#what was that bitch ass owl's problem anyway?

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

ocean sky
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dude was definitely taunting us and us specifically the entire game until it just kinda stopped around the base of the big building at the end of chapter 7

it could be that it was just "luring" us to the prophet but it felt like the path taken was very deliberate. the scenic route with lots of sightseeing, like a corpse hanging from a post (lovely)

and then there's the ending with the player hatching from an egg which I even want to think about the implications of

(I know it's probably metaphorical, but the alternative is funnier to my just-waking-up brain)

coral sun
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demon was doing a lil troling

ocean sky
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it just seemed like a very peculiar, very particular choice of visual for anyone to go for. I'd think the owl is its own thing but maybe that's not the case

crude fog
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I like to imagine that while the Demon was luring sapient minds to their deaths, it was also an object of worship.

It's possible it was something else that was eventually corrupted at one point. The mold in the small prelude to chapter 8 implies that Lorn is tied to rot or decay somehow. It's very body is in pieces, on life support, like the life inside the Structure, and despite this it posses near magical technological prowess.

I think at one point Lorn was an AI/Android responsible for a Biome or habitat. Maybe several, and simply decided life as a concept is contemptable. It's words and taunts towards our protagonist seem to condemn the desire to explore and endanger themselves despite having all their needs provided and safety cared for.

If it at some point decided to cleanse it's biomes it likely has the means to corrupt others, and we see this potentially evidenced by the mold infesting areas of the Structure.

I wonder if the lines we see during the scans of the Mold in chapter 8 are our protags thoughts or perhaps Lorn's?

storm spade
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i was under the impression that it created the illusion of the paradise island at the beginning of 8
i think the mold clumps are the protags thoughts.
that the demon tries to fufill the wishes of the people seek them out by creating the illusion of some hidden paradise (the song is false rapture) and becomes enraged when the person it assimilated rejects that paradise

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so its """benign""" but very petty when people seek further answers than it can provide

jade cave
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The "demon" as it were seems to have a lot of influence over the configuraiton of the structure, but seemingly only locally as enough physical distance and it doesn't seem to be able to manipulate it. I think the purpose was more practical, as you can't ignore what the recurring motif of the pipelines of black sludge that the owl seems to follow the flow of and that we notably turn restore function to in at least one case. I think it's using us for a practical purpose of increasing its influence by corrupting things with this black goop.

Notably, the murals in the cistern depict the "demon" (represented by the third eye) reachiing dark tendrils out from a single point and causing madness to others taking a pose very remniscient of a famous painting about madness (scream). You can kinda assume the black ooze is not just incidental and is somehow key to the madness it spreads and/or its influence over reconfiguring the structure.

crude fog
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In chapter 4 we saw murals and images depicting people drowning in black waters, and then others safely contained within. I think in the context of this world being very ancient implies that at some point things went very wrong, and the decay is either entirely Lorns doing, or he simply uses it to "fulfill his purpose"

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My thoughts are super biased towards dieties from TTRPG's and Greek pantheons. Where these gods and beings have domains they control or embody.

storm spade
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as for why it chose this very scenic route seems to be part of its empty promises
show the people it lures with the horrors and violence of the megastructure to make them more welcoming of the things it offers
My initial guess that the structures true purpose is to contain the demon/black water, something about purifying water in vast quantities to contain the corruption

narrow lava
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to me, I feel like the egg was in reference to HATCH, one of Rubeki's previous games

crude fog
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I have not played Hatch, can you summarize some links to it?

narrow lava
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https://store.steampowered.com/app/871190/Hatch/

Steam
Hatch

Hatch is a PS1 / N64 style first person climbing game. Unforgivingly challenging and heavily focused on atmosphere, it's meant to mimic the feeling you get when rock climbing - frustrating, but highly rewarding when you reach the top.There's more to it than the mechanics however; so be patient, careful, and enjoy the views on your way to the top...

Price

$2.99

▶ Play video
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here is the steam link

crude fog
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Yeah damn even the trailer shows the symbol Lorn is represented by.

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The temple is there was well.

jade cave
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The demon definitely has been a problem before, as the sage-type character at the end references it and its powers over madness directly as if it is a known quantity. It's notable that what we see of the creature isn't intact, severed at the midriff with guts hanging out and all. My guess is it probably lost some great fight in the past but used the structure to keep itself barely alive. It can't freely move around, so it needs thralls to do its bidding to extend its influence.

storm spade
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do we have close ups of him?
im curious about his energy face thing

jade cave
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likely, if it was at the center of some previous great conflict, the winning side are the ones who created the murals in the cistern, and the warrior statues sorta back up that they needed some kind of army for some purpose and revered that army, likely for their success in defeating said demon. Those murals are likely what drives the modern myth of the demon that the sage references.

storm spade
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id assume that previously the demon was the ruling power of the world
since the sunken city is older than the structure and has multiple churches/ temple spaces

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the ending mentioning that there are things deeper and worse than the sunken city makes my head spin

crude fog
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the structers we navigate in chapter 6: Foundations, are also of a similar make to the cistern and temple of chapter 7.

