Ink and watercolour sketch of misty castle ruins where the broken crown of a tower hangs in the air and a shaft of green light falls from it to the ground.

History

The Rifts

Openings into strange dimensions through which raw magic flows into Meliora: the wellspring of its wizardry and its enchantments.

  • Before the Invasion
  • The Goblin Invasion

Description

The Rifts are what make Meliora special: openings that lead into strange dimensions and let raw magical energy flow into the world. Only a true wizard can summon that energy unaided; most Meliorans instead work it into enchanted objects. Rifts can open of their own accord, and they can be corrupted.

"What makes this Realm special are these Rifts." — Aurelius

Historical context

A Rift burns in a tower of the ruins above Pinewood, and Aurelius's favourite theory holds that its opening drove a wizard king from his palace. Another opened in the Healand Mines several decades before the goblin invasion and brought the tunnels down. During the invasion Aurelius feared that whatever lurked in those caves was corrupting Rifts across the realm, and that a giant crystal in the ruins threatened the Pinewood Rift itself.