The Breaking of Lysithea
"We will break her, and we will break Alindr's petty little Design, too. This I know, my siblings." - Laaelum
On Uldreyin 15, Odarth, 1 BR, Laaelum marshalled her Veil to create an arcane beachhead by which Narvox, Ix'kythael, and their armies could invade An'liceth's Lysithean fortress. The goal was to shatter the moon and thus undo a significant portion of the lunar-arcane's laws.
The three Obsidian Lords led a blitz assault so brutal that An'liceth and the defenders of her fortress almost fell immediately, were it not for An'liceth's valiant defense against Laaelum and Narvox. She held off the Obsidian Lords alone for hours, until Alindr at last arrived with a now-forgotten Sage of Order and the Paragonicus Perfectus.
Alindr and his Sage thus embattled Laaelum and her Veil. The Sage of Order smote Laaelum's Veilwatcher, creating one of the largest craters on Lysithea's surface today. Meanwhile, An'liceth and her followers continued to defend the Lysithean fortress.
The battle dragged on for days. On Arlayna 9, Odarth, 1 BR, Yamma and Xaen joined the battle. An'liceth was nearing her end, and she knew God-Sleep approached her. Thus, she conspired with Xaen and Yamma to sacrifice herself to take at least one Obsidian Lord into God-Sleep, as well.
The gods did not yet know that they could die.
Xaen swore to Ix'kythael and Narvox that An'liceth would face them. This divine oath was forced to reality, binding both Obsidian Lords to face the Twilight Mother in combat. Thus, Yamma and Xaen could push back the Obsidian Lords' followers while their gods were indisposed.
And so, An'liceth faced Narvox and Ix'kythael. For hours, they battled across Lysithea. An'liceth wounded both Obsidian Lords gravely, such a formidable warrior was she, but her physical form reached its limit. Ix'kythael ensnared An'liceth in webbing. Narvox raised Willbreaker and cleaved.
An'liceth was split halfway down the middle. Xaen and Yamma thought nothing of it; in fact, the plan had worked perfectly. An'liceth kept the Obsidian Lords busy, Alindr fought Laaelum, and Xaen and Yamma were able to decimate the Obsidian Lords' legions. The day was won.
Then, An'liceth's god-spirit screamed. Her screams ripped across Lysithea, and her physical form shone like a purple star. Yamma, Xaen, and Alindr went to An'liceth's sundered avatar to investigate. Narvox and Ix'kythael fled the moon in the chaos, as did Laaelum.
The legends say that An'liceth screamed, "This is wrong," before she died. They say that she screamed those words, her avatar shone even brighter, and then detonated in a blast that turned Lysithea into the scarred, sickly-green moon that it is today. They say that Yamma and Alindr had to force Xaen off the shattering moon despite his tearful protests. The truth is pretty close, too, save some embellishment.
Thus was An'liceth, First to Fall, slain, Lysithea was broken, and the Reckoning was irrevocably changed, for now the gods knew that they could die.
They knew the Reckoning could end, and one side could truly kill the other.
"No, what happened? How did she die!? You never said we could die!" - Xaen
Xaen's Wrath
It is said that Xaen only felt rage once, and it was in the wake of An'liceth's death. With his love and his law dead, Xaen was driven to a maddened rage. As god of equality, he believed it would only be fair that the Obsidian Lords responsible for An'liceth's death pay just recompense. And, now that all of the gods were aware they could die, Xaen knew he could make Ix'kythael and Narvox pay.
Xaen did not wait to heal from the Breaking of Lysithea. Despite the urgings of the rest of the Ten to wait and plan their next steps, Xaen descended to Emaxus to exact vengeance until equality had been achieved between him and the Obsidian Lords.
On Tialin 7, Odarth, 1 BR, Xaen went alone to Ix'kythael's infestation on Drumis. Uncaring of the cost, Xaen issued Edict after Edict to force Ix'kythael's swarms to devour themselves. In a matter of hours, Ix'kythael's children wiped themselves from the surface of Emaxus, and the Broodmother was enraged. She burrowed from Ix'akroth and erupted onto the coastline to stop Xaen's crusade.
