#sso fort maria

[fictional-library-tournament]

Prelims round 1, poll 19

Propaganda

Scarlet Devil Mansion Library, Touhou:

It's said to have books of all kind, in thousands of different languages, and about countless different things. Some of the books were written by the librarian herself, Patchouli Knowledge. The was also probably one of the first recognizable set pieces in the windows touhou games, being the fourth stage in it's introductory game.

The Lines Between, Dimension 20: Neverafter:

Contains all versions of every story ever written, told, or imagined - free existential horror with every checkout!

"You're nothing more than scratches of ink on someone else's piece of paper."

The Lines Between is a massive place between stories, and staffed by diverse and deific librarians who are just doing their best, such as Glossary, Key, Legend and Index. The library is physically made of books, scrolls, and parchment. Its areas include the Hall of Stories, the Canonade, the Tower of Tales, and perhaps most remarkably: a brilliant view of the Auroratory. It is a beautiful aurora borealis of voices, preserving auratory stories that aren't necessarily written down. It is possible to swim up and into the Auroratory.

Fort Maria Library, Star Sable Online:

(All images come from ssoblr users)

So this is not necessarily a public library and it was abandoned for a long time (as far as we know) but the druids have it up again recently in game. It was built as part of Fort Maria centuries ago by the time of the game, and holds books from all those eras.

It is a gorgeous and expansive place with secret passageways, rare tomes, fluffy seats, old abandoned research, a lot of study areas, old relics, a moving bookcase to a portal cavern and even its very own library ghost!

It is, in my opinion, one of the most atmospheric places in the game. Even without sound on it is gorgeous and bring across its intention incredibly well, and with the sound on it is incredibly eerie. The music here is very limited and quiet, and the player’s footsteps echo through the library.

I feel like whatever you’re researching, you will find something on it in here. It feels like a place you could spend your whole life reading in, and still only have read a tiny fraction of the books there.

the citizens of jorvik (fictional star stable online island) keep all the witchcraft books in there and all their super secret and cool magic books, it was closed for years and it's very mysterious. one of the coolest characters (mrs. holdsworth) in the whole game hangs out there a lot, and it's home to a cute little capran named beatrix and she took her name from her favorite book. the only way you get in the library is by feeding her snacks and reading her books and she's also one of the coolest characters in the game (imo). also beatrix is friends with one of the horses in the game and she often is seen playing with the horse so :) OH and also there's a full heckin portal room in the lower floor!!! with a little pond and a portal that at some point the main characters (the "soul riders") get kicked in by the evil guys (the "dark riders") into this place called devil's gap (despite the name there's just one witch basically vibing in the gap potentially helping out the evil guys but we haven't figured that out yet). and it's gorgeous, if you're worrying about looks. the inside is all wooden and home-y and the portal room is also very pretty eye candy, it's very glow-y.

Bookholm, The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers

None

[sso-montana]

Justin reference/redesign (FUCKING FINALLY-)

some info's regarding the design:

the poison mark and white streak in his hair were caused by Katja

I hc that the necklace he's wearing used to be Catherines

the bottle of medicine is not for him but Montana

the black nail polish is Montanas doing (sin drew him with it once idek if it was bc of style choices or not but I am running with it)

this has cost me way too many breakdowns I will never be doing this again (that's probably a lie) also yeah I gave him a different outfit for before the DC incident to reference his old design and just bc I wanted to mixed them in general

[lilisjorvikadventures]

Welcome to Fort Maria

She has been waiting for you.

Feel invited

by all her knowledge

and all her secrets.

What will you do, traveller?

Will you study the past?

Are you looking to the future?

Are you the one writing History?

Are you ready for what you will find in these halls?

Are you ready for all she has to offer?

Are you ready?

[marikken]

⁺˚⋆｡°✩°｡⋆˚⁺˚⋆｡°✩°｡⋆˚⁺˚⋆｡°✩°｡⋆˚⁺˚⋆｡°✩°｡⋆˚⁺˚⋆｡°✩°｡⋆˚⁺˚⋆｡°✩°｡⋆˚⁺˚⋆｡°✩

[lukas-crowsong]

still not quite sure what actually happened during the whole pool of pandemonium sequence with the dark figure lowkey

the soul riders ask afterwards who you see but i didnt see anyone in particular?? was that intentional??? i wasn't sure what the game wanted me to do so i ran towards it and it vanished. never got explained to me but i have the perception skills of a worm so idk wtf just happened. maybe it was important maybe it wasn't

[sso-maev]

Whichever people designed the environments for these past few events deserve the pay raise of a life time

[jorvikzelda]

A perfectly normal trail ride with absolutely no odd or out-of-place occurrences at all.

