#sso drakonium

[natduskfall]

The Beginning of the End

Contains negative "critique", or more precisely, my thoughts and observations, of the newest story quest. Might be interesting, might not be.

Fripp says that the spymaster’s squirrels have reported three Drakonium shipments being simultaneously abandoned. And that’s it? Couldn’t they also tell us who abandoned the shipments, and if any Dark Riders were spotted? And how did they not notice that the abandoned shipments were empty?They must know what a full shipment looks like, what types of containers Dark Core uses. They must have noticed the goons taking the shipments to unusual places, maybe they even spy on G.E.D.‘s mining operations, and see Dark Core loading the shipments. They must know the usual routes. They also could have checked to see if there actually was any Drakonium nearby.

It bewildered hen Alex yelled at everyone to stop. Like chill Alex, we’re just having a discussion, we’re not about to attack each other.

Linda’s comment about there being six of us confused me a lot initially, because there’s only 5 of us soul riders, eight of us if counting Fripp, Avalon, and Evergray.

Alex discourages Anne from creating portals, but is okay with her performing an allegedly hard and elusive spell nobody has mastered or performed in a very long time?

“I won’t bother you anymore with my jumbled thoughts.” …… brother in Aideen you just told me you had some thoughts to share with me. I really wish I could spend more time with Fripp, talk more with him. He might be such an amazing character if there was more to him.

“The future of Jorvik rests on your shoulders.” Gee, thanks.

The “Fripp teleporting away” cutscene was very weak.

I honestly was under the impression that the Drakonium shipment trap was set up to allow Dark Core access to the Library, so they could get to the Brambletween. I had not realised that there is now an army of druids there. So now I wonder why Fripp walked out on us when he didn’t need to go back to protecting the Library.

When the runestone appeared from the ground I thought it was the island itself trying to talk to me. I was a little disappointed to find out that it was a message from the druids.

Also, why did Alex and Anne waste time going to the Singing Yew to talk to me rather then just texting me and going straight to Valedale.

The Drakonium is already all unloaded from the trucks, even tho the Dark Riders want to take it further towards Valedale. And how are Lisa’s healing and Linda’s visions supposed to do anything to stop the Dark Riders?

How big is the Drakonium blast radius?

I’m so glad the writer had Alex ask such an interesting and valid question.

I honestly am conflicted about about the Oil Rig. Android or human, I still feel sorry for the goons. And what about other workers, like Lisa’s dad, or maintanance divers? But also, shouldn’t the Drakonium have been teleported to wherever G.E.D. mines it?

I think that Dark Core can already sue the pants off the druids for destroying and stealing their property.

I actually felt worried that Mr Sands might have died or been hurt. Then I thought that maybe he had been suffering for some years under Garnok’s influence, and this way he could be free, and Darko could take over. And then I was relieved that nothing happened to Mr Sands.

Mr Sands must have other oil rigs, he is an oil tycoon. I still wonder if he had the foresight to stop any drilling that might have been going on on the DC rig (If there was any), so that he wouldn’t lose the oil.

It was cool to see the hostility between the Dark Riders. I always had a feeling like they might actually hate working with each other, and that their working relationship might be strained.

Cool, so the Gate/portal is actually called the Hadal Gate. I wonder if Darko was working on it. It’s a shame it got destroyed.

I really thought the ending cutscene was happening in Wildwoods, but I suppose it’s not. The animation of Sabine swinging the hammer was kind of whack, but the animation Erissa had when she jumped out of the portal???? And her idle???? CHEF’S KISS. But the difference in quality of the cutscenes in one quest that takes a few minutes to finish is jarring.

Now I wonder where Erissa’s Dark Horse is, and what happened to the one Darko made.

I don't like how the writers introduce these new concepts, such as spells, rune warning messages. New rules. Things that are useful for only that one quest, and are never mentioned again. It's nice to have more material for fic writers, but it also would be nice if those spells and concepts would reappear. They either change their mind and abandon that concept or direction, or they forget, or it takes them so long that they're now going in a completely different direction and that thing they introduced is no longer needed or canon.

