Gird yourself, there's a contingent of soldiers between us and safety. If we want to get out of this rain, we'll have to get bloody.
— [DNT-UNUSED] Introduction |
No time to get into it here. Suffice to say, they're hunting us. We have to move!
— [DNT-UNUSED] Twilight Order |
The damned Twilight Order camped right outside our hideout. I ran out here to lead them astray. That's how I got strung up. It was the only choice I had left. They're still there, so they might figure it out at any moment! We have to move!
— [DNT-UNUSED] Crucifixion |
Bloody awful weather we're having today, ay stranger? Would you mind doing me a small favour... get me down from here...
— CedrusShoutForHelp |
Much appreciated..
— CedrusThanks |
I try to avoid killing my former brothers when I can, but they've given us no choice...
— CedrusWild_Brothers |
Ohdig, you fat bastard! Why don't you try stringing me up again!
— CedrusWild_Ohdig_1 |
What happened Ohdig? Why did you have to side with her?
— CedrusWild_Ohdig_2 |
My former brothers must be stopped! I will do what I must, and fight by your side!
— CedrusWild_Battle_1 |
This has to end! Now! Before it's too late!
— CedrusWild_Battle_2 |
So, they chose you, Lumerius. You're the saviour.
— CedrusWild_Lumerius_1 |
Too bad you couldn't save the eight other children.
— CedrusWild_Lumerius_2 |
Stop this, Lumerius!
— CedrusWild_Lumerius_3 |
For Wraeclast!
— CedrusWild_Shout_1 |
Hey El, i'm back!
— CedrusReturnToTown_1 |
Hey, it's alright, it's alright. I'll live. This stranger cut me down.
— CedrusReturnToTown_2 |
Ah, some days, caring is a thankless job. Well, welcome to our little bolthole. Wouldn't call it home, since we're always on the move, but it keeps us dry. Now, what brings you here? Nobody who has any sense comes to Oriath. Nobody.
— [DNT-UNUSED] Town Introduction |
Welcome to our little bolthole. Wouldn't call it home, since we're always on the move, but it keeps us dry. Now, what brings you here? Nobody who has any sense comes to Oriath. Nobody.
— CedrusIntroductionTownShorter |
Welcome to our little bolthole. Wouldn't call it home, since we're always on the move, but it keeps us dry.
— CedrusIntroductionTownShortest |
You want to Infiltrate the Twilight Order? Not stupid then, just crazy. The main gate by land is on the other side of the Plaza of Patrons, for all the good that will do you. When we fled the enclave, that's what we used. But, it'll be heavily guarded now. If you're really that determined to get there, you'll have to go through the Slums. Your only option after that is the Cisterns. It won't be pretty, but it'll get you there.
— [DNT-UNUSED] Infiltrating the Twilight Order |
The Twilight Order sends patrols every now and again, but they're only human. With the Templars gone, and their dark secrets left to run amok, the city itself boils over with unimaginable horrors; of a different type every season. We've seen undead, ice creatures, living statues infected with black ichor and a dozen other nightmares I never got close enough to discern. So, for today, this is where we live.
— [DNT-UNUSED] On the Move |
It's easy to say this island is cursed. But the dangers here are the fault of man. Over untold centuries of ambition, the templars collected countless strange creatures and forbidden magiks in their archives. In my day, there were always rumors of dark experiments and artifacts from cultures long forgotten. With nobody left to contain those secrets, Oriath became a ravaged patchwork quilt of horrors.
— [DNT-UNUSED] Oriath |
Save Elwynian, we all used to be devout followers of the order. Everyone here joined me when I left. The things they are doing now... We just couldn't be part of it.
— [DNT-UNUSED] Fleeing |
I'm freezing cold and i'm wounded. If you survive long enough, i'll tell you about it. But, later.
— [DNT-UNUSED] Leaving the Twilight Order |
But that's a story for another time.
— CedrusDontWantToTalk_2 |
She's an orphan daughter of Oriath in the truest sense. She was alone here for most of her life. I can't imagine it. If I'd known she was out there while I was sitting safe behind high walls, I.... Ah, I don't know what I would have done. I was too devout at the time. Now though, I can't stomach the thought of her being out here, on her own. Meeting her changed me! Made me question my faith for the first time! If I couldn't take care of one person, how could I be part of changing the entire world? Lofty questions for a simple man.
