Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
S~oooo ... ... ... where our man King Atrax at ? 🤔
Aszkalon
Member, Alpha Two
Who has heard of the most notorious, most mysterious King of the World of Verra, until now ?
King Atrax.
Apparently an Elven King, or Half(?)-Elven King - who is famous in the Lore of Ashes, for being a very powerful Sorcerer in his Time and last Ruler of his Empire.
He was baited, lured and tricked by the Ancients - with the Temptation of eternal Life - and turned into the apparently first(?) Undead in Existence in the World of Verra. He became what People call a Lich - a Sorcerer, Wizard, etc. - turned into an undead Version of themselves.
Where could his mighty Kingdom, Empire - or Remains of it, be ? According to the Worldmap of Verra, not a single one of all the Biomes looks like a godforsaken, undead Landscape of Darkness and stoic Undeath.
So we can be somewhat sure it might not be in the Game after Release. This gives interesting Stuff and Possibility for a possible Future Expansion revolving around the Undead of Verra.
And what could King Atrax now look like ? In Case he might still be around.
As an either full-blooded Elf or at least Half-Elf, i could imagine that he might have looked rather fair. He might have turned into an "undead Bishi" - meaning "Bishounen*" - meaning Pretty-Boy-Young-Adult, of a Man.
Or maybe a boney, Edgelord-looking kind of Lich.
Could be something like this.
Or something like this ?
Or maybe something way more boney. Like Sandro from Heroes of Might and Magic Three.
Ugh.
The last Picture was so dark and edgy that i hear almost angry Heavy-Metal Music in the Background. I shall counter this with a Goody-Two-Shoes Undead who plays Protector of the living.
King Atrax.
Apparently an Elven King, or Half(?)-Elven King - who is famous in the Lore of Ashes, for being a very powerful Sorcerer in his Time and last Ruler of his Empire.
He was baited, lured and tricked by the Ancients - with the Temptation of eternal Life - and turned into the apparently first(?) Undead in Existence in the World of Verra. He became what People call a Lich - a Sorcerer, Wizard, etc. - turned into an undead Version of themselves.
Where could his mighty Kingdom, Empire - or Remains of it, be ? According to the Worldmap of Verra, not a single one of all the Biomes looks like a godforsaken, undead Landscape of Darkness and stoic Undeath.
So we can be somewhat sure it might not be in the Game after Release. This gives interesting Stuff and Possibility for a possible Future Expansion revolving around the Undead of Verra.
And what could King Atrax now look like ? In Case he might still be around.
As an either full-blooded Elf or at least Half-Elf, i could imagine that he might have looked rather fair. He might have turned into an "undead Bishi" - meaning "Bishounen*" - meaning Pretty-Boy-Young-Adult, of a Man.
Or maybe a boney, Edgelord-looking kind of Lich.
Could be something like this.
Or something like this ?
Or maybe something way more boney. Like Sandro from Heroes of Might and Magic Three.
Ugh.
The last Picture was so dark and edgy that i hear almost angry Heavy-Metal Music in the Background. I shall counter this with a Goody-Two-Shoes Undead who plays Protector of the living.
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Currently no guild !! (o_o)
2
Comments
Can't think that we'll see him at all, before launch, though.
and then at some Point of Time - raiding an UNDEAD NODE or something,
or Castle,
or Monastery,
you know ? A Place where a rather numerous Number of Undeads, a small Population and/or Army, would make a lot of Sense.
Like bringing a whole Crusade against the Forces of Darkness,
or Forces of King Atrax - for whatever the Reason.
Now i am aware,
the World of Verra is a lively Place. Dominant Word "lively" - as in living Beings and Wilderness.
Even as a Halloween-Event or so : where should something like undead Settlements,
Nodes, etc. - come from ? Maybe they are indeed present and we just don't know - because we haven't even seen all of the Riverlands,
and all the other wide, amazing and immense Biomes. I know already that "wild Undead" exist who are not Summons of a Necromancer-type Summoner.
Yes i will stay the Undead-addicted Guy here forever (lol) - or if something would change my Nostalgia.
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Currently no guild !! (o_o)
I will never be humble, always dream as big as possible and never feel any guilt.
around the many, many Undead of the World of Verra.
Around the more or less former or more or less still mighty Kingdom and maybe Empire of King Atrax.
While i want Ashes to avoid at all Costs to become a "WoW-Clone",
Worst of Warcraft also managed to get it done, right ? Second Expansion was "already" on the most mysterious Continent of Azeroth. Northrend.
Damn. So much nearly endless Possibilities. To bad we might still be at least 10 Years or so away from seeing such an "Expansion" or so, in Case it is not included in the Vanilla Game.
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Currently no guild !! (o_o)
This is a good Idea, but maybe the Castle/s should be more likely held by a high-ranking General of King Atrax's Forces, if such a Scenario would be really be to come.
This way, you can still hold King Atrax himself back for an massive Content Update - that would for Example introduce a new Landmass somewhere into the World of Verra, where there is now only Ocean.
Like a h~UUUGE Island or small Continent for Example, brimming with the Undead.
