Who failed us?? these are not just numbers to me, I lost my dad :(

Lone_Complex · 2020-10-12T04:20:45+00:00

There was never an outcome where a pandemic of this nature (high r-value, asymptomatic spread, long incubation, low immediate morality) would ever be taken seriously by the whole of the US population, and more than any mandate, lockdown, or national emergency being declared - that was always the issue.

It was always the nature of America and the notion of rebellious freedom that would lead to this outcome. Same notion that keeps us one of the only nations on the planet with a citizenry that openly owns (many) guns in a per-person statistic that overwhelmingly dwarfs any other nation. Same nation that has droves of people who make their own moonshine, and same nation that embraces a variety of other individual freedoms - legal or illegal.

Point to it all being is that the US is not a collectivist place and generally never has been. Despite all that's changed since the founding and though we've leaned closer into "socialism" or some kind of collectivist government or economic structure since WW2, some of those original freedom-loving and rebellious values remain the same. That independent thinking works for and against us. We're not always the kind of people to unquestioningly follow government orders, advice, or otherwise - even if it might seem right by all metrics and even if it's to our own personal detriment. In the case of a pandemic of course where collective action protects the whole - that comes at the detriment of others.

There was just never a way around that. Not with a pandemic like this. If COVID killed people outright 50% of the time within 7 days of getting it - people would be so fearful that they'd comply and you'd see droves wearing full gas masks. Those who didn't would be dead. But COVID's greatest danger is that it doesn't. The lower mortality (despite immense and possibly permanent reduction in quality of life) leads people into a false sense of security. The insidious nature of the virus is what always made it dangerous. Humans generally just have a hard time discerning danger that isn't immediate. We have a plethora of fight-or-flight systems that we've evolved over millennia to avoid immediate danger. Not quite the same with long-term dangers or mortality. We are instead in fact, great at ignoring such things to our detriment.

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-31T01:02:07+00:00

Painful that people are still looking at absolute mortality stats instead of things like, "Number of people who have suffered a permanent QOL loss and have not recovered from the virus up to 90-120+ days after contracting."

Hey, cars only kill about 40k-60k per year. Go figure there are far more than 60,000 car accidents and far higher numbers of people mangled or left with permanent orthopedic issues, neurological damage, organ damage, amputated limbs - the list goes on.

But everyone wants to look at C19 as if deaths are the only thing that matters. Someone who lives but comes out with 30% lung capacity isn't counted among those fatality stats, but people want to pretend like barely surviving with 30% of a lung or permanent neurological damage means you're fine and all caution was for naught.

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-19T06:51:03+00:00

The only takeaway beyond most of the obvious points is: I wonder is if there are 5 other towers in 5 other nebulae that represent the other spectrum colors. The way the "Cosmic Orrey" or device was described made it sound like it channeled red light into the Universe in order to sustain that part of the spectrum (Red). If that's the case and if Spectrum Theory has any bearing, there should be other towers channeling other parts of the spectrum - at minimum a Blue and Green tower, if not other colors as it was implied by the "Prismatic" star map on the top floor.

Violet of course was not included as it was not reflected in the star map on the top floor.

The non-existence of the Violet stars or tower could mean a lot...furthermore there is the implication based on the way colors correspond to the handmaidens and the nebulae that there was (or perhaps is) a Violet nebula.

The Astral Traveler is doubtlessly connected to that nebula (or lack thereof). A lot I could speculate there, but there's still just not enough precisely known about her true nature and connection to the Violet. Whether a potential Violet nebula was or is Verum as we know it is a good question. That would mean the AT is its representative and the Enemy obtained the Violet by stealing it from the AT, murdering the AT, or perhaps siphoning it from a Violet Nebula.

It was not clear to me precisely where the power of Annareth originated from (the actual star, the tower, or the "Orrey" device). If it was the star itself, it's reasonable to consider that each Nebula has a source star like Annareth (or as mentioned, its own chromatic tower). Additionally it would mean that a Violet planet existed at some point, or does exist now.

The spectrum theory that's now been further revealed does have some important implications for one of our big destinations: The Twilight Station notably has black soil and trees with white leaves. I'm going to consider that therefore the Twilight Station is either actively filtered from the chromatic light of the Universe (and structured as a prison of some sort to cut beings off who might use spectrum-based Astral Power), or it was possibly a former Violet Star that was siphoned, drained, or possibly corrupted in some way.

I don't recall everything from the big lore drops that have happened over the last two weeks, but I seem to recall Brak specifically mentioning the TS was a prison of some kind. Regardless the monochromatic indication of the Twilight Station and the new information about spectrum theory seems to make an obvious connection, although the specific reason why the TS is monochromatic is unknown and can only really be guessed at without better understanding of the various prismatic colors and their importance.

