Shards of War

The Shards of War

"Where the Shards fall, peace dies screaming. They are echoes of a dead god's rage, hungry for battle, turning heroes into warlords and skirmishes into crusades."

-From the recovered journals of a God-Slayer Paladin

Origin: The Shards of War are the sentient, divine fragments of the God of War, scattered across the cosmos when he was destroyed during the Godfall. They are not mere pieces of a broken artifact, but living embodiments of his divine portfolio—pure, raw conflict.

Nature & Effects: Each Shard is a potent artifact, often appearing as a jagged piece of obsidian-like divine metal pulsating with a faint, angry red light . They possess a malevolent sentience driven by a singular instinct: to incite and amplify conflict.

  • Aura of Aggression: A Shard radiates a subtle psychic field that heightens aggression, paranoia, and bloodlust in all sentient beings within its vicinity. Minor disagreements escalate into brawls, and strategic withdrawals become fights to the death.

  • War Zone Creation: Left unchecked, a Shard's influence will grow, potentially turning an entire city or even a small moon into a perpetual, self-sustaining war zone.

  • Empowerment: A being who attunes to a Shard, willingly or unwillingly, gains immense martial prowess and resistance to fear, but risks being consumed by an unending battle rage, their personality slowly overwritten by the dead god's fury.

The Unseen Purpose: While the Shards are a dangerous plague upon the galaxy, some within the Celestial Concord, particularly Sol Invictus, watch their emergence with grim interest. It is theorized that the Shards, being fragments of divine martial power, might be drawn to mortals possessing the specific virtues—valor, strategic genius, unwavering resolve—that defined the fallen God of War. Finding and mastering a Shard without being consumed by it could be the ultimate test, potentially identifying the very champion Sol Invictus seeks to one day Ascend and fill the empty seat on the divine council. Thus, the Shards represent both a devastating legacy and a potential key to the Pantheon's future.