Mythos of Katharsis

The World Without Name, The Realm of the Four Corners, Irth. Its true appellation, Katharsis, is all but lost to time, faded from the collective memory of its once-proud and highly-advanced people.

At its zenith, Katharsis was truly a sight to behold. Technology, literature, art, music, society – even politics – all was well, or so it seemed. But, as with so many worlds before it, as virtue increased, so did vice. Greed, power, envy, and evil continued to corrupt and subjugate those too ambitious, too weak, or too naïve to recognize and to resist. Too much faith and power were placed into the hands of too few. The Scouring changed all of that. The Scouring changed everything.

The portals, initially created by the Architects to facilitate travel and communication between the Four Corners, became both the salvation and the destruction of the world. Harnessing the power of the planet’s magnetic field, the portal system allowed for instantaneous transmission through time and space. What began as a highly esteemed rarity quickly became an unappreciated expectation. The collective appetite and demand for speed and convenience was insatiable. Despite the adamant protests of the Architects, more and more portals were constructed. But, unlike the four Alpha portals, these smaller tributaries were designed and built with far less care. And with far less stability.

Blinded by the apathetic luxury and abundance of free, instantaneous transport, the populace took the seemingly inexhaustible resource of the magnetosphere for granted. Everyone used the portals for everything, no matter how trivial. Even the smallest of errands were run through them. Until, finally, Katharsis had had enough.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was, in this case, a mouse that overloaded the portal’s circuits. Having been pushed to capacity, there was simply nothing more to give. The tipping point had been reached. Once the first terminal imploded, the rest fell like dominos in a cascade of magnetic flux. A massive polar shift – the Scouring – shook through the planet’s core and swept over its entire surface.  The seas were in turmoil, volcanos erupted into the sky, and continents sank into the abyss, dragging entire cultures down to the depths with them. When it was over, only those traveling within the four Alpha portals at the exact moment of the breach survived.

Scattered across the newly formed continents of New Hinterland, Thura, Aruchel, and Oceana, survivors of all walks of life began to make a new start. Centuries passed as cultures matured, factions arose, and science (and Magic) evolved. But those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. With the rediscovery of portal technology, more tributaries have sprung up throughout the Four Corners, and those who wish to control them have sprung up in equal measure. But there was another, more disturbing discovery – one only discussed by a wary few in quiet whispers. The Scouring was not the first of its kind – nor will it be the last.

The ‘Four Pillars’ of Katharsis are values so deeply engrained within its people that the core tenets have endured despite the planet’s many Scourings.  Magic, Nature, Sovereignty, and Science. When in harmony, all is possible. When in conflict, all is chaos.

Though difficult for many to imagine, there was a brief moment in time when the Dark Mages (Magic), the flora and fauna (Nature), the Free Folk (Sovereignty), and the Architects (Science) were united in a common cause – to defeat Draigwych the Usurper. As dreadful a time as was the Great Chaos, it was perhaps the only time in which all Four Pillars sang in unison.

But such a union would not last. It could not last. For wherever jealousy and selfish ambition exist there will be disorder and every vile practice. And so it was with the tenuous union, ultimately failing for the very reason it began – control.

If you dig deep enough; if you go beyond the foundations, be they of a building, a city, or even a society, you’ll discover the layers built upon the ruins of their predecessors. Sift through the ashes and pay attention to the artifacts that remain, for there you will find the commonalities. Universal ideas and beliefs, hopes and fears, good and evil, virtue and vice. Yes, it’s true; the names may change, but the reasons for being and doing remain the same. So it is with Katharsis as with all worlds of its kind. They begin, they grow, they decline, and they die.  A cycle as old as time itself. And yet, the Pillars remain.

Katharsis has gone through many dark times. Times that have tested the resources and resolve of its inhabitants and, in many respects, the very planet itself.  Each new Scouring leaves its indelible marks; scars serving as reminders of a past that cannot be changed, and a future that cannot be predicted.

Despite the seemingly capricious nature of every Scouring, their upheavals pale against the Great Chaos and the ensuing Seven Years War.  Those events have defined Katharsis, fundamentally altering the lens through which the world is viewed.  Even the passage of time (BGC/AGC, Before and After the Great Chaos) is recorded in relation to this pivotal era.

Many mistakenly ascribe the Great Chaos to the machinations of Draigwych the Usurper, the ‘evil incarnate’ who would have brought about the destruction of Katharsis as a free planet.  It would be simple to look no further than the cruelty, rage, and avarice of that feared monstrosity.  But too many have overlooked the role played by others in enabling the evil that nearly consumed the world.

In their arrogance, the Dark Mages assumed they could control Draigwych to do their bidding.  They curried favor with the beast (or so they thought) by stroking his all-consuming narcissism and building up his vast power through applications of Dark Magic so evil that the soul of the world was forever altered.  All the while, the Usurper consumed their gifts only to use against them.

The Architects, in their own hubris, lead many to ruin in their misguided belief that science was never-ending, pure, and all-powerful.  They propagated and projected a false sense of security, promoting the notion that all within their audience were protected.  Those who were entrusted with the safety and future of Katharsis had no idea how much they had contributed to its near demise.

Draigwych spent nearly a millennium methodically unleashing the most insidious deception ever foisted upon a populace.  Each stage was deliberately calculated with patience and precision uncharacteristic of such a primal beast. The Usurper could have used his legendary powers to lay waste to huge swaths of the world, yet he took a different path.  This evil, this genius, this malevolence, chose instead to soak his prey in the bath water, incrementally raising the temperature to boiling.  Liberty was all but lost when the unimaginable happened. 

The normally stoic and unassuming Free Folk had reached their breaking point. The Pillar of Sovereignty would bend no further.  Laying aside their lives and livelihoods, the Free Folk rose up and traded their plowshares for swords, an act of strength and solidarity that forced the Mages and the Architects to own up to their sins and do likewise.

If you’re thinking there's a ‘silver lining’ to this cloud; that somehow there was redemption gained or victory meted out, think again. It’s true that Draigwych was defeated and imprisoned. It’s true that a balance of sorts was restored. But at what cost?  The aftermath of the Great Chaos and the Seven Years War is incalculable. There was no lasting victory, no lasting redemption, and certainly no lasting unity among the Four Pillars of Katharsis.