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Post by drakkenblut on Apr 8, 2019 12:28:48 GMT
Going through the fluff very carefully, I found no specific mention of Anamag ever receiving an Athanc shard. Furthermore, there is no mention of other Legion Warlock features on her:
- It is never mentioned that Everblight or other warlocks talk to her telepathically through the Athanc - It is never mentioned that she ever spilled blood to create a spawn; Her beast Golab was created from a Rotwing fed blighted morsels till it adapted to it and grew into a full beast.
The closest thing to an Athanc insertion in the fluff is in NQ where it was stated that Thagrosh gave her a "gift of magic". we know that Ogrun are not talented in magical ways, so this could be interpreted in two ways, the Athanc insertion, or Everblight going beyond the limitations of a mortal race once again (which should go nicely with the ability to create Chosen, for instance).
Now, game-wise, she is a full warlock, but fluff wise, she could just be a bigger fatter uglier smellier Beast Mistress. If PP purposefully omitted the Athanc insertion so far, maybe they are just leaving space for it to be significant (or even crucial, for instance she wouldn't be affected by the Dragon Positioning system) in some future fluff piece.
Did I miss anything? And if I did not, any further thoughts on this?
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Post by cainuslupus on Apr 8, 2019 19:13:05 GMT
Going through the fluff very carefully, I found no specific mention of Anamag ever receiving an Athanc shard. Furthermore, there is no mention of other Legion Warlock features on her: - It is never mentioned that Everblight or other warlocks talk to her telepathically through the Athanc - It is never mentioned that she ever spilled blood to create a spawn; Her beast Golab was created from a Rotwing fed blighted morsels till it adapted to it and grew into a full beast. The closest thing to an Athanc insertion in the fluff is in NQ where it was stated that Thagrosh gave her a "gift of magic". we know that Ogrun are not talented in magical ways, so this could be interpreted in two ways, the Athanc insertion, or Everblight going beyond the limitations of a mortal race once again (which should go nicely with the ability to create Chosen, for instance). Now, game-wise, she is a full warlock, but fluff wise, she could just be a bigger fatter uglier smellier Beast Mistress. If PP purposefully omitted the Athanc insertion so far, maybe they are just leaving space for it to be significant (or even crucial, for instance she wouldn't be affected by the Dragon Positioning system) in some future fluff piece. Did I miss anything? And if I did not, any further thoughts on this? Short version is: for some time PP took big dump on lore, especially since NQ Prime died. So I'm not sure they themselves thought this up, all new casters being just rules, stats & crunch. Maybe Oblivion book will bring some new information but AFAIK you can't be Legion Warlock without Athanc, so I would say she've got one.
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thelat
Junior Strategist
Posts: 480
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Post by thelat on Apr 8, 2019 20:54:04 GMT
I seem to remember them saying that what's weird about her is that she was a spellcasting ogrun before becoming a Legion warlock, but can't find the source.
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Post by gobber on Apr 9, 2019 1:49:35 GMT
Anamag's entry doesn't specifically use the word athanc, though it seems implied in: "Everblight saw fit to forge her into one of his warlocks. With this gift, Anamag gained the ability to wield magic, which had so long been denied her. "
Prior to the Ogrun being blighted, she was a priestess of Dhunia who "sought visions to guide her clan, reading omens in the winter stars above the mountains and in the flights of birds as they moved across the sky." I'd guess that is supposed to be actual magic, and the "...long been denied her" line refers to that connection to Dhunia and her magic being lost when the blight overtook the Ogrun tribes but before Everblight made her a warlock.
"Everblight swept through the wild northern ogrun clans, visiting blight upon them. When Anamag was first touched with blight, it filled her with an insatiable hunger, making acute and grotesque that which once drew her closer to Dhunia."
Source: NQP05 Pg67.
