The Skyveil Rupture

Event Date: 180 AC

Overview:
The Skyveil Rupture of 180 AC was a cataclysmic event that birthed the Skyrunners’ Guild, Ecliptica’s elite couriers who navigate Veil rifts with steam-powered gliders. A catastrophic experiment by Aetherian remnants in Ravensgate’s Veilspire Nexus unleashed a surge of Xulthar’s voids, tearing rifts across the skies and flooding the region with miasma. Led by Captain Aeris Windveil, a group of rogue pilots and relic hunters harnessed Aetherian Compasses and darkstone-fueled gliders to deliver critical supplies through the chaos, forging the Guild’s identity. This steampunk horror event, marked by howling winds, eldritch rifts, and Morgrath’s whispers, established the Skyrunners as indispensable to Ecliptica’s factions, from Ironreach’s forges to Albion’s fortresses, while deepening the Aetherian seal’s fragility, influencing the Ravensgate lockdown (290 AC) and the crises of 300 AC.

Causes:
After the Calamity (0 AC), Ecliptica’s factions struggled to rebuild amid plagues and scarcity. The Veilspire Nexus, a remnant Aetherian tower in Ravensgate, housed rune-etched Compasses that stabilized Veil rifts for transport. In 180 AC, a rogue Aetherian arcanist, Magister Valthor Riftshade, sought to restore the empire’s sky-fleets by amplifying the Nexus’s darkstone core. Ignoring warnings from Sylvaris’s druids about Xulthar’s voids, Valthor’s experiment destabilized the Veil, triggering rifts that unleashed Xyraxis’s Witherplague and Vortulon’s Starveplague. Ironreach’s darkstone shipments, Albion’s rune-wards, and Valthorne’s firearms depended on Nexus transport, but the rifts stranded supplies. Captain Aeris Windveil, a half-elf pilot, rallied outcast navigators, driven by Morgrath’s whispers of survival and ambition, to brave the rifts and restore trade routes.

Key Events:

  • Nexus Catastrophe: Valthor’s ritual in the Veilspire Nexus, powered by unstable darkstone, shattered the Veil, opening rifts that spewed miasma and void-beasts across Ravensgate’s skies. Shattered spires fell, precursors to the District of Desolation.

  • Windveil’s Rally: Aeris Windveil, wielding an Aetherian Compass, led pilots like Taryn Skyclaw and Gorran Steamwing in steam-gliders to navigate rifts, delivering Sylvarbloom herbs and Ironreach’s darkstone to stranded outposts.

  • Battle of the Riftstorm: In a storm of eldritch winds, the Skyrunners faced void-beasts—winged horrors of Xulthar’s design. Aeris’s glider, armed with Valthorne’s prototype firearms, downed a rift-wyrm, securing a vital trade route.

  • Guild’s Founding: Aeris formalized the Skyrunners’ Guild in the Nexus’s ruins, forging a darkstone sigil from rift debris. The Guild vowed to deliver across Ecliptica, binding factions through trade.

Consequences:
The Skyveil Rupture established the Skyrunners’ Guild as Ecliptica’s lifeline, their steam-gliders navigating rifts where land routes failed. The Nexus’s destruction weakened the Aetherian seal, spreading Witherplague to Ravensgate’s slums and drawing Nocturne’s relic hunters to the wreckage. Albion’s King Thorne II, reliant on Skyrunner deliveries, granted them autonomy but tightened rune-wards, fearing void breaches. Ironreach’s Forgemaster Drenvar Steelrend supplied glider fuel, while Sylvaris’s Verdant Queen Sylvara Thornbloom provided herbal wards, strengthening ties. Valthorne’s Archoness Lyria Valthorne armed Skyrunners against void-beasts, but Nocturne’s Ebon Star allies exploited rifts for relic smuggling, risking seal collapse. The miasma-choked skies became a permanent hazard, amplifying Morgrath’s whispers among survivors.

Lasting Impact:
In 300 AC, the Skyveil Rupture’s legacy defines the Skyrunners’ Guild as Ecliptica’s connective tissue. Their gliders, powered by Ironreach’s darkstone and guided by Aetherian Compasses, deliver Plague Doctors’ serums and Valthorne’s firearms through the Ravensgate lockdown (290 AC). The Guild’s neutrality balances tensions between Albion’s arcane rule, Ironreach’s industry, Sylvaris’s primal ethos, and Nocturne’s schemes, but their rift navigation draws Ebon Star attention, risking void breaches. The District of Desolation, scarred by the Rupture’s fallout, remains a hotspot for Skyrunner missions, where miasma and void-beasts lurk. Morgrath’s whispers haunt their routes, and the Aetherian seal’s fragility fuels fears of a second Calamity, making the Skyrunners’ role critical yet perilous in Ecliptica’s fractured world.