Long ago, before men, elves, and giants quarreled beneath the sun, there was only the World-Tree, a vast ash whose branches stretched across the heavens and whose roots bound the realms together. Mortals called it Yggdrassil, the axis of all creation.
But when the gods fell to warring, their battles split heaven and earth. The World-Tree was shattered: its trunk splintered, its branches burned, and its roots drove deep into the bones of the world. The nine realms it once held apart were dragged down into one broken plane — Vethrmyr, a land both blessed and cursed, where every region carries the echo of what once was.
Now, the Shattered Roots thrust through mountains, fjords, and deserts like great veins of petrified wood. They radiate strange power, warping the land and calling monsters to their shade. Some say these roots still connect to distant realms — others whisper they are dying, and that the end of Vethrmyr is only a matter of time.