HERALDS CAMPAIGN
The Second Gift Cycle
The Atheist War is the single most devastating conflict on Noth, involving most nations from Arath and Enaeth. Despite the war focused on ideology and the rejection of Atheist advancement from the Enaethern nations, both sides used Voltaionics and recovered Thesehts in bloodshed that lasted for decades.
As the crisis in Enaeth deepened, a polity of Arathern leaders and heralds convened on how respond to 'The Fall'. Famine, disease and refugees were encroaching on Arathern border nations, leading to increased tensions and the plea for action. Thus formed the first coalition of nations in Noth, known then as the 'Concordic Arantiean Nations'.
Due to the increased unreliability of Thesehts and other religious technologies in the wake of the Fall, An increase in 'Empiricists'; scientists who developed technologies mandated by the physics of reality; led to the development of parallel tools known as 'Voltaionics' or 'Voltaic Machines'.
The theologically minded C.A.N gave approval to these empiricists to find a solution to the Enaethern problem. To survive the hazardous conditions created by the Fog spread over Enaeth, these scientists created pre-conscious beings known as 'Tya'liths'. The Tya'liths were resilient and obedient false men, printed en-masse from enormous Bioforges in the Great Arathern Desert. They appeared as tall, grey-skinned humanoids, with absent cranial areas above the lips.
These Tya'liths, with the command of their Arathern handlers, marched into Enaeth to provide aid, supplies and construction efforts. Within a span of 5 years, some records indicating 1029 2G.c, the crisis had almost completely resolved. Enaeth and Arath shared a moment of common scientific development, leading to the widespread rejection of Religious Enhancement as a system of civilization development. Soon Autocarts speed through the continents, the first avialines flew overhead, and swords and spears were replaced with the first 'Compact Trajectiles', or 'Pacts', that spit death from enormous distance.
The Tya'lith's developers became a conglomerate known as 'Tya'Khyon', and began an enormous promotional campaign preaching the Tya'liths as a now necessary part of Nothern life. Overtime the Tya'liths became incredibly commonplace in both Enaeth and Arath, used as farm tools servants and even calculators; the latter use inspiring Tya'Khyon to develop the first thinking machines.
These developments were not met without opposition; many notable figures in Enaethern and Arathern societies began to highlight the parallels between the use of the Tya'liths, and Noth's subjugation under the Outsider Gods centuries ago. Some even decried the creation of conscious minds anti-theist and unfit for the Trinium's vision of Noth.
The increasing debates and conjecture on the creation of artificial minds were cut short upon the arrival of the Vennish Empire and the beginning of their invasion of Noth.
During the events of the Fall, the Rubicon Overlay was recorded as wavering significantly, leading to the tear above the Fallen Litany, but increasing in 'density' elsewhere. Closing its borders out of fear the Era Errata had begun, Astelleian theologists found Augury had diminished across all censuses of its population. Astele too was also forced to abandon Religious Enhancement; due to its geological isolation from Arath, and the ongoing crisis in Enaeth, Astele entered a period of cultural limbo for centuries.
This changed when enormous ships of roots and trees glided through the ocean, harbinging the arrival of the Ven. The Ven was an Empire, composed of parallelly evolved creatures, descended from plant-life; the fungal troglodyte, the floral but ferocious slyph, and the noble curved eyed and vined Ven themselves. The swiftly conquered and subjugated the Isles, but instead of opposition, the religiously starved populace of Astele began to pray to their curious conquerors as 'The Celestials', adopted their leader as their Emperor and even co-mingled with them.
While reports of the Vennish occupation arrived in Enaeth and Arath, they were dismissed as evidence of civil war or some barbaric foreign invasion. Arath would soon learn otherwise, as the Forest Fleets arrived and took root in North Arath. Soon CAN was beset by completely a alien force that harrowed cities, trees sprouting up to rip apart walls and men alike. The Ven's unconventional tactics literally took ground away from the allied forces, as rapidly sprouting canopies hid enemy movement, allowing the Ven to create a marching guerilla campaign south. When fire was found to be ineffective in dissuading the Vennish forces, CAN elected to deploy Tya'liths enmasse to fight the war.
CAN asked Tya'Khyon for increased production, and the creation of larger and more fierce models. Soon Tya'liths and their Manti'lith cousins where thrown haphazardly at the Ven invaders. While initially the Ven were confused at the waste of wartime resources, it became apparent as Tya'lith and Vennish corpses were collected post battle to continously feed into the Bioforges.
Eventually the invaders could not keep up with the sheer level of resources required to fight back against these self-renewing soldiers, and they were forced to abandon their newly constructed Black Salons, built on the north eastern shores of Arath. These fortresses were not completely empty; in their haste to leave, they had intentionally or unintentionally left their young behind. Why they did this is a mystery; theories include their young would later infiltrate Noth society to elicit a riper time for invasion. Whatever the case, the Ven were never seen again.
