Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Lore Speculation and Tinfoil Hats! [Additional Speculation from What We Know!]
ArchivedUser
Guest
<em><strong>Hey guys and welcome to the dark recesses of my mind</strong></em>. Today I hope to take you all on a short trip through a series of mad thoughts created by to much caffeine, lack of sleep, being hyped for Ashes of Creation, and the ravings and speculation of <a href="https://www.ashesofcreation.com/forums/topic/ashes-of-creation-lore-and-speculation/"><strong>DeathsProxy</strong></a> and <a href="https://www.ashesofcreation.com/forums/topic/my-observations-of-the-lore-so-far/"><strong>Maevynn</strong></a>! Shout out to these two for being an active part of the quickly developing AoC Community.
So to summarize, <strong>what <em>do</em> we know?</strong>
Well, we know that the world of Ashes (the name of the world still eludes us, yes?) was laid siege to long ago and our (potential) ancestors were driven from the world through portals to escape a force that we <em><strong>believe</strong></em> stemmed from corruption across the lands of AoC. Only for us (that's us as in <em>our characters</em>) to return to the realm through the same portals of which we fled centuries ago, to discover the ruins of our ancient world that is now seemingly barren.
"<em>That's all well and good, Zergzul.</em>" you might be saying, "<em>But whats the point of this?</em>" (You'll find I have a short attention span)
<strong>Right then</strong>, we don't exactly know <em>what</em> drove us from the world, and why after our time away (be it several generations or simply a few years) the world now appears vacant and safe once more. Thus; my speculation.
<strong>What I believe</strong> has happened in the world of Ashes is that once upon a time, there <em><strong>WERE</strong></em> factions. Strong and divided, perhaps fighting for the resources of the world. Perhaps they had a tentative allegiance, perhaps they didn't, but it stands to reason with my theory that there were lines drawn, and that one faction eventually decided they had enough of sharing the resources of our world and took it upon themselves to cleans the world of Ashes of their rivals, and corruption blossomed.
What is my theory for our enemy not being some bizarre outside source, but ourselves? Well, we know (from what information we <em>do</em> have) that players who engage in PvP, killing "green" players will eventually begin to have signs of corruption show. This corruption is thought to be born from dark and malicious intent as represented by players ganking our "green" players in AoC.
With this in mind, it stands to reason that a faction in generations or years passed became tired of sharing the resources of our world and resorted to conflict. Mudering, pillaging, and destroying all who opposed them until our ancestors were forced to flee through the several gateway portals that dot the landscape of Ashes.
But why is it, that when they had won their battle and forced their foes from the world, that they didn't pursue? Well, DeathsProxy has a bit on this between what he (affectionately) labels as "red glowey stuff" and "blue glowey stuff", so I implore you to watch his video.
<strong>But this leads me to a point</strong>;
Once the world was vacant and empty, left to no one but this faction who sought to plunder its resources for their selfish motives, the corruption drove them to further violence and rage to the point of which they turned on <em><strong>each other</strong></em>. Not content to share even among themselves anymore, till they had all destroyed each other, and toppled their very own empire.
This would be the state in which <em>we</em> find the world after venturing back through the portals. Broken and without much to inhabit it, beginning to make sense of a story lost to the ages, and attempting to piece it together from the remnants of broken civilizations. With an unspoken solemn swear to not unite into large factions that waged war and created corruption.
Of course, this is all simply <strong>MY</strong> theory, and is likely (hopefully) soon to be irrelevant when the lore is expanded upon in future Q&A's from the Dev's. (I'm looking at you to deliver me from my own thoughts, Jeff.)
What do <strong>you guys</strong> think? Feel free to let me know here in the forums below. I plan to try to begin making my own video's on the subject of AoC's lore, and my personal speculations in the near future once its been expanded upon. Till then, we can only wait and see.
So to summarize, <strong>what <em>do</em> we know?</strong>
Well, we know that the world of Ashes (the name of the world still eludes us, yes?) was laid siege to long ago and our (potential) ancestors were driven from the world through portals to escape a force that we <em><strong>believe</strong></em> stemmed from corruption across the lands of AoC. Only for us (that's us as in <em>our characters</em>) to return to the realm through the same portals of which we fled centuries ago, to discover the ruins of our ancient world that is now seemingly barren.
