[CM Patch] Lore and Quests for a New Legendary

[Silver_fox 397]

As some of you probably know, with the next CM Patch the Shadow Warrior would get the new legendary 2-hander. Well, the CM team decided to finally bring the sword SW always pictured with to the game. The idea for this sword, its name and bonus list was first suggested by Munera in this topic. After some discussion, it was decided to call the sword 'Redeemer'. But since some people may consider this name too 'Light', we decided to create a lore book and probably the quest chain about this sword, that would describe the usage of this weapon for the purposes of both Light and Shadow.

This idea got stuck into my head, so I came up with a story for the Lore Book. I posted it on Mantis before, and its idea was considered worth working on it. But the story most probably isn't perfect, neither is my english, so I decided to post it here for discussion. I'm looking forward for your opinions, suggestions and possible corrections.

Beware of the following wall of text, and please excuse my imperfect english.

 

A Sword of Light and Darkness

 

From various legends of Artamark.

 

Our story begins with a big war that took place in the land of Artamark during the days past. Nobody remembers when it was exactly, but the legend lives on. Back then the wars broke frequently between the ancient races, and the human land that borders both Nor Plat and Tyr Lysia often became a battlefield. This war was especially long and hard. Elves, orcs and humans were fighting to either occupy or defend the lands. Some people say that even the dwarves left their caves for the fight. The humans have no chances against more advanced elves, more furious orks and more skilled dwarves. They needed a miracle to survive this war. During this war the humans forgot about all the inner troubles and fought together, or worked together to prepare for the fight. So the most skilled weaponsmiths of the human lands gathered together in order to create an ultimate weapon, the one that would give their nation a chance in war.

 

During those days the elven magic was so strong that it could stop any spell the human wizards could create. So the new weapon couldn't rely on magic, but on the brutal force. During those days the dwarven armour crafting skills were supreme. So the new weapon should be able to avoid any armour and hit the target directly. During those days the orcish furious assault was unstoppable. So the new weapon should be able to kill them before they move.

 

The best weaponsmiths of Artamark spent seven days trying to come up with the way to create such a weapon. They tried one idea after another, refusing to stop even for a minute, because every minute might be the last for their country. But their efforts were piontless, all the prototypes they created weren't powerful enough. Then one of the youngest smiths, being disappointed as he was, left the forge. He was just standing outside and looking at the darkened skies, not knowing what to do next. Feeling little and helpless, he started praying. He prayed to all the Gods he knew, he asked the Earth under his feet and the Sky above his head for help. He was so desperate that he noticed nothing but the black sky and shining stars. Then, one of the stars begin to move, like it was answering his calls. It moved faster and faster, and suddenly fell from the sky, disapperaing somewhere in the woods. The smith considered it a sign the Gods sent him, so he ran to the woods in a search for the falling star. After some hours he found it. It was not a star, but a piece of ore. It was dark as a night and hot as a fire. Without a shadow of a doubt, the young smith picked up this piece of ore, though it was heavy and burned his hands. He managed to carry it to the forge. By the time he came to the forge, all the weaponsmithes left their hammers and stood still, being sad and disappointed. When the young smith came to them shouting about the Gods' help, they decided that this piece of ore he brought was the last thing left to try. It wasn't big, so they melted it and mixed it with the steel. The resulting metal was more firm and more ductile than the usual steel. So they used it to create a sword. Its dark blade was so strong and sharp, that it complied with all their demands. They named their creation 'Redeemer', because it was meant to save the land of Artamark.

 

The weaponsmiths proudly presented the Redeemer to the king of Artamark. Admiring the weapon, the king tried to lift the big and undoubtedly powerful sword. But he was unable to even move it. The same things that made the Redeemer able to crash any armour and to injure enemies badly also made it very big and heavy. Only the most skilled and trained warriors were able to use it in a fight. But to wield such a sword was an honour, so all the king's vassals tried to lift it and swing it a bit. But even those who managed to lift the sword, dropped it the very next moment.

