Time for the next adventure in Rivellon! The Divinity: Original Sin II Game Guide contains description of all quests available in the game, from the ones connected to the main plotline, up to optional, side adventures. Aside from that, the dedicated chapters contain maps of all locations.
This unofficial guide for Divinity: Original Sin II is a thorough compilation of the most important tips useful at the beginning of the game and while participating in story quests. You'll find useful information for every phase of the gameplay, regardless whether you are a hard-boiled gamer, or simply at the start of your journey with computer games.
Teleport straight away to the important tips and quests:
- Escaping from the Fort Joy - you just started your journey but you need to run;
- Wizard Class - how to create a powerful mage and surpass Gandalf;
- Battlemage Class - how to create excellent sorcery warrior and what happens when Gandalf tries to use the sword;
- How to steal without consequences? - check out insidious method for stealing in the game!
- How to save the black cat? - we are solving the biggest early mystery in the game.
The especially important part of the guide is the description of all quests available in the game, from the ones connected to the main plotline, up to optional, side adventures. The illustrations are an integral part of the walkthrough, accentuating the most important locations and helping to navigate the walkthrough contents. Aside from that, the dedicated chapters contain maps of all locations, information concerning neutral characters, and the equipment available in the game.
The individual chapters will be a source of numerous tips regarding the gameplay, controls, interface, and conducting combat. The guide also contains a number of hints regarding choosing or creating one's own hero, with a special emphasis on explaining various attributes and modificators. For your convenience, the most important tips will be gathered in chapter 'General Advice'. In each case, aside from the basic info, you'll find a number of tips that will facilitate the encounters.
The guide for Divinity: Original Sin II contains:
- A walkthrough for creating one's own hero along with hints to simplify personalization
- A description and explanation for all available modifiers and counters that have any effect on the gameplay
- Summary of the game's mechanics and the rules of encounters
- A richly illustrated walkthrough for all main and side quests in the game
- Maps of all important areas
- A 'General Advice' chapter, rounding up the most essential tips from the guide
- Information about all neutral characters in the game
- A guide for creating one's own equipment, along with premade recipes
Agnieszka Adamus & Jakub Bugielski (www.gamepressure.com)
About Divinity: Original Sin II Game Guide
Author : Jakub 'jbugielski' Bugielski & Agnieszka 'aadamus' Adamus & Lukasz 'Keczup' Wisniewski for gamepressure.com
Translator : Filip 'Asfalto' Jaron
Guide contains : 39 pages, 198 images.
Strategy Guide
Last update : November 13, 2017, visit Strategy Guide
Walkthrough
Last update : November 13, 2017, visit Walkthrough
Use the comments below to submit your updates and corrections to this guide.
Hot Topics of Divinity: Original Sin II Game Guide
- Skillbooks and merchants in Fort Joy | Maps and secrets Divinity: Original Sin II Guide. Check out all vendors locations in Fort Joy and learn where you can buy all skillbooks in Divinity: Original Sin 2.
- Team builds - create optimal party | Party Divinity: Original Sin II Guide. Check out our guide to learn how to create optimal team for your journey in Divinity: Original Sin 2.
- Fort Joy Map - Secrets and treasure | Map and secrets Divinity: Original Sin II Guide.
- Things NOT to do in Divinity: Original Sin 2 | Tips & Tricks Divinity: Original Sin II Guide.
- How to save the Black Cat in Fort Joy? | FAQ Divinity: Original Sin II Guide. Who's the Black Cat? What's the purpose of the Black Cat? Your black cat is lost? Check our guide to learn how to find him. We explain the biggest secret in the Divinity: Original Sin II - what to do with the Black Cat?!
Divinity: Original Sin II Video Game
- genre: RPG
- developer: Larian Studios
- publisher: Larian Studios
- platform: PC
A direct sequel to Divinity: Original Sin and another installment in the popular RPG series launched in 2002 by the Belgian developer, Larian Studios. The story takes place once more in the fantasy land of Rivellon and presents events that occur between the first and second game in the franchise. This time around, we assume the role of a sourcerer, who uses the forbidden powers of the Source and is constantly pursued by the Order. We can determine the race and origin of our character, both of which influence the attitude of the encountered NPCs towards him or her to a large extent. The gameplay mechanics do not deviate significantly from the previous game in the series, although the developers did introduce a few novelties, such as a modified combat system, new element combinations as well as Source Powers. Contrary to its predecessor and other titles of the franchise, the production has a clearly darker atmosphere.
