A deceitful and scheming Heretic shattered across space, a Seeker of Heaven suspended in time, and a powerful Deity of Death, Corruption and Sacrifice. These are just a few of the various entities mentioned within the different item logs of Risk of Rain 2. These characters do not have a lot of information when it comes to their place within Risk of Rain’s overall story, but they are intriguing enough that I decided to create this video, to theorize about who or what they are. Within this video, I will take you through the various logs for
Kur-skan the Heretic, the Artificer survivor, and the goddess N’kuhana. I will then theorize the stories behind these characters, and where they fit within the story of Risk of Rain. I have made a previous lore video explaining the overall story behind Risk of Rain, so I would highly recommend you watch it beforehand. Otherwise this video might not make a lot of sense. So sit back and enjoy, as I tell you my theories behind these fascinating and interesting characters. Kur-skan the Heretic is a very intriguing character within the Lore of Risk of Rain. Nothing is truly known about the Heretic but I do believe that there is a lot of material that can be used to piece together her story. Firstly, Kur-skan’s appearance. It is very likely that whatever
Kur-skan is, she was originally an Alloy Vulture. There are slight differences between the two, but I believe that Kur-skan looks this way because she was shattered and twisted by Providence, which we will learn about later on. Through reading the logs about the Alloy Vultures, we know that these creatures are actually very intelligent. By destroying 6 nests on the Siren’s Call stage, we find out that these vultures have actually managed to reprogram a Solus Control Unit, turning it into an Alloy Worship Unit, which the vultures use to defend their home. I believe that these vultures are smart enough to learn how things work just by sensing them, as by reading Kur-skan’s log it mentions that despite it being her first time
onboard a human vessel, she could sense the electromagnets within the walls
– and where they all joined. Reading the log for the Alloy Vultures, it talks about a group of survivors that encountered these creatures. The log expands upon these vultures' intelligence as the survivors learn that these vultures managed to steal some of their guns, and were smart enough to be able to understand how to use them. Karl: "STOP! Everybody stop!" Astrid: "Karl? Why are you out of breath, did you /run/ all the way here? What's wrong?" Emil: "What's going on?" Karl: "YES, Astrid, and you both need to listen. You know those Hornets in the black combat suits that split off a while back? The top-dollar PMC badasses? I saw one of them take shots at those huge bird things we've seen sulking around the cliffs - and one of them SHOT HIM BACK. With a GUN.
The bullets must've bounced off the hardened armor - but it still knew what to do.
They're not dumb animals. No way." Astrid: "That's… not possible." Karl: "It is, it happened!
They must've taken the guns from the last guys." Emil: "Why did you run all the way here
from your post just to tell us?" Karl: "Because you didn't let me finish! After it ran the gun dry it just dropped it and swooped in to tear through his armor with its claws. Its CLAWS. It ripped him in half… and threw him off the cliff. Flew off to the peaks with his suit and his other half. They're at least as smart as us, worse tempered, and better armed. We can't keep taking the mountains, we've gotta backtrack and go around. And we need to pack - now." Emil: "This has gotta be a [REDACTED] joke Karl. Right now?" Karl: "YES. NOW. And cut the lights!
Cut the radar and all radio comms too. Emil, send out one last call to Mikhail
and Pavlo to get back here ASAP." Astrid: "We can't do that; we'll be completely defenseless.
That radar is the only warning we'll get!" Karl: "Did I leave out the part about the robot?
The [REDACTED] flying robot they have? The one that's been parked six meters in the air with an audience of those things? The one that they keep "talking" to – and has been staring straight at camp since I spotted it? They have a robot, Astrid, and it knows there's something here. We. Have. To. Go." Emil: "This place is a nightmare. How could we only just be finding out about it now?" Karl: "EMIL. Shut up and make the call!
