Dev Diary 4 - The lore of Aeterna Noctis

Hi everybody! It’s Friday at last, the weekend’s almost here! So to celebrate, we bring you a new dev diary with a lot of new details about Aeterna Noctis’ story and lore!

The origin of the conflict between the King of Darkness and the Queen of Light goes back to the times where Aeterna was divided into several kingdoms and other independent states. They all used to have good commercial relationships and live in harmony. But when the soon-to-be King of Darkness took the place of his father as the new duke, everything changed.

One nation after another was conquered by his well trained army, creating a huge empire with lots of territories under its rule. Other kingdoms started doing the same, attacking their neighbours. Only the most powerful remained, and the rest were just annexed to other countries. A decade later, the world of Aeterna was controlled by two main factions: one ruled by the King of Darkness, and the other ruled by the Queen of Light.

A cold war started not long after that, and tensions between both contingents began to grow rapidly. This escalation resulted in the inevitable great war that shook the foundations of Aeterna and killed thousands of innocents.

The Supreme God and creator of the universe, Chaos, was so disappointed and enraged with the selfish behavior of the mortal leaders, that he decided to intervene. The divine punishment that he chose was to condemn both of them to fight each other through eternity, thus keeping the balance between good and evil. To prevent them from ever stopping the fight, He cursed them both with immortality. From that moment, not even death could free them from their punishment.

After that, the cycle of rulers started. Each time one of the two monarchs defeats the other, the winner takes the throne of Aeterna. Once they start their reign, they are allowed to wear a crown: a purple one for the King of Darkness and a silver one for the Queen of Light. As for the loser, the opponent is then reborn, powerless, and must recover their abilities, reach the castle, and start a duel all over again in order to reclaim the throne.

Apart from the kingdom’s history, we also wanted to tell you about three of the different areas that form the game: the Ascension Cave, the Light Tower, and the Heroes’ Rest.

The Ascension Cave

The Ascension Cave is an underground area where the mining companies used to extract minerals and crystals. The mines were abandoned a long time ago due to a worm infestation, so the area is currently formed by zones full of natural crystal formations mixed with deteriorated mining structures and items. Nowadays, only the bravest adventurers and some goblins dare to venture into the cave, and they use the old rail system to avoid the worms, golems and other enemies while they travel through the large tunnels. No one would want to run into one of these creatures’ nests or burrows by accident if they wander too far.

The Ascension Cave tunnels are immediately recognisable by its crystalline aesthetics. The crystals are spread out throughout the entire area in different types of formations, from the classic thin and pointed stalactites to crystalline structures with peculiar shapes. You’ll find these formations everywhere throughout the whole area… except for the tunnels dug by Wormolok, the Giant Worm that inhabits the cave. Its powerful maws can destroy every material, including the crystals and the special minerals from the cave, so the areas where it’s past are completely desolated.

There is also a beautiful specific area that looks exactly the opposite, as it was almost not exploited by the miners and the crystals look almost virgin. It is “The Crystal Forest”, a zone where the crystals grow in tree-like formations of a charming bright green color.

Other types of areas you’ll find in the Ascension Cave are goblin settlements, ancient handmade structures, and maybe even Wormolok nests if you dig deeply enough into the area. The deeper you go, the stronger the worm presence is. According to explorers’ stories, yellow mountains of worm eggs block the deeper paths, and Wormolok itself might be guarding the path to the old goblin village.

The Light Tower

The Light Tower is the building where the energy to feed the Queen of Light’s soul is guarded. It’s the highest structure in all of Aeterna and it’s made by pure light essence itself. The energy that the queen’s soul uses is extracted from the Cradle of Light, and it’s then transported to the Light Tower in order to store it and generate the lightnings that recharge her soul every 20 seconds. In order to prevent the destruction of the Light Tower, the lighting is surrounded by a mesh that controls the expansion of the energy charge.

The Light Tower has a vertical design, so you will have to climb, find stairs, and use the several platforms that provide an ascending path. There are also portals that can be used to reach far distances and get away from the celestial guards that inhabit the tower trying to defend the queen’s energy source.

These guards are not the only threat that you will have to face in the Light Tower. The King of Darkness will be exposed to the lightning every 20 seconds, so you will need to find cover. This energy ray cannot harm the tower structure, so its sides will make the perfect place to find shelter. Even if the area is a vertical tower, there are also multiple secret rooms and side zones to explore. They can be used to rest a bit after running from a ray discharge, find enemies to collect health points from, or simply to explore a bit before facing the boss level.

Visually, the Light Tower is decorated with motifs that point out the balance between light and darkness. All the columns, sculptures and carvings that fill the structure reference the light soul on the top of the tower. Also, the glass windows allow the sunlight to enter the different rooms creating a beautiful and blazing atmosphere.

The Heroes’ Rest

The Heroes’ Rest is a huge graveyard of fallen warriors. It’s one of the largest areas in the game, formed by cemeteries, old cathedrals, ruined churches and underground tunnels. The area aesthetics are especially dark gothic elements like gargoyles, monoliths and statues of fallen heroes of different races, and a horror atmosphere in general, conveying an extremely unsettling and depressing mood.

The inner levels of Heroes’ Rest also have this terrifying aura. The crypts are the darkest type of levels, and they are full of tombs and spiderwebs that look like they’re decorating the rooms. On the contrary, the cathedrals create a chilling atmosphere due to the stained glass windows that let through the minimum amount of light, creating a beautiful image in contrast to the predominantly green colour palette.

Apart from the faint light from these windows, the main source of light of the Heroes’ Rest is fire. The flames are also present in specific areas like the Burning Library, a depressing but majestic zone. Heroes' Rest is also full of traps. Falling platforms, sharp objects, spear traps… the area is full of the most difficult puzzles which only the most skilled warriors can overcome. Apart from that, various creatures that inhabit the area will stand in your way. The area is filled with the presence of undead warriors, and there are also insect nests if you dig deep enough to the sewers. These are the narrow corridors located under the surface of the Heroes’ Rest, which are dangerously riddled with waterfalls and creatures.

Now that you know some more of the secrets of Aeterna… aren’t you eager to explore it? You will be able too in just a few months, when Aeterna Noctis releases on December 15th!