So looks like it wasn't dead hills afterall! Cry! Zone Screenshots http://www.everquest2.com/images/en...hots/full/1.jpg http://www.everquest2.com/images/en...hots/full/2.jpg Lore Norrathians will pass into Ethernere, the realm of the afterlife, where all spirits pass after death on their way to their final resting place. Recently, something has gone horribly wrong in Ethernere and it is bleeding through in the mortal plane. Over the summer months, evidence of ripples between the realms was in evidence as items with ethereal energy appeared upon the dead. As the tears between the realms widen, it will be up to the heroes of Norrath to save the immortal and mortal realms from collapse The natural ebb and flow of spirits passing through the Ethernere to each spirit’s final resting place is corrupted and on the edge of destruction, threatening every mortal’s life and afterlife. - Death is rampant across Norrath. Citizens are suddenly falling dead as their spirits are torn from their bodies. No one on Norrath seems to understand why the souls are being pulled from the mortal plane, but all signs point to a massive disturbance within Ethernere, the realm of the dead. The heroes of the world must travel to Ethernere to find the cause of the unbalance in the Grey Wastes, and discover what has become of its caretaker – the mysterious being known as Drinal. If the heroes can return balance to Ethernere, the siphoning of souls may be halted. Should they fail, both the living and the dead will suffer a dismal fate. - Obol Plains - Discover the realm of Ethernere and the mysterious Obol Plains where an imbalance in the realm of the afterlife is apparent in all the surroundings and its inhabitants. The Eidolon Jungle - Every area of Norrath has its own home in Ethernere. Adventure through the amazing, transformed lands of the Feerrott as it exists in the afterlife. Other things to note - advancing the story behind the Ages End Prophecy - two re-imagined Ethernere overlands inspired by Feerrott and Loping Plains - players will attempt to mend the end of all things - insights into the threat from the other side - first areas of Sleeper’s Tomb in mid-September which we refer to as the “Prelude.†- Holly : "another event that we're keeping under wraps." Link: http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/...topic_id=522020 Questions What went wrong in the ethernere what has happened to drinal who is siphoning souls who else will we find in the grey wastes how is sleepers tomb related to all this how is this related to Age's End if there are two zones what is the other zone (i imagine loping will be grey wastes) What is the threat from the other side What does it mean by mend the end of all things Where do the names Odol and Eidolon come from Speculation I'm hoping we'll see the Shissar in the Ethenere after this quote from cronyn! After all The hissing of the serpent shall strike back at this world with unexpected ferocity! Cronyn wrote:
Screenshot 1 http://www.everquest2.com/images/en...hots/full/1.jpg Some large structure but not much else to be seen Screenshot 2 http://www.everquest2.com/images/en...hots/full/2.jpg Dead dragons hung on poles Huts on sides of cliff - accessible by flying creatures perhaps Lots of blood, war flags etc Skulls of some bird like creatures
Hello all, Well, I hope this expansion become a real expansion and well developed, not just chunk of updates like DoV or the last one. Anyways. I wish with this new expansion we can learn more about this realm. From the lore point of view it's amazing. And like personal request I wish we can find Vhalen in the Ethernere (ancient developer -> npc) to ask him more lore questions :/ but I doubt it. We will know more about the Ethernauts? I wanna visit the Tavern of the Lost Souls and learn more about the Deathtoll Bell tower or fight against the Harrowing Hordes. I would guess we will learn more about Kerafym, we will enter again into the Sleepers Tomb. So... What the hell is doing Mayong Mistmoore? is still taking long vacations? does he knows?
betatester7 wrote: Vhalen's parting message stated that he was leaving the Ethernere and passing on to another world. So, if we see him in there, it will be an odd change.
And, just to reiterate my expectations from another thread about the expansion where I figured it would be the Ethernere: Wilin wrote: Those are all things that have been described in previous lore about the Ethernere.
Wilin wrote: Unless he got trapped in there from whatever is going on there before he could leave! not counting on it tho.
Wilin wrote: I guess with all those long beaked skulls that could be the area of the Harrowing Hordes? The drinal one maybe where all the headstones are?
Since this expansion will be in a place for the dead, will Rallos be there, or does it not work that way for gods?
