The Awakening (501 AC - 524 AC)

- 501 AC: The Barbarian Seal crashes into Quarterstone and as a result, the Undying Ice melts and releases its prisoners. Awakening from their magical slumber, the humans and daevi survivors discover the fate of the world. The world as they knew it is no more, the sky and the sun are gone. Instead they are covered by what seems to be a monstrous rock surface. It would take time before they would fully grasp the truth, but in the meantime the High Houses would be reinstalled in an attempt to pick up their lives again.

- 524 AC: Having used the Barbarian Seal to remove the Undying Ice on Quarterstone completely, the High Houses discovered a giant cache of eggs within its caverns. These turned out to be the eggs of the Vhelgar Queen Satanamura and from them lesser Vhelgar would hatch. It would be a matter of time before these flying creatures were tamed and these 'Vhelgar Steeds' would allow them to travel beyond the carapace of Quarterstone and discover the true extent of the Great Collapse.

Want To Know More?

Barbarian Seal

The Barbarian Seal is actually a piece of the Altar of the Undying. After the Altar exploded and the Great Collapse took place, fragments of the Altar remained in the Deadspell Storm. It was by mere chance that one of these fragments landed in Quarterstone and melted the Undying Ice. Its name stems from the fact that this piece was once part of a mural within the Altar, showing a barbarian human in combat.

Though many more of these pieces are bound to exist no one has ever found a second. As such, this artefact is of the utmost importance to the High Houses. Unfortunately, it is no longer in their possession.

Quarterstone

The City of Quartered Stone, as it was known before the Great Collapse, was used by the Vhelgar as a main hub for slave trade. Before the uprising, many of the human slaves here were traded and maintained by the daevi, under order of the Vhelgar. The city was ruled by the Vhelgar Ormoburu, but it is unclear what happened to him after the Great Collapse. Nowadays, Quarterstone is the capital of the Enclave of the Five Sacrifices, due to its location and its importance within Enclave history. It consists of seven districts, each with its own characteristics:

Arena District: The Arena within the district was built by House Silver to serve as training grounds for the Guilds. It was only a matter of time before this started attracting a public of its own and became a major source of income for House Silver. House Maul can also be found here training its people.

Fountain District: This upper-class residential district houses most of the wealthy families and people of importance. It is a pleasant district with a large pool of water near its entrance and, of course, fountains. After the Green District incident it also became home to Citizen's College: a replacement building for House Rune now that their Citadel of Ail was destroyed.

Green District: The Green District housed the working classes, and its lush vegetation and beautiful surroundings made it a joyous place for anyone to visit. The Citadel of Ail, House Rune's main university, was the bustling centre for mages, scientists and scholars. The district was the heart of Quarterstone. That was, until an explosion at the Citadel rocked the entire district and magic corrupted it. Nowadays, the Green District is in quarantine as the Enclave desperately tries to uncover all the details concerning the incident.

Palace District: Being the official centre of the Enclave, the Palace District and its Enclave Palace primarily serve a ceremonial task. The grandeur of the palace is displaced by the fact that politics are conducted on the Shard of Parliament instead. Fortunately, the Veridan have moved in and maintained its importance to the Enclave.

Pit District: The Pit District's claim to fame is the large bottomless Pit. People have been throwing things in forever and as such it is now used as Quarterstone's garbage dump, though it never ever seems to fill up. As for the people living there... They aren't the nicest of folk and the sole reason most would ever want to go there is to visit the Graveyard next to it.

Statue District: Being the commercial heart of the city, Statue District is home to most of the merchants, though after the Green District incident, some of the working classes moved here as well. Its docks are always busy and the populace likes to shop around the various streets. Statue District, naturally, also features various statues of heroes both old and new. It also features the last remaining entrance to the Quarterstone Mines.

Temple District: Temple District, or Oracle District as some like to call it, is home to the Temple of Awareness which houses the Oracle itself. It connects to all the other districts and takes a central place in city life. Many of the Veridan can be found here praising the Oracle, and it is a comforting place to be in general.

Satanamura

Satanamura was the most feared Vhelgar. Being the Vhelgar Queen she resided at the Altar of Undying, protecting it while governing her kingdom. Legend has it she could manipulate humans and daevi alike as if they were mere puppets. She was one of the few Vhelgar with a humanoid face, but that did not make her any more human. On the contrary, she was delighted by the suffering of the servitor races. She was overrun by the humans and daevi as they destroyed the Altar of the Undying rather than slain, thus no one knows what happened to her after the Great Collapse.