[Discussion] Story, Secrets, Questions !Spoilers Beware!

[Kimimao]

Hey community,

did some people figured out the whole story yet? I mean most people think its a simple story and not that great, but if you read between the lines you can always find more stuff.

- Why does the game start at the airplane when all the different stuff already happened ( Why did she go back there )?

- Why did she have visions of the other world, while being in the airplane?

- She wasnt pregnant in the beginning but then remembered it after seeing her stomach grow? I think that you age faster in the other dimension, so during the world warps, the child evolved more and more in her body.

- What happens if you use the Waterbubble-Chipset during the torture scene for the vitae?

- How did Salim die? Was it because of the plane crash? Why was he so hardly injured, that he died first? Why would they left him there, even in that position?

- How did the queen know so much about Tasi ( About her first born child, the second one and the rooted illness? ) All the people drank from the fountain which makes her be able to control them, why wouldnt that include what they see, hear and remember? Maybe there the second child was healthy overall and the queen used Tasi's bad memories of her first child, to make her give up her second, when she gets told that that child has the illness too.

- Many people found it annoying that Tasi falls so often in the game, over and over. But i like this fact, since there are Alice in Wonderland references in the game ( You know, falling down the rabbit hole ;) )

I bet you guys also found some unique stuff and want to post it here.

[Donitz]

Monsters

Ghul: The monsters you meet in large groups underground, and who digs through walls hunting for flesh.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2264201557
Ifrit: The faceless creatures who shine a bright light at you as you get close.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2264201611
Hatif: Sounds like there would be whispering in the desert trying to lead you astray, or something along those lines.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2264201648
Tihanu: The teleporting woman?
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2264201717T
Ashen mother: ?
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2264201683

[††††††]

In response to the above, Tihanu is likely supposed to be a corrupted human translation of Tihana aka the Empress. I think the Ashen Mother is the same:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2264252421

Ayandra the Apostate is Alexander from TDD?
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2264252901

[Skye]

Originally posted by Beast Mode:

Ayandra the Apostate is Alexander from TDD?
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2264252901

I thought the same, Ayandra being Alexander, banned after trying to kill the emperor, but this is so unfitting to Alexander's character

[Skye]

Originally posted by Donitz:

Hatif: Sounds like there would be whispering in the desert trying to lead you astray, or something along those lines.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2264201648

I think the Hatif is those voices you hear (specially on the beginning of the game, on the caves) when you stay in the dark, saying things like "help me", "over here", etc

[Invazion]

"- Why does the game start at the airplane when all the different stuff already happened ( Why did she go back there )?"

In one of the flashbacks in the Village, she says to the Doctor and Yen (Yen?) that she wants to go find Salim, that's why she heads back. No clue how she got to the plane specifically, though.

[J.Wiggy]

Did torturing the guy for vitae actually do anything story-wise?
Did the alternative chipsets for torturing the guy do anything different for the story?

All i can remember is that the queen said a different line of dialog after you kill the doctor.

God Tasi is one selfish bish tbqh.
Also why did the queen want someone elses baby? Did i miss something? could she not conceive? is she into cuckoldry? These questions need answers dammit!

[Invazion]

Originally posted by Don Keedick:

Did torturing the guy for vitae actually do anything story-wise?
Did the alternative chipsets for torturing the guy do anything different for the story?

All i can remember is that the queen said a different line of dialog after you kill the doctor.

God Tasi is one selfish bish tbqh.
Also why did the queen want someone elses baby? Did i miss something? could she not conceive? is she into cuckoldry? These questions need answers dammit!

Wait, can the doctor not die? Also I used the Quake-looking symbol for the torture (and the daggers), it also didn't have a corresponding canister as the other two had

I also wonder if anybody knows what language the victim speaks in

[PastisDeCul]

I guess no one can understand the language but i may be wrong

And, what's the Shadow ? I'm confused. Someone created it by accident?

