How are you supposed to figure out the Ancient Gods quest?

[Xander77]

Besides google, that is. I've completed the quest several times, I'm looking at the wiki link right now... and I still have no idea how you're supposed to interpret the book and chart ingame in a way that will logically lead you to the right order of sacrifices.

[fauxpas]

Honestly I think that you aren't REALLY supposed to solve it without metaknowledge.

[Muro]

The solution is elaborate, so clearly LONG post ahead. Also, while I think it's sound, it is in the end just my interpretation, ans as such might be not 100% correct. Now that warnings are covered, solving out the puzzle can be broken down into two major parts:

I. Figuring out which symbol represents which god in Mazzerin's Mystery[i.imgur.com]

This is done by a mix of reading the passages on each god in the Pagan Gods book, picking out themes that fit each god, accounting for the fact that people tend to imagine their gods to look alike them (created in their image and/or the god being once one of their people who ascended into godhood) and matching them with symbols on Mazzerin's chart.

So let's see...

NOBLE LESSER GODS
Te'rel: blind and mute elven god of trees -> the tree
Geshtianna: human goddess of love and fertility; only female lesser god -> the woman

NEUTRAL LESSER GODS
Alberich: believed to be the father af all dwarves -> the dwarf-like figure
Makaal: bedokaan snake-father -> the lizard-like figure
Bolo: halfling god whose hand was cut off, accepts rings as offerings -> the ringed hand
Kerlin: gnomish golden god, accepts coins as offerings -> a coin with a gnome-like figure on its face

DARKER LESSER GODS
Shakar: orcish god of war with a head of a ram -> ...a head of a ram
Torg: fierce ogrish god that once slew all of his children and consumed their hearts -> wrathful ogre-like figure

GREATER GODS
Halcyon: greater god representing good and light, son of the sun -> the sun
Moorindal: greater god representing evil and shadow, son of the moon -> the moon
Kai'tan: greater goddess of balance, accepts geodes as offerings -> the third outer symbol*

*The three "outer" symbols are a consistent different theme about them, all being in circles, and placed on the outermost rims of the chart. Since we already assigned Halcyon and Moorindal to two of them, by process of elimination the third is connected to Kai'tan. As for what the symbol even IS, I reckon it's either Earth - or rather the planet that has Arcanum on it (where both evil and good is present, a place of balance), or the geode that Kai'tan accepts as an offering.

II. Figuring out the order of offerings

Now that we assigned the lesser and greater gods to symbols, we can look at the chart[i.imgur.com] again. We see several circles or ovals in it, but most importantly, three unfinished ovals, or rather curved lines, each connecting several gods in a sequence. Without metaknowledge we wouldn't know any order yet, so for now just going clockwise and from left to right, we can notice:

a) Moorindal-Shakar-Kerlin-Bolo-Torg
b) Kai'tan-Bolo-Kerlin-Makaal-Alberich
c) Halcyon-Geshtianna-Alberich-Maakaal-Ter'el

Before we look back into the Pagan Gods book, some other observations we can make already:

- all three sequences consist of 5 gods
- the left sequence consists of 4 lesses gods (2 neutral and two darker) and a greater god of evil
- the middle sequence consists of 4 lesser gods (all 4 neutral) an the greater goddess of balance
- the right sequence consists of 4 lesser gods (2 neutral and 2 noble) and a greater god of good

Now, let's check the final chapter of the book and interpret some of its passages.

"Be steadfast. Four powers and then a fifth. Three fives and then the one. And glory to he who gains the blessing of the All-father, who will become as a god himself..."
The passage mentions 4 powers followed by a fifth. Since each of our above sequences has 4 lesses gods and 1 greater one, this implies our above sequences were incorrect -> within a five we should end with a greater god rather than start with one. Additionally if we try to start with giving an offering to a greater god in-game he'll refuse, showing that we can't begin with a greater god.

"Three fives and then the one" followed by the mention of the All-Father (earlier identified as Velorien in the book) suggests that we need to complete all 3 of our sequences and aim for Velorien's blessing only after that. Additionally, Velorien's altar mentions "But beware what you give if his children you don’t know" implying you need to get to know his children before receiving his blessing = complete the three circles. But in what order do we do the fives? Another passage helps with that:

"The road to truth starts with wisdom, but shadow first finds purchase in the heart. The road between them is marked with stones."
I interpret that these two sentences hide the key to the order by it revealing both the beginning and end of all three sequences.

1) the road to truth starts with wisdom
Halcyon is called the god of truth earlier in the book, whereas Ter'el is called the god of wisdom. It suggests the sequence leading to Halcyon starts with Ter'el, and looking at the chart with can see the line that goes: Ter'el -> Makaal -> Alberich -> Geshtianna -> Halcyon

2) shadow first finds purchase in the heart
Moorindal is called the god of shadow. Torg's myth includes consuming his children's hearts, an act referenced by the offering of blood-red rubies. Also, two lines on Torg's altar say "Their hearts, the price is paid" and "My heart is yours, until I’m dead."
With the same logic as the first sequence, we can surmise that the sequence to Moorindal begins with Torg. By looking at the chart, we can see a line going: Torg -> Bolo -> Kerlin -> Shakar -> Moorindal

3) the road between them is marked with stones
By analogy, we can surmise this describes the third, remaining circle. Kai'tan is the goddess of balance (=between good and evil), and the road to her is marked with stones -> where it just so happens that Alberich's and Makaal's offerings are types of stones (respectively a lava rock and a heartstone), "marking" the beginning of the road to Kai'tan. Looking at the chart, we see that our order is: Alberich -> Makaal -> Kerlin -> Bolo -> Kai'tan.

That covers the order of blessings within a circle. As to why are the circles in the good->evil->neutral order? Firstly, the circles were described in that order in the above passage. Secondly, because of a subtle unspoken hint on the chart itself. Remember how the three sequences are described as rings? Now look at the chart and specifically focus on the greater gods. Notice how their symbols are surrounded by circles - or dare we say, rings.
Halcyon - one ring.
Moorindal - two rings.
Kai'tan - three rings.
1->2->3.

To conclude, following all that we get:
Ter'el -> Makaal -> Alberich -> Geshtianna -> Halcyon
-> Torg -> Bolo -> Kerlin -> Shakar -> Moorindal
-> Alberich -> Makaal -> Kerlin -> Bolo -> Kai'tan
-> Velorien
Which equals the order we need to follow to complete this 'quest'.

[Xander77]

Thanks. Not sure if I would be able to figure out which of the faces is supposed to be Ogre or Dwarf or Gnome like, but the rest of it makes sense.