The Player
The Luminants of Lumen
The Etrean Luminant
The Eastern Luminant
The Central Luminant
The Northern Luminant
The Southern Luminant
The Western Luminant
Factions
Deities
The Drowned Gods | Celestials
The Depths
Scyphozia | The Eternal Gale | The Vents
The various major reputable factions in the world of Deepwoken.
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Kingdom of Etrea
Welcome, friend of Etrea.
The Kingdom of Etrea is composed of mostly Etreans, who hold rule over the Etrean Luminant after it separated from the East Luminant.
General Tropes
- Arch-Enemy: The Central Authority is this to the Kingdom of Etrea, where thanks to the disappearance of the 5th King of Etrea and Zi'eer being installed on the throne, the two factions have been clashing each other. While some skirmishes can be seen through Erisia, the Central Authority may attempt a siege on Etris, their capital.Description of Etris: Siege: The clash of blades rings throughout the city, decaying to havoc.
- Blow You Away: Most of the Etrean soldiers make use of Galebreathe.
- Empire with a Dark Secret: Etrea's official history office was dismantled prior to the events of the game, and while the people of Etrea have been waiting for the 5th King of Etrea to return to his throne and succeed his regent, but underneath it lies an awful secret: most of the town is under a Mental Veil by the Lord Regent himself, who is actually the 4th Prophet of the Ministry, installed so that he would cause Etrea to sink to the Depths.
- Far East: Etrea was designed as a Fantasy Counterpart Culture to multiple countries from the area, incorporating parts of both Chinese and Japanese culture and nomenclature.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: It's pretty clear that Etrea is long since past it's prime and the only reason it's still hanging on is the Authority's logistical issues in the face of fighting on two to three fronts with no reinforcements as well as the support of the Ministry. Most of their influence in their own Luminant has vanished, to the point their territories are given a different title to differentiate them, their only remaining power house is the current Maestro of the Vigils and their culture has dwindled thanks to the influence of foreign parties.
- Katanas Are Just Better: Played with. Some Etrean soldiers and guardsmen wield katanas, with the Vigil Guards and Royal Guards only using them. In spite of this, the need of a cost-efficient weapon and the difficulty to train to use one effectively means that they often forgo it for other weapons, such as maces or the Vigil Longsword. Additionally, they also made the Wyrmtooth, an ōdachi that has a blade so long, that it's notably the only Medium Weapon to have a Heavy Weapon requirement, though it's still counted as a Sword for gameplay purposes and scales more off of Medium than Heavy.
- Mass Hypnosis: Almost the entire population is under a mental veil, which causes them to believe some false truths, and even having suppressed memories.
- Puppet State: Because the Kingdom of Etrea is ruled by Zi'eer, the whole state is a puppet under the Ministry as a proxy against various factions, such as the Authority.
- Suppressed History: Etrea's history office was closed down prior to the events of the game, leaving most of Etrea's past missing.
- Unusable Enemy Equipment: The Etrean Guardsmen's Outfit, which even comes in multiple variations, is not available to the player by any means. The Royal Guards even wear a darkened version of the Outfit available to players, keeping it distinct.
- Wutai: Etrea is based off of various historical East Asian kingdoms, most notably ancient China and Japan.
Kennith (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
Click here to see his current whereabouts.
An Etrean guardsman in the capital suspicious of the Lord Regent.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Gets quartered by the Lord Regent's tendrils for attempting to discover his secret.
- Fate Worse than Death: His current fate is that he is trapped in the time loop that occurs in the Eternal Gale.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: Due to how reputation works in Deepwoken, it's possible for him to inexplicitly come back from the dead if the player's reputation with Etrea is negative enough even though he gets brutally killed if the player assists him with finding out who the Lord Regent is.
- He Knows Too Much: The Lord Regent has him kidnapped, brutally killed, and his remains nailed to a wall after Kennith begins to show signs of breaking away from the Mind Veil and questioning his origins.
- Uniformity Exception: Wears a hat and cloak to differentiate him from regular guards.
5th King of Etrea
The previous ruler of Etrea before the Lord Regent came to power.
- Ambiguously Evil:
- According to Theadre, he says that the king will "...Cast aside the aspirations fabricated by your kind/kin.". Whether he is referring to the king or the Lord Regent is unknown. Furthermore, what "aspirations" he's referring to isn't explained, or if this is even a bad thing.
- An Etrean guard named Tavi, who is implied to be his killer, believes him to be a tyrant responsible for the deaths of many Etreans. However, it's also implied he's being mostly manipulated by the Ministry.
