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Xau-Tak: God of the Horrors

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Wahisietel
Oct Member 2005

Wahisietel

Posts: 3,426 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Raven confirmed on twitter that Wilson was the one who coded the nightmares. So yes, definitely a Xau-Tak reference. And probably an Underwater City reference too.

Also, I finally got around to updating the thread to reflect Nomad's Elegy and other newly discovered stuff. There are also now sections on the Karamthulhu and The Light Within dream. Check em out if you want. You never were our brightest star, Khazard. 'Vermin slaughtered like lambs'? What does that even mean?

13-Apr-2016 13:49:20 - Last edited on 13-Apr-2016 16:11:45 by Wahisietel

Lego Miester
Nov Member 2023

Lego Miester

Posts: 35,339 Sapphire Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Wahisietel said :
---A glimpse into Xau-Taks civilization---


During The Light WIthin, if you fail the segment where you have to stay awake during Coeden's story, it is possible to have a nightmare that may provide a glimpse in the civilization Xau-Tak may have once had, perhaps even the fabled Underwater City itself.

Original message details are unavailable.
You wake up in a strange landscape. Everywhere you look are obsidian pillars and slabs that suggest buildings, but are somehow subtly wrong in proportion and arrangement. The words 'seas rise, nations fall' are whispered in your ear over and over again, but every time you whip around you see nothing. It is utterly dark but somehow you can still see that there is nobody here with you.

The air feels thick, like treacle, and you suddenly realize that you are deep under water. You try to breathe but can't; after all you are surrounded by cold, black water at the bottom of a terrible, merciless ocean. You struggle, but your limbs won't move. Is it because of the pressure of the water, or could it be the myriad black, stone hands that have emerged from the buildings and are gripping you? In either case, you jerk awake with a gasp. It was all a dream! A terrible, terrible dream.


Jesus. o_O This god is going to be a real nightmare. Is it just dialogue or some sort of cutscene? Headcanon Haven, where everything is made up and the points don't matter.
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14-Apr-2016 06:31:56 - Last edited on 14-Apr-2016 06:32:13 by Lego Miester

Velia
Jan Member 2020

Velia

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Lego Miester said :
Jesus. o_O This god is going to be a real nightmare. Is it just dialogue or some sort of cutscene? It's probably told via chat-box text over a black screen. Having a full-blown cutscene seems a bit excessive for some completely optional, easily missed, totally-not-significant-at-all dialogue.

I'm a bit more curious/concerned about Xau's 'attachment' to us rather than the description of... Xau-Takian(?) society. It's like Xau is clawing at the furthest reaches of out mind, contacting us, which is all the more concerning given that at both times he/it/whatever did that was after we'd been given World Guardian status.

So either Xau is able to use other means of reaching us at incredibly convenient moments for us (and themself), or is otherwise able to tell where we are and what we're doing at a given time and contact us on a whim... or we've been 'corrupted' at some point prior to Guthix's protection, and only catch 'glimpses' of it when our mind is in a vulnerable state.


Anyway... Why Does n't Wahisietel support Xau-Tak? :P

14-Apr-2016 09:27:43

Sepulchre
Dec Member 2020

Sepulchre

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Truth be told? We won't be getting any answers to these questions until 2017 at the earliest. That doesn't mean speculation isn't okay.. in fact, that just leaves more time to speculate! So let's begin!

So yes, Xau-Tak is the God of Horrors, Death, and the Sea. He's basically Davy Jones from PotC. Aside from that, he bears more resemblance to C*hulhu if anything. I did a little digging on C*hulhu and came upon something that made me go to a piece of content developed by Mod Wilson that has nothing to do with Pirates or Skeletal Horrors.. Broken Home.
In the first novel, The call of C*hulhu , It is stated that merely seeing C*hulhu can drive a person to insanity almost instantly.
How does this fit into Broken Home? Well, the building that is found under the mansion is an old Asylum, a place for insane people (and demons, and probably other races as well). According to what we know, Ormod thought he was going insane, or "Cursed with madness" and was told he was senile, and that his afflictions were not of magical cause. Well, what if maybe Ormod did a little more than work? Perhaps he did what a lot of us do, we take a walk. Maybe he walked down to the basement and found a passage.. sounding familiar? It should, it's what happens in The Call of C*hulhu with a few variations. Long story short, he stumbles upon something, perhaps one of Xau-Tak's artefacts, or Xau-Tak, now in the coma-sleep (Just like C*hulhu was), and was driven into insanity and servitude. Maybe the 'Curse of this House' he was trying to save everyone from WAS Xau-Tak, and, unfortunately, he was kept around because of the guilt he felt when he somehow broke Xau-Tak's spell and did these things? I mean, the Skeletal Horror mas built over the Asylum by the Odd Old Man for a reason, right?

