Favorite History/Lore?

Ayani

One of my favorite parts about playing Achaea is the amazingly rich lore. Listening to @Jurixegive her talk in Meropis was amazing even though I was familiar with most of it. It's always fun to see how others will tell the story. The only problem is, there is so much in Achaea's history. I have little doubt I am missing a great deal from years past.

So, I'd like to find out: What is your favorite story from Achaean history? Don't limit yourself to https://www.achaea.com/history/ . Choose either a world event or a personal story your character has lived through. 

I'm going to stick with historical events and say my favorite so far is the story of Lisanne, the angel who became a mortal so that she might live and die in Seleucar.

Thank you in advance for sharing!

Torrent

Out of all the events I experienced, the Bal'met saga was the best. I mean how many times do you get to be a demigod and kill other people and the shades of gods!

Torinn

Out of what I've  experienced, Deucalion's burning of the Ashtan Arboretum was awesome.  Lots of tentacles and even a gross face got burned up!

Kresslack

The Kashari invasion and rushing to recover the shards of Three Moons was the absolute favourite of mine, both as a player and a character.

Jurixe

I'm glad you enjoyed the presentation, @Ayani. It was fun to write!

As for mine, Bal'met has to be the one that I've enjoyed the most so far. I was involved in the event from start to finish and it was the subject of the longest work I've ever written, so I have a soft spot for it.

Plus it makes for amazing storytelling. The impossible Mhaldor raid defense against 5 cities, the rushing to beat the rest of Sapience at putting out signal fires,  becoming a demigod and fighting (shades of) gods. The first two had an amazing 'us against the world' feel that really fired us up, and the second had a sense of real desperation to save the world we knew.

Mathonwy

I always really loved the depth of the lore surrounding the Church. There was a ton of untapped potential there.

Personally, helping to unleash the Marvinogian upon Shallam was a lot of fun. A lot of the shouts and emotes and things were so on-point and creepy and I honestly never thought it would happen since it was the remnants of a storyline that had been abandoned, like, three years earlier. But Tanris managed to steal the Mantle of the Archprelate from Colgano, so we got to free the seven-headed landwhale after all. Extra bonus: it blew up the Erisian Pyramid!

[Deleted User]

Torrent said:

Out of all the events I experienced, the Bal'met saga was the best. I mean how many times do you get to be a demigod and kill other people and the shades of gods!

Sarapis' closing speech, and Maya's preparatory ones were the best of any event.

The entire final day was just amazing all-round. Will be hard to top the event honestly.

Ayani

Kresslack said:

The Kashari invasion and rushing to recover the shards of Three Moons was the absolute favourite of mine, both as a player and a character.

It's funny. As a Blademaster, it is probably the one event I wish I could have witnessed firsthand. I should read more about it!

Farrah

In terms of the old histories, I always liked the Catarin v Rani fight because dueling for an army is badass.

In more modern stuff, I loved the Parni/Kosuira stuff, and the Haldoran Chaos wedding.

Nicola

I loathe the Catarin/Lucaine history, I've read self-published trash that has more dimensional characters than Lucaine I'mdourandhaveaswordandcan'texpressemotions Pyramides. I love love love the ballad of the Glimmering Rider and Ugrach's story.

Ayani

Nicola said:

I loathe the Catarin/Lucaine history, I've read self-published trash that has more dimensional characters than Lucaine I'mdourandhaveaswordandcan'texpressemotions Pyramides. I love love love the ballad of the Glimmering Rider and Ugrach's story.

I think that's going to break a lot of hearts as I know so many who love Lucaine's story! It always reminded me of Romeo and Juliet, personally. Two people who couldn't communicate until it was too late.

I'm not familiar with the ballad of the Glimmering Rider. I shall have to go look this up! 

Nicola

@Asani Travian Shea had a sword and loved a lady and knew how to express himself, it's a wonderful read.

Jiraishin

Nicola said:

I loathe the Catarin/Lucaine history, I've read self-published trash that has more dimensional characters than Lucaine I'mdourandhaveaswordandcan'texpressemotions Pyramides. I love love love the ballad of the Glimmering Rider and Ugrach's story.

I still like Lucaine even if Catarin is my least favorite part of the story. I liked the bit where he was trained on Kashar and fought his way out and sailed across the ocean on a ship of corpses.

My two favorite legends are The Death of Ambassador K'shin and the legend of the Hunter.

I wasn't around for the Haldoran Chaos wedding but the logs looked incredibly badass.

Of stuff Jir was involved in... probably the recent Caefir/Babel event and the recent conversations in Balan'maal and the ongoing event, to be honest. Those were/have been chills-level amazing.

I'm probably in the minority but did not super enjoy the Bal'met event.

