Warframe Lore: The Quest For Flavor Text! (Speculation Abound!)

[Aegia-]

Come one come all, to the extravaganza of the decade!

 

If you are anything like me, then you love a game with a good storyline, and not just that, but a game with great lore.

Now seeing as how Warframe is a special case, seeing as how player actions shape the game as whole (sometimes) what I'm proposing may seem like a tall task, but I'm sure we, the community, as a whole can do this.

 

What I'm asking, as you can probably glean from this thread's title, is for flavor text. Some of you may or may not be familiar with the Souls series (That is Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, and Dark Souls II.) for those of you who are, you understand how their lore is. For those that are unacquainted with these games, FromSoftware does not explicitly give the lore of their game, what snippets of lore they do give is usually told through NPC dialogue and, you guessed it, item flavor text!

 

Be it consumable, weapon, spell, apparel, armor, nearly every single item in-game has a story behind it, and that story ties in with the game itself and paints a larger picture.

 

How does this relate to Warframe? Well as you may already know, the weapons and such in Warframe may have flavor text, but that's all it is, flavor text. Very rarely does it hint at something larger. For example, the Serro, who's description reads:"Developed as an energy saw to scrap obsolete ships, this tool was quickly banned when rebels in the Sedna region discovered it also made an excellent weapon."

 

And then what? TELL ME MORE! I Want to know MORE about the Sedna rebellion and the Serro's subsequent ban!

 

Or what could possibly be one of the biggest flavor text dumps (besides Excalibur's) The Stalker: "Some have walked these desolate worlds while you have slept. Some like me. I remember what you did. I remember the day.

The Tenno appeared at the Terminus, gleaming and victorious. Our cold and gold Emperors, breathless, bathed you in savior's silk. Then came the sound. Across all our worlds, all at once, the ceremonial Naga drums. A royal salute to the honored Tenno. Ten solemn beats to declare the suffering was over. I watched from a distance, with the rest of the low Guardians. With each beat terror began to crush my throat. The Tenno were not stoic and silent. They were waiting. They were poised. I tried to call out but only a strangled whisper escaped.

 

When the ninth beat rang a torrent of blood filled the stadium, loosed by Tenno blades. The drums, the Empire, fell silent forever.

 

Now I hunt, dividing your numbers. Watching from that dark place, cataloging your sins, I am the ghost of retribution. You may forget but you are not innocent."

 

When I read that, I instantly wanted to know even more about the Low Guardians, why the Tenno slaughtered the emperors, etc.

 

But everything else? Nearly every other weapon has some interesting, yet flat flavor text that tells nothing about the world of Warframe as a whole. That's where we come in! We as a community have the potential to speculate and extrapolate, and in turn revamp these flat descriptions and turn them into something that can give even more life to the Warframe universe as a whole.

 

tl;dr Help me create interesting flavor text for weapons, items, frames that create more lore for Warframe, even if it is wild speculation.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Here begins the long, long, long list of things to be enhanced by the community:

 

Warframes:

Ash:

Banshee:

Ember:

Excalibur:

Frost:

Hydroid:

Loki:

Mag:

Mirage:

Nekros:

Nova:

Nyx:

Oberon:

Rhino:

Saryn:

Trinity:

Valkyr:

Vauban:

Volt:

Zephyr:

Weapons (Primary) :

Amprex:

Boltor: Tenno insurgents on Phobos found themselves at a disadvantage due to the harsh weather conditions. Standard weaponry could not endure the exposure to sandstorms for extended periods and severely impeded progress on securing a mask transmitter on the planet's surface as a base of operations for future assaults. Looking to ancient Orokin designs, the Tenno mimicked the original design for the Boltor type weapon. Using modified quills from the local sand skates, Tenno were able to consistently resupply during raids, allowing for a foothold to be gained.

Boltor Prime:

Braton:

Braton Prime:

Burston:

Burston Prime:

Buzlok: This weapon represents an early attempt by the Grineer at producing a more flexible marksman rifle. The Vulkar, while well-received by elite troops, suffers at shorter ranges and is unable to keep up sustained fire. Each round integrates Corpus-produced microprocessors, allowing them to home in on marked targets for greater accuracy. The weapon can be dumb-fired as well for use in close combat. Due to the expenses involved in producing this weapon it has yet to see any significant use in the field.

