The Oracle

WARNING! THIS IS A SPOILER AND GIVES INFORMATION ABOUT THINGS THAT YOU MAY NOT YET HAVE ENCOUNTERED WITHIN THE GAME!

With that in mind, allow me to take a moment of your time to tell you everything - and I mean everything - that the Oracle in Snowspire Village knows. Be aware that should you have chosen an evil path and kept the Sword of Aeons for yourself then certain information will be withheld from you when you approach the Oracle. But fear not! I have been generous (and to a degree rather anal) and included EVERYTHING the Oracle says - for both good and evil characters. I have categorised each bit of information within the glyph that reveals it. Enjoy!

Yeron

Scythe - There is little I can tell you of Scythe’s origins, for such knowledge is a mystery even to me. Yet he is much more ancient than any of this time would believe possible and has walked this world since long before the Guild ever existed. It has been centuries since he has been personally involved in any action, but of those among us, only Jack of Blades has seen and done more.

Maze - You and Maze have more in common than you ever realised. He too was left alone in the world after a wave of violence took his home away. As a child, he watched his parents torn apart by Balverines as they walked through the woods. The beasts were about to turn on him, when three warriors crashed into the clearing. Two of them were Guild Heroes. The third was Jack of Blades. In an instant, Jack slew the Balverines in a show of strength, then killed the Heroes. Maze carried this debt all his life. It burdened his every action and, in the end, destroyed him.

The Archaeologist - The one who called himself the Archaeologist was one of the few with a true academic interest in the Old Kingdom. But he was also a mine of disinformation, gathered from unreliable sources and he was too cowardly to delve far enough into the mysteries of that age. After his kidnapping by Minions, he fled to the cities of the West, disguised as a glove trader. He hasn’t opened a book or stepped near a ruin since.

The Guildmaster - He may be known for his calm poise as a stern authority figure rather than an adventurer, but this was not always so. In his youth, when he went by the name of Weaver, he was part of a cluster of Heroes, Maze among them, who rebelled against the previous Guild regime and its resolution of offering only virtuous quests. Much blood was spilled in this short revolt in the name of freedom, leaving the number of Heroes, already rare in a world of diminishing Will presence, at its lowest for centuries. It was Scythe who proposed Weaver as the new Guildmaster, seeing in him the serene and impartial man he would become. Someone who would leave the moral destiny of all future acolytes in their own hands.

Thunder - Many years ago, a ship from the South islands was carried upon a wave mightier than any dragon. And within the ship stood the mountain-like frame of Thunder. It was a storm as none aboard had ever seen, but the great warrior was concerned with one thing only - quelling the cries of a child, his young sister Whisper. The wave bore the vessel across vast expanses of ocean and into a nest of Krakens. Thunder cast down lightning upon them and, gathering Whisper in his arms, dove into the waters. As he swam, they heard the screams of dying men and the sounds of timber torn apart behind them. It was two days before they reached the shores of Albion, leaving their home as far off as a dream.

Briar Rose - Born into a noble family, Briar’s early childhood was one of luxury and plenty. But once her strength and unique abilities began to manifest themselves, her world fell apart. Her mother died in an accident Briar could do little to prevent, yet her grieving father cast her out and she was left to fend for herself, learning to rely on no one. She has made the Guild her home and it is in its books that she has found the companionship she has never asked for from another living being. It was her burning quest for knowledge that sent her on journeys far beyond Albion during the time you made your mark in this world. But she is here to stay now.

Moryk

The Necropolis - The place they call the Necropolis was not always a city of ghosts and relics. It was once as thriving as any town and its people as peaceful and content as any other. Yet there was one among them who was not so satisfied with this life and bargained the fate of his city in exchange for wealth and power with entities too powerful to comprehend.. The very next day the riches he had desired were his, but he wasn’t able to enjoy them for long. A vast force from beyond this world swept the city and wrought utter devastation so swiftly that the dead didn’t realise they were no longer among the living. Some still wander the streets, shadows of their former selves, forever condemned by the avarice of one man.

