The Reckoning

"To think we know so little of the greatest battles to ever scar Emaxus's surface might scare you. It should. We know only the gods died, and we narrowly survived. We try to glean what we can from the remnants, for that is all we can do."

Cover art made with Midjourney.

This is a collection of the largest events in the Reckoning. It is top-down, covering only the broad strokes of the God-Wars. It includes many events not known by mortals post-Reckoning. If you want to know of the events that are definitely known by modern Emaxians, look in Year of Divinity's Fall, linked on the sidebar, which was the final year of the Reckoning and the most recorded period of the God-Wars.

The Reckoning is the single largest conflict in Yophasian history. The Obsidian Lords broke free of their prisons at Accorion's core, shattering the plane and sending the multiverse into a downward spiral of horrific war, ending only when the gods at last depleted their Divinity and killed one another---but not before taking nearly all life with them.

Before the Reckoning

Mortals' understanding of the circumstances which lead to the Reckoning are better covered in The History of Emaxus, but the crux of it all is this: Yamma imprisoned the nascent Obsidian Lords in the Reshaping, building the prison-plane Accorion around their demiplanes. The Obsidian Lords grew within these prisons, becoming full-fledged gods over the course of many millennia. Once they were strong enough, they broke free, full of wrath and ready to kill Yamma and destroy all he had built. Thus, the Reckoning began.
And, just before the Obsidian Lords broke free, Lythaelos called The Ten to his sea-floating island and warned them of a coming war, a great conflict between gods that would spell the doom of all, if they were not careful. Many mortals believe this to have been Alindr, but it was Lythaelos who gave this warning (a fact Lythaelos's worshippers hold onto vehemently).

The Breaking of Accorion

Few records exist of the first battle of the Reckoning. Countless myths and legends exist, each varying slightly (or wildly, for some), but the common threads are as follows:

• Yamma and the Ten went to Accorion.
• Some time later (some say a day, others say months), Accorion shattered.
• A Shockwave passed across Yophas, disrupting magic and overloading spells. Countless arcanists died.
• Yacrena and the Moons disappeared for five days, casting Yophas into pitch black darkness. Shards of Accorion impacted across the planes, including Emaxus. Some of them bore Accorion's dark denizens, who would terrorize the lands they arrived in.
• When the sun and Moons returned, the Obsidian Lords had built armies from a myriad of civilizations and areas across Yophas. They brought these armies to bear on Yathra Silthame, and the First Battle for the Silver City began.

This event has been recounted in many legends, and features prominently in almost every story regarding the Reckoning. Depending on how badly the region was impacted by the shards of Accorion, those sometimes aren't mentioned; neither is the Battle for the Silver City, depending on location---especially for non-Emaxians. No matter what, legends recall the Shockwave and the Five Dark Days.

The Gods Marshal Their Forces

Very little of this section is known in-world, but I will provide a top-down view of how the Ten and the Obsidian Lords gathered multiversal legions to make war on each other.

1. Yamma returned to Yamkath after Accorion. There, he healed for several days while his celestial legions gathered. Empyrean and Celestria, Yamma's primary lieutenants, marshalled the angelic armies of Yamkath, ensuring they were ordered and ready to deploy once Yamma was healed.
2. Isael sounded the Horn of the Tempest and gathered her Stormborn Legions. All of Isathra rallied to her call.
3. Alindr gathered the Paragonicus Perfectus and prepared to hunt down Laaelum, wherever she ran.
4. Kaedo set to work in Kaedana marshalling his countless creations in Vokatha and beyond. He also began forging new divine weapons for his fellow gods and their followers/creations to wield against the Obsidian Lords.
5. Laianath raised summoned Lialim and all of her death elementals.
6. An'liceth called forth the Twilit Legions and prepared to defend both Luna and Lysithea.
7. Lythaelos summoned forth the Council of Greatwyrms and commanded them to gather their broods.
8. Syluru returned to Sylthereth and enlisted Queen Naivara and her Summer Court, as well as the other natural guardians of Sylthereth. She convinced the children of Sarkanus to fight with her, as well.
9. Xaen returned to Gliziarial and negotiated deals and alliances between as many factions as he could.
10. Valereth returned to Sylthereth as well and tricked the fey who refused to join Syluru into joining her regardless.
11. Ix'kythael nested in Ix'akroth and spread rifts to portions of western Drumis, summoning forth swarms in the millions and creating the Brood.
12. Laaelum reached out to countless archmages across Yophas and formed the Veil.
13. Marzak rallied the demons of Mathrak and Ix'akroth, and created the Bloodtithers from the tribes of the Ureret Desert.
14. Narvox enslaved the Iduranith Devils and the majority of eastern Drumis, forming the Xeshurian Empire.
15. Xael descended on northwestern Iotura and turned the millions of people there into its Withered, creating the Void.

