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Factions > The Seekers
Written by Solo Wing Dragon, July 2003
The Seekers are highly structured, yet secretive group. For hundreds of years they have existed, leading the world to believe that they are a band of tomb raiders. It is true that the Seekers spend much of their time 'stealing' ancient relics from the ruins, but the reason behind them doing this is not for wealth like many believe. The Seekers’ main goal is to reclaim the world, and to do this they are researching as much of the ancient technology as possible.
The Empire believes that the Seekers are a poorly organised and primitive tribe of thieves. While this may be true to a certain extent, the Seekers often possess a great deal of ancient relics so the Empire avoids using heavy weaponry on them in order to protect these artifacts of the Ancient Age. The Seekers have also perfected their tactics in guerrilla warfare, leaving even armed imperial soldiers vulnerable to attack. For these reasons the Empire considered the Seekers a threat to their civilisation. The Empire once protected the Seekers, as they were once a similar tribe themselves, but eventually the Empire’s purpose became corrupted. The Seekers became known as the 'uncivilised people of the frontier' whom the Empire wished to annihilate.
Deception is the way the Seekers live their lives. The world believes that they are like treasure hunters; they live for the thrill of the find. Many people in the Panzer Dragoon world believe that the Seekers will be punished for disturbing the sacred ruins of Ancient Age. The Seekers deny this. Although Seekers are made up from the survivors of different villages that were attacked by the monsters, they all share a common goal. As stated before, the Seekers are actually a secretive intelligence organization, researching the Ancient Age for what they believe is the greater good of mankind. From their long years of discovery, the Seekers absorbed a great deal of knowledge of the Towers that had controlled the destiny of mankind since the Ancient Age. Ultimately, the Seekers wanted to destroy Sestren, the entity that controlled the Tower network, and in doing so free the world from the will of the Ancients. The Seekers succeeded in this goal but as a result of the human-reducing Towers being shut down the human population was reduced to less than half of what it once was.
  Being a Seeker is not an easy lifestyle. It requires a lot of training, dedication, and risks that many are not willing to take. However, as most of the Seekers have witnessed the deaths of their loved ones, it is something they are willing to do - to fight the spawn of the Ancient Age. There are some, though, that cannot cope with the harsh lifestyle. Bezer of Zoah was perhaps too young to understand what the Seekers were fighting for and so left their protection to his tragic death.
The first seeker that we as the player are introduced to is Lundi. While he wasn't a Seeker in Panzer Dragoon Zwei, Lundi did join the Seekers after Lagi left him. Lagi entrusted the secret of his existence to Lundi before he went into hibernation. Lundi became the leader of the seekers and shared information with them about the Towers and the Ancient Age. It is unknown how much Lundi actually told them, but from reading his diary to the next dragon rider it is plain that we were not told everything of Lundi's vision. Whether the Seekers did not tell Edge all that they knew, or Lundi himself did not wish to share his sightings of the Ancient Age remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain: there were some among the Seekers who knew more that we are lead to believe.
The leader of the Seeker's Stronghold went by the title of 'Skiad Ops' or in our tongue, 'Shadow Eye'. Lundi was given the title of Skiad Ops Endow. As this was not his real name it seems likely that he was given the title for his own safety as a former dragon rider. In fact, the potential and true identity of the Shadow Eye always remains a secret, most likely as a security measure. In the fourth instalment of the Panzer Dragoon series, the Seeker leader was known as 'Chief Damad'. However different times often mean different customs.
The most important Seeker was introduced to us in Panzer Dragoon Saga. Skiad Ops Gash, commonly referred to as just Gash, was the current Seeker leader around the time of the Great Fall. Most noticeable about this Seeker was a large scar over his right eye, concealed by bony mask, ancient in style. Lundi mentored Gash, and much of the dragon rider’s knowledge was passed down to him. Sick of being kept alive by the mistakes of the Ancients, Gash's goal in life was to save the world from the horrors conceived from forgotten sciences of the Ancient world, the Towers and the pure type creatures, which guarded these creations. As those who have played Panzer Dragoon Saga will know, Gash's goal was achieved. Gash sent the Heresy Dragon, his rider Edge and the drone Azel to the bottom level of the Tower of Uru. Azel, who was the only drone that could interface with that Tower, opened the gate to the Sestren system and Edge and his dragon destroyed the being that lurked within it. Little is known of Gash’s fate beyond the Great Fall.
