Masteria’s Unanswered Questions

lv1crook · Oct 17, 2021

Masteria has always been a bizarre and mysterious region. Between its scarcely explained storyline and several uncompleted areas, I’ve always been curious as to what it was all originally intended to be. Thankfully, with the guidance of our friendly neighborhood MapleStory nerd deer, I found answers to some of these questions.

From a thread on the Southperry forums:

PirateIzzy said:

So many of you may know that NxProse was the original writer behind Masteria back in the day (even though it was a group effort which he has clarified before). Of course, over the years Masteria has changed and been through a lot of changes, many of which were for the worse. Out of curiosity, I wanted to know what NxProse's plans were for Masteria via Linkedin, so I obtained a LinkedIn Premium membership to reach out to him. He told me what his original vision entailed, and it was quite a shame how much lost potential there was. I asked for his permission to share it here, and he said I could, so I will share it with you guys. I will be censoring his name and my own name, but finding his LinkedIn isn't difficult if you know what to search for. Here was my conversation with NxProse:

Originally Posted by Me

PirateIzzy said:

Hello Mr. <NxProse>. I am writing to you because I wanted to say that I have played MapleStory on and off since 2007, and was always quite a fan of the Masteria story. I was directed toward your LinkedIn through a couple of folks that used the fansite Southperry.net back in its heyday, and was wondering if you were open to answer a couple of questions I had regarding Masteria. Thank you very much.
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Originally Posted by NxProse

NxProse said:

Hello,

First, thanks for playing. Ive gotten asked this a lot over the years. And given its been 10+ years since I put the pen down for MS, it's time I answered.

So, first, I viewed those areas as love letters to the games I played when I was younger. So just like CWK is an homage to one, Krakia would be to another.

I regret not finishing that story. That was probably the worst feeling about leaving, was knowing the story was going to change.

Bringing back memories and honestly, they've tried to remake this many times instead of just finishing the original story.

Did they know where to continue? Yes. I left the next chapter (~20 pages, Krakia design, area, gameplay, party quest) and all 11 transition quests (ie Lukan gets his memory back) with the team when I left.
C'est la vie.

I actually wrote this out from memory way back.
...I suppose sharing the full details of the path untaken wouldn't hurt. So this was the plan:

Biggest possible map with hidden puzzles to unlock sections (hidden item here to use inside Yetinx for special long stage passage to Ariant)
Rotating Day/Night Maps
"K.K" - Roaming Monster
Weekly rotating 8 stage party quest
11-part boss fight w/variations ("Krakiatoa" + The Alchemist)
Next Exchange Quest with Taru Spirits + Corrine
~37 quests

...and the story was something like this:

The Polis of Krakia
Part 1: Main idea was essentially one giant jungle, as in 1-2 of the biggest possible maps that could be made. The jungle has hidden entrances, shortcuts, etc, similar to Phantom Forest and Crimsonwood Mountains. Players would basically figure out a way to reach the town, The Polis of Krakia. The original quest to find the Polis is given by Foxwit, who asks you to find his assistant, Gori. Once you reached Krakia, the real quests would start, by 1 NPC, Rogi, who you question, and simply says Foxwit always forgets his name, being an old man. Rogi wants to help keep Masteria safe. However, to do this, he'd like to calibrate the continent so it stays anchored here. Remember all those random pods and futuristic structures in the background of the original Krakian Jungle? Those are now interactable, and you'd have to find and visit all of them to turn them on. Of course, this is made more difficult by 2 things: one, you have to find them, and two, the Taru Spirits are attacking you. After turning on 50 beacons, you'd report back to Gori, who'd give thanks and one last quest for beacon 51, in a special map in the jungle--you are advised to take friends. Once arriving at the area, you are confronted by the latest urban legend, K.K., a giant Jungle Ape with cyber-enhancements; he'd be around 120-150, and the whole point is to stun him so you can escape from his lair...and since you escaped, he now roams the jungle (similar to Bigfoot), looking for you. You can stun him for items (that come from others that weren't so lucky), but that's it; he's not killable.

Now that you've escaped, there's only question--why did Gori/Rogi try to kill you?

Upon reaching the Polis of Krakia again, you find Gori/Rogi has disappeared, but you can now enter his hut. Upon entering, you find a disguise, a strange device and a copy of a note written in gibberish, Versalian. Taking the note back to Foxwit, who sends you to Elpam, he translates it in horror: "Continent now ready for transport, Master. Reporting back to Octoplex". He asks you the name of the NPC, which you tell him. He says that this is The Alchemists' loyal servant, who in this world, would be known as Igor. He sends you back to Foxwit, who deduces that his assistant is no more, which is how he got the disguise, and that Igor is Dr.Krakia's assistant from their time together, which means that The Alchemist and Dr.Krakia are one and the same. He asks you to visit 5 of the beacons so he can assess what you really did. Upon going back to the jungle, you find the Taru continue to attack you. Going back to Foxwit and sharing your findings, he tells you that Rogi lied to you--you've calibrated the exact position for the continent for the Alchemist and Naricain to transport Masteria back to Versal; at which point he can invade the entire Maple World and take over.

This is your mess, and there's only one way to clean it up: Find the Octoplex and Stop The Alchemist.

