The Seven Pillars, also called the Seven Sages or the seven monk-kings,[1] were the retainers of King Deshret.[2][3]
Overview[]
The Seven Pillars were given power by King Deshret to act as his "pyramid of authority."[4]Heryshaf was the deputy-king of the King Deshret's civilization, and the chief of the Seven Pillars. Sobek is said to have had dominion over all weapons of war and Thoth is credited with inventing the desert script and its arcane arts.[5] Heryshaf, Sobek, and Thoth were considered the highest ranking members, collectively referred to as the "Three Retainers" (Chinese: 三佞臣 Sān Nìngchén, lit. "Three Sycophantic Ministers"),[6] but also as the most treacherous advisors to King Deshret.[7][8] Little is known about who Bennu and Shesepankh were and what positions they held, but they have been referred to as embodying King Deshret's "soul" and "will" respectively.[1] The shield of Aaru Village's Guardian is said to bear the blessing of Bennu.[9]
Most of the Pillars have a specific animal association and color-scheme. Heryshaf is depicted wearing a blue-violet garment; Thoth is typically depicted wearing red garments; Sobek typically wears blue garments. Hermanubis is usually shown in purple garments and with a jackal head. Bennu is said to resemble a "great bird winging skyward towards the sun," and Shesepankh is said to resemble "a lioness with a human head."[1]
Members[]
All of the titles and epithets for the Pillars who have mainly come from Asenath, a member of the Temple of Silence.[Note 1]
| Name | Title | Epithet | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heryshaf | Goat King | Minister of Ministers | Imprisoned in Aaru |
| Sobek | Crocodile King | Captain of Captains | Imprisoned in Aaru |
| Thoth | Ibis King | Scribe of Scribes | Imprisoned in Aaru |
| Hermanubis | Greatest of all Sages | Greatest of Sages[Note 2] | Deceased |
| Bennu | Most-Radiant | Saint | Unknown |
| Shesepankh | Most-Holy | Saint | Unknown |
| Apep | Dragon King | Supreme Spirit | Alive |
History[]
Several thousand years ago, King Deshret divided up his power amongst several sages across the desert.[10] According to the lore of the Temple of Silence, the sage Hermanubis was chosen from amongst the Tighnarians to be Deshret's familiar and one of his ministers.[11] King Deshret considered the Dendro Dragon Sovereign, Apep, to be one of the Seven Pillars, but she did not see herself as one of them and never met with the other Pillars.[5][2] According to ancient texts, Bennu and Shesepankh refer more to "human souls" and "Jinni." They have also been described as Deshret's "soul" and "will," respectively. Heryshaf, Sobek, Thoth, and Hermanubis are considered the most important members, with Heryshaf being the "right hand" of King Deshret and the head of the Seven Sages.[1][2]
At some point, King Deshret banished Heryshaf, Sobek, and Thoth to Aaru, where they remain imprisoned to the present day.[12] After Deshret's own death, Apep acted on their prior agreement and consumed his physical body, but became contaminated by Forbidden Knowledge. Hermanubis took his followers to Tulaytullah and established the Temple of Silence; eventually they were attacked by the king of Gurabad, leading Hermanubis to shatter himself into Ba fragments so his followers could use his power to defend themselves. Two Ba fragments survive to the present day, currently fused within Cyno.
