VN Ren'Py Eternum [v0.7.5 Public] [Caribdis]

[Dorfnutter]

Spoiler: Spoiler: 2 Cents

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Except if we're going by what Luna said back at the gas station then it's implied that other people are also experiencing the "Bleeding Effect"/Waking Dream that OIAL's MC and Orion have experienced (though in their case it's attributed to overstaying in Eternum...maybe there's a connection? That staying too much causes the soul to eventually be so attuned to Eternum that they start crossing back and forth through it without the need of logging in, eventually leading to a potential disconnect between the soul and the body to the point that the soul can no longer go back? Creepy if true). My current hypothesis is that unlike other people, OIAL's MC and Orion are easier to pull into Eternum due to their heritage (though it remains to be seen if Orion does have such heritage or he's just some unfortunate schmuck who - for reasons that could be explained later on in the story - is currently being "haunted" by Idriel, The Lady in Black, the Syndicate, and the restless dead (as heard through the random whispers that Orion hears whenever he uses his mysterious power, during the meeting with the Founder, and when he experienced the Bleeding Effect for the first time)). It would also explain why Orion quickly experienced the "bleeding effect" despite having only played fewer sessions compared to other people who have a headstart in playing Eternum but haven't experienced said effects yet (i.e. Annie).

Spoiler: Spoiler: 2 Cents

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Spoiler: Well...

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[b--_--d]

If only it were that simple...

Spoiler: Item 1...

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Spoiler: Item 2...

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Spoiler: Item 3...

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Spoiler: Item 4 (this is assuming you've played dev's past game - Once in a Lifetime, so spoilers for that game. You've been warned)...

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Spoiler: In Conclusion...

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(Course I could be wrong with some or all of this. We'll see in the next updates I suppose)

idk if this connects in someway with your theory, but in Once in a Lifetime, if you get the Prison Ending, Astaroth talks to you about Calypso, how it could be a hindrance to his plans, and how this name might give MC his life back. Perhaps Calypso is something way more than Eternum?

orrrr maybe this might be a reference to something else. After all, if Astaroth does make an appearance in Eternum that means this depressing ending would be the canon ending for OIALT and I for one wouldn't feel too good about that.

Spoiler: Spoiler

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[Dorfnutter]

idk if this connects in someway with your theory, but in Once in a Lifetime, if you get the Prison Ending, Astaroth talks to you about Calypso, how it could be a hindrance to his plans, and how this name might give MC his life back. Perhaps Calypso is something way more than Eternum?

orrrr maybe this might be a reference to something else. After all, if Astaroth does make an appearance in Eternum that means this depressing ending would be the canon ending for OIALT and I for one wouldn't feel too good about that.

Spoiler: Spoiler

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Spoiler: Only thing I got is this really...

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[quorkboy]

Dorfnutter I have no direct replies to what you wrote. It's an interesting possibility. Though on a personal level I'll be much more satisfied if Eternum is a simulation, but more advanced than any we've seen in fiction. Yes, The Matrix (and its influences) already did 'it's just like the real world, you can't even tell', but in Eternum that real world feeling is only the beginning. There's more going on here, the world is being manipulated from without and within. How? Why? We can only speculate because we have not been given enough information to form a solid theory. I think there are problems with both the astral world theory and my initial thought (once I decided it was possible it was not a simulation) – that The Founder had discovered portals into other worlds, but it's only possible to send your consciousness through (not entirely different from the astral plane, but with different limitations and things it does not explain). I'm not ready yet to dive deep into this, and would prefer to wait until we have another episode, which hopefully offers up more clues.

Do we have any idea how far along the story is? I.e. how far in we might be. It seems things are ramping up, both sexually and with the Eternum mystery, but I'm hoping for at least double what we have now (despite how long that will take) because we're still a while away from sex with all the girls (some have further to go than others) and I want to see more than one-on-one with Orion (I have some ideas on groupings I'd like to see, which I will post separately later). Even with events speeding up, there's only so much space for this in each episode if we want the rest of the story to keep moving. I'm guessing maybe two girls per update will progress to their next stage. And we only have full sex so far with Nancy.

 

[quorkboy]

Spoiler: Orion's dreams

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[Dylan741]

Spoiler: Orion's dreams

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Spoiler: More than Orion's dreams....

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[ArDZer]

Spoiler: More than Orion's dreams....

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Spoiler: People with an agenda

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[Dorfnutter]

I think there are problems with both the astral world theory and my initial thought (once I decided it was possible it was not a simulation) – that The Founder had discovered portals into other worlds, but it's only possible to send your consciousness through (not entirely different from the astral plane, but with different limitations and things it does not explain).

