Some story questions

[crazybear]

Just finished the game (great game btw!!!) but there are a few things, I did not really get. Maybe you can help me:

1. I don't know if I remember correctly but isn't it said, that Weyer collected several orbs? What for if you manage to open a portal with only one (as Alexander did at the end)?

2. So the orb is a kind of key to the other dimension and the shadow is the guardian. How did Weyer manage to open the portal without getting killed by the shadow? I mean Alexander only suceeded cause of Daniel as a disctraction.

3. This one I bet was explained and I only missed: What was the connection between Alexander and Agrippa? I know that after Weyer went to the other dimension, Alexander held Agrippa imprisoned as he was hoping he would come back for Agrippa, but what about before? How did Alexander know about Weyer etc.? Were those three working together? If so: Why did not he (Alex) go with Weyer instead of Agrippa (who did not want to)?

4. So am I right that the "only" purpose of all those torturing, was to extract this "life-essence" to extend Alexanders life? So the whole "one death will desctract the shadow"-talk to Daniel was a lie as well or?

Thank you!

[mansarde]

1:
A quote from Agrippa:

Weyer was a brave man and dared to proceed where I did not. He unearthed a number of cavern temples and gathered a whole collection of Orbs.
But unlike every other finder since the fall of the Mithraic faith, he was able to unshackle the horror you and I connect with the Orbs.
He used them and was able to travel far and wide. Beyond the world itself.

I guess you don't NEED multiple orbs to travel to another world, but the more orbs you have, the more power you have.
And opening portals to other worlds seems to be only ONE of its many possible uses. Maybe different orbs grant different powers?

2:
Another quote from Agrippa:

Not many orbs are left. They sometimes consume themselves or break when used by an uninitiated.
I was lucky. The Orb I found spared my life and returned to where I had found it.

This implies that the orbs react differently to different wielders. Maybe most people don't have the mental capacity to deal with the orbs side effects, whereas others (as Agrippa) were barely getting away with their life.
It seems if you have a prepared and strong mind and know what you're doing, you can even manage multiple orbs.
I guess the closest comparison I can come up with is that of nitroglycerin:
It's highly unstable and must be handled with care. If you don't know your way around it, then it can blow up in your face. But if you know all about its dangers, its physical attributes and reactions, etc. then you have a powerful weapon.

3:
Too lazy to research this one at the moment.

4:
I think the tortures and kills fulfilled both purposes.
They had to be tortured in the most horrible way with as much terror beforehand as possible so as to have their blood enriched by "vitae", which enables Alexander to live longer (and in turn have more time to find orbs and try to use them for his "lifelong" goal).
And the ritual deaths were indeed necessary to keep the shadow at bay. It's like throwing meat at a wild animal to keep it from eating you.
And as long as you feed it new meat... you'll live a little bit longer.

[crazybear]

Thx man!
Seems like I really missed some important dialogues. Gonna replay it - these days.

[Kein]

I think this thread should be merged with this one.

Anyway:

2. So the orb is a kind of key to the other dimension and the shadow is the guardian. How did Weyer manage to open the portal without getting killed by the shadow? I mean Alexander only suceeded cause of Daniel as a disctraction.

Distraction? I don't think so, I think Alexander was powerful enough to held an Orb, just like Weyer. As a fact, he did use at last 2 Orbs and still alive.

3. This one I bet was explained and I only missed: What was the connection between Alexander and Agrippa? I know that after Weyer went to the other dimension, Alexander held Agrippa imprisoned as he was hoping he would come back for Agrippa, but what about before? How did Alexander know about Weyer etc.? Were those three working together? If so: Why did not he (Alex) go with Weyer instead of Agrippa (who did not want to)?

AFAIR, in some note it is mentioned that Agrippa visited the castle by it's own will and even helped to Alexander with it's skills in magic/whatever.