On the subject of the sky ancor, I have yet another question:
As we go up the jeweled slopes, we see plenty of Borealis crystals. And after the battle with warlord Minak, we can see a massive chunk. It seems the entire mountain is a huge Borealis crystal, and thus, the entire mountain is most likely the actual sky anchor. I can't imagine anything smaller than a huge mountain actually being able to keep the spiral together. As it is, the entire mountain probably is just barely big enough to channel the amount of magical energy needed to keep things from flying out in all directions.
So, my question is this:
when the titian succeeds in smashing the crystal on top of the mountain, he hits a little teeny tiny tip of it that's sticking up out of the ground. If he hits it a couple more times (i e the battle runs out of rounds), the entire crystal is destroyed.
Why in the spiral would hitting the crystal on it's tip successfully break up the entire thing? why isn't he smashing it in the middle? Or on the bottom of it's base?
And if that small, sorry chunk is indeed the sky anchor, then why didn't Rasputin just bring Ivan up the mountain and have HIM push it over and break it?
Very astute observations. I think Coosto did say that the Sky Anchor was a mountain made of Borealis. Looking at the Slopes, however, it seems that over the years, rock, ice and, snow have covered the crystal core. That's at least part of what I think would have made it challenging for the Titan to damage the middle or base of the crystal.
Additionally, If you think of the entire Sky Anchor as a transmitter, sending Borealis energy into the sky, then it makes sense that simply smashing the top would disrupt the flow of energy, and that is the most vulnerable part, so Rasputin's strategy makes sense to me.
It's nice to see a storytime session again! Here are a few questions: 1.) In the tutorial, Ambrose mentions that the place we hail from is one where no one believes in magic, which is obviously Earth. More evidence towards this conclusion is that when the wizard first heard Selena Gomez's song, they realized it was her, which may indicate that the wizard is familiar with her. Since we've touched magic and entered The Spiral, does our lifespan expand like humans from Avalon? How did we make it to Wizard City, or the Spiral at all in that case? 2.) Are there more than one scholars for each school of magic since it's confirmed that we've only seen a fraction of the Arcanum? 3.) Will we get any sort of dormitory in the Arcanum since we no longer belong to Ravenwood? 4.) Can the black hole that's visible from the Arcanum be a Stormgate that it's other side is hidden or the windstones granting access through them being unavailable for people who are not scholars/workers in the Arcanum?
1) It does seem as though Ambrose is referring to Earth in the tutorial, though perhaps the people of the Spiral know it by another name? I don't feel like I've aged much physically in all this time, so maybe you're right! That would be nice. I have no idea how we traveled to the Spiral from here. Is that where all this VR business is going?
2) I'm not sure there are additional Scholars at the Arcanum dedicated to the various schools, but I suspect there are other practitioners of the various schools in the Arcanum, and perhaps some of them have other important roles, involved in offense, defense, mixing magical energies, etc.
3) That's a great idea! Having a room at the Arcanum would be fantastic. Keep in mind, of course, we will always be welcome at Ravenwood as distinguished alumni.
4) That's an interesting theory... perhaps more will be revealed.
I have some questions about the Arcanum, if you don't mind...
1: In regard to the blocked door near the world door: is the electrified gate to keep something out, or to keep something in?
2: The blue magicky stuff running along the ceilings seems to be coming from the blue and white tree. Is this true? If so, is the Arcanum's relationship to this tree a parasitic one, or is the tree performing this service willingly? On a tangential note, are there more trees out there who are like her, or is she individual like Bartleby?
3: On the whole, do the Arcanum scholars get along? At Ravenwood the professors seemed very tight knit (with the exception of Malistaire), and that's not the feeling I'm getting from the Arcanum. It seems that even among scholars, secrets are many and friendliness is sparse. Is this a reasonable assumption? If so, what can you tell us about why this is?
4: While Baba Yaga seems to hint in the quest "The Arcanum" that she simply had business that required her to leave the Arcanum for a long time, Libararian Fitzhume suggested in an earlier response on here that it was a self-imposed exile. Will Baba Yaga's extended leave be explored further at some point? Have any other scholars done this kind of thing before?
I'm absolutely estastic that a new story time thread has opened up! I can't wait to steal...er glean the secrets of the Arcanum from its wise scholars.
