August 06, 2023

Voice in the Sea Lore

Extra Details and Information on Our Newest Saga

Hi, all! This bonus lore Design Notes entry was written by Cylisse, the new lead writer for AQWorlds, for her Design Notes debut. The sneak peeks and extra details shared here were originally posted on Twitter, but by popular demand, she's going to begin posting them here for everyone to enjoy. Be aware, spoilers abound!

Before the first release of Voice in the Sea, I made an outline and filled out map and asset documents for core members of the development team. That way, they were aware of major story beats and the resolution of several mysteries.

Songs of the Water Elves

The Songs of the Water Elves is frequently referred to in cutscenes, journals, and the environment. The Songs' purpose wasn't made clear until recently but there were hints scattered behind the scenes

To that end, we began using mouse-over text for various items of interest across maps.

Since I regularly write item descriptions now, a bunch of players realized that there were hints about the song hiding there, too.

Seabase Undine = The Temple of Water

The truth of the Water Elves' Songs then flows into the truth of Seabase Undine, in that it's the Temple of Water the elves used to call home. Swordhaven construction workers just built over the original walls with metal.

Jongaar read the full outline of VitS and composed music to match it. At the higher levels, the music uses more artificial or techy sounds, but the lower you go and the more the metal peels away, the more classical or natural instruments and sounds are used.

The background artists (Crulon and J6) are familiar with the outline, and Darkon made concept art so all of the maps felt cohesive as the modern sheen gradually fell away to reveal ancient stone.

Midnight Zone Revelations

In /MidnightZone, the Defense Division Labs of Seabase Undine was explored. Though the arrow shot at Dage in /ruinedcrown and the pedestal from /templesiege seemed like completely separate mysteries on their own, they converged at midnight.

The Pedestal found in Seabase Undine held the key to neutralizing necromancy, and that feature was copied by Undine's researchers.

Information about this Pedestal leaked and the people who were behind the creation of the New Temple of Light in /TempleSiege and /TempleDelve made a copy of it.

If the Dage and Nulgath releases weren't greenlit, the background of the main story would not feel connected. Previous feedback made it clear that main story releases should be connected, and we're really making headway there.

Sparagmos A.I.

Sparagmos' host A.I. was another major story beat that the other devs were aware of, which means we were able to sprinkle the clues quite early in /SunlightZone.

Theories from the player base ranged from illusions, to a literal ghost in the machine and combating arguments that brought up how necromancy was largely frowned upon on the Good side of things - Great stuff!

In the end, Dr. Noelle wasn't lying. She just didn't share the full truth. Sparagmos' A.I. was a copy of Princess Brittany's personality as remembered by Queen Victoria.

Some extra little details: this line about the arms came about because when Darkon was designing the boss, he said 'It doesn't need legs, but Noelle would add arms so it could hug Robina" So incredibly manipulative, I had to quickly add that to the script!

In the script, I just wrote that child Brittany appeared on the big screen without a background, but Ghost added extras like the forest which makes it feel more wistful! He also did extra by making the boss Sparagmos A.I.'s hologram flicker, and a bunch of other effects and details.

Another small tidbit, the boss of /MidnightZone's full designation is "Sparagmos Andromeda" but that wouldn't fit in character limit, so it's the farming quest's name instead. This is also where I put a scene I had to cut out of the VitS outline:

Andromeda - as in the Greek Princess that would have been sacrificed to a sea monster if it weren't for Perseus A lot of people caught on to Sparagmos early because of what it means in Ancient Greek too.

The A.I. personalities that make their appearance in /AbyssalZone (Chrysaor, Circe, Lycegenes, and Orpheus) are also allusions to Greek Mythology. Though as to who they are actually based off of in-game will remain unsaid. I've seen a lot of players correctly name who they are though!

Abyssal Zone Revelations

The truth that Sparagmos in its original form was the Drowning Machine, first mentioned in a journal in /TempleDelve, is revealed.

It's a horrific weapon created by the Water Elves on orders from the Avatar of Water they worshiped. It could tear apart threats that could threaten the world and its gods but required the sacrifice of souls and their complete erasure.

"The Drowning Machine" is named after something that occurs in the real world; Water currents created by dams turn into a near inescapable death trap. Be careful where you swim, guys!

Some bits of insight on the decision to use this name:

Drowning Machines are in their essence, man-made and not typically natural —>
One of the most terrifying and powerful weapons in Lore, strong enough to harm gods, was man-made.

Once someone is caught in a Drowning Machine, they're doomed. People who try to save them end up getting caught in the machine themselves —>
The characters featured in Voice in the sea are caught in a spiral of negative or harmful thoughts that lead to rash and dangerous behavior. People that try to save or help them end up being caught up in the danger, and are harmed themselves. Though near inescapable, there is still a possibility of breaking free.

The term “Drowning Machine” refers to the fluid dynamics or Currents that can catch you, and hold you underwater to drown —>
Lore's Drowning Machine uses control over currents or space instead of water to tear its victims, like the Colossus, apart.

The Colossus

Speaking of the Colossus, those who took an interest in a certain book from /FortressDelve were tipped off about this guy.

Extra tidbit, Darkon designed the Colossus and this was the reference art I made to give him an idea of what it was like: 

My awful reference drawings took longer than writing that journal.

About that journal, The Compendium of Shadows - in-universe, Dage the Evil is in possession of it but has chosen not to share it with you or Empress Gravelyn. The fake name he used to infiltrate Seabase Undine was the same as the author of that book.

That means he immediately recognised what Sparagmos' regular fuel source really was.

(This is what a quest looks like before it goes in-game)

The Trench and the Devouring Sea

In /TrenchObserve, the penultimate release before the coming Finale, you can find what remains of half of the Colossus. After it fell victim to the Drowning Machine, this half became fuel used by the Water Elves before it was taken as property of Swordhaven when they converted the Temple of Water into Seabase Undine.

Though Kathool was the main antagonistic face of Voice in the Sea, it is not your main enemy.

Kathool was being slowly dissolved and devoured by a different force, the Ocean itself. Or at least, that's how the Avatar of Water sees it.

There were clues back from the shore of /Ashray hinting that something about Kathool's supposed influence was off.

The intruders that regularly attacked Seabase Undine were water elementals.

Illusions, hallucinations, and disguises conjured by these elementals were easy to be seen through and only served as cheap scares. Kathool wouldn't be this sloppy if this was a real attempt.

This is actually Neso struggling to use powers and abilities she has little experience with. 

This entire time, the Avatar of Water Neso has been influencing her Elementals and the Titan of Water to dissolve and devour Kathool. All of them have taken on characteristics of Kathool and the concept of devouring.

Darkon designed many of the monsters with this in mind.

The Seafoam Elemental faced in Part One of Voice in the Sea doesn't have tentacles growing out of its mouth. It's chewing on Kathool tentacles, eating them. You can see how the tentacles are inside the mouth instead of being connected to it.

Marine Snow is another Seafoam Elemental but it has swallowed its meal of Kathool tentacles, revealing an empty maw - reminiscent of the true form Neso is taking as she devours more and more of her eons old enemy.

For the finale, you'll see what has become of Neso in her ill-thought and selfish bid to assert that she is still a powerful benevolent god to be worshiped long after it has proven to be a lie.

If you've read this far, thank you for taking a look and playing Voice in the Sea. It has been so much fun to build these releases alongside the team! Huge props to Darkon for concept and monster art, Crulon and J6 on map art, Jongaar on the wide array of music, Ghost for the cinematic animations, and our testers!

We all look forward to you joining us for the Finale and World Boss!