Ink and watercolour sketch of a hooded elven woman seen from behind, arms raised before a ring of standing stones in a dusk forest, as coiling darkness pours out through the ring.

History

The Gloaming

The ritual by which Abigail opened herself to Umbra to end the war of the dead, and let the darkness into Meliora.

  • Between the Ages

Description

The Gloaming is the name given to Abigail's act at the close of the war of the dead. Determined to find a power that would defy death rather than fall to it, she reached for the Umbral Plane and made herself the conduit of its magic, accepting whatever price it would demand. It began at a stone portal in the forest.

"I made this choice, my dear." — Abigail

Historical context

Abigail helped end one war, Aurelius said, and almost started another once people realised what kind of power she had invited into the world. Meliora forsook her, Umbra spread through the forest as gloom, and in time she became one with it. Aurelius later wondered whether she had known the consequences, and whether they had seemed acceptable to her.