The Forsakening
The Forsakening
A Treatise by the Arcane Citadel
Introduction: The Death of Harmony
There was once an age when the cosmos was whole. The First Light burned at the heart of all things, a radiant force that guided the divine, structured the Weave, and held the balance of reality together. The Leylines pulsed with stability, channeling creation’s lifeblood through the realms. The 32 Cosmic Pathways stood unbroken, bridging the heavens, the mortal plane, and the void beyond.
That age has passed.
The Forsakening was no simple disaster, no natural cycle of decay—it was a cataclysm that shattered the cosmic order itself. The First Light is gone, and with its disappearance, the Weave has frayed, the Leylines have fractured, and the roads between worlds have collapsed. The gods wage silent wars over the ruins of their broken thrones, magic has become unpredictable, and the multiverse itself drifts toward an unknown fate.
But the cause of this great unraveling remains the subject of endless debate.
Some believe it was Lucifer, the First Bearer of Light, who caused the Forsakening, his ambitions or his failure leading to the fall of the heavens. Others insist it was the heavens themselves, that the gods and celestial archons brought about the disaster in their arrogance and greed. A third belief is that no one was truly responsible—that the First Light simply faded as all things must, or that an unseen cosmic force, perhaps something beyond even the gods, played a hand in its demise.
The truth is shrouded in uncertainty, hidden beneath eons of lost history, conflicting accounts, and divine silence. But two figures remain central to all versions of the story:
- Lucifer, the First Bearer of Light, the Eternal Sentinel of Limbo.
- The Matron of the Weave, the Exiled Keeper of Creation’s Threads.
Their existence is not in question—history records their deeds, their works, and their eventual exile from celestial affairs. What remains unknown is the role they played in the Forsakening itself.
Were they victims? Betrayers? Saviors? Or something else entirely?
The Cosmic Pathways Shattered
The 32 Great Cosmic Pathways, once the roads between realms, are now broken and corrupted.
- The Astral Sea is now a fragmented wasteland, no longer navigable by thought.
- The Infernal Road, once a prison for the damned, has twisted into a domain of madness.
- The Star Roads, once highways of fate, now lead only to oblivion.
Many who enter these roads never return, their fates unknown, their existence erased.
The Rise of the Pathless: Beings Unmoored from Reality
Those who traveled the Cosmic Pathways at the time of the Forsakening were warped by the event, giving rise to new, unnatural beings.
- Some mutated beyond recognition, becoming eldritch horrors that drift between realms.
- The Forsakenborn, a new race born outside the influence of the First Light, now walk the cosmos—neither mortal nor divine, but something new.
A Universe on the Brink
The Forsakening has left the multiverse standing at the precipice of an uncertain future. Across the fractured cosmos, gods wither in obscurity, celestial roads lie in ruin, magic fluctuates like a dying ember, and the very laws of existence bend and break in ways once thought impossible.
The Six Great Cosmic Forces—Aether (Holy), Nether (Shadow), Death’s Cycle (Death), The World Tree (Life), The Matron’s Weave (Order), and Oblivion (Disorder)—are no longer in harmony. Their war for control, survival, or annihilation rages on, each force seeking a path forward, whether through restoration, conquest, or destruction.
And yet, despite all the suffering, all the entropy, and all the collapse, there are those who continue to fight—not just to survive, but to answer the question that now defines all existence:
Restoration or Reinvention?
Does the multiverse have a future?
Some believe that the First Light can be rekindled, that the Weave can be reforged, the Leylines can be repaired, and the old order can be restored.
- Lucifer’s Chosen and the Seekers of the First Light believe in this path, hoping that the Twigs of Fate, the Leystone Codex, and Lilith’s lost knowledge will provide the key to healing what was broken.
- The Guardians of the Celestial Stair fight to rebuild the lost pathways between realms, believing that if the roads of divinity can be restored, then perhaps the gods and their order can return.
But others believe that the Forsakening was not a disaster—it was a transition.
