What's up with Khusor?

kojirohellfire

So I've read through Champions Universe and I've been perusing Hidden Lands and noticed something. Hidden Lands says Khusor is actually a shapeshifting Empyrian named Korba. But he led the rebellion against Arvad as stated in CU yet was allegedly loyal to Arvad? Eh? What is going on here? Was Khusor really Khusor the whole time or did Korba have a change of heart?

bulgarex

Ah, yes, Khusor/Korba. Hidden Lands states definitively that the original Lemurian Khusor was killed when Korba assumed his appearance. Absolutely nothing is said in the books or in the lore from Champions Online about why Korba would have changed allegiances -- as you say, he was utterly loyal to Arvad the Betrayer, and Arvad reinforced that loyalty through psionic manipulation. But this was a change made by Cryptic after they adapted the IP for CO. I think we can look at the meta-reason for the change, but also how to justify it based on what's established for the character.

IMHO the real reason for the change is that Cryptic wanted a Lemurian rebel, and the name, "Khusor the Crooked," sounded like an appropriate character. They just conveniently ignored the character's PnP history, not the first time that's happened. However, if I wanted to explain this shift in allegiance from the lore perspective, I'd look to the nature of Korba's shape-changing. As explained on p. 137 of HL, not only Korba's body changes to resemble another being, but also his mind. It was when he imitated Arvad that Korba became infected with the Betrayer's corruption. So there's precedent for that mechanism to bring him under the sway of a mind even more powerful and malevolent than Arvad's.

If I was creating a scenario to account for this transition, I would declare that when the Bleak Minions first appeared around Lemuria -- which must have been relatively recently, since they aren't mentioned in HL -- Korba encountered one and shifted into its shape. Maybe Arvad sent Korba to spy on them, to determine their purpose. But once in that shape Korba fell under the spell of the Minions' terrible masters, the Bleak Ones. Since all Lemurians believed him to be Khusor he could continue to use that identity to recruit followers for a rebellion.

kojirohellfire

Thanks for that input. And the idea. Your insights are a welcome facet of this forum.

bulgarex

You're welcome, and thanks for the kind words. I enjoy sharing bits of the vast Champions lore with the community, and hopefully enhancing their experience of the game thereby.

bulgarex

Since the subject of the Bleak Ones has come up, I thought I should add other relevant data about who and what they are. Hidden Lands gives the Lemurian translation of their gods' name, the Rastrinfhar, and that they created the ancestors of the Lemurians, and take the Lemurians' souls after they die. Champions Online lore repeats that. However, HL provides no other background for them. OTOH CO lore names two of the Bleak Ones, Orogtha and Esleggua. Those are the names of two Kings of Edom identified in the source book, Arcane Adversaries -- godlike "Lovecraftian" entities from the Qliphoth defeated and imprisoned eons ago.

The Bleak Minions bear an obvious resemblance to the Deep Ones from H.P. Lovecraft's short story, "The Call of Cthulhu." Identifying the Rastrinfhar with two Champions entities explicitly inspired by Lovecraft's "Great Old Ones" makes it clear Cryptic devs were deliberately connecting those concepts. It also highlights that in the early days of CO's development, they were paying attention to details in the PnP setting's lore, even if they sometimes chose to ignore or change those details.

jaazaniah1

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!

bulgarex

You might want to take something for that cough.