Unity updated to a new stable version allowing us to put in custom tool to get useful data for balancing and iterations. Small issues could pop-up despite the intensive testing sessions before the switch. Just be sure of send over dumps if weird things happen
Dhara’Ahzim codex entry now works properly
Leaping Strike attack making the player ‘bounce-back’ when used on a wide enemy now works properly
Shaba-Ku quests’ order switched (House of Orphans, Baga’s Shame, Mirrored Vanities)
Brewdall Family Crest Quest dialogue is now fixed
See-through outlines of players when behind some NPC now fixed
Warlord skills not working properly with an unarmed char now fixed
Polearms are now correctly held with both hands while in fighting stance
Pad now works properly when remapping mouse & keyboard
North-East corridor navmesh in Stonechair now fixed [behind Xamoth]
Spawn point and irregula navmesh in Rot Finger now fixed
Tentative fix of the cage’s glitch in Black Heart deployed
Just a quick update to inform you that we are pretty confident about releasing the major update with strongholds before leaving for GamesCom. We initially targeted the end of the month to release it but you know we are fast, and we are testing the feature right now so we'll hopefully be able to deliver next week. The update will come with a new round of balancing and misc improvements that will be detailed before the patch of course. Two more important info: we are going to release a new patch today or tomorrow too, because we are updating Unity to a new version right now. We were using an old version of the engine because it was super safe and we've waited for a new one with the same stability to make the move. Of course, even if we are testing everything right now, a few issues could occurr but in case, once again, don't panic. We are here to fix everything if needed. The new engine version is needed on our side to include a new set of tools to gather data and info that will be crucial in the next months, for balancing and improvements. We should be able to unveil a few community-related features as well, involving players on our Discord server. Anyone helping us with the development and contributing to the community itself, just helping others or simply contributing with your suggestions, will be rewarded with gifts and perks. More info to come! GamesCom will be pivotal for our future plans, so expect big news in September. While a couple of heroes will be in Cologne [Alberto and Giulia], the whole studio will take a short break the same week. This means that this will be probably the only week of the year in which the game will not be updated. We'll be available 24/7 as usual on our channels but the guys are going to recharge batteries after this super crazy summer in which everyone gave 110% for the EA launch. In case of emergency [catastrophic events or such], we'll find a way to fix as usual so, no worries anyway.
Fixed a bug breaking all the items in FA when trying to revive companions in a coop run. The issue caused interactable objects to be no more interactable, forcing a restart to leave the FA
Deity Codex entries will now be unlocked correctly, as intended, depending on the chosen deity selected while creating a new character
Heater Shield’s size has been reduced to the proper one
Black Heart, Cleaverocks, Brystead Lookout walkable areas have been improved, fixing navmesh and colliders blocking the player
Repair costs of all items have been lowered [from 0.70% to 0.30% of the item value for a full broken item]
Misc typos have been fixed [General Vendors and Traits in the tutorial, misc in-game notifications related to artifacts and events, quests and dialogues, misc Codex entries]. Proofreading in progress
"Home Under the Mountain" quest in Karak-Hohn [Reputation Quest] has been changed: The Lord of The Mountain [Armor] has been switched with King of The Mountain [Axe] as intended
Durability of all in-game items has been iterated and all the values have been increased
All the Armor Sets actually available in-game have been iterated, showing now the right value for rarity and brand new resistance. Prices are still WIP as the general balancing of wereables and usable items
It's a rainy Sunday here and we would like to drop a super quick note about the latest hotfix released on Friday. As you know, we are super fast with bug fixing and this is the most important thing we've considered when we started thinking about the long term plans for the game. We've released 10+ patches so far and i think nobody in the world can say a thing about our availability here or on our social, trying to solve as much problems as possible when they pop-up. We are proud of the work done, and we would say that we've always pushed the EA launch as something different from the usual EA launches. We don't have a vertical slice of the product to iterate, we have a fully playable product that needs to be iterated, polished and balanced to became what we had in mind since the very beginning. No game breaking bugs, no crashes, solid builds: we can say that all of this is real and again, proud of this and happy to know that players appreciated it. By the way, all of this does not mean that we have done with the development of course. We've updated the game trying to keep game saves safe everytime [and we'll continue like this], we've updated the game testing stuff on our internal branch and we've updated the game keeping in mind what we said above. A solid build to play is a must for us, and this is not going to change, but it's important to remind that development is a pain and sometime we can't simply know what is going to happen with the implementation of new features. The last patch was basically built around a first round of economy balancing that will be completed tomorrow. Two weeks ago we've put in the revive for companions. Yesterday we've receveid a few messages complaining about both things so it was worth claryfing once again what's going to happen next.
