What the necromancers are saying (the heart of the mystery)
|
I remember when Diablo originally said to me, in reversed speech, "Eat your vegetables and brush after every meal." We all thought he was making some evil incantation when actually he was bestowing upon us a nugget of sage advice.
I'm studying audio, and in simple screwing around I've done a lot of things with reversed speech myself. Mostly just recording something in an Ahh-nuuuld voice or saying something in a weird accent, then reversing it for the ensuing LOL factor. The point is, I usually recognize reversed speech when I hear it. So ... patch .9.9 comes out, and I'm running around enjoying most of the changes they made (dropping the number of ghosts in the graveyard is my one big complaint), and then, aha! Necromancers. Diabolists. Saying stuff in reversed speech as they raise the dead. This made the prisons even more awesome, though a low-level sucker trying to fly through there solo might not think it was quite so awesome at first. So I got to wondering what they were saying. My process is below, spoilered so that those who are not as interested can skip ahead.
Spoiler
Enter a simple and free program called Audacity, recording my computer's sound while the music is muted. Go back, reverse the recorded audio, and play. HOLY CRAP this is freaky sounding. I just listened to this stuff in awe of how amazingly frightening it sounded. And I could hear what was being said--well, some of it. I thought. The problem was that I would hear things like "I will not let this be your undoing," "I don't want this," "dwell among us," and "I want this nightmare out of my sight." None of those were actually said, but hearing the clips running over each other as they raised several dead at once gave certain impressions. I sped up the audio to bring the voices back into a normal speech range, and this made it a lot easier to hear some of the words, but I still needed to get the individual lines instead of a layered cluster of them. I went back to the prisons and tried getting one clip at a time, but it was a little difficult to hear with all the lightning and stuff going on. I considered putting the project into Pro Tools and putting an EQ over it to mask the higher frequencies, but then I remembered that necro in the Fetid Pool. If I could get rid of the charging rhoas (by making them explode into ice cubes) so he couldn't keep raising them, I could just pick one zombie off at a time. So that's what I did, for several minutes. GO back, reverse recording, speed up by what I found to be a good amount (45%) and listen. "As I walk this--" "My power" "--the mystery" "Nightmare!" "A man of faith" "This" "Place me at the house--" "In my trailer." ...and others. Nothing as funny as what Diablo said, so I was initially disappointed. But I really wanted to know where they came from then. If it wasn't talking about raising the dead, but just random words, what was the significance of those words? Some things were unclear. I thought that first one was "As I walk this road," but road wasn't actually there. There were several that I couldn't tell quite what they were. But those there got me thinking. Someone talking about being in his trailer??? A Google search came up with nothing. I had thought maybe they were taken from a movie, but maybe not. Or maybe I had some things wrong. For instance, it wasn't "place me at the house" but actually "placed me at the heart." See, I was reading threads talking about the Act 2 boss, and that we get a glimpse of it in the Templar trailer. So I went back and watched it. Hey, a cool-looking spider thing jumped out at him, and it's not in the game. Where'd it go? "...placed me at the heart of the mystery." Holy shit, what? "As I walk this path ... through ... this ... nightmare." These were said exactly as they were in the necro lines, and I could see now that it was "path" and not "road" It turns out those necros are quoting directly from the Templar trailer. Hell yeah, I had finally cracked it. I began assembling the quotes together, but see, there are a few that aren't actually in there. A couple of them sound like alternate takes. "Through this night," another version of "through," a saying of "he will remain" that didn't match the video, a sound I couldn't make out, something that sounds like he's saying "am not," and then the very clear "in my trailer." "In my trailer" is not in the trailer. Is it there to get us pointed in the right direction? Is this meant to be an Easter egg? Is there maybe some story connection between the Templars and the Necros? He did say that his ancestors caused all of this to happen. The mystery is not yet solved. Or maybe this is all just for LOLs. "In my trailer," and a couple other