 

Since all the nobles failed to lift the Redeemer, the king decided to take a look at the ordinary soldiers. The officers were ordered to fell their men in. All the soldiers were ordered to stand in order and not to move. Surrounded by his guards, the king was walking along the array, trying to notice if one of the soldiers differed from the others. Suddenly an elf appeared out of nowhere. That was probably an elven magic that helped him to just appear in front of the human king. He then threw a spell to the place where the king and his guards stood. So the intruder's intentions were clear enough - he came to assassinate the king and to destroy the humans' last hope for victory. The king's guards were shocked by the spell and couldn't move. They were unable to stop the assassin in time. But at this moment one of the private soldiers left the order and rushed to the assassin. Before the elf managed to cast the next spell, the soldier lifted his sword and killed the intruder. This soldier disobeyed an order, but saved the king's life. The king was grateful and decided to talk to that brave soldier. 'What is your name?', the king asked. 'My name is Aarnum Richfield, my lord '[a reference to the sworsman's set 'Aarnum's Regalia' from Sacred 1 + the unique two-hander 'Sir Richfield's Objection' from the same game], answered the soldier while kneeling down before the king. 'You disobeyed your superior's order, Private Richfield. Why did you do so?', asked the kind trying to test the soldier. 'I did so because I serve not my superior but you and the land of Artamark', answered Aarnum without having any doubts. The king was quite happy to see such an attitude. He decided that Aarnum's feat of arms should be rewarded. Since the king needed some allies among nobility, and his people needed heroes, he decided to bestow the small land and the title of Knight upon that soldier. He asked Aarnum for his sword to knight him. Surprisingly, the soldier gave the king not a simple sword that were typical for human army, but some huge ancient-looking sword. He claimed this sword to be his heirloom. The king was surprised to see a sword that big and heavy. 'Who if not him', the king thought - and ordered to bring the Redeemer. 'If you could lift this sword, you would become a noble Knight and a hero of this land', he told Aarnum. The warrior took the sword and lifted it easely. It seemed to fit him perfectly...

 

The rest is history. Three month later the war was over. Humans managed to defend the land of Artamark. Being a kind person and a brave warrior, Aarnum made a good name for himself and proved that his sword is worth its name.

 

Sadly, the end of Sir Aarnum Richfield's life wasn't as bright as his young days. His sons who were about to inherit his name and land were nothing but a huge source of disappointment and worries. One of them was a weak airhead, the other was a wicked schemer, and none of them was the one Aarnum might be proud of. So just before his death, Sir Richfield said: 'I want only the ones who care about Artamark to wield my sword. I want the Redeemer to be earned, not inherited.' - and ordered to return the Redeemer to the king, hoping that the king would give this sword only to a true hero of the land.

 

The Redeemer spent a lot of decades lying in the Royal Treasury. The kings of Artamark knew that their people would pay a special attention to the one who would wield this weapon, so they didn't want to give it away easely.

 

The time when the sword appeared again was a dark one for Artamark. But this time there were no intruders nor foreign enemies. The forces that tore the land apart were inside it. The powerful vassals of the king refused to obey the king's orders and continued fighting with each other. The civil war was slowly wiping out the human race. The king tried to settle the nobles down, but his authority was too low and his army was too little. He desperately needed an ally among the nobles. During that time, the most power of his vassals was Baron Johann DeMordrey, the owner of Skook's Corner. But the Baron was powerful enough to ignore the king completely. He wanted power, and he had a lot of it. One day the king found out that one of the Barons offered his corps to lay siege to the capital city of Griffinborough. His own army was too small to stand a siege, so he decided to ask Johann DeMordrey for help. Knowing Johann's thirst for power and fame, the king offered him a title of the First Knight and the Redeemer to boot. The next day Johann DeMordrey send his corps to assist the royal army. After the battle was over, the Baron became the Redeemer's new owner. That day was the last time when the king of Artamark actually ruled his land.

 

During the next years, the civil war stopped. But that wasn't because the peace came to the human land. That was because of fear. Everybody feared the actual ruler of Artamark. No, it wasn't the king, who could do nothing during these days, but Baron Johann DeMordrey. He was so cruel and stern, that the people called him Johann the Terrible. [sorry, couldn't stop myself from referencing the infamous russian ruler Ivan the Terrible (don't believe wikipedia article about him, there are quite a lot of mistakes in it). And the german variant of the name 'Ivan' is 'Johann'] He could tolerate nobody who stood in his way. His corps immediately stopped all the attempts on mutiny. It was said that Johann enjoyed killing the enemy leaders himself, finishing them by his legendary sword. Because of it some people began to call the sword 'Dark Redeemer', but the ones who remembered its history continued calling it 'Redeemer', since it was known for bringing not only Darkness but also Light to the land of Artamark.

