The Ancients

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A Lieutenant of The Ancients 3D render.[1]

This is one of the lieutenants that exists of the Ancients; and you can see they have an almost alien look to them and that is because they have deviated over such a long period of time from their original creation, which looked something very very different: more akin to the Elven and Human races that we have now. But over time through their manipulation of the Essence and the corruption that has ensued within their race, they have taken the form that you can see.[2]Steven Sharif

Suffering Wanderer 3D render.[3][4]

You're going to see really a dark, more insidious creature that's present as the primary antagonist within the storyline of Ashes of Creation. You know they don't have the typical physical attributes you come to expect from a bipedal species like eyes and a mouth, but more something alien- that exists something that is just not natural in its appearance.[5]Steven Sharif

The Ancients (the original creations of the Ten gods) and The Others (the banished gods) are the primary antagonists in the lore who defiled and perverted all of creation.[1][6][7]

  • The Ancients learned from The Others how to use The Essence to achieve immortality. This was a pure form of immortality, more akin to the godhood that exists among the Pantheon. This immortality prohibited them from encompassing undeath in the manner of King Atrax.[8]

If the Verran races were combined they’d be the ancients.[11]Steven Sharif

  • The Ancients arrived at Verra through the Harbingers, which are comet-like celestial bodies powered by a very strong source of magic that essentially acts as a bridge between The Void and the Material plane where Verra exists.[1][6]

You're going to see lieutenants, captains, generals, and raid bosses and they're all going to take different forms because their whole perversion of Essence through the corruption is to take creation on the material realm, that the Pantheon of good Gods did, and twist and bend it to the corruption that exists within the Essence, because they view that as a more powerful form, a more raw and arcane form of what magic is meant to be used for. There's no point in these false constructs of morality when utilizing and harnessing the power that comes from the Essence. That is a social construct that was created by inferior gods, according to the Others; and it limits the ability of their creation to really capitalize on what the Essence is to be used for in its pure, innate nature.[13]Steven Sharif

  • The Ancients' race exists in a caste-oriented system because the Essence has a profound effect biologically, physically, and visually on the appearance of the creatures that are manipulating it and are corrupted by it.[14][13]
    • Grunts are the peons or soldiers on the front lines who are specifically geared toward combat, or magic utilization, or specific environments or climates.[14][13]
    • Lieutenants have wing structures and more asymmetrical appearances.[14][13]
    • Captains and generals are also ranks in the caste system.[13]
    • Large raid bosses and/or world bosses are monolithic in their appearance and unlike what standard creatures look like. These are huge, imposing creatures.[14][13]

The gods... wanted to represent their qualities, their characteristics, their attributes within creation with the creation of something, so they started with a race that are now known as The Ancients; and they imbued them with all of their qualities. Essentially now that that turned out to be a mistake because with those types of qualities all in one species there was a a pride that happened- a desire to become more; and that led a little bit of conflict between the Ancients; and actually there was a partition created between some of the gods within the pantheon that embraced the idea of introducing the Ancients as part of essentially their plane of existence and teaching them the ways of the Essence, in all of its facets: not just what can be used for good, but also what could be used for evil as well. And three of the gods split off and went against the quorum that was established about not interfering with the Ancients after they started this down this road of learning more of the essence and how to manipulate it; and these three gods are known as The Others. So the others really embraced teaching the Ancients knowledge of the essence that they had learned through their eternal existence; and this caused a celestial battle to occur; and the pantheon of the Seven were able to defeat the others; and they banished the Ancients and the Others from the material plane and from the plane of the gods to the void which is the furthest from being connected to the essence.[6]Steven Sharif

List of Ancients mobs

Pantheon of gods

"Planetarium" concept art by Ryan Richmond.[15]

The beginning of the creation of the universe that exists within Ashes of Creation was a result of a group of god beings. There were ten of them and there was a celestial struggle in this universe that resulted in a fraction of those gods. And there exists within this story two components of good and evil.[16]Steven Sharif

The ten deities within Ashes of Creation formed a pantheon of gods that existed in a realm outside of the material plane.[6][17] There was a celestial struggle among the gods that fractured them into good and evil.[6][16] Some gods influence the corrupt side of beings that exist in the Universe.[1][6] It is possible through questing and player decision to join or worship those gods.[18][19]

