Confluence (Valhallan Age)

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The Weak Obey - The Just Defy

This content is a part of Valhallan Age.

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Index / Lexica / Timeline

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‘Look into history, and there’s no small number of cultures that thought their homeworld was the center of the universe. It was a model called Geocentrism. Some thought their local stars were the center of everything. That was called Heliocentrism. Now, we have people who think the Sky River is the center of everything. That’s had a few names - Skycentrism, Rivercentrism, Abysscentrism. I like Skycentrism, myself. Anyway, difference from the past is, in a way, depending on how you look at it, Skycentrism isn’t exactly wrong.’

Confluence

Meta Info

Article Creator

quirkQuartz

Author

QuirkQuartz

Scope

Valhallan Age

General Properties

Type

Mass Universal Movement and Cosmic Restructuring Event

The Confluence was, and is, a major ongoing event that resulted in the formation of the Sky River, the Sky Shore, and any other Gyre Clusters that may or may not be emerging throughout the Voidsea.

In simple terms, the Confluence refers to the movement of all matter towards, or placed in the orbit of, a newly formed centerpoint of the entire Cosmic Tide. This point, known as the Thalweg, is seemingly located within the Sky River.

A deep lack of understanding of the Confluence persists, thousands of years after it began.

The period of time that the Confluence was most rapidly undergoing is known to the Cosmic Union’s calendar as the Sky Age.

Description

The exact nature of the Confluence is relatively straightforward.

It began when Taekni and Broadwave first emerged. As they formed, adapted, evolved, and became the Arcane as it is known today, it became a new, fundamental force across the Cosmic Tide. As the Broadwave spread across the cosmos, those areas spread to become attracted to the point of origin. This point of origin, now called the Thalweg, is seemingly within the Vatrersaer Galaxy, often also known as the Core Trench, of the Sky River.

In particular, the Thalweg appears to be located near the galactic core, known as the Abyssreach. It is surrounded by the Fae Rest, a particularly Arcane dense region, known for its high number of Seidr Worlds, and Voidsea phenomenon. Mapping the Fae Rest is difficult enough - The Abyssreach is thought to be even harder. It is a particularly harsh region, rich in the Broadwave, that only the strongest, smartest, bravest, or most insane dare to tread. Yet even those who can claim to have traversed there claim to have not been able to observe the Thalweg, as it is located deep within the Abyssreach.

Regardless, the Thalweg continues to attract matter towards it - the exact specifics of how, and why, it is doing this, remain unclear. It is this attraction of celestial bodies towards it that has created the Sky River, as galaxies collided with one another, forming new ones, as old ones tore themselves apart, or faded into dust. This all happened in an incredibly quick span of time in a cosmic sense, taking roughly 2,500 years for the Sky River to form into a shape that it resembles today.

This convergence of galaxies - This is the Confluence.

It is of note that the Confluence did not have a solid beginning, nor did it have a solid ending. It is still, technically, ongoing today. It is simply that it has found a new equilibrium and stability - Or at least, as stable as it seems capable of being.

Aftermath

The Confluence was an exceedingly rapid affair. Those on Void Islands could look into their skies and see, in real time, as galaxies and stars shifted before them. In cosmic scales, the sheer degree to which the Confluence changed everything remains utterly uncontested, except for the emergence of Taekni and Broadwave themselves.

It was also, however, an incredibly, unfathomably violent affair.

Gravitational forces still persisted and did not simply bend or break now that Taekni and the Broadwave were present, time was warped in some places, and as new phenomena began to take shape, things became even more confusing.

Void Islands were torn from their orbits, and shot into the emptiness of the Abyss, or were outright obliterated by contesting forces. Galaxies were pulled apart, some merging into new hybrid galaxies, and some simply sputtering out as all their stellar mass was ejected. The sheer speed at which all of this occurred too, caused immense destruction, with worlds crashing into one another, stars going supernova, and the formation of multiple Voidsea hazards.

It is speculated by some that the reason there is no shortage of wormholes scattered across the Sky River and the Sky Shore is because the Confluence literally tore open the Voidsea with gravimetric forces. Others speculate the Broadwave had more to do with that. In truth, it isn’t clear why this happened, but one thing is certain - Some of these Wormholes had simply not been present before the Confluence occurred.

Some Kinde found themselves on worlds ejected, and caught in the orbit of new galaxies, surrounded by hostile forces. Some were separated from the rest of their people, becoming lost worlds, sometimes millions of light years away from the core of their former Faction. The Confluence created possibly thousands of exclaves, scattered all throughout the Voidsea. Many have yet to be rediscovered by their parent Faction. Some persist and fight. Others wilter and die. Regardless, it is not uncommon to see a Kin, native to the core of the Sky River, within the Haglaegir Moskstraumen, at the very edge, over 1,520,000 light years away from home, due to one of their worlds being ejected and winding up here.

In other areas, the transition was relatively simple and smooth - Some satellite galaxies were outright absorbed by their parent orbit, with very little destruction relative to the sheer weight of the event. For some, it was a purely beneficial occurrence. The Elvendritch in particular finally were part of a wider galaxy, which they began to attempt to conquer at the first opportunity.

Kinde that had never before had an opportunity to interact with one another now did so - To mixed success and opportunity. Some meetings were peaceful, while others lead to war. In Vetrarsaer, the Void Imperator saw the Confluence as near apocalyptic, and formed the Flygia Riki in response to it.