Elder Wars

From The Book of Dracnoris

"...should I give warning? Would it make any difference, I wonder? Or should the Elder Gods be allowed this final time of happiness, playing at being Dynara upon the First World, beautiful Lusternia. Would it be cruel to tell them of what is coming?"

The Elder Wars began shortly, in relative terms, after the Great Silence that followed the disappearance of Dynara and Magnora. Though it was sensed first by Dracnoris, a Primal God who was spared the indignity of becoming one of the Soulless, He opted to remain silent about the disturbances in the Void. He knew, better than the others, that the Heralds of Magnora could not be stopped no matter how prepared the Elder Gods wanted to believe They were.

A Disturbance in the Void

Xyl, a Thinker in the Fifth Circle was the first to bring together His siblings and colleagues to discuss the movement of the Soulless across the Void. Xyl brought the concerns of the Fifth Circle to a meeting of the Firsts and it was decided, though not without some controversy, that a majority of the First Circle would venture out into the Void to meet the Heralds in peace. In an attempt to learn more about the Heralds, the Firsts tasked Xyl, Tae, and Bollikin with finding Dracnoris and seeking His advice, as He had a close bond with one of the Soulless, Draxbaylock the Black.

From The Book of Mugowumpois

"As we gathered to transverse to the Divine Havens where the First Circle gathered, I glanced at the divine chess board that was left forgotten. Without Raezon or Roark controlling the game, the pieces had attacked each other in a frenzied melee. Nothing was left of them except a smear of blood and gore."

Awakening the Dragon God took a great amount of time, patience, and effort, though. In the meantime, the Firsts sent out their diplomatic envoys. Back in the cave where Dracnoris slumbered, Tae and Bollikin passed the time by creating the rockeaters, which inadvertently became the very thing that would bring Dracnoris out of hibernation. As Xyl explained Their purpose for waking Him, Dracnoris suddenly took flight, furious that the Firsts were attempting to meet the Heralds in peace. He understood better than anyone that the nature of the Soulless was simple - to destroy and consume all that They encountered.

From The Book of Tauro

“Reality exists to experience itself. The smaller the awareness, the greater the experience. That is what the Fates await for. To see if reality survives long enough to narrow its own awareness, to see if the strands of consciousness become fine enough so they could weave them together.”

The Verses of Magnora

During the same time period in which Xyl and Tae attempted to awaken Dracnoris, another contingent of Elders were sent to consult with another Primal God, Keph of a Thousand Eyes. Shikari and Viravain, sibling-mates, volunteered to track Keph down and brought Mugowumpois and Tauro with Them. They traveled deep within the Undervault and found Keph in a meeting with the Fates, and She did not wish to be disturbed. Tauro stood His ground, though, which earned Him the favour of Keph and She decided to humour Him with what She knew of the Heralds. In addition to information about the Heralds, Keph relayed many predictions of the future to Mugowumpois, which She recorded in what would be known as the Verses of Magnora.

The Diplomatic Mission Begins

On the day of the diplomatic mission to the Void, approximately 365 members of the First Circle gathered and ventured out in a formation developed by the Second Circle, the Finger of Fate. It consisted of six rings of Elders, the outer ring containing 100 Gods, the next ring containing 75 Gods, and so on and so forth until Amberle floated alone. Because of Their bond, Meridian and Amberle could share with those left in Xyl's observatory a view of the proceedings in the Void.

From The Book of Aslarn

"'Greetings,' said Amberle, projecting peaceful intention through her thoughts. 'We come in love and friendship.' ... one of the Heralds unleashed a blast of mental images: amusement, curiosity, hatred, and most of all hunger."

The Heralds first seemed to view the Gods with curiosity, and then amusement. That quickly turned violent, though, and the Heralds struck out at the Finger of Fate in an attempt to attack Amberle. The formation held, protecting Amberle, but the Heralds' intent was clear to most: peace was not wanted. Members of the Second Circle pled with Amberle to consider the Daath sequence, also known as the Breaker of the Cosmos, but She wished to give peace one more try. At that very moment, Dracnoris arrived outside the observatory and with haste, shattered the walls so that He could speak directly to those gathered there. He commanded the Gods to abort the mission, revealing to Them that the Soulless only had one imperative: to destroy.