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I did think how odd it was that we needed to break into the underground in chapter 6. It seemed like great effort went into sealing lorn away.

storm spade
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mountains of concrete and his influence still bleeds through

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i imagine the pipe between 6 and 7 was quite long
miles maybe

jade cave
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in my opinion it's a being that for some reason or another exists to build or maintain the structure, gone rogue. It'd explain why it can reshape everything around you as you try and run, if you believe that sequence is fully literal.

If you wanna read a bunch into symbolism the game and the steam page describe the owl as "a glitch in [the main character's] visual system" and if you see that specifically the demon's head is corrupted, you could extrapolate its mind itself is "glitched" in some way. It's def a reach though.

chilly wasp
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didn't the robot in failed biome saw the glitch too ?

jade cave
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yes, and if we assume it is a helper construct provided by the structure, then it's possible that almost any digital perceptual systems are infected by the demon's influence.

chilly wasp
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they say something like "I saw something going down there, help me with the flower and I'll activate the bridge so you can chase it"

storm spade
chilly wasp
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and I wonder if this means "rebellion against the colony" or "rebellion against the powerful demon/god"

image.png
jade cave
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It seems like the god itself isn't known to the newer biomes, only those who had the myth passed down from early generations, like the sage, and like the society of the cistern, seem aware.

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in general the purpose of the structure seems to be to essentially create giant terrariums to support humanity's continued existence and evolution, since the isolated biomes do seem to be self-sustaining for the most part.

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at least from what little info we can glean from the introduction and the short glimpse we get into a biome on ch.1

noble grotto
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The player character is some 280+ years old

jade cave
jade cave
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mind I say "newer" biomes in the context of just how long the timescales tend to go in this game's canon.

noble grotto
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Outro Dialogue:
"Welcome to life, observer."
"You have just survived a particularly nasty demon."
"One that lures the forlorn to the edge of their mind, to feed on their madness."
"It makes you curious. Makes you feel as though you are chosen to find the great secrets of the structure."
"Most do not escape their dissolution, but the ones that do materialize here."
"..."
"I know this is not what you thought it would be."
"And it does not feel good to have been fooled."
"Especially having traveled so far, expecting some revelation."
"But you\u0027re still alive!"
"And even if you\u0027ll never go back home, you can still climb."
"Just don\u0027t go down."
"I promise you there is nothing there, that isn\u0027t worse than what you have already seen."
"Oh and if you see that light again..."
"Just look away."
storm spade
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yeah the most traumatizing experience of your 1000s of years long life?
particularly nasty but nothing crazy

noble grotto
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#1288669769054158899 message

storm spade
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doing gods work 👍

tall lagoon
chilly wasp
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the beginning of HATCH is the ending of Lorn's Lure

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I mean it's the same place, probably not in a timeline way

spare stone
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^

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figured that was the main implication

ocean sky
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i think hatch's beginning and lorn's lure's ending are supposed to embody the same thing, the beginning of a lone journey and a struggle to reach peace, but there's quite a big difference in how it's approached

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hatch has the big fuckoff tower. you don't know a lot but you know you have to climb the tower

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the structure in lorn's lure is a bit different since it expands in every possible way, and even "up" is a struggle

verbal musk
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The sheperd says lures certain people (the player character being one of them) to make them go crazy, so I think it's literally that. The demon lured the android with the illusion of being the chosen one to better break their mind when they eventually find out.
So yes, the bird is doing a little bit of trolling

inner forum
noble grotto
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lmao

chilly wasp
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haha, happy little accident ❤️

noble grotto
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community pulling lore out of thin air vs the dev accidently using anarchist made free textures

inner forum
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I should air-brush that out lol 🤦‍♂️

verbal musk
noble grotto
spare stone
dreamy sinew
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it just seemed like a very peculiar, very particular choice of visual for anyone to go for
owls are a symbol for wisdom, Minerva's owl etc, it seemed clear to me that chasing an owl was metaphorical for uncovering some sort of truth or wisdom

crude fog
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Lorn also seems to enjoy capturing and trapping people.

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I wonder if the owl was once a victim, and is now forced to go about Lorns tasks unwillingly

spare stone
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Lorn Lures the Forlorn with their Lure

crude fog
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Then he says it's Lorning time

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and he Lures all over them

ocean sky
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Come to think of it, do animals actually exist in the structure? have they ever?
there's no mention of any kind as far as I saw, and the only preserved biome that could habit that life was sealed off beyond much we could see, so it's impossible to tell

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but how else would that owl imagery have appeared?

verbal musk
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They probably exist in upper layers of the megastructure (since it's kind of implied that the further you go down, the worse it gets)

noble grotto
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I don't think any other characters with whom we have dialogue actually refer to it as an owl, just a shiny thing

storm spade
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couldve sworn you see crows in undercity

open shadow
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that is the only wildlife to speak of iirc

chilly wasp
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there's also a big flying fish in chapter 7

acoustic bridge
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i kind of wish the owl appeared in chapter 8 honestly, maybe as the thing you scan, instead of just flying off to never be seen ever again