FUCK ME FUCKING SIDEWAYS! Kerghan the Terrible fucked me, he fucked me in me brain and didn't even ask permission. Arronax has been imprisoned for two millenia in the Void, and Kerghan the Terrible rules uncontested, he used the Dark Elves, he reached across the planes and whispered lies to them. He manipulated everybody, hiding behind Arronax' villainy and preparing Arcanum for his return.
The Void was black, empty and barely formed, small islands of reality forming in the infinite darkness. I arrived at a mirror image of the Ring of Brodgar, but swarming with odd demonic creatures that fell to my spells and sword. I found a small metal dias, and stepping upon it was moved to another island and so on until I found the ruins of some strange organic structure, and descended into it. There behind a door guarded by undead knights and a strange serpent I found Arronax, trapped inside a sphere of energy, a sphere not of his own making. He explained it all, he was just a spoiled brat with daddy issues who wanted to be stopped, blaming Nasrudin for his genocide and rebellion. He did nothing else however, Kerghan was waiting for him in the Void, and overpowered him without breaking a sweat.
I freed him for Zan Alurin's sake and they spoke of the Dark Elves, the schism and his role in their fall. He was suprisingly weak.
I ventured on and found Kerghans glowing fortress, but avoided it for awhile, as I wanted to find the others. Kraka Tur I killed, a boasting weakling whom I taunted with his journal, killer of the last Dragon, he deserved worse. Gorgoth initially followed me when I gave him the carcass of a small demonic creature, but his hunger would not stop and eventually he turned on me, he too died. The Bane of Kree held Torian Kel's ancestral sword and so I helped the Grey Legionnaire slay him, and gave him back his sword, it may possibly be better than the Bangellian Scourge.
That did not matter however, I found a stairway down into the heart of an island and entered ancient tunnels, fighting past beasts to find a treasure. A sword, an enchanted sword called Kryggird's Falchion, that throbbed with power and dwarfed everything else. So armed I explored the rest of the Void until only Kerghan's stronghold remained.
I carved my way through Kerghan's minions, they were as nothing to me. I found the few remaining Dwarves of the black Mountain clan stranded here, so very few left, I listened to their tale and explained everything. Their machine waited to rip a hole in reality through to Arcanum. I ventured on a found Kerghan the Terrible.
He was a hypocrite, all this time, all the spirits I have raised from the dead to speak with, they have all been wracked with pain. Returning them to the world is unnatural, and yet all across Arcanum the undead arise and walk because of Kerghan's dread influence touching the world. The game has hinted at me for weeks now that the undead are the true threat, and I have constantly had to battle them, and stumbled through the remains of Kerghan's discoveries and his legacy. The Derian Ka, The Molochean Hand, the Schuyler's, Geoffrey, Torian Kel, Stringy Pete, they were all clues pointing to this and I saw nothing until I found Arronax and learned the truth. Kerghan wants to end all life on Arcanum, he wants to make it as silent and peacefuil as the Void so that his legacy can be used no more and there is no suffering.
No fucking chance, people will suffer at my whim and they will remain alive to worship me. I pretended to side with him for a moment just to see if that was possible (of course it was,) and slew most of my companions there who objected, I had the power to do so now and had meant to be rid of them anyway. Dog and Torian Kel remained at my side as is only right, and he commanded me to go forth and slay the other exiles in the Void. I laughed and told him it was already done and then informed him that there could only be one god returning to Arcanum. He asked what kind of deity I thought myself and I told him that I would be just, which is so open to interpretation as to allow almost any action.
In the end he died, struck down by my Falchion, I did not even have to use the Vendigroth device, which an old Elven man might be surprised by when I return. With his death I fled back to Arcanum with the Black Mountain clan. The narration began over ending slides classic Fallout style and I watched with a big stupid smile on my face, as all my deeds came to fruition.
Arcanum is simply one of the best games I have ever played, it has tons of issues, it is in some ways fundamentally broken but for all that it is so fucking deep, complex, full of choice and real consequences, and so bloody unremittingly ambitious in some of the things it does that I consider it a classic. I've not enjoyed myself this much since last time I were in a knocking shop, and this game was so much fuck cheaper than a horizontal hokey cokey.
Tl/dr: Thanks for the recommendations, hints and encouragement everybody, this is one of the best games ever made undoubtedly. I now wish to see Obsidian make Tim Cain a lead designer on something. I'm still left with a shit ton of ideas about the game in my head, but i'm going to try and resist an immediate second playthrough, I want to approach it when i'm not so obsessed as I currently am.