The revive feature was working fine when patched. We've worked on the feature this week too, and apparently the last update caused some regression. A few players experienced crashes or have been forced to restart the game trying to revive companions or trying to interact with them once gone. Crashes or no chances to interact with items/loot chests in FA, are directly connected to this, we are going to fix this tomorrow. The other economy-related issue is the one about repair costs and durability. We've increased durability for items on Friday, we are going to release the [almost] final iteration tomorrow. Repair costs will be lowered [by now, they are lower than the costs we had at release] and a first bunch of items will get their real in-game value. Remember that is never about a single feature but we are talking about connected systems. The problem with the repair cost is that the value of the items is still wrong and super high, compared to the money available in loots, quests and so on [even because right now, the sellling price for items have been decreased and we've iterated loots and rewards as well]. In both cases and for future patches, please, don't panic :) . "The game is broken" or "The last patch destroyed everthing" or stuff like that is non sense now, because bugs can happen at this stage, even if we had no significant tech issues since launch. And we are aware in real time of things gone wrong in case. Regression is pretty normal, we usually talk about what we do before and after a patch note and we build and fix at speed of light. Our idea was to update twice per week when possible but to avoid issues like this, we are probably going to patch on Thursday instead of Friday, to avoid scary weekends like this and let you play safe. Thank you for the support as usual, Major Update on the way soon! Have a great Sunday!
Tutorial has been updated to explain Revive in coop sessions with companions
Night/Day cycle is now properly explained and a new tutorial window is available in Codex
When all the human-controlled companions are dead in a FA, the player takes back full control on zoom
New barks for companions entering/leaving a hurt state have been implemented, so as for when they die.ì
The revive option in coop is much clear now with a green filler visible on hold when helping a companion
Revive will now be interrupted and reset when the player's poise breaks
Fixed a bug making barks visually overlapping
Fixed a bug in the quest “A Woe of a Stubborn Dwarf” preventing completion
Fixed a bug that was preventing some barks to be properly shown in certain combat contexts
Fixed a bug that was making some floating texts wrongly positioning in certain combat contexts.
Wandering Characters won’t spawn anymore after the ritual in Dremadea, unless the player did complete their respective quests, as intended
Fixed a bug that was preventing the resolution setting to show all supported resolutions (UHD)
Eagle Blade now renamed to Windweaver.
Lileah will now avoid casting her spell when the party doesn’t need healing
The giant undead summoned by Kariasha is now really giant, as intended
“Windback Hearts” Quest Giver in Bardushel will now correctly spawn from phase 2 onwards
Moonvale navmesh has been fixed (the big plant on the main path is no more an obstacle to players’ movement)
Alaloth life bar is now properly displayed at the beginning of the final fight. Max HP are just reduced if Ahromon and Ilzeborth have been previously killed
Nhulbarar water is now properly displayed, also in the overview mode
Proofreading and typos correction always ongoing (i,e, Ballek’Mahl now properly written in Tavern, Khoran properly written without double “h”, etc)
Repairing cost has been iterated as part of the general economy balance work, and is now higher than before, proportionally to the item vale
Selling cost has been iterated as part of the general economy balance work, and is now lower than before, proportionally to the item value
Durability of all items has been iterated. Almost any item/weapons/armor has now a x2/x3 value
Various fixes helping performance with potato hardware
Time flies and here we are again, one month later, with a new general update about Alaloth's developmnent! When we posted this just one week after the release, we were over the moon and we were still absorbing what was happening all around us, just putting pieces togheter to plan things at the best. Since the Early Access launched, we've gathered tons of feedbacks and we've released 10 patches to improve the game [the last one yesterday, check the changelog here]. We sat down and shared the first draft of the development roadmap, and we can't wait to show you the cool things we are cooking here. The good news is that Strongholds are almost ready so even if we scheduled the update for August, this will probably happen before GamesCom and all of this will let us work properly on full Mouse & Keyboard support, that is still missing menu navigation at the mo. We've done with the new areas too for the first map update, so we are going to dress these areas asap, filling them with new NPC, quests and so on. The first round of reviews for quests is almost done and we've finalized a bunch with the latest update. Something like 20 still need a bit of refinment [final rewards, proofreading, etc.] but we'll be able to move on by the end of the next week. Weapons, armors, items will be the focus of the very first round of balancing on our dev branch, along with the in-game economy. We've just done very small changes to numbers in the past month, but it was something expected. We collected tons of data [thank you so much for this] and we had the chance to work on some tools that will be very useful for us to debug and polish the proper way. We have now a full working analytics sys telling us about every single iteration with every single in-game object/place/char and so on, so we will be able to tune things using both your feeds and data at the best. We've even created a new tool that will be available next week, dumping automatically when an issue occurs. This will save extra time on both sides, allowing us to spot problems that could be invisible in a standard run. Back to gameplay-related stuff: companions and champions will follow the first round of changes, along with skills and traits. Lot of fun ahead on the design side.
The team in full wearing our amazing armor sets. And cats. Cats everywhere.