The gods are an active part of the story; and each of the cultures have their own interpretation of the whims and desires and focuses of the Gods.[20]Steven Sharif
  • The Others are three of the ten gods who embraced teaching all facets of The Essence (both good and evil) to The Ancients, and elevating them to the plane of the gods.[6]
  • The Seven gods' opposition to the Others resulted in a great celestial battle. The Seven were able to defeat the Others, banishing them and the Ancients to The Void. They went on to create four divine races and split their qualities between them.[6][16]

The Gods are beings of The Essence, which is a metaphysical energy or life-force of sorts that can be manipulated to create what could be viewed as magic.[6]

  • The Gods are capable of reaching into the material plane through the souls of their divine beings. In the case of The Seven these are the four great races and their descendants.[12]

There were these pantheon of gods that existed in a realm outside of the material plane that Verra exists in and they were really beings of what's called The essence. The essence is essentially this almost metaphysical energy or life-force that can be manipulated to create magic and/or what we would we would view as magic; and different planes have different degrees of strength when it comes to their proximity to the essence. The material plane is not the highest on that on that scale of being close to to the essence; and the gods exist on a plane that is the most connected to the essence.[6]Steven Sharif

The Gods in Ashes of Creation represent different aspects of the Universe, and feelings as well.[21]

Each god... has a specific realm that they relate to in the world and its creation.[16]Steven Sharif

We have a very rich lore on the pantheon of gods, but it's something that I want to make sure players discover in-game, not told about.[21]Steven Sharif

Story of creation

The story of creation tells us of a race of beings known as The Ancients. Created in the likeness of what was once The Ten. The Ten imbued all of their qualities into one race to have stewardship over all of creation. The power of the Ancients grew and a rift divided the Ten in how to accommodate their new creation. Three of the Ten separated from the others and began to teach the Ancients the Secrets of the Essence. When the Seven learned of this, a great celestial battle ensued. Eons passed and you watched as the fight continued within the celestial kingdom. Some say it was the fight that created the stars and heaven we see today. With every blow between the Ten a star was born. When the battle was complete, the others and the Ancients were banished by the Seven into the Void. The Seven found the error of their ways and decided to split their qualities into four races instead of one; and this is how the Humans, Elves, Orcs and Dwarves came to be. You watch as the Seven created Verra and placed each of the races within their respective locations. As the story came to an end, a dark figure at a distance grew closer to you. Until all you could see was the darkness. And you wake up in a sweat after a nightmare.[29]Steven Sharif

The Essence

The Essence is a metaphysical energy or life-force (Chi) that can be manipulated to create what could be viewed as magic. There are different planes of existence (realms) with varying degrees of strength (of magic), determined by their proximity to the Essence. The planes of existence in Ashes of Creation are connected across bridges created by the Essence, referred to as Rivers of Essence.[30][31][6]

The higher up you go in these planes, the closer to the source of the Essence you really are. And that's where you can see stronger manifestations of the magical aspects of the Essence.[30]Steven Sharif
The essence is a stream that exists across all planes of existence, but it exists at different levels of strength essentially at different levels that can be utilized; and the void is the furthest... There is a very minute amount of essence that can be found within the void. However the planes of existence that are in Ashes of Creation- they are connected across bridges created by the essence. So these ley-lines in a sense that exist within the different planes provide conduits of access and on Verra, which was a planet that was made after the ancient- the celestial battle.[6]Steven Sharif

Souls (also referred to as Mortal coils) are the conduits for The Essence to travel between the different planes of existence. This idea is an integral component of the broader features in the storyline.[30][31]

