What Changed?

[Livin]

I recently read the latest iteration of the Seven Suns of Twilight (I know I'm late but I wasn't aware of the update) and it got me speculating over what changed to cause the rise of deadhaus.

 

I'm not referring to what humanity did to warrant the undead becoming the salvation of the world, but rather what rule the Fetid Prince changed. I had assumed that the undead simply didn't exist before and that the rule change was that it was now possible for the dead to rise and these different variations of undead naturally coalesced. The latest iteration of the Seven Sun of Twilight dispels this as the random prophet that reads the game board and foretells how it shall end has been replaced with a Banshee and her presence is not a shock as everyone in the room understands what she is. The undead do exist prior to deadhaus but for some reason they didn't rise up in all that time before, so what changed?

 

My new theory is that they existed but in other realms or plains of existence where they went after death, barred or prevented from returning to the realm of the living by the decree of the Fetid Prince or those he serves; and that rule change allowed them to return there, as well as allowing new ones to manifest there instead.

Edited July 26, 2020 by Livin

[Golden Xan]

Hey @Livin,

 

I believe this piece of text, as do others, have quite a few hidden layers to them. There is more to it than meets the eye.

 

At first, in the first version, I thought that the undead being possible was the rule that had changed, like you. But on this version, I believe there might actually be at least four undead, of three or more different kinds. The Banshee is obvious, as she is such described. The white knight that is risen, Lucian Armin, is described as being the precursor to a mighty house being built on hatred's back, which suggests he might be a Revenant. The Fetid Prince, even though is not quite clear, seems to be a Vampire, and I believe that's the case because of his appearance: tall, pale, sharp features and poise. Also the fact that he is called "fetid" despite nothing in his appearance indicating he should be "fetid", but if vampirism is a curse, then perhaps that would warrant it. And then there is the leper, which seems like not a human character, yet I wouldn't know of what classification. Maybe he's a Wight? I dare not guess.

 

So, the existence of undead is not the rule. Also, Anu Maht may be a portal to a different dimension, but it is located in the material world. I imagine that the rule which changed had to do with something else other than undead being able to enter the land.

In the previous version, the Leper said that influencing the minds of the dead is better than that of the humans, and that that was a masterful move from the Prince's part. I figured that they were fighting a game where each faction controlled the same kinds of units, humans, and that the Prince made a change to that, and that that was the rule change. But this version no longer says that, even though it could still be true.

But there is still something else that I noticed, a hidden meaning that I believe I noticed when looking closely to the events prior to the exclamation of "it knew you would break the rules", that suggests there is something more to it, something implied.

 

Keeva is seeing the future. She says the white knight dies and rise as undead, and fights against the Crimson Sign, and that the stars will align by the house built on hatred. The Leper says she is lying. She looks at him, lifts from the floor, points at the Leper and then shrieks. The description of the shriek is "A horrid shriek poured from her gaping maw, a voice that was not her own." You could take this literally, because the Banshee shriek is meant to be supernatural, but it actually means that someone else's voice was being manifested through the Banshee. Maybe that is why they are called heralds. Then the story continues, and I heed that we pay attention to this part: "In the presence of the otherworldly voice, the Fetid Prince knelt and the Leper staggered backwards, reeling as if suddenly struck." I initially justified his kneeling as being his own way of reacting to being pushed by the shriek, because of the leper's reaction, but it isn't. The Prince kneels out of respect because they are being addressed by another entity more powerful than them, the entity that is speaking through the Banshee, and I believe this entity is a god or some other kind of being for which one of the sides work for. Presumably, the Crimson Sign's entity. The Leper reacts that way because he is being scolded. This is supported by what the Prince says next: "What a shame, it seems your lord has little more use for you... or perhaps it simply sees less than you thought." The Crimson Sign's entity must have destituted the Leper from his position, perhaps because of his failure. The supposition that the Banshee was serving as communicator is also supported by the fact her ethereal body is crushed under the weight of the shriek itself, and she is dissipated. Why would a Banshee die when using her own powers? Unless she didn't die, and was instead transported somewhere else. But it seems to me that she was crushed under the overwhelming force of an entity beyond their level of power, such as a god, manifesting through her.