- They argue that the First Light was never meant to last forever, that this is merely another cycle of cosmic change, and that a new era must emerge, free from the laws of the old order.
- Some seek to reshape magic itself, forging new kinds of arcane energy, severed from the Weave, creating something entirely new rather than attempting to repair what was lost.
- Others believe that mortals should take the place of gods, and that the celestial thrones should remain vacant, never again to be filled by ancient and fallible deities.
And then there are those who believe that there is no salvation to be found at all—that the unraveling is inevitable, final, and necessary.
- The Forsworn Prophets and Oblivion’s Cults claim that existence itself is a flawed construct, and that the Forsakening is not to be undone, but completed.
- They actively accelerate the unraveling, seeking to consume what remains and let the Spiral of Oblivion erase all things, believing that only from complete dissolution can something truly new be born.
Who is right? Who is wrong? The cosmos itself has not yet decided.
The Arcane Citadel’s Role in Unraveling the Mystery
In the midst of the chaos and division, one institution remains dedicated to understanding the true nature of the Forsakening—the Arcane Citadel.
A bastion of knowledge, magic, and forbidden research, the Citadel has gathered the greatest scholars, arcanists, and planar navigators in existence, all working toward one goal:
To uncover the truth.
- They seek to map the shifting leylines, studying the dead zones, the wild magic storms, and the Weave Scars in order to understand how magic is evolving.
- They research ancient celestial records, divine ruins, and lost prophecies, hoping to uncover the true nature of the First Light and the Forsakening itself.
- They gather survivors of Oblivion, studying those who have touched the Spiral and returned, looking for patterns, signs, and warnings.
- Some within the Citadel push for restoration, believing that with enough knowledge, the First Light can be rekindled.
- Others, however, believe that restoration is impossible, and that the only path forward is to accept and adapt to the new reality.
As the war between the Six Forces rages, the scholars of the Arcane Citadel work in secret, racing to decipher the future before the cosmos decides for itself.
Final Reflections: The Nature of Reality
What is happening to the multiverse?
Is it breaking apart, crumbling into chaos, destined to be consumed by Oblivion?
Or is this merely the next stage of evolution, a cosmic metamorphosis that will give rise to something beyond the understanding of even gods?
For millennia, the First Light was seen as eternal, unshakable, the foundation of all things—but perhaps that was never the truth. Perhaps existence is not meant to be bound by a single, unwavering force.
Perhaps the unraveling is not an end, but a beginning.
- If the Twigs of Fate can be gathered, the Weave may yet be reforged—but what form will it take?
- If the Leystone Codex is uncovered, it may hold the key to rekindling the First Light—but should it be rekindled, or should something new take its place?
- If the Celestial Stair is rebuilt, the divine order may return—but do the gods deserve another chance?
- And if Oblivion consumes all, will there truly be nothing left… or is there something waiting beyond the void?
The Forsakening has not yet reached its final stage—the multiverse still stands at the brink, awaiting its fate.
But in the end, the choice will not belong to the gods, nor the ancient forces of creation.
It will belong to those who stand upon the ruins of the old order, who grasp the last threads of the Weave, who walk the dying branches of Yggdrasil, who stare into the abyss and refuse to fall.
It will belong to those who seek the First Light, whatever form it may take.
This is not the end.
This is the moment before the future is decided.
And when the time comes, when the choice is upon them…
What will they choose?
Beyond the Forsakening: What Comes Next?
As the war for the future of existence continues, new questions arise:
- If the First Light returns, will it be the same, or something new?
- If magic is reforged, will mortals still control it, or will it become something beyond their grasp?
- If the Spiral of Oblivion continues to grow, is there a final threshold—one that, if crossed, will mean true and permanent annihilation?
- Is there something waiting beyond the unraveling—something no one has yet foreseen?
The answers remain unknown.
The only certainty is that the universe stands on the edge of something profound—whether salvation, destruction, or transcendence, none can yet say.
But the moment of decision is fast approaching.
And when it arrives, the fate of the cosmos will be written—one last time.
