#Seriously what the fuck do the Annointed have on their heads?

[y-rhywbeth2]

Hey! Love your lore posts! Was wondering if you knew whether there was any symbolism attached to Banites covering their eyes? Is it simply to shield their identities or is it something to do with the Church? (perhaps a "see no evil" 🙈 type deal?)

I've never seen anything about them covering their eyes in lore (which isn't the same as it not existing, but if it does I haven't seen it). If it's about their in-game design then it's just a stylistic thing, not a lore thing.

Religious garb for the Bhaalists has them hiding their faces behind veils, and the Myrkulites behind skull masks and layers of corpse ash taken from the crematoriums. Both in black robes with deep hoods to further obscure themselves. Banites tend to *show* their faces (ritual facial tattooing (I think Gortash actually has concept art with facial tattoos?), gemstones worn on the forehead to denote high rank, that kind of thing) the closest to obscuring any of their face that I remember is wearing hoods at the regular evil meetings, and the fact that, due to the military nature of Bane's Church, armour has been a big part of the uniforms so some might have masks/visors on their fancy black spiky helmets?

Out of ceremonial garb, they must wear something black (at least one article of clothing minimum) and if possible a sash-belt in red with the Black Fist on it. Also two holy symbols (one on the neck, tucked in out of sight if needs be, one in the heel of their boot). No eye covering there.

'See no evil' would be out of character for Bane. He wants open tyranny and very much wants you to look at that evil. Dressing to honour your faith in Bane but hiding your identity feels incorrect in a way I can't articulate at 1 in the morning. But like Gortash standing in public with the holy symbol practically wearing a sign that says 'I worship Bane': their faith is legal and they're not the most subtle in dress regardless, so protecting your identity is ehh.

I'd go for obscuring your face for intimidation as an explanation, personally.

[all-pacas]

FORBIDDEN WEST PLAYTHROUGH PART ONE (i’m on “to the brink” so spoilers up til there)

* oh my god it’s finally here. the fond is the same. the hud is the same. it’s still loading i can’t believe it. * i remember this opening scene from the reveal trailer i think??? the dying fox anyway. 

