Tek

[saintpatcho]

He took no risks, each action, each risk examined many times before he made it, his mother had taught him that, just as she'd taught him how to hate his father.

TEK IS A MOMA'S BOY!!!!!

[Tarx]

IM conversation:

MOTHERofTEK:  dood u got nothing on me
Haplesskadian:  Huh?
MOTHERofTEK:  my boy owns
Haplesskadian:  Owns what?  What are you talking about?
MOTHERofTEK:  the werld
Haplesskadian:  Whatever...prove it.
MOTHERofTEK:  u noob...he's guna fry ur brainz
MOTHERofTEK:  commners way is named after my tok
Haplesskadian:  That doesn't prove anything.
MOTHERofTEK:  my boy is tek bitch
Haplesskadian:  Never heard of him.
MOTHERofTEK:  liek the mostest powerful sorc evar
Haplesskadian:  We're talking sorcerers now?  Oh...you like roleplaying then?
MOTHERofTEK:  what a nub be IC u prick
Haplesskadian:  Oh.  I put on my robe and wizard's hat.
MOTHERofTEK:  ur robe is shit
Haplesskadian:  Oh...I put on your SON'S robe and wizard's hat.
TEKSBALLS has signed on.
TEKSBALLS:  WTF noob, wear is my robe
Haplesskadian:  ....
Haplesskadian has signed off.

[FiveDisgruntledMonkeysWit]

Personally, I'm a little disappointed. I always liked to think that Arm was above the good vs. evil cliche, but it seems I was expecting too much.
Tek is the conniving, ruthless Caligula-type, and Muk is the selfless martyr and savior of his people. Yuck.
I'd strongly prefer it if they were both conniving and ruthless.

[Vessol]

I like both characters and see them both as 'ruthless' and cunning. The skull thing is awesome by the way. Time to go and try to get some hawt loot from Tek's tower, and get that skull too.

[Larrath]

I haven't really seen anything that suggested Muk Utep was either a saviour or selfless.  He most likely had his own reasons to stop the Dragon - if Tuluk fell, Muk Utep could still fall prey to Tektolnes if he beat the Dragon.

Besides, if Muk Utep was so selfless, Tuluk and its Templarate would probably look vastky different.  And don't forget that Tektolnes is running a city, too, and allows people to live there.  If given a choice between living in Tuluk or in Allanak, I would choose Allanak in a heartbeat.  Tuluk is easier to live in, but getting killed in there is also far easier.
In Allanak, all you have to do is respect your superiors, keep an open eye and have some luck, and plan your actions wisely.  Tuluk is more complicated, and not in a good way.


I was hoping to find out more about Tektolnes, though.  Heh, I always thought it was the father that killed his son and then pretended it was the other way around.

[EvilRoeSlade]

Personally, I'm a little disappointed. I always liked to think that Arm was above the good vs. evil cliche, but it seems I was expecting too much.
Tek is the conniving, ruthless Caligula-type, and Muk is the selfless martyr and savior of his people. Yuck.
I'd strongly prefer it if they were both conniving and ruthless.

I've got to agree.  I'm glad that we're getting the opportunity to read this stories and I appreciate them, but the more of them I read the more I'm glad that this game is coming to an end.

[Tarx]

In a more serious vein, I think Tek acts exactly like he should--at that point, he was a young, petulant kid barely out of his teens.  I know Zalanthans are supposed to be considered adults earlier on, but in the case of Sorcerer-Kings that live for hundreds if not thousands of years, twenty years is barely any time at all.  Perhaps his attitude has mellowed over the years.  I don't really know.  That's just my take on it, which may be wrong, but it doesn't look like Muk necessarily had the same sort of things going for him as far as having things handed to him on a metal platter.

[Jherlen]

Don't critiscize the people writing the stories and how they portray Tek and Muk, guys. We all KNEW Tek was an evil badass, and I'm glad he stayed true to character. I'd have been more depressed if there was a revelation that Tektolnes was actually a really nice guy, just deeply misunderstood.

I also don't see where this Muk Utep is a selfless savior thing comes from... he conquered all the other tribes around him and built a city every bit as based on oppression and control as Allanak is. The average common person in Allanak and Tuluk is just as screwed either place and probably unhappy about it, but they have no better alternatives.

[Janna]

Don't critiscize the people writing the stories and how they portray Tek and Muk, guys. We all KNEW Tek was an evil badass, and I'm glad he stayed true to character. I'd have been more depressed if there was a revelation that Tektolnes was actually a really nice guy, just deeply misunderstood.