The simplest explanations for this is that a) the Founder doesn't want people to realize that he's basically sending their projections to other worlds, and b) it's a lot easier for him to send people to other worlds through projections because the realities of space travel/dimension hopping has made it clear that we as humans are not suited to the rigors of said travel, no matter what sci-fi would like you to believe (like, for instance, how do you even account the "dying" part? that'll be quite the issue if a large contingent of people just went up and died in a distant dimension or galaxy far far away, wouldn't it?

Oh right, it already happened. /side glances at the Space Station massacre in the Andromeda server

Now imagine if all of those people died for real. That's a chunk of your supposed forces already gone. Not good, especially if you're keen on rushing to collect those gems).

Of course, there's probably more to it, but we'll see (assuming that the theory ends up becoming true, anyway).

Again, the gems are the key to all this veil of secrecy that the Founder has enshrouded throughout the "game" and is also the reason for the "game" likely even existing in the first place. It's obvious that he wants them, and he's going through very great lengths to ensure that not only players get the help they need in finding them (i.e. the Amulet of Blair), but he wants to make sure that that is what a large chunk of players ought to be doing (with a lesser chunk allowed to do other tasks such as making equipment and providing housing and ways of travel and RnR to keep players relaxed, thus allowing the illusion that it's all a "game" to continue), and he likely has no tolerance for anyone who might hinder said progress (which is why he makes sure that the Praetorians keep the peace on all servers: it would do no good for everyone looking for the gems if the designated safe zones that are supposedly housing the players end up being literal hives of scum and villainy, where there are no rules and everyone is too busy relishing their basest of desires instead of - you know - going out there and finding those gems.

And if anyone doesn't like it or causes even more trouble?

Well..."excommunication" is a thing, after all).

And while I have a theory as to why he wants the gems, it's still up to Caribdis to decide on how the story would go. But based from the fact that they are named "Gems of Doom," I'm still going to stand by with the idea that collecting them - regardless if one gives them to the Founder or keep it themselves - is an absolutely bad idea.

Do we have any idea how far along the story is? I.e. how far in we might be.

Found this post way back in February on Itch.io (0.5 was already released around this point), from someone who claims to be a staffer who "helps Caribdis out with some things" (likely a Discord mod)...



So yeah, make of that what you will.

Spoiler: Spoiler: People with an agenda

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Where was it mentioned that they are still active? IIRC their veil of secrecy has gone kaput after Astaroth was vanquished (there's a part of me that thinks that a certain Ex-President might've had a hand in exposing them, possibly while he was regaling people of his stories during his campaign), but nowhere was it said that they're still out and about.

 

[b--_--d]

Spoiler: Spoiler

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Spoiler: My response:

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Spoiler: Spoiler

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I don't think OIALT has any actual canon ending for now, since out of 6 of its endings, 4 of them are entirely plausible paths which considers continuity within Caribdis's universe, with 2 of them connecting to Eternum. Both the Prison ending and the Secret ending. The prison ending is quite vague with Calypso being the only connection, but the secret ending implies that OIALT's MC used Eternum and somehow got his memory leaked over to Orion. I don't think OIALT MC ending up alone is canon though since Dalia mentioned that maybe Orion fucked up some choices along the way, giving him an alternate ending.

Harem ending and One-girl ending are, well, happy endings which are self contained, so if Caribdis wants OIALT characters to make an appearance in Eternum, he can do so without any considerations for the plot.

The Astaroth ending and Cemetery Ending definitely is out since both of these endings had the world order collapsing, and events in Eternum definitely show that the world is just fine.

So in conclusion, any of the 4 endings(harem, one-girl, prison, and secret ending) could be canon. I think the secret ending could simply be paired with any of the 3 other endings.

 

[Dorfnutter]

I don't think OIALT has any actual canon ending for now, since out of 6 of its endings, 4 of them are entirely plausible paths which considers continuity within Caribdis's universe, with 2 of them connecting to Eternum.

Spoiler: About that...

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[b--_--d]

Spoiler: About that...

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oh, well that's nice. There's the theory down the drain lmao

 

[Dylan741]

Spoiler: My response:

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I don't think OIALT has any actual canon ending for now, since out of 6 of its endings, 4 of them are entirely plausible paths which considers continuity within Caribdis's universe, with 2 of them connecting to Eternum. Both the Prison ending and the Secret ending. The prison ending is quite vague with Calypso being the only connection, but the secret ending implies that OIALT's MC used Eternum and somehow got his memory leaked over to Orion. I don't think OIALT MC ending up alone is canon though since Dalia mentioned that maybe Orion fucked up some choices along the way, giving him an alternate ending.

Harem ending and One-girl ending are, well, happy endings which are self contained, so if Caribdis wants OIALT characters to make an appearance in Eternum, he can do so without any considerations for the plot.