#1 Who is actually responsible for the creation of the Titans. In the 1st arc, they were called Bartelby's children, in the 3rd they are called Raven and Spider spawn. Which is it?
#2 Could you perhaps clear up a discrepancy I have with the Azteca storyline. When speaking with Huracan, he tells me a tale of the beginning. He says that in the beginning there was Land and SEA, as well as 3 great spirits and the Shadow. In the Khrysalis orbs the story goes Land and SKY as well as Tree, Raven, and Spider. Now rules of no spoilers in mind...maybe a bit of clarification here?
#3 Pushing it here but...eh is the Auroracle the Sky?
So many questions! So little leeway! I love the work so far with this arc, I can't wait to see where it goes. I can't wait to visit the true Celestia beyond the stars...
Hey Master!
These are questions that historians who study the Firstworld have been asking since the dawn of time (Spiral-time, of course). Over the years, there have been some who believed they derived the definite answer and have even recorded their convictions for posterity. Unsurprisingly, however, there remain conflicting accounts and conflicting beliefs on the subject.
The way I see it, and you are welcome to disagree, is that the era of the Firstworld is in many ways incomprehensible to us. The laws of nature, time, and magic worked differently. We know that Bartleby sang the Song of Creation to "create" the Spiral, but who sang the song to create the Firstworld? Who created the Titans? Some say they were always there, others says Bartleby created them, and still others say they were the children of Raven and Spider. Which is true? I'm not sure. What I'm saying in fact is that because these events occurred in the Firstworld, perhaps the true nature of what happened is incomprehensible?
Or... perhaps this truth is knowable, and we just don't know it yet.
Well, Trimond, the important thing to remember about the Umbra Legion is that communication flows within it from top to bottom much like most large organizations: rather poorly. Especially given the battered and bruised state in which the Legion finds itself of late (good job!).
While there were definitely a handful of generals and other leaders at the top of the Legion who were privy to the most sensitive of data, the message wasn't always disseminated throughout the lower ranks in an orderly and timely fashion.
Ok. I had thoughts about that since they recognized Grandfather Spider rather quickly. Guess I know why they're afraid of him.
On central this timeline was formed, I'll post this in multiple parts because of the character limit. Can you tell us of the validity of this timeline.
Timeline: -First World is created by "the creator". It's the entire spiral in one, big world. -Shadow Magic is created. -The Creator separates the sky, land, and sea, and hangs the stars from the sky. -The Creator makes the Great Raven (aka Grandmother Raven) and Bartleby. There is an inconsistancy here, older quests from 2008 say that the Great Raven is Bartleby's sister, but newer quests state that Grandmother Raven is the Creator and that she is Bartleby's mother. -The elder races, or titans, which are the Dragons, the Giants, and the Tritons, are born. -Tritons invent Storm Magic. -The three elder races fight to control the others' domain. -Giants build castles in the sky and invent Ice Magic to fight the Dragons and the Tritons. -Dragons create Fire Magic to defend themselves against the Giants and the Tritons. -Aztecosaurs are born. -The First World is destroyed by the warring titans. Marleybonians, however, believe a giant bone smashed into it. -Bartleby and the Great Raven form the Spiral, or New World, to keep everything intact. -Celestians settle in Celestia. -Celestians hold chariot races as a symbol of pride. -Spiders are born, and are the "demons" of the Spiral. They fight against the creator and are banished to Khrysalis. Over time, they become less horrible and form a society, but they still carry their evil roots. They are banished about 2 millenia after creation. -Dragons settle in Dragonspyre and Mooshu. -Titans die out or fall into a slumber (except few weaker dragons). -Manders are born. -Emperor Mooshu unites the clans of his homeland into one empire. It's named after him, and becomes Mooshu. -Monsters cease to exist naturally. They can only be "remembered" by Myth Magic. -A piece of floating earth arrives in the manders homeland, containing the Kroks, who enslave the manders.
Part 1
Thanks for sharing this timeline.
It's terrific to see that some of you have taken the time to put all this together. It's also remarkably accurate. A great resource for anyone wanting to study the storyline.
The only caution I would offer is this: history in the Spiral, just like history in our world, is often interpreted by those who write/record/compile it. Accounts of a single historical event taken from different perspectives are often conflicting. Sometimes, these accounts point to entirely different conclusions about causes and effects. When we're talking about events from the distant past, this factor is multiplied further by the number of hands through which the information has passed through.