The Atheist Era is the darkest and most shameful period of Noth history, sending Noth into a stagnation that was not reversed until the discovery of the No-Box.
The devastation of Northern Arath, and the advent of Tya'Khyon and their host nation Agartha led to the slow dissolution of CAN and the reign of the Agarthern Empire; the first continent wide civilization. Agartha's first decree was the blockade of the Black Salons, to prevent the Ven from leaving and their progenitors from coming back.
Returning peace was interrupted by a new emerging crisis; strange incidences with Tya'liths began cropping up across Enaeth and Arath. Tya’liths began disobeying orders, others started dropping to the ground dead, and some began killing and eating their masters. Unbeknownst to Tya'Khyon, the addition of Vennish biomass, and the increased demand for Tya'liths had overwhelmed the thinking components of the Bioforges, corrupting their programing. Soon the Bioforges had one, cursed directive; Feed Us.
Simultaneous riots occurred across Arath and Enaeth, as hordes of Tya'liths ran through the streets, consuming and returning however they could to their Bioforges. The Bioforges gorged on the biomass returned to them, transforming into enormous grey flesh cities that printed more and more corrupted variants of Tya'lith.
Unable to accept responsibility, Tya'Khyon's corporate body fled, forcing the Agarthern Empire to create a disease in an attempt to starve the Bioforges to death. When this proved ineffective, they were forced to use deeply heretical Outsider God technology; placing the cities in suspended animation for future generations to find a solution. Tya'Khyon leadership was hunted down, their company dissolved and the creation of biological artificial life was banned.
Despite the scientific setback in Tya'Khyon's dissolution, the Agarthern Empire continued to promote the development of Voltaionics. As increased scientific breakthroughs were theorized and discovered, man's mind turned back to the concept of Religious Enhancement and the power of the gods.
Soon, notable scientists and theologists within Agarthern society began releasing theories and studies on the nature of the Trinium themselves.
Pamphlets spread rapidly from great authors across the world, beginning to question what they hysterically claimed was a symbiotic and almost parasitic relationship the Trinium had with Noth.
They determined that beings so powerful would not cling to the whims and fancies of lesser people, unless they themselves were helpless from some greater threat. Instead of being labelled heretics, these philosophers gained the ears and counsel of the highest officials in the courts of Agartha. Publicly announced tests at research centres for 'Metaphysical Analysis' began, to begin to peer into the gods realm.
These tests were scorned widely by religious groups, Heralds and even members of Agartha's own high council. Enaeth representatives questioned how the Agathern's could make tests who's outcome could effect all nations on Noth; not enough research had been conducted to determine what the range of possible consequences would be. Accusations of the Agarthern Empire embracing antitheism became the norm, as many questioned their true motives.
These tensions between the Empire and the nations of Enaeth rose to open conflict when Herald High Marshal Kallax mustered a coup in attempt to stop one such test, and he was executed for treason in response. Intel collected by Enaeth nations indicated the Agarthern High Council intended to prove their dominion over existence by 'attacking' the Rubicon Overlay, and chasing away or destroying the Trinium all together. Thus the Atheist Wars began.
So the religious states of Enaeth quickly began marching to war, flying under one banner; the Theological Alliance of Militarized Eridinean States (TAMES) started occupying and blockading northern and southern Arathern states, primarily those with mineral deposits required for this project. The Agarthern Empire rallied in response, and skirmished throughout these border states.
Soon Agartha was forced to fight its own states, as a number of countries began to protest the use of 'Non-Theological' energy, and the dangers of its application.
Over the next 10 years, both sides of the wars would unleash horrors and wonders in the war; TAMES sought out and recruited the One Hundred Empyreans, a herald strike force encased within 'Voltaic Panoply' that never lost a battle; Agartha recovered and used the fabled 'Angle Swallowers', Thesehts of Outsider God design that pulled terrain into two dimensional space; after the use of 'Chronowands', Thesehts that fired backwards through time, both sides agreed to ban the use of Thesehts in one of the many ceasefires during the war.
In the final years of the war, the Agarthern Empire unleashed its secret weapon; newly designed Tya'liths from a pristine Bioforge. These designs included the specialized 'Herald Killers', highly resistant Tya'liths that could withstand the meta-physical attacks of a Herald.
In light of the increasing promises the Agarthern's would force the war to end by using their N-T energy created tools, TAMES deployed the Empyreans deep into Agarthern territory in an almost suicidal mission to destroy leadership or the project and end the war. While the Empyreans were able press within sight of the forever unnamed capital of Agartha, they were too late to prevent what would later be known as 'The Declension'.