- Larian Studios - Developer and Publisher Website.
- Divinity: Original Sin II - Official Website.
Divinity: Original Sin II PC version System Requirements
Recommended: Intel Core i7-2600 3.4 GHz, 8 GB RAM, graphic card 2 GB GeForce GTX 770/Radeon R9 280 or better, 25 GB HDD, Windows 7/8.1/10 64-bit
Minimum: Intel Core i5 2.93 GHz, 4 GB RAM, graphic card 1 GB GeForce GTX 550/Radeon HD 6800 or better, 25 GB HDD, Windows 7(SP1)/8.1/10 64-bit
More About Divinity: Original Sin II - Definitive Edition
It was enough to spend just a few moments with Divinity: Original Sin II to realize that it's going to be much better than its predecessor.
Larian Studio has reminded the world about Divinity: Original Sin II by bringing the game to gamescom 2016. A half-hour presentation was enough to convince us that this could be the dark horse among 2017’s RPGs.
Divinity: Original Sin was one of the biggest surprises of 2014. Apart from the Enhanced Edition, Larian Studios also works on the sequel of this successful RPG. During our visit in Ghent we managed to gather some new information about the game.
Larian Studios is back on Kickstarter with a sequel to one of the best RPGs of 2014.
This page is dedicated to giving you all the information you'll need to beat Divinity: Original Sin 2.
Below is a guide that will get you through the entire main game. If you're looking for specific quest information, or information on side quests, make sure to check out our Quests page!
Note: The following guide is largely based on the perspective of a Custom Character. If you play using a pre-built character, interactions and certain options might be different.
Main Story Walkthrough[edit]
- Prologue: Escape - Covers from the moment you wake up, until you wash up on shore.
Comments
1. Fort Joy - Slane
2. Fort Joy - Entrance to the Skull Cave
In the area of ??the maze there is a beach covered with ice. There is a dragon there, that has been imprisoned. Destroy all the totems that surround the creature. Then, you can talk to the dragon. You will learn from him that his name is Slane[1] and he was bound by a witch named Radeka. Only Radeka's Purging Wand is able to break the spell. Your task is to retrieve the item for him so that he can free himself.
Radeka inhabits the Skull Cave[2], which is located near the beach, so you will have no problem finding her. The problem, however, is the cave itself, which the witch quite successfully filled with traps. If you do not have a trap disarm toolkit, then you will have to break through at the expense of losing health. At the end of the cave you will meet Radeka Mixer followers bot. herself. She will not be willing to cooperate, so no matter how the conversation goes, you will have to fight.
After winning, search Radeka's body and take Radeka's Purging Wand and then return to Slane with the item. At this point, you can choose one of the two ending options.
Ending 1: Give Slane Radeka's Purging Wand
If you choose to give the item to Slane, then he will be able to break the spell that shackles him. As a reward, he promises that he will come to your aid when you truly need it.
Divinity Original Sin 2 Walkthrough
Reward: 4 guaranteed rewards and 3 to choose from depending on classes in your team
Ending 2: Refuse to give Slane Radeka's Purging Wand
If you don't give the item to Slane, you will have to face a dragon.
This article was originally published inPC Gamer issue 316. For more quality articles about all things PC gaming, you can subscribe now in theUKand theUS.
Larian Studios is, for now, the Divinity: Original Sin studio. Its last two games, both Kickstarted and publisher-free, are the biggest successes the studio has ever seen. The Belgian developer didn’t go from obscurity to success, however, and it has been designing notable RPGs and strategy games, within and without the Divinity universe, for over two decades.
Founder Swen Vincke picks 1997 as the year when Larian started, and an RTS called LED Wars as the studio’s first game, though there had been some experiments and projects before that. Indeed, one of them, The Lady, the Mage and the Knight, had many of the hallmarks of today’s Original Sin series, 20 years before it made its debut.
“It was an RPG where you controlled three characters and could play in multiplayer,” Vincke explains. “It had all of the values of Ultima VII, which you can recognise today in Original Sin. But we were having a hard time signing it with a publisher, so we decided to make an RTS because everyone was making them and everyone was looking for them. It seemed to be an easy way to make some money.”
The RPG did get some interest from Atari, though, but soon after expressing that interest, it stepped away from PC games, leaving Larian without a publisher or any money. “It’s a running theme in our history,” jokes Vincke.