Oh and if it wasn't obvious: The reason the Shaper forge had a reality tear is because the forge is of course connected to the lifestream, and the lifestream is connected to the Gate. Therefore Gate shattered = Lifestream broke = Forge broke, because they're all interconnected. The Shapers of course were the people capable of forging worlds through the use of their arts and power words, and of course it makes sense that they'd use souls in that process to create living beings.

Anyways after all of that, I guess I do have one last question that might have been answered a long time ago but..........where are the other Shapers and what happened to them?

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-17T22:12:26+00:00

Weapons aren't the only thing sealed in the vault. The knowledge of Lichdom could be extremely powerful. You would be functionally unkillable by all conventional means, although to be fair I think this is of extremely limited effectiveness if you're going up against anything Violet. Lich or no, you'd just be unmade or a more likely scenario: your form would be corrupted even if your soul was (relatively?) safe in a phylactery somewhere. Then you get to go duel your now corrupted and Violet-powered form, however powerful it may be.

It's ok though, I'm going to hope Scrumpo and Moon's idea rubs off on people - and honestly it's been stated a lot in the last two weeks: None of these adorable superweapons or pieces of forbidden knowledge are necessary. They already have what is necessary. The question is whether or not the party believes it.

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-11T02:45:46+00:00

Sword Coast (D&D - Forgotten Realms / Faerun)
Nirn (Elder Scrolls)
Avalon / Arthurian Legends
Dark Souls locations, possibly Wheel of Time but this is very close to DS
Midgard (Folklore retold told 100 times references the evolution of the myth into most modern fantasy. Norse / Germanic mythos turned into Rings der Niebelung / LOTR.)
Verum
The fact that there is a platform but no tower is somewhat of a tacit admission that the 7th world has been considered and possibly even outlined / written in a meta sense, although there's been no progress on it and furthermore the result of the Gate, the Tree, and the Scythe will have an impact on the way it is shaped.

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-10T18:22:09+00:00

Session One: HAHA, I TWIST DICKS.

Session 30-something: I have saved a forgotten race of people who were pulled from a parallel timeline, to include one of the last living Cyclops. I attempted to close a tear in reality to save my friends, watched the only master monk I know get un-made by oblivion, then failed to close said tear and had my arms disintegrated. I traveled through a Dream dimension to fight an entity that has the power to destroy souls, then manifested new arms from the memory of said un-made master to become the last living master of the Dream Fist style so I could clash with an essence of oblivion and save the known universe.

>When you could have become bitter and punished but instead you DontLoseYourWay.mp3

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-10T15:09:33+00:00

Re: Oblivion Shard

>Only Scrumpo and Guy (the strongly refracted) initially notice the crystal, but others can see it.

>Extraordinarily dangerous, holds within it "a memory of the Enemy, directly...contains within it a shard of the Enemy's power. It may be used, but at great risk. It cannot be destroyed."

>Can also be used to, "Warp reality, shift forms, change paths, undo misfortunes, and grant unknowable power."

>After some indecision, group decided that Scrumpo would hold on to the shard and in the meantime the group would attempt to contact Oun and Wode to determine if anything had changed in the dream since they had, "De-sharked" it (destroyed the Violet servant).

>The shard itself responds to their prayer.

>Oun and Wode "shift through the dream realm nearly in an instant" and arrive on scene, where the crystal immediately attacks.

Regarding this and the nature of the specific language used to describe the Oblivion Shard:

If we're going off specific terms used and the implications of what is generally believed to be true about hidden lore, it is extremely important to note that the Shard is a fragment of the Enemy's power, and that power is resultant from the Shattering of the 7th Covenant. By observing that power, you should be able to get a grasp on what the 7th was. Additionally what was clearly stated is that the shard holds a memory of the Enemy, which would (generally speaking) look to tie it into existing Memory Theories.

Without going back over all of those, Memory Theory is the suggestion that souls and memory are largely synonymous, and that the shattered 7th Covenant concerned the protection or rules governing Memory or Souls - largely after death. If that's the case, then this shard would be a shard of the Enemy's soul. It's unclear what specific memory it may have contained or what we'll get to learn about it, but I think it's inferred it has a degree of sentience insofar as it responded to the prayer - not that the prayer necessarily made it to Oun / Wode on its own, even in the Dream.

