The Fracturing
The Weave Unravels, the Leylines Weaken
The Forsakening was not a single moment, nor was it a clean break—it was a slow, agonizing unraveling, the splintering of the cosmos itself. The Weave, once the invisible hand that guided all things, did not simply disappear; it fractured, splintering into echoes of what it once was. And though the Leylines persisted, they were left without direction, their currents wild and untamed.
In the wake of this catastrophe, magic faltered, reality warped, and the fundamental forces that held the world together began to break. What was once certain became uncertain. What was once law became suggestion. The divine, the arcane, and even the mundane struggled to find footing in a world where the rules had changed—or had ceased to exist at all.
This was not merely the end of an age. It was the breaking of the known world.
The Breaking of the Weave
To understand the depth of the Weave’s fall, one must first understand that it was not simply a means of controlling magic. It was the structure that ensured magic obeyed laws, rather than simply existing as an uncontrollable force. When it shattered, magic did not disappear—it became wild, erratic, untamed.
The Fall of Spellcasting:
For those who wielded magic, the change was immediate and devastating. Spells that once worked with precision became unpredictable. Some mages found their power suddenly amplified, their magic surging beyond their control, while others were left powerless, their spells fizzling into nothingness. Divine magic suffered as well—the gods themselves, once connected to mortals through the Weave, found their influence diminished, their voices distant. Clerics and paladins would call for their patrons and hear only silence, or worse—something else answering in their place.
- Spells unravel mid-casting, consuming their casters or warping into unintended effects.
- Entire schools of magic flicker in and out of existence—necromancy becomes momentarily absolute, while evocation weakens to a whisper.
- Longstanding enchantments fracture, allowing the forgotten dead to rise or sealed horrors to walk free.
The Tears in Reality:
The Weave was not just a guide for magic—it was the boundary between worlds. Without it, the borders between planes weakened, creating rifts where once there had been stability. Where the Weave had once ensured that time flowed forward and dimensions remained distinct, now there were cracks—places where past and future bled into the present, where one step could take you into a different realm entirely.
- Ethereal echoes of the past linger in the world, replaying moments over and over, unable to resolve.
- Random portals open and close, spilling creatures from one reality into another with no warning.
- Some locations become "unanchored," drifting between worlds, appearing only when the shifting magic aligns.
Even those untouched by magic felt the fracture. Time stuttered. The sun would set, only to rise again moments later. Storms would rage for weeks, then vanish in an instant. Crops rotted overnight, while forgotten ruins were restored as if they had never crumbled. The Weave had dictated what should be—and now, without it, the world no longer knew what was real.
The Leylines Falter
The Leylines, the raw undercurrents of power that flowed beneath all things, had always existed independently of the Weave, but they had never been uncontrolled. They were the lifeblood of creation, but the Weave had served as the skeleton that gave them form. Now, with the Weave gone, the Leylines ran wild—some overcharged with energy, others drained to nothing.
Wild Magic Storms:
Where once the Leylines had followed carefully structured paths, they now twisted and surged unpredictably. This led to the birth of wild magic storms—tempests of raw arcane energy that rolled across the land, leaving behind unpredictable devastation.
- In some places, those caught within the storm were transformed—humans waking as elves, warriors finding their swords alive with sentience, entire villages becoming frozen in time.
- Other storms left zones of complete nullification, where magic simply ceased to function, and even the gods themselves could not reach.
- Some storms twisted the land itself—forests growing overnight, mountains collapsing into dust, cities sinking beneath the waves with no warning.
Dead Zones and Overcharged Fields:
Not all areas were affected equally. Some places became voids, where the Leylines had drained completely, leaving behind unnatural "dead zones"—regions where even the natural forces of life and death struggled to function. In these places:
- Fire refuses to burn, water becomes still, and the very air hangs heavy, as if reality itself has forgotten to move.
- Those who step into such places feel an unnatural exhaustion, their lifeforce slowly fading as if being pulled away.
- The dead do not decompose here—they linger, untouched by time, their forms preserved in eerie stillness.
Conversely, some areas became overcharged, flooded with raw power where the Leylines surged unchecked. In these places:
- Magic is magnified—a simple spell might summon a hurricane, a minor healing spell might restore lost limbs or age the target into dust.
- The land itself becomes conscious, infused with energy—forests whisper, rivers change course, and mountains rise overnight as the terrain reshapes itself.
- Time fractures entirely—a traveler might step forward, only to find centuries have passed around them, or that they have not aged while the world has moved on.
The Aftermath: A World in Chaos
In the wake of the Weave’s unraveling, nothing remained untouched. Nations fell as their defenses crumbled overnight—wards that had held for centuries failed, and locked horrors emerged from their prisons. Kingdoms that relied on divine guidance found their gods eerily silent, their priests grasping for meaning in a world where their prayers went unanswered.
Scholars and sages scrambled to make sense of the changes. Some believed the Weave could be restored. Others sought to forge something new in its place. And still others saw opportunity in the chaos, believing that power unshackled was power at its truest form.
But there was one truth none could deny:
The world would never be the same again.
The Question That Remains
The Weave was broken, but its remnants still lingered—faint echoes of what once was, scattered throughout the world. Some believe these remnants could be gathered, reforged, and the balance restored. Others seek only to reshape the world in their own vision, forging something new from the wreckage.
And yet, the Leylines still flow. If the Weave is never restored, will the world eventually stabilize on its own? Or will reality continue to erode, dissolving into a chaos from which there is no return?
There is no clear answer. Only uncertainty. Only questions.
And only those who remain can decide what comes next.
