Round Table of Arkain

[Daffa]

A neat system indeed. Can't wait to get that feature huehuehue

 

[Shar Dundred]

Anyway Shar something to share on the progress of chapter 9?Something about the orcs maybe?

Of course.
The army of the Orcs will consist of more than just mere greenskins....

 

[Championfighter25]

Of course.
The army of the Orcs will consist of more than just mere greenskins....

Good to hear,waiting for that murloc weedhunter legion!

 

[Boriss]

Good to hear,waiting for that murloc weedhunter legion!

Weedsmoker boyz to the fray!
I dont think it will be just murlocs tho. They may not be there if the alliance was wrecked. Trolls on the other hand... and maybe some undead? Wonder what Krom is doing, and Edo.Exe too. Havent seen him since the death of Salomar.

 

[Championfighter25]

Weedsmoker boyz to the fray!
I dont think it will be just murlocs tho. They may not be there if the alliance was wrecked. Trolls on the other hand... and maybe some undead?

Van Durce said that Gardon prevented the murlocs and orcs making an aliiance,if only temporarily,so there is a chance they have renewed their alliance.Troll were their allies in the first orc book so there will certainly be some trolls.Undead,as in the nexus undead?I doubt it,but maybe they have made powerful necromancers from other races join them,so that is a possibility too.Maybe humans,since Vanessa may have persuaded Rangul?So many possibilities,only time will tell!

 

[Boriss]

Van Durce said that Gardon prevented the murlocs and orcs making an aliiance,if only temporarily,so there is a chance they have renewed their alliance.Troll were their allies in the first orc book so there will certainly be some trolls.Undead,as in the nexus undead?I doubt it,but maybe they have made powerful necromancers from other races join them,so that is a possibility too.Maybe humans,since Vanessa may have persuaded Rangul?So many possibilities,only time will tell!

In human book Vanessa died. At least I think so. She did die in undead book and survived in orc book. So hard to tell. There were many orc corpses incorporated into undead army. With Aridon gone Saphira couldnt have possibly taken control of all the undead. No, likely just part of it. And the rest? Who knows.

 

[Deleted member 238589]

Weedsmoker boyz to the fray!
I dont think it will be just murlocs tho. They may not be there if the alliance was wrecked. Trolls on the other hand... and maybe some undead? Wonder what Krom is doing, and Edo.Exe too. Havent seen him since the death of Salomar.

Spoiler

If there's one thing I don't like about these choices, it's that Salomar dies either way, no matter what you choose.

 

[Championfighter25]

Spoiler

If there's one thing I don't like about these choices, it's that Salomar dies either way, no matter what you choose.

Spoiler: Spoiler for Salomar

While he doesn't come back you will have a chance to get his hammer in chapter 8.It's a useful artifact item that gives 150 hitpoins and +5 to all stats.

 

[Deleted member 238589]

Spoiler: Spoiler for Salomar

While he doesn't come back you will have a chance to get his hammer in chapter 8.It's a useful artifact item that gives 150 hitpoins and +5 to all stats.

Spoiler

But you get that chancd only if he survives the first book, right?

 

[Boriss]

Spoiler

But you get that chancd only if he survives the first book, right?

Spoiler

Dunno. But I think you can get it either way. You get it in the mage order castle. Maybe someone who went for demonic Aedale in the 1st book can tell.

 

[Deleted member 238589]

Spoiler

Dunno. But I think you can get it either way. You get it in the mage order castle. Maybe someone who went for demonic Aedale in the 1st book can tell.

Spoiler

Still, it sucks that he dies either way. Kinda defeats the purpose of having a choice.

 

[Shar Dundred]

@Imperator Trust me, that choice will have an effect.
No more spoilers about this, though.

Maybe humans,since Vanessa may have persuaded Rangul?

Nah, not gonna happen. Rangul would not be convinced.

 

[Boriss]

Spoiler

Still, it sucks that he dies either way. Kinda defeats the purpose of having a choice.

Spoiler

Sometimes you have a choice and sometimes that choice is all but a lie. Some choices matter some dont. You can choose your life but you cant choose the way galaxies turn. Both can be seen in the books. I find that very nice. Makes you feel more invested into it, put your heart into the books.

Edit: okay, Shar busted this theory

 

[Championfighter25]

Nah, not gonna happen. Rangul would not be convinced.

I hope this is not part of your evil plan to trick us,because if there are humans that are fighting for the orcs for the reason i stated above i will feel very betrayed!

 

[Boriss]

I hope this is not part of your evil plan to trick us,because if there are humans that are fighting for the orcs for the reason i stated above i will feel very betrayed!

Would be your time to make Illidan meme "it was I who was betrayed"!
Back to topic however, I do agree with Shar. Human-orc hatred too deep for that sort of stuff. They would kill each other even if the demon legions were all around them.

 

[Championfighter25]

Would be your time to make Illidan meme "it was I who was betrayed"!
Back to topic however, I do agree with Shar. Human-orc hatred too deep for that sort of stuff. They would kill each other even if the demon legions were all around them.

Sometimes the hand of fate must be forced!The humans and orcs must become allies.And unleash the tides of doom upon all those who would appose them.
Ok now seriously they may not be allies with the orcs in this book,but i suspect if we chose the co-existence option in chapter 7 of the first orc book we may see them as allies in the second orc book.

 

[Boriss]

Sometimes the hand of fate must be forced!The humans and orcs must become allies.And unleash the tides of doom upon all those who would appose them.
Ok now seriously they may not be allies with the orcs in this book,but i suspect if we chose the co-existence option in chapter 7 of the first orc book we may see them as allies in the second orc book.

No chance there. Maybe if we chose co-existence in ch7 then it would be that orcs would let women and children live, but thats it. Nothing more. And even this is highly unlikely. Possibly the orcs will just shift priorities to "kill demons now will give you more time to kill humans later".