From The Book of Aslarn

“'Do not fear for me, blessed Meridian,' she answered. 'You are the soul of my soul, but you know we must at least try. It is the moral thing to do. And if we have no morality, what else do we have? Is it not our righteousness that defines us?'”

It was too late. The Soulless, having watched the Finger of Fate in action, now understood how to counter it. They viciously and mercilessly slaughtered Amberle and the rest of the Firsts protecting Her. A psychic backlash caused by the Soulless and the death of Amberle struck Meridian and incapacitated Him, and left the surviving Elders blind to the rest of the Soulless' devastating attack on the Firsts.

The Elder Gods Prepare for War

Almost every single Elder, regardless of Circle affiliation, volunteered to act as a Warrior in what would be regarded as the first official battle of the Elder Wars. 23 formations, each led by a Warrior of the Second Circle, went into battle, flanked by the Dragon God Dracnoris, who acted as His own military force.

The Gods' initial plan was to surround the Soulless and initiate the Daath sequence, but the Soulless, who seemed even stronger than before, did not stay in one place and instead split up and attacked the Gods in a variety of ways. At the onset of the encounter, Dracnoris confronted His Sister, Draxbaylock the Black, and ultimately defeated Her. He was wounded, though, and returned to the First World to recover. As the battle raged, the Gods were able to position Themselves in a way that allowed the Daath sequence to begin, but Kethuru the Mighty trapped Clangorum, Morgfyre, and Oovanti in the center of the battlefield, right where the Daath sequence was set to climax.

From The Book of Orlachmar

"The implosion was so great that all of creation shuddered, followed by a silence so profound that we could not help but weep. There were at least five other formations caught within the Daath, including Oovanti’s, and looking around I saw our numbers were cut in half. That made almost 3,000 Elders lost this day. But we had won, unequivocally. The Soulless Ones were gone, completely decimated. All that remained was a swirling vortex of emptiness and desolation."

Orlachmar bravely threw Himself at Kethuru and managed to save Morgfyre and Clangorum, but Oovanti and His formation were lost in the Daath. Though the Gods had won this battle and destroyed the Soulless, they also lost over 3000 of Their number. The survivors returned to Lusternia to recover, but peace would not last.

A Soulless Revelation, and the Return of Illith

Xyl and the Fifth Circle soon brought together the surviving Elders to discuss a grave matter: out in the Void, at the site where so many Gods had died and the Soulless were exterminated, another disturbance was sensed. The Soulless, in fact, were not dead, and were instead larger and stronger. The Fifth Circle theorized that, because Dynara and Magnora disappeared before the Great Silence, the forces of creation and destruction were not present in the realm either. This meant that nothing was truly created nor destroyed, including the Gods.

Somehow, the Soulless had been reborn and were feasting on the divine essence of those Gods lost in the first battle of the Elder Wars. Not only that, but the Soulless were once again on the move, headed for the First World. Meridian, having been hardened by the loss of His sister-mate Amberle, quickly commanded the Gods to form defenses around Lusternia.

The Leviathan, Illith, was already one of the strongest Soulless before the first battle, but She was now even more powerful. She succeeded in breaking through the barriers that kept out the other Soulless, but She immediately dove deep below the oceans and burrowed through the core of the world. The Gods quickly realized that She was headed for a confrontation with Keph the Many-Eyed, and a truly devastating battle raged on for more than 100 days. In the end, Illith was severed in two and fled to the Void, but Keph died within the Undervault.

On the surface, Orlachmar tried in vain to finish off Illith, but She lashed out at Him and bit Him into two pieces, just as She had been cleaved in twain. It was clear that Orlachmar would not survive this attack, but Fain and a Fifth Circle Coterie soon appeared with a possible solution.

Fain's Elixir and the Agony of Undeath

What was left of Orlachmar's body was taken to the Gladdyn Forest, where the Gods opened a portal to the Ethereal Plane so that They could venture to the Fields of the Maeve, where the Hamadhi had constructed healing mounds long ago. Lantra the White attempted to heal the dying Elder, but He had already lost so much of His essence that it was considered fruitless.

