Arc 4829: "Chains of Blood"

Arc Name: "Chains of Blood"
Arc ID: 4829
Length: Very Long (5 missions)
First Published: 4/8/2009 08:54 PM
Morality: Heroic
Description: A (very) non-canon story about the Circle of Thorns and Legacy Chain.

I made some changes to this arc tonight. A number of people complained about the Arch-Magi models, which confessedly were Bosses that behaved more like Elites. I took advantage of some of the new Magic Pack costume parts to make custom Bosses instead. The new Blood Redeemers are more challenging in some ways but don't have the huge resists and regen the old Arch-Magi did.

Because of that change, I put the fourth Redeemer back into the last mission. I also downgraded the allies in Acts I and III to Lieutenants (from Bosses) and removed the ally from Act II. The former don't need to be Bosses any more, and the latter wasn't really required by the story in the first place.

@GlaziusF

Live feedback from a low 40s DB/Fire brute on diff 2. Mission Engineer ain't gonna earn itself.

Played this once in beta, eager to see the changes.

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Heh. Is this what happens when you get trapped in an infinite jail cell loop and log off? Some other hero shows up and bails you out?

Anyway, the custom boss was custom interesting - I guess grav/emp was just too much of a pain to mow down the minions with? Anyway, good fight, kinda startled me a bit because for some reason I'd forgotten to turn on my armors (Circle are apparently just that easy)

Hmm. Is that the Midnighter- no, just one of the alternatives. A Latin-speaking Peacebringer? Or a scholar? Eh, I have the feeling this is a minor character. Nice touch with the Voids though.

Wow. Both the people I went into a Circle den to rescue are still alive? Chalk this one up for the record books.

(But why's Venture got a techno-restraint field? It makes sense for the Peacebringer but the Circle couldn't create something like that.)

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Ah, the poor doomed Legacy Chain. They get outflanked by mystic adversaries hiring mad scientists with robot armies... at least, that's how it always seems to shake out in the Rogue Isles.

Oh, haha, that patrol dialogue. Best way to take out the Legacy Chain ever - just create a drought of the mystic books they keep in short supply and let greed take its course.

Hmm. The Circle have whacked this guy upside the head one too many times. his description thinks he's Ken Kellerman!

The mental/pain guy is a lot more of a challenge. Maybe because he's got the busted version of psy shockwave?

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Okay. So now it's a mop-up operation from the previous job - grab the stolen stuff. Can do.

The system message on defeating the Ruin guy says I found some of his notes, but I've got no clue.

The Arch-Tellus is nicely rendered. (Shouldn't he be an Arch-Ember though, with the fire cages?)

I clear out the portal room looking for the glowie and then backtrack to find it tucked away in one of the nonillion tiny little alcoves dotting Oranbega. Maybe you could just roll the papers in with the boss's notes?

---

Hmm. Some ancient mages who fled the Circle rather than buy into demon pacting. Okay. But if they're so much of an afterthought, how and why did this super-elite group of mages find them in the first place?

Ah, that's how. Interesting idea, but...

Hmm.

Okay, if Cinoval is convinced this sympathetic sacrifice won't work, why does Azuria seem to think it will when I tag back to her?

(Also, showing fanatics that their ideas are patently false tends to lead to deluded fanatics, not reform.)

---

And yet he's gone to do it anyway.

Well, I guess this is more to throw 14 millennia of regrets on the fire, but still, what's he going to change?

Yep. Three out of four Redeemers are in violent, violent denial. Time to fight violence with violence! (works a lot better than fire v. fire believe you me.)

Hmm. I wonder if Azuria should be so chummy with Akarist, given that Cirnoval's diaries paint him as the head pitchman for the whole "slaughter the Mu" pact.

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Okay, the customs were pretty nice, good thematic fights without being overpowering (with the possible exception of that psi assault guy), and the detail is high-quality as high-usual.

But it does seem like Azuria isn't reading the same clues I am when I tap back for my debriefing, which is a little disorienting.

