Official Road to Purgatory-Beta Forum

-Tarrin, confirmed Beta-Account

Hey Guys

In my last thread, I asked about the events around the northern city of Kolyug and, oh boy, have there been developments. When I made the last thread, things were weird. They still are, but with an added dose of “wtf” and “holy hell, get me out of here”. For those not nearby, meaning pretty much everyone, I don’t think I’ve seen another Traveller in the city over the last few days, let me fill you in.

I told you that there was paranoia in the air and a few others explained that there might be some powerful wizard/sorcerer, or whatever you want to call a spellcaster, lurking in the area, aiming to take over the city, or maybe just burn it down. Apparently, said spellcaster had been playing with fire, literally, and has tried to incorporate fire into the animals of the north. Why any remotely sane being thought that bears the size of a small bus with the ability to spit fire would be a good idea, I cannot fathom but apparently, that guy thought it was just what the world of Mundus desperately needed. And because just fire-spitting bears would be boring, he added wolves, elk and pretty much anything he could get his fingers on, giving them all the ability to spit fire and had them attack Kolyug.

Luckily, the city seemed to be rather fireproof, especially once the stupid critters and spring melted the river, giving the city an additional supply-route. Why that wizard thought sieging a city located at a large river, with a harbour mind you, would be a good idea if his forces are all using fire as their main-attack and seem to be quite allergic to water, that will be a question for someone else.

Leonidas, confirmed Beta-Account

Well, that sounds rather f*cked up. I’m currently guarding a caravan, just a day or two out, we had some trouble with normal wildlife and one of the villages the caravan normally traded a little was a complete ghost-town, but otherwise, things were reasonably calm. Can you give some more information, maybe even post a video? It sounds bad but I really don’t want to abandon my current quest.

Ghostblade, confirmed Beta-Account

So, Kolyug is going down? Can’t say I’m sad about that, stupid trolls…

Goliry, confirmed Beta-Account

Maybe they want to test some siege-mechanics or something, somewhere where people won’t be too pissed if things bug out.

Tarrin, confirmed Beta-Account

Wouldn’t that be easier in some sort of controlled sandbox, specifically set up for it, Goliry?

And, Lenoidas, just for you:

burningfields.avi.

From atop seamless, dark-grey battlements, the camera looks down, over what can only be described as a hellish wasteland. The whole area, starting at the walls and for hundreds of meters, the land has been scoured clean, nothing remaining but ashes, some with a few glimmering embers remaining.

There seem to be strange, fiery creatures still in the area, all of them keeping quite a bit of distance to the wall, prowling the burned area, looking for anything that might be flammable. A thin, slightly different coloured line stretches through the wasteland, a road made from stone, apparently undamaged despite the damage to the surrounding area. Past the wasteland are still forests but even there, some damage is obvious, burned out areas stretching into them, mostly going in one direction.

The camera follows the battlements for a bit, providing a view over the town, made from a similar grey rock as the walls, with people scurrying from their homes, spending as little time in the open as possible. Finally, the view pans over a wide river, a few boats are out, maybe fishing, and on the other shore is more burned-down land, albeit a lot less than on the other side. But there, too, are fiery monsters on the prowl.

burningfields.avi.- end

So, yeah, I think the video speaks for itself. This is f*cked up.

Goliry, confirmed Beta-Account

Depends, with the sandbox. If they want to see if their algorithms for a spreading effect work, as in, how would information and actions resulting from an event spread, that would require the whole world. Especially if Travellers and communications such as these influence the spread and thus the events.

It’s hard to compute how the flapping of a butterfly’s wings might cause a tornado on the other side of the world and all that jazz. I could see them testing what happens if a city is destroyed in a fully simulated world, simply to make sure that they know what happens. Because, let’s be honest here, at some point, some Travellers will destroy cities, castles, and countries, I can almost guarantee it.

Tobiuno, confirmed Beta-Account

Oh, my… Looks toasty.

And yeah, Goliry, I have to agree with you, they certainly want to test how the world reacts to change, whether their systems work or not. I think that maybe they even reduced the difficulty of some achievements, like governing a castle and region, just so there’s a chance to test those systems.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

No, I don’t know that one, but if I think about it realistically, the Duke Highever seemed very eager, maybe that’s because they reduced the difficulty, maybe it’s just that way to make players feel welcome, I don’t know. We’ll have to see how it will look in the life-version, some time next year.

Leonidas, confirmed Beta-Account

Holy hell, I’m not all that religious but if they wanted to depict hell on earth, I think they got close.

I’ll have to talk with the leader of the caravan, maybe we’ll just wait for a few days for the situation to finish developing. Cause, if I’m honest, I have absolutely no desire to run into that.