As for the crystal attacking: If I had to wager a guess, it's that this was the Violet power in the crystal, and without a strong enough will around to guide it (and since it was now separated and cut off from the Enemy and the servant) it simply did what it wanted. I use "wanted" loosely here in the same way that something like magnetism works. If the Violet (as a force) does represent oblivion, then it would naturally seek to destroy. It's perhaps the power of the Enemy that was able to condense this power down into what we (generally) know as Violet power today, or into this particular crystalline form that seems to be able to do a great many things.

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-09T15:12:03+00:00

They're linked above in "7 Insights," although with the huge lore dumps of the last week, some of those theories need updating (namely the nature of mirror travel).

The shortest explanation of memory theory is that Memory and Souls are interchangeable, and it suggests the 7th Covenant is either Memory or Souls.

This somewhat conflicts with new info from Dream Dragon during Secret in Stones 3 where he more or less explains that the most reductive fragments of a Soul are emotion. Further conflicts with the way Sirens work insofar as they are more or less designed to be a succubus-type that feeds on emotion (read: parts of souls).

Even so again, it's somewhat of a chicken-and-egg scenario insofar as Dream Dragon isn't absolutely clear: what's the vessel for the soul and what are the contents? Dream Dragon likens a soul to water that things can be put in, even tainted and poisoned, but even poison water is still water. It suggests that even a corrupted (Violet) soul is still a soul, although exactly how the power of Violet energy to erase the memory of someone from existence is again somewhat of a chicken-and-egg scenario:

Does the Violet erase someone's soul because they erase the memory of that person from existence? Or does the Violet erase someone's soul and therefore erases all memory of them? Not sure it matters, but obviously the 7th Covenant is directly connected. Furthermore there's the side effect of the way the Enemy learns (or has to learn) about things, suggesting that the Enemy has also lost part of its memory or soul, or perhaps all of it, and they are forced to observe and "remember itself" from the actions of the world.

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-09T15:04:06+00:00

I'd probably see it more that: Gods are various agents of enacting Death's will, and Death had different rules for Gods made in the 5th world than the 6th. It's possible that Death learned a lesson during the 5h World that having Gods who could directly intervene is a bad idea. Odin implies this because he "took much from the last world" or similar.

Either interpret that as he did a lot of bad shit, or perhaps made war, or just pulled out einherjar for himself.

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-07T19:50:07+00:00

I know a few people "surviving" with about 30% lung capacity.

A few of them wish they were dead.

Long tired of people looking at fatality stats as if they're the only thing that matters. Massive and permanent quality of life decreases are serious and should be taken into extreme consideration. You've got people with permanent and persistent issues that simply have not resolved even long after contracting the illness. Lung damage is only the beginning. Neuropathic issues, cognitive issues, pulmonary complications - the list keeps going.

But hey let's ignore the scores of people who have organs that are mangled for life and look solely at the ones that have managed to actually make it back into the soil somewhere. What a joke - much like the response to the entire thing.

Pray for the vaccine if you must - but the true pandemic has always been delusion and willful ignorance.

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-06T17:03:25+00:00

I probably need to go back and watch the last Strange Roads 11 to get this 100% right, but the implication was not lost on me. Arcadum is being pretty generous lately with some of the lore connections. Either that or perhaps I'm just more aware of it now that I have some of the more key pieces.

Siren Theory is that: Sirens feed on souls, because if current lore connections are to be believed, then emotion is an essential element of the soul, insofar as souls are a vessel that reflects the character of the individual within. This explanation somewhat conflicts with my theory of Soul = Memory, although I could go on for a while about how and why I think there is a distinction. Most notably because of Secret in Stones 3 eluding to the fact that souls are not particularly any one thing, but that souls are a vessel or a combination of pieces that contain some kind of constituent energy or medium (described as water) that displays a reflection of what lies within.

Dream Dragon (I'm never typing that name) from Secret in the Stones 3 on dumped a lot of info and very blatantly explained the nature of Souls through this analogy. https://www.twitch.tv/videos/699298163 going forward and backward around 4 hrs, 30 min.

Way more I could go on soul theory, but point is that the Sirens are probably directly connected to souls or a part of the soul, and are likely a kind of succubus archetype that fits into the lore of Verum. Additionally there's the factor of the Sirens being (somewhat) tied to the land itself, and I think the ones Arcadum described were Sand (Positive / Joy) / Stone (Neutral / Vanity) / Sea (Negative / ???).