The Seekers had many of their facts right, but something that remained incorrect (either due to their lack of in depth research or just wrong guessing) was their knowledge of the Divine Visitor. Gash and the other Seekers located near the Tower of Uru came to the conclusion that the Divine Visitor was the dragon himself. As we know, this proved to a false belief. In fact, sending the dragon to Sestren increased the amount of turmoil in the world over the decade following the Great Fall. I wonder if the Seekers had truly known the outcome of destroying Sestren whether they would have been so keen to go ahead with their ambitions.
 
In Panzer Dragoon Orta, a tribe of Seekers were located in the Yelico Valley. It is unknown whether this is the same group of Seekers who were once lead by Gash, or not, however Pandora’s Box confirms that Yelico Valley contained the main body of Seeker forces. There were many Seeker villages, each acting as an excavation site for researching the Ancient ruins, so it could well have been a different one. The city of dome shaped huts had been built on the valley walls, their colour blending into the rock formations. Although it was nothing grand compared to the Empire, Yelico Valley was, for some time, the central gathering point of the Seekers. Soon after the story begins, the Empire attacked this Seeker city. Although the Seekers did have some means of defence, there was no way they stood a chance against the dragonmares, the very weapons that ended the Ancient Age. Hundreds, if not thousands of Seekers must have lost their lives in that attack, mercilessly slaughtered by the Empire.
However it is at this point one must question the true intentions of the Seekers. These Seekers captured the half drone Orta and imprisoned her in a cage since she was very small. It is unknown why they did this. The only thing we really know is that she was going to be used later for battle. But if Edge, a friend and ally of Gash, was Orta’s biological father, why would the Seekers lock Orta away like someone dangerous or who deserved punishment? The inhabitants of the Seeker’s Stronghold treated even Azel, a full-blooded drone, with respect and kindness, although she was for some time guarded due to the fact that she was so valuable.
There are many theories regarding this mystery; here are some of the main ones:
1) The Seekers changed leadership (most likely the result of Gash’s death) and the new leader did not understand Gash’s meaning of "We must protect it at all costs". There is more than one way to protect something.
2) The Seekers saw Orta as a threat to the safety of their people, and so kept her imprisoned. Fearing that she might inherit the slave binding will of the drones' Ancient creators, there could be a chance that Orta would turn against them.
3) Blaming the drone Azel for the catastrophic events that followed the Great Fall, the Seekers killed her and locked away her child until she could be used later as weapon in their struggle against the Empire.
 
Despite these theories, the Seekers of Yelico Valley did not seem evil. In the time in which they appeared in Iva’s sub scenario the Seekers appeared friendly, although somewhat cautious. Whatever their reasons for Orta’s captivity, a good explanation is likely to be behind it.
After Yelico Valley was invaded, the Seekers relocated to another den in the east, near to the Forest of Mutation. However Emid, a Seeker whom Iva encounters, claims that her group of Seekers live a nomadic lifestyle, exploring the continent and trying to find methods of making it inhabitable to the people of the Panzer Dragoon world. Ultimately this is now the Seekers cause; despite the hardships and danger that their lifestyle creates, they feel it is their duty.
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Related Articles:
Books > Old Diary
Dialogue > Conversations with Gash
Dialogue > Conversations with Zadoc
Factions > Dragon Riders: Lundi
World > Yelico Valley
Back to the Factions Section
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Destroy the mutant stealing habits; it is the village's code. The Will of the Ancients is an unofficial fansite that is in no way supported or associated with SEGA or Smilebit. Panzer Dragoon, Panzer Dragoon II Zwei, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Panzer Dragoon Orta and all other official Panzer Dragoon content is © SEGA, 1995-2003. Everything else on this website was made or written by Solo Wing Dragon unless otherwise noted. Please ask me first before using any content on this website for fan or commercial purposes.
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