What are the Cerim?

Wicked Story and Characters
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I’m really curious about our character’s true nature. Cerim, also called the Quiet Ones and Unspoken, are supposedly a race of legend that built an enormous civilization and fought the pestilence a thousand years ago. They worship a god called the Sayer. According to the Madrigal we’re the “last survivor of a failed race” so the race might be almost extinct or at least scattered all over the world. Sacra was apparently their homeland, since the island is full of their ruins, which were abandoned after the war with the Pestilence.

Communication
Apparently the Cerim don’t speak, not because they’re unable to (our character still makes noises when fighting or using gestures) but for religious reasons. Yet somehow, we’re able to communicate with people anyway, almost like they can read our minds. Also, despite looking like normal people, everyone can tell we’re Cerim at a glance. Even though Cerim are practically the stuff of legend, and most people have never seen one in their lives. How is that possible?

Soul
According to the priest in Sacrament, all Cerim share one soul. Is that just a religious belief with no real basis, or some meta narrative relating to the players being able to control multiple characters? does sharing one soul mean Cerim have some kind of shared consciousness, and are not people in the same way as humans? probably not, since the Echo Knight is also Cerim, but seems to have a mind of his own, and even lost it at some point. Then again, after you beat him the Seneschal tells you cryptically: “You’re still here, why? because you are the Echo Knight”. It’s also worth noting both the Seneschal and the Watcher think they might’ve been Cerim at some point, but not anymore. So, being Cerim is a state that can be lost, and maybe even gained?

Another quote that stuck with me comes from the false guardian enemies: “all Cerim are born dead”. I’ve no clue if this is just a taunt or if it reinforces the idea of the Cerim being empty vessels controlled by a single soul or higher power.

Resurrection
There is one guy in the city you can talk to early on. He hates the Cerim because he finds them unnatural in the way they can “speak themselves anew”. I find that interesting because it implies that our character is immortal in-universe, and everyone can see us constantly coming back from the dead. So respawning is not just a gameplay mechanic, but something intrinsic to the Cerim. Or maybe he’s referring to the ability to travel between whispers instead? about how we disappear and then reappear elsewhere. Because if the Cerim were truly immortal, then why are they nearly extinct?

The Pestilence
Lastly, what’s the relationship between the Cerim and the pestilence? Did the Cerim accidentally create it? the Echo Knight we fight in the crucible says “the Cerim are a lie” and he alongside Cyvion and the other champions seems to have been driven mad by something they discovered. The Seneschal also claims: “you Quiet Ones dug too deep, you asked too much of the world”. Almost like by messing with the laws of the universe through their unique powers/sorcery/technology, they broke something in the fabric of reality, and the pestilence was born as a result. At least that’s how I interpret it. And so, the remaining Cerim have been trying to fix it ever since. Maybe that’s the reason they don’t speak anymore, for fear of breaking something again?

Either way, the Cerim seem to be immune to the Pestilence, and even thrive off it by consuming the ichor flowing through the Torn’s veins. So it’s also possible the Cerim and the Torn may share the same source. Maybe the Torn are a corrupted version of the Cerim? The Seneschal implies in his dialogue he may have become Torn willingly in order to serve the Sayer for eternity, and the Echo Knight is seen mounting a Torn steed. Meaning their relationship is not always antagonistic. The False guardians mentioned earlier are also an interesting case; local legend says they’re supposed to be graverobbers who were killed and reanimated into eternal servitude by the Cerim ruins, yet they appear alongside the Torn in pestilence areas, furthering the connection between the Cerim and the Torn.

All in all the game is really vague and doesn’t give you lots to go on, which only makes it more intriguing. What do you think?

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You did some digging there, and I definitely dig it :slight_smile:
I gotta admit, I was not too focused on the subject you described, but having read all that, now I feel sorry about it of what could be an interesting lore.
What I find slightly annoying about all this is that the game does not convey any of this to the player through a well crafted ingame presentation, but instead players have to make their own assumptions of how the world around the player is formed, what the Cerim means, and what’s the actual reason behind all that is happening in the lore.
Good read though, I enjoyed it.

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Love your work, very well done. Us lore nerds thank you :sob:

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Echo knight says the Cerim are a lie and the pig guys call you a defiler.

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also the description of the legendary gauntlets "the dawn never comes " is

cerim texts contain no reference to a life after the pestilence is gone

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Cerim are the cause of the pestilence.

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If an entire clan exists only to destroy something it’s clear that the future is either disappearing or remain vigilant in case a new catastrophe occurs.

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AS they seem linked to classic human’s ethnicities it seem more conclusive to think that Cerim’s are :

Or something like that. If they where a true fantasy “race” maybe they could have been violet skin and bald with pointed ears ? Instead they are linked with human’s regionnal skin tones and all… I was myself somewhat puzzled by the question…

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You tied the lore fragments together in an interesting way. Now I am impatient for updates again :smiley:

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I imagine the game doesn’t let you in on too much during the first act as an intentional choice. Finding out what is going on will be part of the fun, for me at least.

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