"<em>That's all well and good, Zergzul.</em>" you might be saying, "<em>But whats the point of this?</em>" (You'll find I have a short attention span)
<strong>Right then</strong>, we don't exactly know <em>what</em> drove us from the world, and why after our time away (be it several generations or simply a few years) the world now appears vacant and safe once more. Thus; my speculation.
<strong>What I believe</strong> has happened in the world of Ashes is that once upon a time, there <em><strong>WERE</strong></em> factions. Strong and divided, perhaps fighting for the resources of the world. Perhaps they had a tentative allegiance, perhaps they didn't, but it stands to reason with my theory that there were lines drawn, and that one faction eventually decided they had enough of sharing the resources of our world and took it upon themselves to cleans the world of Ashes of their rivals, and corruption blossomed.
What is my theory for our enemy not being some bizarre outside source, but ourselves? Well, we know (from what information we <em>do</em> have) that players who engage in PvP, killing "green" players will eventually begin to have signs of corruption show. This corruption is thought to be born from dark and malicious intent as represented by players ganking our "green" players in AoC.
With this in mind, it stands to reason that a faction in generations or years passed became tired of sharing the resources of our world and resorted to conflict. Mudering, pillaging, and destroying all who opposed them until our ancestors were forced to flee through the several gateway portals that dot the landscape of Ashes.
But why is it, that when they had won their battle and forced their foes from the world, that they didn't pursue? Well, DeathsProxy has a bit on this between what he (affectionately) labels as "red glowey stuff" and "blue glowey stuff", so I implore you to watch his video.
<strong>But this leads me to a point</strong>;
Once the world was vacant and empty, left to no one but this faction who sought to plunder its resources for their selfish motives, the corruption drove them to further violence and rage to the point of which they turned on <em><strong>each other</strong></em>. Not content to share even among themselves anymore, till they had all destroyed each other, and toppled their very own empire.
This would be the state in which <em>we</em> find the world after venturing back through the portals. Broken and without much to inhabit it, beginning to make sense of a story lost to the ages, and attempting to piece it together from the remnants of broken civilizations. With an unspoken solemn swear to not unite into large factions that waged war and created corruption.
Of course, this is all simply <strong>MY</strong> theory, and is likely (hopefully) soon to be irrelevant when the lore is expanded upon in future Q&A's from the Dev's. (I'm looking at you to deliver me from my own thoughts, Jeff.)
What do <strong>you guys</strong> think? Feel free to let me know here in the forums below. I plan to try to begin making my own video's on the subject of AoC's lore, and my personal speculations in the near future once its been expanded upon. Till then, we can only wait and see.
0
Comments
Would go a small step or two farther and speculate that the corruption had always been a part of the world but had been kept in check by their better natures until their greed and selfishness opened a path to greater corruption. Mortal beings are susceptible to falling from grace without much of a thought and someone or something took advantage of that weakness.
Should the concept of Divines be less a generalized, nebulous "goodness" and more individualized aspects that can grow independent of each other (ex. based on number of adherents and feats accomplished in their name) then the flip side of the coin should appear as well - For the sake of the debate we'll call them Infernals.
Divines may have been dominate until our forebears brought the corruption upon themselves giving rise to powerful Infernals. A struggle took place and the followers of the Divines found themselves at a disadvantage at which point they fled through the portals.
Having found no appropriate outlet the corruption turned inward and gave rise to the monsters that roam the land and ruins. The Infernals are still present but through the ages have weakened as some of their followers turned into mindless beasts while others were killed during the wars that raged between them.
/tinfoil hat removed
Death to the red glowey stuff!!
#BlueBestColor
=D
[quote quote=9272]Having finding no appropriate outlet the corruption turned inward and gave rise to the monsters that roam the land and ruins. The Infernals are still present but through the ages have weakened as some of their followers turned into mindless beasts while others were killed during the wars that raged between them.
