234 baubbles, trinkets and tablets later....

...and more than a few deaths, causing some of the bipeds wandering Bristugo to scratch thier heads on why there is a dead adult dragon in the hub of Istaria, I've been studying tablets mostly in the hopes this dragon can possibly learn about bipedal gods. I was a bit dissappointed in the number of gods referenced, but still had no idea who they are despite getting all the possible buffs and debuffs available.

So far, referencing only the baubbles I can only discern that:
Niatha is Goddess of Vengance
Brobbet is God of Honor
and Alyssa is Goddess of Nature

That's it. That's all I could get out of the baubbles and tablets. If I had not already been taught about Drulkar, I'm sure I would have no idea who he was either. I had a number of names on my list, but no titles or references to any of them. A quick forum search came up with the following and filled in the holes in my list:

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Istara - Creation, Invention (Humans, Gnomes)
Drulkar - Fire (Dragons)
Niatha Moraven - Power, Vengeance (Fiends)
Nyrevin - Death, Rebirth
Markus - Trickery, Chance
Daggarth - Malice, Strength, the Ocean (Half-Giants)
Brobbet - Honor, Justice (Dwarves)
Alyssa - Nature, Focus (Dryads)
Bachanatus - Revelry, Artistry (Satyr)
Galderos - Beasts, War (Elves)
Kaasha - Serpents, Rain (Sslik)
Merrasat - Sun, Knowledge (Saris)

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Is there any other quests or otherwise IG dialouge that brush up on what each god's title and for lack of a better phrase, job is? Seems kind of silly to have references to say, Markus but I can't seem to find an NPC (or these rotten tablets) that can tell me who he is. Maybe some of these are biped only which is why I have not found them....

Also, Kirru in the tazoon desert has a lore only quest, he tells you about a story about an Istarian godess. ;)

I know one of the Ssliks down in Sslanis discusses the story of the creation of all the races when you are on the appropriate quest (you get the quest from one of the guards just outside Sslanish I am fairly sure.) I'm quite sure he tells the names of the gods, but it's been a bit since I did the quest, and offers a more religious/legendary reason for why Ssliks are so disliked by other races.

There is not much info on the gods as they seemed to have abandoned the bipeds at least. We Dragons are more lucky as Drulkar seems to have taken a more active interest in us of late.

I don't know many sources IG about the gods, the ones I can remember have been mentioned. There's someone in the Kirasanct Tundra who mentions something about gods too, but I've no recollection of where he is.

Most of what I do know of them came from the timeline here.

A lot of the newer dialog by the Sslik and Saris references the local deities; Kaasha and Merrassat. These tend to be short references, such as "Merrassat Bless Us" or "Kaasha of the Serpents" or something. But putting them all together you might be able to form a better picture of them.

That said, we are always working to integrate more lore of the deities into the world. They weren't that well defined in the first place (to be honest) and their interaction with the Prime itself was hardly ever discussed. That has been corrected internally and so you will see more and more as we move forward.

Some names we've used internally and given to the various deities:

Alyssa: the Flower, of the Wood, the Lover, goddess of Nature
Bachantus: the Proud, the Elder, god of Artistry and Revelry, the Builder
Brobbet: the Law-Giver, the Honor-Bound, the Judge, god of Justice and Honor
Daggarth: the Cruel, the Fierce, Giant-Father, god of Malice and Strength
Drulkar: First Dragon, the Father, god of Fire, the Mighty
Galderos: the Hunter, the Widower, the Golden General, god of Beasts and War
Istara: The Mother, The Creator, The Mother of Invention
Kaasha: the Serpent, the Scaled, god of Rain
Markus: Trickster, Fickle Fate, god of Chance, the Forgotten
Merrasat: the Benevolent, goddess of Knowledge, the Wise, the Giver
Niatha Moraven: the Vengeful, goddess of Power, the Mother, the Shrouded
Nyrevin: Death, Fate, goddess of Rebirth, the Shadowed

Ah. Thanks everyone for your responses ^_^ I will go look at some of these places.

*gobbles up Amon's dev-only lore* :D

Very noble work here Shian. You should keep this thread updated with your findings. I had no idea there were that many Gods in our realm. Happy hunting and safe journeys! :)

The Sslik creation story can be found here:

http://community.istaria.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=17033

It's in-game as part of the Sslanis militia quests that Ssoren gives. Sslik characters can get some interesting information if they do the "Kaasha's Ring" quest.

Also, as previously noted, Kiruu has the lore quest "Nyrevin's Apologies", as well as some other assorted tidbits.

