Eternity Keys
The last seven keepers stared into the long abyss of extinction. Seven minds made the one choice that promised Tairos survival among the infinite paths toward apocalypse. Seven souls became seven keys and locked away that which will forge the future.
The Eternity Keys open a lock that bars the way to one of Tairos' greatest secrets. Ages ago, before the rise of even Melanthris, Tairos stood on the brink of a terrible disaster. Tribe after tribe, species after species, all faced judgement at the hands of the Golden God of Skyrir. Those that fit within his grand design were sparred; those that did not were condemned to ash and every trace of their existences burned away with them.
One such people were the ancestors of the Scaly Folk, who stood for a time as a bulwark against the exterminations carried out by the zealots of the Golden God. They were powerful, enlightened, and a constant reminder to their great enemy that perhaps he'd lost sight of the purpose behind his work. History may very well have been written differently had the Keepers full focus been on the world around them and not the stars above. The study of the Gates, the Leylines of other worlds, and the nature of magic itself so preoccupied them that by the time war reached their doorstep it too late change the tides. Island by Island their people were slaughter by the Skyriran legions and priests of the Golden God till all that remained their last temple-city, a place of great power who's might rivaled even that of the Golden God's Throne Realm.
It's said that no mortal magic could pierce the barrier of the keepers' home but this would not stop the wrath of the Golden God. It became evident that his divine power would eventually sunder their wards so they prepared to abandon Tairos for now and retreat through their gate and to the heavens above. Legends say the Golden God learned of this plan and refused to accept anything less than the total eradication of his hated foes. None, not even the Keepers themselves, could imagine the lengths the wrathful deity would go to in order to see them dead. Myths speak of the hand of the Golden God pulling fire and stone from the sky, and hurling it down upon their island home. All that was left behind was the Tairuk Pebbles, or so the story goes.
It is here that the story of the Eternity Keys begins.
Legends told by the Tairuk Tribes speak of the final twilight of the Keepers. Flame and ruination fell from above and the temple-city burned and yet the Golden God was not satisfied. His hand plucked a stone from the heavens larger than any other and cast it down upon them, ensuring that not only would his foes be defeated, but utterly erased off the face of the land. Amid the devastation the last seven Keepers gathered. They knew that in the wake of their extinction the Golden God would find their greatest treasure and misuse it as he had misused all his gifts before. Instead, they created the Eternity Door and placed behind it the most magnificent of their many wonders before sealing it closed with seven locks. The Keepers then forged keys to those locks, giving their lives in the process, and scattering them across the Tairos Island Chain without the Golden God noticing. They knew that even death would not be an escape from his power and that their souls could be wrenched back and forced to open the locks. Instead, the keys were made in the fires of their very essence, burning away body and spirit entirely... leaving nothing for the dread deity to summon back.
Yet, in doing so, something of each of the keys' creators lived on. Each key is said to contain some portion of the knowledge and power of its maker. And yet, even though behind the Eternity Door lies a treasure beyond imagination, each key alone gives its wielder incredible gifts. Or so the story goes. The Tairuk tribes speak of those who dared tap into the essence within the keys. Some were able to use their key to provide sanctuary and relief to those in need, while most others simply unleashed the magic for their own personal gain. Whether altruistic or insidious the intention; the story of the key bearers is always brief and violent.
Today, the origin of these keys is a story lost to time. Few have every heard of them and those that have see it as nothing more than other tale told by the primitives of the deep jungle. However; a rare few do believe. Men like the infamous Captain Salavar's and Damien Harkon scour the Tairuk Islands looking to unite the keys once more and claim the prize for themselves. The Keepers made their sacrifice in the hopes that someone worthy of inheriting this legacy would one day unite the keys and open the Eternity Door. Men like Salavar and Harkon only serve to show how futile such a hope could be. Worse still, whispers in the dark corners of Tairos say the eye of the Golden God has again returned to Tairos and if such a thing is true than destroying the last fragment of his old enemies will be of the highest priority.
The Seven Eternity Keys
- Water Key
- Time Key
- Knowledge Key
- Life Key
- Death Key
- Star Key
- Sun Key
Mechanics & Inner Workings
It is unknown how exactly the keys function. They appear simply as stone keys with decorative heads. Each key also possesses one or more colorful gems in the head. It is believed that these gems are what hold the essence of the Keeper within. It is thought that the gem acts as the reservoir and the stone key the conduit by which the magic is accessed. The key would likely be powerless without the stone and the stone's magic inaccessible without the key.
Manufacturing process
Each key required the sacrifice of a Keeper's body and spirit to create. The ritual used to accomplish this is either destroyed or buried at the bottom of the ocean with the rest of their civilizations
Significance
The keys are especially important to the Tairuk Tribes who see them as symbols of the wisdom of the old Keepers. They would be treated like holy relics by the tribes if they were ever able to get their hands on one. Because the content of the Eternity Gate is unknown it cannot be said how significant the keys might be to the other nations of Tairos. However; due to the magical potential of each individual key they would be cherished simple as items of great power.
Item type
Magical
Current Location
Rarity
Unique items. There is nothing like them in the whole of Tairos. It is unknown if they can be destroyed or replicated
Raw materials & Components
The keys seem to be made of solid limestone or dolomite. The gems vary in stone type though all appear to be precious gems of incredibly quality and cut
Tools
It's believed these were shaped by the magic used by the last seven Keepers, as such, no special tooling was required
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