Easter Eggs

References

• In the description of Ghostbane it says "Who you gonna call?". This is a reference to the film Ghostbusters.
• In the description of the Iron and Steel Greataxe it says "Like the song says: careful with that axe". This is a reference to the song Careful with that axe, Eugene by Pink Floyd.
• In the description of the Ring of the Star Traveller it says "Useful for all kind of galaxy hitchhikers". This is a reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Fittingly, the mana and resistance values of this item equal 42!
• In the book at the entrance to the Traitors area of The Mausoleum, there is a text passage reading "War, War never changes". This is a reference to the Fallout series.
• One of the password options for opening the door to the Tower of Tremadan is "Say Mellon". This is a reference to the book or film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
• One of the proposed character names during the initial dialogue of The World is a Stage in New Anthur is "I am the Pineapple Man!". This is a reference to the comic Pineapple Man.
• In the Ark of Lothasan, each time you go to one of those frustrating computer terminals, you see that the OS is "ArcOS V3.1". This might be a reference to Windows 3.1, the version of Windows famous for the "screen of death". Appropriate when you are surrounded by robot agents of death.

Character Naming

• Many characters in New Garand have their names borrowed from the band Pink Floyd, most notably Trader Pink and Armorer Floyd, but also Barret, Gilmour, Sir Andrew Mason, Waters, and Captain Wright, which refer to the band members Syd Barrett, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright, respectively.
• Likewise, the names of Spice Trader Jethro and Alchemist Tull hint at the band Jethro Tull.
• Another inspiration seems to have been the band Camel. Not only lent their founder Andrew Latimer his name to Latimer, but there are also references in the quest Spicing things up. The family name of Fritha Rhayader appears as a song in their album The Snow Goose, which itself is referenced in the description of the Rhayader Medallion, "a curious and ancient jewel, with the emblem of a white goose extending its wings". Thanks to Asherun Storba for pointing out these insights into the developers taste in music.
• Many characters in New Anthur have their names borrowed from Shakespeare's plays:
  • Captain Guildenstern, Laertes, Trader Ophelia, Polonius, and Trader Rosencrantz from Hamlet,
  • Captain Demetrius and Hermia from A Midsummer Night's Dream,
  • Cordelia from King Lear,
  • Banquo from Macbeth.
• Other names in Freetown are anagrams of characters from The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien:
  • Armorer Dorma = Amrod,
  • Tribune Geleb = Beleg,
  • Legionnaire Gnulbam = Mablung,
  • Niruh = Hurin,
  • Ronaëf = Feanor.
• Another source of inspiration has been the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov, from which Sage Amaryl, Bishop Bayta, Blacksmith Dornick, Trader Hardin, Brother Palver, Captain Pelorat, and Seldon in Nivarian received their names.

Miscellaneous

• The value of the Demonic Skull is 666, the Number of the Beast. However, as it sells for only 1/4 of its value, this number is actually never observed in the game.