Additionally, as I've stated elsewhere, specifically in reference to events from the Firstworld, keep in mind that the laws of nature, magic, and time were totally different. To some extent, understanding what happened and when in the Firstworld might just incomprehensible.
Even now, however, the Arcanum Scholars are trying to find some discernible truths in these matters. More may soon be revealed...
I have some questions about the Arcanum, if you don't mind...
1: In regard to the blocked door near the world door: is the electrified gate to keep something out, or to keep something in?
2: The blue magicky stuff running along the ceilings seems to be coming from the blue and white tree. Is this true? If so, is the Arcanum's relationship to this tree a parasitic one, or is the tree performing this service willingly? On a tangential note, are there more trees out there who are like her, or is she individual like Bartleby?
3: On the whole, do the Arcanum scholars get along? At Ravenwood the professors seemed very tight knit (with the exception of Malistaire), and that's not the feeling I'm getting from the Arcanum. It seems that even among scholars, secrets are many and friendliness is sparse. Is this a reasonable assumption? If so, what can you tell us about why this is?
4: While Baba Yaga seems to hint in the quest "The Arcanum" that she simply had business that required her to leave the Arcanum for a long time, Libararian Fitzhume suggested in an earlier response on here that it was a self-imposed exile. Will Baba Yaga's extended leave be explored further at some point? Have any other scholars done this kind of thing before?
1. That is an interesting question. I would think that if the gate was designed to keep something in, then it would be on the other side of the door, but perhaps there's a gate there as well? Now that I think about it, however, which direction is inside and which direction is out?
2. Very good observations. You're right. The magical pathways all do seem to come together at the tree. What does this portend? I cannot say.
3. I think you're right. The Arcanum Scholars don't seem nearly as unified as the Ravenwood professors. I think this is probably because they are more eccentric. Headmaster Ambrose recruited the professors at Ravenwood because he knew they would be good teachers, which implies they had at least reasonable social skills. I think the Scholars at the Arcanum were recruited more haphazardly and without any regard for their general demeanor. I wouldn't be surprised if such a recruiting policy had led to them being burned in the past.
4. I think this kind of thing happens from time to time with the Scholars. As Ione suggested, however, Baba Yaga's departure did not go unnoticed.
When did you become a scholar at the Arcanum, Eric?
i'm really not interested in player guesses, i want to know what the scholars have to say.
The story of Xibalba's relation to Azteca isn't a guess, its literally explained to us upon beginning Azteca. Alas, I thought that on a story thread players would be enthusiastic to share knowledge amongst each other particularly when said knowledge is accessible for all to see via the main quest line. However, i wish you luck with finding the answers you seek.
1) Once you enter the main tower in Fort Rachias, the first room that you are directed to go to is the Trophy Room. Inside, there are 7 trophies, which you are told are remnants of old campaigns. The 7 trophies are from the worlds of CS, AZ, ZF, KT, and GH. We know from the story that Morganthe invaded Celestia, Azteca, and Zafaria, but this seems to be the only evidence that Morganthe also invaded Krok and Grizzleheim as well. Is this a valid assumption? Other than these trophies, can we currently observe any direct of these invasions?
2) Following on the first question, the trophy from Grizzleheim depicts a dead creature with a hammer hanging below it. A message is written in the set of runes that are different than most runic messages in GH and up unti this point were only on a wall plaque hanging in the Winterdeep and Helgrind Warren dungeons in Nivadelir. Does this trophy in any way indicate that Morganthe might have had a part in the destruction of Nivadelir?
I have a little theory of my own. During a side quest in wizard city you learn the truth about the war of the Titans. The Giants stole water from the tritons seas, the tritons cast powerful rain and storms on the dragons land, and the dragons melted the Giants kingdoms, so now there is a whole trifecta of hate going on. What if maybe old cob or one of his children pitted the Titans against each other or framed each other for these crimes to happen? What if the whole story has some kind of secret dark figure who wanted the first world to tear apart?
One thing that I have noticed in Grizzleheim is that all the leaders seem to be storm. The clothing on the bear and wolf rulers look have storm themed colors. Also Jotun, and Othin Stormfather use storm magic. Is there any reason for this, or is it just a coincidence?