 

[Championfighter25]

No chance there. Maybe if we chose co-existence in ch7 then it would be that orcs would let women and children live, but thats it. Nothing more. And even this is highly unlikely. Possibly the orcs will just shift priorities to "kill demons now will give you more time to kill humans later".

The co-existence option is the most possible story changing option you will chose in the orc campaign,i doubt Shar would waste it like that.
You may be right,but at least i would like this choice to have more meaning.Only time will tell though.

 

[LISBOAH]

The co-existence option is the most possible story changing option you will chose in the orc campaign,i doubt Shar would waste it like that.
You may be right,but at least i would like this choice to have more meaning.Only time will tell though.

You are right, coexistence would be a very good option but the orcs will most likely only consider it if they are really desperate. The hatred between orcs and humans has been going for centuries most likely and it will be difficult to let it go. The elder members like Rangul and Zairmak will the most difficult, and Rangul has quite a grudge towards imperials too.

 

[Championfighter25]

You are right, coexistence would be a very good option but the orcs will most likely only consider it if they are really desperate. The hatred between orcs and humans has been going for centuries most likely and it will be difficult to let it go. The elder members like Rangul and Zairmak will the most difficult, and Rangul has quite a grudge towards imperials too.

I would really like to know though how did this hatred exactly begin?What are the orcs's exact origins?Did the humans take land that was their?Is that from where this hatred began?Well we will either have to wait for the second orc book or a orc spin-off campaign to find out.

 

[LISBOAH]

I would really like to know though how did this hatred exactly begin?What are the orcs's exact origins?Did the humans take land that was their?Is that from where this hatred began?Well we will either have to wait for the second orc book or a orc spin-off campaign to find out.

I bet it is a story as old as time. The two races find each other for the first time and quickly hated each other: the humans most likely saw orcs as savages and the orcs saw humans as weaklings. It was only a matter of time until they started fighting. The orcs saw human towns as easy targets for their raids and started pillaging them, and the humans began hunting them down like animals.

 

[Shar Dundred]

I would really like to know though how did this hatred exactly begin?What are the orcs's exact origins?Did the humans take land that was their?Is that from where this hatred began?Well we will either have to wait for the second orc book or a orc spin-off campaign to find out.

I bet it is a story as old as time. The two races find each other for the first time and quickly hated each other: the humans most likely saw orcs as savages and the orcs saw humans as weaklings. It was only a matter of time until they started fighting. The orcs saw human towns as easy targets for their raids and started pillaging them, and the humans began hunting them down like animals.

Legends say that the Orcs hail from another continent and then spread all over the kingdoms. But not even the oldest Orcs can tell, if that's the true or the Orcs have been here all the time, just like the other races.
But it is known that the united clans attacking absolutely everything and everyone they met and conquered a large territory. It did work for a while, but not long. The other races, especially the Demons, who were very angry about that insult, brought the fight to them and massacred half of the green skins.
The Orcs had to retreat and lost much of their territory. The only reason, why half of them are still there, is that their enemies fought among each other as well.
The Orc Clans allied with the Trolls, to increase their strengh, but still didn't manage to gather an army, that was comparable to their old numbers. Since they weren't able to begin their another huge conquest, the clans stopped working together and some old rivalries amongst the clans became important again.

=)

 

[Championfighter25]

The part where it says that not even the oldest of orcs can tell if this is true makes their complete backstory uncertain.What if on their continent that they hail from humans lived and the orcs pushed them out,those humans landed on the continent of Arkain,formed the Zyainor empire by enslaving the other humans already living there,orcs later lost their home continent for unknown reasons,decided to land and make the continent of Arkain their new homeland,began attacking everything and then we know the rest of the story.
I know this theory is 100% incorrect,but that's the good thing with uncertainty,you can make what ever you like out of it!=)

 

[LISBOAH]

=)

So basically Shar the orcs have always been a bunch of warmongers and bloodthirsty brutes that enjoy pillaging and killing and despite having been severely punished for such lifestyle many times they never learned.

 

[Championfighter25]

So basically Shar the orcs have always been a bunch of warmongers and bloodthirsty brutes that enjoy pillaging and killing and despite having been severely punished for such lifestyle many times they never learned.

And he says they have changed....the irony!
The thing that saddens me the most is that no matter how much they have changed we will defeat them,of course if Shar doesn't give them divine armour on their buildings,heroes,units and chaos damage,then is guess we will be screwed ourselves!

 

[LISBOAH]

And he says they have changed....the irony!

Their brains are too short to have enough space to accept changes. Basically Vanessa is talking to a whole race of walls

Only time and Shar will tell if they eventually learn from their mistakes before it is too late.

 

[Championfighter25]

Their brains are too short to have enough space to accept changes. Basically Vanessa is talking to a whole race of walls

Only time and Shar will tell if they eventually learn from their mistakes before it is too late.

Why do i have some kind of feeling that Shar will pull off that they were once a peaceful race and then they became warmongers?I just know it!
Vanessa will have as much of a chance to persuade them as let's say Thrall has a chance of making Grom Hellscream stop hating humans!Yep,sort of impossible if you think about it!

 

[Shar Dundred]

Spoiler: The Orcs

The Orcs had to find new allies - strong allies, trustworthy allies.
There are also some changes at the leadership.
And then there is Vanessa...

 

[Tuwnew]

Spoiler

Orcs allied Demons. Plot twist

 

[LISBOAH]

Why do i have some kind of feeling that Shar will pull off that they were once a peaceful race and then they became warmongers?I just know it!
Vanessa will have as much of a chance to persuade them as let's say Thrall has a chance of making Grom Hellscream stop hating humans!Yep,sort of impossible if you think about it!

Thrall was a orc raised by humans, but escaped and proved himself worthy of joining his race.

Vanessa is a human raised by orcs, and the only reason she was not mistreated was because of Rangul. And trying to convince Rangul's son made her be seen as untrustworthy, or even more untrustworthy. I think she has more chances of convicing the humans than convicing the orcs.

 

[Shar Dundred]

@Jaina23: That would be rather amusing, but no.

