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sempiternox · 2 years

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Sundered - Eschatonian Transcript Part 1

Greetings, children of the Eschaton! After 5 years, I’ve finally decided to write down the Eschatonian dialogue in Sundered. That’s right; what you’re about to read is a transcript of the spoken Eschatonian in the game. It’s not 100% accurate or complete, but I still had a lot of fun working on this project! What helped me a lot with piecing the dialogue together and figuring out the spelling of most Eschatonian words was Kai Le Caroff’s vocab list shown in Thunder Lotus’s article about Eschatonian and the game’s .txt file containing the English subtitles among other things (yup, I did some datamining as well ^^)

PART 2 PART 3 BONUS

But before we start, here’s some info about the transcripts plus a pronunciation guide.

The structure of these transcripts is as follows:

Eschatonian line* Literal translation* In-game subtitles* * = additional notes

Words I couldn’t make out or translate are marked as (?). Whenever I was unsure if I translated/transcribed/spelled a word correctly, I marked it as [word?].

Quick and dirty pronunciation guide

A = as in “father” or “umbrella”, depending on the length E = as in “yes” (sometimes it’s also pronounced like the first e in the German word “Leben”) I = as in “is” or like the “ee” in “see”, depending on the length O = as in “lock” U = like the “oo” in “book” or “tool”, depending on the length Ä = like the “a” in “that” Ö = as in the German word “böse” Ü = as in the German word “Glück” or “Lüge”, depending on the length (sometimes it’s also pronounced as a semivowel) AH = as in “Ah crap!” AR = like the “a” in “father”. Sometimes TST rolls the R. AU = like the “ou” in “loud” EI = like the English letter “I” EU = like the “oy” in “boy” ER = can either be pronounced as in the German word “besser” or like the word “air” (non-rhotic). Sometimes TST rolls the R. That little disco crystal really loves rolling their Rs! IE = like the “ee” in “see”. The only exception is the word “θieθ” (=taken), in which th “ie” is pronounced like the “ye” in “yes”. IER = like the word “ear” (non-rhotic) C = like the “ch” in the German word “Licht” G = always hard, as in “gravity” R = can either be rolled or pronounced like the German / European French R W = like the “v” in “very” X = like the “ch” in “Loch Ness” θ = “th” NG = as in “strong” SCH = like the “sh” in “shiver” SP = as in “speed” ST = “sht”, as in the German word “Stein” (TST pronounces it as in “stone” at a few points, for example when they use the word “kelenstax”=“place”) ° = click consonant, but I don’t know which one T_T ^ = glottal stop ‘ = indicates an elision or contraction. I also used apostrophes to divide some vowel clusters into seperate syllables for better readability (Example: I spelled the Eschatonian word for “Valkyrie” as “we’eilic” [=vay-eye-liç]) or to match the spelling in the vocab list (Example: the word for “home” is spelled “m’xat”) B, D, F, H, K, L, M, N, P, S, T, V and Z are pronounced as they would be in English. NOTE: since I had a hard time distinguishing the Eschatonian “er” and short “a” at the end of certain words, I spelled the respective verbs and adjectives with -a (e.g. kliezekta (= good) or beita (= work)) and (pro)nouns with -er (e.g.stüleuker (= human) or mekrer (=my)).

DISCLAIMER: I’M NOT A LINGUIST AND THE DISTORTION IN TST’S VOICE MAKES IT HARD TO MAKE OUT CERTAIN WORDS/PHONEMES SOMETIMES, SO THERE WILL BE SOME TRANSCRIPTION MISTAKES HERE AND THERE.

With that out of the way, let’s get into the Eschatonian dialogue in Sundered!

Intro Scene

Helvi Eshe... Hello Eshe Hello Eshe...

Tan leschtagen eidax stüleuker [wesk?] üexliau [kesis?] tan ferkelenstax. How interesting (?) human (?) you (?) so/such place How interesting that a human like you should find herself in such a place.

Mekrer m’xat. Lie, θa... wek reümek lie heθa. My home. Or, well, what remain(s) [of?] this This is my home. Or, well... what remains of it.

Schwa, üexliau xa θieθ sensch um xahetagen. Surely, you not taken here for nothing Surely, you weren’t taken here for nothing.

