The Breaking, The Aftermath, and Future Calamity.

Submitted for consideration of the Council of Toft

Much has been said in the years that followed the event known as “The Breaking” about how it came to be and why it occurred. Among the higher conversations in Toft, the word most often used is hubris. Others say that it was arrogance or naivety. I posit that the real answer is the thing that drives most of us here in Toft to continue our efforts day after day: a thirst for knowledge and to prove that we Gandbera can do the impossible.

To understand I searched the records back to the days prior to the Breaking to see if I could trace the origin of our involvement with the event itself, as well as the events that precipitated them. I searched both the Viatori’s own records, the records in the Blue Tower, and The Archive in the High Temple of Odin All-Father in the Godholme of Skali to gather the best picture of the event and the aftermath. It is the aftermath that remains the most concerning as it appears that we are facing events that may end up destroying all of Enga.

The Cause

I began my research by searching records in Skali. In the records there, I found numerous references to what the priests there called “The Receding”. It appears that for some reason unknown to the priests, after thousands of years of easy communications between the priests and the Aesir it ended. Sometime in 6 BB, the Aesir withdrew and ceased all communication. While the nature of the communication isn’t something I looked into (despite an intense curiosity about it) it was apparent in reading the records that collectively, the priests all over Enga were no longer able to talk with the gods.

“...and the question becomes, where might they have gone? What have we done wrong to fall from their graces…”

- Letter to fellow priest from Gothi, Temple of Freya, Lofot, c. Mid 6 BB

“…We need answers. You are the Hoystr Gothi, if you have the same sense that the Aesir have withdrawn fro Enga, we should know…”

- Letter addressed to the Hoystr Gothi at Skali by a Senior Gothi, Temple of Odin All-Father, Alfsnes c. Late 6 BB

“…It's a a matter of whether we can withstand this. The Aesir have withdrawn their guidance. Can we do this on our own?…”

- Letter from the Hoystr Gothi at Ulf to the Hoystr Gothi at Skali, c. End 6 BB

“…the silence these past months has been profound. Where once I heard the Aesir regularly, now they are a faded, absent voice…”

- Unknown Gothi, Personal Journal, Temple of Thor, Goodalir, c. Early 5 BB

The records also indicated that even though the priests weren’t in direct communication with the Aesir, the divine powers granted to them still functioned. For some, this was sufficient to sustain their beliefs and faith. Others struggled. Throughout 5 BB, this struggle became a rift between the different temples and priesthoods. Since none could agree on what the best course of action was, the Hoystr Gothi stepped in.

“…This insistence that we no longer have divine mandate, is lunacy. Can we not still heal? Do the people not still trust our guidance?…”

-Unknown Gothi, Letter to fellow Gothi, Temple of Baldr, c. Mid 5 BB

“…Without their guidance, what right do we have to tell the people what they should do to honor the Aesir? At this point, we are just making it up!…”

- Response to the above, Temple of Heimdal, c. Mid 5 BB

The Hoystr Gothi in Skali issued a series of orders designed to put the faithful at ease. These orders were for both the priesthood and the common people. In the orders destine for the priests ministering to the common people, it seems that the goal was to hide this receding from the populace. Whether it was to keep power for the Godholmes, or to prevent panic by the people, the priests were ordered to essentially hold the line and say that nothing had changed. For the priests, there was a general recall back to their assigned Godholme. Only 1 in 25 priests was permitted to remain with the people to tend to the spiritual needs of the populace.

“…Thus, as Gothi, it is your duty to keep the people calm. There will be no mention of the Aesir receding. It would shake this civilization, fragile as it is, to the core to know that the gods may have abandoned us. Do not tell them. Any Gothi found to have spread what will now be referred to as a vile rumor, will be cast out and put to death for heresy. You have been warned…”

-Hoystr Gothi, High Temps of Odin All-Father, Godholme of Skali, c. Early 4 BB

Since the messages were sent by Raven to all but the largest cities and travel methods were slow, it took a very long time to get the priests back to the Godholmes. In the meantime, the Hoystr Gothi’s of each Godholme debated the best course. In the end, the Hoystr Gothi of Skali deemed that Prayer and Faith would be the best course of action.