Despite his imprisonment in Aaru, Thoth is able to temporarily possess the cats in his temple to converse with humans. Before entering Aaru, Deshret told Thoth that if he found humans to provide the correct answers to three questions posed by Nabu Malikata, he could be released from his seal. Goudarz and Makhaira each answered one, and were rewarded with some of Thoth's power in exchange. Around 500 years ago, the researcher Zandik also came in contact with him but refused his gift. The third answer was then posed to Nefer some time before the events of the game.[5]
Gallery[]
Statues[]
Murals and Slabs[]
An Introduction to Indoor Archaeology
Headlong Into the Sands
Quest Stills[]
Trivia[]
- Each of the Seven Pillars have individual styles of office, however they are typically forgone in various in-game sources and some titles aren't apparent in the English localization. The following is a combination of instances for the full forms of address:[Note 3]
- Goat King Heryshaf, Minister of Ministers (Chinese: 羊之王·众相之相赫里沙夫 lit. "Goat King, Minister of All Ministers Heryshaf")
- Crocodile King Sobek, Captain of Captains (Chinese: 鳄之王·众统帅之统帅索贝克 lit. "Crocodile King, Captain of All Captains Sobek")
- Ibis King Thoth, Scribe of Scribes (Chinese: 鹮之王·众书记之书记图特 lit. "Ibis King, Scribe of All Scribes Thoth")
- Hermanubis, greatest of sages (Chinese: 至贤·众贤之至贤赫曼努比斯 lit. "Most Wise, Most Wise of all Wise Hermanubis")
- Saint Bennu Most-Radiant (Chinese: 至明·圣者贝努 lit. "Most Radiant, Holy One Bennu")
- Saint Shesepankh Most-Holy (Chinese: 至圣·圣者谢斯芬赫 lit. "Most Holy, Holy One Shesepankh")
- Dragon King, the supreme spirit Apep (Chinese: 龙之王·至灵阿佩普 lit. "Dragon King, Supreme Spirit, Apep")
- The introductory cards for the Great Red Sand-associated characters (Candace, Dehya, and Sethos) depict four animals. Clockwise from left to right, they represent: the Goat King, the Ibis King, the Dragon King, and the Crocodile King.
Notes[]
- ↑ In the Chinese text, the Pillars' proper titles follow a specific sequence, with their epithet given directly before their name: 'Title'·'Epithet' 'Proper Name'
- ↑ In Asenath's dialogue, "Hermanubis, greatest of sages" (Chinese: 至贤·赫曼努比斯) uses the character 至 which is also used in Bennu and Shesepankh's titles; therefore, "Most-Wise" would be a more accurate title. See Trivia for information.
- ↑ Bennu and Shesepankh's titles are a combination of Asenath's dialogue and the description of Dialogues of the Desert Sages. Hermanubis' titles are a combination of Asenath's dialogue and text from Book: The Lay of Al-Ahmar, Lupus Aureus Chapter: Act II - Oathkeeper, and Sethos's Character Story: Character Story 3. Apep's secondary title was missing proper capitalization.
Other Languages[]
| Language | Official Name | Literal Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| English | Seven Pillars | — |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 七柱 Qī Zhù | Seven Pillars |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 七柱 Qī Zhù | |
| Japanese | 七柱 Nanahashira | Seven Pillars |
| Korean | 일곱 기둥 Ilgop Gidung | |
| Spanish | Siete pilares | |
| French | Sept piliers | Seven Pillars |
| Russian | Семью столпами Sem'yu stolpami | |
| Thai | เจ็ดเสาหลัก | |
| Vietnamese | Bảy Trụ Cột | |
| German | Sieben Säulen | |
| Indonesian | Tujuh Pilar | |
| Portuguese | Sete Pilares | |
| Turkish | Yedi Sütununun | |
| Italian | Sette Colonne |
Change History[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Weapon: Dialogues of the Desert Sages
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 NPC Dialogue: Asenath
- ↑ Story Quest, Cyno, Lupus Aureus Chapter: Act II - Oathkeeper, Part 2: After Repose
- ↑ Story Quest, Cyno, Lupus Aureus Chapter: Act II - Oathkeeper, Part 3: Footprints Sunken Beneath the Sands
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Event Ruins Exploration: Fieldwise Center Quest, Ruins Exploration: Act II, Part 1: Headlong Into the Sands
- ↑ Book: The Lay of Al-Ahmar
- ↑ Nefer's Character Story: Moon Wheel
- ↑ NPC Dialogue: Charmian
- ↑ Candace's Voice-Over: More About Candace: IV
- ↑ Weapon Ascension Material: Olden Days of Scorching Might
- ↑ Story Quest, Cyno, Lupus Aureus Chapter: Act II - Oathkeeper, Part 5: The Dead Past is the Living Present
- ↑ Archon Quest, Song of the Welkin Moon, Act IV - An Elegy for Faded Moonlight, Part 3: Echoes of Fate
[]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||