An attempt to piece together the history of Wraeclast from clues from NPC dialog, item flavour text, and other canonical sources in Path of Exile. Where possible, information is presented from an in-universe point of view, at the time the game begins.
Note: Because information from sources like Insider Newsletters is very likely to change before it makes it into the game, while in-game lore is relatively fixed (or at least, changes can be fairly easily tracked), only in-game lore has been consulted. If you have interesting lore from other places, though, stick it on the Discussion page!
Vaal
The Vaal are the oldest known race in Wraeclast, almost completely forgotten in modern times. They built the Vaal Ruins that entombed a weird darkness, they built the Ancient Pyramid, and presumably they also built the Vaal Oversoul, or at least its mechanical frame. A number of the monsters in the Vaal-created areas are called "constructs" (Ancient Construct, Vaal Construct, Serpentine Construct) so presumably they had some biological or thaumaturgical technology. Although the Vaal civilisation was peaceful, they practiced human sacrifice.
Tears of Maji
The Vaal were also the first to use virtue gems, known to them as "Tears of Maji". Icius Perandus claims that "The Vaal were even more steeped in gem culture than our Emperor and his 'Gemlings'. It's an obsession as old as civilization itself." in one of the Golden Pages. Siosa's translation of the first Golden Page also mentions that the Vaal gathered their virtue gems at "Doryani's Cradle" to ensure the Vaal civilization's future. The nature and purpose of this cradle is uncertain. Given the fact that Eramir claims it was the Vaal that began the use of virtue gems and the fact that Siosa claims that "gem culture" is as old "as civilization itself", one may assume that the Vaal were the very first civilization.
Atziri and Doryani
The last queen of the Vaal was named Atziri, who owned fabulous treasure. She allegedly sacrificed all those who opposed her, as Siosa's translation of the second Golden Page mentions that she "drenches her altars with the blood of those deranged enough to question her vision". She appears to have been the patron of Doryani - a thaumaturgist - similar to Chitus's patronage of Malachai. It is said that she "wished to see her likeness reflected in the still waters of history." indicating a vain personality. Siosa mentions that Doryani was a man of "divine talent and demented ambition", comparing him to Malachai. He presumably was a Vaal thaumaturgist of sorts, given the comparison to Malachai.
Atziri sought immortality and eternal youth, inspired by the Vaalish noble and serial killer Zerphi. Zerphi lived for 168 years, yet "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 twenty years, no more." It is implied that Zerphi had some method of stealing the youth of his victims. Towards reproducing this feat, Atziri sent young men and women to be "processed" by Doryani, in numbers so large that their names filled "page upon page". It is likely this quest was related to the end of the Vaal civilization.
The End of Vaal Civilization (c. 400 BIC)
The Vaal civilisation seems to have ended as the result of some internal event rather than external conquest. This event may be the mysterious "communion" the Vaal were seeking before their demise according to Icius Perandus as is written in one of the Golden Pages: "A communion... but with what? By all accounts, it wasn't God that the Vaal were trying to reach.". Said communion took place during the harvest moon, and Doryani was at the heart of this event. Both Atziri and Doryani died in the cataclysm, as did many others. Some people also "changed" (possibly a reference to the Vaal Fallen found in the Pyramid?). On the Golden Page (Siosa's translation, not the flavour text) that mentions this, the words "sleep", "nightmare" and "the Beast" are also mentioned, and that the Vaal have "failed" themselves. This may be a reference to the Vaal Oversoul, which is also called "nightmare" in game by some of the classes.
Siosa believes the end of Vaal civilization must have been very similar to the fall of Sarn.
Patching this information together, it may be that the Vaal were expecting to save their civilization at a so-called "communion", which was possibly related to Doryani's "cradle" of virtue gems, and that this communion caused the cataclysm (waking the Oversoul which is defeated at the end of Act 2, and turning many Vaal people into the Vaal Fallen which are also found in the Ancient Pyramid in Act 2).
The Azmeri
Encountering the Vaal (c. 900-400 BIC)
The Azmeri people hail from the Azmerian Mountains. They first encountered the Vaal about 500 years before the Vaal fell, or about 900 BIC. The Vaal helped the fledgling Azmeri civilization advance, but guarded their knowledge of Virtue Gems.
After the Vaal fell, 3,126 Vaal refugees assimilated into the Azmeri civilization.
Imperialus Conceptus (1 IC)
Tarcus Veruso descended from the mountains with 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.
"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."
