There's something extremely lovecraftian about the Shroud Gods. Unknowable beings that change your civilisation in unknown ways, turning people mad, consuming people, granting powerful benefits with arcane and dangerous prices. Cthulu, if it exists in this world, is/was definitely a Shroud Entity.
It's interesting to me that precognitive AI exists, technology that requires power from the shroud, and yet machine or AI emperors can't enter the shroud.
My guess is that the information the AI is getting from the shroud is through sensors that are used to detect psionic disturbances that originate from the shroud.
my headcannon has always been that hive minds and machine intelligences were already connected to the shroud (since they at least have souls, itherwise the unbidden wouldn't target them). but due to their fractured nature they couldn't access/use the powers of the shroud to the same extent.
I think the Shroud entities operate on a scale and tier of power greater then the Chaos gods from Warhammer 40k do. Unlike the Warp, the Shroud and it's entities doesn't rely on material people on a constant bases to retain their existence. And the Shroud has connected to other Stellaris universes which you can play as. And another thing unlike the Warp the Shroud isn't actively trying to invade material realms.
you are right for the most part but i feel like context is needed. espically with the last part Not saying your wrong or anything jsut giving more info. the warp and shroud are 2 different entites, the warp is the well of souls while the shroud isnt. the warp use to not have any connection to the milky way until the old ones startted seeding the galaxy with life and made them somewhat connected to the warp. the reason why the warp is like it is cause of all the backlash was cause over the millions of years since the war in heaven to current day 40k.
@@coolchrisable Warhammer 40k and Stellaris are different franchises. And this still shows that the Shroud is alot more durable and much larger then the Warp still. You can destroy the galaxy and the Shroud entities and their realm would still exist but the Warhammer 40k Warp entities wouldn't be so lucky if the same happened to them.
@@thorshammer7883 well yeah they are different franchises never said they where well the warp would still exist as the old ones found out about it so that says that it was always there. what would be different if an event like that happen the well of souls being suddendly filled with that much backlash and sudden death the gods of them would probley be over charged for awhile then disapate as the beings that give them power would be gone. what would be a better comparison would be the C'tan since they are gods of reality and dont need others to sustain their form
@@coolchrisable It is likely the Chaos gods are not as powerful as they like to claim and portray themselves as. They don't have the same traits or scale and capabilities as the Shroud entities do. The thing about C'tan is that they are restricted to a single material universe and despite their power even they are not invincible or immune to damage and being weakened. The Necrons and their super weapons proved that. I wouldn't be surprised if Stellaris factions could do the same. The Blokkats could likely kill them and drain all their energy for themselves.
@@thorshammer7883 the blokkats are from the mod gigastructures unless something has changed i wouldnt include them. and the necrons with the C'tan well it took alot to bring them down not saying it isnt possible i mean given the chance the necrons can defeat the chaos gods cause their weapons are specifically designed to fight races and enites that are psonic or warp born entities. like the nercon Pylons. so i would say the necrons would be able to fight them maybe for abit.
4 Shroud Gods and they equivalent to the Chaos Gods from Warhammer 40k. Composer = Nurgle Eater = khorne Instrument = Slaanesh Whisper = Tzeentch Note : this is just my opinion
@@carlosdgutierrez6570 so pretty much malal sense he's the god of chaos itself, so anything the other gods do feed him, and if we go by old lore the other warp deity's including the foul fat four fear malal, to the point where it took all four of the gods of chaos to kick him out and even then when he laughs all of the warp seems to shudder
So now that I think about it... shouldn't The End of the Cycle be perfect if you pick Become the Crisis? 50 years should be plenty of time to conquer the galaxy and build the engine considering the absurd bonuses that covenant gives you combined with the rush potential you have with Teachers of the Shroud. Sounds pretty fun honestly; either you make it in time and screw over your patron or you're too slow and just cease to exist.
I've never played Stellaris but I am glad I stumbled upon this channel. Very cool. How does one overcome the end of the cycle? Sounds like I'm asking how one stops heat death of the universe or something, haha
Very carefully; lol. you get a single planet at the end, and only a few pops. So it really depends on how many people are still at war with you when the end takes its toll.
