Epoch: The Fractured Meridian (circa 784 - 812 AE)
Splayfoot. The name itself felt like a dissonance, a ripple in the very fabric of time. It wasn't a place, precisely, but a *resonance*. A point where the edges of reality blurred, allowing glimpses – and occasionally, intrusions – from timelines that had diverged, fractured, or simply ceased to exist. The Splayfoot was born from the Cataclysm, a silent, planetary upheaval that shattered the Great Concordance, leaving behind shards of forgotten empires and echoes of impossible futures. The initial settlement, known as Veridia, was founded by the Cartographers – individuals attuned to the subtle fluctuations of temporal energy. They sought not to control time, but to *record* it, to meticulously document the collapsing tapestry of existence. Their obsession with detail, however, proved to be both their salvation and their undoing.
The Cartographer’s Codex
Epoch: The Ascendancy of the Lumina
The Cartographer’s Codex was not a book in the traditional sense. It was a living archive, a complex network of crystalline resonators that pulsed with captured temporal data. Each resonator held a fragment of a timeline – a conversation between a lost king and his advisor, a child’s laughter from a world where magic still flowed, the agonizing death of a star. The Lumina, a collective of Cartographers who emerged during the Ascendancy, believed they could *manipulate* the Codex, weaving together timelines to create a perfect, harmonious reality. This, of course, was a delusion. The Codex resisted alteration, and its attempts to force a new order resulted in increasingly violent temporal distortions. The Lumina vanished, swallowed by the very echoes they sought to control. Rumors persist of a hidden chamber within the Codex, containing the 'Prime Resonance' – the original, unbroken timeline.
The Obsidian Guard
Epoch: The Silent Vigil
Following the Lumina’s demise, a new order arose – The Obsidian Guard. Comprised of temporal ‘anchors’ – individuals genetically modified to resist the effects of temporal flux – they were tasked with containing the most dangerous echoes. They patrolled the fringes of Splayfoot, armed with chronometric disruptors and shielded by intricate temporal armor. The Guard wasn't motivated by a grand vision, but by a grim pragmatism. They simply sought to prevent Splayfoot from unraveling completely. Their methods were brutal, often involving the complete erasure of problematic timelines. Their existence is shrouded in secrecy, and contact with the Guard is strictly forbidden. Whispers tell of a 'Black Resonance' - an echo so potent, so fundamentally dissonant, that it threatens to shatter reality itself.
Splayfoot Artifacts
“The rain sang a language I’d never heard, yet understood perfectly. It spoke of loss, of forgotten faces, of a world drowned in emerald fire.”
“The scent of cinnamon and regret. I saw a garden, impossibly vibrant, filled with flowers that burned with a cold, blue light.”
“Time folded back upon itself. I was a child again, chasing butterflies in a meadow that never existed.”
“A single, perfect note. It resonated with an unbearable sadness. I knew, instinctively, that it was the sound of a universe dying.”
The Unwritten Future
Epoch: The Looming Convergence
Now, the echoes are growing louder. The temporal storms are becoming more frequent, more violent. The Obsidian Guard is struggling to maintain control. And there are rumors - dangerous, unsettling rumors - of a new force emerging from the depths of Splayfoot: the Chronophages. Beings composed entirely of temporal energy, feeding on the echoes, accelerating the unraveling. The Looming Convergence is inevitable. Whether Splayfoot will be consumed by chaos, or whether a new, unforeseen order will emerge, remains to be seen. The final chronicle will be written in the silence that follows.