— [DNT-UNUSED] Elwynian |
I first met her in an Order jail cell. They'd caught her stealing food, and they didn't know what to do with her. They tried to convince her to join us, but she refused. They couldn't just throw her back out on her own, that was as good as a death sentence! So, the issue was brought to my attention and I went to question her myself. We got to talking. Confiding in someone else outside the order for the first time in two decades. Well, it gave my misgivings form.
— [DNT-UNUSED] Elwynian 2 |
Back when Oriath was a thriving city and I was a much younger man, the gladiatorial slavers brought a beast of a man in from the mountains near Trathus. I'm not sure "man" is even the right word. Got one eye, center of his massive tusked skull. He absolutely dominated his competition, the most brutal fighter I had ever seen! None could match his raw strength, or his ambition! He's still in there, you know. They all are. Dead, but still walking. I highly suggest you avoid that arena. No mortal man could match that horrific might.
— [DNT-UNUSED] Gladiator Arena Quest Intro |
You took down the Cyclops of Trathus?! Incredible! I don't even know what to say. This one's on me, for boasting no mortal man could take him down.
— [DNT-UNUSED] Gladiator Arena Reward |
You took down the Cyclops of Trathus?! Incredible! I don't even know what to say.
— CedrusGladiatorArenaQuestCompleteShort |
Well, you've certainly caused some havok here. You're never getting in that gate now. I wonder though, Elwynian used to know another way in...
— [DNT-UNUSED] Another way in |
I was an initiate, a young man freshly graduated from the academy when High Templar Venarius disappeared. Accusations flew, infighting became rife. Good men and women were burned at the stake for heresy! Only power could protect a man, and I had none. I myself was in line to be executed, when Dominus ascended to the position of High Templar and put a stop to the chaos. Small relief, that. He was not interested in prayer and piousness, he paid lip service to god but secretly sought power through the workings of corruption and thaumaturgy. Serving him, I lost my faith. And that was when the Twilight Order approached me. They said that there was a way to protect mankind from tyranny, to protect them from men like Dominus. So, I agreed to join.
— [DNT-UNUSED] Joining the Twilight Order |
The Templars, or rather the cult of Innocence, is thousands of years old. The order has been with them from the beginning. A secret resistance to their ideals. The founders of the order were a handful of newcomers to Wraeclast, who, unlike their fellows, held suspicion in their hearts. They had themselves escaped across the sea from an ancient tyrant, and they felt a discomforting similarity of events unfolding here. The first High Templars' teachings and tenets changed often in the early days; in ways that seemed to suit his old power, rather than true faith. There were some who suspected Maxarius himself was the one wearing the golden mask during those miraculous manifestations of god. When innocence finally did appear, and could not be denied, Maxarius supposedly died the same day, and was laid to rest. In the dead of night, our founders snuck into the crypt that would later become the Templar ossuary, they pried open his sarcophagus, and found it to be empty. The Twilight Order was born in that moment. Maxarius was not dead, he had become a god! Because of the faith of his worshippers, all based on lies. The gods are just men. Ambitious men, tyrannical men, but men just the same; and not deserving of their power of prestige. I happen to still agree with their ideals, just not the way the Order is going about things.
— [DNT-UNUSED] Twilight Order |
We remained a silent and hidden organisation within the Templars, until the gods returned. When Innocence and Kitava wreaked havok on Oriath, belief within the Order burned bright, and our ranks swelled. When the Island was abandoned, we remained. And we went about our work with fervour, no longer restrained by the need for secrecy.
— [DNT-UNUSED] Destruction of Oriath |
Our faith was founded on distrust of the gods, but when they mysteriously vanished thousands of years ago, the ancient members of our order dedicated themselves to understanding why. Eventually, they discovered the existence of the Beast. A nightmarish entity, with the power to divert and eat the faith of followers and zealots. We had not created this creature, though we absolutely would have made such a thing if we had the capability. No, the truth was far more shocking. The vilified one, of our own false faith - the Cult of Innocence, was the one who had betrayed his brother and his fellow gods by germinating an end to divinity. Our order almost dissolved over the following millenia, dwindling to just a few keepers of the faith. Those few only kept our tenets in their hearts out of a latent fear that the gods may one day return. Until, Malachai.
— [DNT-UNUSED] The Beast |
From afar, my order witnessed Malachai enter the Beast, assume control of it, and begin to reshape Wraeclast to his will. In the centuries since, we have been focused on bringing about utopia with that power. We ask the question: what if someone good of heart, without flaws, was to reshape the world for the better? The elders began a guided series of marriages and resulting children, with the aim to bring about a perfect leader, the saviour! Then, it all came crashing down when the Beast was slain twenty years ago, and the gods returned.