Anyway, the custom boss was custom interesting - I guess grav/emp was just too much of a pain to mow down the minions with?

The stock Arch-Magi just weren't any fun to fight. They were naiively-upscaled versions of low-level mobs, meaning they were just given a huge pile of HP and tons of regen to make them work outside their normal level range. The custom Blood Redeemers are easier to kill in terms of how much damage it takes to bring them down but provide a more interesting fight.

Hmm. Is that the Midnighter- no, just one of the alternatives. A Latin-speaking Peacebringer? Or a scholar? Eh, I have the feeling this is a minor character. Nice touch with the Voids though.

She's one of my PCs, Venture's twin sister. As far as the story is concerned she's a minor character. Latin phrases are one of her quirks; she was an art history major with an interest in the period.

(But why's Venture got a techno-restraint field? It makes sense for the Peacebringer but the Circle couldn't create something like that.)

It was a nice graphic so I used it. Nothing about it really screams "techno" to me. YMMV.

Hmm. The Circle have whacked this guy upside the head one too many times. his description thinks he's Ken Kellerman!

GHAHAHAH!! *jumps up and down* I fixed that ages ago! Or thought I did, obviously it didn't take. I fixed it again last night and it appears to have stuck.

The mental/pain guy is a lot more of a challenge. Maybe because he's got the busted version of psy shockwave?

I tried the arc last night with my 50 AR/Dev and Esiliaar gave her more trouble than the Big Bad in Act V. This was with her never being anywhere near PSW range. He's just that tough.

I clear out the portal room looking for the glowie and then backtrack to find it tucked away in one of the nonillion tiny little alcoves dotting Oranbega. Maybe you could just roll the papers in with the boss's notes?

Since I had the case open to fix the hostage in Act II, I moved the mission end Clue to Belastios' defeat Clue, removed the collection entirely and moved its Clue to the mission end Clue.

Okay, if Cinoval is convinced this sympathetic sacrifice won't work, why does Azuria seem to think it will when I tag back to her?

Her text is in there to offsent potential ethical concerns, and to remind the player he's not just pulling a Phipps, kicking the Circle in the head just to keep them down. What the Redeemers want, in principle, is not a bad thing, but they can't be permitted to pursue the method they've chosen.

Well, I guess this is more to throw 14 millennia of regrets on the fire, but still, what's he going to change?

If Cinoval hadn't sacrificed himself, defeating the Redeemers would have accomplished nothing. More of the Circle's magi would have stepped up to take their place. This way anyone who might have been willing to follow in their footsteps will see the ritual didn't work under the best possible conditions.

Hmm. I wonder if Azuria should be so chummy with Akarist, given that Cirnoval's diaries paint him as the head pitchman for the whole "slaughter the Mu" pact.

If I were telling the story of the Mu-Oranbega war, Akarist's plan would have been to get a contract with the Prince of Demons that would get Oranbega the aid they needed but with a loophole or three he could use to let them spare the non-combatants after they'd won. It would not have worked, of course: no one beats the Devil.

There are two sequel arcs I have in mind for this, one using Akarist for the Contact and the third using [NAME REDACTED]. I doubt I'll actually write them, though, as that's a lot of work for alternate continuity.

Thanks for the feedback!

The following changes apply only to the version on Test, incorporating Architect features from Issue 15 that may not go live.

The arc's ID on test is #22649. The following alterations have been made.

<ul type="square">[*]Some balance changes to the Redeemers; took Psychic Shockwave away from Esiliaar, gave Drain Psyche instead; Xanos loses Shadow Fall but gains Fearsome Stare.[*]Cavanaugh has Giant Fly Trap now; good luck getting it to stay with you though....[*]Now that we can legally add mobs below the arc's level range, battles between the Circle and Legacy Chain added to acts I and II. Given the level disparity it is likely the player will only hear them and never see them.... Legacy Chain corpses removed from Act II.[*]Act II moved to a small specific office map instead of random medium. This was necessary to add the aforementioned battles. Captor/hostage text for Keeper Randolph slightly altered as well.[/list]
If you're checking out i15 I'd appreciate feedback on the changes. Thanks in advance!