Moving to different topics: we are working on many community-related features and we are on the hunt for a Community Manager and Mods for our Discord server [covering US timezones]. As you know, it's basically two people handling everything on our board here now, while checking all the other channels all around the web. We love the discussions we are having with players and we could say that it is way beyond our expectations, with interesting chats and super constructive feeds. The only thing that we would like to remind, as the one and only community rule, is the respect for people, both users and from the dev team. Respect is due. We are always on to discuss, and I think we can proudly say that our availability could be considered a key point for the Early Access. We really try to answer every single message on any channel but sometime it's hard so we ask you to help us with this once again. We are on Steam 24/24 but for real time iterations, Discord stays as the main point of contact, because it's the tool we use to work and the hub we are developing to develop the community itself. We are working on a super cool program to enjoy life on the server with a stand-alone economy sys, that will let you being rewarded with a few cool perks [including games, phisycal goodies and more]. A dedicated updated will be posted soon, but it was worth to mention! We'll be back with some lore-related post next week, enjoy the weekend! Oh, Alaloth has been among top grossing games on Steam in the first two weeks of July. No need to say that this has been epic. considering one year of silence, no marketing budget and a release set in nearly one month of work. Nope, we are not suddenly rich but we'll have the chance to plan things in a way that was not possible until last May, after a long period of blood and pain. You can bet we'll deliver the game we've always had in mind since the very beginning btw. GamesCom is on the way, decisions will be taken after the event. Brace yourself [again]: winter is coming!
Reverted a fix out with the previous Hotfix: we are working on map overviews now and the changes applied by the last patch have been reverted due to issues connected to support for different resolutions. Some missing icons in the overviews have been fixed too, but these overviews are under a deeper review process and will be hardly iterated in the next days to give you the best results in terms of visuals and functionalities <*> Added final rewards to the following quests: Double or Nothing, Dovkam’s Personal Hell, Offerings to the Fallen God, The Boar’s Prey, The Picture of Alabaster Frey, The Western Wall, Troubles of a Merchant, Elven Rhymes, Imp Tale, Imperial Tolerance, Nature’s Keepsake, Of Mice and Kin, Scrolls of Varitan, A Burning Rage, A Merryspindle Shortage, Crawling Nightmare, Dudrin’s Blues, Frozen Goblins, Lost on the Frozen Trail, Master of the House, Meeting You Heroes, Shiny Scaly Lizards, Stones of High Stature, ThE Dueling Clans of Dir Lodar, The Eye of the Stone, The Steel Fronds, The Tale of Volkar the Brave, The Truffle Queen, Crimson Tears, Shadows Awakening, Shattered Memories, Sins of Firail, Wrapped in Silk. Rewards are final but expect changes in quality/rarity for these items in the next days
Lileah behaviour has been improved, to avoid her going out of her Sanctified Field when active
Ambiguous text in the Respec Tutorial has been improved. Now it is made clear that respec is only available in sanctuaries
Fixed wrong quest tracking for Infested Minds, Tribal Damnation and Woe of a Stubborn Dwarf
Fixed texts for dialogues and barks, showing typos [all kingdoms]. Proofreading still on-going
Lost Brotherhood quest has now the right 3D assetl for the prisoner: human has intended, not orcish as before
Addressed an issue preventing certain barks to be shown: dozens of new lore barks o will be displayed as intended all around the world
Fire Blast skill second AOE damage is now fixed, centering the original target rather than the vfx spawn position <*> A new option is available among Video Settings Menu, allowing to cap FPS. Now players can choose to lock their game at 30 FPS increment without v-sync or at 1/1, 1/2, 1/3 or 1/4 of their monitor maximum refresh rate with v-sync.
Fixed a bug allowing to buyback an infinite amount of a items previously sold
Healing Wells now work as intended, healing both the player and companions
Some achievements have been fixed, preventing a nearly endless pop-up of notifications <*> Companions will not be out of combat losing all their HP since now on. They could be wounded and could be revived while fighting in a FA. To heal them, just stay close and press the interaction button [3 second]. Only player characters can revive the companions, as they can’t revive themselves. Once revived, the companion will recoup just part of their HP. We are currently iterating this so expect changes by next week [barks when wounded/revived, revive interrupted when hit and so on]
Combat Slowmo option iterated. When it is option is enabled, the player attacks will cause a very small hitstop. When the player dodges an incoming attack a small slowmo will play. When the player breaks the enemy poise there will be first a hitstop and then a slowmo. With the option disabled there's no slowmo and the poise break hitstop is now heavily reduced
Windowed Mode and Resolution Options are now available
Overviews have been iterated, now all the icons will be visible as intended
Traits and Stats descriptions now correctly show icons and text
Constitution happened to buff just Max Health, works properly now as per description, also buffing poison/stun resistance
Companions bhvs have been improved: their block/dodge chances have been iterated, so as their poise values
Lootable items have been added to FAs, implementation still in progress
Starting year of your adventure has been iterated to be more lore consistent: now is 315 TE
Copper Rings, Leather Belts and other common items values have been fixed
Fixed a bug that caused sounds to play differently than expected in some situations
