Before I get anything started, you can check out the Antagonist sub-forum to read up on some more posts and stuff.
What is the Antagonist?
(Not a depiction of the actual antagonist.)
When Chaqery, the GM head of the Antagonist, first wrote the lore for this evil force, he thought of many things. The server needed something that united us as one entity to fight, and it needed more inclusion of the playerbase. He took evil elements from popular games and books such as the Lord of the Rings, the Witcher, Warhammer, and Dragon's Dogma, smashing those elements together into one big, badass villain.
He also wanted to bring back those "quintessentially fantasy moments", where you truly feel like you're in an intense action scene in a movie. Those moments where the hero seems like he is going to lose, but fights back and takes a daring victory as the night fades away... You know.
Let's get down to some specifics, eh?
The Nation, Ranks, and Goals
When the Antagonist arrives in its unbridled form, it can be perceived as its own nation -- a sixth nation, if you will. The Antagonist won't be played just in events, but rather daily, with sporadic, lively roleplay. Broadcasts won't be used, so players don't all scramble to one area. The roleplay will be spread out, and run mostly by actual players, not GM's.
The Nation
The Antagonist nation is widely known as "Burzümkütotaz" (pronounced Burr-zoom-coo-toe-taz), and is located in the far north. In fact, the North as we know it is more of a gateway to the Antagonist lands than being the actual Antagonist lands.
The goal of the nation is to take over all other nations; and this will be much more serious than other antagonists in the past, due to the scale of our villain this time. Chaqery states that one of the key features to this Antagonist is the massive size and broad ranking system that it has.
Known Ranks
We got some pretty exciting and weird ranks so far. Featuring...
"Big Bad Guy"
• Leads the Antagonist
• Described as a "Giant creature with lots of magical power" (Sargeras, anyone?)
• Hates mortals. Controls you if you become an Antagonist
Hiishtgul (The Immolated)
• The "Lieutenants" of the Antagonist
• Lead the "Sergeants"
• Currently only GM's, but will be expanded to be general players
"Sergeants"
• Bigger, tougher guys in the Antagonist
• Assigned to a Hiishtgul
• They each lead their own "tribe" of regular Antagonist players
• Act independently; do not need orders to attack small settlements
Siege Engineers
• Tiny, creepy crawly goblin-like creatures
• Described to be very much like Gollum/Smeagol
And also specific groups for the Swordsmen and Archer groups.
Why such complicated names?
We want the playerbase to make up their own names for the Antagonist, instead of using the names that the Antagonist have given themselves. For example, most of you wouldn't come to call the nation Burzümkütotaz, but rather, "The Nation of Villains" or "The Momo Skahers", something of that like.
Antagonist Lands
If you ventured far enough and searched wide enough, it is possible to visit the Antagonist lands right now. As said before, the North is more of a gateway to the lair of this evil force. However, when you get there, you'll find that the place is much like a labyrinth -- it will be hard to navigate around the hellish planes, not to mention forces there that might stop you along the way.
These lands have been worked on vigorously by builders since April, and I think they have done a fine job. Below, you can view the Antagonist trailer, which shows off some of Burzümkütotaz.
Some players who have already ventured to the North or small parts of Burzümkütotaz have found many enchanted weapons, books of lore, and other charms to be had that tell more about the Antagonist, or will help you defeat it in the future.
Kanrath has been leading several expeditions to the North, and he has encountered several dark forces already. You can read about his party's experiences below -- and feel free to send him a message if you are interested in being a part of a future expedition!
Antagonist Applications
When the Antagonist attacks a small settlement, they often capture some of the survivors, bringing them back to the evil realm. If you've submitted an application here, and your captors find your roleplay to be satisfactory, you may be absorbed into the Antagonist! Therefore, there isn't really accepting or denying; rather by-chance roleplay that leads to assimilation.
One thing to keep in mind, however, is that your character will most certainly become permanently bound to the Antagonist. If the heroes of Anthos defeat this overwhelming force, the character that you had accepted with will likely be permanently killed (if you're never accepted, you have no need to worry about this). Beware!
Villain Applications
If you end up being accepted into the Antagonistic force, you will not be required to make a villain application. Your activity will just be expected; but you will be held to the same standard as those who do have villain applications.
The same goes for Magic applications.
Group Applications
Sometimes, whole groups will want to join the Antagonist, or at least request roleplay. Whether this be for in-character reasons or out-of-character reasons, the leader of your group can request roleplay with the Antagonist for possible assimilation (<-- I love that word).
If you lead a rather large group, and you all agree to be absorbed into the Antagonist if you are chosen, you can send a PM to Chaqery on the forums. Make sure to describe the group name, a little description of the group, and why y'all want to join the Antagonist. Then, hope for the best as they might set up a mini-event to roleplay with your people!
Plugins and Magic
When the Nexus plugin hits, the Antagonist will be making full use of it, just as we will.
Basically, they will be using corrupted forms of magic that is already present. For example, your average mage might have a fire spell, water spell, etc. The evildoers will instead have corrupted fire, corrupted water, and the such. If you can imagine such a thing.
Another cool thing is that you will keep your racial benefits if you become a member of the nation of Burzümkütotaz. If you're an Orc and you have the Bloodlust ability, you'll still have it, for example. The cool part is that being a member of the Antagonist gives you a corrupted bonus. Who knows what it is, but it will definitely change the tide of your benefits.
How is this different from the Undead
First of all, this Antagonist has no affiliation with Iblees, who was the driving force behind Aegis' popular villainous group. This Antagonist will be much bigger in scale than the Undead were.
Also, in Aegis, the driving force behind the conflict were two clashing forces: the Ascended and the Undead. In Anthos, there will be no primary protagonist. We are the primary protagonist. We form within ourselves the heroes that will fight off this ancient evil.
What is Going to Happen, and When
Malinor, the nation of the elves, has already been attacked by the Antagonist once before. As the war between the Dwarves and Humans begins to settle, the Antagonist may rise, looking then only for the opportune moment to strike. From there, the attacks will slowly build up until they cannot be ignored.
Smaller settlements might have also gotten a taste of this villainous cavalry.
Races
As large groups of races are absorbed into the Antagonist, small sub-races will be created within it to compensate. A nation of the elves might be taken over, resulting in the "remodeling" of that nation's lands, and the creation of a specific Antagonist elf group.
Let's just hope that we don't have to fight spoon-wielding corrupt halflings.
Finally, if you haven't already, you can view the Antagonist Livestream below. Most everything that I have stated above was taken from there.
Screenshot of the Day
Today's screenshot of the day comes from TheCleaningCrew. This is out in the Wilds, somewhere...
Fishermen and swimmers, beware.
You can view the actual post here.
Reminders
Popular Trade Posts:
That's all for today folks! And a bit of good news! We're going even more official, and the Lord of the Craft blog might actually become an integrated part of the website (thanks to the coding magic of Mr. Tythus). More on this later, though.
Finally, I'm going to get the chance to interview more members of the staff about stuff that wasn't discussed in livestreams or posts. Expect that in the future as well.
But for now, thanks for reading, and go bust some of me!
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