Lore[]
| Spoiler warning! This section contains plot details about the game. |
There once was a man on the verge of throwing himself off a cliff into the ocean. His business had gone badly and he was drowning in debt.
In the place he went to end it all, a giant monster was said to dwell, and so no one frequented the place.
The man prepared for the end. Suddenly, a jet of water shot up from the ocean and a dark mass surfaced.
The monster had appeared. When he looked closer, the man realized it was not a monster after all, but a giant whale.
At some point, people must have seen this whale and mistaken it for a monster, and so the rumors spread.
The man who had been ready to end his life now stood transfixed by the majesty of the sight before him.
What he felt was not fear. He felt profoundly moved by the beauty of what he was witnessing.
Perhaps he was the only person alive who had ever seen this extraordinary sight. People had believed those ridiculous rumors and avoided this place, but they had missed out.
The man's instincts as a merchant began to stir. There's money in this, he thought.
For lack of money, he himself created a long bench, and placed it on the edge of the cliff overlooking the ocean.
He headed to the nearest city and began touting for business. Saying that he could show them a sight that would change their lives.
He told them where they could see the whale, and asked for a small fee in exchange.
Many were too afraid to go near a place teeming with so many stories. But for others, curiosity got the better of them. They paid the man and went to see for themselves.
All who witnessed the sight were mesmerized. Word soon spread and people flocked to the spot the man had discovered.
He used the money he made to build a small hut on the cliff's edge. He now had an inn.
With somewhere to stay, people came far and wide.
The man was now raking in the money. He was able to pay off his debts in no time.
His success had taught him something.
This place had once been feared and none dared approach. And so it had remained unknown and unspoiled. He could see that, for some, the whale could indeed appear a terrifying monster. Yet he had managed to sell it as a sight of stunning natural beauty, so that people began to view it with wonder.
He had been able to turn something negative into a positive.
The man decided he had hit upon a winning formula for making money. As his wealth and success grew, so too did the inn, ever grander, until it resembled nothing less then an imposing castle.
The man had reached his peak. He was riding the crest of a wave. His success had been rapid, but so too was his decline.
The man thought he had grasped the secret of success. Yet there was more for him to learn, and he would soon be taught how harsh the market can be.
People began to tire of the whale.
Those who came to see the sight would leave satisfied, but they did not tend to return.
The number of visitors dwindled overtime and the man's inn fell into disrepair.
He tried various other money-making schemes, but nothing came of them. Another harsh lesson. Sometimes nothing can be done to save a business in decline.
To make matters worse, the man was used to a life of luxury, buying only the best, and eating and drinking extravagantly.
Though his profits plummeted, he continued to live in the style he was accustomed.
And he was loath to let it go. The man continued to live the high life even as his debts mounted.
And this led him back to where he started...
Drowning in debt, the man decided to throw himself into the ocean.
The whale surfaced, just as it did before, but this time there were not to be any revelations.
This time he was really going to go threw with it.
As he plunged into the water, the man saw an extraordinary sight. He saw coral reefs and shoals of brightly-colored fish swimming amongst them.
He felt profoundly moved, just as he been when he first saw the whale.
He was witnessing something no one else had seen. If he could just build an inn down here, beneath the waves...
As the drowning man thought this, he saw a curious sight, a Chalice that seemed to be speaking to him.
It told him to pay the price. If he did so, his wish would be granted.
The man obeyed.
The sea parted, leaving a strip of exposed seabed between two walls of water. Now people could stand on the seabed and witness the extraordinary sight of the coral with the shoals of fish swimming around it.
There was even an inn within the body of the giant whale. The whale was still alive, its mouth ever open to allow people to enter. The interior of the whale was stunning, adorned with beautiful coral ornaments. Everything was in place for the guests who would come to feast on the ocean's riches.
The man had succeeded in getting his business back up and running once more.
But there was something missing. The man was nowhere to be seen.
While making the sea part, the man had been forced to swallow vast quantities of seawater. His bloated form now floated far beyond the horizon where none could see him.
This was the price the man had paid.
As he bobbed on the surface of the water, the man had plenty of time to reflect on all he had learned.
Yet another lesson in the world of business, if you want something, you always have to pay the price.
Quests taking place[]
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Gallery[]
| North Realm |
| Valhalla Abbey · Icarus Pasture · Mt. Helios · Leviathan (land) |
| West Realm |
| Babylon · Noah's Desert · Lake Andromeda · Aquarius |
| East Realm |
| Ruins of Tartarus · Plains of Olympia · Catacombs of Pandora · Caverns of Goliath |
| South Realm |
| Necropolis · Elvenvale · Poseidon Inn· Luna Wastes |