Lokasi Root is no more sold by enchanters, as intended
Eastern Lighting Rod pivot rotation has been fixed (no more evident compenetration)
Windwolf mount has been scaled up, now has the right size
Fixed a bug that caused the player to become inoperable in certain locations
Fixed some texts
Coldwood General Vendor has now the proper stock, not only food
Following abilities will now force an unaware target enemy to aggro the caster even if it does not deal a direct damage: Curse, Ring of Pain, Battle Shout, Cloudkill, Disruption Field, Boahi's Hand, Consecration
Both Xbox and PS controllers'icons have been polished, and now control settings show the right related images and info when plugged-in
Fixed a bug that prevented hostile NPCs from appearing under certain circumstances
A crazy busy week started yesterday for the team, because of GamesCom. The event is on its way end of August, and we decided to go back to Germany, after our last appearance in 2019. We’ll be attending the event to meet all the people in touch with us to know more about our future plans for Alaloth. It will be a good moment to meet press and creators as well and we are cooking something cool for them. We are going to say more about GamesCom in future updates, but we want to focus on something else right now. We’ve been very active from May on, and we sent out 7 patches following the release. We gathered tons of feeds and had the chance to talk about things going on, features, fixes, future updates, our roadmap and so on but it’s time to talk about the RPG stuff again. We spent time discussing options to improve the combat sys but there is a whole huge world we’ve worked on and that will be expanded in the next months. We are proof reading quests again right now, playing every single one again and again and iterating. We’ve put in many new quest rewards, polished dialogues, added timelines and tried to make quests more and more structured for players asking about this. We read your feeds on writing of course and we are actively working on it. 99% of the games around must be considered player-centered: the whole story evolves around the player, his choices, his actions. We do have something like this, but quests are way more streamlined when compared to other big games of course. We did this choice to work on something different, trying to stay in between old and new, as we tried to do for the combat system. The game is world-centered, player just live in Plamen, and things happen. Events could be missed, some chars encounters could be missed during a run, and so on. We thought it was cool to move on with something like this and this is something we really want to push in the future, adding many new different events to the calendar, to be able to give you all massive surprises we are going to discuss for sure, updating the roadmap later this summer. Who said large scale battles? New mobs? New FA? We didn’t. Yet. Anyway, it’s time to talk about Plamen again, sharing the chronology of events that led to the summon of the best champions of the Four Kingdoms to defeat Alaloth, the Great Betrayer. As you know, the world lore has been created by Chris Avellone [races, cities, pantheon, companions, special chars, legends] and our team started from his work to deliver the game as it is today. This is a timeline of events that you can read about in-game, through Lore Characters, quests, dialogues, and barks all around the world.
BLOOD & BIRTH: THE CHAOS OF CREATION
In the times before the calendars of the Four Kingdoms, there existed only chaos. Swirling raw, elemental matter at war with each other. From this chaos, a consciousness came into being. This conscious became the All-Father. All-Father achieves Consciousness Amidst the Chaos of Creation. It is said in ancient holy texts that the All-Father existed for some time, unnamed, as a great power fueled only by instinct, but when the first drop of his blood was shed, a new act of creation resulted, and he gained the name All-Father. From his blood, the gods, beasts, and the mortal races were born. The histories of this time are clouded, for language did not exist in the consciousness as a concept until the Mother-of-Betrayers came to be...and it grew from that moment on. It is believed that the precursor race to the Dwarves was also given form during this time.
THE FIRST ERA
This Era encompasses a time believed to be three millennia before Alaloth’s Descent
The All-Father’s battle with the elements of chaos shed blood onto different aspects of the chaos–stone, shadow, light, and more, creating the First Pantheon. Each of the All-Father’s drops of blood burned into an element, granting it the same passion and desire for battle as the All-Father's. Each one fused with and took on an aspect of conflict: Storms, Fury, Flame, Purifying Light, Nature’s Wrath, Eldritch Energy, and more. Among them was Vaizmil, The Luminous Spear of Morning, The Champion of Purifying Light: the All-Father’s favored daughter. The last of the Pantheon, the Mother of Betrayers, was born from the All-Father’s shadow that was cast by Vaizmil’s light. The Mother’s strength, stemming from the All-Father himself, was powerful indeed, and while the others of the Pantheon were considered sons and daughters, she granted herself a greater title and assumed the role of mother
THE ECLIPSE
It is said that when the Mother was created, there was a great eclipse. The Elves called it the Shield over the Sun, others called it the Executioner of Light. When the ecplise passed, the races began to invent their language, all while the first iteration of the group known as the Spectral Circle came to be. The Orcish matriarchs were beset by visions (that they shared with no one, but joined them like a web across the orc tribes), and the Ver’Ethier, the Dark Elves, were born in a world without light.
THE PANTHEON
The new gods fought alongside the All-Father, giving form to the chaos around them. The Mother of Betrayers, however, slowly and secretly brought conflict into the Pantheon, jealous of the power that the All-Father wielded.