When you think about souls being a conduit, what are conduits used for? Conduits are passages: they're methods by which Essence can travel between realms, between planes. And there hasn't been any definitive understanding of just how many planes exist. We understand that there is a disparity between the planes when it comes to their connection to the Essence, and because Essence is so powerful; and it flows through these planes almost like a river. You can think that conduits help to maintain that flow and/or even exaggerate the flow; and there might be something at play, that I don't wanna touch necessarily, as to why one would want to create these types of conduits, these souls, this creation on the material plane: Something of significance.[31]Steven Sharif
  • The Essence is so powerful it flows through the planes almost like a river. Soul conduits help to maintain or even exaggerate this flow.[30][31]
Souls acting as conduits is a very integral component of some broader features in the storyline. If you think about souls being a conduit for Essence and you think of the gods as masters of the Essence: If you think of the Essence being separate from the Gods- let's say they're parallel to each other- one didn't create the other, but they coexist in this almost symbiotic form with one another: almost to the point where their manipulation of the Essence is perfection: They can perfectly manipulate it and lesser beings- and I say 'lesser' in a sense of their alignment or closeness to Essence. They're still perfecting that manipulation and some never achieve perfection almost to the degree of ascendency or enlightenment- Essence being that sort of Chi that exists. In that regard, when a perfect being such as the gods- and I'm not saying 'perfect' as the correlation between sin and not sin, I'm thinking perfect in the sense of how you can control and manipulate the Essence: That control is perfection for them.[31]Steven Sharif
  • The gods are masters of the Essence, but they are separate from it. One didn't create the other, but they exist together in a symbiotic form where the gods have achieved an almost perfect manipulation of the Essence and of "lesser beings" who exist further from the Essence.[30][31]
One of the great differentiators between mortal divine races and the gods is that aspect of mortality. And one of the ways that the divine races were created in order to interact with the Essence was through the use of a mortal coil; and that mortal coil was malleable. Your soul was malleable. It could change to adopt a greater connection with the Essence around one particular school of magic perhaps, or one type of magic that you might use Essence for. And the more you experienced that, the more adept you became with utilizing that magic. And that's because your coil would start to mold itself to best facilitate that flow of essence: whatever school of magic you were manipulating with it.[30]Steven Sharif
  • King Atrax was the first ruler of Verra to discover the purpose of The Essence, allowing the manipulation of matter and exploitation of magic for any means.[12]
When you have the story of the original Ancients, the predecessor race to the divine races, their coil began to warp and change to best facilitate Essence through the use of corruption and corrupt magic, because it was in their history that they learned the most powerful use- or at least what they believed was the most powerful use of Essence was, through corrupt magic. And that's what allured them towards it. So to give you better context about why that conduit is so important is as your base character, as your core archetype continually learns and manifests things in the world of Verra through the use of the Essence. It will continue to shape and change its conduit towards that purpose.[30]Steven Sharif
  • The Tulnar have souls and these souls act as conduits for the Essence.[32]
Now, how does the soul act as a conduit to the other races, to the other realms? Remember, that Essence is like a river that flows through the planes; and when it touches mortal coils that use it in a certain way, it has reverberations throughout the river that is felt across the planes. And that's how important the divine races are when it comes to the war over their soul, so to speak, is what impact it has across the universe.[30]Steven Sharif
  • Shape-shifting (changeling) is done so through the Essence by focusing on that specific type of magic.[13]

The Harbingers

Dillia's diary concept art.[35]

The Ancients and The Others they found their way to Verra at some point and they came through what we call the Harbingers, which are essentially these celestial bodies- these almost comet-like structures that were traveling through space to find the location of the new creation; and within those harbingers is a very strong source of magic that essentially acts as a bridge between the Void and the Material plane where Verra exists.[6]Steven Sharif

The Harbingers are comet-like celestial bodies powered by a very strong source of magic that essentially acts as a bridge between The Void and the Material plane where Verra exists.[6]

  • The worst thing the Harbingers bought to Verra was corruption, which twists and distorts everything it touches.[37]
The worst thing that the Harbingers brought was not the Others, but the corruption that they spread. It twists and distorts everything it touches. It whispers in the ears of men, and guides their hands toward terrible ends. There does not seem a means to stop it - our prayers do nothing, our spells are ineffectual. The awful truth is that the Others could simply watch as we burned Verra to ash ourselves.[37]

Religion

Religious temple in a Metropolis node.[38]

We're talking about a pantheon here, not necessarily separate religions. They're all offshoots of who is the better god, or who is the god who identifies best with you.[16]Jeffrey Bard

There are six primary religions as well as a Tulnar/Underrealm religion.[39][40][41]

