i have always wondered, why korvaak is obsessed with turning his follower into giants with bladed claws for hands and disemboweled stomach churning with magma?
here’s the depiction of korvaak in his shrine:
notice that korvaak’s bottom is depicted as a living demonic underwear with scary face and sharp teeth.
it’s kinda similar in gruesomeness with his rageflame/kaisan like giant soldiers. here’s a description of a korvan rageflame from the lore note the vanguard must hold:
https://grimdawn.gamepedia.com/Vanguard_Must_Hold
"In the most recent strike, a bare-chested behemoth of a man with his face flayed off charged the vanguard in a whirlwind of blades. His gut was exposed to reveal a churning furnace of molten flames that he unleashed upon our forces. Within moments, he had taken out four of our sentinels without pause. Only when we had finally brought him down by removing his head did we realize that his arms had been removed at the elbows and fused with burning-hot blades."
what’s the meaning of disemboweled stomach vomitting magma… funny thing is, korvaak’s manifestation doesn’t have that them. he looks pretty human-ish with extra arms. why is the shrine depiction inaccurate?
attak seru seems to be one of the leading figure of arkovian pantheon. creed uses her name in his ritual attempt to rescue ulgrim from the void (creed is a pragmatic man. the luminari must have countless artifacts taken from ‘heretics’ to be researched and used as they please).
luminari meddling in the lore of storm serpent is very possible. but ultos is described as a lesser celestial, though he’s the only survivor of the uroboruuk’s curse (no explanation how he survive the curse). and he has a very strong connection to mopdragon. a lesser celestial wouldn’t be the representation of the serpent figure that exist a lot in arkovian relics. maybe the luminari tries to erase all the name of the storm serpent 1st, so all curious individual never discover its connection to the leviathan.
maybe leviathan is also connected to yugol? both shares affinity with the cold. and both are devourers…
btw, i recently found an oddity about korvaak’s power waning and waxing during the korvan golden age. rion the scholar’s 3rd entry shows this:
https://grimdawn.gamepedia.com/Writings_of_Rion_the_Scholar_-_3rd_Entry
"I’ve been told that the heat of the temple had dwindled for some years but has recently rekindled, a cause for celebration and ritual."
this rekindling of korvaak temple is the oddity here. the heat of the temple dwindling indicates that korvaak experienced some setback. it brings the question of when it happened… is it before, during, or after the war of the gods?
but then rion’s 5th entry somewhat answer the question:
https://grimdawn.gamepedia.com/Writings_of_Rion_the_Scholar_-_5th_Entry
"The texts I’ve perused make it seem as though their rites and rituals are performed today as they were when first prescribed centuries ago. "
"According to these texts, Korvaak reigns over the Eldritch realm, a plane of existence in parallel to our own of his very making. They say that no mortal may bear witness upon its splendors and live; some fools have tried and paid the ultimate price for it. The texts warn of a many-eyed guardian that stands as a warning to all that would dare trespass upon the god’s domain."
so, when rion visits korvan lands and making these lore notes, korvaak has already lost the war of the gods… and dreeg has been blessed/punished by him… but that still doesn’t answer what exactly causes korvaak to regain his strength in this last moments of korvan empire before its doom. is it just because some of his priest are performing a grand ritual to celebrate korvaak’s blessing? here’s the lore entry from vizier erhaman:
https://grimdawn.gamepedia.com/Vizier_Erhaman%27s_Note
"The temple grows cold. No longer does the warmth of its heart wash over the city below. I do not know what has transpired, what could possibly cause such an event, but the patrons of the lesser temples have begun to notice. Those who come to pay homage approach me after prayer with questions I cannot answer. “Have we angered Korvaak?”, “Has the Eldritch Sun waned?”. They are rightfully concerned and scared. However, these are the types of emotions which spur wavering faith and thoughts of dissent. There are even some who speak openly against the temple. Though they are few in number, I am concerned that recent events may embolden them. They have the potential to become the rotting core at the center of a larger movement."
"In the meantime, I have pleaded to the elders for guidance, for words of calm that I might share with the patrons of the temple. They give no notice to my anxieties. I am told to continue on as I always have, for Korvaak’s flame is with us as certainly as the sun rises each day."
"The Eldritch Sun works in ways I do not hope to comprehend, but we must take heed when the populace becomes restless. The foundations of our city, of our very faith must not be shaken."
"I will do more than just offer the people words, I will give them a spectacle, a grand sacrifice to the heart of the temple"
is that grand sacrifice ritual the cause of korvaak’s brief surge of power? its possible… since the celestials & ascendants in grim dawn rely greatly on belief to sustain their powers. i don’t know how grand that ritual is. but evidently its too weak to protect korvaak from the 3. just like how the arkovians desperately prayed to their gods, but the arkovian pantheon has already vanished or too weak to protect them from uroboruuk’s curse.
here’s another curiosity about the link between ralyoh people of the shattered realm, ralyoh’s forgotten god, and korvaak:
rion, 5th entry:
https://grimdawn.gamepedia.com/Writings_of_Rion_the_Scholar_-_5th_Entry
"What I have learned thus far is truly fascinating. As far back as I can go, there seems to be no inconsistency to his presence or domain, no evolution of his worship. It is as if the core of the Korvan religion had somehow remained pure since its inception, quite unusual. It is that or its founders had put a great deal of effort into obscuring its true origins. The texts I’ve perused make it seem as though their rites and rituals are performed today as they were when first prescribed centuries ago."
"Korvaak himself is said to be primordial, ancient and eternal, a progenitor of all that mankind cherishes. From his Eldritch Throne, the Korvan god ascended numerous champions to enforce his rule. He had even been known to elevate those that dare challenge his worship as a means to appease them, turning former foes into steadfast allies. The now familiar names of Rahn and Ateph came up several times in the various tales spun around Korvaak’s divine actions. The history of the Korvan faith is indeed generations in the making."