The Ship of the Drowned - When the Old Kingdom constructed the Hook Coast lighthouse, they did so to house a magical item known as the Fire Heart. The beating of its powerful pulse summoned a ship from the depths of time, sunken for millennia, with a crew of whispers. This ship could carry the traveller to any part of the world, no matter how remote or inaccessible, but it would take a steely soul to withstand the desperate solitude of the journey.

The Singing Sword - One of Albion’s oldest fables is the tale of a sword whose enormous powers were matched only by the perfect pitch voice with which it would sing battle songs. But in some versions of the myth, it was its dreadful lack of tune that would defeat whole armies. This has led some scholars to believe that the tale has its root in Temmins, the worst bard ever to exist. He who once killed an old Hero by regaling him with a monstrously bad melody. Unfortunately, it is only a fable and such a sword has never existed.

The gods Skorm and Avo - Though many woship these so-called gods, the temples to Skorm and Avo can only be dated as far back as 400 years ago, when they were founded by a ruthless trader. He uncovered two locations in Albion where the Will was particularly strong. In one of them it tended towards good, healing those who stood there. In the other, it tended towards evil, filling the mind of its visitors with horror and violent urges. The trader saw an opportunity - he would create two temples to two opposing gods and demand gold from those who felt their power. In time, people came to believe in the existence of Skorm and Avo, but they are nothing but false idols.

Demon Doors - The life of a rock endowed with consciousness is never easy, but we all have a single purpose for which we were created. Mine is to collect stories, to be a keeper of ancient secrets past and foreteller of terrible events future. That of Demon Doors is to safeguard the riches that lie behind them, and to invent games and riddles to test those who seek them.

Calran

The Sandgoose - Many strange creatures have walked upon this world since its birth, yet the historians who found some of their remains are responsible for one which never existed: the fabled Sandgoose. Joining the remains of various beasts, they hypothesised that this flightless bird was the size of a house, lived primarily in deserts and was able to speak a variety of languages. There are those who still believe in its existence, but their search has proved fruitless so far.

Screamers - These unfortunate beings were once men, Will users who dared to oppose Jack of Blades. They were cursed never to find rest except by torturing the souls of the dead and feeding on the life force of the living. But their true nature is only hinted at in our reality. Their true power is in the Realm of Death, where souls must pass before reaching their place of torment or peace. Every person who dies in this world must escape their screams before finding their own rest.

Summoners - Unseen for almost as long as the Old Kingdom has been gone, these creatures were once the scourge of Albion. A Will user called Hallik, cast out by the Archon for his use of dangerous dark magics, created these colossal beings by reanimating the dead bodies of fallen warriors. People throughout the kingdom learned to fear Hallik, and though it was the magician himself who was the summoner, his creations soon earned that title through their ability to appear out of nothing as they brought forth total devastation.

Balverines - The first Balverine was born of the bite of a creature far more terrible, the Balvorn, who dwelt upon this world when gods and demons were still the primary force. When men first started to walk amongst them, the Balvorn would feast on the flesh of thousands at a time. Only once did a human survive such an attack. He became the first Balverine and his curse has survived to this day.

Krakens - If Krakens had existed on land as the first trolls did, or in the air as the greatest dragons did, they would be as rare as most other creatures from the age before man. But they dwell in the deep unexplored mysteries of the sea and there they have survived since their creation in the war of the gods. There is much in the vast depths of the ocean that is unknown to the people of Albion. And its people should pray it stays that way.

Avisto

Jack of Blades - The mask you carry is empty but Jack has used it for longer than you can comprehend. He is no Hero - he is not even a man. When the world was a blur of fire and demons, when its soil had felt not the tread of humans and was filled with creatures only your worst nightmares could begin to suggest, even then was Jack old. What you killed in the Chamber of Fate was just the latest vessel he had inhabited. Take good care of the Soul Mask now. Without it you have no hope of stopping his new incarnation.