- Heroic Sacrifice: According to a teacher's story of great leadership, which possibly involves him, he supposedly sacrificed himself for his people. Coupling with some parts of Stars Above, and the Blade Between, it's heavily implied he died trying to fight off Ministry agents. Whether it becomes a Senseless Sacrifice or not is ultimately dependent on the outcome of the Etrea-Authority conflict.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: In-universe, the In-Game Novel Stars Above, and the Blade Between paints him as The Caligula, with the protagonist assassinating him with the Queensblade to ensure that his soul stays down in the Depths. Of course, since it's written by the perspective of a Shadowcaster, which is heavily connected to the Ministry, this is implied to be one of the many attempts to suppress Etrea's past so that no one could question the Lord Regent's rule.
- Katanas Are Just Better: Wielded the Splinterblade, which is said to serve as the inspiration for the Shattered Katana.
- Physical God: He is said to have been a "god amongst men".
- Plot-Triggering Death: His supposed death would cause tensions between the Central Authority and the Kingdom of Etrea to boil over, resulting in them warring with each other.
- Posthumous Character: According to the teacher's Charisma story, he was said to have sacrificed himself for his people, implying that he's dead way before the events of the game.
- Super-Scream: Possesses the ultimate version of the Ardour Scream, which is said to have "cut the seas themselves".
Maestro Evengarde Rest
- Battle Theme Music: "The Windsinger's Dance
". - Battle Trophy: He has hundreds of weapons in storage that he either scavenged or took as trophies from his various battles or excursions.
- Blade Spam: His One Mind attack creates a sphere of cuts in front of him.
- Bond One-Liner: Upon defeating the player, he says this:Maestro Evengarde Rest: ...Your movement lacks discipline.
- Devious Daggers: Successfully defeating him as a Light Weapon user rewards the player with the Cerulean Thread, an oddly-shaped Dagger that attaches a string to an opponent upon the first critical, then upon successfully landing the second one causes the string to launch them up the air. According to the weapon's description, it was obtained from a disciple of Zi'eer who attempted to infiltrate the Isle of Vigils, but Maestro saw through the disguise and challenged the disciple, forcing them to reveal their allegiance to Zi'eer and being slain in the process.
- Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: Try to spit on him during his boss fight and he will use Tempest Eye to instantly decapitate you with 100% accuracy.
- Duel Boss: It is completely impossible to fight him alongside another player.
- Fate Worse than Death: He considers what the Ministry has in store for Etris preferable to the Authority's inevitable conquest, given the latter would see their rampant unchecked racism spread to Etris as well as the final stamping out of any of Etrea's remaining culture and traditions.
- Fragile Speedster: At least when compared to other bosses. His HP is tied with Duke Erisia of the lowest HP of all the bosses, which is still an impressive 15,000 HP. That being said, his Mantras come with very quick speed and his basic attacks are fast, but this also renders him very vulnerable to parry trades.
- Graceful Loser: Given its a sparring match, he's not too cut up about being beaten, especially since he was holding back.
- The Gunslinger: According to
Word of God, he's experienced with firearms. - Hidden Depths: Judging from his dialogue and the weapon description of the Cerulean Thread, it's implied that he knows a lot about the Ministry, and knows that the Lord Regent is actually Zi'eer and is merely biding his time for someone who can not only defeat the Central Authority, but also drive out the Ministry from the Kingdom of Etrea.
- Homage: Evengarde's boss fight pays tribute to the main inspiration for the game Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, heavily borrowing from many of the game's bosses and Combat Arts. He's even mentioned to be skilled with firearms, something the final boss of Sekiro, Sword Saint Isshin, is well known for.
- Horrible Judge of Character: He's willing to turn a blind eye to the Lord Regent, seeing him as the Lesser of Two Evils compared to the Central Authority, despite his plans to drown all of Etrea into the Depths. That being said, it's mentioned that if the Isle of Vigils could stand on its own, then he would place his trust on the player, knowing that they could lead them to victory against the Central Authority.
- Iaijutsu Practitioner: Several of his attacks involve him sheathing his sword before unleashing them.
- Immune to Flinching: He has the Brick Wall talent, which in addition to preventing him immune to knockdowns and ragdolls, also reduces knockback as well.
- Interface Screw: His Concussion Talent, in addition to dazing your character when he flourishes you against a wall, also blurs your screen.
- Katanas Are Just Better: When fought, he wields the Shattered Katana in his boss fight. Successfully defeating him for the first time as a Medium Weapon user rewards you with the Purple Cloud katana, an weapon that has a unique Sword and Fist moveset that sacrifices damage potential in exchange for above-average swing speed and a unique crit that deals huge amounts of posture damage.
