Why are the Ebon Dawn in the Grannus Collosus?

I did a quest reset a while back and was going through the Grannus Colossus to get the one lens piece there, but while doing the various gated challenges, I kept wondering why these higher level Ebon Dawn started to appear?

I don't believe story wise this makes any sense (I don't believe the Barbarian clans are working with them?).

This might be a case where the higher level Barbarians didn't exit at the time, so they just put in the Ebon Dawn (Similar to Graff Gem Mines when they added the Satyrs, which didn't actually make any story sense in there, but was later changed). The higher level Barbarian clans now do exist.

If you get some time, you might just want to take a look at this scene. The Ebon Dawn appear in the gated Challenges as well as the last area after the last gated challenge area. That was also a bit odd.

Thanks!

 

I can’t see any reason the Ebon Dawn would be in that scene at all.

Why are they here? For what specific reason?

The scene (to me) comes across as they were added to the scene, just for the sake of adding them.

The only things the Avatar will ever observe about the Ebon Dawn in the entire game is that they are summoning undead and attacking towns of virtue.

And then suddenly they are in the Grannus Colossus.... because.....?

I was always hoping for more involvement of the Ebon Dawn with the Avatar in chapter 1. But there isn’t any. It would have been cool if some content involving the Avatar and the continued path toward following (or rejecting) the virtues, and then the Ebon Dawn starts to take notice of you, but that never happened.

The Ebon Dawn also appear in the Sequanna Colossus, but since it’s full of undead, it does make sense they are there. They are probably up to no good...

I think it just comes across as odd in that you have this large Barbarian settlement, but with the Ebon Dawn there as well. And they apparently are friends.

 

They are there because the Oracle is up to no good. At least that was my "take" from them being there. Made me distrust the Oracle.

 

Honestly... this is something that nearly all of the non-story scenes and even most of the story scenes suffer from: They have no cohesion, almost like they are small scenes unto themselves with no real link to the greater world. Sure there are enemies in there, but it is almost the same npc "recipe" from scene to scene to scene... there's predatory animals, and some mix of humanoid enemies, with the only variables being makeup of the various groups, density of NPC's and level.

Lets take a look at the OP, the Grannus Colossus scene, and the Colossus scenes in general:

Grannus: Considering this titan is still around, and the storyline for him focuses on the battle with the kobolds, why in the HELL is this scene completely devoted to barbarians??? Given the common thread of the Ebon Dawn working against the forces of virtue, I can almost see why they are here, but who are these barbarians, where do they come from, and why have they overrun the entire scene? I understand the virtue theme, but massacring an entire tribe or tribes of barbarians solely because they exist is hardly in keeping with the theme. Taking the Ebon Dawn into consideration, a big reveal usually comes after a handful of hints have been dropped to let the reader/player of the story know something isn't quite right. THEN the villain makes his appearance to gloat at the stupidity of the hero for falling into their trap... not "Oh HEEEEEEEYYYYY...." Lastly, while at least there is a bit of story tied to the lens piece, finding it hidden away in an underground room seems very anti-Courage. Perhaps this is the point, but still seems anti-thematic to me.

Sequanna: Why is the Colossus scene for the Titan of Love a barren wasteland full of undead, Ebon Dawn and scorpions? I know why the undead... I do, but beyond the general undead being the npc antithesis to Love theme in the game, there is no real reason for them or the Ebon Dawn to be here, that is expounded upon story-wise within the scene. The scene and it's NPC's tell no story. Like the Grannus Colossus scene, nothing about this scene tells em why in the hell a massive statue honoring the Titan of Love would have been erected here.

The only one of the three Colossus scenes that has a theme in keeping with it's virtue of Truth is the Boreas Colossus. This scene tells some stories, and has obstacles that are sort of in keeping with Truth and logic. It also (props for this) is the only scene that has a dragon that is anything more than a loot pouch.

If a complete pass (and yes, I do know how much work this is calling for) were done on the game that took a deep, deep dive into every scene, looking at them with an eye to expounding upon the scene's:

• own story
• relation to other scenes in the game
• relation to the main story
• contribution to or part in the history of the game world

I think the game as a whole would be much better off, as it would provide a sense that the world around you had more to offer than being a map with doorways to dozens of independent, empty (lore and story wise, anyway) spaces.

 

Grannus is in their overall territory up in the north. I don't think there needs to be a lot of explanation on this one. Everyone's got to live someplace right?

There is an element of player choice here. I've managed to get through most of that scene without fighting, though the first camp is impossible to run through the gates without magic, the rest is doable without. Just need to be quick. That said, they don't just exist. They're cannibals who wouldn't think twice about killing you on site and not bothering to ask questions later. They're not exactly harmless or benevolent.

