How did Engwithan die out

[Xylus]

So Thaos is a Engwithan, and knows how to do perfect reincarnation for the past 2000 years. And we know that not all Engwithan died creating the gods. So there must be other Engwithans with access to the same tech like Thaos and made it through the years, right? A civilization with the ability to preserve souls can't die out for the normal reasons. Will we be seeing more of them in the future? Maybe they are not extinct at all and will come back to get us for murdering Thaos. Or if they indeed die out and Thaos is the only one left. The only possibility that I can think of is a civil war or a war against the gods

 

I also have trouble believing that the majority of Engwithan population choose to sacrifice themselves to create the gods. What would be the good reason for them to do such thing?

[MReed]

Based on what the game offers you, it seems likely that they all (or > 95%) /did/ all die to create the gods.  Assuming that there were some survivors, they either deliberately did not reproduce and allowed themselves to die naturally (to preserve the secret of the gods origins) or bred with non-Engwithan's and didn't pass on the knowledge / culture / etc. to their children, which has the same effect.

[Gallenger]

Nobody really knows - the Engwithans were *all over* the place.  And then they suddenly weren't and that was a long time ago so nobody really knows just how suddenly they weren't lol.  It's a mystery. 

[Grand_Commander13]

Nobody really knows - the Engwithans were *all over* the place.  And then they suddenly weren't and that was a long time ago so nobody really knows just how suddenly they weren't lol.  It's a mystery.

Oh trust me: you find out where the Engwithans went if you finish the game.

[Gallenger]

Oh I've finished it - but nobody really said "and so the engwithans were gone" etc etc.   They could've just as easily used some slave's souls or some random others to collect the souls - maybe a great squirrel purge, since *everything* has a soul in this setting.   Or the Engwithans (or subjects) who inhabited the Dyrwood since they obviously built those machines and used them probably lol.  But the Engwithans themselves were a world wide thing (ruins deep in Eir Glanfath, Aedyr (a whole other continent) and Valia to the south - as far as I know). 

Edited April 7, 2015 by Gallenger

[anameforobsidian]

From Od Nua, it looks like this:

 

Major Spoilers in tag:

 

 

• They figured out how to make gods.  
• The missionaries were successful at covering up the truth.  Maybe even animancy in general.
• Later, Od Nua's son died.  Od Nua went crazy and built a slave army to mine / sculpt / and sacrifice one of the central Ardra nodes that runs through the planet in an attempt to bring his son back.  Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the soul machines were originally meant to move souls to the Endless Paths. 
• Eventually his people got sick of him killing thousands of people, and there was a civil war / sneak attack.  His side lost.
• The Engwithans became hunter / gatherers and eventually the Glanfathans, some of whom remembered animancy in the form of ciphers.

 

 

[Xylus]

Based on what the game offers you, it seems likely that they all (or > 95%) /did/ all die to create the gods.  Assuming that there were some survivors, they either deliberately did not reproduce and allowed themselves to die naturally (to preserve the secret of the gods origins) or bred with non-Engwithan's and didn't pass on the knowledge / culture / etc. to their children, which has the same effect.

My issue with this explanation is that Engwithans are not biologically immortal, they are soul/memory immortal. So it doesn't matter if they bred with other people which wiped out their genetics, their soul can exist independent to that.

[anameforobsidian]

What gave you the impression that their souls are immortal?  Other souls splinter and break.  Only Thaos has the power to break the rules.

[Xylus]

What gave you the impression that their souls are immortal?  Other souls splinter and break.  Only Thaos has the power to break the rules.

Well, I'm under the assumption that Thaos can maintain his soul not because he has powers, but because he has Engwithan tech, which I don't think he is the only one with access to. Maybe this piece of tech is not as widespread as I think it is, we don't know the nature behind it

[SpitefulOne]

That's where you misunderstood. Woedica was pulling Thaos out of the wheel before his soul lost its memory and reincarnating him every time he died. There is an explanation from Webb, I think, that points out that Woedica was bending the rules by doing this since no other gods followed 1 soul that closely. It was technology, kind of, but only technology that was looking out for him.

[Xylus]

That's where you misunderstood. Woedica was pulling Thaos out of the wheel before his soul lost its memory and reincarnating him every time he died. There is an explanation from Webb, I think, that points out that Woedica was bending the rules by doing this since no other gods followed 1 soul that closely. It was technology, kind of, but only technology that was looking out for him.

Thanks, that clears things up. Is this before or after Woedica lost her power? Or is this overstep of boundary the reason other gods turned against her, just like Eotha?

[dirigible]

As far as I understand it, the Engwithans either sacrificed themselves to create the gods, voluntarily wiped themselves out, and/or were killed by the god-faction of Engwithans.

 

Od Nua probably predated Thaos, given that he was unsuccessful at accomplishing what Thaos' generation should have easily been able to do.

 

Before the Engwithans completely disappeared, the Glanfathans arrived and started worshipping the Engwithans and their gods.

[Kingdinosaur]

 

What gave you the impression that their souls are immortal?  Other souls splinter and break.  Only Thaos has the power to break the rules.

Well, I'm under the assumption that Thaos can maintain his soul not because he has powers, but because he has Engwithan tech, which I don't think he is the only one with access to. Maybe this piece of tech is not as widespread as I think it is, we don't know the nature behind it

 

 

I'm wondering if his power to come back was similar to the one they almost found while working on Od Nua.  I remember one of the ghosts saying they almost figured out how to bring a specific soul back from the wheel when the rebellion started.  So either that tech was used to create him or he took a hand in overthrowing Od Nua to keep his little ability a secret.

[kesat]

Maybe the engwithan empire just crumbled & collapsed like any empire due to overextension? Quite simple and unepic, but also presumable after the loss of tens of thousands (or even more) of people to create the gods and afterwards their efforts to spread their faith across Eora to other Kith.

[Diogenes]

There's a conversation path in the game where you can find out that they basically chose to die out. So a bunch of them sacrificed themselves to create the gods and the rest basically committed racial suicide to keep it under wraps.