Disciple Taloerlen  

Duh... it's the "fix" for the EQ2 story line everyone is crying about...

Since the Sleeper was killed on RZ, SOE/VI have to go back and completly rewrite the entire storyline for EQ2. This is because, you know, they had originally scripted Fippy Darkpaw as becoming some sort of uber-gnoll-Hitler, and uniting all the tribes of gnolls in BB, JP and Splitpaw and putting the hurt on western Antonica... but because someone killed him in June of 1999 at 11:17AM, they totally had to rewrite the script for the Ruins of Kunark, hence the whole Iksar/Sarnak war and everything ROK.

So, now, even though they're well over a year into production, they have to completely rewrite the story because 180 people of the tens of thousands that play EQ1 managed to "kill the unkillable" (oxymoronic, no?) and put the Sleeper down.

Now, as we all know, from conjecture, rumor, gossip and hear-say, the Sleeper was supposed to have awoken on Velious and, somehow, destroyed Luclin, which was going to crash into Norrath and set every city except Freeport and Qeynos ablaze and cause them all to be nothing but ruins (somehow taking out the continents of Kunark and Faydwer, not to mention the cities of Neriak, Erudin, Paineel and Halas at the same time, yet skipping, in a doughnut-like manner, the human cities those civilizations encircle). So, somehow surviving a disaster worse than that which made the dinosaurs extinct on our own world, the descendants of the survivors grow up to be incredibly nubile teens, in a grim world of perilous adventure (TM)... hence EQ2.

Since the Sleeper is dead, though, they can't have him/her/it rise up and kill the moon.... instead, scientists from Luclin, sensing the death of this god-like monstrosity, were quick to reattune the magical technologies of the Nexus and teleport the corpse to their secret laboratory deep inside Shadowhaven... guarded by this Disciple, pictured above. Too bad for those on RZ, but their first attempt at teleporting the corpse failed, instead bringing these scientists such incredibly uber loot as to make you wet yourself with the sheer joy of seeing their data-boxes on your screen and simultaneously tear out your own small intestines because they are not only ND, but useable only by halfling monks, dark elf bards, and high elf necromancers. Oh, and Troll Enchanters... cant forget them.

Anyway...

These scientists, delving into the secrets of life, death and immortality, will work their arts on the corpse of the Sleeper and, as is the way with those who Meddle with Forces Beyond Their Control, will mount amazing bio-mechanical appendages, and hi-tech weapons platforms, to the Sleeper's corpse. Then, one or more of these scientists, who only have the good of all mankind in mind (originally) will turn to the Dark Side, becoming tainted by the viciousness and evil of the Darkpaw Clan, and Resurrect the Sleeper, who will then be known as something like Metal Gear K or Mech-Sleeper or Kera-mech or something and who will then proceed to lay waste to all of the Planes and all of Luclin, dining on flaming furry balls of screaming cat-people as it somehow destroys the massive moon, yet failing to knock the planet it circles out of orbit... and thus we will have the new and improved storyline to EQ2.

Unless, of course, someone kills Fippy Darkpaw between now and Q4 '04.