The Astaroth ending and Cemetery Ending definitely is out since both of these endings had the world order collapsing, and events in Eternum definitely show that the world is just fine.

So in conclusion, any of the 4 endings(harem, one-girl, prison, and secret ending) could be canon. I think the secret ending could simply be paired with any of the 3 other endings.

Dorfnutter already answered for me, in OIAL the harem ending is the only one canon ending, all the others are what if scenario.

 

[Dylan741]

Spoiler: People with an agenda

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Or

Spoiler: Or...

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[ArDZer]

Where was it mentioned that they are still active? IIRC their veil of secrecy has gone kaput after Astaroth was vanquished (there's a part of me that thinks that a certain Ex-President might've had a hand in exposing them, possibly while he was regaling people of his stories during his campaign), but nowhere was it said that they're still out and about.

Spoiler: A distant possibility

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[Dylan741]

Where was it mentioned that they are still active? IIRC their veil of secrecy has gone kaput after Astaroth was vanquished (there's a part of me that thinks that a certain Ex-President might've had a hand in exposing them, possibly while he was regaling people of his stories during his campaign), but nowhere was it said that they're still out and about.

Spoiler: A distant possibility

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Spoiler: Another possibility

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[Dorfnutter]

Spoiler: Spoiler: A distant possibility

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I'm under the impression that the abandoned church is a different cult entirely. It doesn't reek of typical SoA tactics to me tbh. Otherwise the Lady in Black would've been offering Orion the usual spiel that Astaroth or his cronies would've been giving (i.e. Serve Astaroth, Join him and he will give you your wildest fantasies, You have no chance against Astaroth so join him, yada yada yada) instead of asking for help and being associated with the dead.

Also I was under the impression that the cult that were banished from Warthogs and the Syndicate are one and the same, but that's just me.

And yes, it's been mentioned by Mike that the cult still has tendrils all over the globe, which is why they were going to globe hop for a while. But without a central influence and the heads of the Sons rotting six feet under, the likelihood of them still being a major faction during the events of Eternum has zero chance of happening (especially since there's no mention that a new leader has stepped in). If anything, they're probably splintered by now (with the likelihood of infighting being high with no leadership present), with some likely moving on or creating a new cult from the ashes (though I doubt they would reach the same heights of power that the SoA ever achieved...they'll probably need otherworldly help for that).

 

[b--_--d]

Spoiler: People with an agenda

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I don't think the Cult of Astaroth has that much power now. Eternum's events takes place years after OIALT. And remember, only Astaroth and his 5 followers actually know the face of the MC. After the 5 Princes and Astaroth's deaths, and with MC on the run, I don't think they'd even know where to look. They don't even know the face of the guy they're supposed to be looking for. So yeah, the entire cult's done and dusted at this point.

Spoiler: A distant possibility

I personally think the Cult mentioned there was just something within Eternum's story itself. With Astaroth's death, it wouldn't make sense for the Sons of Astaroth to assemble there, because their goals are already dust. I think the cult in warthogs has something more in relation with this mysterious syndicate that keeps on popping out here and there on Orion's head. After all, he did have a dream of that church

 

[Skrrt!]

If you mean the ? that appear in the gallery, it's either the one reserved for the side girls like Maat and Eva and possibly other that should appear during the story ( I consider Calypso and Idriel as possible candidates).

The other main LI's are already there: Annie, Nancy, Dalia, Penelope, Luna, Alex and Nova in this order.

Ah, you know I figured that too but didn’t hurt to ask just to be sure. 7 LI’s is good enough imo. My list keeps shuffling with each girl’s new content and especially when it feels like we are getting Luna’s “slow burn” route.

A Calypso scene is likely I feel. Based off how she’s written being naive and her interactions with Orion I feel it’s trending there. Idriel on the other hand, I’m hoping but if she just remains as a plot device & ultimately “untouchable” that would suck.

Swear tho, if Idriel has no scene but freaking Gertrude starts coming onto us, oh we fighting.

 

[Dorfnutter]

Swear tho, if Idriel has no scene but freaking Gertrude starts coming onto us, oh we fighting.

Considering how worried she was for her marriage when Nancy supposedly told her the "dangers" of playing Eternum (to the point that she was duped in giving Nancy the implant for a low price), I think we're pretty safe in that regard...















...Charlotte, on the other hand...

 

[Dylan741]

Considering how worried she was for her marriage when Nancy supposedly told her the "dangers" of playing Eternum (to the point that she was duped in giving Nancy the implant for a low price), I think we're pretty safe in that regard...















...Charlotte, on the other hand...

NO!!!

Ahem, I mean Charlotte?Yeah, very interesting...