A history of Calebethon

image The legend of the massive underground realm known as Calebethon survived the cataclysm. What we know comes to us from The Hiergamenon which remains our primary source of knowledge of life before the breaking of the world.

Roughly two thousand years before the Cataclysm…

As we already know, for a long while the mortals of Elemental held their own against the invading Titans thanks in large part to the power of the Magicians. These great sorcerers were able to go head to head with many of the Titans in battle.

The most famous of these magicians was known as Dirdoth. As the High Mage of his order, he set out to create a secret refuge for men who were rebelling against the Titans.

Dirdoth’s greatest achievement became Calebethon. This immense city existed throughout the underground mountain chain on the eastern side of the continent.

Dirdoth’s fate was sealed when Tar-Thela completed her quest to transfer the magic of Elemental into the scattered shards. Deprived of their source of power, Dirdoth and the Magicians were ruthlessly crushed.  For a long while, Calebethon was abandoned.

The rise of the cursed Morrigan

As told elsewhere, the heroic Hosten, first of the Channelers, was able to surprise the Titans and drive them from their capital.  Powerful as he was, Hosten, like all Channelers, was mortal and eventually passed on.

His son, Morrigan inherited his ability to channel the magic from the shards. Unlike his father, he used his power to enslave men. Envious of the Titans, Morrigan looked to order the world to his liking.  To achieve that objective, he studied both life and death magic.

Morrigan was the first Channeler to discover that life and death magic were mutually exclusive. The effects of his increasing reliance on death magic could be seen in himself and the lands around him.

The worst of his deeds, however, occurred in Calebethon. He and his creatures reoccupied it and began a series of dark experiments.

It is, with some irony, that the origin of the Fallen lies not with the Titans but rather with a mortal man.  The secret of twisting natural beings into unnatural ones, discovered by Morrigan and perfected by the Dred’nir Curgen would cause great suffering for men long after Morrigan had passed on.

The silver orb

Morrigan’s creations, sensitive beyond all mortal beings to the presence of magic, sensed something of unrivaled potency in the depths of Calebethon. They soon found the source of this power in a small piece of metal that seemed to be able to change shape based on the will of its holder.

Dutifully bringing the object to their master, Morrigan realized it was an object of great power but could not divine what its purpose was.

Morrigan spends much of the remainder of his life trying to unlock the secrets of the silver orb in the belief that it was the key to immortality.  He fails.  In his failing days, Morrigan had a special chamber constructed that hides the song of the silver orb so that others would not easily find it.

The War of Magic

During the War of Magic, a Channeler of great might discovered a piece of special glass that Morrigan constructed that led him to Morrigan’s vault of treasures. The subsequent looting resulted in the eventual discovery of the chamber by the Shadow titan who recognized it for what it was. Realizing the inherent danger of removing it from the chamber, the Shadow titan placed traps to ensure it could never be disturbed.

Naturally, it will again be disturbed…

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Reply #1 Top

Naturally, it will again be disturbed…
I blame Tas.

Shouldn't the last paragraphs be in past tense? Not that my English is good enough to allow me to judge but... In any case: Lore, sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.:drool:

And more arguments for people about if the Sovereign dies one of the sons can take over as Sovereign. (campaign is campaign, obviously, just refering to sandbox).

Reply #2 Top

His son, Morrigan inherited his ability to channel the magic from the shards.

 

Sweet. And if you just let us play out the full story from generation to generation I promise I'll try - in campaign or sandbox mode! :D

Reply #3 Top

Naturally, it will again be disturbed…

  :cylon: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! :cylon:

Seriously though, soon as I get my hands on the campaign maker, I'm making a campaign where the end goal is to use whatever this thing is to destroy the world.

Again. XD

Reply #4 Top

I'm guessing this is the basis for winning the game by quest?

Reply #5 Top

I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that this bit of storyline is somehow related to the concept of 'victory by questing.' If so, I have a simple-sounding request that may end up being very difficult to implement in a satisfying manner.

I don't want the 'I win' quest to take the player to the victory screen.

If it fits with the storyline and concept of this silver orb, I'd like to see the player sovereign who succeeds in the quest to retrieve the silver orb take it up and wield it against his enemies in-game. The difficulty here is that the item needs to balance two needs: It must be powerful enough that forsaking all else in the quest for it could be as rewarding as narrowly focusing on any other, more traditional, victory condition. However, it must also not be so powerful and frustrating to deal with that all other players will simply type 'GG' and quit the game upon learning that someone has obtained the silver orb.

