New God Ghezresh Theories & Info

18
God
Tuesday, October 17th, 2017, 5:48:42 PM

What do we all know about the new member of the Arkati?

Personal theory from what I gathered.

It's a He.

It's a primordial Arkati slumbering before the Drake Wars. I would be so pissed if it's some Elven crap god.

It's evil. Um, duh?

It lures sailors, adventurers, refugees etc. from every region and race in order to feed off them.

It's primary domains are deception, secrets, lies, and vampirism. Awesome if this were all true, but one can dream.

One of the denizens on the Island is it's non-obvious avatar which I won't disclose due to spoilers.

It ultimately wants to finish a temple in order to enter our world. The typical super-villain plot pastiche.

mark
Tuesday, October 17th, 2017, 6:48:41 PM

Posted by GEHAYI on the officials under the Ghezresh topic:

A faint red mist flows into the room, swirling and churning madly. Slowly it assumes a manlike form and two red gleams like cold jewels regard you icily. A voice chill as the wind between the stars whispers, "I watch. I learn. I dream. When time flows thick and red like blood and the skies run with lakes of gore, I will act and she who has spurned me will know what she has brought upon her people."

Cold eyes bereft of all save the most chilling of human feelings gaze into yours for a time and then vanish. A reddish mist flows into the ground glimmering in the light as a river of scarlet laced with clotted gems and vanishes.

My first guess for the "she" who spurned him would be Niima, what with the general negative disposition towards Niima, dolphins, seabirds (not sure if this is directly connected or just thematically) among the Ghezreshi inhabitants of Caligos.

HJFudge
Tuesday, October 17th, 2017, 6:52:51 PM

Id like it to be some sort of thing released by the Faendryl when they smushed the Ashrim. OR Something the Ashrim spawned to Get Revenge...final breath, from hells heart, etc.

mark
Tuesday, October 17th, 2017, 7:03:59 PM

Also, the OOC teasers stated that the new deity would be of the 'spirit' class of minor deities, which are sometimes but not always Arkati. It's very possible for Ghezresh to be, for example, a locally-powerful spirit denizen of Caligos looking to expand his powerbase, a leftover demon from the Faendryl-Ashrim war (or even the Ur-daemon war), or a mortal who gave himself over to host an insidious energy source that needed a consciousness to reach its full potential.

My favorite idea is drowned Ashrim sailor (hence the hatred for Niima, which is admittedly a speculation) that fused with some eldritch energy source, quite possibly released by the Faendryl during the war. It also fits with this being a 'new' deity, only having been around a few thousand years, slowly building its power by gathering shipwrecked refugees and infecting them with its deception/SALVATION. Finally getting its shot at the big time when it's got enough followers to run a festival.

viekn
Tuesday, October 17th, 2017, 7:23:32 PM

@hjfudge Nice Trek reference!

God
Thursday, October 19th, 2017, 12:09:32 PM

Anyone thinking about converting? I'm already RP'd my characters to fit Voln including voln armors, but the quest item only fully unlocks if you convert to Ghezresh.

It would depend on how awesome it is I guess. Not sure now, anyone else?

archigeek
Thursday, October 19th, 2017, 12:16:57 PM

I'm thinking that if it's evil and wants to build a temple, why is everyone helping? Why aren't the good people of Elanthia working towards the destruction of said temple? Where is our opportunity for contrarian pirate arrrrg pee!

Avaia
Thursday, October 19th, 2017, 12:43:43 PM

@archigeek said in New God Ghezresh Theories & Info:

I'm thinking that if it's evil and wants to build a temple, why is everyone helping? Why aren't the good people of Elanthia working towards the destruction of said temple?

I am a little surprised at this myself.

Time for the Gryphons to step up and lay the hammer down!

ArchSenex
Thursday, October 19th, 2017, 12:52:22 PM

@god said in New God Ghezresh Theories & Info:

Anyone thinking about converting? I'm already RP'd my characters to fit Voln including voln armors, but the quest item only fully unlocks if you convert to Ghezresh.

It would depend on how awesome it is I guess. Not sure now, anyone else?

The quest item has usage for all people, it gains bonuses for converts

HJFudge
Thursday, October 19th, 2017, 2:07:30 PM

As for converting: Im going to make my Cleric Gezreshi...as hes still young and I havent RPed with him much yet, so hes unknown. Just gotta get dat egg

Goat
Saturday, October 21st, 2017, 2:49:52 AM

@archsenex said in New God Ghezresh Theories & Info:

@god said in New God Ghezresh Theories & Info:

Anyone thinking about converting? I'm already RP'd my characters to fit Voln including voln armors, but the quest item only fully unlocks if you convert to Ghezresh.

It would depend on how awesome it is I guess. Not sure now, anyone else?

