#Aequilibria

[cyraen-ae]

So, with my theory about the "origins/true identity" of the Aequilibria that I've alluded to a handful of times in the past, I found myself extremely interested with everything it said during the latest release, so I thought I'd look at each one individually

Impurity

If you're wondering why I'm focusing on such a line. Impurity for the Pre-Reset orb, to me, indicates that it has awareness of it being "external", and it considers it as affecting the purity of its world. Quite odd that it used this word, and nothing else

With an anomaly

The Hero is an anomaly, hm? What about them is anomalous. The only thing "unusual" that I can immediately place about the Hero is the fact that "they came before", as Kathoolthalas put so bluntly. Is it that they're the only "true" survivor of before the Reset? The only one to be transplanted, not recreated? Or is it something else

We are the Elements

I guess it fits the eight eyes-lights things. But are they saying they're literally a tangible expression of the building blocks of reality? Notably, while researching this line, I saw one interesting one from Kathoolthalas

"Molded and shaped, became eight, became one. Twisted embodiment" Is Aequilibria this twisted embodiment? It's both Eight (the lights) and One (the dragon head)

To return to us is the inevitable fate of all things

I won't lie I'm still not sure for that one. It seems to just follow through the previous line. They're not just a force that exists within reality, they're reality itself.

Assessing the state of the shell.

Now this is where it gets interesting One : Aequilibria starts talking like a robot from this line onwards Two : the shell? Not just the planet, or the world, or anything. The Shell. Such an odd term. What it tells me is that Lore exists to protect the Mana Core. Act as an outer shell to it. Is it just a shell in this sense, or in an even more literal sense. Is Lore secretly a dragon egg for the Aequilibria? I mean, it would have been here under our nose from the start if that's the case

The Creator's cycle has been disrupted

What.. does that mean? Did something happen to Fluffy's egg before it had a chance to hatch? Did Seppy's corruption seep through into its next reincarnation?

The caretakers' location cannot be defined

This one is pretty obvious. The caretakers are the avatars, and they're now gone, orbed, and put in Lock and Key

Numerous holes in the fabric found

If I had to make an assumption, this is talking about the various Proclamation Rifts, not much more to see here. Although the fact that the Deadlands Rift is still open is proooobably gonna be cause for an issue with it

Disruptions to the flow of fate found

Now THAT is an interesting quote. The flow of fate. That means that Aequilibria focuses on a specific Fate it has planned for the world, and if it doesn't go this fate, it immediately goes on the defensive. The question is... what caused this disruption in the first place?

Numerous errors and anomalies found

Once more, this is an interesting line. Errors and anomalies found What are its errors and anomalies? My current theory.. we saw it call two things anomalies (or similar words). The Pre-Reset orb, and the Hero themself. Do they view Pre-Reset/Reset related stuff to be anomalies?

[jhonatheshiny]

I'll admit that when it comes to Hero x Seppy ships, I'm pretty indifferent.

That said, I find it extremely sweet how good of a dad he is.

[vaalthus]

The End of Magic Part 1 (spoilers)

Ah and here we are...

Ya know I already understood that there was already a layer of egotism behind Jaania trying so hard to defeat us, to ensure her vision of a perfect world came about, but to hear in the aftermath that she drained herself to the point that even had she won against us she wouldn't have been able to enact her spell really is something else. Though I suppose it really goes to show how desperately she wanted to prove that she was the hero of this story now.

At least now, she's willing to admit that motive was coming from an unhealthy place, it's just a shame it took being so utterly crushed and hitting rock bottom for her to realize that. But oh boy does it put some of the jabs she throws at us in other parts of the story in a new perspective.

Moving on to more pressing matters however,

I just love this reaction image from Warlic so much. Bro was seriously just like: "OH SHIT, GOD IS AWAKE!!!"

I actually kind of love that Warlic, when presented with the threat that is Aequilibria awakening, immediately resigns Lore's fate to annihilation and for any survivors to flee the planet. And he's right to think that way because as he lays out the crux of the problem Loreians are trapped between a rock and a hard place. They aren't equipped with the might necessary to challenge the Elements and destroying the Core would just kill everyone and everything and I highly doubt talking to them is going to convince them to not destroy the world as everyone knows it. So, what other option is there but to run away?

Fortunately for the inhabitants of Lore, Jaania plans to redeem herself by turning the Aequilibria into spaghetti water. Okay jokes aside this is pretty decent plan to keep the Elements from erupting while still giving allowing mana to flow to all of life on the planet at least until we can figure out away to avert the crisis completely. Truth be told I think this is a rather fitting fate for Jaania. She strove to dramatically alter the foundations of Lore to achieve a state of perfection and now she must do all she can to preserve those foundations lest letting everyone on the planet dying.

