[LORE]: Why is the Shining Trapezohedron in the Volcano?

Conan Exiles General Discussion
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The Shining Trapezohedron is one of the relics necessary for the creation of the Keystone.

However, there’s more going on here than that and it raises several questions.

The official item description says it was held by the serpent-men and kept in the Well of Skelos. This much is true, but let’s dive a bit deeper in.

The description opens with a quote from The Haunter of the Dark, which reads;

“Ones brought it to earth. It was treasured and placed in its curious box by the crinoid things of Antarctica, salvaged from their ruins by the serpent-men of Valusia,”

Take note of my inclusion of a comma, that’s because the in-game quote cuts off right before the rest of it. The full quote reads;

“Ones brought it to earth. It was treasured and placed in its curious box by the crinoid things of Antarctica, salvaged from their ruins by the serpent-men of Valusia, and peered at aeons later in Lemuria by the first human beings. It crossed strange lands and stranger seas, and sank with Atlantis before a Minoan fisher meshed it in his net and sold it to swarthy merchants from nighted Khem.”

This means it was held by the Lemurians before the Cataclysm. Meaning it was them that brought it to the Exiled Lands, not the Serpent-men. This would partially solve the mystery of how it got here in the first place, and why it was present at the forming of the bracelets.

However,

How and when did the serpent-men come to posess it again? Why is this bit of history omitted from the official source? We can rule out unreliable narrator as it’s alluded to this knowledge being a vision granted by the omniscient relic.

What do we think is the greater story behind this? Personally I’m trying to do more research on the whole thing, as Nyarlathotep plays such a major role in both maps and the Shining Trapezohedron houses an avatar of the god, which the game suggests is now inhabiting the Staff of the Triumvirate.

I don’t want to rule it out as a plot hole, it’s unlikely they’d intentionally cut off the quote and hope nobody noticed, there has to be a bigger mystery behind it. Anything I missed or misread absolutely let me know so we can get to the bottom of this

P.S.

Why is there no lore tag?

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it is tied to siptah as I understood it the original gem in the tower stolen by the serpent men and brought to the exile lands volcano where they could breed then they restored a flawed gem to take its place that created the maelstrom .

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Surely I should be the last person replying to this thread since my lore knowledge is what I took the last years from you guys, but if I may ask you @Jimbo…
We all know that the writer of this fiction story died really young. Why you can’t just add your opinion of a speculation of how things could turn in to. After all we speak about creative fantasy. Why should it be insult to the lore since we speak about fiction and not historical facts. There for can you please give us your own thoughts about how trapezoedron ended up where it is in the game?

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This only adds more questions. I noticed this too but I had hoped they weren’t the same gem, as that would cause even more inconsistencies. How did it go from Valusia, to Lemuria, to the island, over to the Exiled Lands? So much movement that’s not accounted for still, and in ways that make little sense

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HPL and Howard both did die young, which is a tragedy. However, the quote is pretty explicit on saying it belonged to the Lemurians and by the hyborian age should be at the bottom of the ocean. I’m not opposed to trying to fill in the gaps on how it works out, but the inconsistencies need to be addressed and the narrative should wrap around what’s established, not omit it

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I do understand your point, Yet if the position of the trapezoedron in the game is not where it should be, what do you suggest?

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When I initially stumbled onto this plot hole my first thought is maybe it’s not the same Shining Trapezohedron. Given it’s an avatar of Nyarlathotep and he has many, it’s not wholly unreasonable there’s more than one of the same type.

Or it’s a clue to the snowglobe theory

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The problem with that is simply this. Yes, it was held by the Lemurians before the Cataclysm. It also sank with Atlantis AT THE TIME of the Cataclysm “before a Minoan fisher meshed it in his net and sold it to swarthy merchants from nighted Khem”

Thus, it was under the sea (que up Little Mermaid music) at the time of the ending of the Cataclysm and thus neither the Serpent Men nor the Lemurians could have possibly brought it to the exiled lands.

As there is no mention of the Serpent Men after “The Shadow Kingdom” in which Kull vows to eradicate them from the face of the earth (and there were not that many of them left at this point in time to begin with) I do not see why Funcom has chosen to even use them at all in a Hyborian Age setting (Age of Conan and Conan Exiles).

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Jimbo, perhaps you missed it. I could have sworn that there was and had to look for it myself and there actually is a Lore tag. Hope the screen shot below helps you!
image

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Wierd, I can’t seem to find it on mobile. I can check when I’m at my desk next.

The only problem with that, I believe Khem doesn’t exist until after the end of the Hyborian age. Further adding to the strangeness, that would mean it spent the entire time underwater. Maybe this isn’t the same one then and it proves the existence of more of them?

I think it has to do with Joel’s interest in exploring post-apocalyptic history. Showing the remnant cloisters, the fate of the few survivors. Flavor to help fill the worldbuilding, by layering history

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There seems to be some inconsistency. But, for the game’s story, I’d put this as the framework:

Known facts:

  • The Shining Trapezohedron was in Lemuria once.
  • The Shining Trapezohedron was fished out of the sea by a Minoan fisher and sold in Shem/Khem/Khemi.
  • The Shining Trapezohedron was on Siptah with the allied elder races.
  • The Shining Trapezohedron is in the Volcano with the Serpentpeople.
  • One of the lore tablets in Siptah says that the Serpentpeople stole it.
    What we do not know is the order of events and the time that passes between them.

