SPOILER A discussion about Bak'al

Ok so his character is kinda cool because he is definitely pretty scary (like probably a fruma level boss) but... He doesn't make much sense.

To start, all we know is that he entered the nether portal close to 0 AP and became himself. Ok, sure. But... If he was so powerful, why didn't he destroy the province as soon as he exited the portal? He could have done it in a year, right?

Like why did it take him half a decade to break through nivla woods. I have heard such things as "he wasn't always as powerful as he is today" by some people on the content team, but it doesn't really sit well with me.

Like we know that Bob was the only person who could effectively defeat Bak'al in combat alone. Does this imply that a large enough army could repel him? Seems unlikely based on how we know from those soldiers at the beginning of Wynn plains ultimate that "that beast slaughtered our entire battalion!" I have also heard rumors that Bak'al was able to kill two of the twain brothers at once. Seems like the average army would stand no chance against him.

Also, we see him in Bak'al's Destruction 3 raising corruption spikes and instantly killing people as soon as 164 AP (I think). And he destroyed old detlas in around 70 AP. Does he really need centuries to recharge?

Also, I haven't talked about his servant ship to the beast, but that's because... I only know of it. Not really what it entails (and I'd rather find out when I finally get there in the game).

Point is, if he is so powerful, he should have destroyed the province centuries ago. There is no explanation of this in game. It's a similar issue with Charon, but I think that when they finally update some old quests like Lost Tower or Pit of the Dead, we might learn more about him. Where did HE come from? How did he get an army so large in 0 AP? Why did he stop after ancient nemract? If he is so powerful to be able to rip one's soul out from far away, why can a lv 27 adventurer take him out? Hopefully some answers will be given.

Feel free to try to come up with theories in the comments!

 

I don’t really know about Bak’al, but as for Charon I’ve always assumed that he works for death like he does in all the myths he’s in, and he ferries souls to death’s realm. I don’t really know what would give him the motivation to attack, but if he does work for death then I think it would make sense that if Charon got out of control Death would deal with him

 

See I think he was an amalgamation of the souls of the nether miners from pit of the dead whose consciousness was merged and influenced by a dark relic (miners before 0AP found SE I think so it makes sense), and the miners seeked revenge on the living, so they gathered an army, and attacked nemract. One of them felt remorse, and shattered the relic, which was the only reason the souls had come together in the first place, meaning that Charon started to fall apart, and was unable to attack further. He now lives off of the souls from the nemract attack. Something like that. Could be made into a Pit of the Dead and Lost Tower (+ Dark Descent) questline.

 

This is an issue regarding the entire timeline to be honest, it's way too stretched out in points. Like, the Corruption War taking 1000 years and counting is unrealistic unless there were some very long periods of peace in between, because otherwise the human forces would be way too worn out and devastated to keep fighting.
I also find the idea of Bak'al having gotten stronger over time pretty weird, since it's not like he was fighting any actual worthy opponents during his time going around Wynn and getting stronger, with the possible exception of the Twains, which would still mean that he only had like one serious battle in 886 years. Maybe the Dern Beast could've given him some extra power when he started serving it, but again that would only be a one-time increase to his power. Either for some reason he didn't know how to raise armies in his early years, or he was just a victim of the big timeline. Several generations could've gone by while Bak'al was doing nothing, and at that point it's kind of hard to believe that he was THAT feared by the inhabitants of Wynn. Sure, he was very powerful, probably more so than anybody else in the province at that time, but he only destroyed one village or town once every like, hundred years. Natural disasters or ordinary conflict can do far worse than that.
So yeah, I think Bak'al's timeline is in dire need of a rewriting to squish his actions down to at most a few generations.

 

I mean I still think he can be that 0ld, my best guess is he was busy fighting in other realms or something. Maybe dern beast doesn't (yet) want the corruption to take over wynn (idk maybe darkness can be corrupted or smth if it is a secret discovery in SE that disproves this don't say anything).

 

he's a pretty lame character rn to be honest, he has zero known motivations whatsoever and all we know about him is "he is a human who entered the nether portal and became corrupted"

he could really do with some more backstory

 

it almost definitely can be Corrupted

That is from the Wynntheory rework (Jungle). Iirc ingame it is "some fell to Bak'al, some to the Corruption itself." While the latter clearly talks about Theorick, the former doesn't specify who or how many.

 

Yup I stole that idea but let's be real, why would it not be part of the lore? Also bak'al does state that "the twains said the same thing to be me once. Just like them, you will fall helplessly at my feet." So yeah he killed some of them

 

Depends on each one's willingness to headcanon, I suppose. Personally I am on the less theoreticall side.

Likely. Could be also "minor" Twains he killed.

 

Uh you don't care that I "stole" it did you? I was more going along the lines of "this is most likely to be true" I didnt mean to take credit or anything

 

I mean even if you actually stole it (which you can't really do besides re-posting our rework), what could I do, send Bal'al after you?

Chill, we are glad people besides us actually use it :)

 

*Bak'al*

 

You dare deny the word of God?