THE TIDES OF SPLIT KINGDOMS
The mortal races of the four split kingdoms struggled, forming empires and having them fall over many centuries. The Sariqi Caliphate, the empire to the South of the world map, where Iln-Ashah is from, was one such kingdom. The Split Kingdoms lost contact with them over the years, and then completely after Alaloth’s Descent. Very little is left of the histories of the races, except among the Elves, who kept them hidden, presumably out of shame. Many of the practices of Elves and the layout of their kingdom is unchanged since Alaloth’s descent with some exceptions.
THE RETREAT
The Retreat was once something greater: the promise of a new life beyond the mortal realms. The Elves would construct great ships to carry them to their next life. When the Fifth Kingdom was granted to the mortal races, the Elves took it as a sign that the next life was to be achieved in the mortal realms, ceasing the Retreat. With Alaloth’s Descent, however, the Retreat began again but as a means of ending one’s existence. The Ver’Quintiss came into being, elven paladins that sought purity of spirit and judgment. They were great soldiers and philosophers in elvish society, but when Alaloth came to the mortal realms, they changed from their purpose to inquisitors and executioners, blaming their own people for Alaloth’s triumph. It was nearly three centuries after Alaloth’s Descent before their fire for punishment died out. The Dwarves fared better than most kingdoms, for they found homes in the abandoned caverns of a precursor race, who built great roads beneath the earth and then vanished. The Dwarves follow their example, and use the already excavated sites to build cities and practice their trade.
THE SECOND ERA
Human Calendar Begins. A time of conquest, battles and bloodshed. The Era shaped what would become of The Split Kingdoms, their borders and government birthed here and now. Humans have recorded their wars and the battles of others, although the latter is left with less details.
4 SE
War breaks out around the continent: Edherest, Larastir, Karak-Hohn, and the Orc kingdom, first named The Teeth of Maknor take up arms against each other, for new territory and for total domination over the entire world. The central piece, the land between them, where the Fifth Kingdom will one day be created, is up for grabs.
32 SE
Initial skirmishes occur around the land between them, and while the cost of lives stays low for now, the tension for bigger campaigns grows to extreme levels.
40 SE
Karak-Hohn seizes the mines all around its territories and reigns supreme over metal mining operations, which leaves the rest at a disadvantage. The other kingdoms are left with inferior weaponry, albeit larger numbers.
48 SE
The Kingdom of Edherest lay siege to the territories of Karak-Hohn, but due to the mountainous terrain they are unable to hold out for long. But when threats from other kingdoms came as well, the dwarves extended their hand in peace, trading some of their metal to sustain peace in its region.
67 SE
The Teeth of Maknor begin to raid both Larastir and Edherest, causing considerable damage to the villages outside the major cities. The humans find the orcish terrain harder to navigate and are unable to retaliate.
80 SE
Edherest fortifies the western front against the orcs with a series of towers and building Westwall at its border. To increase stability and strength, the king gives more privileges to the Houses, allowing them to manage their own estates as long as they are loyal to him.
143 SE
The armies of Larastir are quick to take over the area of the Fifth Kingdom, claiming it as theirs by divine right. They hold strong as the other kingdoms unite in battle to break the elven fortifications.
170 SE
The newly conquered territory knew nothing of peace for years, and finally it fell to a combined assault from all the other races, many lives were lost on the elven side, but the rest suffered greatly as well. All kingdoms decided that they are not strong enough to hold the territories.
228 SE
The orc king, grandson to the legendary Maknor, falls in battle to King Aigen of Edherest, bringing an end to the Teeth of Maknor. The orcs retreat, not out of fear, but because of a change in leadership.
320 SE
Larastir descends into chaos as the different elven races vie for power over the republic, each distrusting the other. At the end of the conflict, the dark elves are left at the bottom of the food chain in elven society and the racial divide widens. The Ver'Quintiss help negotiate peace among the elves.
351 SE
Lord Dorgrad the Vicious Gardin takes over Coldwood in a bloody conquest, slaughtering the local house and ending its existence. He establishes his house there and starts a fearful regime.
372 SE
Descending from the mountains, Jukwar Clarimond and his house came to Whitewind, proclaiming it their new home. The house fought bravely during the conflicts of the Second Era, losing many along the way.
443 SE
The Siege, a decade-long war against a horde of the dead led by the necromancer Kariasha, ends with The Battle of Argent Vale. Lord Hileon Bardolph is named Shield of The North by King Eadan II.
544 SE
The Mother-Daughter War, a 10 years naval conflict between The Lords of The Isles and the Orc Kingdom, then known as the Hand of Dojhmarin ends with House Sedlak establishing themselves in Baystone, taking control of the trade routes in the bay area.
644 SE
Galvin Nordin proclaimed Great Chamberlain of Edherest. His house protects the North and stands as a vanguard against many threats that the kingdom faced.
666 SE
Edwan the Conqueror's army invades the Orc Kingdoms, then known as the Eye of Greija. The Balmont retain the title of Protector of Edherest, giving them prestige and renown second only to the royal family in the kingdom.