According to the Ravenwood Roll Call Alhazred "invented" Balance magic. With this being the case would that make him stronger than Jacki? (Apologies if I spelled any names incorrectly.) I only ask because I believed that the Scholars were the best of the best at the magic they focus in. I have three other questions regarding the same theme: The first is, are the spells that the Scholars share with us creations of their own or were they made by something or someone else? If that is the case, would we ever be able to create our own spells that ONLY we can use, sorta like the King Artorious spell? My other question is, what exactly is Jacki? Some say that she's a Kangaroo, others think that she's a Jack Rabbit. Finally, my last question is regarding the Ravenwood Roll Call. Will we ever see more of them? It was fun learning about our professors and I'm sad that we haven't seen anymore Roll Calls about other important (or even minor) characters.
Where is Nodor? Some think it's in Polaris, others Avalon and some Grizzlehiem.
What did Artorious mean that Morganthe's family is full of Vipers and Spiders? Specifically, what did he mean by Vipers? We now that Spiders are considered evil in the Spiral but what about Vipers/Snakes.
Speaking of Vipers and Spiders, do all species of the Spiral originate from one specific being of the First World? Like how all of the Scorpions, Spiders, Bats, and Rats appear to originate from Old Cob and the Ravens originate from Lady Nightstar?
If what I said about all of those creatures originating from Raven and Spider is true why is it that they have so little control over their children? Are they not as strong as told? I'd think that Raven would have been able to break her jail cell and take control of her children.
(On a quick side note, was all that stuff said about Coleridge in the Black Hole foreshadowing for Polaris? It seems like it was.)
According to the Manders the Kroks arrived in Krokotopia on I believe an island? From where did this island and the Kroks come from? I personally think they come from Mirage. And before that what was Krokotopia called?
Are the Immortals their own species/race?
Artorious as the lead writer didn't want to dwell into the hierarchy of the powerful beings in the Spiral such as Zeus and Bartleby but I was hoping that you guys would. I'd specifically like to know how the Immortals came to be, were they all mortals like Ra whom later became powerful beings? And what roles did/do the Immortals play in the construction of the Spiral?
According to a character in Pirate101 El Dorado is known as the "City of the Immortals" by the people of Mooshu. What does he mean by this? Is he saying that the Immortals originate from El Dorado?
Will we ever meet more types of Immortals like those of Mooshu and Grizzlehiem.
I just have one question that's been bothering me for quite some time now. In the Arcanum, there is a Spiral Map with all the worlds. There is a orb around each world image, and some of the orbs are blue, while others are red. Why? Are the blue worlds the worlds liberated from the Shadow, and the red worlds the worlds corrupted with Shadow? Or are these orbs just a complete mystery? Thanks, and keep up the great work with the storyline!
Is it possible that more Celestians are still alive? From what I've seen on the Arcanum map there appears to be a Celestian of sorts in the Arcanum. Might he (or she; we've never met a female Celestian so I've no clue what they'd look like) be another Scholar, specifically for Astral? Or is this Celestian possibly responsible for creating the Arcanum?
If there are still living Celestians will we ever meet any?
Do the Celestians come from outside of the Spiral? Are they nomads?
Were the Celestians nomads? I once read a post which discussed the idea that the Celestia we visited once flew in the Void. This made me ponder: was the Celestia we visited just a name of a colony which floated a world? And is the name "Celestia" the chosen name for this colony or the general name for the species?
Is the Celestia we visit a sphere of water or is it like every other world in the Spiral where it's just junks of land with never ending oceans and waterfalls?
Is Potolemos a Celestian or the Moon Avatar?
And who or what is Astareus, by that I mean, what is his species? Does he have one or is he simply the Stars' Avatar?
I know that Mythraya (Again I apologize if I spelled any names incorrectly) is revered as the Avatar of the Sun by the Celestians. Does this make her their Immortal? If so, what about the other two?
Does the Spiral have one sun or many? If there are many does Mythraya represent them all?
When fighting in the Trial of Speres, specifically Mythraya where are we fighting her? Are we in the Void or in a tower?
Who created the Arcanum? Was it the Celestians or was it something else?
Have the Scholars at the Arcanum always been there since its beginning? Or were there others before them?
