Pandemonium Backstory?

[_____________Lakrits]

Originally posted by Enrima Orender
To me, we were aimed to be the new protectors of Source, keeping the Beast alive. Unfortunatly we killed The Beast before meeting Number Nine, that was the mistake.

Funny when you think of it, Number 9 was just behind a door in Home all this time. Going through the Shadowlands was quite a detour

[theproject]

but all the ergos on RK sais the same stuff don't they?

[boco]

Originally posted by project
but all the ergos on RK sais the same stuff don't they?

im pretty sure they say different things =)

[Kami The Mighty]

On a side note, while playing a new alt in Jobe's training ground with my keeper and doing Drake's quest, the last stage where you have to kill a heckler in the brink to obtain the "Delicate Metal Device" nd give to Drake.

After giving the device to him and examining, he replies shortly:

"These symbols clearly indicate the involvement of intellectually advanced beings. Possibly an entire civilization!"

*He tries to translate the symbols.*

"I'm sorry, <my name>. I can only make out one word. Er......Goh...? no, wait. Ergo. Yes, that's it. Whatever that means..."

*Drake turns around and continues to investigate the strange device. You(meaning me) repeat the word a couple of times. Ergo.... Ergo. Why does it sound familiar?*

Why would a Heckler of Evolution have such a device? and those symbols, as Drake said, must be from another civilization. The Xan in ShadowLands? and why the word Ergo is writen in that device? did it belong to Ergo at some point? and what is the function of that device?

Maybe, as mentioned in another topic, it might belong to Ergo in Inferno and do a quest to fix him using this device.

<Taking a break from AO so im using a noob 7 days trial>

[j1000]

Hmm, looking through most of this thread, I see the general assumption that good old Number 9 is right.

Now, its true that, whenever FC developes a grey area, they tend to pretty quickly bring it back to black and white. The "dehumanizing corporation" Omni-Tek was pretty grey, but the "Omega front" Omni-Tek is quiet black. This sort of pattern is pretty common in all other plot developement so far- if something looks bad, its probably evil.

I similarly suspect, from a meta-game perspective, that killing the Beast will turn out to be a "black" action, not grey. FC will probably reveal that we all were greedy and thus brought intergalactic war to Rubi-Ka, etc.

however, if we pretend that these are real events, not a fantasy controlled by a game company, there are facts to suggest that killing the beast was a good thing:

1. The aliens do not appear to be nice people. Nice people might try to take over a planet to protect the universe, but certainly don't just land and start killing people. Why should we believe them? If the beast was protecting the source, why didn't the aliens try and protect the beast (a big sign saying "do not kill if you like this universe" would go a long way).

2. Ergo goes through a lot of effort getting people to inferno, from where they can get to pandemonium. Was it just so we could kill some hecklers along the way? Or was it so we could take care of a slightly bigger problem?

3. The beast has been corrupted. Whether the beast is the corrupted fisher king, or the death-seeking King Arthur, it is certainly not the ideal guardian for the font of life. Note that it carries sin in the form of weapons and armor. The source remained unguarded until the Xan started poking around in there (the fisher king was formed the first time they reached the core). Maybe the source should remain unguarded. At the very least, it should have a better guardian than the beast.

4. To support point 3, the shadowlands aren't in great shape when humans arrive there. The source in draining away, brink monsters are attacking, etc. Something obviously needed fixing. Killing the mad beast at the heart of the source seems like a good start to me. Anyone have any better ideas about what a bunch of weapon-toting adventurers are supposed to do (note that ergo only lets weapon-toting adventurers into the important parts of SL.

[Engelen]

Many good points j1000.

judging by your theories, I`d say: Let nature fix it, that would be the best solution. First, kill the Beast. Removing the one who doesnt really "Guard" it, but isolate the source from the Shadowlands DOES seem to me like a good way to resupply the Shadowlands with Energy. As it is, Pandemonium looks to be on the brink of a energy meltdown, or at worst, a cataclysmic explosion. Anyway you look at it, the zone cannot take much more from what I can understand, and it was only inevitable that something happened. I would believe that, as you said, killing the Beast was good.

The Natural flow of the source CAN be continued...but will it?

There might be a idea, that the Aliens are "feeding" of the "guarded" source, and now that it was released...the Aliens could be dying. Maybe they are coming to kill us, and to seal the source again, to ensure their survival, while continuing to drain and kill the Shadowlands?

