This is the knowledge imparted upon the party by Void in the underground ruins beneath Caelumnis at the conclusion of Chapter 1.
“Chosen ones, we congratulate you on your triumph over the false god of ancient Caelumnis. We are Void, the champion of the one true God. By journeying through this place, you've come to understand the events that happened in ancient Caelumnis, and to know the identity of the true enemy of mankind. You who bear the traces of God, hearken the true history of this world"
Creation of Novrand and humanity
“In primordial times, this world and the humans upon it, were created by She Who Travels Among the Stars, the creator god known as Mother, whom you've come to call by the name Versa”
“Mother's design was that humanity would thrive upon Novrand, discover the secrets of the universe and one day become like her: gods”
“After Mother gave her children the tools and knowledge they needed to survive on their own, she left this world”
Ardia’s appearance
“That is when the true enemy revealed itself”
“The false god your kind calls Ardia is a cosmic parasite that hungers for knowledge. Knowledge that would make you divine”
“It sank its tendrils onto this world and cursed all of humanity with a short lifespan. The knowledge you collect during your fleeting lives is consumed by Ardia upon death. With knowledge taken from you, you are reborn ignorant, a blank slate, and thus the cycle continues”
“For all her divine power and wisdom, Mother was unable to notice the moment when corruption began to take root on Novrand. However, the protective measure that she left behind, did”
Monsters
“As soon as Ardia invaded this world and tainted your souls and your magic, Novrand's autonomous defense system rose from its slumber”
“The beings you call monsters are soulless servants driven by simple directives. They seek to stop the spread of the disease the only way they know how: by destroying the infected vessel and isolating the human soul”
“By killing you, the monsters, in their own way, are trying to protect the greater humanity from Ardia”
“But the defense system is too weak to combat a threat like this. Ardia's pull on your souls is simply too strong for monsters to ever achieve their goal. They keep following their drive, killing humans in vain and with no resolution. An outcome that suits the Parasite's design perfectly, for it keeps you trapped in the cycle of death and rebirth”
Magic
Voidtouched magic is a mere reflection / a corrupted version of true magic. It is a side-effect of Ardia feeding on humanity’s knowledge
True magic is the ability to see beyond the veil of the material world and to shape reality by force of will alone
Compared to what true magic can achieve, the voidtouched magic that the party uses are “mere parlor tricks”
Destruction of ancient Caelumnis
“This accursed cycle repeated for hundreds of generations, until a 1000 years ago Ardia made a mistake”
“They underestimated human ingenuity. Your ability to transfer knowledge across generations in written form”
“At the culmination of this, the researchers of ancient Lux Sanctus were close to discovering the path to immortality. Something that would break the cycle of death that Ardia wants to preserve. And so the parasite intervened, it had its creations destroy the major cities and places of learning, and sent technology back in time a 1000 years”
“However, by resorting to such a drastic measure, Ardia revealed their presence to Mother, and so she hurried from beyond the stars to save her children”
Shattering of Mother
“But Ardia would not go let go of you without a fight”
“The false god had fed off on your deaths for so long, rooted himself so deeply into your minds and your culture, that it turned your blades against your creator and would-be saviour”
“Mother had no choice but to fight back. With great sadness she was forced to kill her own children, in order to reclaim their misguided souls and release them from Ardia's grasp”
“The battle between Ardia, your brainwashed ancestors and Mother shook the earth and moved mountains”
“During the battle over your souls, Mother dealt a decisive blow against Ardia, weakening the parasite. But even that was not enough to destroy it. Shortly after your ancestors, with Ardia's unholy blessings empowering them, struck down Mother, shattering her body into pieces that scattered across Novrand”
“With no unity to guide them, those pieces of Mother fought individually, until all of them succumbed and were sealed away. You saw one of those pieces in the Walled Garden of Eigo”
Events in Eigo
Void orchestrated the events of Eigo. He does not feel remorse, because the humans sacrificed would simply be reborn: “Every human soul on Novrand is reborn over and over again. Their deaths served an important purpose. Their souls will still be saved”
Jaana was supposed to become the vessel for the piece of Mother resurrected in the Walled Garden, but she managed to flee, carrying the party with her
Alliance
Void believes that the party’s survival and arrival to Caelumnis first on the wings of Mother’s vessel and then aboard SS Chosen was preordained by hand of fate. He believes the party were meant to become his allies
He summoned the fog in Caelumnis to guide the party to him, so that they could finally meet
Even if the party were to join his cause, he would only distribute infomation on a need-to-know basis. If Ardia’s agents were to capture the party, they’d be able to extract dangerous information from the party, whether they survive the capture or not
Conviction
Void wants to release humanity from Ardia’s cycle of death, so that they could fulfill Mother’s design and become gods
Even if humanity’s culture, knowledge and magic are tainted, their souls are divine and can still be saved when Mother returns
Void claims to be the champion of Mother and that he can hear Mother’s voice, pleading him to make her complete
He feels a strange pull towards the party, further confirming his belief or delusion that they were fated to become allies
“Even at this very moment we feel the force that pulls us together across space and time. Surely you feel it as well?”
Realization
When the party reveals that Walter is the only one who feels the pull, Void realizes something and begins to panic: “...only him? No, no, this cannot be... it cannot be him. We refuse to accept this!”
Void then orders his servants, including Faylin, to attack Walter with full strength: “My servants! Unleash your full power against that man! Destroy him!”