General:Firesong DLC & Update 36 Preview

Firesong DLC & Update 36 Preview
Medium/Format	Online Interview
Date	September 16, 2022
Interviewee(s)	Jason Barnes, Bill Slavicsek
Interviewer(s)	Gina Bruno, Jessica Folsom
Hosted By	Twitch 1st 2nd 3rd, eso.com

ESO Live held an interview from Gina Bruno (Community Manager), Jessica Folsom (Senior Community Manager), Jason Barnes (Zone Lead) and Bill Slavicsek (Lead Writer). This episode showcased the Firesong DLC in the Legacy of the Bretons arc. Due to technical issues, this tour is spread throughout three separate videos. This transcription focuses on the Lore aspects of the Twitch videos. Non-lore content has been excluded.

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How Druids tie into the Breton Legacy

This transcribes what is said around 14:40-17:36 of the first video.

Jason Barnes: This DLC is really about digging into the Breton's kind of like ancestral connection to the druids, and kind of their, how they're connected and what their legacy is and all of this. Because a lot of people are like, "oh druids, why are we doing druids? It's the legacy of the Bretons." Well it turns out that, you know, Bretons and druids have a lot in common when you kinda start digging back into their past. Um, so Vastyr is a port city, unlike Gonfalon Bay, which is almost like a, I don't know, a noble high roller district. Um, very pompous in a lot of ways. Vastyr is more of a city of dock workers and traders. House Mornard, who was introduced in the High Isle chapter, runs this city. They are kind of the main people that run everything here. Um, and they're much more grounded, it's much more gritty. Kinda like these people are just trying to survive. Cause, all in all, Galen is actually an island that isn't really that civilized. It's basically, the southern portion has House Mornard territory and that's about it. Everything else is pretty wild. One of the different things and kind of unique things that we have here is the city itself is uh built into druid ruins. So, you have a lot of kind of these druid buildings and architecture. While the druids are not necessarily embraced by the House Montclair [sic] and the people that live here, they're definitely are much more accepting of them. They want them to be able to live beside them, and not necessarily shun them so to speak. Um, Bill, do you have anything to add on kind of the druid interactions and you know, how they live along House Mornard and the others?

Bill Slavicsek: We learn that there are three circles of druids between the High Isle chapter and the storyline. Um, the Stonelore druids are more friendly and accepting druids, and they are the ones that also have a presence here in the city. They also have some settlements out in the wilderness. The other two, the Eldertide and the Firesong also appear in the story, looking to see them as well. As Jason mentioned before, the history of the legacy of the Bretons is very much tied to the druids. At least there are certain stories and legends that claim that when the Breton people first emerged in the world, they were led by the Druids of Galen, this ancient and obscure group of people that eventually left High Rock, and this is where they came to these islands in the Systres Archipelago.

What it means to be a Breton

This transcribes what is said around 4:25-5:11 of the third video.

Bill Slavicsek: In this zone, we are really digging into the idea of the legacy of the Bretons a little bit. What does it mean to be a Breton between their human and half-elf heritages, um human and elven heritages. And also the difference between the knights and the druids. We also dig a little into what's better, embracing the past or going into the future. So all of that is going to come up in the storyline and the themes in this zone, especially with the character of Sir Stefan Mornard, who is the son of the leader of the island. So, just a little bit of background on how this ties into the whole year long story.

Dissolution of the Druids of Galen

This transcribes what is said around 9:57-11:05 of the third video.

Jason Barnes: For anyone who is kinds familiar with the Elder Scrolls lore, the Druid King ruled over the druids when they were known as the Druids of Galen. And we definitely dig into that. Bill, I don't know if you want to touch on that a little bit, on kind of the Druid King part he may or may not play in all this?

Bill Slavicsek: Yeah, so. The Druid King was a long, long time ago in the First Era. The last Druid King was also the same Druid King that led them out of High Rock to these islands. Um, but after that there was no more Druid King. They divided into the three circles and decided they didn't need a king at that point. We'll learn why that is as we go along, and we'll find out about a prophecy known as the Song of Kasorayn, who was that last Druid King. And that plays a big role not only in the story going on in here, in our DLC, but also there in the capper quest that occurs afterward.

Forest Wraith

This transcribes what is said around 19:06-19:52 of the third video.

Jason Barnes: So this is one of our new creature types. This is the Forest Wraith. This is a very cool kinda. I call it the embodiment of evil and dark nature spirits if they were to like take over or take a form of the forest to basically destroy everything in their path. This is what they would look like.

[Omitted joke]

Bill Slavicsek: Forest Wraiths started out as guardians but have gone rogue over the centuries.

[The rest of the stream shows off the zone while the devs discuss base game additions]