Eye of Proteus

The Eye of Proteus was a powerful artefact capable of allowing Gods to combine the power of Their realms or gain control of realms normally outside of Their control. It was stolen from Proteus by the Triumvirate during the Chaos Wars and used to create the Kris Dagger for Their demon general Indrani to control the infernal demon legions. Near the end of conflict a temporary alliance was formed between Twilight and Aegis to seal Indrani in the demon planes, and as a consequence the Eye of Proteus ended up in the hands of Twilight, Who then withdrew from further involvement in the war. Eons later a secret bargain between Twilight and Sartan saw the Eye change hands, ending up with the God of Evil.

Strife between Twilight and Valnurana arose in the 4th century, and Sartan offered a chance for revenge to the Goddess of Dreams. She agreed and together Valnurana and Sartan used the Eye of Proteus to make the Fissure, raising a vortex to secretly drain the energies of the Darkenwood. When Darkness and Nature joined forces to investigate the cause of the ailing wood, Sartan used the Eye to send false visions to Twilight and Demeter that the cause lay in Cyrene. Their forces quickly moved to subdue the Cyrenian mascot Blu, retrieving a strange amulet from the lesser dragon. At the same time Eris was performing experiments with the Living Spire to locate Slith and Her husband. The experiment pointed to Slith's shadow hiding in Darkenwood, but Slith himself eluded Her. When Eris threatened to destroy the forest the other Gods dissuaded Her, exhorting mortal adventurers to find him instead. Find Slith they did, swarming the Prince of the Undead enmasse, and as he lay dying he retorted that he was but a half of the true Slith whilst revealing Sartan's plan. Upon discovering that Sartan's scheme involved the kidnapping of Pandemonium, the Divine child of Eris and Aegis, Valnurana stole the Eye of Proteus, promising to use it to help free the child.

Using the unique power of the Eye of Proteus to combine the powers of Their respective realms, the Patron Gods of each city created relics in each city of comparable power to the Fissure. The remaining five Fonts were called: the Well of Chaos in Ashtan; the Fontis in Hashan; the Icerune Crater in Cyrene; the Cauldron of Infinity in Eleusis; and Daybreak's Mirror in Shallam. Each of these could produce a warrior who, being born of the same power that bound the Divine child, could weaken the power that held Him.

After the War of the Divine Child, the Eye of Proteus was hidden, only to be mysteriously discovered by Dawn and Gladius, the remaining members of the Luminai. They were found preparing it upon a lonely promontory of rock on the Shastaan coast, where they attempted to use the Eye to cleanse the realm of the Chaos Taint that had been inadvertently unleashed by Eris during a backfired experiment. Despite warnings from the Gods that the Eye would be destroyed and place their mortal lives put in danger, they performed a ritual upon the artefact, seemingly succeeding in their efforts. Light spread across Sapience, lifting the Taint.

However, before the Taint was completely banished, the Eye faltered and fell into the sea. What remained of the Taint coalesced into a diseased cloud that lashed out at each city in turn. In response, the Fonts previously formed in each city produced powerful Guardians that repelled the Taint. Finally, Dawn, who had been broken and drained by her previous effort, used the last of her energy to summon the Phoenix and bond with its spirit, chasing the Taint deep underground. As a reward for her devotion and courage, Sarapis granted Dawn the gift of immortality, and she became Mithraea, Goddess of the Sun.

Twilight later drew the Eye from the ocean again, using it to establish dominion over a portion of the sea which He named Nocturne's Reach. A few Gods, particularly Miramar, saw this act as a violation of the Divine agreement but before outright war could commence Maya showed Her force, demanding peace and reclaiming the artefact before further harm could come to it.