Changes: Pagan

Revision as of 16:37, 19 August 2010

Pagan was once a beautiful world ruled by a great civilization. But the attacks of the Guardian and his lackeys, the four Elemental Titans, left Pagan as a devastated wreck. The people of the world, unaware of the true evil responsible, pray to the Titans as their protectors. This section concerns Pagan's history and the geographical aspects of the land. This article focuses mainly on the only isle visited in the game, Morgaelin.

History of Pagan

This section contains a short overview over the history of Pagan.

The Time of the Zealans

Much of the information about the Zealans was lost, and much more was distorted. Nonetheless, it is possible to reconstruct some of it.

The people of Pagan were once called Zealans. Despite what was later written about them, they were a spiritually and culturally developed culture. There were other cultures as well, but they seldom fought against each other. One of the leaders of the Zealans was Khumash-Gor, said to be the greatest warrior of all time, who defeated the other cultures in the end, essentially uniting the people under one leadership.

The three gods Amoras, Odion and Apathas symbolised Love, Anger and Neutrality in perfect balance, with the other three gods Doloras, Felicitar and Timyra added the own part by representing Grief, Joy and Fear. Meanwhile the enormous silver tree of life, Elerion, whose branches reached wide into the sky, symbolised the unity of the people of Pagan, and was a symbol of peace for all of them. The tree also symbolised all the goodness in the world. The three gods kept care that the emotions of their followers stayed in balance, so that their lives would be fulfilled.

Attack of the Guardian

Then came the Guardian. At first, only few could hear his whispers. But soon more heard. He told them a horrible monster named Destroyer would come to destroy their world, but they could save themselves by starting to pray to the four elements, helping them to gather form, to defend them, and erect a temple with a special Obelisk. The Guardian didn't tell them that he himself was the Destroyer, and that the Titans would be his helpers. But the deception worked.

The Zealan priests and leaders saw through the lies, but the followers of the Guardian were already so deep in their fear that they didn't listen. The Pagans, as they called themselves, erected a temple with a Blackrock Obelisk, and performed horrific human sacrifices on the Guardian's orders. As years passed, the Guardian's agents became more and more powerful, and the fire of religious hatred burned in their follower's hearts. The forces of nature they worshiped materialized into four gigantic beings, the Titans. And as the Guardian had calculated, the Pagans attacked the Zealans after the Titans had fed their hatred of them long enough.

A horrible war followed, but with the power of the Titans, the Pagans committed horrible blood baths and destruction. They even torched the ancient forest of balance, destroying the silver tree of life, Elerion. When the Pagans had mostly won, the Guardian and the Titans decided to initiate the last stage of their amusement, before the Guardian would give the Titans what was left of the world. Ordering the People to leave the temple, he warned them that the Destroyer had arrived. The Guardian then entered Pagan through the Obelisk, which was a Black Gate, and destroyed it to erase all evidence. Together with the Titans, he mostly destroyed the world, and hid the sun behind a thick cloud. The Titans said they had "won" against the "Destroyer", while it was all a deception, and demanded to be worshiped, while the Guardian went on to other things. Of Pagan, only one island, Morgaelin, seemed left.

Rule of the Titans

The Titans felt that what was left of this world was their property after Apathas, Odion and Amoras had lost their power and they had sealed away Dolora, Timyra and Felicitar. And yet they also argued who should rule over the most of it, while terrorising the people at the same time.

Lithos calmed down first, after making a deal. He would get all of the dead people, essentially creating a enormous army, through the Necromancers. Hydros was trapped by a Necromancer decades later, and forced to give some of her power, so the Tempests started to exist. Stratos saw what happened to Hydros, and decided to use trickery to gain power. Pretending to be nice, she gained much power through her followers, the Theurgists. Pyros was the last, and he was trapped by Theurgists who would become the Sorcerers, and forced to give them a part of his powers.

This uneasy situation of peace lasted for centuries, with the world still a shadow of its old self, and no hope of recovery as long as the Titans held power on Pagan.

Fall of the Titans

This changed when the Avatar arrived in Pagan. Banished there by the Guardian, he tried to find a way to escape from this world and return to Britannia to stop the Guardian. In his quest, the Avatar first learned the powers of Necromancy, before meeting with Amoras, Odion and Apathas. The old gods told him what really was to be done. The Titans were susceptible to Blackrock, and each had a fragment dedicated to him or her, made from the Obelisk, with a additional fifth piece. With the powers of the Titans absorbed into the pieces, the Obelisk could be recreated for travel to other worlds.

