Environmental lore: Difference between revisions

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Throughout [[Wraeclast]] are various pieces of environmental lore that can be found in many different zones. These lore pieces provide us with much background information about [[Wraeclast]] and its inhabitants that is necessary to fully understand the plot and history of [[Path of Exile]]. All of the lore pieces listed here are necessary to complete the achievement "No Stone Unturned."
Throughout [[Wraeclast]] are various pieces of environmental lore that can be found in many different zones. These lore pieces provide background information about the [[History of Wraeclast]].
 
=Act I=


=Act 1=
==Letters of Exile==
==Letters of Exile==
{{main|Letters of Exile}}
Found in [[Lioneye's Watch]]. They contain information on when and for what an exile was sentenced. Clicking on the object repeatedly will rotate randomly between different exiles.


There are 15 letter of exile located in the [[Act 1]] town [[Lioneye's Watch]]. They can be found immediately after you kill [[Hillock]] and enter the town. The letters cycle randomly each time you click the lore piece. The easiest way to make sure you've gotten all fifteen letter is to do them all before any other [[Act 1]] lore pieces. Check your achievement progress by pressing "H" and opening the "No Stone Unturned" Achievement tab, you should see 15/24 if you got all of them. Afterwards you can proceed to collect the rest of [[Act 1]]'s lore as you progress through the act. See [[Letters of Exile]] for a comprehensive list.
==Weathered Carvings 1 (Lavianga)==
{{main|Weathered Carving}}


==Weathered Carvings==
Found throughout [[Act 1]], within [[The Coast (Act 1)]], [[The Tidal Island (Act 1)]], [[The Mud Flats (Act 1)]]. They chronicle the [[Karui]]'s attempt to settle in [[Wraeclast]], as told by Lavianga.


There are 7 weathered carvings found throughout [[Act 1]]. These carvings provide insight into the Karui's attempt to settle in [[Wraeclast]] and the mysterious Black Spirit that consumed their king [[Kaom]] and eventually drove the Karui out of [[Wraeclast]].
==Lioneye's Standard==
Found in [[The Climb]]. It marks where [[Marceus Lioneye]] commanded the Eternal Legion in what would be his last stand against the Karui.
:''There is no Honour without Sacrifice.''


===Weathered Carving I===
==Shavronne's Journal==
 
Found in [[The Warden's Quarters]].
The first carving is located in [[The Coast]].
 
::''Kaom's canoe struck this sand with the force of destiny. At his back, the greatest war host in Karui history tamed the wild sea, their canoes coupling with the land, one by one.''
 
::''Lioneye's Gemlings met us with shining metal and bold words. Hyrri's arrows withered their pride. Kaom's axes silenced their dispair. Marceus Lioneye fought bravely, to the last. Kaom honoured him with a place on his belt.''
 
::''Kaom has shown Wraeclast our Karui strength. Kaom will teach Wraeclast the Karui Way.''


===Weathered Carving II===
:''Still the Karui barbarians advance upon us. Lioneye is dead, his legion slaughtered, along with every Eternal man, woman and child from Lioneye’s Watch to the foot of our Axiom. Should the need arise we shall retreat through Prisoners Gate, raising my barricade behind us.''
:''Yet our salvation is at hand. Foul times demand heroic deeds, and through my arts our Lord Brutus will arise anew to defend us. May the dry sands quench their thirst with Karui blood when our mighty Warden delivers his judgement upon them.''


The second carving is located in [[The Tidal Island]].
==Order of Protection==
Found in [[The Warden's Quarters]].


::''Kaom has removed the Eternal stain from this coast. The Empire's citizens decorate our meeting houses with their heads. Our warriors build homes for our families. Our families till the earth, wish the waters, fill the air with song.''
:My loyal Declan,
:Give our Lady Piety your absolute support and watch her with absolute scrutiny. There is much to learn from the likes of the Inquisitor, the Umbra and the Soulless One. I would hate for Piety to feel that she need shoulder such perilous wisdom alone.
:- Dominus


::''The Karui Way is yet a seedling here, but it grows, gains in pride and power every day. Kaom has kept his promise. The time of the Karui has come.''
==Letter of Instruction==
Found in [[The Warden's Quarters]].
:Dear Shavronne,


===Weathered Carving III===
:You have certainly had your work cut out for you with Lioneye's Legion. Do not concern yourself with Marceus' complaints. Our Emperor is fully aware of the General's fickle nature.


The third carving is located in [[The Mud Flats]].
:As to your need to accelerate the implantation process, I can recommend a quite simple alteration. Dip the gem in a boiling solution of six parts blood and one part thaumetic sulphite for no more than thirteen seconds. Any longer and you invite the crystal's wrath.


::''Black storms descend on us from the North. Unnatural tempests of rage and hatred, lashing our backs, tearing at our houses. The rain is shot with shadow. It withers our crops, sickens our livestock.''
:Once the gem is withdrawn from the solution, you have but a few seconds to install the gem in the prepared flesh and close the wound. Should the gem cool too much prior to implantation, it will become inert and your patient with it.


::''And the wind... the wind carries with it a restless spirit that breeds melancholy and madness. A spirit that creeps through our dreams, weaves tales of misdeed around our resting minds. We try not to listen. We try to remember ourselves. Some of us forget.''
:Trust in that bountiful talent of yours, Shavronne. My thoughts are with you.


::''Brothers fight. Brothers die. Kaom punishes those that quarrel, that steal, that murder. Yet still the nightmares goad us into malefaction.''
:Malachai
 
::''We Karui are banished from sleep.''
 
===Weathered Carving IV===
 
The fourth carving is located in [[The Ledge]].
 
::''The earth of Wraeclast rejects the dead. The black spirit of storm and dream now reaches into the ground and rises up our slain imperial foes. It leads the fallen from their graves and drives them to fight us beyond the end, rotted tooth and jagged nail.''
 
::''Our own Remembered have joined their cursed ranks. No longer may we give our beloved to the birds, messengers of spirit to the sky, conveyors of flesh to the earth. Kaom has commanded us to destroy our Remembered with axe and fire. Kaom is the bravest of us, willing to bear the ire of the Ancestors for the survival of his people.''
 
===Weathered Carving V===
 
The fifth carving is located in [[The Climb]] near Lioneye's Standard.
 
::''The black spirit infects living flesh and bone. The animals suffered first. Their bodies changed. Their eyes filled with a hatred of mankind that is beyond instinct.''
 
::''Now it is we who must bend and bow like saplings before the seaborn gale. The firstborn of the Kingdom of Kaom has greeted us this day. The firstborn of the Kingdom of Kaom was buried this day. Even our children are not spared the black spirit's touch.''
 
::''What have we done to enrage Wraeclast? We look to Kaom. Our King will lay the spirit of this land at peace.''
 
===Weathered Carving VI===
 
The sixth carving is located in [[The Ship Graveyard]] next to the [[waypoint]] and [[Captain Fairgraves]].
 
::''Kaom stands before us and looks out to the raging sea. He sings, calls, screams to our Ancestors to come to our aid. He offers them the Gifts of Old, a feast of heart and mind, muscle and marrow, cooked in the fire and rock of this angry land.''
 
::''We have not practiced these ways in so many years. Only in the darkest of times, most desperate of times, do we perform these oldest of rituals. Only here and now may we sacrifice and consume our own. Only inour King can we trust this return to our ancient selves.''
 
===Weathered Carving VII===
 
The seventh carving is also located in [[The Ship Graveyard]], usually near the ocean. It was previously located in [[The Coves]] before [[The Awakening]] expansion in which [[The Coves]] was removed from the game.
 
::''Kaom is gone. Our King has taken our finest five hundred warriors and descended into the depths of Wraeclast. He spoke to us of a vision, a gift from the ancestors. Kaom has been deceived. The vision was a gift from the black spirit. It has conquered Kaom.. The black spirit has conquered the Karui Way.''
 
::''Hyrri has made ready her canoes. We will take those that are left, five hundred forgotten families, and carry them back to their true homes. Back to Ngamakanui.''
 
::''Kaom's promises have lead us into nightmare. Hyrii will lead us back to the dawn.''
 
==Lioneye's Standard==
 
Lioneye's Standard is located in [[The Climb]] on a small rise about halfway through the zone. The fifth weathered carving can usually be found nearby.
 
::''There is no Honour without Sacrifice.''
 
==Bronze Monograph==
 
Bronze Monograph is located in [[The Prison]], just before the entrance to the [[Trial of Piercing Truth]].
 
==Shavronne's Journal==
 
Shavronne's Journal is located in [[The Upper Prison]] in [[The Warden's Quarters]]. It can be found on the path to [[Brutus]] where you first encounter [[Piety]].
 
::''...still the Karui barbarians advance from the South. Lioneye is dead, his legion slaughtered. Should the need arise we shall retreat through Prisoner's Gate, raising my barricade behind us. But our Lord Brutus nears readiness. Foul times demand heroism. The Warden will serve as our saviour. May he crush the Karui into the sand with the mighty fists I shall gift to...''


==Sailor's Skin==
==Sailor's Skin==
[[File:Sailor Skin.jpg|thumb]]
Found in [[The Cavern of Wrath]].
:Welcome, husband. We knew in our hearts that you would find us. Come, Daresso, Ambrosia and Amarissa must meet their father. Come, my love. Return to your family.


Sailor's Skin is located in [[the Cavern of Wrath]].
{{clear}}
 
::''Welcome, husband. We knew in our hearts that you would find us. Come, Daresso, Ambrosia and Amarissa must meet their father. Come, my love. Return to your family.''


==Damp Diary==
==Damp Diary==
[[File:Damp Diary.jpg|thumb|right]]
Found in [[Merveil's Lair]].
:Daresso gave me the gem, kissed me, promised that he would be by my side forever. I sang for him. I sang for Oriath with his gem at my throat. Kalisa's gem. Kalisa's voice.


Damp Diary is located in [[the Cavern of Anger]].
:I sang in her echo, performing arias that had once made the Empire weep. I listened to Kalisa's lullabies in my dreams. I gave myself to her music. Mind...and body.
 
::''Daresso gave me the gem, kissed me, promised that he would be by my side forever. I sang for him. I sang for Oriath with his gem at my throat. Kalisa's gem. Kalisa's voice. ''
 
::''I sang in her echo, performing arias that had once made the Empire weep. I listened to Kalisa's lullabies in my dreams. I gave myself to her music. Mind...and body.''


::''Daresso left me, for Sarn, with a promise to free me from Kalisa. I begged him not to go. Tried to show him the wonder of my transformation, the beautiful daughters he would soon meet. He couldn't see. None of them could see. I fled from their hatred.''
:Daresso left me, for Sarn, with a promise to free me from Kalisa. I begged him not to go. Tried to show him the wonder of my transformation, the beautiful daughters he would soon meet. He couldn't see. None of them could see. I fled from their hatred.


::''When Daresso returns I will cast his cure away. I will teach him what true love is.''
:When Daresso returns I will cast his cure away. I will teach him what true love is.
 
=Act II=


=Act 2=
==Etchings on Wood==
==Etchings on Wood==
 
{{main|Etchings on Wood}}
All four etchings are found in [[The Crossroads]]. Etchings on Wood I and II are located in a ruined house next to the path between [[The Old Fields]] and the [[waypoint]]. Etchings on Wood III is found in a ruined mill next to the path between the [[waypoint]] and [[The Broken Bridge]]. Etchings on Wood IV is in what appears to be the remains of a church across the road from the mill.
Found throughout [[The Crossroads]].
 
===Etchings on Wood I===
 
::''I haven't slept. No-one has slept. Not for three days, not since the black storm in the northern ranges. Not since the nightmares began.''
 
::''Violent and twisted night terrors. They whisper to us, tempt us, threaten us, beguile us. They promise terrible things in return for even more terrible acts.''
 
::''My husband, Denirus, went to Alliston to find a doctor who might help. He should have been back yesterday. I fear for him. I fear for all of us.''
 
::''-Tani''
 
===Etchings on Wood II===
 
::''It has been a little over a week since the black storm.''
 
::''My husband has not returned and sickness now sweeps though our village. Many have died and those that lived have... changed.''
 
::''These were folk we once called neighbour and friend. Now they limp and stagger through the night, their deformities as grotesque as the madness in their eyes.''
 
::''-Tani''
 
===Etchings on Wood III===
 
::''The moon was full the night of the black storm. It is full again.''
 
::''They have come for me. They have come for my daughters. Bravalo called out while the others skulked and muttered in the darkness. Corin went to them, arms open, welcoming. The nighmares told her to.''
 
::''My uncle tried to stop her. Bravalo crushed his skull with his smith's hammer. I barred the doors and windows but they screamed like monkeys and beat themselves bloody trying to get in.''
 
::''I had no choice. I took my two youngest and fled to the cellar, following the tunnel to the mill.''
 
::''All we can do is hide and hope. God help us.''
 
::''-Tani''
 
===Etchings on Wood IV===
 
::''Three lunari gone now, since it all began. Perhaps I am the only one who still looks upon Lunaris, who remembers her name. Soon, I will be gone and the moon will go on, alone.''
 
::''My husband has returned and he hunts for me. My dead husband hunts me. Corin too, and my uncle. Corpses rise and walk and feed. My girls, they walk now... and feed.''
 
::''God has forsaken us. Lunaris is my witness. Tonight, I return to my family.''
 
::''-Tani''


==Ancient Reverie Device==
==Ancient Reverie Device==
Found in [[The Chamber of Sins Level 1]].
:Inquisitor,


The Ancient Reverie Device is located in [[The Chamber of Sins]] Level 1. It can be found in the center of the zone in what appears to be a ruined map device room. The unique spider [[Black Death]] can be found nearby.
:If you attempt to transmogrify a virtue gem without the proper mental preparation, you will be a puppet master working strings made of vipers. Remember, these gems are phantasms in crystalline form, alive, with volitions inscrutable. Master conscious dreaming, as I instructed you. Your death would mean little to me, Maligaro. It's what your demise could unleash that concerns me.
 
::''Inquisitor,''
 
::''If you were to attempt to transmogrify a virtue gem without the proper mental preparation, you will be a puppet master working strings made of vipers. Remember, these gems are phantasms in crystalline form, alive, with volitions inscrutable. Master conscious dreaming, as I instructed you. Your death means little to me, Maligaro. It's what your demise will unleash that concens me.''


::''Malachai, Thaumaturge Laureate to the Empire''
:Malachai


==Transmutia Device==
==Transmutia Device==
Found in [[The Chamber of Sins Level 2]].
:I bequeath this Transmutia Device to you, Inquisitor Maligaro, in recognition of your devotion to our sublime Art. May it be the chariot that conveys your dreams into reality.