Last question, What type of Creature is the Storm Scholar?
Is there a chance we may visit the Other Side and meet Death? (Like the actual Death. I feel like the one we see in Cool Ranch is one of his many forms.)
Former writer Artorious vaguely hinted at the possibility of there being Titans of the Spirit Schools. With that being said, will we ever meet Spirit Titans?
How does the afterlife work in the Spiral? I'm asking this because there seems to be many different afterlives and it's kind of confusing. By this I mean, there are many "underworlds" in the Spiral, do they all join together or when you die do you go to the individual afterlife that's controlled by the present force in the world you're in or the religion that you follow?
Out of curiosity what being to the Marleybonians follow? We see a lot of churches but it's never made clear as to what exactly they praise. Is it the Prime "Dog"?
Is the Dragon-creature atop the volcano in Dragonspyre the true Dragon Titan or is it a statue or an avatar?
Is Dragonspyre Roman and Russian or simply Roman?
Is the palace of Dragonspyre on a different island or is it the place where we fight Malistaire?
Do the different cultures of the Spiral all speak different languages? Or do they all speak "English"? Or are we just good translators because we're magical?
This question isn't entirely story related but: Since we know Greyrose was originally supposed to be the Headmistress of Wizard City what was Merle supposed to be?
According to a friend Blind Mew once stated that nobody has ever been able to map out the Spiral? But what about the Scholars or even the Professor?
Speaking of the Professor? Does he know about the Arcanum?
Will we ever see more of the Professor (or a "regeneration" of his) and/or visit his homeworld?
Is Merle Ambrose's school of focus Astral?
Is Astral magic the equivalent of "Light magic"?
We know that Old Cob created or was involved in the making of Shadow magic. And if Astral is the equivalent of Light magic wouldn't that make Astral the opposite of Shadow since Shadow is considered Dark magic? Furthermore, since Raven is supposed to be the enemy of Spider and Spider's magic is Shadow would Astral be Raven's magic? Did Raven make Astral magic and then pass it on to the Celestians (as well as other creatures in the Spiral?)
In a Celestian tome it says something about Raven releasing a cold silver light which didn't pierce the Darkness but Bartleby's warm golden light did. What is this all about?
In a Wizard City side quest Bartleby speaks about a being called the Creator who created the First World. Will we ever meet this Creator or at least learn more about him/her/it?
Was the First World a sphere or was it something more? Maybe something set up like the Norse universe?
Why did Raven and Spider fight?
I apologize for the question spam and I hope that they aren't too big of a bother. I just really enjoy learning about the Spiral and I look forward to hearing back. Thanks in advance. ~ Emerald
Somewhere, I believe on this website, it states that Wysteria is located in the Wizard City Cluster. What does that mean?
I'm not sure if this already on 'your' agenda, but, will we ever get another portion of content in Grizzlehiem? Even after Wintertusk we're still left unknowing as to why the Ravens want to bring about the Everwinter. What would by the benefits of the Everwinter? Personally I don't think that the Ravens want the Everwinter or at least it wasn't their idea in the first place. I think that they may be commanded by a higher power, specifically an Immortal such as Loki?
Also, will we ever get to explore the mountains of the GH land that we first arrive on?
And will we ever learn more about the Mammoths and their war with the Bears?
Earlier it was stated that time passes differently on each world. Would that explain why on SI the Aztecasaurs just fled from Azteca while in MS Malistaire seems to have only just arrived?
After reading all that is posted here I have some questions. If the sky anchor is emitting magic energy that is being sent out from the spire that the rat wants to break then why is the spire inside a building before the titan created by the rat crashes through the building? If there is a great amount of magic being emitted from the sky anchor that is so powerful that it holds the spiral together then how is it possible for any creature to be able to withstand such power long enough to be able to break the spire? The titan the rat has made is made out of the same magic stuff as what he is destroying so would the titan not be effected by the magic being emitted? The rat made titan does not appear to be getting its strength from another form of magic then the one its made from. Up to this point magic of the same type being used has great resistance to self. All our spells are used by both sides of the conflict so if the titan and the rat can draw from the mountain then why can't the wizard? Why is there no backlash for the rat in shadow form? All shadow spells and creatures we met up to this point have backlash.We have been told that backlash is a part of shadow magic.The rat appears to be a man and then transforms into shadow form for the whole battle like the wizard does for only a few rounds. If the sky anchor is a power source of magic then why is the wizard not aware of its magical power when holding a small piece of stone that is supposedly the same thing or when entering the mine? Other times in the story line the wizard is told that the wizard feels power when holding a magical piece. If the sky anchor magic is a hold it together magic then it would not be a destroying magic would it?