- Logical Weakness: Even though he has a huge Posture bar, he relies heavily on his multi-hit attacks, making weapons with the Providence's Thorns enchant useful against him.
- Magical Eye: Has an unique eye called the Tempest Eye, which in addition to parrying even Unblockable Attacks such as a Megalodaunt's kick, grants him Super-Reflexes to the point where can instantly slice through beyond his weapon's normal range. In-game, the only time he uses this ability is if you try to spit on him in his boss fight.
- Mark of Shame: If the player is defeated by him without having ever won against him, he will give them the Disgraced flaw, which lowers both HP and Ether regeneration. The only way to remove it is to defeat Evengarde.
- Mirror Boss: Even moreso than Duke Erisia. His boss fight is essentially what you expect of an experience Medium Weapons Galebreathe user, with the except that they're much more tankier and have unique moves as well.
- No-Sell: Much like Duke Erisia, any Mantras or weapons with criticals that can instantly guard break will not work.
- Optional Boss: To even have the ability to fight him, one must have at least Ally reputation with the Kingdom of Etrea, rescue Kj's brother Issac to unbound your Light/Medium/Heavy Weapon attribute if necessary, and have a build that can equip the Cerulean Thread/Purple Cloud/Pale Briar, and defeat Duke Erisia at least once. Notably, defeating Evengarde isn't counted as a Triumph and thus defeating him will not reward you Echoes when you wipe that character slot.
- Power Nullifier: He has the A World Without Song talent, which makes his Mantras inflict Suffocate, preventing players from casting their Mantras. In addition, he also has Chronostasis, which prevents players from using their Resonance when they're hit by his normal attacks.
- Razor Wind: Fitting for a master of Galebreathe, he can generate powerful waves of cutting wind.
- Secret A.I. Moves: While some of his techniques can be replicated albeit with lesser power, his One Mind, Floating Passage and Mangetsu Mantras cannot be replicated through any means.
- Staff of Authority: Successfully defeating him as a Heavy Weapons user rewards the player with the Pale Briar greataxe, which is said to be a staff from a Cardinal of the Starkindred Church, coated in the "Celestial Ichor" (read: blood) and has a unique critical that has it rain down a barrage of light. It was gifted to him during his training with the Hundred Legions in a excursion against the Church.
- Walking Armory: He's said to be proficient in all Light, Medium and Heavy weapons.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Gets reasonably disgusted if you literally spit in his face, and will kill you instantly without a second thought.
- Willfully Weak: Much like the Ferryman, he is holding back in his boss fight. Unlike the Ferryman, who is willing to be summoned in a weakened state to toy with the humans who dare "dance" with him, he only holds back due to him fighting in a honorable duel, and the moment it stops being honorable in any way, he is willing to let loose his true power.
- You Will Not Evade Me: His Pressure attack combines a Flash Step with a technique chiefly employed by Silenthearts to catch opponents attempting to maintain a distance.
The Lord Regent (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
Zi'eer, 4th Prophet of the Ministry
- "I see that you understand the nature of our work. I cannot simply let you leave here alive without insurance, though."
The mysterious ruler of Etrea, who came to rule after the disappearance of the 5th King of Etrea. Unbeknownst to some, however, he is in fact Zi'eer, the 4th Prophet of the Ministry, sent to rule over Etrea so that it can instigate a conflict so massive that it would sink it to the Depths.
- Bad Boss: To say that anyone who isn't a Contractor is to be treated badly is an understatement. He doesn't likely care about his guards or troops being killed left and right, and kills players upon successfully securing the Forge of Sin for him if they aren't planning to join him. He'll even kill you if you fail to fully max out your Contractor progression before meeting him again.
- Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: For those who prioritise the interests of Etrea, he's instrumental in deterring the Authority from a full frontal assault that would almost certainly see them destroyed or assimilated, even if his endgame isn't much better.
- Big Good: Subverted. Though at first he seems like this, given that a first-time player is likely attacked by the Central Authority's ships and can be rescued by the Isle of Vigils or the Kingdom of Etrea, this attitude immediately changes once the player sees how he deals with Kennith, or sees him using his tendrils on a trespasser or on you once you have done his deeds.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: At first, he seems to be somewhat reasonable, albeit a bit harsh. However, eventually, everything about him slowly unravels until it's reveals that he's none other than Zi'eer, 4th Prophet of the Ministry, who like the rest of the Prophets, seek to drown the whole world for godhood.
- Blindfolded Vision: Even though he wears a blindfold on his head, it doesn't affect him too much, though something else might have to do something with it.
