Lastly, we have Opealon, where the Nausicaa Incident is only the starting point in a much greater tragedy. Opealon has a new NPC, new Settlement, and a new Faction (find the links by reading through this post).
The biggest change to Opealon is the beginning of what I'll dub an 'Ongoing Saga'. Read on below to see how you can influence the future of Opealon.
“One if by land, two if by sea (three if by air)”
Much has happened to Opealon over the last few months. The City of Hope was humbled by Darksied. The World’s Arbiter found itself nearly swallowed by the corruption of the Fallen One. While great sacrifices were made to keep the World from slipping over the precipice, there are now new cracks in the foundation.
Roughly thirteen years after he fled from the City of Hope and fifteen years after the last accounts of him vanished from the oral histories of Kirden Wharf,
Andrew Ryan has ‘resurfaced’. His daydreams and dalliances from those nascent days in the Crossroads have been made whole—somewhere, the city of
Rapture lay glittering beneath the oceans of Opealon.
Scorned for his genius and ostracized for refusing to lose his individuality to the Skylanders or degrading himself living on a barge of wood and coral, Andrew Ryan, CEO of
Ryan Industries, has returned at the helm of his own monstrous armada of ADAM-infused ‘splicers’ and mechanized war machines. His goal? Dominion over the world.
As if the Unmaking wasn’t already stretching thin the morale and livelihoods of Opealon’s varied peoples, they now must contend with what has become a guerilla offensive between Ryan and what had once been the two sole ‘factions’ of Opealon. What had once simply been nighttime raids has blossomed into daytime skirmishes. Despite a common foe, Comstock and the Skylanders have gone on the record as saying that they would rather ‘burn Opealon to the ground’ (metaphorically) than debase themselves by collaborating with pirates and ‘the dreck that lives beneath.’
Now, all three sides are in open war. Kirden Wharf has become far more militarized given its de facto role as a fortified safe haven for the nomadic peoples of Opealon. The City of Hope is, somehow, even more of a military state.
Out of Character Information Drop
This faction war will be an ongoing event on Opealon that is expected to run for
at least six months. In that time frame, members will be encouraged to complete the Faction Quests provided in the Opealon World Thread. As more people participate, unique quests for both solo and groups will be unlocked, and the overall ‘tides’ of the war will shift accordingly.
If the engagement is not where we’d like it to be, we (the staff) might extend the window of time as we deem fit.
Why the thirst for engagement? This event will determine the future of Opealon. The World will not be the same at the end of this event as it is now. At the end of the conflict, one of these three factions will be the sole ‘power player’ on Opealon. One faction will be destroyed/laid low, and the other faction will essentially become a dependent of the victor (what form that takes will naturally depend on who ‘wins’).
There is no ‘right’ answer to who should win. The City of Hope is xenophobic and mostly stuck in their traditional ways, but they are also the most well-positioned in the ‘greater Crossroads’. Rapture is vicious, but there’s no telling how their technology may be used to preserve the planet in the event of another Nausicaa-type incident. Lastly, the pirates may be the most inclusive of the bunch, but who is to say their ‘culture’ might not just return to its nomadic roots after this conflict?
What do you hold dear? Individuality? Freedom? Security? Innovation? Your choice may very well decide the future of Opealon.
**
Please visit the
Opealon Information Thread for the quest prompts UP FROM THE DEPTHS (Skylanders), THE SUNKEN SEA (Pirates), LINK IN THE CHAIN (Rapture), which will allow you to influence this conflict.