Btw @Boriss: It was never stated that Vanessa would be dead in the Human Book - in fact,
she has never even been mentioned anywhere in any Human Book so far.

 

[Championfighter25]

Spoiler: The Orcs

The Orcs had to find new allies - strong allies, trustworthy allies.
There are also some changes at the leadership.
And then there is Vanessa...

Spoiler

Although you won't spoil it,do these allies include:
1.Ogres
2.Even more trolls
3.Murlocs
4.Those female orcs(aka the cliffhunter clan i think they were called)
5.Gnolls
6.A few strong necromancers that were formerly part of Aridon's forces
7.Golems(i'd love to hear another golem rant from those footmen)
and others

It was never stated that Vanessa would be dead in the Human Book - in fact,
she has never even been mentioned anywhere in any Human Book so far.

Didn't Gardon sort of change her as a person to realise the humans should be spared?And did he give her an amulet,because i remember something like that?Im talking about the orc book.

 

[Shar Dundred]

I am actually going to post a screenshot with "some" of these allies at some point.

Didn't Gardon sort of change her as person?

That was in the Orc Book, yes.

 

[Boriss]

@Jaina23: That would be rather amusing, but no.

Btw @Boriss: It was never stated that Vanessa would be dead in the Human Book - in fact,
she has never even been mentioned anywhere in any Human Book so far.

Yeah youre right. Checked human book. Sooo... shes live in human book then? Will she appear? Any big revelation in chapter 9?

 

[Colonel Aster]

It's almost the 1st, time to release that arkanian Q & A

 

[Championfighter25]

It's almost the 1st, time to release that arkanian Q & A

Just to clarify,questions will be accepted untill the 1st of september,the Q&A will be released during the first few days of the month,so you will have to wait just a little bit longer.

 

[Deleted member 238589]

Spoiler: About Vanessa - Orc Book Spoilers

Vanessa is that girl adopted by Rangul, right? I guess it makes sense she's not mentioned in the human book. Everyone was probably assumed dead after Rangul's raid, and she only faced human adversaries when she found the knights of kome, if I'm not mistaken. It's been a while since I've played Orc and Undead book.

 

[Championfighter25]

Spoiler: About Vanessa - Orc Book Spoilers

Vanessa is that girl adopted by Rangul, right? I guess it makes sense she's not mentioned in the human book. Everyone was probably assumed dead after Rangul's raid, and she only faced human adversaries when she found the knights of kome, if I'm not mistaken. It's been a while since I've played Orc and Undead book.

Spoiler

Yep,the exact same.In the undead book she dies,because they couldn't save her in time during the siege of the castle of KOME mission,just a little reminder if you forgot about that too.

 

[Deleted member 238589]

Yep,the exact same.In the undead book she dies,because they couldn't save her in time during the siege of the castle of KOME mission,just a little reminder if you forgot about that too.

Spoiler

You should add the spoiler tag when discussing this. So her death is not canon, as least in Orc Books, right?

 

[Shar Dundred]

Spoiler: Vanessa

She only died in the Undead Books.

 

[Colonel Aster]

Blake asks :

" Will we get to see the representatives of the other kingdoms like Solara, and whichever ones are still left standing "

 

[Championfighter25]

@Colonel Aster I think the kingdom is named Salria if im not mistaken.
And that question is more suited for Arkain question time,which questions should not be posted here.

 

[lekxman22]

I played undead book zillion times and i didnt saw that vannesa died lol

 

[Championfighter25]

I played undead book zillion times and i didnt saw that vannesa died lol

Spoiler

It's shown in the ending cutscene of chapter 8 that she died and she is even an ally in chapter 9,so next time pay a bit more attention.

 

[Boriss]

fanfic: Oh, now I know why we will not see Larine any time soon, shes crossing Salana and having fun with Vanessa! That redhead is too hot for her own good.
Shar must have his grin from ear to ear reading this

 

[Shar Dundred]

ATQ Update:
I am currently working on the list of questions, replying, sorting, editing...
It could take a while.

The last AQT had 34 questions - and that is the number of questions where the duplicates
and too spoiler-heavy questions have been sorted out.
I just finished sorting out the current ones and we have more than 130 questions left.

 

[Boriss]

ATQ Update:
I am currently working on the list of questions, replying, sorting, editing...
It could take a while.

The last AQT had 34 questions - and that is the number of questions where the duplicates
and too spoiler-heavy questions have been sorted out.
I just finished sorting out the current ones and we have more than 130 questions left.

Gonna have several hours long video for that it seems
Fingers pressed that it all goes smoothly. Eager to hear from you Shar!

 

[Colonel Aster]

Don't worry, you can answer questions pretty fast, at least 50 questions an hour, so it would take roughly 2.25 hours to complete, assuming you're up for the task

 

[Shar Dundred]

[simpletable="Ladies and gentleman,
Humans and Elves,
Orcs and Dwarves,
Demons and Undead,
Recruits and veterans of Arkain,
Creatures of all kinds,"]Today, I'm bringing to you:
The Second Arkain Question Time!
In the hidden tab below, you will find answers to many questions you've sent me about the Legends of Arkain. I thank everyone who has sent me some questions.
I couldn't answer each question, of course, since some contained spoilers I didn't want to publish at this point.
However, this includes some pretty heavy spoilers regardless.

The amount of questions is huge, it is 130 in total, so I hope you've brought some time with you.
They questions have also been seperated in different categories to make reading them easier.

Enjoy!

Arkain Question Time

UNIVERSE

1) Will you someday show the geography of the world of Arkain?
When I have the time for it, maybe.
It isn't on any of my priority lists, to be honest.

2) How big is the continent of Arkain? Is it roughly the size of Europe or way smaller than that?
I would say, even more than that. Around the size of Europe + Russia.
Keep in mind that the demonic realm behind the Void is included in this and that is a gigantic realm.

3) How much is the population of the entire Arkain continent if we exclude the undead and demons?
Same answer as for the size of the continent.

