The Gods die, and the mortal races of Aetherius struggle to defend their hearth and home against the ravages of three mighty, endless armies. The Horde of the Breeding Pools of the east, the Undead of the Stele, and the Demons of the great northern rift maraud and pillage across the continent. Life as we know it is irrevocably altered, and a return to normalcy seems impossible.
Many seem to blame Tomas, the itinerant scholar and archaeologist, as the architect of all of this disaster. It was his urging to open the ancient temple in the Shaahri desert that stirred the Undead, that caught the interest of the Horde, and led to the widening of the northern rift. Still, Tomas persists in his quest to bring to life the Hammer of the Gods and drive back the darkness that threatens to smother humanity.
Tomas was trusting in his loyal allies to use their power as Champions of Mortalkind to empower the ancient altar of Avasyu, and his trust was rewarded. A surge of power from the ancient temple indicated that the revelation of the Hammer of the Gods was nigh. Traveling with Dias, Tomas arrived at the altar, where Delrayne was sacrificed. Alas, Delrayne was not accepted as the altar's final sacrifice, and another was required.
Jorachim rose to the call, and shortly after regaining the mantle of Champion, led Tomas to the altar. Dias performed the final ritual as the sacrificer, offering Jorachim's strength to the altar. This time, the offering was sufficient and the altar surged with power. A bright beam of golden light sprang forth from the altar and split the heavens above. Dark clouds whirl around the area where the beam splits the sky and thunder roils from them.
A golden, man-shaped figure formed solely of light and coruscating power floated down the beam of light and came to rest upon the surface of the altar in the desert temple. Tomas urged the being to rise up, but the figure remained lifeless upon the altar. Stumped and searching wildly for any answer, Tomas requested access to the tablets that he had used to decipher the ancient writings within the temple.
The tablets were brought to the architect and he examined them, but the mystery of the Hammer of the Gods still eluded him. Then, in a flash of intuition, he did the unthinkable. Jumping up and down upon them, Tomas crushed the tablets to pieces. Within the rubble, it was revealed that the tablets had, for millennia, each housed a small portion of the substance of Divine being. Dias was the first to pick up the scattered corpora, and was instructed by Tomas to place the small pieces within the golden figure of the Hammer of the Gods.
The assembled onlookers watched in shock as the golden figure surged slightly in vitality, and the golden beam that still pierced the heavens above pulsed. As if opening the floodgates of heaven, remnants of the vicious battles between the Gods and the Demon Lords began to rain down upon the mortal plane. The heroes of the Hammer quickly discovered that these surviving portions of Divine puissance should be gathered and reverently placed within the Hammer of the Gods on the ancient altar, so that it may grow to its full vitality.
Tomas was humbled and awed at the revelations of the day, as many of his questions about the nature of the altar and the Hammer of the Gods were answered. At least some of the great Gods of Imperian knew that They were not truly Immortal. They knew that one day, They could cease to exist. And so, in ages past, they sought to ensure that humanity would have a chance to survive, even when They were gone. The altar was fashioned, the temple formed around it, and the Hammer of the Gods was created,
Perhaps the Gods were blind to Their fate, or perhaps in Their arrogance They chose to discount it. One cannot fathom the workings of the mind of a God, but Tomas believes that the Hammer of the Gods represents humanity's last chance for salvation. The fallen remnants of our Gods must be gathered and placed within the figure of the Hammer on the altar.
Tomas remained at the altar for some time, doing his best to answer the questions of his assembled allies. Startled momentarily by the ever-threatening presence of his tormentor Aleutia, Tomas eventually scurried back to the illusionary safety of the library in Caanae. He continues to study there, hoping to discover more of the ethereal nature of the Hammer of the Gods. Will it ever reach its full power? Will it be able to bring our dead Gods back to existence, or is it some form of weapon as Tomas has always assumed?
Penned by My hand on the 7th of Tenebrae, in the year 679 AD.