  • Religion is intended to be a motivator, not an aesthetic.[42]
  • Choosing a religion enables players to walk a light or a dark path through their choice of questlines and other actions.[18][19][16]
    • Players will not be able to worship The Others at temples, but certain quest paths will allow darker forms of worship.[43]
There will be questlines. There will be certain actions that players are capable of taking to perhaps pursue the darker side of this metaverse so to speak.[18]Steven Sharif

Sometimes games in the past have tried to shy away from heavy emphasis on religion because of the parallels that can occur between what is in the real world and this fantasy realm. I don't really subscribe to that theory. I think that religion plays a very significant role in the story of what Ashes of Creation is about and it is very much this almost monolithic idea of good vs. evil; so that is really at the crux of what the overarching narrative will be in the game; and I'm not trying to pigeonhole players into "everyone has to be good", like I said earlier there will be opportunities for players to deviate from that, should they so choose to roleplay in that regard.[39]Steven Sharif

  • PvP wars between religions are not a planned feature for the game.[44]

The Tulnar religion is a combination of religious beliefs of the major races as well as pagan beliefs of the minor races over time as they coexisted together in the Underrealm.[45]

The progression of the Tulnar- while they are still the staples of what were once the primary deities of the good pantheon remained for the Tulnar, over the time they existed and evolved into the society that they are at the return to Verra. It's much more similar... to the way the Creole religions advanced, with using components of Christianity as well as Voodoo and other smaller, more "paganesque" religions; and incorporated them into one. To that degree, you can correlate the way that society around the Tulnar has this almost combination of what were pagan beliefs from the minor races as well as the introductions of the major beliefs and religions from the major races, because they all came together in the Underrealm and survived in that regard. So you’re gonna see naturally a combination of those two things.[45]Steven Sharif

Orders of the Seven

The orders of the seven are religious organizations corresponding to the seven grand temples of Verra.[26]

  1. The Order of hope is an Aelan human order based in the capital city of Aela. The patron deity is Resna.[26]
  2. The Order of fate is a Kaivek orc order headquartered in the capital city of Ren. Patron deity is Norlan.[25]
  3. The Order of truth is a Pyrian elven order headquartered in the capital city of Amera. Patron deity is Shol.[27]

Within the temples of the seven there exist different levels of organizations that call on only the most devout followers to serve. Depending on the follower's skills, services could mean many things. For those among the followers who hold a certain set of skills, there are the orders of the seven. Each of the orders answers to a different hierarchy within the various grand temples of the seven that are found throughout Verra.[26]Steven Sharif

King Atrax

A staff of the Ancients 3D render.[47] [48]

A glorious staff of the Ancients that we revealed during November's development update![48]

The last ruling house of the Toren empire, which oversaw its downfall was the house of Atrax. King Atrax was actually its longest ruler, also its last ruler, and he was a very powerful and advanced wizard for his time. He dedicated the vast majority of his early rule to seeking out artifacts, knowledge, the focal points of essence; and he discovered its purpose as it becomes the manipulating matter behind exploiting magic for any means. He became obsessed with the pursuit of that knowledge as a very accomplished wizard and one of the ways he pursued that ever-longing learning was to try and achieve immortality; and in his pursuit of immortality he discovered that manipulating the life-force of a soul essentially is to greater increase your ability to focus the essence, because each person's soul acts as, in some way shape or form, a conduit of the essence across the plains. So that's essentially how the gods are capable of reaching into the material plane- one of the ways- is through the souls of their divine beings, which are the four great races and their descendants. In his pursuit of immortality he came across some more dark applications of the essence and in doing so- discovering these artifacts along the ley lines that are in Verra- he came into contact with forces that existed outside of the material plane in the void itself. Now these were unbeknownst to him The Ancients as well The Others and manipulating that contact.[12]Steven Sharif

