Quill and Compass, Entry 8: The Age of Arcana

If Conquest was thunder, Arcana is lightning — dazzling, searing, and crackling across every corner of Gaiaxia. It began, as all ages must, with an ending: the raging fire of the Age of Conquest was finally extinguished, and the gods were bound to Solis by Ikozra. No longer may they walk among us; no more avatars to make playthings of mortals. Their voices reach us now only through Scions, Guardians, and the songs of faith resounding through temples the Realm over. Some call it exile, others mercy. To me, dear reader? It was liberation — bittersweet, yes, but liberation all the same. For when the heavens fall silent, the quills, forges, and songs of mortals sing all the louder.

And sing we did! Never before has the Realm witnessed such heights of magical innovation. Spiracite crystals gleam with condensed power, fueling lanterns that never dim, constructs that never tire, and airships that soar through skies once thought untouchable. And then, of course, there are the Gates — true marvels of ingenuity. Etched with runes of resonance and powered by Spiracite, these magnificent archways draw two places together through the Veil itself; step through one and emerge from its twin across the world, the air still warm from where you began. Entire cities hum with their energy, each gate tuned to another like strings of the same instrument. It is said that to stand between two active gates is to hear the Song of Creation itself.

Arcana’s wonders are not confined to grand inventions alone. Farmers and Druids charm the rain and soil to coax crops to grow twice in a season. Masons bind stone with runes instead of mortar. Musicians — myself included, naturally — weave illusion into melody, painting light and sound upon the air itself. Magic, once the province of lofty scholars and chosen few, now flows through the hands of commonfolk. For a few coins, one might light a hearth that warms but never burns, mend torn cloth with enchanted thread, or send a message through the Veil to a loved one on another continent. The impossible has become almost ordinary.
And yet, brilliance forever casts its shadow. Each invention hums with potential — and with peril. Spiracite engines can power cities, or shatter them. The same glyphs that heal can unmake. And though the world now hums with comfort and convenience, it also hums with dependence. Should these runes ever fail, or fall into careless hands, what songs might we sing then?

One shadow remains punctual as the turning of the seasons. When Luna and Gaiaxia draw closest, the wound Aldegar tore through the Veil stirs, giving rise to what we now call Hollow’s Veil. For several nights, the boundaries thin, and Hollowspawn pour through. Across the world, preparations begin weeks in advance: wards are rekindled, holy bells toll through the night, and entire guilds of Hollowspawn hunters set out to contain the chaos. It has become less a festival and more a ritual of survival — a yearly reminder that even the brightest world still dances on the edge of its own darkness.

This, dear reader, is our Silver Age — gleaming bright and beautiful, where airships drift between sun and moon, and mortals command magic once reserved for the divine. Ours is a time of brilliance, of daring, of boundless curiosity. But I have traveled long enough to know that every light, no matter how radiant, casts a shadow somewhere unseen. How long, I wonder, before the shine begins to tarnish? Only time will tell. But rest assured — when history turns its page, you will find my ink upon it.

And so, dear reader, our journey through the Ages draws to a close — a tapestry of gods and mortals, triumph and ruin, all woven into the living history of Gaiaxia. Yet as I set down this chapter, I find my quill drawn not to silence, but to the beating heart of that history: the Dragons. Titans of legend, keepers of creation, tempests given thought and form — they are history’s oldest poets and its fiercest critics, the bridge between mortality and divinity. To study them is to study Gaiaxia itself — so fetch your maps and polish your spectacles, for my next entries shall dive into wondrous world of The Dragons of Gaiaxia!

With my quill in the past and my eyes on the future,
Yours, ever truly,
— Tobias Elanor, Bard, Scholar, Explorer Extraordinaire

© DracTheDrake

Hello hello!

We've made it to the end of the ages as Tobias knows them. Don't fret though, of course there's plenty more to explore!

The Age of Arcana was a fun one that we actually played through in a previous campaign at our D&D table, Gaiaxia is the setting we use in a HEAVILY homebrewed D&D5e game. That's also what birthed the idea of making our own TTRPG system, we homebrewed 5e to the point where it's barely recognizable.

Thank you for reading through the Ages with me! I'm excited for you all to open the next chapter of Quill and Compass with Tobias and I!