Part 2: To learn more about the Jungle, Foxwit tells you to visit Corine, who may have some knowledge about the Taru and how to find the Octoplex. She gives you a token that allows safe passage through the jungle, and asks you to go back to the Polis, as things should become clear. You make it back to the jungle, and back to Rogi's hut, and turn on the machine. The Taru spirits, now freed, appear in the Polis, 5 Taru Spirits total. You speak with the Chief, who explains that they attacked you because they knew what the devices did, having seen them ages ago when they were wiped out. Once you explain your side, and give them the Token, they mark you as an ally, and say they will help you find the Octoplex. They also give a warning--the ultimate weapon that destroyed Crimsonwood Keep and ended the war is here, and is known as Krakiatoa. There would also be an exchange quest here, as well as other lore-driven activities and new bounties. Upon entering the jungle, you find a new enemy--the Krakian Army. Battling through their legions of strange warriors, you find the path that leads to the Octoplex and battle towards the front gate, only to be denied passage, as you are not Versalian. Going back to Foxwit & Elpam, they come up with a plan--you must head to Crimsonwood Mountain and collect items from the Versalian Army there to create a disguise that will fool the sensors. However, you will also need to synthesize the disguise in Magatia. In addition to that, you must have at least 4 friends, max of 20, help you--the groups always enter in 4's. Visiting Magatia and Dr. DeLang reveals the truth of the Alchemist--he is a time traveler, but much more. He's learned from the most powerful scientists and magicians in history, from the Black Mage to Foxwit, and has allied himself with Naricain in a bid to reverse the destruction of his world. A large part of this, is the Antellion, a crystal of immense power, and what he used to transport the continent the first time around. However, Subani and Icebyrd's deal snatched back the continent before he could finish his research. The Antellion is one of two items he needs to save his world, the second of these is located at the grave of Christopher Crimsonheart, still unknown.

Upon collecting enough items and heading back to the Octoplex, you can now enter...and start the Party Quest.

Party Quest: The Octoplex is really 8 random stages out of 32. You must complete a different challenge in each to unlock the Launch Site corridor. The challenges change every week.
Upon finishing 8, you can now reach the Launch Site, which you can see the gigantic Robot known as Krakiatoa in the distance...

Boss Fight - Krakiatoa
The Krakiatoa Boss Fight takes place from the Launch Site to special versions of each NLC map--Krakian Jungle, NLC, Crimsonwood Mountains, to the Keep, to the Heart of the Keep, where the Antellion is. The idea being that players would beat each form on a different map both as it goes to get the Antellion and fails, and destroying each piece as it crashes into the Octoplex.
But that leaves The Alchemist, who's alive, pissed, and the most dangerous boss to walk the face of Masteria.

Boss Fight - Alchemist
The Alchemist only has one human-sized form, and the fight takes place on one map. He can teleport, and uses both AoE killing spells and snares. But the real danger is his summons--due to his knowledge of time travel and dimensions, he can summon any 4 of the following bosses at once: Twisted Masters, Black Crow, 3rd Job Clones, Manon, Griffey, Pap, Ergoth, Bigfoot, K.K.. Rogi enters the fight when he's at half-health with basically, a giant laser cannon that you have to dodge. Every time he's drops 25%, he warps you to a prison--Aqua Road, Crimsonwood Mountain, and a dark dimension, where you must find the anchor, and destroy it to escape in limited time. Upon getting him to zero health, he reverses time and drops you in his sanctum (where the reward chests are). You emerge at the launch site again, and go talk to Foxwit. He explains, that essentially, he has to find a way to break The Alchemists' control over time, but until he can do that, you have to keep beating him. PQ can be done 1x a day at that point.

Temple of the Elementals
You visit the Isle of Vigilance and meet the Raven Ninja Clan leader, Unife. He tells you that that they have found a strange temple in the woods, but there aren't enough of them to mount as assault, as the Dragon Ninja Clan has additional reinforcements and strange new powers. Once you beat an infiltrate the temple, you find a captured Rapheal, who would then join the fight after you beat his captors, True Ocelot and True Phoenix, leaders of the Dragon Ninja Clan. He would finally lead you to the Chamber of the Antellion, where he would now stay as a guardian. He offers to give you a lesson of just how powerful Naricain currently is. He hands you a one-time use item that activates upon defeat of the Alchemist; which sends you to Versal. Upon landing in Versal, you are met by Elpam 's father, who leads the Resistance, and before he can warn you, the entire party is drained of all HP/MP and unequipped of all items. Elpam's father panics, and summons Subani, who casts a spell to send you back...and at the moment he succeeds, Crushmom shows up (the beast that "ate" the sun, basically black and red version of Mushmom) and leaps at Elpam's father...

And you find yourself back in the Maple World, good as new. You return to Rapheal, and now that you know what you're up against, it's time to prepare--there's an entire world that needs to be freed, as Naricain will never stop his pursuit of the Antellion. And you can't do it without Crimsonheart. Rapheal has deduced his location, and needs Foxwit to build the device to bring him here, to your time. Once he's finished the device, you can pursue Crimsonheart, and bring him back to lead an all out assault on Versal. His grave is a portal that leads to a new land where he was last seen.

And that's as far as I wrote, Versal was going to be a twisted version of the most popular maps in the game; and would've taken multiple acts to weaken Naricain and finally be able to kill him. The Realm of Versal would've been you killing his anchors and totems, and The Shadow of Versal would've been the final fight.
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I also shared with him the Masteria storyline of old and new, which I consolidated into a Youtube playlist, for him to view if he was ever curious:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...Nz4Qiv_ggzl3fA

It's quite a shame that we never got to see it play out in its entirety, but I am glad to have received closure on this.
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I thought this was pretty interesting, so I decided to repost it here for you guys. It definitely makes me wonder how this would have all looked like aesthetically. Though we may never get to know, I am glad we got to learn a bit about the missing lore

Original post: http://www.southperry.net/showthread.php?t=83199
Archive.org mirror:
https://web.archive.org/web/20210818081943/http://www.southperry.net/showthread.php?t=83199

Ainz · Oct 17, 2021

Yoooo this is so cool!

TonyDaquore · Oct 17, 2021

This deserves a second chance

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Masteria’s Unanswered Questions

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