The members of Fain's Fifth Circle Coterie gathered - Raezon, Gheasia, Mugowumpois, Mililiki, Yomoigu, and Oshterel - and brought with them a viscous elixir of emerald fire. Despite Mugowumpois and Mililiki's objections, they poured it down Orlachmar's throat and a terrible transformation followed. The Gods' skin turned grey, His body was regrown with larger muscles and thicker skin, His hair fell out, and His nails and lips turned black. His teeth were sharper and shaped like tusks, and His eyes glowed emerald green. He was, undoubtedly, the first being to become undead.

From The Book of Loboshi

“'What are you doing?' asked Lantra the White. 'Orlachmar is dead,' said Fain, gazing intently at each of the Fifth Circle in turn. 'There is no time for more experiments or considerations. My friends, it is time to act, while our dear colleague rests on the table before us. We have a chance to bring him back, to turn the tide in this war. Let us try, at least, to see if your work holds any promise.'"

The Coterie had developed a way to draw power from the same source that the Soulless harnessed - the excoroperditio force rather than the immanidivinus force. Orlachmar was distant and brooding and over time became violent and unhinged. In His moments of lucidity He begged the Gods to end His suffering.

After the devastating battle in the Void, only 10 of the Firsts remained - Fain, Meridian, Olm, Eventru, Aslarn, Shairim, Czixi, Dalthea, Zvoltz and Auginorus. They debated amongst Themselves over whether or not Fain's Elixir should be used again to combat the Soulless, and then decided that a larger gathering of the Gods was necessary to decide the elixir's validity.

At this meeting, Fain revealed that the essence of the Soulless God Erlechtoch had been distilled to create the elixir. The Soulless, who consumed the essence of the Gods to grow stronger, could also be consumed by the Elders for the same purpose. Debate raged, though; Meridian felt as if this action made the Gods just like the Soulless, no better than Them in Their endless hunger for destruction, and Orlachmar Himself argued that He had been irreparably transformed.

In the end, the Gods voted in favor of Fain's plan to use the elixir to grow strong enough to defeat the Soulless once and for all.

Zenos Invades the First World

It wouldn't be long before another Soulless broke through the defenses of the Gods. It was Zenos, the Silent Death this time, and He descended upon the Sakarich Forest and brought forth a fiery inferno. He attacked Volkh, who was Loboshi's mate, and although Orlachmar was able to fight Zenos off, Volkh was still fatally wounded. While Loboshi went off in search of Fain's elixir so that Volkh could be saved, Volkh pleaded with Orlachmar to end His life. Orlachmar at first resisted, but then caved to the pressure and absorbed the God's essence.

To protect the forests from future attacks by the Soulless, the Sixth and Seventh Circles gathered in the Fields of the Maeve to attempt to create a "hive soul" for the first time in history. The fae were given a collective consciousness that would come to be known as the Maeve, and in the following weeks the Gods would create other Great Spirits to protect the forests, such as Spirit Sun. These Spirits took on a form similar in appearance to their Awakener, so Spirit Moon resembled Lisaera and Spirit Night resembled Nocht, and Spirit Sun appeared much like Rahm the Radiant.

Zenos continued to attack the Gods, using His insubstantial form as a way to cloak His movements across Lusternia. He killed Shordella, a Fourth Circle Goddess who was one of the Keepers of the Song of Creation. Fear of being consumed by Zenos forced the Keepers to hide Their voices, but in the end, most of Them were hunted down by Zenos and destroyed.

The Jojobo Jungle was the next to be targeted by Zenos, and although the Maeve were able to successfully defend the jungle from being destroyed, it could not protect Spirit Sun from being gravely wounded. When Rahm demanded that Fain's Elixir be used to bring the Spirit back from the brink of death, the Gods were unsure of how it might be affected. The Spirits were not like the Gods, not entirely, and so their transformation could be very different from the one that Orlachmar had undergone.

