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Vaalirus -> RE: =DF= Friday, April 26th Design Notes: Book 3: Convergence - The Mana Core (4/27/2024 16:02:53)
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Well this has been a terrifying turn of events
spoiler:
To begin, I just love how entering the labs of Project Casca just feels completely ominous as the site betrays the fact that the Magesterium was up to a lot more than they explained to us when retrieving the mana core fragment. The pure whiteness of the area being an illuminated hallway that leads the protagonist to unexpected truths is something I've come to oddly enjoy in stories like this. One of the things standing out though is the assortment of masks arranged on labs' pillars with each one depicting the masks of the Magesterium though what I find interesting is that Voyna's mask appears among the three. It's possible that her mask was at one point just standard issue of those that fought against the dragons but I have to wonder if more is going on there.
Speaking of unexpected truths, we learn important facts as Akanthus monologues as to why it's a fine idea to risk the lives of everyone on Lore just so that he can get what he wants. I have to say it's deeply troubling that the mana core itself is capable of, in theory, being completely depleted had the Magesters continued carving fragments of it to use to bolster the strength of their empire. It makes sense I suppose, if everyone is given life by the core with the expectation the mana they received be returned upon their deaths and thus that cycle is disrupted by simply carving out a chunk of the Mana Core it without putting anything back. The end result being obvious if it went too far. In knowing this truth however, I do not believe we should risk the Magesterium cutting out another shard, even to reclaim their homeland from the Shapeless if they can't see treating the core of the planet like an Ignomonious is going to have disastrous consequences for all.
On another note, so we finally learn the reason behind Akanthus' invincibility, eh? Who would have thought it would have been the combined technology of the pre-rest tech from Mechquest and the ingenuity of the Exalted, and the very thing that helped power the Exalted Artillery to boot? It explains both why he's basically immune to the laws of this world while also being blessed with an incredibly strong body. We've seen remnants of MQ based tech be able to cut through the reality of this universe like butter when properly directed but there's also the fact this entire time Akanthus' soul has been hooked up to a battery configured by beings that poured all their mana into a cannon that knocked out the very gods themselves. The cost here being of course, as Akanthus laments, not being able to manipulate magic one bit. Now while I admit this must suck, especially when considering all the hardship both he and the other oprhans that died had to go through to achieve this state, I cannot stand Akanthus justification for this in the face of all he's done while commanding the Rose and I'm glad the Hero calls him out on the fact that all the harm he caused is not washed away by the point that he suffers in a way other do not. None of what he faces makes up for all those he killed, allowed to be killed, or brutalized the moment he got to Greenguard.
Which makes his "containment" at the hands of the Aequilibria all the more fitting in my eyes. He got the audience he wanted but as a result he has been even more removed from the world as he has been classified as an impurity and thus cannot be allowed to have a place in the world in the eyes of the gods.
On the subject of the Aequilibria,
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The Aequilibria are the Mana Core, as I speculated. Or rather, they became the Mana Core and created Lore (which is what Lock and Key's puzzle and the diagram in the Inn are conveying) after the Exalted used their artillery on them.
Yeah you definitely were right on the money on this, I was almost postive we were going to find out the remains of the Exalted were the core itself but I guess it honestly does just make more sense they all simply got used up in the firing of their artillery. What concerns me now though is the fact they just woke up and assessed within seconds that their system is way off course from where it should be and honestly that quick assessment is terrifying alone. The real terror I think though is not just that they determined that everything on Lore needs to be refreshed but also how its conveying diaoluge; their speech is oddly mechanical and very matter of fact. I'm not sure we're up to the task of facing the literal deities of this universe but that manner of speech is making me feel like we can't even begin to have a reasonable discussion with them. If they decide upon a course of action it may be nigh impossible to talk them out of it unless certain parameters demand they do so but debating or speaking with conviction is something I doubt will convince them to change course.
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Lastly, the one thing that puzzles me: why do the Aequilibria look like Sk'aar? We know they're not the same entity, as we met Sk'aar in Adventure Friends 2 and they seemed to want to usurp the Aequilibria. Was it the Aequilibria that imprisoned Sk'aar within dreams in the first place? Is that why they look the same? It seems there's still more to this puzzle to piece together.
Now there's an interesting question right there. I'm not so certain that Sk'aar wanted to usurp Aequilibria, just usurp us as the master of our own thoughts and dreams, as the entity said that with us working together, or more accurately it subsuming us, that we would "unleash that which slumbers" heavily implying it was attempting to have something be woken back up and I think we can safely say they were referring to the Aequilibria. Thinking upon it further, perhaps it is the case that the Aequilibria don't look like Sk'aar but that Sk'aar looks like the Aequilibria? Something that's been nipping me is the difference in the initial response of Sk'aar in the Wolf Route in comparison to the other routes in AdventureFriends: Edelia. It is noticeably much more robotic and very much like how the Aequilibria manner of speech functions and I assume that is no coincidence especially given within that same dream we see the end of the Mechquest universe in one of the other routes. Additionally, there is the fact that the only reason we dream of Sk'aar to begin with is because the love poiton Big Daddy gave us had Quintessence added in its ingredients and quintessence clearly contains all eight of the prime elements within it and Sk'aar very clearly had eight eyes prior to appearing before us.
Furthermore, we have the Sk'aar head statues littered throughout the game for a while now but one that I've never been able to get my mind off of is the ones that are present in the Exaltia Tower as there are even some crying out pools of mana in the Reliquary section. As you'll recall from the The Last Stand of Ehr'Ishin , it is mentioned that the Exalted had structures that used to act as temples for the Elements and a Reliquary is typically a place in which holy relics are kept. At the time, when the world building was still new to me, I believed that the imagery of what we knew of Sk'aar may have been the reason the Aequilibria sought to destroy the Exalted, for worshipping another entity you see over them. Based on what we know now though, I suspect this part of the tower was just one of the older parts of the structure that was dedicated to the Elements, to Aequilibria. So how does Sk'aar fit into this? Well, and I'm really spitballing on this one, it might be that Sk'aar might be a piece of Aequilibria or an entity that is subservient to it, if we keep in line with the idea that Sk'aar did want to see Aequilibria be reawakened as it is beginning to do so now. This doesn't really explain why they look like one another though beyond the fact that it might just be emulating the greater whole or its master.
It will be interesting to see what the connection here is though regardless.
@Sumbrosus
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I find I feel at least some pity for Sobislav, here at the end. All he wanted was to be reconnected to humanity and his soul. Now, he's trapped forever (?) in isolation at the core. Cold...
On one hand there's much to feel sorry for in regards to Sobieslav's condition, at least when he first got it. However every action he's taken since then makes it impossible to feel anything for him in regards to all those he's cruelly and coldly has harmed or killed across this saga. Wanting a piece of himself that was lost is fine but the suffering he's inflicted made the fate he's received all too deserving. Though I do imagine there is no getting him out of the containment he's in or if he's even conscious now that he's just a disembodied soul but it is possible.
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