Introduction
The Gods Unchained team hosted a lore event in Discord, in the lead up to the release of the new expansion Tower of Dread. Every day they would present a map of a tower 'level' with challenges at certain locations. At the end of each day the players were able to fight the Sovereigns (Legendary bosses) in a Direct Challenge against a dev, and finally against Thaeriel himself during the event finale!
I thoroughly enjoyed this event and I dove deep into the lore challenges, writing up a short solution for each challenge. I tried to connect the challenges, reference the card effects and make use of what we already know of the Band of the Wolf and the abilities of each member.
You can find my solutions for all 6 challenges in this collection post.
Mind Control
Glinn and Reios grab Eiko while Divya swiftly takes her katana. She tries to release herself but they hold her tight. She struggles fiercely, spewing frantic words about offering sacrifices and writhing to break free, but they continue to restrain her. Argus scans the others, wary of anyone else also about to become possessed. "We need to sever the connection! She can't be controlled if she's unconscious!" Argus says, urgency in his voice.
"Should we knock her out?" Glinn asks. "No, that won't be necessary. Divya, can you serenade her with your flute? We'll keep her restrained," Argus directs. Divya nods and takes out his flute, playing a soothing melody in front of Eiko. She continues to scream and thrash, but gradually, her resistance fades. Her eyes grow heavy until, finally, her head slumps, and she falls silent. "She's out," Divya confirms. “Good,” Argus continues. “Now I can work on a protection spell." He turns to the others. "Actually, I’ll shield us all. Gather in a circle and make sure you’re holding the shoulder of the person next to you. I’ll channel the spell through Eiko."
Everyone complies, linking together as Argus places his hands on Eiko's shoulders and starts gathering focus. Glowing runes form across their necks, like red burn marks under the skin. The lines glow intensely for a moment, then fade away. "Let's wake her up now" Argus continues. "Let's see if the spell worked". Gamma uncorks a vial from his bag in front of Eiko. It smells horrible and she wakes up confused and disgusted. As she takes hold of her senses, she shouts "They're trying to get in my head again! Oh no!"
Only this time there is nothing but a short burst of panic; the runes in her neck extend upwards to her skull several times as she keeps repeating "They're trying to get in my head again! They're trying to get in my head again!" but she stays in control. After what appears to be a few repeated failed attempts to re-seize her mind, she exhales shakily, but composed.
Argus reassures the band "We should be OK for now. But there are powerful mages here. My protection spell should hold against mind control, but we don't know what else we'll be attacked with here. We need to find more information. They certainly know about us now."
Illicit Summons
"We need to stop that arm from activating the runes! Cut down that Dreadmass!" Argus shouts. Eiko surges forward, slicing clean through the Dreadmass’s arm at its base. But the grotesque mass continues to writhe, as if preparing to grow another limb. Eiko turns to Argus: "Is the Dreadmass trying to activate the runes, or are the runes conjuring the Dreadmass instead?!"
"I don’t know! I’ve never seen Dread runes before!" Argus replies, his voice betraying a mixture of confusion and alarm.
Without saying a word, Divya grabs his flute and starts playing a melody. With every few notes, one of the runes flickers and vanishes. Slowly, the glowing circle weakens, the energy draining away until it completely dissipates, leaving the air still. The Dreadmass, now reduced to a pool of sticky black tar, collapses to the floor, lifeless. Gama moves in and lights it on fire with Gonchberry poison.
The band looks around, relieved. "That was incredible, Divya. Thank you," Argus says, still eyeing the remains of the Dreadmass. He glances toward the far side of the chamber. "There is another door there. Let’s move before we have to deal with something like that again."
Sovereign's Tomes
"Are these books... oozing blood?" Eiko asks in disbelief. "I don't think we want to know what's inside, Argus. This looks like a library, but these books seem more like traps or... ammunition. This place feels like an Armory."
"Or a sample archive", Argus muses. "Hum... let's stay away from these bleeding tomes. Don't touch them. Focus on finding something that looks different, there’s got to be a section with answers. There must be something here that can help explain what is going on".
The band fans out across the eerie room, eyes scanning for any sign of something unusual. But everywhere they look, the scene repeats: blue covers, oozing blood, everywhere. Chira seems particularly intrigued, looking aimlessly around the room as if trying to grasp the context instead of the content. At one point she murmurs, intrigued "Opus Anima...". "What?" Argus turns to her. "Opus Anima. That's what it says in this black one here, Opus Anima Register."
As the band gathered around her, there is suddenly a bellowing wail. It seems to come from a room nearby. Argus commands: "Let's leave the books for now. Maybe someone needs our help!"
Prodigy's Pet
Chira runs her fingers along the creature's muscular arms. She seems curious. The creature gazes back at her, its eyes filled with a mix of pain and faint hope. "It wants us to turn off the machines," Chira murmurs. "It wants to die... but this time permanently."
Around them, the machinery hums ominously, electrical surges pulsing through the devices. It’s unclear whether the purpose is to cause pain or something far more sinister. Reios tightens her grip on her hammer, her face grim. "Alright then, let's give him peace." She begins smashing the surrounding devices, sending sparks flying as her hammer crashes into metal. Eiko follows suit, slicing through the cables that link the creature to the machines.
The creature gasps for air, sighs and expires. Chira continues tracing her fingers across its now-motionless face. "Such a curious creature," she says softly. "It was blessed with a prodigious ability to offer protection to those around them. Their lineage served as protectors of their kind. But then it was captured and dissected to exploit that power. Someone revived and modified him, forcing him to continually relay its protective abilities to someone else in the tower."
"Do you think it was protecting Thaeriel?" Argus asks. "Possibly. Considering the power being diverted to this room, I doubt we'd be able to harm whoever was siphoning his abilities. We got lucky coming here when we did. It's properly dead now. I made sure of that. The machines are also destroyed. There is nothing else for us here. We need to continue."
Adept of Ratification
Without hesitation, Chira extends her arms outward, turning her palms forward. Her eyes roll back briefly, glowing blue for a moment. As this happens, a shimmering ward envelops the entire band, just as the young mage unleashes a Replicating Ratification spell. The attack clashes into Chira’s ward, dissipating in a swirl of purple haze, leaving behind the sharp, acrid scent of burnt cresol.
What have you done to my Bonded Azuron?!? The mage shouts, clearly enraged. Now looking furiously red, but not from magic, he makes himself disappear with a wave of his wand, just before one of Gama's darts is about to hit him.
“What have you done to my Bonded Azuron?!” the mage shrieks, his voice thick with fury. Now looking furiously red, but not from magic, he makes himself disappear with a wave of his wand, narrowly avoiding one of Gama’s darts that had been speeding toward him.
The band looks at Chira, perplexed "I didn’t know you could do that," Divya says with a teasing grin. "Should Argus be worried?"
"It was a parting gift from the bonded prodigy we found earlier. It's a one-time trick though. Next time, let's hope Argus is able to come through!" she replies in the same tone.
"We should make ourselves scarce, too", Eiko interrupts. "And everyone, we need to be ready to disrupt his spells next time. I doubt that was the last we’ll see of him."
GU art for Gideon. All rights reserved, etc. source
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Hi, it would be interesting to make a series based on the story of this game. Nice post my friend.👍👍👍
Amazing Lore