Withdrawal

The **Withdrawal** was a major event in Enselonde's history that saw most of the Divines (excluding Draconic Gods) withdraw themselves from involvement in mortal affairs following the Divine War. The inspiration for the Withdrawal primarily came from Cossyxia's Peace, a period of uneasy stability and ceasefire enforced by the Starslaughter.

A majority of Divines entered Withdrawal for multiple reasons ranging from regaining their spent power to shame at their own actions. The Withdrawal marks the dividing point for the commonly used Withdrawal Calendar as well as the start of the Age of Abandonment.

## History

Clashes between the Divines weren't entirely uncommon, yet none rivalled the scale of destruction caused by the Third Human Rebellion. The decision of the Goddess of Death, Ihyll, to favour the rebellious Kingdom of Humanity over the Northern Freeholds created a split amongst the Gods, with others taking sides soon after. This split would eventually escalate the Third Human Rebellion into the most destructive conflict in Enselonde's history: the Divine War.

The Divine War was marked by the widespread abuse of the Gods' powers, leading to untold damage to both the landscape and the mortal population of Enselonde. The ever-increasing escalation could likely have destroyed the world, were it not for the sudden intervention by the Goddess of Stars, Cossyxia. In what became known as the Starslaughter, the heavens came alive as Cossyxia's Undergods and Divine Offspring descended upon Enselonde to enforce peace at the tip of a sword. Many who opposed Cossyxia were killed in the Starslaughter, resulting in an uneasy period of stability known as Cossyxia's Peace, born out of killing the conflict's worst offenders in the name of peace.

As the Divine War slowly came to an end and Cossyxia's Peace lasted, the Goddess of Stars began floating around the idea for the Withdrawal to the other Gods. The reception of abandoning Enselonde to its mortal inhabitants – even temporarily – was mixed amongst the Gods. Through negotiations, coercion, or outright threats, an eventual majority could be convinced to enter Withdrawal, though motivations differed from one Divine to the next. Some were licking their wounds from the Divine War, others felt ashamed by their role in the war, and others simply stopped caring about Enselonde's mortals. The date upon which Cossyxia would withdraw back into Clia marks the start of the Withdrawal as the year 1 AW. In the following decade, others would follow suit. A minority of Gods remained among the mortal races fully, yet these were often the less powerful ones.

Once a Divine entered Withdrawal, what followed depended on them. Some delegated all their contact with the outside world through a Champion, others forewent contact with the outside world entirely, whereas for some Withdrawal was merely a formality with these Gods still having frequent contact with mortals. Despite this, Withdrawal was more or less adhered to. While occasionally a Divine would break it briefly to intervene directly in a crucial matter, most stuck to it over the centuries.

However, in recent years, Withdrawal has been broken more frequently. Starting with the reappearance of the God of Chaos, Onir, the God of Order, Anir, broke his Withdrawal permanently. More recently, Syarus' breaking of his Withdrawal was instrumental in causing the Great War, and his killing of multiple other Divines has caused a widespread abandonment of the ideal of the Withdrawal. Only a handful of Gods remain in Withdrawal to this day, with most having taken sides and supporting one alliance or another in the ongoing Epilogue Wars. Some fear that this could herald the return of a period of Divine proxy wars as was common in the Age of Fire.

## Withdrawals by Divine

Note that this list is missing some Divines. In the cases of Dhydos, Lateos, and Zaoru, these Gods were killed during the Divine War and were replaced by Usurper Gods. Of these, Anbu the Godslayer – alongside the God of Time, Zinnos – disappeared in the closing stages of the Divine War. For the rest, the details of their Withdrawal can be found below.