King Atrax began to manipulate the essence in a way that was trying to capitalize on everlasting life, on immortality. So in doing so he came into contact with the ancients; and the Ancients took advantage of this- was their first contact with any of the divine races actually- and this is what led the Ancients to begin their pursuit of Verra: to start that process of the Harbingers eventually finding Verra and coming to the planet to pervert what the gods- the seven gods- had created through their second creation. Now the Ancients created this contact with Atrax through summoning rituals that Atrax had learned through manipulating the essence; and it was through these contact rituals that Atrax learned how to achieve immortality. But the Ancients were deceptive in actually not informing Atrax how this would deform his conduit, his soul essentially that exists with the Essence. So he underwent a process of essentially lichdom where he was the first lich and the first undead on Verra; and it was from him and his pursuit of immortality that undeath became a reality on Verra; and it was his subjects that suffered as a result of his desire to become immortal. So he began different rituals on his subjects, which allowed the undeath to propagate across the world in his population over time. So he would- before he became a lich he experimented on his citizens; and that's what really was the origin of the undead and this undead the Ancients- one of the unique things about the Ancients was in their first discovery of how they could use the Essence and what the Others taught them was they became immortal themselves. But they became immortal in a more pure form, essentially akin to the godhood that exists among the Pantheon; and that prohibited them from encompassing this undeath component. But they did not teach that to King Atrax. So that talks a little bit about the origins of the undeath on Verra and undeath in general.[8]Steven Sharif

King Atrax was the last and longest serving ruler of the ancient Toren empire, which was one of the greatest and first civilizations of Verra.[12]

  • King Atrax was a powerful and advanced wizard for his time who dedicated the majority of his rule to seeking out artifacts, knowledge, the focal points of The Essence. He discovered its purpose, manipulating matter and exploiting magic for any means.[12]
  • His goal was to achieve immortality; and in this pursuit he discovered that manipulating the life-force of a soul essentially increases one's ability to focus the Essence, as each person's soul acts as a conduit of the essence across the planes of existence.[12][8]
  • In his pursuit of immortality he came across other dark applications of the Essence and in doing so he came into contact with forces that existed outside of the material plane: in The Void itself. Unbeknownst to him these were The Ancients and The Others who began manipulating that contact through summoning rituals that Atrax had learned in his studies of the Essence.[8][12]
    • This contact prompted the Ancients to begin their pursuit of Verra, which started the process of the Harbingers eventually finding Verra and coming to the planet to pervert what The Seven gods had created (in their second creation).[8]
  • Through his summoning rituals Atrax finally learned how to achieve immortality. But the Ancients were deceptive in actually not informing him how this would deform his conduit (his soul) that exists with the Essence. Atrax eventually underwent a process of becoming first Lich and first undead on Verra.[8]
    • It was from this pursuit of immortality that undeath became a reality on Verra: Atrax had begun different rituals on his subjects, which allowed the undeath to propagate across the world, causing suffering amongst his subjects.[8]
    • The Ancients had previously learned from The Others how to use the Essence to achieve immortality themselves. Unlike Atrax, they became immortal in a pure form, more akin to the godhood that exists among the Pantheon, which prohibited them from encompassing this undeath component themselves. This pure form of immortality was not taught to King Atrax.[8]
  • After his lichdom was achieved Atrax continued to enslave his undead subjects, having them procure ancient artifacts from around the world so that he could further pursue his manipulation of the Essence and magic.[49]
  • Following The Great War of the Undying with King Atrax, the Aelan people would form the Aelan Empire.[50][51]

Toren empire

The Toren empire, it's equitable to what the Roman empire was on Earth in the sense that this was one of the first major civilizations; and partially the reason why the area you're in currently is considered the badlands or the frontier and is riddled with ruins during this time in Verra before the actual Apocalypse.[52]Steven Sharif

The ancient capital city of Torall... was the center of one of the greatest and first civilizations of Verra. This was actually a very rare civilization known as the Toren empire. The Torens were essentially half elves. They were a mixture of what was once the predecessor to the Aelan kingdom- the humans, and the Pyrian elves.[12]Steven Sharif

The Toren empire was the greatest and first civilizations of Verra. Its capital city was Torall.[12]

  • The Torens were half-elves: A mixture of what was once the predecessor to the Aelan kingdom- the humans, and the Pyrian elves.[12]
  • King Atrax was the last and longest serving ruler of the Toren empire.[12]

Fallow's Hold

Fallow's Hold is one of the great dungeons of Ashes of Creation located near the capital city of the ancient Toren empire, Torall.[49]

