quote:


Friday, August 11, 2023
Fear Engine: Across the Fearscape
Hey there, heroes!

This week, we return to the Fearscape, where you're still trapped with Kass and Sirius! But what's that light on the horizon...?

Sirius has spotted a glow in the distance, and Kassandra seems to think it's your way out... but you'll have to trek through one final Fearscape to reach it.

And once you do, what fears await at your journey's end?

Speak to Sirius in Book 3 Falconreach, in front of Cysero's shop to play the next chapter of the Fear Engine story!

---

A new cosmetic item has been added to Cysero's Superstore of Savings! Go to Alghuru's DC Cosmetics shop in Book 3 to discover the Hammer of Timeless Destiny!

This weapon changes color to match your element and armor trim color, and is available for 500 Dragon Coins.

---

Lastly, a small adjustment:

• Kathool Adept, Entropy, Pyromancer, Icebound Revenant and Ancient Exosuit armors are no longer destroyable.

---

And that's all for this week! Next week, if everything goes well, we'll return to Book 3's main story!

spoiler:

Fear Sirius was a cool concept, it did a good job at pushing our heroes' buttons and exposing their doubts and insecurities. I especially liked how Sirius fears becoming a "competent emperor" and all of the shady stuff that goes with it, as well Fear Sirius suggesting that he made the journey here to prove himself capable of more than just inheriting his privilege. It made me really want to wipe that smug look off his face. It was a good use of the "my greatest fear is me/what I'm capable of" trope.

I'm also glad we got the last part of Kassandra's backstory, namely what happened to her parents. Although in hindsight I could've put it together myself; Kassandra's Artifact made her paranoid about an Aker'varus coming to get her, and now it makes perfect sense as to why. The clues were there!

And Inanitas was indeed a Celestial afterall. It makes a lot of sense considering Sirius deals 'Good' damage, and it explains why Fear magic stuff like the Artifact and the Fear Engine have a very similar aesthetic to the Exalted. It makes me think that Sirius' situation is pretty similar to Warlic's. That's right folks, time for another unhinged lore theory...

We know that Warlic is an Infernal in human form. Thus, his spells generate Mana rather than consume it. If he uses too much of his magic, his human body overloads with massive quantities of mana. I think Sirius is essentially experiencing a micro-version of the same thing. Whenever he casts 'normal' magic, mana is generated rather than consumed, and the excess mana burns him.

I'm compelled to believe that all Celestials and Infernals generate mana when they use magic but because their anatomy is different from that of humans, their bodies are able to handle large quantities of mana or dissipate it quickly. OR maybe their technology/weaponry allows them to manipulate their own mana in a unique way. Perhaps both? Maybe they're only able to power their technology due to their natural ability to generate mana...

spoiler:



As suspected Sirius fears becoming the emperor of his homeland's empire not just because he fears the inherent responsibility that comes with the position but because of the corruption that is clearly sewn into the culture of the empire to keep it functioning. Those are not foundations I'd certainly want to inherent and I can't imagine Sirius would either less he be put in a position where he can no longer recognize himself. Him being competent in that position is the crux of the problem because it means being as conniving and shady as the rest of the imperial family just so that he survives. I found that line of "sacrifices" to be particularly worrying as to what's going on in the Empire's basement.

It comes as no surprise that the Hero's fears would be poked and prodded at as well which further reinforces our fear and anxiety of not being capable of protecting or saving those around us but also doing things that inadvertently put people, or potentially the very world, at risk because we were either careless or ignorant with our actions. Also, I find it somewhat amusing, and perplexing, that we were so quick to offer ourselves up to have our worst fears be the next enemy we fight to turn off the engine. Granted it might just pop out yet another version of ourselves based on our fears and insecurities but what if popped out like a SMUDD/Kathool/Wargoth/Jaania hybrid then that thing is just there.

As for Kassandra's fear, honestly didn't expect the cause of her parents death to be by some legendary monster but as Flabagast pointed out it makes sense now why she was so terrified when the Engine went haywire. She was scared that the creature that took her parents were coming for her next and the thought of facing it again is harrowing.

