HERALDS CAMPAIGN
The First Gift Cycle
Heraldic artist Zenithorah's controversial painting 'Primordial Witness'; an interpretation of Noth before the beginning of the First Cycle, when the Outsider Gods stripped Noth of all its resources for their foul works. Her depiction of the Outsider Gods as pale, ethereal multi-limbed beings was subject to great conjecture. When pressed for an answer many years later, Zenithorah stated her work was not an interpretation of the past, but as a warning of the future.
Little is known of history before the Outsider God's invasion and occupation of Enaeth. As dictated by Herald Scilo Duhn's in his philosophical oration 'The Augurmeral Mind', primitive beings had no mental development of pre-aware consciousness, and it was only due to the Trinium's overlay of Noth that self-identity and what we consider 'thought' first began to manifest.
It is common belief among theological and antiquitarian researchers that Noth was once a place of exceedingly vibrant jungles, teeming with all matter of flora and fauna. Its assumed tribes or bands of primitive beings wandered and survived off of this landscape. Strangely, no remains of the sentient species have been found dated before 1000 B1G.c, despite the evidence of much older remains existing for other flora and fauna.
It was during this primitive time that the Outsider Gods arrived and colonized Noth. Their depictions vary, but are most commonly described as tall beings with four arms, featureless faces, and a ultramarine skin that shimmered like the night's sky. They were being of devious intellect, incredible resilience and power, and shared a form of heretical telepathy, which they used to dominate and enslave the primitive species on Noth. They razed the earth, and used the primitive Nothern to build enormous projects of unknown purpose. They consumed all organic matter, and turned the bountiful land into a barren wasteland.
This suffering did not go unnoticed; deep within the Glittering Darkness, true divinity was watching, and silently, they arrived. No matter the interpretation of the Trinium's motive or goal, they navigated the ever shifting space between to arrive over Noth, to bless us forever more with their presence.
Their arrival went seemingly unnoticed by the Outsider Gods, but in their slaves, an incredible change occurred. Simultaneously, all over the planet, naive consciousness grew in their minds, and they were subjected to what theologists refer to as 'The First Revelation of Sentience';
‘A collective epiphany was impressed upon new naive minds; incomprehensible chaos is native to existence.'
The dawning horror of their oppression, and the passion for freedom of will to match their new freedom of thought, led to resistance against the Outsider Gods. It was then, that Noth began heeding the multitude, pure voices of the Trinium; voices that promised freedom from tyranny. They began selecting champions to fight, not on behalf of the Trinium, but for their own right to self-determination. Bequeathing a fraction of their power, they created the First Heralds; ten nine beings of great divine power, who commanded the enslaved with divine authority. Led by Rhoduhn, their leader, the Heralds led the slaves to fight en masse, beginning the Outsider God war.
The Outsider Gods initially underestimated the ferocity of their former slaves. Wielding the tools used to decimate Noth against their masters, the Norhern outnumbered the Outsider Gods 1000 to 1. The masters pivoted from their projects, converting slaves still under their control into twisted abominations. They then began deploying weapons so incomprehensible not even the atheists could replicate them thousands of years later. With the kidnapping of Herald Phaytir and the annihilation of their main forces, the First Heralds retreated to their sanctuary, on what would later become the foundations for the city of Torrens. It was here, at the guidance of Herald Sandro, an audience was held. Weeping, the First Heralds pleaded to their gods; they could not win without the Trinium's direct interference.
And so, the Trinium gifted Noth its greatest weapon; marking the beginning of the First Gift Cycle. On the dawn of first day, ten enormous diamonds of unearthly material fell lazily from the heavens to hang in the sky above Noth; The Litany. With its arrival, the quiet murmur of the Trinium turned into a roar, manifesting strange new powers in the Nothern as the first Augurs. The war, which had lasted decades, would be ended in a matter of months, as the Outsider Gods were unable to combat such unorthodox assault.
Seeking their hidden sanctuary in desperation to end the war, Herald Phaytir was slain by the evil Outsider God General Benerah when he refused to submit and betray the other First Heralds. As Rhoduhn, Gilgahn and Meuraeave assaulted the last Outsider God bastion, Vishineth faced this general alone, and smote them in the ruins of their misbegotten society. The power manifested by the Litany over this time proved too great, and the once great revolving stones of the Litany seized in place with a great mechanical sign, to hang statically in the air forever more. Thus ended the Outsider God Wars.
While the First Heralds were victorious, there was little to celebrate. In the wake of the war, much of the remaining Outsider God technology was completely alien to the First Heralds, including the means of food manufacturing. While the Litany's malfunction had reduced its contact with the First to a mere whisper, it was enough to guide each of the First to build their own societies.