We can continue this conversation /after/ we're sure we've gone totally dark
and after we're far, far away from here." Within the story of Risk of Rain, I theorise that before Mithrix created the lunar items, he noticed the Vultures intelligence,
and used the Beads of Fealty to influence these vultures to become his servants. I mentioned in my previous lore video that Mithrix is very good at designing new creations, but he struggles when it comes to constructing his own designs. If Mithrix could find another being that was able to understand how to create as well as his Brother, then he could finally create items strong enough to retake Petrichor V for himself. These Alloy Vultures might just be the beings he needs. If we look at the Helfire tincture log, it talks about 4 different beings being tested by Mithrix to see if they were capable of creating these Lunar items. I believe that this log speaks from the perspective of Kurskan, who observes other Vultures failing to create the Helfire Tincture and subsequently dying, as the Helfire tincture item ingame does in fact harm the user. Until finally, as the last remaining Vulture, Kurskan succeeds in creating the Helfire tincture. This impresses Mithrix, and he chooses Kurskan to be the one to create his Lunar items. [Grix] ignites. We measure the time. Too ordered. Composition is settling
- I scrape the mixture from the bottom. [Ouju] ignites. We measure the time. Too smooth. Ratio can be greater. I flatten the mixture.
Black ichor of [Ouju] begins to pool around my feet. [Rhisko] ignites. I measure the time. I increase the ratio of Tetrafoil. I saturate the mixture. Ichor floods the chamber.
Ash flutters in the air before settling on the floor. I ignite. <He> measures my time. <Perfect.> Other item logs mention Mithrix talking to Kur-skan about creating more of these lunar items,
such as the Glowing Meteorite. What a... peculiar piece of the stars
that serendipity has brought us. I'm sure you can make more.
The ratios are simple. It should be quite fun. As time goes by, we reach the events of Risk of Rain 1, where Providence destroys the Contact Light causing it to crash upon the planet. Kur-skan’s log talks, about her appearing through a blue portal onto the Contact Light. She dashed to the bridge, and attempted to fly the ship, but was unfortunately killed by Providence before she got the chance. There is no information anywhere about why she wanted to be on the contact light in the first place. So I am forced to theorise about the events that lead up to
Kur-skan's demise. Kur-skan’s log reads: A blue flash appeared in one of the storage bays of the Contact Light. The chaos ensuing on the ship was a perfect distraction. As soon as Kur-skan stepped out the portal she ducked into a sprint. She had no time. She weaved between gunfire and fireballs, between blasts of Vagrant energy and on-board security systems. They paid no mind to the feathered figure as she darted through closing blast doors. She flew quickly down the halls of the ship.
Despite it being her first time onboard a human vessel, she could sense the electromagnets in the walls
– and where they all joined. She corked right, shooting into the
ventilation shafts with a bang. The captain barely had a chance to see her before she blasted sideways out into the control room. She tore out two windblades as he reached for his pistol.
The captain fell to the ground in intervals. Her momentum crashed her into the control panels,
both feet digging deep into monitors. She didn’t need those.
Nimble, clawed fingers began ripping across keypads. She quickly split and rewired components, reaching into her feathered pouches for more bridges and other electronics. Various capacitors fell onto the floor. This ship was big, but not complex – and more importantly, it could still fly. But she had to go fast, or he – And before she could finish her thought,
he appeared in a flash of thunder. Blue and green light reflected off of his sword,
cascading around the bridge. A cape fluttered, and Providence landed lightly on his feet. Kur-skan bent her head backwards over her body,
hands still tearing at panels. He was much faster than she expected. But maybe he would – Her last thoughts were interrupted
instantly by a crystalline blade. One theory I have is that Kurskan was sent out
on a mission by Mithrix, to take the contact light and fly it to the moon so that Mithrix could escape his prison. But a more likely theory, is that Kurskan no longer wanted to be a servant of Mithrix, and attempted to use the contact light to leave Petrichor V, and to escape Mithrix’s rule. The log mentions a blue flash that was created by a portal.
