Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out has a prolog bridging Clan Creation and the main game.

Mechanically, your choices in the prolog determine your clan's political landscape (whether the Royalist or Realist faction dominates, and whether Iverlantho is chieftain as well as king), as well as what, if any, temples to dead gods you maintain.

The prolog is composed of four scripted events, which always happen in the same order.

Much of the information normally accessible during events is hidden; only the year and season are shown.

You cannot go back and change your choices during the prolog.

Prolog Events[]

Brolarulf's Great Raid[]

“

King Vinglanth, the great-grandson of Beren and Redalda, lost the tribal regalia and his life fighting <Chaos Foe> at the <Chaos Battle>.

His heir Brolarulf the Sun became king of your tribe. As the most powerful king in the valley, it was natural that he would call for unity against the Chaos horde. When your neighbors refused, he launched a raid to make an example of one of them.

The king attacked:

Upholders of dead Yelm’s ways, the chariot-driving Wheels.
The hot-headed, restive Riders, who used to be your kin.
The fickle Forosilvuli, fellow Orlanthi who never really accepted your sun worship.
The warlike Vestantes, one of the Summer Tribes of Orlanthi.

”

Consequences[]

You will be better at fighting whichever foe you choose here, but will suffer the displeasure of your people and the ancestors if you get too friendly with them—or worse, adopt some of their number.

Advice[]

"Riders and Wheels <honor/worship> bright Elmal. It is our fellow Orlanthi we must bring back into line."
"Beren and Redalda would never attack their own kin."
"<Hyalor/Vingkot> said, "Choose your <foes/enemies> <with care/carefully>."
"<Finally the entire tribe can attack> the Chariot People!"
"Attack the Forosilvuli!"
"Whoever we raid today will raid us in the future. Berenstead’s wards against storm worshipers will protect us from retaliation from the Forosilvuli or Vestantes."
"Whoever we raid today will raid us in the future. Berenstead’s wards against sun worshipers will protect us from counter-raids from Wheels or Riders."
"We have an advantage over the Forosilvuli or Vestantes, in that we ride and they don't. But Orlanth could favor either one of us."
"It is not your friends that make you great, but your enemies."
"Once we were Riders, but <traditionalists, particularly the Ram Killers, have never/many of them still haven't> forgiven us for joining with the Storm people."
"It is not your friends who make you great, but your enemies."
"Whatever the king says."
"We need people to like us, not fear us."

The Deaths of Ernalda and Orlanth[]

“

About a year after Brolarulf raided the <Foe> Ernalda’s magic failed. People said the goddess was dead, taken by Nontraya the Undead Emperor. Your fields barely produce more grain than you sow.

Now helpful winds and rains have ceased, and priests throughout the valley can’t contact Orlanth.

Whether your gods are dead, captive, or away fighting Chaos, their temples no longer give normal benefits. Holy people say these sacred spots have residual magic, which you can keep alive by continuing to maintain them. Other people eye the sacrifices and think they could be spent on better things. We had already stopped worshiping Buseryan, since no one had seen stars for years.

Continue worshiping Orlanth.
Continue worshipping Ernalda.
Keep up the sacrifices to both gods.
Continue sacrificing to both gods, but on a smaller scale.
Let both temples fall into disrepair.

”

Notes & Consequences[]

If Ernalda was your first deity, you start this scene with a great temple to her, a temple to Orlanth, and an unmentioned shrine to Elmal. If your first deity was Yelm, you'll have temples to all three. Sacrificing to dead gods on a lesser scale will reduce a great temple to a temple, a temple to a shrine.

The reference to Buseryan appears only if you worshipped him in the first game.

Advice[]

"Orlanth's kingship magic helps us rule our tribe."
"Nothing like this has happened before. It's hard to be certain what happened to the gods when we cannot reach them."
"Each temple requires 10 goods and 5 herds every year."
"When Beren married Redalda, Orlanth and Ernalda joined Elmal as our main deities."
"We must remain true to the Earth Queen. Maintaining her temple will allow us to draw on her magic when we need it."
"Before, we needed the gods. Now, they need us."
"There are living gods we can sacrifice those sheep and valuables to, to help feed us."
"Other Orlanthi clans, even outside our tribe, are reporting the same problem."
"You’re all mistaken. They aren’t dead."
"Surely they are not dead."
"Do we know for sure that the gods are dead??
"I didn’t think it was possible for things to get worse."

