Difference between revisions of "Death's Heart Saga"

The '''Death's Heart Saga''' refers to a series of events surrounding a scheme by [[Twilight]] in the early 240s to slay [[Thoth]] and steal His [[divine essence|essence]]. One of the major events of the [[Modern Age]], Death's Heart laid the foundation for a great deal of conflict in years to come.

Beginning in the year 240 AF, dead birds of all shapes and sizes were found throughout the land, their hearts bursting from their chests. The orphans of [[Shallam]] and [[Ashtan]] also disappeared. Both happenings were revealed to be part of the Death's Heart prophecy as described by a wandering madman who came to be known as the [[Quisalar]].

The Quisalar claimed to be using the death energies from the dead birds' corpses to awaken Thoth from His slumber. Soon after, an expedition to the far north led by the [[Great Mhunna]] revealed a temple where a [[Tsol'dasi]] priestess called [[Pryla'ka]] had chosen to reveal herself. Her goal, she said, was to combat the Quisalar and the power he was collecting. Over the next year, Achaeans worked to either bring corpses to Pryla'ka or the Quisalar, with Shallam and many [[forestal|forestals]] on the side of Pryla'ka, and Twilight's [[Divine_Order|Order]] along with Ashtan and [[Hashan]] citizens assisting the Quisalar.

[[Deucalion]], God of Righteousness, soon appeared on the scene to announce the victory and reveal that the Quisalar's aim the entire time was to help the Death's Heart grow until it exploded, releasing a monumental amount of energy which Twilight could then focus at Thoth, slaying Him and absorbing His essence. The cost of such an act, however, would have destroyed all life on Sapience.

To complete the victory, Pryla'ka faced the Quisalar in one final battle, and when she prevailed she attempted to dismantle the Death's Heart. In doing so, however, she was unable to control the outpouring of energy and a powerful explosion followed, causing several deaths and threatening to obliterate life for miles around. In an attempt to contain the blast, Deucalion was defeated and sacrificed Himself for mortalkind, granting all with His final act the ability to reincarnate into another [[:Category:Races|race]]. Adding to this gesture, [[Sarapis]] permitted mortals the additional racial choices of [[Grook]], [[Xoran]], [[Rajamala]], [[Horkval]], and [[Atavian]].