Lore: Age of the Abyss

The morning goes by like any other in Luthericburg, It is the current year, fog hangs low and snow falls heavy. The small remains of the last kingdom of the age of the old gods has done well in the past decades; finally breaking back out to greater Malteria, Allying with the fledgling kingdom of the River Lords and even opening talks with the closer nation of Earasi. Yes all seemed well to Artorious II, the current leader of the Order Arcanus, standing on the balcony of his study watching the bustling city below he lets out a long breath one he had been holding for what seemed like ages. Letting out with the breath some stress, yes, he thought to himself maybe this coming age they could start finally working on curing the blighted blood of the Lutherics. He leans against the railing for a time before a tall thin Lutheric woman leans next to him, bedecked in long thin robes, tangled and frail looking almost like cobwebs. With a circlet with a Hags eye set in the center between the bone fetishes of a demon and a troll, this was the common garb of Trishyanka, the Orders Master of Augurs.

                        

Artorious, Master of Spells of the Order Arcanus.       Trishyanka, Master of Augurs. 

"Artorious...we need to speak. I'm afraid I've finally had the vision, the one Divined by the first Master Augur." The words escape her lips with the staccato of a requiems drum. Artorious stands tall and walks back to his study taking his pipe out and lighting it, he sits at his desk taking a long draw off the it letting the smoke fill his lungs to nearly choking then releases before speaking "I feared that we were nearing this day...Trish...The demons had become too active the last few decades..and this Farron of course showed up and organized them. We knew the Prophetic Seal was failing..they can only bide time never prevent what is set in stone." He signs deeply and takes another deep draw from his pipe. "How much time do we have?" Trishyanka closes her eyes and takes a breath quick and painful as if to reclaim something lost "Days, We have little recourse, I see that we WILL fight. Unlike the Nidalese of the past we will not become recluse and hide behind magic. No, we will fight, for Farron will finally make its move. I could not see what it seeks but it is with the Abyss itself. However much like now it only makes a point to fight us ignoring any other enemies." she pauses to catch her breath "It starts by contacting the Guardians of Oricalcos."  Those words hang heavy in the air to contact the prison created by the old gods for their enemies was a godly task itself. "Call the Magi together." He says turning to look to the Horizon, pondering the coming days.

Farron, The First Demon.

Deep below the earth of Nidal the demons are lead in mass by Farron itself. The large creature stands as tall as a palace lumbering with its long spindly limbs, Its rather small head with horns as long as a sapling oak swing as it turns to face the clergy on either side of itself. Farrons three eyes glowing of deep azure dart around as it speaks. "My dear family I have seen that in less than two moons we shall see the fall of the tower! I have seen it in the churning of the Abyss!" Farron reaches down to a shivering twisted figure, a freshly formed demon still suffering mental trauma, and picks it up nuzzling the figure and comforts it for a moment before continuing carrying the young demon as it speaks. "See this my dear family? As it stands, when a new member is ready to be born it most first suffer as its body contorts and its mind rots unable to withstand the power of the flame! It is due to all the unneeded Abyssal energy that blights this land! And it is all the Lutherics fault! If we can enter the nexus at the apex of the towers fall we can cure the land! And our suffering young! The Azure Flame is what melded The Plégma those eons ago! Now it just pollutes our land with Abyssal energy corrupting Lutherics and Demons alike! If we can consume it! We can save our land and our families!"

The Azure Flame.

One and a half days pass it is early morning a few yards away from the gates to Nidal a Norastrahan research team eat their breakfast. They sit in fear on the cold morning, as the night before the obvious sounds of foot steps, many foot steps could be heard on the other side of the wall. Clearly some kind of conflict was to take place. All night they heard screams from over the thick walls. The men dying on the other side must have suffered unspeakable fates to conjure such final breaths to be heard that far out they thought. Just as they began to make their way cautiously to cross the river leading the Gates to begin their work, a massive explosion rips through the air knocking them all to the ground. Moments later another explosion tears through the air and earth alike, the very gates of Nidal flying away to dust and chunks of stone tumbling through the air killing some of the crew.

Artorious stands among the Legion of Luthericburg, on the south side of the tower, staring across to the demons gathered. Farron is half way up the broken tower clawing its way towards the giant blue fire setting atop it. "Do you see Artorious?! Soon i shall consume the flame! And cure the land you mages continue to taint! But you shall not stop me! The time for you to fall is now!" Farron pulls itself to a still solid piece of floor outstretches its arms and shouts words unheard by the Norastrahans, but heard by only the demons and Lutherics they all writhe in pain, their bodies twisting and contorting from the wracking. Artorious shakes violently as his vision began to spin, it was as if..no it was that he was seeing from all sides now, including angles that didn't make any sense. What he could make out was the dozen of eye covering his body, and of those men all around him. Unknown to him the very same eyes now covered all the demons as well, except Farron. As the men on the ground now writhe Farron grins and turns to face the blue flame. As he leaps towards it the flame shrinks in size until a charred body of a rotund person is visible, the flame becoming a sphere where a head might be. The figure points a hand at Farron and conjures a giant ball of energy and blasts the demon into the ground below. Farron quickly stands and roars at the creature, he orders his demons to mobilize. The blue flame creature begins to float away at a quick pace. Farron and his horde begin to march after it, before following Farron walks over to the doubled over Artorious and picks him up "I will be back for the lutherics! You should go to your people, they will be as blind and twisted as you by now" with that he drops him to the ground and lumbers off towards the flame creature.

The coming days see the western country side of Malteria turn to a twisted hellscape, the Azure Flame, or so the creature from atop the tower would be called, appears in places seemingly at random and conjures giant blue and black pillars that pump raw abyssal energy into the surrounding area tainting it. The taint causes demons to form and as well as drawing monster to it changes them and warps them to an abyssal form of themselves. The Lutheric people now cursed twice over, growing eyes all over their body the pain and disorientation drove a great deal of them mad. Some were killed out of need, others from pity, but those that the curse did not drive mad chose to simple have the eyes cut or gouged out. A painful process removing the eyes came to be even more dying from the blood lose. But those who survived could live fairly normal lives again. Some Lutherics opt to keep the some eyes that grew, and try to exploit them. In the wake of the tower exploding large pieces of it fell to the earth in three notable locations the sections of tower that fell held powerful artifacts that are still causing issues , One fell just before the gates to Nidal itself. One near an ancient village in the forest surrounding Nidal, and another right outside the walls of Norastrah. The coming age is one where the land is cursed by the Abyssal energy, living many looking to the old ways for answers.