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Exetrius

[NCW & Recap] Abyssian's Demise

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May I present to you an important piece of Nocturnian history! And it is not just for Guildies! I've taken extra care with this one, so that anyone should be able to jump in and get a taste of Historica's lore, without needing to rely upon extensive knowledge of the Guilds at all. If you're new here, welcome! :sweet:



Abyssian's Demise

A new dawn was on its way for Nocturnus, and it was about time. This dark province of Historica had seen ample bloodshed throughout most of its history, but the seemingly everlasting Nocturnus Civil War was beyond any comparison. The struggle for dominance over all of Nocturnus had pitted father against son; brother against brother, and had torn society (as far as that could be considered thing in this savage land) to shreds. One man - or rather, beast - was at the center of it all: Lord Raavage. Through his army of undead and powerful alliances, he had gained control of nearly all of Nocturnus. Only three major strongholds still stood up to his reign: Shadowmere (City of Vampires), The Reach (City of Goblins), and administrative Capital of Nocturnus: Abyssian Castle.  

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Despite the enormous control he had, and though backed by his allies (the Zugal, Drow and Varlyrians), Lord Raavage had been unable to overpower the remaining resistance strongholds. He needed more force. Raavage knew of one thing in Nocturnus that could bring total domination: the Orion Sphere. This immensely powerful crystal artifact, held in Abyssian, was said to hold the power to raise an army of millions of undead! If it fell into his hands, the rest of Nocturnus would soon follow, but until then it would take at least one additional ally to breach Abyssian's defences. Even more so after the Drow and Varlyrians turned on him, and definitely more so after his subsequent (dubious) attempt at getting the Dragon Masters to his side not only failed, but backfired... 

However, though abandoned by his former allies and with the forces of resistance starting to unite, Lord Raavage was heading for victory. Against unfavourable odds, he had managed to establish an alliance with the Algus - an ancient, faraway race of icy warriors from the Frozen Beyond. Truth be told, having to rely on agreements made with nation half a continent away; with unproven strength; born from a minimum of correspondence, surely worked out better than it could have. In early summer, exactly as agreed upon, an elite division of the Algus landed on Nocty shores. A mere month later they stood in front of Abyssian, ready for their infiltration.


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The objective was straightforward: take control of the Orion Sphere and harness its power to fight the castle's defenders from within. Raavage was cautiously optimistic about the outcome of the operation. Unlike previous sieges and assaults on Abyssian, which much relied on strength in numbers, this operation was carried out by a powerful few. Moreover, the Algus had natural advantages over their enemy, too: as elementals, they carried the frost with them. Abyssian's population consisted mostly of reptilians, who have a high vulnerability to lower temperatures, and the high humidity of a swamp in summer meant that they were permanently surrounded by a thick mist; ideal for an unseen approach. There were still numerous challenges to overcome, but there was a chance... Of course, Raavage himself would not be participating in the operation, much too risky!

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Approach successful. Assault team - ready. Ascent team - ready! Decoys - ready. Commence infiltration. Expected losses in Assault team. Critical losses in Ascent team, backup! Touchdown at Orion Tower! Deploying arcane specialist. Commence system takeov-~~~----~----~-----
 

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And so the alliance between the Algus and Lord Raavage was terminated, although neither side knew that immediately. From one moment to the next, the swamps and forests around Abyssian, as far as the eye could reach, were frozen solid. In Shadowmere it started started snowing, in the summer... Raavage had somehow managed to evade the blast, and resilient as ever, later started his quest for the Necromancer Helm, which would ultimately become his demise. In the aftermath of what became known as The Orion Incident, several attempts were made to scout the now-defunct Capital; to recover the remains of late former leader Lord Ssilyrrlith, the Orion Sphere, and anything else valuable, but the cold remained too fierce. Abyssian, the mighty fortress at the heart of Nocturnus, was no more.

 

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Well, I had a blast! :poke: As you may tell, time nor effort were spared in the creation of this whole article. The two micro builds, one modeled after @I Scream Clone's original Abyssian Castle (still as awesome today as it was in 2012), the other a transformation of it, were a kind of a new experience to me, as was the stopmotion! I'm so excited to hear your thoughts on it; I think this is the first time anything GoH has been animated? :grin: I'd gladly be proven wrong though, haha! Cheers!

Edited by Exetrius

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Abyssian was instantly recognizable! Fantastic work capturing the original build in mircoscale. The transformation video is also really nicely done! I guess I have fallen a bit behind on GoH history, I hadn't realized that Abyssian no longer existed :look:

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Amazing recap, story and MOCs!  As someone new(ish) here, I appreciate the clarity.  The animation was terrific.

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The microscale Abyssian is instantly recognizable!  Great design for the explosion too, hats off to you for bringing new technology to the guilds. :grin:

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13 hours ago, LordDan said:

Abyssian was instantly recognizable! Fantastic work capturing the original build in mircoscale. The transformation video is also really nicely done! I guess I have fallen a bit behind on GoH history, I hadn't realized that Abyssian no longer existed :look:

Thanks, Dan! Don't blame it on yourself though, Abyssian's fate is new information! :tongue: Though the Civil War ended (both in-universe and in actual written/built lore), the fate of many important Nocty settlements and characters were never really clarified. I've made it my mission to do this myself, so that Nocturnus can again move forward in the overall Historica lore. I've had to read up on a lot of stuff and wrap my head all of it, but I want to spare others (particularly those looking to join or re-join) the trouble of that, hence the recap. So, consider yourself just about up-to-date! :classic:

12 hours ago, jtooker said:

Amazing recap, story and MOCs!  As someone new(ish) here, I appreciate the clarity.  The animation was terrific.

You're welcome! Thanks for your compliments! 

1 hour ago, W Navarre said:

Great story and ambitious stopmotion! It looks very cool, but even better is the explosion design, it's sweet!  

Thank you, Navarre! The explosion design is actually an unused shot from the stopmotion. :grin: This is my first explosion that I built, glad to hear you like it!!

9 minutes ago, Kai NRG said:

The microscale Abyssian is instantly recognizable!  Great design for the explosion too, hats off to you for bringing new technology to the guilds. :grin:

Thanks! Haha, yes. :laugh::thumbup:

Edited by Exetrius

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The microscale is awesome, and your transformation of it is great.  I like how you left the story vague so no one really knows exactly what happened or went wrong.  I appreciate how you linked previous episodes and builds so that the reader doesn't have to search and only need click.  Well done!

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On 8/7/2022 at 9:26 PM, Grover said:

The microscale is awesome, and your transformation of it is great.  I like how you left the story vague so no one really knows exactly what happened or went wrong.  I appreciate how you linked previous episodes and builds so that the reader doesn't have to search and only need click.  Well done!

Thanks, man! :classic: 

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