: Is it possible that the so called "One Dream"
: goal of the Avatara, and the Ultimate Truth, goal of
: the Warlocks of the Shuolomance, are actually two
: different names for the same thing?
: Or are they entirely different?
: I'm sure this has been discused before, but has any
: deffiant idea come out as the Tr7th?
Actually, I don't think it's ever been discussed before. It seems perfectly reasonable of an idea to me, and the only evidence I can see against it is that some people think the Warlocks bargain with the Dark Gods for their powers, which would make me think that they are not looking for Wyrd's "ultimate truth", the One Dream, but rather some other Ultimate Truth. Perhaps the One Dream is only a part of that Ultimate Truth... Wyrd is not the only god, after all.
This just inspired an idea for my sequel plot. Make the game non-linear. There are three main branches you can take. The game begins with the basic hold-off-the-Dark patrols, climaxing in the Devoid level. Afterwards, we learn what all this Dark activity has been about; the Spider-cults have returned and are gathering followers from all the Dark forces in the world.
On the next level, your forces are under attack by the Spider-cults and assorted forces of darkness. If you defeat them, and the Warlocks that come afterwards, you will be taken to the Light plotline I already described, the Dream-quest where the world is destroyed and the One Dream is realized. If you fall to them quickly, before the Warlocks arrive, they will capture you and you are taken to the Dark plotline. But if you can hold out long enough without beating them until the Warlocks get there, the Locks will come to your aid and save you from the Spider-cults, taking you to the Tru7h plotline.
In the Dark plot, you learn while captured that the Spider-cults are not actually insane, but have a legitimate cause. Wyrd came to this world and created all that we see and BANISHED the Dark Gods to the other realm, while they had previously reigned here before Wyrd ever came along and had a planet full of strange creatures like Spiders, Fetch, and Callieach. They merely want their world back, and they're willing to spare any of Wyrd's beings who will succomb to their side. If you join them in this timeline, you will be fighting to destroy the world as we know it and recreate the old, strange world in its place - but it's for a just cause, really! This branch would let you control the Dark forces and even fight alongside Callieach, but you would be up against Trow Iron Warriors, Ent Mages, and eventually Dream-hurling Avatara.
But the Warlocks have perhaps the noblest, and most far-fetched (in terms of doability) goal of them all. They are each searching for the Ultimate Truth; the unification of all the lesser magics, along with the One Dream of Wyrd AND the combined knowledge of the Dark Gods! Each of the Callieach possesses the total knowledge of one of the Dark Gods, but for their goal (to be come a god of gods and put an end to this eternal struggling) to be achieved the Warlocks must somehow learn ALL this knowledge, of both Wyrd and the Dark Gods.
The Wyrd side is fairly easy; the Light is sharing Dreams left and right, all you got to do is make sure that they find them all, but not before all the Dark Gods' powers are learned first. To learn the knowledge of the Dark Gods is a little harder; a Lock must earn the knowledge of the spells from the Dark Gods themselves, and as he does so he will possibly become a Dark Avatar himself, like the Callieach. (I've decided that in this story "The Leveller" is chief amongst the Dark Gods, and thus the Leveller-hosts that we see are all Dark Avatars. Which is why the Callieach are scary; imagine an army of Balors).
But once you're a Dark Avatar, you're not gonna get to learn anything from anyone else, so the Warlocks must cululatively become ALL of the Dark Avatars, and share their knowledge with their chief, who is the Leveller-avatar now. He also possesses all the knowledge passed on by the Warlocks working for the Light. Thus he is now more powerful than the Leveller-spirit occupying him, and casts it out. He is free under his own control, and has all the powers of Wyrd and the Dark Gods combined. The Dark Gods demolish the world; Alric becomes Wyrd and recasts the One Dream; but it doesn't matter, because the chief of the Warlocks is a god of gods now, and the world is his to play with.
Those other deities had better behave themselves.
