Need Teaser Clarifacation

[Trieze]

Yes, it's me again, studying the lore :p. I brushed over the teaser thinking ah, just putting aerbax and leh rahn in their so you can add a new dungeon/quest. But then i read closer and came across this in the teaser:

Light and dark swirled into a mass of seething shadow as the creature's body twisted and popped. Its dark, translucent form bled into a mass of muscled, gray flesh. Blood of red, green, black, and purple flowed from the wounds which covered its new body. The wounds closed, the blood stopped, but the pain remained. The creature gasped as a mouth grew from its newly formed face. It bellowed a cry of soulless anguish. The thing fell to its knees and wept.

A hand caressed the top of its head. "Shh..." the dark voice whispered. "This pain is temporary."

The hand reached down and settled beneath the creature's massive chin. The thing looked up into the dark eyes of its master. It blinked and shuddered at the blinding light of the great one's profane beauty. "M-m-master..." it stuttered.

"Yes," the great one whispered. Its words were oily and thin, wrapped in a sea of writhing madness. "Master..."


Now i know it most likely has to do with further plot development and stories. But can you at least tell me if im on the right track?

From the first part, where it says that light and dark swirled into a mass of seething shadow as the creature twisted and popped. Then it bled into the lugian.

Does this mean that either Leh Rahn, or one of his shadow minnions went inside the lugian, and was bonded to him? This makes me wonder about this whole experiment.So it bleeding into the form makes me think that it went inside the lugian. Translucent would mean that the person/creature would have to be in a clear form. Which would suggest a shadow

This is more evident by when they mention the creatures newly formed faced and how it felt like it was souless. Of course a shadow, who had been a shadow all its life with almost no mouth would need some time to adjust.

[HelpComputer]

Gurog, maybe?

[Gyes]

I'm going to agree with Gurog - they're grey and unintelligent in their natural state (Mattekars, I assume). Also, given that we just finished the Burun arc, it would stand to reason that the next one would also involve the AC2 Nemesis races.

[GhettoPhabulas]

Harbringer ftw

[Cerulia]

I don't know anything about the Gurog, but I wouldn't assume just because it's grey that it's a lugian...

"Its dark, translucent form bled into a mass of muscled, gray flesh."

Is actually a pretty confusing line, it's kind of hard to tell what it means... I read it as the Energy Source transforming something, and the 'dark translucent form' is the same as the 'mass of seething shadow', which sort of seeped, or 'bled' into the creature that was being transformed...

Ghetto could also be onto something with the harbinger... It's a bit circumstantial but I like that red, green, black and purple are the colours of the four elements except cold (Which should be white, but is black here). It's probably just a coincidence ^_~

Certainly Aerbax's virindi have been trying to collect information on the harbinger for some time now, and it is very large ("the creature's massive chin.")...

[Silifi Of Death]

I don't know anything about the Gurog, but I wouldn't assume just because it's grey that it's a lugian...

"Its dark, translucent form bled into a mass of muscled, gray flesh."

Is actually a pretty confusing line, it's kind of hard to tell what it means... I read it as the Energy Source transforming something, and the 'dark translucent form' is the same as the 'mass of seething shadow', which sort of seeped, or 'bled' into the creature that was being transformed...

Ghetto could also be onto something with the harbinger... It's a bit circumstantial but I like that red, green, black and purple are the colours of the four elements except cold (Which should be white, but is black here). It's probably just a coincidence ^_~

Certainly Aerbax's virindi have been trying to collect information on the harbinger for some time now, and it is very large ("the creature's massive chin.")...

Gurog=Augmented Mattekar

[Scenario]

Does it? People thought Burun were Augmented Mosswarts for a while there. :)

[GhettoPhabulas]

Considering gurogs being augmented mattekars is in the AC2 lore...

[Sprawl]

A small book enclosed within AC:TD capping everything thus far up until now would be absolutely amazing.

:)

[Gustaive]

Considering gurogs being augmented mattekars is in the AC2 lore...

Where in the lore? Was it a vault or something else? I stopped playing AC2 before doing the Linvak vaults. I'd like to read about that.

[Protes]

My first thoughts about the teaser was Aerbax has completed his transformation process.


Reading it again a Gurog kind of makes more sense. Aerbax had researched Mattekars but later destroyed the test subjects to do more studying of it in the future.

Research Notes: Mattekar
(link - http://www.thejackcat.com/AC/Culture/Texts/Mattekar.htm )

After establishment of this facility was complete I set out to find the "Martine" entity. It was embroiled in a battle with outlanders. Oddly it had become enchanted by another of the race of the "Light Child". It had succeeded in fusing our understanding of the hollow shift with the carapace of the "hive parasites" and had obtained a loyal collective.

