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‘To God?! Where was God when we needed him most?
No, it was not God who led us to victory’
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For there was once two angels, Herus and Diablo. The two were brothers, and they loved each other dearly. But they were lonely, for they only had each other. So Herus and Diablo each created a world, and a race to inhabit each. Herus, ever the crafter, created Man, a magnificent race of beings, in his own image, and crafted a land of peace, the Wiird. But Diablo, who was never as skilled as Herus, created a deformed, unnatural race, the Daemonium. Diablo was jealous of the more magnificent race his brother had created, and decided he wanted it for himself. Diablo confronted Herus, and asked his brother to give him the land he had created. When Herus refused, Diablo became angry, and threatened to destroy the Wiird. Such was Herus’ love for the people he had created, he fought his own brother, and sealed him beneath the Wiird forever. Man rejoiced for the might and divinity of their creator, and vowed to worship him as a payment for the great debt of Herus’ loss.
Various Authors
The Numenomic Scripture
The Current Day, Year 461
The Great Armies of the Daemonium have been vanquished, and our people led to victory by the almighty Lord Protector Marcus Forbearer II. He is recorded, after throwing down the corpse of his enemy, to state: ‘This victory belongs to man – and no one else’. Such blasphemy against Herus should go punished, no matter the deeds of the one who states it. But no, these are to be taken up by all, and used to beckon in the start of the Renaissance against the Numenon Church. Apparently the horrors of war, and the presence of this Marcus Forbearer, are enough to erase millennia of faith. We must tread carefully, brothers. Herus be with us all in this dark time.
High Priest Tasmund
Story
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Lord Protector Marcus Forbearer II has led the people of the Wiird to victory against the Daemonium forces. In a final battle against their leader, Forbearer dealt his opponent a mortal wound, and rose triumphant. He then proclaimed the words that would begin the Renaissance against the Church. His reasoning for his hate for Herus was unclear – but the people, who had witnessed the evil and death at the hand of the Daemonium; and needing someone to blame for it, easily turned on the ‘cowardly’ Priests for not fighting, and on a god who had not aided them. The Priests, mostly defenceless, quickly fell to the riots and violent protests that followed, issuing in a new, Forbearian Age.
In the Cathedral of Herus, in the West of the Wiird, a young Priest-in-training named Sidhion Rennes is chosen to be dispatched with a company of Divine Protectors to come to the aid of a Priest in the nearby town of Dusseldor. It is to be his first assignment in the outside world, and his first step to becoming a Priest. However, his assignment reveals a shocking truth that would shake the faith of even the High Priests of the Wiird, and sparks a journey that will take him from the Sandy Dunes of the South to the highest peaks of the North, in search of the truth of an uncertain god...
As the player, you play as Sidhion, and later the rest of his companions, as he sets off from the Monastery, into the Wiird. The riots and violent protests caused by the new order of Forbearians causes Sidhion and the other priests to request an audience with Lord Protector Marcus Forbearer II, and agree on a peace treaty between the two sides. Forbearer agrees to this audience, but it is clear to the priests that action to save the Numenons will not come from him. Instead, it will have to come from a variety of different sources, many of which will challenge Sidhion’s own beliefs. Help is to be found in the most unlikely of places. As the Numenon Church begins to crumble, it is left to Sidhion to contact Herus himself and plead for help. As they try desperately to contact him, it becomes clear that the destruction of the Numenon church is not the greatest threat, but actually only a pawn in a far more sinister game...
Mankind are the pieces, and the Wiird is the board that it will be played out upon...
Characters
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Sidhion Rennes
Starting Profession: Priest-In-Training
Sidhion Rennes is a young Priest in training in the Numenon Church. The nephew of High Priest Tasmund, he was taken in by his uncle when his father was killed, and raised to be a Priest. He is a competent spell caster in the Holy arts. As his first assignment into the Priesthood, he is sent to the aid of the Dusseldor Priests, and gets caught up in the war between politics and religion in the Wiird, and two far greater presences elsewhere. He has a strong will, but his faith in his religion, drilled into him as it has been since he was a young child, may be his undoing.
Divine Protector Biron Hitchley
Starting Profession: Divine Protector
A good friend of Sidhion’s who grew up with him. Though they lead very different lives, and many would frown on the two’s friendship, they still enjoy each other’s company. Biron is chosen as one of the Protectors who travels with Sidhion on his assignment.
Kara
Starting Profession: Thief/Rogue
The adopted daughter of Gehbor, Kara is a young member of the Thiefhood. She has an uncommonly quick wit and tongue, which allows her to talk her way out of many situations. As she has been raised by the leader of the Thiefhood, she is good with a blade, and incredibly stealthy. She also has a great deal of knowledge of the underground passages of Valorous and its surrounding country, making her a useful ally when Sidhion and his protectors find themselves in a tough situation.
Gehbor
Starting Profession: Brawler
Little is known of Gehbor’s past except for what his physical appearance can tell you – that he was once a tribesman from the deserts, and was enslaved. Upon being transported to Valorous, he began an underground operation to free both himself and his fellow slaves, which he eventually achieved. This underground network eventually became the Theifhood, which expanded to include all exiles, thieves and undesirables of the city. He is a leader and a powerful fighter. He has a strategic mind and a great knowledge of the capital, which comes from his days of imprisonment, which he passed on to Kara.