  • Fallow's Hold was commissioned by King Atrax and built by the master builders of the Dünzenkell dwarves with whom he was affiliated.[49]
  • Fallow's Hold was originally built as a great vault to house powerful ancient artifacts that were procured from around the world by Atrax's undead slaves so that he could further pursue his manipulation of The Essence and magic.[49]
  • Fallow's hold is a very dangerous dungeon with many constantly changing traps.[49]

The ancient civilization of the Torren empire and their capital city of Torall, which houses one of the great dungeons of Ashes of Creation; which is the Fallow's Hold. Fallow's Hold is essentially where many of the artifacts that had a close alignment to the Essence on Verra because of their proximity to these ley lines and these sites that exist throughout the world: They were all brought here to King Atrax even after his lichdom was achieved, because he continued to enslave his subjects, the undead essentially, to procure these artifacts from around the world so that he can continue even in his immortality to learn about the use of Essence and magic and manipulation of it; and he constructed a great vault here through his affiliation with the master builders essentially of the Dünzenkell dwarves to create a massive complex underground from the city of the capital of Torall. Now Fallows hold is a very dangerous dungeon and there are constantly changing traps that exist.[49]Steven Sharif

Ancient artifacts

A staff of the Ancients 3D render.[47]

This is not the Staff of the Ancients per-se, it's a staff... Here in the curvature and design of this staff you'll see that it has a very specific and unique looking type of mold so-to-speak. So there could be some relationship between these designs of the staves and/or weapons that you'll see, which are used to harness or focus the use of the Essence, or magic; and how perhaps those structures relate to the types of magic that those creatures are using.[47]Steven Sharif

The four Ancient artifacts of Verra were originally discovered by King Atrax in his pursuit of the power of The Essence.[53][12] These artifacts were in close alignment to The Essence on Verra due to their proximity to the ley lines of Essence spread across the world.[49] These artifacts were originally housed in the vault of Fallow's Hold, which is one of the great dungeons of Ashes of Creation, located near the capital city of the ancient Toren empire, Torall.[49] They are now considered relics that can be acquired by nodes and housed in their reliquary.[53][12]

  • The Golden Chalice was believed to bring everlasting life but was actually allowing the corruption of manipulating The Essence to enter the soul through the physical representation of drinking something.[53]
  • The Crown represented a direct link The Ancients had into the thought process of King Atrax that the Ancients were able to manipulate.[53]
  • The Sword brought unusual power through manipulation of the evil side of the Essence, which is how Atrax maintained his dominance over his people: through physical might, essentially striking down any foe that opposed him among his administration.[53]
  • The Staff enabled Atrax to project his magic across great distances, which enabled him to extend his power and manipulation throughout the lands of Verra and allowed him to maintain vigilance over his realm.[53]

The Lightpact

Cloak of the Broken Pact cosmetic concept art.[54]

This flowing silken mantle of the Lightpact inspired hope in all those that caught a glimpse of them during the terrible final days of Verra. Fighting tirelessly against the pressing darkness, the fluttering capes were often the last rays of light seen before escaping to safety. Tragically, it was only the cloak itself that was recovered after the finishing blows were felled.[54]

The Lightpact was an alliance of the Orders of the Seven, created by the four major races of Verra in order to solve the mystery of the Harbingers.[55]

Even though they have different focuses and reasons why their followers worship specific gods, at the end of the day, they're all a Pantheon of good. So there's a reason for them to work together to subvert the goals and/or aspirations of the Others and the Ancients. And those who seek to pervert what the Essence is capable of through the means of Corruption.[56]Steven Sharif
  • There are key individuals within the Lightpact and within the religions that have a longer objective that ties into the overarching metanarrative, in terms of the reason for the return to Verra.[56]
Standing against the heralds of corruption, the Lightpact once carried the hopes of all Verrans on their shoulders. Their flames would ultimately be dashed on the rocks of betrayal and destruction. Corruption, death, and evil now grasp and consume the light that once led the way. With the re-emergence of the Divine Gates, will the beacon of faith be set ablaze once more?[57]

The Wreckage of Carphin

The Wreckage of Carphin zone.[58]

Carphin was a large city of the Aelan Empire, which housed the Empire’s most prestigious university. At the university stood a tall tower used by the most prolific mages in their studies of the essence. That tower now serves as an expansive vertical dungeon with lost treasures and antiquities fraught with dangers and terror not for the faint of heart.[59]Steven Sharif

