TERAHispano TERA Lore interview with En Masse writing team

TERAHispano has had privilege to interview Marti McKenna, En Massse’s Creative Writing Manager, with writer team, and we bring you this first serie about TERA’s lore. Enjoy!

TERAHispano: Greetings Marti from TERAHispano.com & TERA-Welten!. How is everything at EME camp?

Marti McKenna Hello from Seattle! We’re in good spirits, playing lots of TERA, and as for the Writing Team, writing tons of in-game quest and dialog content—as well as pieces you’ll see on industry websites and fansites (like TERAHispano.com!). En Masse is growing to fill all the roles required to successfully bring this game to Western players, and it’s been amazing to see the progress in all areas. This is an A-Team, and I’m proud to be a part of it.

TERAHispano: You have a lot of game design and writing experience, just like Dave Noonan does. What is different for TERA?

Marti McKenna In terms of bringing a Korean game to a Western market, TERA is unique to me and Dave in that we have an open line of communication to our counterparts at Bluehole Studio in Seoul. In addition to Westernizing existing content (reinfusing translated text with life and layering in Western cultural themes), we’ve actually collaborated with the BHS story team to create a rich story and questlines we think will appeal to all players.

TERAHispano: Some people consider that Aion (in which you also worked for), didn´t have a right westernization, only text translation. What do you think about that?

Marti McKenna I think it’s an opinion, and there are many, including those who said that the writing in Aion was some of the best they’d ever seen in a game. Aion had 17 writers at maximum capacity, and that team rewrote 2.2 million words in under 6 months, so there was a limit to how much we could do, but I’m personally pretty proud of what we accomplished.

With regard to TERA, we’re lucky in that rather than 6 months, we’ve had a year so far to refine the content, test it, and refine it even more. We have a smaller team and more time, and that means more consistency and higher quality in the end. I have absolutely no doubt that players will find that TERA is a game created for them to enjoy, regardless of where they park their PC.

TERAHispano: The Kaiator defense from Argons invasion, will there be an endgame content?

Marti McKenna We aren’t revealing anything about endgame content yet, but suffice it to say that the federation’s best and brightest are very keen to keep Kaiator free of argons.

TERAHispano: Why did the Baraka clan turned their backs on giant's aggression?

Marti McKenna The baraka are technically giants, but they’ve always been culturally separate. They were always their own walled-off caste in giant society, and it’s likely they disapproved of a lot of what the giants were doing (including slavery). In the giants’ heyday, the baraka were librarians kept in gilded, book-laden cages.

TERAHispano: Oriyn is the god of wisdom for Barakas. Will he/she have an in-game role for this race?

Marti McKenna According to history, Oriyn was murdered by Dagon during the Divine War, so it’s unlikely we’ll run into this particular god. But the world of TERA is a strange place, so you really never know for sure…

TERAHispano: Devas and their clans. Who is involved under that "Devas clan"?. Why Devas for their name?. What is the main problem between Devas clan and Castanic clan?

Marti McKenna Most devan clans served the gods Zuras or Nerezzar, both of whom practiced necromancy and other dark arts. Clan Castanic broke away from the rest of the devas after witnessing the necromantic horrors perpetuated under their leadership, while the other clans forged the Devan Empire. Clan Castanic eventually petitioned Lok for his patronage. Lok was far less bloodthirsty than Zuras or Nerezzar, more self-serving rather than world-conquering in his outlook. He accepted the castanics and shielded them for a long time. Kaia and Ishara both asked Lok to put vaunted castanic artisans to work on projects for them, something Lok enjoyed. After Balder’s death, the castanics decided that gods only wanted to use them,so they went their own way.. Without Nerezzar’s aid and guidance, the Devan Empire diminished.

TERAHispano: Two Elves factions were the result for the conflicts of immortals. One of them was "High Elves". the other one is not mentioned. Would you mind telling us more about the other extincted faction?