Double the bits
During the day, Vincke and some of his friends worked on The Lady, the Mage and the Knight, and during the evening they worked on LED Wars. It paid off, and in March of 1997 Larian convinced an American publisher, Ionos, to sign LED Wars. In that same week, they also signed their RPG to Attic Entertainment, publisher of the Realms of Arkania games. Unlike LED Wars, however, The Lady, the Mage and the Knight never launched.
While Larian was working on The Lady, the Mage and the Knight, Attic Entertainment took notice of Blizzard’s Diablo II, which had been doing the rounds at trade shows. The publisher was panicking because Diablo II was a 16-bit game, while Larian’s RPG was 8-bit. That needed to change, Vincke was told.
“We had to throw out everything we had because it was all 8-bit,” Vincke remembers. “They said it wouldn’t be a problem and lent us their artists. Then they came back and told us that we were going to need to make it bigger because it was going to be part of the Realms of Arkania series. They said we’d get a licence and we’d have to convert our story into one that worked for The Dark Eye. So I said, ‘Sure.’”
It turned out that Attic didn’t have the money to fund the increasingly ambitious game they’d requested. In 1999, Larian was left in dire straits, penniless again.
Vincke found himself responsible for a team of 30 people, including some of the publisher’s employees who had been sent over but who were no longer being paid or being sent back. He ended the contract. That year Larian must have made 20 work-for-hire games, Vincke guesses. These were small things like casino games, and he was just trying to keep the lights on. “It was that or bankruptcy,” he says.
Larian got through it, though, and from the ashes of The Lady, the Mage and the Knight came the first Divinity. At the end of 1999, it was sold to CDV Software, a publisher that had just released the World War 2 RTS Sudden Strike.
“Because Sudden Strike was such a success, the CEO of CDV Software decided that every other game needed to be an alliteration,” Vincke recalls. “That was how it ended up becoming Divine Divinity instead of Divinity. Originally it was going to be called Divinity: The Sword of Lies, which, granted, isn’t the best title in the world either, but it was better than Divine Divinity. It won awards for having such a bad title. We talk about Divinity ‘one’; we never call it Divine Divinity.”
Squashing bugs
Over the next couple of years, Larian laboured on Divinity. The multiplayer component that had been so important to The Lady, the Mage and the Knight was dropped because it was seen as too big a risk by the publisher. It was the largest project Larian had ever undertaken, so there was a lot of on-the-job learning. It launched in August, 2002.
“It was a classic Larian problem: the game wasn’t ready when it was released,” Vincke admits. “We didn’t even know that the publisher was releasing it. I discovered that Divinity was being released when I was doing a press tour for it in the US. We were horribly late with it, at least by a year, but we still needed some time to polish it. So it shipped with 7,000 known bugs, and the initial reviews obviously focused on them. But as we started tweaking it, people started seeing that it was a good game.”
Divinity reviewed well, and it sold well, and Larian got nothing. “We were so excited about signing back in 1999 that we didn’t really pay attention to the fact that we should earn money when a game is sold, so we didn’t earn anything from Divinity. It was a standard contract back in the day, but if you didn’t sell millions of your game under the royalties model it was very hard to earn any money out of it.” Larian had just released a critically and commercially successful game and they were broke. Again. The studio went from 30 people to three by 2003, five months after Divinity launched. It was a dark time, Vincke confesses, and one that pushed him to take a fortnight break in South Africa, where his father lived.
“I sat on the ranch and just stared for two weeks, trying to figure out what to do. When I came back, I convinced the bank to give me a little bit of money, and I convinced a Belgian broadcaster to give me some more. It was to make what they thought was going to be a website, but it turned into a big 3D game in which children were able to make creations. It was like an American Idol for kids, and it was called KetnetKick. Kids could make animations, movies and cartoons in this 3D world and send it to the broadcaster. The broadcaster would then use it in a TV show and would say which kid made it, and the kid would become famous in the 3D world.”
The additional funding allowed Larian to make a follow-up to Divinity, called Beyond Divinity, and release KetnetKick in 2004. The team grew to about 25 people, and Larian’s head was above water again, albeit only for as long as it could keep doing work-for-hire projects. By 2007, however, it finally had enough money in the bank to make a proper Divinity sequel, eventually called Divinity II: Ego Draconis.
Larian licensed The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion’s Gamebryo engine. Once a prototype was up and running, Divinity II was shown off and DTP Entertainment came on board as a co-publisher, along with CDV. Even with that deal, Larian kept doing work-for-hire. That’s where most of the money was coming from. And it was winning the studio awards for children’s games and educational titles. It wasn’t what Vincke or his team wanted to do, though.
