Worldstone¶
"When the gods moved/created it, it was called the Worldstone and was bound to all life on the Material Plane." — from Mithis (S419)
Contested
This page is named in the open questions First Wizards and King Turic's archdemon; custodian of the Worldstone. The sources number the first wizards five, twelve, twenty and thirty-two, and the archive makes the Primal Dragons the stone's guardians where the later histories make them the High Elves' protectors. The page follows the newest documents and records the others under Earlier accounts.
The Worldstone, the Anthu'Mithis, was the great stone the gods made from an Astral Shard to wall the Demons into the Abyss. It held the world's Mithis together as one field, it was the source of the first arcane magic, and its keeping passed from the High Elves to the dragons. Its destruction was the Shattering, and its dust and fragments are the Mithis of the present world.
Also called: Anthu'Mithius, Anthu'Mithias (S001, S519, S384); the 2019 gods-lore once writes Athu'Mithius (S429).
Forging¶
The newest documents describe the stone by what it became. "Mithis is a crucial magical particle found only the material plane. Scholars surmise that is was once an Astral Demesne, moved to the Material Plane to form the Abscission (the barrier between the Abyss and Material). When the gods moved/created it, it was called the Worldstone and was bound to all life on the Material Plane" (S419). The 2026 cosmology places its making in the Age of Demons, which "saw the overthrow of the Elder Gods and the creation of the Anthu'Mithius and the Abyss" (S001).
The 2020 history names the maker. "Kalar took one of the shards and with help from many other Einar (and their shards) forged the Anthu'Mithis (Worldstone, which created the Mithis Plane). The Anthu'Mithis split off a portion of the Material Plane into a separate plane known as the Abyss. This was a tremendously destructive act and shook the foundations of Terrun, triggering worldwide cataclysms. However, this allowed Demons to be caught and bonded with the Abyss so that when they reformed, they reformed in the Abyss and not the Material" (S386). The shard was one of those left by the broken Throne of Law. The barrier it made, the Abscission, is described under the Mithis Plane.
The Abscission field¶
While it stood, the stone held the Mithis in order. "The magic of the Abscission originally prevented Demonic corruption, by automatically banishing demonic spirits to the Abyss ... The Anthu'Mithius bound the Mithis together into a uniform field around Terrun" (S519; also S513). The archive's wording is that it banished "any soul missing the Light of Kalar to the Abyss" (S429, S384).
Custodians¶
After the Demon War, "the High Elves were declared custodians of the Worldstone and the Primal Dragons as their protectors. The Einar formed a council of arch-wizards that controlled access to the Worldstone and trained many others in the art of this magic" (S386). The High Elves' city took the stone's name. The Worldstone "was initially controlled exclusively by the High Elves of Anthu'Mithis during the period known as the Elven Ascension/Pax Lothim Anthu. After the fall of the High Elves of Anthu'Mithis, the Worldstone fell under the control of the Twilight Dragons during the Draconian Ascension/Pax Draconia" (S419). In the 2020 history the Draconians "crushed most of the Elven Imperium and gained control of the Worldstone and establish their own worldwide empire which lasted over 600 years before it's fall" (S386). The 2022 history of magic says the same in brief: in the Age of Dragons "Dragons ruled over the world and the worldstone and Elves served as their associates and emissaries" (S208). The elven and draconian eras are told on that History page.
The High Elves keep the inheritance in their blood. The Lothim are "a descendant of the original owners and caretakers of the Worldstone (Anthu'Mithis), the ability to harness Mithis energy is in their blood" (S208; also S304).
Gap
Anthu'Mithis is also the name of the High Elves' seat (S419). No source describes the city or says where the stone stood in it. The 2019 gods-lore places the stone on "the continent of Astia that it was on at the time" (S429).
The staves of the first wizards¶
The stone was the first wizards' power. In the Age of Dragons "great power was granted to the twelve Archwizards and their disciples who were able to tap directly into the power of the Worldstone. This was the birth of Arcane Magic. However, it was limited to High Elves, Dark Elves and some breeds of Draconians and Dragons" (S208). Their link to it was the staff: "Predating the Shattering, the first wizards were the Archwizards whose staves allowed them direct access to the vast magical reserves of the Worldstone" (S208, S304), and they were governed by the Wizard's Covenant until the fall of the Council of Wizards.