Ah but as was theorized in the last quest for this saga, we have the confirmation that Inanitas was or is a Celestial. What makes me curious though is that this quest would seem to indicate that Sirius already knows what a Celestial is or at least know what kind of entities they are to command such power. Which makes me wonder if the empire to south found other remnants of Exalted tech like the SoI to enrich their region as Lhe'Shiyac had or perhaps was there a time when they had been guided and cultivated by this Inanitas at the dawn of their empire. The former seems more likely as I feel they would know much more of the Exalted had they formerly had a Celestial guiding their development. Though it begs the question of how much the Imperial family knows about primordial Lore.

Also side tangent, but I liked that little mention of nature necromancy. We already know that all the elements are capable of performing some of the same spells but its nice to hear how they're expressed in different ways.

quote:


We know that Warlic is an Infernal in human form. Thus, his spells generate Mana rather than consume it. If he uses too much of his magic, his human body overloads with massive quantities of mana. I think Sirius is essentially experiencing a micro-version of the same thing. Whenever he casts 'normal' magic, mana is generated rather than consumed, and the excess mana burns him.

I'm compelled to believe that all Celestials and Infernals generate mana when they use magic but because their anatomy is different from that of humans, their bodies are able to handle large quantities of mana or dissipate it quickly. OR maybe their technology/weaponry allows them to manipulate their own mana in a unique way. Perhaps both? Maybe they're only able to power their technology due to their natural ability to generate mana...

Hmm ya know I honestly thought that when it was revealed that Sirius couldn't form normal conventional magic outside the rune magic tied to the Sword of Inanitas I thought he was experiencing a mirco level of what the Magesters are going through in which their connection to the Mana core have atrophied when they supplanted their original source with the mana core fragment. In Sirius case, the artifact supplants his tie to the core as a source of magic to pull from but in doing so he's blocked off from all other forms magicks and any further attempts to do so harm his very being.

However, I believe the overgeneration of mana could be the answer here as well. It would make sense that if both Celestials and Infernals generate mana by their very nature that a human body given this quality would conflict with the excess mana being forced through their bodies. The only part where I'm at a loss here though is if this is true then why does Sirius suffer no harm when he uses the rune magic of the artifact? Also, why only his hands? These are fascinating questions I can't wait to be touched up on.

quote:

spoiler:

What makes me curious though is that this quest would seem to indicate that Sirius already knows what a Celestial is or at least know what kind of entities they are to command such power.

spoiler:

Yeah I do find it curious that Fear Sirius was the one to confirm Inanitas being a Celestial. Fear Sirius also knew about Theano's ritual though (while Sirius obviously didn't), so that makes me think that it knew more about the Sword of Inanitas' origins more than Sirius does. Cassiopia also referred to them as an "entity" - though that could have easily just been the devs sustaining the mystery before dropping the link to pre-established lore, which I certainly don't mind - so it isn't exactly clear how much Exalted history the southern Empire knows about. By the way, I missed your post where you actually speculated that Inanitas was a Celestial, so well done on that.

quote:

spoiler:

Which makes me wonder if the empire to south found other remnants of Exalted tech like the SoI to enrich their region as Lhe'Shiyac had or perhaps was there a time when they had been guided and cultivated by this Inanitas at the dawn of their empire. The former seems more likely as I feel they would know much more of the Exalted had they formerly had a Celestial guiding their development.

spoiler:

I feel like either of these are quite plausible. I could easily buy that an Emperor would lay claim to a powerful ancient artifact (that someone else probably found first) for themselves and their lineage, solely on the basis of them being Emperor and what the Emperor says, goes. I do however find the latter more interesting because if the Empire did indeed begin with Inanitas a very long time ago, it could mean that Inanitas may have been the first Emperor, and their lineage would inherit their power. From what we know already, only members of Imperial Family have been able use the Sword of Inanitas and even then it had been generations since any of the royal line was able to so before Sirius. This would mean Sirius had a good roll of the genetic dice, so to speak.

This might actually help explain why Inanitas' magic doesn't harm Sirius when he wears the necklace. Maybe it 'activates' something inside him, that forces him to process mana the way Inanitas would have, wherein his connection to the Mana Core is blocked or supplanted, as you put it. Regular elemental magic is less 'compatible' with a Celestial's way of producing mana, thus his human body reacts adversely to it. I'm basically spit-balling here, but I do find the possibility of Lorian humans being descendants of the Exalted quite exciting, and it helps that it jives with our theories!

As for why the burns only appear on his forearms? Dunno. People usually cast spells by gesturing with their hands/arms, so maybe that's where the mana flows through? ¯\_(?)_/¯