The Rite of Mon-Aere

This ancient event more than any event before or since has altered the world as we know it. Even with the limited knowledge of the Rite that we have from fragments of texts and from stories passed down over many centuries we know how it has impacted everything. From mirrors to companions, life was forever changed in a day.
— Korik Anglefar, The Rite

To End an Ancient Evil

The Rite of Mon-Aere was performed only once and it succeeded, though it had unintentional effects. All fifty-three members of the Aerean Ascetics gathered on the Orvican Plateau to chant their hymns and banish the Gurgaramata before it could pass the mountain and cause more damage to the south. The ritual succeeded and the beast was driven from the world. This cost the lives of twenty-three of the ascetics and thirteen of them disappeared completely.

Changed Forever

When dawn broke the next morning it was a new world.
— Korik Anglefar, The Rite

At the exact moment that the ritual concluded and Gurgaramata was defeated every mirror in the world shattered. The fragments left behind have unusual properties, mainly that they do not reflect the world in any way instead showing strange still images. Mirrors created after the rite function are unaffect and function as they should. As the light of the next sun washed over the land a plethora of strange and unique creatures appeared. This caused chaos at the time but in the present these beings - companions - are known to each be tied to a human and part of daily life.

"Though the Gurgamata was defeated, it's allies remained. Only shadows of their former selves, they took to preying on children who stray too far from home, to the dark places, forests, caves, and abandoned buildings."
— Naemore Folktale