History & Current Events

The below guide provides a brief overview of the history of Ognos. Please note that, in the event of any conflicts between Old Ognos and New Ognos, the lore below will take precedent and be considered canon; some minor changes were necessary to improve lore consistency and stability.

Current Events

Shardfall Crisis (Version 5 Main Plot; September 2024)

Following the chaos of the Shattered Vault Incident, New Ognos has been struck by a new disaster—the Shardfall Crisis. Essence Shards, crystallized forces of magic, divinity, and nanites left behind by the Primordial Ones, have begun to destabilize across Kinship. This has caused a series of new natural disasters known as Shardfalls. These intense and unpredictable storms bring torrents of Shards raining down from the sky, while geysers of raw energy erupt from the ground, corrupting anything they touch.

Shardfalls are predicted by sightings of massive Shard-infested creatures—known as Heralds—three days before a storm hits. Each Herald embodies the chaotic energy of the Shards, and their appearance serves as a grim warning of the devastation to come. While some scholars speculate that these Heralds are the source of the Shards’ instability, others believe they merely foreshadow the coming chaos. These Heralds, along with their smaller Remnants, have made the island a far more dangerous place.

The Shardfalls have only deepened the instability already present in Pyronmouth. The divine blessings that once protected the town are now inconsistent, and the town's robotic guardians—the Flies—have begun to behave unpredictably, sometimes even attacking innocent citizens or ignoring blatant crimes. The city no longer expands or contracts with the population, leading to vacant properties and growing inequality, as wealthier residents buy up these properties and charge exorbitant rents to those left behind.

With so many differing opinions on how to handle the Shardfall Crisis, social upheaval has split the population. Factions have broken off, with many residents leaving the unstable town to form settlements elsewhere. Those who remain must brave the corruption brought by the Shards, contend with unpredictable city conditions, and navigate a rising tide of conflict between the city's factions.

Character Contributions

A list of characters who have contributed towards Guild, NPC, or World Events will be listed here!

The Shattered Vault Incident (August 2024)

In what was meant to be a joyful celebration, the Divine Zenith Festival, an individual claiming to be Linor's Oracle contacted the Mayor of Pyronmouth, insisting on a festival in Linor’s honor. They claimed the goddess expected this tribute in exchange for protection during the approaching stormy season. While some residents of Pyronmouth embraced this Oracle’s divine connection, others were suspicious of their true intentions. Regardless, the Mayor decided to proceed, declaring a three-day festival filled with prayer, music, and hope for Linor’s blessing.

On the second day of celebration, chaos struck. A group of cloaked figures were seen behaving strangely just moments before an explosion ripped through the Copper District. The explosion shattered an ancient obsidian vault, scattering mysterious artifacts across the land. These objects, once sealed within the vault, streaked into the sky and vanished in different directions, as if seeking something or someone.

The aftermath of the explosion left the Copper District devastated—property damaged, residents injured, and even some killed. The divine barrier around Pyronmouth, which had previously protected it from external threats, was also disrupted, leaving the town vulnerable to attacks from pirates and the predatory creatures of Ognos. Amid the ensuing panic, the Oracle seized control of the situation, calming the crowd and declaring that the artifacts had been sent as a divine test. In contrast, the Mayor called for caution, insisting the artifacts must have been sealed for a reason.

The Shattered Vault Incident has left Pyronmouth struggling to recover. Residents are busy tending to the injured, cleaning up debris, repairing damages, and, in many cases, seeking out the scattered artifacts. The main Guilds, along with the Shrines and Temples in Pyronmouth, have all offered payment for any recovered artifacts, leading to a scramble to retrieve them. The artifacts themselves possess unique powers—some beneficial, some with dire consequences—leaving their fate in the hands of those who find them.

Recent History

After an extended period of time (possibly thousands of years), Ymius began fighting back against her oppressors; breaking the first lock on her cage, she was able to hear the voices of mortals and begin receiving power from their prayers.