In terms of non-legendary, non-event lore, Apollyon's Maze of Suffering and his Muse of Suffering, and really most things in his temple, are old favorites of mine that will probably always be favorites because they were gorgeous, evocative, and often unexpected.

Ayani

Nicola said:

@Asani Travian Shea had a sword and loved a lady and knew how to express himself, it's a wonderful read.

Okay...Wow. That was really amazing. I think I'm going to play with my dog for a bit while I attempt stop crying. Thank you for sharing this with me. 

Kresslack

One might argue that such expressions exist in more than just words, and that indeed sometimes actions transcend them, when words or one's grasp of them prove inadequate.

Sartan

Death's Heart remains my all-time favorite event. There have been arguably some much better events since then, but that one in particular locked me completely into Achaea.

As for stories, or lore, there is too much to even begin to list off.

Neraeos

Eternal Night for me. That event was like a succulent sweet dipped into pure lore. Plus, Phaestian 13, 427 AF will always make my heart flutter.

Asmodron

Gosh...I love so many of them.

Dare I be one dimensional and say Khalas' story (Dont throw rotten fruit plz ty)? I always loved the idea of a character challenging the status quo and wanting to forge their own destiny rather than the one forced on them. The more I looked into his history, the more I would love.

I also have adored the Third Black Wave. While I thoroughly did enjoy the Bal'met event, this is the first time that I felt so deeply involved. A main reason is that my org (Hashan) was seen as the villain and the action we got from that was amazing. This event has had so much, including massive character reveals, history reveals, area reveals, even a new skill! Hashan finally got access to the Wellspring, which was a top priority on my to-do list. The Third Black Wave is definitely my number 1 pick for events.

Numira

Pppft. She suggests I read the Seleucar histories (because map) , but then she rips on my favorite of the three. Disappointed, Nicola. Disappointed.
   
pretty glad I read those when I did though, became relevant really fast.

Ayani

Sartan said:

Death's Heart remains my all-time favorite event. There have been arguably some much better events since then, but that one in particular locked me completely into Achaea.

As for stories, or lore, there is too much to even begin to list off.

I actually stumbled upon this randomly while trying to see if there was anything Deucalion and Twilight had in common. I have to admit, it was a pretty fascinating read. However, there was a particular public post (public 4235)... It probably be always one of my favorite public posts to read. 

Jiraishin

Ayani said:

Sartan said:

Death's Heart remains my all-time favorite event. There have been arguably some much better events since then, but that one in particular locked me completely into Achaea.

As for stories, or lore, there is too much to even begin to list off.

I actually stumbled upon this randomly while trying to see if there was anything Deucalion and Twilight had in common. I have to admit, it was a pretty fascinating read. However, there was a particular public post (public 4235)... It probably be always one of my favorite public posts to read. 

This is my favorite public post.

PUBLIC NEWS #18135                                      (05/24/2009 at 10:08)  

From   : Apollyon, the Suffering

To     : Tahquil

Subject: Your Future

                                                                               

I am all that is Suffering.

You will fall at My feet and beg for forgiveness.

You will find none.

 

Penned by My hand on the 25th of Phaestian, in the year 509 AF.

Asani

Nicola said:

@Asani Travian Shea had a sword and loved a lady and knew how to express himself, it's a wonderful read.

Even... even the admin mix me up with other players. There is no escape.

On the actual topic of the thread, I'm fond of a lot of the lore around the cult of the night, though that's definitely been influenced by how often it's been coming up in game for various reasons.

Also Xoran lore, reading the newsposts surrounding it did a lot to change how I saw Achaean history (and the sanity of those who get very into it) and made me appreciate playing a Xoran for more than just the stats I wanted as a newbie.

Ayani

Neraeos said:

Eternal Night for me. That event was like a succulent sweet dipped into pure lore. Plus, Phaestian 13, 427 AF will always make my heart flutter.

@Valnurana will always hold a special place in my heart as Her temple is a place Ayani visited often and the first divine I read really read about in detail. Participating in the Gauntlet and seeing the unicorn... I think for the first sixty seconds or so I was stunned into repetitions of "Oh my god!" 

Doriel

I love all the bits of lore we get around the Offspring, even if like, most of them are dead and the lore is very small, it helps give me a sense of just how old Achaea is compared to our characters.

Ayani

Jiraishin said:

Ayani said:

Sartan said:

Death's Heart remains my all-time favorite event. There have been arguably some much better events since then, but that one in particular locked me completely into Achaea.

As for stories, or lore, there is too much to even begin to list off.

I actually stumbled upon this randomly while trying to see if there was anything Deucalion and Twilight had in common. I have to admit, it was a pretty fascinating read. However, there was a particular public post (public 4235)... It probably be always one of my favorite public posts to read. 