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Currently no guild !! (o_o)
It's been a year and six months since launch. The back-and-forth node wars have largely settled down to minor border skirmishes. Players are mostly happy with the node structure, and don't feel the need to shake things up. Metropolises continue to accumulate resources as the bustling hubs of every activity from artisan leveling to tavern RP to caravan PvP.
Then, with no fanfare or forewarning, an update drops. Players log in to witness a series of meteors smash into the Riverlands, the Dunzenkell Mountains, and the Frostgrave Fells. Each erupts into a plume of soot and fire that can be seen from across the entire continent.
Players flock to the impact sites, finding the craters have unearthed the entrances to several massive open world catacombs. Each is full to bursting with undead. The first few to approach are cut down in seconds by veritable armies of hostile NPCs.
Mayors, Barons, Kings, and Lords put out the call. Armies regaled in node heraldry march on the catacombs, intent to besiege the entrances as if they were hostile metropolises. But as they march, they receive word from the scouts keeping an eye on the craters -- the dead march. GPU-melting hordes of skeletons are spewing from the catacombs and trudging a slow, relentless advance toward the nearest nodes.
Some of the hordes are halted by those armies quick enough to redirect, but it isn't long before the first node - a neglected hamlet called Winstead, falls to the undead army. A new season spreads from the infected node: withered trees, gray grass, and howling winds. Here, forgotten corpses claw themselves free of the dirt, and bands of deathless soldiers patrol. Spending any significant time in this biome gradually drains your life force until you collapse into ash, making a counter-siege impossible.
A world-spanning defensive war begins, with players taking their stand against tides of undead. Many cities defend themselves successfully, but those few who fall permit the cursed land to spread yet further, their settlements unrecoverable thanks to the withering curse.
Slowly, over the course of a few weeks, Winstead progresses to become an undead metropolis - whereupon King Atrax takes the seat of power and causes the wandering undead armies to be reinforced with deadly world bosses who, if defeated, hold a key ingredient in crafting wards which allow players to resist the withering effects of the cursed land.
Now exponentially more formidable, the enemy manages to take several powerful nodes from the players, but not without losing some of their world bosses. These little victories win the players enough resources to craft wards against the curse, allowing them to traverse into hostile territory and take the fight to their lost settlements.
With the ability to strike behind enemy lines, the players soon begin to cleanse the land by retaking their lost nodes, and eventually push the undead back to Winstead. Here, a PvE raid/siege becomes available where you and hundreds of other players can assault the undead capital and confront Atrax himself. Each victory wounds him a little further, until eventually he is defeated and the world returns to normal - save for the craters, which still act as open world dungeons that occasionally spawn an undead army if left alone for too long.
Okay daydreaming over. Back to waiting for Alpha 2.
Thanks a LOT actually for this cool, short Story here, Solmyr.
This is awesome. Damn this reminds me actually of a few, very cool Story-Plots in some VideoGames.
Yes,
imagine the Game being INTENTIONALLY programmed so that the near-countless Onslaught and Charge of the many Undead can not be stopped.
Then, at some Point,
some Nodes just "MUST FALL". It will be like Andorhal in Warcraft III. Where at the End, there just came more and more and more "and more" and EVER MORE Undead running at your Position and you really felt the Threat and Pressure rising when the Scourge pressed on relentlessly.
And i like Idea of the "Undead Influence" changing the Biome.
Like for Example, People should watch the like +10 Seconds from " 1:32 " onward here,
meaning first Minute and Thirty-Two Seconds,
i like how the "Foot" of the Undead Warlock changes the Land he walks upon, for the worse.
Okay that is probably because he is supposed to be a Warlock - but i like how in the Intro of WoW Vanilla, the Land changes into a darker, more stoic and "undead" Version of itself, where the unholy Beings roam around with absolute Dominance.
That would be awesome. The Onslaught of the Undeath first unstoppable, then they get their first Nodes and change the Biomes affected -> or Area's "inside" the Biomes affected, into a darker Version of themselves,
and only then we get the Possibility to fight back right afterwards, after they sacked a good handful of our Nodes. That we can push back only afterwards witnessing the full Threat that their unholy Presence represents.
A Node conquered by the Undead turning into a smaller or bigger Necropolis would be an awesome thing as well. Sir Steven and his mighty Crew let "Corruption" change the World/Areas it affects,
but what about the Undeath ? As the huge Undead-Fan i am,
i shall provide a Picture from the wide, wide Internet - of how i could imagine a Node changed by Undeath to look like.
The Question is,
would dear Intrepid be bold enough, to make something like this ?
It is only a Fantasy-Universe in the End of the Day,
but i could see People getting all weepy and whiny - should dear Sir Steven and his mighty Crew make such a Scenario REALLY immersive.
Yes ... ... ...
... ... ... it would turn even the Civilians among the Citizens into the Undead. Harmless Men, Women and Children alike. A true Paradi- ummm i mean, of Course "HORRIBLE Scenario of Undeath" that must be avoided at all Costs.
* artificially righteous Voice * .
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Currently no guild !! (o_o)