To be honest (and being a dragon it probably helped :D ) I have heard about Drulkar well more than once.


Moreover, being myself pretty ancient and having fought so many wars, I see Drulkar (and Lunus and Helian) more as "top dragons fading in the legend" than anything.

That is, I have a feeling that a dragon that manages to perfect himself till trascending this dimension (now, go read Barbara Hambly books and see similarities between Drulkar and the Shadow Dragons ultimate destiny) can become himself like Drulkar. Of course it remains to be seen if he could also earn the honor to become a "living" legend like Drulkar is.

Also if you look up your abilties as Dragon, the devs have added lore descriptions to some of them recently. Loving it! :D

Someone was nice enough to show me a few of the Regal Weapons:

Exceptional Shrieking Battle Axe
An exceptional battle axe with a hardened black sheen. It is rumored in Legend that the souls of mortals who challanged Daggarth, the God of Malice and Strength, were entombed in this axe. If one is to listen closely enough, it is said you can hear them shriek.

Exceptional Baramorian Longbow
An exceptionally kept longbow rumored to have been crafted by a tribe of nomads called the Baramorians. Special techniques known only to thier tribe have made thier bows extremely desired, and sought after. Sadly, none live today to re-create these masterpieces from scratch.

Priceless staff of Ribeth (as in, the sake cap? o.O Who was Ribeth then?)

(no description)

and from my own collection:
Deteriorated Sword of Embers
An old deteriorated sword appears to be living embers. It is rumored that the ember blade is actually a tooth of Drulkar, the first dragon and god of fire.

There is an undead creature called Kiruu SW of Tazoon that claims to have once been a Priest of Nyrevin he tells of a mage-king that fell in love with a villager and becausme angry when she refused him.

He appears to be bugged however and stops in the middle of that story and starts another about Istaria and Alyssa and what happened between them and Nyrevin. -an interesting story really.

The people in the tiny village of Kaiyar nearby mention that they had indeed been turned to stone and they are confused at the new world where people worship no gods and even the dragons are no longer at the top of the world as they once were.

The regal 2H sword has some interesting tidbit attached to it, but sadly, nothing noting a deity:
"This pristine two handed sword has light blue tint that scholars claim only occurs in swords forged near Glimmel Lake. It is said that cooling a sword in the lake during the forging process enchants the sword with the mystical powers of the lost lake.

My old guide has turned up missing, but if memory serves, Markus was the patron god of goblins of all things. Of course, there is no goblin race in Istaria, but I believe there was intention to offer such a race eventually.

Maekrux humorously refers to goblins, under the rare circumstances that they are mentioned, as the other white venison and suggests that they were hunted to extinction for their taste by dragons. However, goblins were original lore-wise present at the battle of Tazoon and aided Ryson in his charge. Since the goblins have been removed/overlooked, that part of Mae's retelling of the battle have since been removed.

Edit: Found my guide. Markus is listed as the "God of Trickery, according to human legend created the Goblins." Also, the Goblins that took part in the battle were specifically called skirmishers. Most likely, this lore is now outdated like Jarl, but it is still interesting to remember it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shian

There is an undead creature called Kiruu SW of Tazoon that claims to have once been a Priest of Nyrevin

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Kiruu's initial dialog gave the background for the Nazderon event, which the village of Kaiyar was part of.

The lore quest "Nyrevin's Apologies" was added to him recently because he was the most logical person to tell it.

I wouldn't count on meeting any goblins any time soon...

Quote:

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Edit: Found my guide. Markus is listed as the "God of Trickery, according to human legend created the Goblins." Also, the Goblins that took part in the battle were specifically called skirmishers. Most likely, this lore is now outdated like Jarl, but it is still interesting to remember it.

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Correct, Goblins, like Jarl, were removed from the official lore.

That is sad that goblins were removed entirely from lore. Why could they not remain one of the "Lost" races? No we won't ever get to free them or even meet them, but it still provides some much needed lore.

Hell, they could have been totally wiped out by the WA because even reanimated as undead they were ornery and hard to control-just as likely to turn on their allies as attack their enemies.

Drev

Speaking of goblins, I was out flying around the Spiritous Swamp a while ago, when I remembered I'd never seen a skulk before. I got some pretty close looks at the things, and they look very goblin-like. They also appear to be wearing armor, but I don't know if that's built into the model/textures themselves or not. Are skulks actually repurposed goblin models perhaps? Either way, what is the story behind those things anyway? And if the models actually are wearing armor and it isn't built in, is there any possiblitiy that skulks may be playable sometime in the future, no matter how far off that day may actually be?