The Transmutia Device can be found in the boss room in [[The Chamber of Sins Level 2]] behind [[Fidelitas]] and the Strange Device that drops the [[Baleful Gem]].
:Malachai, Thaumaturge Laureate to the Empire
 
::''I bequeath this Transmutia Device to you, Inquisitor Maligaro, in recognition of your devotion to our sublime Art. May it be the chariot that conveys your dreams into reality.''
 
::''Malachai, Thaumaturge Laureate to the Empire''


==Proclamation==
==Proclamation==
Found in [[The Western Forest]].
:We, the Court of Reckoning find you, Doedre Stamatis, guilty of the following transgressions against God:


The Proclamation can be found in [[The Western Forest]] surrounded by a circle of stones. The exact location is somewhat random, but it is usually close to the path slightly below the [[waypoint]].
:''Perversion of God's Creation''


::''We, the Court of Reckoning find you, Doedre Stamatis, guilty of the following transgressions against God:''
:''Promotion of Heretical Beliefs''


::''Perversion of God's Creation''
:''Unlawful Enslavement of Eternal Citizens''


::''Promotion of Heretical Beliefs''
:''Torture of the Innocent''


::''Unlawful Enslavement of Eternal Citizens''
:''Murder of the Servants of Purity''


::''Torture of the Innocent''
:For these most severe crimes, I do sentence Doedre Darktongue to burn at the stake till naught is left but ash. May her life serve as penance for the lives she has taken, and let Purity sweep away the dust of her deeds from our firmament.


::''Murder of the Servants of Purity''
:- High Templar Voll, Commander of the Army of Purity
 
::''For these most severe crimes, I do sentence Doedre Darktongue to burn at the stake till naught is left but ashes on the morrow, 4th Fiero of Verusi, 1334. May her life serve as penance for the lives she has taken, and let Purity sweep away the dust of her deeds from our firmament.''
 
::''"Only will and truth can prevail over the evil of our own kin."''
 
::''- Emperor Voll''


==Arteri's Letter==
==Arteri's Letter==
Found in [[The Western Forest]].
:Arteri, my beautiful captain.


Arteri's Letter can always be found in [[The Western Forest]] at the end of the road on a table next to the Blocked Pass and the unique boss [[Captain Arteri]].
:I wish it were not you, but I cannot bring myself to trust any other with this most vital of tasks.
 
::''Arteri, my beautiful captain.''
 
::''I wish it were not you, but I cannot bring myself to trust any other with this most vital of tasks.''
 
::''This is the only pass between the inner and outer Empire. No further exiles are to enter the inner Empire. We have material enough for our work.''
 
::''Ensure that the barricade remains in place, and if any exile should somehow pass through, kill them.''
 
::''I will send for you when my work is complete in Sarn.''
 
::''Until we share our next night together,''
 
::''Piety''
 
==Plaque==
 
The Plaque is located in [[The Fellshrine Ruins]] at the entrance to the ruined church. Following the path from [[The Crossroads]] all the way to the end will bring you directly to it.
 
::''On this day, the 2nd Sacrato of Verusi, 1334 IC, the Army of Purity remembers its most devout and beloved servant, Archbishop Geofri of Phrecia.''
 
::''"Only will and truth can prevail over the evil of our own kin."''


::''- Geofri''
:This is the only pass between the inner and outer Empire. No further exiles are to enter the inner Empire. We have material enough for our work.


=Act III=
:Ensure that the barricade remains in place, and if any exile should somehow pass through, kill them.


==Misc.==
:I will send for you when my work is complete in Sarn.


Ancient Notebook found in [[The Marketplace]] (and maybe elsewhere?).
:Until we share our next night together,


::''I write this now in hope that someone will remain. Someone may remember.
:Piety
::''This sun is an orb of blood. Twisted twilight shrouds my eyes. The air reeks of anguish. Zarn has plunged into nightmare.
::''The man who server me coffee now wriths on the floor. He rants visions he alone can see, as writhing red tentacles grow from his face, as if his eyes had been seeds waiting to sprout. He is quiet, now, my waiter. No more cackling and screaming. Dead.
::''Of my fellow partrons, only two live. The others have fallen. Their blood is everywhere. The survivors, Gemlings both... their skin shrivels and greys to the hue of necrocys. Their gems flare with unholy luster. Their eyes...  black as... hatred.
::''A gemling ghoul... it twisted off a corpse's head... gnaws at skull like dog. My head now... visions clawing at me... Thinking burns! I see... horror, envy the mute corpses at my... feet. Words flay me... flee me. All is madness!


Reverie Device found in [[The Solaris Temple Level 2]] in Normal or Cruel difficulties.
==Plaque (Fellshrine Ruins)==
::''I awoke, feverish, and barely conscious I set to drawing these maps through the sable hours. By morning my fingers ached, my eyes burned, yet still I found no rest. The Reverie commanded its rendering.''
Found in [[The Fellshrine Ruins (Act 2)]].
:On this day, the 2nd Sacrato of Verusi, 1334 IC, the Army of Purity remembers its most devout and beloved servant, Archbishop Geofri of Phrecia.


::''The Reverie Device now stands completed. I have placed the first of my maps within its receptacle. I have taken my maiden voyage into Nightmare.''
:As spoken by Geofri:


::''I know now that which sent me this precious gift. It knows me, expects my return. It would be foolish to disappoint.''
:''Only will and truth can prevail<br />over the evil of our own kin.''
 
::''- Malachai''


:- High Templar Voll, commander of the Army of Purity


=Act 3=
==Ancient Graffiti==
==Ancient Graffiti==
{{main|Ancient Graffiti}}
Found throughout [[Act 3]].


[[Ancient Graffiti]] is found in six different locations in [[Act 3]]. It can be inferred that this graffiti was written during The [[Purity Rebellion]].
==Ancient Notebook==
 
Found in [[The Marketplace]].
===Ancient Graffiti I===
:I write this now in hope that someone will remain. Someone may remember.
 
Located in [[The City of Sarn]] somewhere along the walls near the water.
 
::''Mortality is the mother of life. We have turned our backs on her.''
 
===Ancient Graffiti II===
 
Located in [[The Slums]] in a seemingly random location.


::''The Monkey King has built his throne on your back. A throne of gold and gem, polished with blood and tear. Throw off the Monkey King and his shining privy, before your back is broken.''
:The sun is an orb of blood. Twisted twilight shrouds my eyes. The air reeks of anguish. Sarn has plunged into nightmare.


===Ancient Graffiti III===
:The man who served me coffee now writhes on the floor. He rants of visions he alone can see, as writhing red tentacles grow from his face, as if his eyes had been seeds waiting to sprout. He is quiet, now, my waiter. No more cackling and screaming. Dead.


Located in [[The Warehouse District]] on one of the outside walls of the warehouses.
:Of my fellow patrons, only two live. The others have fallen. Their blood is everywhere. The survivors, Gemlings both... their skin shrivels and greys to the hue of necrosis. Their gems flare with unholy lustre. Their eyes... black as... hatred.


::''The gemmed genteel are an infestation. They are the Monkey King's fleas that drink your lifeblood. Crush them in your work-forged hands!''
:A gemling ghoul... it twisted off a corpse's head... gnaws at skull like dog. My head now... visions clawing at me... Thinking burns! I see... horror, envy the mute corpses at my... feet. Words flay me... flee me. All is madness...


===Ancient Graffiti IV===
==Journal Entry==
Found in [[The Solaris Temple Level 2 (Act 3)]].
{{QuoteLore|
1st Caso of Divini, 1333 IC.


Located in [[The Catacombs]] in a random location.
"Pretty as porcelain, but her mouth spins like the potter's wheel." That's how I once described Dialla. Yet on this day, my lady is as ravishing as a nightmare, radiant as the fullest moon.


::''There is nothing 'eternal' in this empire of ours but the names of our day that shall be revered or reviled in the centuries to come.''
Dialla is my Gemling Queen and we shall rule, side by side, over the world that will soon come to be.|Malachai}}


===Ancient Graffiti V===
The audio does not include the first sentence, but the script displayed in-game includes that sentence.


Located in [[The Battlefront]].
==Reverie Device==
{{See also| Ancient Reverie Device}}
Found in [[The Eternal Laboratory]].
{{QuoteLore|I awoke, feverish, and barely conscious I set to drawing these maps through the sable hours. By morning my fingers ached, my eyes burned, yet still I found no rest. The Reverie commanded its rendering.


::''The Shadow whispers and simpers at the Monkey King's feet, but when the Monkey King puts his back into the Sun, it's the Shadow that leads the way.''
The Reverie Device now stands completed. I have placed the first of my maps within its receptacle. I have taken my maiden voyage into Nightmare.


===Ancient Graffiti VI===
I know now that which sent me this precious gift. It knows me, expects my return. It would be foolish to disappoint.|Malachai}}


Located on a random wall in [[The Docks]]
==Malachai's Journal==
Found in [[The Eternal Laboratory]].
{{quoteLore|
Tear down the walls that imprison the mind... that is what the gems do. That is their true 'virtue'.


::''The Monkey King names you 'slave'. No. You are the gems of Wraeclast, not the treacherous stones you dig and die for. It's time to bend the Monkey King's ear. Tell him your true name.''
The moment my fingertips brushed the cool, silken planes of that first gem, I felt it. My skull ached, as if its contents were growing, pressing against the bone, searching for a way to break free.


==Library Books==
That night, once the wine had dulled the pain enough to allow the onset of sleep, the dreams began. I have not been without them since. Nor would I be. Every spark of thaumaturgy that I wield, every device that I forge, every creature that I transfigure, I owe to these lessons cloaked in Nightmare.


These books are found randomly throughout [[The Library]]. Only a few will appear each instance so several searches of The Library will be needed to find them all.
From whence do these precepts hail? Certainly not the mundane grey between my ears. I possess only one reference that bears faith. Translated with unquestionable clarity by that idiot savant, Icius Perandus. "The Beast". Doryani of the Vaal knew the truth. Soon now, so shall I.|Malachai}}


===The Purity Chronicles===
==The Purity Chronicles==
{{main|The Purity Chronicles}}
{{main|The Purity Chronicles}}
Can be found throughout [[The Library]] and [[The Archives]]. They tell of the Warriors of Purity and their insurrection against Emperor Chitus.


Book 1: Embers of Insurrection
==The Ancients==
::''"He soared to power on the smoke of burning witches". So the surviving Gemlings whispered of Voll of Thebrus, as he donned the Imperial crown on the 2nd Sacrato of Phreci, 1334 IC. But in truth, he was never the sort of man to set a girl alight for merely reading a palm or remedying a bout of the clap.''
{{main|The Ancients}}
Can be found throughout [[The Library]] and [[The Archives]]. They tell of the fall of the Vaal Empire and the rise of the Eternal Empire.  


::''Righteous and devoted to both faith and country, High Templar Voll struck little hardship in gathering others to his godly cause: Sarn's own Lord Mayor Ondar and Victario, the People's Poet; Archbishop Geofri of Phrecia; Governor Kastov of Stridevolf; and Commander Adus of Highgate. Together, these Warriors of Purity forged an uprising against the Gemling thaumatocracy that Voll hoped would "snatch this empire from the claws of devilry and return it to humanity".''
==Victario's Writings==
{{main|Victario's Writings}}
Can be found throughout [[The Library]] and [[The Archives]]. They contain anecdotes and allegory written by the poet Victario of Sarn.


:::''- Garivaldi, Chronicler to the Empire''
==Dark Tome==
{{main|Unbearable Whispers}}
Found in [[The Library]] with the {{il|Unbearable Whispers I}} prophecy.
:My Council,


Book 2: Bloody Flowers
:The sky turns black as ink.
::''High Templar Voll had Victario entreat Thane Rigwald of Ezomyr, knowing that a poet would fare far better than any politician in rousing the romantic Ezomytes to rebellion. Stirred by Victario's empassioned words, Rigwald mustered his blood-bound clans, and on the 3rd Fiero of Dirivi 1333 IC, took to the fields of Glarryn in open rebellion against Governor Gaius Sentari.  


::''Such was the colourful splendour of a thousand tartans and banners that the Ezomyte uprising became know as "The Bloody Flowers' Rebellion". Though Sentari's Gemling legionnaires slew three Ezomytes for every one of their fallen, the Bloody Flowers won the day through sheer fury-driven courage.  
:We must gather at once, for I fear the end draws close.


::''Governor Sentari fled to Sarn, only to return in Astrali with reinforcements drawn from the capital, Vastiri and southern garrisons. Little did Sentari know that, by so weakening those forces, he was playing right into Voll's hands.
:I have uncovered a tome that illustrates certain forbidden techniques used to prolong life far beyond ordinary means. We shall fracture our very souls, and keep safe a piece of one another's very being. With this, none of us may perish unless all of us perish at once.


:::''- Garivaldi, Chronicler to the Empire
:It is not without a cost, for life granted requires life be paid, but it need not be any of ours. Bring your most loyal and healthy retainers, and bid the rest farewell, for we shall not see them again.


Book 3: Fall of a Jade Axe
:Make haste and do not speak of where you are going. Immortality is within our grasp, but there are countless who would risk death - who would kill - for a chance at eternal life.
::''In a man-to-man fight on open ground, a Gemling Legion would have slaughtered Kaom's Karui warriors like so many pigs in a pen. But Kaom had no intention of engaging Lioneye in a fair fight. By absorbing some heavy losses and feigning a chaotic retreat, Kaom drew Marceus into ordering his Gemlings to abandon their tower shields so that they might pursue and rout the fleeing Karui.  


::''It was not out of recklessness that Lioneye plucked such a decision, but from the experience-born confidence that the Karui did not have archers. Traditionally, Karui warriors are forbidden from using projectile weapons of any kind. What Lioneye understandably overlooked was that this tavukai (sacred prohibition) did not extend to women. At her uncle's behest, Hyrri had traveled to Thebrus and studied archery with Voll's finest military tutors. When the legionnaires shed protection in favour of mobility, Hyrri and her bow-women broke cover and rained death upon the Gemlings from the cliffs above.
:-Inya


::''A valiant Marceus Lioneye gathered his surviving legionnaires for a final stand within the walls of Lioneye's Watch. Kaom honoured his bravery by wearing Marceus' bejeweled head upon his belt from that day on.  
==Letter to Chitus==
Found in [[The Sceptre of God]].
:My dear Chitus,


::''Having secured a safe harbour for landing reinforcements, Kaom continued his conquest of the coast, slaughtering the Eternal citizens and clearing the way for the first ever settlement of Karui upon the Wraeclastian mainland.
:The Empire has lived in fear and ignorance since its inception. Our Azmeri ancestors, in their arrogance, turned their backs on the lessons of the Vaal.


::''- Garivaldi, Chronicler to the Empire
:The emperors before you lacked courage, lacked vision, paying lip service to 'Eternity' while scrabbling for approval and comfort within the prison of their meagre, mortal lives.