Veruso build 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.
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.
A supreme effort to erase the past. A primitive reaction born of primitive times, in the opinion of this humble historian.
- The Ancients, Book 6: Book 6: Imperialus Conceptus
Imperialus Conceptus, the founding of the Eternal Empire, occurred 400 years after the fall of the Vaal.
Light of Phrecia
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.
It was General Alano Phrecia who avenged the Emepror'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 into 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.
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.
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.
"To care for this Empire with eyes open." - A traditional vow made by the High Templar upon the coronation of an Eternal Emperor.
- The Ancients, Book 7: Light of Phrecia
Maligaro
At some point in the Empire's history, there was a thaumaturgist named Maligaro (his equipment and laboratory is found in the Chamber of Sins, whose architecture resembles Lunaris Temple in Sarn). Maligaro's research centred on virtue gems and how their qualities might be transferred to humans. His main technique was to inject the "essence" of a gem via a device called Maligaro's Spike although it never seemed to work terribly well. Apart from the Spike, Maligaro created elementals and a mysterious darkness that covered the land At the end of his life he created the Baleful Gem—either a synthetic virtue gem, or a corrupted one—for an unknown purpose.
The Peak
We don't know how much land the Empire covered before its sudden demise, but we do know it was divided at least into the Outer Empire (the southern coast from The Prisoner's Gate down past Lioneye's Watch) and the Inner Empire (everything north and inland of Prisoner's Gate). The Empire's capital at that time was Sarn, and despite the centuries of neglect, the remaining architecture suggests the Empire was fairly prosperous. The emperor at the time was Chitus, although we don't know much about him beyond his ignorance of the forces that would destroy him. While the Empire's citizens were Azmeri, the slaves were of other races, including Ezomytes, Maraketh and Karui. It seems these other races were not native to Wraeclast, or at least not the part of Wraeclast covered by the Empire, but were separate contemporary civilisations.
At the time, the leading thaumaturgist was Malachai. Like Maligaro he experimented with virtue gems, but unlike Maligaro he just surgically implanted them into his test subjects, and his efforts met with far more success than Maligaro's. Malachai had slaves mining virtue gems and Thaumetic Sulphite and a supply of test subjects from the emperor. The results of this surgical process were known as Gemlings. Emperor Chitus said "These glorious gems have brought us within spitting distance of godhood", and the Empire's defences included at least one Gemling legion.
Malachai's most famous creation, however, was known as the Gemling Queen. She was originally a "favourite" of Emperor Chitus named Dialla, but annoyed him and was given to Malachai to experiment on. She fell in love with him and he reshaped her into a most impressive Gemling.
The Purity Rebellion (1333 - 1st Sacrato of Phreci 1334)
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."
- The Purity Chronicles, Book 1: Embers of Insurrection
Meanwhile, outside the Imperial Court and thaumaturgists' laboratories, discontent grew. A movement named the Purity Rebellion sought to overthrow Emperor Chitus and destroy the thaumaturgists and their Gemlings. The Purity Rebellion was led by
- High Templar Voll, the overall leader.
- Victario, the People's Poet.
- Lord Mayor Ondar of Sarn.
- Archbishop Geofri of Phrecia.
- Governor Kastov of Stridevolf.
- Commander Adus of Highgate.
The Purity Rebellion sought help in many places:
- Victario raised support among the common citizens of the Empire
- Victario sought help from Thane Rigwald of Ezomyr, perhaps a vassal nation.
- Voll sought help from King Kaom of the Karui
- Voll also sought help from Sekhema Deshret of the Maraketh.
The Ezomytes (3rd Fiero of Dirivi 1333)
High Templar Voll had Victario entreat Thane Rigwald of Ezomyr, knowing that a poet would fare far better than any politician at rousing the romantic Ezomytes to rebellion. Stirred by Victario's impassioned 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 known as "The Bloody Flowers Rebellion". Though Sentari's Gemling legionnaires skew three Ezomytes for every one of their own fallen, the Bloody Flowers won the day through sheer fury-driven courage.
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 in to Voll's hands.
- The Purity Chronicles, Book 2: Bloody Flowers
It is possible that the Battle of the Bridge was part of this campaign.
The Karui
Defeat of Marcus Lioneye
Meanwhile, in the Outer Empire, King Kaom and a Karui war host landed on the The Coast. They attacked and defeated Marcus Lioneye's Eternal Legion, stationed at Lioneye's Watch.
