Ambrosia Software Web Board: Authorship of the Cypher Manuscript - Ambrosia Software Web Board

Well, I'm going to attempt to foil 453's effort to derail the playthrough topic and discuss this issue separately.

BreadWorldMercy453, on 06 October 2014 - 08:27 PM, said:

Magpie might not be accepted by either but that does not change his heritage. He is still one of the elementals, and the author speaks of the elementals as being separate entities. Also, he seems to treat them as a local phenomenon which makes me question whether or not he is actually native to Cythera at all, although it should be recalled at this point that the accuracy of the translation is dubious.

Actually, several texts and the conversations with Ignae suggest that humans are of the fifth element and actually have the potential to be stronger than those of the other four. This indication, along with Alaric's bond to the land, suggest that he is much stronger than Magpie. It was certainly harder to summon Bellerophon because of his illness, but he still speaks as if it took a lot of power. Summoning an entire fleet (complete with ships, supplies, etc.) still seems beyond the ability of someone like Magpie and possibly even of Alaric.

My personal suspicion is that the author was non-Cytheran.

This question has been settled. The Cypher Manuscript was written by Randy Pringle.

Oh yes! How could I forget?

Speaking hypothetically, if Randy Pringle hadn't written the manuscript, what do you think of its probable origin?

I think I always assumed that the Cipher Manuscript was written by a character not featured or even necessarily mentioned in the game. Although, if we were to attribute it to a character in the cast, Magpie is not a bad option. He very much considers himself an outsider and would have been around long before the humans' arrival. My main issue would be a question of power. I agree with Selax that Magpie does not seem any stronger than Alaric, and I doubt that he would have the strength to summon so many people casually, as the author of the manuscript does.

Of course, the Cipher Manuscript has its own other mysteries, like the peculiar reference to Theldrow and the beings called the Chimera. We probably can't know who wrote it until we know a bit more about the content. It's times like these that I wish gandreas were still around... and liked the game... and liked the fans... and didn't mind answering questions...

The Wizard, on 19 June 2015 - 01:28 PM, said:

Don't we all, man ;_;

It still strikes me as likely that the author of the Cipher Manuscript would be a character in the game, but then again, the chimera don't seem to appear in the game, so many the author doesn't either /:

BreadWorldMercy453, on 19 June 2015 - 03:19 PM, said:

I think that having an outside character write it creates more potential story lines than a character in the game. It opens up the possibility to more interaction with other worlds and allows more growth for the universe. The fact that gandreas included the manuscript at all suggests to me that he intended to explore these possibilities further.