Ah character growth ya love to see it.

I also love how that there was no way Xan was going to get left out of helping Jaania and Warlic hold the Aequlibria at bay when they started cooking up ways to account for their spell eventually degrading. That and the fact that they are known as a bit of trio so it only makes sense for him to be included in this vital moment. In a way, Jaania, the past version of herself anyway because present clearly was not okay with Alex getting mixed up in this, got what she wanted: for them all to be working together. It's just a shame it took so much heartache and world ending catastrophes for that to happen.

Man I love me some plan executing montages

I'm becoming increasingly convinced Kathool was taking inspiration when transforming Remthalas into his eldritch form. Also, starting to see what the Aequilibria meant when they proclaimed they made the twins in their image, as their better children.

Ah so Sepulchure had Akriloth Jr. all along. I suppose it makes sense given he would have wanted to keep the young great dragon close for his own means when he was left a shell of his former self. It's good he's kept him a secret though I kind of wish Ahisma and Tipu had lived to see them again. There is still the matter of Akriloth's responsibilities as the defender of the Plane of Fire which will have to wait for now of course, but I suspect them living up to their role will be vital in future storylines.

This image breathes new life into me, that is all.

THE GREAT DESTROYER HAS ARRIVED. THE END IS NEAR. THE GREAT DESTROYER HAS ARRIVED. THE END IS NEAR. THE GREAT DESTROYER HAS ARRIVED. THE END IS NEAR THE GREAT DESTROYER HAS ARRIVED. THE END IS NEAR. THE GREAT DESTOYER HAS ARRIVED. THE END IS NEAR. THE GREAT DESTOYER HAS ARRIVED. THE END IS NEAR.THE GREAT DESTOYER HAS ARRIVED. THE END IS NE-

[seiji-the-ice-drake]

Odessa's Dragonfable variant has been revealed at last!

Aaaaaannnd she's been wandering the Elemental Wastes this whole time

This kinda feels anti-climatic

[7yd1a]

FINALLYYYYYYYYY

[tmae3114]

I'm losing it a little over just how well they set the Aequilibria up as a threat and make the players feel it in just this one quest

They'd been setting up how dangerous that manatech bomb was for five years. The moment it first showed up on screen, we saw Warlic scared by it for reasons he couldn't articulate. When Akanthus took it to be modified, we saw Amadeus wary of it. We saw what it leaking even a little bit did to Yix. Even without the Mechquest context, the game has been blaring at us, for five years, that this thing is Bad News, as loudly as they possibly could

and then it goes off

it goes off in the worst possible circumstances it could, hits us with five years of built up dread, we failed, we were too late, and...

...nothing happens. The aftereffects of this deadly threat that could've wiped Swordhaven off the map just dissipate in a few seconds.

And we get that moment of relief, that joy that Akanthus was wrong, that realisation that the thing we thought was under threat is more resilient than we feared, that moment of oh, the mana core is stronger than that

And then the Aequilibria wake up

And we get hit with it again, but this time it's

oh

The mana core is stronger than that

[silence-of-autumn42]

Been thinking about how the elements work in Dragonfable, and what technically...counts as one. Be warned, this is long and rambly.

The eight basic elements, the ones represented by an Avatar, make perfect sense. They exist in nature, they make up the planet of Lore. Disease, Poison, Metal and Silver are what I'm calling "special" elements, in that they're natural things, but not naturally magical - their power comes from human, or humanoid perspectives. Good and Evil, based on what I've seen from the Engineer and the Exaltia Tower, are the elements used by the Celestials and Infernals, and seem to be combinations of the eight basic elements, just polarised. Void is the absence of elements, present in and from the Void. Fear, however, is the really interesting one. Fear is the element most commonly associated with Mana damage, and seems to represent the relationship between the mind and the ability to channel mana. However, we also know Mana is an actual substance, and both Mama Elementals and the Avatar of Order do Fear damage. This, to me, suggests that Fear is the closest thing we have to raw mana damage, which has some interesting implications when we look at it from the angle of Mana being vital to life. It's pure magical force, which connects us to reality. And it manifests as fear when we interact with it. Interacting with the natural source of energy in the world causes us to be afraid. Is it because we can subconsciously feel the animosity that Aequilibria has for life? Or is it just that the power of mana is so overwhelming that we can't comprehend it, as some eldritch force?

