own homebrew conspiricy theories for future events... Maybe after the Shissar Callender is over and "Age's End" comes to pass we'll see a time-traveling Shissar City show up on the other half of Kunark (the part we didn't explore) and a whole new Iksar slave army will be driven to conquer Kunark lead by their Shissar masters. Or maybe in fighting Theer we'll manage to release him from the void instead of destroying him. Instead of turning his attentions to the Norrathian Pathenon and taking his revenge the raid will get treated to a cut sceen where you witness Theer taking on truely epic size and proportions as he regains his full power. As he turns to Norrath he is attacked by a dragon that dwarfs both Theer and Norrath. Thus is herald the return of Veeshan, and the final test of the Norrath Pathenon as they all turn their efforts to repel Veeshan from reclaiming Norrath for her brood. Will Keryfym be an ally of Veeshan, or an enemy? Will the release of Theer instead find him bound to the Tribunal as their executioner, and the gods of Norrath finally made to pay the price for their transgressions now that the Tribunal finally has the means to punish even them? Would Theer become the Final Hammer, with the ability to lead the Tribunal? Would he become a meer puppet under the Tribunal's cold impassionate justice? Stay tuned true believer!

10-02-2009, 07:52 PM	#28
Rainmare Server: Oasis Guild: Pillage Rank: Captain Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 1,982	it seemst hat perhaps the Pantheon knows about Ultera and doesn't want us fiddling with it either. the raid spawns a tthe spires before thier final completion seem to be tied to the deities. Lavastorm was reported to spawn a 'Champion of Flame' that has some kind of zonewide emote upon spawning, and LP is reported to have apparently had a Champion of Hate. unfortunately thier zw emote isn't logged, so we'll have to wait for another one and hopefully someone will remember/ copy paste it so we can know what it is they do. maybe Ultera is the source of all teleportation, and while the Gods who apparently recharged the 'Combine' spires can tap into it/access it without [Removed for Content] off the inhabitants (or as the case maybe, control the inhabitants), the Quellthulians are deliberatly punching holes in it for thier spires, which is why the Ulterians are fighting back.

10-02-2009, 08:47 PM	#29
Meirril Loremaster Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 3,552	Rainmare@Oasis wrote: it seemst hat perhaps the Pantheon knows about Ultera and doesn't want us fiddling with it either. the raid spawns a tthe spires before thier final completion seem to be tied to the deities. Lavastorm was reported to spawn a 'Champion of Flame' that has some kind of zonewide emote upon spawning, and LP is reported to have apparently had a Champion of Hate. unfortunately thier zw emote isn't logged, so we'll have to wait for another one and hopefully someone will remember/ copy paste it so we can know what it is they do. maybe Ultera is the source of all teleportation, and while the Gods who apparently recharged the 'Combine' spires can tap into it/access it without [Removed for Content] off the inhabitants (or as the case maybe, control the inhabitants), the Quellthulians are deliberatly punching holes in it for thier spires, which is why the Ulterians are fighting back. What leads you to believe that the Combine Spires have anything to do with dieties? Considering that Geomancy was an extremely powerful form of magic only known to the Combine, wouldn't it make more sense to attribute the Combine Spires to a form of Geomancy? Currently, we know very little of what Geomancy was capable of. It can certainly be believed that Geomancy was responsable for a lot of the great works the Combine Empire was able to accomplish.

10-02-2009, 08:59 PM	#30
Meirril Loremaster Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 3,552	Mary the Prophetess wrote: PLEASE, no more alternate dimentions!!! I am dimentioned-out. What is wrong with good ol' orcs, dragons, goblins, gnolls and the denziens of a fantasy milleu? Do we HAVE to conjure up aliens, alternate dimentions, and planar villians for every expansion anymore? It's starting to stretch this game into something bizzare, grotesque, and unrecognizable A caraciture of the sword and sorcery genre. Maybe a little more plot development on the rivlries between Freeport and Qeynos might be refreshing. I'm just going to point out a few "normal" fantasy creatures that come from "alternate dimensions": Deamons/Devils (unless your cosmology includes flaming pits and a hole underground that is unexplainably accessable anywhere and holds more than it should.) Elves (both in Norris and Gaelic mythology) Genies (Efreet, Dijin) All of these are very traditional, very old "extra dimensional" creatures. More recent fantasy litterature (20th century) is chocked full of beings that come from other dimensions. While I'd like to get back to exploring Norrath myself, having an extra dimensional threat in a fantasy context has a lot of history behind it. Especially when you have a history of teleportation, dimension travel, and extra-planar conquest which is all represented in Norrathian history without the void invasion being taken into account. (In fact, the first Rallosian Army invaded another dimension where it was defeated by the Rathe.)