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Get a Clue!

As always, KingsIsle peppers their updates with little references for keen wizards to pick up. Some obvious examples include the Zeke quests, blatant references in Avalon (I’m looking at you Lady of the Lake and King Art…) and The Professor and his BOX. What’s surprised me, is the fact that almost no wizards seem to be able to identify many of the references in Darkmoor. And it is this subworld of Darkmoor that is the subject for today’s Get a Clue.

When a few wizards were asked what they thought Darkmoor was about, the overwhelming response was “Dracula.” Why might we think that? Because there’s vampires and a dark castle? Well, that’s pretty much correct, but there’s more to it than just “Dracula”. Let’s take a look at some of the references and determine what their sources might be. What ABOUT Dracula do these references come from? We aren’t KingsIsle, so we don’t know where they got their inspiration from, but we can take a good guess!

Kan Davasi

Malistaire the Undying challenges us to fight him under the ancient laws of Kan Davasi, and that’s how we begin our quest to Darkmoor.

So many people in the game don’t actually think this means anything. While it may not look familiar to English speakers, Turkish speakers might actually know what this phrase means. The term “Kan Davasi” in Turkish means a vendetta or blood feud. How fitting. We are challenged by Malistaire as he has a vendetta against us (if you don’t know what vendetta means, it means that he wants to get revenge on us, presumably for the numerous times we’ve beat him up around the spiral). KingsIsle definitely made a better choice by using the Turkish phrase instead of English. Kan Davasi… It just SOUNDS scary, doesn’t it?

Here Lies… Who?

Our entrance to Darkmoor seems to be on a tombstone of some sort. Who’s tombstone is it? Noel Thornley’s. Noel Thornley was actually the only son of the author of Dracula, Bram Stoker. Interesting huh? 

Continuing on in that same part of the quest, there’s actually an ancient chant that you need to recite in order to gain access to Darkmoor. That chant is “Denn Die Todten Reiten Schnell”. These words (German of origin) translate as “the dead ride (move) fast”. They also appear in Dracula and “Lenore” a poem written by Gottfried August Bürger. I could see how this fits in with Darkmoor theme. You recite the words, and you get to travel to the world filled with dead… Hmm. Not too sure on the relevance of this one, what are your thoughts?

Our creepy tour guide…

Renfield Flygob serves as our guide to Castle Darkmoor. Though he cannot fight with or for us, he does lead us on our quest to defeat Malistaire the Undying (again…).

Renfield is actually a direct reference to Dracula again. Renfield serves as a henchman to Dracula. Dracula is in control of him, and he even promises Renfield an eternal source of food so long as Renfield worships him. What does Renfield eat? Living animals. Flies, other bugs, birds… This parallels the Renfield Flygob/Shane von Shane relationship. Renfield serves Von Shane and practically worships the guy. He’s simply a servant and completely under the control of Shane (evident by him following his orders to expect you and guide you through your quest in Darkmoor). And let’s face it, the dude’s creepy and probably also eats bugs.

(Further information on Renfield can be found [ http://ift.tt/1wH2TaI ] )

Carpa-what?

Many of the different pieces of gear in the game are labeled as “Carpathesian” or from “Carpathes”. “Carpathes” is apparently a village in Darkmoor, as referenced by Tatyana. 

What’s a Carpathesian? Well, Carpathesian isn’t a what, it’s a where. Carpathesian actually refers to the Carpathian Mountain Range in (mainly) Romania, which, as you could probably guess, is where “Dracula” occurs. The correct term for something coming from the Carpathian Mountains is “Carpathian” (obviously), so perhaps KingsIsle didn’t want to use the exact term, and put their own spin on it. Still sounds cool though, and I like Carpathesian over Carpathian anyway.

(More information on the Carpathian Mountain Range at [http://ift.tt/1keS5Zc] )

Chaney the Wolf? Why is there a wolf…?

Howling Chaney is our first acquaintance in Darkmoor. In the first dungeon, he is a Life cheating boss, and he isn’t afraid to dispel you. Lord Shane von Shane pretty much just pits him against you to test your skills.

The first question that probably comes to mind is, why is there a wolf in a vampire related world? The answer may lie in the plot of Dracula. In the book, Lucy Westerna, one of the main female characters of the novel, and her mother are actually attacked by a wolf. Both of them end up dying. This seems to be the only strong connection between the novel and wolves (aside from numerous minor references) as a major plot point is triggered by the wolf. 

Ok, so the wolf doesn’t mean much. But why is he named Howling Chaney?

This could actually be a reference to something not directly Dracula related. Another popular horror film was “The Wolf Man” released in 1941. The main character, The Wolfman was actually played by Lon Chaney Jr. This could very well be the reason why the werewolf creature was named “Chaney”, after the actor. Interestingly, Bela Lugosi also has a role in that film. Bela Lugosi was the original Dracula in the 1931 version of the movie. 

Darkmoor Spells

Of course the Wizard101 developers had to put in new spells to satisfy the masses. While not the real world references previously mentioned, some of these spells have references to other things in Wizard101 themselves.

Fire From Above

Probably the most obvious. In this spell, a Burrower Mouse rides a dragonfly and drops a barrel of Kermes Fire on the target. This is a blatant reference to the Khrysalis storyline, in which Dorian BrightEyes does the same thing, only dropping the barrel onto a Bumbler Town gate.

Call of Khrulhu

This one might be a bit more difficult to pick out because the reference isn’t the main focus of the spell, and that the spell shows creatures from Khrysalis Part 2, which some Darkmoor-bound wizards haven’t even started. During the first seconds of the spell animation, there are some odd looking creatures that seem to fall off into the dark whirlpool. Those creatures are actually the Deep Spawn found in the Starfall Sea dungeon (and Crab Cave in Ruined Alcazar).

Mystic Colossus

Admittedly, this is the spell I see the least. Nevertheless, the animation is wonderful. The “colossus” that the spell refers to is actually the same as the colossi in Bastion, complete with a giant orb on its back and a very odd bronze coloring to make it look rusty. The reference seems very obvious to most, but for those that didn’t recognize, that’s alright. The colossi in Bastion are very large and you can’t really see them in their entirety at once.

Final Words

Those are some of the more obvious references in the Darkmoor dungeons. There are some that we’re not sure on, and perhaps there’s no actual reference there and that these are simply 100% original from KingsIsle:

Who is Tatyana and who is Shane von Shane? Is there actually some sort of vampire/gypsy relationship where the characters are ACTUALLY named Tatyana and Shane (or *Something* von Shane)?

Who is Sir Blackwater and who is he a reference to? What about Akhtang in the Upper Halls?

What other references have you noticed in the four newer dungeons? Let us know in the comments below!

The post Get a Clue #1: Darkmoor appeared first on Duelist101.

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