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Choices
Cult of Meh
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It will gradually dawn on the party that there are different factions in Karigor that try to influence what comes from Thelmes' endeavour. The churches of Sun, Moon and Stars all want to make the best of this situation - for them. A nudge here and there, some nice words, a few easily given promises, and suddenly the party will find themselves committed to one of their causes, despite their best intentions. Things can be made right, with great effort. But no matter how hard they try, in the end, when the sacrifice is at hand, the party cannot avoid making a final choice. After all, there is only one Eye of Goros.


Nudges

It starts innocent enough. Sun and Moon followers are handing out leaflets on the streets of Soronne, both asking everyone to support the one true faith in these prophetic times. The healing temples in Soronne sell membership cards that give a discount.

How does that eventually turn into an all-out war and utter destruction?

In small steps, and as usual the party of heroes cannot help to become more and more involved.

When they reach Ryft, it turns out that the St. Nicholas is in need of some repairs. The main sail was badly torn as a result of a sudden storm. Fortunately there are plenty of skilled Weavers around to choose from, although they talk a little funny. As it appears, a hired Weaver will leave a small mark on the sail when the job is done so people can recognize their work. This will typically be a small sun, moon, or star ... In Eftling, there is a feud going on between two Chapels of Healing, the Chapel of the Moon on the east bank and the Chapel of the Sun closeby on the west bank. They are trying to outbid each other with blessings for their customers. A slight complication is that the Chapel of the Sun is only open from 08:00 to 20:00, and the Chapel of the Moon from 20:00 till 08:00.


Zealots

Things turn worse in Timberfall, where upon arrival with the St. Nicholas the party finds two groups of Zealots firing arrows at each other from opposite sides of the river. It is possible for the party to pick a side and join this fight, or even to fight both sides.

After a particularly inflammatory speech by Thelmes in Timberfall, the Seers make one final attempt to mediate between the Churches and decide on a common course. This will take place on neutral ground in the Temple of Ishtar, with the party secretly watching. Of course the attempt fails miserably.

The party is once again urged to keep searching for the truth in the chapters of the Book of Ceth, but staying neutral at this point may already be difficult, especially if the events at the Circus have already taken place, too. A quest to check their loyalty to the Seers may be in order: as it happens, the 7-spiked Crown of Ishtar is missing.

When the St. Nicholas gets to Semiramis and then to Nannaria the permission quests (The Raid / Herons of Doom) further work to force the party's hand, reputationwise, at the same time destroying any idea the party may still have of staying unconspicuous.

There will also be several forays of Zealots in both directions, where the party has the option of 'helping out' the guards.


Churches

After Thelmes' speech in Murlank, messengers arrive to offer the party a key quest that will potentially give one side a major edge. That is, if the party's reputation is still high enough ...

Each messenger will tell the party that they need the Eye of Goros to complete the quest; chances are, that the party already have this item.

Sun Quest

Questgiver: Sister Eliza (Taledon's council), Divine Temple of the Sun

The Church of the Sun seeks to reconstruct the Mosaic, a ward against Dark Magic. The pieces of it were given to the Church of the Moon as part of the treaty after the War of Dove and Crow. They are to be retrieved from the Divine Temple of the Moon where they are hidden somewhere in the forbidden part which is heavily guarded.

In order to function, the Mosaic has to be reconstructed at the right spot, which is the Cemetery just outside the capital, Marduk. But the ancestors of the Sun followers know that it is an evil thing, and as the party is working on the Mosaic their ghosts will take shape and try to interfere.

With the Mosaic reconstructed in the right pattern, the power of the Church of the Moon will be greatly diminished, the balance broken.

Moon Quest

Questgiver: Ethric (council of Shenandoah), Divine Temple of the Moon

The Church of the Moon wishes to release the Soultaker, who was locked up in the Tomb of Anubis and the key given to the Church of the Sun as part of the treaty after the War of Dove and Crow. The key is hidden somewhere in the forbidden section of the Divine Temple of the Sun which is heavily guarded.