Hi Adam, the EotC is really a gamble to win the game within the 50 year limit. Which given the bonuses is certainly possible, but if you don't it really punishes you!!
very rarely. the EotC has a 2% chance of appearing each time you get offered a covenant, and you only get a 5-%10% chance at one every few years. So, statistically, your chances are 1/10,000 to 1/5,000. or a 0.001% - 0.002% chance I could be wrong, since those numbers seem a little too rare
You provide such unique interesting insight to the amazingly cool concepts that Stellaris has planted in my brain for years, I appreciate the tone and context in which you present these videos. They’re amazing! All Stellaris players who love the background happenings around their empires should watch these, your channel is destined for great things!
The Chaos Gods call to you, no matter what form you perceived them as. No matter from which Galaxy or Universe you occupy and widow you see them through.
@@thorshammer7883 LOL never went down the Crisis ascension path in game have you? The Shroud=Warp. The game lore states that strong emotions create flux in the Shroud.
@@DS-wr5lw But do they need material beings to live? Does the Shroud gods need people to around constantly for them to exist? Not really no. For every reality and every ancient history it seems that Shroud entities don't need to rely on people for their existence. Even if one galaxy was destroyed with all life they will still be around.
@thorshammer7883 Not enough lore in the game to have a complete answer to that question. The Zroni event chain says that some or maybe all of the entities/gods in the shroud are the result of their civil war. Other lore states that the Shroud touches multiple galaxies and universes.
Might be a long stretch, but I believe the Warp and the W40 universe is the result of fusing the Shroud and the material world, with the Chaos Gods being the ascended "players" from Stellaris that employed the Aetherophasic Engine.
Really should be more than 4 if that is the case. Or you say an empire of asshole who find sacrifice entire galaxy for apotheosis acceptable only have 4 dude who love messing up with material worlds? Still, I can imagine the cry of despair of the Emperor if there is more of these things.
It is implied that the engine wipes the Shroud clean, so it probably would either be the "Old Gods" or the more fun interpretation When you activate the engine, the Shroud realm is wiped clean. Your people's collective consciousness ascend and selectively melt together with those of the same ethics. The warmongers fuse into a blob, becoming a new Eater that when a future empire contacts will be different from the old, those science oriented becoming the new composer with different effects. You become what you've wiped away, the litany of voices becoming few, until the "New Gods" reign
I still remember my one playthrough where the precursor were the zroni and almost every empire in the galaxy are getting psionics meanwhile me the commonwealth went all gene mastery I boosted my economy with the zro I have but have no need and with boosted economy thus I increased the fleets and vassalized all and became emperor I roleplayed my empress to be jealous of the races connected with the shroud and had a chance to become immortal meanwhile the leaders of my empire had robust eurodite and enduring and countless cell rev to prolong their lives thus I began to integrate my psionics vassals and then exterminated all psionics. Good times
So the Shroud is the Warp. And the entities are Nurgle, Khorne, Slaanesh, Tzeentch and Malal/Tyrannid Hive Mind. So this is why, as much as I try to be Xenophilic and friendly, I end up cosplaying the Imperium of Man. 😅😅😂😂
Stellaris galaxy is just a far off galaxy from the milky way and runs parallel to Warhammer 40k and the end game swarm in stellaris is just a different tendril of tyranids
i agree that the shroud is like the warp of 40k and their gods, but i want to point out the similarity with Mass Effect with the first race ressembling the prothean (APEX of their times) destroy by infighting and the fact that their psyonic power like the biotic provoking the Dark Energy Theory and the Contingency already looking like the Reapers what do yall think ?
Just discovered your channel, im curious have you explored any of the lore behind the empires/crisis in the More Events Mod? Specifically Broken Clock and The Vazuran Menace?
Not a fan of your description of the Insturment, since that isn’t really how things pan out in events. The drawback is increased pop upkeep and occasionally the consumption of a strategic resource by pops. Actually in character it probably should’ve been mentioned that there’s some push to make a covenant with the Insturment on the basis that the costs are more than canceled out by the benefits, unlike the other covenants where the costs and benefits exist along separate axis and as such can’t cancel out.