- Cool Chair: That throne he's sitting on? It turns out be a Relic from the Depths himself, greatly increasing his power, allowing him to easily kill those who are a threat to him.
- Corrupted Character Copy: His appearance and abilities all evoke Zato-1. Both are trained killers with powers related to darkness. However, unlike Zato-1, who was eventually driven mad by his own powers which resulted in his initial death and later resurrection that would cause him to eventually redeem himself thanks to his affection, Zi'eer never loses control of himself, but remains a horrific monster to the end.
- The Heavy: While other Ministry Prophets exist, such as the Second Prophet and their influence through Chaser, Zi'eer so far happens to be the most prevalent of the Prophets, actively working to make sure that the Kingdom of Etrea sinks to the Depths.
- Hidden Disdain Reveal: If the player makes a deal with Yun'Shul to break their oath with him, it's revealed that he never really had true faith with them and warns them to never show their face to him again.Zi'eer: Don't bother showing your face again. I had little faith in you to begin with.
- Humanoid Abomination: His true form, as seen in Operation 'Puppet Master' Report, is a dark creature with emerald eyes and dark tendrils. His current form as seen in-game might be to maintain the illusion of an Etrean Ruler, but between him being empowered by his throne and abnormal powers, it's clear that even before reading the report, something is wrong with him.
- Orcus on His Throne: Justified. The throne itself provides him a massive power boost, and he himself sees no reason to leave it unless if absolutely necessary. That, and it helps him maintain the illusion of a frail, old ruler very well.
- Regent for Life: Given that the Ministry helped plant him on the throne so that he can sink Etrea, it's very likely he'll rule for the rest of Etrea's lifetime until it sinks to the Depths.
- Tendrils of Darkness: His main powers as the leader of the Contractors has him utilize tendrils to rip apart his enemies.
- Walking Spoiler: His true identify holds horrific secrets involving the Kingdom of Etrea and completely recontextualizes many parts of the lore.
The Central Authority
Three Cheers for the Cause!
"Hurrah! Hurrah! Three cheers for the cause! We truth uphold, and also laws! For the many, the few, the big, the small - we would give our lives for the cause!"
—The Gideshu March, unofficial marching tune for Authority forces
—The Gideshu March, unofficial marching tune for Authority forces
The Central Authority is one of the most powerful factions in Lumen, a large military organization that controls the Central Luminant. Led by their Grand Sovereign Drallis Ehr, his Warmasters and Inquisitors, and a collective known as the Circle of Honour, they will stop at nothing until all of Lumen is under one flag and the enemies of humanity are destroyed.
General Tropes
- A Nazi by Any Other Name: The Central Authority were partially inspired by fascist groups.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: They are not above betrayal if they wish to achieve their goals. Their betrayal of the Hundred Legions caused a war between them that is currently ongoing.
- Cool Helmet: Almost all Authority soldiers have the Authority Helm, which in addition to an base +8 Health bonus, also grants the wearer Strong Hold, which grants them increased posture while blocking with a 2-handed Medium Weapon, which is useful for builds that either lack a good amount of Fortitude for the higher-tier Shields or want to take advantage of weapons which unique 2-handed Crits such as the Shattered Katana. However, these do not apply to the NPCs who wear them, but it's still a really cool helmet.
- Didn't Think This Through: After realising they were in this war for the long haul, they planned to kidnap a girl with Lightkeep to use to get reinforcements. Unfortunately, it turns out forcibly tearing children from their loved ones makes them not like you, and thus she refused to work for them, preventing them from getting more powerful aid that would otherwise turn the war in the east into a Curb-Stomp Battle.
- Electric Torture: As revealed in Operation 'Puppet Master' Report, the Central Authority, especially the Shock Corps use Thundercall to extort information from their captives whenever it's not being used for warfare.
- Evil Brit: They were partially inspired by the British Empire and their racism and colonialism.
- Evil Colonialist: Downplayed. The Authority was also inspired by colonial powers and is presented as such. While they are trying to unite the world against the Deep, the destruction of cultures and rampant unchecked racism doesn't seem particularly conducive to that goal.
- Equal-Opportunity Evil: Subverted. While the low ranks contain people of all Races, taking one look at the enemy list reveals the higher ranks, especially those such as Officers whose lives aren't endangered nearly as often, are all exclusively Adretian.
- Faceless Goons: The soldiers typically all wear a standard Authority Peacekeeper Armour and an Authority Helm. Even the higher ranks aren't entirely spared of this, the only variation in outfit is an additional red coat and the occasional accessory. Sometimes the higher ranks will swap out the helmet for Cool Shades.