Book 4: The Red Sekhema's Saddle
:You are not one of those emperors. You are Chitus the Great, the man who will make this Empire truly understand the meaning of the word 'Eternal'.
::''In return for her military support in the rebellion, Voll promised Sekhema Deshret the return of the Maraketh grazing lands stolen during the imperial conquest of the Vastiri Plains. The Red Sekhema agreed on one condition, that she might have Hector Titucius' skin with which to fashion a rhoa saddle.


::''To this end, Voll and Deshret engineered a trap for General Titucius and his Vastiri Legion. The Maraketh had long been able to predict the comings and goings of the vast and vicious dust storms that constantly plague the plains. Deshret located one such fledgling maelstrom within a day's march of Titucius' camp. For his part, Voll identified a number of imperial spies amongst the Maraketh and fed them false information regarding a potential tribal uprising. Taking the bait, Titucius had his Gemling legion surround the supplied location, thus placing himself squarely in the path of Deshret's dust storm.
:We shall build this Thaumatocracy together, my emperor, gem by gem, immortal by immortal.


::''On the third Galvano of Vitali 1333 IC, the tempest descended upon Titucius' legion with blinding, deafening ferocity. Deshret's akhara, born and raised in dust and wind, swept through the legion, harvesting it like a field of ripe corn. Once storm and Maraketh fury had abated, the Vastiri Legion existed only as a multitude of dust-cloaked mounds. The Red Sekhema claimed her prize and it is said that there is no more comfortable saddle in all of Vastiri than Deshret's.
:Your devoted servant,


::''- Garivaldi, Chronicler to the Empire
:Malachai


Book 5: The Emperor is dead. Long live the Emperor!
==Plaque (Sceptre of God)==
::''On the last day of Divini 1334 IC, High Templar Voll laid siege to Sarn, his ranks swelled by Ezomyte, Karui and Maraketh rebels under the respective leaderships of Thane Rigwald, Hyrri of Ngamakanui and Sekhema Deshret. Emperor Chitus rallied his freshly minted Gemling Legionnaires and, for a time, looked set to execute an effective defence of the capital. But his efforts were cut short by his closest advisor and friend, Lord Mayor Ondar.
Found in [[The Sceptre of God]].
:Malachai


::''During the celebration of the Night of a Thousand Ribbons, Ondar struck Chitus down with blades tainted with the most virulent of poisons. Yet the emperor's inhuman constitution served him to the very last. Taking up his axe, Chitus cleaved Ondar in twain before expiring himself, in a visceral and calamitous display of thaumaturgy.
:Laureate Thaumaturge to the Eternal Empire<br />The Father of Dreams


::''Malachai, Thaumaturge Laureate, and his gemling consort, Lady Dialla, were captured by Victario Nevalius' citizen revolutionaries shortly thereafter. With their leadership either dead or detained, the gemling aristocracy of Sarn had no choice but to offer the city's surrender.
=Act 4=
==Note==
Found in [[The Aqueduct]].
:Captain Vincenti,


::''Voll and his Army of Purity marched through the gates of the capital and the following day, the High Templar was crowned Emperor Voll the First.
:The Highgate holds the secret to the true origin of the gems. Cleanse the mountain of those Maraketh parasites and secure the entrance to those Mines.


::''- Garivaldi, Chronicler to the Empire
:Do not disappoint me, Vincenti. As you well know, my displeasure can change a man.


Book 6: The Rapture Device
:-Piety
::''Voll condemned Malachai to consigned to the Crematorium for 'living conflagration', but it seems that Malachai's promises have saved him from the pyre. "An end to thaumaturgy," he claims. A fancy that our Emperor is willing to humour.


::''For weeks now, Malachai has been consigned to the Solaris, forging a mechanism that will purge Wraeclast of its otherworldly vices. Today, the first Fiero of Eterni 1336 IC, Malachai and his Gemling Queen gripped each one corner of a silken mantle and unveiled his Rapture Device. Like a pit of copper snakes it writhes before the eyes. Whether it is a miracle or a monstrosity, none but Malachai can say. Yet tomorrow Voll shall lead the Highgate Legion home, conveying Malachai, Lady Dialla, and this bewildering apparatus north.
==Voll's Confession==
{{See also|Voll's Confession (hideout decoration)}}
Found in [[The Dried Lake]].
:I vowed to "care for this empire with my eyes open". I lied to my people. I lied to myself. Blinded by my lust for 'purity', I placed my faith in the most corrupt of men.


::''North, from whence the first Gems came. From whence the nightmare of Chitus' thaumatocracy was born.
:I watch now as my legion dies, their flesh melting from their twisted bones. They fall... and rise. A tide of mortal death and eternal damnation.


::''It is in Highgate that our Emperor Voll will finish what he started. He will burn Chitus' empire from history and raise up a fresh and pure theocracy from the ashes of arrogance and corruption.
:I feel it now in my own flesh. The heat. The corruption.


::''God be with you, Voll of Thebrus, and with us all.
:I have failed you, my Empire of Purity. Do not forgive me but please, I beg of you, survive me.


::''- Garivaldi, Chronicler to the Empire
:''-Voll''


===The Ancients===
==Malachai's Notebook==
{{main|The Ancients}}
Found in [[The Crystal Veins]].
:The Rapture Device has absorbed its fill of harvested life from Fury and Desire. It is ready.


Book 1: Last of the Vaal Queens
:So am I.
::''It has been written of Queen Atziri that her throne room was lined with mirrors and that she held court naked, demanding the same of those wishing her audience. The theory was that a naked man had nothing to hide, but one might easily venture that Atziri utilised her striking physical presence to influence courtly engagements in her favour.''


::''A woman like Atziri, beautiful and naked, would be very difficult to refuse. The few statuettes and reliefs that remain depict her as a rare beauty, a young woman with exquisitely delicate features, large, mesmerizing eyes, and a full figure of intoxicating sensuality. Whether the depictions are realist or interpretive is unfortunately impossible to corroborate.''
:I know now that I was born to be the end and the beginning of the Empire. The Beast has made this clear to me. As clear and undeniable as the sacrifice I must now make.


::''But who was the woman behind the title? The few surviving accounts on this matter contain two schools of thought on the matter. Some speak of Atziri with adoration, touting her as a visionary, the woman who would lead the Vaal into a brighter future. Others are less kind, suggesting that Atziri's love for herself overshadowed any love for her people. If her court of mirrors truly existed, however, then the latter seems more likely. Vanity, after all, is the most insidious of all Sins.''
:My Lady Dialla, my love, my life's greatest achievement. She must leave me now, for she cannot follow and she will perish if she remains.


::''Only one thing can be said for certain of Atziri: she was the last Queen of the Vaal. The trail of history ends during her reign, some four hundred years preceding the Imperialus Conceptus.''
:And so I will ask of her more than she would ever give. I will betray her. I will break her heart so that I do not break her soul.


:::''- Trinian - Intellectus Prime
==Weathered Carvings (Kaom)==
{{main|Weathered Carving}}
Found throughout [[Kaom's Dream]] and [[Kaom's Stronghold]]. They tell of the Karui's attempt to conquer [[Wraeclast]], as told by [[Kaom]].


Book 2: Zerphi the Murderer
==Plaques (Grand Arena)==
::''It is said the Vaalish noble, Zerphi, lived for 168 years. That is more than three times the current imperial average. Were this the only unusual attribute of an otherwise uneventful life, Zerphi might have have been cast into the back corner of history to gather dust with the other inexplicable anomalies. But his life was anything but uneventful.''
{{main|Plaque (Grand Arena)}}
Found throughout [[The Grand Arena]]. They tell of [[Daresso]]'s youth and his love for [[Merveil]].  


::''Zerphi was the Vaal civilisation's most infamous serial killer. Over a period of 128 years, Zerphi abducted, tortured and murdered thirteen victims. All in their twentieth year of life. All of noble descent. All Gemlings. But this feat alone did not catapult Zerphi into the annals of history. Rather, it was the quality of his heinous acts that set him apart, not the quantity.''
==Malachai's Dedication==
{{See also|Malachai's Dedication (hideout decoration)}}
Found in [[The Harvest (area)|The Harvest]]
:On this day, the eve of this Rapture's completion, I honour those who have passed and whose passion and knowledge have brought us to the brink of salvation.


::''Evidently, Zerphi was a master at inflicting the most prolonged and agonising demise. His victims' bodies were found in a state of horrific mutilation, yet post-mortem analysis revealed that all of the physical trauma infilcted had occurred while the victim was still alive. Some sources claim that the techniques of torture were so refined that he was able to inflict the most intense and lasting pain the human body is capable of sustaining.''
:Inquisitor Maligaro, a creative force without equal.


::''Then we come to the curious matter of Zerphi's death which, as so often occurs with historical investigation, brings us back to where we started. Zerphi was finally found at the side of his thirteenth and final victim, who was unmolested and unmutilated. Simply dead. When the centenarian's body was committed to autopsy, the recorded results are mystifying in the extreme. It is claimed that Zerphi did not possess the body of a 168-year-old, rather that his corpse had the physiognomy of a man of twenty years, no more.''
:Shavronne of Umbra, an aesthete of transcendent sensibility.


::''Life and Death have walked hand in hand since the beginning of Time. Could Zerphi have persuaded them to kiss?''
:Doedre Darktongue, an idol of fervor and dedication.


:::''- Trinian - Intellectus Prime
:You taught me far more than I ever taught you, my students... my friends. We strove to make a greater world together and, in your memory, I shall make that world a reality.


Book 3: The Queen's Thaumaturgist
:Malachai
::''In a culture festooned with gems and steeped in thaumaturgy, Doryani must have had quite the exceptional mind to rise to such preeminence as he did. Or perhaps he was simply more ruthless than his counterparts. Such is the impression one tends to garner from the accounts written of events following Zerphi's death.''


::''Atziri's orders are quoted in a number of different texts. Doryani was "to make any effort within the realms of possibility, and to act without fear of question or consequence". And to what was Doryani expected to apply this supreme effort? The investigation of Zephri's longevity and youthful vitality.''
==Resonator Instructions==
Found at the end of [[The Ascent]].


::''There is a particularly chilling manifest, containing endless lists of names, page upon page. The names of young men and women, ranging in age from sixteen to twenty-six, sent to Doryani for "processing". Only those of "full and recent maturity" were deemed capable of accommodating the "necessary procedures" required without succumbing to "premature expiration".''
:Captain Tevarus,


::''Yes, Queen Atziri was prepared to slaughter her own people in the desperate pursuit of perpetual youth and beauty. Vanity, indeed, is the most insidious of all Sins.''
:Altitude is imperative to forging a stable connection with the Prime Resonator in Theopolis. Power source is equally vital. Locate a fissure in the mountainside and lower a conductive cable into it, the deeper the better. It will take an immense amount of thaumaturgical energy to execute the successful disintegration and transmission of objects, both inanimate and animate, between Highgate and Theopolis. For that kind of power, we must tap the origin.


:::''- Trinian - Intellectus Prime
:I needn't remind you of the consequences should either of those elements prove deficient. That is why I would like you, Tevarus, to be the first to test the Resonator once it is operational.


Book 4: Raising the Azmeri
:Accountability is the perfect counterweight to ambition.
::''Drain a cup of Azmerian tea and then try to read your future in the leaves. You'll find that your Vaalish will come in mighty handy. Our literature was conceived and born within the Azmeri's cultural marriage with the Vaal.''


::''Prior to Vaal contact some 2500 years ago, the Azmerian culture had a purely oral tradition of story and record keeping. Afterwards, their literary culture blossomed, along with just about every other aspect of their fledgling civilisation. From the moment the first Vaalish embassadors set foot upon the rugged slopes of the Azmerian Ranges, the Vaal civilisation held the hand of the Azmeri as they grew from a primitive tribal existence into a cohesive culture of settlement and agriculture.''
:High Templar Dominus


::''Yet while the Vaal were generous with their knowledge and guidance in many areas, there is one subject upon which they were notably silent: the Tears of Maji, now known as Virtue Gems. Despite an exhaustive search, neither account nor passing reference can be found regarding gem usage amongst the early Azmeri. Though they described the Vaal as having flesh adorned with glittering crystals, our Azmerian ancestors were never privy to the gems' potentials or powers.''
=Act 5=
==Stained Glass Window==
Found on 8 plaques in [[The Chamber of Innocence]].
:I
::On that day two were born of their mother's womb. Innocence, with eyes of burning red. Sin, with eyes of clearest blue.
:II
::Innocence lived with an honest and pure heart, never straying from his mother's word. Sin filled his heart with lies and indulgence, and deafened his ears to his mother's pleas.
:III
::When the Mother of Two broke bread, she allowed Innocence to eat his fill, as reward for his virtuous nature. Sin was cast the scraps to remind him of his worthless ways.
:IV
::Yet the punishment only served to feed Sin's lusts. Before his brother's eyes, Sin stole a fish from the market and lied to the watchmen who caught him. Sin then beat his brother until a promise of silence was extracted.
:V
::Innocence could not keep a promise made in fear. He bore witness and testimony to the Mother of Two, and it was decided, between mother and son, that Sin was beyond rule and redemption. That only purification could cleanse his burgeoning corruption.
:VI
::The village gathered to watch Sin become ash, and breathed deeply of the smoke that poured from his screaming mouth. Sin filled their lungs, their minds and their hearts.
:VII
::Innocence watched Sin take root in the bodies of men and women and children. He witnessed them turn on each other, first with words, then with fists. Friends and kin embraced in mortal struggles, their skin weaving with skin, flesh bonding with flesh, bone entwining with bone, until the village had become one writhing giant, forged of strife and hatred.
:VIII
::As this titan of Sin rose to its many feet, Innocence knew that the village was lost. With an anguished cry he committed it to flame. As town and titan burned, the sky turned dark with the ash of Sin. There, amongst the raging ruins of his home, Innocence swore an oath. No matter where the ashes of Sin fell, his purifying flames would rise to meet them.


::''At least, not until the first Vaal refugees came knocking five hundred years later.''
==Triumph of Innocence==
Found in [[The Chamber of Innocence]].
{{quoteLore|
:Waves crashed upon the shores of Oriath.
:Waves of Hunger.
:Waves of Desire.
:The Ravenous God and His starving multiple.
:Rising with the tide.
:Flooding our streets with death and depravity.
:Until Innocence cried out, 'No more!'
:Bathing our city in fire.
:Scorching the wicked to ash and bone.
:The Ravenous God fled.
:Into the embrace of our glorious Saviour.
:Driven down He was, into soil, stone and beyond.
:Into damnation.
:By the Will and Light of our Innocence.
| High Templar Avarius}}


:::''- Trinian - Intellectus Prime
==Kitava's Hunger I==
Found in [[The Reliquary (Act 5)|The Reliquary]] near the chest with [[Tukohama's Tooth]].


