Even before the Calamity, power in the Empire was distributed along hazy lines between too many grasping hands. The matter was not helped by a society brutally fractured by a cataclysm of unprecedented scale, the intrusion of malevolent Gods and eldritch creatures, and constant war since the Restoration Period. Yet most citizens of the Empire are able to pinpoint the prominent holders of power and the rulers of the realm.

Non-Imperial Deities of the Fourth Age

‘Immaruu faleact Arkon iirat!’ (approx.: ‘Arkon’s light shall shine on your path!’)

- Oghre religious chant

‘I piss on your gods! When I’m done with you, your spirit can go tell them just that!’

- Ran’Garr, Orc mercenary

Naturally, Imperial gods are not the only ones worshiped in the Riven Realms. Religious beliefs and deities are as diverse as the inhabitants of the lands themselves.

The Triumvirate

‘Whether or not the Divine are our children or we are theirs, our relationship in this post-apocalyptic era with the Gods represent our needs and inner struggles. Thus, Bal Ur Kaal is our treachery, Sergorod is our anger, and Ahskul? Ahskul is death itself.’

- From the last lecture of the scholar Ludvinius Cadvo before his execution for blasphemy against the Triumvirate

‘Because what are gods, really? Did they create us or did we create them? Is there something truly divine out there or all the gods are merely mortals who achieved apotheosis through the mysteries and energies of the universe? These questions have always intrigued Men of this modern age as well as past eras. Yet, these are not the questions one should be asking. What one should be asking instead is: what is the reason for our need to be governed and guided by omnipotent beings?’

'Many thought the continent and its inhabitants dead but at length, survivors began to crawl out of their hiding places and faced a land that no longer welcomed them. Magical anomalies, the fallout of The Calamity, as well as changed and twisted creatures now shared their home. Terrible beings entered through the cracks in the tapestry of reality and ascended to rule over the natives. In time, these new powers rebuilt the fallen Empire in their own image, and the Riven Realms, godless and vengeful, rose from the ashes. The inhabitants of the land now eke out a living under the crushing rule of the new Empire. The continent itself constantly resists our every attempt at building a cozy home for ourselves.'

- Agos, old wanderer

For a long time after the Calamity, most of the continent was engulfed in arcane storms that made large regions completely uninhabitable. Most survivor communities spent decades and decades underground or in isolated areas. Around four centuries after the cataclysm, much of the magical anomalies became less intense or mysteriously withdrew to certain regions and have remained there ever since. Some of this may be attributed to the Twelve and their reappearance (and they have certainly taken the credit – in the name of the Emperor of course). At any rate, the inhabitants of the continent started the slow process of repopulating and resettling. However, this proved extremely difficult and time-consuming as the land was practically unrecognizable and filled with danger.

'After only days Xeryn was reduced to little more than rubble and cursed wastelands... ‘Eventually the gods could not tolerate such horrors done in their name. Foretold by a slew of divine omens, they descended upon the Empire to right its wrongs. In a chain of dreadful events that became known as The Calamity, they destroyed the Empire in a matter of days. The gods then saw what they had done in their anger and confusion. It is said that grief and shame broke them, and they left this reality, never to return.’

- Agos, old wanderer

The Calamity is perhaps the single most important event in the history of the Empire and the continent of Xeryn, if not the entire world. It changed everything; nature’s laws no longer apply to many places, the fabric of reality is broken, all cultures involved were changed irreversibly, and the creators of the universe disappeared. Ever since then, a new calendar has been in use. All of this began with the Omens, about a month prior to the devastation.

‘But after thousands of years of progress and incomparable achievements, inevitably, the Empire began to fall into stagnation and decadence. Madly holding onto their privileges while resisting change and trying to avert the collapse of their society, the Emperor and his theocracy took to measures that rivaled that of true despots in cruelty.’

- Agos, old wanderer

At the time of the game’s present, the Calamity - the cataclysm that nearly wiped out the continent of Xeryn and everyone on it - is in the distant past, having occurred over a millennia ago. Still, due to the immense powers let loose upon the land, the scars of that disaster can very much be perceived everywhere. And though such a long time had passed that people of this age cannot even imagine what the world was like before the Calamity, it that does not mean there are no legends about what happened…

'The Riven Realms, they call it. A fine, poetic name for something as rotten and twisted as our land has become. It was not always so. The Old Empire - the oldest and noblest society created by humans - spanned almost the whole continent of Xeryn, the Cradle of Man. But after thousands of years of progress and incomparable achievements, inevitably, the Empire began to fall into stagnation and decadence. [...] The subjugation of weaker realms; the enslavement of whole nations; the strip mining of foreign resources; the oppression of Imperial citizens; war on several fronts; genocide… Eventually the gods could not tolerate such horrors done in their name. Foretold by a slew of divine omens, they descended upon the Empire to right its wrongs. In a chain of dreadful events that became known as The Calamity, they destroyed the Empire in a matter of days.’

A fearless rover with a great nose for profit

‘Following the Restoration era, more and more Imperial citizens ended up living semi-nomadic lives, constantly on the road between the isolated settlements, carrying goods and news. Soon, a new kind of leader figure emerged: the fearless rover with a great nose for profit. Romanticized often by the common folk, a vagrus could in truth be as harmless as an infant, or become the most vile of criminal scum. Their significance in the revival of commerce is vastly overrated of course, but even so, they deserve a passing mention here.‘

- Excerpt from Ars Historica by Irn-Pelenis, Court Historian of His Imperial Majesty Valen Xevaris

In the world where the game is set, a vagrus is a person who leads a group of travellers to their destination. Literally meaning ‘wanderer’ in the Imperial language, vagrus now refers to anyone who leads a comitatus, whether it’s temporary or permanent. A comitatus is a sort of caravan, though the word ‘caravan’ may be a misnomer, since comitati (pl.) do not only deal in trading, but often take on mercenary work or volunteer as scouts, or explorers of forsaken places. Although settlements were rebuilt after the Calamity, roads between them are still extremely dangerous, if they are there at all. That is the reason why armed travellers are often the only way to trade and communicate between settlements, making comitati - and vagri (pl.) - essential and therefore, often well-respected.