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The Void Cycle was the perfidious and repeated pattern of events by which the world saw the Void, an extradimensional force, tear through the Veil, the boundary between Aloria and these alternate dimensions. From this tear, the entities that lived within the Void then invaded Aloria and wiped the slate clean before they retreated into their realm. This Cycle finally came to an end with the Cataclysm at the end of the Fifth Void Invasion, which trapped the Cycle’s main instigator, the Archdemon, in Aloria. Today, few if any people are aware of the Void Cycle, and the Regalian Empire largely ignores it in favor of its religious beliefs based in Unionism.
| Void Cycle | |
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| Historical Event | |
| Event Name | Void Cycle |
| Dates and Times | 5000+ BC - 0 AC |
| Location | Aloria |
| People Involved | Various |
Note: The average Character should not be aware of the Void Cycle; it is not actively taught or explained in Unionism or the other major Religions of Aloria.
Background Information
Millennia before all of Aloria’s current Races, there was only one: the Seraph. They were powerful beings who possessed vast troves of technology and Magic which they used for a wide variety of purposes. During their time, the First Void Invasion began.
History
The First Void Invasion
When the portal into the Void opened, the creatures now known as Demons began to emerge. They were scouts and observers meant to test the Seraph. The Seraph, in their hubris, simply quarantined the portal for experimentation. However, within days the Void surged out in proper force, and the Seraph began to be annihilated. Ultimately, the First Void Invasion ended anticlimactically when the Void forces suddenly found themselves sucked back into their realm and the Veil re-sealed. Surprisingly though, they would not spend long within the Void.
The Second and Third Void Invasions
The Second Civilization rose in the wake of the Seraph. Unlike the Seraph, they lasted a mere few hundred years before they triggered the Second Void Invasion. How and why this happened is largely unknown, but they were Magic users, so it seems as though they followed in their progenitor’s footsteps to an extreme. After them came the Third Civilization, an altogether new though still similar people. While details are sparse on this society - given the only surviving ruins of them are located on the dreadfully dangerous Solangeria - they were clearly great architects. They built enormous statues, walls and temple complexes decorated with beautiful tiles. Eventually, though, they too were felled, and Solangeria is the only place where their ruins can be viewed today.
The Fourth Void Invasion
In the wake of both these groups, the Meraic were the next to rise in Aloria. Also called the Fourth Civilization, they were a people who, like the Third Civilization, were located in the south of Aloria. By now, stories of the Void Cycle circled in their society; however, hubris once again proved itself too great. The Meraic grew confident they could survive an invasion, if one ever did come again, through the use of their own Magics. This view, however, was not supported by most scholars within their Empire. Some today believe their knowledge of the Void Cycle was reinforced by the discovery of Third or Second Civilization ruins. In their search for a way for their people to survive, they were forced to explore stasis and immobilization spells, thus increasing the use of Magic in the world. However, their words were powerful enough when, by the twilight of their civilization, they had wealthy patrons, commoners, and groups of non-Magic practicing warriors to help facilitate their slumber. When the Fourth Void Invasion therefore began, thousands, if not tens of thousands of Meraic entered into Chrysalis Stasis in an underground network of chambers known as the Tohn Valeer located across their lands. With them, they took copies of the Tohn Sona, which were filled with Meraic knowledge, culture, and history, to help rebuild the world once the invasion had passed. Unfortunately, the Void realized this attempt and actively sought out the Tohn Valeer. Some vaults were breached and their sleeping inhabitants slaughtered, but others were corrupted by Void Essence, putting them to sleep for far longer than had been originally planned. Thus, the Fourth Void Invasion came to an end and the next civilization rose.
The Fifth Void Invasion
Over all of these millennia, groups and cultures originally united as a single Race, the Seraph, had diverted due to Magic, Geography or thanks to the passage of time. Thus, the Altalar transformed into the masters of the world. The Altalar were true successors to the Seraph, plunging deep into the study of Magic and controlling a vast empire, and it seemed like they might be able to finally form an effective force which, after over 10,000 years, could defeat the Void. But the Void got to them, and as more and more Altalar slowly turned to the Faith of the Dark Ancients, alongside political and factional infighting, Estel despaired and tried to save them from the end. She created the Nenya and then the Yanar to herald the danger of the Void, but few listened to them. Eventually, the Void Cycle began again, but this time something changed. A massive disruption, the Cataclysm, exploded across the world and tore the Veil permanently open. The same action also trapped the Archdemon, leader of the Void, in the mortal world away from its forces, and so the Void Cycle came to an end.
- For more information on the Fifth Void Invasion, click here
Effects
The Void Cycle served as Aloria’s reset button for millennia. A civilization would rise up, grow in hubris, power, Magic use, and magnificence only for it all to be their undoing in the most violent way possible when the Void invaded. In recent years, as more exploration of the Seraph, and the other Civilizations which followed them, some have grown angry. It is clear from the records of the Far East that they have never experienced a Void Invasion and, as they are said to possess many unbelievable wonders, some remark Aloria might have been much farther along than where it is now. But others counter this argument, pointing out that the Cycles created racial pluralism in a place where there once had been none. The Seraph devolved over, or other Races emerged from, crude beginnings to take up the mantle of civilized society, giving the world its wide diversity today. However, as few scholars are even aware of the vast length of the Void Cycle and of those who came before the Altalar’s Allorn Empire, it will take more time for other effects to be discovered and examined.
Trivia
- The Void Cycle is largely ignored in Farah’deen as the continent as a whole seems to have not been affected by the event. There are some traces of extraordinarily large animals, usually evidence of magical mutations, but the records of the Sariyd Empire mention nothing like a Void Invasion in their long history.
- The Far East often understands the Void Cycle imperfectly as something similar to how their many Dynasties each controlled their part of the world for a period of time. This often means they downplay and do not understand the destructive power of the Cataclysm and the Cycle which led to it.
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