Theory:

  • The Serpentpeople found the Shining Trapezohedron in Antarctica.
  • The somehow lost or gave it to the Lemurians, where it was lost in the ocean after the cataclysm.
  • It was then found by one of the Elder Races. The fish people are most likely to have found it, as Lemuria sank into the ocean; also, they seem to have a connection with the Lemurians via Dagon.
  • The fish people brought it to the Isle of Siptah.
  • The Serpentpeople stole their ancient relic back from the unwitting allies it and brought it to the Exiled Lands.
  • There, they used it to help the Giant Kings construct the bracelets.
  • Our hero robs it from the Serpentpeople, uses it to leave the Exiled Lands…
  • … and it is later lost in the waters near Minoa for whatever reason, where it is later found by the fishermen. Maybe our hero drowns shortly after leaving the Exiled Lands. Or he/she gambles it away to an Argossean pirate. Who knows?

One might also construct a timeline using the Lemurians or add them into the former timeline. As it’s very unclear how long they lived in the Exiled Lands, possibly thousands of years, a lot may have happened in between.
Same goes for the Serpentpeople. There would be enough time for them to loose in the ocean even after bringing it to the volcano, only to find it in Shem again and return it to the volcano.

P. S.: If you see Age of Conan as part of the Conan Exiles lore, the object appears there, too, along with its master, probably some years after the events in Conan Exiles.

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Notice it said ‘Khem’ - its more likely to me that it means Khemi, a city at the mouth of the River Styx rather than somewhere further inland like Shem.

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Maybe. But “a merchant from Khem” may have been pretty much anywhere, and even the fisherman may have travelled after finding the object.

The merchant may have been N. by the way.

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Khem was a city in ancient Egypt, and in some accounts an ancient name for Egypt itself. However, the name wasn’t ever connected as far back as the Hyborian age, ruling out Shem, Khemi, or greater Stygia.

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its kind of a shame with siptah transfers we cant bring it back and do something with it in the tower.

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A lot of items in the game are written to be way more powerful or useful than the game makes them out to be. The Shining Trapezohedron should give visions and knowledge that go beyond comprehensible space and time, on top of being an aspect of the avatar of Nyarlathotep; but instead it’s a glowy D10 macguffin.

Maybe when we get sorcery they’ll tie it to existing sorcerous artifacts and give it a greater use than what there currently is. All the artifacts in the keystone are supposed to be immensely powerful on their own, but not one of them reflects that

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Blockquote The Shining Trapezohedron should give visions and knowledge that go beyond comprehensible space and time

For example showing all hidden journey steps. :wink:

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image
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When it absolutely positively has to be there overnight!

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United People of the Serpent?

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I think the events on the Isle of Siptah with the Elders and subsequently with the Serpentfolk in the Khari annexes occur between the ocean drinking Atlantis and the Minoan fisherman.
Primarily because the region where Minoa will be is still mostly landlocked (in the Hyborian) and while there is a city called Khemi, it is not Khem which is another name for dynastic Egypt, as opposed to Settite Stygia. In specific, Lovecraft notes Nephren-Ka (who received the relic in Khem) as a Pharaoh of the Third Dynasty, firmly putting him in the Bronze Age in the post Hyborian. Finally, I do not recall any work where Howard directly referenced Minoa or Minoans. Only oblique references such as the one above. Please correct me if I am in error.

The Hyborian Age is an alternative history model of sorts. But by the time the Mediterranean basin has filled, it is over. So that span between Atlantis going under and the fisherman finding it is where I think everything takes place.

Getting it (or one of several it’s, depending upon how much of a rascal the Stalker Among the Stars was being at the moment) into the hands of the Elder Races has so many options that it’s hard to pick one. Was it found? Was it a gift? Was the island literally risen from the place on the Sea Floor where it had come to rest?
As is appropriate in this setting and overarching lore, the space is vague enough that there is plenty of wiggle room. The best part being that, given the hedged off nature of both the Isle of Siptah and the Exiled Lands, it could have gone on many madcap adventures and still not break lore. After all, who would document it? Certainly not the Exile, who would believe such mad ravings? Toth-Amon? Share the secrets of his power? Oh it is to laugh. That leaves potential survivors from Kraxus’ expedition, assuming any of them actually made it through the vaults, had the visions of the Snake men slithering away with it, and made it back, healthy, sane, and of enough standing that their words would be worth recording. Unlikely, as we read very little about Kraxus anywhere else. Just another surplus noble who doesn’t end up making a great name for himself. If he had been a figure of great note in external lore, perhaps anyone attached to him would be able to parlay that into credibility. But alas.
Let’s see, that leaves the cannibal pirates and their demon-spawn leader who may have someone who delved the vaults. Yeah, nothing they say is likely to make it very deep in any records.

On a more general note, I absolutely adore how much Lovecraft and Howard collaborated on their works. Tragedy that we lost both so early.
Also, how much this game does actually do quite a bit of homework with their lore.

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