Thanks very much! The Artwork almost 100% of the time comes from mostly images found within the Stellaris game files so event images etc that i've upscaled to appropriate resolutions, or i've created them with Midjourney (however I am moving away from the MJ method...) if there is a specific image you're after timestamp it in the video and i'll try and get it for you and post on the discord. As I write this I think this video may have some 40k images relating to the various shroud gods... Anyway timestamp what you're after or ping me in the discord and i'll do my best to find it
@@TheRedKingWow thank you! I'll need to check out the game files then. The ones that I really like are at :55 and 4:30. Also how hard is it to upscale images? There is a ton of awesome 40k art but I can never find it in 1920 x 1080.
So it's the warp basically? I usually purge err... convince psychic civilizations they should be not psychic anymore. Tolerance leads to heresy. Or something like that.
My favorite thing the shroud does is that it makes one of your leaders immortal and then people start worshipping him and will want you to make him the leader and if you accept your empire becomes Fanatic Spiritualist and Authoritarian and you’ll have an immortal King
question do you know what happens if you have subterranean origin and Get the subterranean event chain cause I do not know if that's been updated or not
The event can still happen but the wording changes a bit. As a crust dweller you realise there is another civilisation even deeper around the core of the planet.
I had an admiral that was both the choosen one and the choosen of the instrument. That man truly was that guy
Psionic ascended clones is the way, they are very strong, also gives you a real reason to be super sad if they ever get squashed
@@TheRedKing I remember the times when i could make the pact with 4 entities in the same game.
@@TheRedKing this remembers me of another game maybe the shoud still their only war
So basically Nurgle, Slaanesh, Khorne, and the Tyranid Hivemind
You forgot tzech or however it is spelled the God of knowledge, deception and insanity.
@@furycarnategaming Tzneetch
@@steffanyschwartz7801 Tzeentch
I'd say Gork and Mork would be there too, but Stellaris has no Orks in their galaxy. _Thank the gods._
@@internetzenmaster8952 technically there is with the space hordes they even talk about sacrificing you for their gods
There's something extremely lovecraftian about the Shroud Gods. Unknowable beings that change your civilisation in unknown ways, turning people mad, consuming people, granting powerful benefits with arcane and dangerous prices. Cthulu, if it exists in this world, is/was definitely a Shroud Entity.
It's interesting to me that precognitive AI exists, technology that requires power from the shroud, and yet machine or AI emperors can't enter the shroud.
My guess is that the information the AI is getting from the shroud is through sensors that are used to detect psionic disturbances that originate from the shroud.
@@Immerayon Psionic shields or Zro maybe?
@@Cyborg_Sloth My bet would be Zro, yeah.
Maybe wetware AI? Semi-Organic computers?
my headcannon has always been that hive minds and machine intelligences were already connected to the shroud (since they at least have souls, itherwise the unbidden wouldn't target them). but due to their fractured nature they couldn't access/use the powers of the shroud to the same extent.
Ah, my crimson liege, you bless me once more with your wonderous tales.
The Zro must flow.
Spice!
I think the Shroud entities operate on a scale and tier of power greater then the Chaos gods from Warhammer 40k do. Unlike the Warp, the Shroud and it's entities doesn't rely on material people on a constant bases to retain their existence. And the Shroud has connected to other Stellaris universes which you can play as. And another thing unlike the Warp the Shroud isn't actively trying to invade material realms.
you are right for the most part but i feel like context is needed. espically with the last part Not saying your wrong or anything jsut giving more info. the warp and shroud are 2 different entites, the warp is the well of souls while the shroud isnt. the warp use to not have any connection to the milky way until the old ones startted seeding the galaxy with life and made them somewhat connected to the warp.
the reason why the warp is like it is cause of all the backlash was cause over the millions of years since the war in heaven to current day 40k.
@@coolchrisable
Warhammer 40k and Stellaris are different franchises.
And this still shows that the Shroud is alot more durable and much larger then the Warp still. You can destroy the galaxy and the Shroud entities and their realm would still exist but the Warhammer 40k Warp entities wouldn't be so lucky if the same happened to them.
