Angelic Tranquillity

[Silverkiss]

The problem is that each major angel (god) has its own heaven, and the True Heaven is where the One resides... There´s Kael with his swifty posts ¬¬

 

[Nikis-Knight]

Ah, I thought Hyboream was a Bhall follower.
Did the goddess of fire break the compact, or just change sides?

 

[Kael]

Ah, I thought Hyboream was a Bhall follower.
Did the goddess of fire break the compact, or just change sides?

Bhall just switched sides. Mulcarn broke the compact when he saw that the angel responsible for opposing him (Bhall) was gone. When Mulcarn entered creation the world was on the verge of regression to the Age of Dragons, a restart of the god war. But the Gods decided that rather than start anew that Succellus would go and the battle would only be between the two of them, and the gods would abide by whatever that result was.

As you know, that didn't turn out to well for the good side.

 

[Silverkiss]

But then Kyorlin appeared to save the day !

 

[Kael]

But then Kyorlin appeared to save the day !

Yeapers !

 

[formless blob]

The problem is that each major angel (god) has its own heaven, and the True Heaven is where the One resides...

Alright how about this then: If you can build one godslayer sword, you can build a hundred. You "just" need to know how, and acquire the stuff you need. So, a late game tech and a wonder of some kind, that would allow you to build godslayer units (or items with the upcomming item system, or somesuch). You would then need to construct a second wonder, "The Heavenly Gate", and send your legions in to the true heaven of the one, and kick his ass. This would make you master of creation, and you would have won the game gloriously.

Of course while you build all this, you would be getting attacks from all kinds of nasty stuff.

 

[Silverkiss]

I think the Godslayer was built by the 21 angel´s combined power ? Well, it would be hard to kick the One´s ass as he would need only a winkle to send you flying to the Nether....

 

[formless blob]

I think the Godslayer was built by the 21 angel´s combined power ? Well, it would be hard to kick the One´s ass as he would need only a winkle to send you flying to the Nether....

So who is this "the one"? Is it some kind of christian thing, where he is omnipotent and all good? Because that is really not very usefull, as it is an absolute equalizer which invalidates every act of the player, and voids all struggle between good and evil.

Can nothing of value be made from the hands of mankind? Is the story only moved by angels and demons? The game is civilization, it is a strategy game about the growth of civilizations. Surely the struggle of the player is more important than some background stories?

As this is apparantly based on Ao and the forgotten realms world of D&D, I would point to the conflict between Karsus and Mystryl. He was a badass mage who wanted to usurp the throne of magic, so he cast a spell to achieve this. He failed, but hey, he might have made it. (And Ao should have never existed, he is a bad concept because he makes everything else irrelevant. All things holy becomes profane and small)

 

[Nikis-Knight]

So who is this "the one"? Is it some kind of christian thing, where he is omnipotent and all good? Because that is really not very usefull, as it is an absolute equalizer which invalidates every act of the player, and voids all struggle between good and evil.

The answer is "yes but"
Yes The One is an all powerful creator, but it will never influence the game in anyway, so you don't need to worry about having the rug yanked out from under you if you are evil.

As per the storyline, I believe if the One entered creation in its current form it would be destroyed, so He watches from afar.
The Angels who masquerade as gods (with some claim to the title, though) also let the mortals run the show, as they have agreed to wage their war subtly.

 

[Kael]

So who is this "the one"? Is it some kind of christian thing, where he is omnipotent and all good? Because that is really not very usefull, as it is an absolute equalizer which invalidates every act of the player, and voids all struggle between good and evil.

Can nothing of value be made from the hands of mankind? Is the story only moved by angels and demons? The game is civilization, it is a strategy game about the growth of civilizations. Surely the struggle of the player is more important than some background stories?

As this is apparantly based on Ao and the forgotten realms world of D&D, I would point to the conflict between Karsus and Mystryl. He was a badass mage who wanted to usurp the throne of magic, so he cast a spell to achieve this. He failed, but hey, he might have made it. (And Ao should have never existed, he is a bad concept because he makes everything else irrelevant. All things holy becomes profane and small)

Again this is all useless fluff I offer just because we ar talking about it, feel free to take or leave anything that you want.

Its all based on a D&D game I ran for about 17 years, not the forgotten realms. Im not sure who Ao is.

But yes, from a storyteller perspective the compact serves as a way to give the power back to mankind and answer all the nagging questions about "if the gods are so powerful why does x, y and z happen?" Demons get to be big and scary but have to comply to a very specific set of rules. It helps to explain why summoning circles work, what are the motivations of the immortals, what is magic, and what is the relationship between all of the compoents we generally accept but typically dont question in fantasy games.

But backstory is only their to support the fun, not to limit the fun. So if you want to create something, create anything you want and dont worry about conflicting with some abstract idea I got after eating one to many chili dogs. After 17 years of ideas half of them conflict with each other at some point.