The Soultaker, when released, will begin to gather innocent souls, which in turn provides the power to transform Necromancers into Lichs. The Moon followers have long prepared for this by making Soul Jars to keep the souls of the Necromancers safe from the Soultaker, who cannot be controlled.

Ethric is destined to become the first Lich. The power of the Church of the Moon will be greatly increased, the balance broken.

Star Quest

Questgiver: Tsantsa (high priestess), Temple of Ishtar

The Church of the Stars, weak as it is, wants to gain time. Preparations for the horror of which the prophet speaks are delicate and will take generations. Only the Stars followers understand the true danger, or so it seems.

In Murlank, Bab'El is building a tower by which he aims to reach the very gods themselves. In his madness, he is bound to attract unwanted attention. There is no choice but to destroy the Tower of Bab'El. The Tower can only be destroyed by mixing the Ultimate Potion of Might and Magic, and of course the party will have to get out in time. Needless to say that Bab'El doesn't want his Tower kaputt.


Eye of Goros

The quest to find the Eye of Goros is given relatively early in the game. When the party members are rescued from the Circus prison, they are brought to the town of Orak in the Typhon Expanse, where they meet the clan leader C'Orak.

C'Orak asks the party to retrieve the Eye of Goros from the Inner Sanctum, and place it back on the statue of the typhon Goros. From this moment, the party can pass through the mural in the Abandoned Temple, the same mural through which they witnessed little Morglin appear.

Attempts to place the Eye back wil fail however: it will immediately fall off and drop onto the ground. C'Orak then suggests to take the Eye to a place of devine power in order to bring it back to life.

As it happens, there are three such places in Karigor that he knows of: the Tomb of Anubis, the Cemetery of Marduk and the Tower of Bab'El. It will also turn out that act of reviving the Eye of Goros is in fact a necessary step in completing any of the Sun, Moon and Stars quests. And, obviously, it can be done only once.

After the Eye of Goros has been brought back to life, it can finally be placed back on the statue of Goros. C'Orak will now accompany the party and provide them with a pass so they can enter the House of Judgement to be present at the Sacrifice.


Ending

The finale of the game takes place in the House of Judgement. Many representatives of the Sun and the Moon are present, as well as a number of Ceth followers from the Typhon Expanse who are in fact on the side of the Stars. For the moment Sun and Moon are refraining from hostilities towards each other, as each side is hoping that the chosen ones for the Sacrifice will be of their faction.

It quickly turns out that the pass given to the party by C'Orak does not merely allow the party to be present at the Sacrifice: they will be the sacrifice. For C'Orak (Corak), this is the opportunity to get close to Thelmes (Sheltem) and deal with him.

At this point, several things happen simultaneously. First, the typhon Goros, now fully alive, enters the stage and starts wreaking havoc, attacking everyone in sight. Second, the representatives of Sun and Moon start fighting each other and the Followers of Ceth, with the party on the side they did the quest for. Third, Thelmes escapes to the top floor of the building by using a teleporter, with C'Orak, who has left the party, on his heels.

To finish the game, the party needs to find these two and help C'Orak to apprehend Thelmes. That will fail: Thelmes manages to escape in Prince Daglathor's airship, the 'Dark Messiah'.

Here, the game ends. There are several possible results for the war between Sun and Moon:

  • If the party did the Sun quest, the Sun followers have the upper hand. They will win the war and rule the world for several decades in misleading bliss until Thelmes' prophecy comes true and true evil arrives.
  • If the party did the Moon quest, the Moon followers have the upper hand. They will win the war and enslave the world for several decades until Thelmes' propecy comes true and true evil arrives.
  • If the party did the Stars quest - the history timeline - the Churches of Sun and Moon, now evenly matched, will destroy each other. Thelmes' prophecy still holds, but time has been gained for the Stars followers to prepare. Soronne becomes the new center of power, the humans expand their territory into the Typhon Expanse and establish a trade union on the Brass Sea, setting the stage for 'The Sea of Mist'.