[centeris2]

after months I finally caught up on all the sso quests sometime last week. I don't have to avoid spoilers anymore. yayyy

but catching up on the quests was more like

-runs through fort maria- -runs through fort maria- -runs through fort maria- -runs through for

Repeating "SSO is an AU of SSL" over and over to myself as the game moves further from SSL and the first few years of SSO. (It's helping, slowly.)

[natduskfall]

Okay, I have reached that one talk with Rhiannon where she tells MC, Linda, and Alex about the time she got ambushed by a dark, cloaked figure in the woods, and almost lost her Wild Whispering gift.

We don’t know who the figure was. Maybe it was Darko, maybe it was someone else. But the story reinforces the concept that there are several, overlapping magic systems. It almost seems to imply that people who use the opposite of the magic that comes from Aideen can also have the gift of Wild Whispering, but it is corrupted. Maybe reversed? Or just used for evil.

So, theoretically, it is possible that Darko has the gift of Wild Whispering as well, but his is corrupted. He can sense the light of Aideen in starbreeds, maybe even normal horses. But it resonates most strongly in MC. It is possible that he can also reverse, corrupt, or extinguish this light within the horses, thus corrupting them, making them into Dark horses. He breaks the horses, and forces them to bend to his will, and the will of their chosen rider. Maybe the ability to “sense” the horses, and the light of Aideen, is uncomfortable for him, tho he can push it out. But not in the case of MC. He did say he wants to extinguish the light of Aideen in all horses.

SSO lore enthusiasts and theorists, are there any theories as to why Darko can sense MC's presence, or what is it that he feels inside us? It's been bugging me.

[dinosaurvalley]

im back in the trenches so heres some small(ish) scale stuff i wish sso had:

you could talk to the npcs even if they didnt have quests, even if its just a single line or like “what im busy” when you get too close to them like how they do in fort maria. i love that stuff. i want the mean npcs to tell me to get lost

you could forage for horse food? like why can i forage for rubia and jute and whatever but theres no carrots or apples i can pick. please im spending all my money on gear

kind of related to the last one and ive mentioned it before, but i wish horses had randomly selected favorite and least favorite foods that would give more or less xp if you fed it too them.

the soul riders should have things they do. anne should do dressage training, lisa could go on trail rides, linda could be wandering around the silverglade library, etc. just something so theyre not standing around doing nothing for months.

are all the crafting stations in valedale? if so thats stupid. add crafting stations to ranger outposts and the rescue ranch and other things. if thats already a thing then disregard this

you should get a crafting kit, not for everything, just for like some of the small stuff you get from path of terra or whatever, maybe make it so you can only use it while sitting down somewhere to give sitting and actual use

idk what else, my brain is fried, add on if you want

[rinravenkeep]

The Trees are part of the Squid's Plan! (major main quest spoilers)

After spending way too long playing through the new quests in SSO, I've come up with a theory. A real long theory. That the Life Wardens are siding with both Dark Riders and Soul Riders in order to repair the Wild Weave and reconnect with one another, inadvertently helping the Dark Riders to free Garnok.

Lemme explain.

This is the map in the Fort Maria portal room. It shows the seven major Life Wardens that we know of, but it also gives us some clues about the story going forwards.

First, the obvious.

Yeah, there's no way that little illustration in the corner is anything but Ol' Squiddy's Tentacles. But we knew he was imprisoned between worlds, in neither Pandoria nor Jorvik - so finding out he's been chilling in the Wild Weave, or a location only accessible by it, makes sense.

Next, when it comes to putting a name to each of these trees I think most are fairly self explanatory. We've known about most of these trees for years, even if they've never been a part of the story, such as with the Ice Tree by the Stonecutter's Vault in Dino Valley, and the Unnamed Tree way up near where you finish the Red String Trail in the Firgrove Mountains.

Where it gets interesting is with the two trees I couldn't place; such as the one between the Sentinel Tree in Mistfall and the Ice Tree in Dino Valley; and the one on the far left, signified by floating islands.

In my mind it makes sense to have a couple of the trees sprouting in Pandoria, since the two worlds are connected by the tree roots - and the only floating rocks I know about are in Pandoria - but who knows.