/tinfoil hat removed[/quote]
Well, perhaps consider keeping the tinfoil hat on, because we're diving back into the insanity.
You think that the monsters that roam the landscape of Ashes would have been this (particularly) greedy faction from ages ago? I can see this, and perhaps its not even a stretch, but only time will tell. I do find that interesting, as we've already seen some adverse affects from corrupted creatures and individuals in the artwork we've been presented with.
Good theories all around! I've got more of my own now which I should probably expand on in another thread.. Soon™
On the other hand, its also entirely plausible that we'd go down a route from the depths of our minds that the Dev's hadn't quite struck upon yet and think, "<em>That's an interesting idea. We should take that and play with it a bit</em>."
Perhaps that won't happen, perhaps it will. We can only see if our own personal head-cannon will be correct or not in the coming days.
So we have the Phoenix as one possible God, but what of the others? In the Water Temple video, it shows a close-up of 2 murals on the stone walls. The first shows people paying tribute to something, with the thing in the middle possibly being a representation of a water-based God. The second mural shows a giant sea-creature doing battle with a bunch of ships. Could it be possible that the Sea God depicted in the first Mural was corrupted and turned on the people, as shown in the second mural?
What I'd be interested to know is, was this "corruption" caused by the Gods or by the inhabitants of the world? My theory is that you have at least 3 divine beings. The first is the Phoenix who protects the world's inhabitants and opens the portals to allow them to escape. The second is the Sea God who gets corrupted and turns on the world's inhabitants. And finally we have a third God that we don't know about who is the source of the corruption, and used it to infect the Sea God to fight against the inhabitants.
Perhaps we were led away from the world by a sort of divine being, and that being has now returned to the world, beckoning us forth to follow it. Or maybe the ancestors put some sort of time-lock on the portals, such that they open exactly x years in the future when they deem the corruption to have mostly subsided.
Maybe the ancient civilization wanted to progress too much and their research facilities somehow "broke" this natural magical flux and it twisted into red version of the magic. As a domino effect all of the planet was changing into this red-version of "life" rapidly almost like an explosion. The divines hid the people somewhere else but now that the dust of the "red-explosion" is settled they have put men back into world to rectify their past mistakes...
"Tinfoil hat securely on my head... I should really start doing my dishes now"
Keep in mind, as myself and Maevynn had discussed that this does not in fact mean there will only be seven GODS. Some of these faiths may tie to a pantheon, so we may see a pretty expansive religious system in the game!
Perhaps we were led away from the world by a sort of divine being, and that being has now returned to the world, beckoning us forth to follow it. Or maybe the ancestors put some sort of time-lock on the portals, such that they open exactly x years in the future when they deem the corruption to have mostly subsided.
[/quote]
@Deathproxy speculated that the Phoenix God originally opened the portals to allow the inhabitants to escape the corruption, so it would make sense that the Phoenix also reopened the portals to allow us to return.
We’ve been given confirmation that there will be seven religions in AoC.
[/quote]
Since it is difficult to force players to adhere to a strict set of rules it will be interesting to see if there will be choices that impact the player's choice of deity; Save yourself or save an innocent, etc. Depending on the outcome your character will be given more buffs or have any taken away. Might be a little too hand-holdy if not done with a light touch.
Seven? hmm... None for the science node-ists, two for the economics node-ists, two for the military node-ists, three for the divine node-ists (or even less if some are waiting to be rediscovered)?
In the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thieves%27_World">Thieve's World series</a> the mages and the priests are vastly different factions; the mages do not worship any divine being even tho' it is manifestly evident that the higher powers demand worship and obedience. Mages are not welcome in temples and priests are not welcome in the mage's guild buildings.
Should the science node cater to agnostic mages then can see a natural friction building up between the two factions.
Its so warming to see the community banding together this early. It gives me hope for a great experience in the coming years with AoC!
Thoughts?
Ox
Thoughts?
Ox
[/quote]
Very interesting idea. That would make them non-religious in nature and more scientific. Though in that case some mages could still have knowledge about what had happened and how the technology works (if we would at some point happen to step into old pieces of technology).
