The Goddess's System: A Scholarly Exploration

Althea Veyren

5E, 134

The Goddess's System, a framework of quantifiable skills, classes, and progression that underpins mortal capabilities in Reial, is so ingrained in modern life that few question its origins. However, historical evidence confirms it did not always exist. This humble author aims to examine the two prevailing theories on the System's emergence in either the late second or early third era of Reial, drawing from fragmented records and the peculiarities of the System's design to form an educated, if not comprehensive, understanding of this phenomenon.

Theory One: Divine Intervention for Humanity

The most widely held belief among human scholars is that the Goddess, responding to the plight of early human settlers from Earth, bestowed the System upon them as a tool for survival.

The most compelling evidence for this belief is that the System's structure closely mirrors organizational principles found in human records of systems present on Earth, humanity's homeworld. The earliest example of this is the fragments of a human text from early in the 3E, The Ledger of Hollow Hill (3E 12), which described skills and levels from Earth in exacting detail, while contemporaneous elven and dwarven writings make no mention of these concepts. Likewise, another surviving fragment from the 3E (circa 45), known as the Chronicle of Roregar the Proud, recounts a human chieftain's plea to the Goddess for "strength not of blood but of will." Shortly after, his people repelled an ogre incursion using what a contemporaneous elven mystic described as "arts yet unseen" (Annals of the Iron Valley).

However, despite early documents insisting that the phenomenon was uniquely human in origin, non-human scholars dismiss this as human revisionism. The elven historian Calithil of Loralen argues that "humans attribute all boons to the Goddess, ignoring older powers" (On the Vanished Pantheons, 5E 89), such as what humanity calls the Old Gods, the Guardians of the Forest, and other such powers. Furthermore, archaeological evidence from dwarven ruins predating human arrival suggests proto-systematic organization of crafting techniques and runic languages. However, the question remains whether these represent independent developments or early manifestations of what would become the universal framework, colloquially called the System, that we use today.

The theological implications of this theory are equally contested. If the Goddess indeed created the System specifically for humanity, it would represent an unprecedented act of divine favoritism, contradicting established doctrine about her universal benevolence. Some theologians resolve this by arguing the System was always intended to spread to all races, with humans serving merely as the initial recipients due to their dire circumstances after their arrival sometime late in the second era of Reial. Why this benefit would not be extended to the halflings, who arrived centuries later, remains unexplained.

Theory Two: The Dragon Empress Crisis

The second major theory suggests the System emerged not from divine favoritism toward humanity but as a universal response to an existential threat that required unprecedented coordination among the mortal races. This theory centers on the rise of the Dragon Empress of the Frostfell Mountains in the early decades of the 3E, whose dominion over the elements posed a threat unlike any previously recorded.

Contemporary accounts from all races describe the Empress as a creature of such overwhelming power that traditional martial prowess and magical knowledge proved wholly inadequate against her abilities and forces. The Draconic Wars Chronicle (3E 167) records that "neither elven sorcery nor dwarven artifice could pierce the eternal winter she wrought, and human valor broke like waves against her servants' scales." It was during this period of mounting desperation that the first recordings of manifestations of the System began appearing simultaneously across all mortal races, regardless of geographical proximity to the Empress's realm.

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Proponents of this theory point to the System's inherently collaborative nature as evidence of its crisis-driven origins. The System rewards party cooperation, encourages diverse class combinations, and seems designed to foster the kind of unprecedented alliance that the Empress's threat demanded. Master Thorek Ironforge of the Deep Roads Archive notes in his Annals of the Great Alliance (circa 3E 210) that "the System's very structure was born from necessity, not preference—a tool crafted for unity in the face of extinction." This cooperative quality indicates that its purpose was to unite the races of the world, with only the Elves of Nolei abstaining from cooperation and the later establishment of the thirty-one kingdoms, which today have combined into fourteen.

Theory Three: A Proposal for Consideration

Both theories possess compelling elements, and the truth may indeed incorporate aspects of each. The System's emergence during humanity's early struggles aligns with the timeline of the Dragon Empress crisis, suggesting these events may have been more interconnected than either theory alone acknowledges. Perhaps the Goddess, observing the mounting threat to all her children, chose to manifest her aid through the familiar framework of human organizational principles, creating a tool that could unite the races while remaining comprehensible to those who would first wield it.

The System's subsequent evolution supports this synthesis. Its capacity for generating new classes and abilities appears responsive to emerging threats and challenges, much as one might expect from a divine tool designed to adapt to unforeseen crises. The proliferation of dragon-slaying classes and elemental-resistance abilities in the centuries following the Empress's disappearance, only to fade as those skills became less necessary, suggests a framework designed for perpetual adaptation rather than static divine mandate.

Most tellingly, the System's moral dimensions (and its tendency to reward heroism and cooperation while punishing cowardice and betrayal) align perfectly with the values that would have been essential for surviving the Dragon Empress crisis. Likewise, these preferences have overwhelmingly led to consistent, if not exactly friendly, cooperation between the races instead of the fierce, brutal competition consistently present in records from the second era. Whether this reflects divine wisdom, mortal necessity, or both, it created a framework that has continued to guide mortal development long after its original purpose was fulfilled.

An Addendum on the Dragon Empress's Fate

As an aside, through this scholar's work studying the documents of the late second and early third eras, it is interesting to note that the ultimate fate of the Dragon Empress remains one of history's greatest mysteries, with competing accounts offering dramatically different conclusions regarding her fate.

The most widely accepted narrative, preserved in the Saga of the Frostbane Hero (3E 489), claims that a legendary figure, whose name has been lost to time, achieved such mastery of the System and the old ways that they were able to slay the Empress in single combat atop the Worldspine peaks. However, draconic sources, particularly the fragmentary Testament of Scales and Flame discovered in the Sundered Vaults, suggest instead that the Empress was not destroyed but tamed, bound by oath and honor to cease her campaign of conquest.

Most intriguingly, a third account emerges from scattered references in various oral tales that speak of the Frostbane Hero and the Empress forming an alliance of a more intimate nature. The Ballads of the Northern Reaches contain veiled references to "the ice-crown wedding" and "the union that ended winter's wrath," while certain dwarven genealogical records hint at bloodlines that trace their origins to this period with suspiciously cryptic descriptions of their founding ancestors.

More research must be completed regarding the Empress's fate, but it is this author's opinion that a rich, nuanced tale is hiding within the tapestry of history, just waiting for us to piece it together.

Alex Clark, American Human Fighter of the Shield 23

Attributes

Strength: 20

Resilience: 35

Agility: 12

Power: 8

Will: 26

Equipment

Skills

[Iron Skin]

[Second Wind]

Talents

[Adaptable]

[Grit]

[Unbreakable]

[United We Stand]

Quests

[Deserving Something Better]

Tasks

American (0

★)

: [Lead the Free]

Fighter (5

★):

[A Good Fight]

Human (0

★)

: [Jack of All Trades]

Shield (11

★)

: [In Enduring, Grow Strong]

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