Pantheon

"Planetarium" concept art by Ryan Richmond.

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. – Steven Sharif

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

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. – 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.
• 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.

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.

• 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.

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. – Steven Sharif

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

• Goddess of Love.
• Goddess of Creation.
  • The Phoenix is the celestial avatar of the Goddess of Creation.
• Goddess of Fate (Norlan).
• God of Hope (Resna).
• God of Truth (Shol).
• The sphere of influence of the three "Other" gods has not yet been revealed.

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

Sand Momma statue screenshot.

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. – Steven Sharif

דת

מקדשי דת בצמתי מטרופולין

קיימות שש דתות עקריות, ובנוסף דת של ה טולנאר/ העולם התחתון

• הדתות נועדו להיות גורם מוטיבציה ולא לשם האסתטיקה.
• בחירה של דת נותנת לשחקנים את האפשרות ללכת בדרך האור או בדרך החושך דרך הבחירה שלהם במשימות ובפעולות אחרות.

יהיו שבילי משימות. יהיו פעולות מסוימות שהשחקנים יוכלו לבחור כדי לבחור אולי בצד היותר אפל של העולם.

– Steven Sharif

לפעמים משחקים בעבר ניסו להמנע מלשים דגש על דת בגלל ההקבלה שיכולה להווצר בין העולם האמיתי לבין העולם הדמיוני של המשחק. אני לא ממש תומך בתאוריה הזו. אני חושב שהדת משחקת תפקיד מאוד מרכזי בסיפור של אפר היצירה וזה בגדול רעיון מונוליתי של טוב נגד רוע, כך שזה באמת המהות של העלילה שתהיה במשחק. ואני לא מנסה לדחוף את השחקנים למקום של "כולם חייבים להיות טובים", כמו שאמרתי מקודם, יהיו הזדמנויות לשחקנים לסטות מכך אם זה התפקיד שהם יבחרו לשחק. – Steven Sharif

הדת של הטולנאר היא צירוף של אמונות של שאר הגזעים בנוסף לאמונות פגאניות של גזעי המיעוטים שנוצרו לאורך קיומם ביחד בעולם התחתון.

• גזע הטולנאר הוא לא תוצאה של Corruption.

ההתפתחות של גזע הטולנארים - למרות שהם עדיין המרכז של מה שהיה כאשר האלים של פתנאון הטוב נשארו בשביל הטולנארים, לאורך זמן הם חיו והתפתחו לחברה שנמצאת על סף החזרה לוורה. זה דומה הרבה יותר... לדרך שבא דתות הקראול התפתחו, עם מרכיבים של נצרות ובודהה וגם דתות "פגאניות" אחרות קטנות יותר; מאוגד לתוך דת אחת. זה ברמה כזו, שניתן למצוא התאמה בין איך שלתרבות סביב גזע הטולנאר יש את הצירוף הזה של מה שהיו האמונות הפגאניות של גזעי המיעוטים עם החשיפה לאמונות העקריות של הגזעים הראשיים, בגלל שהם כולם באו ביחד לעולם התחתון ושרדו באופן הזה. באופן טיבעי ניתן לראות צירוף של שני הדברים הללו. – Steven Sharif

Orders of the seven

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

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

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. – Steven Sharif

See also

• Harbingers
• דת
• מיתולוגיה