Eleas wrote:Maybe this explanation is a bit contrived, but I get the sense the Goromorg aren't exactly at the apex of their power anymore. Whether that is because of stagnation or the whispers of some strange clockwork soul in their dreams is anyone's guess. If this had been a role playing campaign and I the gamemaster, I'd probably depict the Goromorg of Grimrock as pitiful and half-mad creatures mindlessly defending and restocking the dungeon because that's what they've always done.Schnittertm wrote:Apparently the Goromorgs where the creators of the dungeon (why else have so many statues of your race on display) or at least so it seems to me and they were able to create the ultimate weapon to stun the cube. They also created those golems with 2 flails, that are actually pretty speedy and very massive, massive enough to very likely stop the cube from using his rolling mode of locomotion. Why then would they need to employ a game of chance to find a group of adventurerers to get strong enough to get down to the Cube and destroy it? Why were they not able to do it themselves? It seems they do have the magic, technology, power and numbers (that they can spread around the Cube) to defeat him, yet they chose not to, but they also give their lives to try and stop your group. A very peculiar mode of operation to say the least.
As for why the Undying One couldn't be killed back then, my impression (from reading the Tomb of the Designers note) was that the Goromorg were keeping it prisoner until the passage of time had weakened it sufficiently for the weapon to work.
I assume the Undying One is not actually the Mechanical Cube itself, but rather a more powerful entity imprisoned inside it. I do not think it was lying when it said that it could create a portal out of the dungeon when repaired.
The initial purpose of the dungeon would be a ritual combat trial culminating in ability to pay reverence at the Goromorg Temple Inner Sanctum. The amount of Gladiator Statues in the Dungeon fits this rather well.
Meanwhile the Undying One is trapped below to supply power to the dungeons mechanisms, summon monsters and operate the portal from the temple to the outside.
That way only the worthy would be able to enter the Temple of Goromorg, whoever he is. Maybe the Undying One himself or some other Old God like creature. The priests are likely human but have been changed as a blessing of Goromorg.
No Hero was ever supposed to enter the Levels below The Tomb. Those are just the machine room running the entire show.
However the enslaved Undying One went mad over time and had to be partially disabled to keep the operation safe. There is a fail-safe weapon to presumably kill it but using it is a risk as it might not be weak enough yet.
In fact I imagine the entire mountain like a shutdown nuclear plant that requires years or decades of active cooling before it can be safely dismantled.
The reason the Goromorg Priests don't want us to destroy the Undying Ones Prison (the Cube) is that it is not safe yet and would in fact release the Being itself into the Universe. Which is exactly what happens in the final sequence.
Their Civilization might have perished long ago, but they still have a duty to all of creation to keep that thing locked up.
The Undying One on the other hand is mad, but not stupid. He guides the party towards his prison under false pretenses as he wants them to set him free. The only way to achieve this however is to have them break the cube and that is why he must take the risk of actually killing them in order to force them into using the fail-safe gun.
So we play into his hands even as we kill him or rather destroy his prison.