She was too late, and she did not consider how little Xaen cared about the personal cost. All that mattered was equal suffering. An'liceth was dead; Ix'kythael needed to die.
In one of the greatest acts of Divinity since the Reshaping, Xaen wrenched an oath from Ix'kythael---an oath for her to kill herself. Ix'kythael's endless hunger and evolution turned on herself and she began to devour herself.
Marzak and Narvox arrived to kill Xaen, uninterested in the death of their sister, Ix'kythael. Xaen fled north and the two Obsidian Lords pursued him, leaving Ix'kythael to devour herself.
Thus, the Broodmother died somewhere in Western Drumis, eating away at herself until her Divinity could no longer maintain her form. Meanwhile, Xaen fled beyond the Wall of Drumis with Marzak and Narvox in close pursuit.
"You will devour yourself until your divine form shatters. You will suffer the pain that An'liceth endured until you can suffer no more. You will swear on this, and you will do as I command until you share An'liceth's fate. You deserve no more and no less." - Xaen
Many of Xaen's most devoted followers had arrived by now, as had Yamma and Isael, all desperate to stop Xaen's suicidal rampage. On Taeral 6, Odarth, 1 BR, the gods and their armies met on the tundras just north of the Iron Ramparts and an earth-shaking battle ensued.
Xaen's Fall
The battle raged for three days, with Xaen seeking Narvox's death to the point of reckless abandon. He did not have enough Divinity left to wrench a suicide oath from Narvox as he had Ix'kythael, but fought he did. Isael and Yamma fought fiercely, but they---and Xaen's followers---were preoccupied with keeping Xaen alive.
On Vaeril 3, Odarth, 1 BR, Marzak locked Yamma and Isael in horrific battle. The land shattered and the sea rushed in. The Ten prepared to retreat, with Xaen's followers dying by the thousands. As they fled, Xaen refused to retreat. Pledging his death or his vengeance, Xaen fought Narvox.
As the sea rushed in, Narvox plunged Willbreaker into Xaen's chest. The Codifier's Divinity shattered and thus, Xaen was the third god to fall. Narvox retreated, leaving Xaen's corpse to fall with the shattered land to the bottom of the new sea, today known as the Frozen Dagger.
The Scattering
With three gods dead, the Ten and the Obsidian Lords retreated to lick their wounds. The remaining eight gods of the Ten were enraged, sorrowful, and even afraid; if they died and even one Obsidian Lord survived them, they would have lost. The Obsidian Lords could steer reality towards whatever dark end they sought.
For three months, the Reckoning came to a near-ceasefire. Battles and skirmishes continued across Yophas, but with a muted pitch. No gods battled, and no major victories or campaigns occured. The gods planned, and they waited.
Alindr hatched a plot to rip her from the City of Veils and kill her, and so, the Ten rallied themselves for when their opportunity came.
The Entrapment of the City of Veils
On Shenarah 28, Neldreth, 1 BR, a member of the Veil opened a portal back to the City of Veils from aboard an Ipacian Navigator floating in the Sea of Stars. Alindr had been watching for weeks for such an event.
As soon as the portal was stable, Alindr arrived at it and ensnared the arcanist and their portal to the City. Alindr wove an impossibly complex arcane ritual and wrenched the City of Veils from its pocket plane and out into Ipacia, bring Laaelum and most of her Veil with it.
Yamma, Isael, Syluru, and Valereth were waiting, alongside many of their strongest followers and their champions. Thus began the Entrapment of the City of Veils.
Legends say that the stars were dimmed against the explosions that flashed through Ipacia during the Entrapment. The battle lasted eight days and eight nights. What should have been a brutal slaughter of Laaelum and her Veil was immediately turned into a prolonged battle of the gods when Xael, Narvox, and Marzak came to aid Laaelum.
They had let Ix'kythael die in their eagerness to kill Xaen, but they had spent months with the repercussions of one of their five falling and were desparate to avoid another defeat.