Overal, I think it was a somewhat okay quest. I think the writing was meh. So were the cutscenes. But I'm just glad that things are slowly moving somewhere. I'm elated that we finally have the fourth Dark Rider, and that they finally showed us some behind the scenes stuff going on with Dark Core. I'm glad they let Dark Core get the upper hand, or also progress with the story.

I wonder if SSE has their game documented. I don't know much about gamedev, but apparently developers use their own wikis to teep track of factions, items, characters, places, narratives... everything in the game. And It seems like SSE either doesn't have one that is up to date, or they just don't have one at all from the previous years, and are now working on a new one?

The name of the quest has me wondering if SSE is perhaps itching to wrap the main story up fast, so they can focus on the horses, outfits, and tack. That is a scary thought.

[burgiethewriter]

The full power in the ‘break the dark core machine’ mission should give you invincibility to the lightning

[starshinedragon]

SSO MASTERMAP (unofficial)

-> Two new big locations: Jorcrater and Drakon Valley -> New smaller areas: - Old Garnok Project Site (Springvalley)- during SSL4 DC thought they found G’s prison here. - New Garnok Project Site (Summerplains)- now they found the real site of the prison. We travel to the island via boat to spy on them and find out about their plans. - Awakened Stone Circle (Summerplains)- during the events of the Summerplains storyline it lies dormant. Once the Final Battle storylines start and we open the Jorcrater, the Stone Circle awakens. The Path of the Winds leading north will lead us to the location (new small island later) of the Final Battle against Garnok.

DRAKON VALLEY

Entrance: through Wisp valley east of the Von Blyssen manor. You go through the Forgotten Tunnel and arrive in Drakon Valley: the original digsite of Dark Core (formerly Deep Core).

Land: A deep, dry valley in the Central Mountain Range. Only a handful of dying trees remain, the land is covered in oil spills, piles of unused ore and rock and broken runestones. Littered with dinosaur bones: complete skeletons, bigger and smaller bones, many broken and many used by DC as fence poles for example. Gives the valley and evil and apocalyptic look.

Story: As the final battle agianst Garnok starts, we have to learn more about Jorvik’s and G’s past to figure out a way to defeat him. We explore the valley, learn about the history of Deep Core and Dark Core, Drakonium, how they found and started to awaken Garnok.

LOCATIONS:

-> Old Deep Core Mine: has been abandoned for hundreds of years now, ever since the big accident, that trapped many miners in the deep. Even back then, many of the Deep Core leaders were serving Garnok, digging in hopes of finding something that would help set him free. They did: the accident happened when DC first found Draconium and didn’t know how explosive it was.

-> The Collapsed Tunnel: Leads to the non-horse part of Jorvik. Originally was used for transporting ores from Drakon Valley to Central Jorvik. The tunnel was collapsed deliberately after Deep Core closed because of the accident.

-> New Dark Core Mine: opened after the company restarted and got renamed. The road goes through the mountains to Central Jorvik, a big gate prevents you from going through.

-> Draconium Mine: the Old Deep Core Mine almost totally collapsed because of the Draconium explosion and the company was forced to shut down and forbidden to dig there again. More recently they found a richer Draconium spot next to the New Mine. They have gotten better at handling the volatile ore, but it is still the most dangerous working environment in Jorvik, with the most casualties happening.

-> Drakon Valley Expedition: DC lied about finding historical artifacts in the valley so they could dig unchecked. Now Nic Stoneground and his team arrive with MC and start collecting and uncovering the forgotten artifacts.

JORCRATER

Entrance: 1. South- through Winterdale from Jorwatch Druid Village. Go through the passage through the mountains and arrive in Moonstorm Village. 2. North- through Springvalley from Thistlebranch Druid Village. Go through Wispvalley and follow the river through a cave to arrive in Sunstar Village.  

Land: the whole crater is covered with the Aideenwoods, lush and green, even more full of life, than the Wildwoods. Countless wildlife, butterflies, squirrels, rabbits, deer, Jorvik Wild Horses wander in the forest. The Jordrassil tree- the heart of the island stands in the middle, surrounded by a lake, which is the origin of the Suncrown and Silversong rivers. Four hills surround the world tree, each has a small Rune Seal Stone Circle on top.