Nostro - Among the oldest Heroes still bound to this world is Nostro, the founder of the Guild. He was a tireless warrior who felt at ease only with a moving blade in his hand, and the blood of enemies raining down upon his armour. But he did not die the death he craved for he was poisoned by an assassin, leaving his soul languishing unfulfilled in this earthly realm. You returned the battle attire that was stolen from his grave, but he still seeks an honourable end before he can be truly at peace.

The Oracle - I was created by order of the third Archon, not just to prepare the kingdom for future disasters, but to act as a keeper of all past and present knowledge. Four Will users with visionary powers were charged with the task: Calran, Avisto, Yeron and Moryk. Each carved a glyph of inquiry into stone with the symbols that would allow the user to question me. After the fall of the kingdim, thousands of years later, Snowspire found itself under imminent attack from invading forces. The Guild sent four acolytes to bury the glyphs in the Necropolis, where they remained until you found them.

The Prophets of the Fire Heart - When the Old Kingdom was on the verge of collapse, I wasn’t the only thing to be silenced and protected. The Fire Heart, used to call forth the Ship of the Drowned and to project the Archon’s powers across vast distances, was sealed behind the primal Demon Door, the first ever created. Charged with guarding it were the five prophets who had predicted the Kingdom’s imminent destruction. They were encased in glass cages that both protected them from the beating of the Heart and kept them alive until such time as they were released from their duty. Or died fulfilling it.

Snowspire - The town of Snowspire was once but one of many thriving cities in the Northern Wastes, and its Lost Bay served as the furthest port in all of the Old Kingdom. Its warriors, steeled by the harshest winters known to man, were among the fiercest the Archon had at his disposal and it was to them that he endured the protection of the Oracle. But when the kingdom fell, Snowspire and all that surrounded it was beset by invading hordes. The Cullis Gates were silenced and the people of the North were cut off from all living beings beyond the icy seas of its coast.

The Archon - This age understands nothing of the Old Kingdom. Archon is a name that has passed down many generations, a lineage of powerful kings united by a unique bloodline and by possession of the Sword of Aeons. When Jack found it, it was a ghost of the weapon it once was. And the name of Archon has become so detached from the realities of those kings that it is meaningless among the modern men. But the first Archon still casts his shadow in the world. A world that would not exist had he not wrested it from the gods it belonged to before the age of man.

Hook Coast - In the early years of the kingdom, a group of monks retired from the thriving cities that were appearing everywhere and settled in the harshest place they could find, founding an abbey on a distant shore. Soon, a whole community grew to serve their needs and in time the kingdom built a lighthouse that would guide ships from its ports to the unexplored lands in the Northern Wastes. When the Old Kingdom fell, it was in a wave of devastation that affected every town and city in its borders. But a handful of monks who still inhabited the abbey knelt along the coast and used their Will power to protect this port and its people. You can still see the swirls of magic that mark the place they fell. Hook Coast was cut off from the rest of the world but thanks to them it stood intact.

The following two pieces of information are available by using the Yeron expression but only if you are a goody goody two shoes and haven’t killed Whisper in the Arena or your sister Theresa in the chamber of fate:

Whisper - The people of Albion can be fickle in their affections, and Whisper’s inglorious defeat in the Arena stripped her of any repute she have once possessed. For many she would never grow out of the immense shadow of her brother Thunder, and so she left our shores and set out for the distant homeland she had last seen as a child. Her sea journey was once again beset with difficulties and hers hip was boarded by pirates. None of them survived. She arrived at shores she barely remembered with nothing but her own strength. Yet now she is beloved as a true Hero among her own people.

Theresa - After walking out of the Chamber of Fate, Theresa fled to the mountains, climbing alone to their summit. There she was taken in by Palgan, an old Will user from the lands to the East. Palgan had been meditating in the thin air close to the clouds, but he offered to take her with him on returning to his homeland. One night, Theresa awoke to find him performing a ritual above her in an attempt to steal her prophetic powers. She killed him and used the amulet that had transported him halfway across the globe. She lives in the East now, haunted by her past only in rare nightmares.