- Fantastic Racism: Adrets and, to a much lesser extent, Canor, are the favoured members of their society. The higher ranks will almost always be exclusively those two, with Adrets mainly outnumbering their Canor colleagues.
- Hired by the Oppressor: The Authority still hire minority groups, despite their blatant Fantastic Racism, which has allowed them to amass the largest fighting force in the world, but will still hold them back from loftier positions. There is also a shade of Uriah Gambit to it, as they can then use these less valuable troops in suicidal missions.
- Humongous-Headed Hammer: The Sovereign's Hammer's head is rather huge even by the standards of other Greathammers, to the point where no one was able to properly use in it combat until players picked it up with the correct build.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: While they are racist, violent and generally malicious, their main goal is to unite the world in a stand against the Depths by placing them all under one banner, thereby saving the world. They also oppose the Ministry as one of the few groups with a general awareness of their machinations.
- Mission from God: It's strongly implied their reason for their supremacy and ruthlessness is because their mission was one given to them by the Celestials themselves.
- Playing with Fire: The lower, most common, ranks utilize Flamecharm.
- Pragmatic Villainy: While they are racist to the point of baking it into their marching tunes, they'll still hire minority groups to serve in the military, if only to preserve the lives of their Adretian fellows and bloat the size of their army.
- Punch-Clock Villain: A lot of their soldiers, especially their less privileged ones, are this, just normal people drafted into a massive army and sent to the most desolate and dangerous places on Earth.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Operation 'Puppet Master' was intended to discover the identify of the Lord Regent. Problem is, while the operation was a success, it was also compromised in a horrific matter: after breaking the mental veil of their captive, this catches the attention of the Lord Regent himself, with their subject lying dead with their eyes burnt out. It's heavily implied that the writer of the report killed himself afterwards to prevent the Lord Regent from brainwashing him.
- Repressive, but Efficient: While one of the most blatantly racist and aggressive factions in the game, they also posses some of the best technology and connections that has lead to their capital being an intellectual marvel. They're responsible for the greatest site of education, advanced marine engineering, cartography and more.
- Resignations Not Accepted: Even among the most privileged of society, joining the Authority's army isn't something easily backed out of. Anything that can be interpreted as insubordination will result in your allies driving their spears through your back.
- We ARE Struggling Together: They have an alliance with the Divers, Knives of Eylis, Summer Company and the Ignition Union. In spite of this, all of the factions are fighting each other, sometimes in order to impress the Authority by ramping up production using their rival's resources, with the Divers and the Ignition Union fighting against each other for control of the Depths, the Summer Company and the Ignition Union thanks to an incident where the Ignition Union viewed them as morally bankrupt, resulting in an incident which saw the company retaliate against them, plundering their ships and stealing Kyrsan Medallions they would use to make the Stormseye in the process, and the Knives of Eylis plundering from all sides of the conflict. The Authority is even aware of this, but it's not clear if they refuse to put a stop to it out of fear of seemingly taking sides or are purposefully breeding a competitive environment. Not to mention the Central Authority's backstabbing has cost them one ally in the form of the Hundred Legions.
- We Have Reserves: Continually throw the lives of their troops away on suicide missions to Meteor Isle. What makes this rather bizarre is that this is done by the Eastern division, who explicitly do NOT have reserves due to the situation with their Lightkeeper, but still act like they do.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: They believe that by conquering the entire world, placing it under one centralized government and banner, they can more effectively fight off the Deep and its adherents.
- World's Best Warrior: The Wardens are composed of some of the best soldiers of the entire world.
Leadership
Drallis Ehr
Drallis Ehr
The Grand Sovereign of the Authority, an immensely powerful immortal who gained his power and rank after resisting an event known as the God Storm.- The Ageless: While extremely old, he still appears as a young man.
- Divine Right of Kings: Was heavily implied to have been appointed by the Celestials themselves.
- Heroic Willpower: Implied to be what granted him his position, as a story describing someone similar to Ehr resisting a storm allows people to increase their Fortitude stat.
- I Have Many Names: Sovereign, Grand Sovereign if you're feeling fancy, Overseer of Epochs, Lumen's Savior, Sovereign of Ages, and that's just in one item description.
- Shadow Dictator: Nobody has actually seen the man in a long time, with this resulting in his soldiers becoming Faceless Goons in order to emulate his mysterious nature.
The Circle of Honour
The Circle of Honour
Powerful warriors who grant the power of the Warmaster Oath, working closely with the higher ranks of the Authority.- BFS: Have two, floating by their sides.
- Dual Wielding: And twin greatswords no less.
- Master of the Levitating Blades: Warmasters wield a pair of massive floating blades.