4) Are there other continents in the planet of Arkain,expect of course the continent where the Human Empire is on?
Yes.

5) Did the ''Behind the Scenes of Arkain'' cinematic turn this entire series into a snuff film?
It wasn't before?

6) Did the story ever have an entirely different script than the version we have now?
Well, at the very beginning of the campaign creation (2012), I had intended to have the players decide who would be the traitor. It would have been a choice between Gardon and Genethas. So, like, if you side if Genethas, you don't just fight Gardon, you actually would have had him BECOME the traitor.
As you can imagine, this would have changed the Second Human Book TREMENDOUSLY.
I cannot tell you what it would be like today, as the idea has been there loooong before the script of the Second Human Book had been finished - or even properly started.
I think that Blen even would still have been a main character.

7) If you had to make a "good" and "bad" time-line in each of the books, what choices should one make, and what side quests should be/not be completed to get the "worst" outcome and the "best" outcome?
I cannot do that. There simply is no "best" or "worst" outcome.

8) Is there any meaning to the name of the series or to any designation in the Legends?
No, there is none, sorry to disappoint you.

FIRST BOOKS

9) Will you make major updates to the First Books?
Yes, but don't ask for a schedule, though.
I have millions of things to do with Arkain before I can be satisfied.

10) Were there any other missions that were interesting in concept (just like Krom killing chieftains metal gear solid style)that you scrapped from all the campaigns?
Yes, there was a mission in the Orc Book about Vanessa infiltrating a Human village after a base of hers got ambushed & destroyed by the Knights of Kome. There she would, for the first time in her life, really see Humans as they were outside of battle. At the end of that mission, she would have been captured by the Knights of Kome and then brought to Gardon.
The chapter idea was scrapped because it would have been a run-around-and-do-nothing mission that doesn't really evolve the story too much. Also, I decided to change her character a different way.

11) Do all 3 stories connect with each other in a "canon" time-line? The reason why I ask, is that in both the undead and human book you can kill Sasrogarn, while in the orc book he lives.
No, they don't.
There are several events that overlap or happen in all stories, like the Imperials being defeated by the Orcs who are then overrun by the Demons, but there isn't a real "canon" timeline.

12) Are there any chapters that are so unsatisfying you want to rework them?
Chapter Four and Chapter Two of the First Orc Book.
The latter isn't "unsatisfying", though, I just want to give the story there an overhaul.

13) So when did Dogran REALLY die? I mean in the Human Book we see him die in the temple, while in the Orc Book we see him get killed by Aridon.
It is as you said. In the Human Book he died in the temple, in the Orc Book Aridon killed him.
There is no canon.

14) What happened to the Undead Guardian that was protecting the Demon Artifact that got absorbed by Aedale?
Depending on the player's choice he either died or brought the Demon Eye to a new hideout and guards it.

15) Was Selior Cleavehand supposed to play a bigger part in an earlier script of the story?
In a very, very early script of the story, yes.
It was scrapped soon, however - ever since that, he started eating lots of ice cream and cries all day.
We tried to kill him, but he returned as a ghost and still ate ice cream.
This is a Behind the Scenes reference, btw, in case you were wondering.

16) Does Saphira know that Rahandir killed her?
Yes, she remembers everything that happened.
However, she also knows that the Orc raiders would have caught her regardless.
That makes no sense for you? Wait for the update to the First Orc Book! ;-]

17) Why did Aridon the Watcher allow Largoth to be in the undead army? Didn't he see it coming that he would betray them?
He did see it coming, but Largoth had been very useful for Aridon, so he had decided to, temporarily, keep him.

18) How/When did Vanessa die in the Undead Book? She was alive at the end of the Orc Book.
In the Undead Book, Sasrogarn arrived to late to save her - she died in Castle Kome, killed during the siege by the knights.

SECOND BOOKS

19) Will there be a happy ending to all books?
That depends on your definition of "happy ending".
If it is "EVERYTHING will be good, EVERYONE will live happily ever after", you will be disappointed.
This is war, people die.

20) Will the Dark Entity be revealed?
Yes, maybe even sooner than you expect!

21) Are we going to see more to the Forgotten faction or the red orcs (Moghtar)?
Yes and yes.

22) Will you ever make the human emperor Theodor the Second make a cameo appearance?
He will appear in the Epilogue of the Second Human Book.

23) Are we going to see dragons (besides undead frost wyrms) in the following books ?
Yes.

24) Will we fight in the Void?
The void is the border/rift, not the lands.
You cannot fight inside a bottomless rift.
If you want to know if you bring the fight to the realm of the Demons behind the void... Time will tell.

25) Will you add even more choices that change the gameplay,not just the dialogue in this and the other Second Books?
Some choices will affect gameplay as well, yes.
In fact, I have quite some plans for a system that allows you to choose your own army more.
I plan to experiment with that in the Second Orc Book.

26) Are the different factions like Golden Guard and Ironfist going to get their own skins and models for their buildings?
I had considered that, but I decided against it for two reasons.
a) I couldn't really find building sets that I considered suitable for the factions.
b) It would require much more work for tech trees regarding units, upgrades and buildings – more than I deemed it worth it.
The same can also be applied to all other factions and races.

27) How long do we need to wait for the release of the full version of Second Human Book?
I am not working on a schedule, so no idea.
I want to finally finish it in 2017, though.

28) Is van Durce a good guy that is just misunderstood?
Well... *He* thinks he is a good guy...
To be fair, he is mostly just following his orders, though.

29) Will we see Zarin Hammerfall return?
Very soon, yes!

30) Does Brian's ring hold great secrets and the truth about him?
Brian's ring is a memory to remind him of the life he once had, his family, his mortality, his humanity, his personality and him... being alone.

31) When will you release chapter 8?
I am pretty sure I already released it. ;-]

32) When will you release Chapter 9?
I have no set schedule to finish my stuff, it is a hobby, I am unable to set a schedule.
I release the maps when they are done and have been tested.