Overlaying the normal map on top of these locations makes it pretty clear that they're supposed to correspond to real map locations. The only anomaly is the Ice Tree and Sentinel Tree, whose positions are reversed on the portal map.

What's interesting is that Garnok, if I'm following the map's logic correctly, would hold exactly the same positioning as the Dark Core Oil Rig.

(For context, we know the Rig's position from old skybox errors that used to show it when stood in the right spots, some maps from the books (which I know aren't always canon anymore, but hey it's the best we've got) and, most recently, if the player looks South when entering Devil's Gap, thanks to that little black hole we helped Sunshine open up recently.)

Where am I going with all this? Okay!

Firstly, we know that the trees have helped the Dark Riders in the past. The Life Wardens have repeatedly said the only loyalty they have is to each other, and quite frankly after what the Jarl did, who can blame them. (Thanks Jon).

This is going into massive spoiler territory for the most recent quest as of 17/1/24 so if you haven't completed it yet, flee.

The Sentinel Tree in the Wildwoods has been corrupted by Pandorian magic for a while now. But in the newest quest, we saw Sabine using the Runesmasher to break into it and create a portal to free Erissa.

Side tangent about the hammer:

For those who didn't play the Halloween quests, basically one of the Jarl's servants got the ice valley smith to make a hammer that could destroy runestones, broke one open, and a Vala witch gave him immortality. Aka. Sive (or an identical Vala witch), who is deeply connected with the Life Wardens and who probably gave Sabine the hammer when we saw her in Devil's Gap, has no problem with this action.

The Life Wardens, or at the very least Sive, their ally, wanted the portal opened and Erissa freed.

Why?

To re-grow the Wild Weave.

Assuming Garnok's position on my map was correct, the only way the Dark Riders now have to free him is to go directly through the Wild Weave.

And since we're good people who like nature... yeahhh the Soul Riders are totally going to end up healing some trees and inadvertently opening the path to Garnok wide open.

Oh yeah. We're going to mess up royally.

[mmhberry]

I’m hit with a wave of nostalgia whenever I hear SSO’s old soundtrack like everybody else but MAN the newer tracks in the game‘s story quests and new zones are so severely underrated in this community. The Devil’s Gap/Fort Maria story quests got these really immersive and mysterious tracks and it drives me up the wall that you can only hear some of these in-game like, once, for 10 seconds, because it’s a story quests thing so you’ll never hear them again in-game

[rora-dolphinheart]

Ha ha. Heh. Heh….

I uh. I may already have a folder of WIPs in this category :’)

if there's no continuation of Galloper's story this Halloween, I'll take that as official permission to make up anything in his story as fanon. don't think I've been told not to by anyone (just myself).

buuuuut i would do it more bravely now.

[coravonblyssen]

What are the most important places in sso lore wise?

oil rig, secret stone circle, pinehill mansion, jorvik stables, life wardens, fort maria, devil's gap, the dam, stonecutters vault, cauldron swamp, circus etc.

others? please help me think ����🏻🙏🏻

[yourhoeshorses]

not sure if starshine legacy is still fully cannon with the current state of SSO, but after playing through starshine legacy i think some of the stuff i found out about the dark riders is really cool

the dark riders and the soul riders are ALL relatively the same age as they all went to highschool with each other. Im not sure if this has been changed on jorvikpedia, but i remember it saying Sabine is a 40yo some years ago? which is just,,, not the case. or maybe it is and the cannon changed so who knows, but in episode 1 she was a highschooler.

the dark riders straight up arent human, or at the very least katja isnt human. same with Buck (the kid that stands outside of fort maria). they have a similar situation as the soul horses were they can die (or in the dark riders case, if theyre banished back to the sea with Garnok) they can reincarnate,,, or something.

Garnok is stuck inside of a space ship

[starshinedragon]

SSO: LIFE WARDENS The magic trees of Jorvik

Main tree: Jordrassil in the Jorcrater -> The Crater is where the first pandorian contact happened, Aideen met the centaurs -> She combined the 3 magics (Light, Earth, Pandorian) and fought Garnok. -> Jordrassil is the first tree, manifestation of Aideen’s life powers. -> Also the place where she dispersed, gave up her light and souls to the creatures of the island -> Master portal- planted many other trees on the island, so she can get around quicky in the war. -> Jordrassil has the strongest hints of Aideen’s light (other than MC) would be a top prize for G to corrupt

Life Wardens: Primeival trees -> Fast travel system, their roots for portals after saying the right incantation.  -> From Jordrassil you can fast travel to ANY (living, friendly) tree -> From other trees only to the next in the network -> Guarding and strengthening any magic: Aideen’s or Garnok’s if corrupted. -> They can be awakened and speak, have different personalities.

