legionofpotatoes:

“Conduit of Ilos” by Lazare Gvimradze

Something I created to commemorate  #N7Day and what it means to me.

Mass Effect is filled with lore, mythology and atmosphere to the brim. The game’s capacity to not just tell, but show - in a paralyzing dance of alien cultures, desolate worlds, and cosmic stakes - has won a nerdy squeak of mine more than once.

One of my favorite locations presented throughout the series, hands-down, is the Prothean world of Ilos. Where do I even begin; narratively, it is the barely-contained calm before the storm, the climax of the interstellar pursuit, with the world itself literally humming beneath the surface, gently pushing you forward towards the unfolding mystery.

Then there’s the undercurrents in the mood, the bristling calm of an overgrown, forgotten world where the final few of a fallen empire were desperately trying to outsmart the Machine Gods that had all but exterminated them; working, sacrificing, clawing at every cinder of hope to secure a warning message for the future. This is where a galactic civilization came to its knees but went out swinging, launching a seed that would eventually flourish into victory in the battle for life, fifty thousand years later.

It’s these sort of lore-ridden, emotionally flooring and utterly alien moments that BioWare bombarded me with in ME1, and what’s so excitedly promised in Andromeda. This is N7 Day for me, a celebration of the overwhelming magic that the trilogy’s gifted to us. Here’s to many more.