Heartroot War

"The pulse met the mirror, and the mountain bled."

Overview

The Heartroot War is the defining conflict of Aescharion — a chain of interlinked civil, spiritual, and crusading wars spanning centuries.
What began as a philosophical divide among the trolls of Thorgun over the true nature of their sleeping god Uldrun evolved into a full-scale holy invasion by Canava’s Sanctifiers of Stillness, and an uneasy occupation that still shapes the modern era.

The term “Heartroot War” now refers to this entire dark age — from the first troll feuds to the present-day stalemate that divides continents and faiths alike.

⚒️ Chronology of the Heartroot War

1. The Shaping

Era: Mythic Dawn

Events:

  • Uldrun, the World-Shaper, raises the mountains, rivers, and stone veins of the world.

  • When his work is complete, he lies down, becoming the continent Thorgun itself.

  • Serendahl, the Reflector, beholds his creation and declares it perfect.

  • She vows to preserve it forever through stillness and pattern.

  • The two deities enter divine harmony: he rests, she remembers.

Outcome:

  • Creation stabilized.

  • The pulse of motion (Uldrun) and the mirror of stillness (Serendahl) coexist in balance.

  • Life begins to grow upon the sleeping god’s back.

2. The Age of Breath

Era: Early Civilization

Events:

  • The first trolls emerge upon Thorgun’s surface, carving homes into the living stone.

  • Deep within the mountain veins, they discover Heartroot — glowing red crystal pulsing with divine rhythm.

  • Debate divides their kind:

    • The Cleftwrights claim the Heartroot is a scab sealing Uldrun’s wounds — a curse that must be removed to free him.

    • The Pulsewrights claim the Heartroot is sacred tissue — Uldrun’s living veins that must be protected.

  • Small disputes over mining rights escalate into armed conflict.

Outcome:

  • Thorgun fractures into rival city-states, each aligned with one interpretation.

  • The trolls’ faith becomes their battlefield.

  • Uldrun’s surface begins to scar as both sides strike at the same divine body in opposite ways.

3. The Heartroot Civil War

Era: The Age of Division

Events:

  • The feud erupts into total civil war.

  • Troll engineers weaponize their mining tools — forging seismic hammers to shatter Heartroot and resonant forges to amplify its pulse.

  • Both sides claim prophetic visions and divine sanction.

  • Caverns collapse; entire veins rupture and regrow like wounds reopening.

  • Thorgun shakes as if the titan himself dreams in pain.

Outcome:

  • Massive population loss; troll civilization nearly annihilated.

  • Many Heartroot arteries buried beneath collapsed tunnels.

  • Extremists retreat underground, each convinced the other side’s heresy has doomed the world.

  • From the ruins arise two formal sects:

    • The Cleftwright Covenant (orthodox reformers, zealously pro-awakening)

    • The Pulsewright Order (pacifist rebuilders, pro-preservation)

4. The Age of Reflection

Era: Contemporary with the late Heartroot War

Events:

  • Far across the sea, the continent of Canava thrives under Serendahl’s doctrine of order and pattern.

  • The discovery of Mirrorstone, a reflective mineral amplifying light magic, propels a technological and cultural golden age.

  • Canavan armies wield mirrorsteel weapons; nobles adorn their halls with enchanted glass.

  • Trade through Port Chimera connects Canava to distant oceans, but Thorgun remains unknown.

Outcome:

  • Canava rises as the world’s dominant power.

  • Serendahl’s faith flourishes but splinters into:

    • The Tranquilists – moderate philosophers seeking harmony.

    • The Sanctifiers of Stillness – militant preservers of divine perfection.

    • The Rational Coin – scholars who treat faith as physics.

  • None yet suspect another divine body slumbers beneath the sea.

5. The Great Crossing

Era: The Age of Contact

Events:

  • Rumors of a land glowing with red veins reach Canava through pirates and traders of Port Chimera.

  • Explorers confirm the existence of Thorgun and its Heartroot mines.

  • Canavan theologians interpret the red crystal as “motion incarnate” — a heresy against Serendahl’s perfect stillness.

  • The Sanctifiers of Stillness declare a holy crusade to “preserve creation’s perfect shape.”

