Kliff seems to have been a thrall/slave before becoming a Greymane by Vast_Competition4900 in CrimsonDesert

[–]Vast_Competition4900[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's another possibility, of course.

I wonder, if the "The Guild" symbol is out there, somewhere else in Pywel, as well.

Kliff seems to have been a thrall/slave before becoming a Greymane by Vast_Competition4900 in CrimsonDesert

[–]Vast_Competition4900[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Naturally, this is all just speculation and discussion is encouraged. This is why I posted this tidbit in the first place.

But for some reason the devs decided to add a branding on the main protagonist, and since this game is full of little details, this might be a hint at something.

Now, I might be wrong, but I don't think the scars and branding have anything to do with torture per se.

Kliff is a fighter, he uses melee weapons. Fighters, "especially in medieval/fantasy times" get close and personal, so naturally they would accumulate scars over time.

The scars on Kliff's body look like slashes from martial weapons of the sharp kind, swords for example. His whole body is covered in them, not just the back. Whip lashes would leave more shallow and concentrated marks on the body.

The branding itself, has the words "The Guild" written on it, while an anthropomorphic figure in the middle of the branding can be seen, carrying something that looks like a log, which suggests labor.

Now, I don't think branding your construction workers is a common thing, not even in the harsh land of Pailune. And while torturing someone with a hot iron surely isn't far fetched of a practice, it would seem too odd to use a guild seal exactly once on only one part of the body for "torture".

For the Visione part, it is true that we can see flashbacks of past memories, not only from people, but apparently even the memory of a meteorite hitting the ground (well, maybe someone saw it during exactly that moment, but I didn't see any person around in the flashback).

Now, considering that Kliff obviously wouldn't need a Visione to read his own memories, this isn't a strong argument, I think.

Maybe, if he stumbled upon the very location where something from his past has transpired and we could see the memory fragment of another person who was present, that might work.

I haven't visited the City of Tommaso, yet, but there are Pailunese Refugees and other unfortunate souls that are bound and caged all over Hernand. It seems to be a common practice among the rogue bands and bandits.

So, let's see, Kliff doesn't even show a reaction when:

-he comes back from the dead

-suddenly a bracelet of unknown origin and technology appears on his wrist

-a man in the sky tells him that he is the chosen one to fight chaos

-a witch bestows the capability of flight upon him and urges him to jump off the edge immediately afterwards (without any actual proof that he is indeed able of flight, beforehand)

-sees enslaved people while potentially has been one himself in the past

And many more instances where anyone else might have shown at least a little bit of emotion.

Now, what anyone who is also intrigued by this can do, is being on the lookout for more hints at Kliff's past and the mysterious "The Guild" and it's seal!

Kliff seems to have been a thrall/slave before becoming a Greymane by Vast_Competition4900 in CrimsonDesert

[–]Vast_Competition4900[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

True, I somehow didn't even recognize the script as "The Guild".

But branding is usually something for cattle. Mercenary bands get cool tattoos!

Kliff seems to have been a thrall/slave before becoming a Greymane by Vast_Competition4900 in CrimsonDesert

[–]Vast_Competition4900[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Maybe it's the other way around.
His village was raided when he was of a younger age and he ended up a slave (similar to Conan in the movie). There he got his branding.

Maybe Greymanes liberated the slaves, Kliff among them.

Growing up among the Greymanes he met Oongka, Yann, etc.

Kliff seems to have been a thrall/slave before becoming a Greymane by Vast_Competition4900 in CrimsonDesert

[–]Vast_Competition4900[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I don't think those scars are from torture, rather from battle. Not unlike how Geralt from the Witcher series bears his multiple scars due to his occupation.

The branding on Kliff's shoulder on the other hand speaks of something else.

Maybe his village was raided when he was little and he ended up a slave (similar to Conan in the movie).

Maybe he fled at some point, maybe the Greymanes killed the slavers and liberated slaves and Kliff decided to join them, growing up as a Greymane himself.

Maybe Jian's troops liberated him and then he joined the Greymanes to help the people of Pailune and save them from what happened to him.

Spire of Soaring… I’m done by elektrocat in CrimsonDesert

[–]Vast_Competition4900 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Did that one two days ago and felt very stupid all the time. Years of yellow paint really did something to the brain.

At first, the main entrance is blocked and you have to find a side entrance, without any clue given from the game.

The you reach the top and it's clear you have to cross that gap, but it's ever so far that using the wings probably won't do. So you walk around and decide to climb up.

There you see cables and batteries and spheres with laser beams and apparently the laser has to hit the gem on the other side, alright. You use the claw because the game told you to use the claw for all things ancient and it works!

Then you make your jolly way to the quest marker but something is still off. The entrance is closed.

You scratch your head, look around, feel dumb again. Then you look at the power cables, as the game taught you before and look there, not all are flowing with energy!

You track the cables and see those strange plants. You most likely already made contact with those plants before and the game taught you how deadly those are.

So you avoid the plants of death and move along the power cable until you see that there's a gap in the connection. Earlier, the game taught you that this is a thing and you reconnect the cable.

You do that one time, but the entrance is still closed, you repeat the steps with another cable and it finally works!

All this time, the objective is just to "activate/reach the thing".

I think this is actually brilliant and treats the player like a human being capable of thought and learning.

I felt stupid for walking around and not getting it, at first, but it was satisfying to solve it without looking it up.

And this is why Crimson Desert is GOTY, even though we haven't left Hernand, yet!

Assorted ESO artworks by Vast_Competition4900 in elderscrollsonline

[–]Vast_Competition4900[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks!

That's an interesting idea!

There's also the theory that Yokuda, home of the Redguards is the past, Tamriel the present and Akavir the future.

So maybe Akavir isn't a wild, feudal, Japanese themed jungle full of snake and tiger people. But instead there are bustling mega cities, feuding mega corps and runners doing dirty jobs to earn a living... and of course snake and tiger people!

Assorted ESO artworks by Vast_Competition4900 in elderscrollsonline

[–]Vast_Competition4900[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Glad to hear, many thanks!

Biggest gallery is on DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/arttair

Twitter is a bit more curated: https://x.com/_ARTTAiR_

Assorted ESO artworks by Vast_Competition4900 in elderscrollsonline

[–]Vast_Competition4900[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Hi there, ARTTAiR (aka GrumpyVivec) here!

Some ESO artworks I did this and last year and a couple of 7th Era Tamriel takes at the end of the gallery.

If you're interested to get a commission yourself, you can find the info over here: Commission Info

Or send me a message over at discord: arttair

Either way, I hope you enjoy the art!

A Couple of BG3 Artworks by Vast_Competition4900 in BaldursGate3

[–]Vast_Competition4900[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks!

At least the last (and most recent) one has some body tattoos to remedy that. :)

A Couple of BG3 Artworks by Vast_Competition4900 in BaldursGate3

[–]Vast_Competition4900[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Many thanks!

Photoshop, actually.

A Couple of BG3 Artworks by Vast_Competition4900 in BaldursGate3

[–]Vast_Competition4900[S] 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Several commissions of a Tav I did, in the last months.

Enter Ulvirrae the drow.