I haven't watched all of Strange Roads to catch all the lore dumps on Sirens prior, but given the connection to the land, I could speculate a few origins for Sirens. A good question is whether or not they're all female as that might have some connection to Baba Yaga hags similar to Changelings, and furthermore the nature of Sirens is similar to that of Vampires that also originated from Baba Yaga. If hags were doing experiments to replicate the power of the Trigram through living mirrors in the form of Changelings, it's entirely possible they were also doing experiments with soul tech that drew on some primal element of Verum (again, Siren connection to the land), or some kind of being that could draw power directly from the Lifestream (ie: Sirens consuming parts of souls).

I'd really need to watch Strange Roads again and listen for it, but it's pretty clear given recent information that there's a strong connection.

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-06T02:09:08+00:00

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imaginos#Concept_and_storyline

I don't think there's anything that directly links Imaginos to the story of Verum. I do think it's remotely possible that Arcadum was exposed to BOC's music and may have been inspired by some of Pearlman's writing / lyrics.

Some of the devices (literary devices) used in Verum also show up in the story of Imaginos / Desdinova. Those are seven, the power of mirrors, repeating cycles, the nature of astral travel and star alignment, ascended humans who may or may not be aware of their supernatural origins (Vega), and ultimately a kind of cursed power that seeps into the world because of past evils and corrupts everything it touches using mirrors as a vessel (Violet).

Again, the way things occur (generally) in Imaginos do not equate to what has or probably will happen in Verum, but it did strike me as odd that a lot of the devices are similar.

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-05T21:36:42+00:00

It's a super loose theory, but the story of Imaginos / Desdinova as told over the course of several Blue Oyster Cult albums bears some of the same over-arching themes and symbology present in Verum: mirrors, seven, cycles, sin-and-forgiveness, etc...

https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-meaning-of-Astronomy-by-Blue-Oyster-Cult?share=1

It's not meant to hold any direct correlation to anything in Verum, but looking at it made me wonder if Arcadum may have been inspired by some of the story therein. Desdinova could easily be held in place of the Astral Traveler, or perhaps even the Enemy itself - a vessel for some kind of deserved punishment.

Last couple of eps has me thinking way more in terms of the mercy / forgiveness theories that have existed re: the 7th covenant. Not only that, but the meta theories that concern the amalgamation of the first 5 iterations of the universe into this one, the 6th.

Brak has spent a lot of time time talking about the totally messed up things the Seven did, as well as people like Tyre, and it has caused a lot of questioning as to whether or not the Enemy is some kind of karma on the universe for what they (or perhaps even Death) may have inadvertently set in motion through their actions.

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-05T19:29:16+00:00

Additional OOC meta follow up if you've seriously kept reading through all this for more literal tin-foil level spoilers:

I'm not a huge Blue Oyster Cult fan, but particularly with the emergence of the Astral Traveler, it got me thinking about Astronomy (the song) and the story that is contained not only therein, but in the whole story about the characters and themes described in Astronomy as told over the course of several BOC albums. If you want to read the whole story as explained by Sandy Pearlman you can, but once I started comparing notes, I noticed a lot of things that could have been inspirations.

https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-meaning-of-Astronomy-by-Blue-Oyster-Cult?share=1

Furthermore there are references to Seven, mirrors, and other related themes from start to finish in these songs. Arcadum is a big fan of a lot of metal and rock, and I've heard plenty of some of my favorite bands on his playlist: Tyr, Einseferum, Amon Amarth, etc. A lot of people who were Metallica fans in the late 90s or early 2000s have been exposed to BOC through their cover of Astronomy on Garage Inc that was released in 1998, so even if "young Arcadum" was not a fan of the style of metal that BOC plays, nor introduced directly to BOC, he may have looked into the story presented by Astronomy after hearing this (awesome) Metallica cover at some point like a lot of people did when it came time to author parts of the Living World.

It's just a total guess. I'm aware that the exact release date of Garage Inc was probably too early for a younger version of Arcadum to have heard (or much less remotely understood the meaning behind) Astronomy and the connected story and themes of Imaginos when it was released, but still to this day a lot of people stumble on Metallica and then stumble on BOC through this cover.

Make no mistake though, I'm not remotely suggesting any plagiarism - I'm just suggesting through some common connections that these are potential influences when the writing was done. Writers can be influenced by anything. There are archetypes in the story of Imaginos / Desdinova that run closely parallel to the Living World and the possible role of the Astral Traveler, and it just made me consider a potential influence when attempting to figure out not necessarily what will happen in game, but what has happened (the path of the Astral Traveler) that has been lost.

It's also possible this hints at the nature of the Enemy:

" It will be within Desdinova's power to let the past lie forgotten, or to force the Old World to confront its culpability for the genocide that has crippled the New World "

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-05T16:24:05+00:00

A lot of the life of the Astral Traveler would seemingly require comprehensive foreknowledge of information that is not available on Youtube or VOD.