Posing as the "Martine" entity I convinced one of the members of its collective to obtain a specimen for me from the cold sections in the north. Once meatling was slain while the other succeeded.

Capture of a lesser form of the mattekar was simple. The "grey ones" furnished this name upon inquisition. They were bred and then destroyed so that I could use their offspring for testing. Further harvests may be necessary as my supply is now exhausted and a modicum of success was achieved.

Five offspring came from the process. The first was examined to further understand the consistency of the meat body. Cessation resulted.
The second was altered in the same way as the reedsharks given to Hea Tupera. The implant took naturally to the beast.
The third was unaltered when brought before the energy source.

One of the remaining two has been placed in stasis for future examination and the the last of the remaining two is catalogued in stasis.

Findings:

The unaltered beasts was taken to the energy source where it was exposed for the same length as the "croakers" had been.

After a moon cycle the beast was nothing like it had been. It had taken on a bipedal stance, grown arm structures a torso rippling with meat structure beneath a partially furred hide. Twisted and dark with physical prowess and a ferocity unmatched. I returned to find 3 enhanced Puppets destroyed and 2 fighting for continued existence. The mattekar was destroyed without further discovery.

After the failure of the puppets I brought the altered beast into the presence of the energy source. There I remained with 3 enhanced puppets and waited while the moon cycle waxed. During that time I witnessed the transformation.

The hind leg withered and crumble to dust. The front legs twisted and obtained a new joining. The torso shifted upward as the spine structure straightened upward. Fur withered and fell off in clumps and patches. The flesh of the face twisted and the horns of the beast grew longer and more twisted. It adopted a new stance and began to communicate through grunts and chortles. Arms sprung from the center of the torso and the implant allowed for the creature to harness mana.

Puppets were taken by surprise as the assault began. I, however, was prepared. The mattekar was dispatched without chance for further discovery. I have decided to hold other specimens in stasis until further thought can be allotted to alteration of this sort.

~~~

If the above research notes is about Aerbax creating Gurogs then I could see the Aerbax/Ler Rhan or the "Energy Source" completing the process.


The other thing I thought the teaser could be about was King Varicci II and the Viamontian Knights. This was because the last part to the teaser is about Antius investigating the discovery of the Halaetan Islands off the northwest coast of Dereth.

[MaddyFF]

* really wish I had all the lore in one place to read for a weekend+ * :D

This could get you started: AC Warcry Lore Index (http://ac.warcry.com/index.php3?content=lore/loreindex)

[Cerulia]

Ghetto, just because Gurog being augmented mattekars is in the AC2 lore doesn't mean that won't change... Apparently until we met the Burun in AC1, they were augmented Mosswarts in AC2 lore (As Scenario pointed out ^_~)

I personally don't really believe that this teaser is about the Gurog though. Apart from anything else, it seems a little odd that right after we met the Burun we'd meet the other AC2 race...

Plus, don't forget what the storyline is going to start building to; The release of AC:TD. In fact, the rest of that teaser was about the archipelago appearing to the north... It's quite possible that, as Protes said, this is a lead-in to them.

Or, Trieze's original theory could be right, and it could quite possibly be a lugian... After all, the renegades worked closely with the Virindi but were apparently never experimented on, which would be very unusual. They're also both massive and grey... And there's a lugian in one of the teaser pictures (Though since he's in Shoushi it could just be part of the town revitalisations)

Interesting times! ^_^

[Hirahd]

Personally, I think the real question should be as to the identity of the master.
Everyone assumes that it is Aerbax/Ler Rahn who is performing the augmentation.
“A hand caressed the top of its head.” Virindi don’t have hands, do they?
And, “the blinding light of the great one's profane beauty” does not sound like imagery befitting a shadow general.

I’m guessing it’s Nuhmudira. Aside from the grey flesh part, what is happening sounds surprisingly similar to the transformation of the Fiazhat into Sclavas…

[burzum]

From one of the Vault quests in AC2

"The Gurog appeared after the world shattered.
For decades, they lived beside the Lugians, bound by a fragile truce.
But everything fragile breaks, in time."

Unless you are ready for the world to shatter (or previously written lore to be shattered), it might be something else.

And no piece of AC2 lore explicitly states they were Mattekar (to my knowledge). It's just that the Linvak vault bosses were called Great, Dire, Dread, Canescent and Hoary Gurogs.

[Deven-Kenyon]

Didn’t scenario also hint a while back we never found everything on bobo? I know I poured over the lore containing anything bobo and arbax related

I'm leaning towards arbax is doing something with one of the king kukuur's but that's more than likely an innate wish the arc was not over :(

[Chupon]

Hmm, based on the rollout I'm gonna go out on a whim and say it's Muldaveus brought back to life.

[Cerulia]

That occured to me too actually Chupon! It'd certainly be interesting, and might actually make those wimpy renegades worth having ^_~