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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Xanterith" data-source="post: 3240679" data-attributes="member: 47264">As amazing and unimaginable as all this sounds, it is nothing when compared to what happened in the months and years after these realms were reconnected. The first realms were discovered shortly after the reconnect by Githyanki travelers in their continual search for Gith.  Quickly word of these new systems spread across the multiverse.  And with this spreading strange things began occurring in the lower planes.  The Blood War, an ageless battle fought throughout time had reached a standstill and the powers grew bored.  The Yugoloths, sensing this and wanting to continue the conflict that for so many years had furthered their own devious plots, turned the attention of the devils and demons to the newly reconnected lands of the prime.  The demon princes and devil lords long occupied with nothing but the destruction of their opposition found themselves with new interests.   The influx of new, fresh lands ripe with hatred, jealousy, corruption, gluttony and greed proved to be far too tempting a fruit.  The armies sat waiting at the borders of each of the lower planes as massive expeditionary forces found ways into the new prime.  The new blood war was to be fought outside the lower planes, to be fought throughout the prime itself as Demon and Devil alike gained power with each conquered world.   These worlds not only brought fresh souls to feed the armies, but new technologies and new understanding of how the multiverse truly worked.  The armies of good and light could do nothing but stand by and helplessly watch as each new world fell, the people deaf to the calls to goodness, instead turning to the temptation of evil.  As the years passed slowly the evil powers became more brazen and began to set their sights on the upper planes as well as the prime.   Massive onslaughts were formed as the devils left Baator and swept through Mechanus to the borders of Mount Celeste.  The angels themselves were powerless to stop this advance as the lack of faith from their worshippers left them weak when compared with the might of the demon armies.   They retreated to the peak of Mt. Olympus, locked themselves within the fortress, and instructed their followers to show no mercy in the face evil.  This alienated the good churches even further as many of the underprivileged and downtrodden were forced to unscrupulous acts to survive.  These people were turned away for fear of infiltration by the demonic armies, and one of the tenets of all good faiths was lost – penance and confession were replaced with persecution and retribution.  The church of good took on the aspects of evil in an attempt to remove evil, a cycle of destruction that for all their wisdom the deities of good never saw.  As this war raged across the outer planes and reconnected prime, the powers of the good pantheon slowly began to wane on the previously connected worlds.  Priests of heavenly deities who suddenly found their powers removed turned to evil to replace what was once theirs.  Churches of light became defiled bastions of evil, the good of the multiverse slowly eclipsed by darkness.   Where once the worship of evil was persecuted, now it was the practitioners of good who kept their allegiances hidden, their motives secret.   Eventually the devils and demons bored of fighting good and turned their attentions to each other, rekindling the ageless blood war but on a scale much broader, and much more subtle.  Outright battles on the open field were replaced with negotiations, conflict still always on the surface, but subdued by attempts at resolution.  Contracts and companies formed to enforce these laws, and the demons and devils became the holders of power and order throughout the multiverse, the demons continually trying to circumvent the devils laws, the devils finding loopholes to remove the demons, and both sides feeding off mortalkind’s innate base tendencies.Arcane magic, still an important and powerful force across the multiverse, began to slowly take a back seat to technology and advancement in the sciences.  Many things that magic did technology could do cheaper and faster, and in addition was much easier to mass produce.   Cell phones replaced the messenger spell.  Automobiles replaced phantom steeds.  Devils and Demons formed interplanetary corporations for the mass production and distribution of technology throughout the galaxy.  Most mortals had no clue the amount of influence the lower planes had on their daily lives, as most executives kept their true allegiances hidden, all professing only one – the all mighty dollar.  Whole planetary systems were invaded, conquered and forced into production of items for use throughout the multiverse.   The corporations contended that they paid fair wages and treated all of their “employees” humanely, but without regulation or competition these workers amounted to nothing more than slave labor.  Everything from shoes to space transports were manufactured this way.  Technology distributed much more easily than magic, and anyone could use it, whereas magical creations can be kind of finicky.   The devils and demons felt less threatened by technology, thinking they could control and manipulate it easier than the magical equivalent.  Practitioners of arcane magic became rarer and rarer, and as their services became more specialized and needed many that showed talent were employed by the larger companies at a very young age, some voluntary, others forced, and others still flat out eliminated.   The rarer it became, the harder it became to learn.  Practitioners began to band together into secret societies, several of them forming schools of magic throughout the multiverse, all kept secret for fear of infiltration and domination.  Mainstream society mostly views magic with fear and discomfort, and most practitioners generally try to stay away from the spotlight, practicing their art in quiet seclusion, away from prying eyes and greedy hands.Divine magic, while not as affected by the influx of technology as arcane, underwent some significant changes.  Most of the changes were not in how it functioned, but in how it was distributed.  Most of the good churches and pantheons went through some difficult times and have closed their doors to outsiders, fearing retribution and persecution.  These doors are only opened to true believers, ones who can honestly show their faith.  The forces of evil have spread propaganda against good, forcing them to examine who they let into their faiths and who they help, too many times has evil taken advantage of goods morality.   Champions for what is right are few, but they follow their gods with strong dedication and conviction strengthened by the powers that back them.  Churches dedicated to evil have spread their lies and propaganda throughout the multiverse with grand marketing campaigns and money collecting schemes.  They provide the masses with healing, welcome walls, and friendly smiling faces – all the while strengthening and growing the dark powers below.   Many dark powers have formed organizations that support this structure – providing communities with health care in addition to many other social services.  Many of these further the ends of the evil churches, providing “treatments” to illnesses that require even more investment in the dark powers.  These organizations run completely “non-profit” and say they are solely there for the protection and health of mortalkind.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  Many of these so-called “non-profits” generated billions and sometimes trillions of dollars in income from donations and paid medical services.  The benefits they provided served to cover up the evil that occurred below.  The poor are turned away dying in the streets as the rich are assured long life, so long as that check cashes and the money continues to flow.</blockquote>

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