En kan [schn’ser?] stalek fauschek le üexliau fax°ale. I can sense dark purpose in you future/fate I can sense a dark purpose in your future,

Teks xa θehat, ol* en, Schetzing Alθakepz, But not fear, for I, Shining Trapezohedron But fear not, for I, the Shining Trapezohedron, * = “ol” is probably a variation of “um” (=for)

Schra zei xelaf ek l’weitsch üexliau fexlkeit. Will be weapon that lead(s) you freedom Shall be the weapon that leads you to freedom.

En schra lest üesch mekrer krafst, um ek üexliau kamps le het ferkelenstax. I will lend you my power(s), for that you fight in this place I shall lend you my powers, so that you can fight in this place.

Region 1 Vista

Xe krantz li Ishaela Bha’gor, [el?] me’her li e’eskaetli. To glory of Ishaela Bha’gor, (?) mother of Eschaton In honor of Ishaela Bha’gor, the Eschaton Mother.

First Ability Shrine

Ausche [tarke?] xe [klauva?] mlex pfiewrisch. Use shrine(s) to gain more power Use these shrines to gain more power.

Ta schra schaufk um tsei [fal?] zei. It will suffice for [time?] (?) be They will suffice for the time being.

En schra [xelschwie?] üex [wa xe?] hel stark. I will (?) you (?) to real strong Return with an Elder Shard, and I will show you true power.* * = according to the .txt file, the subtitle for this line used to be “I will later show you how to get real strong.”

Deflecting Shield

Het schra kes auschwax. This will is useful This will be useful.

Nox-inlekta mi’ eifster starlikt, i en ksa [har?] üex wie um [taschis?] het starka. Return with Elder Shard, and I will show you how for make this stronger* The valkyries had some redeeming qualities.* * = according to the txt. file, the subtitle for this line used to be “Return with an Elder Shard, and I will show you how to make it stronger.”

Region 1 Switches

Senschüa kes pfie deschü. [Here?] is/are two switch(es) There are two switches.

Ta schra inlekt pfiewrisch nax ein, i taks enein [i schlewäst?] It will turn power back on, and but activate (?) [defense?] They turn the power back on, but also activate the defense systems.

Het kes wie! M’hetagen sensch schra beita hüt. this is how! Everything here will work [now?] This is it! Everything should work now.

First Death

Nüex teik fietsele kliemxeθ he’ fax. We have finally come this point/chance We have finally arrived at this point.

Het kes schlauke li [mi’kraxle?], ü alθakepz. this is source(s) of my power, [tree?] trapezohedron* This is one of the sources of my power, the Trapezohedron’s tree.* * = according to the txt. file, the subtitle for this line used to be "This is the source of my power, the Trapezohedrons’s Tree.”

Xrei [ferli schlüxte?] üex, spensta üeschli starlikt um kliesekte üeschli fax’ale. [When?] death find(s) you, spend your shards to perfect your fate When death finds you, spend your shards to improve your fate.

^xlau en. Üexliau nexek’ ta. trust I, you need it Trust me, you’ll need it.

He’ θas’ kes fau kliemhagle xe üeschli eix. This world is full different to your own This world is completely different from your own.

Ta xanglesch [klinstaxle?]. Ta teik ühe li eix. It change(s) constantly. It has life of own It changes constantly. It has a life of its own.

Blei eidax. [staxar?] kes üsch nah. stay alert, danger is always near Stay alert, as danger is always near.

Incinerator

Waters keseθ hälθ pfielaresch. Waters was old fool Waters was an old fool.

Het we’eilic aprat auscha xe kraufsat eifster starlikt. This Valkyrie contraption use(d) to destroy Elder Shard(s) This Valkyrie contraption was used to destroy Elder Shards.

An hertigkeit xa schra [keseieθ?]. (?) profanity not will [tolerated?] Such profanity will not be tolerated.

Region 1 Lore Room 1

Apxan hete θäst inlekteθ xe letz, Before this world turned to ruin Before this place turned to ruin,

atic Krurhal Milarh m’wei nuex. Le karuθa li mieksch, priest Krurhal Milarh guard us. In/from corruption of men the priest Krurhal Milarh guarded us. From the corruption of men,

le [klinguθa?] li θäst. in/from corrosion of world from the corrosion of the world.