The Death of the Tribe[]

“

With the <Earth Queen and her protector/king and queen of the gods> dead, tribal unity unraveled. Our tribe-mates, the other Berenethtelli clans, have flouted the king’s authority for years, refusing to send <worshipers to our temples to Orlanth and Ernalda/warriors when asked> or pay even token tribute. It is time to respond.

We vowed above all to restore the authority of the king.
We considered it important to make the tribe what it once was.
“The days of tribes have ended for good.”
We vowed above all to survive, putting talk of kings and tribes behind us.

”

Notes & Consequences[]

These choices determine the political landscape of your clan—whether the Royalist or Realist faction holds sway, and if so by how much.

(Brolarulf, is, obviously, in favor of restoring his authority; most of the ring tends to follow his lead, but Kera argues for survival.)

The clan members speaking to Brolarulf include his son Iverlantho (second from left) and a female Lhankor Mhy sage (far right). The cat on the right is an alynx.

Advice[]

"<Without a strong king,/We must have a strong king or else> the clans cannot unite against the many threats we all face."
"Brolarulf's father was slain and we lost his regalia, but we are still a tribe, and should act like it."
"Tribes encourage trade. But we can still trade without a tribe. The other clans are still our neighbors."
"This is a sign of how awful things have gotten. The Berenethtelli tribe was once the brightest in the valley!"
"Ernalda helped Orlanth to make the first tribe. We are stronger together, and the tribe is stronger still with a king."
"Beren and Redalda started this tribe, and made us the royal clan. Anyone who opposes our tribe opposes our founders!"
"The important thing is to survive."
"Without a strong king, we are all weak."
"As life gets worse, survival is more important than lost glory."

The Deaths of Issaries and Lhankor Mhy[]

“

Survival continued to become harder, <even though we weren’t trying to restore the tribe/and the tribe continued to fall away>. Although you keep sacrificing to Orlanth and Ernalda season after season, they are still dead, and more gods no longer respond to sacrifices. Without Venurtera, the pottery goddess, you can no longer make porcelain. Other clans distrust our traders, since Issaries is dead. Lhankor Mhy no longer answers questions, and much knowledge has been lost as elders die before passing it on.

Keep sacrificing to all the gods.
Maintain at least one temple.
Scale back the sacrifices to Issaries and Lhankor Mhy.
Stop sacrificing to dead gods.

”

Notes & Consequences[]

If you choose to maintain at least one temple, you'll be asked which one you want to keep, and then if you want to keep another. You can maintain as many as three if you make this choice.

Sacrificing to all the gods does tend to be rather expensive.

You can't abandon one temple and reduce another; if you want to do so, you'll have to make one of those choices during the game.

Venurtera is mentioned only if you worshipped her in the first game.

Advice[]

"At least Elmal the Loyal Sun <still shines/is still in the sky>."
"Every temple requires a yearly sacrifice of 10 goods and 5 herds. Shrines take 4 goods and 2 herds."
"Our clan worshiped Ernalda from the very beginning. It would be foolhardy to stop."
"We made the right decision before. We should continue to give Ernalda proper worship."
"This is no time to panic."
"The only way to know for sure what happened to our gods is to ask the Lord of Knowledge. We must retain his temple."
"First Ernalda, then Orlanth, now Issaries and Lhankor Mhy!"
"Some say they are but sleeping. Either way, we have to make sure we can support the gods who still do answer."
"They are sleeping."
"Maybe they are sleeping?"
"I didn’t think things could get worse."

The Prolog Ring[]

The prolog ring are set characters—they always have the same names, ages, religions, portraits, and skill focuses, but their exact skills and their personalities can vary somewhat.

While their skills aren't tested, they do give advice based on said skills, as well as their personalities, religions, and your Clan Creation choices.

It is perhaps notable that no member of this ring is good at the Diplomacy skill.

The game proper begins four years after the deaths of Brolarulf and his advisors. How long elapsed between the end of the prolog and the terrible year of the Blood Blizzard and Blue Plague is not specified.

When the game proper begins, none of your living clan members will share a portrait set with any member of the prolog ring. However, Erenlanth shares Brolarulf's unique portrait set, and leaders can also be generated later who share faces with Brolarulf's advisors.