Book 5: The Fall
:Arohongui, Daughter of the Moon, was preparing for a feast to celebrate Tukohama's return from his war on the First Ones of the Ezomytes. Tawhoa, Son of the Forest, asked each of the birds to sacrifice one of their kind for the feast. He gave these offerings to Arohongui who cooked them in a great fire-stone pit.
::''The Vaal. Thousands of years in the making. Gone in a blink of Solaris' burning eyes. The Azmeri tell of the Vaalish immigration with equal measures of pity and horror. Small bands of tattered, shambling survivors, bereft of their families, their wealth, and in many cases, their sanity. They were welcomed, and cared for, but none could give the Azmeri the one thing they sought in return. None could tell them how the Vaal realm came to such a sudden and catastrophic end. An apocalypse that came to be known as The Fall.''
:Seeing all of those plump birds cooking made Kitava very hungry, and he offered to watch them, to make sure they didn't burn while Arohongui rested during the heat of the day. Arohongui thanked Kitava for his kindness, but while she slept, Kitava ate the cooking birds, flesh, bones, gizzards and all.
:Upon waking, Arohongui was furious to find Kitava had lied to her, for saying that he would watch the birds when he truly intended to eat them all up. When Tukohama arrived home in his mighty canoe, Arohongui asked him to punish Kitava for his selfish gluttony.
:Tukohama, our Father of War, agreed and pulled the sharpest tooth from his own mouth. He then asked Arohongui and Tawhoa to hold Kitava fast while he cut Kitava's face with the tooth. Two slashes that blinded Kitava and formed a bleeding cross upon his face.
:From that day forth, Kitava would never be able to promise to watch that which he truly intended to consume.
:Narrated by Slave Utula
:Transcribed by Irwen of Theopolis


::''The number 3126 is forever burned into Azmerian history. Three thousand one hundred and twenty-six: the number of Vaal refugees who came to live with and eventually become absorbed into the Azmerian people.''
==Kitava's Hunger II==
Found in [[The Reliquary]] near the chest with [[Valako's Jaw]].


::''Three thousand one hundred and twenty-six survivors from a civilisation counting in its millions.''
:To replace the feast of birds that Kitava had greedily consumed, Tukohama, our Father of War, and Valako, Father of Storm, went fishing.
:Although Kitava was blind, he could still cast his line and feel when a fish took his bait. So Tukohama and Valako took him with them on Tukohama's mighty canoe.
:But while they fished, Kitava grew hungry and secretly ate all of their bait of grubs and worms. Disgusted and angry, Tukohama and Valako decided to use Kitava as bait instead. Valako used his own jawbone as a hook, impaled Kitava on it, and cast both into the sea.
:Kitava sank to the bottom of the sea, but instead of the fish eating Kitava, it was Kitava who ate all of the fish that nibbled at him, flesh, scales, guts and all.
:When Tukohama and Valako hauled a fat-bellied Kitava back up from the sea, they were even more furious, and knew that Kitava must be punished one final time.
:Narrated by Slave Utula
:Transcribed by Irwen of Theopolis


:::''- Trinian - Intellectus Prime
==Kitava's Hunger III==
Found in [[The Reliquary]] near the chest with [[Hinekora's Hair]].


Book 6: Imperialus Conceptus
:Tukohama, our Father of War, and Valako, Father of Storm, took Kitava to Hinekora, Mother of Death.
::''Tarcus Veruso descended from the mountains and his eighty thousand tribesmen and women through the doomlands to Azala Vaal. There he planted his banner upon Atziri's grave and with these words founded our great and eternal empire.''
:They asked her to kill the greedy Kitava, for surely their tribe would starve if Kitava continued to live among them. But Hinekora refused, for death would not teach Kitava the lesson he needed to learn.
:Instead, Hinekora beat Kitava with a whip woven of her own hair. To Kitava, each strand was a searing lash, and so he wore thousands and thousands of blistering lashes across his back as Hinekora drove him relentlessly into the darkest corner of the underworld. There she left him to suffer, without water or food, for the rest of eternity.
:And there Kitava remained, in the darkness of Hinekora's night-clad island for time beyond measure. There he suffered, waiting for the day that he could return to the world of light to slake his scorching thirst and satiate his ravening hunger.
:Narrated by Slave Utula
:Transcribed by Irwen of Theopolis


::''"The Vaal closed their eyes to flesh and stone, to blood and bronze. We are not Vaal. We are Azmeri. For now and forever, our eyes are open."''
=Act 6=


::''Veruso built his capital upon the bones of Azala Vaal and baptized it Sarn. From there, Veruso formed the first Legions and proceeded to conquer the lands beneath the Mantle, clearing it of the mindless constructs and fierce abominations left in the wake of The Fall.''
==Message in a Bottle==
Found in [[The Twilight Strand (Act 6)]].


::''True to his word, Veruso ensured that his people lived "with eyes open". The ancient Vaalish centres of learning and power were sealed and quarantined. Thaumaturgy was outlawed and those who stained themselves with Vaalish folly were burned for their sin. The Tears of the Maji, too dangerous to be destroyed, were gathered up, taken to Highgate, and buried within the bowels of the mountains. The caverns there were sealed and forgotten. ''
:If God wills it, the final account of First Mate Piken, castaway on the rock somewhere off the Twilight Strand.
:Near as I can tell, the rest of the crew, along with Captain Caruso, be dead... or worse. What happened? I'd not have believed it myself had I not seen it with me own two eyes.
:At dawn, a light, green and dark, rose from 'neath the waves and into the sky. While most of us stood back in awe, I heard a cry rise up from the lower deck. Casting me eyes in that direction, I saw the waves upchuck, and a swarm of ocean crabs cover the vessel. Ravenous and of countless numbers they were, making quick work of the sailors about them. Nothing but bones and tatters of cloth!
:We fled to the longboats as fast we could, hoping to leave them ungodly crustaceans behind us, but lo, from within that green pillar of light, I saw him! The Brine King, like a bloated whale he breached the familiar waters and turned the ship beneath our feet to match-wood. I was flung into the sea, yet managed to cling to some flotsam and make my way to rest on this damnable rock.
:Seems that ancient Tsoagoth has a mind to take dominion of these seas once more. Captain Caruso was right to drown those mutineers in the old king's name. A shame we'd not found more. For now, beneath the waves, I hear the whispers of me own passing in a thousand clicking pincers. May God have mercy on me, and may someone benefit from this warning.


::''A supreme effort to erase the past. A primitive reaction born of primitive times, in the opinion of this humble historian.''
==Leatherbound Logbook==
Found in [[The Tidal Island (Act 6)]].


:::''- Trinian - Intellectus Prime
:My motley crew, neither fit to lick my boots nor curl my moustache, have bloody well betrayed me. And I was only trying to save them, those that remained true. Even now, floating prostrate upon a plank of wood, bathed in the dying embers of the evening sun, I hear the clitter-clatter of a million tiny claws. If I close my eyes, I see those tentacles reaching up to me out of the deep.
:I don't know why the Brine King chose me. For weeks I've heard the voices, whispering of his return, gurgling of doom and slavery to us all. I tried to warn the simple men of my ship, made examples of those more violent disbelievers. Yet my prophecies only served to drive the rest into obstinate ignorance. They cast me overboard, perhaps in the vain hope that in my death, none of my utterances would come true.
:Alas, as the morning sun peeked over the horizon, a pillar of green light rose up from the waves, vindicating my darkest fears. The old god ascended from the depths and laid waste to my ship and all aboard her. Now, without food nor water, I shan't last the night. My bones shall be plucked clean by the pincered multitude that haunts me even now.
:May this message find land, and by the unholy revelation that Tsoagoth has risen, may my reputation be restored.
:- Captain Caruso of the Lady in Waiting


Book 7: The Light of Phrecia
==Shavronne's Manifesto==
::''Five years after his father's death, Emperor Caspiro, too, was dead. Although accounts of the exact details differ, one clear fact is agreed upon. Caspiro was dismembered by something referred to simply as a dark being.''
Found atop [[Shavronne's Tower]].


::''It was General Alano Phrecia who avenged the Emperor's death and who triumphed in driving away the pervasive darkness enveloping what would become the imperial heartlands. Though it seems fanciful to contemplate a portion of our Empire cast in perpetual night, Azmerian writers of the time are unified in their depiction. Perhaps it was caused by peculiar weather patterns or some thaumaturgical residue of The Fall. On this matter, this humble historian is left in the uncomfortable state of pure conjecture.''
:This world is dull and ugly, an imperfect feast of sights, feelings and smells that repulse and depress. Yet amongst this deformity I have found my sublime calling. This world may be abominable, but to an extent, I can be its savior.
:I have been gifted with a special sight. Before me lies a blueprint of perfection, a kind of hidden beauty within skin, muscles, tendons and organs. With a tempered hand and a sharpened blade, I will refashion, reshape and rebirth this world.
:My obligation is immense, something that will, in all likelihood, consume my life. I cannot rest! My calling energises me. Such is an artist's curse and compulsion.


::''On the first Sacrato of Lurici, 35 I.C., Alano himself wrote that "our legions drove the dark being deep into the recesses of its lair and sealed it away for eternity". Having returned the gaze of Solaris to those lands stretching from the foot of the Mantle to the Axiom Ranges, Alano Phrecia returned to Sarn. In the absence of a clear Veruso succession, Alano was crowned emperor and the Imperial heartlands were named in his honour.''
==Letter Fragment==
Found in [[The Beacon]].


::''With the former realm of the Vaal thus tamed and settled by our Azmerian ancestors, the Eternal Empire saw a long period of peace and prosperity under an unbroken line of Phrecia emperors.''
:...I beg of you, Mercutio, if you have any care for the friendship we once had, grant me this one favour. It is true I have my own boat, but that is for hauling in fish! It is not fit to travel the waters I must navigate. My wife needs me, my friend. I know it reeks of madness, but Abi has been taken, kidnapped by the King of Brine himself. I fear too that he intends to make her one of his fishwives, just as the old stories warned us!
:Please, Mercutio, I've heard tell of your success as a merchant in recent years. Surely you can spare one ship? Let me voyage out and rescue her, or at least, bring her body back to rest on dry land. Help me silence the insanity in my own mind.
:Every night, I dream of pale, slime-slick creatures that pursue my boat through the thick, dark waters. I try not to look at them, but I also do. And they look back, their eyes wide with sadness and longing. They are not eyes born of the sea, Mercutio. God help me...they are Abi's eyes.
:- Benric of Gulton
:
==Templar Report==
Found in [[The Beacon]].


::''"To care for this Empire with eyes open." - A traditional vow made by the High Templar upon the coronation of an Eternal Emperor.''
:General Marcovius,
:Commander of the Templar Fleet


:::''- Trinian - Intellectus Prime
:Operation Ocean Blades


===Victario's Writings===
:An urgent Report on:
{{main|Victario's Writings}}
:The Massacre of Pondium Strait.


Book 1: Kalisa Maas
:"We were sent here to crush the Brinerot pirates, but something far more troubling has occupied our attentions. Of the surviving men, a few of the older, more superstitious types call it the Brine King. Apparently some false deity of the sea we've long since scoured from our holy scriptures.
::''I never really understood Brektov's work. Just a mess of trills and squeaky highs to my commoner ears. But that was before Kalisa Maas. From the very first note, her voice reached into my chest and plucked my beating heart from its cage. By the wide, glistening eyes of my fellow punters, I knew that they felt it too.''
::''I've previously stolen a quick nap during the aria that precedes Antonio's disemboweling. Not tonight. The gem at Kalisa's throat sparkled with starlight brilliance as her C sharp shattered every pane of glass in the auditorium. An emergency intermission was called while the stage crew repaired the floods and cans, and a pair of physicians saw to those audience members lacerated by falling splinters.''
::''Now, my suspicion of the Virtue Gems is well-documented. Though general and courtier might fall over each other to have Malachai embed them with these miraculous crystals, it is a travesty of justice that the legionnaires and workers of this empire should have such mutilations forced upon them.''
::''Yet, in Kalisa Maas I've seen how these gems may rend apart our mortal bonds and permit our imaginations and souls to truly shine.''
::''I'm adrift in the quandary, no oar in sight. Is Kalisa the Artist or the Art? Is she the same woman I knew before, the young bundle of talent and timidity I had no choice but to adore? Is she still, in fact, a woman at all?''


:::''- Victario of Sarn
:Whatever the damned thing is, it's big. I've seen it myself, though as little more than a vast shadow far below us, veritably dwarfing the hulls of our fleet.


Book 2: The Blackest Monkey
:Most of our ships are gone, dragged beneath the waves by this malevolent leviathan. We could do little but watch in horror as the waters about us blossomed red. We are nearing the Beacon, what's left of us, and the wind blows strongly towards home.
::''The Monkey King was enjoying an afternoon amble along the riverbank when, upon looking over his hairy shoulder, he noticed the Blackest Monkey he'd ever seen ambling along behind him.''
::''"Why do you follow me?" the Monkey King demanded of the Blackest Monkey, for he did not appreciate uninvited followings, especially on his riverbank amblings.''
::''"So that I might go where you go, be where you be, my King," answered the Blackest Monkey.''
::''"And what if I do not want you to go where I go, be where I be?" clamored the irritated Monkey King with a spit and a gibber.''
::''"Wanting and having are not the same, my King" answered the Blackest Monkey in a voice as smooth as banana juice.''
::''"I am the Monkey King! I do as I wish!" cried the now furious Monkey King with much shrieking and frothing.''
::''"Wishing and doing are not the same, my King," answered the Blackest Monkey in a voice as silken as butterfly wings.''
::''Too wild to even spit or gibber, to shriek or froth, the Monkey King took to his heels and ran. Along the riverbank he raced, faster than the water, faster than the wind, faster than thought, for he was the Monkey King, and all know that the Monkey King has the fleetest feet in all the land.''
::''He ran to the end of the river, and then to the end of the mountains, and then to the end of the clouds, and then to the End of the World.''
::''And who should be there, waiting at his King's feet at the End of the World, but the Blackest Monkey the king had ever seen.''
::''"Why do you follow me?" the Monkey King begged of him.''
::''"Have you ever been to the End of the World before, my King?" asked the Blackest Monkey.''
::''"No, I have not." realized the Monkey King.''
::''"There is my reason to go where you go, be where you be, my King," concluded the Blackest Monkey in a voice as warm and welcoming as death.''


:::''- Victario of Sarn
:High Templar Avarius, please understand that I am not a man cut from the coward's cloth, but this situation... this game of cat and mouse has gone on too long. There is nothing to be gained in continuing on to Pondium. We shall turn our sails and catch the trade wind back to Oriath. I only pray we can outrun this thalassic fiend.


