There have been many big announcements coming out in the final hours of the KickStarter. Significant partnerships seem to be the theme of the day. Partnerships between Soulbound Studios and Improbable, developers of SpatialOS which is the most outstanding technology (which I will not cover because it goes right over my head apart from being utterly great news). We had a World Interation Video that not only demonstrated the way we connect with items in Elyria, but also the partnership between the thief and the shadows. And now we have lore describing what might be the most heartbreaking partnership I have read of for some time.

This lore also came with art. Deamon, the God of Fire. Or perhaps we should refer to him as the Qin of Fire now that we have some more information about the different religions of Elyria and a slight update in the spelling of Kin seen before. The art depicts his terrifying form forging a ring, a ring that has a deep story to it.

One of the religions of Elyria believes that all Elyrians are descendants of Mann, one of a handful of powerful beings that existed before the “The Burning” known as Qin.

Among those powerful beings was Daemon, the Qin of Fire. It’s believed that Daemon’s death during the first Godswar was what started The Burning, and ultimately lead to the inevitable second Godswar.

In Elyria, descendants of Daemon are referred to as daemons, and while nobody in living memory has ever seen a daemon, they’re often depicted in artwork.

The above artwork depicts a pivotal moment in the mythology of Elyria. It’s believed that Daemon, though unable to create life himself, asked his cousin Terra, Qin of Land, to create a wife for him. She did so, and from Terra was created Selene, regarded as one of the most beautiful of all of the Qin.

Daemon loved her and cared for her, but as he was a being of Fire, and her of the Land, he could never get near her without scorching her. So he set to work creating a relic, a wedding ring, that she could wear that would protect her from his swelter. Unfortunately, being a Qin of Fire, he lacked the ability to create such an item. Instead, he created a ring which grants the wearer immunity to all physical harm…aside from Fire.

The legend continues. It says that while his presence was pain for Selene, she loved him dearly and refused to stay away from him. She went to him one night, and in spite of the heat and pain, created a child with him.

When Daemon realized what the effects of their night together had done to her, he was mortified. His once beautiful Selene was covered in burns and blisters. Ashamed, he sent his wife away, exiled from Karcion.

It was there, in the Western region of Karcion that Selene, Qin of Solitude gave birth to her only son. And when he was born, the loneliness of his mother and the heat of his father combined and were released into the world. At the spot where he was born the land became hot, dry, and devoid of life. When he was old enough to wear his father’s ring, Selene gave it to him for safekeeping.

And thus, the Ring of Erathor, son of Daemon, and Qin of the Desert became legend. But the story does not end there…

There is a lot of emotion in that story, but as always I am going to ignore all that and start trying to pull it apart for all the detail we have learnt. Though as always I shall stress that when we are given lore these are often the beliefs of only one of the religions in the game. In this case, those who follow the Qin.

Godswars – At least two are thought to have occurred. The first of which caused The Burning which we have spoken of previously. An event that is said to have ripped the planes of the world apart. That is a colossal event, so what could possibly have started and resulted from another?

Terra, Qin of Land – We have now had confirmation of Terra the Qin of Land, who is related to the Qin of Fire.

Selene, Qin of Solitude – Selene herself does not appear to be the Qin of anything at her creation, though perhaps it could be speculated that she was the Qin of Beauty, but by the end she was the Qin of Solitude. A woman who loved Deamon so much she would be scarred permanently to be with him. Could he be so terrible if someone would go through that for him?

Erathor, Qin of Desert – The product of his parents love. A lonely arid Qin, in a lifeless place. It does not sound like the ideal start in life, but the ending of the story suggests more happened in his life. Hopefully, we get to find out what.

So is your heart suitably wretched? Do you feel as strongly for Selene as I now do? Will you join me in following a Qin who gave up her beauty for just one night with the man she loved? How did Deamon cope having to exile the woman he adored? The woman he had tried to protect? Could his rage at himself have sparked the first Godswar, was his love what caused The Burning? As always we have more questions than we started with, but now I must go and start my Selene shrine.