The Hollowing¶
Contested
Named in the open question Dates of the Fifth Age periods (SM and AL): the Fifth Age Timeline (S016) puts Asmodeus's sovereignty over the Mithis Plane at 231 and the Proturas timeline (S107) puts the Hollowing period at about 420 to 600 AL.
"We are summoned here to discuss what action we can take in regards to the second abscission of the Denitrus plane, which the mortals are referring to as the Hollowing." — Aion, ascendant of Kalar, in the dreams of Inwe (S031)
The Hollowing is the catastrophe of the early Fifth Age in which the archdemon Asmodeus took dominion of the Mithis Plane and turned the substance of magic itself into a corruption. Wherever Mithis was concentrated, Hollows opened: demi-planes between the Material and the Mithis where everything living is drained, twisted and finally made a vessel for demons. The five centuries that followed are the Hollowing Period, during which the world abandoned Mithis as a source of magic, the High and Dark Elves were all but destroyed, and the things most tied to Mithis slid out of the Material toward what would become the Rift.
Also called: the Hollowing Period (S001, S013, S016, S025); the second abscission of Denitrus (S031, S071); Asmodeus's Sovereignty of the Mithis Plane (S016). The Hollows themselves, and the mechanism of Hollowing and the Taint, are described on Hollows; the energy, Mithis, Malum or Irathus, on Mithis.
How it began¶
After the Death of Kalar and the Age of the Dark Sun, "Mithis became a corrupted substance controlled primarily by the Archdemon Asmodeus" (S208). The barrier plane that had kept the demons in the Abyss, the Mithis Plane, had for ages been "repurposed by mortals as a magical power source and slowly weakened," and it "began to significantly decay shortly after the Age of the Dark Sun" (S001). Asmodeus "has taken complete control of the Mithis Plane and warped it creating The Hollow, an intermediate, fragmented plane between The Abyss and The Material" (S132). He did it with a piece of the Worldstone Heart: the Druidic piece, given long ago to the druids to help imprison two archdemons, was "taken by Asmodeus. This is what has allowed him to take over defacto control of the Mithis Plane and bend it to his will. He has had it mounted into an object he wears" (S132).
The gods called it something else. On the Dias of Algahanni, Aion, ascendant of Kalar, named it "the second abscission of the Denitrus plane," Denitrus being the gods' name for the Mithis Plane. Asked whether an archdemon had taken dominion of Denitrus, he answered: "Partly, yes. The archdemon is Asmodeus, one of the lesser of the nine ... it is only partial dominion, Kalar remains principal. However there is no one presently capable of casting Asmodeus out while Kalar still sleeps" (S031, S071). How an outsider acquired any dominion at all he could not say: "probably a corrupted Fallen."
The Fifth Age Timeline dates "Asmodeus Sovereignty of the Mithis Plane" to the year 231 and opens the Hollowing Period there (S016). The Proturas timeline places the Hollowing period from about 420 AL to the beginning of the Rifts period around 600 AL (S107); the two Fifth Age reckonings are kept as an open question.
The Hollows¶
Hollow areas "are demi-planes between the Material Plane and the Mithis Plane. They form a strong connection to a particular part of the Abyssal Plane. The hollowing consumes all Ethereal energy, especially living and spiritual energy" (S146). Living things inside "decay from the inside out and are often corrupted and driven insane," and "a fully hollowed individual is nothing more than a willing vessel to be possessed by demons." Asmodeus "has tightened down the Mithis plane since coming into control of it. Only demons (devils) allied to his cause are allowed passage, and these devils are confined within the Hollow," which "motivates Devils to work hard to expand the boundaries of the hollow" (S132). The demons who follow him are called Devils; most demons reject his path and hate him for it.
The largest Hollow swallowed the island of Acadia whole and spread across the sea, "so big that there is an active crusade by the Empire to contain it" (S146). The first recorded Hollow was found there: in 493 SM "a scavenging expedition led by a group of adventurers/mercenaries returns from Acadia with tales of horrors and loss," and scholars believe this "the first recorded discovery of a Hollow" (S326). The great Hollow around the ruins of Gor'Turra became "the domain of an Archdemon," so dreadful that Inwe, fleeing Pravustiratel, could hope "even Pravustiratel will think twice about entering" (S031). In the ruined Isle of Danar, where Pesh and its kingdoms were destroyed in the Dark Sun, "their legacy of abundant magic lives on in the countless Hollows that dot the ruined landscape" (S324). The Mithis-rich lands of Pherox were overrun (S324). Among the Riven Kingdoms, Arkuun Hollow and Thullozil Hollow are ruled openly by archdevils (S319).
The end of the Elves¶
Those with Mithis in their blood suffered worst. "Magical races such as High Elves, Dark Elves and some kinds of Draconians which had high concentrations of Mithis in their blood became pawns of the Devils (the name given to Demons following Asmodeus) or were destroyed outright" (S208). Khemeia told the council of ascendants: "These Hollows are destroying the creatures of the deep earth at a stunning rate, and whatever we do is probably already too late for the Elves, I am sorry to say. It is only a small matter of time before this spills over onto everyone" (S031). Two centuries on, the priestess Caolynni "has not seen another elf since the Hollowing," her own body having "expired during the Hollowing" and been kept animate by the Seed she guards; the enchanted goods interred with the elven dead mostly "didn't survive" it (S054). By the Fifth Age's later lore the High Elves and Dark Elves "never recovered (they are extinct)" (S112), the Wood Elves alone surviving, their blood by then nearly a third human.