Also, about your second point...I think Ergo himself is getting corrupted and dying slowly with the chaos in the Shadowlands. He is already unusable in Inferno. I think, that Ergo have tried to lead us, into Pandemonium to stop the madness once and for all, to kill whatever kept the source from the rest of the Shadowlands.

[With]

Wondering if anyone noticed the connection between Predator Armor and the (I believe it is called Servants of Nine)

Description:
The garment is marked with the letters 'SoN', which so far have eluded any credible interpredation. The armor was first reported seen during the summer of 29477's string of underground Jobe parties. Once a full suit was obtained for scientific scrutiny it became clear that the clothing's origins can be traced to the Monopolis location of the Shadowlands time continuum. This has lead some to believe that SoN was history's very first fashion lable.

[aleanne]

another point : number nine say we have killed the protector of the source

but like he is corrupted he can't really protect the source ....

welll another thing when you get level 220 :

You feel the core of your being shift, as the source makes room for a divine presence. 'put your name' has reached enlightenment.


the source makes room for a divine presence = you are a part of the source now, so basicaly we have the sacred task as a part of the source to protect it from enemies......(but how many time we will stay in the light and don't fall corupted like the beast)

just my 2 c

[Kzak]

There's Servants of Nine, and Servants of Eight. Are the two somehow related?

[Somone]

from what i have seen that there were 8 more droids before number 9 thus meaning that they had to have servants also... if im correct... it seems that the CoH has a link to number 9 which is also in home... thus servant of nine armor would be apropriate... also... but this leads to the question were is the armor for the other 7... i personaly think that the best WAS king aurther set to protect the source and given imortality but went insane and became corupt and thus became the fisher king that turned into the now beast... also the fact that we are now at the ninth droid might mean that the universe has started over maby 8 times and that now that the beast has been killed again it will start the chain reaction to the restarting of the game (it has to stop somewere and it has to start over so a what its been a little over 2-3 years?) i think that with the releast of AI the entire worlds gunna colapse RK will be over run and we will retreat to the SLs were we can get refuge and think we are safe... but with the creatures of th brink eating at the SLs that will soon disapear... back to pand i think that the zodiacs are meant to be the other people set to guard the souce as stated in the codex


Verse 195: The Fisher King was one with the land. As the land was torn apart, so was he. Eight times a new hero sacrified him- or herself to keep the King alive - and he was no longer one soul, but eight. Before he had the body of twenty, now he also had the mind of eight.


from the codex thats were they got the first So8....


Verse 204: Ergo chose twenty Knights, each raised from the lands, each from separate houses. He set them to protect the trees, never to leave their posts. In return for their services they gained immortality.



this is were i belive the zodiacs came from... i dont ecactly know were 20 went to 12 but that seems the only i could think of


Verse 232: Then the Xan realised they could not separate King Arthur from the heart of the source, and they started building Ergo, to protect the land and the veins. His knights abandoned him and for aeons he was left alone, to grow mad and corrupted - with only one wish left: To be able to die. But the source kept him there, and nobody came to relieve him.



this is were ergo comes in i belive that he was a human then they created the ergo we have now in his rememberance... and it seems the current ergos only goal is to get us ready to kill the beast...


its hard to say though... when did merlin ergo come into this before or after the Xan were the Xan humanoid or like the Redeemed/unred ... without more information and maby more than just tibits of info from the codex we might never know...

[anomander]

Just my own thoughts on the whole idea of the shadowlands. The SL have always focused on balance. We have redeemded/unredeemed, Omni/Clan. Even in the lands have a balance to them, the green and verdent Nacensce and Elysium balenced with the hellish inferno and pandemonium.

But if the beast was the final boss, where his counter part? I dont think it could be ergo, as i see him as a fulcrim, the balance the whole shadowlands rests on.

If the beast was the guardian of the source, where is its enemy, its devourer? What was arthur protecting the source against? The alien leader?

Further to this, did the aliens have anything with the disapparence of the Rimor crew, the destruction of the atlantean and the 37 year abscence of the behometh

[____________Eugugoly]

I had an interesting idea, mabye all the mad xp farming in SL was part of the storyline. For example the description on nano coils mentions that some people beleive every time a nano coil is used the source weakens. Mabye the aliens are actually coming because the people of rubi ka are sucking the source, and all the other resources of the shadowlands dry. Which is what is killing them, because they possibly need the source to survive. Any opinions on this?

