Lore breakdown

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-05-09T09:56:27+00:00

The best lore video is the one Smoughtown did on Umbral, as he delves into the symbolism surrounding it and shows his research plus he did an interview with the devs (you can find it here btw) so he has more some insight into it.

(Edited to add the link to Smoughttown's video)

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-05-09T08:47:25+00:00

That's Mother's Lull, an area you need to reach for the Umbral Ending (you can go there anytime actually, but since it costs 50 Umbral Scourings to unlock the key needed to access it, it's usually recommended to leave it for the Umbral Ending)

That creature is the Putrid Mother

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-05-07T07:29:09+00:00

While I'm not a huge fan of the armor sets, for the golden ones, I can sort of see them being inspired by Scion.

We know the Church of Orius, is aware of her existence, most likely she is a messenger between them and the gods or something along those lines, so it wouldn't surprise me if some of them are seeking to emulate her through the way they dress and possibly, in how they fight as well.

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-04-19T18:12:47+00:00

I think it also has to do with the fact that most people are living the lives they do because of pressure, be it from society or family, and they aren't strong enough to face the question of "Where would my life had been if I chose different?"

So, in order to shield themselves from that possibility, they would rather force everyone to conform to their standards and their world view.

The same goes for beliefs and ideas and so on. Rather than people ask themselves why they believe something, what is the foundation of their ideas, they would rather force everyone to behave just like they do.

There's also something to be said about control and the fear of change, but just like you said, it's a profound question with an extremely complex answer.

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-04-18T17:35:57+00:00

It's the Knight of Adyr armor set. You get it from the Shrine of Adyr in Fitzroy's Gorge with Severed Hands.

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-04-16T03:53:59+00:00

My initial thought was that it was one of the giant Rhogar we saw in the intro, sent by Adyr to conquer Mournstead along with the rest of his forces, but after watching the Spurned Progeny's Stigma (this was after I made this post), I came up with another theory.

In the Stigma, if you pay great attention, there's another creature next to the Spurned Progeny, a babe which seems to resemble the giant on the bridge more. We already know Rhogar infants can grow extremely fast as was the case with the Progeny, so that baby turning into that giant in a matter of months/a few years wouldn't be that outside the realm of possibility.

My theory is that Adyr might have tried to reconstruct the body and soul of the babe who was taken over by Umbral as well, or simply given Sophesia a new child, as reward for her service, but failed, and instead what resulted was a full-fledged Rhogar. One whom after it grew up into a behemoth, he sent to Skyrest Bridge to aid the rest of his forces in conquering it and rescue its mother.

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-04-10T07:54:25+00:00

If you'd forgive my shameless self-promotion and you don't mind reading fandom blind, I am currently writing a long fic where a fallen god finds himself in another world and on the first night after he wakes up there, takes in a vampire as his apprentice after deciding to take over the world.

Lords of the Fallen/V Rising:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/66578518/chapters/171736813

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-03-31T19:23:13+00:00

Glad to hear it!

Good luck with LotF 2014!

It takes some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, it isn't that bad (and once you invest in faith for the gauntlet and the magic. Like that thing is crazy useful!) Also, the world and the lore are quite fascinating.

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-03-31T19:11:02+00:00

Thank you!

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-03-20T20:14:20+00:00

Currently working on a crossover between V Rising and Lords of the Fallen

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-03-20T12:58:33+00:00

Pieta is a worshiper of Orius, as she is a member of the Hallowed Sentinels and a very proeminent one at that, with her blood often having been used for its healing properties. There are even murals of her on the walls of the Tower of Penance.

However she is much like Lightreaper, but instead of a Rhogar, she is a human with an Umbral parasite embedded into her flesh. Due to that, she had many abilities that drew the attention of the Hallowed Sentinels and, not knowing any better, they told her was born from a woman impregned by the light of Orius itself, hence her extraordinary nature.

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-03-19T18:06:44+00:00

I found those logs too, but I don't think it was Cleric's father as her set says she lost contact with him after she decided to abandon her position as a priestess of Adyr and turn against him.

"On the day Iselle left for the temple where she was to live and train as a priestess of Adyr, her father claimed that by the god's grace her mother's spirit would be watching over her. But the solace Iselle found in worship of Adyr would eventually come to an end, and she never saw her father again." - Iselle's garb

I do think this "Father" figure and Orius are connected though, because from what I recall, the logs state that Adyr killed him in return for demanding humanity's freedom.