And, indeed, the transformation was difficult. Spirit Sun raged, filled with a ravenous hunger to consume the other Spirits. Eventually, the Gods had to use Their power to put the Sun to sleep for a thousand years, chaining it to the physical manifestation of the Sun. But the real damage had been done; the Gods now saw that Fain's Elixir corrupted the spirit of whomever drank it, and so Fain and His Coterie soon found Themselves defending the use of the elixir once again. There was another fierce debate, but this time, the Elders voted against the use of Fain's Elixir. Furious, He stormed away, what remained of His Coterie following Him.

The Blindness of Krokano Reveals Fain's Treachery

Another Soulless soon infiltrated the First World - Crazen, the Greedy - and the Golden Circle found Themselves at the forefront of battle with Him. The Golden Circle were the members of the Second Circle who found the most favour with the First Circle, when there had been so many more of Them. Hajamin, Morgfyre, Krokano, Terentia, and Orlachmar were the Golden Ones, and they chased Crazen throughout the underground caverns of Dahkra'kai, Their relentless attacks drawing Him closer and closer to the surface. Crazen had a special ability, though; He was a hideous mass of gelatinous ooze that could reform itself into the shape of those beings He had devoured.

It was because of this trick that Krokano found himself on the verge of death. Crazen appeared in the form of Thalrinda, a member of the Fourth Circle, and distracted the Elder God. In close combat with the Soulless God, Krokano was blinded. He was brought before Malmydia, a Hamadhi known for Her experiments in the area of healing. Krokano withstood a battery of harsh, demanding experiments which ultimately restored His sight, but left Him to bear witness to Malmydia and Fain's close collaborations. In time, it was revealed that She was using His elixir in Her experiments, despite the vote that had ruled against its use forevermore.

Thax was one of Her patients during Krokano's recovery, and He watched as the God's form was whittled away until almost nothing remained. Clangorum had been summoned to craft Him a suit of armour - made with zingavium steel - that could be used as a vessel for what remained of His essence.

As Krokano lay on the operating table, He witnessed another gathering led by Fain, this time with Morgfyre, Raezon, and Gheasia. An unintended side-effect of the treatment of Krokano's blindness had been that He could now see through magical illusions, and so He saw through the dampening field that Fain raised to keep Their congregation a secret. Fain's followers had been secretly injecting themselves with His elixir, or in the case of Morgfyre, drinking the essence of the Soulless directly. Furthermore, Krokano learned that the elixir was causing the Elixir users to hunger for the essence of the Gods, and Malmydia had actually consumed parts of Him while He was under Her care.

When Krokano's bandages were later removed, there was one last surprise: instead of having two eyes, He was left with just one in the center of His head.

Victory, at Any Cost

Attacks upon the First World continued, focused heavily upon a third of the world known as the Basin of Life. It was there, in the shadow of Mount Dynara and protected on all sides by steep mountain ranges, that the Elders focused most of Their defenses. The decision to create the Maeve Consciousness proved to be one of the Gods' most important decisions, but even the Maeve had its limitations. The Creators and Awakeners who were responsible for bringing into life the Spirits that protected the forests were forced to stand by and simply hope that Their creations could protect themselves.

During this time, Manteekan began awakening lesser spirits for the sole purpose of battling the Soulless. These spirits - dark and twisted beings like the redcaps, the barghests, and the banshees - seemed to be opposed by the Maeve Consciousness, but soon she gave in to the fact that they were effective. The Awakeners, however, feared that Manteekan's creations would one day need to be put down, lacking the grace and elegance of Their own spirit creatures. The other Gods also began to suspect that something had changed about Manteekan, as He was growing pale and emaciated, and the power that must have been necessary to awaken His spirits was far greater than what the Elders were used to.

Another Elder, Blooredi, was transforming gradually over time. He became pale and gangly, and His temperament changed to be more aggressive and prickly. And like Manteekan, Blooredi soon achieved the awakening of his own Great Spirit - Spirit Scorpion. The scorpions were intended to battle the Soulless, but Blooredi struggled to make them obey Him. However belligerent they were, though, Spirit Scorpion was able to create a toxin that could actually harm the Soulless, and soon the Warriors of the Second Circle were coating Their weapons in it.