“We ended up with a sufficient budget to make what we hoped was going to be a triple-A action-RPG where you could turn into a dragon and do all kinds of great stuff. It was also going to come out on Xbox 360 as well as PC. Our ambitions were high, but our resources were limited. We tried to reach for the sky, but at some point the publisher decided the game had to be released, and once again it was released before it was ready. It was really painful, but this was during the financial crisis of 2009, and a lot of publishers were under pressure. They got into financial difficulties and went bankrupt eventually. And we were dragged into that.”
It was meant to crack open the console market and show what Larian was made of, but after Divinity II launched, Larian was still only just getting by. In 2010, Vincke managed to get the rights to make a new version of Divinity II, called the Dragon Knight Saga. This updated version was sold to Focus, which Vincke remembers as the first publisher to ever treat Larian well. But they didn’t just want a publisher they could work with.
“I was always dealing with mid-sized publishers. The others didn’t want to have anything to do with us. They said we had no future. Literally. So our intention was to become independent, publishing ourselves. We’d had it. We’d been doing it for over ten years, just scraping by. Something had to change, and that was self-publishing.”
Vincke managed to attract two venture capitalists, one for a game called Dragon Commander, an unusual action-RTS where you could take control of a huge, jet pack-wearing dragon and rain down hell on enemy armies and bases, and another for Divinity: Original Sin. With that money, the results of the work-for-hire projects and the profits from the Dragon Knight Saga, Larian had enough resources to start developing both of the games on its own engine. It was important to Vincke that Larian be able to control its own fate, and that went beyond just untethering itself from the publisher model.
“Those were the big lessons from that decade of being stuck in that work for hire cycle, continuously scraping to get by,” says Vincke.
Dragons first
While Dragon Commander and Divinity: Original Sin started out being developed simultaneously, eventually Larian shifted its focus to Dragon Commander. It was the game it wanted to release first, though Vincke admits that if it had released second it would have been a better title. But Original Sin was going to be the game Larian poured everything into, including the earnings from Dragon Commander. The plan had an air of finality about it.
“This was the project where I decided that this was going to be it,” he says. “If this didn’t work out, we clearly didn’t know what we were doing.” Vincke was tired. For well over a decade, Larian had been trying, essentially, to make this game. A multiplayer RPG inspired by Ultima. With The Lady, the Mage and the Knight, and then Divinity, it was close, but cancellations and dropped features meant that Vincke had never quite been able to realise his dream.
“My first Ultima was Ultima VI, and when I played it for the first time I was like, ‘What the fuck is this?’ I hadn’t ever played a game like that. I was an Amiga player and I’d just acquired a PC, and it was just so incredibly good. Ultima VI was the gargoyle menace and the Prophet and glass swords, which became something I wanted to put in every single game we did. And then Ultima VII and Ultima Underworld came out and I was like, ‘Who are these geniuses?’ Origin Systems quickly became my favourite studio.”
With this final shot at making the game that had been looming over him for so many years, Vincke did everything he could to make it happen. Even with the investments and the Kickstarter, things were tight, and as the launch date was hurtling towards him, he even stopped paying VAT, just to try to keep development going for an extra month. The bank decided not to extend its loan, prompting Vincke to once again search for help until he found, as he puts it, “the one banker in the entire country that was willing to give me money”. This was two months before the game was finished.
But the risks and the desperate attempts to keep development afloat paid off. Divinity: Original Sin became Larian’s fastest-selling game and within a few months it had sold 500,000 copies. “It wasn’t perfect, but it had a lot of heart and soul, and I think people recognised this. We were lucky. It could have not paid off. All it would have taken would have been a big save game bug or a few bad reviews!”
Original Sin represented a breakthrough for Larian. Most of its games had sold well, usually over a million copies, but Vincke now realises that it was a success that was never capitalised on. “We never got access to the profits because we were always in such a weak negotiating position. We were begging for money, essentially. We were the beggars of Belgium. It was really tough financing game development, so once we managed to get that break with the Dragon Knight Saga and then Dragon Commander and Original Sin, it made a big difference.”
Achieving divinity
Since Divinity: Original Sin’s launch, Larian’s thrived rather than just survived. Original Sin was quickly followed up by the Enhanced Edition, which saw the game released on consoles with controller support, along with a richer endgame, a more fleshed-out narrative and tweaked combat for all platforms. And just last year, Larian released Divinity: Original Sin II, expanding on just about everything established in the first game.