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thelat
Junior Strategist
Posts: 480
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Post by thelat on Apr 9, 2019 4:05:08 GMT
Anamag's entry doesn't specifically use the word athanc, though it seems implied in: "Everblight saw fit to forge her into one of his warlocks. With this gift, Anamag gained the ability to wield magic, which had so long been denied her. " Prior to the Ogrun being blighted, she was a priestess of Dhunia who "sought visions to guide her clan, reading omens in the winter stars above the mountains and in the flights of birds as they moved across the sky." I'd guess that is supposed to be actual magic, and the "...long been denied her" line refers to that connection to Dhunia and her magic being lost when the blight overtook the Ogrun tribes but before Everblight made her a warlock. "Everblight swept through the wild northern ogrun clans, visiting blight upon them. When Anamag was first touched with blight, it filled her with an insatiable hunger, making acute and grotesque that which once drew her closer to Dhunia." Source: NQP05 Pg67. You're awesome.
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Post by drakkenblut on Apr 9, 2019 8:11:25 GMT
gobber: thanks for the thorough reply. I guess I did not miss much. It is odd Anamag fluff did not go into the Athanc side of things, when all other warlocks had their fluff at least touch on it. It is standard MO by now, so skipping the Athanc in writing has to be deliberate... It could have been just an exercise in writing ability (make an origin story on a warlock without referencing the athanc) but it could indeed have been done on purpose, with this lack of the shard in description being just foreshadowing. Do notice that other features of the athanc are also not mentioned, see first post of the thread. Lets say Everblight wants to muddle things up, now that everyone knows he is disembodied and his warlocks carry a part of him, suddenly there is a warlock that doesn't... although this storyline requires death of Anamag and cutting up of her corpse, which is unlikely.
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sorokin
Junior Strategist
Posts: 775
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Post by sorokin on Apr 9, 2019 18:27:35 GMT
Anamag's entry doesn't specifically use the word athanc, though it seems implied in: "Everblight saw fit to forge her into one of his warlocks. With this gift, Anamag gained the ability to wield magic, which had so long been denied her. " Prior to the Ogrun being blighted, she was a priestess of Dhunia who "sought visions to guide her clan, reading omens in the winter stars above the mountains and in the flights of birds as they moved across the sky." I'd guess that is supposed to be actual magic, and the "...long been denied her" line refers to that connection to Dhunia and her magic being lost when the blight overtook the Ogrun tribes but before Everblight made her a warlock. "Everblight swept through the wild northern ogrun clans, visiting blight upon them. When Anamag was first touched with blight, it filled her with an insatiable hunger, making acute and grotesque that which once drew her closer to Dhunia." Source: NQP05 Pg67. The "so long been denied her" part sound to me like she wasn't able to be a spellcaster under Dhunia, but gained the ability when the Athank was inserted. Judging by her abilities he might have been a Dhunian Paragon prior to everblights influence, though I could be wrong.
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Post by TheCynicalest on Apr 16, 2019 3:09:57 GMT
Now, game-wise, she is a full warlock, but fluff wise, she could just be a bigger fatter uglier smellier Beast Mistress. If PP purposefully omitted the Athanc insertion so far, maybe they are just leaving space for it to be significant (or even crucial, for instance she wouldn't be affected by the Dragon Positioning system) in some future fluff piece. Do Beast Mistresses not have an Athanc shard? How do they control their lesser warbeasts? Also what is the Dragon Positioning System?
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Post by gobber on Apr 16, 2019 3:34:55 GMT
Now, game-wise, she is a full warlock, but fluff wise, she could just be a bigger fatter uglier smellier Beast Mistress. If PP purposefully omitted the Athanc insertion so far, maybe they are just leaving space for it to be significant (or even crucial, for instance she wouldn't be affected by the Dragon Positioning system) in some future fluff piece. Do Beast Mistresses not have an Athanc shard? How do they control their lesser warbeasts? Also what is the Dragon Positioning System? They do not have an athanc shard. It's unclear beyond being special sorceresses (I'd assume they mean the harnesser subset like Dahlia and other naturally occurring warlocks, as opposed to the vast majority of sorcerers which are will weavers) with an unusual affinity for blight which everblight has blessed "with a direct channel to the font of the dragon's power." The limitation to lesser beasts presumably has to do with the nature of spawning vessels being able to create lessers without the involvement of a warlock (beyond a donation of blood at the time of the vessel's creation). Dragons can sense each other/detect each others' presence including the bearers of shards (though Saeryn is able to mask hers even from everblight at times) though Everblight's disparate nature makes him harder to detect; Blighterghast helped the Circle hunt Everblight's warlocks for a while. It sounds like if Everblight consumes any more Athancs he'll suddenly become impossible to hide which is why Saeryn sorta-betrays-him and destroys Blighterghast's athanc to keep him hidden until he's actually ready.