This could have some relation to the Glass Newt, as the blue portals are what take you to the
Bazaar Between Time. Or it could be related to Mithrix, as you take the blue portals to escape
Mithrix’s boss arena after defeating him. After Kurskan was slayed by Providence on the contact light, Providence shattered Kurskan into many pieces and scattered her across the moon,
as punishment for being a servant of Mithrix. Kur-skan's different item logs talks about
the Eviseration of Kur-skan the Heretic. It mentions Kur-skan's betrayal, which could be related to Kur-skan betraying Providence, by becoming a servant of Mithrix "…and for her betrayal, and her lies, and her scheming ways, the Heretic was violently separated into four distinctive pieces, each to be scattered across the farthest depths of the Moon. First, her many eyes were plucked from her skull and sealed in boiling glass, forced to gaze upon her failure... …her arms were warped into terrible blades, so she may no longer find joy in study or tooling… Her legs were scattered to the two poles of the moon, twisted in a wicked position, in a field of obsidian thorns… …and her heart, too wicked and full of hate, was left where she once stood – at the site of her betrayal.” Curiously, the “Evisceration of Kur-skan the Heretic”
starts at volume 3. There are no volumes 1 and 2, so I wonder if there will be more items related to Kur-skan within the upcoming DLC. During the gameplay of Risk of Rain 2, the player survivor pieces together the shattered parts of Kur-skan and somehow takes control of her body.
We know that the survivor controls her body, rather than Kurskan controlling herself,
as during Mithrix’s bossfight, he asks Kur-skan about who pulls her strings, similar to that of a puppet.
THE HERETIC? HOW? WHO PULLS YOUR STRINGS, VERMIN? And thus Kur-skan’s story comes to an end.
When the survivor escapes Petrichor V in Kurskan’s form the following message is displayed:
...and so they left, bitterly avenged and deeply lost. And if the survivor does not manage to escape in time, it reads:
...and so they vanished, two stories ending as one. The Artificer is another very interesting character,
but in all honesty, there isn’t much lore about her
that I am able to gather from her log. The Artificer log does mention a new organisation
known as The High Court, which could potentially play a large role
within the story of Risk of Rain. However, because there is only one log relating to the Artificer,
I was forced to theorise her origins instead. With the intense belief that heaven is a planet,
not a mystical place, the High Court search deep into space for the Promised Land. Intensely driven by both dogma and science, the High Court holds amazing technological marvels - with nearly all of them hidden deep within their halls. The House Beyond represents the most ambitious of the High Court's followers, spearheading Zone 5 deep space travel. With the advantage of their unique ENV Suit,
the House Beyond have gone deeper in space than any other House in the High Court
by an order of magnitude. The ENV Suit, worn by the Artificers of the High Court,
is an engineering marvel - able to calibrate to the conditions of any environment. The technology behind the ENV Suit, like all other High Court technology, is still undisclosed. I mentioned in my previous lore video that the Contact Light brought a teleporter on board the ship once they arrived at Petrichor V,
but that was actually a mistake. The Contact Light already had a teleporter on board, despite being the first human vessel to arrive at the planet. The reason why is unknown,
but by looking at the Bighorn Bison log, we learn that the Bison were originally from Saturn before being brought back to Petrichor V by Providence. This means there must be a teleporter located on Saturn. The High Court could have found the teleporter Providence used and wanted to find the origin behind its creation. The Contact Light received a
detour request from an unknown source and I originally theorised that it was
Mithrix who sent out this request However it is highly possible that it was actually The High Court, who sent out this request instead. The High Court would have enough power to redact their name from the blackbox data and it's possible that The House Beyond requested the detour to Petrichor V, to continue their search for heaven. It is possible that the Artificer was sent to Petrichor V before the events of Risk of Rain 2. But I am fairly certain that the Artificer was on board
the UES Safe travels, as the Artificer spawns in through a drop pod,
much like the other crew members. If they were already on the planet beforehand, then they would have a unique spawn animation similar to Acrid who spawns through a portal after being released
from the Void Field’s prison cells. Or like Mul-T, who does not use a drop pod,