Thus the Endless Prayer began. Each priest would spend all available waking hours praying, Allowances were made for sleep and food, but all other time was spent in prayer. One has to admire the level of faith the priests must have had to keep this going. In some temples, they even continue today, more than 400 years later.

After several years, it became obvious to the Hoystr Gothi that this wasn’t going to work. In communications between them, it is obvious that they are not in agreement on the proper course of action. I believe this is when the Hoystr Gothi of Ulf decided to go his own way.

Since the records of Ulf are no longer available, there is no way of knowing what was being decided there. We do know from our records here n Toft that at some point just before 1 BB, the Hoystr Gothi at Ulf contacted the Council of Toft (at that time only 6 Gandbera) and requested assistance to solve the problem. The communications were significantly vague enough that the whole council traveled to Ulf at the the Hoystr Gothi’s request.

Records indicate that at the time, the Council felt this was an opportunity to build good will toward Toft by the priesthood. Given that things are at best “frosty” between the Gandbera and the wider world, this was seen as a chance to change it. Additionally, most of the council felt curious and If there is something that we as a people have a hard time walking away from, it is a riddle.

Upon traveling to Ulf they found that the priests wanted them to assist in contacting the Aesir. At the time, the Collegium Planorum had mad significant strides in research of other plans, and so it was presumed the solution would be simple. The Council informed the Hoystr Gothi they would need time to research the best way to approach the problem and requested a year to do so. Although it is recorded that eh Hoystr Gothi was unhappy with this result, he had no choice and agreed.

“It could be said that the Hoystr Gothi of Ulf is on the verge of madness. So profound is the loss of contact with the Aesir to him that he is desperate for any chance to return their favor. We can use this to our advantage and make great inroads with the priesthood if we can successfully provide them via magic what they request. For that reason…”

-Councilor Gunnar Halfdan, Collegium Planorum, c. Late 2 BB

In the records in the Blue Tower, it is said that they began work immediately. The Collegium Planorum reported that while they could open a portal to see most any plane for research into the nature of the planes, it was not a two way connection. Over the course of a number of months they were able to make the connection work both ways, but the portal was not stable. They posited that in order to successfully stabilize the portal and contact the Aesir, divine power might be a necessary component. Some of the Gothi traveled to Toft and in small experiments, they were able to stabilize a connection between Enga and Ysgard that might be useable to contact the Aesir.

After nearly a year, the spell was complete. Councilor Gunnar Halfdan of the Collegium Planorum was chosen by the council to lead the effort. Contact was made with the Hoystr Gothi in Ulf, informing him that they had a spell prepared, but that it would need the support of the priesthood to complete it. Records indicate that the Hoystr Gothi contacted the other Godholmes to seek assistance, but only the Godholme at Salas agreed. The official response from the Godholme at Skali, recorded in their archives:

“This plan is foolish. Interfering with the nature of the world is not the way to return to the graces of the Aesir. If you do this, it will cause calamity. There is no reason to take such a rash course of action. We will not help you if you take this path.”

- Hoystr Gothi, High Temple of Odin All-Father, Godholme of Skali

In order to ensure a successful connection, 3 of the Councilors traveled to Salas to direct the flow of Magic and Divine power there in a conduit through Enga to the Gandbera at Ulf. Then, that power would be combined with the Gandbera and Priests of Ulf. Councilor Halfdan would then open the connection, allowing the Hoystr Gothi to contact the Aesir.

On the decided day, the Gandbera and Priests in Salas began their spell, sending the power through Enga to the Godholme in Ulf. There, Councilor Halfdan, the remaining Councilors and 600 additional priests added the Salas power to the spell. Within moments, the connection snapped into place and Councilor Halfdan informed the Hoystr Gothi that he could begin attempting to make contact.

From the research records prior to the attempt, it seems that Councilor Halfdan felt that a direct connection to Asgrard (the realm of the Aesir) was not a wise idea. He felt that angering such powerful beings by magically invading their home realm would be foolhardy at best, insane at worse. For that reason, he chose to make the connection to Ysgard in an area near to Asgard, but not in Asgard itself.