 

From here, there are a number of things that may mean the "change of the rule". It could be that contacting the gods directly is a rule change. Or perhaps contacting the other side's god is. Or perhaps removing the Leper from his position was the change. Or seeing the future with the Banshee. Or, still, having turned the human pawn into an undead pawn.

 

Of all these options, or more that I may have missed, I don't know which is the most likely to be true, but I believe the rule change was the fact that the two of them were influencing humans before and the Prince is now playing the game controlling undead instead. But we might have to wait to confirm our theories.

Edited July 26, 2020 by Golden Xan

[Denis Dyack]

It is a pleasure to have you both here in the community.

[Denis Dyack]

Hah! I cannot wait till we roll out [spoiler=DONT LOOK!!!!!!]"The Black Hand" - you looked!

[Varik Keldun]

Most of the changes that are added to the story are for details to help give visuals.... though the mention of The temple of Anu Maht makes me wonder some things about it.

[Varik Keldun]

for comparison purposes ill link the old one here for ya.

 

OLD

Half-dead bodies, blood, and tormented corpses

decorated the Royal Chamber. Shadowy

figures played on instruments made of flesh,

bone, and tendons accompanied by an acapella

of subdued moaning by the mutilated. It was a mighty

celebration of a match long overdue.

 

With a convoluted gesture, the cloaked figure burns a

crimson sigil on the board as a white knight falls screaming

with defiance and finally madness, adding to the macabre

display in the chamber.

 

“Masterfully done.” A chill washes over the few remaining

servants of the Fetid Prince as they hear his whisper. The

two great powers faced each other separated by the great

board. The board was not of the usual kind that any man

would understand, for this game was on the cosmic level.

The enigmatic leper smirked under his hood just enough

for the Fetid Prince to sense his delight. “Haha! It is time

for a change, my old friend. You have fought hard, but alas,

you have lost this gambit. The World of Seven Suns is in its

twilight. It is the dawn of Islirith. Concede!”

 

The Fetid Prince smiled and replied, “Keeva, come hither.”

The occultist stumbled over the gore-stained floor and

halted by the Fetid Prince’s side. “What do you see?” he

asked.

 

Keeva closed her eyes. “Master, I see black stars rising

at night across a lake of blood,” she said. “A Leper King

rises with masses of men chanting, as twin suns ebb in

the dusk. I see The Crimson Sign — we have lost.”

 

The Fetid Prince laughed then, an inhuman, maniacal

laugh that reverberated in a way that defiled nature. He

raised his hand, gesturing toward her. “Look again,” he

commanded. Keeva screamed as her eyes exploded

from her face. She fell and knocked over the table

supporting the great board. Her mind shattered and

reformed a thousand times. After a time she looked up,

exposing raw flesh from empty sockets, tears of blood

dripping down her face.

 

“I am sorry, Master, now I see. The White Knight, dead,

now reforms with hatred and animus unparalleled,

ushering in a new house. Under the shadow of the

crimson sign, Deadhaus rises and its thirst cannot be

quenched. New cosmologies align. It is not over, not yet.”

The head of the cloaked figure jerked toward Keeva,

whose flesh turned black, vomiting as the peeling skin

spread across the rest of her body, she fell to the floor

a withered corpse. “Oh come on! Can we play a game

without you cheating?” he asked.

 

The Fetid Prince grinned. “The outer gods give their

herald a second chance,” he declared. “I will take it. It is

not cheating but merely following my instructions from

greater powers to reset the cosmology. Surely you saw

this coming.”

