LadyWYT

I'm loving the lore as well, and there's just so much to unpack! I must've missed the upside-down room--will have to pay closer attention the next time that I'm there! One thing I forgot to mention in my original post--the mysterious recording on the Library's resonator. The third recording is obviously a pre-incident conversation that serves to explain to the player what the contraption is and how it works. The second recording is the one left by the Old Alchemist. The first recording was left by at least two individuals, although who they are or what they are doing there, or when their visit took place remains a mystery. The scraping of metal on stone and rythmic clicking suggest maybe the Eidolon was active at the time, or perhaps a semi-mechanical entity. It could also refer to a hidden mechanism in the Archive itself. On a whim I also googled "rubedo" and it seems to be a Latin word meaning "redness", while also referring to the finished work of an alchemist. Continuing with the theory that the Old Alchemist is indeed Jonas Falx, I'm thinking that the mentioned combination of blood and temporal flux was possibly a critical key in whatever took place with the Salvation Engine; either to allow the plan to function in the first place, or bringing about the temporal chaos that exists in the world as we know it. The Alchemist also mentions that "rubedo" applies to more than just blood/turning things to gold; rust just happens to be a red color as well. ------ "Aren't you listening? I said there's too many missing. Sure, we were dying like mayflies and mind you, some things are a bit hazy for me towards the end, but even so. They can't have all perished and they can't have all turned. I cannot be the only one. But where are they? That's what it always comes back to." "No, they hardly know anything. Of course it pains me to see them suffer. They're like... little lost children huddled in their homes. But it's for the best. We had all the knowledge in the world. And worlds beyond! And what good did it do us? No. Best leave them to it. Let them think of me as some mad old sorcerer and leave me in peace." I'm not sure if the Alchemist is talking to himself during the recording, or someone else, but he does seem to be talking about the seraphs here, at least in the first part, although it could just refer to humans too. Humans do still exist in the world--the traders are still human, after all, and mention the existence of villages. While they are polite, they also treat the player as an "other", mentioning that "more like you" have been appearing out of nowhere of late. As for the "they" in "they can't have all turned", this could refer to either seraphs, or drifters. Seraphs were turned from human, although the how or why isn't really known. The scenes described in "Confession" portray much of humanity's remnant displaying drifter-like behavior, although they seem to treat the author(presumably Falx) with great reverence. Of course, I suppose the Alchemist's second statement could just be describing the current remnants of humanity struggling to survive in the new world. Another oddity that crossed my mind earlier today in regards to the seraphs--someone had to have known a little about them prior to the player's arrival, given the existence of the tapestries and paintings in-game. From a technical standpoint, they're just items that players can use to decorate, but the tapestries specifically have a definite lore component to them and are described in a different fashion than the flavor text accompanying other items. The tapestries seem to depict greenish-grey humanoids in most cases(seraphs), with dark grey humanoids that seem to be a match for drifters. The same dark grey humanoid also appears in the Rot tapestry. The tapestry descriptions also seem to be written from the perspective of the player character; the scenes depicted carry a certain familiarity with the prior and current realities, but the details are all still fuzzy. There also seems to be a distinct disdain for the nobility, which seems logical for a band of common folk loyal to Falx. In any case, it does beg the question--who made the tapestries in the first place? Was it other seraphs, who perhaps also built some of the ruins we find scattered around but didn't survive? Was it remnants of humanity, although that seems a bit of a stretch especially given that survivors perhaps hold some animosity towards Falx regarding whatever happened with his plan. It could also just be a bit of a plot hole that may or may not be clarified later on. ----- So much to consider, haha. I'm probably going to end up starting another world and giving a different class a whirl, and pick apart the pieces some more. I think I've found most of the current available lore in the game; the only bits that seem to be missing are a couple of tapestries and maybe a scroll or two.

I finally made it to the Archive today(it was incredible!), and left with several musings that I'm now left to ponder until the next update. Apologies if the following is a little disjointed--it was an exciting expedition and I had to get the musings out. Hopefully it both makes sense and is interesting to read(though read no further if you don't want spoilers!) 1. Whatever the temporal gears are made of seems to exist in both a solid and liquid state, given the tank of glowing teal fluid in the engineering room. Perhaps the gears are just made of a metal that is infused with temporal essence somehow. What this essence does, I don't know, but at the very least it provides a source of light to some parts of the facility, as well as some sort of power source for the machines. I think this temporal energy may exist in a gas form as well, given that I dropped a temporal gear near the Library's gassifier and it started emitting teal particles. I'll have to try it again sometime in the future to see if I can repeat the incident. 2. Given the lore I've uncovered from the Archives and pieced together from random bits elsewhere, I'm guessing that the Rot was either triggered by humanity delving too deep in search of riches, or nobles paying scientists to push the limits of technology without heeding the potential dangers. There could be an entirely different reason too, as the Rot's origins haven't been made clear aside from it serving as the catalyst to drive the remnants of humanity underground and Falx to build the machine noted in the "Salvation" tapestry(I'll dub this the Salvation Engine for future reference). 3. . One detail that stood out to me was the abundance of massive rusty tendrils reaching from the depths of the Nobles Quarters--I didn't see spikes like this anywhere else in the Archives. "The Spy and the Sparrow" account found in the Library suggests that one of the nobles had spies infiltrating the ranks of Falx and his allies, while other lore bits indicate nobility's disdain for Falx's humble heritage and others of common birth. The "Danger of Temporality" tapestry seems to tell of some sort of paradise dimension, while warning of messing with powers that aren't well understood. In short, something especially horrific happened in the Nobles' Quarters, and I think perhaps they stole some of Falx's technology in a bid to save themselves first(and/or keep Falx from being heralded as a hero) only to make some miscalculations and potentially trigger the invasion from the Rust. If the nobles were secretly tampering with Jonas tech and caused the Rust to start bleeding through, it could also explain why machines--especially automatons--started to go haywire when they had been docile before. Bells, however, could be explained as simply being hostile to anything that isn't human(which, the player is no longer human). Likewise, if the nobles and their lackeys were at ground zero of an invasion from the Rust...it could also explain where drifters come from and why they seem a melted mess of flesh and rusted metal. If Falx's Salvation Engine could turn humans to seraphs, a miscalculation with similar experiments could turn humans into abominations. 4. The Echo Chamber in the center of the complex and the resonators themselves bear an eerie design similarity to the thunderlord mech thing/Dave that appears during temporal storms. Dave's head and neck look like a more twisted, inverted part of the resonator. The Library's resonator archive mentions some sort of part resembling a creepy worm, that picks up signals to record in the resonator's echo chamber for posterity. I don't know if the two are actually linked somehow or if it's just an odd coincidence. 5. The "old alchemist" mentioned in the Library almost has to be Jonas Falx. Given what the archive describes, he achieved success with his Salvation Engine, although I'm guessing it was only partial given that he doesn't seem to know where any of the targets(the players) ended up. I would assume that Falx is a seraph as well now, given the implication that those subjected to the Salvation Engine became the seraphs. As to where we might find him, I'm not sure. I recall reading that villages are planned for the game, and the traders mention rare settlements that are hidden away(as well as others "like you" who just "appeared"). Perhaps he might be found in one of those, maybe with a whole workshop and special quests. Of course, if the next story arc contains another dungeon, Falx could end up being a target to rescue as well.