33) Does Gardon want to get the princess of Kerrel for his wife?
Nope, he has other marriage plans.

34) What is Aridon's true status on the Second Human Book?
Everything is going according to plan.

35) Will we know more about the relationship between Brian and Aridon?
MUCH more!

36) Is Gardon suspicious of Brian?
Yes, but he trusts Brian more than he would trust others.

37) Will you reveal how Gardon and Brian met and how Brian tutored him?
Yes.

38) Why does Brian keep such a huge part of his secrets to himself?
There are things he cannot reveal to Gardon as of yet as Gardon has other things to focus on.

39) Why did the Golden Guard decide to kill Blen Greymoore and only imprison Harmos and Aedale?
He was tortured to death, not outright killed.
Aedale was pretty safe because the Golden Guard wouldn't dare touch the daughter of Duke Redfist - unless of course said daughter would be allied with Gardon, like Cora.
Then they would simply have blamed the rebels for her death. Aedale however, was in custody - and her father knew that.
There was no way of freeing her without him knowing it was the Golden Guard. And no one, not even the arrogant van Durce, would want Redfist as his enemy.
Harmos on the other hand would have suffered the same fate as Blen if he hadn't been freed.

40) Will Lord Thanok be playable?
Evil always finds its way.

41) Why didn't Saphira want to fulfil Aridon's last wish?
What makes you think that Aridon had a last wish?

42) What's Rahandir going to do with the two half-blood children of Queen Renova?
Now, that would be too much of a spoiler, wouldn't it?
I can tell, though, you that he won't kill or even harm them.

43) Are we going to learn what Thanok really is?
You are going to learn more about Thanok, yes.

44) Why didn't Gardon or Thanok brainwash Scarlett Retka rather than wasting her as a potential ally in the case he chose Cora?
Cora wouldn't have accepted with Scarlett either way - in addition, neither she nor anyone else needs to know too much about the amulets. That would have made her leave as well – on more hostile terms.

45) Are we going to see Lord Brian demonstrate his true power in the Second Human Book ?
He won't have to.

46) We haven't seen the Dwarves so far in the Second Human Book, where are they?
In battle against the Demons - mostly at the borders of their own realms.
You will see them.

47) Is the Kasrkin commander that appeared in the interlude death of a legend the same that appeared in chapter 1 of the first human book?
Yes, he is.
This particular Kasrkin Commander is the leader of the Kasrkin - before Blen's death he was his second-in-command.
Before you ask: No, you didn't kill him in Chapter Eight of the First Undead Book. That was another commander.

48) Will we get a chapter in the Second Human Book where fighting on the sea will be a main part of it?
The final mission will feature both a navy battle AND a land battle.

49) Who is Salana going to marry?
Salana isn't going to get married.

50) If Aridon had future vision how come he didn't see the ambush coming?
He did see everything that was coming his way.

51) How many members of the Redfist family are alive and are we going to see any of them?
Counting the ones you have already encountered in person, you will see five in total in the Second Books.
Six family members still alive at this point. There used to be more.

52) Is it mainly the players fault that best daddy of the entire universe, since the birth of earth Duke Volarian Redfist ''the Tyrant'' is such a bad person – if he actually is a bad person?
A certain action commited by the player may have turned him into "the Tyrant", if he really is one.
If he is no tyrannical character, then a certain action commited by the player will have left a mark on his poor soul.
He is a rather tragic character, actually and will make players feel bad for a certain past deed they have committed.

53) Are we going to learn more about Vanessa's history and heritage?
Apart from being adopted (or actually stolen) and raised by Rangul?
Yes.

54) Will Vanessa be a main character or play a bigger role in the Second Orc Book?
She will play a bigger role, yes, but that isn't too hard in the first place, to be honest.
She wasn't really that important in the First Orc Book to begin with.

55)In your trailer for the Second Books appeared a female troll. Will there be troll heroes for us to control in the Second Orc Book?
Yes, there will be at least one - the female dark troll you have seen in the trailer.
I think she was no dark troll in the trailer, but she is.

56) Are the Murlocs going to be playable in the Second Orc Book?
They will appear, but it is not certain yet if they will be playable.

57) Since we now know that Orcs can ally with Murlocs and Trolls, are we going to see them having Ogres or other creatures as allies in the future?
There will be more races they will ally with, yes.

58) Will we get to know more about the Dark Elves in the Second Undead Book?
MUCH MUCH more!

59) If Aridon died during the final mission of the Undead Book will that have serious consequences on the Second Undead Book?
First off, it will change dialogue regarding Ornasion.
Apart from that, yeah, you will get a punch in the face in the first mission already.
I am not kidding.

60) Are the Dark Elves and Driders undead, or are they alive and just allies with the Undead?
They are not undead.
More about them will be revealed when the time is right.

CHARACTERS

61) What character did you base character XY on?
I am not using templates to create my characters.
There will always be similarities to other characters from other universes, that is inevitable, but I do not base my characterson existing ones. I create them from scratch and form their personality myself.
Sure, certain stereotypes or other things might influence them, i. e. I want Renald van Durce to be a rather disliked character, so I make him as arrogant as possible - in the bad way.
Blen on the other hand was the paradigm, the one every soldier wanted to be like - and still a plain character who wasn't too interesting. That, however, allowed more freedom with choices made by him.
I think I have been quite successful with that so far.

62) Who is your favorite character of them all (on Arkain)?
I cannot answer that with just one character, I like many characters I created.
Gardon, Rahandir, Aridon, Krom, Brian, Scarlett, Vail, Zairmak, many others.
In a way, I would even say that I like van Durce because I made him such an arrogant asshole.
I like every character who turns out to be exactly what I want the character to be.
I think that's also because, unlike you guys, I don't have to fight them on the battlefield. :-]

63) Is there a favourite character which is not obvious and are any characters related to real life events, especially pertaining yours?
Despite me not having a real favorite character, as I mentioned before, I will say that I really like Scarlett, but that is mostly because I have created her very long ago for something not Arkain-related and pretty much then decided to move her into the Arkain universe. She is kinda nuts and I like that a bit too much. Wouldn't recommend her to be your girlfriend, though.
Interestingly, her character is only about one and a half month younger than the Legends of Arkain thread, so almost the same age.
No characters are related to anything in real life, not mine, not anyone else's. At least not on purpose.