[theproject]

^^

[Kupotek]

I love this thread

[Lusitano]

The aliens use the source as we also do prolly the coils provide us healing and energy by using the source, maybe the aliens have even better technologies using the source so their lifestyle is being put at danger, and alien or human when that happens everyones gets mad..

Also I think theres some connection beetween the source and the notum on Rubi-Ka , since we came to rk and our nano tech expanded greatly in shadownlands it expanded even further (the higher levels and higher nanos) maybe because of the proximity to the source..

This is where it doesnt fit right since the aliens are far away and their coming in slowly in their ships but perhaps they found a way of channeling the source into their planet/ships armors weapons thru distance and were interfering with that juicy power that can be even their fuel or the base to all their technology so their coming to keel us and leave their petrol oil alone =X

[Lusitano]

Originally posted by DeltaForce
this is were i belive the zodiacs came from... i dont ecactly know were 20 went to 12 but that seems the only i could think of

20-8=12
8 sacrificed themselves to keep him alive..

[Kzak]

Another bit of info, though unrelated to the background of the Beast - not sure if others have written about this in the thread before, though.

One crewmember of the two landers that descended upon Rubi-Ka (Atlantean and Rimor) did have the name 'Min-Ji Liu.' The same name as a Redeemed Empath in Scheol - 'Weary Empath Min-Ji Liu.'

This seems to be too much of a coincidence.. was Min-Ji Liu a Redeemed being posing as a crewmember? Or was she transported into the Shadowlands shortly after the signals were lost from both landers?

[Slyz]

Wow, I have so much commentary I don't konw where to start, but most of it applies to thigns from 6 pages ago so I'll stick to whats recent.

Aliens use almsot entirely Biologically based machines (alien transmission stuff talks about it) so it would make sense that the same thigns that heal us (as living things) would power their creations (as psuedo-living things) and that distance shouldn't be particularlly important sence the source is, in theory everywhere.

Ergo, I have a theory about him

Verse 232: Then the Xan realised they could not separate King Arthur from the heart of the source, and they started building Ergo, to protect the land and the veins. His knights abandoned him and for aeons he was left alone, to grow mad and corrupted - with only one wish left: To be able to die. But the source kept him there, and nobody came to relieve him.

I think Ergo is the neural linkup of Arthur (who ergo actually believes to be somebody hacking into his systems and is also the root of the sence of distance in part of the conversation with Number 9) who has become insane and suicidal over the years. The breakdown of the land which he (ergo/arthur) watches over combined with his isolation and overly prolonged life had driven him suicidal, and he, through his display droid, has found someone (you) who will finally kill him they only way it's possible. By killing the source. The Aliens are, like with the beast, not the bad guys and are coming because they know that we've been tricked by Arthur/ergo. They have to stop us from helping him before we carry out his wish and end up destroying the whole of existance.

Add: oh also, the counterbalance to the Beast (positive protective) is Ergo/Arthur (negative destructive) so that's one potential awsner to the whole balance question

[Slyz]

Oh also, The Yuttos. Theyre the Xan Remnant. All of the Xan who managed to remain neutral rather than being swept up in or swept away by the war. I'm not entirely sure why they follow ergo, but I'm sure somebody out there coudl explain that

[Rukus]

a) Yuttos are just dolphin level intelligent animals. Ergo endowed them with speech and edited them so that they could help maintain his systems.

b) Ergo the Smith had to be a God figure or a high ranking leader of the Xan. I'd lean towards an advisor to a leader, actually. That or a God figure.

c) The Ergo System is a sentiant program comprised of Ergo the Smith's vision and will to maintain balance and keep the world from rotting.

d) The Beast is one of three people. Most obvious, the Fisher King. Next, Merlin and then Arthur. I'd guess on it being the Fisher King, but it is said that the Source absorbed Arthur and Merlin (I think?) I guess one after another the heros were absorbed.

Publish in game texts in the Shadowlands temples, FC. The next playfield you reach has more information related to the zone and history.

It wouldn't be that hard and I am sure some nerd like Gaute has a cork board in his office with post-it notes or story pages pinned to it.

I would enjoy the game A LOT more if simple things like that were added. It adds to the DYNAMIC features of AO. Those are very important... sometimes moreso than game-mechanics.

Coming from a player like me, that's saying a lot I think.