 

Twenty years passed, Johann the Terrible became older and couldn't react on all the events with his former quickness. So various mutinies became frequent. Once the Baron got a news about the mutiny in the west lands and ordered his corps to move there. As always, he led his soldiers himself. The battle took place near the town of Wargfels. Luckily for all the people of Artamark, Baron Johann was killed in this battle.

 

His sword's fate remains uncertain. Some people say that it was lost in the battle and may be found in any place of Artamark. Others assume that one of the soldiers picked it and, following the legendary Sir Richfield's order, returned the Redeemer to the king. Some people even suspect that the legendary sword is hidden somewhere in the DeMordrey family castle...

 

Now the Redeemer, which witnessed the Light and the Darkness, which was used to save Life and to bring Death, lies somewhere, patiently waiting for its new owner. Only the time will tell, what power this sword would serve the next time.

Edited February 6, 2011 by Silver_fox

[Silver_fox 397]

Notes:

1. I can't say that I'm very fond of mentioning the dwarves here, but I can remember no other race that was known for its excellent smiths and armour masters. And this story is a legend... which means that it might be covered by the ones who told it and therefore not all that true. The legends frequently contain some fiction as well as some truth.

 

2. Yes, I remember that 'Aarnum' was a king's name too. But I see nothing wrong with naming a royal child after a great hero of a human race. Do you?

 

3. Initially the story was shorter, but Munera proposed to write something about the Gods' help, so I added some details.

[Knuckles 904]

Very cool story Silver I can only imagine how long that took to do. One of these days I got to get the CM patch installed just see all this great content everyone has added. I'm horrible at writing stories but after reading that you almost inspired me to give it a go

 

Again, very well written

[TSFF19 0]

Considering most, if not all of the SW's main special weapons are hafted, its nice to see things are going to be mixed up by adding a sword to the works.

[Aegis 256]

If I knew the world on Ancaria better, I wouldn't mind helping out a bit with the writing. o.o With that said, I like the write-up for the Redeemer. Very thorough, a very nice story overall. I also like the idea of a very damaging sword that still does well on its own in spite of being pure physical weapon. =)

[Furian67 14]

Love the story.I will definitely do this quest with my Lt.Finn when it comes.

[Stormwing 40]

Great writeup indeed, Silver. I'll be sure to give this one a try when it's implemented.

And the deMordrey part adds a nice flavour. That lineage is really no good, seeing they continue their plotting even in Sacred.

[Silver_fox 397]

Thank you guys. Thank you very much. I'm glad you like the story.

 

But the quest for this sword is now the thing in question. There were several ideas for it, and therefore I don't know which one would be developed.

 

1. My idea was to create the quest chain that would match the lore. Something to do with intrigues, DeMordrey and human affairs. The idea was to make it different for the Light and Shadow charas - the Shadow ones work for the evil Baron, because they were promised to be rewarded with a treasure that was hidded in DeMordrey's castle. The Light ones work for the king and become a noble Knight and a hero that is rewarded with a title and a sword.

 

2. Munera's idea was to make a Shadow Warrior only quest based on him fighting the elves. Probably including saving and protecting humans from them.

 

What do you think? What idea you'd like to play? Do you have an idea of your own?

[Furian67 14]

I vote for the first one. Seems more "real".

[Munera 1]

lol I'll say a mixture of both options ^^

[Ysne58 236]

The story is fascinating.

 

As far as a quest goes, the DeMordrey family did not want the rest of the world to know everything they did. In order to protect the book, the people guarding it had to separate the chapters and hide them in different parts of Artamark.

 

Part of the quest could include a treasure hunt to find the various chapters of the book.

[gogoblender 3,068]

Bravo Silver! And if English is not your first language then story telling definitely is.