Obviously in the latter case one might as well just go straight to the victory screen in most cases, whereas if the item is too weak, few will bother devoting the resources to acquire it unless they are already comfortably ahead and can afford it. Thus, it will be necessary to balance things such that a player who acquires the orb will probably win but must look out for the possiblity of all other players ganging up against them. He might still win even then, if his nation was already in a strong position without the orb. It should be a difficult task to stop him, just as it is difficult for a hastily-formed alliance to stop the march of a player who has already swallowed half the continent with his military might, or to prevent a clever player from inheriting everything when the other players have only just realized that the mastermind's heirs stand to inherit a kingdom any time anyone dies.

In short, while I may be reading way too much into this post, I would very much like to se my sovereign wield the silver orb or similar apocalyptically-powerful magic item in more than just a victory cutscene.

Brad, Boogie, other Elemental staff whose names are unknown to me: I know I may be asking you to do more than you had planned, or to create a balance that cannot be achieved, but I would love to see something like what I have outlined implemented for the quest 'victory condition' and perhaps even for some of the other non-conquest victory conditions.

Reply #8 Top

@Hackbar: victory condition means that if you achieve it, you win. It cannot be a Quest Victory if you get the artifact (supposed end of the Quest Victory) and end having to win the game by a militar victory (that i's not even assured with the artifact because if not the other players would go 'GG').

Reply #9 Top

Quoting Wintersong, reply 8
@Hackbar: victory condition means that if you achieve it, you win. It cannot be a Quest Victory if you get the artifact (supposed end of the Quest Victory) and end having to win the game by a militar victory (that i's not even assured with the artifact because if not the other players would go 'GG').

 

I understand this, yes. I'm not opposed to a quest victory condition in principle. I rather like the idea. I just don't like the idea of risking my neck for the master-sword of ruler-kings and then never getting to use it against those who would conquer me. XD

Perhaps a better idea would be something like a wonder victory in Age of Empires. Securing the victory object sets off a countdown to guaranteed victory. It's just that this particular item also lets you shoot laser beams out your eyes and summon dragons to protect you while the timer counts down. The point is, if there is some massively powerful artifact in the game I'd like for it to be something the player can actually use in-game at some point. Also, I'm not a big fan of victory conditions that can result in a sudden, unexpected 'you lose' screen when my empire is still strong and healthy, if not dominant.

Reply #10 Top

Fascenating..... my question is what the heck that little ball actually does! (If anything.... it would certainly be ironic if the great and mighty soverign fights his way through feindish foes and cunning traps to finally hold in his hand...... the 5* 5* 5*   Great And Mighty Musical Toothbrush Of The Ancient Ones 5* 5* 5*

Reply #11 Top

So why are life and death magic mutually exclusive?  I have always thought of them as being more of a continuum, not opposing forces. Perhaps this is so you can keep them seperate?

Reply #12 Top

Quoting FaultyLogic, reply 11
So why are life and death magic mutually exclusive?  I have always thought of them as being more of a continuum, not opposing forces. Perhaps this is so you can keep them seperate?

Life = a fish flopping

Death = a fish not flopping

Reply #13 Top

So how come these Channelers aren't immortal like the Sovereigns are? This is going to lead a lot of people to want their Sov's to age and die and have heirs take over the throne like they do in this story :P , just saying...

Very cool story though. I'd like to hear more about this Curgen.

Reply #14 Top

Quoting Hackbar, reply 9



Quoting Wintersong,
reply 8
@Hackbar: victory condition means that if you achieve it, you win. It cannot be a Quest Victory if you get the artifact (supposed end of the Quest Victory) and end having to win the game by a militar victory (that i's not even assured with the artifact because if not the other players would go 'GG').



 

I understand this, yes. I'm not opposed to a quest victory condition in principle. I rather like the idea. I just don't like the idea of risking my neck for the master-sword of ruler-kings and then never getting to use it against those who would conquer me.

Perhaps a better idea would be something like a wonder victory in Age of Empires. Securing the victory object sets off a countdown to guaranteed victory. It's just that this particular item also lets you shoot laser beams out your eyes and summon dragons to protect you while the timer counts down. The point is, if there is some massively powerful artifact in the game I'd like for it to be something the player can actually use in-game at some point. Also, I'm not a big fan of victory conditions that can result in a sudden, unexpected 'you lose' screen when my empire is still strong and healthy, if not dominant.

