Who is the Headless Horseman (Nektulos Forest) and how did he succumb to such a fate?

Discussion in 'History and Lore 2' started by Kaennara, Oct 25, 2020.

  1. Kaennara Member

    Hey there. I have seen the Headless horseman for a few years now, and I have not seen any lore on him what so ever. Was he ever a person ? Why does the lost necklace "Trigger" him? Whose was it? Or is all of this a simple easter egg? I would like to know, and I am sure some others are thinking the same. Thanks!
  2. Bludd Well-Known Member

    its probably Brom Bones
    Uwkete-of-Crushbone, Benj and Breanna like this.
  3. Benj Well-Known Member

    I don't know the answers to your questions. I would like to know as well. The one piece of lore I've gleaned from the game is that the Hallow Tree where you fight him is where he died and/or was buried. If you pull him away from the tree after the fight has started, an emote appears that he gains strength as he leaves the place where he met his demise (not the exact wording). Seems strange that he would wander around the only tree that could weaken him in combat, but maybe the curse that keeps brining him back to life also keeps him from leaving.
  4. Cusashorn Well-Known Member

    The Headless Horseman was only added in this year as a Public Quest for Nights of the Dead, so I don't think a fleshed-out backstory was the highest priority for such a minor event. There isn't any lore surrounding the Pumpkin Headed Horseman in Loping Plains either. They just exist. If any devs want to chime in with some backstory, it'd be more than what we have in the game.
  5. Sigrdrifa EQ2 Wiki Author

    Oh no, he's been around for years... he was a x2 in 2012. They just upgraded him considerably this year.

    There are Headless Horseman legends worldwide, the oldest I can think of is Gawain and the Green Knight. We're most familiar with it today from William Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. As far as I have seen, almost every online RPG has a Headless Horseman somewhere.
  6. ttobey Makes the Monsters Move

    I bet it's Dreamweaver.
  7. Kuulei Well-Known Member


    :eek:
  8. Dude Well-Known Member

    A Nights of the Dead Story:

    It was late March of 2012, Tom Tobey wasn't head of the art department back then and he had a close friend named Bob Bobson (known as Bbobson). They did everything together. They even planned play dates for their matching french bulldogs at the local dog park. What Tom didn't know, though, is that Bob really wanted to be the head of the art department. He would do anything for that promotion. It consumed his every thought. It began to poison their friendship, but Tom wasn't aware their relationship had changed. At the time, they were both working on quests and NPCs for that year's Nights of the Dead. Tom was regularly working late at night, trying to get ahead, but Bob caught wind of these late night sessions and decided to derail Tom's efforts.

    For weeks Bob lurked in the shadows, trying to social engineer Tom's account access information. One night he waited in hiding so that he could see when Tom finally left for the night. He went to the window to make sure Tom got in his car and left. That's when Bob started his diabolic plan. He logged in to Tom's account and started changing settings so that Tom would not be able to save anything he worked on. Tom would toil for hours animating NPCs, but would howl in terror as hitting the "save" button just caused all of his work to disappear.

    Tom and Bob fought viciously when Tom realized what had happened. Words were said that could never be taken back. Bob put one final time based bug into Tom's animation and then fled the company in a rage. He got on I-5, driving like a mad man. He ended up in Balboa Park and decided to see if he could calm down. He sat at the base of "Abbey" a famous Moreton Bay fig tree. No matter how deeply he mediated, his anger grew. As the night hit the witching hour, his anger turned to hatred and seeped into the tree. The tentacle like roots of the tree wrapped him and pulled him inside the tree, consuming him and absorbing his hatred.

    When Nights of the Dead went live that year, Tom was stunned to see Bob's final act of revenge. The magnificent horseman that had been Tom's crowning achievement that year had no head. Buried deep within the code was a message from Bob, "If I can't be the head of the art department, then Tom's horseman will have no head!"