[††††††]

Originally posted by Tétérosky:

I guess no one can understand the language but i may be wrong

And, what's the Shadow ? I'm confused. Someone created it by accident?

I don't think the denizens of the Dark World created the Shadow but I do recall there being a message explaining that some accident had led to it invading said world. It was studied by the people of the Dark World and rebel alchemists eventually came up with a concoction that would allow it to corrupt the planet's vitae network.

The Shadow is a preternatural force that hunts down anyone who has misused an Orb (it must have a real bone to pick with the Dark World) but not much else is known about it.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, I could be misremembering what I read in the various notes I found.

[Donitz]

Originally posted by Tétérosky:

I guess no one can understand the language but i may be wrong

And, what's the Shadow ? I'm confused. Someone created it by accident?

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2264288053
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2264288085

[sdejaneiro]

Why does the game start at the airplane when all the different stuff already happened ( Why did she go back there )?

Someone pointed out that Tasi told the others in a flashback she wanted to return to Salim...but I don't think the game explains why she ended up inside the wreckage with no memory of what had transpired after the crash -- and no memory of being pregnant! It seems like a pretty significant plot hole seeing as how this is what gets the story going and creates mystery and suspense.

I thought maybe the laudanum given to her by the Doctor could have had a negative impact on her health and caused her to collapse and have memory problems. The paper about the medicine found at the fort states it shouldn't be taken while pregnant, and in large doses, it can even be poisonous. I already did a search on it and it does contain opium, and some of the side effects include drowsiness, confusion, impaired coordination, and dizziness: https://www.drugabuse.gov/sites/default/files/cadchart.pdf

However, I can't think of any time the game confirms the laudanum is the explanation behind her collapae and memory loss. Tasi even takes some when she wakes up and it doesn't seem to have any negative effects on her after since she regains her memories (slowly) without much trouble as she moves along.

Still, it's an interesting theory, I think, and it's better than no explanation at all.

Why did she have visions of the other world, while being in the airplane?

That is also a great question! Did anyone else see the Dark Would outside the plane? No one comments on it, even in flashbacks so...I'm guessing not? Or they just didn't remember or notice?

And if the visions only appeared to Tasi, was it the Empress' doing for some...weird reason? It's never made clear and while it's not a major issue, it does seem like a small oversight on Frictional's part..

- She wasn't pregnant in the beginning but then remembered it after seeing her stomach grow? I think that you age faster in the other dimension, so during the world warps, the child evolved more and more in her body.

I agree with this theory; traveling between the worlds most likely caused her body to age several months at a time until she was suddenly 9 months pregnant at the end.

- How did Salim die? Was it because of the plane crash? Why was he so hardly injured, that he died first? Why would they left him there, even in that position?

In Salim's notes, I think he mentions he was the only one left in the caves as the other survivors had either died or were out looking for help. Not wanting to be alone -- especially because he suspected something was lurking around -- he decided to seek out the survivors who were traveling to find help.

As for why he was left behind in his condition, he wasn't in any shape to search for help due to his injuries. Initially, there were a few other people with him in the caves from what I could tell, but they died while the others were out conducting their search.

I think he simply died from his wound. In the flashback, it looked like he had a nasty injury to his left side, and it probably got infected, making him ill. Without proper medical treatment, food, or enough water, he inevitably died.

[††††††]

I'd like to know why the Empress is fused with a plant at the end. That is not likely the natural state of the people of the Dark World, as their architecture is designed to allow human sized beings to traverse it.

Are we supposed to be the ancestors of the people of the Dark World? The most obvious explanation is that humans found orbs and used them to travel to other planets/dimensions. I remember there being at least one note that could be vaguely hinting at this if you read in between the lines.

Did the people of the Dark World create the religious practices of the Ancient Egyptians (possibly other religions as well that may have involved sacrifice or rituals based around death). You find Ankhs and other religious icons scattered about the "temple" area of the Factory. Was this created to trick humans into offering themselves more readily for harvesting or is it a natural manifestation of the Dark World's culture?

