Ah yes, you do seem to have a penchant for presenting yourself when times are at their most... perplexing.
It would seem that our Almighty has forsaken us. False deities from ages past now rise and ravage while our blessed Innocence remains as silent as the stones at my feet. So much for Templar propaganda, eh?
Well, I suppose if we are to fend for ourselves, then I should answer your troubling arrival with our own most pressing tribulation.
The relic that washed ashore and started all the chaos, it was covered in ancient Vaal inscriptions. The symbols were much weathered, making them challenging to translate, yet I did my best.
The inscriptions spoke of the god, Ralakesh. If this object somehow housed the spirit of that many faced monstrosity, then I fear we are all in danger. Ralakesh was renowned for his penchant for subjugation and control. Please, I urge you to destroy this god before his strength and dominance grow insurmountable. Nip this divine threat in the bud, as it were.
Our poor friend, Greust, has likely become Ralakesh's avatar in this world. At least his recent behaviour would indicate as much. If you could see to Greust's... passing... Ralakesh will be forced to retreat into the relic. Destroy the relic and perhaps you will also destroy the god.
Yes, Ralakesh, the god of many faces. I read about this god when I looked after the museum in Theopolis. It's said he was obsessed with governance, in particular, the control of humanity through our base, animal instincts. He ruled over the citizens of one unfortunate Vaal city. Alas, the name escapes me.
Yet I do recall that his experiments brought his subjects to the brink of extinction and that he was forced to enslave many a primitive Azmerian of the time so as to repopulate his domain.
Though I shudder at the thought, I can only imagine that Ralakesh has rather similar plans now.
You truly are a hero of the modern age, succeeding where even the ancient Vaal could not!
I must say, I'm really quite relieved. For a while there I feared we were headed towards another theocratic dictatorship. Exile allowed me to be free of one. I had no wish to experience another.
You deserve to be rewarded for your efforts. Here, something with a little insight would suit your purposes nicely.
It started with a few mumblings in his slumber, then long forays into the wilds, searching for relics of a distinctly arachnid nature. I thought it a natural extension of Silk's eccentric persona at first. Then came the sleepless nights studying those relics, the fevered recitations in broken Vaalish, the strange eight phase rituals...
Then one night Silk gathered his collection and scuttled off into the darkness without a word. Silk has always been susceptible to fine fictions. Perhaps he has finally shunned reality altogether.
What? He's intending to make matrimony with Arakaali? My word, that's quite a story even for Silk!
Yes, I know that name, and the place to which it is purportedly attached. A temple to the north, now in ruins. If Silk intends unholy congress with this Arakaali, that is the most likely place we would seek it.
Poor Silk. Like so many before him, Silk succumbed to a most insidious disease. Ambition. That craving for greatness. An irresistible compulsion to leave one's mark on the world. There's another name for marks like that. Scars.
A fascinating case that flies in the face of all that is natural. Weylam is undead for sure, something we have in spades in Wraeclast, but a sentient, reasonable ghost? Now that is rare indeed.
When we talk, I feel as if I am staring into the breach, witnessing that which man was not meant to know. I have theorised about what animates the pirate's essence, how he manages to manifest on this earth once again. I think I shall compile my observations and speculations into a book. Yes... Eramir's Elucidations of Undeath. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?
Unfortunately, Arakaali's temple lies beyond that which now belongs to Ralakesh. To reach the many-legged goddess you must first draw to some conclusion with the many-faced god.
From what I can recall, Arakaali was a Vaal fertility goddess, a rather unsettling union of sexuality and mortality. Whilst usually presenting herself as a large arachnid, Arakaali would often assume human form, a ruse intended to lure mortals into the act of copulation. The entries were vague about the gender of her prey.
After satiating her carnal desires, she would then quench her divine thirst, draining her erstwhile lover of all bodily fluid. Her acolytes would then collect the dessicated husk and give it a decorative placement in Arakaali's unholy temple.
I fear that Silk knows not the true nature of the 'marriage' he so desperately seeks.
While they were highly advanced in their technology, the Vaal were rather brutish in their social practices. I find it rather baffling to think of the Vaal as a people who believed in science and progress and yet constructed elaborate sacrificial altars in the centers of their cities.