The First Battle for the Silver City

"There were never so many great hosts assembled as the Second Battle for Yathra Silthame. The Legions of the Silver Dawn, arrayed in their grandest majesty. Yet, even for all our might, we nearly faced defeat. A metropolis of millions broken to little more than a town. The sea rushed in to wash away our failures, and that new bay ran red for weeks with the blood of the slain. That was the last battle in the Ioturan Theater. It was nearly the last battle in the war." - Queen Aldrena, Fourth in the Line of Riktor.

Little is known of this initial battle in Yathra Silthame, but those legends and scattered records which do exist tell of the Ten and the Obsidian Lords doing battle across The Iotruyla River Basin, decimating Yathra Silthame and its territories in the process. Empyrean, Right Hand of Yamma, is known to have fallen in this battle, and it is assumed countless millions fell beside him. It is believed Xaen and Ix'kythael both went into God-Sleep after this battle.
Legends tell of the sky above central Iotura being choked with ash for weeks after the battle. In the wake of this grueling conflict, the gods scattered and licked their wounds.

Yathra Silthame after the First Battle by Midjourney

Soundtrack

If the Reckoning had an OST, it would be the Elden Ring OST.

Prelude

The seeds of the Reckoning were sown in the Obsidian War. They only took over five thousand years to germinate. All of the Age of Rebirth occurred on borrowed time.

Deployment

Every single plane saw combat in the Reckoning. The worst theaters of war were Emaxus, Mathrak, Accorion, and Yamkath, but all planes were devastated and Yophas was fundamentally changed forever.

Conflict Type

War

Start Date

124 BR

Ending Date

0 AR

Location

Yophas, the Eternal Design

The End of the Reckoning

The Reckoning lasted a brutal 124 years, defined by ebbs and flows in fighting across a thousand fronts on two dozen planes. The worst period, however, was its end: the Year of Divinity's Fall. This final year of the Reckoning was when the gods discovered they could, in fact, die, beginning with An'liceth's death at The Breaking of Lysithea.
The Year of Divinity's Fall is truly legendary, even among the mythological status the Reckoning holds. It is the period most modern mortals think of when they think of the Reckoning, and is the best recorded and most commonly discussed period of the entirety of the God-Wars.
For more information on this mythological year, see its article below:

Belligerents

The Ten and Their Legions

The Obsidian Lords

Strength

All of the Ten.
Countless millions of their followers, creations, servants, and allies, notably:

• The Summer Court of Queen Naivarra and her Fey.
• The Council of the Greatwyrms and their dragon broods.
• The numerous civilizations of Emaxus, such as Riktor's Euxinan Empire, Yathra Silthame and its allies, and the floating city-states of Istavinion.
• Innumerable defenders and supporters who, if not in league with the Children of Yamma, at least fought back against the Obsidian Lords across Yophas.

All five of the Obsidian Lords.
Countless millions of their followers, creations, and allies/subordinates, notably:

• The Devils Ultimate and their infernal legions, who were enslaved by Narvox.
• The Empires of Obsidian, which were Emaxian factions dominated by each of the Obsidian Lords.
• The infinite prisoners of Accorion, the Halls of Black, set free by the Obsidian Lords destruction of the plane.
• Countless other malefactors and belligerents who, though maybe not directly tied to the Obsidian Lords, indirectly aided their cause by harming the Children of Yamma and their followers/allies.

Casualties

All of the Ten, as well as innumerable losses for their followers, creations, servants, and allies.
Only 3-7% of Emaxus' population survived.

All five of the Obsidian Lords, countless millions of their followers, creations, servants, and allies.
The infernal legions of Iduran were decimated for centuries.
The Empires of Obsidian were turned to ash.

