ESCHALON TRILOGY - Q&A (SPOILERS)

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Re: ESCHALON TRILOGY - Q&A (SPOILERS)

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BasiliskWrangler wrote:Ask more if you have any.
Why does Malkur have the Taurax invade Mistfell? The Crux of Fire is no longer in Hammerlorne Mine, he has no reason to march north. If this is done to give Erubor a sense of urgency in finding the other Crux stones I don't believe it is required.

Why does Malkur not stop Julian, Sparrow and Wendy from attacking you? Would it not have made sense for Malkur to let his servants know you are not to be touched?

If I side with Erubor why does he tell me not to pursue Malkur after the final battle? Why am I not allowed to kill him? And why do we decide to travel beyond the Great Western Sea where Malkur or Erubor will be?

If I side with Malkur why does he think it is unfortunate that we couldn't convince Erubor that our efforts were virtuous? He didn't even try! And what does Malkur know about being virtuous? Having someone bludgeon their brother to death over a book is not virtuous. And the worst part of this is that you cannot confront Malkur about what he has done, even if he genuinely believes everyone on the surface is going to die and he has to do what he must to save Eschalon. This could of made for a great conversation but none of this is mentioned in the last five minutes of the game.
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Re: ESCHALON TRILOGY - Q&A (SPOILERS)

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BasiliskWrangler wrote:Of course, you never even bring up the third possibility, that is was all fake.
There is also a fourth possibilty in that you are making the Eschalon story more complicated that it really is and are trolling us hard, like you did with what we found in Talushorn. :wink:

But I don't believe you would be so devious as to do that. :D Thank you for commenting on my questions, I will come back to them after I've had time to think.
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Re: ESCHALON TRILOGY - Q&A (SPOILERS)

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BasiliskWrangler wrote:Who else might have been working with Malkur the same way you were?
I'm not sure I know what you mean. None of the other characters seem to be suffering from memory loss so do you mean working for him unintentionally?
BasiliskWrangler wrote:Erubor points out that Malkur is powerless without the Crux.
What about his metallic wand? Or his mind control abilities?

The Crux of Ages was able to free Chancellor Malcolm from the influence of Gramuk but it is never stated that it could do the same against the influence of Malkur. The Crux of Ages could of been taken to Amireth for this very reason so it wouldn't interfere with his abilities.
BasiliskWrangler wrote:What would the death of Malkur achieve at that point?
Justice and satisfaction on my part.
BasiliskWrangler wrote:What if this whole thing was just two old rivals, Malkur and Erubor, competing against each other for the ultimate prize of 4 powerful stones that they each coveted.
If this was the case why would Erubor let you return the Crux of Ages to Bastion Spire? Or let you take the Crux of Fire to Talushorn to destroy it with another Crux? It was a very dangerous game to play.
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Re: ESCHALON TRILOGY - Q&A (SPOILERS)

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Malkur says you took the serum to erase your memories so Erubor and Korren wouldn't know you had talked to him. Erubor, Korren and Lilith say you took the serum to erase your memories so Malkur couldn't find you.

If you were going to erase your memories anyway, what was the point in Malkur talking to you?
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Re: ESCHALON TRILOGY - Q&A (SPOILERS)

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Why does Lilith make you travel to the Baasilt Dunes to meet her? No story reason is given.

Malkur has a secret passage built between the Astral Range and Valley of the Wanderer so his forces can move quickly. Why are his minions looking for the widgets? Shouldn't he already have them in a secure location? How exactly did the Tungsten Bracket Widget get to the Akadai Underworld where the Crux of Terra is?

But who cares, right? Nobody wants to discuss the story. Or perhaps they do, just not with me...
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Re: ESCHALON TRILOGY - Q&A (SPOILERS)

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BasiliskWrangler wrote:A goblin Lieutenant named Mudgrave was ambushed by Akadai scouts who found the strange widget and took it back to their tunnels, where they kept other artifacts that they deemed precious.
Where is this mentioned in Book III?
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Re: ESCHALON TRILOGY - Q&A (SPOILERS)

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Alright Thomas, no need to get all defensive on me. Since nobody else cares about the story like I do I'll keep my thoughts to myself in future.
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Re: ESCHALON TRILOGY - Q&A (SPOILERS)

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BasiliskWrangler wrote:You asked why it wasn't in the games...
I did not. I asked where the reference to Mudgrave was because I thought I had missed it.
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Re: ESCHALON TRILOGY - Q&A (SPOILERS)

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Why is Malkur always naked in the cinematics? How many people do you know that would walk in the middle of a battlefield with no clothes or armor on?

