The World Pillar (also known simply as The Pillar) was a grandiose marble pillar created by, and consisiting of, the first eight gods of Sornieth. Its purpose was to anchor a planetary shield against The Shade and to keep the First Eight in a state of slumber. The Pillar was also significant in that its physical state dictated the start and end of various Ages, and in that its shards dictated where the various flights of modernity are based.
Firstly, following the wars of the gods and the attack of the Shade, The Pillar was formed by the gods to hold up an anti-Shade shield and to seal away their divine powers, as to allow the world to flourish unhindered by their chaos. This creation is the event which marked the end of the First Age and the beginning of the Second Age.
Later on, the Third Age would be ended by the Pillar's obliteration by the Shade, as brought on unwittingly by the Arcanist. The resulting awakening and separation of the First Eight, as well as the similar mobilization of the Arcanist and the other two deities who had appeared in the old gods' slumbering, would then mark the beggining of the Fourth Age, known better as the Age of Flight Rising.
The Pillar stood tall enough to let one see clearly into the cosmos, with eight segments containing each of the eight gods in the following order (top to bottom) (images are links):
The Pillar stood in what is now Dragonhome. The Earthshaker remains at its ruins.
Trivia[]
The Arcanist atop the World Pillar, circa the final day of the Third Age.
- The placement of each deity corresponds to their in-game ID number, or vice versa. For instance, The Earthshaker is the base of the Pillar; his ID number is of course 1. The numbers continue to align as one ascends, and then at the top is the Lightweaver, ID number 8.
- Some believe that the numbers and positions also correlate to age. This idea is based in the Earthshaker's status as ID 1, the base of the pillar, and the oldest of the deities. However, there is not enough evidence to support this notion; there is in fact much that contradicts the idea within Chapter One: The First Age.
- Most notably, the story states that the Tidelord and the Windsinger were the first to clash, creating the Stormcatcher before any of the other new First Age deities. However, Stormcatcher has the ID 7, whereas the Shadowbinder and the Icewarden have the IDs 5 and 6 respectively. Under the idea of age, the Stormcatcher would have the ID 5.
- And on that note, the story says that the Icewarden is the last deity of the First Eight to come into being, his form not yet complete when the other three new First Age deities are already in action. Yet he has ID 6, putting him before the Stormcatcher and Lightweaver, both of whom are his canonical seniors. The Icewarden would have the ID 8 if age were the basis of IDs.
- Basically, if ages were the basis, the top four Pillar columns from top to bottom would be the Icewarden (8), the Lightweaver or Shadowbinder (7), the one that was not picked before (6), and the Stormcatcher (5).
- It doesn't end there, however; the placements of the Windsinger and Tidelord are swapped between their seniority-suggesting introduction in Chapter 1 (Tidelord then Windsinger) and their positions on the pillar (Windsinger then Tidelord.
- Most notably, the story states that the Tidelord and the Windsinger were the first to clash, creating the Stormcatcher before any of the other new First Age deities. However, Stormcatcher has the ID 7, whereas the Shadowbinder and the Icewarden have the IDs 5 and 6 respectively. Under the idea of age, the Stormcatcher would have the ID 5.
- Some believe that the numbers and positions also correlate to age. This idea is based in the Earthshaker's status as ID 1, the base of the pillar, and the oldest of the deities. However, there is not enough evidence to support this notion; there is in fact much that contradicts the idea within Chapter One: The First Age.