While we can easily ascertain that vendigroth was indeed decimated fact of the matter is, it was annihilated by a level 50 mage who didn't even put that single point into disintegrate. My personal theory on how this poorly specced mage managed to bring a technological empire into utter ruin is as follows: In the final newspaper you find in vendigroth (the one stating that scanlan's factory was destroyed) there is a public service announcement which requests that everyone be present for an emergency meeting in regards to what will be done if there are further mage attacks. This happy little party was crashed by Arronax who sealed off and caved in all of the exits, locking everyone into a very slow death of starvation if not suffocation. This would explain why there are no corpses to be found anywhere in vendigroth. What are your personal theories?
Nasrudin says Arronax called on powers few had seen wiping out not just the city, but the whole province with a single blow. We have to assume that there is magick apart from the character points, and that there was more magick back then as well. Arronax was the heir to Nasrudin in the peak of magick... I think we can safely say he didn't use a fireflash spell. Only child, prince of the council, dark elf prototype, having a thermonuclear tantrum at the peak of magick, utterly unmaking an entire civilisation with his mind... not merely a level 50 mage waging a private guerrilla war. This story lacks gravitas when Nasrudin tells it, but your graphic novel could make it an awesome event. As for no corpses: Decay could explain it. Also, a magickal apocalypse could have mutated them into the arachnix. Or they were vaporised using a level 8 Force spell, Mass Disintegration.
Glad to see my mutant arachnix theory has support. My rationalisation: Arronax could have very well been one of the most powerful mages in the history of Arcanum before his banishment, but now, after two thousand years of being trapped in a tiny shell unable to do anything, he is simply out of magickal shape. It will take time, possibly years of intense practice before he will be able to regain his previous knowledge and skill.
Yeah, right. How come he was able to restore Vendigroth in all its glory upon returning to Arcanum? I'd say Arronax is severely nerfed only for gameplay reasons. He doesn't even have his protective shell spell. P.S. I actually thought about giving him this spell as part of the Extra Content module in the UAP, since supposedly story wise Kerghan wasn't able to kill Arronax precisely because of this spell, so he had to imprison him. But gameplay wise, Arronax is usually the first one to die in the battle against Kerghan.
I laughed pretty hard at this... since it was EXACTLY what happened before i made this post..! Also, I hate wow - but I imagine the end of vendigroth something a kin to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3BxvHhz4XQ
That is warcraft 3 though, not WoW, you are allowed to like that. Though I don't understand why people gotta be haters just because a company made a game that people enjoy.
Real Plot? It was meant to be a secret but I guess no point in hiding the facts any longer since you all came this far. The reason Annorax is not as powerful is; Remember the quest St.Mannox. For those who think they solved the mystery, sorry! You were made to believe that you did. What really happened was; In the moment of Banishment with the help of a few Illusion spells, a fine Dark-elf mage follower of Annorax sacrificed himself and got banished in the place of Annorax. And indeed Nasrudin died shortly after that battle. But Annorax needed a certain artifact from his burial chambers (thats where he encountered St.Mannox who tried to protect Nasrudin's sacred resting place, but failed his mission and got buried alive, as a sign of Annorax's humor. We met that follower in the void, yes he was strong, but we can accept that 2000 years is enough to reach lvl 50, right? His imprisonment drove him mad and he believes he IS really Annorax. So the question is where is real Annorax. Remember I told you Nasrudin indeed died after banishment, and only a REAL powerful mage could live for 2000 years; sooooo........ *sleepless eyes rolling madly*
I always imagined the spell took time, was very ritualistic, and required practically all of his energies. Several times in the game everyone speaks as if Nasrudin himself battled Arronax at Roseborough, yet it's only at Thanatos that you discover that there were fucking armies beating the shit out of each other ! So who knows, maybe "Arronax destroying Vendigroth" wasn't exactly what I'd call "single-handedly".
Armies that procreated while beating excrement out of each other. An interesting visual you have given me.