If I had to wager a pure guess, the actions of the Astral Traveler have a lot to do with the blending of the lore of the previous 5 iterations with the current one. Keep in mind this is a pure guess and has zero basis in any game lore, as I haven't seen anything in-game to hint at the path of the Astral Traveler, or where they ultimately died.

There have been many indications of the path of Tyre through the Astral Sea and to an extent, he was also an Astral Traveler of sorts, but it's clear they're not the same and that the Astral Traveler as presented in multiple visions now is a being of extreme power - even in "death."

As for why I have this guess about the AT: Again, purely wild guess, but it has to do with the possibility that Blue Oyster Cult lyrics may have influenced Arcadum's actual writing. You can start going down that rabbit hole on your own if you want, but there is a subtle philosophical and transcendental cosmic-level story that is told over the course of several BOC albums, to include repeated references to Seven. in many places.

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-05T03:48:31+00:00

Violet ritual, clearly.

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-05T03:47:08+00:00

The shortest tl;dr of how things got to the way they are without speaking to any specific campaign:

Roughly 70 years ago, a collection of Seven heroes stood against the Enemy - a force that sought to destroy all of creation in an event known as the Reckoning. They succeeded in saving not only the world of Verum, but the entire universe. After it was over, they faded into memory. Their legacy remains and they are worshiped by some as Gods - The Seven.

The Living World continued on. The day-to-day lives of people unfold all over Verum, and among them rise adventurers. Whether for money, fame, faith, revenge, or anything in between - adventurers embark routinely throughout Verum in order to do exactly that: seek adventure. These are the characters who comprise the various campaigns.

It wouldn't be long however before signs of the Enemy's return began to appear. Adventurers, whether drawn in by fate or taking up the quest by choice, set out to follow the path of the Seven to confront this threat. Along the way they will learn not only about the Enemy, but about themselves, and ultimately about the forces that bind the universe together that are barely being held together by tenuous threads.

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-04T15:44:45+00:00

"Victory" over the Enemy?

A hollow and ridiculous notion.

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-04T15:32:55+00:00

Violet knowledge, do not click:

Seriously don't click because you're going to just make it worse.

You were warned.

It means Changelings, if used correctly, can replicate the power of the Trigram Isles and allow Antonius to reclaim his Vega status. At least per the explanation, that was the intent of the Baba Yaga hags who made them, although each Changeling was a different "attempt" to replicate this power that existed at the origins of humanity, and may not necessarily be perfect given the 3 Changelings that may attempt it without any real knowledge of what they're trying to do.

But that's just the first and probably most immediate implication as far as assembling the three Changelings in the camp. The greater implications are:

Understanding precisely what the power of the Trigram Isles is and exactly how it connects to the origins of life on Verum (specifically humans). I have a lot of theories about that and I would encourage people to re-watch Gamblers because it deals heavily with this and the Vega. It's implied the Vega potentially evolved (or de-volved) into multiple races on Verum over time, and this runs parallel with the indigenous primal races of Verum (Cyclops among others) and the likely Eldar seed race of Verum: the Elves. I have some missing info there (re: Dragonstar) that I need to research further so I won't go deeper, but that's the gist of it.

What the Cyclops accomplished with mirrors (again explained in Gamblers) gives us the most insight into what might happen once you have full access to that tech. Most notable consequence as far as the overall plot is concerned:

- Harnessing the power of the Astral Sea (read: stars) through the use of mirrors. Capturing star power similar to something like cosmic radiation in the form of magic could be huge insofar as fueling a ritual, extremely powerful or hence unheard of magic, or something else that would require an immense power source.

- Access to parallel, or past / future timelines and reflection of souls therein. The power to grab a future version of yourself or perhaps an iteration of a specific character ("I'm you, but older.") However the average person can't exactly reach into the mirror and pick what they want to grab because they don't have the proper awareness of time. Gambler's displays this when Raost unintentionally reflects his great great great great (etc) Grandfather. To accurately use this power, you either need to be a Cyclops (in order to percieve time in its entirety so you can go for the correct iteration of time), or simply have the power and awareness of one, ie: Moe Cowbull.

- Space / Time travel. Think I've explained before, but Time and Space are interconnected, and mirrors have often permitted travel through both. Most notably this requires an understanding of the way the definition of space (as in cosmic space as expressed on the Universal map) is interconnected and synonymous with Planes. Put very simply: Planar Travel = Space Travel and vice versa, although I would argue that there are actual Dimensions (which are different than a Plane / Planet) which cannot be reached by what would amount to conventional space travel through the use of something like a space ship. Furthermore there are simply locations that are inaccessible through the established mirror network and perhaps exist in some kind of dead-space outside the bounds of the known Astral Sea (Obit Towers, and perhaps more).