    To this day, Bob's ghost is seen wandering around Balboa Park with a crazy look in his eyes. Some say that the tentacle like roots reach out toward people who harbor evil intent. No one can say for sure, but secret files locked in SoE's vaults say that the tree in Nek Forest was never supposed to be there, but it looks exactly like "Abbey." This may be why Tom refuses to create the much clamored for tentacle mount, but only the spirits know for sure.
  9. ttobey Makes the Monsters Move

    This is why we can't have nice things.
  10. Breanna Well-Known Member

    LOL Dude OMG that is an awesome story. I bet that is exactly what happened.
  11. Cusashorn Well-Known Member


    I see. I left the game back in 2011, and I don't remember anyone talking about any Headless Horseman encounter when I came back and participated in NOTD last year.
  12. Kuulei Well-Known Member

    The PQ is new this year.
    Uwkete-of-Crushbone and Breanna like this.
  13. Kaennara Member

    Yeah. Normally i don't like to make my own lore, especially if I am not 100% sure there is already something there.
    Uwkete-of-Crushbone likes this.
  14. Rushd Active Member

    The original headless horseman was a contested raid mob in Loping Plains.... the one in Nek I assume is the same but specified for NOTD. I would suspect there is some lore to do with the original boss there but that was what... way back in 2008 during the original Kunark expansion. I don't recall anything specific about it other than the strat back then.

    I found this site great for all things Lore.. maybe something in the RoK page here.. http://lorenorrath.free.fr/read.php?link=rok_history
  15. Rushd Active Member

    I went through a fair share of the existing lore surrounding everything I could think of.... My guesses are:
    1) Maybe it is one of Mayong's experiments?
    2) Perhaps King Rile or his son?
    3) Rider of Ik?
    4) Dragoon Zytl?

    I never paid attention to if the HH had an Iksar tail, if not then 2 and 3 are out. Those options stuck out to me because there is mention of a locket in the Rile lore as well as the Scout 2.0 Line with the Riders of Ik that also spawn in Nek... but seems a stretch. Knowing Mayong's ties to both Loping Plains and Nek Forrest it could be possible that the HH is the result of one of his experiments... it would explain the lack of lore. There is also a fair share of Teir'Dal lore that could fit a storyline for the HH, Dragoon Zytl stuck out to me since he is basically a sentry for Neriak.

    I don't know though, I recently went through a lot of the Mayong Lore for my last published House and figured this was a worthwhile inquiry for me to try and decipher. I could not find anything concrete though.... wish I paid more attention to the Hedge Hollow text, maybe there's a clue in there ?
  16. LDEffectsMe Active Member

    Because of the lingering wrathful spirit of Bob Bobson?
  17. Rezikai Member


    You're thinking of the Pumpkin Headed Horseman in Loping Planes in EoF. He probably shares similar parts in the model to its an understandable mistake.

    As for Headless Horseman lore i thought there was something about a lover he had and she betrayed his love for another or something and he kills them both and then is cursed or something?... I may be remembering Vhalen and Kelkarn though.
    Uwkete-of-Crushbone and Breanna like this.
  18. Rushd Active Member


    I think you are mistaken actually, not being from southern NY where I'm from you may not understand the actual RL Lore of the writer behind the myth of the Headless Horseman..... on Halloween he would come back to look for his head using a Pumpkin as a temporary replacement. The Pumpkin Headed Horseman and the Headless Horseman are one in the same. I understand that it "could" be different in EQ2, but I think the intent is that Loping Plains is "Sleepy Hollow" and the Nek version is him seeking his head during the holiday event. That's my take on it anyways.
  19. Rezikai Member



    Oh I know the storie(s) of him irl. But as you said I don't believe the 2 were ever supposed to be the same character in game. It's possible i suppose... I quit doing the Headless horseman event after the 1st or 2nd year? But during those early versions I can't say i ever saw any connecting lore outside the aesthetic and both being headless riders. Though I thought Cusa was the one that found a scrap of lore on the Pumpkin Headed one about a lover or something. I'll see what i can find.
    Uwkete-of-Crushbone likes this.
  20. Cusashorn Well-Known Member


    **shrug**
    Uwkete-of-Crushbone likes this.