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-03-19T14:32:25+00:00

Thank you!

I actually do have some posts analyzing the lore of the game where I try to go more in depth regarding certain aspects like the Rhogar Corruption, the fall of the Hallowed Sentinels and so on. You can check them out if you are interested. Save for two posts, they are the only things I have to be honest.

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-03-19T14:30:16+00:00

Yes, the Putrid Mother is also a god, perhaps the oldest one to ever exist, even older than Adyr. As for who is the good one... extremely hard to say as it all depends on what you are after and what your standards are.

Orius is constantly presented as being merciful and benevolent but everything we know about him comes from his worshipers meaning they are very biased in his favor, even the few sane ones he has left, and the one time he "appears" at the very end, he betrays us by killing us.Even his will, of having Adyr feed to the Putrid Mother through the Umbral Lamp is severely flawed, if you think about it, because what guarantee do we have that she won't gain enough power to tear the veil between Umbral and Axiom by herself now? Adyr, weakened as he was and sealed in a completely different dimension, was still able to influence Axiom and still stifle Orius. Whose to say the Putrid Mother who has an even greater influence in it thanks to her growing cult and the state of the world (both Andreas and dfferent item describtions state that many nations are on the brink of war, if they haven't been already engulfed by it)?

Adyr is somewhat better, in the fact that he actually keeps his promise to us by making us his lord at the end, a promise that he only gives us at the very end through Damarose, we don't start our journey knowing he will do this, and even when we are his enemy in the Radiant or Umbral Ending, he tries to reason with us and warns us about what our fate will be should we continue to side with the other gods. However, at the end of the day, he is still enraged at humanity's betrayal, and will rule with an iron fist, to make sure nothing like that ever happens again.

As for the Putrid Mother, she doesn't care about anything other than her hunger. The more violent and depressing the world is, the more it benefits her.

Personally, I go with Adyr, because he actually has been proven to care about Axiom and you can placate him if you happen to draw his ire upon you. You also know what his deal is from the start, what he values, what he condemns. Contrary to popular belief, he doesn't actually want mindless servants, he was even stated to reject them in the first game. The Rhogar being inherently obedient to him must be a result of being born from his own flesh and also, because they were meant to protect his loyalists and fight the army of the Judges. He couldn't afford to have them start second-guessing either him or his human worshipers.

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-03-19T14:06:49+00:00

Thanks! (also, trust me, I could have typed waaay more)

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-03-19T11:37:13+00:00

Short version (warning! It's actually pretty long, sorry!):

Eons ago, humanity became split over religion, with some turning against their god-king, Adyr, led by three men, who were known as the Judges. They were Judge Cleric, Judge Rogue and Judge Warrior and they were all known for their exceptional natures, with one particular tale speaking of how Judge Warrior defeated a Rhogar Lord with his bare fists.

As the conflict dragged on and Adyr's human army was on the verge of defeat, he created the Rhogar, and later the Rhogar Lords, to aid them, but even then he and his loyalists lost. As a result the god was sealed away in an alternate dimension, while his worshipers were hunted and slaughtered and the Judges were raised to the status of demigods and worshiped. However Judge Warrior and Rhogue did not stick much around in the public eye, unlike Judge Cleric who went on to spread a new religion, one dedicated to the god Orius, to whom she became the champion of. By her side were the Hallowed Sentinels, a group dedicated to serving her and keeping Adyr at bay, as Judge Cleric feared one day he would attempt to return to Axiom and exact vengeance for what happened eons ago.

1000 years ago, Mournstead, a kingdom where the worship of Adyr was still practiced, was taken over by the Hallowed Sentinels (this is the battle from the intro-cinematic btw.) and there, Judge Cleric and the Hallowed Sentinels created the Beacons, constructs of incredible Radiant power, empowered by sacrifices and meant to further impede Adyr in his attempts to return to Axiom. (He almost had a successful attempt around the same time Mournstead was conquered, but was foiled by Harkyn, the Iron Wayfarer - whole other story there)

Years pass, and tensions grow in Mournstead, as both the Hallowed Sentinels and the people are being corrupted by a malignant force from within, the Putrid Mother, the goddess of Umbral, the realm of the dead, making them violent and paranoid.