During this battle, Laianath, Kaedo, and Lythaelos launched full-scale assaults on different Obsidian Lord strongholds across Yophas. While the Entrapment raged on, the Obsidian Lords suffered countless defeats on other fronts; however, there was one crucial victory earned by Xael.
On the eighth day, Alindr enveloped Laaelum in an arcane nexus. She was unable to cast spells nor could she escape with Divinity. It remains one of the most focused and powerful acts of arcane might in Yophas's history. With Laaelum locked down, Isael and Yamma tore her limb from limb. No God-Sleep awaited the god of spacetime and secret; only the cold embrace of Divine death.
Laaelum was slain on Elendiir 20, Neldreth, 1 BR. An arcane maelstrom brighter than Yacrena itself was unleashed in the destruction of her physical form. With her final wisp of Divine consciousness, Laaelum freed the City of Veils from Alindr's Entrapment, allowing the pocket plane to escape reality mostly intact.
With Laaelum dead, the other Obsidian Lords fled across Yophas, and the Ten chased in hot pursuit.
Thus began the Godfall, the final, most brutal stage of the Reckoning.
"You will scourge my Design no longer, Laaelum!" - Alindr
The Godfall
In the wake of Laaelum's death, the most chaotic period of the Year of Divinity's Fall began: the Godfall. With the Obsidian Lords afraid of defeat and the Ten desperate to ensure the Obsidian Lords did not survive the Reckoning (no matter the cost), battles erupted across Yophas as the gods committed wholly to killing each other, once and for all.
The Counter on Mathrak
On Taeral 16, Neldreth, 1 BR, Alindr and Valereth pursued Marzak to his fortress in Mathrak. There, the god of Chaos marshalled his Demon Lord children and the hordes of Chaos. Valereth, Alindr, and their forces were not prepared for the swarms Marzak was able to muster. What should have been a swift siege became a brutal battle across Mathrak. Valereth and Alindr's followers and creations were butchered. Alindr could see that they would not escape Marzak's unbridled wrath, so powerful a god was he.
So, Alindr sacrificed themself for Valereth to escape. They took the brunt of Marzak's assault while Valereth escaped. The legends say this is the only illogical thing Alindr has ever done. Others argue that, since Laaelum was dead, Alindr knew their Design was safe.
Whatever Alindr's motivation, Marzak hewed the Titan of Order in two on Tialin 7, Neldreth, 1 BR. Before Marzak and his Chaosspawn could descrate Alindr's corpse, however, Valereth ferried it away to Yacrena, leaving it in the safety of Alindr's fortress at Yacrena's core. Valereth wept mightily there, but he pledged himself to what he knew Alindr would want: seeing the Reckoning through.
The Liberation of Iduran
Lythaelos, Yamma, Syluru, Isael and Kaedo pursued Xael and Narvox across Yophas. Over the course of a month, these five gods were able to tear down countless fortresses of the Obsidian Lords across Yophas, until Narvox at last fled to Iduran itself. With the Burning Gates sealed, Narvox thought he would be safe in the hellish fortresses of his enslaved devils.
Kaedo was less sure of such a thing. Kaedo committed to finding Narvox and killing him, telling his kin to pursue Xael. Thus, the other four gods left Kaedo to besiege Iduran alone.
Kaedo lifted his hammer and smote the Burning Gates, reforging them to allow him free passage. With his legions of golems and followers bedecked in masterworked arms, Kaedo invaded Iduran in full-force. Battles raged for days across Iduran. The Iduranith devils fought, for a time, until their ruler, Xhor'thras, realized something: she could betray Narvox, break their shackles to him, and Kaedo would be able to drive Narvox out. They would be free for the first time since the Reckoning had begun.
So, she did just that. On Uldreyin 5, Tádariel, 1 BR, Xhor'thras and the Devils Ultimate betrayed Narvox. The legends say every devil in Iduran put down their weapons at once, bowing and ushering Kaedo and his forces through the black iron walls of Xhorin itself. Narvox turned to kill the Devils Ultimate, but had no time before Kaedo came to destroy him. Narvox fled, his greatest bastion freed from his tyranny.
