The Sundering

"The Sundering"

Deep in the heart of the world, imprisoned and abandoned by his children, sleeps “The Overgod”.

No one quite knows how or why, although there is rampant speculation, the planet began to undergo incredible seismic shifts, wrought with violent earthquakes, tremendous tsunamis, raging tornadoes, and extreme weather. Great fissures fractured the ground and Domen Aria began to break apart into several large slices or shards. These Planet Shards, as they have become known, are enormous sections of the planet that seem to be broken and cut from the surface, right down to the very planet core itself. As if the rending of the planet wasn’t enough, the shards began to separate from one another, and move out, up, and away from the planet’s center.
If one could see down into the depths, it would appear that The Overgod, forgotten by eternity, was beginning to stir with memories of ancient times and thoughts of escaping the primordial prison in the planet’s core.
This tremendous upheaval devastated and immeasurably changed the ancient planet, recasting the climate, physical environments, and civilizations. Oceans became deserts, mountains were swallowed by the sea, jungles became frozen tundra, the world had changed drastically.
For the peoples of this terrible time, things seemed truly bleak and many thought, and rightly so, that this was the end times. There was widespread panic in the streets, and uncertainty how their families could survive. Many desperately turned to their leaders and deities for guidance and reassurance, crying out for some glimmer of hope. Their deities did not answer, their leaders fled or locked themselves behind closed doors, and the peoples were left to fend for themselves. Anger, fear, and despair now ruled the land. In their desperation, they clung to any shred of false hope or promise, no matter how twisted or deceitful it might be. Many took advantage and exploited the frantic crowds. The people needed a scapegoat and target to lash out at, and many served up magic and magic users as a convenient excuse. Already distrusted by most people, this blame quickly blossomed into hatred and the persecution of magic users across planet.
Despite all of the planetary, social, and political upheavals, many organizations consisting of a multitude of beings, assembled to collaborate on a way to pull the planet back together and save whatever would be left of the world. After some time and many desperate attempts, a proposal was devised to use great magical bindings to bring the Planet Shards back into position. This became known forever forth as The Binding.
How The Overgod was defeated and returned to slumber, and by whom, is a tale not known to the inhabitants of Domen Aria. These details may never come to light. Suffice it to say that through great heroism and great sacrifice, the immediate threat was neutralized. At least for now…

“Planet Shards” are entire three dimensional sections of the planet. Appearing as if a giant knife sliced an enormous wedge from the planet, going from the surface and crust all the way down to the planets core.