Lore: Defiants - Bahmi

Bahmi's are, for me, the most interesting of the Defiant Races.  Their unique relationship and history of the planes sets them apart from the other races.  Much information is given about this race of people from the planes.

Lore: Defiants - Kelari

There are few Kelari representatives left alive during the time of Terminus.  Those that do appear share a few details about their culture and lifestyle. 

Lore: Defiants - Eth

Throughout Terminus there are representative from the defiant races; Eth, Bahmi, and Kelari.  These representatives give a basic introduction to their own struggles, as well as paint a greater picture of the Defiant organization as a whole.

Lore: Sourcestone

Koke Tegus, a Bahmi charged with defending an outpost in Terminus, says sourcestone is "the very thing that is powering our machines."  However, Sourcestone is more than a fuel source similar to coal. "It also allowed Sylver to grant you an empowered rebirth as the Ascended."  Part fuel and part magical base, what exactly is sourcestone?

Question - Part 2: What timeline are we in now?

The Fail Safe Machine is responsible for saving the world of Telara and assisting the Defiant faction with the creation of their own Ascended long before they could have otherwise.

How else did the creation of the Fail Safe device alter the course of history for Telara?  Could the great magitech society enjoyed in present day Telara be thanks in part the creativity gained from future generations?

Lore - Part 1: The Failsafe Device

The hope for Telara rests upon the Distal Temporal Refraction Device - or, as it is more commonly known, the Failsafe Device.   In this two part post, the history and usefulness of the Fail Safe will be analysed, as well as its impact on the Defiant civilization and Telara in general.

Lore - Orphiel Fairwind

Brilliant scientist or mad-man, history is unable to put a definitive label on Orphiel Fairwind.   The study of Magitech had was placed under royal ban, and yet it was this very magitech that saved Telara from ultimate destruction.  Before understanding the Fail Safe, it is important to know about the man who designed it.

Little is know about the reclusive leaders personal motives, however a few pieces of information can be gathered while in Terminus.

Life Factory - Final Thoughts

The Life Factory area of Terminus used to be much more interactive.  I suppose it still is, if you are interested in Lore and story.  Its soul purpose now is light tutorial and, if you are willing to wait and watch, a small bit of lore.

Lore: Ascended from Sourcestone

Reborn into the Life Factory, Ascended begin their second lives as the new saviours of Telara.  As with every Defiant Eldritch machine, the first, and most important building block is sourcestone, but what else happens to bring a Defiant back to Telara?

Lore: Life Before The Machine Born

Defiant ascension is the fruit of a long, yet ultimately successful, scientific study to recreate Vigil ascension. The original hope was to create ascended to stand up to bloodstorm before it could destroy Telara, but when the Guardian Zealots destroyed Meridian the goal shifted to include protection of culture, technology, magic, and ultimately salvation of the planet.

What does it really mean to be a machine born and how could defiant ascended change the fate of Telara?

Editorial - Souls and Soul Trees

Granted my MMO's experience is limited, but I believe the starter area, and especially the tutorial system, in RIFT gives new players a great introduction to the game mechanics.  This is especially true of the new design for the acquisition of souls and soul tree planning. 

My question is when does simplification and guided creations cross the line into an un-immersive world full of uncreative people? 

Lore - Souls

The first aspect that any player will face in RIFT is the soul system.  The player talent trees in RIFT are similar the talent trees in other games  however, Trion takes it one further by tying individual choices to the lore and history of the game.

By looking into the aspects of souls, we are better able to understand what it means to be an Ascended Defiant; but before we can understand the history of each soul, we need to know how they function.

Lore - The Life Factory

When speaking of time-travel it is important to establish a base-line for comparison - A Year Zero.  For residents of Rift, that year is the year Port Scion fell and the division between Defiant and Guardians officially occurred.

The Knowledge Collective states "The original life factory was discovered near the city of Port Scion in the twentieth year of Prince Zarepph's reign."  However, we need a bit more information to place this in history. *

Eldritch Vanguard - Introduction

Welcome to Eldritch Vanguard, a Lore and Leveling blog from the eyes of a Defiant.  This blog will strive to be part lore encyclopedia and part leveling opinions, in short a catalogue of the Defiant experience in the world of Telara.

This is not a how-to-level guide, but more my observations of the areas of the game, my game play style, and my personal experiences.

As I move through each area, I will also be making a record of the lore pieces that are made available.  The writers and artists at Trion have done a remarkable job bringing the world to life through small tableaus that many players miss in their hurry.  I intend to shine a small light on these areas of the game.  These will come in the form of opinion pieces, questions to readers, or scripts of events.  Whatever the case, when a piece of interesting story crosses my path it will be added to the lore section of this website.

About the Author and style of this blog
I am not new to the world of Telara, but have decided to make it my mission to treat this play through with fresh eyes.  That means reading quest texts, experiencing small hidden treasures, and taking my time.  As such, there is no scheduled time for updates or deadline.

As a character, I am a roleplayer - you'll find me on Faeblight US if you want to say hello - but will not be making my posts in an RP style.  Perhaps in the future, when my Guardian Roleplay Writing Project is completed I will start on a Defiant version.   Meaning that all posts on this blog will be my personal opinions unless I am quoting directly from the game source, a lore writer or producer, or another player.

To make it easier for those who wish to read the lore pieces only or skip to my pieces on the leveling experience, I have devised an icon system.  Blog pieces headed with an image of Coraleigh will focus on the leveling aspects of the game, while pieces headed with the Defiant logo will focus on Lore.  I hope that should provide an at-a-glance option to help in your reading experience.

Freqently we will be given a piece of information without enough additional facts to use it propertly.   There is a timeline available to forum visitors, created by the lore team's head writers (at the time), however I am of a mind to see how much information can be put together from game information only.   Wherever a fact requires follow-up or additional information, it will be noted and added to as time continues.

Copyright
It is fortunate for players of Rift that Trion worlds is open to the possibilities of fan-websites.  They allow images posted, words copied , concepts discussed, et cetera without fear of legal retaliation.  That said, I still would have it made clear that images, stories, concepts, and whatever else Rift I may mention here are copyright Trion Worlds.

The images are from gameplay footage, cinematics, and the Riftgame.com website.  If you would like to use them, please feel free to save them to your computer.  I do ask that you use them in the manner they were produced and credit Trion for their artwork.