I just ended all the story content of the new dawn zone and I think we need a concise resume of all the lore bits offered in this extention.
New Dawn itself
Also called new jerusalem by Che, it’s the center complex of the morninglight, situated in south africa, the complex is still in construction and allow us to see the social ladder of the Morninglight.
The first part is occupied by Foundling, accepted recruts who hopes to attain the next ranks to meet Marquard, they do all the dirty work and listen to sermons to be rewarded with “ascension points”, obtaining enough allows to go to the anointed rank, but clearly, with the number of points gained by actions and the number required for such social ascension (a thousand), it takes a lot of time (and endoctrination) to go beyond that status.
One such foudling is a Bee (don’t have his name right now) who escaped the templars and have a grudge agaisnt the big three.
At night, everyone must respect the curfew and “ignore the screams outside, there’s no screams outside”. In reality, at night, demonic hyenas and “pterodactyles” invade the zone and hunt everyone curious enough to leave their hut. A cleaning team from the Chosen Ones take away the corpses before dawn.
The next rank is Anointed, these are all the morninglight we saw around the capitals, including people like Che Hanssen. They are more free than Foundlings, don’t have to respect curfew (barriers and guards protect them from the beasts of the foundling zone), they are given the task to spread the morninglight dogma. They hopes to achieve the Chosen One status which is given rarely and to the most promising members.
The last rank is Chosen ones. They are the ones in the known, they are the ones guiding the pawns of the morninglight according to marquard’s will. They are notably charged with the creation altered soldiers with the blood of four human eating immortals. And the use of three of theses brothers as living barriers to protect Marquard’s house.
Finally, there’s the mansion of Marquard. Where he and his perfect family lives.
New Creatures
Demonic hyenas.
Maybe the most present beasts in the night zone, they are creatures of local mythology, demons in the form of hyenas.
Or are they?
The lore reveal the truth, Marquard invoqued spirit in the corpse of natural hyenas, using local mythology to “give them context”, and we know how powerful it is
It’s probable that they are freed every night to kill curious foundlings, to facilitate endoctrinement (audio messgaes don’t stop at night, far from it) and to obtain food for the Aigamuxa and the mutated soldiers[/spoiler]
Kongamato (Pterodactyles)
According to the buzzing, they were once a human tribe, they found, in a deep, dark cave, the strangely well preserved corpse of some ancient beast, starving, they feasted on the beast and changed, they lured their fellow tribesmen to eat too and slowly, they began to transform into the beasts we observe today.
One of the Chosen ones found them and put them under Marquard’s control
Aigamuxa
Four brothers, giants without eyes, immortal devouring the flesh of humans, who doesn’t like them? They were found by Marquard and bound, their lifeforce used to fuel the barrier to the Mansion and their blood given to militaries of the morninglight, such soldiers become supermens full of force and a taste for human flesh, a variant of the vampire supersoldier program of the Red Hand.
Brother Stone was so docile and dedicated to the morninglight that he is allowed to walk around the complex
He’s the man who defy you in the gymnase, while he “seems” to love his brothers, he apparently don’t mind seeing them in captivity
Brother teeth is the most ravenous, constantly trying to break throught, he made multiple attempts to escape.
Brother Trinket (not sure of the name, I’m taking the more likely translation from french) have a talent with technology and is likely the cause of the tech problems that leaded to the last escape of brother teeth.
He is the more polite and “kind” to humans, thanking the players for opening his cage and apologising for the need to eat them before the fight
And brother Charm, extremely knowledgable with the occult, he charmed (pun intended) the chosen one guarding him to make demonic invocation in prevision for his escape.
Infos on characters
Che Hanssen
We learn the story of Che from the databanks of new dawn, he was born in a community controlled by Beaumont, went from squat to squat before joining Beaumont’s sect and following him into the morninglight, he is a “facilitator”, someone with high influencial skill used by the morninglight to influence people toward the sect’s goals.
He didn’t knew where he leade John until it was too late, and seems to deeply regret what happened to him, to the point of betraying the morninglight by leading the player to Marquard in exchange for infos on the project that included john.
He tricked the players, Marquard was not in New Dawn, he planned to run away as soon as he obtained the infos, letting the pc alone facing the horrors of the Mansion, but he was called by John and convinced to save the pc, freeing them from their incapacitated states in Marquard’s prison
John Copley
We heard about him twice, after leaving kaidan, he call Che multiple time (despite what happened, they seems to still be best pals), notably to convince him to free the Pc, not by goodwill, but because you and him have still somes issues to resolve and that he won’t let Marquard be the one killing you. He gives us the actual position of Marquard.
Beaumont
The morninglight records are lacking on the subject of beaumont, they are notably puzzled by his unaging state, they druged Che to force him to give the truth of Beaumont’s immortality.
Well… Che under drugs don’t seems to be able to give a straight answer
Either Beaumont is a title across history, not a name (and che hoped to be the next Beaumont)
Or he eat Turritopsis dohrnii, the “immortal jellyfish” with other ingredients, rebooting his aging process “and you don’t want to be with teenager beaumont after that”
Or he found the fountain of youth, and he created a sect in order to have to his dispositions, the necessary sacrifices
Or he isn’t unaging, in fact, he is a time traveler, walking across the three of time and "banging his mother to be sure that his “younger self” will exist
Or he is a god, but “not a big one, just a little god”
Of course, it’s probably mostly jokes from funcom about beaumont’s identity
Phillipe Marquard
We learn that Marquard Is not in New Dawn, but in Congo, the next destination of the season
And that he seems to have the direct protection of the dreamers (which explain why the bees can’t see him for long).
As soon as the pc tries to enter the mansion, reality breaks and the dreamers attempt to stop us with a filth dinosaurs and others filth guardians that appears across the mine.
Marquard’s family
Ahhhh, the perfect family, perfect wife, perfect children, and don’t forget the family’s dog!
We knew since long that it wouldn’t be nice.
[spoiler]The lore inform us that marquard wished for a perfect family and that the outer darkness provided, the family is a construct, creatures formed from Marquard’s wish interpreted by the dreamers, they possess the same hunger for stars and are creatures closer to the dreamers than to humans
In the end of the fight, they merger as one, and the construct imply many creepy cosmic truths, see below
[/spoiler]
Berihun
It is confirmed that berihun is a member of Marquard’s closest circle. He is fascinated with third age tech and tinker with it in a way that “should not be possible for mortals, not in this age, but Marquard’s family have sponsors that aren’t humans”.
He trap the players with an anti bee spray and try to kill them with a third age amalgam, he is killed in the last fight of the zone
Other zones
Antartica
For the most part of the story, you cannot contact your faction until you killed brother Trinket which is used as a signal block, after his death, you receive all previous messages from your handler which invited you to antartica.
Congo
The next zone John said that Marquard was there and your faction’s handler confirmed that it would be the next zone
Implications of the lore
We see a lot of the power of the dreamers and by extention, Marquard in this storyline. Reality break when we attempt to enter the Mansion, putting New Dawn in as state similar to the dream prison, they create their tulpa-gardians at will.
Marquard seems to have gained similar power, creating creatures conforming to local mythology.
But the dreamers and the family speach are more important, it underline how much the dreamers are behind reality.
“Have we dreamed you?”