The following changes apply only to the version on Test, incorporating Architect features from Issue 15 that may not go live.

Due to a resetting of the AE database, the arc has been republished. The new ID is #215712.

<ul type="square">[*]Due to more changes in custom powers, Esiliaar now has both Psionic Assault and Pain Domination on Hard.[*]The Knight twins in Act I are allies again; text explicitly states you give them replacement Medicom beacons. (They tend to faceplant fast above CL1.)[/list]

Thanks to another reset, the arc's ID on Test has changed again to #225317. I haven't made any new changes in this patch.

Chains of Blood @DFH, arc 225317 on Test

An apocryphal story about the Circle of Thorns and Legacy Chain. Version 061609.

Custom villains and AV, but nonetheless I'll give it a shot.

The entry pop-up says I hear Legacy Chain in the distance - what exactly does that sound like? Do they have a particular battle cry or something that could be mentioned instead?
A corpse. I thought, for a moment, my goodness! It's the corpse of one of Venture's own toons, Venture or Starfall! And I was momentarily amazed and impressed at what someone would do in the name of a good story. But then it turned out to be a Legacy Chain nobody. So we're back on formula.
Found Venture and Starfall. The bios read like classic author-inserts, not entirely relevant to the plot at hand. Later, I realise Venture's bio is relevant. Perhaps could just make a reference to the plot as its known at this time, to keep them in context. At least they're both just a Lieutenant.
The kidnapper has an interesting background. That alone has me interested in continuing this arc. There's really not much else for me to go on from this first mission, but it's enough.
So the tome I collected is the key. But meanwhile I have to rescue another batch of the Chain gang from the Circle. The Chain are astonishingly bad in combat with the Circle. I actually saw one battle on the second level, but there was no way I could save them from their near-instantaneous fate.
Typo: Act III send-off: your and your -&gt; you and your
Arch-Tellus - color scheme seems a little dull, even by Legacy standards.
Okay, the Chain is related to the CoT, no major surprise there. Now I have to beat up Belastios. But it's not really explained why, I first imagined he must be a demon.
Cinoval says he'd have freed himself eventually - but he's not actually captured (or at least, not guarded).
Perhaps make Xanos a little tougher. Cinoval finished him without my help.
Final Clue doesn't seem to make sense - I did what followers did not? I drove the Envoy back to the Pit rather than let it spread its evil? Not in this arc I did not.
After defeating the altar, it says I signal for a teleport retrieval. Yet my Nav still says I have 3 Redeemers and an Entity to defeat - perhaps they should be optional?
AV is too tough for me to solo when I'm lagging, so that's it for that arc.

Overall, the characters aren't as interesting as in Blowback. Part of this is perhaps the number of characters. Cinoval seems an interesting concept, particularly the means of his demise, but still everyone reads as having very similar personalities. The Blowback guys do have the benefit of recurring more. Without completing the arc, I'm not sure what my impact was on CoH, but that might be resolved at the end. For those who can't kill the AV, perhaps the last mission could describe your potential impact before you begin...

//airhead

Arc: 379017: Outbroken See all your old friends in the Outbreak Tutorial sequel!
Arc: Coming Soon: The Incarnate Shadow Shard of Fire and Ice Mender Rednem needs you!
Massively.com opinion poll: Please Help Save CoH!

Thank you for the feedback.

The entry pop-up says I hear Legacy Chain in the distance - what exactly does that sound like? Do they have a particular battle cry or something that could be mentioned instead?

They're mentioned in the pop-up because, as you noticed, you're not too likely to actually see them in combat. Given the level disparity they tend to spontaneously combust when the battles trigger. Of course, they're supposed to.

Arch-Tellus - color scheme seems a little dull, even by Legacy standards.

Earth mage, earth colors.

Cinoval says he'd have freed himself eventually - but he's not actually captured (or at least, not guarded).

