The Age of Despair

[cyther]

Not Magister but...

Out of the gods I would believe that Junil would be the most likly to fall but not by his choice but because of his strick nature and inturpritation of laws

 

[Ekolite]

I could accept a small remnant of Orks joining Brigit, but I would think most of them would continue to serve Bhall or else be dead and on their way to becoming demons.


The Age of Despair doesn't seem dark enough yet. If Brigit is back, then I think another good god needs to fall.

Exactly. I'm thinking Junil. The Bannor empire was already corrupt towards the end of the Age of Rebirth right? With high priests ignoring the wishes of Sabathiel and extorting the peasants using unneccessary laws andf high fines for disobedience. Junil has become at least a little OCD in my opinion.

If anything I would prefer a Bannor descendant civ that has become obsessive with laws, laws about where people can go, what they can do, what they can think, effectively forcing the entire population to run on a strict routine or schedule while the Priests, who have become heavilly influenced by Mamnon, control the nation. They use strong propaganda to persuade the populace that Hybroem doesn't exist and that everything is fine and dandy.

Junil's fall could be less of a fall and more of a severe weakening in power as mamnon invades his vault?

 

[Psychic_Llamas]

Its a cool concept that Junil would fall, slowly spiriling into a Dictatorship frenzy where he tries to control everything. if this were the case then the Order religion would need to be replaced would it not?

pehaps another goddess that could fall could be Kilmorph. with the entire earth poisoned by the impact of hell her sphere of influence has been reduced increadibly and she is retreating into a state of despare. in the way that Danalin is incapacitated by his endless sleep kilmorph could become a hermit goddess that has abandoned the world because she cannot break the compact to heal the earth, she is continuously weeping and her tears now flow into the Pool of Tears as well.

ok so its not really a fall but it is an abandonment. when a god sees no hope what hope do the mortals have?

 

[Ekolite]

Kilmorph stands for tradition though, she's like an old woman that has performed the same old routine rituals of getting up in the morning for the last 50 years of her life and has no intention of changing now. Tea at 7:30, shower, get dressed at 8:00 etc etc. Kilmorph would probably keep going, even if her power was reduced so greatly.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

Oghma!

Her vault is being invaded by mammon, so maybe she finally looses her vault to Mammon, and either has no power or resort to Dark powers to protect it... growing paranoid?

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Well, I don't think Oghma has ever really been active in Creation, at least not recently. Plus, he is a very Neutral god, not a good one.


I was originally thinking Junil, an thinking that he probably wouldn't actually side with Agares out of Legalism but may very well be more of a hindrance than a help to what few good man remain. Perhaps being abandoned by Junil would help explain why both peoples of Braduk would rally behind Brigit.


Now, if we wanted to be really dark, then maybe Sirona's attempts to redeem her old friend Agares would finally lead to her corruption like Junil had long feared it might.

It could also be that a good god tried to interfere directly, and was slain by the Godslayer or broken into pieces like Sucellus once was.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

Sirona could be interesting... but how best to reflect that fall in game?

 

[Ekolite]

The evil spirit spells I suggested with Laroth?

 

[thomas.berubeg]

Mechanically, would work how?

 

[Ekolite]

Dark themed spells for the spirit arcane line, similiar to the spell I suggested for the priests of Laroth? What wpuld you do with the Elohim though?

 

[MagisterCultuum]

It would probably mean that the remaining Elohim would become a corrupt and twisted race, like the Bannor who became Orks when Bhall fell. I don't think it would be as extreme though, at least physically. They would probably stay human, but be evil men intent to keep us in Despair. I'd imagine that their religion would be a sort of more scholarly version of the Council of Esus, as they log ago became rather secretive in order to keep certain holy sites hidden. Instead of sacrificing themselves for the good of us all, they would convince others to sacrifice themselves in vain. I don't see them suddenly becoming violent any more than the righteous crusaders of the Bannor became peaceful when they became Orks, so they would rarely. I could see a Cult of Lethe emerging. Other Elohim would probably inspire men to follow false saviors who would just lead them to their deaths. They would be cold and calculating, but also rousing orators. I imagine they would still appear good and would keep the trust of those that really are good, but would often betray this trust. I see them as leaders of the resistance who plot its downfall from the inside.

As Sirona no longer tries to fill the gap Agares left when he fell, now all hope is false hope, and compassion is only feigned in order to toy with victims.