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 favor of mobility, Hyrri and her bow-women broke cover and rained death upon the Gemlings from the cliffs above.
A valiant Marceus Lioneye gathered his surviving legionnaires for a final stand within the walls of Lioneye's Watch. Kaom honored his bravery by wearing Marceus bejeweled head upon his belt from that day on.
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 on the Wraeclastian mainland.
- The Purity Rebellion, Book 3: Fall of a Jade Axe
Shavronne and Brutus
The Empire's second line of defence was a thaumaturgist named Shavronne, from a group of people or a location known as Umbra. When she realised Lioneye would fall to Kaom, Shavronne raced to the next defensible structure up the coast, Axiom Prison. She tricked or convinced the warden, Brutus, into allowing her to make him into a super-human monster capable of defeating the Karui. Brutus was never defeated by the Karui, although we don't know if they ever bothered attacking Axiom Prison. Although Karui carvings are found beyond Axiom Prison in the Coves, they might not have travelled there via Axiom; since the Karui possessed canoe technology they may have just travelled by sea up the coast.
Prisoner's Gate
Shavronne erected a thaumaturgical barrier as a third line of defence against the Karui, in the pass between Prisoner's Gate and the Western Forest. Whether they tried to break through it and failed, or whether they never bothered trying, the Karui ceased their advance when they reached Siren's Song Cove.
Corruption of the Karui
After their victory, the Karui settled on the coast. However, their good fortune was be short-lived, as they were corrupted by the Cataclysm, resulting in social unrest, raising of undead, and twisting of the wildlife.
Kaom himself was eventually corrupted, likely meeting his end in Merveil's Lair. His niece Hyrri led the remaining five hundred Karui families back to the Karui homeland of Ngamakanui.
The Maraketh (3rd Galvano of Vitali 1333 IC)
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 and his Gemling legion surround the supplied location, thus placing himself squarely in the path of Deshret's dust storm.
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.
- The Purity Chronicles, Book 4: The Red Sekhema's Saddle
The Siege of Sarn (last day of Divini 1334 IC - 1st Sacrato of Phreci)
On the last day of Divini 1334 IC, High Templar Voll laid siege to Sarn. Commander Adus of Highgate soon joined him, bringing his legion and a horde of miners to bolster the Army of Purity's ranks. Thus surounded, Emperor Chitus rallied his Gemlings for a desperate defence of the capital. His efforts were cut short by Lord Mayor Ondar who, on the 2nd Kaso of Derivi, stabbed Chitus to death on the steps of the Scepter of God.
With Victario's help, Ondar was able to flee through the sewers and escape to Voll's encampment. But Ondar's term as the Hero of Purity was a short one. Two weeks later he was found by Victario's men in the Sarn sewers, seated and cross-legged, with his severed head in his lap. It was later discovered that the Perandus family had hired Coralito of the Silent Brotherhood to pluck Ondar from Voll's camp and deliver their vengeance for Chitus' murder.
Yet despite their desperate efforts, Chitus' mourners were unable to save their city. Faced with Victario's uprisings in the Slums, Docks, and Warehouse districts, and constant attacks from without, Lord Cadiro Perandus met with Voll on the 1st Sacrato of Phreci and offered Sarn's unconditional surrender.
Voll and his Army of Purity marched through the gates of the capital and less than a week later Voll of Thebrus was crowned Emperor.
- The Purity Chronicles, Book 4: The Emperor is Dead. Long Live the Emperor.
The Reign of Voll (2nd Sacrato of Phreci 1334 - c. 1339)
"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.
- The Purity Chronicles, Book 1: Embers of Insurrection
We don't know whether the Rebellion itself fatally wounded the Empire or just injured it, but under Voll's leadership it declined rapidly.
The Rapture Device (1336 IC)
Voll condemned Malachai to burn before the doors of his Solaris, 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 humor.
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 a 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.
North, from whence the first Gems came. From whence the nightmare of Chitus' thaumatocracy was born.
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. God be with you, Voll of Thebrus, and with us all.
- The Purity Chronicles, Book 6: The Rapture Device
The Cataclysm (c. 1339)
Voll's reign lasted about five years. Despite the decline of the Empire after the Rebellion, it was finally killed by a separate event called the "cataclysm". This cataclysm could not have been the Rebellion, for several reasons:
- Eramir says the Azmeri's "history" and "identity" was destroyed by the cataclysm, but the Empire was still standing (shaky and infirm but standing, Emperor and all) after the Rebellion, and it seems unlikely the Azmeri could have forgotten their identity while the Empire was still nominally alive.