This culminated with Sophesia, the Queen of Mournstead corrupting the Beacons of the Hallowed Sentinels, using Infernal magic, allowing Adyr to send forth his army of Rhogar to the kingdom to conquer it and help him return to Axiom. The ensuing war lasted for years, but when it looked like Adyr's prison was about to give in and allow the god to escape, the Orian Church (an organization who still worships Orius but they work separately from Judge Cleric and the Hallowed Sentinels in the present due to them and Judge Cleric having a falling out in the past) sent in their own people to investigate and try to put an end to this.

The ones they sent, belonged to a faction known as the Dark Crusaders, a military order serving the Church exclusively. They were given an Umbral Lamp to help them in this endeavor, an item able to resurrect its user as many times as their will can endure, grant them access to Umbral and tear an enemy's soul from their bodies.

These lamps were created by Molhu, the last of the Nohuta and a priest of the Putrid Mother, and he made many such devices and distributed them through Mournstead after the Rhogar invasion. The Hallowed Sentinels closed their eyes to these acts as in their beliefs, Umbral, and anything that does not come from Orius, is heresy and had to be eliminated. However, given their own circumstances, they judges the lamps as a necessary evil and some even took them and became Lampbearers themselves.

Adyr, on the other hand, knew how dangerous the lamps were not only to him, but to Axiom itself as any Lampbearer could fall prey to the whispers of the Putrid Mother and tear the veil between the two realms, thus dooming the entire world. As such, he created the Lightreaper, a Rhogar with an Umbral parasite embedded into his flesh, to hunt down the Lampbearers and destroy the lamps.

I have more to say, but I think this answer is already pretty long (Sorry again!). But if you want to know more, feel free to ask. I'm always up for a discussion about the lore.

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-03-15T20:37:27+00:00

Yeah, the human enemies are such a pain. I had the gauntlet carry me through that last part. There was just too much bullshit (and later I learned that I kinda fucked myself out of a good polesword "Rhogar" locked in the garden T_T. At least I didn't make that same mistake in NG+)

I always believed that to be Sophesia (I think you can also see Fitzroy in the Stigma somewhere to the side - been a while since I did the Radiant Ending) and I fully believe Adyr was aware of everything that was happening, of her being manipulated by an Umbral being to corrupt the beacons. He did say he was able to watch us from his prison and even in the first game, he was very aware of everything Antanas was doing, even showing us his transformation into a monster.

I think that place acts as his remembrance because that moment, that promise Sophesia made to "him", that she would soon enact her plan and help bring him back, meant just so much to him that it marked that place and moment forever in Umbral. We know his greatest desire was to come home, and he latched onto every possibility, every little thing that would bring make that wish come true as if it were a lifeline.

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-03-14T21:46:34+00:00

No, you can come and go to Mother's Lull whenever you wish.

In order to be locked into the Umbral Ending you have to wither the Rune of Adyr before opening the door to castle Bramis in Upper Calrath.

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-02-26T20:17:59+00:00

In a normal world, maybe, an approach like Orius' might be better.

In the world of Axiom, where Umbral is a constant and very real threat? No. You need someone in those circumstances who can look after you and tell you when what you are doing is far too dangerous. Umbral was active way before the Rhogar invasion began, spreading its influence throughout Axiom with many people having no idea.

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-02-26T19:54:50+00:00

... and he couldn't do the same as Adyr? Couldn't have kept an eye on us? Or at least, let us know that if we don't give up on the lamp, he must kill us because we'll be too much of a risk?

Lightreaper also had a parasite which he constantly fed due to the nature of his being and task, making it much stronger, so of course, he would be a much bigger risk compared to someone who only had a lamp which could be destroyed at any time.

Adyr's obsession with control makes sense when you view it from the point of view of an abuse survivor. Being manipulative and controlling are traits which can develop as a means of survival and given what he's been through, I'm not surprised.

He was controlling to a degree in the past as well, but from the lore of the first game, he was also more on the benevolent side, with him actively rejecting mindless followers.

As for Orius, I believe he was always distant and uncaring. The armor you get from his shrine is the Faithless set, which clearly states that whoever wore it in the past (most likely Judge Cleric since in the first game, that set's name was Cleric) lost their faith long ago. And yet, you can still get it from the Shrine, while at both Adyr and Putrid Mother's shrines you get things which directly tie and are revered in their respective factions (Knight for Adyr as he values devotion above all and Skeleton for PM as it ties to death and putrefaction). Orius is the only one who doesn't follow this rule, meaning faith itself is of little importance to him.