<div class="d4p-bbt-quote-title"><a href="https://www.ashesofcreation.com/forums/topic/lore-speculation-and-tinfoil-hats-additional-speculation-from-what-we-know/#post-16389" rel="nofollow">Oxillion wrote:</a></div>
I was thinking about the portals. What if they were not intended to be a transportation device. Maybe a device to help balance the power so to speak. If the balance got out of control, there would have been mages to maybe twist the power into a time vortex. Not what they were used for, but it was a last-ditch effort to save as many people as possible. You would pass through from your time and walk out the other side in the new time line. It could explain the level of technology on the new realm.
Thoughts?
Ox
</blockquote>
Very interesting idea. That would make them non-religious in nature and more scientific. Though in that case some mages could still have knowledge about what had happened and how the technology works (if we would at some point happen to step into old pieces of technology).
[/quote]
It’s a strange process of time and what progresses during that time. There will be or it has been suggested the old world in the form of ruins is still there. Where there survivors left behind. What happened to them? Did they continue on and evolve? Big questions here. The portals themselves are an enigma. Were they created by the current inhabitants? The civilization laying effect may come into play here. I don’t think they were religious or at least intended to be that way at first. That may have changed over time into a worship scenario.
All kinds of stuff comes to mind here.
Ox
I am thinking something along this line did happen. A long stalemate between groups could have spawned a war or release of or change of power that kept everything in balance. We can assume the corruption won and was well on its way to wiping out everything and everyone. Kind of horrific but it is the stuff of legend.
Great post!!!
Ox
There's an Aztec temple looking thing in some of the in game footage with blue glowy stuff in spiral patterns like the portals (DeathsProxy points it out in his vid). It's the same shade of blue so I'm thinking whoever that temple is dedicated to is the one who opened the portals.
As for why people are coming back now, not really sure. I don't think it's because of a time jump. In some of the more recent stuff on youtube Steven says, regarding lore, something along the lines of: "Why did they leave, and why are they coming back?" so they went somewhere and came back. Maybe they are coming back because they have forgotten why they left? It's been an extremely long time since they left, so even the Elves would have been through a generation or two by now.
What do you guy's think?
There’s an Aztec temple looking thing in some of the in game footage with blue glowy stuff in spiral patterns like the portals (DeathsProxy points it out in his vid). It’s the same shade of blue so I’m thinking whoever that temple is dedicated to is the one who opened the portals.
As for why people are coming back now, not really sure. I don’t think it’s because of a time jump. In some of the more recent stuff on youtube Steven says, regarding lore, something along the lines of: “Why did they leave, and why are they coming back?” so they went somewhere and came back. Maybe they are coming back because they have forgotten why they left? It’s been an extremely long time since they left, so even the Elves would have been through a generation or two by now.
What do you guy’s think?
[/quote]
That does open a few interesting questions. Still the primary one of what drove the population to make the leap into the portals. A few new ones are how did they know what would happen once through them? Whom was monitoring the situation during that time. I can picture some cult or and order of some type. Yes, Elves are a big wild card. How long do they live? Are they ones with all the answers. The Phoenix idea is also interesting. What happened? I cycle of sorts or retribution for an action?
Love this stuff.
Ox
<div class="d4p-bbt-quote-title"><a href="https://www.ashesofcreation.com/forums/topic/lore-speculation-and-tinfoil-hats-additional-speculation-from-what-we-know/page/2/#post-17100" rel="nofollow">purplebangledtigers wrote:</a></div>
I’m wondering if the Phoenix god was the one who burned the world. In the concept art where we see the city being attacked and people leaving we also see some sort of firey-dragony-smokey things burning the city. Or maybe some of the Phoenix gods minions got corrupted and the Phoenix god opened the portals- but then why are they blue? Phoenixes are usually red or yellow.
There’s an Aztec temple looking thing in some of the in game footage with blue glowy stuff in spiral patterns like the portals (DeathsProxy points it out in his vid). It’s the same shade of blue so I’m thinking whoever that temple is dedicated to is the one who opened the portals.
