FfH trivia game thread

[KillerClowns]

A courtesan (the Balseraph assassin UU)?
EDIT: Dammit. Checked 'pedia, courtesans replace shadows. Grey fox beat me to it, if my theory is right.

 

[Seon]

MC got it right... keelyn: daughter of clown+assassin(/spy/summoned)

 

[Kael]

Guybrush Threepwood is named after a character from the Monkey Island games. Telltale Games just released a brand new Monkey Island game this week (Tales of Monkey Island). Which hero from FfH is mentioned in Tales from Monkey Island (besides Guybrush).

ps. Im 99% sure that the mention is accidental. But its the first time I have ever used this character name used in anything, so it did give me a chuckle. Even if it wasn't intentional.

 

[Tasunke]

Barbatooos?

 

[cypher132]

I don't think anyone knows it.

 

[Rasta69]

It wouldnt be Ceridwen would it?

 

[MagisterCultuum]

I recall looking at the wikipedia for the game and seeing mention of a Leviathan (or was it just something named for a leviathan), but I'm not quite sure the big fish really counts as a character.

 

[Kael]

The answer was Buboes. That may not have been a fair question since it requires knowledge of another game. So I'll change the question.

Gosea stole an item from the "Once Elves" in the Well of Shadows (which Talia was accused of stealing and almost killed for). What is the name of that item and what power does that item have?

 

[Seon]

Was it some kind of book or a pink golowy stone called Heart Stone? I think it had the power to bind people's souls or turn them into shades.

 

[Kael]

Was it some kind of book or a pink golowy stone called Heart Stone? I think it had the power to bind people's souls or turn them into shades.

It is called the Heartstone. That is not its power.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

I certainly hope that is not its appearance either. This is Dark Fantasy, not a Valentine's Day card.


You say Talia was accused of stealing it and almost killed for it? Was this before or after the same thing could be said about Auric. Since I knew it was Auric who was the scapegoat fr the crime, I was leaning towards saying that it was the Books of Laroth, although I was also pretty sure that Talia, Varn, and Auric actually did take those with them from the Shadowed Vale (when did this become "Well of Shadows?" Last I heard you were going with "Shadow Rift," but out of habit I was still sticking with name I saw you use first.), although I suppose Gosea could have tricked even you into thinking the Gosams took it. You know, Gosea and Gosam look fairly similar, are they related? (By Gosea, you were talking about the Great Prophet/Sheaim Minor Leader, not forgetting Gyra name again, right?)

 

[Kael]

I certainly hope that is not its appearance either. This is Dark Fantasy, not a Valentine's Day card.

You say Talia was accused of stealing it and almost killed for it? Was this before or after the same thing could be said about Auric. Since I knew it was Auric who was the scapegoat fr the crime, I was leaning towards saying that it was the Books of Laroth, although I was also pretty sure that Talia, Varn, and Auric actually did take those with them from the Shadowed Vale (when did this become "Well of Shadows?" Last I heard you were going with "Shadow Rift," but out of habit I was still sticking with name I saw you use first.), although I suppose Gosea could have tricked even you into thinking the Gosams took it. You know, Gosea and Gosam look fairly similar, are they related? (By Gosea, you were talking about the Great Prophet/Sheaim Minor Leader, not forgetting Gyra name again, right?)

Well of Shadows is the correct name for the Shadow Vale (it is one of the "wells" in creation, conduits to Arawns realm). Its what Haerlond or Varn would call it. The "Shadow Vale" is what people outside of the well would call it, such as the elves and illians in that region. Or more correctly the Shadow vale is a geographical feature on Erebus and the Well of Shadows is a half-world between Erebus and the underworld.

Auric did get mixed up in those affairs, but it was Talia that was accused of the crime and about to be killed before the children (including Auric) stumbled into the vale and found themselves in trouble as well.

Gosea is the person who actually stole the Heartstone, and yes that the same person who it the sheaim minor leader.

 

[KillerClowns]

[OFFTOPIC]
Regarding the Heartstone looking like a heart: sounds fine to me.
[/OFFTOPIC]

This has been quiet long enough for me to call it open. My question (sort of): if all 'pedia entries and "inevitable" scenario events (ones that cannot be altered by player choice) are taken as canon, then Stephanos arrived on Erebus before Auric's death. Prove this.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

I can tell you definitively that the heartstone does not look like a heart. I could describe its appearance in detail, but I don't think Kael would like that.

Kael sent me a draft of Ashes of Brigdarrow shortly after his last post in this thread, and asked that I give him feedback but not share the document with anyone.


I still haven't a clue what it does or why it was stolen, or rather my guesses about these have been repudiated.

---------------

As to the last question:

Khord lept over embankment and slammed his warhammer into the ground. The blow resonated through serpent's canyon and served as a beacon for the Grigori soldiers behind him and running along the canyon walls. Even the horsemen had trouble keeping up with him across the rough ground. The Dumannios moon provided reasonable light in all but the canyon's shadows, which were lost to darkness.