I also don't see where this Muk Utep is a selfless savior thing comes from... he conquered all the other tribes around him and built a city every bit as based on oppression and control as Allanak is. The average common person in Allanak and Tuluk is just as screwed either place and probably unhappy about it, but they have no better alternatives.

QFT

[ThirdEye]

Sand Lord ftw

[rufus]

You could always disguise yourself as a desert elf from a random anonymous tribe.

edit: oh uh. I think I missed the entire point of this topic.

[Halaster]

Also.. you still don't have the full story.  Be patient.

[daedroug]

I always thought Muk was supposed to be a more benevolent ruler.

[Dalmeth]

I always thought Muk was supposed to be a more benevolent ruler.

He's not.  His grip on his city is much tighter than what Tektolnes has built.

One thing you have to remember about young Tek is that he's only 22.  That's an awfully tender age for a sorceror king.   He's got issues with his father and mother to work out, and there's over a thousand years to do it.

[Tisiphone]

*points out Muk's callous use of life, ala half of Tuluk and a particular Jihaen templar*

He's not not nicer, people are just silly enough to trust him, so it makes his job easier.

[Moofassa]

Also.. you still don't have the full story.  Be patient.

That was my train of thought.

[corona]

Love the story so far! Me and Tek would get along IRL.. I'm soooo ruthless IRL. *snicker*  :twisted:

[Socko]

An interesting insight into what goes behind the scenes. It was very revealing.. it shows that Tek was, from the start, very much a human at heart. It takes a lot to make a tyrranic ruler like him-- tyrant as in a king that deposed another, and this shows it. Think about it. No matter how much power you wield.. how much your powers can give you.. you still have a heart.

Over the centuries, that heart may numb over, but you're still human. When does a Sorcerer-King stop being human? I don't know. It's got to be developed from there. No one becomes the king of darkness and decay overnight unless they're barking more than they bite.

[HoD]

*points out Muk's callous use of life, ala half of Tuluk and a particular Jihaen templar*

He's not not nicer, people are just silly enough to trust him, so it makes his job easier.

my impression is that he takes the path of least resistance. Callous use of life? Or did he just pick the best cause of action? He can see into the future you know,

[Bebop]

Meh, the stories feel like they are being written as we go along not things that were set in stone from the beginning of the game, makes it feel wishy washy.  I dunno.

[LoD]

Meh, the stories feel like they are being written as we go along not things that were set in stone from the beginning of the game, makes it feel wishy washy.  I dunno.

Feel free to submit your own version based on your first hand knowledge of the events being described.  Chances are most of these events were never  more than as a notch in a timeline to provide a working history.  I appreciate the time and effort it would take to discuss and author these snippets based on a collection of doscumentation and/or random memories that predate most of the Imms.

This sort of "blah" negativity is the kind of thing that makes creative people trying to do something neat for the playerbase wonder why they go through the motions.

-LoD

[spawnloser]

Bebop, it may feel that way to you, but from what I know...the history that these stories are based on IS old.  The history that we don't get to see is out there, set in stone, I can assure you.

I would write a story and/or suggest you do the same, except that the staff knows the history better and have said that only they will be writing these stories.

[Belenos]

Meh, the stories feel like they are being written as we go along not things that were set in stone from the beginning of the game, makes it feel wishy washy.  I dunno.

Your assumption is incorrect.  We are careful to adhere to the documentation, and established history.  While some creative license is being used in the telling of each story, the basic facts presented are what has happened.   I still remember the day when us, the newbie staff, gathered around Halaster to learn the true history of Zalanthas.  It's good that you will learn much of what we learned that day.

[LauraMars]

I still remember the day when us, the newbie staff, gathered around Halaster to learn the true history of Zalanthas.

What a weird image.

[spawnloser]

I dunno, Laura, I think it's adorable.

[Gimfalisette]

Personally, I got a serious flash of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in my head.

But on topic: Awesome stories.

And also, just because Muk is wrapped in a rhetoric of "good guy savior / uniter of the tribes" (from the perspective of those who are most brainwashed, his servants / templars)...that doesn't actually make him a good guy. An apparently benevolent dictator is still a dictator. That is part of what makes Tuluk so wonderful: All the "we're so clean and pure and awesome rah rah rah!" laid down right on top of "and if you step out of line you're totally fucked!" It's the kind of dissonance I love, the evil that appears to be good.