“It was a big leap from the first Original Sin. That was made by 35 or 40 people, and Original Sin II was made by 130. The production values went up tremendously as well. But it all came from being in charge of our own destiny, and not being at the whims of a development director who doesn’t understand what we’re doing, or a producer somewhere.
“We made a lot of mistakes, so I’m not going to blame these people who were trying to protect their investments. Larian is a company where iteration is very important, so we have to be able to try things multiple times before we feel how it’s going to be good, and then we’ve got to finish and polish it. That was always a big problem.”
Even a power outage during the day of launch didn’t seem to faze the studio, and Original Sin II has gone on to be its most popular title yet. It’s safe to say that Larian has well and truly hit its stride.
By Jodocus Lipsius, Court Historian
- Printed by Ye Olde Presse, Verdistis -
As a member of the Prancing Seahorse gentleman's club of Aleroth, I am proud to present this little historical summary of mighty Rivellon. May the reader find elucidation among its pages, few and incomplete as they are. What knowledge I have I share; I can do no more.
Note on the abbreviations of time:
- AR: Anno Rivellonis. The ancient way of identifying specific years.
- AD: Anno Deorum. How we count years now, in honour of the Seven Gods.
WARNING! For those readers who are unfamiliar with these events, but intend to learn more about them by means of interactive scrying stones, I issue a SPOILER ALERT! No need to thank me.
8800 AR - Dragon Commander
So long ago did these events take place that they may well be sagas rather than truths, but ancient souls swear they happened as described beneath. I leave it to my lectors to make up their minds for themselves and separate what they think is reality from what they think is fiction.
When Rivellon's first emperor Sigurd was killed by his own children, a bloody war for the throne began. The entire world was said to be in danger of destruction, for rumours persist through time that all battles were fought with giant machines and airships of incredible and devastating power; technology long lost - perhaps merely a fable. In the end a Dragon Knight - and son of Sigurd - prevailed. Details are few and far between, but my research indicates that he had the backing of the legendary wizard Maxos. If so, what a mighty pair these two must have made!
The Lost Centuries
Almost nothing is known of these lost times. One can only deduct that the empire united by the aforementioned Dragon Knight must have fallen or slipped into decadence. Did it stand for a thousand years? Two-thousand? We may never know.
During these lost times one cataclysmic conflict did most certainly take place: the prolonged and brutal Wizard Wars. I shall elaborate a bit more on these events further down the time line.
During these lost times one cataclysmic conflict did most certainly take place: the prolonged and brutal Wizard Wars. I shall elaborate a bit more on these events further down the time line.
4 AR - Original Sin
Sadly I must confess that once more my knowledge about these long forgotten times is diminutive at best. Very little is known about the strange and spectacular events that befell two so-called Source Hunters. Nevertheless, if one can put faith in the fragmented stories told by old wizards, they both prevented and set in motion events that changed the destiny of fair Rivellon herself.
I'd sell my soul to know more, but those damned mages are so damnably reticent! Zandalor knows all, of that I am sure, but not even two carafes of spiced elven wine stir his tongue to speak of what happened back then. Something must have! Shortly after, we even changed the way we count time! AR to AD .. Was it truly just to honour the gods?
The history of this world; I swear more of it is secret than is known.
100 AD - The First Rise and Fall of Chaos
In this black year a new enemy attacked Rivellon, more vicious than anything that came before. It was called Chaos and it had been worshipped and brought to power by sinister forces at work ever since those times Zandalor refuses to talk about. Might there be a link? This is mere assumption on my part, but we all know what they say about smoke and fire - and when thick smoke curls up out of the wizard's pipe as he gives me that stern stare of his when I press him upon the subject, I do start to suspect evil and intricate doings. But this is neither here nor there, so suffice to say that after long, brutal battles, the enemy - personified by the demonic Chaos Lord - was defeated by dwarven armies. They alone safeguarded the world from succumbing to Chaos during these times and still deserve lavish praise for doing so.
611 AD - The Second Rise and Fall of Chaos
The Chaos Demon had been defeated centuries before, but an insidious wizard by the name of Ulthring (how Zandalor glares when the name is mentioned) had rallied the wounded demon and amassed fresh armies anew. This time Rivellon would have surely fallen had it not been for the Sacrifice of Seven: empowered by the Seven Gods, a human, a dwarf, an elf, a lizard, an imp and an orc gave their lives so that the Lord of Chaos would be defeated. Among them was Duke Ruben Ferol, and it was his apprentice Ralph who walked away from the battlefield with Ulthring's sword: the ill-fated Sword of Lies.
