Will’s party only took a few days in town to prepare. They had arrived with a clear goal, and had spent the time to outline their objectives well in advance. They showed up, got the information they needed, spent some time buying some supplies, and headed off.

The Domain they were headed to was one of five that were in the region, each of which was regularly raided by the adventurers of Waystation Gran. Of the five, three were based in the ruins of the region, while the other two were in the surrounding wilderness.

“Wait,” Nina spoke up, “There are five Domains out here? That’s so many! How is that possible?”

Gerald turned to her with a measuring gaze. “I always forget how young you are.” He raised his hand, forestalling any questions. “Let’s make this easy. What do you know about the Rupturing?”

She shifted under his gaze. “... It happened?”

Annette and WIll shared surprised glances. Gerald just sighed, dragging a hand down his face. “Yeah, I guess I shoulda figured that’d be the case. Your parents certainly didn’t do you any favors.” His face darkened, “Not a one.”

He sighed again, shifting his pack and looking out across the rocky desert, towards the distant ruins barely visible peeking out over a hill. “Well, we won’t be able to give you an entire education, but we should have enough time to cover the basics, so listen here.”

“The Rupturing is, without doubt, the single most cataclysmic event that has ever occurred in recorded history. There is absolutely no question about this amongst scholars. The particularly contentious ones even argue that it was the most destructive event the world has ever seen, going so far as to pick fights with religious doctrines. I really can’t speak to that though. What I can say is that it was bad. You see those ruins we’re headed to?” He said, pointing off into the distance. She nodded.

“That place is from before the Rupturing. Those ruins are over 600 years old.” Nina looked at their destination with renewed interest. “Yeah. There’s ruins like this all over the world. Big old places that the races of the world used to live; humans, elves, orcs, whatever. Every race has stories of the Rupturing, cities dying out overnight, people running from monsters. It was the end of the world. Entire civilizations, gone.” He snapped his fingers, “Just like that.”

Nina’s brow furrowed, looking questioningly at the ruins. “There are places like this all over the world? But… I can understand why no one would want to move back here; it’s a desert, and there are a bunch of Domains right in the city, but surely that can’t be the case with every old city.”

Gerald nodded, “And it’s not. There are some cities from before the Rupture that have been reclaimed, mostly places that don’t have Domains in the middle of the city, but there are a few races that have taken that risk. Most notably the orcs.” He shook his head, “Before things went down, they were largely a tribal culture. On one hand, they only had a few cities to lose. On the other hand, they couldn’t lose those cities. Due to their tribal nature, they were able to retain a lot of their fighting forces and history, which is a large part of why they are so strong today.”

Nina just looked more confused, but she stewed in it a bit while Annette spoke up. “I’m surprised. I’ve never heard much about the history of the races before the Rupturing. I thought the orcish states were strong because of the orcs’ natural strength.”

Gerald snorted, waving his hand dismissively, “Bah. ‘Natural strength’. Orcs are hardier than humans, for sure, but the only difference in ‘natural’ strength comes from their height advantage. Their culture places an emphasis on being prepared for a fight, and they sit in their cities soaking up enough ambient mana to spin out Domains right down the street. Raise a human in those conditions and they might even be stronger than your average orc, on account of humans increased mana absorption.”

“Huh,” Annette looked thoughtful.

“Wait, Gerald. I’m confused,” Nina said. “You make it sound like when the Rupture happened it was only in cities. That can’t be right, can it? I mean, it was a worldwide event.”

“Ah!” He said, pointing at her, “Now you’re asking the right questions. But honestly, as far as any sentient civilization cared, it pretty much did only happen in cities. Now, the big question is: Why?”

She stared at him for a moment, before sighing and tilting her head. “Umm… I’m not sure. I guess… The Domains and stuff appeared because of the Rupturing, so maybe… Whatever caused the Domains to appear was… in cities? That sounds silly though,” she said, glancing up at him, “What would all these cities all over the world have in common?”

Gerald smiled at her. “Ah, there may be hope for you yet.” Nina blushed and grinned in return. “You are exactly right. There was, almost always, one common feature shared between the cities lost to the Rupture. And, indeed, any place with a Domain has the same trait, even out in the wilderness, or deep in the oceans depths. That common feature is leylines. And before you ask ‘what are leylines?’, I’ll tell you. Leylines are, essentially, the pathways around the world that mana travels across. If you are located on a leyline or, even better, at an intersection of leylines, you are in a place where most of the worlds magic comes from. The ambient mana is higher, and everything benefits from being in higher ambient mana. People, animals, plants, anything living, lives better. They grow stronger, they live longer, healthier lives. Inanimate objects also benefit from ambient mana, though on a longer timescale. These are the regions where we can find mana-infused metals or gems. Before these places also became home to the nightmare hellscapes known as Domains, they were great places to live, and so that’s what people did.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Nina nodded slowly. “Okay… That makes sense. But it still doesn’t answer my original question. How are there five Domains right here?” Her head jerked up, a sudden spark lighting in her eyes. “Wait… If they form along leylines then… Are there multiple of these lines here?”