Khord cleared another ridge and came to the canyons dead end. He had worried that their prey had escaped by magic or hiding in one of the many shadowed outcroppings along the canyon walls. But this wasn't an opponent who was accustomed to hiding.

The Grigori infantry fell silent behind Khord, finally stopping their forced run. The box canyon had a rise in its center, a stone mound more primitive cultures would attribute to a natural altar of Kilmorph. Stephanos sat on his horse atop the mound.

Shadows fluttered across the Grigori soldiers as Khord's brother Cabal and his hunters jumped off the canyons walls. In flight the ravens feathers woven into their cloaks made a sound like hundreds of ravens as they transformed in flight from men to birds and back again. They became a black cloud reaching down to the canyon floor where they reappeared in formation with their weapons ready and raven mask drawn down protectively in front of their faces.

Stephanos's white horse glowed in the moonlight and appeared unafraid of the army of men arrayed against his rider. Stephanos himself looked like a glorious conquerer returning from battle to meet the adulation of crowds, not a refugee forced into a dead end. He looked up smiling, you could almost hear the distant triumphant cheers that followed him.

Cabal rushed out screaming "Attack, don't let him speak."

Unfortunately no one in the canyon heard anything beyond "don't". At a glance from Stephanos a dull throb pushed through the air, a blanket of sound that cut Cabal off from the rest of the men and sent everyone else stumbling as their ears reacted to the change in pressure. By the time they had recovered Stephanos had already started addressing the men.

"Of the empires of men I value the Grigori the most. For they have recognized that the gods are not worthy of their worship. To you as men, I offer my admiration. But, of your leader, I can only say that he does not carry his goal far enough. He sulks in Erebus when he should be leading the revolution. It is not enough to refuse to obey the petulant war games the gods have planned for men, but we must overthrow those games as well."

The men stood quiet. Stephanos's voice echoed through the canyon and as Khord looked around he saw that in the brief interlude between Stephanos's sentences other men nodded as if confirming statements Khord couldn't hear. Stephanos's mouth also continued to move even when Khord couldn't hear him speak, his lips drawn back in a deformed smile and his long thin tongue slipped easily about as he spoke.

Khord would have remained entranced by the words except that he caught sight of his brother laying on the ground by the canyons walls. Blood ran from his ears and he was gasping as if under a great force, yet the men around stood listening to Stephanos. Khord willed himself to run to his brothers side but it was as if his body was asleep. He was able to move his mouth enough to bite down on his tongue, and that pain woke up his body and allow him to stumble forward.

Above him Stephanos continued.

"Cassiel tells us that the gods are corrupt. But then why does he command us to live peacefully within this jail they have built for us. If your king was corrupt would to follow the governor that still requires your gentle sublication to his orders, no matter how benign? Or would you march upon the palace and pull it down around him? We have been told this is impossible, but who has said this? The king and the governor they sent to control us!"

Khord fell down beside his brother. Stephanos's words still resonated within him and each one called for his joints to stop moving, his mind to stop questioning and his soul to accept. Belief's he held for his entire life seemed little more than fairy tales compared to the immutable force of Stephanos's speech. It was becoming the foundation of everything he believed and everything else would have to be reevaluated to conform to this new ideology.

Cabal was close to death, his hair was matted with blood and it pooled on the canyon floor. Cabal looked up at his brother and summoned enough strength for one last action, to reach up and box both sides of Khord's head.

Khord howled in pain. His ears range from the blow. He yelled again when he saw Cabal's eyes close for the last time. He was overcome first with despair, and then with anger. Stephanos stopped speaking, or so he thought. When he looked he saw that Stephanos was still speaking, Khord just couldn't hear him beyond the ringing of his ears.

Rushing forward Khord once again called upon the magic of his warhammer. Aiming not for Stephanos, but the earthen mound his horse stood upon, he struck it with enough force to shatter the rock and send the crack of the hammers impact echoing through the canyon.

In that instant the men awoke from their trances. Stephanos's horse stepped back away from the crumbling rock and Khord climbed up the mound to attack Stephanos directly. Spurred on by the death of his brother he charged, yelling for his men to join with him.

They did join the fight, but not as Khord wanted. Before he got to Stephanos nearly a dozen arrows had pierced him. His own men were quickly on him and dragged him down from the mound, chopping him to pieces on the canyon floor. When it was over Stephanos rode out of the canyon with his new army of Grigori soldiers behind him.

Midgar Burned. The Grigori capital was a stark contrast to that of the Bannor. Where the Bannor had temples the Grigori have meeting halls. Where the Bannor had religious symbols the Grigori had graceful art. Most noticeably the architecture of Alexandria shared a common design of fortified buildings, flags and banners. The Grigori buildings were as dissimiliar as the people who made them.