692 SE
Some Northern Houses in Edherest band together in emigrating to the unknown lands of the northern sea, there they form the North Sea Empire, a trading colony far away in a distant island.
745 SE
Lord Raffin Balmont, celebrated as one of the fiercest warriors of all time, falls alongside King Eadan III and many others such as Deihn Ballawold and his twin sons. The Balmont family holds the city of Mayfalls.
810 SE
A bloody feud started between the Ballawold and the Wilenkels, after Feihn Ballawold executed four Wilenkel soldiers for stealing cattle.
834 SE
Willeon Wilenkel led the Wilenkel Army and was defeated on the field by the Ballawold troops at the Ypril Hill.
965 SE
The Bleeding of Taburh, a massacre in the halls of House Heilbrond that saw many of the family murdered in cold blood. A mystery still clouds the massacre, with many believing that the position of the house as protectors to the king led to it, while others blame any other race for the atrocity. To this day this event is spoken as a curse in Edherest.
THE THIRD ERA
The chronicles become clearer, starting with the creation of the Fifth Kingdom. It is here by which the histories are measured until Alaloth’s Descent. Different factions and religions weigh time by either this date or Alaloth’s Descent: the Spectral Circle refuses to let Vaizmil’s acts be a reference point for history.
THE YEAR OF THE FIFTH KINGDOM 1 TE
THE FIFTH KINGDOM
Vaizmil, seeing the Split Kingdoms fighting vainly amongst each other, convinces the All-Father to grant their struggles purpose the chance for them to achieve a Fifth Kingdom, that would be the home of whichever of the Split Kingdoms could claim it. The All-Father assumed this would be done through war, Vaizmil, however, hoped it would be achieved through unification and peace, by the races working together.
ISADANAE 'S BIRTH
Isadanae is born in the year of the Fifth Kingdom. She is raisedto believe that hope for all mortal races lies within the Fifth Kingdom, not on the distant shores.
JUDGMENT FALLS
The great eroding cliff, where criminals were hurled from, falls out of use in Edherest when one of the criminals survives the fall and, to everyone’s surprise, returns as a Prophet to preach forgiveness.
BLOOD OF THE MOTHER
The Mother of Betrayers begins her attempt to create a pantheon of her own, molding beasts and monsters. The first was Alaloth, not the strongest or mightiest, but the most twisted and cunning. It is believed that the Blood of the Mother was able to create Alaloth because of the All-Father’s creation of the Fifth Kingdom which violated his own laws of no interference with the mortal realms. As he broke his own rule, he betrayed his own laws.
55 TE
VAIZMIL'S DISCOVERY
As the Mother’s dark Pantheon grew, Vaizmil learned of its presence and challenged the Mother of Betrayers. While the texts agree that the Mother triumphed in the battle, it’s a debate to this day from theologians as to whether the Mother truly vanquished the All-Father’s daughter, or whether Vaizmil sacrificed herself to finally make the Pantheon see the threat. Shards of her spiritual light descended on the realm like falling stars, and were gathered and shielded by the mortal races.
56 TE to 155 TE
THE PANTHEONIC WAR
War raged in the Pantheon for nearly a century. Great upheavals occured in both the mortal realms and in the divine battlegrounds. Beasts, acting like chess pieces for their divine masters, teard through the land, fighting each other like proxies for their masters.
101 TE
THE DRAGONS RETURN
The Dragons, not seen for almost a hundred years, returned during this time, spreading more chaos and ruin. There were rumors that the Mother made a pact with them, promising them great power for joining the conflict.
156 TE.
THE END OF THE FIRST PANTHEON
The Pantheonic War finally came to an end when the Gods were weakened. At the moment of her triumph, Alaloth betrayed his mother, seizing her power and those of the other gods.
ALALOTH'S DESCENT
Alaloth descended to the Fifth Kingdom to raze it, and instead found himself imprisoned there. Gods are forbidden to walk the mortal realms in physical form by the All-Father’s decree, which Alaloth thought he could sunder by overthrowing the gods but he failed. Storms and tempests spread all over the Kingdoms, and dark times befell the mortal races.
157 TE
DRAGON CHAOS
Dragons, driven mad by the Descent (or as some speculate, the defeat of the Mother of Betrayers), attack the Gates of Welcoming in Larastir, burning the Elven court as it convened for a war council. The ruins became the Gates of Mourning. The dragons, en masse, departed the Kingdoms, almost unwillingly, scholars speculate that whatever pact they made with the Mother failed when she was defeated, and they could not remain.
REBELLION OF THE DWARVEN HALLS
The dwarves lose several of their underground Kingdoms near the Valley of Storms. literally, the stones themselves, fused with Alaloth’s blood and rage, turned against the Dwarves and drove them out. The dwarves sought to retake these Lost Kingdoms over many years, but encountered heavy resistance in the form of golems who are born from the excavated halls themselves. Some of these golems were dwarven items and craftsmanship that have come to life, making them even more dangerous.