This is my favorite public post.

PUBLIC NEWS #18135                                      (05/24/2009 at 10:08)  

From   : Apollyon, the Suffering

To     : Tahquil

Subject: Your Future

                                                                               

I am all that is Suffering.

You will fall at My feet and beg for forgiveness.

You will find none.

 

Penned by My hand on the 25th of Phaestian, in the year 509 AF.

I'm curious!

Jiraishin

There's actually a report I wrote sitting in the Luminai library partly based on the posts surrounding this. 

Taryius

I think if I were to label my all-time favourite event, I'd have to do so as a combo. Thoth's death, the god-themed embrace sequences, Slith's tribunal and the following Underworld war. These were the first events that I ever really experienced in Achaea, and they got me hooked. Everything about it was thrilling, the shock of the events at every turn, the flavour and definitely the conflict, interaction and competitive nature of the Underworld war.

And I absolutely adore the ripples it continues to have upon the game, the death of Thoth, and Ugrach and Slith's fates have impacted so so much. From the new Underworld and Ugrach's position as curator to -everything- involving the Tsol'teth. It's beautiful and impressive to see the repercussions of this event continue to echo on, without feeling like a poor retcon.

As for events within Taryius' lifetime, definitely the Legate Inferno Raid. That was just jaw-droppingly good, I love you @Sartan . The tension going in, and the chilling atmosphere of the specific part of the Inferno we went too, I don't think I've ever been so intensly tense as I was when we stumbled upon the campsite and there were fires burning and meat cooking but it was -completely empty-, and then BAM daemons ripping into us.



And as for lore, I think I have a special spot for all the Inferno lore, but I definitely get hooked the most on god-related origin sorta stuff, which sadly is mostly locked behind orders. There is something very human, and intruiging about learning how God's came to be, especially from their perspectives, and the trials and tribulations they went through before the Modern Age of Achaea came into being, even more so when you can see how their beliefs and personalities were forged from things that happened to them. Like Babel, oh my god I love Babel's story. Or how Sartan came about finding and ruling the Inferno, thats always going to be my favourite kinda of lore to learn.

Lenn

I like personal stories more than big lore events, if only because telling them is a bit more fun and feels less like a lecture.

My favourite bit of lore is tough to say. Probably gradually finding more and more about the tsol'teth and their goals, specifically that one line of foreshadowing from the last event where a bunch of kids were playing while the adults watched with feigned dispassion.

My favourite personal story is when Lenn was playing with her Gerzson plushie in front of the real thing during the underworld war. Someone, I forget who, was like "Are you seeing this?" and the ur'vampire responded to an emote with a wink or a grin.

Cooper

Sartan said:

Death's Heart remains my all-time favorite event. There have been arguably some much better events since then, but that one in particular locked me completely into Achaea.

As for stories, or lore, there is too much to even begin to list off.

You loved dying to Napoloen and Mordyval's firelords as much as I did then, eh?

Skye

I girl-crushed on Damen Kephry in my early days @Nicola

I really liked his relationship with Catarin and was totally shipping them too bad he deathflagged himself so badly

As to modern events... even though I wasn't really involved in the events until much later (I was 90% dormant for the first half of it until all the Gods started getting killed) I liked the Bal'met event, not just for its scale but also its presentation.

The destruction and desperate evacuation of Shallam and seeing all the Gods shouting at each other like that, and seeing them fight while all the mortals just watch helplessly or try to empower their god through prayer was one of those super immersive moments where you feel like 'these are Gods' and you feel like there are real stakes, rather the niggling meta that 'this is an admin in a godshell' and 'eh it'll be back to normal in a month'.

All I could think of was that nothing would ever be the same again after this. For someone who's been playing a long time and was getting a little jaded about it all, it really brought it back for me.

Rhivona

Skye said:

I girl-crushed on Damen Kephry in my early days @Nicola

I really liked his relationship with Catarin and was totally shipping them too bad he deathflagged himself so badly

As to modern events... even though I wasn't really involved in the events until much later (I was 90% dormant for the first half of it until all the Gods started getting killed) I liked the Bal'met event, not just for its scale but also its presentation.

The destruction and desperate evacuation of Shallam and seeing all the Gods shouting at each other like that, and seeing them fight while all the mortals just watch helplessly or try to empower their god through prayer was one of those super immersive moments where you feel like 'these are Gods' and you feel like there are real stakes, rather the niggling meta that 'this is an admin in a godshell' and 'eh it'll be back to normal in a month'.

All I could think of was that nothing would ever be the same again after this. For someone who's been playing a long time and was getting a little jaded about it all, it really brought it back for me.

Speaking of Gods and their history, maybe Eros has something special to say about some of them!