[corona]

Meh, the stories feel like they are being written as we go along not things that were set in stone from the beginning of the game, makes it feel wishy washy.  I dunno.

Feel free to submit your own version based on your first hand knowledge of the events being described.  Chances are most of these events were never  more than as a notch in a timeline to provide a working history.  I appreciate the time and effort it would take to discuss and author these snippets based on a collection of doscumentation and/or random memories that predate most of the Imms.

This sort of "blah" negativity is the kind of thing that makes creative people trying to do something neat for the playerbase wonder why they go through the motions.

-LoD

Amen LoD, I can't wait for the next stories and I think the staff is doing an amazing job.. sounds like they have a full plate right now.

[Tisiphone]

my impression is that he takes the path of least resistance. Callous use of life? Or did he just pick the best cause of action? He can see into the future you know,

Best for whom?

I'm rather certain he didn't take the most beneficial for the greatest majority of people.

[Socko]

I don't see any indication that Muk Utep is belevolent to anyone outside of his own circle. He's a monster of a man that slaughtered and subjugated the native people of a region--whole tribes-- under his heel, and forged a nation. He battled with the Dragon, sure, but he took out a whole quarter of his city in the process.

Tektolnes basically did the same thing, didn't he? He conquered people, and built a nation on top of that. PLUS he took down Luir Dragonsthrall and Valasurus. Could be be construed as a kind of hero? Sure. Same way that Muk Utep could be, I guess. But it all depends on perspective. They're all larger-than-life figures that are, without a doubt, engrossed in their own motives.

[Kelen]

Okay, hold on, so since Muk didn't kill his father (if he had one), in order to gain power he's a savior? Like mentioned before, he did defeat all the tribes in his attempt to unify them. I actually think it would be creepy if I went up to talk to somebody, and before I said a sentence they finished it for me. (Plus I'm sure we kill people like that IG)

And, to add, Tuluk is not a -nice- place, even if you compare it to allanak. I can manage to survive long enough in both cities but I love how there is always the image that Allanak is hardcore and the north is not. (Even after Tuluk pwns in copper wars )

I will have to read more of the story on both of them, but also as stated before it just seems like Muk has been taking the safest roads he can. But from experience please don't get the idea Muk is a selfless savior, or the fact that tuluk is "nice".

[manonfire]

And, to add, Tuluk is not a -nice- place, even if you compare it to allanak. I can manage to survive long enough in both cities but I love how there is always the image that Allanak is hardcore and the north is not. (Even after Tuluk pwns in copper wars )

Maybe it's just been pure dumb luck, but I've always had an easy time in the north.

I've been beaten, tortured, mutilated, immolated, beheaded, impaled, punctured, bled, gutted, and eviscerated in Allanak.

I've been drunk in Tuluk.

I've spread my characters pretty evenly all over the known, and I've always had it rougher in the south.

[manonfire]

DP

[Kelen]

Manonfire, trust me, the north doesn't play. Their methods are different, but yeah, same deal. I've had -atleast- one character scourged there.  :wink:

[manonfire]

Hmm.

I'll have to come back up one of these days, see if I can't get the hell beat out of my character.

[Gimfalisette]

Hmm.

I'll have to come back up one of these days, see if I can't get the hell beat out of my character.

It's really, really not hard to do. Disappearances are yummy.

[Moofassa]

It's quite simple really: Tuluk is so ridiculously subtle, you don't even notice your own characters being castrated and fed to the hungry beaten slaves.

[Jherlen]

Meh, the stories feel like they are being written as we go along not things that were set in stone from the beginning of the game, makes it feel wishy washy.  I dunno.

Yes... because I'm sure the staff is waiting until the END of the game to make up all the history.  :roll:

[Evil]

I personally think it's Superman gone evil and he's plotting to kill everyone by using the two strongest known forces in the world to wipe out the magickers seeing as how everyone knows that Superman is weak to magick.

[Ghost]

The best story was Dragonthrall so far.  So much conflict, the man was crazy, miserable, wretched, torn apart, pathetic.

Who the hell was that woman in that story?  It looked like she popped out on the wrong planet.

[Djarjak]

What woman?

[Edit: nevermind. I see.]

[James de Monet]

I still remember the day when us, the newbie staff, gathered around Halaster to learn the true history of Zalanthas.

http://www.techmeister.net/steve/ImageHost/Halasters%20Tale.jpg

[Raesanos]

http://www.techmeister.net/steve/ImageHost/Halasters%20Tale.jpg

Woah, remarkably accurate.