Lort'zyn Civil War

Lort'zyn Civil War

Interstellar conflict across the Lortzyn empire triggered by the death cry of The Ravager leading to societal collapse

Event Name

Lort'zyn Civil War

Duration

millions of years

Cause

Ravager's death cry

Location

Lort'zyn empire

Outcome

empire fragmentation

Participants

Lort'zyn factions

Primordial Entity

The Ravager

Era

after Ravager's death

The *Lort'zyn Civil War* was a protracted and devastating interstellar conflict that erupted across the vast Lort'zyn empire, plunging it into chaos for millions of years. As described in the context of the Wars of the Cosmos, this cataclysmic war was not a mere political or territorial dispute, but a profound societal collapse triggered by a universe-altering event: the death cry of The Ravager, a primordial entity slain by Uzhyr, the god of order. This death cry unleashed a wave of psionic corruption that fractured the minds of the Lort'zyn, turning them against each other and setting the stage for an era of unprecedented strife and fragmentation.

Origins of the Lort'zyn

The Lort'zyn were not a naturally evolved species but the deliberate creation of the primordial gods Uzhyr and Morsvitae. In the primordial era of the cosmos, Uzhyr and Morsvitae, partners in the cosmic dance of order and anarchy, forged the Lort'zyn as instruments of expansion and cosmic dominion. For three billion years, guided by their creators, the Lort'zyn spread across the stars, establishing a vast and powerful empire that spanned countless galaxies. This era of expansion and prosperity saw the Lort'zyn reach the zenith of their civilization, developing advanced technologies and a complex societal structure.

The Lortzyn created by primordial gods Uzhyr and Morsvitae as instruments of expansion establishing a vast empire

From within the Lort'zyn civilization arose nine powerful entities, elevated to godhood by their own people and known collectively as The Nonet. These gods represented various aspects of Lort'zyn society and aspirations:

• Ytdarr, god of secrets
• Iros, god of abundance
• Oruer, god of ambition
• Veneta, goddess of endurance
• Gardor, god of resolve
• Elarus, god of discipline
• Eelia, goddess of perfection
• Maaldir, god of justice
• Dystus, god of purification

The Nonet served as guiding figures for the Lort'zyn, embodying the ideals and values of their expansive civilization. They presided over a period of relative harmony and continued growth, further solidifying the Lort'zyn dominion across the cosmos. However, this golden age was destined to be shattered by forces beyond their control.

The Ravager's Death Cry and Cosmic Corruption

The intrusion of The Ravager into the universe marked a turning point in Lort'zyn history. This primordial entity, originating from beyond the known cosmos, destabilized reality itself through its very presence. In a desperate act to preserve order, Uzhyr confronted the Ravager and, after a millennia-long battle, struck the entity down, tearing its soul from its body and forging it into his warhammer, The Entomber of Gods.

However, the death of a primordial being was not without consequence. As the Ravager's essence was extinguished, it unleashed a psychic shockwave in the form of a death cry that reverberated throughout the universe. This death cry was more than just a sound; it was a wave of psionic corruption, a malignant influence that penetrated the minds of the Lort'zyn and began to unravel their societal fabric.

The psionic corruption acted as a catalyst, amplifying latent negative tendencies within the Lort'zyn psyche. It sowed discord, mistrust, and paranoia, turning individuals and factions against each other. The once unified Lort'zyn empire, built on shared goals and guided by the Nonet, began to fracture under the insidious influence of the Ravager's dying lament.

The Fall of the Nonet and the Rise of the Dark Pantheon

The Ravager's death cry did not only affect the Lort'zyn populace; it also profoundly corrupted the The Nonet, the very gods who were meant to guide and protect them. The virtues and positive aspects they once embodied were twisted and perverted by the pervasive psionic influence, transforming them into the The Dark Pantheon, embodiments of vice and malevolence. This corruption was a gradual process, a slow erosion of their original natures, amplified by the Ravager's lingering presence in the cosmos.