As for why people are coming back now, not really sure. I don’t think it’s because of a time jump. In some of the more recent stuff on youtube Steven says, regarding lore, something along the lines of: “Why did they leave, and why are they coming back?” so they went somewhere and came back. Maybe they are coming back because they have forgotten why they left? It’s been an extremely long time since they left, so even the Elves would have been through a generation or two by now.
What do you guy’s think?
</blockquote>
That does open a few interesting questions. Still the primary one of what drove the population to make the leap into the portals. A few new ones are how did they know what would happen once through them? Whom was monitoring the situation during that time. I can picture some cult or and order of some type. Yes, Elves are a big wild card. How long do they live? Are they ones with all the answers. The Phoenix idea is also interesting. What happened? I cycle of sorts or retribution for an action?
Love this stuff.
Ox
[/quote]
I'm thinking the inhabitants did something with magic or tech and messed things up. It likely had something to do with the corruption we keep seeing. Maybe someone tried to combine magic and tech and it exploded into corruption. The Pheonix god would then see fit to wipe the world of the beings who released the corruption onto the world.
As for why jump into the portals? Well, could be they were told what was on the other side, or it could be they figured anything was better than what was coming. The the chance of survival in the concept art looks pretty bleak. What could possibly be worse on the other side of that blue glowy thing?
Who was monitoring the situation? I'm guessing the god who that Aztec looking temple belongs to. It would be logical for who ever opened the portals to watch over them.
I don't know if the elves have all the answers, but I'm guessing they have a lot more than the other races. I also don't think they live forever. That idea hasn't been popular since Tolkien really. I've always kind of liked when they live for no more than 300 years max.
Still this is all just speculation, so I could be completely wrong.
That is an interesting take. That possibility could be the case. The corruption may have been a mistake released or intentional. In either case none of the races could stop it. Maybe a group of gods got perturbed over that fact. Some may have taken pity and tried to help to no avail. The other possibility was something very old was found. An ancient technology and someone pushed the “red button” so to speak. The possibility of far older races may be the actual cause of the events that led to the escape though the portals. Funny how the little things spawn into very large ideas.
Good post!
Ox
Perhaps we were led away from the world by a sort of divine being, and that being has now returned to the world, beckoning us forth to follow it. Or maybe the ancestors put some sort of time-lock on the portals, such that they open exactly x years in the future when they deem the corruption to have mostly subsided.
[/quote]
I have been thinking about the timing and the how was it possible. I am also leaning towards a divine entity led the races that way and used what was thought to be unusable. A good tactical approach if the enemy thinks you’re about to perish and the portals turn on. The corruption and those behind it quite possible had no time to counter or close them. It should be noted they may not have had the knowledge.
Good post!
Ox
<div class="d4p-bbt-quote-title"><a href="https://www.ashesofcreation.com/forums/topic/lore-speculation-and-tinfoil-hats-additional-speculation-from-what-we-know/#post-9833" rel="nofollow">Gimblewald wrote:</a></div>
What I’m most interested in is why the portals re-opened and why now? Did we reopen them? Seems unlikely given that there are multiple portals that lead (presumably) to different worlds. Did a being on this world open them? Again unlikely as it’s supposed to be abandoned?
Perhaps we were led away from the world by a sort of divine being, and that being has now returned to the world, beckoning us forth to follow it. Or maybe the ancestors put some sort of time-lock on the portals, such that they open exactly x years in the future when they deem the corruption to have mostly subsided.
</blockquote>
I have been thinking about the timing and the how was it possible. I am also leaning towards a divine entity led the races that way and used what was thought to be unusable. A good tactical approach if the enemy thinks you’re about to perish and the portals turn on. The corruption and those behind it quite possible had no time to counter or close them. It should be noted they may not have had the knowledge.
Good post!
Ox
[/quote]
[quote quote=19428]<blockquote>
<div class="d4p-bbt-quote-title"><a href="https://www.ashesofcreation.com/forums/topic/lore-speculation-and-tinfoil-hats-additional-speculation-from-what-we-know/page/2/#post-18825" rel="nofollow">purplebangledtigers wrote:</a></div>
I’m thinking the inhabitants did something with magic or tech and messed things up. It likely had something to do with the corruption we keep seeing. Maybe someone tried to combine magic and tech and it exploded into corruption. The Pheonix god would then see fit to wipe the world of the beings who released the corruption onto the world.