As the tide turned in the Elder Gods' favor and more battles against the Soulless were being won, the Crimson Eyes - a cadre of Second Circle warriors led by Kalikai - and a small contingent of Elders met on the Cosmic Plane of Continuum to discuss a grave concern. Krokano had brought Meridian the proof He needed to launch an investigation into the secret affairs of Fain and his followers, who They suspected were using His Elixir despite the decision that had been made earlier in the War to prohibit its use.

Lisaera, because of Her bond with Fain, was chosen to infiltrate a meeting of Fain's supporters. Her sibling-mate, Elfenehoala, would remain in the Continuum and, just as They had once done with Amberle and Meridian, They would watch the proceedings through a viewing crystal linked to the Sisters. It was also revealed that the Gods suspected Fain's conspirators of feeding upon some of Their siblings, driven by the same hunger for Divine essence that was a characteristic of the Soulless.

The Twelve Traitors

The plan to spy on the Fain and his collaborators hit an obstacle early on; to protect the identities of His allies, Fain enchanted masks that They each wore when meeting. Lisaera's mask was made of porcelain and was decorated with emeralds, while Fain's was blood red and embellished with gold. The masks also allowed Fain to transport Lisaera to the meeting place without revealing its location.

There were twelve Gods gathered there, not counting Lisaera, which was a relief to the Elder Gods back in the Continuum, as They had worried that Fain may have gathered an even larger force to back Himself up with. They were taken aback, however, when a lesser Soulless appeared before the Twelve, who Fain had been secretly protecting and keeping hidden from sight. In exchange for essence from the Soulless, Fain's group also offered Nemach some of Their own, and as guest of honour at this particular meeting, Lisaera was selected to sacrifice some of Her essence to fulfill the pact.

The group then mixed a new batch of the elixir, presenting Lisaera with a drink to commemorate Her membership in the group. Instead of drinking it, She crafted a careful illusion that made it only appear that She had drank some of the elixir. Back in the Continuum, the Gods, at the urging of Kalikai and Her Crimson Eyes, decided to track down the plane where Fain's group was meeting.

With the help of the Fifth Circle, Kalikai's Crimson Eyes began searching all known unborn creches, spots on the Cosmic Plane where there were no half-formed beings and no Elder God had chosen to inhabit it. One of these unborn creches, the Vortex, was where the team of Igaso, Ologri, Panamandius, and Braun was sent. They walked right into a trap devised by Morgfyre, and soon Fain and all his collaborators were there. Driven wild with hunger, the Elixir-drinkers approached the members of the Crimson Eyes with the intent to kill Them, but the Eyes had prepared an emergency plan and put it into action. Kalikai quickly appeared with an entire formation of Warriors behind Her, causing the Elixir-drinkers to scatter. Their escape was halted by a dimensional scrambler created by Xyl and Roark. Roark even succeeded in trapping Nemach, the Soulless. The Twelve Traitors and Nemach were transported back to Mount Dynara to await trial.

The Triumvirate

Five times throughout history, a Triumvirate of the Gods was necessary. Fain's treachery was the sixth crime worthy of such an elaborate proceeding, and soon the Third Circle had decided on the Gods who would act as judges for His trial: Hoaracle, the Forest Dreamer, Mysrai of the Mysterium (appearing in the form of a short, shapely female), and Jadice, of the Ice Plains. The Triumvirate's investigation lasted several weeks, but eventually They were ready to pass sentence on the Twelve Traitors.

The Triumvirate quickly declared that Fain was guilty of performing a Rite of Abomination: the use of a forbidden elixir capable of perverting One's very nature. He was also guilty of coercion, conspiracy, and treason, and it was even revealed that He had murdered several Elder Gods, whether because They would not support Him, or just to supply the Twelve with the Divine essence they needed to sate Their unnatural hunger. The Triumvirate sentenced him to a lifetime of exile in the Void.