Put some clothes on man!
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Re: ESCHALON TRILOGY - Q&A (SPOILERS)

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BasiliskWrangler wrote:The Orakur were underground for so long, they would have had minimal access to textiles and hides, so clothing would have become less and less accessible. With no large enemies, armor would not have been needed. Cloaked in darkness, in the heat of the deepest mines, clothing would have become a forgotten item.
Shina wore pants while in Talushorn. I doubt the Taurax would of been so kind as to provide him some. Your argument is therefore invalid. Did it cost more for the artist to draw clothes and/or armor? :wink:

Ruel's research book mentions the Orakur having armor. I doubt Malkur took all the good stuff when he was cast out so some of the other Orakur should have some. They should of had the wisdom to craft something for you.

And regardless of your explanation, Malkur should of had some armor on at the end. He could of been easily killed.
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Re: ESCHALON TRILOGY - Q&A (SPOILERS)

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Speaking of Ruel, why did Malkur have Wendy murder her brother for? Wouldn't it of been easier to have Wendy talk to Ruel like Julian did with her? The research book on the Orakur wasn't a danger to his plans because it is never mentioned again as having any influence.
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Re: ESCHALON TRILOGY - Q&A (SPOILERS)

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Why does Malkur kill Shina? Wouldn't it make sense for him to torture Shina for information? He might know the location of the Crux of Terra, and if not he would know where the other Orakur are who would know.

And why would Malkur have his prison on the path to the Crux Chamber? He did after all want you to reach the top. Shina could of told all but didn't. Perhaps Shina wasn't real? An illusion? I think after work I'll be reading his dialogue again...
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Re: ESCHALON TRILOGY - Q&A (SPOILERS)

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If you really were working with Malkur, why didn't you write a letter to yourself to explain the situation you find yourself in? Karamiklan could of handed you the letter before Malkur makes his appearance.

I think I'll be running out of questions in a few days...
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Re: ESCHALON TRILOGY - Q&A (SPOILERS)

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If the letter made reference to particular things we did before taking the memory erasing serum, then perhaps. It wouldn't be definite proof though which is what we want.
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Re: ESCHALON TRILOGY - Q&A (SPOILERS)

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Unkillable Cat from RPG Codex makes an interesting post:
It's a case of temporal physics. An upcoming planetary alignment will cause the great rift of Eschalon to erupt, spreading Candecium all across the land, killing every living thing on the planet's surface, with only life living deep underground surviving... namely, the Dwarves. Even they feel the effects of Candecium poisoning and slowly change and mutate and become the Orakur. They emerge on Eschalon 1000 years later with puny frail bodies, yet possessing a technological knowhow that allow them to travel through time. So in order to try to prevent the Candecium Cataclysm, they build a time machine, fueled by four gigantic Candecium crystals, and travel back in time to use their superior technological skills to save the day. Except... something goes wrong. The machine malfunctions, the Orakur don't end up when they're supposed to be. They spend centuries repairing their vessel, hide away the four Candecium crystals and wait until they're ready. During this "waiting period" Malkur realizes the truth... the Orakur can't prevent the Cataclysm, as they are a direct result of it. If the Orakur prevent the Cataclysm, the Orakur don't exist... so they can't prevent the Cataclysm and a temporal paradox is created.

The time machine "malfunctioning" as it sets off is due to Malkur's attempt to sabotage the Orakur's plans, by his own return to the future. Malkur MUST succeed in returning "home" to preserve the timeline and the series of events that creates the Orakur. The game all but states this out loud in that burst of exposition that is the second meeting between Malkur and the protagonist, yet the game spends all its time painting Malkur as the bad guy. And when the player is finally made to pick a side, the game ignores all of this and decides to not resolve it properly, to leave the end decision ambiguous. It should be more clear on the facts: Siding with the bad guys will get everyone killed, but a glimmer of hope remains for life on Eschalon through the Orakur. But if the player sides with the good guys, everyone will STILL get killed as the Cataclysm can't be prevented. It's a Lose-Lose situation, about as anti-climatic as an ending can get. A third option should have been made available where both factions work together to try to save as many as possible, a "true" ending of sorts that the player would have to work for by exploring Wylderan well enough. But Book 3 had to be rushed, so we're left with the skeleton of a decent ending that lacks content to hold it together.
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