Path of Love Feedback: Necropolis to Midras [spoilers]

@Lum the Mad

Key points:
1) The obscurity of the dialogue in the Necropolis makes me wonder what I'm missing, but in reality it's just a simple pass through place: "Nope not us, go to Midras."
2) Anapa is mentioned in the "knowledge journal" after the Necropolis, but not in the dialogue there. Who is he that suddenly pops up for no reason?
3) There are many problems with keywords out of context. See example below.
4) Midras doesn't help with the mystery of Anapa... is he a misguided spirit like Queen Eris or someone with a sinister call and a dark purpose? Ultimately beyond the side quests Midras is only: "Nope not us, go to Malice." If Anapa is the enemy, the knowledge of him has to build... not be a question you carry right into your fight with him.
5) We learn things about Aren Bennis in Malice that go beyond BotA/SoM. These are designed to be teasers? It might be good to explain more of the story in a longer dialogue since not everyone may read the books.

Details:

1)
Talking with Thanatos and Kardan in the Necropolis is challenging, which can be a good thing. Thanatos is speaking obscure Latin, the other is translating only some. I wonder if you hire Samael whether the conversation is more direct.

The problem with obscurity and keywords is you wonder, did I get it all? Do I really know what is going on? And so I went back through the dialogue in the chat log just to make sure. The obscurity of the dialogue gives you the sense there is something more there... but I think what Thanatos is saying is pretty simple: "Nope not us, Go to Midras."

Key point in storytelling here: obscurity in a story prompts you to look for more, search for more meaning, ponder what was said. If there's nothing more than, "Nope not us, Go to Midras", the obscurity feels frustrating not fun. For example, if Thanatos told you some key tidbit that Kardan didn't translate, it would be fun to search for and find that.

After the conversation it almost seems like Kardan's shouts are there to make sure you get the key points as if you might have missed them (go to Midras, Samael has some role going forward):

Kardan Marbane: Samael? That lowlife? What you are asking me about HIM for? We've got important questions about the dead and the undead!
Kardan Marbane: So Thanatos wants you to go to Midras next? Well, YOU can certainly go traipsing around the most dangerous ruins in Novia, but I most certainly will NOT! Why, that place is so foul outlanders hunt each other there for SPORT! Can you imagine?
Kardan Marbane: I'm going to stay here for a bit, do a touch of light reading, wait for you to come to your senses, that sort of thing. You go do your avatar thing. Have fun!

Again, I will bring up my point about having a little more introductory dialogue... using keywords to fill in the gaps, add color: https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/questing-and-keywords-a-suggestion.91503/

2)

From the "knowledge journal" I learn that the quest now has something to do with someone called Anapa...



Did Thanatos speak of him and I just missed it? I thought that wasn't revealed until Midras? Also made me feel like I had missed something, maybe I did. But if I did it's because I wasn't clever enough to figure out the keyword (because I made sure I used all the ones prompted on the interface).

3)

Talking to Kardan after you get what you need in Necropolis, you do find out about Queen Eris, which is a nice bit of info. BUT see the confusion:

Kardan Marbane: It's been a pleasure working for you, really it has, but this is where we part ways, friend. You might be crazy enough to fight your way through the Guardians and their queen but I certainly value my own skin!
Vyrin: queen
Kardan Marbane: Ah, the Priestess Khasi, a vision of beauty! You should go visit her yourself. Tell her I said hello.

I thought wait? You mean Khasi is leading the undead somehow? Until I realized no - the keyword should be Queen Eris or Eris. The keyword system has the vulnerability of triggering things out of context.

4)

Although Queen Eris may be somewhat touched... I mean her brain dissolved centuries ago, the dialogue here seemed contradictory.

Vyrin: Anapa
Warmaiden of Midras: My cousin, King Anapa shall return to aid our defense! He has spoken such and he is a man of his word. We will not fight alone. We will hold out until he returns.

Vyrin: malice
I should ask the other spirit here of where Malice could be found.
Warmaiden of Midras: Malice... the gates of the dead. Anapa is there. The dead are there. It is Malice, all things lead to Malice, the Lake of Tempest, the shores of Spite, his vengeance, his terrible vengeance. It calls to me too... it calls... but I cannot answer. I cannot leave my post! We will stand here! We make our stand! Here! No further! NO FURTHER! NO! FURTHER!

She talks of Anapa as coming to her aid.... then about being drawn to Malice and all things leading to Malice. Maybe that's just the undead craziness talking.. but it is getting extremely obscure, not clearer. What is his vengeance?

At this point in the quest I don't feel like I've gained any more information again. It's now: "Nope not us, go to Malice."

5)

I very much enjoyed the connection to the larger story here (BotA/Sword of Midras). Still, we learn things in the dialogue about Aren Bennis that we don't see in the book. These are designed to be teasers? It might be good to explain more of the story in a longer dialogue - since not everyone may read the books.

 

You missed a great deal of dialogue because you brought along Kardan Marbane.