The archive tells what became of the staves. "The staves of the first wizards are some of the most powerful magical artifacts in existence, though all but one have been lost over the ages. The wizard Lothos is the only one rumored to still be alive. Initially, the staves channeled magic through the Anthu'Mithius and conferred god-like power. At that time, only wizards with staves were able to work magic through the stone. After Anthu'Mithius was destroyed, the power of the staves was greatly diminished, but they still remain the most powerful mithius channeling devices in existence" (S384, S372). Many lesser staves and other channelling devices were made for the wizards of the Demon Wars (S384, S434).
Worldstone staves of the Druids¶
The Druids had their own. "Before the Shattering, the Druids were a single order within Wood Elven society. Each ordained druid was gifted with a worldstone staff from the Ventari Archwizards in order to perform their magic. The Archwizards tasked them with governance over the forests and wild places of Terrun" (S367). The order was ruled from Taer'ustol, a tree fortress "that existed across planar spaces", in the forests of Uoreskall (S367).
Destruction¶
"After a long reign and under unclear circumstances, the Worldstone was destroyed, throwing the entire planet into apocalyptic chaos" (S419). "It is not known by whom or why the stone was destroyed" (S386). The cataclysm, the end of the dragons' power and the birth of Mithis magic are told on the Shattering. The stone's own loss broke the field it held: "The Shattering destroyed the Anthu'Mithius (as well as most of the continent that it was on at the time). In doing so, the magic of the Abscission was greatly weakened ... This field vanished and the Mithis became a free agent, though still purposed at maintaining the Abscission" (S519). Mithis energy "permeates the world since the destruction of the Worldstone" (S205). The power of the Primal Dragons and the arch-wizards "was tremendously reduced (they used it both as a focus and power source)" (S386).
Fragments¶
"Scholars believe when the Worldstone was destroyed, parts of it travelled across the planet in the forms of pure Mithis dust and shards ... It is believed deposits of mithis ores were created by large worldstone shards landing near rich metal deposits" (S419). The archive has the stone "only shattered, spreading billions of shards across the globe" (S384). Some fragments became objects with histories of their own.
The earth-heart¶
"In the aftermath of the shattering, a particularly large worldstone fragment slammed into what is now Markhan" (S522). It is The Earth-Heart.
Worldstone shards of the wizards¶
Wizards after the Shattering draw on a fragment they carry: "their energy comes from a worldstone shard in their possession" (S304). Wizardry's weakness is "their reliance on a source of power which they can be separated from" (S304, S208).
The corrupted crystal of Than'Doriel¶
A note in the archive explains the curse on the elven kingdom of Than'Doriel: "the corruption of Than'Doriel is actually due to the elven king using the Mithi'nulias to neutralize a powerful worldstone crystal corrupted to dark purpose. Though the crystal was neutralized, the chaos magic released into the world became a festering sore that could not be cured. It eventually led to the end of his dynasty and the ruin of his kingdom" (S384, S372). The art used is Mithi'nulias.
The Sanctuary's shard¶
The Sancturi campaign's recap of the Fall of the Sanctuary notes that the refuge "lost the worldstone shard" when it fell (S196).
Gap
No source says how the Sanctuary came by its shard, what it did, or who took it.
Earlier accounts¶
- The 2014 compendium credits Kalas rather than Kalar, working through the Ventari: Kalas formed the Abyss, "the demons were banished to the abyss using the worldstone (which also protects the boundaries of the Material plane in general from the intrusions of other creatures). The primal dragons were declared guardians of the stone" (S384, S372). In that account the stone was shattered during the First War of the Dragons, after the Rakkari turned a group of Primal Dragons, "releasing Ethereal magic into the world", and the Abscission magic "was mostly intact, though it became possible for gateways to the abyss and elemental planes to now be opened for short periods of time" (S384).
- The first wizards are numbered differently in every telling: twelve Archwizards (S208, 2022), five Elves given five staves (S429, 2019), twenty Ventari in five spheres (S384, 2014), and thirty-two Ventari in thirty-two spheres (S434, 2014). The page follows S208.
- The 2014 and 2019 texts say a Mithis focus is "no longer required to perform magic, but works only to amplify its use" (S384, S429, S434); the 2026 rules note says Mithis casters "require a focus in order to use this magic" (S205).