- The Karui participated in the Rebellion, and after they took control of the southern coast, they settled there it quite happily. It wasn't until later that the Karui recorded "Black storms descend on us from the north" (that is, from the Inner Empire and Sarn) and later still "The earth of Wraeclast rejects the dead." The Karui settlement must have occurred between the Rebellion and the event that cursed Wraeclast.
Very little is known about exactly what happened; as Clarissa points out, no news of the Empire reached Oriath until after the cataclysm was over and its effects drove the Karui out of Wraeclast. So what was this cataclysm that finally put an end to the Empire, and presumably cursed the Gemlings and raised the dead?
Hargan says: "Voll's was the shortest reign of any Eternal Emperor, about five years. The Twist saw to that." The only other mention of the Twist is when Lady Dialla says "The cockroaches will come again. They want the Twist." Apparently, the Twist is a device or artifact, and it exists (or the Ebony Legion believe it exists) somewhere in Solaris Temple under the protection of Lady Dialla, or perhaps even on her person.
It's possible that Lady Dialla picked the Twist out of the wreckage of Sarn years after the cataclysm occurred, and moved it to her sanctuary in Solaris Temple for safe-keeping, but there are reasons to suspect she was directly involved in the cataclysm itself:
- The Gemling Queen is the only Gemling known to have escaped becoming Undying.
- At one point, Grigor says: "Then they'll have the Gemling Queen, a living embodiment of the cataclysm."
- Lady Dialla herself implies that at one point she had to choose between the Empire's survival and her own: "Malachai begged: for him, for the Empire. I chose me... selfish me. The Empire died, and I live. I live, and live, and live, and live."
This raises further questions: Lady Dialla says of Malachai "He gave me gems, divine jewels for his Gemling Queen." and describes her spine as a "Pretty spine, bejeweled and bountiful." Since this is Malachai we're talking about, these are presumably Virtue Gems rather than mere jewellery. Most Gemlings seem to have received only a single Gem, and yet from context Lady Dialla received many, so Malachai must have intended her for some purpose greater than the average Gemling. If this did indeed occur after the Purity Rebellion with the Empire in disarray, perhaps he intended to use her to restore the Empire much as Shavronne intended Brutus to defend it.
Oriath
Oriath is a small island off the south-east coast of Wraeclast. We don't know when Oriath was first colonised, but it seems to have been well-established and prosperous at the time of the Empire's fall so it must have been at least settled and under construction during the Empire's peak. In the Phrecian Forest in the Inner Empire is the Fellshrine, the ruins of an old Templar cathedral, so the Templars have a long-standing link to Wraeclast, and obviously High Templar Voll had an interest in the Empire. Presumably people from the Empire colonised Oriath and brought their religion along, and were stranded when the Empire crumbled.
The capital of Oriath is Theopolis, and contains at least historical archives, duelling arenas, and the headquarters of the Ebony Legion. It also contains the Court of Divine Temperance, presided over by "the High Templar"(currently Dominus), and many of the crimes that Court prosecutes are things like "Theosophical Pride", "Public Heresy" and "resisting Templar authority", so it seems fairly likely that Oriath is some kind of theocracy run by the Templars. Even the name "Theopolis" suggests religious devotion
Modern Times (c. 1600 IC)
In the modern age, Wraeclast bears no civilisation, just a few disorganised descendants of the Empire and undead. It also bears a number of people from Oriath. Some were shipwrecked, but many were exiled for crimes minor or major.
The current High Templar is a man named Dominus, who controls the Ebony Legion as well as the Templars. He recently acquired an interest in the history of the Empire. Dominus works in a laboratory at the top of the tower known as the Sceptre of God, but his assistants General Gravicius and Piety gather information and resources.
Gravicius set up a temporary barracks in Sarn, near Lunaris Temple, and seems to be responsible for seeking out the artifact known as the Twist and perhaps the Ribbon Spool. Piety was originally named Vinia, and worked as a thaumaturgist and prostitute in Theopolis. Currently she is more of an archaeologist, roaming Wraeclast investigating the works and techinques of the Empire's most famous thaumaturgists including Shavronne and Maligaro, as well as trying to reproduce their experimental results for herself. Like Malachai, she implants Virtue Gems surgically, although judging by the detritus in the lowest floor of Lunaris Temple, she has not yet reached Malachai's level of skill.
最終更新：2015年01月24日 20:54
