Unreleased Content

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Dark Majesty Quest and Undead Story Arc

In an interview with Warcry, Stormwaltz shared the overall design for a major quest that didn't make the cut for Dark Majesty. From Asherons Call: 4 Years of AC and Counting, Part 2 - L'etoile, Part 2:

01-02-2004 - Link

Q: Things change in a game like Asheron's Call, change every month infact. What were some things that you wanted to impliment but just didn't have the time,tech or whatever else to get in the game?

A: One major thing I personally regret being unable to do was a large quest axed in the process of making Marae Lassel for ACDM. Before I'd even started implementing it, it became clear that I would not have time to make the dungeons and content for it and Long Live the Queen. I had wanted the broken machines in the dams to be repairable, which would cause waterfalls to spawn in front of them - the same sort of weenie object particle emitter trickery I used in the caldera of Mount Tenkarrdun.

The gameplay would need Boolean event logic, which there was no time to do while housing was under development. If all three dams were repaired at once (if A and B and C are true, then...), a huge, immobile whirlpool mob would have spawned at the junction of the three rivers. It would have been kind of like a huge Slithis made of Water Golem particles. Killing that mob would have opened a temporary horizontal portal on the surface of the water that led to His Eternal Splendor's redoubt. Yes, I'll say it outright; Geraine IV was the evil under Marae Lassel.

At that point I was very impressed by the sheer cojones of the Sleeper's Tomb quest in the EQ's Velious expansion. I was going to blatantly rip it off by having the questers bludgeon their way through a series of increasingly difficult guards, all of whom warned, "You know not what you do. Let the Master of Killiakta sleep!" Once they had awakened Geraine, he would have been the focus of a story arc in which the undead warred against each other, Winds faction versus Lords faction, culminating in Geraine, Aerfalle, Rytheran, and their more powerful followers sailing away to the west to Dericost.

Chris "Stormwaltz" L'Etoile

Remnants of this quest still exist. The most notable are The Great Machines found in the damns on Marae Lassel, which were to play a key role in this quest. Some of the Tall Tree utterances make reference to this quest. The Ossuary found in the East Fork Dam Hive may also be related. Finally, the Asheron's Call Dark Majesty: Sybex Official Strategies and Secrets contained the stats for numerous creatures which never appeared in the final release of Dark Majesty, among these creatures was Emperor Geraine I (possibly a typo as in the official lore he is Geraine IV). The Undead Story arc would later appear, slightly modified, in Asheron's Call 2.

Eastern Island

In the original version of the game, there was a large island to the east of Dereth, beyond Asheron's Island.

08-13-2004 - Link

The island was clipped around two years ago. Clipped meaning that we ran some tests on the island by carving large valleys through the landmass... Then we decided to add Aphus Lassel and erased a fair majority of the island, replacing it with the land of Tuskers.

So ultimately it was removed. And no, Asheron's Island was not part of that enormous island. Asheron's Island has always been in the same spot just off the coast of Eastham, so far as I can remember.

Orion

Fifth Sending of Darkness Live Events

In an interview with Warcry, Stormwaltz mentioned some ideas that were scrapped from the first story arc. From Asherons Call: 4 Years of AC and Counting, Part 2 - L'etoile, Part 2:

01-02-2004 - Link

Q: Things change in a game like Asheron's Call, change every month infact. What were some things that you wanted to impliment but just didn't have the time,tech or whatever else to get in the game?

A: So many things I'm sure I can't remember. Everything you do under a deadline undergoes a heavy-handed process of winnowing. You start with a grandiose vision and then cut it down to something that's feasible. A major event that I alluded to before was Isin Dule's contribution to the regional invasions of Black Ferah and Ler Rhan. He was supposed to be the climax, but that entire phase of the event was cut because it was taking too long to test all the generators (this was our first major use of triggered spawns). That worked out for the better of the story in the end, with Dule turning his coat.

Another abandoned thread was having Dave Namerow create and level a character named Saresh to build a monarchy that would throw its allegiance to Bael'Zharon upon his release. The fiction was that "Saresh" was the Shadow General Ferah in disguise. This was a too much work to maintain on all servers, and we never had a solid idea of how it could be leveraged into the main storyline.