Who knows? A
World Guardian
must learn to find
Balance
in themselves.
Only then can they
Control
themselves and forge their own
Fate .

15-Apr-2016 07:37:25

Wahisietel
Oct Member 2005

Wahisietel

Posts: 3,426 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Broken Home's storyline was done by Mod Jack, and IIIRC Seneci**** was the cause of madness. Of course, Chthonian demons are also partially based on Lovecraft, so a connection is possible. You never were our brightest star, Khazard. 'Vermin slaughtered like lambs'? What does that even mean?

15-Apr-2016 13:57:06 - Last edited on 15-Apr-2016 13:57:45 by Wahisietel

Sepulchre
Dec Member 2020

Sepulchre

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Wahisietel said :
Broken Home's storyline was done by Mod Jack, and IIIRC Seneci**** was the cause of madness. Of course, Chthonian demons are also partially based on Lovecraft, so a connection is possible.

I don't recall them ever mentioning that Seneci**** (Love how that's still censored) was what drove Ormod insane. but I only ever did the quest once, and never paid it much attention, as it was a one-off. Still, I'm looking forward to finding out more about Xau-Tak. A
World Guardian
must learn to find
Balance
in themselves.
Only then can they
Control
themselves and forge their own
Fate .

16-Apr-2016 09:03:56

The contents of this message have been hidden.

16-Apr-2016 09:15:14

Wahisietel
Oct Member 2005

Wahisietel

Posts: 3,426 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
So now that we know about the Xau-Tak reference in The Light Within, we can see that there's another reference to it in the the Hermit crab pet's dialogue.
Original message details are unavailable.
Hermit crab: You know, this place is too dry, but at least I don't have to worry about giant stone hands.
Player: Giant stone what?
Hermit crab: I can't tell you! Last time I tried I was locked in an aquarium by a unicorn-man.
The Light WIthin dialogue for reference:
Original message details are unavailable.
You struggle, but your limbs won't move. Is it because of the pressure of the water, or could it be the myriad black, stone hands that have emerged from the buildings and are gripping you?
So stone hands have something to do with Xau-Tak, apparently. And the Hermit crab has seemingly been to the Underwater City. You never were our brightest star, Khazard. 'Vermin slaughtered like lambs'? What does that even mean?

20-Apr-2016 15:17:46 - Last edited on 20-Apr-2016 15:18:14 by Wahisietel

Darth Omix
Dec Member 2023

Darth Omix

Posts: 26 Bronze Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Man, I've missed out on some prime lorehunting in all this Xau-Tak stuff. Here's hoping content in later 2016 and early 2017 will shed some light on our tentacled oppressor.

However, I'd like to throw out some food for thought:

What is Xau-Tak's interest in the player? I mean, if it's Xau-Tak directly manipulating a dead cave goblin in the afterlife torment of Zanik, yet only the Player hears it , then they need to be consciously aware of where we are in the multiverse and are watching - and blatantly threatening - us.

Perhaps whatever Xau-Tak sees in the player could also be tied to JasKra's - and by proxy Jas' - seemingly unhealthy obsession with the player. I mean, the player - and perhaps Sliske, I'm not exactly sure with him - are the only ones to touch the Stone of Jas and not be deemed a False User by the Dragonkin, merely a 'Stone Toucher'.

On that note, perhaps what Xau-Tak wants is the Stone, or some other Elder Artefact. Since we've already established some of Xau-Tak's themes with Pirates and Control, couldn't Xau-Tak be related to the Elder Horn, used by the Sea Singer Quin to control all the Sea monsters of Wushanko from afar, and demanded that the citizens of Wushanko worship her like a goddess.

I mean Wushanko Isles, Pirates, Elder Horn used for Control. It lines up better than some theories. Perhaps there's some weight to it?

No that last comment is not aimed at one theory in particular.
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23-Apr-2016 05:19:23

Sepulchre
Dec Member 2020

Sepulchre

Posts: 3,525 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Any chance that there's a connection between Xau-Tak and the Strange glowing orb? The way ??? from the orb talks, and their general attitude seems to fit the profile of a God of Horrors and Death. A
World Guardian
must learn to find
Balance
in themselves.
Only then can they
Control
themselves and forge their own
Fate .

29-Apr-2016 08:27:32

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