Ymius' rebellion caused various reactions, worsening as the locks were broken:

• The First Lock unleashed a titan:
  • The titan caused natural disasters - earthquakes, storms, wildfires - disrupting civilization.
  • It corrupted wildlife and landscapes as it passed, causing monsters to spawn.
  • Just before disappearing, the titan left an ominous warning about the future.
• The Second Lock brought darkness:
  • The sun's light was blocked, plunging the land into twilight.
  • Crops began to fail, with humans and Valka working together to find ways to prevent famine.
  • Nocturnal and subterranean creatures emerged openly. Raids and attacks increased.
  • The moon changed color, size, or phase erratically, impacting the tides and causing lunacy/sleep disturbances.
  • The stars in the night sky shifted to ominous new constellations.
• The Third Lock released leviathans:
  • Massive sea monsters attacked ships and coastal settlements.
  • They swarmed and overwhelmed fishing fleets, causing further food shortages.
  • Silver liquid oozed from the ground, covering the landscape in mercury-like pools that caused hallucinations and poisoning.
  • Water sources become tainted or dried up from the leviathans' presence.
• The Fourth Lock brought illness and disorder:
  • Healing magic became twisted - causing disease instead of curing it, or healing one thing while harming another.
  • Babies were born 'marked' in ominous ways.
  • Some children were struck with a sleeping sickness and could not be woken, trapping them in endless slumber.
  • The dead rose from their graves to spread supernatural sicknesses.
• The Fifth Lock twisted the environment:
  • Caused crystal spires to erupt from the ground in random locations. The spires amplified psychic energy around them unpredictably.
  • Opened fissures in the earth that spewed ash clouds and allowed lava to flow forth. Entire regions become infertile and uninhabitable.
  • Allowed visions and prophecies to enter the minds of mortals, driving many mad with the overwhelming visions.
  • A wave of silence spread through certain areas, muting all sound and stopping all oral communication.
• The Sixth and final Lock unraveled reality:
  • The goddess' prison emerged from the sea, floating in the sky and appearing in random locations to spread fear and chaos.
  • Portals opened to allow creatures and forces from other planes/worlds to enter and launch attacks.
  • The stars re-aligned into the goddess' sacred constellation, and her most devout followers became imbued with strange powers.
  • Reality itself began to unravel. Landscapes merged with dreamscapes, time became non-linear.

When the Sixth Lock was broken, Ymius rose from her cage, gathered allies, and went after her husband. The Divine War caused strange effects in the skies above Ognos, like flashing lights or random changes between night and day, and the sounds of battle were audible like thunder. Occasionally, bolts of divinity would strike Kinship, causing cause and destruction in their wake; Ognos was struck most often, due to the war being largely centered above them.

Meanwhile, in a far-off corner of the Divine Realms, another god was just waking up: Valinor. Valinor was an experienced God of War who participated in wars spanning several millennia; he specialized in strange and terrifying inventions, often related to smashing nature, magic, and technology together in various ways, and was known to be quite eccentric by his divine brethren. Valinor was considered an expert on ancient Kinship, having spent the most time there either directly participating in battles or working on his experiments.

During one such battle, Valinor sustained severe injuries from a Shard of Divinity and was forced to put himself into a deep slumber to prevent being removed from existence entirely. After thousands of years asleep, he excitedly returned to working on his creations, unaware that the Primordials had turned Ognos into a protected area and discontinuing the use of it as a place for battle and experiments. The other gods were so busy fighting amongst themselves that they didn't notice Valinor's arrival, or what he was up to, until it was too late. Already tormented by fallout from the Divine War, Ognoshu suddenly found themselves plagued by strange fungal monsters, massive and deadly machines, and terrifying disruptions of the rules of nature. Unable to survive in such a hostile land, Ognoshu fled the island in droves; some became refugees in nearby countries, while others chose to stay nomadic.