But the tapestry of buildings was united by the palace at its center. There was nothing like it in the city and its beautiful black and copper parapets were a source of inspiration for all the citizens. A testament to what men could create. When he wasn't in his throne room Cassiel himself spent hours within the palace's towers, looking out over his city.

No doubt Cassiel knew we were coming. Many had fled from the city before Auric's army arrived. Lucian assumed the palace would be as empty as Sabathiel's chamber within the cathedral. Auric was becoming more despondent as they marched toward the capital, and in the past few days even the news of their victories had gone unnoticed as he was retreating more and more into the grip of depression.

But this morning he arose again reborn. And everyone scrambled to keep up with him as he marched through the captial toward the palace. Ignoring the orders to flee a few loyal craftsmen defended the palace, their love for their king overruling their fear of the invading armies. Their defense was short lived and Auric marched into the throne room.

Cassiel stood in the center of the chamber. He was tall, and perfectly formed, as if a sculptor had formed the ideal man out of marble. There was no doubt that he was an archangel and in his eyes you could see the wisdom gained in his immortal life, and the weight of its burden upon him.

"I worried that I would need to raze every Grigori city in Erebus before I would find you." Auric said.

"Leave my children be, I am the one you want."

With that Auric commanded the Illian captains forward and they bound the archangel with four massive iron mantacles brought especially for the purpose. Cassiel's clothes were torn off and a team of men took each chain, two for his arms and two for his legs and pulled them taunt. Lifting Cassiel off the ground and stretching him out until he screamed.

Those screams echoed through the palace halls and out into the city. There was so much torment and pain in them that everyone paused, saddened by their sound. Where Doviello soldiers brutally beat the last of the cities defenders both stopped to listen to the cries. For the first time the Doviello questioned their battle, and the dying Grigori shared tears with their leader.

"There is a rescue waiting for you" Auric taunted, "A god who may be willing to accept you back in his ara. Will you trade the ideology of three ages for a chance to retain your immortal soul? Are you willing to admit that you exist only to serve the gods? How do you feel about divine intervention now that it is the only thing that can save you?"

Cassiel didn't reply except to scream louder as his shoulders were ripped from their sockets with a dull pop. His shoulders flushed deep purple with blood and his arms rotated without restriction, only held to his body by skin and a few remaining tendons.

Auric took out a copper dagger and held it over Cassiels heart.

"And when you die what heaven will accept you? I suspect only Agares will accept one who has so openly defied the gods."

"You are a farmers son," Cassiel replied with great strain, "a boy who loved reading and nature. This voice that drives is not you. It promises power but it will imprison you. You must give up this war or you will ruin many lives, including your own."

Auric ignored the warning and plunged the dagger into Cassiels heart. The archangel's scream echoed throughout the capital. The men holding the chains continued pulling in those last few seconds until Cassiel died and then they let his body drop onto the floor.

Everyone except Auric waited to see if Cassiel would be be reborn, but he didn't move. Auric was finishing the ritual with the bloodied dagger. Slowly, carefully, he completed the spell by pushing the daggers blade into his right hand, cutting his flesh and allowing his blood to mix with the dead archangel.

In that moment, in a thousand different places in Erebus prophets received visions of a white dragon swallowing the world. Priests were overcome with a sense of foreboding and a cool wind blew through even the warmest areas. Auric's ascension had begun.

Auric killed Cassiel as part of the ritual that would lead him to Ascension, and the Netherblade did not bind his soul to the Netherworld until he was at least almost done with the ritual. Sephanos's speaks of Cassiel as if he were still alive.



I can't really think of a good question right now (or rather, a good question that could be answered by those without access to Ashes of Brigdarrow), so I guess I'll leave it an open floor.

 

[KillerClowns]

[Massive quote-y goodness] ...Auric killed Cassiel as part of the ritual that would lead him to Ascension, and the Netherblade did not bind his soul to the Netherworld until he was at least almost done with the ritual. Sephanos's speaks of Cassiel as if he were still alive.



I can't really think of a good question right now (or rather, a good question that could be answered by those without access to Ashes of Brigdarrow), so I guess I'll leave it an open floor.

You are a winner and... damn. I felt honored when Kael let me do some writing for Lord of the Balors, but... damn. Congratulations, I just choked on a piece of banana bread thanks to you.
POINTLESS EDIT: Huh. I just realized this is the second time this thread caused me to choke on something I was eating.
EDIT 2: If Kael decides now is a good time for a game of "guess the thing I haven't told anyone yet from hints scattered around the 'pedia and this forum..."

 

[cyther]

If open floor I guess I'll go. Cassiel has a symbol, an animal totem that stands for stubbornness. What animal is this totem?

 

[FireBlaze]

Donkey?

 

[thomas.berubeg]

Mammoth... as evidenced in the Age of Ice scenario.

 

[cyther]

thomas.berubeg is correct.

 

[Kael]

Just to give the answer to the question no one got. The power of the Heartstone is revealed in the Bestiary of Erebus, Anesidora's entry.