Objectives

Stop the Obsidian Lords and bring the Reckoning to an end.
Protect Yophas and its inhabitants.

Annihilate the Children of Yamma, massacre, enslave, or dominate their followers, and bring Yophas to ruin.

Extended Campaigns Across Yophas

Past the focused battles of Accorion and Yathra Silthame, the Reckoning became a string of separate campaigns and wars. The Obsidian Lords split across Yophas and made war on a hundred fronts at once, with The Ten largely focusing on defending what they could and trying to organize a multiversal war of existence.
It is believed that this is how most of the Reckoning went (although modern mortals have no idea if the Reckoning lasted a decade or three centuries, much less the exact 124 years). The main theaters of the Reckoning (that mortals are aware of) are:

Emaxus

Emaxus was the epicenter of the Reckoning. Every single god had a pet faction or powerbase and fought in dozens of battles across Emaxus's surface. Included in the Emaxian Theater is the Ipacian Theater, as the battles fought across the broader physical universe were numerous.

The Second Battle of Yathra Silthame by Midjourney

Iotura

Iotura was home to many powerful civilizations in the Age of Rebirth, including ancient Yathra Silthame and Camaerith. It was also home to horrific battles, like the First and Second Battles of Yathra Silthame, the Scourging of Camaerith, and more.
The Second Battle of Yathra Silthame occurred some fifty years after the First Battle of Yathra Silthame, which kicked off the Emaxian Theater of the Reckoning. The Second Battle was much like its predecessor in scale and violence, albeit with less gods present. Yamma, Isael, and Xaen rallied their legions to defend Yathra Silthame from a joined onslaught of Narvox and Marzak. The fighting was brutal and sent all five gods into God-Sleep, ending with the modern Bay of Silver rushing in to consume much of Old Yathra Silthame.
The Scourging of Camaerith was a long-term invasion of eastern Iotura by Marzak and Ix'kythael. Ellas Elendiir led Camaerith's military, and their defense was joined by Syluru and Valereth. The Scourging lasted for over a decade and saw the brutal decimation of the Camaerithian Empire. Near the end of the Scourging, Ellas, desperate to protect his people, gave in to an ancient strain of vampirism to fight back the invading Obsidian Lords. In an event known as Ellas's Fall, he was imprisoned in Nathrivox and Camaerith rapidly approached defeat. To push back the invaders and save the surviving Camaerithians, Syluru and Valereth performed a divine ritual that created The Arakhor Tathra and raised the Wild Heart to protect what remained of the capital of Camaerith.
The Fall of Thuvareth was a massive invasion by Xael into southwestern Iotura. Xael's Withered washed over what is now known as The Ioturan Heartland in tides of millions. A massive empire named Thuvareth controlled almost all of the region, and Xael brought war to their borders for over a decade. Thuvareth's ruler Agormith spurned the gods, and thus only Yamma and Lythaelos came to her aid, and even he and his creations were not enough. Over the course of thirteen years, Thuvareth's territory was consumed by Xael's Entropy and the empire fell to ash. It is unknown how the modern day Pits of Agormith were created, but it is clear they were built sometime before Thuvareth fell completely.
The Draconic Crusade was a campaign of total war by Lythaelos, numerous Greatwyrms, and their countless allies to purge Xael and its Entropy from northwestern Iotura. This Crusade lasted for several years, with devastating losses on both sides. Lythaelos earned victory and removed Xael's Entropy from the region; however, the scars of Entropy were far too great to heal, resulting in the creation of The Draconic Wastes, as they are known today.