Based on the reports of the Viatori observers that were monitoring from Toft via Observation Stones, when Councilor Halfdan announced that the spell was stable and that the Hoystr Gothi could begin his attempt to contact the Aesir, the Hoystr Gothi seized control of the spell. He then tried to pierce the realm of the Aesir directly in order to make contact. The observers reported that Councilor Halfdan attempted to regain control of the spell, but failed. The last observation reported was of the Hoystr Gothi saying “My gods,..I am sorry.” before the connection severed.

The Aftermath.

In the immediate days that followed, there was no way of knowing what had occurred. All communication with the Godholme at Ulf and Salas was lost. Attempts to magically travel to either location failed, often with detrimental side effects to the Gandbera that attempted.

The Viatori with members of both the Bellum Divinos and Scutum Album mounted expeditions to the two Godholmes in order to ascertain what happened. Safe teleportation locations were found, though hundreds of miles away from the cities. The two expeditions stayed in contact throughout the expedition, making daily progress reports to each other as well as to Toft.

To summarize the expeditions, they made their way to the cities, but found only ruins where once heavily populated cities once stood. No survivors or even bodies were found at either location. At the center of the cities, they found strange magical energies. Neither expedition was able to reach the site where the spell was cast citing some type of magical interference.

In the North at Ulf, the team observed that the spell appeared to have anchored an opening between Enga and the Ysgard realm of Jotenheim. The area around the spells casting point was frosted over and the surrounding area of the ruins much colder than normal for that time of year. They concluded that the link between Ysgard and Enga was causing part of Enga to become part of Jotenheim. Unable to directly interface with the spell, they left an Observation Stone and returned to Toft.

In the South at Salas, the team found much the same. The only real difference was in fire and magma at the spell site and an increase in temperature in the surrounding area. The conclusion they reached was that somehow this part of the spell became an anchor to the Ysgard realm of Muspelheim. The team as well left an Observation Stone for continued observation and returned to Toft.

“…Travel has been slow. For those of us used to moving about the world instantly, this has been the height of tedium. The weather has been uncharacteristically cool as well, something we didn’t plan for. Most of us are using magic to keep warm, but it is taxing to be constantly channeling…”

“…Nothing remains of the temple where the spell was cast. It has been annihilated. All that remains is an energy and frost. It is noticeably colder here too. We attempted to reach the center, but we're prevented by some magical barrier, the nature of which we can not determine…”

“…After 25 days of study, we can only determine that the spell cast during the attempt to contact the Aesir is still active. It’s anchored here, at the center of the slowly growing field of frost, protected by the barrier we can’t get past. We suspect the other side of the spell is anchored in Jotenheim, given the frost. For now, we have no way of severing the spell. It will take further research. For now we are returning to Toft…”

- Log excerpt, Expedition to Ulf

“…Even now, we can see magma seeping into our world from what we must assume is Muspelheim. If the city was not already destroyed, it would soon be. I can see no way that this can be stopped. Even if we could reach the spell site, I’m not sure we could withstand the elements…”

- Log Excerpt, Expedition to Salas

In the Godholme of Skali, after hearing the report, they marked an end to the calendar of the time before the spell and started over. An era had ended and a new one began, one without contact with the Aesir.

"In our arrogance, we have broken the world." - Hoystr Gothi, Temple of Odin All-Father, Godholme of Skali, 0 AB

Over the next 300 years, continued observation has shown a continuous spread of the realms of Jotenheim and Muspelheim into Enga. In the South, Fire Giants, their rest disturbed, have come forth from Muspelheim and wrought destruction upon any they found. Bitter but massive wars have been fought to force the giants back. Few make it back from these fights. Soon the entire south was fleeing north, looking for new land to settle free from the struggle. In the North, everything froze over. Rivers, lakes and fields that had once been idyllic now became a frozen wasteland, wandered and ruled by Frost Giants from Jotenheim. Unlike the Fire Giants, they do not attack unless disturbed, and let the villagers leave if they can. As a never ending winter has set in, the survivors have fled south in droves.

The spread of these two realms is constant but slow. Extrapolating, at its current rate, the two realms will meet along a line running approximately East-West at the location of the Godholme of Skali in another 900 years. What will occur at that point is not understood, but it is known that if we do not find a way to stop the spread and reverse the spell, no human, elf, gnome or dwarf will survive on this world. For that reason, a considerable amount of our resources should go into finding a solution to this problem, research must be given priority, and not treated as a lost cause.