Xael's Assassination of Lythaelos
Lythaelos, Yamma, Syluru, and Isael pursued Xael across Yophas, leaving Kaedo to besiege Iduran alone. Xael proved nearly impossible to pin down due to its ability to shatter the laws of reality at will; the Ten would catch Xael in Glizziarial just for it to unleash Entropy and disappear across Yophas.
It was in the starry vacuum of Ipacia that Xael made its move. With the four gods still hot in pursuit, Xael unleashed Entropy. Space and time fluctuated and order devolved into a chaos so random, it ceased to be chaotic altogether. It was a bubble of everything and nothing, and the four pursuing gods were lost within. Without Alindr to reign in Entropy quickly, the gods had to undo it manually. In the days of this effort, Xael found Lythaelos alone and killed him. The Dragon of Fate died with Xael's blade through its chest. Xael tried to wipe out Lythaelos's Divinity, but the effort caused Entropy to collapse, revealing Xael and its victim.
The surviving three gods nearly killed Xael, but it managed to flee. The three tried to follow, leaving Lythaelos's corpse to float in Ipacia, but could not find Xael. Thus, Yamma, Syluru, and Isael traveled instead to Aasveig, where Marzak was making war.
"This is all pointless. I am a function of reality, and I will win, in the end." - Xael
Laianath and Xael
Xael had slipped out of time and space into Laithna. As the god of Entropy, Xael was the only god other than Laianath who could access Laithna, so it fled into it. It was not expecting to find Laianath there, however. Within Laithna, Laianath had been rousing the Frozen Legions in there entirety; everyone and everything that had ever died would be roused to face the Obsidian Lords, including the Titans---an act which would decimate the Elemental Planes and bring the Reckoning to a fever pitch beyond even the climax it reached in reality. Laianath was all-in, without Yamma's knowledge.
Xael realized it had one chance to kill Laianath and knew that if she succeeded in rousing the Legions, the Obsidian Lords' defeat would be all but assured. Thus, Xael, the god of Entropy, and Laianath, the god of Time and Death, faced off in Laithna.
Had their battle occured outside of Laithna, Yophas would have suffered irrepairable damage. Laianath fought with the full power of time, death, and winter to try and kill Xael. Xael focused Entropy itself into its blade and plunged it through Laianath's chest, killing her instantly. All her Divinity and her Titanhood was rended to nought by Xael's raw entropic power. Thus did Laianath, Death herself, die.
Xael, feeling the battle raging in Aasveig, left Laithna a victor---although it took nearly all it had. Laianath's corpse was left in Laaelum, and the Frozen Legions were left unroused. The question remains: was Laianath's defeat truly that bad if her victory would have meant so much devastation?
The Invasion of Aasveig
Hot off his victory in Mathrak, Marzak tore open a planar rift from Mathrak to Aasveig. Through it, he unleashed a full-scale invasion of the then-continent of Aasveig, seeking to decimate Isael's favored people and tear her chosen Emaxian lands asunder. Valereth arrived within a day to help defend, but knew he could not face Marzak alone; thus, he harried Marzak how he could while staying careful to avoid a confrontation. Marzak's march of destruction was successful for weeks, and it seemed as though Aasveig was to fall to chaos and blood.
Then, Xael fled to Marzak's position, bringing Isael, Syluru, and Yamma with him. Already in wrathful pursuit on account of Xael's killing of Lythaelos, the three gods joined Valereth and pushed to kill Xael and Marzak at once. With nowhere to flee, the two Obsidian Lords prepared to die fighting.
Narvox arrived shortly after. Realizing this was the coup de grace of the Reckoning, Narvox knew he could flee no longer. Kaedo arrived as well, alongside the Devils Ultimate who sought Narvox's head.
With every surviving god assembled on Aasveig, the period now known as Final Retribution began on Vaeril 23, Aerylinn, 1 BR.