1218 AD - Divine Divinity
Alas it seems that Chaos can never be finally beaten, for even though centuries passed, its nefarious influence remained awake - and plotted.
(Let me interject that finally we come to those parts of our history with which I am much more familiar and my narrative will be the more elaborate for it.)
I'm sorry to say evil festered from within: humans, loyal to the Damned Hordes, sought not only to ensure the return of their dark master, but to give his Demonic form human semblance, so that rather than to destroy Rivellon, he would come to rule her. This group, known as the Black Ring, were close to achieving their goal and would doubtless have succeeded had it not been for both the tireless vigilance of Zandalor and the startling fate of an adventurer named Lucian.
This adventurer, guided as he was by the forces of good, exposed the Black Ring’s sinister schemes and when the time came willingly underwent a daring ritual that infused him with the powers of the Seven Gods who feared that Chaos could threaten their very existence. So the Divine was born!
(Let me interject that finally we come to those parts of our history with which I am much more familiar and my narrative will be the more elaborate for it.)
I'm sorry to say evil festered from within: humans, loyal to the Damned Hordes, sought not only to ensure the return of their dark master, but to give his Demonic form human semblance, so that rather than to destroy Rivellon, he would come to rule her. This group, known as the Black Ring, were close to achieving their goal and would doubtless have succeeded had it not been for both the tireless vigilance of Zandalor and the startling fate of an adventurer named Lucian.
This adventurer, guided as he was by the forces of good, exposed the Black Ring’s sinister schemes and when the time came willingly underwent a daring ritual that infused him with the powers of the Seven Gods who feared that Chaos could threaten their very existence. So the Divine was born!
Leaving but grim corpses in his wake - and aided as he was by a dragon; the Patriarch - the avatar of light followed the enemy to its stronghold, nestled deep beneath the desert wastes of Yuthul Gor, where he stalked and killed every Black Ring elder until finally he and their diabolic leader, the Demon of Lies, stood snout to face. The fiend smiled and told the Divine he was too late: the transfer was complete and the Lord of Chaos would walk again. Indeed, behind him, on a large altar lay a newborn infant, a shell of innocence wrapped around a soul of utter corruption. The Divine’s sword saw the Demon dead, but despite being able to put an end to the vast plague that had almost brought Rivellon to her knees, he could not bring himself to kill the child.
1218 to 1233 AD - The Youth of Damian
Lucian named his 'son' Damian, and for years the Damned One, unaware of the terrible forces that brimmed beneath his boyish exterior, grew up under the Divine’s tutelage. Until he met Ygerna. Sent to seduce Damian by her father, the Black Ring necromancer Kalin, she befriended the young man, who was instantly infatuated with her. Not only did she return his affections, but also his long slumbering powers. They practiced innocent spells at first, but later on more sinister magic, rarer incantations, and, most dangerous of all, they unravelled forbidden knowledge. For some time, Damian's Divine foster parent was blissfully oblivious of Ygerna’s ominous influence on his son, until evidence connected her to Kalin, whom he had recently executed. When questioned she confessed that she supported his rotten stratagems, the most important of these being the renascence of Damian’s dark, dormant powers.
After hearing such hideous testimony, Lucian had no choice but to execute Ygerna in turn: the Black Ring never enjoys clemency, whatever the circumstances. Under the eyes of the wise, but worry-plagued Zandalor, the Divine’s sword severed Ygerna’s head from her body. Yet, at that prophetic moment, while Ygerna’s blood was still claiming more territory on the floor, Damian entered and gave voice to a spell that utterly stunned even that mighty ensemble: the spell of Soul Forging. Before anyone could react, Damian turned back and seemingly disappeared. The Divine knew his son would from then on be his greatest foe and understood that Damian had already realised a great deal of his black potential: he who can Soul Forge, is a stupendous adversary indeed. The Damned One walked again.
As Lucian and Damian gathered their armies, Zandalor contemplated the repercussions of Damian’s acts. A Soul Forge is an exceptional enough event in its own right; a Soul Forge with a soul as it dwells amidst the few fragments of time between life and death, was unprecedented. Uncertain of the consequences for either him or Damian, he entrusted Ygerna’s body to the care of embalmers, forgoing the usual ritual burning of Black Ring corpses.