1. Harvestlands: -> Sleeping Widow: Forgotten Fields. Helped Lisa, 1st one we meet. Wants to reconnect with the other Trees. Protective of the little one also growing in the Forgotten fields. -> Golden Lady: Scarecrow Hill. Grows Golden Apples, which are pure Aideen/Light power. Neighbors and best friends with the Widow. -> Ancient Sentinel: Wildwoods. Protected by the Wild Horse tribes. There is a pandorian rift underwater in the lake, through which Pandorian magic seeps through, infects the area. We close it when Garnok fully corrupts Pandoria and manage to prevent the Sentinel from being corrupted. -> Singing Yew: South Hoof. Helped Justin. Slumbering in the fields, the winds blowing through the branches make a song. -> Silent Poplar: Firgrove Mountain. Very mysterious. Turns out a hundred years ago he was corrupted and almost lost to the darkness, but they used the cleansing ritual to save him. -> Hidden Willow: Fort Maria. Hiding underground in a cave, guarding the library. The first place we go when we unlock the Tree Portal fast travel system. Guards the knowledge about the Life Wardens.

2. Winterdale -> Fire Glory: Ashland. Red pine, likes the warmth there, very lively, constantly talks about how much she likes the warm and finds the fires and the volcano beautiful. -> Glacier Heart: Dino Valley. Sister to the Ashland one, likes the cold. Constantly annoyed by Fire Glory’s neverending chitchat about Ashland, which she can hear. -> Astral Crown: Starshine mountain. Next to the Secret Stone Circle, protects it, she is why the DRs can’t come close to the circle. -> Silver Runebark: Rimefang woods. Silver leafs, revered by the Kallters, likes them, his bark covered in glowing azure runes. -> Wise Leaf : Anvil woods. Helped the druids protect the forest from DC, gives them advice. Talks in verses, metaphors and tales.

3. Springvalley -> Royal Cedar: Blossom woods. Majestic and reliable, he has been guarding the Blossom woods and Springvalley from the storm in Winterdale. -> Everbloom Elm: Everspring plateau. Covered in various flowers, she’s very proud of them. Gives you some random herbs every day if you go say hi to her. The tree is so full of herself, she’s basically giving you an autograph, don’t worry about it. -> Sun Queen: Suncrown lake. Cleansed from corruption by MC and SRs. Protects the Von Blyssen manor and vineyard. -> Twilight Oak: Morrinweald. The source of the valas’ power. Was corrupted by dark powers, later cleansed by MC and SRs.

4. Summerplains -> Restored Guardian: The Great Clearing. Was cut down long ago. We grow it back, like the one in Forgotten Fields. -> Elder Witchwood: Old Morass. She liked to watch the rituals the witches did in the swamp. Quickly becomes best friends with Pi and Mrs Holdsworth. -> Shadow Chestnut: Claymore mountains, hidden. He was tasked with keeping an eye on the Claymores- they have been serving evil for a long time. -> Aspen King: Lone Star canyon. Yellow-golden leaves, huge tree. Likes the Lone Star Cowboys, who bring gifts (anything from horseshoes to elk skulls). 

The New Fast Travel System: -> Advantage of using the trees: you pay for the trailer rides, but you use the tree portals for free. -> With all 4 big areas unlocked, you will need to cover great distances. You have a lot of choices: 1, Trailers (costs money, but most accurate, quickest) 2, Tree portals (free, but less accurate, takes a bit of time) 3, Pandoria portal in-between shortcuts (free, jumps great distances, but least accurate). -> Trailer rides now cost more money the farther the distance you go. Prices: 25 JS:  if you travel inside a great area (e.g. staying inside Harvestlands). 50 JS: if you travel to another great area next to you (e.g. from Harvestlands to Winterdale) 75 JS: travel to another area second next to you (e.g. from Harvestlands to Springvalley) 100 JS: travel to third next area (e.g. from Harvestlands to Summerplains) -> [Keep it in mind, that by our game design the JS cap has been raised to 100.000 and you earn more money, via reworked quest rewards.]