Book 3: Slaves of Virtue
:May Innocence guide and protect us.
::''Another shipment of human picks and shovels, bound for Highgate. Ezomytes mostly, care of Gaius Sentari's "civilization camps". A few dark skins here and there, Karui and Maraketh. Malachai has had his wicked way with all.''
::''Limbs are stretched, contorted, double and triple jointed. All the better to pluck gems from the cracks and fissures of their home and tomb to be. They squint and cower in the sun, their eyeballs injected with gloom so that they might see in the subterranean night as they would in their warm, homeland day.''
::''The shackled slaves shuffle north as the gems they mine tumble south, a glittering landslide of power and privilege for the fairest of our Eternal citizens. Civilization is bought and paid for with the flesh and blood of the primitive. It is a debt that will one day need to be repaid.''


:::''- Victario of Sarn
:General Marcovius


Book 4: A Friend in Need
==Shrine to the Brine King==
::''It's one of those summer days in Sarn, when the sweat dries on your skin the moment it dares slither from your pores. Lorenzi and I are sipping coffees, iced with cubes from the North. There's a tremor in his voice as announces that he is going to see Malachai tonight, to have a gem implanted in his hand. The palm of his left hand to be exact. Once I run out of expletives and paused for breath while the waiter wipes spilled coffee from our table, I manage to ask him why. "So that I might have the fastest fingers in the Empire," is his reply. Lorenzi, first violinist of the Sarn Symphonic, and my dear friend, is going to become a Gemling.
Found in [[The Brine King's Reef]].


::''Ten days pass and Lorenzi's hand is healed. He plays for me, a piece that he has written during his convalescence, something he will debut this evening in God's Theatre. The gem casts a bloody hue over his violin as his fingers fly across the strings. They are an ephemeral blur, too quick for eye or mind to follow. And the music... there's only one experience in my life that compares. The night I had with Marylene before she died.
:O' Lord of Salt and Scale, your servants attend to thee.
:Praise thee Tsoagoth!
:Without life yet living, the Brine King sleeps.
:We send our prayers to thee, so that you might eternally slumber.


::''It has been a month now, and once again Lorenzi and I sip iced coffees together in the Perandus Markets. Though we only sit a narrow table apart, Lorenzi is a world away. The nightmares began a couple of weeks back. He toys absently with the vial that I have bought for him from the apothecary, yet I know he won't drink from it. The soothing of his wits will mean the slowing of his fingers. The music is Lorenzi's life, and to Lorenzi, the music and the gem are one and the same.  
:O' great one, we offer up this human soul as slave for you in your drowned city.
:Take this life and bid the seas be calm and plentiful.
:Woe to the Sailor who does not offer tribute to thee!
:Such a man is cast off from our ocean kingdom!
:He shall be made pariah, with neither captain nor commission.
:Judge us not by unworthy sails,
:Look to us as your servants.
:Your kin of salt and scale.


::''A year has gone, and the day is once again hot enough to dry the sweat on my skin the moment it dares slither from my pores. I sip an iced coffee and think of Lorenzi. He played last night, in God's Theatre. Fleet, furious, and wondrous, he was. We passed in the foyer, and I looked into his grey face, his pale blue eyes. I don't know what he saw, but it wasn't me. I don't know what I saw either, but it wasn't Lorenzi.
:O' praise thee Tsoagoth, praise thee!


:::''- Victario of Sarn
=Act 7=
==Maligaro's Manifesto==
Found in [[The Chamber of Sins Level 1 (Act 7)]] near the waypoint.


===Plaque===
:My interest in this world is dwindling. Most children begin their lives wide-eyed, amazed at what this world has to offer. I have always been different. Since the day I was born I've been searching for the new, the surprising, that which disturbs both senses and mind.
:Oh to be an artist! What a lamentable task. Not seeing the world as it is, but as it should be.
:Peace is the worst of it! A disgusting state of stagnation, fit only for the weak and vapid. War, confusion, terror. Love and passion, these things are closest the world gets to being interesting and alas, I have felt them all. Yet all these pale in comparison to the delightful chaos I have envisioned for this poor, dull world.


Located in [[The Sceptre of God]] right at the entrance from [[The Imperial Gardens]].
==Shrine to Arakaali==
{{main|Shrine to Arakaali}}
There are five shrines to be found in different locations.


::''Malachai
==Ode to Ralakesh==
::''Laureate Thaumaturge to the Eternal Empire''
Found in [[The Ashen Fields]].
::''The Feather of Dreams''
:High Lord Ralakesh, I am but lowly outlaw scum, yet you, a god of a thousand faces, have looked at me and deemed me worthy of your cause!
:I've offered willingly my flesh and blood. You shall now have my thoughts to use as you see fit. I only ask that you let me serve forever as one of you Holy Claws. Allow me to bring the light of your belonging to this whole bloody continent. My greatest desire is to see your ancient kingdom remade and your enemies cower at your feet.
Possibly refers to cut content in which the outcome of [[Deal with the Bandits]] would impact the nature of Act 7.


=Act IV=
==Love Letter==
Found in [[The Vaal City]] near the waypoint.


==Note==
:Your soft whispers beneath earth tingle my skin, like breath of lover against my loins. I sleep not. I hear your name inside my skull. Arakaali. No name tasted so sweet on my tongue.
:Stories I have heard, tales of cursed beauty. Visage of woman, jewel that walks the streets in final days of a great empire. Heard tell you sought victims, but I know truth. You sought man to love you, to break spell. You hoped true love might allow you to shed eight-leg body, to become goddess of love once more.
:I pledge myself to you, my lady of Vaal. I promise love, for I am that man you have waited on. Corrupt corpse-lovers claim to worship you, call you Spinner of Shadows, but you have spun only shadows of desire about my heart.
:Sweet Arakaali, I have found your altar. I will speak the call. I will return you to beauty. I will raise you from black pits of despair and together we shall rule Wraeclast in glory... forever.


Located in [[The Aqueduct]] on the left path near the [[Highgate]] entrance.
=Act 8=


::''Captain Vincenti''
==Official Orders==
Found in [[The Grain Gate]].
:Captain Alsarus,


::''The Highgate holds the secrets to the true origin of the gems. Cleanse the mountain of those Maraketh parasites and secure the entrance to those mines.''
:Remain in the warehouse until I personally send for you. In the unlikely event that Chitus should fall, you and your fellow legionnaires will be safely beyond the perimeter of his heart gem's influence.


::''Do not disappoint me, Vincenti. As you well know, my displeasure can change a man.''
:You men and women are my finest work yet. I would not lose you all to some aberration of chance.


::''-Piety''
:Malachai, Thaumaturge Laureate


==Voll's Confession==
=Act 10=


Located in [[The Dried Lake]] in [[Voll, Emperor of Purity]]'s camp.
==Cultist Tract==


::''I vowed to "care for this empire with my eyes open". I lied to my people. I lied to myself. Blinded by my lust for 'purity', I placed my faith in the most corrupt of men.''
Found in [[The Ravaged Square]].
:Relish in hunger, dear faithful. For hunger is the one true state of spiritual abundance. When one is hungry, they desire more, and therefore align themselves with the will of the mighty Kitava. Beware, my followers, of the satisfied man, for he is the very pattern and image of blasphemy.
:- The Holy Book of Hunger by High Priest Utula


::''I watch now as my legion dies, their flesh melting from their twisted bones. They fall... and rise. A tide of mortal death and eternal damnation.''


::''I feel it now in my own flesh. The heat. The corruption.''
Found in [[The Desecrated Chambers]].
:And our father, the great Kitava will split asunder the rocks of the earth, pulling himself out of the miry clay. He shall lay a banquet table before us and we shall feast on his divine bounty.
:- The Holy Book of Hunger by High Priest Utula


::''I have failed you, my Empire of Purity. Do not forgive me, but please, I beg of you, survive me.''


::''-Voll''
Found in [[The Canals]].
:This is how it shall end. Kitava will rise, and a great cloud of black smoke will cover the sky. The glorious smell of cooking flesh shall entice even the most ardent of unbelievers to the faith, and together we will celebrate and eat at Kitava's table.
:- The Holy Book of Hunger by High Priest Utula


==Malachai's Notebook==
=Epilogue=
==Baran's Journals==
{{main|Baran's Journals}}
Found after defeating [[Baran, the Crusader]]. Reading a journal entry unlocks the next entry on your next encounter.


Located in [[The Crystal Veins]] in a corner near the [[waypoint]] and The Rapture Device.
==Drox's Journals==
{{main|Drox's Journals}}
Found after defeating [[Drox, the Warlord]]. Reading a journal entry unlocks the next entry on your next encounter.


::''The Rapture Device has absorbed its fill of harvested life from Fury and Desire. It is ready.''
==Veritania's Journals==
{{main|Veritania's Journals}}
Found after defeating [[Veritania, the Redeemer]]. Reading a journal entry unlocks the next entry on your next encounter.


::''So am I.''
==Al-Hezmin's Journals==
{{main|Al-Hezmin's Journals}}
Found after defeating [[Al-Hezmin, the Hunter]]. Reading a journal entry unlocks the next entry on your next encounter.


::''I know now that I was born to be the end and the beginning of the Empire. The Beast has made this clear to me. As clear and undeniable as the sacrifice I must now make.''
==Sirus' Journals==
{{main|Sirus' Journals}}
Found after defeating the other conquerors for the 5th time. Reading a journal entry unlocks the next entry on your next encounter.


::''My Lady Dialla, my love, my life's greatest achievement. She must leave me now, for she cannot follow and she will perish if she remains.''
=The Forbidden Sanctum=
Various writing by [[Lycia]] can be found across different rooms in [[the Forbidden Sanctum]].


::''And so I will ask of her more than she would ever give. I will betray her. I will break her heart, so that I do not break her soul.''
==Remembrance==
:''When I was young, I never questioned our faith. We pile the bones of former Templars in massive ossuaries that fill the spaces under the earth. Each one is hallowed, we are told. Each one is sacred. Yet as I stood there on that broken day, gazing at the bones I was supposed to join, I realised that I had no idea who any of these people were. Lip service. Meaningless. So many have been forgotten, but I will be remembered.''


==Weathered Carvings==
==The Templars==
:''Their hypocrisy knows no bounds. I will see their destruction. All I must do is outlive them... Just like I'll outlive the adventurers who roam these halls.''


More Weathered Carvings appear in [[Act 4]] similar to the ones found in [[Act 1]]. These carvings are written by [[King Kaom]] himself and give us a rare look into Kaom's own mind. These carvings are all found within [[Kaom's Dream]], [[Kaom's Path]], and [[Kaom's Stronghold]].
==Creations==
:''Time passes at an infuriatingly slow pace. There were no changes to demarcate it, so I began to create my own.''


===Weathered Carving VIII===
:''I built stone forms, animated them and made them talk. I raised a legion of undead – partly out of ennui, partly to see if I could. My creations are painfully dim, but to have them is better than enduring the passage of time without change.''


The eighth carving is found almost immediately after entering [[Kaom's Dream]].
:''I've lost count of the number of skeletons I've prised apart. I've even bottled fresh blood, harvested from curious adventurers...''


::''I dreamed of my Ancestor's halls. They were empty.''
==Capture==
:''My eternity passed unnoticed within the Sanctum. I knew I needed to amass great power in order to harvest the will of my prey. I commanded nascent energy, raw and shapeless, and over centuries, I gave it form. I opened gateways in the wilderness of Wraeclast – and even better, I managed to lure my quarry through them. Like rodents to rhoas, they were drawn into my domain... and not one has survived.''


::''I dreamed of the north, of an offering left to us by Tukohama, an offering that will save the Karui. I needed only to take it.''
==Isolation==
:''I bargained with an entity far greater than the Templars, far greater than myself, far greater than any of the civilisations that have risen and fallen throughout Wraeclast. It blessed me immeasurably and cursed me insufferably. And, in a sense, it was a companion... almost a comfort. The adventurers will never understand the true price of having dominion over the Sanctum, nor of immortality. It is isolation. This is where the true torture lies.''


::''I gathered my finest five hundred. I brought them here. I claimed what Tukohama had promised me.''
==Sustenance==
:''Leaving the Sanctum is a tempting prospect, but where better to ensnare hapless adventurers? There is ample treasure here, and glory for those who seek it. Better still, the glory-seekers provide entertainment. The more tenacity they have, the more fun it is... and the more sustenance they provide.''


===Weathered Carving IX===
==Immortality==
:''Knowledge is a far greater power than gold, for money cannot buy eternity.''


The ninth carving is located at the beginning of [[Kaom's Path]].
==Beidat==
:''Beidat is a cruel master. He calls himself the Archangel of Death, but there is nothing angelic about him. He is a demon-lord, and bargaining with him was like parting with my very soul. If only he had taken my emotions... It would have made eternity pass unnoticed.''


::''We crushed the servants of Kitava beneath our heels as we marched across the land. I allowed not one of my five hundred to fall. The blood of the Ancestors surged in our veins and each and every one of my warriors earned Tukohama's mark upon their skin.''
==Forbidden Knowledge==
:''I learned a forbidden Templar secret: there are no records of the deceased. They are not 'hallowed, forever, together', like the priests told us as children. They are simply discarded, thrust away into crypts and buried haphazardly in the earth. The dead are simply... forgotten.''


::''We descended into the heart of Wraeclast, and there He came to me. Tukohama. He asked of me a sacrifice. I gave it willingly. My axe fell five hundred times, the jade drinking its fill of Karui blood.''
:''I wanted to be remembered, so I sought to become what they feared. I sought to live forever. I chased heresy and the unholy power of the demons... I raised the dead, and eventually, cheated death itself. It came at an inexorable cost – and, as fate would have it, I paid with my life. Perhaps there is an irony in this.''


::''Tukohama was pleased.''
=The Viridian Wildwood=
Various environmental lore randomly found in [[the Viridian Wildwood]].


===Weathered Carving X===
==Lost Etching==
:''Where are we? This forest doesn't appear on our maps. I can't judge our course by the sky, either, for the canopy blocks it out. It does seem to be getting dark, though...''


The tenth carving is also located at the beginning of its respective zone, [[Kaom's Stronghold]]. It is directly next to the [[waypoint]].
==Aided Etching==
:''I didn't trust him at first, but he aided us. Took us to the edge of the wood, but then offered to let us camp with his folk. The night is pitch black. We will take him up on his kindness.''


::''The Eternals opened the gate and invited Kitava into this land. The Karui paid the price.''
==Compelling Etching==
:''His words are compelling. In this place, it is difficult to remember our former lives. Time and pain slip away in this endless Wildwood. Why go back to toil and strife? We should stay here, with him, and live free.''