- Not in This for Your Revolution: Implied. Warden Jericho all but states the tenants of his Oath and the actions of the Authority in the East are mutually exclusive, calling in to question what their goals really are.
Military
The Inquisitors
The Inquisitors
High ranking members who fulfil various roles. Their influence can be seen in numerous places.- Floral Theme Naming: Most of the Inquisitors are named after flowers.
- Odd Name Out: There's an Inquisitor named John when all the others are named after flowers.
- Psychic Block Defense: Their Mental Veil protects them from mental attacks.
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: Downplayed. They're not always necessarily strong, but some are powerful enough to contend with the upper echelons of the Ministry.
The Divers
We've got research to get back to so let's make this quick.
The Divers are a sub-division of the Citadel of Markor, dedicated to researching information about the Depths in the hopes of finding a way to fight against its influence.
General Tropes
- Ambition Is Evil: The Black Divers are considered to be one of Markor's finest members, possessing extreme strength and intellect. However, in their pursuit of knowledge, many have put aside their morality in the process, only further enabled by the liberties they're afforded, with Klaris abusing her power and resorting to unscrupulous methods, a foolish mistake on Carrion's part driving him to insanity and corrupting him, and the less said about Chaser, the better.
- Anti-Frustration Features: Fortunately for players with the Deepbound Origin, they have sanity regeneration at Castle Light to prevent them from getting killed by sanity loss, complete resistance to Mindbreaking potions, and access to a Furnace which acts as a campfire, alongside having access to an exclusive shortcut to the Temple of Hearts, allowing them to deal with Deep Shrines without having the hassle of having to surface every time they need to perform a deal with them. They also are unable to be killed by the Shrine of Yun'Shul for not having a Resonance if they access the Shrine of Hearts this way. Additionally, if a player's Power is maxed and they have a stained health bar, they can use Call of the Deep to head back into the First Layer without needing to access a whirlpool, which is useful since it's meant to be used in the late-game where the only way to restore a stained health bar is to increase Power.
- BFS: Some of the Divers use Markor's Inheritor, an greatsword noted for mixing the fighting style of the Way of Navae.
- Elite Mooks: Journeymen Divers are Divers who have experienced the horrors of the Deep for a long time, and are considerably more skilled. They have at least 5 attunements, and possess a wide variety of Mantras that are considered to be meta by the playerbase, and can spawn with Enchants as well, making them very likely to defeat a monster unless it's corrupted. Fortunately, unless you're hostile to them which is only possible by angering them too much or going Contractor, you won't have to worry about them too much.
- Gameplay and Story Integration: The Divers has an 98% casualty rate. Appropriately, the Deepbound Origin is considered by many to be the hardest of them all since you're restricted to progressing in the Depths, meaning that you have a single life.
- High Turnover Rate: According to Akira, the Divers has an annual 98% casualty rate, which is understandable when your field of work is about researching the Depths itself.
- King Mook: Black Divers are considered to be the strongest of the Divers. In-game, in addition to a wide variety of Talents they have, they also have Dawnwalker, making them quite the intimidating foe. Fortunately, they only use it if they're not on guard duty at Castle Light.
- Leitmotif: Their official anthem is "In Akarad's Steps", though "The Song of Fathoms" is still sung by many, and is known by outsiders as "Oscillation".
- No-Sell: Journeymen Divers are completely immune of PvE scaling, which can spell absolute trouble for PvE builds.
- Right Hand Versus Left Hand: With the Ignition Union, since both are heavily involved with working with the Authority in regards to the Depths, but are heavily contested in regards to research areas of the Depths. Fortunately, outside of one situation where a group of Ignition Union soldiers attempted to evict Akira, they rarely fight each other, though one plausible explanation exists.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Deconstructed. Black Divers are allowed to invoke this to avoid minor laws interfering with potentially world-saving research. Naturally, it's abused to no end.
- Secret Character: Talk to Akira without trying to provoke him at his event, then head to Castle Light and talk to him again to get the Deepbound Origin.
- Unreliable Narrator: Lampshaded in regards to their map regarding Scyphozia, in which it states any information in it is not to be trusted.
Klaris Llfiend, Mother of Lights
- Bad Boss: Mark Adaset is the whole reason Castle Light is still running and an overall great guy. Klaris uses her power to take his room for herself and calls him a "bubble chugging waste of space."
- Disproportionate Retribution: She damns Cap'n Orlandeau to the Second Layer when they have a minor disagreement. The Second Layer being an Eldritch Location with parasitic snow, where the only "safe" place is New Kyrsa, where all the citizens have been brainwashed into murdering anyone they see.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Originally just a regular person, her creation of the Radiant Tones and the Dawnwalker Oath have turned her into a light-manipulating One-Man Army who can even turn intangible at will.
