Overview
The war between heaven and man is the central backstory event of Of Peaks and Tides. This ancient conflict pitted mortal civilization against the divine elemental forces that once protected Everland. The outcome left the world shattered and its surviving people scattered.
The Four Divine Forces
Before the war, Everland was watched over by four elemental forces associated with wind, thunder, water, and flame. These forces were originally benevolent, and the ancestors of the Nolands built their civilization under their protection. Temples, shrines, and entire cities were constructed in devotion to these powers.
Force | Element | Post-war form |
|---|---|---|
Wind | Air and storms | Cyclones and scouring sandstorms |
Thunder | Lightning and electricity | Lightning barrages and electromagnetic surges |
Water | Oceans and rivers | Tidal surges, floods, and whirlpools |
Flame | Fire and heat | Firestorms and volcanic eruptions |
The Conflict
The exact cause of the war remains unclear. What is known is that at some point, the divine forces turned against humanity. The protective deities became destructive, and their elemental powers became the calamities that now plague Everland. Cities were leveled, populations scattered, and the once-unified civilization broke apart.
Whether the war was caused by mortal transgression, divine disagreement, or something else entirely is one of the game's central mysteries. Players uncover fragments of the truth through exploration, ruins, and encounters with remnants of the old world.
Aftermath
The war left Everland in ruins. The divine forces did not vanish but instead became recurring calamities, natural disasters that strike without warning and reshape the landscape. The surviving humans reorganized as the Nolands, a scattered people trying to rebuild amid the wreckage. Much of Everland's pre-war technology and knowledge was lost, though fragments remain in ruins and ancient devices.
Significance to Gameplay
The war's legacy directly shapes gameplay. Calamities serve as both environmental hazards and tactical opportunities. Ruins from the pre-war era contain valuable resources, blueprints, and lore fragments. The mystery of why the war happened drives the player's journey through the story.
Cataclysm Description
The Steam store description summarises the cataclysmic outcome in one line: under the blessing of the deities, the ancestors of the Nolands forged a once-resplendent civilization. "All was torn asunder in the great War between Heaven and Man, when mountains crumbled and seas were split apart." That single sentence is the closest the game has come to a one-line summary of the cataclysm's geographic effect: the geological deformation of Everland itself, not merely the fall of the people, is the war's defining outcome.
Divine relics now lie in ruins, and the glory of the old world has turned to ash. Only the shattered Ascent remains, silently watching over the fading embers of what once was. The shattered Ascent appears in Steam's lore copy as the last surviving piece of pre-war infrastructure, though no gameplay specifics for it have been published.