After hearing such hideous testimony, Lucian had no choice but to execute Ygerna in turn: the Black Ring never enjoys clemency, whatever the circumstances. Under the eyes of the wise, but worry-plagued Zandalor, the Divine’s sword severed Ygerna’s head from her body. Yet, at that prophetic moment, while Ygerna’s blood was still claiming more territory on the floor, Damian entered and gave voice to a spell that utterly stunned even that mighty ensemble: the spell of Soul Forging. Before anyone could react, Damian turned back and seemingly disappeared. The Divine knew his son would from then on be his greatest foe and understood that Damian had already realised a great deal of his black potential: he who can Soul Forge, is a stupendous adversary indeed. The Damned One walked again.
As Lucian and Damian gathered their armies, Zandalor contemplated the repercussions of Damian’s acts. A Soul Forge is an exceptional enough event in its own right; a Soul Forge with a soul as it dwells amidst the few fragments of time between life and death, was unprecedented. Uncertain of the consequences for either him or Damian, he entrusted Ygerna’s body to the care of embalmers, forgoing the usual ritual burning of Black Ring corpses.
1233 AD - Damian Is Banished To Nemesis
Within days, the Black Ring and Divine Paladins clashed. Damian though, had eyes for Lucian only: he would show him the same kindness he had shown Ygerna. What he did not know was that the Divine was ready for him. He would lure his son to a Rift Temple and, if all went according to plan, banish him to another dimension. Blinded as he was by his all-consuming wrath, Damian did not realise he was being drawn into a trap and soon he was locked away in shadow haunted Nemesis. The Divine returned to Rivellon, glad that the threat his foster son posed was eliminated, yet strangely mournful because he realised that despite the evil that had taken hold of him, Damian’s spur-of-the-moment Soul Forge was essentially an act of love.
1238 AD - Beyond Divinity
The Damned One however, made the best of his situation in Nemesis. He bode his time, grew in stature and power, until he did what most thought could not be done: with the help of a duped paladin who knew not it was Damian he was fighting with side by side, he broke free from his prison dimension and initially overran the surprised Rivellonian forces.
1238 to 1300 AD - The Rise and Fall of Damian and the Divine
His thoughts were still wholly focused on one thing: to destroy the Divine and so revenge Ygerna. The war changed the face of Rivellon: for years it raged and one catastrophic event followed the other. Where once there were mountains there are now flat scorched plains and picturesque farmlands have been pushed up and turned into jagged cliffs. Nevertheless mankind faced its infernal foes with remarkable courage and tenacity. A decisive reason for their stubborn optimism was the new forged alliance between the Divine and the now very rare, but still immensely powerful Dragon Knights, the last and elusive proponents of Dragon magic in the Demon-swept realms. Throughout the climactic battle, the scales of victory could have tipped either way. But then the unthinkable happened: one of the Dragon Knights betrayed and slew the unsuspecting Divine. During the confusion that ensued, the Paladins started to fight Dragon and Demon alike. Luckily Zandalor was able to rally the troops and so narrowly avoid disaster. Damian, who had already lost much of his forces and had seen his revenge materialised, ordered his army to abandon the field. His dominion over Rivellon could wait. And besides, he had other things on his mind.
The war ended, but the fighting never stopped. Enraged by the betrayal of the Dragon Knights and the death of the Divine, humanity saw the foundation of the Order of Dragon Slayers, which specialised in the eradication of the Patriarch's chosen few. With Maxos gone and the Patriarch unwilling to intervene, their already very small number dwindled fast until ultimately only one remained: Talana.
The war ended, but the fighting never stopped. Enraged by the betrayal of the Dragon Knights and the death of the Divine, humanity saw the foundation of the Order of Dragon Slayers, which specialised in the eradication of the Patriarch's chosen few. With Maxos gone and the Patriarch unwilling to intervene, their already very small number dwindled fast until ultimately only one remained: Talana.
1300 AD - Divinity II - The Dragon Knight Saga
Talana was hunted without pause and without remorse, but when she was finally tracked down and mortally wounded by the greatest of Dragon Slayers, Commander Rhode, she yielded all her powers to a young Dragon Slayer recruit who thereby became the last Dragon Knight.
It became his goal to kill arch-nemesis Damian by means of resurrecting Ygerna with whom he was soul forged. During the course of his quest it was revealed that the Dragon Knight who killed the Divine was mind-tricked by Damian and that the Dragon Slayers' hunt for Dragon Knights worked to his advantage. When he'd be back, he'd no longer have to deal with these fearsome foes.
It became his goal to kill arch-nemesis Damian by means of resurrecting Ygerna with whom he was soul forged. During the course of his quest it was revealed that the Dragon Knight who killed the Divine was mind-tricked by Damian and that the Dragon Slayers' hunt for Dragon Knights worked to his advantage. When he'd be back, he'd no longer have to deal with these fearsome foes.