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Post by drakkenblut on Apr 20, 2019 20:51:38 GMT
Do Beast Mistresses not have an Athanc shard? How do they control their lesser warbeasts? Also what is the Dragon Positioning System? They do not have an athanc shard. It's unclear beyond being special sorceresses (I'd assume they mean the harnesser subset like Dahlia and other naturally occurring warlocks, as opposed to the vast majority of sorcerers which are will weavers) with an unusual affinity for blight which everblight has blessed "with a direct channel to the font of the dragon's power." The limitation to lesser beasts presumably has to do with the nature of spawning vessels being able to create lessers without the involvement of a warlock (beyond a donation of blood at the time of the vessel's creation). Dragons can sense each other/detect each others' presence including the bearers of shards (though Saeryn is able to mask hers even from everblight at times) though Everblight's disparate nature makes him harder to detect; Blighterghast helped the Circle hunt Everblight's warlocks for a while. It sounds like if Everblight consumes any more Athancs he'll suddenly become impossible to hide which is why Saeryn sorta-betrays-him and destroys Blighterghast's athanc to keep him hidden until he's actually ready. Not quite. For Beast Mistresses, look at their fluff entry, they do not have a shard, true, but the how and why only lesser are not stated as such. As for Dragon Positioning System, it refers to several dragons feeding their blight into a set of ley line nexuses; It was conceived by Circle renegade warlock Krueger, and it was seen as debasement of the dragons involved, the purpose of it was to locate all athancs including all Everblights shards. It is one of the climax points of MK2 fluff, and it led to the second clash of the dragons as noted in the PP novel Wrath of the Dragonfather. If you read the novel and the fluff, it leaves an impression just how much of a cornerstone an athanc is to the whole existence of a Legion warlock, and therefore, how suspect it is to omit it in any Anamag fluff.
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Post by voidbender on Apr 20, 2019 22:54:31 GMT
Do Beast Mistresses not have an Athanc shard? How do they control their lesser warbeasts? Also what is the Dragon Positioning System? They do not have an athanc shard. It's unclear beyond being special sorceresses (I'd assume they mean the harnesser subset like Dahlia and other naturally occurring warlocks, as opposed to the vast majority of sorcerers which are will weavers) with an unusual affinity for blight which everblight has blessed "with a direct channel to the font of the dragon's power." The limitation to lesser beasts presumably has to do with the nature of spawning vessels being able to create lessers without the involvement of a warlock (beyond a donation of blood at the time of the vessel's creation). Dragons can sense each other/detect each others' presence including the bearers of shards (though Saeryn is able to mask hers even from everblight at times) though Everblight's disparate nature makes him harder to detect; Blighterghast helped the Circle hunt Everblight's warlocks for a while. It sounds like if Everblight consumes any more Athancs he'll suddenly become impossible to hide which is why Saeryn sorta-betrays-him and destroys Blighterghast's athanc to keep him hidden until he's actually ready. Saeryn went against Everblight's orders (blocking her and her sister's mental connection with him in the process) because Haley shared a vision she had received of an ashen apocalypse, including dead rhyas with a hole in her chest after her athanc was removed, which would come to pass if Toruk were to win the clash of dragons happening above them. The only way to prevent that was to give Blighterghast the athanc so he would be strong enough to tip the scales with the rest of the dragon alliance and force Toruk to retreat back to his base in the Scharde Islands. Everblight didn't receive the vision, and likely would still have suffered tunnel vision in his quest to consume the recently discovered athanc.
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