Calamity
The Calamity is the single most devastating event in the history of the Eternal Universe, marking the end of the Age of Eternals and the beginning of the Present Age. It was an event so catastrophic that it fractured reality itself, merging planes, rewriting cosmic laws, and leaving an indelible scar on existence. The Calamity is the dividing line of history, so much so that all recorded time is classified as either Before Calamity (BC) or After Calamity (AC).
Origins of the Calamity
The Calamity was the culmination of centuries of conflict during the Eternal War, a brutal struggle between the Rebel Ones, led by Tardok, and the Loyal Ones, who remained faithful to The Seven. The war erupted when some Eternal Servants, realizing that their Eternal Shards bound them to the will of their creators, sought freedom. Their defiance led to an all-out war that consumed the planes of existence, distorting the balance of the Eternal Universe.
As the war dragged on, the Rebel Ones realized they could not match The Seven’s power. Desperate for victory, Tardok and his followers created the Unstable Shard, a construct of immense and unpredictable power, forged from the shattered fragments of destroyed Eternal Shards. The Unstable Shard was meant to break the control of The Seven once and for all—but it did far more than that.
The Moment of Catastrophe
In a final, fateful battle, Tardok activated the Unstable Shard within the Eternal Plane, intending to use its energy to shatter the bonds that controlled the Rebel Ones. But the Shard was too volatile. The immense concentration of Eternal Essence within it ruptured, creating a chain reaction that cascaded across every Plane of Existence. The result was a reality-breaking explosion that shattered the very fabric of the universe.
The force of the detonation was so immense that it caused the temporary collapse of planar boundaries, leading to a great convergence where all planes of existence overlapped in a single moment of unimaginable chaos. Mountains crumbled, oceans boiled, and the stars themselves flickered as reality was rewritten.
Consequences of the Calamity
The aftermath of the Calamity reshaped existence in ways that scholars still struggle to understand.
Fracturing of the Planes
The most immediate consequence was the permanent destabilization of the planes. Where once the different realms of existence had been clearly separated, they now bled into each other. Some sections of the Material Plane were permanently altered, with landscapes infused with energies from the Elemental Planes, creating regions of uncontrolled magic and unnatural phenomena.
The Imprisonment of The Seven
The One, enraged by the destruction, intervened for the first and only recorded time since creation. In judgment, The One imprisoned The Seven within the Eternal Plane, sealing them away behind the Eternal Gate, an impenetrable barrier of pure Eternal Essence. With their creators bound and unable to act, the remaining Eternals and mortals were left to rebuild the universe on their own.
The Disappearance of the Rebel Ones
As for the Rebel Ones, none survived the Calamity. The explosion of the Unstable Shard obliterated them entirely, leaving only remnants of their essence scattered across the universe. Some believe that traces of their souls still linger in hidden places, waiting to be rediscovered or reawakened.
The Ruin of the Eternal Plane
Once the seat of divine power, the Eternal Plane was devastated beyond recognition. Once a realm of pure, harmonious energy, it was now a place of shifting voids, broken landscapes, and chaotic magic. The few remaining Eternals were forced into isolation, unable to escape their now-fractured home.
The Creation of the Shattered Lands
The Material Plane, while less affected than the Eternal Plane, was still deeply scarred. Entire regions were torn from reality, forming floating ruins, void-chasms, and places where time and space no longer functioned correctly. Some of these areas became known as the Shattered Lands, still unstable and incredibly dangerous even in the Present Age.
The Fall of Magic
Before the Calamity, magic had been a stable and predictable force. After the explosion, the rules governing magic became far less reliable. The flow of Eternal Essence was disrupted, leading to the creation of wild magic zones, where spells could fail or produce unintended effects. This forced mages and scholars to rediscover and refine their understanding of magic in the centuries that followed.
The Beginning of the Present Age
With The Seven imprisoned and the Rebel Ones annihilated, the universe had lost its guiding forces. Mortals, once mere creations under divine rule, now found themselves alone in a world without absolute authority. The age that followed became one of adaptation and survival, as civilizations sought to rebuild in the wake of the catastrophe.
Scholarly Study of the Calamity
Among those seeking to understand the true extent of the Calamity’s effects are the Magisters, who have dedicated centuries of research to unraveling the mysteries of what truly transpired. Many scholars within the Grand Library tirelessly study the Unstable Shard, hoping to uncover how it was forged and why it reacted with such devastating force. Their research extends beyond theoretical knowledge, as some believe that remnants of the Unstable Shard’s energy still linger across the universe, subtly influencing reality in ways yet to be understood.
These Magisters attempt to chart the long-term effects of the Calamity, from distortions in magic to the fractured state of the planes. While they seek knowledge above all, there is a quiet fear among them: if the Unstable Shard was once created, could something like it be forged again? And if so, would the universe survive another catastrophe of such magnitude?
The Legacy of the Calamity
Even centuries later, the effects of the Calamity are still felt across the Eternal Universe. Some scholars theorize that the universe never fully recovered, and that the current structure of reality is only a fragile shell over a deeper instability. Others believe that traces of the Unstable Shard’s energy still exist, hidden in lost ruins or buried in the far reaches of space.
Legends persist that one day, the Eternal Gate may break, unleashing The Seven once more. Whether this would be a blessing or a curse remains unknown. What is certain is that the Calamity marked the end of an era, a moment of irrevocable change that forever reshaped the course of history.
As civilizations rise and fall in the Present Age, one truth remains: the universe is still healing, and the echoes of the Calamity have yet to fade.
A representation of the explosion caused by the Unstable Shard.
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