The Vanishing

The Vanishing is an event which marks the ending of the time known as "Before Vanishing" and the beginning of the current time, "After Vanishing."

The Vanishing happened quite suddenly, but wasn't noticed for a short time. When the Vanishing occurred, many deities in Galactus abruptly ended contact with the mortal world. Those who remained, like Vitalis and Vytos, lessened their contact but could not let the mortals go. No one is sure exactly what happened, but there has been no explanation. While some deities have returned to slight contact, several others remain missing. These deities are Althea, Metsli, Termin, Ceria, and Xitos. Many temples to these deities shut down after their patron went missing, though some continue to run, denying that anything may have gone wrong. However, because it has been so long since the Vanishing, many mortals have stopped believing in these deities unless they encounter one of the remaining powers. Occasionally, someone will claim they have met a missing deity, but usually these stories are disbelieved.

There has been no particular concern for the whereabouts of the five deities. Mortals have either stopped believing in them, or are holding on to the hope that they are simply busy with divine affairs. After all, as many argue, the moon still moves in the sky, time still runs, and birth and death still occur. Likewise, craftsmanship has not suffered from the absence of Xitos.

Since the Vanishing, the deities have been more tense. In more recent times, with the first recorded observation around AV 950, the oceans have become an inhospitable place. Monsters are more frequent, and storms on open waters are more intense. Sometimes, sailors report sightings on the horizon of a figure made of boiling waves silhouetted against flashes of lightning. Scholars of the divine argue that this might be connected to the missing Metsli, as Pyara, the deity of the sea, was in love with the moon deity.