"The Eldritch Sun is depicted both as the blessed flame and the dreadful terror of destruction. It seems he is both adored and feared by those that show him reverence, and with good reason; though Korvaak is generally depicted as benevolent to his followers, there are numerous records of disasters or outright cleansings that were attributed to the god’s retribution for mortals displeasing him."
"Some of these events seem eerily familiar, though I cannot recall why. I suspect there are similar mythos which I have been exposed to in nearby regions. There are also a number of rituals which bear a remarkable similarity to primitive practices I have researched in the past."
"This leads me to wonder if there are other tribes and civilizations that have been worshiping Korvaak since antiquity, but perhaps by a different name. This is a matter which will necessitate further investigation. "
rion, 6th entry:
https://grimdawn.gamepedia.com/Writings_of_Rion_the_Scholar_-_6th_Entry
"I have made a startling discovery while on my latest foray into the Korvan texts. While exploring the vast collection of the Korvan City Library, I briefly escaped the attention of its stewards and found my way to a closed-off archive. Among ancient birth records of some of the most prestigious Korvan families, several ascendants included, I unearthed a collection of texts that appear to shatter some of the core tenets of the very faith that is central to these people’s lives."
"A large number of the pages were badly damaged, as if whatever ward cast upon them had violently dissipated. Strangely, the parchment itself appeared newer than some of the records I’ve seen; perhaps someone had restored a damaged record at a later date. The bits that I could make out, however, painted a very different account of the early years of the Korvan faith."
"Korvaak himself was shown as a usurper, a conqueror of a realm he had no part in making. It is not entirely clear if the Korvaak that is spoken of today is even the same one described in those texts or whether that is the name given to the master of the Eldritch Throne."
"Another curiosity was the description of the upheaval involved in such a transition of power, a whirlwind of creation and destruction within which were caught the unfortunate believers. Sadly, before I could complete my analysis of the text, one of the stewards discovered my presence in the closed-off archive and promptly chased me out of the building."
"What little I’ve managed to read offers some troubling conclusions. Is Korvaak’s rule destined to falter as it had before? If so, will the same destruction consume these people when it does?"
there is a connection in these notes that supports the theory if that korvaak is the same god that is forgotten by ralyoh.
the shattered realm is said to be a mirror reflection of cairn, or cairn is a mirror reflection of SR itself…
what if shattered realms’ chronology goes something like this:
- after stealing chthon’s blood and imprisoning him in the void with the aid of empyrion’s pantheon, korvaak created the world of ralyoh and its people. blessing their world with so much blessing. his name could be different than korvaak. korvaak itself might be just a celestial title of some sorts.
- ralyoh people starts to become envious with each other due to human stupidity & greed, and they start hating korvaak because they think korvaak is an unsatisfying god for being unable to comply with their whining.
- korvaak got mad, SHATTER the world of ralyoth, and then by the whirlwinding cyclic power of creation & destruction, creates another mirror realm with different name, and perhaps korvaak too is changed in name or in personality.
- korvaak tries lots of different experiments and shattering and creating new realms repeatedly over a long period of time. perhaps making the shattered realm a messy place where celestial gods dumped their failed realms.
- war of the gods happened. empyrion wants to be in the front line, and also close to the edge of their galaxy to battle yugol and to keep watch over chthon. empyrion left cairn in the care of korvaak, ulzuin and other pantheons.
- korvaak tried to be more lenient to mortals that challenge his power, granting them blessing of ascendancy if they are worthy enough. but he’ll still brutally punish the mortals who crossed too many lines. he also tries to secretly alter every references to him to make it look like he exists since the beginning of cairn, probably to make sure almost every civ in cairn worship him, strengthening his power as a precaution against yugol and chthon.
- some stupid celestials decide to tap into the void, got corrupted with the void, then become chthon’s subordinates. they win the war of the gods. dreeg infiltrates the eldritch realm, and saw everything (past, present, future). korvaak punished but also blessed him because he thinks he needs all the help he can get to fight chthon & yugol. even if it means using the aid of insolent mortals. even if it means recovering his strength for thousands of years. even if it means SHATTERing cairn and creating another new realm. he’s desperate.
- dreeg saw the doomed fate of cairn’s people if korvaak is allowed to reign forever.
- dreeg probably also saw that all the beings in cairn are an incarnation/reincarnation/mirror reflection of the original realm ralyoth. he is frightened and angry with the original korvaak for destroying the ralyoth realm and then leaving it to languish as a shattered piece of SR.
- dreeg starts making his own plans while also imitating some of korvaak’s philosophy (korvaak secretly usurping empyrion’s cult!). he telepathically seeks worthy mortals that can aid him to usurp the eldritch throne. he found solael and bysmiel. he secretly blesses them both with eldritch powers and tell them of his plans.
- dreeg also notice rion being very curious with origin of korvaak and the korvan faith. he secretly hide rion from the eye of the temple wardens to allow him to sneak into the temple library, and forcefully rewriting some documentations of the korvan faith. feeding rion with the suggestion that korvaak is a thieving celestial that plans to usurp empyrion’s throne on cairn. he indirectly plants the seed of the luminari inquisition inside rion’s mind.
- the rest happens like what described in canon. the 3 is probably ordering mazaan to research the SR in order to learn more about the original ralyoth realm, to seek out more power to protect cairn.
still doesn’t answer empyrion’s exact fate.
I felt there were some gaps in my knowledge - and it seems there are still a lot of unknown variables; some nameless Celestials were their masters, and for reasons unknown these masters banished them.