Raezon and Gheasia were also found guilty of conspiracy and partaking in the Rite of Abomination. In the course of the Triumvirate's investigation, it was discovered that the pair had created several artifacts of great power that were used at various times for treasonous purposes, including: the Hyringex Collar, used to trap and restrain Elder Gods; the Morokeche Seat, used to torture the Elders; and the Singoah Weaponry, armaments fueled by the essence of the Soulless. For their crimes, They were sentenced to exile in the Void.

Five Warriors of the Second Circle were members of the Twelve, and they were referred to in the judgment as the Dark Cadre: Morgfyre, Thax, Ivanko, Slaay, and Gruenella. Like the others, They were sentenced to exile in the Void.

Malmydia, a Hamadhi of the Third Circle, was charged with having committed grotesque acts and experiments using the essence of the Soulless, and was viewed with great disdain by the Triumvirate when They revealed that she had mutilated and tortured many of the Elders, including Fininkora the Fair, and had even murdered at least three other Elders. Several diseases, designed specifically to harm the Gods, were discovered in Her laboratory. She was sentenced, as you might expect, to exile in the Void.

Jadice recused Herself from judgment on the next member of the Twelve - Manteekan - because of Her close connection with the Awakener. He was accused of using the Rite of Abomination to create the dark and twisted beings like the grimalkin, bogies, spriggans, and slaugh. They also found Him guilty of corrupting the entire Icewynderkyl Forest in His pursuits. His sentence was exile in the Void, with His fellow Traitors.

Blooredi was next to be sentenced, now irrevocably transformed by the Elixir. The Triumvirate vowed to do all they could to reform and rehabilitate the creatures that Blooredi had created, such as the scorpion and many of the saurian beasts, and He was also revealed to have been working with Malmydia on concocting the poisons and diseases She planned on using on the other Gods. Into the Void this Traitor went.

Finally, the last of the Twelve Traitors was brought before the Triumvirate - Drocilla, an Artist from the Fourth Circle. In the course of Their investigation, the Triumvirate uncovered reports that Drocilla had helped Fain by luring many Elders away from Their homes, many of Them never having returned. Those that did return reported faulty memories and amnesia, and it was highly suspect that Drocilla was present for each of those encounters. She tried to use Her enchantments during the proceedings, but Jadice used the Hyringex Collar to stifle Her powers and entrusted the key to Hoaracle to hide it deep within the Basin.

The Twelve were then taken to a portal deep within Mount Dynara that led to the Void, and it was into the vast, harsh plane of darkness that They went.

Escaping to the Void

The Domothean Spires protecting the Basin were beginning to fail, having sustained so many different attacks by the Soulless. A convocation of Elders was held to discuss the findings of Roark, who had been studying intraplanar matrices and dimensional anomalies in the hopes of understanding where Magnora and Dynara disappeared to. The answer was clear; to find Magnora and Dynara, the Gods would need to go to the most unstable point in reality - the Void. To assist them in getting back, Roark planned to construct a beacon that could be activated on the First World when the threat of the Soulless was gone.

To avoid attracting the attention of the Soulless, the Gods used the same portal used to exile the Twelve, and left in groups of five at a time. Agnomenon, Fininkora, Carakhan, Luriki and Panamandius had just left through the portal when a devastating attack from the Soulless destroyed the Domothean Spires once and for all. It was unclear if the last group ever managed to successfully enter the Void, but there was one thing the Gods left in the Basin knew for sure - They were trapped here.

Splintered Star-Gods, and the Birth of the Mortal Races

Nearly two thousand years passed, and in that time, some of the Elder Gods spontaneously splintered into thousands of different entities, each resembling the God whose existence was shattered to create them. Unlike the Elders, these beings, star-shaped with two arms, two legs, and a head, had limited lifespans, and could procreate, and so began the mortal races of Lusternia.

Bollikin was the first to splinter, and the race of the furrikin came from him. Elfenehoala was next, though her splintered mortals were more homogenous - the elfen. Tae became the tae'dae, and Loboshi became the loboshigaru. During this time, Mugowumpois studied the mortals very closely, watching them, interviewing them, and recording their history. She learned each mortal carried with them a shard of divinity, meaning they had the potential to become an Elder God once more, but their fragile form and various weaknesses meant none survived long against the Soulless.