I can't really envision a scenario where she choose fall though. It seems more likely that if Sirona is no longer a good goddess of mercy that she fell to the Godslayer when she tried to intervened to save a doomed world. Perhaps Pelian was more impressionable when and if she ascended to goodhood to replace her mistress. Of course, if Mulcarn is any example, that might mean the spirit of Sirona now dwells in flesh and bone. Of course, she doesn't seem the type to perform any of the rituals Auric did, so she would be mortal for good.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

So, a possible timeline:

The sheim complete the rituals to bring the infernal into the game

The Infernal Quickly overcome most of the world, with hell spreading over it completly.

Brigid escapes her prison and seeks refuge in Junil's heaven, and then enters creation to lead the remnants of the Orcs of Braduk. Junil Decrees that the Bannor and the orcs are now allies.

The Dwarves are driven out of the underhome by the spreading corruption.

repentant Sheim approach the Elohim as refugees, begging for forgivness and acceptance, which the Elohim grant.

Hyborem gets his hands on the GodSlayer. Despite this, Sirona decides to enter creation to try to let herself be captured and brought to agares. She surrenders herelf to Hyborem, who kills her with the god slayer.

At the Same moment, a Baby Girl is born among the repentant, who eventaully rises to lead them. she claims to be the reincarnation of Sirona, who vows to work redeeming Agares.

Shocked by thier mistress's fall, the Angels of Sirona's realm withdraw her heaven wawy from creation, turning away from it.

Schism among the hippus people, Rohanna leading some loyal hippus away from the corrupted and selfish Hippus. She seeks refuge among the Lanun and are happily accepted.

Capitalizing on Aeron's lack of reaction when Sirona Dies, Laroth stages a successful coup and deposes the god of death. the Sidar are drawn more and more away from the world and become more impersonal and cold, taking a greater interest in death magic.

As the infernal hords deferle over Belseraph lands, A select group of deamons spirit Keelyn away along with a select group of belseraph to a hiding place prepared by them in secret.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Perhaps, but I think the part leading to Sirona's downfall would need a little more explaining. At the very least, she should have some assurance of the safety of her people--a promise that would be broken, or interpreted much differently than she understood it.

I'm not sure why, but I seem to have the impression that perhaps the Godslayer must be wielded by a mortal. It just seems appropriate that she fall by mortal hands, perhaps slain by Tebyrn, or even one of her own followers who she was trying to save who was tricked or converted to the dark side. It might be appropriate for her to risk her life for the sake of the repentant Sheaim, and then die at the hands of one who wasn't as repentant as it seemed.

Perhaps she tried to reason with Agares, but the other good gods had other plans. They led a champion wielding the godslayer to their meeting spot to slay the King of Hope, but when they failed the blade was turned on the innocent Sirona.


I really don't see the Sidar turning to use Death magic, which they abhor. They revered Arawn, so once they found out who Laroth was and what he had done they would turn against him. Futilely, of course.

I get the impression that if Laroth managed to become a god he would not stop at dethroning Arawn. Sirona's precept would be vacant then too, and he as the greatest master of Spirit magic would consider himself her natural successor. As a former mortal controlling one precept would leave him the weakest of the gods, but if he controlled two, well, thats a different story. The other gods would have to accept him as a equal then.

Being a god of 2 precepts can cause them to merge, and make neither be served as well as it should. Sucellus gave the precept of Nature to Cernunnos to prevent this, since as a good god he did not want the precepts to become something other than that which The One had intended. Laroth, however, clearly does not care about this. Thus, the spheres could begin to merge in to one, with their convergence perhaps best represented in suicide. I imagine Lethe might join with Laroth, perhaps becoming his archangel.


The corruption of the precept of spirit would cause the corruption of some Elohim, as I described earlier. They were not close to Laroth himself, just his new sphere, so not all of them would be corrupted, just a fragment. This fragment may lie undiscovered for perhaps the whole age, but as an unknown enemy within the gates of the rightous they are among the most dangerous.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

Perhaps, but I think the part leading to Sirona's downfall would need a little more explaining. At the very least, she should have some assurance of the safety of her people--a promise that would be broken, or interpreted much differently than she understood it.

Any ideas?

I'm not sure why, but I seem to have the impression that perhaps the Godslayer must be wielded by a mortal. It just seems appropriate that she fall by mortal hands, perhaps slain by Tebyrn, or even one of her own followers who she was trying to save who was tricked or converted to the dark side. It might be appropriate for her to risk her life for the sake of the repentant Sheaim, and then die at the hands of one who wasn't as repentant as it seemed.

That could work... Why do you think it has to be born by a mortal? doesn't Succelus use it? (though he fails, so maybe)

Perhaps she tried to reason with Agares, but the other good gods had other plans. They led a champion wielding the godslayer to their meeting spot to slay the King of Hope, but when they failed the blade was turned on the innocent Sirona.

I can't quite see any of the Good gods killing Sirona... at the very least, Junil would step in and intervene to protect her.