@@thorshammer7883 well yeah they are different franchises never said they where
well the warp would still exist as the old ones found out about it so that says that it was always there. what would be different if an event like that happen the well of souls being suddendly filled with that much backlash and sudden death the gods of them would probley be over charged for awhile then disapate as the beings that give them power would be gone.
what would be a better comparison would be the C'tan since they are gods of reality and dont need others to sustain their form
@@coolchrisable
It is likely the Chaos gods are not as powerful as they like to claim and portray themselves as. They don't have the same traits or scale and capabilities as the Shroud entities do.
The thing about C'tan is that they are restricted to a single material universe and despite their power even they are not invincible or immune to damage and being weakened. The Necrons and their super weapons proved that. I wouldn't be surprised if Stellaris factions could do the same. The Blokkats could likely kill them and drain all their energy for themselves.
@@thorshammer7883 the blokkats are from the mod gigastructures unless something has changed i wouldnt include them.
and the necrons with the C'tan well it took alot to bring them down not saying it isnt possible i mean given the chance the necrons can defeat the chaos gods cause their weapons are specifically designed to fight races and enites that are psonic or warp born entities. like the nercon Pylons. so i would say the necrons would be able to fight them maybe for abit.
4 Shroud Gods and they equivalent to the Chaos Gods from Warhammer 40k.
Composer = Nurgle
Eater = khorne
Instrument = Slaanesh
Whisper = Tzeentch
Note : this is just my opinion
You could also argue that The End of the Cycle = Malal
@@lgr9793 or Chaos undivided, that is why it is more powerful than the other 4 gods, it is the manifestation of the sum of the power or the 4.
@@carlosdgutierrez6570 so pretty much malal sense he's the god of chaos itself, so anything the other gods do feed him, and if we go by old lore the other warp deity's including the foul fat four fear malal, to the point where it took all four of the gods of chaos to kick him out and even then when he laughs all of the warp seems to shudder
They’re 100% based off of those. Stellaris takes from a lot of space media.
So now that I think about it... shouldn't The End of the Cycle be perfect if you pick Become the Crisis? 50 years should be plenty of time to conquer the galaxy and build the engine considering the absurd bonuses that covenant gives you combined with the rush potential you have with Teachers of the Shroud. Sounds pretty fun honestly; either you make it in time and screw over your patron or you're too slow and just cease to exist.
Ascend... [almost certainly die] 😅
"What is the Shroud?", While showing a picture of 40k warp 🤣
It’s basically the closest thing right?
Lowkey I got the composer and didn't know what it did, but I'm glad I didn't accidentally get any of the other ones.
All have ups and downs :) Eater is very good if you can be in a constant state of war
@@TheRedKing Idk what the best would be if you're pretty much tryna make the Eldar from warhammer but with slaves lol
@@TheRedKingeater needs a buff imo. 7% ship fire rate isn’t enough for its negatives. Should be at least 20% imo.
I've never played Stellaris but I am glad I stumbled upon this channel. Very cool. How does one overcome the end of the cycle? Sounds like I'm asking how one stops heat death of the universe or something, haha
Very carefully; lol. you get a single planet at the end, and only a few pops. So it really depends on how many people are still at war with you when the end takes its toll.
Hi Adam, the EotC is really a gamble to win the game within the 50 year limit. Which given the bonuses is certainly possible, but if you don't it really punishes you!!
Thanks for the input, people! :)
very rarely. the EotC has a 2% chance of appearing each time you get offered a covenant, and you only get a 5-%10% chance at one every few years.
So, statistically, your chances are 1/10,000 to 1/5,000. or a 0.001% - 0.002% chance
I could be wrong, since those numbers seem a little too rare
And I've thought that the meme about fanatical materialist arresting the fanatical spiritualist was unfounded.
You provide such unique interesting insight to the amazingly cool concepts that Stellaris has planted in my brain for years, I appreciate the tone and context in which you present these videos. They’re amazing! All Stellaris players who love the background happenings around their empires should watch these, your channel is destined for great things!