 

Very good detailing on motives and history, you kept my attention kept, and I think this is worthy canon.

 

Other than the use of contractions which I kind of think takes away from the story teller's formal distance, I think the writeup is very good.

 

Strong work

 

 

gogo

[Silver_fox 397]

Thank you very much, gogo.

 

As for contractions, that's a negative result of my teachers' influence. I've been told that the usage of contractions is very normal and common in the english language... so I just got very used to using them. I know that for the legend the language is supposed to be a bit archaic. But I keep forgetting about avoiding the things like 'isn't' and 'can't'. Thank you for pointing on it. I'll correct the text before proposing it to the CM team. That was the main reason for publishing it there - to find out all the possible mistakes. And what about the grammar? Does it seem to be correct?

[gogoblender 3,068]

Can you give me an hour and I'll really bear down on it?

Almost finished cooking, and I can look at it even better then.

 

 

gogo

[gogoblender 3,068]

I just did a quick check for spelling errors and some basic grammar edits. I copy pasted your whole article out, edited, and now here it is again. I hope this is okay, and it's only small edits:

 

A Sword of Light and Darkness

 

From various legends of Artamark.

 

Our story begins with a long, almost-unending war that took place in the land of Artamark during days past. Nobody remembers when it began, exactly, but the legend lives on. Back then, wars broke frequently between the ancient races, and the human land that borders both Nor Plat and Tyr Lysia often became a battlefield. This war was especially long and hard. Elves, orcs and humans were fighting to either occupy or defend the lands. Some people say that even the dwarves left their caves for the fight. The humans have no chances against more advanced elves, more furious orks and more skilled dwarves. They needed a miracle to survive this war. During this war the humans forgot about all the inner troubles and fought together, or worked together to prepare for the fight. So the most skilled weaponsmiths of the human lands gathered together in order to create an ultimate weapon, the one that would give their nation a chance in war.

 

During those days the elven magic was so strong that it could stop any spell the human wizards could create. This new weapon, then, could not rely upon magic, but instead upon pure brutal force. During those days the dwarven armour crafting skills were supreme. So the new weapon should be able to avoid any armour and hit the target directly. During those days the orcish furious assault was unstoppable. So the new weapon should be able to kill them before they move.

 

The best weaponsmiths of Artamark spent seven days trying to come up with the way to create such a weapon. They tried one idea after another, refusing to stop even for a minute, because every minute might be the last for their country. But their efforts were pointless, all the prototypes they created were not powerful enough. Then one of the youngest smiths, being disappointed as he was, left the forge. He was just standing outside and looking at the darkened skies, not knowing what to do next. Feeling small and helpless, he started to pray. He prayed to all the Gods he knew, he asked the Earth under his feet and the Sky above his head for help. He was so desperate that he noticed nothing but the black sky and shining stars. Then, one of the stars begin to move, almost as if it was answering his calls. It moved faster and faster, and suddenly fell from the sky, disappearing somewhere in the woods. The smith considered it a sign the Gods sent him, so he ran to the woods in a search for the falling star. After some hours he found it. It was not a star, but a piece of ore. It was dark as night and as hot as a fire. Without a shadow of a doubt, the young smith picked up this piece of ore, though it was heavy and burned his hands. He managed to carry it to the forge. By the time he came to the forge, all the weaponsmithes left their hammers and stood still, being sad and disappointed. When the young smith came to them shouting about the Gods' help, they decided that this piece of ore he brought was the last thing left to try. As it was not big, they melted and mixed it with the steel. The resulting metal was more firm and more ductile than the usual steel. They then used it to create a sword. Its dark blade was so strong and sharp, that it complied with all their demands. They named their creation 'Redeemer', because it was meant to save the land of Artamark.

 

The weaponsmiths proudly presented the Redeemer to the king of Artamark. Admiring the weapon, the king tried to lift the big and undoubtedly powerful sword. But he was unable to even move it. The same things that made the Redeemer able to crush any armour and to injure enemies badly also made it very big and heavy. Only the most skilled and trained warriors were able to use it in a fight. But to wield such a sword was an honor, so all the king's vassals tried to lift it and swing it a bit. But even those who managed to lift the sword, dropped it the very next moment.