Together, Rhoduhn and Sandro created 'The Common Thread'; a pact between the surviving eight Heralds. While each Herald would be responsible for their own domain, they would not interfere with the work of another, and freely collaborate and share all knowledge they developed. With Rhoduhn as the enforcer of the Common Thread, each of the remaining seven Heralds traveled across Noth to protect their fledgling peoples.
Ttiana and Ttsoghal together built Ttrimar' or 'God's Shelter'. Built below the Litany, and designed to withstand the floods that now dominated the central plains, later to be known as the city of Torrens. Together with their architects, Ttiana and Ttsoghal would create many cities, giving people a place to congregate and call home.
Whyonah retreated alone to untouched parts of the world. There she found the remnants of nature, which she brought back and cultivated with the help of her gardeners, filling the land with life and animals once again.
Gilgahn created the first soldier/farmer initiatives, reflecting on the duties of service and provision for others. He gave people the strength to rebuild after tragedy, and that after natural and unnatural disaster, there was always rejuvenation.
Vishineth fought the First Herald's enemies as their champion warrior. She was single-minded in her conquests; her only lesson was that bloodshed always begets more bloodshed.
Meuraeave took apart the remnants of the Outsider God's technology, and sought ways to manipulate it for the First Herald's uses. Together with her Antiquitists, they converted these devices to the benefit of Noth. Slowly they were corrupted as their foul precursors were before them, inventing for inventions sake.
Sandro traveled through all these societies, collecting the stories and lived experience of the people. Important lessons on cultivation, medicine, infrastructure, but also stories of bravery, tragedy and love became the first songs and oral tradition of the people, Sandro and his orators becoming the first teachers of Noth.
Stories of the First Heralds exploits, and those that would follow them, continue on to this day; Ttsoghal and his son exploring Astele, creating the grand city of Dongur Ven'mar; Ttiana creating the Cloud-scourer complexes, and becoming the first modular; Vishineth and the cataclysmic battles with her rival and mortal enemy, the Interloper; Whyonah and her restoration of the Jungles of Noth; Gilgahn holding back the 'Godtide' and saving millions; and Meuraeave's corruption, where she replaced parts of her body with Outsider God technology and was saved by Sandro, who together fought and destroyed the 'Amalgamate' left by her hubris.
The Common Thread Period is seen by many as the precursor to the golden age of Noth, where hardship and struggles gave way to peace and prosperity, flourishing long after the First's assumed death and deification. Their legacy survives in their relics, stories and designs, which continue to define the way people live their lives in honor of the gods.
Historians generally agree the advent of 'enhanced' society in the Common Thread Era enabled rapid development of civilizations, and without the Presence of the Trinium and their Heralds, civilizations may have taken thousands of years to develop to a similar point.
Soon after the First Heralds retreated from mundane existence and the Common Thread ended, their significant followers, friends and family took upon themselves the mantle of safeguarding civilization, and were blessed as Heralds.
Many stories exist of the Heralds of this time; stories of virtue, love, tragedy and comedy are commonly told in pubs and halls by Orators of this grand age of adventure and wonder, as civilization spread its wings from the cradle of Enaeth into the rest of Noth.
Countless artefacts and reliquaries exist from this time, as religious technology came to its zenith. Faith-Based Devices, also known as 'Theseht' were a part of everyday life, covering all manner of uses; weather forecasting, heat-making beads, nexuses, and most notoriously, the famed Terraformers, that could alter and shape the earth itself.
As nations formed, disagreements and disputes over territory became common, but rarely broke into war. Society was instead intently focuserd on increasing devotion to the Trinium, and work to restore the Litany to its previous wonder, as commanded by the Divine.
Decades of continued study, theory and work culminated in a moment of societal apotheosis; what would happen when the Litany was restored? Would the people of Noth ascend, or would the gods leave with their grand weapon, to liberate some other society? The unfocused desires of the Trinium shrouded the outcome of one button press.
It is unknown whether this project was sabotaged by some outside force, or whether improper consideration had been made on the divine, alien materials of the Litany. The result was still the same; silently, the tenth stone of the Litany fell to the earth. The resulting impact killed millions as its destruction rolled over the landscape, blanketing the sky in a thick orange cloud that blocked the sun for decades. This 'Fog' would curse the blood and minds of those it touched, leading to the birth of Shapeshifter, Scion-Blooded, and long suspected to be the progenitor of the Augural disease Rampancy.
As crops and flora died, the once self-sufficient mega-cities of Enaeth found themselves without viable sources of food or shelter. Oral stories indicated Astele fled its citizens, and began a self-imposed isolation from the drowning cities of Enaeth.
While stories do not give an exact date of this event, it is well established by heretical Arathern canon that central and northern Enaeth had almost entirely collapsed by 1424 1G.c. This collapse diverged civilization in Arath, as they pivoted from 'Religiously Enhanced' ideologies to 'Technologically Advanced' ones instead. Thus ended the Heraldic Era, and the First Gift Cycle.