Dera:

Flux Rifle:

Glaxion:

Gorgon:

Grakata:

Grinlok:

Hind:

Ignis:

Karak:

Latron:

Latron Prime:

Mutalist Quanta:

Quanta:

Soma:

Supra:

Sybaris:

Synapse:

Tetra:

Boar:

Boar Prime:

Drakgoon:

Hek:

Phage:

Sobek:

Strun:

Tigris:

Lanka:

Snipetron:

Vectis:

Vulkar:

Attica:

Cernos:

Dread:

Paris:

Paris Prime:

Miter:

Ogris:

Penta:

Torid:

Weapons (Secondary) :

Acrid:

Angstrum:

Ballistica:

Bolto:

Brakk:

Bronco:

Bronco Prime:

Cestra:

Detron:

Embolist:

Furis:

Kraken:

Lato:

Lato Prime:

Lex:

Lex Prime:

Magnus:

Marelok:

Nukor:

Pyrana:

Seer:

Sicarus:

Sicarus Prime:

Spectra:

Stug:

Tysis:

Vasto:

Viper:

Afuris: During the infiltration of the Corpus base Martol on Neptune, Tenno operatives utilized lightweight, concealable weaponry to gain access to the barracks. Once inside, they feigned defeat and quickly surprised their captors with their hidden weapons. The extreme fire rate and ammo consumption of these weapons make them excellent for surprise attacks, but not useful for long term combat.

Dex Furis:

Akbronco:

Akbronco Prime:

Aklato:

Aklex:

Akmagnus:

Akstilleto:

Akvasto:

AkZani:

Dual Cestra:

Twin Gremlins:

Twin Vipers:

Castanas:

Despair:

Hikou:

Hikou Prime:

Kunai:

Weapons (Melee) :

Cronus:

Dakra Prime:

Dark Sword:

Ether Sword:

Heat Sword:

Jaw Sword:

Mire:

Pangolin Sword:

Plasma Sword:

Skana:

Skana Prime:

Ceramic Dagger:

Dark Dagger: The Acolytes of the Void were a religious sect that sprung up from the Grineer domination of Ceres. The colonists there gathered in dark places to speak curses and hatred upon their jailers. The cult gained much traction, and many soldiers there began to fear the area, claiming an oppressive force resided within. Though initially ignored as foolish superstition, Grineer command was forced to step in once word of sacrifices were being made on base. The ceremonial daggers were promptly seized and the Acolytes were executed. However, the blades contain an unexplainable energy that has been the focus of much research. Now the remaining blades are passed around by high ranking scientists, or elite collectors with an expendable income.

Heat Dagger:

Karyst:

Sheev:

Fang:

Fang Prime:

Ether Daggers:

Silva & Aegis:

Orthos:

Orthos Prime:

Serro:

Glaive:

Glaive Prime:

Kestrel:

Galatine:

Gram:

Scindo:

Scindo Prime:

Nikana:

Dragon Nikana:

Ether Reaper:

Hate:

Reaper Prime:

Dual Cleavers:

Dual Ether:

Dual Heat Swords:

Dual Ichor:

Dual Kamas:

Dual Skana:

Dual Zoren:

Nami Skyla:

Kama:

Machete:

Prova:

Nami Solo:

Ankyros:

Ankyros Prime:

Furax:

Kogake:

Obex:

Amphis:

Bo:

Bo Prime:

Atterax:

Lecta:

Scoliac:

Fragor:

Jat Kittag:

Magistar:

Venka:

Kronen:

 

Edit: Prime Weapons added to list

Edited September 26, 2014 by Starnsy_Warnsy

[GhostSwordsman]

Pangolin Sword:

A unique blade used by an old Tenno clan.

 

All the flavor text you'll ever need. But seriously though, interesting idea. +1

[vaugahn]

I'd be glad to help. Do you have a list of items to start with?

[Aegia-]

I'd be glad to help. Do you have a list of items to start with?

 

Seeing as how the most important things in Warframe (besides the resources) are the Tenno, I believe that it would be a good starting point to begin with all of our favorite mute protagonists. We all know Excalibur was the first, but what about all the others?

[vaugahn]

Seeing as how the most important things in Warframe (besides the resources) are the Tenno, I believe that it would be a good starting point to begin with all of our favorite mute protagonists. We all know Excalibur was the first, but what about all the others?

 

I don't think we have enough lore total to write for the tenno, at least not yet. I was thinking more present day stuff might be easier?

[RavenousPartyLibrarian]

I'll be watching this thread. It is refreshing to see someone read between the lines, and not automatically assume that this game lacks lore.

 

If I wasn't currently going to bed, I'd happily provide you with all my favorite snippets. If the thread is active by the time I'm back, I'll do just that.

[Aegia-]

I'll be watching this thread. It is refreshing to see someone read between the lines, and not automatically assume that this game lacks lore.

