Part 1: Myths and Legends (Innominat and Tiamat)

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Nearly all of the fantasy stories are rooted in real-world myths. In this case, Berseria and Zestiria are mostly based on Arthurian legend plus the usual Celtic, Mesotopamian, Christianity, Arabic, Nordic, Japanese, and even Native American cultures (Shepherds using feathers for instance)and elements sliding in between. Now, monster names and races aside, I will tell you the origins of Tiamat and Avernus, and why I have decided to use these characters at all, what are their connections to the canon world of Desolation. First, let's take a look at Innominat and the concept of malevolence and where these two exactly originated from.

Innominat and chaoskampt:

This eight-headed Draconian Empyrean is based on two major figures in myths: Yamata no Orochi in Shinto and Tiamat in Mesotopamian. His insignia and power over the earthpulses are akin to Tiamat's symbol (See below) and the existence of her body inside the Earth Veins or Earth Chakras, which in the game, they were called Earthpulses. Tiamat also spread her evil magic called Draconian Current that turned anyone into Dragons if they desire to tap into it (Malevolence in ToB and ToZ, but only Malakhim/Seraphim would turn into dragons and humans and the rest, into Daemons/Hellions)

 Tiamat also spread her evil magic called Draconian Current that turned anyone into Dragons if they desire to tap into it (Malevolence in ToB and ToZ, but only Malakhim/Seraphim would turn into dragons and humans and the rest, into Daemons/Hellions)

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Tiamat's Mesotopamian insignia (Source: Grimoire of Tiamat)

Innominat's insignia (Source: Tales of Berseria video game)

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Innominat's insignia (Source: Tales of Berseria video game)

Then, the portion of Orochi begins. As most of you already know, Orochi was an eight-headed dragon that dogged the gods and humans for a long time, until the exiled god of thunder and storm, Susanoo, finally managed to kill the beast as it was hunting for a girl called Kushi-inada-hime which later Susanoo took her as his own bride. Another interesting part is Susanoo turned the girl into a hair comb so Orochi wouldn't find her. The trope of chaoskamp (Chaos vs Order) is a common motif along with many pantheons. However, in Berseria, these roles were reversed.

Tiamat (Tia):

Aside from that male seraph in Zestiria that turned into a dragon codenamed Tiamat (Which Namco did this just to give a generic dragon a random name), she is considered to be the mother of all in the Mesopotamian pantheon. I'm not going to explain every version of her since you probably can search it on the web, but while Namco based the concepts of Earthpulses, Malevolence, and Innominat's power over the Earth, on Tiamat's real legend, they didn't explain what exactly happened at the beginning. They didn't have to. but what I mean, is to give a reason war between the Empyrean's happened, where exactly did the Empyreans come from, why they decided to stay and fight the curse while the seraphim stayed in Heavenly realms and did nothing. The hole provided me with an opening to establish some backgrounds for the Empyreans and of course, my villain.

Therefore, I had the ingredients to not only explain Tiamat but also Avernus, but he is the main topic for the second chapter.

Therefore, I had the ingredients to not only explain Tiamat but also Avernus, but he is the main topic for the second chapter

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The first Seraphim, Tia, as she appears in Alternative Berseria The X

 A cunning villain that would later shock a lot of readers when she decided to betray the group (Although her name would give away her role). Since Draconian Current in the original myth was because of her, I made her solely responsible for the curse (humanity producing Malevolence from their negative emotions) which fit her main persona in AltBerseria. 

Tiamat's story starts when she ascended to the earth with her four sub lords, to make contact with the humans. The first seraphim would later be disgusted by the corruption of humanity and put a curse on their heart so they would destroy themselves from within. Unwilling to see the good in humanity as well, a young seraph later conspired with Tia's other four sub lords as they were already exposed to all of humanity's complex side, and revolted against her, burying Tiamat in the depths of the Earthpulses. The heavenly seraphim closed all the means of travel to humanity's realm, and the five young seraphim that were willing to assist humanity to connected themselves directly to the world's pillars and began stabilizing it before the chaos destroyed the world.

I remember one reader in fanfiction.net asked "So who's going to be introduced next, Bahamut?!" 

Nope. Not in this one. then I thought, maybe some readers had the same questions of why I used Tiamat.

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