Revelations from Patch 5.3

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Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

I just realized something from this post. Emet-Selch was attempting to create a fully Unsundered Ascian soul right? Whose soul do you think he'd be dead set on making again? Azem's. I have a feeling Zenos being a foil isn't just for show. He is in fact an attempted clone of Azem's soul, and is a failed one simply because of what you said, he has all the need to challenge himself without the WoL's intense empathy.

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Or it could be another folly of the Ancients, Emet did do everything right and figured that would work and recreate his friend but like how they overlook the life that now exists he overlooked that just giving someone all the pieces that made them who they are dosen't mean you'll get the same person, Zenos lead a different life and made different choices, even if he could have been everything Azem was freewill and environment meant he came out very differently.

I'm more inclined to believe it was something simpler like Emet-Selch guiding a familiar soul he spotted during one of his Lifestream viewing sessions to be reborn as Zenos due to the circumstances permitting.

It may not have even been an intentional move on his part and simply something that just kind of happened due to his intense longing for the better days of the past.

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but - Elidibus isn't dead, right? Usually when we finish off an Ascian, we first trap them in auracite, then destroy the auracite with a huge burst of aether. In Elidibus case, it seems his soul is trapped in the Crystal Tower on the First, but he was never destroyed.

I keep seeing people say that Elidibus has been destroyed, so I wonder if I'm missing something.

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Originally Posted by filkry

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but - Elidibus isn't dead, right? Usually when we finish off an Ascian, we first trap them in auracite, then destroy the auracite with a huge burst of aether. In Elidibus case, it seems his soul is trapped in the Crystal Tower on the First, but he was never destroyed.

I keep seeing people say that Elidibus has been destroyed, so I wonder if I'm missing something.

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I don't think the auracite technically has to be destroyed, it's just that hitting the Ascian that is trapped inside it with enough aether to kill them tends to break the auracite as well. Those auracite containers do tend to be rather small and fragile looking things.

The tower is many times larger and much much sturdier, the trapped Ascian can be hit with ridiculous amounts of aether without the tower recieving so much as a scratch. It also might help that the aether used is coming from the tower itself, rather than being applied from an external source as is the case when we've used auracite.

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Originally Posted by filkry

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but - Elidibus isn't dead, right? Usually when we finish off an Ascian, we first trap them in auracite, then destroy the auracite with a huge burst of aether. In Elidibus case, it seems his soul is trapped in the Crystal Tower on the First, but he was never destroyed.

I keep seeing people say that Elidibus has been destroyed, so I wonder if I'm missing something.

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This is a pretty important thing to keep in mind, isn't it? There's also the matter of why that is: Auracite alone isn't enough to permanently deal with an Ascian even in the context of trapping them. And then there's the matter of Elidibus being a primal... to quote Unukalhai from the quest The Fate of Stars:

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Unukalhai
...What I am about to divulge concerns the fate of another star entirely. On this other world, a magick was devised that allowed the realm's champions to use a stone known as “auracite” to contain the power of primals.

So armed, these heroic souls conquered god after god, oblivious to their weapon's fatal imperfection: its propensity to bleed primal energies. And with each victory, the heroes changed, transforming at last into fiends of endless appetite. Insatiable in their hunger for aether, they ultimately went to war over the star's ever-dwindling life force...

...And fought until there was nothing left. Thus, as Urianger so astutely observed, when I am faced with those who rush to embrace power unchecked, I lose all semblance of rationality.

Know that my master, too, cares deeply about the fate of this star. I am his servant─his instrument─sent here to ensure that the same tragedy does not consume another world.

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There, he's describing what happened to the Thirteenth that led to its transformation into the World of Darkness. In hindsight, "killing" Elidibus by trapping him inside Syrcus Tower seems a little... odd, yeah. I'm inclined to believe it really did kill him, if only because of the emotional weight of his last moments, but for all we know he really could still be around. Not quite living or dead, but in a state of suspended animation, bleeding his energies out into Norvrandt. And not only that, but given the unique attributes Elidibus has as a primal—both in his usual form and as the "Warrior of Light"—I can't help but wonder what that'd do to Norvrandt.

On the other hand, Syrcus Tower isn't exactly auracite, as far as I know. The Exarch only compares it to the aforementioned material. Maybe Syrcus Tower really is the "no strings attached"* solution it was presented as.

*The Exarch dying notwithstanding, and even then...

Even if he's not dead as in "returned to the lifestream" dead, for all intents and purposes Elidibus is not a factor moving forward unless someone were to destroy the First's Crystal Tower and nobody has any intention of doing so. The protagonists don't want him out and about because of his genocidal intentions, and the antagonists don't want him around so they can run amok with impunity.

White auracite can't hold aether for long... but the Crystal Tower is not white auracite. It's much bigger and is implicitly able to hold aether indefinitely, as well as a much greater quantity.

His possible return to the stage is duly noted, but it doesn't appear to be in the cards right now.

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Originally Posted by filkry

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but - Elidibus isn't dead, right? Usually when we finish off an Ascian, we first trap them in auracite, then destroy the auracite with a huge burst of aether. In Elidibus case, it seems his soul is trapped in the Crystal Tower on the First, but he was never destroyed.

I keep seeing people say that Elidibus has been destroyed, so I wonder if I'm missing something.

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Technically the Ascian doesn't have to be destroyed with a huge burst of aether either. They could just be eaten, as per Lahabrea.

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Originally Posted by YianKutku

Technically the Ascian doesn't have to be destroyed with a huge burst of aether either. They could just be eaten, as per Lahabrea.

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Ah, remember before he was eaten, he was first dispersed aetherically by a light wave that Thordan swung at him.

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Originally Posted by Vyrerus

Ah, remember before he was eaten, he was first dispersed aetherically by a light wave that Thordan swung at him.

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I call that a "Light" sauté of the Lahabrea appetizer.

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Originally Posted by Rannie

I call that a "Light" sauté of the Lahabrea appetizer.

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Lmao, your humor is appreciated.