True. It's not a good reveal unless it's recognizable as such.

Well there does have to be a place safe enough to take a breather when you're there solo. The courage part was getting there.

A full pass on the scenes for story would be great but I don't think all scenes necessarily need an in depth story. Would be nice though.

 

I'm not saying all the scenes need a deep and engaging story, but something that you can discover that tells me about the history of the scene is good... some scenes have this, but sadly most do not.

Story has always been something you need to be a spiritual successor to the Ultimas (online and SP). Even UO had books and scrolls scattered about in different places that gave you tidbits of information about the world at large, and the SP Ultimas had that and more. Unfortunately, the lore and story (outside of the main questline) have been sorely lacking throughout this game.

 

The barbarians being here makes perfect sense. The barbarians occupy Northern Paladis. You will see that all over that region.

Then suddenly, there’s a barbarian settlement and their Ebon Dawn allies.... Why is the Ebon Dawn there? Why are they allies with the barbarians there?

 

Yes!

YES!

A BILLION TIMES YES!!

 

Have the barbarians ever really had a back story explained? They just seem like "evil Norgard" guys to get more use out of the assets. Which is not ideal, but not bad, either. But if they look so much like the knights from Norgard, why?

 

As for Grannus, yeah, it's barbarian territory, so that makes sense. And the Ebon Dawn make sense too, in that they'd likely turn up in places avatars might turn up, in order to get the way. (Sane reason they'd be at Sequanna, I'd imagine.) And if the Ebon Dawn were fighting with the barbarians in the scene, I don't think it'd be an issue. However, if they're working together... I mean, that needs waaaay more explanation. It'd be cool, it'd explain why barbarians are always hostile, if they're being manipulated by the Ebon Dawn. But even if that's a thread that's intended to be explored more fully in a future episode (and given the northern locale of episode 2, that's a distinct possibility) we need some hints about it. Put some letters from the cabalists in Ulfheim, suggesting payments for services rendered, or discussions of alliance... just f'n SOMETHING to make us interested and excited for epiosde 2.

 

On that thought and in retrospect, I think perhaps SotA over extended the size of the EP1 world quite a bit. My first thought was.. yeah but UO had... wait.. a smaller budget than SotA... nevermind.. It may have been better for SotA to start out with fewer cloned scenes to fill in the world so that existing content could be more condensed.

Don't think so but you can infer a lot from general history. That cataclysm wasn't so long ago that drove most underground. Desperate times, desperate measures. Long period of lawlessness and chaos follows.. result: cannibal tribes. Not really a stretch I don't think but if you ask me they defined a much too short of a time period between the cataclysm and release 1.. or even the first book for that matter if the cataclysm destroyed as much as is claimed. Then again... many hands make light work. If enough effort was put into reconstruction.. maybe..

 

Agreed about the time since the cataclysm. Even more, the time since the Obsidians. This doesn't seem like a world that has recently thrown off the chains of the Obsidian Order. Mainly because damn near nobody in the game even mentions them. Though, I guess technically it has been almost 200 years since then, though for story purposes it is "recent."

As for the barbarians... sure, I inferred much the same. But it's weird that Norgard does not seem to have anything to say about their "cousins." More evidence that Portnip is dropping ball on even the most basic aspects of the game. Replaying the story is very depressing. The outskirts scenes are so filled out, but once you get beyond them, everything feels unfinished by comparison.

 

Does the Ebon Dawn suddenly know about the *actual* Prophecy of Edvard? And know the Avatar will be going there for one of the artifacts of Grannus? They do not, that I am aware of from playing the game. The Obsidian Order didn't even know about that....

Why are the Ebon Dawn there then?

 

someone does. the underdweller satyr in the epitaph says:

Satyr: (talking to himself) You'll not find the lenses you seek this day!

 

Prophecy of Edvard? I don't recall what that is. [Edit: Ah, Evard. I forgot that was Dirae's first name. That was an unfortunate typo, though, since we have an Edvard in the game too.]

They don't have to know the "true" Dirae prophecy to know that Avatars keep showing up at the colossus statues. Hell, we don't even know enough about the statues to know if there might be other reasons for the Ebon Dawn to have an interest. We don't really even know the origins of the lenses, but if I recall the notes you find under Grannus imply the Obsidians were involved with them being stashed around Novia, it might just be that the Ebon Dawn know enough to know they were important for something. Has it ever been spelled out whether the Ebon Dawn are a new group who are just "we <3 Obsidians!" or if they're what's left of the original Obsidians? I'd always just kind of assumed the latter.

Regardless, there's plenty of potential reasons why they might be there, it's just weaksauce that we aren't given any information about why, or any sort of info about why they are working with the barbarians.