High Priests Tasmund, Devador, Menson and Fredrich
The four High Priests of the Numenon Church. Each Priest holds a ring, which, once combined, draws on their holy powers to contact Herus. Nobody can explain how communication with Herus is possible (or even if it is possible, for it has never been done) but every Priest knows inside them that it does.
Lord Protector Marcus Forbearer II
The ruler of the Wiird, Forbearer is a formidable soldier and great tactician. He had forever approved of the existence of the Numenon Church, and even freely praised Herus for the peace and prosperity that was his rule. After the war with the Daemonium however, he changed completely, stating that the things he had seen in battle could not exist if there was a true, loving god.
Witch-leader Vla’dec
A powerful and shadowy figure in the North, he is the leader of the Witchcraft. He has the gift of foresight.
There are many other characters in Divinity, each playing a key part to the story, but without giving away key plot points, I cannot talk about many more. There is also a lot more I could say about each character, but again, it will have to wait for the actual game.
The Game
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Divinity is a game that focus’s around its storyline, characters, and the world itself. Each location, character and item have a story behind them, and all have a place in the world. The world itself will cover a range of unique locations that are full of atmosphere to draw you into the game. I’m aiming to create a game that has a believable world, so a lot of work will go into that.
The storyline itself is already written out. I’ve put a lot of effort into a storyline that will shock and surprise you, without including clichés of the RPG genre. It covers every part of the Wiird and beyond, and each location is designed to have a purpose, rather than just having you visit it because it’s there. (You can see more on the Wiird below)
Although combat is not the main feature of this game, it is still an RPG. Divinity will not feature a battle system that is just tacked on for wasting time, where you click buttons to take it in turns to bash each other in the face. I’m still slightly unsure what sort of battle system itself to pursue, and it’s something I would benefit from constructive criticism when I start designing battle ideas. Either way, Divinity will feature a system where you characters can be individually levelled in the way you want them to, where each class branches off to a different one until you have the skills you want. For example, Sidhion’s level tree may look like this:
Divinity will feature a lot of explorable, detailed environments, with lots of secrets to be found. It will also have a series of side quests chains which will each delve more into the world and storyline, as well as optional dungeons to explore.
The Factions of the Wiird
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• The Priests of Numenon – The religious group of the Wiird, they worship Herus for his great victory over Diablo. The Numenon religion once covered the whole of the Wiird, but with the rise of the Frobarians, the Church is crumbling.
• The Forbarians – The general term for the people living under the rule of Lord Protector Marcus Forbearer II, but also the term of his supporters, who follow an anti-church scheme.
• The Witchcraft – A group of people who follow no faith, as they believe nobody is more important than themselves, and who use what both Numenons and Forbarians call ‘witchcraft’. They live in the far north under the shadow of Mount Kudarn, and hold the secret of flight, and many other strange magics.
• The Thiefhood – An underground society of criminal and villains who operate in secret around the Wiird. They are mainly outcasts, the homeless, and those not accepted in Forbarian civilization, and believe that what they steal and pillage is owed them by a world that has been nothing but cruel to them.
The Wiird and the Twilight
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The world in which Divinity is set is referred to as the Wiird. It is a biosphere of life created by Herus that floats between the Twilight and Diablo’s Realm. The Wiird is a complex combination of a variety of different life.
• Valorous – Capital City of the Wiird
• Cathedral of Herus – The monastery and cathedral where the Church of Numenon is based.
• The Keldara Desert – An oblique, dead landscape where no one but nomads live.
• Flad’eck – The mountain home of the Witchcraft
• Mount Kudarn – The Highest peak in the Wiird, said to lead to the heavens themselves.
• The Twilight – the zone around the Wiird where nothing exists, and where Herus resides.
• The Dead Zone – the left over remnant of the Great War where Forbearer had victory over the Daemonium.
The Style of Divinity
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Divinity will feature heavily editing, custom, and hand drawn graphics which will help to give the world its own unique feel. Each character will be getting its own artwork, but since I am a one man team, don’t expect it soon ;D.
But I know that a lot of people wonder what a game will look like when it’s in a concept period (myself included) and I have already started looking into the graphic design of the game itself. So here is a little taster of an environment for Divinity:
This was rather hastily mapped, so I apologise for the lack of anything special, but it gives a taste of the graphic style of the game.
Well that’s about it...
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Phew, my fingers hurt after typing all that :P. There’ a lot I want to accomplish with the game, and quite a few more things I just don’t have time to put here, but hopefully will update later. I have a lot of free time coming up, so this will be my main project, and hopefully I can get a lot of work done on this. To give you an idea of where I am, I have the storyline worked out and written out, as well as all the characters back-stories and all of the history and religious views of the Wiird. I am developing this game currently on my own, we’ll see how that goes :P.
So, thanks for reading, I’m looking forward to working on this project, and getting more information about it out there. Hope people are interested.