 

[QES]

So who is this "the one"?

I think Kansas had something to say about this:

We've been together since way back when,
and sometimes I never want to see you again
But I want you to know, after all these years
That you're still the one I want whispering in my ears.

You're still the one I wanan talk to in bed,
still the one that turns my head
We're still having fun, and you're still the one

I look at your face everyday, and I never saw it til it went away
When winter came, I just wanted to go,
Deep in a desert, how I yearned for the snow

You're still the one that makes me laugh, still the one that's
my better half
We're still having fun, and you're still the one
You're still the one that makes me strong, still the one I wanna take along
We're still having fun, and you're still the one
Yes you are

Oooh..
(something..)

You're still the one that I love to touch, still the one, and I can't get enough
We're still having fun, and you're still the one
You're still the one who can scratch my itch, still the one, and
I wouldn't switch
We're still having fun, and you're still the one

You are still the one that makes me shout, still the one that I
dream about
We're still having fun, and you're still the one
Still the one, yeah still the one
We're still having fun, and you're still the one

-Qes

 

[Endovior]

Hmm... it seems wrong to just have angels doing all this.

What if it summoned Angels AND Demons, who would proceed to randomly fight each other... and possibly attack civs of opposed alignments.

Think of it like this: as Armageddon nears, the strength of the Compact weakens, as it becomes obvious that the world won't be around much longer anyways. Both sides become more eager to have it out immediately, because the consequences are less.

As such, If you're evil, you might seek to storm Heaven's Gate; success being a major coup and giving all kinds of maluses to the good guys (and stopping the flow of Angels). On the other hand, if you're evil, you seek to invade Hell... and if you succeed, much the same reult, only in reverse.

 

[Bad Player]

Bhall just switched sides. Mulcarn broke the compact when he saw that the angel responsible for opposing him (Bhall) was gone. When Mulcarn entered creation the world was on the verge of regression to the Age of Dragons, a restart of the god war. But the Gods decided that rather than start anew that Succellus would go and the battle would only be between the two of them, and the gods would abide by whatever that result was.

As you know, that didn't turn out to well for the good side.

Where is all this lore from? I want to read the full story!

 

[Kael]

Where is all this lore from? I want to read the full story!

I made it up. If you go into the concepts tab in the pedia you will see a "Fall from Heaven History" option that gives some good background.

 

[formless blob]

The children, being childish as they where, always wanted to be the centre of the world. They would build bigger and bigger toys. But it was never enough, there was always a bigger toy on the horizon. They would then cry endless rivers of tears, for all other toys suddenly lost relevance. This continued until one day the children looked upon their fathers throne, and said “I want that toy!” On that day, the fate of all mankind was balanced against the void. Like all children, they would have to rebel against their creator, and claim their own destiny.

Reading all this background material about the one and the “gods”, I really want to be able to build a big gun, and kill this “the one” fellow. He is just too powerful. He makes all the other gods un-godlike.

When I play the game, I usually roleplay a bit and try to act the part of the civ I am playing. This is totally ignoring the background story, except for the races description. So every game is a different story, and it is about that particular civ. All these non-god gods, and “the one” stuff, is really not very relevant for play, at least as it is now.

If the player actually killed “the one” the covenant would be broken, and all kinds of hell could break loose. Great fun to be had by all! The player could then kick the ass of both angels and demons, and claim the heavenly throne for himself. Victory.

I have presented various versions of this, with steadily more info on the background lore. But the basic point is a final battle, which leads to ultimate victory (the whole anatarans theme would be hella cool though, to bad the lore does not easily allow for it).

Also, surely the plot can be radically altered when you reach the endgame. You have just gone through several hundred years of development! How cool is the fall of "the one" as the end of an epoc? Pretty damn cool I would say!

 

[Nikis-Knight]

Well, there are hints of the age of rebirth ending in cataclysm. I don't remember if it was in the history or a random blurb by the One--er, I mean Kael, but regardless breaking hell loose is indeed the next goal for FfH.

In the meantime, try the Grigori, you and Cassiel might get along well.

 

[Chandrasekhar]

Cassiel certainly seems to dislike the angels that have taken the title and placement of "God," but I wonder how he would feel toward the ultimate creator? After all, the One has taken the path that Cassiel seems to want the greater angels to take.

 

[Maniac]

Cassiel shelters the Luonnotar who believe in the One, so I assume Cassiel indeed doesn't have a problem with the One.

 

[Nikis-Knight]

Well, you guys are right, I suspect. I was just searching for a clever way to tell him Cassiel has interesting thoughts on the matter.

 

[Kael]

Yeap, Cassiel see's himself as loyal to the One. He wants the "gods" to follow the One's example and withdrawal from creation to allow men to suceed or fail on their own.

Wanting to kill the One is more in line with Agares's mentality. Though he isn't crazy enough to think it is possible so he contents himself with attempting to prove the One wrong by spoiling creation.