The Night of the Weeping Stars is seen today as a great tragedy for all of Aloria. For one, it allowed the Kathar Race to pave the way for their great and powerful overlord during the Fifth Void Invasion. For another, it led to the death and destruction of what remained of ancient Estelley faith within the Allorn Empire. The event can also be seen in causing the death and destruction of the Va'sil Trees, great and powerful magical trees that grew tall in centers of a number of Estelley worships sites.
Background Information
The Night of the Weeping Stars was a long-coming end to the last bastions of active worship to Estelley beliefs in what had otherwise become insincere worshiping, pleasure worshiping, or Void worshiping territories. As the Allorn Empire had declined, so had the great tracts of nature and wilds that made up temples to the Estelley pantheon. By the final few centuries, most temples and shrines to Estel and her godly children were buried deep in cities or existing as an almost irrelevant afterthought at their fringes. From these areas first came the Va’sil Trees, magical tree-like beings capable of communication, who warned of the end that was to come if the Teledden and those part of the Allorn Empire did not reject the Void's evils. The Allorn populations did not listen, and considered them simple enchanted marvels, assured that Estel had not created these creatures. But then, someone took a more aggressive stance; emerging from the jungle depths came tall, powerful constructs of nature, fierce, aggressive, and uncompromising. They tore into territory around shrines and temples to Estel, in aid of the Va'sil, bringing with them nature, life, and more. But, ultimately, it was fruitless. Teledden Archmages fought these creatures to a standstill, and they were limited in number. Not every shrine to the Estelley faith had such a guardian and so as the sky was torn asunder, the Drovv died, the Void sought to crush and end these last hardpoints to its rule.
History
Specifics of the Night of the Weeping Stars are tough to come by. The event's historical name has often suggested a single evening of chaos and destruction, but in reality, the annihilation likely came in waves. The leadership of Teledden cultists, in communion with the Void and the Arken, directed its agents and allies across western territories to end the last of Estel’s influence within the Allorn Empire. And thus, agents of the Cult of Shadows, Daughters of Chaos, Sons of Malice and many others prepared to strike. They fell swiftly on the temples, shrines, and sites that remained in the hands of often powerful, but aged priests and priestesses. With them were often small cults of loyal, devout Teledden and other Races, who tended to the nature growing around them, or engaged in activities of true worship. And last, of course, were the Va’sil Trees, Neefaar, and other strange creations of Magic, who some claim sensed what was about to happen and made what preparations they could. But the Void’s servants were far greater in number, and one by one, each region was culled, and then the vegetation burned. Great fires roared, killing unrelated members of society who were unfortunate enough to be nearby, and sending many others into a panic, fleeing; the fires even killed some of the devotees to the Void. But while the mortals fell, the Va’sil Trees suffered the worst fate of all. Their haunting cries echoed for miles, and while some performed the miracle of rising from the earth and rushing away, obliterating any structure in their path, they could not escape the fire and so they burned, and the enemies of the Void died, and at last, when all was done, all that was left was the ashes. It is said that as one, the various Elven groups who would become Kathar called to this ash, and it would coat their skin, minds, and hearts, transforming them into that Race. The Kathar then left en masse over the following decade as the Wildering further killed the spirit of the Empire. The Kathar went to western lands where they established the Dread Empire which still threatens the world to this day.
Effects
The Night of the Weeping Stars is largely seen as the first event in a series of terrible disasters that destroyed the Allorn Empire. It killed off both the Va’sil Trees and whatever remained of the true and ancient Estelley faith. Some survivors were known, but most immediately vanished or languished in poverty. Additionally, sometime during these years, a range of strange nature-creatures emerged, such as the Neefaar and the Elfaar. While some believe they simply reawaked from ancient times, many ultimately survived The Night of the Weeping Stars and would be cared by Yanar and their allies. The Night also marks one of the last uses of some of the most potent forms of Magic in Aloria, wielded by both pre-Cataclysm Estelley and Void Worship Mages who fought to preserve and end the Faith respectively. The event was also, obviously, responsible for the birth of the Kathar in some form, but also was the point that Void devotees broke with what were now Kathar ideals, creating the range of modern Kathar groups. Finally, the Night of the Weeping Stars destroyed large portions of temples, religious sites, and regions of cities that dated back to even before the Consolidation. With the Wildering that came later, much of the land was then aggressively reclaimed by nature's forces, and most such sites are now lost to time. Still, every so often, an ancient spire or ruin is determined to have been a site to an Estelley god in millennia past, but what knowledge and information such sites hold is often lost or a closely guarded secret.
Trivia
- Some have called the ritual that the Kathar perhaps used to make their Race the “Void Vacuum.” This theory holds that the aspiring Kathar sucked all of the energy they could out of the sites they destroyed, and then used it to transform themselves.
- Some historical accounts contradict official records, saying that the Va'sil Trees attacked their tenders as the Night of the Weeping Stars occurred. While these are not confirmed stories, it has led scholars to question if the Va'sil perhaps panicked in their final hours, lashing out at even those trying to save them.
- The role of the Neefaar in these events is fragmented at best, with many claims of their presence being believed at the time, and still to this day by some, to instead be magical familiars or arcane creations forged of plant matter by the Mages of the Estelley-loyal.
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