Hands on with the Aion beta: The lore of Atreia

Now we've had a good look at Aion and tried out both factions it's time to look deeper into what makes the game tick. You might have got your wings and may even have done a little PvP but you've probably starting to pay more attention to the reasons behind the enmity between Elyos and the Asmodians and the lore of Atreia. Indeed, it's hard not to as, like any MMO, lore is the backbone of the game itself and the reasons we play.

While some of the lore can be gleaned from the in-game dialogue, sometimes you have to look deeper. NCsoft recently created a wiki on the official site, which allowed them to not only explain the game to new players but also gave them the perfect opportunity to expand on the lore. They also released an origins video, which presented key events in Atreia's history in the form of a narrated montage. Join us now as we look deeper into the lore behind a fascinating game.

Considering its Korean origins, the world of Aion feels almost biblical. Granted, the idea of angels and demons, of good and evil forces fighting for control of the mundane and physical world is not new. The Elyos' wings, for example, scream angelic but the word daeva, given to Ascended mortals in the Aion universe, is actually from the Zoroastrian religion and was a title given to divine entities who weren't necessarily good. While, in Hinduism and Buddhism, the word deva is given to anything divine as well as higher beings, respectively.

At the centre of the game's mythology is Aion, the monotheistic creator deity, who crafted the planet and all life within it. There are obvious parallels with our religions: Yahweh, Jehovah and Allah as well as Vishnu, Mithras, Ra and numerous other gods from dozens of civilisations. Where Aion differs however, is in his physical manifestation, in the form of the Tower of Eternity, an Aether-filled pillar which spanned the length of the planet and served as Aion's physical presence on the world he created.

This is where it gets interesting, for the humans of Atreia, Aion was not just an abstract entity, he was a fact, the Tower of Eternity attested to that. The Book of the Elyos states that: "Our world was a bountiful home illuminated only by the soft, gentle glow of the Tower. The Tower nurtured us, gave us hope, and supported us in every way. We, in turn, were fully subservient to our god. There is no shame in this. We know this through not only stories and tales passed down through generations, but also from various artefacts and inscriptions that our archaeologists have found at dig sites throughout Elysea."

Aion originally created the Drakan, monstrous overlords who were supposed to govern the world, but rather than do that, they started to terrorize and decimate the human population. Led by five Dragon Lords and granted power from beyond the world, they then took the name Balaur and began to slaughter humanity wherever they were found, enslaving the feline Mau and the Krall to further increase their devastating genocide. The Dragon Lords, with names like Ereshkigal, Vritra and Tiamat, clearly take inspiration from ancient myth. Ereshkigal – a general of the Balaur in the game – is named after the goddess of Hell in Babylonian myth while Tiamat – who familiar to anyone who watched Dungeons and Dragons as a kid – is a primeval female deity who took the form of a sea serpent. Vritra, meanwhile is dragon who hails from Hindu mythology and kept all the water in the world prisoner until killed by the god Indra.

But back to the game. Aion finally intervened by creating the twelve Empyrean Lords, humans made into demigods who became the human race's divine protectors. It's easy to draw another parallel here, with the

archangels of Jewish, Christian and Muslim lore but these twelve white-winged warriors retained all the characteristics of humans, whatever divine powers they might have been given.. More importantly, using Aether, they created a shield which offered humanity safety from the Balaur and allowed the race to creep back from the verge of extinction. During the ensuing Millennium War, the Empyrean Lords made it their mission to protect to the remnants of the human race as well as recruiting from within

This is where the Daeva come in. Suddenly humans had power of their own, able to fight for their own survival rather than cower in the ruins of the world. Finally the two Guardians of the Tower, Israphel and Siel, sued for peace with the Dragon Lords. This ultimately ended in the tragedy known as the Cataclysm when the Tower itself was destroyed by the enraged Dragon Lords in retribution for the death of one of their number.

This is the crux of the game's lore. By this point in Aion's mythology factions had formed around two Empyrean Lords, the Lady Ariel and the Lord Azphel. Aion commanded Ariel and her companions (who would become known as the Seraphim Lords) to defend the southern half of the Tower and sent Azphel and the remaining (Shedim) Lords north. The two Tower Guardians died to save Atreia but couldn't stop the Tower from collapsing, resulting in the humans and Empyrean Lords being trapped at either end in the lands which were to become known as Elysea and Asmodae.

The intervening years saw physical and emotional changes in both races. As far as the Elyos were concerned, they had been saved by Aion and Ariel and given refuge in a paradise where Aether rained down upon them. The Asmodians found themselves in the literal polar opposite, a cold land devoid of sunlight. They had been dragged into a cold hell but they still survived. It's from this event that the seed of hatred between the two races grew. Both laboured under the belief that the other group of Empyrean Lords and Daeva had failed in their duties and bore the responsibility of Atreia's near destruction.

The Books of both the Asmodians and the Elyos tell of how each race thrived and adapted to their own environments, eventually discovering on another. However emotionally they were never the same, the Elyos relished their new land and became almost arrogant while the Asmodians were consumed by jealousy and a desire to find better lands than the one fate had dealt them

At the heart of the lore, though, is blame. This is what forms the basis for the lore and PvP elements in Aion and neither side is ready to make peace. Indeed this hatred has been further made worse by the Rifts, mysterious portals, which allow players to raid enemy territory. Striking fear into the humans who are forced to live through the raids, if some Ascend, they carry that enmity with them into a new generation of Daeva.

With Closed Beta Test (CBT) 6 approaching and the level cap steadily rising, the lore is becoming even more relevant. Not only will it push players to explore the Abyss and raid enemy territory but it will also shape the game well past launch, entreating players to explore even further and into the endgame raids to discover why Atreia is dying, what happened during the Cataclysm and where the Balaur get their fearsome powers from.

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