Glad to hear you're enjoying them!! Thank you for the kind words :)
I love your work man ! Even if i am french and hardly understand english , your voice and the way of you tell story is awesome
Thanks very much Iskander!! Happy to hear it :) Glad you're enjoying the videos, and thank you!!
Ionioi Hetairoi!!!
Composer of strands = Nurgle
Devourer of Worlds = Khorne
Whispers in the Void = Tzeench
Instrument of Desire = Slaanesh
I always make a pact with the 5th god whenever given the opportunity aka Malice.
Another soothing recapitation of the terrors of the greater galaxy...
The Chaos Gods call to you, no matter what form you perceived them as. No matter from which Galaxy or Universe you occupy and widow you see them through.
It would seem so!!
Technically though unlike the Chaos gods the Shroud doesn't need the emotions and thoughts of people to operate and endure.
@@thorshammer7883 LOL never went down the Crisis ascension path in game have you? The Shroud=Warp. The game lore states that strong emotions create flux in the Shroud.
@@DS-wr5lw
But do they need material beings to live? Does the Shroud gods need people to around constantly for them to exist? Not really no. For every reality and every ancient history it seems that Shroud entities don't need to rely on people for their existence. Even if one galaxy was destroyed with all life they will still be around.
@thorshammer7883 Not enough lore in the game to have a complete answer to that question. The Zroni event chain says that some or maybe all of the entities/gods in the shroud are the result of their civil war. Other lore states that the Shroud touches multiple galaxies and universes.
Digitize the shroud, turn psionics into code. Become the unamatrix.
Yes, a video on my favourite place to ascend & chill at after destroying the mortal galaxy
My crime empire is fond of the whispers. So much knowledge, so little price....
Might be a long stretch, but I believe the Warp and the W40 universe is the result of fusing the Shroud and the material world, with the Chaos Gods being the ascended "players" from Stellaris that employed the Aetherophasic Engine.
Really should be more than 4 if that is the case.
Or you say an empire of asshole who find sacrifice entire galaxy for apotheosis acceptable only have 4 dude who love messing up with material worlds?
Still, I can imagine the cry of despair of the Emperor if there is more of these things.
It is implied that the engine wipes the Shroud clean, so it probably would either be the "Old Gods" or the more fun interpretation
When you activate the engine, the Shroud realm is wiped clean. Your people's collective consciousness ascend and selectively melt together with those of the same ethics.
The warmongers fuse into a blob, becoming a new Eater that when a future empire contacts will be different from the old, those science oriented becoming the new composer with different effects.
You become what you've wiped away, the litany of voices becoming few, until the "New Gods" reign
I still remember my one playthrough where the precursor were the zroni and almost every empire in the galaxy are getting psionics meanwhile me the commonwealth went all gene mastery
I boosted my economy with the zro I have but have no need and with boosted economy thus I increased the fleets and vassalized all and became emperor
I roleplayed my empress to be jealous of the races connected with the shroud and had a chance to become immortal meanwhile the leaders of my empire had robust eurodite and enduring and countless cell rev to prolong their lives thus I began to integrate my psionics vassals and then exterminated all psionics. Good times
So the Shroud is the Warp. And the entities are Nurgle, Khorne, Slaanesh, Tzeentch and Malal/Tyrannid Hive Mind. So this is why, as much as I try to be Xenophilic and friendly, I end up cosplaying the Imperium of Man. 😅😅😂😂
Yes! :)
*IT IS NOT YET YOUR TIME…*
*BUT IT COULD BE.*
The hive continues to intercept the necrons knowledge
"Eater of Worlds"....... Hmmm.... Bit on the nose there
This guy should get a raise
I agree!
I think at this point we've dropped all pretense that The Shroud is anything but The Warp.
Stellaris galaxy is just a far off galaxy from the milky way and runs parallel to Warhammer 40k and the end game swarm in stellaris is just a different tendril of tyranids
Stellaris really seems like it's trying to be Warhammer some times.
i agree that the shroud is like the warp of 40k and their gods, but i want to point out the similarity with Mass Effect with the first race ressembling the prothean (APEX of their times) destroy by infighting and the fact that their psyonic power like the biotic provoking the Dark Energy Theory and the Contingency already looking like the Reapers what do yall think ?