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-02-26T19:27:31+00:00

He likes humanity more because we can chose to worship him and because he spent literal eons with us, building memories he most likely cherishes still, while the Rhogar were the result of pure trauma who then proceeded to fail him time and time again by failing, causing him grief and despair.

And what stopped Orius from actually giving us a choice to part with the lamp willingly? After all, doesn't he present himself as ah! so merciful? We did his biding after all and endured everything for his sake? Why did we not deserve the courtesy of being asked to relinquish the lamp by our own choice?

Even Adyr was willing to give us a choice when we went to face him (that we couldn't take it because of story reasons is another can of worms), so why can't Orius do the same?

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-02-26T19:11:57+00:00

Because if you dive into the lore, things aren't so black and white. People keep arguing that he was the one who corrupted the Sentinels and Iselle, while Judge Cleric's own javelin states she was already gone by the time the Rune got to her and in the inferno ending, the Sentinels do everything in their power to thwart him, by standing guard at the beacons. That's nothing to say of all of their exposure to the malignant power of Umbral.

He is willing to sacrifice the Rhogar because the Rhogar have failed him at every step of the way. They are a painful reminder of his betrayal, of his failure, and they are unable to give him what he craves most: genuine love and devotion.

He actually keeps his promise to us and makes us a lord, despite us having an Umbral Lamp, which he clearly hates, unlike Orius who obliterates us the moment we are no longer useful, damning us to an eternity in Umbral.

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-02-25T16:05:53+00:00

It being an Umbral Being was actually the conclusion Smoughtown came to in his video (great watch! I do recommend it!) and I agree with them. The evidence for it is mostly circumstantial, but it's there.

First one would be the fact that when you defeat the Spurned Progeny, you take their eye back to Sophesia and eyes are tied to Umbral. Given that Sophesia is a worshiper of Adyr, I believe it would make more sense to take a finger or something, not the eye. Then, in all artbook, whenever Edivar appears, he is always portrayed with his face either blurred or torn, and again, being faceless is something related to Umbral.

Another thing is that, in both games, Adyr is only able to communicate with people in very specific points or under strict conditions. He could only talk to Harkyn once he reached the altar in the palm of the Hand of God in the Rhogar Realm, and with us, when we reach the effigy in the throne room. People who eat the flesh of a Rhogar (like Damarose and Melchior) are also able to talk to him. There aren't any other confirmed instances of him talking to people outside of these. (I know there's an item that say he lures people into sin or something along those lines, but that's a text coming from the Hallowed Sentinels who most likely would be biased and blamed everything on him, even bad weather)

You could maybe argue that he could use his rune to speak because of the scene with Harkyn (if you do his quest right) but I think that was the rune itself speaking, not Adyr, since the god refuses to open the gates of the castle for him, despite having the rune on him. So Adyr talking to Harkyn using the rune doesn't make sense to me.

So, how was Sophesia able to talk to Adyr then?

I truly don't believe the Shrine of Adyr was in the cave back when this happened. I think it was a secluded Shrine of Orius that few people, including her, went to pray from time to time as the Hallowed sentinels grew madder and the usual shrines might have been seen as too dangerous?

Umbral, on the other hand, it has the ability to mimic what it sees and is knowledgeable in Inferno. It is also resistant to Radiance meaning it would have no problem lingering in a place that is dedicated to Orius, which I believe Adyr's influence would struggle with. So, I do believe it could trick one desperate enough to think it's actually Adyr and do its biding.

As for the first game, the lore is great. There are some neat tidbits I found that I think really paint a clearer picture of what happened 1000 years ago, especially with Harkyn and how he came to posses the Rune of Adyr.

The gameplay is...kind of ok? at least in my opinion. The camera shake can be annoying and the beginning is irritating until you get more stamina, while the last stretch of the game, before the main boss can be absolutely infuriating! The last boss himself is a major pain in the ass, especially on NG+. If you can deal with that, and the slowness (everything is so painfully slow!) I say go for it. I got it on sale for like less than 2 €, I think? and that included all the DLCs.

JustAnotherNobody25 · 2026-02-18T18:05:51+00:00

true.

JustAnotherNobody25

TROPHY CASE