What do the evil gods think of Sirona?

I get the impression that if Laroth managed to become a god he would not stop at dethroning Arawn. Sirona's precept would be vacant then too, and he as the greatest master of Spirit magic would consider himself her natural successor. As a former mortal controlling one precept would leave him the weakest of the gods, but if he controlled two, well, thats a different story. The other gods would have to accept him as a equal then.

Hehe... Why not mulcarn's domain while he's at it?

 

[MagisterCultuum]

That could work... Why do you think it has to be born by a mortal? doesn't Succelus use it? (though he fails, so maybe)

Sucellus did not have the Godslayer when he faced Mulcarn. That is why he could not kill him. I don't have a great reason why a mortal would be needed, but I'm thinking that it must be wielded by someone who, like the godslayer and Erebus itself, consists of equal parts of every element. The gods are one dimensional figures who cannot represent the combined action of every precept like a mortal could. It isn't mortality that is needed per se, but the balance and true free will that only Nemed and his children possess. Auric would probably loose this balance and free will long before he regained his immortality. Angels lesser than the gods might be able to use it though even if gods cannot, as they seem to be dominated by a sphere but still possessing traits of other gods and a degree of free will intermediate between that of mortals and gods.

I can't quite see any of the Good gods killing Sirona... at the very least, Junil would step in and intervene to protect her.

I don't mean to say that a good god would in any way want to kill Sirona. I was saying that they did not believe she could succeed in convincing Agares, so they made a back up plan. Of course, their plan failed and their champion was slain before she could begin her plea to Agares, so all they ended up doing was delivering The Godslayer right into the enemy's hand just as an unsuspecting Sirona arrived.

What do the evil gods think of Sirona?

I think that all the gods, good and evil, consider Sirona to be a bit Naive. They underestimate her. Agares knew her batter than anyone though, and so probably knows what she is capable of. Perhaps he feared she really could have changed his mind if he had listed to her, so he had to kill her before she could begin.

Hehe... Why not mulcarn's domain while he's at it?

Maybe Laroth could seek to be thrice as strong as any god, but for some reason I was thinking that this age would have begun while Auric was still around and close to achieving godhood, and that the grudge between Auric/Mulcarn and Bhall was probably the best hope remaining for humanity.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

The last files i worked on are updated to before winter break, patch c, or so.

Would it be worth waiting until patches slow down until updating everyingth?

(working on some of the smaller things/ concepts while i wait)

 

[Ekolite]

Capitalizing on Aeron's lack of reaction when Sirona Dies, Laroth stages a successful coup and deposes the god of death. the Sidar are drawn more and more away from the world and become more impersonal and cold, taking a greater interest in death magic.

I really don't see the Sidar turning to use Death magic, which they abhor. They revered Arawn, so once they found out who Laroth was and what he had done they would turn against him. Futilely, of course.

My idea was that the as Arawn fell, so would the Sidar's natural composition of being quite aloof and indifferent to the world. As the world became more and more dark and hope was lost, Laroth would ascend to Godhood of the Death sphere, this, although few would be aware of this, would slightly change the personality of the Siadar over time, becoming more jealous and power hungry. Now, iirc Death magic in the sense of necromancy does not come with the ownership of the precept as the jewel of death was stolen long ago, and it is from there that they draw the arcane power.

Laroth would be using death magic in more its Divine way, Judgement, Change etc, but his views are very much corrupt. He would use it in conjunction with his powerful spirit magic to harvest souls for his army until he was strong enough to combat Hyborem.

I think Laroth taking Spirit would be good too.

 

[Ekolite]

Also, I think it would be fitting for Agares to rule the Infernal rather then Hyborem, hell terrain spread signifies the merging of that area with the hell beneath it, therefore Agares and his demon buddies can stroll across it as they please without breaking the compact.

Also, an Epic game version of this mod would be amazing. (as opposed to just a scenario.)

 

[thomas.berubeg]

I was Planning Epic Game, but with some scenario like features, such as infernals in every game, some evil vassals to the infernal, etc...

I don't like Agares entering creation just yet, though that could be an Infernal Ritual.

 

[cyther]

I would be quite afraid of Agares being in creation without the breaking of the compact because that would cause him in be immune to the godslayer. He would be nearly unstoppable and able to defeat any creature on Erebus in combat.

I see three ways of stopping Agares

1) Trick him into breaking the compact

Hard because he seems not to be trick easily

2) A team of multiple gods attacking him

More futile because he commands 6 additional gods who would probably defend him and the other gods would not be able to work together for long enough or be willing for long enough to harm him

3) The One returning

This would simply destroy everything