Aitreas

Aitreas was the site of only a handful of impactful campaigns, but they all resulted in overwhelming defeats or victories, removing the need for follow-up campaigns like in other theaters of war. Aitreas was left almost entirely cleansed of mortal life by the end of the Reckoning, save a handful of communities and tribes spread across the ashen continent.
The Birth of the Bloodtithers was a series of battles at the dawn of the Reckoning, immediately following the birth of the Bloodtithers when Marzak enslaved the tribes of the Ureret Desert. This slavering horde of war-addled berserkers decimated the other cultures of Ureret and pushed east into Riktor's empire. They claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people before Riktor marshalled his strength and decimated the Bloodtithers.
The Bloodtithers' Revenge was a horrifically massive battle across northern Aitreas that led to the decimation of Riktor's already wounded forces and the slaughter of countless cities. The remnants of the Bloodtithers largely stuck to small raids for decades after their slaughter in the early years of the Reckoning, but they collected blood and sacrifices for those decades. When the time came and Riktor's military sailed across the Obsidian Ocean for the First Xeshurian Campaign, the Bloodtithers summoned legions of demons from the Primordial Chaos. By the time Riktor's legions returned with thinned numbers and drained resources, the Bloodtithers awaited with hordes of demons and chaos-empowered berserkers. The slaughter was brutal and widespread.
Riktor's Fall was the invasion of Aitreas that followed the Bloodtither's Revenge. Marzak himself joined his Bloodtithers in their war, and eventually, Narvox's infernal legions marched alongside them. This campaign was hard-fought and long, lasting over twenty years and seeing almost every member of the Ten and the Obsidian Lords fight in it, at some point. It ended in an Obsidian Lord victory, albeit a pyrrhic one, with the decimation of Riktor's empire, the scourging of most life from Aitreas---including the Obsidian Lords' armies---and the banishment of Riktor's capital of Zanizer to Nathrivox. After Riktor's Fall, Aitreas was left all but abandoned until after the Reckoning.

The Breaking of Lysithea by Midjourney

Drumis

Drumis was the epicenter of Narvox and Ix'kythael's power on Emaxus, and was thus the site of several brutal campaigns, especially in the Year of Divinity's Fall. Battles related to the Year of Divinity's Fall can be found in that article, but the other main conflicts are listed below.
The First Xeshurian Campaign was the first major campaign in the Drumian Theatre. Riktor brought the full force of his Empire to bear in an all-out invasion of central Drumis. The fighting decimated much of central and eastern Drumis. Riktor pushed back Narvox's infernal legions and enslaved Xeshurians for months, then Narvox himself arrived. Riktor and his Empire was pushed off the continent in a cataclysmic battle that created the body of water now known as the Shattered Bay. Riktor retreated to Aitreas to lick his wounds, where the Bloodtithers waited with a devastating offensive.
The Second Xeshurian Campaign was an assault led by Ellas and the Camaerithians. They were joined by the ancient Taesuxuzou. Syluru and Isael joined this alliance, and thus a massive force of mortals and divine creations hit the entire coast of the Shattered Bay. For many months, it seemed as though Narvox's powerbase on Emaxus would be thrown down, but Ix'kythael's broods swarmed them from the rear and the forces of the Ten were decimated. Isael was sent into god-sleep holding off Ix'kythael while Syluru and the mortal alliance fled the continent.
The Cleansing of the Broods was a massive invasion headed by An'liceth and Yamma to purge Ix'kythaels broodhives from western Drumis. The campaign was largely successful, decimating Ix'kythael's broods, destroying their hive warrens, and sending the remaining swarms deep beneath the ground. Many, including Ix'kythael herself, fled to Xaecreotis and/or Ix'akroth through the caverns of Emaxus; however, the swarms returned with time, and An'liceth and Yamma's victory was short-lived.

Ipacia

Countless battles occurred across the Sea of Stars, and even beyond in Xeccamund. Of them, two were the most important: the Breaking of Lysithea and the Entrapment of the City of Veils.
The Breaking of Lysithea was a brutal arcane battle between Laaelum and her Veil against Alindr and An'liceth and their allied mages. Alongside this arcane conflict was a prolonged siege of An'liceth's Lysithean fortress by Narvox's infernal legions and Ix'kythael's swarms. Although casualties were high on both sides, the Ten prevented the Obsidian Lords from shattering Lysithea itself, although the moon was decimated in the battle and An'liceth fell, being the first divine casualty of the Reckoning. The Breaking of Lysithea thus began the Year of Divinity's Fall.
The Entrapment of the City of Veils was an ambush-siege of Laaelum's pocket plane, the City of Veils. Alindr waited for a member of Laaelum's Veil to open a portal to the City, then entrapped the magic in an arcane nexus to force the pocket plane out into Ipacia. With the City exposed, the Ten launched a full-scale assault on Laaelum's home. Although the City narrowly survived, Laaelum was killed at this battle.