The Rivening

The actions of the Cult of Nyrro were nothing compared to the effect of the Rivening, which occurred some four hundred years later. Fears of what may have befallen the Divine Court during their long absence were brought to life in terrifying fashion when the priests of every fane except Scyrah’s descended into hysterical madness almost simultaneously. Struck down by insanity, many ran through the streets screaming incoherently; others became catatonic. The priests of Scyrah helped their colleagues as best they could, but many of the afflicted lashed out at their guardians in fits of chronic madness. The few who managed to recover spoke of an overwhelming sense of loss as their connection with their god was severed. It was at this time that the elves began referring to the Divine Court as “the Vanished.” Although they continued to worship all eight of their gods in the aftermath of the Rivening, they soon turned their focus upon the one goddess they knew for certain remained: Scyrah.

The Iosans’ troubles did not end with the Rivening. Many of the priests who succumbed to this terrible event rose up as a disturbing form of spectral undead that came to be known as the riven, which continue to haunt the forests of Ios today. But perhaps the most troubling of all of the Rivening’s consequences was the birth of children bereft of emotion and motivation: the Souless. Rare at first, they gradually—and alarmingly—became more common, and many elves saw the doom of their race writ large in the face of this new affliction. Scyrah returned to Shyrr without warning some years later, slipping into the city unannounced and being welcomed to the Fane of  Lacyr with very little ceremony. There she slumbered under the watchful eyes of her priests and fane knights, rarely awakening and never venturing in public.