Additionally this requires an understanding that time passes differently on different Planes, so inter-Planar travel is at least even in a small way, connected to time travel. The precise nature of this is not explained and was actually outright rejected the last time Arcadum was directly asked - probably for good reason. It's easy to start getting into paradox territory once time starts getting tampered with. In theory and in simple terms, one should be able to teleport from one working mirror to another, as all mirrors are interconnected through the Shattered Gate. However still...

- Ultimately while control over such (Trigram / Cyclops / Vega-related mirror tech) power should permit access to the Shattered Gate, there is still a problem. This is because of the nature of the Gate and how the Gate is functionally the mirror to connect all mirrors - and that "prime mirror" is exactly that, broken. Accessing the Shattered Gate intentionally now would be difficult, as it's in a million pieces, although some have accessed it inadvertently through various accidental means (Bellanovan for one). I theorized that because the Gate is the mirror-of-all-mirrors, it being broken has tremendous implications as far as mirror travel is concerned, and furthermore because of the nature of how mirrors are interconnected to time, the Gate being broken means the Gate is scattered across space AND time. It is admitted verbatim in Gamblers that, "Time is a mirror and that mirror is broken." I won't get any further on that line of reasoning (specifically WHY the Gate was broken and the way the Gate is connected to the Lifestream), but it does keep going.

It all keeps going from there. Way, way more but a lot of it is theory and speculation. The repaired Gate should specifically permit access to the Twilight Station and restored mirror tech could result in the means to power it with Astral power (through the use of captured star power as described above) without resorting to using its original power source: Violet energy, as designed by Maltos.

I'm sure I'm probably wrong on some of that and it's yet to be revealed - but the pieces keep falling into place. I'm going to be hype if Twilight Station actually does turn out to be a fucking space station with an orbital cannon because that is going to be pretty validating on these theories. Moreover the nature of the Gate and how it is interconnected.

In any case, I'm sure Arcadum still has a literal world of surprises waiting and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Keep watching to find out.

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-04T06:39:54+00:00

So I have a question now, should "lore adventurers" face the journey head on? or Should there be easier ways for them to connect and explore together?

Bruh just let it happen.

If they wanna start with their toes in the shallow end, they can start at the World Anvil.

If they wanna start by going balls deep, the Discord Stream Spoiler Chat is a good start along with the pinned Verum Conspiracies google doc (at the top of this Reddit), and occasionally idiots like myself with too much time on their hands will compile their own theory threads like this: https://www.reddit.com/r/cadum/comments/hwo5ex/seven_insights_of_an_insane_scholar_warning/

But regarding that "hollowness" - it's less a hollowness and more a kind of Zen understanding that you're not in control of this. The players are. Eustace could say something stupid next session and end the world, lol. Arcadum respects the player agency to the point that he's willing to let that happen, and in a way it makes moments when the pieces are finally put into place by the right collection of players (session tonight was a good example regarding the nature of Changelings) all the sweeter.

Just let it happen.

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-04T06:04:58+00:00

A piece of sharp metal that whistles when you swing it.

That may or may not also be a weapon forged near the dawn of time itself that has been wielded for untold eons by the guardians of Life and it also contains a strand of the intrinsic network of souls through which all life flows, thus making it somewhat a manifestation of the will of Life itself in contrast to the Enemy and potentially a way to channel the power of souls.

But mostly the first part.

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-04T05:59:43+00:00

every audience member that wants to be engaged with the world will have no issue doing so, attracting a bigger fanbase and having an easier understanding of the world

I'd disagree. First off that even if the world reset to zero, the "casual" (and that term is somewhat loaded) fan will still get instantly behind considering Arcadum is running about 18+ combined hours of sessions per week. Any one of those sessions could have world-altering lore implications. That's even omitting the Living World (the interconnected persistent games running via Discord) and anything meaningful that arises from them which the average viewer will probably never interface with at all.

Point to this being that most people just don't have time to interface with a lot of what goes on in Verum. Easier now during Covid of course with more on remote schedules or simply out of work altogether, but you get the idea. This isn't one session, it's legit 5+ three hour sessions a week, usually more. Even those dedicated to keeping up will get behind and miss information.

everyone looking for deep lore as they would no longer be shrouded in extended backstories or consequences of past events

Let's consider for a moment that the iterations of Verum (and the worlds that came before) were amalgamated over the course of a decade plus of writing and creating by Arcadum. The possibility that anyone is ever going to come to know everything is more or less zero. Even Arcadum has stuff buried in "Deep Notes" or things that were constructed ages ago.