  • Crossing the Chimera Sea, they ally with the Pulsewright Order and wage war upon the Cleftwright Covenant.

  • Mirrorstone artillery burns caverns into glass; Heartroot tunnels collapse in crimson avalanches.

  • Uldrun’s body quakes under the strain of faith and flame alike.

Outcome:

  • The Cleftwrights are annihilated as a unified force — surviving only as zealot guerrillas.

  • The Pulsewrights survive but fall under Canavan religious and economic control.

  • Sanctifiers declare victory, establishing mirror garrisons across Thorgun’s surface.

  • The war ends not by treaty but by exhaustion.

6. The Silent Interregnum

Era: Present Day

Events:

  • Sanctifier garrisons maintain “divine stewardship” over the mined veins.

  • Pulsewright overseers manage Heartroot excavation and ritual under Canavan direction.

  • Tranquilist monasteries appear in neutral zones to promote meditation, peace, and dialogue.

  • Cleftwright remnants linger in the deep tunnels, preparing for a “Second Shaping.”

  • Canava regards the crusade as a closed chapter.

  • Thorgun sees it as oppression still ongoing.

Outcome:

  • A cold war of faith persists beneath the mountains.

  • Guerrilla sabotage, assassinations, and localized tremors plague the region.

  • Large-scale war has ceased, but the Heartroot still beats, restless beneath the stone.

⚔️ Summary of Military Relevance

Era 1 – The Shaping

  • Factions: None

  • Nature: Mythic creation

  • Outcome: Uldrun becomes Thorgun

Era 2 – The Age of Breath

  • Factions: Early troll tribes

  • Nature: Small-scale feuds

  • Outcome: Division into Cleftwrights and Pulsewrights

Era 3 – The Heartroot Civil War

  • Factions: Cleftwrights vs Pulsewrights

  • Nature: Total internal war

  • Outcome: Stalemate; both civilizations nearly destroyed

Era 4 – The Age of Reflection

  • Factions: Canava’s Mirrorstone empires

  • Nature: Expansion and militarization (no foreign conflict yet)

  • Outcome: Canava becomes dominant; Serendahlian faith divides

Era 5 – The Great Crossing

  • Factions: Sanctifiers + Pulsewrights vs Cleftwrights

  • Nature: Foreign crusade and occupation

  • Outcome: Cleftwrights shattered; Thorgun occupied

Era 6 – The Silent Interregnum

  • Factions: Cleftwright remnants, Sanctifier garrisons

  • Nature: Cold war, sabotage, underground resistance

  • Outcome: Uneasy peace; religious and cultural occupation continues

Legacy

  • Cultural Impact:

    • To Canava, the war was a crusade of purification.

    • To Thorgun, it was invasion and desecration.

  • Technology:

    • Mirrorlight artillery, resonant mining, and hybrid rune-tech born from both faiths’ desperation.

  • Faith:

    • The Cleftwrights survive in secrecy, waiting to “reawaken” Uldrun.

    • Pulsewrights and Sanctifiers enforce a fragile partnership of control.

    • Tranquilists act as neutral mediators.

    • The Rational Coin documents the entire conflict as a study in belief-induced catastrophe.

  • Modern Phrase:

    • “The Heartroot still beats” — used in both Canava and Thorgun to describe any unrest thought to be divine.

Present Status

  • Thorgun remains occupied but restless.

  • Sanctifier garrisons fade into bureaucratic decay, some defecting to commerce and trade.

  • Pulsewright Order governs daily life, claiming to interpret both gods.

  • Cleftwright insurgents conduct sabotage and mystic experiments to break the Heartroot’s regeneration.

  • Tranquilist monasteries quietly spread influence through neutrality.

  • Canava enjoys prosperity, oblivious to how much its own stability depends on a sleeping god’s unrest.

Every tremor beneath the mountains carries the same whisper:

“Uldrun is not done.”

See Also

  • Uldrun – The Sleeping Titan

  • Serendahl – The Goddess of Stillness

  • Thorgun

  • Canava

  • Port Chimera

  • Pulsewright Order

  • Cleftwright Covenant

  • Sanctifiers of Stillness

  • Tranquilist Order

  • Rational Coin