Marti McKenna It’s fair to say that the schism between the high elves and the wind elves was caused by the gods, but it’s not entirely accurate. The elves had a magical artifact known as the Flower of Life, which was damaged during a fight between Sikander and Nerezzar. Its energies went dangerously out of control, so the elves (who at the time were one people known as the Children of Karas) devised a second device known as the Core to safely drain its energies. Because the Core was designed to absorb energy, it could be used to drain it from any source, making it almost as dangerous as the damaged Flower of Life.

Two schools of thought arose as to what to do with it. One favored using the power as a shield against the clearly dangerous gods and their followers; the other wanted to release its energy safely into the world. Usually elves resolve decisions like this quickly and rationally, but since both paths led to fundamental changes in their way of life, the elves split into two factions—the high elves and the wind elves, respectively. For the first time in their existence, the elves went to war with themselves, as the wind elves abandoned peaceful negotiations and tried to take the Core by force, aided by the poporis.

Eventually, the high elves abandoned Arun, taking the Core with them to Shara. The wind elves dwindled, and today exist only in stories.

TERAHispano: Allemantheia opened its doors to refugees on Argon invasion. Why did the elves take this decision?

Marti McKenna When elves make a decision, they commit to it totally until they see proof of a better way. After the loss of their homeland, and while building a new way of life on Shara, the prevailing thought was that to gain respect and power, the elves needed to conquer. After eliminating the naga to the south, they turned their attention to the human kingdom of Essenia. But a coalition of races repelled them, and the elves retreated to their new city to ponder the meaning of their defeat.

Debate was brief. Clearly a combined force was stronger than one composed of a single race, and over a hundred years they observed the conflicts of others, slowly building their own forces and waiting for the right time to emerge from behind the high walls of Allemantheia. The argon invasion was the sign they were waiting for, and when the faeries were forced from their home, the elves revealed their “New Way” to the world: from now on, they would work with other races for the benefit of all, opening the gates of their home to refugees, and marching north to fight alongside their new allies.

Members of the other races were astounded by both the ferocity of the elves’ attacks and the selflessness with which they defended the front. They held the argons at bay while human armies from Essenia and Velika helped break the siege of Kaitor, allowing the amani to join the fight. When the Valkyon Federation formed, the elves were proud to join, immediately dissolving their own military force and placing it under the command of the federation leaders.

TERAHispano: Why was the goddess Kara gone for so many years, keeping the elves unrelated to any struggle between races and gods?

Marti McKenna Karas withdrew from the world in anger when his wife Elinu fell into a deep, deathlike sleep following the birth of their children Balder and Ishara. No god would help him revive her, and in retaliation he cursed the Ancient Light, making it no brighter than our moon. Vowing revenge, he disappeared, leaving the elves to their own devices.

TERAHispano: Why did the Elves power depend on the "Eternity Stone", the "Flower of Life", also called "The Core"?

Marti McKenna As mentioned previously, the Core is an artifact containing the energies of the Flower of Life. The god Karas loved the elves, and they returned his patronage with a wedding gift created by the magic he taught them. The Flower of Life symbolized the relationship between nature and the gods, and Karas empowered it further with some of his own essence before giving it back. Long after he passed from the world, the elves kept the Flower as a symbol of their devotion, and as a reminder of the principles Karas taught them. When it was damaged, the elven way of life nearly disappeared.

TERAHispano: Humans were created by Gidd. Don´t you think that their initial history could be familiar to a well known religious tale?

Marti McKenna You may indeed discover some familiar themes in TERA, and not just where the humans are concerned. But the humans in TERA have their own unique story, just like all TERA’s races. Though their god cursed them to wander the world, that was a blessing in the end because it meant they had contact, at one time or another, with all the races and factions of a world divided by war. They are the natural diplomats of TERA, so it is no surprise that they have become the glue of the Valkyon Federation, and that the city Velik gave them when she lifted their curse is the melting pot of Arun.

TERAHispano: Tell us more about "Elin" spirits!

Marti McKenna The elin were the favored race of the goddess Elinu, created with portions of her own soul and modeled after her appearance. Since they carry a bit of her essence within them, they appear as ageless children for most of their lives. They are a separate and distinct “sister-race” to the more animalistic popori, and to most races the two are held in the same regard.

(To be continued...)