Friday, December 13, 2019

Arisetsu, Vol, and Zek: Love and Lore Notes from Project Gorgon

I've been playing in the cold and snowy mountains of Gazluk lately trying my best to win the friendship of one Rick Snapley. I've talked about him before since he's the go to guy for training Knife Fighting.

If this was real life, there's no way I'd really want to hang out with this guy, but in Project Gorgon I'm trying my best to become "like family" with him so I can train all the deadly Knife Fighting skills.

You see . . . Rick's favorite thing to do is to get drunk and play with knives. Sounds fun at first, but it's going to lead to a lot of blood, bandages, alcohol poisoning, and hangovers. As for things Rick likes as gifts? Yeah, he'll gladly take poison of any kind . . . even poisoned food and drink (LOVES 'EM!), and he'll also gladly take any spare magical knives you've got floating around in your inventory.

Can you really trust a guy like, Rick?  Really?

Rick runs a little shop in the New Prestonbule Ice Cave where he'll buy anything you throw at him. Luckily for cash strapped travelers, he's good at that. Before this gig, he was (get this) a happy dealer in stolen goods from Jawas and Sand People, erm, well, uhh . . . "desert thieves" types if you get my drift.

His saving grace of course is his heart of gold for his Raksasha girlfriend named Sona. He saved her from the Jawa and Sand People types and hauled her off to his super cold cave in Gazluk to protect her as he nursed her back to health. I guess that's one way to get a girlfriend! OHHHHHH!

Anyway, while trying to become thick as thieves with good 'ol Rick, I've also done a few of his favor quests. The one I completed most recently is called "Blankets from Ghosts," and it has some very interesting lore behind the strange abandoned city nearby that's full of ghosts.

Behold the ghost-filled town of Prestonbule

Now, ghosts in Project Gorgon ain't your typical undead. Upon first glance they appear shiny and golden and when you start to attack them (because they will attack you on sight), you'll notice that you aren't doing much damage to them. Why? Well, you need to "stun" a ghost first before you damage it. Yeah, I don't get it either, but it's a cool mechanic, right?

A "Horrific" Ghost? Well, she is trying to punch me I guess.

When a ghost turns white, THEN you can damage it. Shield or Hammer skills are perfect for fighting Ghosts, btw. Between the two there's tons of stunning potential.

My turn to punch, Ghost Lady!

I digress.

Now, Rick lets  you in on a little secret. The "New Prestonbule" cave is actually the old storage area of "Prestonbule" aka the area of Gazluk with all the abandoned ghost houses.

The other odd thing is that the people that originally lived in that city were worshipers of a goddess named "Arisetsu." She's the goddess of Hope and Warmth. What in the actual heck are a bunch of goddess of hope and warmth lovers doing in Gazluk where your body temperature drops like a rock the moment you step outside? Nobody knows but old Arisetsu herself I suppose.

Anyway, the reason there are ghosts here is because orcs raided their town and slaughtered all those followers of Arisetsu.  But get this, Arisetsu HATES undead!! Feels like salt in the wound.

Let's rewind a bit . . . who is this Arisetsu besides the goddess of Hope and Warmth? Hmm? So here's the deal, you can find a book about Arisetsu in a house in Serbule. It's called "The Gods, XI: Arisetsu." By reading this book you find out a few things:

1- Arisetsu used to be called simply Aris. She was only a minor goddess of Warmth. She became the goddess of both Hope and Warmth after the rebound from an event called the Autumn Felling where  half the population of elves died including the grand poo-poo of Elven Gods, Cae-a-lee.

2- She birthed three minor gods named Elshana, Errana, and Dreva, which kinda took care of Arisetusu's newfound responsibilities of "Hope." since . . . you know . . . her kids all were minor gods of things which give hope to the world, like creativity and sex (blush).

Inside new Prestonbule Cave you find out just a little bit of extra lore about our dear Arisetsu from a Lorebook there called "Classic Stories: Arisetsu and Vol."

3- Arisetsu, the Goddess of Hope and Warmth, hooked up with Vol, the God of Death, in order to escape death of her own. They have love spats, but it works.

And finally, if you do a hangout with Gloria Stonecurl, the priestess of Arisetsu in nearby Mountains of Kur, you find out this cool Lore tidbit:

4- Both Arisetsu and Vol hate undead.  In fact, it was probably Vol's influence on Arisetsu that makes her hate undead so much.

. . . so, back to my original thought, ain't it weird that a bunch of Arisetsu followers now inhabit Prestonbule as undead? I THINK SO!

Undead are typically the work of Vol's angsty emo brother named Zek. In a book titled The Chalice Saga, we learn that Zek likes chilling with Necromancers . . . the unfriendliest kind of necromancers.

So . . . to complete my lore-conspiracy-theory-post here that you've been reading . . . My thinking is that the orcs didn't just raid Prestonbule for kicks, but that Zek himself riled them up and swooped in with his undead-ways to completely piss off Arisetsu and Vol.

GASP!

Wouldn't it be interesting if someday players entered into the realm of Acur, the dark dimension of Angst through a portal in Prestonbule, which was opened up by Arisetsu and Vol themselves? I SAY YES!!!!

This pulpit in the Prestonbule church would be the perfect spot for a portal to Acur . . . just sayin'

 . . . and that's all I got to say about that . . . but let me know what you think in the comments below.

Happy Dueling!

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