Details on Dark Astoria Makeover?

Oh for Mot's sake, enough with the necroes!

It will be interesting to see what role the Circle of Thorns take in all of this. Anyone who paid close attention during the Scroll of Tielekku and surrounding story arcs, might have felt like the Circle of Thorns had become a strangely coincidental ally within Dark Astoria. They were many steps ahead of the protagonist (you). They knew that cultists were now making contact with gods that were banished by Tielekku and her allies long ago. They knew the cultists would attempt to pierce the veil in Dark Astoria. They knew both of these things before the rest of us knew, and later they eschewed our "meddling presence in matters beyond our comprehension," while they were already out there, waging a silent war, not only against those cultists, but against the Banished Pantheon itself. Not just Mot.

Think about that for a moment. It was the Circle of Thorns who never abandoned Dark Astoria, who held back the Banished Pantheon all of these years.

Of course, Mot is nothing new. This god comes up in several places as a major player. But he has never been specifically and directly linked to the coalition of gods in the Great War called the Banished Pantheon (correct me with a Paragon Wiki link if I'm wrong). At first I imagined Mot must be a card-carrying member, but I have come to wonder if he might have fallen asleep even before the Great War mentioned in the scrolls and tomes surrounding Tielekku. My reason for this? Because I could imagine the Banished Pantheon winning that war, had an entity like Mot been on their side.

Mot is SRS BSNS. But he's not the only god the cultists in Dark Astoria have been attempting to let free from exile. The easiest way to confirm this is to go running around Dark Astoria right now, pre-Issue 22. Get close enough to those Shamans and their summoning rituals, and you'll hear them calling out to a handful of different gods. Some of those gods are already semi-present via totems and aspects; but the cultists are aiming for much more obvious results.

What of these other gods? Well, some of the lore surrounding Dark Astoria suggests that some groups of Banished Pantheon cultists have begun to lose interest in them, instead focusing all of their attentions on Mot. This would jibe well with the influence Mot is reportedly capable of taking over those with susceptible or willing minds. But it doesn't necessarily jibe with all of the aspects and totems that seem to be participating in summoning rituals throughout Dark Astoria, right alongside the cultists. I'm left wondering if Mot would rather assume dominion over the Banished Pantheon, or simply eat them for breakfast, along with the rest of us.

Preferring these pleasant surprises intact, I haven't beta-tested Dark Astoria. And I likely won't stick around in this thread for long--people have forgotten the delicate art of discussing new content without spoiling it. But to get back to the point, as they say, I know one thing is certain about the Circle of Thorns. With Issue 22, they have lost the war for Dark Astoria.

ICly, how much of this could be blamed on interference by heroes is anyone's guess. It wasn't me (). When I was doing the Scroll of Tielekku arcs, I made sure my RP team took a hands-off approach to the Circle of Thorns groups we came across in Dark Astoria.

This isn't the first time this thread has wondered aloud if the Circle will retreat from Dark Astoria. But, given the scope of their setback and the details surrounding it, this is no trivial question for me. The Circle has long stood arrogant in their belief that they--and only they--stand between the Banished Pantheon and Earth. Will they retreat? Will they stand their ground? Will our ***SPOILER*** few allies within the Circle of Thorns turn more of their brethren into good guys, or will more heroes continue to turn to Demon summoning, causing history to repeat itself?