Story: After Aideen defeated Garnok, she was exhausted, didn’t have enough energy to exist anymore. She dispersed and her energy went into the island and its creatures. From her life energy a huge tree grew in the middle of the island: the Jordrassil, the magical focus for the servants of good.

LOCATIONS:

-> Jordrassil: huge tree in the middle of the lake. Four bridges from the four Rune Seal Hills lead to the trunk. Master portal of the Tree Portal fast travel system.

-> Sunstar village: half of the druid characters camp out here. Overseeing and guarding the northern half of the Aideenwoods.

-> Moonstorm village: the other half of the druid characters. Overseeing and guarding the southern half of the Aideenwoods.

[sso-mysteries]

SSO Theories & Mysteries Masterpost

Last updated: October 27, 2020

Disclaimer: Please remember that as a general rule, my posts involve spoilers for both the main and side quest storylines. If you’d rather not know, then don’t click. You have been warned!

✧ Mysteries ✧

I classify a “mystery” as an unexplained oddity within the game, be it an unusual comment from an NPC, a strange object or location, or seemingly loose story ends. These are mainly left open-ended and “unsolved”, as there tends not to be enough evidence for me to form a complete theory around.

✧ Inside the Big Top: The Cloaked Audience and a Mystery Button ✧ The Rune Stones (coming soon) ✧ The Icendell and the Ice Witch (coming soon) 

❂ Theories ❂ 

“Theories” are more developed ideas I’ve come up with regarding possible SSO updates, storylines, quests, etc. While I wouldn’t label them as “solved”, they have enough evidence for me to consider them a plausible update in the future. 

❂ Old Hillcrest, Guardian’s Dale, & Drakonium: The Connections ❂ The GED Office: It’s Back (Again), With Some Surprises! ❂ An Updated Jarl’s Tomb: The Missing Chambers   ❂ Gunnar Thrymson, aka Galloper Thompson (coming soon) ❂ Fridge Doors, the UFO, and Dark Core (coming soon)

Feel free to shoot me an ask if there’s anything else in particular you’d like to see me cover!

[centeris2]

Job: COO

Chief Operating/Operations Officer - one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, comprising part of the "C-Suite". The COO is responsible for the daily operation of the company,[1] and routinely reports to the highest-ranking executive, usually the chief executive officer (CEO).[2] The COO is usually the second in command at the firm, especially if the highest-ranking executive is the Chairman and CEO. Thank you wikipedia. So she is now Very High in GED, but not CEO.

Favorite Food: Avocado Toast

-gasp- she’s a millennial? actually yeah 34 is still in the millennial group. Maybe she’s spent time in California, maybe avocado toast is a new favorite food.

Ms. Drake runs GED’s Jarlaheim office where she oversees business operations in the Harvest Counties ranging from mining to real estate.From her perspective, she’s trying to bring Jorvik into the twenty-first century, by any means necessary. She doesn’t care if people fear her, as long as it gets results.

I... thought she was a capitalist trying to make the most money. If she was trying to bring Jorvik into the 21st century she’d be doing initiatives to make Jarlaheim more car friendly or something. Better internet, better energy connection, that sort of thing. But this makes it sounds like she’s trying to revive Jarlahiem and, uh... that does not match up to what she is doing in game.

Still, I can’t help but admire her drive. It can’t be easy being a young woman in the boardroom at a company like GED.

star stable those Rebecca x Ms. Drake fanfics were supposed to be crackship. This sounds... awfully.... nice? Here is a lady who SSO has made The Classic Evil Villain, hating kittens, doing every evil thing she can to get an extra penny, and we’re saying nice things about her?

In recognition of Ms. Drake’s role in helping GED grow from a regional energy company to a global juggernaut, the board expanded her responsibilities, letting her lead a new lifestyle beverage company called Go! Energy! Drinks!

so she got a promotion, okay, sure wish that had been clearer in the quests.  except for she still shouldn’t know that we’re not working for her, since she gives us important documents... that’s how we sabotage her... she trusts us.... there have been no quests where she finds out that we betrayed her... 