VER'QUINTISS INQUISITION
The Ver’Quintiss begin their purge of the elven Kingdoms. The dark elves, who favored Alaloth’s teachings and those of his Mother, are either killed or cast into a lightless prison.
LORIAN'S JUDGEMENT
Lorian loses his title of Ver’Quintiss at Caine’s hand. His foster sister Isadanae flees Larastir to avoid being executed by the Ver’Quintiss for heresy. She returns to the Glade where she was born, praying to Vaizmil for an answer and is met with silence. She resolves to find an answer of her own, and to rescue the goddess if need be.
160 TE
THE DRUIDS RETREAT
The Druids of Larastir vanish from the forests as the Ver’Quintiss crusade continues and slaughters many for crimes of heresy.
162 TE
CALIPHATE LOST
Contact with the Sariq Caliphate, the Kingdom far to the south is lost completely: no ships travel to or from the kingdom, and the journey by land proves impossible for merchants. Rumors whisper that the land has fallen to sorcerers and demons.
167 TE
DRAGON MIGRATION
Four dragons return to the Split Kingdoms, first to the Elven, then the Orcish, the Human, then finally, the Dwarven. Travelers fear to travel the roads, terrified of a dragon’s hunger. The dwarves, however, try to make the best of it and look for ways to defeat the dragons.
172 TE
RAZING THE HOUSE OF SCALES
The House of Scales. the dwarven counting house in Karak-Hohn, is destroyed in a dragon attack, believed to be in retribution for dwarven dragon-slaying expeditions (and the resultant theft of gold from the lair).
177 TE
DRUIDS REDISCOVERED
Lorian, his spirit crushed by the Ver’Quintiss and their crusade in Larastir, begins to make plans for the Retreat but is stopped by the Larastir Druids. Lorian remains with them until Caine ends his purge and many years later, Lorian rejoins Larastir.
180 TE
BAGA'S CLAIM
Baga attempts to breach the Valley of Storms with terrifying results: the Orcish kingdom is laid to waste, and the Gates of Ardur become the Desolation of Baga. No orc champion has ever done a deed, dark or light, to eclipse what Baga has created (and won’t, unless they breach the Valley of Storms).
182 TE
ORC IN EXILE
As orc crimes rise, and more and more orcs are exiled within the Desolation of Baga. Crimes formerly thought too blasphemous to even consider now become more common (unjustified murder and slaughter, killing of others as well as one’s own family).
205 TE
KINGSHIP
House Kendrick rises to power in Edherest, becoming the most powerful rulers among the houses. But being on the top meant that many were scheming down below in order for them to fall.
262 TE
THE BOOK OF ERAS
The Book of Eras, which to this day is cited as one of the best sources of the gods and the reason of existence for everyone, is drafted by Aeberth Heilbron, one of the most prominent clerics of his time, after spending his life studying the history of the world.
285 TE
LILEAH IS BORN
Lileah, born an orphan in the streets of the City of Altars.
NEW JUDGEMENT FALLS
The great Eroding Cliff, where criminals were once hurled from, is in use once more, and scores of criminals are thrown to their death… some to their undeath.
290 TE
THE QUEEN OF THE DEAD
The necromancer Kariasha comes to Judgment Falls and gathers the most powerful of the executed undead (spirits, vampires, greater ghouls and shades) under her banner, proclaiming the land that stole their lives from them will now have its life taken from it in return. Within a night, she gains thousands of troops, from recent times and ancient soldiers (criminals) from before Alaloth’s Descent, whose bodies lay at the base of the Falls
292 TE
ZIAN IS BORN
Zian is born, one of the Bleedwater Gypsies, in Baystone.
294 TE
VADEN IS BORN
Vaden is born, child of The House of Orphans.
300 TE
ESTEN IS RECRUITED AS A SPY
Esten is ordered to leave his post as a Glen Warden and ordered by the Edherest military to become their spy within the criminal networks in Edherest. Esten participates in smuggling and thieving, always with a mind to sell out his compatriots to the king.
THE DARK ELVES RETURN
Dark Elves, using their magic to pierce their prison into Larastir, emerge and begin to infiltrate Larastir’s forests. They come into contact with the Spectral Circle and form an alliance and together, devise a means to channel Alaloth’s rage and use its power to sunder the gate permanently, allowing Dark Elves to return to the surface world.
301 TE
LILEAH BECOMES A SHIELD-BEARER OF VAIZMIL
Lileah is initiated as a Shield-Bearer, vowing to protect all that's good and defend the will of Vaizmil. She helps persecuted priests and councilors in service of Vaizmil escape Goldport during the purges.
302 TE
THE TEMPEST
The tempest occurs, a storm of Alaloth’s rage across the land (there were others, this is the most recent).
Vaden murders his mother for what he believes to be an insult and travels to the wastes to join the exiles.
A strange phenomena occurs in Larastir’s forests, emanating from the Underworld Gate, the home of the Dark Elves.