Alluvial@Antonia Bayle wrote: What went wrong in the ethernere? Possibly this could have something to do with the creation of revanents. What happens when you stick a soul inside another soul to act as a battery for a super-undead? What happens when that gets destroyed and sent to the Ethenere? The other major possability is Rallos could be trying to wage war to escape the Ethenere. Drinal doesn't have any special abilities to combat a god, so if a dead one objected to his rule...things could get ugly. Especially if several thousand of that god's most powerful worshipers showed up at the same time. what has happened to drinal? Probably been sidelined by whoever our enemy is and either Drinal or his servants will want our help. who is siphoning souls? The enemy? If it is revanents, they could be growing more powerful by consuming other souls. If it is Rallos, he could be waging war on death and claiming any souls he defeats as conscripts or power sources for his army of the dead. It could be the Shadowmen have invaided the Ethenere for an all you can eat lunch buffet and power source for whatever they want (like pulling their entire race out of the Void). It could also be the Shissar who could magically enslave the dead. It could even be Veniril Sithar who is using his experience with they Syloc spirit to make himself into powerful enough of a being to beat death. It could even be Mayong Mistmoor trying to "save" Norrath. Or maybe Kera is starting to lose it bigtime and the overflowing energy is causing people to randomly die. who else will we find in the grey wastes? how is sleepers tomb related to all this? how is this related to Age's End? I've got nothing. There is an Ethenere rune on the calendar. What is the threat from the other side? Off hand I'd say "ripping the souls out of the living" is a perty credible threat and obvious reason for us to travel to the other side (willingly). What does it mean by mend the end of all things? I'd say off hand stop whatever is happening there and restore Drinal to his rightful place as lord of death.
I think if Rallos Zek did pass into Ethernere....he's no power to threaten Drinal. remember we stole part of his poewr to recharge the twin swords, and his kids divided the rest between the three of them to become the Triumverate of War. I thnk this is Kyle's doing...or Lucan's doing by his creation of Wraithguard revenants. Kyle already claims that his reach in Ethernere is unsurpassed, and that his power is different then Drinals, but hints that he thinks it's equal. It could be Anashti Sul is screwing around in there trying to get a beach head in the planes to start her bid to take Health from Rodect, and the 'random deaths from souls being ripped out' is her way of conscripting new soldiers.
Alluvial@Antonia Bayle wrote: Was playing sk the other day and that jumped out at me. Soul Siphon is an sk ability. Are sk part undead, or are they fully alive just fighters with some necromancy knowledge? The line between practicing necromany and becoming undead seems fuzzy to me. Whether its a ritual (done midcombat) or magic woven into the sks body, soul siphon sounds an awful like the revenant branch of necromancy.
ratbast wrote: Shadowknights are typically living warriors that are either granted dark powers from their evil gods or practice limited Necromancy (or perhaps are granted powers from enchanted artifacts or whathaveyou). Soul Siphon is a spell that drags an opponent's life force out of their body and uses it to heal the wounds of the Shadowknight. It is not an ability restricted to undead, but it is an ability that is restricted to Necromancy. The line between being undead and being a Necromancer is actually a bit clearer than you think; most Necromancers, unless you're a vampire or choose not to, will eventually choose to become an immortal lich, in a very long ritual that invokes Anashti'Sul and a few other dark gods.
kelvmor wrote: Linking Liches to dieties is a bit of a problem. First, how would Veniril or any other Lich in EQ know about Anashti when they created the ritual that made them into a lich? Second there are far more arcane casters that become liches than priests (though there are some of those), why are people devoted to advancing magic depending on divine powers to transfer their souls from their body to an object? Also there is the whole bit where Veniril tries to become a diety himself which means he's in direct opposition to Cazic (cue Greenmist) his race's creator and chief diety. Anashti may provide the knowledge to become a liche to some of her followers, but I don't think she is directly responsable for their creation.
Lichdom is an arcane ritual. not divine. Lichdom is the mage version of being a 'normal' revenant. Necromancy in and of itself is the magic dealing with bending the lines of life and death to suit the wielder. in fact, Necromancy would be a decided powerful tool to say, investigations into murder. the problem is that necromancy also deals primarily in decay and disease and poison. while the idea of a 'good' necromancer is plausible, it's inherent power corrupts all who practice it. killing so you can make people do as you want through undeath, forcing knowledge from bound souls, poisoning and diseasing bodies and corpses to create more 'raw materials' to work with that don't have things like those valuable hand or eyes or feet missing...it's just too easy. No practioner in Norrath as been able to study and not turn to dark gods and darker paths in pursuit of the power it offers. (hence why necromancy is banned/punishable by death in 'good' cities) the ultimate expression of it's mastery is in Lichdom. preserving your own body into undeath and keeping your mind and soul intact in a specially prepared arcanely bound object. which takes years, and years, and years of intense study and preperation. and even then can easily backfire on you (Venril's original attempt, Miragul getting stuck in the Eternal Prism and fragmented) A shadowknight simply does not dedicate enough of his time and energy to do what he'd have to to become undead. now that I'm ranted and raved a bit...the spell Soul Siphon is basically a form of Lifetap. the souls being siphined in the description are sould being ripped out of the body and pulled into Ethernere hence 'siphoned' from the material world to the ethereal one.
I wasn't meaning to say that Venril's lichdom was the direct result of divine intervention from Anashti'Sul, but he did invoke her name during the ritual, if I recall the Anashti'Sul quest line correctly. What I was also trying to get across is the idea that certain dark deities could perhaps also grant lichdom as a reward for their most zealous followers, and that lichdom is not necessarily restricted to pure Necromancers (many liches in modern fiction, like DnD and such, have been clerics and wizards, for example).
