History: The Cataclysm

## A World Torn Asunder

Almost two and a half millennia before Mordred's Invasion of Albion a global disaster befell The World. The threat posed by the appearance of the Dark Gods and their minions had reached its pinnacle with the rise of the Black Spell King - bringing The World itself a mere step from total ruin.

Evil had succeeded in tearing open a way for a Dark God to personally set foot on Zyreema. In that same instant the land broke apart, the sky turned black and, for all those alive at the time, it seemed like all was lost.

But a miracle occurred. Amidst the Good Gods whose religions were spread all over Zyreema was one who could not stand to see the world they had made destroyed. This God came down onto Zyreema to do battle with the Dark God, despite the immense danger of such an action, and fought back the Evil at the cost of his own life.

The world had been saved but the land was forever scared. Countless lives were lost and, to this day, one can see numerous places in The World where Magic runs wild and reality itself is distorted. To prevent such a tragedy from ever occurring again the Good deities chose to give up their individuality and become a single monolithic entity of Good.

This being became known as: **The Light**.

## Rise of the Black Spell King

When the Dark Gods discovered our World they could not immediately invade. They required a being to call them, to open the gate from which they could enter and manifest in The World. They tried to set up such a ritual many times over. It started small, with the first appearances of weaker Demons, eventually escalating to the creation of the Dark Races and the coming of Undead and stronger Demonic Beasts and True Demons.

But time after time the Good Deities and their champions repelled their attempts, denying each Dark God in their pursuit to be the first to claim The World as their own.

While they came close on one prior occasion, their first and only true success came in the form of the man who would become infamous as the Black Spell King.

This person, whose name was struck from all records and whose tittle is synonymous with one of the greatest traitors and villains in history, was originally a noble and just individual. He was one of the may children sired by the demigod king of the High Elves and strived to live up to his fathers example.

But that very aspiration eventually became the seed of ruin.

A Dark God discovered him and took advantage of his desire. He slowly twisting it with sweet whispers and convenient lies, small doubts became small betrayals that needed grater lies to cover up. Before he knew what was going on he was trapped in a vicious cycle and the person who he once was had been lost. His pure aspirations warped to mad jealousy he began to plot and move in the shadows in the name of his dark master until he succeeded in a portal to the Dark Realm the likes of which was never seen before.

The boon bestowed upon him by his master was a new body that matched the evil that lied within him. His old self was gone and The Black Spell King, the first Mortal to ever successfully undergo Demonification, the first Demon Lord to ever set foot on Zyreema - was born.

## The Battle Between Gods

No single force in the known world was able to stop the advance of the wicked army led by the Black Spell King as time and time again his forces, trough trickery or brutality made their bloody path north. Finally, Black's forces met with the combined might of all those left that could oppose him.

The calamitous battle that ensued was going to be the last. Either the forces of Good, now united, defeated Black and his Evil army or Black would claim the last thing he needed to bring upon his master's arrival onto the world.

The battle ended in the forces of Good wining, but at a great cost. Some of the greatest individuals of that era (including the very Blue Spell King and the last of the Titans) laying down their lives so that they may vanquish Black.

But by that point they were already too late.

The brutal battle ended but the dark energies that remained had so saturated the area that it was now possible for \*The Dark God\* to manifest itself onto Zyreema. The battle had been won but the war had been lost.

The sky turned black, the seas began turn the color of blood and the earth began to churn. The mere act of a God manifesting in earnest was enough to unravel The World as it began to reshape itself in the image of its new master.

That should have been the end - but one last sacrifice was made.

If a God comes down into a different realm that realm will break down under their power so the Good deities never manifested in their true forms, using aspects or proxies to enact their will instead. But, as the world was quite literally ending, one God made a resolution. That God would not abandon what they created and move on to another place, but would engage the threat head on. **The Wandering God of Humans** came down and touched upon Zyreema.

The world was torn apart bellow their feet. Magic surged wildly in every corner of The World and entire continents shattered as the very laws of the world began to twist and warp.

The Good Deity defeated its opponent eventually at the cost of a fatal wound. But even the body of a dead Dark God holds too much power and would continue to destroy The World around it. Thus, as its final sacrifice, the Good God transformed its own body into an indestructible cocoon around his nemesis' remains to shield the world from its corruptive influence.

## The Creation of The Light

It would only be a matter of time before such an event happened again, as now more then ever the eyes of the countless Dark Gods turned towards The World. The other Good deities, refusing to allow such a calamity to happen ever again and united by the noble actions of the God of Humans, decided to sacrifice what it meant to be them and become something greater.

The Good deities gave up their their individuality, combining their Authorities and becoming a single entity. They became The Light of Good that would shine over the world.

The first thing The Light did was create **The Great Barrier** which shields The World from the Dark Gods, acting as a wall that keeps them from manifesting once more. Secondly they had their former churches unite into a single monolithic religion that spread a unified set of beliefs and values as well created the Common Language, a blessed language that would eventually become widespread throughout all of Zyreema and beyond.

## Scars and Corpses

It is a known fact that a great number of modern Magic Hotsports are a direct result, or were influenced greatly by, the Cataclysm. But contrary to popular belief it is not just the the high concentration of magic energies that results in the laws of nature being twisted. Instead both phenomena are consequences of the same cause: The very fabric of reality was damaged.

In the centuries following the Cataclysm The Light spent all the effort they could spare on healing The World and repairing reality. Alas, since they had to keep up the Great Barrier and fight off the Dark Gods this was barely enough to prevent the damage from spreading. In some cases compromises had to be made.

The hazardous conditions of the Hotspots killed most of the life around them. What didn't die The Light made to adapt and evolve into Magical Beasts or Spirits. Simply by existing and consuming the surplus of wild mana, they stabilize the Hotspots.

In some of the most extreme cases methods were employed that can only be classified as stop-gap: Divine artifacts were created to redirect and focus the torrent of chaotic energies. These energies were then used to maintain an enchantment that would further restrain the hotspot. Figurative plugs for the holes in reality.

But these hazards pale in comparison to another threat. The corpse of the Dark God who caused the Cataclysm still remains in the world. Imprisoned in an indestructible cocoon of adamantine that lies beneath the western mountain range and the Kingdom of Nimbadnur. To this day the cocoon keeps growing, which leads to speculation if the prisoner might still be active. But it is also known that the Dwarves know the secret to harvest this rarest of metals. If they were to grow too greedy and dig too deep, they might accidentally free the Dead God once more.