[theloverofdragons]

Down in the Mana Core

as we're approaching the descent into the mana core for the book three finale (side note: AAAAAAAAAAA-), and all signs are pointing to the aequilibria slumbering down there, but what if they're not alone

in adventurequest 3D, the hero journeys to the centre of lore where they meet this giant ancient creature called or'lath, who has been there since a war between his people - who are made of mana - was fought on lore, providing mana to the world

during his conversation with the hero, or'lath talks about how lore was once flourishing but due to his people's war, practically all life was exterminated, so as penance he remained to heal the world

and lore(on) was uninhabitable when the explorers who would become the loreons arrived

so what if or'lath and his kind pre-date mechquest

and their war is the reason loreon was so devastated when the explorers arrived, and the combination of their technology and or'lath remaining to heal the world is what allowed it to become the world full of life that we see in mq

powerful enough beings like kathool were unaffected by the reset, so or'lath could be down in the mana core, watching over lore and the aequilibria in their slumber, healing the world with his mana (which he has more than enough of to last through mechquest and dragonfable even with the 5000 years of the reset), giving his gift to all (except akanthus lol, get rekt akanthus no one likes you)

[remthalas]

Voyna almost killed an Aequilibria once. Idk if she knows tho

@voynasreststop Context????

[dragonfable-schmragonfable]

love the new flight rising breed, immediately had to make an Aequilibria fandragon

[hdawg1995]

what the Aequilibria doin'?

[cyraen-ae]

Random Dragonfable Theory : the Twin Dragons and Hawkscry

So, a while back, the DF devs posted this Pantheon Chart

So a bit of time ago I decided to take a stab at it, with... mixed results

However, the one I'm currently focusing on is this one

Clearly, the two green squares made alongside the Avatars by the Aequilibria are the Twin Dragons. However, this singular square beneath them bothered me... a lot. I couldn't find a proper idea of what it could possibly be And then, an idea struck me Let's go back to a poem that was the source of a previous theory of mine for me : the Hawkscry Calamity Poem

The first three animals are references to Mechquest and GEARS, right? But what about the Dragon. A reference to their disappearance in MQ? Maybe, but... how does it relate to Hawkscry But, there is something else that relates to dragons and disappearances

The twin's first Death, directly described by GenoKratos and implied by a book in the Falconreach Libraseum So, to recap Hawkscry's destruction, according to the AF2 Poem, involved a dragon, somehow, somewhere, and it resulted in this dragon's disappearance The Twin's first death was also explicitly described as a disappearance, with the source of their death unknown What if these two are linked? What if whatever caused Hawkscry's destruction also resulted in the death of one or both of the Twins. What if they were actively responsible for Hawkscry's destruction, or were simply present and caught in the explosion. Of course, all of this could be circumstantial evidence, nothing concrete... however there is one more thing that has been on my mind. And it's the text that appears if you hover your mouse over the Fissure in the Travel Map

Symbolism much?

[jhonatheshiny]

Okay so my first thought when I heard Aequilibria said "Reset", a thought occurred to me:

If Aequilibria succeeds at resetting the DF timeline, what will the end result be? A new timeline? An existing AE timeline? An alternate form of an existing AE timeline? Or something else entirely?

[vaalthus]

The Mana Core (Spoilers)

Oh boy have things escalated quickly.

I have to say I like the brief gander through the Project Casca laboratory. It reminds me all too well of sequences in other video games, in which, characters finds themselves in dreary or primitive settings only to find highly advanced sterile white rooms indicating they are in the presence of something that completely contrasts the settings they've been in prior that tells them immediately that something is either very off or that the world around them is much bigger than they realize.

Unfortunately, in the case of the Magesterium's little white room, we learn that we should very much be in a state of unease when learning the consequences of their use of this facility. To learn that the Mana Core is not self-replenishing is very concerning, as it makes manaphages more terrifying, and it's alarming that the Magesters are more than fine with continuing to take pieces of the Core if it means they can have a stranglehold on their empire and how far it reaches if no alternatives can be substituted for the Core. I'm curious as to whether or not they would have brought Lore to the very brink before giving up on this resource and I feel like we already know the answer to that.

and speaking of alternatives...

Rather interesting to learn that the Exalted did, as suspected, come across MQ based technology and incorporated into their own works. What I find interesting is that one of these remnants was used in the creation of the Exalted Artillery. It certainly explains why the Exalted were able to forge a weapon capable of harming the Aequilibria to begin with as there has been a bit of consistent theme of mechquest related structures, or entities, being able to kind of just break the rules of reality. I wonder, in looking upon this revelation, if Notha would be proud she followed in similar footsteps of the Exalted when it came to incorporating and manipulating technology.

Which of course explains why Akanthus can't be bounded by the rules of magic in this world and is incredibly strong. Not only is he accessing the vast well of mana that the Magesters so desperately wanted to tap into for themselves one day, which grants him a strong body, but he is also slipping past the laws of the magic that governs Lore. Or perhaps more accurately, those laws are overlooking him so to speak. Either way, the world just doesn't know what to do with something like him or rather what he's been connected to.