lines, don't really match the accent either. Was it just that the same guy who made the Templar trailer made this, and he wanted to put a little arrow in there for us? Or is there something yet to be unraveled that will link the cataclysm in Wraeclast and the appearance of necromancers to something related to the Templar Order? Hmmm... In any case, I have uploaded 2 MP3s to my website. The first is the reversed audio from the prisons. It's quite freaky; make sure Satan isn't under the floorboards when you play this one. I left it kinda long, because the breathing sounds at the end have a frightful effect all their own. It's cool as shit, in my demented opinion. The second is the compiled audio from the Fetid Pool, sped up by 45%, and in order to match their appearances in the video, with the non directly-quoted lines after. At the very end is a sound that I left in because I thought it was great. Probably a zombie trying to smack me, but now it just sounds hilarious, especially after all the shots fired and words called out. The quotes are as follows: "a man of faith"; "a man of"; "purpose"; "placed me at the hear--"; "--t of the mystery"; "I will"; "my power"; "at my side"; "as I walk this"; "though"; "this"; "nightmare"; "he will remain"; "through this night"; "through"; "power" (or something else, I'm not sure); "am not"; "in my trailer"; "aagh!" :) Necros in Prison Necro in Fetid Pool And edit: Does anyone know how to fix the links so that they just show the titles instead of the entire URLs? [Thanks, tpapp, for showing me how to do this] And another edit: I realize this is a long post to read, and so I figure I'd present another gift to those of you who actually do. Here's what a necromancer looks like behind the veil.
Spoiler
 Invited to Beta 2012-03-18 / Supporter since 2012-04-08 Last edited by VideoGeemer on Jun 3, 2012, 4:11:29 PM
|
|
|
So glad you finally made this post, VG. You told me about it in-game and I wanted to read it in a more coherent form so I could take it in.
You're a little scary. This is a brilliant find. I think I suggested it was probably corner-cutting on GGG's behalf: we have no new voice samples! Wait, if we just reverse existing ones...ohohoho yes! ...But then you came up with the idea that maybe the Necromancers are former Templars corrupted by Wraeclast's dark magicks, which resulted in them inexplicably speaking the words of a Templar backwards. Such a COOL idea. I may choose to believe that was GGG's intention all along. I just may. Warhammer 40k Inquisitor: where shotgunning is not only not nerfed, it is deeply encouraged.
Dogma > Souls, but they're masterworks all. You can't go wrong. I was right about PoE2 needing to be a separate, new game. It was really obvious. |
|
|
That is pretty damn creepy.
You can set up links as [*url="address"]text[/url]. (without the asterisk.) Forum Sheriff
| |
|
I am accepting as canon that the Necromancers are former Templars.
|
|
|
When I started reading this, I was hoping for a reversal of "Klaatu barada nikto."
Closed Beta/Alpha Tester back after a 10-year hiatus.
Kiwi pets and Spark spam FTW. | |
|
Wow
What a amazing post. I would love to think that templars turned to the dark magic and became the necros. If it is corner cutting, i hope they leave it in the final release. The audio clips where great and ow so creepy. Great work man I hope GGG devs see this post and let us know the truth behind the necros. "Bullshit, you get the game for free." - Qarl 2014
"The 5x Diamond Supporter" |
|
|
Awesome! The "in my trailer" sounds like a different voice also.
|
|
|
Nice work.
I think its on purpose, we all know that a green gem was responsible for merveils misery. If you really want to win the game, i guess you are not allowed to touch any skillgems. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcKqhDFhNHI
| |
|
Spoiler
Along those lines of thinking, I really hope the forthcoming story/backstory involves the origin of the skillgems and why only we can use them.
...Maybe they could go the FFVIII route and say that equipping them causes amnesia. Hehehehehe... This would bring the tally of FF games referenced in or inspiring Path of Exile to 4: VII for materia, X for the skill grid, VI for 'Shadow', VIII for the detrimental effects of equipping items that give you skills beyond the average human being... Sorry, that was a bit off topic. Warhammer 40k Inquisitor: where shotgunning is not only not nerfed, it is deeply encouraged.
Dogma > Souls, but they're masterworks all. You can't go wrong. I was right about PoE2 needing to be a separate, new game. It was really obvious. |
|
|
Awesome post and thank you vry much for adding the audio
ZOMG ITS BETA TIME!
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/23123 This is why. |
|