Model Luther X09 Fight

Robts mit xa esch. machines with no soul Machines with no soul.

En liew het nik xa schra [enrüexl?]. I think/know this one not will [save?] I think this one is beyond repair.

First Elder Shard Fragment

Pfielaresch! Het rekisch tierakau freitax um schralipsch fools! this/these reckless creature(s) fight for scrap(s) Fools! These reckless creatures fight for scraps

i stax eifster starlikt le xeierlictau. and shatter Elder Shard(s) in process and shatter Elder shards in the process.

Kliemwe fün framenstasch xe liax. collect three fragment(s) to (?) Collect three fragments to make them whole again.

Leaping Device

Waheilic teike’ tüksn umb robskeit. valkyrie(s) had brain for science The valkyries had a brain for science...

Hel wiesch ta kliemθe’ tan stürle pfielaresch. real bad it [came?] so stubborn(ly) foolish Too bad they were so stubbornly foolish.

Region 1 Lore Room 2

Wa keisch li(k) pfielaresch [mieker?] aneθ, when swarm(s) of foolish men went When swarms of foolish men arrived,

knau üschliau we’eilic call(ing) them Valkyries calling themselves the Valkyries,

augen fau li hataθ, xere [ler?] he liew, eyes full of greed, heart(s) empty to belief eyes full of greed, hearts empty of belief,

atsan nuex li xewer üschliau m’hetagen, ask(ing) us of give them everything asking us to give them everything,

Krurhal Milarh xralescheke’* üschliau. Krurhal Milarh restrained them Krurhal Milarh restrained them. * = just seeing this word makes my throat hurt...

Arlie Waylon Fight

Fietsele! Ta skauesch en hel tüktelaux... finally! It/he (?) I real/very stupid Finally! A mighty foe nonetheless... * = according to the .txt file, the subtitle for this line used to be “Finally! He was starting to get on my nerves...”

Valkyrie Cannon

Het kes leschtagen aprat. this is interesting contraption This is an interesting contraption.

Taks en kan kliesekte het mit eifster starlikt. but I can perfect this with Elder Shard Though I could improve it with an Elder Shard.

Region 1 Lore Room 3

Stark keθ we’eilic wrapf; üsch waltax, schreklic. Strong was valkyrie(s) wrath; their bullet(s), terrible Strong was the Valkyries’ wrath; Their bullets, terrible.

I mit (?) i [me’ iglivaka?] üschliau alariwe’ [nuef?]. and with cowardice and [with?] trickery they deceived us And with cowardice and trickery they deceived us.

Üschliau pfelekteθ nü mauer i enare’ nü [kitare?] They pierced our wall(s) and entered our city They pierced our walls and entered our city.

Krurhal Milarh teikeθ xaθ kseaxkeit. Krurhal Milarh had not dominion Krurhal Milarh had no more Dominion.

Quietus Ternion Fight

Weier li m’her, Quietus Ternion. guardian(s) of mother, Quietus Ternion The Mother’s bodyguards, Quietus Ternion.

Hel spies üheθ [ta’er?] krassat. very little lived/survived [their?] attacks Very few have survived their attacks.

Eshe, üexliau helstark en! Eshe, you [impress?] me You impress me, Eshe!

First Elder Shard

Eifster starlikt kes mlex walauxe altz ik takschauxl. Elder Shard(s) is/are more valuable than any treasure Elder Shards are more valuable than any treasure.

Wer ta xe [alkipuθara?] schesra Bring it to ability shrine Bring one to an Ability Shrine

I [klieva tarkik?] l’ mikrer pfiewrisch. and [uncover?] (?) of my power and uncover the true breadth of my power.

Laser Gauntlet

Het kelenstax tascheθ li we’eilic um [fang?] Krurhal Milarh. This place made of Valkyrie(s) for [trap?] Krurhal Milarh This room was built by the Valkyries to keep Krurhal Milarh trapped.

Het xa schra zei fax xe or. This not will be easy to cross It won’t be easy to cross.