Chris "Stormwaltz" L'Etoile

Frozen Wasteland Island

From Taste of Twilight: Stormwaltz Comments on the Aerlinthe Quest:

July 29, 2000 - Link Unknown

I'd also like to take a moment to note that the “frozen wasteland” island was not supposed to be open for play for some time yet, and it is only reachable through a bug. It is still in a very early stage of construction, as evidenced by the extreme performance hit in the ice gardens - the degrade art for those beautiful ice upwellings has not been completed, so everyone on the screen is rendering at full detail, no matter how far from it you are.

There are no plans to open the ice island anytime in the near future, although its construction began at the same time Aerlinthe's was. The landscapes of the new islands were designed by artists Pete “Obsidian Span” McDonald, Sean “Shadow Spire” Turbitt, and Bil “End of Beta Comet” Mauritsen.
- ChrisL (Stormwaltz}

Chris "Stormwaltz" L'Etoile

Rennaj

The Rennaj were a planned 4th heritage group. On Turbine's Beta page Sketches, there was an image with the file name rennajcity.gif, which in the image was labeled Rennaj City.

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This was later referenced in a dev chat.

Date Unknown - Link Unknown

Q: SageMadHatter> First, Lillith (yes from CoD) and I would like to extend congrats on a great job done with the windmills! We only found out recently when lookup to the ceiling, that you can actually see the gears and sprockets turning in sync with each other! Great work.

All right, and now for the question/suggestion. Originally you guys had planned 4 heritage groups, for one of these heritage groups you have some concept art of a city (Rennaj City) Although the 4th heritage was drop... Could you guys look into perhaps in the distance future (okay, well maybe not years from now! but sometime...) considering bringing Rennaj City to life? :) It's a wonderful concept and I'm sure many of the fans would love to see a floating city :) Preferably a hidden secret floating city! I know I asked this before on the boards, but wanted to ask it in the semi-unofficial chat, who needs balance?

A: jason@Turbine> thanks..

jason@Turbine> if your gonna do windmills...

jason@Turbine> burn them..

letoile@turbine> More than four, in fact.

letoile@turbine> I'm not sure we could easily do the floating city in the current engine. Buildings themselves take a long time. In order to do this properly, we'd have to make the city a bunch of multiple floating buildings that all fit together. Jason, you want to add something to my fumbling here?

jason@Turbine> a large one would be hard, but small ones would just be a time suck.. perhaps one day, but I don't know when we'd have the time to work it in..

This developer chat, which occurred in June of 2000, may have been the inspiration for the Floating City Quest, which was added in October of 2000.

Tumerok War Spear

During The Changing of the Ways event, a new interaction was added to the Exploration Society Letters quest. After turning in a stamped letter, players would receive the Exploration Society Token. The NPCs would direct you to bring this token to Bach Lien, in the Explorer Society Outpost on the road between Rithwic and Dryreach. Unfortunately, no such NPC or outpost existed. Turbine confirmed this was a bug:

Date Unknown - Link Unknown

The search for Bach Lien is a bug. We apologize for the inconvenience that is has caused any of you. Perhaps some time in the future the complete iteration of her tale will reach the loremasters of Dereth but for now she will remain a mystery.

Allan Maki Community Representative Turbine Entertainment Software

This was later reiterated in the Flesh and Blood State of the Code:

January 25, 2002 - [http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/news/ASHEnewscodestate1.asp Link]

Q: I have heard some reference to a mysterious Bach Lien. However, I can find no such person anywhere in the game. Does she really exist?

A: Although she is mentioned as an extension to the Exploration Society Letters quests, the search for Bach Lien is a bug, as she does not appear in the game. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Perhaps some time in the future the complete iteration of her tale will reach the loremasters of Dereth but for now she remains a mystery.

This quest may have been the inspiration for the Tumerok Banners Quest or the Aun Tanua's War Taiaha Quest.

Witch Cave

We know little about this quest other than the name, and that it probably wouldn't have meshed well with the overall continuity. The only mention of it is from Stormwaltz Quotes: On Harlune and the Storyline:

March 23, 2002 - Link Unknown

When I created Harlune, I had no plan in mind beyond "he was a powerful life mage." But I created him early in beta, when I just tossed stuff out without considering the broader ramifications. I hadn't fully familiarized myself with the world yet. In retrospect, it's a good thing Witch Cave never made it in.

Chris "Stormwaltz" L'Etoile