Ma'habre
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Warning! Spoilers ahead!
Proceed at your own risk! |
Ma'habre, also known as Ma'havre and "the city of the gods", is a major location featured in Fear & Hunger. Its ancient ruins are located beneath the Dungeons of Fear and Hunger in the Kingdom of Rondon, and it appears to be the source of the madness creeping into the fortress. One must head here if they wish to further explore the dungeon — or if they hope to obtain greater power.
Lore
"The city of the gods. Once we took over the city from the older gods. We decided to reside here. Still some remnants of the older gods still linger in the city. Time and space do not follow the same rules here. Sun doesn't warm you and death is not the same once you walk these streets." - The New Gods when asked about Ma'habre.
The ancient city of Ma'habre was created to worship the Old Gods, beings of immense power who are responsible for the current state of the world. In earlier times, it bore the name Ma'havre, but the passage of time led to a linguistic shift. Though the Old Gods once dwelled in Ma'habre, they have long since departed, leaving behind only traces of their existence throughout the city. Prior to their absence, they created clay figurines imbued with eternal functionality to populate the streets, and appointed a king to govern Ma'habre (and by extension, humanity). Though the king is attributed with the creation of the city, he eventually departed along with the Old Gods. The clay figurines have been awaiting his return in the aeons since.
Ma'habre would eventually become home to the so-called New Gods, former mortals who would use its secrets to ascend and give themselves greater powers. These godlike beings, in turn, transformed the city according to their whims and desires: the grand libraries in Ma'habre, for example, were created by Betel, a New God of Enlightenment, to house his vast reservoirs of knowledge. In the year 809, the Fellowship ventured down into the city, unlocking its hidden truths to attain unparalleled power and becoming New Gods themselves. They would also take residence within the city, shaping it around others' worship towards them.
Ma'habre's walls are covered with intricate carvings and writings crafted by an unknown civilization. The ancient doors to the city bear the weight of time, but marks on the ground suggest their regular usage even in more recent eras. Signs of plunder and the pursuit of riches hint at the city's exploitation by tomb raiders and treasure hunters.
By the events of the first game, which take place at 1590, Ma'habre is old and decaying, largely forgotten by the rest of the world. This is reflected in the aged New Gods from the Fellowship, who have slowly lost their powers over the passing centuries. Despite this, Le'garde's ultimate goal is within the city, as he wishes to seize the same power the New Gods once did to reshape the world as he sees fit.
It is mentioned that the player character has had increasingly vivid visions of Ma'habre, eventually seeing them both while sleeping and awake. The visions show sights "no man should ever bear witness" to, eventually luring the player towards the city.
Gameplay
The player character can explore Ma'habre during their gameplay, and a significant number of game endings hinge on visiting this location. Access to Ma'habre is situated in close proximity to Le'garde's cell, within Level 7 - Catacombs. To enter Ma'habre, the player must possess the Cube of the Depths.
Once inside the city, the player has the ability to employ the Cube of the Depths to interact with the numerous obelisk devices scattered throughout the city. This device is called Beacon of the Depths, and the light it radiates is supposed to guide souls to the next world. The Beacon of the Depths enables time travel, allowing the player to transition between the past and the present. For gameplay purposes, the game distinguishes between its past version, known as Ma'habre, where it still thrives in its former glory, and the present version referred to as the Ancient city, now in a state of considerable dilapidation and overrun by nature.
Locations
- Grand Library
- Temple of Torment
- Tower of Endless
- Golden Temple
Enemies
- Cave spider (Found at the present)
- Harvestman (Found at the past)
- Lord of flies (Found at the present)
- Scarab (Found at the present)
- Uterus (Found at the past)
- White Angel (Found at the past)
NPCs
- Jeanne
- Ser Seril
- Pocketcat
- Isayah
- Francóis
- Valteil
- Tormented One
- Nilvan
- Nameless
- Old Guardian
- Bug-Eyed Figurine
- Ancient Figurine
Trivia
- The name is a play on the word macabre, which means 'having death as a subject' or 'comprising or including a personalized representation of death'. There is some ambivalence with this meaning though: the current Ma'habre is dark and derelict, and full of hostile creatures that will assault the player and their party on sight, while the past version of Ma'habre is not as dreary and dark.
- According to Miro Haverinen, the appearance of the city was inspired by the ancient Mesopotamian cultures. These may include ancient civilizations like Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, and Elam (though the Elamites were situated in the Zagros mountains in Persia or modern day Iran). Is is also inspired by the city mentioned in HP Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness.
- Early on the location was called Ma'havre before the name eventually changed to Ma'habre.
Music
| Name | Location | Duration | Music track |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ma'habre Streets | At the past Ma'habre | 01:30 | |
| Ancient City | At the present Ma'habre | 03:26 |