In the age before memory, when the stars burned low and the earth had yet to settle beneath the weight of its own silence, the world was whole — untouched by war, unscarred by sorrow. This was the Age of Balance, when the four Realms — Terra, Aqua, Ignis, and Aeris — lived in harmony, bound together by the sacred Lumina Stone, a celestial relic gifted by the gods themselves.
But balance is a fragile illusion, and the greed of mortals has no end.
It began not with a roar, but a whisper. Deep beneath the mountains of Terra, a voice stirred — old and full of venom, echoing through forgotten tunnels like the breath of something ancient awakened from slumber. The dwarves of Kar-Halgrun, guardians of the Stone's earthly anchor, first felt the tremors. They believed it an earthquake. They were wrong.
A rift opened, black as void and pulsing with an energy not of this world. From it emerged the First Calamity — Vorlath, The Eater of Stone, a beast of living ore and molten blood. It consumed the dwarven stronghold within days, leaving only smoldering ruins and the first cracks in the harmony of the realms.
With Kar-Halgrun fallen, Terra screamed, its forests withering, its mountains bleeding fire. The Lumina Stone dimmed.
The other realms watched, paralyzed. Kings debated, priests prophesied, and the skies darkened. For the ancient texts had warned of this: Ten Calamities shall rise when the balance breaks, and with each shall fall a realm until only silence remains.
This is the story of that silence being born — and of those who dared to stand against it.