 

If I wasn't currently going to bed, I'd happily provide you with all my favorite snippets. If the thread is active by the time I'm back, I'll do just that.

 

I'll be keeping this thread breathing for as long as I can, sir.

[Aegia-]

I don't think we have enough lore total to write for the tenno, at least not yet. I was thinking more present day stuff might be easier?

 

Well how about the weapons? I've updated my original post with a list of all the weapons in game so far

[vaugahn]

Well how about the weapons? I've updated my original post with a list of all the weapons in game so far

 

I can start in on those. I think I know more about the Grineer, so I'll start with their stuff.

 

Edit: are we doing full-length entries, or short-ish paragraphs?

Edited September 25, 2014 by vaugahn

[Aegia-]

I can start in on those. I think I know more about the Grineer, so I'll start with their stuff.

 

Edit: are we doing full-length entries, or short-ish paragraphs?

 

I was thinking about a paragraph for each weapon or item. WE don't need feature length novels, just things that hint at some larger picture

[Aegia-]

I'm debating on whether or not to update the list with prime versions of weapons.

 

Yea or nay?

[HappyApathy]

Quanta: A true example of Corpus efficiency, the Quanta is a multi-purpose tool whose cutting laser and blast projectile can be effectively used in both mining and combat applications, while also providing a convenient design for Crewman to hang up their suits on once their shift is over.

[vaugahn]

Starting from the top

 

Buzlok: This weapon represents an early attempt by the Grineer at producing a more flexible marksman rifle. The Vulkar, while well-received by elite troops, suffers at shorter ranges and is unable to keep up sustained fire. Each round integrates Corpus-produced microprocessors, allowing them to home in on marked targets for greater accuracy. The weapon can be dumb-fired as well for use in close combat. Due to the expenses involved in producing this weapon it has yet to see any significant use in the field. 

 

Edit: I'll update this with more as I write them

 

Edit 2: feel free to spell/grammar check and otherwise nitpick, a second set of eyes is always helpful

Edited September 26, 2014 by vaugahn

[StallordD]

I made this a while back for enemies: https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/225089-codex-lore-entries-the-corpus/

 

I'm totally with you on this, it's a perfect place to flesh out the world.

 

I'll start with a couple weapons:

 

Boltor: Tenno insurgents on Phobos found themselves at a disadvantage due to the harsh weather conditions. Standard weaponry could not endure the exposure to sandstorms for extended periods and severely impeded progress on securing a mask transmitter on the planet's surface as a base of operations for future assaults. Looking to ancient Orokin designs, the Tenno mimicked the original design for the Boltor type weapon. Using modified quills from the local sand skates, Tenno were able to consistently resupply during raids, allowing for a foothold to be gained.

 

Afuris: During the infiltration of the Corpus base Martol on Neptune, Tenno operatives utilized lightweight, concealable weaponry to gain access to the barracks. Once inside, they feigned defeat and quickly surprised their captors with their hidden weapons. The extreme fire rate and ammo consumption of these weapons make them excellent for surprise attacks, but not useful for long term combat.

 

Dark Dagger: The Acolytes of the Void were a religious sect that sprung up from the Grineer domination of Ceres. The colonists there gathered in dark places to speak curses and hatred upon their jailers. The cult gained much traction, and many soldiers there began to fear the area, claiming an oppressive force resided within. Though initially ignored as foolish superstition, Grineer command was forced to step in once word of sacrifices were being made on base. The ceremonial daggers were promptly seized and the Acolytes were executed. However, the blades contain an unexplainable energy that has been the focus of much research. Now the remaining blades are passed around by high ranking scientists, or elite collectors with an expendable income.

[StallordD]

I'm debating on whether or not to update the list with prime versions of weapons.

 

Yea or nay?

Yea. Primes should contain MUCH harder lore. More akin to actual writing than technical explanations of the weapons.

 

IE: Braton Prime: Quasalis was worried. The cold, deadly machine he had created lay before him on his artifice dais. The prototype for a new line of weaponry to usher in the new age. But this was supposed to be an age of peace was it not? What need have they for new tools of war? His emperors reasoned that without power, there could be no peace. Discontent among the peasant caste had risen, and unless they could be reminded of their place, revolution would no doubt follow. But he was not convinced. He sent the blueprints off to the replication facilities with his scribe, and retired to his quarters. He would no doubt be rewarded for his efforts, but such a thought brought little happiness. This was but the first sign of imminent chaos.

Edited September 26, 2014 by StallordD

[jakdup1]

Interesting...

 

I just got an idea for the Pangolin Sword and the Six Shooter.

 

Going to see some more examples before I get it involved...