- Glowing Eyes: Her eyes are glowing web-like patterns.
- Insufferable Genius: She was a great student at Markor Citadel, considered one of their top three graduates. She was also able to reproduce a weakened form of Lightkeeping, which is typically exclusive to those born with it.
- Light Is Not Good: Klaris is practically a walking lighthouse, quite literally as the Dawnwalker Oath is a Shoddy Knockoff Product of Lightkeeping, which is used to power lighthouses. She has a bright flying moon over her head, bright blonde hair and skin, piercing white eyes, and markings that glow like the sun. She's also obnoxious, egotistical, and rather negligent.
- Karma Houdini: Upon learning she caused the deaths of sixty people, she brushes it off as a normal event, has the only evidence calling her out be given to her, and starts selling Kyrsan Medallions to their enemies.
- Meaningful Name: Her name is a corruption of the name Claris, meaning bright, fitting for a walking lightbulb.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: If her acts weren't suspicious enough, her name is eerily similar to the Drowned God Korilfiend, the resident Satanic Archetype. Though Arch_Mage said that it's just a coincidence, it wouldn't be the first time developers get details wrong about characters they're not directly writing.
- Pet the Dog: If you manage to file a complete report of The Eternal Gale, she'll give you a Deepshore Fossil as thanks.
- Powerful, but Incompetent: Played with. Klaris sends a group of Divers down with Chaser, who then tells her that twenty decently powerful people died in a rather quick period of time, but he's perfectly fine, and he needs more. She sends him around forty more victims before his betrayal is revealed. However, there are implications that she may be a little more malicious than stupid.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: Downplayed. She's by no means evil, but about sixty people would probably be happier if Mark Adaset hadn't been forced out of his position.
- Unscrupulous Hero: Despite all her flaws, she seeks to elevate the power of the Radiant Tone to be able to repel the Depths and ensure the survival of humanity.
Akira
Go ahead. Try intimidating him. It probably won't end well for you.
- "Another one..? You've got to be kidding me."
- Anime Hair: Has the White Transcendent Hairstyle.
- Cast from Hit Points: As a consequence to his Top-Pop being corrupted, it also comes with the Poison side-effect, which drains some part of his lifespan, and further weakens him the more powerful his opponent is.
- Establishing Character Moment: The first time you meet him, he's reading a book when he's interrupted by four Ignition Union members who attempt to evict him from the area and threaten him with death. He then uses a Frost Wisp to drawn a line, threatening to retaliate if they refuse to leave and cross it. Sure enough, once they do that, Akira activates his Corrupted Top-Pop Resonance and causes their heads to explode, showcasing the immense power that Akira and the rest of the Black Divers have and how ruthless they have to be to their foes in order to achieve their goals.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While sporting a rather prickly exterior, he does show some concern for those willing to sign themselves up to the Diver life, warning them of the immense death rate and wanting to ensure they are completely set on this journey and all the horrible risks it entails.
- Katanas Are Just Better: Has a katana on his back which is floating for some reason.
- Necessary Drawback: His Corrupted Top-Pop Resonance drains part of his lifespan for each use, and even more if the target is more powerful. Without that, he'd probably annihilate the entirety of Scyphozia by himself.
- Schmuck Bait: It's possible to try to intimidate him. Unless the player has enough Charisma, they will have their head explode. Even if the player does meet the requirements to intimidate him, he won't reappear at Castle Light.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Successfully passing the huge Charisma check required to intimidate him will cause him to be briefly stunned before teleporting away, implying that he believes that he made a massively critical error at killing the Ignition Union members and retreats to prevent his situation from getting further worse.
- Stating the Simple Solution: When asked by a player to how not to succumb to the horrors of the Depths, Akira says this:Akira: "Simple, just stop being a wimp."
- Even better is that it actually works: The moment he says this, the player's Willpower stat will unbound.
- Unskilled, but Strong: His young age means that he lacks the experience compared to the older Black Divers such as Klaris. Even without his bell, however, he's usually regarded as one of the strongest Black Divers that Markor ever foresaw.
- Your Head A-Splode: His Top-Pop Resonance allows him to explode the head of anyone at the expense of his lifespan. He does this to a group of Ignition Union members when they try to evict him, and can potentially do it to you as well if you fail a Charisma check against him.
Amorus Pleeksty
A Black Diver who is the only known person to have entered the Vents and invented Flamecharm through consuming a part of Korilfiend by a meteor flower.