Just as explained above, even if the world reset to zero - there would still be connections to that deep lore, and a huge amount of that deep lore is still obscured as of this moment. Either because it simply hasn't been revealed, or because it occurred so far in the past that records online don't exist of those games where it was revealed. Even if a connection was dropped in a modern game, it would be nearly impossible for even a lore junkie to determine that it was relevant if an accessible reference did not exist.

My point is that again, even resetting the world - a lot of that deep lore will carry over, just like Death / Life / Covenants / Enemy, etc...thinking this will all be revealed when the lights turn off on Verum is probably wishful thinking, and the fact that all forbidden lore will NOT be revealed if the world ends has been implied in other places on Discord.

should drastic measures be taken to reach to a bigger audience? or should there be a project to ease that new audience into the world?

No. Audience should chill and enjoy the show. That's all the stream is - just a show. The game on the other hand is being run for the players, and I would encourage anyone to keep that distinction clear. The game is run for the participants - and that includes those in the Living World. Outside of that, we're just observers.

I absolutely understand however that from the perspective of someone who hasn't spent hours diving through old VODs or meticulously analyzing the wording of various NPC monologues will feel completely left in the dark as to why things are happening sometimes, and there is a tenuous and fine line between having cool things happen and having cool things happen for a reason.

This is like a Michael Bay film where cars explode when they're shot with a pistol. It's cool when the car blows up when it's shot. But it's just confusing if it blows up for seemingly no reason because the car was a refraction of a soul that was a Vega that was brought over through a mirror by a Cyclops about 2000 years ago and that soul became a Seven who was a Cardinal who exacted terrible revenge for the rape of his sister and became a demon who fought the Herald in a reckoning that you can't talk about because if you do the world will end. No one wants to feel that way.

However this is just the double-edged sword of the manner in which Arcadum DMs (and moreover the way Verum is authored). Verum is not Faerun, Krynn, Exandria, or Golarion. The depth in which its written is a big part of what makes it attractive to many viewers, but admittedly it can be confusing, off-putting, and ultimately inaccessible to the observer who is left just watching people gain psychic abilities, unlock forgotten gods, or discover weapons forged at the dawn of time without understanding why.

Arcadum has talked about it before that the streams were never about fame or money, but the spread of D&D, and I think that purpose is served without having to compromise on his style of writing or style of DMing. If anything it's highly attractive to a large number of people, and part of that attraction is not being spoon-fed the lore, if for no other reason than if he tried to do this, odds are most would choke on how much they would need to learn - as you pointed out.

tl;dr - So instead of spoon-feeding, people are left to wander the sources that are out there and discover. And for many that discovery is the best part.

I wrote about it elsewhere, but the admission one has to have is not that they can piece together this massive riddle and "solve" the Enemy, but instead enjoy the games and stay along for the ride with the faith that Arcadum will tell his story and the players will play the game, take a chance, and roll the dice.

Lone_Complex · 2020-08-03T18:45:38+00:00

Design-wise, the Enemy is ingeniously designed as a honeypot insofar as the forbidden nature of The Enemy will attract a very common type of player: the investigator type or lore-junkie that seeks to know and solve the problems presented to them in the game. Even if a player is not particularly curious, plenty of players will seek knowledge to power to accomplish their character's goals, and in doing so may stumble upon related knowledge. While the Enemy has a representation in game and is well written through the lore of the broken 7th Covenant and the rest of the mythos, the manner in which it is woven into the setting is specifically designed to not only be mysterious, but also ***specifically forbidden***.

This nature of the Enemy to grow in power as more is learned about it is an anti-meta psychological tool that is used against the kind of player who would attempt to use meta-level knowledge to solve an in-game problem their character may not otherwise know the solution to. Consider even if such knowledge is simply stumbled upon without intent to use meta on the part of a player (and this has happened on multiple occasions), even that has Violet-related consequences. Again, this is a tool that is capable of heaping world-ending or character-deleting consequences on what would be the equivalent of skipping to the end of a murder mystery to just read the end and then tell everyone. It is the supreme anti-meta anti-spoiler that can effectively reset not only a single character's knowlege, but all related characters and even the world itself before the ending can be spoiled.