Ver’Quintiss Caine awakens from his meditation to find the Ver’Quintiss have vanished. He goes on a pilgrimage of his own to restore his broken world.
The Altar City of Edherest falls, the now-ruined temples become the God Graves.
Khorhan defends his people, guarding their escape as the Valley of Storms’ influence spreads below ground, shattering the ancestral homes of the dwarves in many cities.
303 TE
AFTERMATH
The northern tribes beyond the dwarf kingdoms begin to be beset by strange new beasts, and even begin all-out war against each other.
The priesthood in Edherest fell out of favor based on evidence of Alaloth’s growing strength. A nation that once embraced piety begins to turn from it, and the Houses begin fighting amongst themselves.
The Beacon Towers of Edherest go unmanned by soldiers and mages. Mages (kept in check by the priesthood) begin to become more of a force in local warfare and politics, despite the danger they represent to others and themselves.
The keep overlooking the isle of the Red Mage becomes the Vanishing Keep, believed to be betrayed by magic of the Spectral Circle.
305 TE
THE RED SOLSTICE
Years after the Tempest the northern barbarian tribes plea for aid. The Winter Solstice at Winterleaf becomes a massacre as a barbarian, believed in league with demons and beasts, attacks the gathering. No bodies were recovered, and a message was written in blood on the wall of the festival court: The South shall join the North
BECKONSTONE SEALED
Beckonstone Tower (a beacon tower in Edherest by the sea – like a lighthouse) falls to an internal magical explosion (believed to be an accident from within, but there are no survivors, only ash), and is abandoned.
307 TE
THE SEALED STAIRS
After several years of erosion by the tides, the stones of Beckonstone weaken and crumble, creating inadvertent stairs to the Kingdom plateau above. The formerly Sealed Tower becomes the Sealed Stairs, which are used by bandits and smugglers as a port to stage raids into the mainland or smuggle weapons into Edherest.
309 TE
NA'RAGEN CONFRONTS AND BEFRIENDS ILLN-ASHAH AT THE THIRST
Iln-Ashah, having made the perilous journey from Sariq, comes to the Desolation of Baga. His desert survival skills make him more than a match for the orc warriors in the region, and he constantly overpowers or eludes them.
Iln-Ashah’s “infamy”, for slaying orcs in the Desolation of Baga, spreads until Na’Ragen, the champion of Ballek’Mahl, seeks him out.
Na’Ragen investigates the incidents and travels to the Thirst and meets Iln-Ashah. The two bond, and Na’Ragen welcomes Iln-Ashah to the kingdom. Na’Ragen turns from annoyance to a threat, and the orc matriarchs begin to plot how to remove him from power.
311 TE
NA'RAGEN PILGRIMAGE
Na’Ragen, guided by lies of the Orc Matriarchs, goes on a pilgrimage to defeat the dragons of the Split Kingdoms. He speaks to the shaman at the Thirst, who counsels him on how best to proceed (and hints that the quest may have broader interpretations).
AMBERWAKE SLEEPS
The mage college of Amberwake in Edherest folds in onto itself due to (believed reckless) use of magic. No one know how many, if any, are trapped alive inside the inaccessible structure.
313 TE
ZIAN IS BETRAYED
Zian’s band of smugglers and pirates are betrayed and slain by Edherest forces waiting in ambush at the Sealed Stair. “Prince” Esten (unknown to Zian as the spy who betrayed them) escapes with his life, unaware that Zian survived.
TODAY, 315 TE
Champions from each kingdom are summoned to fight the evils of Alaloth.
And so it begins! More lore-related contents will be posted regularly since now on and new cool stuff will be available in our Discord server, where we created a dedicated channel for this! Oh a new Hotfix on its way tomorrow!
Improved M&K support! "Combat Pack" is available now! From the Settings -> Controls -> Keyboard Menu, you will able to customize the assignment of default keyboard actions to mouse buttons, and default mouse actions to keyboard buttons
Lost Brotherhood quest working now without issues.
Righteous Flames quest working now without issues.
QG icon in Whitewind working now properly
Jester Boots don't disappear after picking them up
Stat points spent in Constitution working properly now, reflecting Health Points in Character/Inventory window
Primal quest now working properly. Closing the game with the dialogue still open caused the quest to disappear for some users
Travelling merchants on the world map have now improved lore-wise dialogues
All vendors in Plamen have now improved dialogues fitting with the goods for sale
Forest Embrace armor will now properly work when equipped on a female character
Items granting Max Health % now work properly
Fierce trait Stun Res decreased from +30% to +20%.
Stoneskin trait Bleeding Res decreased from +30% to +20%
Musclebound trait Max Weight decreased from +30 to +20
Dealer trait Vendors'discount decreased from +20% to +10%
Rider trait Mount Speed decreased from +30% to +10% [everywhere on the map]
Stormborn trait Magic Damage suffered decreased from -30% to -20%
Survivor trait, Cooked Food bonus decreased from +50% to +10%.
Windwolf is now properly displaying [a bug showed the Battle Bear before]
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