Current bug -- custom critters are running their toggles while captured. Then not running them when rescued. Cinoval's Death Shroud is killing his captors well before you get there.

Perhaps make Xanos a little tougher. Cinoval finished him without my help.

That's why Xanos spawns in the middle and Cinoval in back.

Cinoval is a powerhouse (AV) for thematic reasons: in Act V, he does not have to die. He could defeat the Redeemers, even all of them at once. It just wouldn't do any good in the long run.

Final Clue doesn't seem to make sense - I did what followers did not? I drove the Envoy back to the Pit rather than let it spread its evil? Not in this arc I did not.

He says "you and your fellow heroes of Paragon" or somesuch, recognizing that it may not have been you personally if you chose not to run "The Envoy of Shadow".

After defeating the altar, it says I signal for a teleport retrieval. Yet my Nav still says I have 3 Redeemers and an Entity to defeat - perhaps they should be optional?

I could see making the Redeemers optional, though it's not the way I'd go with them. The Avatar of Hequat has to be taken out, though. Hequat's re-entry into the world would be &lt;spengler&gt;Bad&lt;/spengler&gt;.

Overall, the characters aren't as interesting as in Blowback. Part of this is perhaps the number of characters.

Probably because the arc is more about the factions than the characters. I wanted to show my take on the Legacy Chain's origin (they don't have one in the public canon) and what I thought was an obvious "gotcha!" in the Circle's pact with Hell.

All of the above changes have been propagated to the Live version.

Feedback welcome!

Gave this a run through last night. I really liked the premise of the arc, it took the canon in a very believable direction and did so quite well. Perhaps my only relatively strange complaint was the custom CoT bosses. No problem with their powers, but their outfits seemed a bit off, perhaps by artistic intent given their purpose and plans, but their skin seemed too healthy of a color, they felt a little too short (to be fair, everyone in canon is actually too fricking tall, but meh), and the amount of skin being shown felt a bit clashing with traditional Thornish fashion sense. Just giving them a more ghastly look might be all that's necessary. There may be a reason for their healthy glow that I missed though.

5 stars in any case

Thanks for the feedback and high rating!

My intent with the Redeemers was to give them a bit of a more primitive look, as they're resorting to "blood magic", which strikes me as being a more primal form of the art. Thus the bare skin and tattoo.

I don't see any reason for them not to look healthy. I assume the Circle only steals bodies worth stealing.

I made some small text edits, nothing worth singling out. Only one comment received since i15's logging went in:

<ul type="square">[*]"I really felt the challenge level very bland. I would throw in some AV's.. I don't feel like its fun unless there is a chance I can be beaten. I ran through your arc without using an inspire, a accolade power or my tier 9 power."[/list]
I'm satisfied with the difficulty...a number of people have actually complained that it's too hard. I don't believe in "challenge" arcs in any case, since teams can steamroller anything.

I've updated this arc a little for i21. Mainly I gave some of the customs new costumes, but I did tweak the text in a few places to clear things up a little.

Comments from the recent AE superteam run:

Quote:

Solid mechanics, but it's lacking a proper hook for the player. The story is more about other things than the hero. More a history lesson than something the hero is invested in. Still an interesting addition to canon and well executed. * * * Very solidly constructed arc although it lacks a bit in the excitment and pizazz dept. Still, can't complain. * * * While it was decently written, there didn't seem to be much to actually pull the player in and relate. In some ways I think that either some hints could have been dropped sooner or perhaps the twins could have had a greter connection to everything rather than getting shoved aside after the first mission Also, mission 2 felt sort of like a waste. * * *

Thanks!

Was just reading up on the previous feedback you'd posted and noted the one about someone wanting you to add an AV.

I found it funny 'cause I had the complete opposite opinion. When we were on the last mission I made a comment to the group that I really liked the difficultly level: nothing above Boss level. I commented that I find it refreshing since it's in sync with the majority of canon arcs and most players could solo it...then we ran into the AV.

It's not that she was terribly difficult for the group, it was just the timing of it all. >.<