Wa beit, Eshe. Sensch üexliau kan meot Krurhal Milarh, wei. [good?] work, Eshe. Here you can meet Krurhal Milarh, guard(ian) Good work, Eshe. Now you can meet Krurhal Milarh, the Guardian.

Dominion Boss Fight

Keseθ [se?] har’ xe üex? was [this?] hard to you Was this hard for you?

Üexliau schra gesict tan fief hel balt. You will face so strong very soon You will face fiercer soon enough.

En kan tasch hel faxs tax op üexliau karüfis üeschli pfierische. I can make very easy but if you corrupt your powers I can make it much easier though if you corrupt your abilities.

#sundered #sundered game #eschatonian #sundered nyarlathotep #shining trapezohedron #sundered shining trapezohedron #sundered eschatonian #conlang

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warlordfelwinter · 2 years

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all I want is to be able to sound like the shining trapezohedron from sundered is that really asking so much

#id also like to be able to speak its language #sundered #personal

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thebeardedladyofthelake · 3 years

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Wow but that glowing rock does is be pretty sexy tho, you feel me 😩😩😩😩💕💕✴️💦💦👀

#sundered #sundered Eldritch edition #haha funny shitpost you say #but little do you know im being entirely serious #that voice is sexy #and id suck their non euclidean cock without an ounce of hesitation #shining trapezohedron

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shiningeshe · 4 years

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#sundered #sundered game #thunder lotus #thunder lotus games #nyarlathotep #nyarlathotep sundered #sundered meme #the shining trapezohedron #shining trapezohedron #sundered spoilers #resist or embrace #this man is gay meme #this man is gay #hello sundered fandom i am Here

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xivu-arath · 4 years

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the first wound (of many)

(ao3)

so did I mention I’ve been playing sundered

She thinks about that single weightless moment of not falling. (It had tasted of hope.)

In the caverns, Eshe dies.

She dies crushed beneath the weight of monsters. She dies riddled with burns, with lightning tearing through every muscle and nerve, to a blade singing with energy as it cleaves through her.

She dies, and wakes to the smell of her own cooked flesh. To the nightmare ache of whatever killed her last. To the terribly dead air, and the faint shimmer of the smoke from the Sanctuary’s candles and always, always, to the crystal tugging at her.

Come, Eshe. Again. Do you not wish to see a true sky once more?

Of course she does. Of course. So she swallows down her bile and goes down into those wild, shifting spaces again and again and again.

At first, she tries to use the crystal like a dagger. (It gleams wetly like blood when it speaks.) It has little patience for her slow and clumsy attempts, and it begins to yank at her wrist as it unspools into deadly light. It is easier to fight when she stops trying to lead. She only has to think strike and it does, flashing from whip to blade to impossible spikes. It pulls her along with it, nudging her body into the right forms until they flow in sync.

Many deaths later, it is effortless.

Is it her instrument and weapon, or has she become it instead? Pointless to ask that, or risk thinking about it for too long. The crystal’s weight is a comfort in her hand. Its voice is the only one she hears. She does not live long, but without it she would not live at all.

She dozes in the Sanctuary sometimes, and hears the crystal’s harsh whisper of her name. She thinks on how this is the only place of safety, where the jaws of the trap loosen enough that she does not feel their bite. There is a truth there that should matter, but she is cornered and forever wounded and all she can care about is the chance to breathe between one dying and the next.

What question or dream brought her here to begin with? She can no longer remember. She must have been searching for something. It must have mattered once, too.

But even with the crystal, she dies. She is too frail, too slow, too easily overwhelmed. The Valkyries’ tools are many and wondrous and still not enough to save her.

Flesh is soft, the crystal tells her as she drags herself to a shrine, side numb to the bone from laser burn. The Valkyries wrapped themselves in unyielding metal to hide it. My people knew better. What good is a metal cage? What is soft can grow, and be reshaped.

Its voice is a grating murmur. The words should horrify her, but she is already so full of horror.

Allow my power to reshape you. Let me show you what you can become.

