The Severance

The Severance is a creation myth widely accepted in many Azimuthian cultures telling the story of important, grand events at the end of the Age of Creations leading to the origin of the Dragon pantheon.
According to the myth, the first gods defeated the Primordial Elementals and then warred amongst themselves. To end this conflict and to prevent the destruction of the world, they initiated the Severance, which cut Azimuth from their reach by creating the Severance Tear.

Description

The Severance Myth

The myths and stories surrounding the Severance have grown over the long eons of Azimuth's history. They've shifted and changed into various creation myths adopted in the different cultures of the world. Though variations and discrepancies in the tales exist across cultures, the general story of the Severance is widely accepted.
According to the myth of the Severance, the first gods that found Azimuth after its creation warred with the Primordial Elementals, powerful entities said to have created Azimuth.
The first gods were victorious and the Primordials were sent back (or retreated, depending on the telling) to the elemental planes. These gods then began to battle amongst each other for dominance and dominion. It is said this war was so destructive that it threatened the continued existance of the Material Plane.
A selection of good-aligned deities realized this war would not end, and they banded together to initiate what is referred to today as the Severance. Through unknown means, these dieties cut Azimuth from the reach of any divine. Though it was now godless, Azimuth was set adrift and would continue on.
The Cycle of Ages is a historical textbook that provides a broad overview of the ages of Azimuth. It includes an entry about the Severance myth.

Each would-be pantheon did not count the others as their allies, and they planned to claim this realm only for themselves. Fighting started anew over who would claim this prize. Gods of realms of prominence and those yet unknown warred using their creations at the loss of many lives. As those they had made dwindled and the world once more faced lifelessness, some gods, through empathy or clairvoyance, came to realize this place would never know peace while the divine could so freely influence the world and those upon it.
With the effort of those gods of good, the plane was cut from the reach of all divines. Azimuth, so removed from the fabric of the vast multiverse, was set adrift, out of reach from those who’d bring only more misfortune to those precious lives that inhabited this world.
And so ended the Age of Creations, and so began the Age of the Severance.

- The Cycle of Ages

The Severance Tear

It is believed these events led to the creation of what modern scholars refer to as the Severance Tear. It is the effective edge of the universe in which Azimuth is found. It is the barrier between this world and any others.
It is sometimes described as a shroud that covers the universe, preventing interaction and stopping travel through it. If any divines exist beyond the Tear, they are unable to breach it to cross into Azimuth.
How these first gods achieved something like this is not known. What is clear though is that if any such gods did exist in the Age of Creations, they are not here now.
The Severance is believed by many of Azimuth's religions to have opened to way for the emergence of the Dragons. The myth says the process of the Severance may have left echoes of the divine entities behind, which coalesced into Azimuth's Dragon pantheon.

The Severance Siphons and Severance Keys

In the Fifth Age, new information related to the Severance has begun to emerge. Lost history found recently with the repair and recovery of The Decayed Tomes speaks about a mechanism of some kind said to fuel the Severance Tear.

“A mechanism that fuels the Tear. Four Siphons and Four Keys. The elements shall now prevent the divine.”
“Great Beasts forged to quell the elements shall now be the guardians of the Severance.”

- The Decayed Tomes

Research into ancient tomes like this has led to the theory that the Four Great Beasts are tied to these Severance Keys in some way. However, these ideas are unconfirmed and scholars debate their validity.

Date of Setting

The End of the First Age

Related Locations

• Severance Tear