* oh my god elisabet !!!!! fully rendered!!!!! not a hologram with light and coloring distortion!!! in her stupid little robe shirt thing!!!! * OH NO THEY HUGGED * i’ve joked about this already but aloy please invent some sunscreen. ur a red-head u gotta be aware of the risks of sunburn * VARL HAS BEARD HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA * LMAO aloy skipped the meridian victory party and just took the hell off i love her so much * lmao aloy trying to ditch varl too * this opening cutscene is a little stilted — how does varl know what the focus even does etc? — but also i fucking love that he’s HERE ALREADY and just literally living out my “let’s go to california bestie” dreams * oh my god is the tutorial this time aloy teaching varl instead of rost teaching aloy * oh my god aloy making the exact same BLEGH sound she did as a baby eating the healing herbs * FREE CLIMBING?? * OH THE MENU HAS CHARACTER BIOGRAPHIES * oh my god i love that the only alphas in the biography section to start with are elisabet and TRAVIS TATE * ted’s entry mentions the bunker DO WE GET PYRAMID VEGAS BUNKER PLEASE * oh god the glinthawk sound played and i was like PLEASE NO i hate those fuckers at least give me a few watchers first * OH MY GOD I AM IN LOVE WITH BURROWERS. WHAT BUDDIES. WHAT FRIENDS * oh my god like the first game hinted pretty strongly that far zenith was going to be a thing but i was NOT expected it as the tutorial section * is the other guy in these ruins gonna be sylens. is that too obvious * love that aloy clearly has no idea what to name anything and is just like “well i have a tripcaster — I KNOW. A _PULL_CASTER * oh hey osvald i remember the datapoint where the reporter was like “this techbro asshole” * aloy uses her fun new toy to get to the second floor, and varl's like "too bad there's only one and i'm trapped here" and aloy's choices are "find another way up" or just toss it down to him and of course she picks the first one * i love varl flinching and ducking at the holograms while aloy just stands there. * "unescapable risk for the world's elite" lmao i hate osvald already * my instinct thus far is that osvald is worse  than ted? ted is a fucking buffoon who no one takes seriously even as he destroyed the world. osvald? he seems like he knows how to sell an actual story. * ANACONDA??????? * NOT A BUDDY * burrowers are still friend shaped and i love them * hahahaha aloy mentioning the beard * SORRY MY WHISKERS OFFEND YOU, ANNOINTED * oh far zenith was trying to steal GAIA huh. that explains a lot. * WHO WAS THE MOLE THO not one of the alphas we know i think * i kind of love varl assuming gaia must be the goddess like. he’s not exactly? he’s wrong but he’s making some pretty logical assumptions? love varl * “is sona ever pleased? i don’t think  i’ve ever seen her smile.” “_me neither”_ oh varl * god i love this game. here i am a thousand years in the future with my bow and arrow, plotting the best way to drop a space shuttle onto some snakes * GAIA * TRAVIS * OH MY GOD TRAVIS TATE * THOU SHALL NOT STEAL A SUPER ADVANCED TERRAFORMING SYSTEM * should have known the fucking second GAIA booted up as “version 6.9” * did far zenith literally fail because they tried to steal gaia and travis deleted all their data in reponse * like i get why aloy is so upset and all but honestly what a move from travis tate what a pro * BACK TO MERIDIAN? * BACK TO MERIDIAN * oh oh oh first non-tutorial mission in hzd 1 was point of the spear and now we get point of the lance !!! * love that marad just instantly knows aloy is in town * LOL THEY BUILT A STATUE OF ALOY * honestly aloy you absolutely should have expected that sylens used the spear he gave you as a backdoor and should not be surprised now * NASADI AND ITAMEN * and avad too i guess literally barely noticed him * i was so overwhelmed i completely missed itamen’s line dsfsdf * oh my god i love that they heard aloy was at the spire and everyone was like “fuck better run over before she LEAVES AGAIN” * UTHID AND VANASHA!!!!! “better hand these over before she runs off again!” “really, must you?” omg and itamen is hovering in the background ahhhhhhhhhhh i love team carja * ITAMEN’S GOT A LITTLE SWORD * WATCH OUT FOR THUNDERJAWS he says oh my god i love him * vanasha keeps being like hey aloy when are you going to fuck off this time? oh about to go are you? oh still here? * SHE CALLS UTHID MR SHINYPANTS * aloy growing even more uncomfortable with the flirting than uthid is i think i ship them a little * CAPTAIN CUDDLY * “rumor has it he wanted to stay with me here in meridian” uthid laughs nervously oh my god i definitely ship them * aloy: how did u get the tenakth to like you? avad: bribes :)))) love that for him * avad’s got a cousin eh this sounds Interesting * ITAMEN PLAYING WITH A STICK Oh my god i love him * STOP FUCKING FLIRTING AVAD this was the worst part of him in the last game why did they bring it back ugh * i should have picked the mean option but i chose the brain option instead MY BAD * like god it makes me so mad because i really liked his line about not wanting to get married because he keeps trying to make women someone they aren’t, which i THOUGHT was a nice, self aware reference to the end of the last game, where aloy calls him on doing _just that_ with her and i was like good! you’re learning! don’t date for a while! BUT FUCKING NO * like god avad i fucking want to like you and i like your potential as a character but this was the WORST part of the last game and why now? at least we hopefully won’t see him again? fun as it was to see the meridian crew PLEASE, we do not need romance, we do not need this bullshit especially since aloy has already shot him down like EIGHT TIMES it makes me mad * anyway i hope they keep having aloy come up with terrible names for her weapons * “might be better to rest here for the night, hang out in the morning” aloy ur going to try and sneak away without varl aren’t u * two seconds later: she sneaks away without varl * i love how pretty the credits scene and song are but i’ve also played this game Many Times and know that a lot of these scenes aloy is riding through are just random places in the sundom. so like did you just get lost pal. why you stopping by sunfall. why you riding to brightmarket. i see you decided to visit the tallneck with all the snapmaws around it huh. * stupid oseram expression count #1: sparks to steel * oh yay. erend. * inexplicable and instant love for Stupid Sun Priest. i just love idiots okay * stupid oseram expression #2: big-hammered backside * anyway they told me to go do the plot and i ran off in the opposite direction instead MORE UPDATES LATER