The shrine boils over with light as she approaches, crystal in one hand and the shard of power in the other. Each step is harder than the last, between the emptiness of her wounds and the shard growing cold and colder until she cannot think of loosening her grip. Her vision skews oddly – or perhaps that is the world, cast in layers and shadows by the crystal’s steady glow. It grows brighter, but only seems to bring more darkness with it, until the shrine’s seething energy is as murky as ink.

Just looking at it makes her eyes ache like a bruise. Every visceral instinct that kept her alive in the world beyond is adamant on not letting it touch her, on casting the shard aside and running as far and fast as she can.

But there’s nowhere she can run to without dying, and death will just bring her back to make this journey again. Her hand is a frozen claw, and if she were to stop now, maybe the crystal would simply yank at her legs and take that last wavering step for her.

Would it matter if it did? She wants to think that it makes a difference, to be a pawn but not a puppet, but maybe this place has eroded that distinction. Just as it gnaws at everything else. Her memory, her will, her life.

Eshe takes the step, and the shard tears itself from her grasp. The no-longer-light surges. It bears her up like a wave, and like a wave she drowns in it. Power presses down on her and stretches out against her in every direction at once, and she is transfixed, choking, aware of how brittle she is, how riddled with flaws and afraid that one will prove too much and she will just shatter –

The shrine’s energy ebbs away, leaving her there. It takes her a moment to realize that the air is just air again, a moment longer to realize she should be falling.

The horrific ache of the reshaping is gone, and there is only a regular pain instead, the discomfort of muscles taking on a new task. Her arms spread out, and her cloak spreads with them, splitting into the blurred outlines of wings. Wings, like a childhood dream.

Or a nightmare. There is something wrong with the rest of her, though she cannot see what through the darkness now clinging to her like a shroud. The set of her jaw is different. There are too many teeth in her mouth, and they are sharp.

Slowly, lightly, she drifts down to the ground. The moment her feet touch it the change sweeps through again, a shudder of muscle and bone settling in, and she is herself. Still fragile, still wounded. As trapped as before.

The shrine was for a small thing, and so it is a small power, the crystal says. You will need more than this to escape. Its tone is satisfied, encouraging.

But it is a start.

The journey back to the Sanctuary is long. She thinks about if she’ll die on the way, after struggling to make it so far down. (Would it be a mercy?)

She thinks about being nearly torn apart at the next shrine, and another after that. However many it takes. (It will be easier in time, the crystal says, smug in its reassurance. We are attuned now.)

She thinks about that single weightless moment of not falling. (It had tasted of hope.)

The change is worrying, and then it isn’t. At first she looks for signs that it lingers, that her body is becoming inhuman without her knowledge – have her fingers become talons? Do her teeth fit strangely? – but each time the crystal seems to keep its word. Eventually it seems pointless to waste time and energy on such a fear. Either it will happen, or it won’t, and there is nothing for her but to keep going.

So she does, endlessly.

Time bleeds away from her, impossible to keep track of between deaths and in the dim, unchanging light. The caverns jump around behind her back, and few things are ever in the same place. Perhaps it is the same with time – maybe this day is one she has relived a thousand times, or is years before she was born, or a century after the sandstorm pulled her down.

She does not ask the crystal about it. It would not be a kindness to know.

The wings prove to be enough to survive longer, and reach more. The Valkyries left weapons behind, fearsome ones not meant for anything short of a soldier, but she has always been good at getting abandoned, rusting tools to work for her. The cannon is no different for all that it is pristine and hungry for violence and ammunition both.

With it she claws her way to the prison where Krurhal Milarh is kept. She would have known it even without the layered and wasteful grids of lasers meant to keep rescuers at bay. Every step on the way has had an echo, like a distant heart beating in time with her own. Now that she is close, the air feels cold and charged, and the echo is thunder she cannot quite hear.

There is power beyond the barred and sealed doors, and it is waiting for her. The sense of it lies thick on her tongue and pools behind her eyes. It is repellent, but beneath the dull horror – which has never left her, she is just as accustomed to it as she is to the crystal, and the dying – is something warm, greedy, almost alien.

Kinship, maybe.

She opens the doors.

In the caverns, Eshe dies. But not for much longer.