Gloinar, confirmed Beta-Account

Thanks for proving me right, game. I’m so glad that my group and I are weeks away from that city. But it’ll be interesting how the north reacts and how that develops further. Hopefully someone can keep an eye on it, someone other than me, that is, I’ll keep my distance, thankyouverymuch.

Tarrin, confirmed Beta-Account

Got a new development and I’m somewhat stunned. During the afternoon, a guy appeared in the wasteland, looking rather flamboyant, well, not really but the pun was necessary, and started addressing the city. I only got the tail-end of his speech, needed some time to get my behind onto the battlement, but what happened next was jaw-dropping. Look for yourself.

waitwhat.avi

In the middle of the burned wasteland, hovering just a little above the charred land, with a plethora of fiery creatures gathered around, is a man. He is dressed in black, flowing soft clothes and in his hand is an ornate staff of obsidian capped with a large, blood-red gemstone, shining with orange, flickering light. The fiery creatures seem to be displaying fealty to him, as he speaks in a booming voice. He is speaking normally, relaxed even, but nonetheless, his voice is thundering across the burned land.

“You have heard my demands, Kolyug. Your leader, the so-called Kol, can accept them, or the city will burn. You have until tomorrow to decide.” he finishes, turning around, his black cloak with a red-flame symbol billowing from the movement.

Suddenly, a soft sound shatters the silence, the slow clapping of a single pair of hands, mocking in cadence, especially with the laughter carried by the wind. The recording focuses on another figure, this one looking quite plain in comparison to the first one, a woman, waring only simple, homespun clothes, slowly walking across the charred land. On the recording, you can see her lips moving but no voice is audible.

“What are you going to do about it?” the hovering figure asks, his tone mocking.

Again, the woman answers but not in an audible way. But just from the mocking smile on her lips, it is clear that her answer was not with the reverence the hovering wizard seems to demand.

“So be it. You can serve as an example for the city, what happens if they defy me!” the floating figure shouts, the roar bellowing across the land. He rises higher, just a few meters, and the staff in his hand flares up, the gem shining brightly. From the fiery creatures around him come pained howls, as streams of power, visible despite the distance, are drained away from them, into the staff. With incredibly swift, secure motions, the floating wizards moves his staff, flaming runes appearing in the air in front of him, burning brightly, with dimmer lines forming to connect them.

“Now, you DIE!” the figure shouts, as fifteen runes flare together, a flare mirrored by the gem in his staff. From the middle of the formation, a white-hot lance shoots out, hot enough to cause visible disturbance in the air, looking like a small sun. Surprised screams are heard from the wall, the heat powerful enough to reach them, despite the distance.

Just before the lance can reach the woman, she throws something small towards it and, in a mind-boggling display, the glowing lance simply flows into whatever she has thrown, vanishing without a trace. Focusing back on the woman, with some difficulty due to the overheated air between them, shows that she is laughing merrily, catching the thing she had thrown. A simple, small nut, no larger than an acorn. That was all she needed to stop the massive lance of fire.

Again, her lips move and she makes a simple gesture, throwing something else towards the man, who tries to escape, only to realise that thin vines stretched from the ground, capturing his legs and holding him firm. The small object, another nut, hits him in the chest and again, the result boggles the mind. For a moment, there is a flash of green light and when it fades, the man and the fiery creatures are gone, replaced by a young oak-tree.

Not a single sound is heard, as the woman starts walking towards Kolyug, grass replacing the ash around her, in a slowly growing circle.

waitwhat.avi

After that display, the woman walked up to the gates, telling the trolls that the Grandmother has come to visit the Kol, and when she did, they couldn’t open the gate fast enough. The whole friggin’ city went nuts at that point, it seems that whoever that lady is, she is some sort of local legend, who has been in the area forever, teaching some people, helping others, like some fairy grandmother. Only that she also had some darker stories about her and, judging by that display above, I can see her kick serious ass.

Apparently, she came by cause that fire-guy tried to kill her disciple and the Grandmother felt she had to teach him some manners.

Leonidas, confirmed Beta-Account

“The Grandmother”? Are you sure with that title? Cause when I talked to my boss and mentioned it, he got as pale as I’d ever seen him. The guy is a life-long mercenary, the type that would happily charge a superior force, shouting something about dining in hell, but that got him spooked.

So, I pushed a little and guess what? Turns out we had met the Grandmother’s disciple and who else would it be, if not our very own Morgana? Apparently, she showed him some sort of book, given to her by that Grandmother, clearly demonstrating her affiliation.

@ Morgana, care to comment?

Jeanyra, confirmed Beta-Account

Oh… my… fucking… GOD!

I thought I was quite impressive, casually using five-rune formations for spells or seven if I want something bigger. But FIFTEEN?! And the other simply brushes it aside like some minor cantrip?

If Morgana was taught by that, I’m calling shenanigans. But I’m also not surprised by whatever rabbit she pulls out of her behind next.