The Blood Tide¶
The Blood Tide was a campaign of killing and abduction waged against the High Elves during the Hollowing Period by an elven necromancer and blood-mage whose forces "swept through villages killing and kidnapping High Elves" (S072). Its purpose was experiment: a way "to stop his race from becoming extinct." The experiments produced a magical blood plague that shields its carriers from the Hollowing; "ultimately, he was able to save many but at a very high cost," was "despised and considered a monster by other elves," and could not save his own mind from the plague. The Riftborn, made later by warlocks, carry the same plague, which "is what allows them to suppress their demonic influences." The campaign notes keep the necromancer's identity for play; see the Proturan Campaign.
The Silek¶
Asmodeus was not the only archdemon to profit. The Silek "are a result of experimentation and breeding during the Hollowing Period by the archdemon Bhaal." Other races called them Goblin-Devils, which became Guhvils, "despite technically not being Devils," and Bhaal named them Silek, "Chosen" in Goblin (S025). They inherited many dwarven halls and relics and would be the enemy of the Guhvil Wars in the Rift Period. The Silek page describes them.
The Council of the Quad¶
The gods' response is known from the dreams of Inwe, ascendant of Arya. Four ascendants met on the Dias of Algahanni, "a tiny astral speck which connects to a surprising number of shards across the Kalari pantheon ... a meeting place for gods and ascendants for countless millennia": Inwe; Khemeia, ascendant of Khardas; Aion, ascendant of Kalar; and Monan, ascendant of Nyx, keeper of secrets. "They are busy with their own problems and many remain in hiding," Khemeia said of the others (S031, S071).
Khemeia proposed the one course she saw: "we must find a way to take dominion of Denitrus ourselves from Kalar so that we can cast Asmodeus out." Aion called it blasphemy, "a direct violation of the Sacred Codex, the Algahanni Accords, and half a dozen other agreements and laws which form the foundation of this pantheon," and swore to defend his master's dominion "at the cost of my existence or yours." Inwe answered that "the pantheon is not what it was, Aion. We sit on the edge of a precipice here, not just for ourselves, but the entire legacy of the Kalari is at stake." Monan counselled that "the laws of the pantheon have always been flexible, and the need here is existential," and urged common cause with gods outside the pantheon who "have been enemies of Kalar for millenia." Aion left in fury. Afterwards Monan gave Inwe a key to the Vernal Warrens, where Arya had cast a Fallen ascendant of Kalar, the one ally who might make the taking of Denitrus possible. The dreams end there; what the three did next the sources do not say.
The Hollantine Hills Massacre¶
The red Primal Dragon Vixseranyol "had been rebuilding the brood of red dragons in the period after the Dark Sun" and allied with Pravustiratel; "the reds ultimately overran and conquered much of central Astia including what remained of the Free Cities" (S031). Inwe led the followers of Arya against her. On "the crest of a blackened hill" in the Hollantine Hills, under "tall gray foreboding mountains," the counterattack ended in slaughter: "the charred and burning corpses of your fallen allies: priests and priestesses, paladins of the Raven, even the wizard, Severac did not survive." Vixseranyol, badly hurt, circled for a last pass, and Pravustiratel came from the west. Inwe fled as a raven for the Hollow of Gor'Turra, hid in the Hall of Artificers while the dragons fought the archdemon's sentries, and escaped by a gate to Arya's Verdant Gardens as the archdemon's voice promised to "drink of your soul."
Then she called in a favor. Khemeia, whose "hatred of dragons was legendary," went to Vixseranyol's secret lair at Pro'Turra, "one of the twelve great fortresses of the dwarven kingdom of Kahun'Darahl," and returned to report that "Vixseranyol and her court were destroyed and her corpse now lay in the great hall of the fortress." Her allies collapsed and warded the fortress "so that it would act as a tomb and prison," since dead Primal Dragons regenerate and their corpses remain "an astral divergence ... enticing to the wrong sorts in their quest for power" (S031). A claw of Vixseranyol was afterwards kept by the priests of Moros at the Shrine of Kae-Ferrel in Arne'Athosia (S053 to S057).
The long transition¶
The Hollowing Period "was the 500 year time period during which the transitions took place" (S001, S013). Things and places strongly tied to Mithis "were more likely than not to end up in the rift after the end of the Hollowing Period." The Rift itself is "a 5th age phenomenon created from the decaying Mithis Astral Shard," whose decay merged the shard-space with the Shadow Realm and punched holes through to the Material (S001). Since the Mithis Plane had been the gate to the Abyss, the Rift became "a primary transit point for Demons trying to escape." Asmodeus's betrayal of his fellow archdemons dates to this period and has sharpened their war ever since (S001, S013); he "has defeated 1 of the other archdemons and subjugated the other 5" (S132). The period ends, in the Fifth Age Timeline, with the Fall of Sanctorum and the Ascendance of the Divine (S016); its last act, the Redemption, destroyed every Hollow and tore the Mithis Plane out of the world. In Proturas's count the Hollowing gave way to the Rifts period around 600 AL (S107); see the Rift Period.
Gap
No source says how long Asmodeus had planned the taking of Denitrus, who the "corrupted Fallen" was, or what the ascendants did with Monan's key. The Hollantine Hills are not located beyond "central Astia," and the year of the massacre is not given.
Earlier accounts¶
The 2022 cosmology (S013) says the Mithis barrier "completely disintegrated shortly after the Age of the Dark Sun" and that the Mithis Plane was destroyed and the Astral Folds formed "during the Age of the Dark Sun"; the 2026 revision (S001) has the barrier begin to decay then and the Rift form over the following five hundred years, and the Post-Sancturi lore (S112) has the Mithis Plane finally extracted by the Redemption. The newer readings are followed. The dreams of Inwe call Asmodeus "one of the lesser of the nine" where the cosmologies count seven archdemons; the count is Cosmology's open question.