Mugowumpois also discovered that, when these mortals died, their souls did not merely dissipate into nonexistence, but instead reincarnated within a new body. While this seemed remarkable, a more fascinating discovery soon presented itself: the souls of mortals, because of their ability to reincarnate, could never be absorbed by the Soulless. Normally, when a Soulless God consumed an Elder, the Soulless God grew stronger, but, when the Soulless feasted upon mortals, they became lethargic. So long as a pocket of each mortal race was kept alive, the Soulless could never truly absorb the essence of the splintered Gods. The remaining Elders' purpose was renewed: They were to preserve the mortal races for as long as possible, until Roark and those who ventured out into the Void returned with Dynara and Magnora.

The Portal of Fate

The Elders weren't the only beings to find newfound purpose with the birth of the mortal races; the Fates, who had been simply observing the Elders in their war against the Soulless, now had the duty of recording the lives of mortals on the Tapestry of Fate. Because of their ability to reincarnate, a mortal's destiny was not a straight or continuous line, but rather a pattern of infinite and unending possibility. They also gifted Xyl with blueprints for a new construction - the Portal of Fate.

The exact nature of the Portal was never revealed to the Gods, but the effect it had on mortals who passed through it was tremendous. If they survived the journey through the Portal and returned, they almost invariably went on to perform heroic deeds in Lusternia. These heroes were actually able to withstand the attacks of the Soulless, at least with far more success than their progenitors, and so the Gods did everything They could to encourage mortals to make a pilgrimage to Mount Dynara to pass through the Portal of Fate. Trillillial, for instance, wrote songs and stories to lead mortals across the Basin on this quest.

For the first time since They began to splinter, the Elders actually desired this for Themselves, as it was becoming clear that Their efforts could change the course of history and finally present the Soulless with worthy adversaries. Mugowumpois was the next God to splinter, creating the mugwumps, and Xyl and Trillillial soon followed, becoming the lucidians and trills, respectively.

A Final Revelation

Another thousand years passed since the construction of the Portal, an era in which Dracnoris and Meridian were the sole surviving Elders left in the First World. During that time, another Primal God, Eyos, had splintered, but His shards were never found. Dracnoris, also one of the Primals, worried that this meant He would splinter and simply cease to exist. He eventually gave in and, under the watchful eye of Meridian, splintered into two very different races. One race, the dragons, resembled Him in appearance, but were relatively smaller. They organized themselves into four dragon clans that spread across the world, and had longer lifespans than the mortals, but could not enter the Portal of Fate. The other race, which would be known as the dracnari, were star-shaped.

After a particularly devastating attack by Kethuru that resulted in huge losses among the mortals, Meridian realized that they had come to worship Him, and would fight to protect Him at all costs. He viewed Himself as a liability, though, and took to hiding Himself away from the world.

One day, while walking along the shores near Jojobo, He encountered a group of mugwumps - the Keepers of Mysteries - that had been shipwrecked, and one of the mugwump scholars with them, named Mlorag, recognized Him as the last remaining Elder. She explained that one of their projects was the History of the Elder Wars, a series of books created from the magical recording devices that Mugowumpois had used when interviewing the first generation of each of the mortal races, who retained the memories of their respective Elders.

Mlorag was revealed to be in contact with the Fates Themselves, and They revealed that there was one final memory gem that only the surviving Elder could listen to and understand, because the mortals could only read and write in the language of the Elders, not speak it. It contained the message that Mugowumpois passed along to Xyl and Trillillial just before They splintered: "You want to know the secret of the Portal of Fate. Look into their eyes."

Meridian looked deeply into the eyes of Mlorag, past all of her own perceptions, and there at the end was another presence, which could have only been intertwined with hers when she passed through the Portal of Fate. This Other, the Fates explained, did not believe in this reality and viewed it as a game, yet their choices and actions shaped the story of the mortals they resonated with all the same. That Other, in turn, was guided throughout life by a presence they could not directly observe, too.

With this final revelation, Meridian splintered, witnessed by Mlorag and the Fates, and birthed the merian race. The last surviving Elder God was no more, and so the Elder Wars came to an end.