Erstrilm

The Rift occurred sometime between four hundred and six hundred years before the current era. Due to the warping of time caused by the event, it is unclear when it actually occurred, and mortal memories have been altered by the merging of two universes—the human world of Erstrilm, where physical laws hold sway, and Arther, a universe composed entirely of the will of the capricious pantheon that once occupied it. The Rift was caused when a device known as the Crescent was tampered with, opening a subatomic portal into Arther. At that exact instant, a simultaneous event in Arther had just occurred: the murder of the being known as Hemsakan. The universe of Arther was approaching its heat death, and the Artheril, despite their immortality, would be doomed to non existence. The Artheril sorcerer-god, Karsakan, had devised a plan, however—using his magical influence he had managed to contact a consciousness in Erstrilm, and learned that there was a machine that could open small holes between worlds. By combining their will, the Artheril could merge the two universes together, and survive the heat death. All the Artheril agreed, except for one—Hemsakan, the most powerful and benevolent of the pantheon, who could see the terrible future it would bring. Without his consent, the portal could not be widened. Karsakan, however, allied himself with Hemsakan’s wife, Nehiluhim, and tricked Hemsakan into assuming a mortal form. Karsakan slew him with a stone, and his will was redistributed among the remaining Artheril, as they are all ultimately different aspects of the same power. Unbeknownst to them, this would alter their fundamental nature—their personalities became twisted and their forms monstrous, as well as the nature and form of their creations, the mortal beings of Arther. The joining allowed a great migration of the Artheril and their peoples to arrive in Erstrilm, but the violence of the merger had incredible consequences. Not only did it alter the the Artheril, but the time line of Erstrilm became ‘multipositioned’, and certain historical events seem not to have taken place, though people still have memories of them. Additionally, many humanoid offshoots and unexplored avenues of evolution now call Erstrilm their home, and in their memory always have. After the destruction of Vyshac, the global superpower of the old world, humanity would quickly succumb to the magic using armies of monsters from Arther. Only the militant civilization of Swordhome would be able to survive, retreating to the icy northern reaches of Suskern, where many of the ectothermic Artherilian peoples had difficulty surviving.