Builders' Stagnation

Builders' Stagnation is an affliction that affects the vast majority of Builders that survived the fall of their civilization in the Shardscape realm now known as the Frostmere. Rather than being caused by a pathogen, curse, or enchantment, the Builders' Stagnation is instead caused by a lack of something vital that the Builders lost in the fall of their civilization: the blessing of the Titans.   Builders of the past who reached maturity would eventually undergo a metamorphosis that allowed them to embody their Prime form. This is catalyzed by mastery of runelore, and is enabled by something that is known as a Mark of Mastery, which essentially is the culmination of a particular Builder's knowledge of runelore. The involvement of the Titans was not strictly necessary, but the number of Builders who were able to manifest their own Mark of Mastery was vanishingly small. As the creators and true masters of runelore, the Titans had the ability to manifest Marks of Mastery. And for the vast majority of Builders, the Titans' intervention was the only way for them to reach their Prime form.   With the fall of Builder civilization and the functional death of the Titans as the Builders knew them, the mechanism by which the average Builder might gain their Mark of Mastery has been lost. This means that, for the vast majority of Builders, their lifetimes will be dramatically reduced. Instead of reaching their Prime form, they will become diminished and decrepit at the end of their lives. This is the result of Builders' Stagnation, and there are no known means to cure the condition.   Even the hero of the Builders of Orochtha, the Tålthjar Hrifvang, one of the only Builders to have become a Prime since the fall of the Builder civilization, has been unable to produce a means to resolve the root cause of Builders' Stagnation. For all his purported abilities, he is unable to manifest a Mark of Mastery for another.