[Slaine_]

Originally posted by Beast Mode:

I'd like to know why the Empress is fused with a plant at the end. That is not likely the natural state of the people of the Dark World, as their architecture is designed to allow human sized beings to traverse it.

Are we supposed to be the ancestors of the people of the Dark World? The most obvious explanation is that humans found orbs and used them to travel to other planets/dimensions. I remember there being at least one note that could be vaguely hinting at this if you read in between the lines.

Did the people of the Dark World create the religious practices of the Ancient Egyptians (possibly other religions as well that may have involved sacrifice or rituals based around death). You find Ankhs and other religious icons scattered about the "temple" area of the Factory. Was this created to trick humans into offering themselves more readily for harvesting or is it a natural manifestation of the Dark World's culture?

I read someplace else that the inhabitants of the Dark World were once ancient Romans that stumbled upon the ability to world hop through the orbs (perhaps accidentally since they were primitive), and eventually found themselves in that Dark World dimension where they built a whole new society separate from the one on Earth which clearly became very advanced. They had many rulers who all lived and died as normal humans, except the final Empress who sought a way to live indefinitely. They perfected a method of vitae extraction and found a way to manufacture an infinite supply to provide her with eternal life.

The process was poisoned though by that scientist we meet and kill because he didn't want the Empress to stay immortal. It ended up inviting the shadow into their world which then went into ruin. The Empress, however, continued to be fed a steady supply of vitae from all the factories in the world which allowed her to stay alive for however long since the collapse. She can probably move freely about the system as she is essentially one with the system by the end. Though she's kind of physically trapped in the tower due to needing the vitae to survive.

I'm guessing that part of Algeria with the ruins has such a strong connection with the other world that it can bleed over, hence the monsters escaping and turning others as well as the force that crashes the plane. That whole area we fly into is just a giant leak from that other world.

[Invazion]

Originally posted by sdejaneiro:

However, I can't think of any time the game confirms the laudanum is the explanation behind her collapae and memory loss. Tasi even takes some when she wakes up and it doesn't seem to have any negative effects on her after since she regains her memories (slowly) without much trouble as she moves along.

Her memory loss was most likely caused by her sickness - drinking from the fountain and turning into a harvester (a ghoul?). Leon in his notes, left in the underground Roman ruins where you find many passive harvesters and get then chased around, talks how he doesn't want to forget his own name.

Originally posted by Beast Mode:

Are we supposed to be the ancestors of the people of the Dark World? The most obvious explanation is that humans found orbs and used them to travel to other planets/dimensions. I remember there being at least one note that could be vaguely hinting at this if you read in between the lines.

The memory caches scattered around the level are from humans they captured. Through the use of portal technology, no less. So the items would be what they were teleported through with. I am not sure if humans and the Dark World people are related, but one of Herbert's notes speculates that we might.

The Orbs were not created by the Dark World inhabitants, because they study their effects in the Alchemist labs, IIRC. They also seem to have no clue what is, or how to fight, the Shadow.

[TheOceanOfStars]

Originally posted by Don Keedick:

Also why did the queen want someone elses baby? Did i miss something? could she not conceive? is she into cuckoldry? These questions need answers dammit!

there are several notes you can find about the queen's inability to conceive. in fact, the whole reason that she is in her current immortal state is because the people that served her decided...she didn't need a baby (or in other words a heir) if she just never died. so they made the whole vitae system. but all she ever really wanted was a baby and to be a mother. that's why she was so insistent and went through all the trouble of corrupting the whole crew and making them into something "she can control". even though Tasi said no to giving her the child...doesn't matter to her cause she could just make them all slaves. if you choose the route where you escape and spread the red flesh through the vitae network, she says some things that makes it pretty obvious that she did all of that...just to get the baby.