As far as Ms. Drake is concerned, bringing up Go! Water!, wolves or Raptor is a terminable offense.

what’s Go! Water! ? You just called it Go! Energy! Drinks! ? can’t you keep a name straight for a single paragraph???

Ms. Drake’s grandest initiative to date is the mining operation in Old Hillcrest where a substance dubbed “Drakonium” has been discovered. GED scientists say this new mineral has the potential to revolutionize the global energy market. Ms. Drake bet big on this new mineral, putting her career on the line.

Are we not adding that she’s teamed up with Dark Core in order to get it? Or the Herman thing? Is that just not important enough to go into her profile? Whatever, details, this is definitely going to be important. I honestly hope GED gets their hands on it before DC does because can you imagine the havoc of non magic people handling magic material? Oh my gosh it’ll be great! the chaos, the monsters, the madness!

[ssowildwest]

End of the weekend, but be of good cheer! In this exciting update our heroes fire their first shots (tw for minor gunplay) despite the ever growing menace of Drakonium and Dark Corps. Our three diplomats put their plan into action, our Madam narrowly escapes capture, and our bounty hunters make a discovery. Again.

No, the Sunfield chickens shall not make an appearance for I have no patience with those devil-birds.

@stormiesquall @sso-eden-dawnvalley @ssonorthwell @rebecawolfforest @ankle-ghostwright @uglytwinkboi @miikahima @mirandashadowborn @jinx-kitty-cat @clara-diamondsong @zdusk @esmeraldashadowlord @general-bubba @a-lonely-star-gazer @dizzy-izzy-sso @willownorthbook @fieldingfreja

[hobbithorsewhat]

"It’s because of the Drakonium that they’ve forced out all the residents of Hillcrest and started the mine here. Something happened though as their drills finally got down to the Drakonium… Something terrible…

In the middle of their celebration of finally reaching the Drakonium, a huge and violent explosion was heard deep inside the ground. The earth shook and a mysterious purple mist started to pour out of the mine. It spread all across Hillcrest and lay like a heavy blanket over the top of the rocks. All the GED people tried to escape, but not all of them made it before the mist swept over them. Nobody has heard anything from those who were left, they seemed to get swallowed up by the earth…

It’s no longer possible to see any of Hillcrest through the mist, but sometimes it’s possible to hear sad, desperate cries from below. I’ve heard them myself MC, and it’s bloodcurdling. 

All of Old Hillcrest is now lost, and there’s not a living soul to be found there anymore. The mine they built is closed, and all the staff have fled from the area. Instead of carrying on" drilling, they’ve built a huge wall around Hillcrest."

When my family makes fun of me playing a horse game for small children I show them this and I even remind myself SSO went really dark with this little story bit

[sso-mysteries]

SSO Theory: Old Hillcrest, Guardian's Dale, & Drakonium

Disclaimers: As a general rule, my posts involve spoilers for both the main and side quest lines. Keep scrolling if you’d rather not know. Also, I want to remind everyone that glitching into closed and/or locked areas of the game is against the SSO rules, and could get you banned from the game. 

ϟ ✯ ☾ ❂ ϟ ✯ ☾ ❂ ϟ ✯ ☾ ❂

Now, I know what you're thinking. You saw the title of this post and went, "Old Hillcrest, Guardian's Dale, AND Drakonium? What do those three have to do each each other?"

Well, besides the locations obvious proximity, their equally mysterious natures, and the involvement of the nefarious drilling companies GED and Dark Core?

...Exactly.

But, for those of you with a healthy dose of skepticism, let me serve up the final piece of evidence for you -- in fact, the very revelation that convinced me of the connection:

Guardian’s Dale is directly under Old Hillcrest, and the GED worksite located there.

Yep, you read that right -- directly beneath it.