 

Since all the nobles failed to lift the Redeemer, the king decided to take a look at the ordinary soldiers. The officers were ordered to fell their men in. All the soldiers were ordered to stand in order and not to move. Surrounded by his guards, the king was walking along the array, trying to notice if one of the soldiers differed from the others. Suddenly an elf appeared out of nowhere, Elven magic probably used to quickly help him appear instantly in front of the human king. He then threw a spell to the place where the king and his guards stood. The intruder's intentions were clear enough - he came to assassinate the king and to destroy the humans' last hope for victory. The king's guards were shocked by the spell and couldn't move. They were unable to stop the assassin in time. But at this moment one of the private soldiers left the order and rushed to the assassin. But before the elf managed to cast his next spell, the soldier lifted his sword and killed the intruder. This soldier disobeyed an order, but saved the king's life. The king was grateful and decided to talk to that brave soldier. 'What is your name?', the king asked. 'My name is Aarnum Richfield, my lord '[a reference to the swordsman's set 'Aarnum's Regalia' from Sacred 1 + the unique two-hander 'Sir Richfield's Objection' from the same game], answered the soldier while kneeling down before the king. 'You disobeyed your superior's order, Private Richfield. Why did you do so?', asked the kind trying to test the soldier. 'I did so because I serve not my superior but you and the land of Artamark', answered Aarnum without having any doubts. The king was quite happy to see such loyalty. He decided that Aarnum's feat of arms should be rewarded. Since the king needed some allies among nobility, and his people needed heroes, he decided to bestow the small land and the title of Knight upon that soldier. He asked Aarnum for his sword to knight him. Surprisingly, the soldier gave the king not a simple sword that were typical for human army, but some huge ancient-looking sword. He claimed this sword to be his heirloom. The king was surprised to see a sword that big and heavy. 'Who if not him', the king thought - and ordered to bring the Redeemer. 'If you could lift this sword, you would become a noble Knight and a hero of this land', he told Aarnum. The warrior took the sword and lifted it easily. It seemed to fit him perfectly...

 

The rest is history. Three months later the war was over. Humans managed to defend the land of Artamark, and being a kind person and a brave warrior, Aarnum made a good name for himself and proved that his sword is worth its name.

 

Sadly, the end of Sir Aarnum Richfield's life wasn't as bright as his young days. His sons who were about to inherit his name and land were nothing but a huge source of disappointment and worries. One of them was a weak airhead, the other was a wicked schemer, and none of them was the one Aarnum might be proud of. So just before his death, Sir Richfield said: 'I want only the ones who care about Artamark to wield my sword. I want the Redeemer to be earned, not inherited.' - and ordered to return the Redeemer to the king, hoping that the king would give this sword only to a true hero of the land.

 

The Redeemer spent many decades lying in the Royal Treasury. The kings of Artamark knew that their people would pay special attention to the one who would wield this weapon, so they didn't want to give it away easily.

 

The time when the sword appeared again was a dark one for Artamark. But this time there were no intruders nor foreign enemies. The forces that tore the land apart were inside it. The powerful vassals of the king refused to obey the king's orders and continued fighting with each other. The civil war was slowly wiping out the human race. The king tried to settle the nobles down, but his authority was too low and his army was too little. He desperately needed an ally among the nobles. During that time, the most power of his vassals was Baron Johann DeMordrey, the owner of Skook's Corner. But the Baron was powerful enough to ignore the king completely. He wanted power, and he had a lot of it. One day the king found out that one of the Barons offered his corps to lay siege to the capital city of Griffinborough. His own army was too small to stand a siege, so he decided to ask Johann DeMordrey for help. Knowing Johann's thirst for power and fame, the king offered him a title of the First Knight and the Redeemer to boot. The next day Johann DeMordrey send his corps to assist the royal army. After the battle was over, the Baron became the Redeemer's new owner. That day was the last time when the king of Artamark actually ruled his land.

