Lore Stories: Siege of the Atlas

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by which forces as tremendous as the Tangle and the Cleansing Fire cannot and do not clash directly, lest they 'rend the very cosmos asunder.' Instead, conflicts are settled through duels between mortal champions. These can safely do battle without rupturing reality.

Was kinda hoping that these battles absolutely do happen someplace else and their heralds invading Atlas is just a small glimpse of it. Atlas basically being just a tiny corner reality with which humanity is capable of witnessing the cosmic horrors and their struggle.

You know, similar to how crazy stuff in space is happening all the time very far away, which would instantly disintegrate Earth if they would simply be too close in vicinity. That gives more room for future ideas for expansion, like say some far away cosmic struggle caused a huge cataclysmig event that vomits out destructive "debris" everywhere, some of it landing on Atlas.

Plus being a fly on the wall between a war of eldritch horrors is cool, War of the Atlas was a neat expansion for that reason. League mechanics having a civil war amongst each other would be neat concept for a League too, Beyond vs Breach etc.

I love these lore posts!

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SirusTO wrote:

Man. Makes me curious what our slice of the cosmos is going to look like when the Maven grows up into her own cosmic horror, consuming the universe in the same way as all these other unspeakables.

Certainly something involving endless conflict and rebirth -- but it seems the other entities, by their natures, transform their subjects, be they burning brains, writhing limbs, or husks. Is the Maven unique in that she does not? Or does she not...yet?

Or maybe she already does. Maybe everyone and everything in Wraeclast wasn't born with the innate desire to slaughter, loot, and grow stronger. Maybe the Maven's influence is already here.

Endless conflict and rebirth, makes me think of Legion. Wonder if there's going to be a connection between Maven and the Domain of Timeless Conflict?

I love the Lore of this game, it's amazing. A shame so many people don't care about it and they just want to clear screen and get loot for dopamine influx.

You guys are doing an amazing job, i completed both the Atlas Quest for the first time ever and i realized the only thing pushing me to do it was the story and the extra dialogues i would unlock by doing so.

Thank you very much, incredible work!

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FCK42 wrote:

Makes me wonder... is Chaos one of those primordial eldritch beings? What about Kalandra? Both would make sense. I feel like Kalandra in particular would fit nicely, representing infinity (endless reflections, infinite self-symmetry. Think two mirrors opposing each other or fractal imagery).

Seriously though, I want some more Kalandra lore at this point.

I like this direction. It could explain the origin of gods like Sin and Innocence as "champions" of Kalandra.

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WhoMans wrote:

One thing I don't understand, why does the Searing Exarch use the Oriath symbol?

It could just be eldritch cultural appropriation? But really, nobody knows, and it is hella creepy.
Normally the descry represents 1) adherence to Innocence, 2) opposition to Kitava's scratched-out eyes, and 3) the promise of vigilance against the use of thaumaturgy.

Now take a look at these items:
- Dawnbreaker (Exarch drop): Also has ties to Innocence.

- Zeel's Amplifier (old item): Inexplicably has a descry on a Vaal item.

- Crystallised Omniscience (Exarch drop) and Ashes of the Stars (Eater drop): Have further ominous lore text, and resemble the Mirror of Kalandra, which serves as the game's logo.
Click here for a better view of CrysOmni.

I would like to reply to everybody, but that'd take up twice the screenspace, so here goes:

Wendek
https://oriath.net/Audio/ has most voicelines, but perhaps also some that were cut from the game, so be careful.
l1mbomon
The Cleansing Fire is apparently a cluster of galaxies consisting of the people and planets it has consumed, continueing to think and suffer forever.
Sitzura
I think both the Searing Exarch and the Black Star are avatars of the Cleansing Fire, and both the lady!Maven and the Envoy are avatars of the Maven brain.
Fightgarr
I suspect most eldritch champions are mere extensions of the horror itself, so they don't think there's much difference between talking to us or directly to the Maven.
Arcanist_ and FCK42
I think the Envoy's subject of "Order" Implies that the Lightkeeper and Progenitor are two different entities.
The Progenitor is, I think, the same as the "bastion of flesh" and created all the other cosmic entities.
The Lightkeeper is probably the "Order" that the Trialmaster speaks of in "The Anathema".

SirusTO
The Envoy suggests in "Perpetuation" that all of cosmos is affected by the Maven's bloodlust.
She doesn't seem to actively eat anybody yet, but there is the possibility, that she actually absorbs the bosses she collects.
By helping her collect map bosses, we might actually be spoon-feeding this tiny baby horror...
hodgie25 (On Maven/Legion connection)
Envoy's subject "Her Wonder" does suggest that she has had playthings collected for her entertainment before reaching the Atlas.
It would also explain why incubators open after enough bloodshed; Rather than absorbing energy, they might just be "cameras" for the Maven, and release their reward when you've shown her enough entertainment.

009Status
Both Scourge and Ultimatum dealt with alternate realities, so we'll probably see more, but we don't know how Maven & co. interact with alternate realities...
Raymonator
Path of Exile very much follows the Dark Souls philosophy of storytelling.
You pick up a can of tuna, look at the nutrition values, and go "Oooh, lore!".
lobsterphobia
The endgame stuff has mostly stayed in its own lore pocket, except for Sirus flipping out and wrecking Oriath.
And yes, the endgame is in fact Mortal Kombat now.

I love this. The lore is so multi-faceted and whether intended or not I always get a feeling of layers of meaning there. Even from the name of the boss arenas and correlations to the personality of the boss itself, and the symbolism there and ties to overarching themes. Then on to exiles being "stuck in the Atlas" *guilty* and on and on. Love it. Speed is the name of the game these days still, but it deserves the time taken to soak in the dialogue on a first playthrough and experience of new content.