#sundered #my words #I have been picking away at this for a week #and it has been making me go feral #perhaps now that some of the energy has been channeled I will be a little more focused #anyways sundered is fun and the shining trapezohedron is a fave #less so is the necessity of spelling that #long post

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brighan · 5 years

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“Hello Eshe. How interesting that a human like you should find herself in such a place.”

A Sundered fanart I did to celebrate the release of the Eldritch edition! I really loved this game. Specially its art and music :)

#sundered #the shining trapezohedron #lovecraft #game art #thunder lotus #artists on tumblr #horror #splash art #eshe #digital art #color #illustration #brighanart

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lungblossom · 5 years

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send these to the special eldritch one in your life ;)

#sundered #eshe #the shining trapezohedron #thunder lotus games #valentines day #13.2.19 #i will revive this fandom myself if i have to i love this game

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antisocial-author · 5 years

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idk why y’all aren’t talking ab Sundered more because it’s a very very fun game depending on what u like

are u into platformers that are also horde fighting games with a spark of lovecraft and a dash of severely difficult bc that’s Sundered for u

i’m playing on Easy so i can’t say much on the difficulty but like. this game is rly fun. i love it

#sundered #sundered eldritch edition #sundered: eldritch edition #eshe #eshe sundered #hp lovecraft #the shining trapezohedron #eldritch horror #this is a rly cool game

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ryan-cicak · 5 years

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Eshe, from Sundered.

#ryan cicak #artists on tumblr #eshe #sundered #thunder lotus #video games #fan art #video game fan art #sundered fan art #shining trapezohedron

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aths-art · 3 years

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Ori

Commission work inspired by Ori from Ori and the Blind forest/Will of the Wisps and Sundered games Shining Trapezohedron

#digital art #ori #ori and the blind forest #ori and the will of the wisps #sundered #shiny #trapezohedron #Fanart #eldritch

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shadow-schemer · 4 years

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Sundered So far

The Shining Trapezohedron: /speaks in an evil voice

Me: 👀👀👀

Also, me: Are... are you getting hot over a talking polygon???!!

Me: hh... trapezohedron

#SUNDERED

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sempiternox · 2 years

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Sundered - the gift that keeps on giving! I found some unused TST voice lines in the game files. Hope you enjoy!

#sundered #sundered eshe #sundered shining trapezohedron #sundered nyarlathotep #eschatonian #sundered eschaton #sundered eschatonian #sundered game #lovecraft #eldritch

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motherfucker-unlimited · 4 years

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One good thing about Sundered (2017) not being super popular is that at least I didn't see anyone lusting over The Shining Trapezohedron

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void-acolyte · 6 years

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Sundered and human expendability.

Something about eldritches that has always intrigued me is that some of them are interested in humans.

Since eldritches are partially a psychological embodiment of cosmicism (humans are ants in the cosmic scheme and ultimately very unimportant), based on their feelings and actions towards humans, it is interesting to see The Shining Trapezohedron take such an interest in the Eschaton (specifically Bah’gor) and express such vitriol for the Valkyrie.

I have delved into why TST is so interested in the Eschaton in another article (Eschaton Reconstructionism), so today I will focus on another side of this— human expendability. Starting with the Eschaton’s leader:

Ishaela Bah’gor was very valuable to TST, as she would perform the ritual to bring about the end of the world. Even before the Valkyrie came, it is clear Bah’gor possessed eldritchian powers that were possibly just like the ones Eshe has if you corrupt:

“She has received the blessings of the lower gods. Her powers fight to bring freedom to our slumbering deity.” -Eschaton Scribe Lo-Ya Ygllalau, II of VII“

She received both immortality (likely in exchange for helping TST and Nyarlathotep) and multiple powers from the Lower Gods. The lower gods in this game are discussed in the context of the Eschaton’s religious text “The Book of Lower Gods”, in passages such as:

“Kneel to Z’Toggua, King of the Deep Ones, and your enemies will kneel to you.”

— The Book of Lower Gods

All the gods that you receive powers from in game (aside from Azathoth) are mentioned in the Book of Lower Gods. Since all of them are (appropriately) The Great Old Ones in Lovecraftian lore, we may also conjecture that Bah’gor may have had great power from multiple gods, perhaps many unmentioned in game.

