What do you all think of this new area? I like the feel of it, but I'm a little disapointed that there it essentially puts Serenwilde and Celest on the same side (Aslaran) fighting against Magnagora (Krokani). I would've prefered to see the Aslarans be more closely tied to the Light and a third Serenwilde quest that sought to stop them both.

I tried to help the Aslarans, because the Krokani mainly defended Djarrakah against the Taint.

Umm, did you talk to Kar'chen, Silvanus? He wants to unleash the power of the taint within Djarrakh...

Oh.

Then its off to kill the non-krokani I go!

I had the small impression from histories, that both Krokani and Aslaran got along and hated the Taint. Kar'chen is different, I suppose? Serenwilde should have a mission in which they should go kill both races and retrieve whatever artifacts they posses so no longer could anyone else us them.

I've not heard anything about the new area, except for the news post on the site. I've also not been there.

Can someone fill me in?

Theres an Aslaran camp and an old ruined Krokani castle with an area of grassland/farmland in the middle. There is apparently some kind of artifact there that's not broken into pieces scattered about the area (presumably retrievable by a set of quests). The Krokani leader seeks to use these artifacts to release the power of the Taint, and the Aslaran leader seeks to acquire the artifacts to prevent the Krokani from using them. The Krokani also want to enslave the Aslaran.

I don't really see how any of it is bound to any of the cities or communes, really.

The aslaran and krokani of the Moors have always been rivals, but during the Taint Wars they stopped fighting and cooperated long enough to hold back the Taint -- something none of the cities or communes figured out a way to do, and only possible because of the Claw of Shanth. (We aslaran don't have much place in history but both places we appear, it's stopping something that no one else, no matter how powerful, managed to stop.)

After that, we haven't heard from them, but what we heard recently suggests that they've been getting along ever since until now. My speculation (or perhaps, retcon explanation to suspend my own disbelief better) is that the shield they raised back during the Taint Wars is what's been keeping us out all this time, and that's why we suddenly can get in -- the sabotage of the stones is what broke the remnants of the shield. Fits, right?

I think that the Aslaran's there dont care one way or the other about the taint, but rather that the Krokani are attacking the Aslarans. Racial matters dont concern the cities. In the desert, neither Trill and Lucidian, nor Dracnari give a sandojins rear either way about the taint. Same with the Aslaran and Krokani. They just want to drive the opposing race out of 'their' land.

Although I can say I am a little disappointed in how the Grey Moors was set up, with the Krokani being the agressors. Krokani are a far weaker race than the Aslarans, and as such, a wee bit less likely to be the aggressors. Aslarans excell in all guilds, whereas Krokani warriors are severely subpar, and their mages/guardians are only created when a player has been smoking an obscene amount of weed.

Korkani are not known for their rankings in intelligence. Perhaps they are not bright enough to figure out when not to invade?

It was more the siding the Krokani with the taint thing that bugged me, and the crappy roleplay when Surtami was running around when it was about to start... One moment, shes a wide eyed terrified little girl, the next shes the battle leader of the Aslaran race...

I also thought a little more development could be done with the cultural refinement of the Aslarans. Those tiny huts dont exactly sound "regal" to me. Make the Aslaran descriptive adjective say "primitive" if thats the standard youre gonna set.

I have to say I agree there. I think that was a slip-up someone made.



Ah, there I can't agree. A lion lounging indolently on the empty plains is 100% regal. A panther perching on a tree limb is 100% regal. It's only those races who aren't innately regal that have to do stuff with marble pillars and fancy clothes and such, to strive for a nobility that doesn't spring from within, to put on a show.

That said... Surtami snarls just a bit too much, while Ciarrus comes off as a little bit of a pansy-boy. Those are both well within the range of reasonable personalities; aslaran are individuals, not some monolithic hive-mind of identical incarnations of a cultural ideal. But these particular aslaran are the only named denizens and thus at least one of them should be the typical and definitive aslaran mold. You kind of need to have a norm before you can vary from it.

Wonder, if these villages will be made into a proper one. Ie, a honour quest for both, and then being able to be influenced for whatdoyacallit comms and power...


hmm?

Too many of them to do that - 2 in one area. Besides, if the villages were to evolve into normal ones, we would have Mesa and Nomad Camp as villages before.
I think they're just supposed to be a bashing ground.

Either or, I could see it going whichever way. But I'm under the impression they're more focused on other areas *coughGlomdoringcough* than villages.

But I could be wrong!

And to add something else, I've found the whole conflict in the area a little disappointing. I was hoping for a scenario where two races, allies in the past, now have to fight with each other because of the lack of terrain ('there can be only one'), or because both of them want a particular artifact. Where none of the sides are evil, or maybe both are, and where only the most heartless would ally with one of them and destroy their opposition, while the more moral ones would cry over these two magnificent races needlessly fighting each other to extinction.
But no, we have an 'Aslarans - good, Krokani - evil' scenario. Also, this includes the 'the more ugly, the more evil the race is' stereotype.

I don't like how the Krokani were associated with the taint and that they were portrayed as savage and dirty. I really like their race and history, and would have gladly helped and sided with them, but because of my background, allowing them to unleash the contained taint would go against all I stand for. In my mind, I pictured them as humble and gentle, and easily manipulated into going to battle *shrug*.

The area itself is nice, the quests too... though so buggy! *twitch*

The krokani certainly aren't pro-taint. Kar'chen wants to open Djarrakh because he wants whatever was powerful enough to hold back the taint and is now imprisoned inside.

The krokani under Kar'chen certainly aren't representative of the race as a whole.

How are the quests buggy? If you have any specifics, either bug them or pm me with them.

After I killed the Aslaran leader, and tried to give his corpse to him, bugged it also.
Kar'chen, Lord of the krokani exclaims, "Who gave this to you, slave? Tell them they must come in person to collect their reward!"