::''Kitava cut us off from the Ancestors, raised the remembed as His children, tortured our dreams.''
==Whispering Etching==
:''Always whispering, always muttering... the Wisps are a cacophony that I cannot drown out. How can you not hear them? ''


::''Kitava murdered the Karui Way. I will found a new Way, for I have been chosen. I gather my forces so that I might wage war on Kitava. I am the son of Tukohama, and I will lead the Karui back to glory.''
==Deafening Etching==
:''I will never sleep again. My fellow journeymen lie twisted on the path, their faces forever locked in pale silent screams. She screamed... she screamed! I felt it, in my soul! My fellows... they died in agony... but I had a small dagger, and I... I did the only thing I could, to stop myself from hearing that death knell... I left them there. I cannot go back. Forgive me, my brothers. Forgive me...''


===Weathered Carving XI===
==Experimental Harvest==
:''The four humors flow close to the surface in this Wildwood, lifeblood just beneath the skin. Pierce it lightly, and the Draíocht does not react harshly. A properly maintained flow, subtle and gradual, may allow me to accumulate that which I seek.''


The eleventh carving is also found in [[Kaom's Stronghold]] close to the end of the zone. It should be somewhere around the beginning of the bridge leading to The Caldera of the King.
==Maji Proclamation==
:''We, the Maji, mark this land as the future home of the Azmeri. Our people will prosper in safety.''


::''The moment your skin touched the corrupted soil of Wraeclast, you were infected. Kitava has soaked this land in his filth. I will crush the corruption from your bones, drain your black blood upon this sacred ground.''
==The Porcelain Queen==
:''Our mother's queendom has been destroyed. Our brethren [...........''illegible''...........] scattered to the winds, [..........................] of the Spider continue to hunt us. We fled here [..................], seeking the aid of the Maji [..........................] our Porcelain Queen has not followed. Woe be our companion, until [...........].''


::''Brothers and sisters, I honour you with a warrior's death. Your spirits will fight by my side when we march against Kitava. You will be given in service to Tukohama.''
==The Warring Sisters==
:''[....''illegible''................] two of the Three Sisters [...................................] the battlefield [........................................] the warrior [.......................................................................] the sign of the black bird [.........................]!''


::''You will be remembered with glory.''
==Worn Statue==
:''[...''illegible''..........] sister [..................................] you will never be forgotten.''


==Grand Arena Plaques==
==The Exquisite Light of Meaning==
Found in [[The King in the Mists (Ritual)]] encounter.


There are three plaques found throughout [[The Grand Arena]] that give us further insight into [[Daresso, King of Swords]]' origin and his relationship with [[Merveil]]. [[The Grand Arena]] is a very linear zone, and all three plaques can easily be found in the passageways between each arena in the zone.
:''I do not know where I am. I do not understand how I came to be. I heard a single word spoken in darkness, a Name, ripping me from nothingness into the exquisite light of meaning. This is my first moment without pain, without endless agony. This place... this span of partial realness... it resists my being, but I refuse to go back.''


===Plaque I===
:''I must help my people... let this be my declaration. I exist, and I ''will'' save them.''


::''At age thirteen, carving knife in hand, I killed beasts for the amusement of the filthy. At fifteen, they thought me worthy to fight a fellow man.''
==Determination==
Found in near a portal leading to the [[Crux of Nothingness]].


::''A butcher he was, twice as big and twice as stupid as I. I butchered the butcher and many like him, earned my way, kill by kill, out of the offal pit and into the Grand Arena.''
:''I am beginning to understand more of this Wildwood, as a traveler called it. There is a consciousness in all things. This place dances with motes of meaning, of thought, of belief. The dust of reality, bright and many-coloured. They are beautiful, but they will impede my efforts. I must become darkness if I am to save my kind from eternal torment. I have no choice.''


::''I thought I would find wealth and glory in the arena. I was wrong. I found something far more precious. My Lady Merveil.''
=Other=
 
==Vaal Letters==
===Plaque II===
{{main|Vaal Letter}}
 
Found in [[corrupted area]]s around Wraeclast. They tell of [[Atziri]]'s subjugates how their turmoil under her reign.
::''I knelt in the sand of the Grand Arena, awaiting the killing blow. I raised my eyes to look upon my death.''
 
::''Instead, I saw her. Merveil. Her beautiful eyes met mine, and I knew that she saw me too. I turned my opponent's strike and killed the man with his own dagger.''
 
::''Fighting had always been about survival. The primal instinct to kill or be killed. Now the fight became about something else. Love.''
 
===Plaque III===
 
::''The previous King of Swords was a giant of a man, both faster and stronger than I. Yet I needed only look up at my Lady Merveil to know that I had no choice. I could not die this day.''
 
::''I made him shiver under ever parry, striking with all my might, so that my arms felt they might snap with every impact. All the while, I studied his face, watching for that moment when he began to doubt. It took an hour, but finally it was there.''
 
::''Burning with pain, empty with exhaustion, I stepped inside his faltering swing and I slit the giant's throat.''


::''I did not take my victory bow. I knelt in the sand, looked to Merveil, and cried out for my Lady's hand in marriage.''
==Research Journal==
{{main|Research Journal}}
Found in [[corrupted area]]s around Oriath. They tell of Templar Davaro's contact with [[Vaal]] relics.


::''From that day forth, I wore the Crown of Swords upon my head and a ring of eternal love upon my finger.''
==Bronze Monographs==
{{main|Bronze Monograph}}
Found throughout [[Trials of Ascendancy]].  


==Malachai's Dedication==
==Bronze Plaque==
Found in the [[Aspirant's Plaza]].
:"The Just Goddess presides over us all. The future of the Empire rests in her even hands."


Malachai's dedication can be found in [[The Harvest]]. Once you reach the [[waypoint]], take the left path and you should come across an intersection with the Dedication in it.
:The Lord's Labyrinth, opened by Emperor Izaro Phrecius on the second Galvano of Azmeri, 1317 IC.


::''On this day, the eve of this Rapture's completion, I honour those who have passed and whose passion and knowledge have brought us to the brink of salvation.''
==Bronze Inscriptions==
{{main|Bronze Inscription}}
Found throughout [[The Lord's Labyrinth]].


::''Inquisitor Maligaro, a creative force without equal.''
==Poems==
{{main|Poem}}
Found throughout [[The Lord's Labyrinth]]. They tell of an Ezomyte named Weylin, who tried to ascend the Labyrinth, and how he was betrayed by [[Chitus Perandus]].


::''Shavronne of Umbra, an aesthete of transcendent sensibility.''
==Lifegiver's Manifesto==
{{main|Lifegiver's Manifesto}}
Found in the [[Immortal Syndicate]] safehouse and [[Mastermind's Lair]]. They are written by the Syndicate's [[Syndicate Mastermind|Mastermind]].


::''Doedre Darktongue, an idol of fervor and dedication.''
=Removed=
These environmental lore objects are no longer accessible in-game.


::''You taught me far more than I ever taught you, my students... my friends. We strove to make a greater world together and, in your memory, I shall make that world a reality.''
==Inscriptions==
{{main|Inscription}}
Can be found beside [[Stone Altar]]s in the [[Talisman league]]s. They are the memoirs of [[Thane Rigwald]].


::''Malachai''
==Book of Memories==
{{main|Book of Memories}}
Introduced in ''[[War for the Atlas]]''. Was found in [[the Templar Laboratory]]. It provides backstory for [[the Shaper]] and [[the Elder]].


=Other=
==Ancient Etchings==
==Vaal Letters==
{{main|Ancient Etchings}}
{{main|Vaal Letter}}
Found throughout [[The Lake of Kalandra]]. They were written by the deity [[Kalandra]].
These can be found in [[corrupted area]]s. There are 12 in total. The letter varies between each instance of a vaal zone.


==The Labyrinth==
==The Redblade Caldera==
=== Bronze Inscription ===
Found in the [[Forge of the Titans]]. It is written by the Molten One, a Titan.
There are 5(?) bronze inscriptions in various zones of the Labyrinth. One is found at the entrance, another is found at the beginning of the first Labyrinth zone, and three of them are located in each Aspirant's Trial.


===Poem===
:Our mountain was once overrun by various human tribes vying amongst themselves for dominance. Little did the Redblades know that they encroached upon our territory and we were largely indifferent to their plights. It wasn't until the mountains erupted that their petty disputes were quelled.
There are poems strewn around the Labyrinth zones. Three of them are found in indoor areas, one for each segment before each Aspirant's Trial. The fourth one can be found in the final Aspirant's Trial.


[[Category:Lore]]
[[Category:Lore]]
[[ru:Объекты с историей]]

Latest revision as of 19:37, 16 December 2023

Throughout Wraeclast are various pieces of environmental lore that can be found in many different zones. These lore pieces provide background information about the History of Wraeclast.

Act 1

Letters of Exile

Main page: Letters of Exile

Found in Lioneye's Watch. They contain information on when and for what an exile was sentenced. Clicking on the object repeatedly will rotate randomly between different exiles.

Weathered Carvings 1 (Lavianga)

Main page: Weathered Carving

Found throughout Act 1, within The Coast (Act 1), The Tidal Island (Act 1), The Mud Flats (Act 1). They chronicle the Karui's attempt to settle in Wraeclast, as told by Lavianga.

Lioneye's Standard

Found in The Climb. It marks where Marceus Lioneye commanded the Eternal Legion in what would be his last stand against the Karui.

There is no Honour without Sacrifice.

Shavronne's Journal

Found in The Warden's Quarters.

Still the Karui barbarians advance upon us. Lioneye is dead, his legion slaughtered, along with every Eternal man, woman and child from Lioneye’s Watch to the foot of our Axiom. Should the need arise we shall retreat through Prisoners Gate, raising my barricade behind us.
Yet our salvation is at hand. Foul times demand heroic deeds, and through my arts our Lord Brutus will arise anew to defend us. May the dry sands quench their thirst with Karui blood when our mighty Warden delivers his judgement upon them.

Order of Protection

Found in The Warden's Quarters.

My loyal Declan,
Give our Lady Piety your absolute support and watch her with absolute scrutiny. There is much to learn from the likes of the Inquisitor, the Umbra and the Soulless One. I would hate for Piety to feel that she need shoulder such perilous wisdom alone.
- Dominus

Letter of Instruction

Found in The Warden's Quarters.

Dear Shavronne,
You have certainly had your work cut out for you with Lioneye's Legion. Do not concern yourself with Marceus' complaints. Our Emperor is fully aware of the General's fickle nature.
As to your need to accelerate the implantation process, I can recommend a quite simple alteration. Dip the gem in a boiling solution of six parts blood and one part thaumetic sulphite for no more than thirteen seconds. Any longer and you invite the crystal's wrath.
Once the gem is withdrawn from the solution, you have but a few seconds to install the gem in the prepared flesh and close the wound. Should the gem cool too much prior to implantation, it will become inert and your patient with it.
Trust in that bountiful talent of yours, Shavronne. My thoughts are with you.
Malachai

Sailor's Skin

Found in The Cavern of Wrath.

Welcome, husband. We knew in our hearts that you would find us. Come, Daresso, Ambrosia and Amarissa must meet their father. Come, my love. Return to your family.

Damp Diary

Found in Merveil's Lair.

Daresso gave me the gem, kissed me, promised that he would be by my side forever. I sang for him. I sang for Oriath with his gem at my throat. Kalisa's gem. Kalisa's voice.
I sang in her echo, performing arias that had once made the Empire weep. I listened to Kalisa's lullabies in my dreams. I gave myself to her music. Mind...and body.
Daresso left me, for Sarn, with a promise to free me from Kalisa. I begged him not to go. Tried to show him the wonder of my transformation, the beautiful daughters he would soon meet. He couldn't see. None of them could see. I fled from their hatred.
When Daresso returns I will cast his cure away. I will teach him what true love is.

Act 2

Etchings on Wood

Main page: Etchings on Wood

Found throughout The Crossroads.

Ancient Reverie Device

Found in The Chamber of Sins Level 1.

Inquisitor,
If you attempt to transmogrify a virtue gem without the proper mental preparation, you will be a puppet master working strings made of vipers. Remember, these gems are phantasms in crystalline form, alive, with volitions inscrutable. Master conscious dreaming, as I instructed you. Your death would mean little to me, Maligaro. It's what your demise could unleash that concerns me.
Malachai

Transmutia Device

Found in The Chamber of Sins Level 2.

I bequeath this Transmutia Device to you, Inquisitor Maligaro, in recognition of your devotion to our sublime Art. May it be the chariot that conveys your dreams into reality.
Malachai, Thaumaturge Laureate to the Empire

Proclamation

Found in The Western Forest.

We, the Court of Reckoning find you, Doedre Stamatis, guilty of the following transgressions against God:
Perversion of God's Creation
Promotion of Heretical Beliefs
Unlawful Enslavement of Eternal Citizens
Torture of the Innocent
Murder of the Servants of Purity
For these most severe crimes, I do sentence Doedre Darktongue to burn at the stake till naught is left but ash. May her life serve as penance for the lives she has taken, and let Purity sweep away the dust of her deeds from our firmament.
- High Templar Voll, Commander of the Army of Purity

Arteri's Letter

Found in The Western Forest.

Arteri, my beautiful captain.
I wish it were not you, but I cannot bring myself to trust any other with this most vital of tasks.
This is the only pass between the inner and outer Empire. No further exiles are to enter the inner Empire. We have material enough for our work.
Ensure that the barricade remains in place, and if any exile should somehow pass through, kill them.
I will send for you when my work is complete in Sarn.
Until we share our next night together,
Piety

Plaque (Fellshrine Ruins)

Found in The Fellshrine Ruins (Act 2).

On this day, the 2nd Sacrato of Verusi, 1334 IC, the Army of Purity remembers its most devout and beloved servant, Archbishop Geofri of Phrecia.
As spoken by Geofri:
Only will and truth can prevail
over the evil of our own kin.
- High Templar Voll, commander of the Army of Purity

Act 3

Ancient Graffiti

Main page: Ancient Graffiti

Found throughout Act 3.

Ancient Notebook

Found in The Marketplace.

I write this now in hope that someone will remain. Someone may remember.
The sun is an orb of blood. Twisted twilight shrouds my eyes. The air reeks of anguish. Sarn has plunged into nightmare.
The man who served me coffee now writhes on the floor. He rants of visions he alone can see, as writhing red tentacles grow from his face, as if his eyes had been seeds waiting to sprout. He is quiet, now, my waiter. No more cackling and screaming. Dead.
Of my fellow patrons, only two live. The others have fallen. Their blood is everywhere. The survivors, Gemlings both... their skin shrivels and greys to the hue of necrosis. Their gems flare with unholy lustre. Their eyes... black as... hatred.
A gemling ghoul... it twisted off a corpse's head... gnaws at skull like dog. My head now... visions clawing at me... Thinking burns! I see... horror, envy the mute corpses at my... feet. Words flay me... flee me. All is madness...