I’ve always wanted to get the end of the cycle lmao only one I haven’t seen
2% chance I believe!!
@@TheRedKing its actually either 2% 10% or 50%
Just discovered your channel, im curious have you explored any of the lore behind the empires/crisis in the More Events Mod? Specifically Broken Clock and The Vazuran Menace?
Hello! I have not delved into any mods beyond Gigastructures, though I plan to cover some in the future. I can look into the More Events Mod for sure!
@@TheRedKing Awesome! Thanks!
Love you 👍
Shroud, Ethereum, Warp: Semantics
Not a fan of your description of the Insturment, since that isn’t really how things pan out in events. The drawback is increased pop upkeep and occasionally the consumption of a strategic resource by pops. Actually in character it probably should’ve been mentioned that there’s some push to make a covenant with the Insturment on the basis that the costs are more than canceled out by the benefits, unlike the other covenants where the costs and benefits exist along separate axis and as such can’t cancel out.
Watching this gave me deja vu, I thought I was having a stroke. Well, it’s still a great video.
That's not what i was going for at all!! I assume due to the overlap with 40k?
Since the Shroud i supposed to have been since the dawn of time, there is no need for concern, as Time has Not dawned yet ;)
If you hadn't slapped Stellaris terms all over this, I would have thought you were talking about 40K, lol.
No idea what you're talking about! It's all very original stuff here ....... 😂
Absolutely great content as always. Where do you get your artwork for the videos? Id love to use them as wallpapers
Thanks very much! The Artwork almost 100% of the time comes from mostly images found within the Stellaris game files so event images etc that i've upscaled to appropriate resolutions, or i've created them with Midjourney (however I am moving away from the MJ method...) if there is a specific image you're after timestamp it in the video and i'll try and get it for you and post on the discord. As I write this I think this video may have some 40k images relating to the various shroud gods... Anyway timestamp what you're after or ping me in the discord and i'll do my best to find it
@@TheRedKingWow thank you! I'll need to check out the game files then. The ones that I really like are at :55 and 4:30. Also how hard is it to upscale images? There is a ton of awesome 40k art but I can never find it in 1920 x 1080.
Check the fanart section on my discord, links in video description i've uploaded both for you@@Stills78
@@TheRedKing Thank you! And keep up the excellent work, your channel is a hidden gem of creativity and passion.
Kinda feels like akashic records are like this.
So it's the warp basically? I usually purge err... convince psychic civilizations they should be not psychic anymore. Tolerance leads to heresy. Or something like that.
An open mind is like a fortress with it's gates unbound and unguarded.
My favorite thing the shroud does is that it makes one of your leaders immortal and then people start worshipping him and will want you to make him the leader and if you accept your empire becomes Fanatic Spiritualist and Authoritarian and you’ll have an immortal King
6:45 every player galaxy is canon
Has the Cease and desist from Games Workshop arrived yet?
question do you know what happens if you have subterranean origin and Get the subterranean event chain cause I do not know if that's been updated or not
I do not, I imagine it's coded into the origin though
The event can still happen but the wording changes a bit. As a crust dweller you realise there is another civilisation even deeper around the core of the planet.
the shroud is the chaos god's realm
Pretty much
Red Kings uploads > reproduction
basically Warhammer's warp and chaos gods?
Basically :)
I thought the Shroud was a superhero in the Fallout universe
Ha I think it's many things
see when you upload and im not home, i get very sad
where did the art for the shroud 'gods' come from?
Those images were AI generated; ping me in the discord and I can upload them if you're interested
Gee I wonder where they got the inspiration from
👀
Hmmmm.... why is this familiar...??
No idea what you're talking about... 👀
@@TheRedKing 🤣
shroud is just narcomaniacs worlds
Necro?
Aka "thing i barely interact with"
so the zeronic are elderi that turned into the spice?
warhamer 40k like
No Chosen One lore? ;/
Your leader can become immortal 👍
why does this seem like a warhammer lore rip-off?
Welp, we know where they got these Gods from lol
Whatever do you mean... ;)