but falls down to the planet as cargo instead. The Artificer’s umbra title is known as the “Herald of the House Beyond”. A Herald is also known as a messenger or harbinger, so I believe The House Beyond sent the Artificer on board the The UES safe travels, to seek out and report any signs of heaven,
so that they too can enter the promised land. The mission was top secret, which is most likely
related to The High Court, having the power to hide their influence
from behind the scenes. Though this “Heaven” that The High Court is searching for, is most likely referring to the paradise that is Petrichor V, I theorise that what The High Court is truly searching for, is A Moment Whole. A Moment Whole is a realm created by Mithrix to act as a safe haven for his followers while Mithrix would go on to destroy the inhabitants of
Petrichor V and attempt to kill his brother. This would lead to why we find the Artificer
within the Bazaar Between Time. There is no information about how the Artificer became suspended in time, but I theorise that the Artificer gained knowledge of the obelisk,
and found her way into the Bazaar, as to pass through the Obelisk into A Moment Whole,
it requires the Beads of Fealty. The Artificer could have attacked the glass newt to attempt
to steal these beads, but the Newt used its powers to suspend the Artificer in time. Until eventually the player survivor comes along and frees the Artificer from her temporal prison. The Artificer would have reported back all of this to
The High Court and it’s possible that in the future we may see The House Beyond
make another return to Petrichor V. Since there is only 1 log relating to the Artificer,
there are endless possibilities about the origins behind this mysterious character
but I would love to see any theories you may have about the Artificer in the comments below. Within the world of Risk of Rain,
we learn of a deity known as N’kuhana. N’kuhana is a being that is similar or greater than that of the two brothers, and has a very dedicated religious following. The followers of N’kuhana swear an oath upon the N'tormat, which is a book detailing N’kuhana’s opinions. The N'tormat describes a time long ago where the balance of the world was in a perfect harmony of life and death. But as life went on, more people were being brought into the world than they were dying, causing this harmony to fall apart. This could be due to Providence, saving inhabitants of dying planets by bringing them back to Petrichor V. Because of this imbalance,
N’kuhana was no longer able to aid her people, and so her followers began to spread N’kuhana’s religion. These followers killed all non-believers and even other followers alike, as a way to bring balance back to the world,
and to once again be granted an audience by her. The N'tormat, Chapter I, Stanza I, Verse II "Let us begin.
What is your oath? Not very long ago, health and time were in perfect synergy.
Pain and love. Death and memories. The great equalizer. She would always come for us. But! Disparity now plagues our generations - and our children's. Not many pass, but so many are born. So many doomed souls, saved. Our hubris as a race continues to grow - unchecked. Unrestrained. Now there is no volume in our world for death, and she cannot visit us. But is being alive only an offset from death? Without contrast, won't we all be dead in life? The standard has shifted, and now we are all so very close to never living again. We must make volume for her name - to restore the balance. Let us consume the Concepts, so we may begin to drain the bloated cistern that is our world. As disciples, we will spread her words and opinions.
As pupils, we will sow death. And should we be lucky... be granted an audience by Her. Weshan!" I assume the word “Weshan” is akin to the word “Amen” used at the end of a prayer. It is possible that N'kuhana could be the one behind this mysterious entity known as "She", that came to Petrichor V and sacrificed herself,
granting a gift to Providence. N'kuhana is associated with sacrifice so it would make sense that N'kuhana was the one behind this mysterious being. Though it is difficult to imagine a saviour such as Providence using power from a deity that encourages so much death. There is still no information on what this gift is, so there is not enough evidence to confirm or deny this theory. It should be mentioned that in risk of rain 2, there is a variant of enemies known as “Malachite Elites” who shoot out spikes that disables healing on the player. These Malachite enemies drop the Elite aspect known as “N'kuhana's Retort” which grants the player the same ability. I assume that this aspect is one of the gifts N'kuhana bestows upon her followers. The Ceremonial Dagger is used to
sacrifice people as offerings for N’kuhana. Interestingly, the shipping details of the dagger in Risk of Rain 1, mentions an ancient burial site on Venus, which means that the religion of N'kuhana
is not limited to the planet of Petrichor V. Estimated Delivery: 7/18/2056
Sent to: Tomb 1661, Burial Site, Venus Finally found the heretic.
