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 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 burst from their chests. The orphans of Shallam and Ashtan also disappeared, both happenings 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 forestals on the side of Pryla'ka, and Twilight's order along with Ashtan and Hashan citizens assisting the Quisalar.

Finally the Quisalar was able to complete the construction of Death's Heart, resulting in numerous battles between the opposing sides. Victory seemed nearly ensured for those of Twilight's order, until at last the balance tipped in favor of Pryla'ka, and the heart was nearly destroyed by attacking Shallamese forces.

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 destroy 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 race. Adding to this gesture, Sarapis permitted mortals the additional racial choices of Grook, Xoran, Rajamala, Horkval, and Atavian.