This time it was Will who spoke. “There sure are. These ruins sit on a Nexus, and that’s why there’s so much interest in them. The things that people could have done and built with the wealth and power that this place generated? It’s hard to even think about. And that is exactly why it’s worth coming here even on a rumor of an artifact.”

Her eyes shone with anticipation now, “Woah. Remind me to thank your dad for getting this party together.”

Will waved his hand, “Ah, don’t worry about it. My dad always loved tales of adventurers, but never wanted to do it himself. He just likes using his connections to set up groups so he can have more stories to listen to. If anything, I should thank you all,” he said, gesturing at them all. “Coming all the way out here to the ends of the world to salvage in one of the most picked-through regions of the old world? Not many people willing to do that, I’d wager.” He glanced up at their destination, wiping sweat off his forehead; nearer, but not by much. “Especially in this heat. We’ve still got a ways to go.”

Annette sighed. “Yup. Best get to it.”

-=-<^>-=-

A bit later

Will groaned, dumping his pack and sprawling out in the shade, panting. They’d finally reached the little bit of ruin they’d been chasing, a largely intact watch tower on the outskirts of the city. They were taking a break in the tower, shaded and panting.

After a few minutes, Nina pulled herself over to the side, trying to get a look at the city. When she did, she gasped. “Gerald, Gerald, come look at this! I’ve never seen a place so big!” The ancient city, constructed of weathered and worn stone, spread out almost as far as they could see.

Gerald whistled quietly. “This place must have been able to house millions back in its heyday. I know a few people who would love to spend some time here, even with all the wreckage,” he said, pointing out a number of areas where buildings and streets were ravaged, crumbled almost to dust. Contrasted against the few, very few, areas of largely intact stone, it was clear that the city had seen strife at the end of its life.

They stood for a few minutes, admiring the view, and the significance of where they were. “So, I’ve been thinking about this since earlier, but why is it called the Rupturing? What ruptured?” Nina asked, turning her head to look up at the others.

“The leylines did.” Annette answered. Nina cocked her head questioningly. “Mana isn’t from our world, originally. It actually comes from the Abyss.”

Nina shot up. “Really? But… The Abyss is bad, isn’t it?”

Annette tilted her hand back and forth. “It’s hard to say, honestly. You’ll get a lot of folks from the churches who will say anything that comes from the Abyss is evil incarnate, but if you think about it, that’s really just a natural response to your world being torn apart by creatures from another realm. My understanding is that the Abyss is really just a world of mana, undifferentiated and formless. Though, I imagine Gerald might be able to talk a bit more about that.”

Nina turned to her guardian, eyes wide. “Hmm, well that’s a fairly good summary of what we know, I’d say. There are a lot of theories about what it might be like there, but not many people have ever managed to come back.”

Wide eyes grew wider. “People have been there?!”

He chuckled. “Ayup. Heck, anyone who’s been in a Domain has sort-of, kind-of been there. Here, think of it like this. Our world is one big ball. It has these lines running along it, kind of thin, perforated lines, or pipes, which are all connected to the Abyss. These pipes, the leylines, pull mana from this other world and release it into our world. But the Abyss is formless, made of mana. As concentrations shift and fluctuate, this ambient power will actually superimpose a part of the Abyss on our world. These are Domains. They absorb anything in their influence when they open up, and they’ll spin out copies every so often. We call this a reset. Where the leylines cross, however,” he said, pointing out into the city, “we get a special kind of Domain, called a Rupture.” Off in the distance, there was a region of the city where, now that she was looking closely, she could see faint movement. She squinted, shading her eyes, before pulling out a folding telescope.

“Is that a- no, it’s not… What is that? It’s like a person, but… wrong.” She handed the telescope off to Will, glancing at Gerald. He stood there, with a knowing expression on his face.

“Like Annette said, the Abyss isn’t inherently evil. Mana comes from a formless world, and it seeks to take form. Where we’re lucky, mana gets taken up by the living, and is directed to improved growth, greater strength, or even gets used by mages. Where we’re unlucky, some poor saps get caught in a Domain expansion and get endlessly churned out as mostly mindless constructs, bent toward whatever twisted will the Domain has picked up. Luckily, Domain expansion has a warning. Ruptures, on the other hand, do not,” he said, nodding at the center of the city. “When the old world ended, a lot of people died instantly, but some perversion of their form kept going. But that happens to anything. No, the Abyss isn’t evil, but the one who brought it into our world certainly is.”

The rest of the party looked at him, exchanging glances. “Someone caused the Rupturing? Who?”

“The Demon Lord.”