Fathamurk questions in light of Book III

Here's where all things related to Book III are being discussed!
Post Reply
User avatar
SpottedShroom
Captain Magnate
Captain Magnate
Posts: 1372
Joined: June 4th, 2010, 6:18 pm

Fathamurk questions in light of Book III

Post by SpottedShroom »

While working on my mod, I got to thinking about the origins of Fathamurk. The story I had in mind for it doesn't seem to make sense in light of the information we get in Book III. Here's a summary of what we know.

Fathamurk is very old: "Long have the people of Mistfell shared tales of this place," "Whoever built this place must have left it long ago." The entrance was discovered 30 years before Hammond Burroak wrote his journal, which is itself "many years" old.

Fathamurk uses advanced technology: "It is clear that these tunnels were masterfully crafted, but when and by whom I do not know. These stones are cut with precision of a magnitude I do not believe even Dwarves possess," "There is a keyhole, but the mechanism within is unlike anything you have ever seen,"

Fathamurk was (probably) build by the Orakur: Hammond Burroak's journals indicates that he, the miners who found the entrance, and Chancellor Malcolm all believe it to be the work of the Orakur. Its creators used Candecium, which only the Orakur have been shown to know how to use.

The makers of Fathamurk were experimenting with time travel technology: "With enough Candecium, we can create portals that supersede the 'current' physical realm, making travel to a 'previous state' of the physical realm possible."

The Orakur evolved from dwarves in the distant future: "a few isolated groups of Dwarves will live through the cataclysm whilst they mine deep in the darkness of the mountains... In the distant future... the Orakur emerge from the underground."

A group of Orakur traveled from the future, arriving around 200 years before the events of Book III: "The Orakur... decided to travel into the past to stop this [cataclysm]... they overshot their arrival date by more than two-hundred years."

It seems that Fathamurk must have been built by the stranded Orakur, but there are several issues with that theory. It must have been at most only ~170 years old when Hammond Burroak visited it, but it seems much older. Why would the stranded Orakur have built it but then abandoned it so quickly? And they already knew about time travel - why did their notes indicate they were experimenting with it? For that matter, is ~200 years of Orakur really enough to establish such a pervasive mythology as they seem to have in Eschalon?

I believe the best explanation is that Karamiklan was mistaken about the 200 years figure. If the Orakur had been in Eschalon for longer before the start of the Book I - 1000 years, maybe - then Fathamurk's long abandonment makes a lot more sense, as does the mythology of the Orakur. It still doesn't explain why they abandoned Fathamurk or the time travel experiments, though. Does anyone have any thoughts?
Randomizer
Captain Magnate
Captain Magnate
Posts: 1469
Joined: December 11th, 2007, 6:51 am
Location: Wandering the Rift

Re: Fathamurk questions in light of Book III

Post by Randomizer »

It is possible that Fathamurk was built by a different group of Orakur that either were trying to fix a mistake caused by the first group or they overshot the timeline even more and were using this site to fix the ship and jump closer to the correct time.

The second reason makes more sense and explains the sighting of a bright light mentioned in Book 1. After two failed attempts to get the right time, the Orakur decided it was close enough and with a damaged ship they would just make repairs and wait things out.
User avatar
Kreador Freeaxe
Major General
Major General
Posts: 2425
Joined: April 26th, 2008, 3:44 pm

Re: Fathamurk questions in light of Book III

Post by Kreador Freeaxe »

Or perhaps Fathamurk is, itself, from the distant future and one of the Orakur's experiments in time travel actually ended up sending it back in time, sans the inhabitants.
---

Kill 'em all, let the sysadmin sort 'em out.
User avatar
MyGameCompany
Officer [Platinum Rank]
Officer [Platinum Rank]
Posts: 516
Joined: September 22nd, 2009, 6:56 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Fathamurk questions in light of Book III

Post by MyGameCompany »

Maybe it should have been 2000, but BW missed a zero.

The sighting of the bright light falling from the sky much earlier in the timeline tells me that Bw either made a mistake, or there was a second group of Orakur. I don't think the dragon could have erred, though I suppose he could be trying to mislead you with the 200 year quote - but that doesn't seem likely to me.
Troy
Former indie game developer
Check out my Book III mods: The Mystery of Rockhammer Mine and Expedition into West Mirkland
Post Reply