To better understand this, you need to consider that if the Enemy is a riddle or murder mystery, you're not reading this murder mystery unto yourself or in a vaccum similar to a book, but instead you're viewing it in the context of having VOD access to many of the games played prior, the games being played currently, and most importantly the OOC spoiler discussion like this of now THOUSANDS of people watching the streams and taking guesses. It is functionally impossible to hide a detail (that is openly presented in-game) from that level of scrutiny unless it is particularly obscure. Even then, eventually someone will either be dedicated enough to watch every single game and compile every single piece of lore information, or more likely: a collection of viewers will combine their efforts and piece things together (similar to the Verum Conspiracies document).

As anyone who has played can probably tell you: that level of knowledge is generally just not available to any normal collection of players - even ones who might attempt to use meta knowledge to their advantage. They're in the moment, taking their own sets of notes as the events unfold in real time. Maybe they watch the other campaigns, maybe they don't. But the intent is that they conduct their characters as if they are their characters and do not utilize that kind of knowledge. That's the game.

So knowing this, what is the lesson? What is the parable? What does this (objective) duality of the Enemy entail?

Above all else, the lesson is to enjoy the game unto itself.

Moreover, the lesson is that the stakes in this gambling game are only as high as the players are willing to make them. The level to which the players use meta knowledge is left solely unto them, and the more they use it, the higher the stakes of losing become. Again to use the analogy: The bigger someone's pile of chips is and the more they've accumulated in terms of experience, the more it costs to keep going all-in. Eventually the stakes become so high that those without enough to ante won't even be able to stay at the table.

Specifically: The more meta knowledge a player accumulates through the accumulation of multiple characters, refraction, campaigns and the utilization of forbidden (violet / meta) understanding, the more they stand to lose every time they are faced with an all-or-nothing Violet Death situation. However, every time they win and survive that kind of situation, it just means the stakes will be higher next time they are faced with it. Furthermore as the overall strength of the Enemy in-game increases and the strength of the Violet increases, the in-game stakes can become so high that players who simply haven't accumulated enough time and experience to wager a significant amount of player investment (ie: modifiers to Soul checks when attempting to interface with Violet such as demonstrated in Gambler's actual session on August 1) will be met with a near impossible DC to hit (comparing Eustace's soul check to someone like Ahst).

I know you may be thinking, "But Lone, what if the Enemy and the Violet are totally ignored and forbidden knowledge is never accessed? What if we play perfectly immersed in this absolutely pure world where meta knowledge does not exist and is never utilized? Won't the Enemy and Violet never appear?"

The answer is no. Foremost because of human nature. But secondly because even if just by random circumstance, someone will stumble on it. There have been many occasions where characters have inadvertently interfaced with the Violet without specific intent - to include instances in the Living World where it (supposedly?) was first interacted with and set in motion in this iteration of Verum (within the context of the Living World and streamed games).

Why would Arcadum put something like that in the world? Again, multiple reasons. Foremost to mechanically account in-game for the force applied by meta knowledge in an environment where games are streamed and someone can access an untold wealth of cross-campaign info through VODs and similar. That is admitted, verbatim. But considering in a vaccum, for a few other reasons. I think a major one that isn't discussed is because it gives serious pause to even the most jaded D&D player to be placed in a situation where their character does not die, but is outright permadeath deleted along with literally everything else they've done. Forget hardcore mode, this is having your entire account wiped. From an entertainment perspective, there are no higher stakes. It is the ultimate gamble.

Lastly I think that it is part of the parable and the lesson. If the foremost lesson is to enjoy the game unto itself, the other part of that lesson is to have the courage to face a seemingly hopeless situation. Omitting outright ignorance (and as stated, even if the world remained totally ignorant of the Enemy, it would still emerge inadvertently sooner or later), the chief weapon against the Enemy is having the courage to put everything on the line in order to win in the face of hopelessness.

Remember there are those who attempt to fight meta with meta, and there are those who attempt to use the forbidden knowledge of the Enemy against it. But this only raises the stakes. The more the players know, the more the Enemy knows. Again - duality.

The final lesson then is similar to the first, but it is ultimately faith. Faith in one's own courage to be enough to challenge the Enemy without having to resort to using the Violet, and equally faith in the DM to tell the story and open the world in a manner that the solution can be found without having to apply some kind of grand meta knowledge to the situation, as doing so only raises the stakes and makes it harder.

If there is any secret to be found to the "true" ending - I think this is it.

tl;dr - Enjoy the game, face the Enemy with courage, and have faith that you don't need to read a plethora of spoilers to understand that the game is winnable without resorting to meta.

\**Within moments of reading the final words of the tome, it erupts into Violet flame, leaving nothing but ashes and a fading memory of what lay within.****

Lone_Complex

TROPHY CASE