</blockquote>
That is an interesting take. That possibility could be the case. The corruption may have been a mistake released or intentional. In either case none of the races could stop it. Maybe a group of gods got perturbed over that fact. Some may have taken pity and tried to help to no avail. The other possibility was something very old was found. An ancient technology and someone pushed the “red button” so to speak. The possibility of far older races may be the actual cause of the events that led to the escape though the portals. Funny how the little things spawn into very large ideas.
Good post!
Ox
[/quote]
And now we have that underrelm race to take into account too. How have they survived what the other races fled? What was it about being underground that gave them an advantage?
I'm also starting to wonder if maybe time didn't pass the same on wherever the people went as it did on the normal world. Not a true time jump, but maybe time passes 2X faster is AoC than it did in the world they fled. Might explain the middle age tech
And now we return to rebuild the world from the ashes of the old one, hoping the corruption never returns but yeah corruption lies within all of us.
Thats my 2 cents, not much but hey i like speculating and digging deep into lore :D
[quote quote=20867]My guess is that the inhabitants greed and lust for power got to great and the corruption manifested, which resulted in a scenario i like to call “by fire be purged”. To stop the corruption from completly taking over the phoenix god decided to purge the world by burning it down to the ground to” restart” from the ashes (name hint!)[/quote]
You are on to something there I think.
Ox
The fact they all open at once, implies it wasnt done by the races but by the planet or automated.
So either they are invited back...or at least... allowed back.
We know they had to leave and were forced out.
We know corruption was at the core of that.
If people were the cause of it too.....that would explain why they were forced out.
So the way I see it.....they were forced out...but have been given a second chance at redemption.
Now that the planet has healed itself...without the presence of people.
I wont expand on the 9th race.... or 1st race.
Because if what I think is true about the whole thing is correct.....my theories would epically spoil the game for others.
That really wouldnt be fair on everyone else.
No matter how much they want to know.
<em>"In Ashes of Creation, you start out in the world having come back through the Great Divine Gateways. You come from a non-magical world, where many nations and races exist. These pioneers have different goals and objectives. You have arrived to rediscover, rebuild and repopulate this world of your origin. Ancient treasures await those who dare to disturb the darkness, remnants of the evil that decimated your ancestors."</em>
That sounds like all the races are coming from one non-magical world and returning to the homeworld.
This was in the Unreal article released recently.. maybe a little more info than we had before..
Q: What can you tell us about the game’s story? Is there a central antagonist that all players will ultimately be attempting to tackle?
Long ago, the world of Ashes was besieged by a great calamity. Your ancestors were forced to flee their world through these great divine gateways, seeking refuge in a place void of magic. The gateways dimmed shortly after this exodus, and were buried under the rubble of countless conflicts over vast periods of time. Centuries turned to millennia, history into legend. After all this time, the people have forgotten the stories of their past. Until now. The gateways have once again begun to move, what was buried and forgotten, has now risen to the surface. The nations of the world have begun to send expeditions through these portals, to re-discover their past and explore this great new world.
In Ashes of Creation, you start out in the world having come back through the Great Divine Gateways. You come from a non-magical world, where many nations and races exist. These pioneers have different goals and objectives. You have arrived to rediscover, rebuild and repopulate this world of your origin. Ancient treasures await those who dare to disturb the darkness, remnants of the evil that decimated your ancestors.
In Ashes, we have an overarching story that players participate in as both an individual and a member of your server’s community. Your choices influence that narrative. This narrative includes a group of central antagonists that drive the action, but you’ll have to play the game to find out more about them!
Maddstone
</blockquote>
No but why have 4 gates if they all come form the same place ?
</blockquote>
No but why have 4 gates if they all come form the same place ?
</blockquote>
My guess would be that the 4 portals go to different parts of the same world. Like 4 different continents or something.