The great Shadows of Amn conspiracy!
Cheesebelly
Member Posts: 1,727
I bet someone else thought about it... I always have seen some clues on something "bigger" going on in Shadows of Amn, so I gathered some clues here and there :
1) Kalah, the tiny little gnome illusionist, mentions in his final breath that he was promised something. He achieved great power in that tent, even though Aerie said his skills weren't ever that powerful. It is possible that he wanted that in his own ambition, as stated that Gnomes are pretty much just made fun of in Athkatla, or hunted down as criminals. But what if his motives weren't his own, but rather he was controlled?
2) In the de'Arnise hold, Glacias, Lord Arnise's personal bodyguard as well as friend states that his new masters shown him the truth through magic. Incidentally, TorGal didn't have ANY magic, but he *did* have some beasts that made holes through the underground - the Umber Hulks!
3) In the dungeon at Windspear hills, we meet Tazok... *again*, even after having him decapitated, splattered in tiny pieces of minced meat... well, you get my meaning. Interestingly enough, he has new masters and new plans this time around and carries a key with him, key that opens a secret door to the sewers in Athkatla!
I am pretty much sure there are other clues scattered around, but I forgot them by today. Yet one thing is certain - all clues lead to the Illithids indirectly. Are those dudes trying to conquer the world or are they simply testing the protagonist? Cut content? Pretty damn sure it was.
What do you guys think?
1) Kalah, the tiny little gnome illusionist, mentions in his final breath that he was promised something. He achieved great power in that tent, even though Aerie said his skills weren't ever that powerful. It is possible that he wanted that in his own ambition, as stated that Gnomes are pretty much just made fun of in Athkatla, or hunted down as criminals. But what if his motives weren't his own, but rather he was controlled?
2) In the de'Arnise hold, Glacias, Lord Arnise's personal bodyguard as well as friend states that his new masters shown him the truth through magic. Incidentally, TorGal didn't have ANY magic, but he *did* have some beasts that made holes through the underground - the Umber Hulks!
3) In the dungeon at Windspear hills, we meet Tazok... *again*, even after having him decapitated, splattered in tiny pieces of minced meat... well, you get my meaning. Interestingly enough, he has new masters and new plans this time around and carries a key with him, key that opens a secret door to the sewers in Athkatla!
I am pretty much sure there are other clues scattered around, but I forgot them by today. Yet one thing is certain - all clues lead to the Illithids indirectly. Are those dudes trying to conquer the world or are they simply testing the protagonist? Cut content? Pretty damn sure it was.
What do you guys think?
38
Comments
Also, Durlag's Tower. They're mentioned in the backstory as attempting to take over the tower as well, hence the traps.
Unfortunately, neither was finished before the game shipped.
I don't know who's behind Kalah and the d'Arnise attack, though my headcanon is a genie for Kalah (as per Unfinished business) and the Roenalls for the d'Arnise keep.
As for Kalah, agreed that it might not be the Illithids as there's no mention of any mentally unstable people there. Faldorn on the other hand is kind of mad in BG2, I wonder if that could have any possible connection...
Also, Illithids and Beholders in the same sewers in the same city = bad bad things to come O_O
2) This is an interesting aspect. Obviously there are unanswered questions regarding the keep invasion: Tor'Gal admits the trolls didn't come up with the invasion plan themselves, and refers to a "stronger". This could be the Roenalls, but they would likely have paid Tor'Gal, not threatened him to submission. A troll boss calling someone stronger seems to imply a fair deal of respect/fear.
There's also the fact that de'Arnise guards were paid off to leave the keep. Obviously, the trolls and umber hulks didn't pay them. On the other hand, even if the illithids were planning on establishing a presence in Athkatla (as the note in their sewer lair seems to imply), what interest would they have in a keep way out on the countryside?
In the end, I think the more likely connection/conspiracy here is the slave traders/guarded compound/twisted rune/roenall situation, but clearly parts of that are missing as well.
3) Always found it weird that he had that key, definitely reeks of unfinished business. Given Firkraag's capacity to hold a grudge though, he probably isn't the kind of taskmaster where you want to be double-dealing with another employer.
I don't believe in tying all the crazies of BG2 into a plot together. That would be a large, large organisation of enemies then :-p
I am also pretty damn sure that the Tower is a connection to the underdark, just look at the room with the Astral Phase Spider in it.