Eventually, becoming aware of what was being done to Kinship and that its guardian deities were preoccupied by the battle, the Primordial Gods personally visited Ognos. These gods are the oldest, strongest beings/forces in the universe, so powerful that they actually warped time and space around them as they worked to right what their "children" had set so very wrong. Unfortunately, even with the help of Kinship's gods, the Primordials were not able to fix all of the damage done, however, they were able to stabilize the island and the rest of the world. They sent divine messengers out into the world to let everyone know that Ognos is back and ready to be resettled. The island is forever changed, and it will take a long time for all of the secrets, dangers, and transmutations to be discovered.

The primary deities who had been charged with caring for Kinship were punished severely for their behavior; while most of the Primordials care little about the petty squabbles of their children, there are strict universal laws about disrupting the lives of mortals in such extreme and irreparable ways. While the other Kinship gods received warnings and punishments befitting their involvement -- or lack thereof -- in the war, the main five from Ognos (Hivhur, Ymius, Huxu, Aomete, and Dzoana) were exiled, sent off to other planets to pay back their debts and prove themselves trustworthy. At this time, it is not currently known when -- or if -- they will ever be allowed to return to Ognos. However, three brand new deities have been brought to Kinship to replace them; they are currently roaming New Ognos and doing what they can to help keep the redevelopment of the island. Time will tell if they prove themselves worthy of staying in the long-term, or if they, too, will eventually be replaced...

Ancient History

Kinship was created by the Primordial Gods ("The First Ones") as a barren, neutral ground for their divine children to settle disputes without harming populated worlds. Gods of all kinds, from millions of universes, came to Kinship to settle their disagreements.

Methods for settling disputes included one-on-one battles, casual games (hide and seek, card games, rock-paper-scissors, etc.), and even full on wars. Kinship was most commonly used to settle squabbles over who could take possession of a planet or universe's prayers, a common food/energy/power source for deities.

As Kinship was generally "off the beaten path" and less closely monitored by the Primordial Gods than other planets, some gods used the land as a testing ground for their various experiments. Others, who lacked the physical, mental, or divine strength to fight their opponents directly, or were perhaps just lazier than their brethren, began "borrowing" species from other universes to fight on their behalf. Some actually abducted populations, while others were created from borrowed "blueprints". All native life on Ognos can be traced back to these early populations. Some modern day characters and Companions may be transported to Kinship from other places or times after stumbling across ancient traps or tools.

After a particularly nasty war in which gods and mortals both suffered heavy losses, the Primordial Gods intervened. They issued a proclamation that several mortals would be granted divinity and tasked with defending and caring for the planet. These gods settled in various places throughout Kinship, but the conflict didn't end there.

Huxu, Aomete, and Dzoana, three women who received divinity, selected the island of Ognos and its Valka population as their own, but Hivhur and his wife, Ymius, who backed the humans, tried to intervene on their claim. Rather than put the world through another divine war, the five grudgingly agreed that whichever race had the highest population, most devout followers, and most social power would determine the hierarchy of the gods.

While the gods were prevented from directly influencing the mortals with their divinity, they were permitted to select Chosen and utilized other similar loopholes to their advantage. As a result, many deity-influenced wars were waged over the thousands of years since and the hierarchy of the gods changed many times depending on the outcome. Some scholars even believe meddling deities were responsible for the Silent War that kept Valka and humans at odds for over three hundred years.

At some point, Hivhur and Dzoana formed a secret alliance, working together with a cult of mortal followers to strip Hivhur's wife of her power and lock her away in a cage under the sea. Hivhur used a lesser goddess to maintain Ymius' public appearances while seizing complete control over the divine hierarchy and Ognos in general. Hivhur utilized Ymius' absence to force men into a dominant position in society, and is in fact the real reason that humans had a patriarchal society for so long. Dzoana's reasons for agreeing to help Hivhur, keeping Valka oppressed in the process, are largely unknown. It is believed that, as the goddess of the Future, she may have seen something coming that could only be prevented by allying with Hivhur... or perhaps she just had a grudge to settle with Ymius from the Ancient Wars.