The War

The War of the Shattered Reach

The Twilight Rebellion’s Shadow on Caelthys

The Radiant Veil and the Avatars of War

When Vaelen cast the Krisis into the mortal realm, the Radiant Veil—the barrier dividing the Celestial Realm from Caelthys—was sealed. Neither Solarin nor the Stars could pass through or touch the world below. To wage their war, both sides were forced to act through avatars and champions—dragons, titans, and chosen mortals who carried fragments of their patrons’ divine essence.

The Faithbound sought to reclaim the Krisis and restore Solarin’s order. The Aspirants, born of rebellion, aimed to protect it long enough to perform a vast and perilous ritual of return, one that would open a path to the heavens and free the Stars from Solarin’s dominion. The struggle that followed was not waged among the stars, but upon the soil, sea, and sky of Caelthys itself.

The Birth of the Underworld

Hunted and scorched by the Faithbound’s radiant armies, the Aspirants sought refuge where Solarin’s light could not reach. With their divine magic they split the earth and carved a labyrinth of caverns and chasms deep beneath Caelthys—an endless expanse of shadows and molten stone. This hidden realm became known as the Shadowscape

In these depths, the remnants of the rebellion endured. The celestial energies that once fueled their war seeped into the stone and into the blood of those who dwelled there. Thus were born the dark elves, who abandoned Solarin’s radiance for the beauty of shadow; the duergar, dwarves hardened by exile and grief; the deep gnomes, whose craft mirrored the lost brilliance of the stars; and the tieflings, cursed descendants of Aspirant champions forever marked by celestial fire.

Over the ages, some few of these peoples found their way back to the surface. Yet the world above, remembering the rebellion’s ruin, looked upon them with distrust and disdain. They remain scattered and secretive, living reminders of a war the light would rather forget.

The Shattering of Caelthys

The war for the Krisis raged for centuries, each battle unraveling more of Solarin’s perfect creation. Mountains split, seas boiled, and the very threads of the world began to tear. As the ritual neared completion, the chaos of divine magic consumed the land, fracturing continents and rending the sky.

Seeing Solarin’s creation that she had grown to love breaking apart, Lunira descended to mend what she could. With threads of silver light, she stitched the world back together, sealing its wounds and leaving behind shimmering fault lines across the land. This glow has since faded, but the magical energy remains, creating The Seams - places of extraordinary magical power that are both perilous and sacred.

Aftermath

Thousands of years have passed since the conclusion of the rebellion. The fallen Aspirants mingled with mortals, seeding bloodlines and civilizations, but never regaining their celestial thrones. The conflicts since then have been mortal ones — wars of greed, ambition, and pride, fought without the direct hand of the stars. The Faithbound remained distant, operating as good stewards of the dominions to which they were assigned, but wary to step out of line in fear of Solarin's wrath.