Is it possible that more Celestians are still alive? From what I've seen on the Arcanum map there appears to be a Celestian of sorts in the Arcanum. Might he (or she; we've never met a female Celestian so I've no clue what they'd look like) be another Scholar, specifically for Astral? Or is this Celestian possibly responsible for creating the Arcanum?
If there are still living Celestians will we ever meet any?
Do the Celestians come from outside of the Spiral? Are they nomads?
Were the Celestians nomads? I once read a post which discussed the idea that the Celestia we visited once flew in the Void. This made me ponder: was the Celestia we visited just a name of a colony which floated a world? And is the name "Celestia" the chosen name for this colony or the general name for the species?
Is the Celestia we visit a sphere of water or is it like every other world in the Spiral where it's just junks of land with never ending oceans and waterfalls?
Is Potolemos a Celestian or the Moon Avatar?
And who or what is Astareus, by that I mean, what is his species? Does he have one or is he simply the Stars' Avatar?
I know that Mythraya (Again I apologize if I spelled any names incorrectly) is revered as the Avatar of the Sun by the Celestians. Does this make her their Immortal? If so, what about the other two?
Does the Spiral have one sun or many? If there are many does Mythraya represent them all?
When fighting in the Trial of Speres, specifically Mythraya where are we fighting her? Are we in the Void or in a tower?
Who created the Arcanum? Was it the Celestians or was it something else?
Have the Scholars at the Arcanum always been there since its beginning? Or were there others before them?
Last question, What type of Creature is the Storm Scholar?
I forgot to ask the questions you asked in my previous Celestian themed question. However I want to share my idea and theory about Celestia, since I spent a considerable amount of years reading many quest dialogues and translating inscriptions from all over the world. I think that the Celestians are dead, BUT there is a possibility that the Astral scholar could be a living Celestian, maybe one that happened to be off world before the cataclysm.
I don't think Celestia is from outside the spiral. Considering the spiral map, as the storyline progresses we travel further out of the Spiral. I think that Celestia being from outside the spiral is a common misconception. The fact that it's spiral door was closed for aeons could be a factor. Librarian Fitzhume mentioned in response to my question that Celestia could potentially affect the evolution of many worlds for e.g. Mirage. We were told by the Death scholar to retrieve an artifact from Celestia so I am very confident the Celestia we visited is the home world and not a colony.
Now this is interesting. Ptolemos does look very similar to a Celestian so I am 99% sure he is one, unless there is a different explanation. It was mentioned by Professor Balestrom that the people of Celestia are strange folk, that they worshipped the Sun, Moon and Stars. That explains why their society is heavily influenced by it. The inscriptions on the ground in Celestia read: Sun, Moon and Stars. The fact that when Mithraya came to Celestia and ordered a hall to be built for her just reinforced my theory.
I think this was raised before. In Wizard City it is believed Bartleby is at the Center of the spiral, the Celestians believed it was the sun. In one of the side quests in the Crustacean Empire, the Celestians refered Bartleby orb as golden and lit up the sky. Maybe they interpreted Bartleby as the sun, who knows. We are fighting Mithraya on an actual sun, maybe the one the Celestians referenced. I don't know about your last 2 questions.
I have a little theory of my own. During a side quest in wizard city you learn the truth about the war of the Titans. The Giants stole water from the tritons seas, the tritons cast powerful rain and storms on the dragons land, and the dragons melted the Giants kingdoms, so now there is a whole trifecta of hate going on. What if maybe old cob or one of his children pitted the Titans against each other or framed each other for these crimes to happen? What if the whole story has some kind of secret dark figure who wanted the first world to tear apart?
The theory sounds like it would be possible except for one thing. Old cob was most likely already locked away at this point. But even if he himself wasn't locked away, his children wouldn't have existed yet either. Also that story was just one recounting, according to Fitzhume the era of the first world functioned way to differently for any accurate records to exist.