The Nonet Lortzyn gods corrupted by the Ravager's death cry transforming into the malevolent Dark Pantheon

Each member of the Nonet underwent a tragic transformation:

• Ytdarr, God of Secrets, to God of Deception: Ytdarr’s domain, secrets and hidden truths, was twisted into deception and manipulation. His guardianship of secrets morphed into an active exploitation of them, relishing the power derived from withholding and distorting information. He became a master of lies, sowing discord and manipulating events for his own amusement and to exert control.

• Iros, God of Abundance, to God of Greed: Iros, who represented prosperity and plenty, was corrupted into an insatiable avarice. Abundance was no longer sufficient; he craved absolute ownership and control over all resources. This manifested as a pathological hoarding instinct, an obsession with accumulating wealth and power at any cost to others.

• Oruer, God of Ambition, to God of Envy: Oruer's ambition and drive for self-improvement were warped into bitter envy of others' successes. Ambition became twisted into resentment, a constant yearning for what others possessed. This fueled spiteful actions and a desire to tear down those who had achieved what he coveted.

• Veneta, Goddess of Endurance, to Goddess of Despair: Veneta, the embodiment of resilience and perseverance, was overwhelmed by the amplified hardships she witnessed. Endurance transformed into despair, and her focus shifted from overcoming adversity to succumbing to it. She became consumed by hopelessness, spreading resignation and defeat instead of inspiration.

• Gardor, God of Resolve, to God of Rage and Madness: Gardor’s unwavering resolve and determination were perverted into uncontrollable rage and madness. His steadfastness became a burning fury, easily ignited and leading to violent outbursts and unpredictable behavior. Notably, Gardor’s fall was particularly tragic, driven in part by the betrayal of his friend Ytdarr, whose descent into deception fueled Gardor's descent into rage.

• Elarus, God of Discipline, to God of Cruelty: Elarus, who stood for order and discipline, saw his pursuit of order twisted into a sadistic obsession with control and punishment. Discipline became cruelty, with Elarus deriving pleasure from inflicting pain and enforcing his will through fear. He became a tyrannical figure, reveling in the suffering of others.

• Eelia, Goddess of Perfection, to Goddess of Enticement: Eelia's pursuit of perfection and ideal forms was warped into an obsessive and ultimately self-destructive craving for unattainable ideals. Perfection morphed into enticement and addiction, driving her to seek fleeting sensations and experiences, constantly chasing a higher state that could never be reached, leading to extreme and self-destructive behaviors.

• Maaldir, God of Justice, to God of Bitterness: Maaldir, the embodiment of fairness and justice, found his sense of justice perverted into deep-seated bitterness and resentment. Justice became twisted into a desire for retribution, fueling cycles of violence and recrimination. Curiously, Maaldir retained more of his former self than the others, his bitterness specifically directed at Uzhyr for the perceived abandonment of the Lort'zyn.

• Dystus, God of Purification, to God of Annihilation: Dystus, who represented cleansing and removal of impurities, saw his desire for purification amplified into a nihilistic craving for complete annihilation. Purification became annihilation, a desire for the utter destruction of everything deemed imperfect, driven by a twisted sense of cosmic cleansing.

This transformation of the Nonet into the Dark Pantheon was a critical turning point, providing corrupted leadership and divine sanction to the burgeoning Lort'zyn Civil War. The Dark Pantheon became figureheads for the warring factions, further exacerbating the conflict and plunging the Lort'zyn empire into an era of darkness.

Eruption of the Lort'zyn Civil War

The psionic corruption unleashed by the Ravager's death cry, coupled with the fall of the Nonet, ignited the Lort'zyn Civil War. Across their sprawling interstellar empire, the Lort'zyn turned against each other, driven by paranoia, greed, envy, rage, despair, and a host of other corrupted emotions amplified by the Ravager's lingering influence and the machinations of the Dark Pantheon.

The war raged for millions of years, consuming entire galaxies in its wake. The vast Lort'zyn civilization, once a beacon of order and expansion, became a battleground of internecine conflict. Sophisticated technologies, originally designed for exploration and construction, were turned into instruments of war. Planets were ravaged, star systems were torn apart, and the very fabric of Lort'zyn society was systematically dismantled.