- The Ageless: Due to becoming a Deepwoken through consuming a part of Korilfiend, he stopped aging ever since.
- The Ghost: Is never seen in-person, though it is known that he currently resides in the Vents.
- Nice Guy: He's described by the developers as a "chill guy".
- Playing with Fire: The master of this trope, as consuming part of Korilfiend allowed him to invent Flamecharm and spread it across the world. While it's unknown if he also mastered Lava Serpent, regardless he stands out as one of the strongest Flamecharmers.
- Strong and Skilled: As a Deepwoken, he's considered to be one of the strongest beings in the Deepwoken universe, only surpassed by the First Prophet of the Ministry, and years of experience would allow him to beat Akira, who is Unskilled, but Strong in comparison.
- Time Abyss: As the inventor of Flamecharm, he's said to have existed way before the Divers were founded as an organization and is alive for hundreds of years.
Deukalion Akarad
Deukalion Akarad, often referred to as Akarad, was the first Black Diver and started the Divers' first expedition of the Depths.
- In-Series Nickname: Sometimes known as "father Diver" by apprentice Divers.
- Posthumous Character: He's dead before the game even starts, killed when his team attempted to ascend from the Depths without going through the trial and having their souls ripped out for their trouble.
The Hive
How foolish to think that the idiots that left us this world would have any insights into how to solve our dilemma.
"To create a new world over the waves, one that can grow to match the rising tides. Ambitious, no?"
—Regek
—Regek
The Hive are a collective of bug-themed Races who seeks to escape the Tides by funnelling life energy harvested from the land around them into massive trees, hoping to use them as a new home as the world drowns around them.
General Tropes
- Awesome, but Impractical: Their most powerful weapons require massive amounts of power, and thus any wars with significantly large parties will almost certainly bankrupt them. Lampshaded by the Hivelord's Hubris weapon, the name indirectly calling out the braggart nature of the Hive Constructs.
- Call to Agriculture: The upcoming Hive Origin will have farming as a gameplay mechanic exclusive to it.
- Dramatic Irony: The Hive's plan is to grow their Greathives up and away from the Tides in order to survive. What they don't know is the Depths are both below and above them. Not only is their plan(t) futile, they may actively be hastening their demise.
- Extra-ore-dinary: They were initially the only users of Ironsing, until Adar managed to leak the secrets of it outside of their land.
- Fantastic Rank System: The Hive is ruled by a Greatlord, who delegates control over each Greahive and their day to day running to a Hivelord.
- Green Thumb: They hold a monopoly over the Lifeweave Attunement, which is used to transfer life energy. This can be used to create plant life.
- Hive City: They are quite literally named the Hive, what did you expect? The Greathives are more or less one large building to maximise living space.
- Layered Metropolis: They live in improvised homesteads built inside of their Greathives.
- Maker of Monsters: Created the Hive Constructs using Lifeweave.
- Monster Allies: As said above, they created sentient Golems out of wood and Lifeweave, and will help those in good standing with the Hive, even leaping to their aid should they be attacked on the grounds of a Greathive.
- Organic Technology: Their specialty is biotech, with most of their technology being made out of wood and powered using vines instead of wires.
- Playing with Fire: Deconstructed. After the third Greatlord showed a pyromaniac streak, they immediately adopted Flamecharm, as is their cultural norm. However, they live in trees, made of wood. They had to add fireproofing to their Hives to prevent centuries of work going up in flames.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: They drain the life out of lush rainforests in order to pump it into their Greathives, converting the former into harsh deserts, hoping to turn these trees into a fully liveable society that will outgrow the Tides.
Greatlords
General Tropes
The leader of all the Greathives.
- Hat of Authority: Greatlords wear outlandish hats as a sign of their status.
- Serrated Blade of Pain: The 2nd Greatlord crafted Ysley's Pyre Keeper, a paired greatsword and dagger that glows with Fire of Life that was meant to be a gift to the 3rd Greatlord, but went unused due to their pacifism until Ysley picked it up.
Hivelords
General Tropes
The political leaders of a Greathive.
- Action Politician: A rare aversion. Most of the factions operate on Rank Scales With Ass Kicking, but the Hivelords are an exception. They are mainly pencil pushers and have dedicated bodyguards in the form of Curators, which contrasts the Central Authority, who's Wardens are not only the top brass but also some of their best combatants. Justified as most of the Hive's biggest weapons being Awesome, but Impractical means they have to resort more to diplomacy and their focus is more on making their Greathives sustainable and liveable than constant warfare.
- Cool Mask: At least one Hivelord was known to wear a mask, known as the Hivelord Mask.
