The Fracturing

"A war that broke more than a people—it broke their place in the world."

There was a time when the Mistkin and humans lived side by side. They shared river paths and mountain valleys, laughter and labor. Though Mistkin aged slower and carried magic in their bones, they made no effort to dominate or deceive. Their emotional connection to rain, mist, and memory was strange, but not feared—at first.

At the heart of Mistkin culture stood Saelenreach, a sacred sanctuary carved beneath the mountain. There, Echoweavers trained to shape grief, memory, and emotion into tangible resonance. Saelenreach wasn’t a secret, but it wasn’t meant for human minds—its magic responded to empathy, not logic.

When a group of humans trespassed into Saelenreach, they returned altered—disoriented, rambling, even violent. Whispers began. The Mistkin were hiding something. Hoarding power. Possessing minds. Fear turned to policy. Laws shifted. Raids began. And then someone gave the order that could not be undone.

Saelenreach was destroyed.

The destruction did more than break stone. The soul of the mountain fractured, unraveling sacred magics woven over generations. From its ruin, something poisonous and sorrowful was born:
The Hollow Beneath—a twisted echo of the sanctuary, pulsing with memory and grief too raw to be held.

As human cities grew more fearful and militant, the Mistkin knew they would not survive open war. The remaining Raincallers gathered in Pluvia, the last unspoiled lowland, and performed the Veilbinding—a desperate spell that cloaked their home from the world, making it visible only when it rains.

And with that, the Mistkin vanished.

Aftermath

• The Hollowing: A mysterious condition afflicting humans exposed to the Hollow’s magic
• The Veiltouched: Mistkin awakened by grief and resonance, often changed in body and soul
• Tears of the Deep: A rare tea brewed from sorrow-soaked blossoms still growing in the ruins
• The Rainfolk Myth: To humans, the Mistkin became folklore—"Rainfolk" seen only in storms
• Pluvia City was founded and veiled with magic