Judging by the construction of this particular ruin, I would say that the city rose to prominence during the reign of Queen Tetzlapokal who some scholars refer to as a 'waif of disturbing proclivities'. She was a devotee of Arakaali and according to the literature, had a deep fascination with mortality and the inert human form.
The histories tell how the queen would request her subjects to deposit the bodies of their deceased loved ones upon the steps of her palace. The corpses would be promptly taken inside to be used for... unfortunately most scholars fell into hysterical conjecture at that point. At least I hope it was conjecture.
Yes, I know of Gruthkul, the grieving mother. She featured quite prominently in some of the Vaal texts I restored during my time at the museum in Theopolis.
After the deaths of her children, Queen Gruthkul fled north, eventually finding respite amongst the refugee of her own shattered realm. Yet these loyalists saw their own queen as a weapon, a tool for vengeance. They nurtured her pain, transfiguring sorrow into hatred, hatred into violence. Like a grizzled bear, Gruthkul descended into animalism and ferocity. Yet her caretakers foolishly underestimated the agony their bereaved queen harboured in her heart. Like a bear caught in a trap, Gruthkul wrenched free of her human loyalties and slew her followers to the last woman and child. It was through devastation Gruthkul ascended to divinity.
Gruthkul's pain has transcended ages and she will vent that pain upon any and all she encounters until her grief is finally laid to rest.
So the grieving mother sleeps once more. Her story has come to fascinate me, and your conquest of her makes for a satisfying dramatic climax, don't you think? I'm but an old man, living vicariously through your life. As history seems intent on repeating itself, I shall record it in a book, "A Historical Account Of The Goddess Gruthkul And The Legendary Champion Who Defeated Her." Yes, the title needs a bit of work, but it will suffice for now. Here, consider this offering as an advance on the royalties we shall reap post-publication... that is, if there is anyone in Wraeclast who can read.
The relic that washed ashore and started all the chaos, it was covered in ancient Vaal inscriptions. The symbols were much weathered, making them challenging to translate, yet I did my best.
The inscriptions spoke of the the god, Ralakesh. If this object somehow housed the spirit of that many faced monstrosity, then I fear we are all in danger. Ralakesh was renowned for his penchant for subjugation and control. Please, I urge you to destroy this god before his strength and dominance grow insurmountable. Nip this divine threat in the bud, as it were.
Now, it would seem that Oak has been unfortunate enough to become Ralakesh's manifest avatar in this world. At least his recent appearance and behaviour would suggest as much. If you could see to Oak's untimely passing, Ralakesh will be forced to retreat into the relic. Destroy the relic and perhaps you will also destroy the god.
The relic that washed ashore and started all the chaos, it was covered in ancient Vaal inscriptions. The symbols were much weathered, making them challenging to translate, yet I did my best.
The inscriptions spoke of the the god, Ralakesh. If this object somehow housed the spirit of that many faced monstrosity, then I fear we are all in danger. Ralakesh was renowned for his penchant for subjugation and control. Please, I urge you to destroy this god before his strength and dominance grow insurmountable. Nip this divine threat in the bud, as it were.
Now, it would seem that Kraityn has earned his comeuppance in the form of divine possession by Ralakesh. At least his recent appearance and behaviour would suggest as much. If you could see to Kraityn's merciful demise, Ralakesh will be forced to retreat into the relic. Destroy the relic and perhaps you will also destroy the god.
The relic that washed ashore and started all the chaos, it was covered in ancient Vaal inscriptions. The symbols were much weathered, making them challenging to translate, yet I did my best.
The inscriptions spoke of the the god, Ralakesh. If this object somehow housed the spirit of that many faced monstrosity, then I fear we are all in danger. Ralakesh was renowned for his penchant for subjugation and control. Please, I urge you to destroy this god before his strength and dominance grow insurmountable. Nip this divine threat in the bud, as it were.
Now, it would seem that Alira has found herself rather consumed by Ralakesh's divine ego. At least her recent appearance and behaviour would suggest as much. If you could see to Alira's corporeal conclusion, Ralakesh will be forced to retreat into the relic. Destroy the relic and perhaps you will also destroy the god.