The Wreckage of Carphin is a zone in the Riverlands biome.[58]

Carphin was one of the great cities of the Aelan Empire and it's now in ruins.[58]Jeremy Gess
It was a focus of the mages and study of the Aelan Empire. Carphin was a city that had a great mage population, so it had a university there. And things went bad there in the last days of the fall. They made some desperate measures in a really awesome quest series that Scott's written up.[61]Jeremy Gess
We've talked a lot about how corruption- this red influence and the use of how this evil-esque type of magic influences the world around you; and this is a great example in the city of Carphin where you can see how a variant of that corruption- blood magic variant has its own style guide, its own indication of what is going on in this area... In Alpha-1 you saw a few of that- a couple places for the corruption influences back in '21, but it's a large part of how these zones adapt and can change around. Corruption is always trying to encroach on civilization.[62]Steven Sharif

First floor - The Arcanium

Bridge over the river near the Wreckage of Carphin in Alpha-2.[63]

The Tower of Carphin actually rests upon a river... The Tower of Carphin event actually trickled out through the Riverlands because of the rivers; and the Undead began to form around these rivers, but you'll learn more about that during the story arc.[63]Steven Sharif

We are about to reveal the first two lore tidbits. Now this is reflective of what the point of interest shall have, called the Wreckage of Carphin in Alpha two. You might even see some of this in a little while.[65]
First of all, the first piece of lore. During the Apocalypse, the tower you saw before you and that the party is about to enter was known as the Mage's Tower at the University of Carphin. Home to the Head Mistress and Dean of the University of Carphin, Laria Lemonte.[65]
Laria Lemonte was a powerful mage. Well, actually, as you enter the tower, the wailing you heard on the night sky, just the previous evening returns, but is whimpered to a degree and only encompasses now the tower. But you hear these wailing moans coming from above.[66]
During your transit here to the Wreckage of Carphin, you observed the rivers as being impassable; except of course by bridge. The reason for this is the fires that you saw- these magical fires that were encompassing the entirety of the river. In addition, you saw burned bodies devoured by the blazing water. You also saw as you exited the Underrealm some of these bodies moved as dark figures shambling in the distance: their burned corpses still moving even beneath the water and crawling ashore with violent intents. This you can only assume after having recovered from the Lich's body a number of notes detailing what the Dean was attempting to accomplish at the tower.[67]
Laria Lemonte, one of the most important mages that the Aelan Empire had at the time, being the Head Mistress at Carphin. She was attempting to cast a spell that would buy time for the capital. And that in the process of that attempt, the letters read that she requires a willing participant. Someone by the name of Veric Pulsifer volunteered his essence to expend in the ritual as a blood sacrifice. Only the most desperate of acts that would be undertaken in the last moments of time escaped them. And as the legions in the letters detailed walked past the tower, Laria Lemonte decided to do a desperate act and listen to advice from an unknown origin that she was able to communicate with. Taking that risk unfortunately proved fateful, because what came to be was the despair you see now at Carphin, the root of which you have yet to discover.[68]
As you walk into the interior of level one, you discover the Arcanium. It is shaped as a large library. The large library with a grand hall running throughout. Its spiral staircases lead up to floor two. This ornate space was devoted to research and magical exhibits, however, now are which in disrepair. The walls house alcoves, which contain various sizes of statues. Stone bookcases, pedestals, and benches dot the grounds. By the way, this is all accurate visually as I'm describing to what the actual point-of-interest in Alpha 2 contains. Pedestals and benches dot the grounds. Blood pools along the floor, appearing to emanate from the floors above, trickling down the walls along the interior and exterior of the wreckage.[69]
You see, before entering, a large, explosive, and destructive event has occurred near the top of the tower. You don't know what and cannot tell from this distance. As you navigate into the first level, you discover a number of animated statues missing from their alcoves. They assault the party.[70]