Making it a very powerful item just means it's a normal (though very challenging) quest. So for it to be a victory condition it needs to end the game. I do agree with you though that it feels unsatisfying if the game ends boom, just like that.

But there are numerous ways to counter that. Eg when you retrieve the orb all players get a warning (just like Civ's player X started working on the Apollo programm). But after retrieving it you:

option 1) need to take it to a certain place to activate it. When you succesfully activate it, you win.
option 2) need to take it to your capital where you need to build a special shrine to activate it.
option 3) need to acquire enough essence to activate it.
option 4)....

 

 

Reply #15 Top

Alternatively, you commission your art-department to make a sweet movie showing how the artifact gives you dominion over all life and death as you ascend to true godhood... or as the mysteries of the universe open up to you and your enemies become but mere motes of distraction as you achieve enlightenment.  Better yet, make two movies.

I'm not sure which is easier/more effective.

Reply #16 Top

Ahem... Didn't it occur to anyone else that perhaps this thingbob that is presumably "the key to immortality" could also be the reason why player sovereigns are immortal?

Reply #17 Top

Quoting Sareln, reply 15
Alternatively, you commission your art-department to make a sweet movie showing how the artifact gives you dominion over all life and death as you ascend to true godhood... or as the mysteries of the universe open up to you and your enemies become but mere motes of distraction as you achieve enlightenment.  Better yet, make two movies.

I'm not sure which is easier/more effective.

I was hoping the movie is a given anyway! :inlove:

Forgot to say that I really like the story so far!

Reply #18 Top

Argh, connection is really screwy, sorry for the triplepost.:'(

Reply #20 Top

The Quest Victory will involve (probably) some kind of event that submits the world to your will and/or destroy your enemies. Some kind of triggered event. Somehow like Magic Victory that will be (supposedly) based on achieving ubermagical powers of total control and dominion to the point of making useless the actions of the opponents ("You resist to my dominion claims? *poof* Not anymore!").

Reply #21 Top

Quoting Wintersong, reply 1

quoting postNaturally, it will again be disturbed…
I blame Tas.
.

 

thanks Wintersong, I got all the warm fuzzies :')

Reply #22 Top

Quoting Wintersong, reply 8
@Hackbar: victory condition means that if you achieve it, you win. It cannot be a Quest Victory if you get the artifact (supposed end of the Quest Victory) and end having to win the game by a militar victory (that i's not even assured with the artifact because if not the other players would go 'GG').

well, if this is a Victory Condition, and if we have options to select and de-select Victory Conditions, then someone that completes the Quest with "Quest Victory" NOT selected should still be able to wield a superPowerful thing of devastation.

Auric Ascended is supposed to be a "GG" factor, although its not even a victory condition for the Illians. Why? Well, someone with Auric has already won by conventional means *probably*. Although Auric's lethal snowfall allows for something interesting. Magically destroying an army completely, if other spells have wounded the soldiers enough. Killing everyone less than X number of hitpoints, for instance.

Its possible that only another quester, or someone that focuses on just Champions and Rare magical beasts, would have a chance against such a weapon of mass destruction.

Well, this is probably a very difficult quest and not the "victory condition" however, the quest that is the victory condition, I would like to be able to *Use* the item as an option, EVEN if it would just cause "GG" in multiplayer games ... just to demonstrate why its a victory. Sure this might get old after a couple play-throughs, but I think it would be quite satisfying. I think it could have something to do with Being Magic-Immune, Magic is now Unblockable, infinite mana, infinite Shards, and the Sovereign is fully immortal, will teleport to Capital if destroyed no matter what. If killed and has no cities left, then perhaps is entombed, or teleports to the center of the Calebethon dungeon .. and has to fight his way out *again* to wreak havoc on the earth once more.

Still ... this silver orb might not be the key for "victory". It could be the key to unlocking another race ;)

Reply #23 Top

Quoting Raven, reply 13
So how come these Channelers aren't immortal like the Sovereigns are? This is going to lead a lot of people to want their Sov's to age and die and have heirs take over the throne like they do in this story , just saying...

Very cool story though. I'd like to hear more about this Curgen.

 

yea, from the story it sounds like these Channelers could not have a life-span of more than 300-500 years to all fit within a 2000 year span between "yea we are fighting off the Titans" and "Gaah! Cataclysm!!"

Reply #24 Top

This lore information is way out there.

 

I wonder if the book is just full of this. If so I want it.

Reply #25 Top

The orb reminds me a bit of the Orb of Aldur from David Eddings' Belgariad.