64) Was Gardon's father a high ranking member of the Imperial Army or a high ranking political member?
He was a very high ranking politician.

65) What is Lord Brian's age?
That's a difficult question to answer for reasons too much of a spoiler to explain...
Let's just say that he is older than Rahandir.

66) Is Brian close to Aridon in terms of power?
Brian is powerful, but still far away from the true extent of Aridon's power.

67) Is Lord Brian the Dark Entity?
No.

68) Is Merlon Seabright actually @Arowanna?
Nope.

69) Does Merlon like sand?
Yeah, but he prefers the sea over almost everything.
If he was @Arowanna, he would like @San, however! :-]

70) What is the name of Merlon Seabright's flagship?
He has no flagship currently, the Undead destroyed it along with the rest of the fleet not too long ago, as you might remember (First Books).

71) Did Ebira fulfil the wish of Genethas, did he become king of all demon slaves?
He is the leader of the slaves now, yes, but he still became a slave himself.

72) Why is it that Rangul doesn't think that there might be more humans that are like Vanessa, and since she could become a part of the clan, maybe others like her, or maybe people who are better, can join to?
Vanessa has been raised by the Orcs, and still is hardly accepted by most.
There are no other Humans who have been raised by an Orc.
In addition, him seeing certain Ironfist tools (like Merlon's amulet) - with Rangul being unable to see the difference between Ironfist and any other Humans apart from the Ironfist being more dangerous enemies than other Humans - increased his distrust.

73) What was Aridon before he turned into an archlich?
You mean, what was Aridon before he turned into an undead?
He has never really been anything else. He is, in fact, the very Avatar of Death.
For more information about that, read this.

74) What is Krom's backstory? What was he before he became Undead?
Krom was among the first to be raised as Undead to serve Aridon.
He used to be an Arkainian, a member of the very first race of Arkain. He was an extremely skilled assassin who defied the gods when they started waging war on each other, not wanting to participate in that conflict. He was slain for his denial and later reanimated by Aridon.

75) Is Aridon the oldest being in the Arkain universe?
One of the oldest.
If you add his time as a living being and the time between his death and his reanimation as an Undead, though, Krom would be the oldest. Krom was born before Aridon.

76) Who is the oldest servant of Aridon?
Krom.

77) What does Rahandir prefer? Coffee or soda?
Neither, he is dead, he doesn't drink anything.

78) Since Rahandir is familiar with Gardon's magic that he uses to control his troops,can he dispell it?
Gardon uses no magic to control his troops, he uses on certain individual officers.
Several regiments under his command are absolutely fanatical in their service to him without wearing the amulets.
Anyway, going back to the question if he can dispell it:
Under certain circumstances.

79) What are the names of the 3 Bonelords?
Here are not only their names, but also their primary attributes:
Kasresh (Strength), Rogthil (Agility) and Sha'thar (Intelligence).

80) If Sir Edoarus was brought back decades ago by Aridon,considering the Voidwar ended 20 years ago, why didn't we see or hear of him during the First Undead Book?
He simply wasn't involved in the major events so far.

81) Why does Sir Edoarus have a disdain for paladins?
As living Human, Sir Edoarus the Executioner was executing everyone who had broken the law - regardless WHAT law it was. In his mind, there was no place for mercy or redemption for criminals.
Paladins considered him a cruel monster with no sense of honor. However, he has no special disdain for them.
In fact, after his death, Sir Edoarus developed a disdain for most living beings.

82) Are Largoth and Lisara serving the Demon Legions or they're serving someone else?
They are not serving any of the legions.

83) Will Progaderas return ever again or did we permanently kill him?
Progaderas will never die.
Poor bastard will keep getting killed over and over again, though - and be pissed about it.

RACES AND FACTIONS

84) What is your favorite race on Arkain?
I want to say Demons, but I haven't given them enough love yet to claim that.
So, Undead.

85) Can Pale Elves and Elves "intermingle"?
Theoretically, yes.
Isn't going to happen, though.

86) Can Elves and Humans "intermingle"?
As the Emperor and Queen Renova have proven, yes.

87) Can succubi "intermingle" with mortal races?
Theoretically, yes.
(Yes, I really got three questions like that.)

88) Is there anyone who can resist the dark magic of Gardon's amulet?
Orcs cannot be controlled, not by magic, not by Demons, not even by Aridon himself.
The will of the Undead is bound to their masters', so it doesn't affect them.
The masters of the Undead are too powerful to be controlled by amulets.
Powerful beings could find means to resist it as well.
It also doesn't work on animals.

89) Who is stronger: Golden Guard, Kasrkin or Ironfist?
The Kasrkin have been weakened a lot, they are no match for either in their current state.
While Gardon and the Ironfist have grown a lot in power recently, the Golden Guard would, if you combine the forces on both continents, still destroy them with relative ease. Even Gardon cannot win when outnumbered like 10,000 to 1.

90) When the war ends how many Elves will die? Will it be enough to make an entire continent of elven bones?
I think that even if you killed all Elves, both military and civilian, there wouldn't be enough bones for that.
Would have to consult Krom on that, though, he is the specialist.

91) Are there Dark or Pale Dwarves?
No.
If you want to play as Dark Dwarves, you will have to wait until Creative Assembly adds the Chaos Dawi to one of their Total War: Warhammer games.