Second floor - The Administratae

As you advance further, you discover that the second floor, known as the Administratae, has various private offices where wizards and professors could work on their studies in peace. A large lounge area is on the floor for wizards to have meetings and take breaks. Historical archives are magically stored here as well as the paperwork containing a number of topics on all sorts of things, such as history of the local area, and wizardly research papers on various topics and studies within the essence. There is also the entryway to an arcane elevator, which rises up through the rest of the levels in the tower. It rests at the center of the second level. A number of flying arcane books come out of the bookcases and mimics attack your party. Mimics of all sorts from laboratory equipment to study materials.[71]

Third floor - The Crystal Halls

As you ride the arcane elevator to the third floor you do not exit because you must make haste to the top. But you see out from the elevator a collection of viewing galleries, remarkably well preserved. Older construct models and previous foundational magical theories are presented here in a format reminiscent of a museum. Meant to impress would-be magical students, patrons, foreign dignitaries: the advanced crystals architectures and lavish decorations are on display.[72]

Fourth floor - The Sacrificial Chamber

Undead mobs near the Wreckage of Carphin in Alpha-2.[73]

These particular undead are a result I believe- for those of you who are watching the livestream of the Wreckage of Carphin- the event that occurred there just before the Exodus from Verra all those years ago.[73]Steven Sharif

Okay, third piece of lore. Unknown, Laria and Varric during their ritual in desperation to grant more time to the capital, as was requested by the council and the royal family both, they performed an unknown repercussions from this ritual. The mass killing of so many burned victims from the explosion of the ritual caused a corruption to grip both Laria and Varric. This corrupt mist began flowing down from the tower, its source unknown to you just yet. But its effects have turned the residents of Carphin undead. And in the surrounding areas and along the river's edge. It did, however, have the effect caused the Ancients the inability to cross the waters. And so they began to construct an apparatus of their own to get their legions across to the capital. But this bought the time necessary, you would assume. These levels open up; and at the fourth floor, you see halls reserved for only the most private of wizards. These artisans use these halls as research labs and also a construct boundary. Built to be deliberately secure and private, the winding halls lead into an open experiment room where mages would tinker with ways of improving construct through more unethical means. A number of them have been left unattended, but you are able to sneak around them to reach the Nexus Gate.[74]
This floor contains a large summoning and sacrifice room. The mages here originally used it as a teleport nexus, but as the world fell into ruin, this was transformed into a sacrificial chamber. The small quarantine and customs rooms changed into jailing cells as the mages over recent weeks turned to more desperate rituals to deal with the collapse of Verra. Compromising their ethics and their conscience, they perform forms of magic none should ever see: Long forbidden, long forgotten, only to the Ancients was this known. And it turns out the unknown voice from which was aiding and abetting her pursuits, was indeed an ancient: one familiar with this world, one who treated with a member of the world- With a member of your kind in the past, known as Atrax, the one beyond the void who was giving Laria the information she needed to perform the ritual she did had ulterior motives. Its effects now seen on the grounds around the tower as undead roam the countryside.[75]

Fifth floor - The Observatory

The top of the elevator resides in the center of the room as you exit. The explosion that occurred has rendered the remainder of these stairs- the elevator may go no further- the remainder of these stairs are narrow and in disarray.[77]
This floor is used to channel what appears to be large amounts of Essence from the summoning room directly- that's the sacrificial area. The orrery acts as both a container and map to focus summoning rituals of the Nexus on the floor below. The spiral staircase you see now that lies in disarray winds up the open chamber, occasionally giving way to platforms, now partially collapsed and in disrepair. The floor directly above this is an observatory: The observation level. It has large open view areas and a lounge that according to the maps that you've received. However, it appears from the outside that this area has now been exposed to the exterior, as large portions of the wall have been deconstructed, destroyed. Wizards would likely gather here to discuss the state of the world and to perform their auguries as well as their scrys. The area is filled with the red mist that emanates from the floor even above that. You hear, as you ascend these stairs, footsteps: large, deep, coming from the floor. As what is known as the Eye of Ayla at the top. According to your understanding, this was the roof of the tower. It acted as a conduit for magic to amplify their spell effects across the land. Here is where you assume according to the letters retrieved off the body of the Lich, the right-hand man of Lamont, that the sacrificial altar for the most powerful blood magic ever to be seen on the face of Verra up to this day was done just a few days earlier. The footsteps continue. What do you do? And those are the lore reveals[78]

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References

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