Tenebris Vale is a world of eternal twilight and ruin, where the laws of reality decay and corruption seeps into every stone, tree, and breath. The Umbraxis Rift, a wound carved into existence, bleeds mutation and madness into the land. Faith has splintered into zealotry, law has become ritualized tyranny, and memory itself collapses under the weight of decay. In the Vale, survival is not measured in years but in vows, scars, and the strength to endure the dark.

🌍 System Overview

• Umbraxis Rift: The heart of corruption. It mutates landscapes, flesh, and even time itself. Its pull is constant, its whispers endless.
• Veil Court: The ruling order, twisted arbiters who enforce broken laws. Justice in the Vale is a ritual, never mercy.
• Soulbinding: A central system of ritual and survival. Bonds are made between people, relics, or memories, often at a terrible cost.
• Corruption Index: Every being carries a measure of Rift exposure. Beyond a threshold, identity unravels, transforming them into something monstrous.
• Wards & Relics: Ancient protections left over from the world before the Sundering. They stabilize fragments of reality but are rare and fading.

📜 Historical Timeline

• The Balance (Before Sundering): Gods and mortals coexisted in fragile harmony. Magic was devotion; art was worship.
• The Sundering: Reality ruptured. The Umbraxis Rift opened. Gods burned, shattered, or descended into madness.
• Fall of Umbraholme: The crown city of the old world collapsed into paradox. Streets folded, time shattered, Riftborn horrors consumed it whole.
• Rise of the Luminaries: Prophets of corruption declared decay to be holy. Their cults spread across cities, reshaping society into theocracies of obsession.
• The Age of Twilight (Present): What remains is fragmented—cities half-alive, faith curdled, and defiance flickering only in whispers.

⚡ Sources of Power & Corruption

• Rift Corruption: Powers gained through exposure to the Umbraxis Rift. Every gift extracts identity in return.
• Soulbinding: Ritual tethers that fuse souls, bind relics, or lock memories together. It grants strength, but death, madness, or servitude are frequent outcomes.
• Forbidden Wards: Pre-Sundering symbols and seals that hold back corruption. Their knowledge is nearly lost.