The quest item has usage for all people, it gains bonuses for converts

The quest item's base feature is just awful (IIRC). -5 DS/-3 TD debuff on one target, 3x/day. I wish I could know how many times per day these things will get used once they've been out for a month. My guess is approximately 0.

Given that GMs thought this was a reasonably balanced quest item, I doubt they would make the Ghezresh conversion bonus much better.

I do think Ghezresh is interesting, and could make for neat RP opportunities. I would worry about limited opportunities to work him in outside of EG, but I then I guess it won't be any harder to work him in than it is with most other deities.

HJFudge
Saturday, October 21st, 2017, 2:52:02 AM

So, got dat egg. Cleric is now a follower of the Lord of the Mists.

K>chant You chant a reverent orison, asking for the power of deception with which to intimidate and subvert all to the will of Ghezresh.

So he's about deception and subversion. So far its very...cult-like. I like it.

Leafiara
Saturday, October 21st, 2017, 4:43:39 AM

@goat said in New God Ghezresh Theories & Info:

The quest item's base feature is just awful (IIRC). -5 DS/-3 TD debuff on one target, 3x/day. I wish I could know how many times per day these things will get used once they've been out for a month. My guess is approximately 0.

Given that GMs thought this was a reasonably balanced quest item, I doubt they would make the Ghezresh conversion bonus much better.

I was down on the item too on Discord, but Haliste pointed out something I missed...

http://forums.play.net/forums/GemStone%20IV/Paid%20Events:%20Adventures,%20Quests,%20and%20SimuCoins/Ebon%20Gate%20Festival/view/13398

Its properties, in strength and usage, will increase in future Ebon Gate quests.

So I'm hopeful that maybe the debuff will eventually become good! (Even if it does take years to get there...) As for the conversion bonus, here you go:

If you have converted to Ghezresh, then you will also have access to the Tier 3 ability. This is a 5 minute boost to fear resistance available 1x/day.

God
Saturday, October 21st, 2017, 8:31:18 AM

Yikes! That's totally weak. Not even an enhancive. Debuffing a critter by -5 DS or -3 TD, what's even the point? Even if it was -50 DS and -30 TD; oh noes, you can kill 3 critters a bit faster for the day.

The fear resistance once a day is bordering on trolling.

What was the ebon heart quest item? wasn't that a 20 minute x 3/day cloak of shadows ? THAT's actually useful.

God
Saturday, October 21st, 2017, 8:33:37 AM

@hjfudge Yeah I like the RP aspect of it. If the cleric flavor messaging for spells are in a similar vein I may actually convert just based on that.

HJFudge
Thursday, October 26th, 2017, 3:03:22 AM

Ok so, from all the ambients and convo's with NPCs, heres my thoughts.

When the Ashrim got destroyed, some Refugees made their way to Caligos Isle to try and find a new home. But alas, turns out Ghezresh was already there. Unsure if they woke him up or what not...but he corrupted/devoured them and now their souls reside on the island still. When the Damsel of the Deep comes across it, years and years later, they too begin to be corrupted and so they open it up to draw people in to feed their God, Ghezresh.

Am I close?

darconas
Thursday, October 26th, 2017, 3:13:21 AM

The heart is unarguably weak and useless. In a game where you kill hundreds of monsters a day even, a debuff is useless because generally if you need it for your normal hunting, you're hunting in the wrong place, Buffs in comparison can be applied to all creatures you fight again. I rarely need to use my AS/DS/TD debuffs for voln and same for my GoS sigils.

Like @god said, even if it was -50/-30, its still useless because I don't need that to kill a critter and if I did, I'll need it a heckuva time more often than 3 times a day. Even in DR champions, the only time I really struggle against some high DS critters, I need that maybe 2-3 times a fight, not 2-3 times a day.

Goat
Thursday, October 26th, 2017, 3:16:47 AM

@god said in New God Ghezresh Theories & Info:

Yikes! That's totally weak. Not even an enhancive. Debuffing a critter by -5 DS or -3 TD, what's even the point? Even if it was -50 DS and -30 TD; oh noes, you can kill 3 critters a bit faster for the day.

The fear resistance once a day is bordering on trolling.

What was the ebon heart quest item? wasn't that a 20 minute x 3/day cloak of shadows ? THAT's actually useful.

The EG hearts actually started as 3x/day with standard magic item duration. So if you have 100 ranks of MIU, each rub is good for an hour. To be fair, they curse/injure you sometimes (unless unlocked with a simucoin item), but I'd gladly accept a similar limitation for similar power.

That said, this year's quest item lines up relatively well with the non-necropolis EG storyline items of the past. Stuff like x/day writing supplies, a scripted 5x enchant runestaff with a 1x (?)/day same-realm transport feature, or a little interdimensional rift thing that lets you pull out fluff 1x/day. I believe the necropolis wasn't around for the first year at Feywrot, and so I'm really hoping we'll see hunting again next year, and with a better payoff.

But aside from all that, I agree - very disappointing mechanical component this year.