I genuinely do love the amount of self-pitying Akanthus does in this moment. Yes, it does suck that Sobieslav was effectively raised up alongside other children to be experimented upon until they achieved a state that they were rendered effectively magicless in a world defined by magic and that they might just fade into the Ether once they die but it doesn't justify all they did after they were exiled by the Magesterium. It doesn't justify all those he killed or allowed to be killed in the Land of Dragons nor all the suffering he caused under the guise that he was achieving the peace the Rose claimed it offered.

He implies his lack of mana is what made him a monster, inhuman, but it's not. It was his selfishness, brutality, and apathy towards the lives of others. You were human Akanthus. You just chose to be the worst of what we had to offer.

For a moment, I thought this was going to be the most terrifying moment in this quest...

I even thought perhaps this was going to be that moment, but no there was something much worse waiting to happen. Also screw this guy for putting his hands on the dragon child!

*Ahem* No what was actually terrifying was this moment.

The Aequilibria, the gods of this universe, reawakened. Imagine my utter horror at the fact that it wasn't Jaania trying to weave herself into the Core or the doom bomb being the cause of this moment but us bringing Draco, one of its creation, being the reason why the gods woke up to see what was going on in their world.

Curiously enough, they bare the face of Sk'aar prior to turning back to the eight elemental stars we can see at the top of the Exaltia tower when fighting the Engineer in the Inn. This seems somewhat odd given that Sk'aar seemed to be implying they wanted to awaken a separate entity alongside us which seemed to be the Aequilibria itself.

I just love how this moment proved my suspicion that the eight eyes of Sk'aar we saw in AdventureFriends were supposed to be representative of the Elements which makes sense given the only reason we had that dream in the first place is because the love potion we drank had Quintessence in it, something that clearly contains all eight prime elements within it.

Curiosities on the visage of Aequilibria aside, what follows next is a pitiful sight.

This seems a narrtively fitting end for Akanthus if he can't be harmed. For the longest time, Akanthus viewed himself as an abomination cheated out of his rightful place in the world alongside everyone else and committed countless atrocities in his quest to regain that place. Going as far as waking up the gods of this universe to grant him his way. Upon awakening, they confirm that he is indeed an impurity to the natural order of the world but they do not grant him the connection he seeks. No instead, they remove him even further from the world itself and they contain him in a way only a god can when killing isn't an option. I don't know if this farewell for good to Akanthus since his soul still exists but if so I say goodbye and good riddance to bad rubbish.

With Akanthus finally neutralized, we turn our attention to the elephant in the room:

Our gods are analyzing the state of their creation.

And they are not pleased with the current status of Lore one bit.

All of Lore has just been marked for death because a frozen arch magus and one big metal butthead couldn't leave stuff alone.

Interestingly enough it seems like Aequilibria was referring to the twin cycles when they asked if it was time to start anew. This makes me wonder if Draco themselves aren't necessarily the true destroyer that is meant to wipe clean Lore but merely responsible in alerting Aequilibria when it times to refresh the system and Fluffy in turn is meant to alert them when its time to create life again. It seems somewhat unlikely, especially if they meant they were only waking up because the cycle has gone so wrong, but the Aequilibria makes it sound as if they were supposed to be woken up at set intervals.

What concerns me most though is the way they speak. Others have already pointed out that they talk very robotic in nature, very similarly to how Sk'aar spoke in one of the AdventureFriend routes, and their decisions are very straight to the point and seemingly without any trace of nuance.

Connections to MQ aside, this is very much a being that expects order and nothing but order in the system they have created and if it deems its creation has deviated too far from the system it will conclude to destroy it. I do not have high hopes for being able to reason with such an entity. It took the resources of all the Exalted to force this thing out of commission for a period of time so we are in some serious trouble.

[seiji-the-ice-drake]

Okay, so I was playing through the storybook collection to catch up on the holiday quests and-

This quest was introduced on February 18th...

The Maleurous questline began 5 months after on Friday the 13th...

[tomixslefttoe]

The Hero: In order to gain your trust, I’m gonna tell you all of my secrets.

Lojaali Vero: That’s really not—

The Hero: I once forgot to brush my teeth for 5 weeks.

The Hero: I didn’t actually sell my last weapon, I just forgot where I put it.

The Hero: I don’t know what “Aequilibria” is and at this point I’m too afraid to ask.

The Hero: When they say 2% milk I don’t know what the other 98% is.

The Hero: I once threw a stick at a bear and then it attacked Yulgar.

Lojaali Vero: ...That’ll do.