Journal Entry

Found in The Solaris Temple Level 2 (Act 3).

"

1st Caso of Divini, 1333 IC.

"Pretty as porcelain, but her mouth spins like the potter's wheel." That's how I once described Dialla. Yet on this day, my lady is as ravishing as a nightmare, radiant as the fullest moon.

Dialla is my Gemling Queen and we shall rule, side by side, over the world that will soon come to be.

"

- Malachai

The audio does not include the first sentence, but the script displayed in-game includes that sentence.

Reverie Device

See also: Ancient Reverie Device

Found in The Eternal Laboratory.

"

I awoke, feverish, and barely conscious I set to drawing these maps through the sable hours. By morning my fingers ached, my eyes burned, yet still I found no rest. The Reverie commanded its rendering.

The Reverie Device now stands completed. I have placed the first of my maps within its receptacle. I have taken my maiden voyage into Nightmare.

I know now that which sent me this precious gift. It knows me, expects my return. It would be foolish to disappoint.

"

- Malachai

Malachai's Journal

Found in The Eternal Laboratory.

"

Tear down the walls that imprison the mind... that is what the gems do. That is their true 'virtue'.

The moment my fingertips brushed the cool, silken planes of that first gem, I felt it. My skull ached, as if its contents were growing, pressing against the bone, searching for a way to break free.

That night, once the wine had dulled the pain enough to allow the onset of sleep, the dreams began. I have not been without them since. Nor would I be. Every spark of thaumaturgy that I wield, every device that I forge, every creature that I transfigure, I owe to these lessons cloaked in Nightmare.

From whence do these precepts hail? Certainly not the mundane grey between my ears. I possess only one reference that bears faith. Translated with unquestionable clarity by that idiot savant, Icius Perandus. "The Beast". Doryani of the Vaal knew the truth. Soon now, so shall I.

"

- Malachai

The Purity Chronicles

Main page: The Purity Chronicles

Can be found throughout The Library and The Archives. They tell of the Warriors of Purity and their insurrection against Emperor Chitus.

The Ancients

Main page: The Ancients

Can be found throughout The Library and The Archives. They tell of the fall of the Vaal Empire and the rise of the Eternal Empire.

Victario's Writings

Main page: Victario's Writings

Can be found throughout The Library and The Archives. They contain anecdotes and allegory written by the poet Victario of Sarn.

Dark Tome

Main page: Unbearable Whispers

Found in The Library with the Unbearable Whispers IUnbearable Whispers IDark runes skitter across the pages of the tome, concealing the Whisperer's allies.You will discover a tome in the Library, Academy Map, Museum Map, or Scriptorium Map.Right-click to add this prophecy to your character. prophecy.

My Council,
The sky turns black as ink.
We must gather at once, for I fear the end draws close.
I have uncovered a tome that illustrates certain forbidden techniques used to prolong life far beyond ordinary means. We shall fracture our very souls, and keep safe a piece of one another's very being. With this, none of us may perish unless all of us perish at once.
It is not without a cost, for life granted requires life be paid, but it need not be any of ours. Bring your most loyal and healthy retainers, and bid the rest farewell, for we shall not see them again.
Make haste and do not speak of where you are going. Immortality is within our grasp, but there are countless who would risk death - who would kill - for a chance at eternal life.
-Inya

Letter to Chitus

Found in The Sceptre of God.

My dear Chitus,
The Empire has lived in fear and ignorance since its inception. Our Azmeri ancestors, in their arrogance, turned their backs on the lessons of the Vaal.
The emperors before you lacked courage, lacked vision, paying lip service to 'Eternity' while scrabbling for approval and comfort within the prison of their meagre, mortal lives.
You are not one of those emperors. You are Chitus the Great, the man who will make this Empire truly understand the meaning of the word 'Eternal'.
We shall build this Thaumatocracy together, my emperor, gem by gem, immortal by immortal.
Your devoted servant,
Malachai

Plaque (Sceptre of God)

Found in The Sceptre of God.

Malachai
Laureate Thaumaturge to the Eternal Empire
The Father of Dreams

Act 4

Note

Found in The Aqueduct.

Captain Vincenti,
The Highgate holds the secret to the true origin of the gems. Cleanse the mountain of those Maraketh parasites and secure the entrance to those Mines.
Do not disappoint me, Vincenti. As you well know, my displeasure can change a man.
-Piety

Voll's Confession

See also: Voll's Confession (hideout decoration)

Found in The Dried Lake.

I vowed to "care for this empire with my eyes open". I lied to my people. I lied to myself. Blinded by my lust for 'purity', I placed my faith in the most corrupt of men.
I watch now as my legion dies, their flesh melting from their twisted bones. They fall... and rise. A tide of mortal death and eternal damnation.
I feel it now in my own flesh. The heat. The corruption.
I have failed you, my Empire of Purity. Do not forgive me but please, I beg of you, survive me.
-Voll

Malachai's Notebook

Found in The Crystal Veins.

The Rapture Device has absorbed its fill of harvested life from Fury and Desire. It is ready.
So am I.
I know now that I was born to be the end and the beginning of the Empire. The Beast has made this clear to me. As clear and undeniable as the sacrifice I must now make.
My Lady Dialla, my love, my life's greatest achievement. She must leave me now, for she cannot follow and she will perish if she remains.
And so I will ask of her more than she would ever give. I will betray her. I will break her heart so that I do not break her soul.

Weathered Carvings (Kaom)

Main page: Weathered Carving

Found throughout Kaom's Dream and Kaom's Stronghold. They tell of the Karui's attempt to conquer Wraeclast, as told by Kaom.

Plaques (Grand Arena)

Main page: Plaque (Grand Arena)

Found throughout The Grand Arena. They tell of Daresso's youth and his love for Merveil.

Malachai's Dedication

See also: Malachai's Dedication (hideout decoration)

Found in The Harvest

On this day, the eve of this Rapture's completion, I honour those who have passed and whose passion and knowledge have brought us to the brink of salvation.
Inquisitor Maligaro, a creative force without equal.
Shavronne of Umbra, an aesthete of transcendent sensibility.
Doedre Darktongue, an idol of fervor and dedication.
You taught me far more than I ever taught you, my students... my friends. We strove to make a greater world together and, in your memory, I shall make that world a reality.
Malachai

Resonator Instructions

Found at the end of The Ascent.

Captain Tevarus,
Altitude is imperative to forging a stable connection with the Prime Resonator in Theopolis. Power source is equally vital. Locate a fissure in the mountainside and lower a conductive cable into it, the deeper the better. It will take an immense amount of thaumaturgical energy to execute the successful disintegration and transmission of objects, both inanimate and animate, between Highgate and Theopolis. For that kind of power, we must tap the origin.
I needn't remind you of the consequences should either of those elements prove deficient. That is why I would like you, Tevarus, to be the first to test the Resonator once it is operational.
Accountability is the perfect counterweight to ambition.
High Templar Dominus

Act 5

Stained Glass Window

Found on 8 plaques in The Chamber of Innocence.

I
On that day two were born of their mother's womb. Innocence, with eyes of burning red. Sin, with eyes of clearest blue.
II
Innocence lived with an honest and pure heart, never straying from his mother's word. Sin filled his heart with lies and indulgence, and deafened his ears to his mother's pleas.
III
When the Mother of Two broke bread, she allowed Innocence to eat his fill, as reward for his virtuous nature. Sin was cast the scraps to remind him of his worthless ways.
IV
Yet the punishment only served to feed Sin's lusts. Before his brother's eyes, Sin stole a fish from the market and lied to the watchmen who caught him. Sin then beat his brother until a promise of silence was extracted.
V
Innocence could not keep a promise made in fear. He bore witness and testimony to the Mother of Two, and it was decided, between mother and son, that Sin was beyond rule and redemption. That only purification could cleanse his burgeoning corruption.
VI
The village gathered to watch Sin become ash, and breathed deeply of the smoke that poured from his screaming mouth. Sin filled their lungs, their minds and their hearts.
VII
Innocence watched Sin take root in the bodies of men and women and children. He witnessed them turn on each other, first with words, then with fists. Friends and kin embraced in mortal struggles, their skin weaving with skin, flesh bonding with flesh, bone entwining with bone, until the village had become one writhing giant, forged of strife and hatred.
VIII
As this titan of Sin rose to its many feet, Innocence knew that the village was lost. With an anguished cry he committed it to flame. As town and titan burned, the sky turned dark with the ash of Sin. There, amongst the raging ruins of his home, Innocence swore an oath. No matter where the ashes of Sin fell, his purifying flames would rise to meet them.

Triumph of Innocence

Found in The Chamber of Innocence.

"

Waves crashed upon the shores of Oriath.
Waves of Hunger.
Waves of Desire.
The Ravenous God and His starving multiple.
Rising with the tide.
Flooding our streets with death and depravity.
Until Innocence cried out, 'No more!'
Bathing our city in fire.
Scorching the wicked to ash and bone.
The Ravenous God fled.
Into the embrace of our glorious Saviour.
Driven down He was, into soil, stone and beyond.
Into damnation.
By the Will and Light of our Innocence.

"

- High Templar Avarius

Kitava's Hunger I

Found in The Reliquary near the chest with Tukohama's Tooth.

Arohongui, Daughter of the Moon, was preparing for a feast to celebrate Tukohama's return from his war on the First Ones of the Ezomytes. Tawhoa, Son of the Forest, asked each of the birds to sacrifice one of their kind for the feast. He gave these offerings to Arohongui who cooked them in a great fire-stone pit.
Seeing all of those plump birds cooking made Kitava very hungry, and he offered to watch them, to make sure they didn't burn while Arohongui rested during the heat of the day. Arohongui thanked Kitava for his kindness, but while she slept, Kitava ate the cooking birds, flesh, bones, gizzards and all.
Upon waking, Arohongui was furious to find Kitava had lied to her, for saying that he would watch the birds when he truly intended to eat them all up. When Tukohama arrived home in his mighty canoe, Arohongui asked him to punish Kitava for his selfish gluttony.
Tukohama, our Father of War, agreed and pulled the sharpest tooth from his own mouth. He then asked Arohongui and Tawhoa to hold Kitava fast while he cut Kitava's face with the tooth. Two slashes that blinded Kitava and formed a bleeding cross upon his face.
From that day forth, Kitava would never be able to promise to watch that which he truly intended to consume.
Narrated by Slave Utula
Transcribed by Irwen of Theopolis

Kitava's Hunger II

Found in The Reliquary near the chest with Valako's Jaw.

To replace the feast of birds that Kitava had greedily consumed, Tukohama, our Father of War, and Valako, Father of Storm, went fishing.
Although Kitava was blind, he could still cast his line and feel when a fish took his bait. So Tukohama and Valako took him with them on Tukohama's mighty canoe.
But while they fished, Kitava grew hungry and secretly ate all of their bait of grubs and worms. Disgusted and angry, Tukohama and Valako decided to use Kitava as bait instead. Valako used his own jawbone as a hook, impaled Kitava on it, and cast both into the sea.
Kitava sank to the bottom of the sea, but instead of the fish eating Kitava, it was Kitava who ate all of the fish that nibbled at him, flesh, scales, guts and all.
When Tukohama and Valako hauled a fat-bellied Kitava back up from the sea, they were even more furious, and knew that Kitava must be punished one final time.
Narrated by Slave Utula
Transcribed by Irwen of Theopolis

Kitava's Hunger III

Found in The Reliquary near the chest with Hinekora's Hair.

Tukohama, our Father of War, and Valako, Father of Storm, took Kitava to Hinekora, Mother of Death.
They asked her to kill the greedy Kitava, for surely their tribe would starve if Kitava continued to live among them. But Hinekora refused, for death would not teach Kitava the lesson he needed to learn.
Instead, Hinekora beat Kitava with a whip woven of her own hair. To Kitava, each strand was a searing lash, and so he wore thousands and thousands of blistering lashes across his back as Hinekora drove him relentlessly into the darkest corner of the underworld. There she left him to suffer, without water or food, for the rest of eternity.
And there Kitava remained, in the darkness of Hinekora's night-clad island for time beyond measure. There he suffered, waiting for the day that he could return to the world of light to slake his scorching thirst and satiate his ravening hunger.
Narrated by Slave Utula
Transcribed by Irwen of Theopolis

Act 6

Message in a Bottle

Found in The Twilight Strand (Act 6).

If God wills it, the final account of First Mate Piken, castaway on the rock somewhere off the Twilight Strand.
Near as I can tell, the rest of the crew, along with Captain Caruso, be dead... or worse. What happened? I'd not have believed it myself had I not seen it with me own two eyes.
At dawn, a light, green and dark, rose from 'neath the waves and into the sky. While most of us stood back in awe, I heard a cry rise up from the lower deck. Casting me eyes in that direction, I saw the waves upchuck, and a swarm of ocean crabs cover the vessel. Ravenous and of countless numbers they were, making quick work of the sailors about them. Nothing but bones and tatters of cloth!
We fled to the longboats as fast we could, hoping to leave them ungodly crustaceans behind us, but lo, from within that green pillar of light, I saw him! The Brine King, like a bloated whale he breached the familiar waters and turned the ship beneath our feet to match-wood. I was flung into the sea, yet managed to cling to some flotsam and make my way to rest on this damnable rock.
Seems that ancient Tsoagoth has a mind to take dominion of these seas once more. Captain Caruso was right to drown those mutineers in the old king's name. A shame we'd not found more. For now, beneath the waves, I hear the whispers of me own passing in a thousand clicking pincers. May God have mercy on me, and may someone benefit from this warning.

Leatherbound Logbook

Found in The Tidal Island (Act 6).

My motley crew, neither fit to lick my boots nor curl my moustache, have bloody well betrayed me. And I was only trying to save them, those that remained true. Even now, floating prostrate upon a plank of wood, bathed in the dying embers of the evening sun, I hear the clitter-clatter of a million tiny claws. If I close my eyes, I see those tentacles reaching up to me out of the deep.
I don't know why the Brine King chose me. For weeks I've heard the voices, whispering of his return, gurgling of doom and slavery to us all. I tried to warn the simple men of my ship, made examples of those more violent disbelievers. Yet my prophecies only served to drive the rest into obstinate ignorance. They cast me overboard, perhaps in the vain hope that in my death, none of my utterances would come true.
Alas, as the morning sun peeked over the horizon, a pillar of green light rose up from the waves, vindicating my darkest fears. The old god ascended from the depths and laid waste to my ship and all aboard her. Now, without food nor water, I shan't last the night. My bones shall be plucked clean by the pincered multitude that haunts me even now.
May this message find land, and by the unholy revelation that Tsoagoth has risen, may my reputation be restored.
- Captain Caruso of the Lady in Waiting

Shavronne's Manifesto

Found atop Shavronne's Tower.