So the Avatar sought out to learn the other schools of magic and find all five of the fragments. The Pact with Lithos was broken. Hydros was freed from her imprisonment, after lying to the Avatar about giving the gift of Tempestry. Stratos connection to her followers was cut, after the Avatar learned Theurgy. And Pyros was set free from his prison after the Avatar learned Sorcery. With all pieces and all Titans free, the Avatar went to the Ethereal Void, where he destroyed the Titans, recreating the Obelisk and leaving Pagan.

It is not known what happened to Pagan after the destruction of the Titans, though it is very likely that the situation of its inhabitants improved.

Morgaelin

After all the destruction, the four Titans settled down on the island of Morgaelin. It is unknown if there are other landmasses left in Pagan. Morgaelin itself is a great deal smaller than either Britannia or Serpent Isle, mainly as a consequence of the whole island being nothing more than the extended cone of the still-active volcano, also named Morgaelin, which is an ever-present threat to the people of the land. Owing to this size difference, the world available to the Avatar for exploration is radically reduced from those previously travelled.

This section only deals with places on this island.

Settlements

Other interesting Places

Notes

It has been speculated that Pagan may in fact be the remains of one of the other lost lands of Sosaria - The Lands of the Dark Unknown, or The Lands of the Feudal Lords. The island in Pagan sort of resembles the Lands of the Dark Unknown. In Ultima Online: Samurai Empire, The Lands of the Feudal Lords were reformed into the Tokuno Islands by a cataclysm.

While there is no hard evidence to bear out this idea, it is known that the Zealans knew of other lands that disappeared at the time of the Guardian's invasion. It is assumed that they were swallowed up by Hydros, but it cannot be ruled out that the Guardian was able to enter Pagan at that time due to the massive cataclysms which separated the continents of old Sosaria, leaving Morgaelin stranded on a broken world, its people cut off from their former home.

Additionally, Bentic calls the Runic Alphabet the "Archaic Alphabet" in the The Chronicle of Pagan. This hints that the Zealans used it. We know that the Runic alphabet was used in ancient Sosaria, so it is possible that Pagan could have been once one of the two lost continents.

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 Then came the [[Guardian]]. At first, only few could hear his whispers. But soon more heard. He told them a horrible monster named [[Destroyer]] would come to destroy their world, but they could save themselves by starting to pray to the four elements, helping them to gather form, to defend them, and erect a temple with a special [[Obelisk]]. The Guardian didn't tell them that he himself was the Destroyer, and that the Titans would be his helpers. But the deception worked.
-The Zealan priests and leaders saw through the lies, but the followers of the Guardian were already so deep in their fear that they didn't listen. The Pagans, as they called themselves, erected a temple with a [[Blackrock]] Obelisk, and did horrible human sacrifices on the Guardian's orders. As years passed, the Guardian's agents became more and more powerful, and the fire of religious hatred burned in their follower's hearts. The forces of nature they worshiped materialized into four gigantic beings, the Titans. And as the Guardian had calculated, the Pagans attacked the Zealans after the Titans had fed their hatred of them long enough.
+The Zealan priests and leaders saw through the lies, but the followers of the Guardian were already so deep in their fear that they didn't listen. The Pagans, as they called themselves, erected a temple with a [[Blackrock]] Obelisk, and performed horrific human sacrifices on the Guardian's orders. As years passed, the Guardian's agents became more and more powerful, and the fire of religious hatred burned in their follower's hearts. The forces of nature they worshiped materialized into four gigantic beings, the Titans. And as the Guardian had calculated, the Pagans attacked the Zealans after the Titans had fed their hatred of them long enough.
 A horrible war followed, but with the power of the Titans, the Pagans committed horrible blood baths and destruction. They even torched the ancient forest of balance, destroying the silver tree of life, Elerion. When the Pagans had mostly won, the Guardian and the Titans decided to initiate the last stage of their amusement, before the Guardian would give the Titans what was left of the world. Ordering the People to leave the temple, he warned them that the Destroyer had arrived. The Guardian then entered Pagan through the Obelisk, which was a [[Moongate#Black Moongates|Black Gate]], and destroyed it to erase all evidence. Together with the Titans, he mostly destroyed the world, and hid the sun behind a thick cloud. The Titans said they had "won" against the "Destroyer", while it was all a deception, and demanded to be worshiped, while the Guardian went on to other things. Of Pagan, only one island, Morgaelin, seemed left.