92) A question about the human faction referred to as "the Demon Slaves". What makes them slaves? Are they mind controlled, or are they referred to as such out of disrespect for their allegiance with the demons? Lord Genethas is promised something in exchange for his service, but not mind controlled. Are the "demon slave" factions willingly siding with the demons, or are there cases of the mind control and willing allegiance?
There are several different cases here.
There are those who have been captured and tortured until their minds were broken, turned into slaves.
Others have been seduced with promises of power, wealth or with fulfilling any of their wishes, like Genethas, and have willingly joined the Demons, being put under mind control in a more subtle, but still extremely powerful way.
There are also those who have grown up in a society controlled by their demonic overlords who have been indoctrinated with the directive to serve the Demons until death form their very birth.

93) If we take Gardon's armies and the royal army do they outnumber the Undead or the Golden Guard?
Undead
There is absolutely nothing that can outnumber the Undead since Aridon has been collecting the countless dead on Arkain. However, he cannot use all of them at the same time to defeat his enemies because by doing so, he would give all other races a common enemy to focus all their efforts on.
This could lead to two different scenarios:
a) The Undead defeat the mortal races, but weaken them so much that they will all go extinct sooner or later.
b) The mortals would defeat the Undead since even the Undead cannot fight against EVERYONE ELSE at the same time, especially since the mortal races, yes, even the Orcs, would be smart enough to focus on the Undead instead of attacking each other. It wouldn't be an "alliance of all mortals", but it would make them stop fighting against each other for a while. Even the Undead could be crushed then.
Aridon neither wants all mortals to go extinct nor does he want to see the Undead crushed, so he will never use the entirety of his forces.
Golden Guard
They would at least outnumber the Golden Guard that is currently on the continent, but if you add the Golden Guard from the Empire's home continent beyond the Great Sea.... No way.

94) How did Trolls and Orcs meet each other?
After the Orcs had been defeated by the Demons and hunted by the Humans after the Orcs' arrival on Arkain (very very long ago), they met the Forest Trolls. The two races weren't too different from each other, they both were hunted and killed by the other races. Their alliance was one of convinience.
The Forest Trolls started getting used to be led by Orcs and the Orcs considered them as equals, so that Trolls became part of the different Orc Clans.

95) Why is it hard for the Undead to manipulate the Orcs?
The Orcs' nature forbids them to be manipulated or controlled, not even Aridon or the Dark One could control them. They can be tricked, of course, like everyone else, but you will never see an Orc become a slave of anyone else – not even the Demons.

96) Do most Undead in Arkain become feral when they have no master?
Unlike Blizzard, I have not forgotten that Undead will simply lose their (un)life if they lack a master or at least some sort of power source to keep them alive.
Since they are no zerg, they will not become feral.

97) Will we get to know more about Nerubians in general?
Not anytime soon.

98) Will there be another demon legion?
There are many different legions.
Several more will appear too, but due to it being the most powerful and numerous one now, the Souleater Legion is the one you will see the most.

99) Just like in Warcraft lore do Demons in Arkain have to be killed in they're own realm (aka the Void) to permanently die?
The Void is not the realm of the Demons.
The Void is the unnatural border (a literal rift leading into nothing but emptiness) to the realm of the Demons.
And no, you don't have to kill them there to kill them permanently.
They are an actual race (or group of races, if you want to put it that way) that is extremely powerful and has a high reproductive rate with gigantic population.
They aren't summoned into the world of Arkain, they LIVE ON Arkain - behind the Void.

100) Is the Dark Entity also manipulating the Demons?
Yes, it is.

101) Which demon is stronger in Arkain: Pit Lord, Demonlord or Dreadlord?
The Dreadlord is the most powerful – keep in mind that this doesn't refer to physical strength.
Then comes the Pitlord, then the Demonlord.

102) Who is the leader of the Demon Legions?
The Legions have had no single master since the death of the Demon God.
Every legion is being led by its most powerful dreadlord.
Kersidar is the leader of the Souleater Legion, Ornasion used to be the leader of the Blooddrinker Legion and Erganoth is the leader of the Darkblade Legion.
There are far more legions and leaders, ofc.
In the Demons' eternal struggle for power, the Blooddrinker Legion managed to become the most powerful legion by sheer force, led by Ornasion. The Souleater Legion was close behind, however it didn't want to risk a war with the Blooddrinker Legion and therefore accepted them as the leaders of the invasion force.
Now that Ornasion has been defeated, Kersidar and his Souleater Legion are in charge.

103) Are all Demon Legions allies?
Not really.
The most powerful legion will always try to take control of the less powerful ones.
"Most powerful" doesn't just mean the number of soldiers, however.
Every high-ranking demon acts as a politican of high standing for his legion. He or she has a high number of different assets at his or her disposal to increase his power and the power of his legion. The Demons are not as united as they seem, sometimes a demon would weaken his own legion's interests to accomplish his own goals.
However, there is one goal, one ultimate goal, that all Demons, no matter the rank, no matter the alignment, no matter the personal interests, share: The survival of their race and their independence.

104) Are the murlocs and nagas in this story the same race? You know since when you click on a naga in the Second Human Book it calls them a murloc.
There are no naga in Arkain. The creature you have seen was a Murloc Mammoth.

PLANS

105) What comes after the Second Human Book?
For some time, it was planned to make the Second Undead Book afterwards.
However, after some consideration, we decided to return to the original order:
Humans--->Orcs--->Undead

106) Will you add a anti-demon type unit?
I am sure there are some units that can be considered anti-demon, but apart from that, no.

107) Can we have a Gardon face reveal?
If someone can draw a fitting face for him, maybe.
*I* can't.

108) What can we expect from the spin-off campaigns? What will they be about?
You can expect many stories taking place in the Arkain universe.
These stories will mostly take place in the time after the Second Books, but there are also considerations to do at least one taking place before even the First Books.
That is not certain as of yet, however.
For stories taking place after the Second Books, well, I already have lots of ideas!

109) When will you feature the Kingdom of Salria to make it full circle?
When the time is right.

110) Will those Ares knights and Bloodfist units we saw in Chapter Five of the Second Human Book be trainable - or the Pride of Humanity unit?
Absolutely not, they're AI units.
They're just elite versions of units you already have.
Ares Knights are the elite version of Knights.
Bloodfists are the elite version of Elites.
Pride of Humanity is the elite version of Destructors.
And so on, there are more elite versions of known units - just take a look at the Red Guard in Chapter Seven of the Second Human Book.