In short, Bah'gor has the protection of the gods, but what about the rest of the Eschaton?

General Waters’ (the Valkyrie leader) destroyed multiple Elder Shards, so many that he made an Incinerator to handle them. Assuming all of those he burned were unused for corruption, that incinerated Shards are permanently destroyed, and that there were at least 7 unused Shards that were introduced into the world after the Fall, some Shards were very likely used on either Eschaton priests/fighters, or on Krurhal Milarh, the Guardian of the Eschaton.

So some of the Eschaton have the blessings of the gods, none of the Valkyrie do, and… Eshe certainly does, if you choose to corrupt.

I find looking at Eshe herself to be the most fascinating aspect of human expendability— does she matter?— so I will focus on her for the rest of this article.

We have covered that eldritch power is represented in both black and purple colors. When Eshe is pulled under the ground (conceivably by the land itself, considered the entirety of it is eldritchian), it is by black and purple hands, indicating the land itself has chosen her, eldritch energy has chosen her, and perhaps if TST has anything to with it— The Shining Trapezohedron has chosen her.

She is important enough to be selected as a possible candidate for finishing what the Eschaton started, yet seen as susceptible enough to totally succumb to eldritch influence— perhaps a mistake.

There is no permanent death in game. When you die, you are enveloped by blck tentacles as Eshe screams— the land wishes to keep her here, the land finds her worthy. Yet on the same token, her individuality is stripped away. She is always eventually overwhelmed by eldritch hordes, towering bosses, having her health and shield chipped away by monsters, lasers, and environmental hazards.

So ultimately she is still very unimportant: the war would have occurred without her, the twisted life underground would go on without her, and TST might have simply picked someone else to take her place. She is very expendable in the greater scheme of things, utterly unimportant, and yet very important depending on whether she 100% Embraces or 100% Resists.

Ultimately, it does not matter that Eshe is Eshe, she as a personality, as an individual, does not matter. It simply matters that she is human and that she either gives in to TST and eldritch power or rejects.

More on ”someone taking her place” is under a readmore, since it contains major spoilers for the 100% Embrace ending.

(I am very sorry if the formatting came out strangely for this post. If you would like a link with proper formatting, ask me and I will provide a working link.)

During the Nether Gauntlet for 100% Embrace, TST says:

“Eshe! Can you see it? No one has ever made it this far!”

This indicates there were others before Eshe. Everyone he has selected has died before getting to this point. Objectively, they likely were not strong enough to make it to this point, they were “rejected” by the land, and they finally, truly die.

The fact that Eshe has infinite chances is:

Obviously a decision that’s made in every game like this: finite chances would be much too cruel, especially considering Sundered’s horde mechanic.

In a literary sense, fascinating, since if no one truly had made it that far, the land and TST thought Eshe was an excellent candidate for their purpose, and certainly not as inherently useless as most human beings would seem.

She has strength, more than others before her have had. This makes her different, but in my opnion, still not important, at least not in a sense that most protagonists are.

We get a further explanation of how TST views humanity in the 100% Resist ending.

In the Nether Gauntlet of this ending, TST expresses his (largely concealed) contempt for Eshe (she did not listen to him when he said to corrupt) in passages like:

“Let’s see how useful you still can be.” and “I’ll admit, you’re a stubborn woman.”

This contempt is fully unleashed in the boss battle. Before the second boss wave of the 100% Resist Ending, TST says this to Eshe:

“Eshe, my little pawn.. You refused my help, and now I shall crush you! The creature you see before me is my true form! You will regret.. EVERYTHING!”

(The above shows that in Sundered, TST and Nyarlathotep are duality. TST “fusing” with Nyarlathotep yields a new appearance but no new powers.)

How I believe Nyarlathotep and TST really feel about her is that she is a pawn, extraordinarily expendable. Eshe was simply someone he tried and failed to manipulate, and so he attempts to exterminate her (because she is a danger/threat to him and because he hates her).

This is an interesting angle because it’s not something explored often in characterization of Nyarlathotep, yet it is a very important aspect of his interactions with humanity and certainly something to keep in mind.

#sundered #sundered game #cthulhu mythos #the outer gnosis #studies #media res #my writing

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