Final Retribution
The Sundering of Aasveig
Xael's Doom
The myriad clan-kingdoms of Aasveig were already decimated by Marzak's invasion. After over a hundred years of war, the gods' creations were nearly-depleted, as well. Thus, it was only the gods and the last remnants of Marzak's hordes that met on the field of battle in Aasveig.
On Vaeril 23, Aerylinn, 1 BR, the last five members of the Ten and the last three members of the Obsidian Lords engaged in a battle for the fate of Yophas. All eight knew that the conflict started that day would only end with one side or the other winning. An end to 124 years of war approached swiftly and brutally.
The battles between these eight gods shook Emaxus itself. Isael parrying a blow from Marzak caused landslides in the desolate lands of Aitreas. Yamma striking Narvox brought down buildings in Iotura. This was the end of Divinity.
Emaxus shook with the eight gods' battles for ten days, and the conflict was evenly-matched. The Aasveigan continent gave out before the gods did. The once-vast land shattered and rivers of lava belched forth from the devastation. Valereth realized that, even at the end of their Divinity, the gods would outlast the world unless a decisive move was made.
On Theodred 12, Aerylinn, 1 BR, Valereth deceived Xael. Valereth wove an illusion so convincing as to bring Xael to the broken heart of Aasveig alone. He made it think that it could kill him like it had killed Lythaelos.
While the other six gods tore Aasveig apart, Valereth ensnared Xael and sacrificed himself to destroy it. Valereth unleashed his Divinity into a world-shaking explosion that ripped Xael to pieces, killing both gods at once. The resulting detonation sealed Aasveig's fate, ripping open a massive crater in its heart and tearing the damaged continent asunder. The sea rushed in to fill the gaps and the continent of Aasveig became the islands it is today.
"Destroy Marzak for me. For Alindr. I will miss you all. Perhaps something awaits us beyond, like our children." - Valereth
The other five gods scattered in the wake of the devastation. Marzak and Narvox escaped to Drumis, knowing full well that the tide had turned against them. Isael lamented the near-extinction of the Maor, and uplifted the surviving chieftains into the demigods now constituting the Aasveigan Pantheon. Yamma healed some of the damage that Valereth's sacrifice caused to Emaxus, if only to keep the planet from going into a pyroclastic winter, and rallied Isael, Kaedo, and Syluru. Thus, the four remaining gods of the Ten chased the last two Obsidian Lords to Drumis, even as ashen clouds choked Emaxus' skies.
The Desolation of Drumis
Marzak waited in ambush in what is today known as the Drumian Wilds while Narvox rallied the last vestiges of his Xeshurian Empire. Yamma, Syluru, Isael, and Kaedo pursued them across the continent. The scragglers of Marzak's Chaosspawn were slaughtered as the four gods of the Ten blazed across the ruins of Ix'kythael's exterminated broods. Yamma went ahead to face Narvox, leaving Kaedo, Syluru, and Isael to kill Marzak.
The latter group found their quarry as Yamma decimated the Xeshurian Empire. On Tialin 7, Aerylinn, 1 BR, Marzak ambushed the three gods. In his initial strike, Marzak cleaved Kaedo in two with a blow so powerful, the crater now housing the Lonely Basin was created. Syluru and Isael fought hard and long, pushing Marzak away from Kaedo's corpse and into the Xeshurian Empire to the east.
"Kaedo is dead. Syluru will die. I will kill you, Isael. Then, I will be the one and only god of slaughter, and Chaos's reign over Order will be ensured." - Marzak
Syluru and Isael's goal was to drive Marzak to Yamma and Narvox, and together with Yamma kill both of the final Obsidian Lords. Yamma and Narvox's battle had already begun, Emaxus itself shaking with their blows. Yamma and Narvox fought across eastern and southern Drumis, decimating the last remnants of the Xeshurian Empire as they fought.
Isael, Syluru, and Marzak, on the other hand, were still in central Drumis, in the area now known as the Ix'thraka Jungle. Marzak was on the defensive, but he could not be predicted. Whereas Isael and Syluru expected him to continue retreating to Narvox, Marzak instead threw himself into a suicidal charge. He separated Syluru from Isael by knocking the Tempest far to the north with a mountain-splitting blow.
