There has been a lot of speculation about what exactly is going on in various threads. Maybe it would be useful to gather the various ideas somewhere.

So what do we know about the Absolute?

The dead Mindflayer reveals a vision of a circle of Mindflayers. They seem to be allied with a group of drow, gnolls and goblins
"curved drow blades, crude goblin torches, gnoll teeth dripping blood
You see other mindflayers arranged in a seren circle. Absolute unity. Absolute power"

"You see dark tunnels lit by noxious pols of brine. The darkness spreads through the earth
the sky splits open and nautiloids pour out of a void that consumes the stars"
Is this a retelling of the war that freed the Gith from slavery or a vision of a possible event about to happen

Auntie Ethel reveals that the tadpole has been modified using netherese magic
Some kind of magic or technology is capable of triggering instant ceremorphosis
There was some hint that a larger fleet of nautiloid ships could attack at some point.
Mindflayers had lost the knowledge to build nautiloids some time ago. They either figured out the missing pieces on their own or someone helped them.

Minthara is an adept of house baenre from menzoberrazan.
The former strong connections of the house with Lolth suggest some Lolth involvement in what is going on. Or she was taken hostage and brainwashed by the absolute.

The visions suggest that the tadpole is angry at the absolute for putting it in stasis and using it
Someone said that one of the visions glitched for him and he could see raphael. Unconfirmed
the game logo shows a mindflayer with horns. Could Raphael be in a contract with some mindflayers to build an army?

Sharp contributed a new hypothesis:
Loulaum is both an Elder Brain and a Netherese mage, so there is enough overlap there to be able to consider him a possibility.






Additions by Azarhal

The Absolute is female as per a few of her disciples.

The Cult hangs out in a Selûne's temple and there is a note/book early in the zone that mention the Selûnites in the area went weird a few years ago (pre-Absolute as all the monsters attacking is recent according to the Grove Druids).

The Cult leaders are planning raids on certain sections of the map. Drows seems to have other plans than the goblins (they kidnapped the Duke, the goblins just wanted to pillage Waukeen's Rest).

The Cult do business with the Zhentarim (Bane followers) and "hired" a priest of Loviatar (the Maiden of Pain is a servant of Bane) without trying to convert them. But they really want to kill the druids and tieflings for some reasons.

Dark Justicars, a Shar order, came over the area a while back and disappeared into the Underdark. The leader created a shadow fog that encircle the Moonrise tower and kills anyone trying to go there. The Cult has a way to pass through that fog and the Moonrise tower is their HQ it seems.

The Selûne Temple Underdark section has a Sharran gem at the top of statue (thematically super weird).

Netherese magic could mean some Shadovars are involved. More Shar followers unless they switched allegiance.

The Maglubiyet goblin priest who is prisoner in the temple mention that the Absolute is gaining followers by offering them whatever they want. He doesn't think it's a real god.

The Githyanki who attacked the ship were actually after Shadowheart...more precisely, the artifact she is carrying. Her pod in the ship was different then the others as well. It could be linked together. So not a 1 vs 1 thing, but multiple group/gods acting against each others.

The Moonrise tower is mentioned in a document in the Harper's cache. Could be a (former) Harper base.



I am sure that there were more hints, feel free to add them.

Last edited by ArmouredHedgehog; 17/10/20 12:20 AM.
I sometimes use thought experiments. I don't necessarily believe in every idea I post for discussion on this forum