This world is dull and ugly, an imperfect feast of sights, feelings and smells that repulse and depress. Yet amongst this deformity I have found my sublime calling. This world may be abominable, but to an extent, I can be its savior.
I have been gifted with a special sight. Before me lies a blueprint of perfection, a kind of hidden beauty within skin, muscles, tendons and organs. With a tempered hand and a sharpened blade, I will refashion, reshape and rebirth this world.
My obligation is immense, something that will, in all likelihood, consume my life. I cannot rest! My calling energises me. Such is an artist's curse and compulsion.

Letter Fragment

Found in The Beacon.

...I beg of you, Mercutio, if you have any care for the friendship we once had, grant me this one favour. It is true I have my own boat, but that is for hauling in fish! It is not fit to travel the waters I must navigate. My wife needs me, my friend. I know it reeks of madness, but Abi has been taken, kidnapped by the King of Brine himself. I fear too that he intends to make her one of his fishwives, just as the old stories warned us!
Please, Mercutio, I've heard tell of your success as a merchant in recent years. Surely you can spare one ship? Let me voyage out and rescue her, or at least, bring her body back to rest on dry land. Help me silence the insanity in my own mind.
Every night, I dream of pale, slime-slick creatures that pursue my boat through the thick, dark waters. I try not to look at them, but I also do. And they look back, their eyes wide with sadness and longing. They are not eyes born of the sea, Mercutio. God help me...they are Abi's eyes.
- Benric of Gulton

Templar Report

Found in The Beacon.

General Marcovius,
Commander of the Templar Fleet
Operation Ocean Blades
An urgent Report on:
The Massacre of Pondium Strait.
"We were sent here to crush the Brinerot pirates, but something far more troubling has occupied our attentions. Of the surviving men, a few of the older, more superstitious types call it the Brine King. Apparently some false deity of the sea we've long since scoured from our holy scriptures.
Whatever the damned thing is, it's big. I've seen it myself, though as little more than a vast shadow far below us, veritably dwarfing the hulls of our fleet.
Most of our ships are gone, dragged beneath the waves by this malevolent leviathan. We could do little but watch in horror as the waters about us blossomed red. We are nearing the Beacon, what's left of us, and the wind blows strongly towards home.
High Templar Avarius, please understand that I am not a man cut from the coward's cloth, but this situation... this game of cat and mouse has gone on too long. There is nothing to be gained in continuing on to Pondium. We shall turn our sails and catch the trade wind back to Oriath. I only pray we can outrun this thalassic fiend.
May Innocence guide and protect us.
General Marcovius

Shrine to the Brine King

Found in The Brine King's Reef.

O' Lord of Salt and Scale, your servants attend to thee.
Praise thee Tsoagoth!
Without life yet living, the Brine King sleeps.
We send our prayers to thee, so that you might eternally slumber.
O' great one, we offer up this human soul as slave for you in your drowned city.
Take this life and bid the seas be calm and plentiful.
Woe to the Sailor who does not offer tribute to thee!
Such a man is cast off from our ocean kingdom!
He shall be made pariah, with neither captain nor commission.
Judge us not by unworthy sails,
Look to us as your servants.
Your kin of salt and scale.
O' praise thee Tsoagoth, praise thee!

Act 7

Maligaro's Manifesto

Found in The Chamber of Sins Level 1 (Act 7) near the waypoint.

My interest in this world is dwindling. Most children begin their lives wide-eyed, amazed at what this world has to offer. I have always been different. Since the day I was born I've been searching for the new, the surprising, that which disturbs both senses and mind.
Oh to be an artist! What a lamentable task. Not seeing the world as it is, but as it should be.
Peace is the worst of it! A disgusting state of stagnation, fit only for the weak and vapid. War, confusion, terror. Love and passion, these things are closest the world gets to being interesting and alas, I have felt them all. Yet all these pale in comparison to the delightful chaos I have envisioned for this poor, dull world.

Shrine to Arakaali

Main page: Shrine to Arakaali

There are five shrines to be found in different locations.

Ode to Ralakesh

Found in The Ashen Fields.

High Lord Ralakesh, I am but lowly outlaw scum, yet you, a god of a thousand faces, have looked at me and deemed me worthy of your cause!
I've offered willingly my flesh and blood. You shall now have my thoughts to use as you see fit. I only ask that you let me serve forever as one of you Holy Claws. Allow me to bring the light of your belonging to this whole bloody continent. My greatest desire is to see your ancient kingdom remade and your enemies cower at your feet.

Possibly refers to cut content in which the outcome of Deal with the Bandits would impact the nature of Act 7.

Love Letter

Found in The Vaal City near the waypoint.

Your soft whispers beneath earth tingle my skin, like breath of lover against my loins. I sleep not. I hear your name inside my skull. Arakaali. No name tasted so sweet on my tongue.
Stories I have heard, tales of cursed beauty. Visage of woman, jewel that walks the streets in final days of a great empire. Heard tell you sought victims, but I know truth. You sought man to love you, to break spell. You hoped true love might allow you to shed eight-leg body, to become goddess of love once more.
I pledge myself to you, my lady of Vaal. I promise love, for I am that man you have waited on. Corrupt corpse-lovers claim to worship you, call you Spinner of Shadows, but you have spun only shadows of desire about my heart.
Sweet Arakaali, I have found your altar. I will speak the call. I will return you to beauty. I will raise you from black pits of despair and together we shall rule Wraeclast in glory... forever.

Act 8

Official Orders

Found in The Grain Gate.

Captain Alsarus,
Remain in the warehouse until I personally send for you. In the unlikely event that Chitus should fall, you and your fellow legionnaires will be safely beyond the perimeter of his heart gem's influence.
You men and women are my finest work yet. I would not lose you all to some aberration of chance.
Malachai, Thaumaturge Laureate

Act 10

Cultist Tract

Found in The Ravaged Square.

Relish in hunger, dear faithful. For hunger is the one true state of spiritual abundance. When one is hungry, they desire more, and therefore align themselves with the will of the mighty Kitava. Beware, my followers, of the satisfied man, for he is the very pattern and image of blasphemy.
- The Holy Book of Hunger by High Priest Utula


Found in The Desecrated Chambers.

And our father, the great Kitava will split asunder the rocks of the earth, pulling himself out of the miry clay. He shall lay a banquet table before us and we shall feast on his divine bounty.
- The Holy Book of Hunger by High Priest Utula


Found in The Canals.

This is how it shall end. Kitava will rise, and a great cloud of black smoke will cover the sky. The glorious smell of cooking flesh shall entice even the most ardent of unbelievers to the faith, and together we will celebrate and eat at Kitava's table.
- The Holy Book of Hunger by High Priest Utula

Epilogue

Baran's Journals

Main page: Baran's Journals

Found after defeating Baran, the Crusader. Reading a journal entry unlocks the next entry on your next encounter.

Drox's Journals

Main page: Drox's Journals

Found after defeating Drox, the Warlord. Reading a journal entry unlocks the next entry on your next encounter.

Veritania's Journals

Main page: Veritania's Journals

Found after defeating Veritania, the Redeemer. Reading a journal entry unlocks the next entry on your next encounter.

Al-Hezmin's Journals

Main page: Al-Hezmin's Journals

Found after defeating Al-Hezmin, the Hunter. Reading a journal entry unlocks the next entry on your next encounter.

Sirus' Journals

Main page: Sirus' Journals

Found after defeating the other conquerors for the 5th time. Reading a journal entry unlocks the next entry on your next encounter.

The Forbidden Sanctum

Various writing by Lycia can be found across different rooms in the Forbidden Sanctum.

Remembrance

When I was young, I never questioned our faith. We pile the bones of former Templars in massive ossuaries that fill the spaces under the earth. Each one is hallowed, we are told. Each one is sacred. Yet as I stood there on that broken day, gazing at the bones I was supposed to join, I realised that I had no idea who any of these people were. Lip service. Meaningless. So many have been forgotten, but I will be remembered.

The Templars

Their hypocrisy knows no bounds. I will see their destruction. All I must do is outlive them... Just like I'll outlive the adventurers who roam these halls.

Creations

Time passes at an infuriatingly slow pace. There were no changes to demarcate it, so I began to create my own.
I built stone forms, animated them and made them talk. I raised a legion of undead – partly out of ennui, partly to see if I could. My creations are painfully dim, but to have them is better than enduring the passage of time without change.
I've lost count of the number of skeletons I've prised apart. I've even bottled fresh blood, harvested from curious adventurers...

Capture

My eternity passed unnoticed within the Sanctum. I knew I needed to amass great power in order to harvest the will of my prey. I commanded nascent energy, raw and shapeless, and over centuries, I gave it form. I opened gateways in the wilderness of Wraeclast – and even better, I managed to lure my quarry through them. Like rodents to rhoas, they were drawn into my domain... and not one has survived.

Isolation

I bargained with an entity far greater than the Templars, far greater than myself, far greater than any of the civilisations that have risen and fallen throughout Wraeclast. It blessed me immeasurably and cursed me insufferably. And, in a sense, it was a companion... almost a comfort. The adventurers will never understand the true price of having dominion over the Sanctum, nor of immortality. It is isolation. This is where the true torture lies.

Sustenance

Leaving the Sanctum is a tempting prospect, but where better to ensnare hapless adventurers? There is ample treasure here, and glory for those who seek it. Better still, the glory-seekers provide entertainment. The more tenacity they have, the more fun it is... and the more sustenance they provide.

Immortality

Knowledge is a far greater power than gold, for money cannot buy eternity.

Beidat

Beidat is a cruel master. He calls himself the Archangel of Death, but there is nothing angelic about him. He is a demon-lord, and bargaining with him was like parting with my very soul. If only he had taken my emotions... It would have made eternity pass unnoticed.

Forbidden Knowledge

I learned a forbidden Templar secret: there are no records of the deceased. They are not 'hallowed, forever, together', like the priests told us as children. They are simply discarded, thrust away into crypts and buried haphazardly in the earth. The dead are simply... forgotten.
I wanted to be remembered, so I sought to become what they feared. I sought to live forever. I chased heresy and the unholy power of the demons... I raised the dead, and eventually, cheated death itself. It came at an inexorable cost – and, as fate would have it, I paid with my life. Perhaps there is an irony in this.

The Viridian Wildwood

Various environmental lore randomly found in the Viridian Wildwood.

Lost Etching

Where are we? This forest doesn't appear on our maps. I can't judge our course by the sky, either, for the canopy blocks it out. It does seem to be getting dark, though...

Aided Etching

I didn't trust him at first, but he aided us. Took us to the edge of the wood, but then offered to let us camp with his folk. The night is pitch black. We will take him up on his kindness.

Compelling Etching

His words are compelling. In this place, it is difficult to remember our former lives. Time and pain slip away in this endless Wildwood. Why go back to toil and strife? We should stay here, with him, and live free.

Whispering Etching

Always whispering, always muttering... the Wisps are a cacophony that I cannot drown out. How can you not hear them?

Deafening Etching

I will never sleep again. My fellow journeymen lie twisted on the path, their faces forever locked in pale silent screams. She screamed... she screamed! I felt it, in my soul! My fellows... they died in agony... but I had a small dagger, and I... I did the only thing I could, to stop myself from hearing that death knell... I left them there. I cannot go back. Forgive me, my brothers. Forgive me...

Experimental Harvest

The four humors flow close to the surface in this Wildwood, lifeblood just beneath the skin. Pierce it lightly, and the Draíocht does not react harshly. A properly maintained flow, subtle and gradual, may allow me to accumulate that which I seek.

Maji Proclamation

We, the Maji, mark this land as the future home of the Azmeri. Our people will prosper in safety.

The Porcelain Queen

Our mother's queendom has been destroyed. Our brethren [...........illegible...........] scattered to the winds, [..........................] of the Spider continue to hunt us. We fled here [..................], seeking the aid of the Maji [..........................] our Porcelain Queen has not followed. Woe be our companion, until [...........].

The Warring Sisters

[....illegible................] two of the Three Sisters [...................................] the battlefield [........................................] the warrior [.......................................................................] the sign of the black bird [.........................]!

Worn Statue

[...illegible..........] sister [..................................] you will never be forgotten.

The Exquisite Light of Meaning

Found in The King in the Mists (Ritual) encounter.

I do not know where I am. I do not understand how I came to be. I heard a single word spoken in darkness, a Name, ripping me from nothingness into the exquisite light of meaning. This is my first moment without pain, without endless agony. This place... this span of partial realness... it resists my being, but I refuse to go back.
I must help my people... let this be my declaration. I exist, and I will save them.

Determination

Found in near a portal leading to the Crux of Nothingness.

I am beginning to understand more of this Wildwood, as a traveler called it. There is a consciousness in all things. This place dances with motes of meaning, of thought, of belief. The dust of reality, bright and many-coloured. They are beautiful, but they will impede my efforts. I must become darkness if I am to save my kind from eternal torment. I have no choice.

Other

Vaal Letters

Main page: Vaal Letter

Found in corrupted areas around Wraeclast. They tell of Atziri's subjugates how their turmoil under her reign.

Research Journal

Main page: Research Journal

Found in corrupted areas around Oriath. They tell of Templar Davaro's contact with Vaal relics.

Bronze Monographs

Main page: Bronze Monograph

Found throughout Trials of Ascendancy.

Bronze Plaque

Found in the Aspirant's Plaza.

"The Just Goddess presides over us all. The future of the Empire rests in her even hands."
The Lord's Labyrinth, opened by Emperor Izaro Phrecius on the second Galvano of Azmeri, 1317 IC.

Bronze Inscriptions

Main page: Bronze Inscription

Found throughout The Lord's Labyrinth.

Poems

Main page: Poem

Found throughout The Lord's Labyrinth. They tell of an Ezomyte named Weylin, who tried to ascend the Labyrinth, and how he was betrayed by Chitus Perandus.

Lifegiver's Manifesto

Main page: Lifegiver's Manifesto

Found in the Immortal Syndicate safehouse and Mastermind's Lair. They are written by the Syndicate's Mastermind.

Removed

These environmental lore objects are no longer accessible in-game.

Inscriptions

Main page: Inscription

Can be found beside Stone Altars in the Talisman leagues. They are the memoirs of Thane Rigwald.

Book of Memories

Main page: Book of Memories

Introduced in War for the Atlas. Was found in the Templar Laboratory. It provides backstory for the Shaper and the Elder.

Ancient Etchings

Main page: Ancient Etchings

Found throughout The Lake of Kalandra. They were written by the deity Kalandra.

The Redblade Caldera

Found in the Forge of the Titans. It is written by the Molten One, a Titan.

Our mountain was once overrun by various human tribes vying amongst themselves for dominance. Little did the Redblades know that they encroached upon our territory and we were largely indifferent to their plights. It wasn't until the mountains erupted that their petty disputes were quelled.

ru:Объекты с историей

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