— [DNT-UNUSED] Malachai |
Our worst fears became real. When the Beast was slain by some bad exile, Oriath was immediately thrown into chaos, first by Innocence and then by Kitava. The mainland was ravaged by god after god, each returning from their millenia of slumber bloodthirsty and deranged! Our plans, our faith.. Were challenged to the extreme. The world needed us, but we didn't know what to do after the loss of the Beast. That is when Oriana returned from her travels, and I began to find myself on the wrong side of history.
— [DNT-UNUSED] Death of the Beast |
Oriana reported divine devastation in every culture across Wraeclast. It was impossible for man to thrive when their best and brightest continually found themselves caught up in the sinister madness that ambition and godhood can bring. We knew things were bad, but she also came bearing word of an ultimate solution. The vilified one once more walked the land. He lurked in the shadows, avoiding people, trying not to be seen. But she had found him, and he was carrying a dark seed. One that could regrow the beast! For a time, we were hopeful. But as the years passed, as he did not plant the seed and start the process, we began to realise that he had no intention of repeating his ancient act. He was not seeking to help us a second time. He was keeping the seed away from us! Oriana swayed the elders, and then many of my bretheren. She told us that {we} had to act, {we} had to take the seed, and bring it to fruition! We could put the gods to sleep and bring about utopia! If we had to stomach to do what was necessary..
— [DNT-UNUSED] Oriana |
You've seen some of what the order had to do to germinate the seed. I can tell by the darkness in your eyes. My forebears had thousands of years to research the knowledge of the Vaal, and of those civilizations that came before. We had a fairly comprehensive idea of a "method" that could grow the seed through mortal means. Since we lacked the divine energies that the vilified one once used to do it himself, our method was to involve flesh, corpses, countless thousands freshly murdered and fed to the seed. A literal mountain of death. And that was only the first step. To create a new Beast, to reshape the world, we would have to risk another cataclysm of our own making. If the saviour wasn't absolutely perfect, if he had even a shred of enmity or jealousy or ambition, the cost would be enormous. I couldn't do it. When a decision was handed down, a few years ago now, I feared the plan would cause the deaths of innocents like Elwynian, who I had grown quite fond of by then, and many, many more. How could a utopia be founded on such a horrific beginning? So, I ran. And I took everyone I could convince. The order has hunted us ever since.
— [DNT-UNUSED] Necessary Acts |
You know those two? If you vouch for them, that's good enough for me. We can use every ally we can get right now.
— [DNT-UNUSED] Tibbs & Tullina |
What.. Happened? Where are we? Is this... Did we fail? No.. we're still alive. There must still be time! I'm heavily wounded, but I'll do what I can to support you from here. This is it, my friend. Time to do, or die.
— CedrusCataclysmIntro |
I have no idea what's happening out there, but Elwynian isn't alone. Lets just focus on getting this done.
— CedrusOnCataclysm |
— Cedrus_Greeting_01_01.ogg |
— Cedrus_Greeting_01_02.ogg |
— Cedrus_Greeting_01_03.ogg |
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— Cedrus_Greeting_01_05.ogg |
— Cedrus_Greeting_01_06.ogg |
— Cedrus_Greeting_02_01.ogg |
— Cedrus_Greeting_02_02.ogg |
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— Cedrus_Greeting_02_05.ogg |
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— Cedrus_Greeting_03_04.ogg |
— Cedrus_Greeting_03_05.ogg |
— Cedrus_Farewell_01_01.ogg |
— Cedrus_Farewell_01_02.ogg |
— Cedrus_Farewell_01_03.ogg |
— Cedrus_Farewell_01_04.ogg |
— Cedrus_Farewell_02_01.ogg |
— Cedrus_Farewell_02_02.ogg |
— Cedrus_Farewell_02_03.ogg |
— Cedrus_Farewell_02_04.ogg |
— Cedrus_Farewell_02_05.ogg |
— Cedrus_Farewell_03_01.ogg |
— Cedrus_Farewell_03_02.ogg |
— Cedrus_Farewell_03_03.ogg |
— Cedrus_Farewell_03_04.ogg |
— Cedrus_Farewell_04_01.ogg |
— Cedrus_Farewell_04_02.ogg |
— Cedrus_Farewell_04_03.ogg |
— Cedrus_Farewell_04_04.ogg |
— Cedrus_Farewell_04_05.ogg |