111) Will we meet Aedale's other siblings?
At least one more.

112) Is there going to be voiceover at some point?
Maybe in the very very distant future.
Not very likely, still.

113) Is there is any part of the story you would rework and do you have plans to rework?
I want to and WILL rework certain parts of the First Orc Book.

114) Will we see another behind the scenes of Arkain cinematic?
After all Second Books are completed, yes.

115) Is there going to be a Murloc Book?
I will reply this question with a question of my own:
Are there Night Elves in Arkain?

116) What is your goal creating the Legends of Arkain? What do you expect and want to achieve?
My goal is to create a campaign series with a great storyline and gameplay and enjoy doing it as long as it lasts. I also hope that people keep enjoying it.
Apart form that, I have no goals, expectations or hopes for achievements. I have no illusions about this being a step to creating my own game out of it or anything – I don't even want that, this is a hobby, it shall stay a hobby.

117) Will you keep it going for fan service once the initial plan is done?
After the Second Books are done, there will be the spinoff campaigns. We have a lot of ideas there.
However, I keep no illusions. One day, it will be over. It will probably take a very long time, but we are going to reach that point. When we do, I hope to be able to look on a great creation I enjoyed to create.

118) Do you imagine the Legends of Arkain as a standalone game?
Sometimes, but I don't see it happen.

119) Will you add choices to the spinoff campaigns?
It didn't take me long to decide about this.
The answer is: Probably not.
I like the choice system, but it makes too much time and effort to be worth being applied to smaller campaigns.

120) Will you do another stream how you play the campaign or show how you make a map?
Very unlikely. I have little time and interest to do another stream.

121) Is the capital of Gardon's kingdom going to be used in a future mission?
I cannot make a statement about the spinoffs, but it won't be used in any of the Second Books anymore.

122)After you finish the one million things you planned will you do a Arkain altered melee map with all 3 races?
Maybe.

123) Will the Demons get more attention? Do you have plans about making a Demon Book?
I intend to do demon campaigns in the future, yes.

124) Do you plan to make a real official Arkain wiki once you are done with the main story of all books?
I intend to create something for Arkain at some point, yes.

125) Is there any chance for Illidian (the model) to show up in the world of Arkain?
Using a non-night-elven-skin, it is at least not completely impossible to happen. No plans for that yet, though.
Keep in mind that there are no Night Elves in the world of Arkain. :-]

MISC

126) What was the motivation for you to make Legends of Arkain? I can see that you took a lot of inspiration from Warhammer and Warcraft, is there something else that motivated you?
Motivation
Ironically, WarCraft took quite a lot inspiration from Warhammer, even to a point where some people say Blizzard stole much, but that is neither the place to discuss this nor do I want to.
Well, the motivation was pretty simple. I had already created around 80 campaigns for WarCraft 3 in my younger years. Most of these were parts of a series, I think it was about...I cannot remember how many, maybe ten series?
Anyway, none of them were released, the maps never had a quality that would make them worth releasing - today, all of them are lost anyway. I didn't intend to release any of them either since they were made for me and some friends to play, not to be published. One day, however, I wanted to create a campaign series that I would upload, a campaign series with quality high enough to be approved in the Map Section. That was in 2012. Sadly, my computer got broken and I considered the files lost. I didn't want to start from anew, lost motivation and focused on other things instead. In 2014, I recovered the files and started the Arkain thread (Btw, on Friday, the 11th of August was the 3rd anniversary of the thread).

Inspiration
A question I have been asked a lot in the past already. There is no real inspiration for Arkain.
When I first started Arkain, I didn't know ANYTHING about Warhammer Fantasy, only a small bit about Warhammer 40k. I never really grew to like most of the WarCraft lore that came with WarCraft 3 and afterwards - especially most things related to the Orcs. And let us not even get started about the things WoW changed.
I was, however, a Fantasy fan. For the "base" I took some ideas from, believe it or not, Lord of the Rings.
I didn't take too much from it, though, I think mostly just the East VS West theme. The rest came from my own mind.
However, I had read the Ulldart series (a fantasy series with an intriguing story, sadly only available in german), which had a pretty dark story with much intrigue and plotting, both war and political games.
I liked it, but I often encountered situations where I was like "I would have done that a different way".
I didn't take anything from that series, but I think you could say it inspired me to create my own fantasy universe, along with other factors.
In addition, I have already created my "own" universes in the past (the other series I mentioned above), so I had "some" experience on that.

127) How do you feel about your accomplishments? Do you still have second thoughts?
I wouldn't say second thoughts, but I feel that too much time has been wasted with the shutdowns the project had suffered in the past. I freaking hate wasting time.
I am also not too satisfied with the First Orc Book at this point, but I intend to change that at least a bit.

128) What are your main concerns about the project? Is there something you don't like about it?
It takes too damn long to finish stuff and I cannot do anything about it.
Believe me, it annoys me at least as much as the rest of you – actually even more.

129) What was the special mission mentioned in his character bio that made Merlon stay silent and never criticize Gardon again?
I assume that the actual question here is: What made Merlon stay silent and never critisize Gardon again?
Answer: He got his Amulet of Discipline on that mission.

130) This is not a Arkain related question, but i still want to ask,will you ever reopen the ''Ask A Dundredian Anything'' thread? It was interesting for you to share some personal things and we to know our favourite tyrant a bit better!
The thread concept has been ruined by others, I specifically asked for it to be closed after all threads of the Ask-Me-Anything-trend had been moved into the SE section.
It will stay closed.

[/box]

 

[Boriss]

Spoiler

I knew it! I knew Brian was about the same age or older than even Rahandir! Mwahahahahaa. Im so happy! But im also kinda sad that Salana isnt going to get married to Larine. Oh. Gardon is gonna marry either Larine or Vanessa!