Ok, I've been trying to piece the EK story together for a while now. Help me out guys! What do you think? Do you have quotes from the game? Let's build a complete lore compendium!
TOL,
THE THREE
AND THE ELEVEN
Archbishop Dilla, about The Oppalan Frontier:
"The Oppalian Frontier is nothing but an adventure novel; you've probably read it yourself. Its true value esides in its antiquity; it is a valuable source of information about the early Empire."
Their ascension occured during the Antiquity era, i.e. the early days of Andoria's Empire, approximately a millenium ago. We also know The Eleven were the first 11 emperors, which means they probably lived at the same time.
"A very inane story. Jorum and his fellow learn the legends of the Numina Stones, and their incredible powers. In the end the four of them defeated an evil wizard and recovered the stones, gaining great powers."
Jorum and his 3 friends, aka The Four - Tol, Thelum, Arbenos and Nivaria. Jorum might have been Tol's human name. But I heard a rumor that David once implied he was Thelum. Could be Arbenos for all we know.
I have no clue who is this evil wizard. But we do know about the Numina Stones. It's the source of divinity. In the Temple of The Sleepers, we learn there was unknown gods slumbering. Then came 4 human adventurers, who looted the temple. At the same time, 4 of the 5 Sleepers vanished.
The wizard Azeran tried to do steal the 5th Sleeper's Numina, but eventually couldn't control its power - and failed. So here's my guess: Jorum and his friends found the temple, defeated its guardian (an evil wizard?), looted its treasures, and each stole the Numina from a Sleeper! The 4 Sleepers ceased to exist, and The Four became gods.
"(She seems bored about the topic) Let me remember... I recall a powerful war priest, a wild sorcerer, and a gentle priest which acted as a healer. It's all very predictable and uninteresting."
We know Arbenos is a war priest, Nivaria a sorcerer, and Thelum a gentle priest. No mention of Jorum, nor Tol. Jorum being the book's main character, I'm sure Archbishop Dilla would have told us if he was one of the 3 she described... My guess is that Jorum was the 4th one, therefore Tol.
But what I find fascinating is the implications of 2 heroes being clerics! That means they received clerical powers from a god, or 2 different gods. And the only gods we know during the early empire were The Sleepers on Varannar, and The Eleven on Andoria. Could Arbenos and Thelum have been priests of the old Imperial Religion? Clerics of that faith no longer receive magical powers from their gods, which implies that they no longer exist, or fully ascended and left. But Tol confirmed The Eleven were gods like him, so they most likely had clerics, like all the others.
THE ANCIENT BUILDERS,
THE SLEEPERS,
THE TOLASSIANS,
SYLLARA
Remember how the City of the Ancients' golem spoke of a Godswar? He says his creators fled their home during the first Godswar, and came to live here on Varannar. We also learn their city predates the Empire. These Ancient Builders might have been the first human inhabitants of Varannar. They built only one - but vast - underground city, but also countless underground tombs everywhere on the continent to honor their dead. They might also be the ones who built the Temple of The Sleepers, for the 5 slumbering gods. Being the only known civilisation on Varannar at the time, I'm assuming they built it. If not, the Temple of the Sleepers' origin is shrouded in an even deeper mystery...
The First Godswar occured on Andoria during the ascension of the First of The Eleven, who eventually founded the Empire and became its first Emperor. Were The Sleeper gods of the Ancient Builders defeated by the First of The Eleven and forced to flee to Varannar with their followers to slumber?
So...
After the Godswar, during the early days of the Empire, Jorum and his friends came to Varannar, where the Ancient Builders were still building tombs. 2 members of Jorum's party were clerics worshipping one of The Eleven, one of The Sleepers, or some other unknown god. They discovered the Temple of The Sleepers, stole their Numina, and became gods. Then the civilisation of the Ancient Builders fell.
The golem says the city's inhabitants all started to die. Its halls became silent. Then, the dead started to rise... Survivors fled into the forest, and were saved by the fae, becoming the Varannari.
The Ancient Builders in their city and numerous tombs became undead worshippers of Tol: the Tolassians. They honored both the dead and the living, under Tol's gentle guidance.
Then one day, Tol and The Three had a disagreement. They realised immortality had a price, a price Tol did not want to pay. Arbenos and Nivaria became insane, Thelum argued they should all leave their bodies and ascend fully. Tol refused to abandon his humanity, so they fought. The Three defeated Tol. His Eye shattered into a million shards, his Crown broke, and he was mangled, forced to retreat into his temple and slumber for a millenium.
After Tol was gone, the Tolassians became lost. They started enslaving the Varannari, and feasting on the living. Until, one day, a young Varannari slave girl escaped, and returned with a vengeance. Syllara, Witch Queen of Orogg, had made a pact with the Shadows of the Abyss, and would be the final doom of the Tolassian Empire.
...
Centuries later, the Empire fell to the horrors, and survivors fled to Varannar. The colonists encountered the Witch Queen on Mount Orogg, and the Exiled Kingdoms would have been doomed if not for the intervention of The Three. They battled Syllara to save the human colonists. Syllara crushed Arbenos's chest, but eventually lost to The Three, and was imprisoned forever.
Ever since that battle, the wounded Arbenos has disappeared into the mountains, slumbering. Nivaria lost her lover, fell to madness, and now slumbers under the lake. Thelum is the only god left to walk among humans, in Ilmara.
Thelum is the only one left who knows the whole story. He is the key.
David? I would like to speak to Thelum, please!