 

During the next years, the civil war stopped. But that wasn't because the peace came to the human land. That was because of fear. Everybody feared the actual ruler of Artamark. No, it wasn't the king, who could do nothing during these days, but Baron Johann DeMordrey. He was so cruel and stern, that the people called him Johann the Terrible. [sorry, couldn't stop myself from referencing the infamous russian ruler Ivan the Terrible (don't believe wikipedia article about him, there are quite a lot of mistakes in it). And the German variant of the name 'Ivan' is 'Johann'] He could tolerate nobody who stood in his way. His corps immediately stopped all the attempts on mutiny. It was said that Johann enjoyed killing the enemy leaders himself, finishing them by his legendary sword. Because of it some people began to call the sword 'Dark Redeemer', but the ones who remembered its history continued calling it 'Redeemer', since it was known for bringing not only Darkness but also Light to the land of Artamark.

 

Twenty years passed, Johann the Terrible became older and couldn't react on all the events with his former quickness. Various new mutinies soon became more frequent. Once the Baron received news about a mutiny in the west lands and ordered his corps to move there. As always, he led his soldiers himself. The battle took place near the town of Wargfels. Luckily for all the people of Artamark, Baron Johann was killed in this battle.

 

His sword's fate remains uncertain. Some people say that it was lost in the battle and may be found in any place of Artamark. Others assume that one of the soldiers picked it and, following the legendary Sir Richfield's order, returned the Redeemer to the king. Some people even suspect that the legendary sword is hidden somewhere in the DeMordrey family castle...

 

Now the Redeemer, which witnessed the Light and the Darkness, which was used to save Life and to bring Death, lies somewhere, patiently waiting for its new owner. Only time will tell, what power this sword would serve the next time.

[Silver_fox 397]

Thank you, gogo. I may do some more corrections, since you left some contractions that I wanted to change to the full forms. But now it's pretty safe to introduce the text to the game, since the english speaking players won't find it poorly grammarized (and thank you for correcting typos. I was surprised to see how multiple they were).

[Flix 5,116]

I can't recall a quest or logbook entry about this sword ever making it into the game.

[Silver_fox 397]

Flix, how did you get there at all? I was just looking at this long forgotten topic to make a reference on the Redeemer's wiki page, and a moment later it comes in new content... I almost thought it to be a forum bug.

 

The book is a long-winded CM project, which is still open on Mantis (HERE, if you wonder about the progress). The book is in game, all scripts are intact, but it is excluded from drop lists until all translations are finished - and I wonder if they ever would as some translators are completely inactive nowadays. They wanted to get it out in v140, but got troubles with Polish language, and as I understand put it on hold again.

 

As for the quest, the development was delayed as me and Munera wanted to see a bit different stories... and then it turned out that there are few empty quest IDs left and other ideas for new quests might have priority. Anyway, considering the slowing down of CM development, I don't think anybody on CM team would now spend time scripting a new quest from scratch. I have a story for this quest sketched and almost fleshed out, but as I never seriously worked with quest scrtipting before, I don't think I'd be working on finishing it on my very own.

Edited February 20, 2014 by Silver_fox

[Flix 5,116]

Spying I guess. Looking at the "online user list" you can see what topics are being browsed. I usually don't pay much attention to it but sometimes I will see a topic name that sounds very interesting that I've never heard of before, so I check it out.

 

Dmitriy wanted a quest related to the Doomguard armor as well. And, if the task of implementing more special mounts falls into our hands as it seems likely to, we'll be dealing with quest scripting there as well. Practicing with a single item like The Redeemer might be a good start before tackling those other tasks.

[Silver_fox 397]

Well, if the special mounts end up being your task, and if your opinion about my writing is not very low (though I must say that my english is probably better now, at least today I can spot all mistakes and irregularities in this Redeemer book by myself), you might also want to look at this note on Mantis. That's a long storyline concept for the mount quest. It got some positive replies, but then the development stopped. I have no idea if there would be enough quest IDs to furnish it, or if anybody would like me to work on it further. I just wanted to tell you, that if you would be working on these quests and would like to take me on board, I'll finish this quest concept.

 

As for Redeemer, what kind of a quest would you have liked to try here? What is your opinion on the fitting idea for such quest? Which length would you like to attempt (I don't think I have a freedom of getting carried away with the writing, as you want to experiment on something smaller, and those IDs are probably very limited)? And finally, what opinion do you have of the text above? Would you like to see a quest continuing this story, or something completely different?