 

“Yes, Yes...My master foretold this, but it does not remove

the sting,” said the leper. “Arrrgh...Your play is even more

elegantly done than mine, for the minds of humans are

weak, but the minds of the dead are infallible. You remove

one of my master’s greatest strengths, but we shall still

prevail. Until the next time.”

 

The music faded as both houses stood down, a cosmic

evolution had just occurred.

[Varik Keldun]

if you compare the old ver. with the new ver. of the story.

OLD

The two great powers faced each other separated by the great

board. The board was not of the usual kind that any man

would understand, for this game was on the cosmic level

NEW

The temple of Anu Maht was forbidden to

mortals...... At the center of this macabre

chamber lay a stone dais, scrawled with runes, and

upon this dais stood a great table whose surface was

marked with the territories of Malorum, each holding

several carven figures.

 

This leads me to think that Anu Maht is outside the reach of the mortal realm.

 

In the old version the the cloaked figure was called the enigmatic leper, which just made me think diseased/dying human or supernatural being of such a type... now it honestly sounds more like the discription of a liche to me.

 

 

(just a start to some of the changes that i've seen - will add more later have tasks to go do)

[Livin]

I hadn't consider that the Fetid Prince could be a vampire, the description certainly does support it; but I'm iffy on the leper being a lich, just because they talk of the dead like they didn't count themselves to be among them.

 

Although I do like the idea that there is the potential for a Judas or two amongst the undead that are fighting to change the status quo instead of preserving it for fear that the change might result in some measure of oblivion to all existence.

[Varik Keldun]

but I'm iffy on the leper being a lich, just because they talk of the dead like they didn't count themselves to be among them.

first take a look at the picture of the lich from the classes page

sure THIS lich is not covered from head to toe in wrappings....

but i would specifically like to point out the MOUTH area, it says pretty much what is stated here.....

"softly chattering overlarge teeth that shriveled lips failed to cover."

 

Stooped and hunkered, bundled in a weathered cloak and bandaged head to toe stained with Leprous fluid - Lichs in their class description " Over decades, they suffuse their own bodies with necromantic energies, withering flesh, hollowing bones, and blackening organs."

 

it would also be on par with the fact that maybe the liche does not consider itself UNDEAD but more of a human who conquered death and "ascended" through his own knowledge, willpower and magic.

 

if the temple of Anu Maht is forbidden to mortals which is were the scene takes place - the leper prince is either an undead (most likely a liche based on current class knowledge) or its a different supernatural being altogether.

[Golden Xan]

As soon as you said Liche, Varik, I thought it made a lot of sense. If we recall from Alaric's writings, "Of Liches", we'll also note that the Liche there found was similarly mummified. "It looked to be centuries old, a shriveled husk wrapped in a gossamer burial shroud."

I did not made the connection when reading through it either, but I think Varik has a good guess here. A few contrary observations would be the Leper's behavior, that is not as stoic and calculated as one might a Liche's would be, but that may be for many reasons, including its individuality.

 

I wonder if being undead is all it takes so that you may enter Anu Maht. I'd imagine that there would be more restrictions to it than that.

[Livin]

I'm not saying its impossible for that to be a liche. I'm just saying its possible that it may not be, just as the Fetid Prince might not be a vampire. Perhaps leper is a slang or derogatory term for a liche in this game, same goes for Fetid Prince with the vampires.

 

If they are a vampire and liche then perhaps our greatest adversaries within deadhaus are one another, which I am all for as I'd enjoy some banter or rivalry in our undead's interactions with one another.

 

Edit

I'm feeling dumb for not considering that I could be wrong about when this exchange happens. At first I thought it had to be a precursor to deadhaus, assuming it is part of the origin since it was the first big bit of lore. Now I'm thinking it could likely take place some time after and that the Fetid Prince's rule change was the equivalent of that old chess gag where you spin the board around so you now have control of the winning side and all its pieces right after a new one (the Revenant) has been added to it.

Edited July 27, 2020 by Livin