Uzhyr and Morsvitae, occupied with the monumental task of restabilizing the fabric of reality after the Ravager's death, were initially unable to directly intervene in the escalating civil war. The Ravager's death cry had created a cosmic emergency, demanding their immediate and undivided attention to prevent further unraveling of the nascent universe. This absence of divine guidance further fueled the chaos, allowing the Dark Pantheon to consolidate their influence and the civil war to escalate unchecked.

Consequences of the Lort'zyn Civil War

The Lort'zyn Civil War had profound and lasting consequences, reshaping the cosmos and fundamentally altering the trajectory of Lort'zyn civilization.

Fragmentation of the Lortzyn empire devolution of the species creation of the Black Epitaph and the Nemither

• Fragmentation and Devolution: The war resulted in the utter fragmentation of the Lort'zyn empire. Spread thin across countless galaxies, embroiled in endless conflict, the Lort'zyn lost their cohesion, their history, and their shared identity. As the war drew to a close, the Lort'zyn, exhausted and depleted, began to devolve, losing their advanced civilization and adapting to the varied environments of the planets they chose to settle for survival. This devolution marked the end of the unified Lort'zyn civilization, scattering its remnants across the cosmos.

• Rise of New Species: Over the eons following the civil war, the devolved descendants of the Lort'zyn diversified and evolved into the myriad species that now populate the universe. The Lort'zyn, once a single, unified race, became the ancestral stock for countless different lifeforms, each adapted to their specific homeworlds and environments. The Lort'zyn Civil War, therefore, paradoxically served as a crucible of diversification, scattering the seeds of life that would eventually blossom into the universe's current panoply of species.

• Creation of The Black Epitaph: The very location of the Ravager's death, the site of Uzhyr's victory, became a permanent scar upon reality: The Black Epitaph. This massive wound in the cosmos became a conduit for chaotic energies and malignant entities, a constant source of cosmic horror and a perpetual threat to the newly established order. The Black Epitaph serves as a grim reminder of the Ravager's legacy and the enduring consequences of primordial conflict.

• Creation of The Nemither: In the aftermath of the Ravager's death and the civil war, Morsvitae created The Nemither, a dimension of antithetical laws and unstable reality, to house the Ravager's corpse and the Dark Pantheon. The Nemither became a domain of chaos and transformation, a reflection of Morsvitae's primordial essence and a counterpoint to Uzhyr's ordered creation. The Nemither also became the staging ground for the Dark Pantheon and their aberrant legions, further cementing the division between order and anarchy in the cosmos.

The End of the Civil War and the Great Diaspora

After millions of years of relentless conflict, the Lort'zyn Civil War gradually subsided, not through a decisive victory for any faction, but through sheer attrition and exhaustion. The once-mighty empire was shattered beyond repair, its infrastructure in ruins, its population decimated, and its shared culture fractured. The surviving Lort'zyn, scattered across countless galaxies, were left to pick up the pieces of their broken civilization.

This period marked the beginning of The Great Diaspora, a cosmic scattering of the Lort'zyn remnants. Forced to prioritize survival over empire, the Lort'zyn devolved and adapted, their once-advanced civilization fading into memory. They settled on diverse planets, losing their shared history and evolving into new forms, becoming the ancestors of the universe's current species.

Uzhyr and Morsvitae, having stabilized the fabric of reality and witnessed the catastrophic consequences of the civil war, turned their attention to this new, fragmented cosmos. Uzhyr, driven by a desire to prevent such chaos from ever recurring, established The Omnium Theocracy on Pantocrator's Ladmass, a plateau of a million galaxies, as a haven of order and sanctuary against the chaotic universe. Morsvitae, on the other hand, retreated to the Nemither with the Dark Pantheon, maintaining her role as the primordial force of anarchy and transformation, forever watching over the Ravager's corpse and the fallen gods.

The Lort'zyn Civil War, therefore, stands as a pivotal event in cosmic history. It marked the end of a primordial era, the fall of a once-great civilization, and the birth of a new cosmic order, one defined by the enduring tension between order and chaos, and the long shadow of the Ravager's death cry. The echoes of this devastating conflict continue to resonate throughout the universe, shaping the ongoing struggles and defining the cosmic landscape for eons to come.