Lore/Story Rise of the Darkness (Lore ideas/theory): Initial Outline

I have had a really good lore idea that I think would suit the story of Fruma and make it very important in the lore, as well as tying in some other characters like Bak'al and the Aldorei Elves. Spoilers for... well just don't read if you havent done the game (disclaimer: neither have I, I know some spoilers but not many, so please dont correct me saying "WELL AKTUALLY THIS IS EXPLAINED IN ..." like if it is from a 2.0 quest or gavel discovery past olux, or SE related... please keep it to yourself or mark it with a spoiler tag or just tell me how it could be fixed without retconning the current lore). I know enough to make it mostly consistent. I originally had this in a much longer format, but it was running long and I hadnt even gotten to the most solid part of the "theory" after like 2 hours of drafting so... yeah. We're doing this first. Feel free to give feedback (Please dont spoil quests) or use it for inspiration. I would be honored if someone on CT team took any of these ideas. Enjoy!

Spoilers ahead





Before 0 AP: Fruma Queen (named Aviale) discovers the ruins in the dernel jungle. An amulet left behind by the Olm is picked up by the queen during a temple exploration, leading to the Dern Beast (named Umbral) gaining influence in Fruma (through the queen). Previously, Wynn and Fruma were largely cut off from the Light and Dark due to being situated "beneath" the realm of war (SE exists but in the 1.20 beta it said Silent expanse in the one RoL 4 cutscene rather than [obscured text], and despite that being "part of wynn", wynn was listed under the realm of war, so I see them separately in terms of what their "influenced" by). The Light has no such connection, as this was a dernic relic, meaning that only Dern has "tunneled" their way to Fruma.

The Queen has reoccuring nightmares of a chaotic, unknown (to her) force (corruption) destroying the world. She begins to lose her mind. One night, Umbral, the Dern Beast visits her in a nightmare, demonstrating its alligance against the corruption by destroying it in the dream. He convinces her that he also wants the corruption destroyed, as it is also a threat to his realm, if not all of reality (and non reality). He even gives her more magical abilities, including unaging (which is why she is around 1000 years later), to further show that they are on the same side.

Because the queen knows that these nightmares will likely never stop if she does nothing (she realized that these were visions, as in a potential future), she agrees to help him. Umbral explains that the corruption comes from a place called the realm of war. If they could absorb the corrupt energy and use it to empower Umbral, the beast could destroy the corruption before it breaks out into the physical plane. Umbral cannot enter the realm himself, as "I must stay here, for if I leave, the darkness will weaken". Its BS, and he knows it. That isnt the reason why; he doesnt want to get corrupted. But he doesnt want Aviale to know that, not yet.

Aviale is tasked with building a transformation altar at the center of the realm of war. Here, Light and Dark collide, creating the first corruption, and it is the most corrupt place in all the realms. (I am not entirely sure if Umbral would lie and say that the Light is an ally against the corruption and both are trying to annihilate it at the center of the realm or not, but let me know if this is a good idea). Umbral secretly places a protection bubble around Aviale as she enters a portal to the realm of war, so she is not corrupted. She makes the altar, which converts the corrupt energy being produced here to pure darkness. Now, Aviale thinks she saved the world from corruption, and everything is happy and its a good ending and-

Yeah no Umbral just tricked her into giving him an extreme amount of power, upsetting the balance of Light and Dark. He has no intention of eradicating the corruption (yet). In fact, he wants it to spread to Wynn to keep them busy. He starts to close the portal out (trying to trap the queen in there so she becomes corrupted and becomes a powerful tool, like Bak'al). She manages to make it out, not suffering noticeable mind corruption (she is very strong, especially with the power the beast gave her).

Meanwhile, in Gavel, the elves suddenly become the stupidest race ever, Aldorei's Secret Pt 2 happens, and Light is now weak. Why? The darkness now is powerful enough to influence the minds of those in Orphion's territory. They start being very illogical, which leads to the Light weakening, further disrupting the balance and leading to the equinox. Heck, this might even be why Lari is so stubborn. The darkness influenced her mind to make her believe killing was always immoral and against the Light. Of course, he is lying to everyone, but they do not notice.

Now, the decay is happening, the nether portal is open, and the darkness is stronger than ever. What happens now? Well, Aviale wants revenge. She creates a powerful warlock, one specially designed to destroy the altar she made in the corruption. One problem. She did not know about the corruption's effect on the mind (as the dern beast kept it secret from her, in case she escaped and tried something like this in retaliation). So, this warlock, named Bak'al, enters the portal, and becomes corrupted. At some point, he discovers the altar, and becomes allied to the darkness. This is also where I predict he spends his time when not killing people in Wynn.

Another failure, the fruman queen decides that any action is only going to lead to more failure, and decides to close off fruma from the world to attempt to keep the war away from it. After all, "there is no war inside fruman walls." (i know they removed it, I know it was an avatar reference, but it is what jumpstarted the entire theory soooo...). Eventually, she decides to send Wynn soldier to help in the war effort, wiping their memory so they cannot tell authorities of the crimes committed against them by being forced to fight in a war and leave their families forever. After bobs disappearance, the queen senses that the world is at risk.

So, once more, feeling the success of her previous endevour with sending subjects to fight in wynn, she attempts to recreate her first warlock once more. You. The player (I think you now have some memories before wynn but i heard it just says they were weird, so maybe you were getting trained or the queen was putting spells on you, i dont think it was specific). Except this time, she made sure that you would not be corruptible. I have a strong suspicion that the player is immune (or highly resistant) to corruption. It feels like it would be something the player can do, as our accomplishments rival bob at this point. At the very worst, if her creation was corrupted... it isnt as power as bakal to start with. It will grow, become stronger and stronger, with limitless potential. And so, you wake up on the caravan to wynn.


I hope you enjoyed. I think it is my best iteration of Fruma theories (i have made many over the years) and this is the only one that felt like it was satisfying and made Fruma important in the lore, not just another place (sorry Corkus). I hope the CT team had similar conclusions to me, as the idea of an altar at the center of the realm of war just screams dungeon/raid. While there is problems with it, I'm sure it could be polished. That is until deusphage, destroyer of gen. suggestions comes along. Feel free to give feedback!

 

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