Foolish boy, thinking he could save his sister. With the knife returned, we can continue our rituals.
Ah.. that should please Her. This log mentions a “heretic” but I must clarify that this is not related to Kur-skan in any way. After the Contact Light crashed upon the planet, a few survivors landed in the Wetland Aspect, a level found in Risk of Rain 2. They found the N’tormat and the Ceremonial Dagger, and they began to learn of N'kuhana’s religion. Eventually they came under attack by the Golems,
and one of the survivors, known as Marion, forced a group member to kill her using the Ceremonial Dagger, so that they can all be saved by the Dagger’s magical properties. The smell of sulfur fills the air. "Oh god, they're so close. They have Hitchcock. Oh god."
"Grab the - the dagger. From my backpack. Quick." "I-I don't... I got it. What the hell? This isn't gonna work, Marion. What the hell am I supposed to do with this against those...? They blew him into pieces - oh god."
"You have to... you have to kill me - ah! Kill me. Kill me with it." "What? What the hell?"
"Yeah - it's the only way. Please." "What are you saying? Stop!"
"It's a magic dagger. It'll save us. She will save us. But you have to kill me with it."
"Please don't... please don't make me. Oh god." "Y-you have to. I've seen how this works. It's the only way - they're coming so close. You have to use it on me. Kill me." "I'm so sorry Marion. I'm so so sorry. I don't think-"
"Do it. Do it now. DO IT NOW! DO IT NOW! DO IT-" After the survivor sacrificed Marion and witnessed the power of the dagger, they became a follower of N'kuhana. The other group members were
not aware of N'kuhana’s teachings, and one of the other survivors,
known as Pugh, accidentally witnessed this killing. Pugh didn’t understand what happened
and was terrified to see this murder, and so the follower was forced to kill Pugh in order to prevent the other group members from finding out. The follower became delusional, believing that the other group members would not understand N'kuhana’s teachings and so the follower decided to kill the rest of the survivors while they slept, and hide within a cave off the side of a cliff. The followers' skeleton can be found within this cave, worshipping N'kuhana even through their own death. "Yeah, I had to. I had no choice. Marion knew - and she was always so much stronger. So much stronger than all of us. And it worked, it really did! Marion saved all of us. The dagger -
it saved Pugh and Larsen and Dillon. Carney and Stevens. But Pugh saw - he saw and he didn't understand. How could he? I tried to tell him - I ran over to him. But I couldn't convince him otherwise,
and he was so crazy - so crazy! He wouldn't shut up and the golems were coming closer and the dagger - there was no choice. Everyone was real somber that night. We lost Hitchcock and Marion and Pugh. Real somber. Later on, Carney found the book from a nearby chest.
And it really all made sense - it did! I knew why Marion had that dagger and why
I had to be the one to kill her. And Carney? He was too strong. I couldn't risk him not understanding.
He wouldn't understand. But Carney was big. Everyone else would've known. So that night, after I killed him, I went and took his body to the Altar. And I hid the Altar - right at the edge of the cliff, between two clusters of roots, in a cave underneath. And in that cave... I worshipped Her Concepts. The rest? Well, they were so old and so tired.
They were just gifts for N'kuhana. And She loved them. Weshan. Thank you all so much for watching this video.
Once again this is my interpretation of the lore behind these characters so it is very possible
that I have made some mistakes while making this. I would love to read your own theories of the stories
behind these characters and if I have made any mistakes in this video,
please leave a comment down below. If you have any suggestions on what I should talk about next, please let me know! There is not much in-depth lore left to talk about until the release of the upcoming DLC, but please consider subscribing as I will definitely be creating more videos when that time comes. Don’t forget to like and share this video if you enjoyed it, or if you disliked it, please leave a comment to let me know why! Thank you again very much for watching,
I hope to see you all again in a future video.
