Doom Bell

Related Myths

The Toll of Storms: It is said the bell now tolls on its own whenever a Static Storm brews nearby, even though its clapper was broken centuries ago.

Frozen Sound: Some Kiwta myths claim those who hear it during a storm are “pulled into the silence of the Downfallen” — lost to time itself.

The Ashkeeper’s Cry: The Pecou say the sound is not the bell at all, but the echo of the Kiwta who rang it last, forever locked in warning.

Related Materials

Volcanic bronze alloy, obsidian fragments (believed part of the clapper), and ash-fused crystalline veins formed when the Static Storm struck.

Mechanics & Inner Workings

The bell is broken — it cannot be rung by hand anymore. Yet, during Static Storms, arcane resonance passes through the alloy, causing vibrations. Scholars debate whether this is:

• A natural harmonic amplified by atmospheric distortion,
or
• A supernatural echo tied to the city’s destruction.

Manufacturing Process

Ore mined from volcanic veins.

Smelted and purified with ash-tempering.

Bronze poured into a massive stone mold.

Obsidian clapper carved and fitted.

Tuned by repeated heating, cooling, and striking to achieve resonance.

The original Kiwta forges that produced it are buried beneath layers of ash and storm-scorched rubble.

Significance

Historical: The Doom Bell once hung in the citadel of Aruven, a fortified Kiwta trade city on the Northern Isle and was considered the voice of the Alliance during the final phase of The Triad Wars. When it rang, it did not toll for victory or ceremony — it was the warning that the Alliance stood united against annihilation. The sound carried for leagues across the ice cliffs and sea, calling armies and citizens alike to shelter or defense.

Religious/Cultural: After the wars, the bell came to embody both mourning and endurance. The Kiwta called it The Voice of Remembrance, while the Pecou and Ta- referred to it as The Last Cry. The surviving fragments are considered sacred by all three races. They believe that the bell absorbed the final pleas of the dying and continues to echo them during Static Storms.

Symbolic: To hear the Doom Bell toll during a storm — even though it has lain broken for centuries — is said to mean the veil between past and present has thinned. Some interpret the sound as a warning of oncoming disaster; others see it as a reminder that peace is always fragile, and that vigilance preserves survival.

Modern Archaeological Importance: Fragments of the Doom Bell are among the most sought-after artifacts of the Triad Era. The surviving half, lodged within the ruins of Aruven’s citadel, is believed to still resonate faintly during intense electrical storms. Attempts to move or restore it have failed — the metal cracks anew each time it’s struck, as though rejecting repair. Scholars now treat it as both a historical monument and a geological anomaly, a fusion of metallurgy and mysticism.

History

The tone was deliberately designed to resonate across air, stone, and water, uniting distant settlements under a single alarm call. During the closing years of the Triad Wars, the bell tolled before every major battle. Its last sanctioned ringing came when the Shadowfront Offensive approached Aruven. Oral histories claim it rang thirteen times before the assault — a grim prophecy that the thirteenth ring would break the world.

When a Static Storm, a cataclysmic convergence of raw energy and magnetic chaos, struck the isle, Aruven and much of its coastline collapsed into the sea. The bell fell with the citadel, half buried in ash and submerged rubble. Survivors reported that even as the storm raged, the bell rang on its own, its final tolls echoing beneath the waves. The Northern Isle was never fully resettled.

After humans landed on Nisa, archaeologists located the remnants of Aruven. The Doom Bell’s broken half was found embedded in a cliff face, still fused to the melted tower it once hung from. When exposed to electromagnetic fluctuations, it emits a low hum that matches early records of its wartime tone.

Today, the Northern Isle Ruins are a restricted zone due to unstable terrain and unpredictable Static activity. The bell remains in situ, partly claimed by the sea. On rare nights when the aurora burns green, locals claim to hear the bell’s voice rising from the water — not in alarm, but in remembrance.