As it would turn out, the mystery Dragon Knight who assassinated the Divine was not the last one to fall for a ruse, for the Dragon-Slayer-turned-Dragon-Knight too was tricked, by no other than Ygerna this time, who, claiming to be Talana, led him to her from the very netherworld – the Hall of Echoes – so that he would resurrect her. Believing this would kill Damian, the Dragon Knight did so, but soon discovered he was duped and found himself imprisoned in a realm beyond time and space: the Plane of Hypnerotomachia.
All worked out well for Damian who had unsuccessfully tried to resurrect Ygerna as well. But that was not the only thing he had been doing, for Damian knew his history and knew of the legends of Sigurd's empire. During the glory years of the Dragon Slayers he had been doing more than sit around and plan a next campaign: he had been researching the technology used by Maxos and the Dragon Knight to unite an empire so many thousands of years ago. The result was still a far cry from what this technology had once been, but nonetheless the crude, but imposing Flying Fortresses he had constructed were a force to be reckoned with and he lost no time deploying them against the human capital of Aleroth.
To protect the city, Zandalor employed desperate measures: he conjured a shield around the city which effectively safeguarded it from harm, but to be able to do so he first had to harvest this shielding magic from around the prison of a Chaos wizard by the name of Behrlihn who had been rotting away in his dungeon deep beneath Aleroth ever since he was incarcerated after the Wizard Wars.
Behrlihn, omnipotent in many ways, knew everything that had happened in the world despite his being locked away, and now that he sensed the disappearance of the shield, he immediately travelled in mental form to the Plane of Hypnerotomachia, something he could not do when the guarding magic was still in place. Here he found the lost Dragon Knight and no other than the Divine, who was in fact still alive and likewise imprisoned by Damian. Behrlihn made a deal with the Dragon Knight.
The latter would release the former's physical self from underneath the besieged city and in return Behrlihn would both free the Divine from his other-worldly captivity and give the Dragon Knight the Eye of the Patriarch, a mighty object that could destroy the armada of Flying Fortresses around Aleroth. And so the Dragon Knight was free once more to roam the city in search of ways to free the dread Chaos wizard.
In the end, the Dragon Knight freed Behrlihn who gave him the Eye of the Patriarch, but refused to free the Divine. Armed with this powerful object, the Dragon Knight set out to defeat the fleet of Flying Fortresses which turned out to be commanded by the freshly resurrected Ygerna. The threat above Aleroth was obliterated, but the fight was not over. Ygerna and Behrlihn spirited themselves away to the Plane of Hypnerotomachia and pulled the Dragon Knight in with them. At last there followed the final confrontation between these three and soon both Behrlihn and Ygerna lay dead.
Their lives and their powers had been undone and consequently the Divine was freed. Aleroth and indeed all of Rivellon rejoiced, but Damian remains alive to this day - and in a sense he remains undefeated.
Behrlihn, omnipotent in many ways, knew everything that had happened in the world despite his being locked away, and now that he sensed the disappearance of the shield, he immediately travelled in mental form to the Plane of Hypnerotomachia, something he could not do when the guarding magic was still in place. Here he found the lost Dragon Knight and no other than the Divine, who was in fact still alive and likewise imprisoned by Damian. Behrlihn made a deal with the Dragon Knight.
The latter would release the former's physical self from underneath the besieged city and in return Behrlihn would both free the Divine from his other-worldly captivity and give the Dragon Knight the Eye of the Patriarch, a mighty object that could destroy the armada of Flying Fortresses around Aleroth. And so the Dragon Knight was free once more to roam the city in search of ways to free the dread Chaos wizard.
In the end, the Dragon Knight freed Behrlihn who gave him the Eye of the Patriarch, but refused to free the Divine. Armed with this powerful object, the Dragon Knight set out to defeat the fleet of Flying Fortresses which turned out to be commanded by the freshly resurrected Ygerna. The threat above Aleroth was obliterated, but the fight was not over. Ygerna and Behrlihn spirited themselves away to the Plane of Hypnerotomachia and pulled the Dragon Knight in with them. At last there followed the final confrontation between these three and soon both Behrlihn and Ygerna lay dead.
Their lives and their powers had been undone and consequently the Divine was freed. Aleroth and indeed all of Rivellon rejoiced, but Damian remains alive to this day - and in a sense he remains undefeated.
The future - unlike Zixzax the Imp Historian claims - has yet to be written ..