Dopplegangers are pretty much the cause for Kiel's madness, but I believe that Illithids *were* controlling the dopplegangers (I am pretty damn sure it is also mentioned in the game)
Interesting though - they are great at infiltrating, master at deception and lies... but lose temper pretty damn quickly XD
I don't know, for some reason I always thought that the Illithid wanted the player to become stronger, and that's why they gave him or her this kind of challenges, which were up to his or her skills. Or maybe (probably) I'm reading too much into it.
Still, there's pretty much a lot of content that makes huge plot holes in Shadows of Amn.
A small section written in common reads as follows:
“The base is established and the infiltration continues. The Hidden gathers followers and soon we shall dominate the minds of the entire...”
Th message continues in one of the more alien scripts. The Illithids are up to something as is typical for thier race, but your being here has likely disrupted thier plans.
Terrorize a circus? Conquer a random keep in the countryside? Have a base in the sewers of a major city? Leave the only known key to that base in the possession of a (formerly) dead guy several days travel away? Sure, why not?
The only point I'll disagree is Tazok.
I think Tazok may have been revived by the dragon himself to gather info on charname... Or smg else. Anyway it doesn't play along the same lines. Same with the twisted rune.
Basically, the hidden are the hidden protagonists behind a lot of what happens durin the game, and come into conflict with Jon Irenicus a number of times.
Firstly, lets detail that there are actually 2 sides to this, The hidden are a powerful cult of Illithid who have used mind control and alliances to gain considerable influence in the Amn region.
There are also the seekers - these are the Githyanki, whose goal it is to hunt down and destroy the hidden wherever they go. This is just playing out the planar wide gith vs illithid battle on the scale of the forgotten realms.
Now lets look at who is on each side. The Illithids obviously have control of Tazok, but I think this goes a little further. In BG1, the means behind how Sarevok has such a network of doppelgangers at his disposal is never adequately revealed, and this would be a common way for Illithids to infiltate an organisation -the hidden were around in BG1, and approached Sarevok for an alliance to help him gain power. Sound a bit Well, Tazok obviously has to have some connection to lord Jiedan Firekraag for him to be found in his lair conversing with his troops. Firekraag metions his run in with gorion as his main reason for harassing the protagonist, and Gorion was obviously dies at Sarevok's hand early in bg1, ensuring he cant get his revenge. This ties Firekraag on the side of the hidden.
Next we have Githyanki in the planar prison, you find a group of Githyanki inexplicably imprisoned there - lets assume they are seekers. The prison is owned by Duke Darkwood, faction leader of the fated in planescape. This further establishes the planar link of the war between the gith and illithids ,and possibly places duke darkwood in league with the hidden - not entirely unexpected given some of his previous methods. It's worth noting that in the same in as the portal is later where you find and keel the seekers as part of Jans quest.
In addition, the mindflayer have taken control of Torgal and his army, and infiltrated Nalia's keep with the help of mind enslaved Glacias, they have taken control of the jyssev noble family, and lady jyssev hints that there are many other nobles in on the conspiracy as well. Combine this with the note on the Alhoon under the sewers (we have taken control of the entire...) leads us to guess that the hidden have come to dominate the ruling powers of Amn.
This open up the possiblity that the hooded facies at the end of SoA were designed to be the hidden - who have taken over the council of six, and were actuallly the intended antagonists of the sequel
continued in part 2 below....
Irenicus also comes into conflict with the hidden when he is arrested by the coweled wizards (under the control of the hidden) whereas other mages would recieve a warning first, beacuse the hidden are threatened by his presence.
Now irenicus uses the silver sword as a gift to Saemon as a means of strengthening the presence of the seekers in the Amn region - he knows they will be compelled to come after the sword, and then would likely come into conflict with the hidden in the process.
In addition, when Irenicus head to the underdark to meet with the drow matron mother, the party sees a group of Gith at the entrance, whose presence here obvously has something to do with leaked (possibly false depending on how you interpret the illithid ambassador sequence) information about the drows ties with the hidden. Indeed, the mindflayer kidnapping of Phaere, a priestess so closely associated with the matron mother would suggest that the purpose for her kidnapping is to find out more information about Irenicus pact with the drow.
So we basically have two side for the regionwide confilict:
The hidden - whose allies and agents include Sarevok, Firekraag, Tazok, Torgal, Duke Rowan Darkwood, Thralls in most of the noble houses of athkatla + surrounding regions.
The seekers - who have gained help from Irenicus on occasion, and Charname as well.
Personally, I'd like to see the storyline continued in BG3
Ok, yes I am a total fanboy for putting this together, and a lot of it come from my imagination, but still... beamdog if you are hiring writers for BG3