Ostry Apocalypse

A world-shattering event that completely reshaped Ekal's political, religious, and social structures. When a magic item known as the Ostry Blade tore a rift in reality between Pescaliat and the Far Realms, a horde of monstrous deities descended on the world to corrupt it to their ends.
Official records are impossible to come by, but anywhere from 30%-75% of Ekal's mortal population may have died during the Ostry Apocalypse. Only the legendary wars of the Dragon God-Kings could compare in terms of sheer destructiveness, a dark chapter in the world's history that the Ageless One has been adamant to avoid in its millennia of oversight.

The Conflict

Prelude

The seeds of the Ostry Apocalypse date back to the final years of the Old Myltev empire, when its archmages pushed the limits of magic capable on Ekal. Some wizards turned to forces beyond the planes to gather additional power, but there were always limits on how far a mind or body could last so far from its home plane.  
Thus the Ostry Blade was invented, a device capable of traveling anywhere in the multiverse with just a flick of the wrist. This energy-saving device allowed archmages to conserve their powers for expeditions deeper into the planes beyond Ekal than ever before, perhaps to places that should've been avoided altogether.

The Engagement

• Tearing the Rift: Whether intentional or not, whether performed by a single person or a cabal of archmages, at the start of the 3rd Cycle the Ostry Blade was used to open a portal to the deepest depths of the Far Realms. Prof. Klute argues in his book Mage the Awakening that the archmage Naum Kulikov commissioned the creation of the Ostry Blade to access the Far Realms and ascend into a new godlike form. This plane of aberrations and chaos was capable of corrupting the greatest minds in a matter of seconds, and it didn't take long for the monstrous deities of this realm to make fast work of Old Myltev's spellcasting elite. These forces from the Far Realms first plunged the archmages into madness, turning them against them against each other and destroy the empire they'd taken centuries to construct. By the week's end, Old Myltev laid in ruin.
• The Invasion: With the world's greatest power destroyed, the monstrous deities of the Far Realms began sending their legions of aberrations across the portal into Ekal. Illithids and beholders first appeared on Ekal during this period, and a coterie of eldritch beings held court in the ruins of the great Myltevian cities. Teleportation circles were used to quickly travel from one region to the next, promising little shelter from the horde of aberrations. The names vary by region and record, but there are some entities like the Sunken God that are confirmed to have first come to Ekal during this period.
• Hopeless Years: With nobody to protect them from the horde of aberrations and monstrous deities, many simply surrendered to these eldritch forces and all the torment they inflicted. Sacrificing their families and lives to these eldritch abominations, for many years these invaders used this free manpower to entrench their control over Ekal. Gill Daniel's The Butler is the only complete account of this aberrant occupation of Ekal, and scholars have questioned the text's veracity over whether Gill Daniels was under the influence of illithids or not. For those that refused to surrender to eldritch oppression, many sought shelter in the world's mountain ranges throughout Pescaliat and beyond. For decades the Bahamut and Zekronian Mtns became havens of pre-apocalypse civilization, sheltering refugees from all races and walks of life from the worst of the eldritch terrors. Little could be provided for in terms of material comfort, but these mountain settlements proved to be havens for piety and keeping the faith for numerous deities.
• The Rekindling: The monstrous deities of the Far Realms were not interested in Ekal's long-term future, quickly burning through the world's magic energy and killing hundreds of thousands of mortals each year. Sensing a crisis on their hands, the world's deities convened in the Temeraire Mtns (at that point in time a massive mountain range stretching through all of Pescaliat) to discuss a way to fight back against the eldritch invaders. The aberrations would eliminate all life on Ekal capable of religious worship, meaning the elimination of all deities who relied on mortal worship for their powers. Despite so many conflicting belifes and portfolios, a truce was formed to protect religious life on Ekal for generations to come: the Ageless One. The god of all gods, this ageless deity would be godhood personified, holding a bit of the divine from every celestial being. A set of standards was established to make the Ageless One a neutral judge of divinity in the world: Gruumsh would be condemend, but Helm would thrive.
• Fanning the Flames: The creation of the Ageless One was met with suspicion at first by Ekal's surviving faithful, but they quickly fell in line after a series of miracles. Several monstrous deities burst into flames during their routine tours of their conquered territories, and entire forests sprouted overnight to provide shelter to Ekal's faithful. The aberrations and eldritch abominations fought back against this new spark of celestial power, but they found their resources spread too thin. These otherworldly powers excelled at corrupting godless archmages of Old Myltev, but they struggled to find a foothold against the zealous minds of the Ageless One's new followers.
• The Banishing Smite: Conflict between the Ageless One and the monstrous deities lasted for several years, ravaging the planet and leading to a battle for the ages in the center of the Temeraire Mtns. Channeling the power of every deity that had sworn its faith to them, the Ageless One conjured a colossal suit of silver armor to push back the aberrant monsters with one fell swoop. This one attack, performed with a greatsword twenty stories tall, banished all monstrous deities from Ekal and saved the world's mortal population from another century of oppression. The banishing smite was strong enough to turn the center of Pescaliat into a desert wasteland, but it accomplished its goal of saving Ekal from certain destruction.
• Pest Control: Ekal's mortals were still cautious to peek out of their cavernous settlements years after the Banishing Smite, leading the Ageless One to take more drastic measures to restore the world to a more functional order. An incredibly powerful abjuration spell was conjured, sealing Ekal and its star system away from the rest of the multiverse behind a Veil to prevent future incursions from monstrous deities. Thousands of gith were trapped in Ekal, unable to return to Limbo or the Astral Sea, but this move also protected the world from any visitations from interstellar abominations.

Outcome

It would take centuries before Ekal's global population recovered from the Ostry Apocalypse's devastating loss of life. It would take half a millennia before Kassædeia became the world's first post-Ostry settlement to record a population greater than 100,000, many of the world's survivors suspicious of large cityscapes given how quickly they collapsed during the Apocalypse.

Aftermath

For the next 4,000 years the Ageless One would be the undisputed leader of religious life on Ekal. Mortals would be allowed to worship whatever deity they pleased, but if that deity held more evil/chaotic goals the Ageless One would swoop in and banish that deity for its destructive practices. Kingdoms rose and fell during the post-Ostry era, but te Ageless One ensured a measure of stability by setting standards for religious practice no matter which kingdom or empire was in charge.

Historical Significance

Legacy

As the decades wore on it became clear that elven settlments were flourishing at a faster rate than other kingdoms after the Apocalypse. Either these elven kingdoms swore fealty to the Ageless One or the AO blessed these civilizations with its protection, but for millennia to come the elven empires of Kiri Clan and the Elflands would flourish and act as the world's political stabilizing force. For better or worse, the age of tieflings from Old Myltev had passed into an age of elves under the Ageless One's reign.

In Literature

Gill Daniel's The Butler is the most thorough account of the Ostry Apocalypse outside of traditional religious manuscripts. Chronicling the painfully mundane chores and demands of the monstrous deities, this oral epic was transcribed during the reign of Empress Cordelia of the Elflands Empire (1186 - 1633, 3rd Cycle) is the most thorough account of the Ostry Apocalypse outside of traditional religious manuscripts. Chronicling the painfully mundane chores and demands of the monstrous deities, this oral epic was transcribed during the reign of Empress Cordelia of the Elflands Empire (1186 - 1633, 3rd Cycle)

Conflict Type

Showdown

Battlefield Type

Planetary

Start Date

001, 3rd Cycle

Ending Date

033, 3rd Cycle

Conflict Result

Victory for the Ageless One

Location

Pescaliat