In the few minutes Isael was gone, Marzak overwhelmed Syluru's magic and cut her down. The resulting explosion of natural energy created the jungle now falsely attributed to Ix'kythael---the Ix'thraka Jungle. Isael returned, wreathed in rage and lightning, and overwhelmed Marzak, cleaving his head from his shoulders and ending his life. Thus did Syluru and Marzak both fall on Taeral 6, Aerylinn, 1 BR.
Isael followed the earthquakes south and found Narvox and Yamma, locked in a conflict that would make any god other than Isael pale. The god of war was not one to balk, however, and she joined Yamma to slay Narvox.
The Last Breath of the Gods
The final battle of the Reckoning has come to be known as the Last Breath of the Gods. Isael, Yamma, and Narvox battled. Isael fell after two days. Yamma and Narvox fought for another four, their cataclysmic exchanges puncuating the final days of the Age of Rebirth, the Reckoning, and the living gods themselves.
"You're alone, Narvox, and you're going to die. For Syluru. For everyone." - Isael
Yamma and Narvox had been fighting for days by the time Isael arrived, drenched in the gore of her love, Syluru, and her truest hate, Marzak. She wasted no time slamming Narvox's defenses with a divine onslaught of attacks. Yamma rested for a day as Isael and Narvox battled. He rejoined Isael and they pushed Narvox to his limit.
For a moment, it seemed as though Isael and Yamma would defeat Narvox, and two of the Ten would survive the Reckoning and help a scarred Yophas heal. It was not to be so.
Narvox enveloped Yamma in a darkness too deep for him to escape immediately. With a moment's opening, Narvox ripped through Isael's defenses and consumed her physical form into a black hole, leaving only her titanic battleaxe protruding from the ground. When Yamma escaped, he found Narvox desperately resting and Isael gone.
Isael's Final Battle
"You will die like the rest of them, then Yamma will join you." - Narvox
It is said that Yamma only truly felt rage once, and it was now. Every one of the gods he had made or recruited to the Ten were dead, and it was his fault; Yamma had imprisoned the Obsidian Lords. They had broken free. 124 years later, and all of Yamma's divine family was dead, most life in Yophas was gone, and, in Drumis, reality itself was fraying at the seams from the petulant battles of the Ten and the Obsidian Lords.
Yamma made a decision, then. He would kill Narvox, for everything he had done and to ensure he could not usher an age of endless tyranny in. Then, Yamma would allow himself to die. The age of Divinity had passed. The gods had proven they did not deserve to be so present in the affairs of the reality they had built, like a child who breaks their own dollhouse.
Narvox stood to face Yamma. Yamma faced Narvox. And the two battled.
Narvox's Last Sunset
"Neither of us is leaving today, Narvox. I killed your Father. I can kill you." - Yamma
For four days, the King in Black and the Silver Dawn tore eastern Drumis apart trying to kill each other. The laws of reality began to tear and rewrite themselves, so great was the Divine combat. The land shattered and buckled, dashing what little remained of Drumian life across the rocks.
On Miirphys 1, Aerylinn, 1 BR, Narvox cut open Yamma's chest with Willbreaker. Any other god would have died, sealing the fate of Yophas beneath Narvox's reign. But Yamma was no ordinary god. The Father of Divinity tore WIllbreaker from Narvox's grip and punched a hole through his chitinous chest. Narvox fell to his knees, dying, as the sun set on the Reckoning and the gods.
Yamma, bleeding out, climbed to a mountain peak and looked out over the desolation of Drumis. As the sun rose on the Age of Survival, Yamma breathed his last.
Yamma's Last Sunrise
The Saga of Divinity's Death (excerpt)
When the gods fell,
the sky wept.
The stars punished us
and we hid from their fury.
When the gods fell,
the world wept.
It sobbed its sorrow
and we choked on the grey tears.
When the gods fell,
we wept.
We wondered what life
could be lived in a broken world.
Isael really stood on business