Now, let me rewind a bit. In a recent video posted by SSO Movies and More, it showed them entering Old Hillcrest and running around exploring. While there wasn't much to the area except for a few abandoned GED constructions, at one point, they navigated their way down a slight path and found themselves directly above Guardian's Dale -- they were even able to jump down into it.

Here’s the link to the video. Jump to around 3:30 to see the path, and 4:00 for Guardian’s Dale. Alternatively, just click the image for better zoom quality.

Given what we already know about both Old Hillcrest and Guardian's Dale, I immediately began to theorize that the proximity of these locations was no coincidence. In the Rescue Herman arc, he tells the player that, in summary, GED managed to mine their way to the Drakonium mere hours before a massive explosion was set off, and a strange pink fog enveloped the area. Those caught in it vanished, and that sometimes, strange cries can still be heard from the area.

Now, pink has a huge association with Pandoria, and given that Guardian's Dale harbours a gateway to Pandoria, it wasn't that huge of a leap to make -- this "Drakonium" GED is after is, in fact, Pandoric in nature -- or at least, has been magically altered through constant exposure to Pandoric energies. Now, we know that magical stones and minerals tend to be rare, volatile, potentially toxic, and extremely powerful -- look at the Kallstones, or the rune-carved keystones, or the Pandoric-originating material Dark Core was using to speed up their drilling proccess in Valedale at the expense of the environment. And I have very little doubt that GED would have any problem exploiting such material for their own selfish reasons, no matter the cost to others.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, we then have the GED teaming up with Dark Core. We've already seen Mrs. Drake and Darko have a back-alley meeting (literally) on the subject of this Drakonium. At the time, I didn't really think much about it, but now that it's almost certain that Drakonium is a Pandorically-altered mineral (if not explicity from Pandoria itself), and that it's only known location is near a dimensional gateway, and that Dark Core is seeking a way to bring Garnok into Jorvik... With all this evidence stacking up, it seems clear to me that Dark Core doesn't just want this Drakonium -- they want to try and use it, and its source, to unleash Garnok. (We've already seen him partially enter Jorvik through a portal at the Secret Stone Circle, and in Ydris' circus. It follows, therefore, that under the right circumstances, he could also enter through the portal in Guardian's Dale.)

Garnok attempted to enter Jorvik through the portal at the Secret Stone Circle, with the aide of Darko. If it hadn’t been for Fripp, they likely would have succeeded.

So, here's the final rundown: GED wants Drakonium for its powerful properties, regardless of the dangers it brings (after all, who cares if the environment is destroyed or half your workers go missing, right?). Meanwhile, Dark Core wants access to it, and Guardian's Dale, to see if they can potentially harness it all to bring forth Garnok. They just happen to let GED do the dirty work -- it spares DC the effort and risk in case things go sour.

Which, of course, they do.

Exactly what happened to cause the explosion, we can only speculate. Perhaps GED tried to take the keystone itself -- hence the abandoned duffle bag and tools we see scattered about its pedestal. Or maybe the fifth statue of Nimbus had some of this Drakonium in it, and in GED's attempts to harvest the material, they mishandled it and caused the explosion (since these magical minerals do appear to be highly volatile). After all, the map’s description of Guardian’s Dale says “it seems someone blew it up on purpose.” (Although in the older description, it said “on accident”. Interesting that SSO would change it from an accident to intentional destruction.)

I spy with my little eye... tools that somebody left in a hurry

Alternatively, GED could have triggered some sort of ancient defense system or spell put in place by the Pandorians for exactly this sort of situation. I mean, we've already seen evil animated scarecrows set to guard a tree with a magic apple -- how much more powerful do you think an enchanted Pandoric protector would be?

So, whatever the exact details are, I strongly believe that the proximity of these locations, GED and DC's involvement, and the information we have from the various NPCs equate to this: GED delved too greedily and too deep. You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-- wait, sorry, wrong story. But still, the same thing applies. While we don't actually know exactly what GED awoke, they absolutely did disturb some kind of magic they shouldn't have. Dark Core, meanwhile, is sitting back and content to let GED deal with it until all the dirty work is done, and the stage is set for them to go swooping in for their own purposes.