Opening of Gates

The Opening of Gates (hies Loricoda: Helemen), is viewed as a defining historical event almost universally across the peoples of Gaedera. It refers to a day, now marking the start of the year 0 AOG (After the Opening of Gates), when thousands of deities punctured the strata simultaneously, returning to the original sites of their descent.

The event is thought to have occurred because of loud vibrations in the ether dilating the boundary between the strata, causing countless deities to puncture it simultaneously. For numerous deities returning to Gaedera, this was their first time convening with the people inhabiting their territories in tens of millennia. Many took this opportunity to solidify territorial borders and even to snatch more from neighbouring deities, resulting in conflicts that were prosecuted and mitigated in different ways. Sacred energies were renewed or reconstructed, and new sacred arts taught; Ihir, for instance, renewed the Thread network of Astra and gave its people the instructions on utilising them to Weave and to fly.

With the Opening of Gates came a renewed fervour for worship and religious devotion all across the continents. To many, this day (along with the Hebis Loricoda) continues to be a touchstone in debates over religious law, and the legacy it has left continues to be strong.

Four months after the Opening of Gates, a conclave was held at the Red Ring. Here it was determined that the Opening of Gates signalled a time of cooperation among the nation-states of the world. Among the matters discussed at this conclave was the establishment of a universal calendar, of which the reference point would be the day of the Opening of Gates.

Most of the deities who descended during the Opening of Gates returned to the ether after varying periods of time, although their power continued to be felt among the people, particularly via the sacred energies they had left behind. Divine visitations became more frequent thereafter, and some deities continued to interact with their people continuously, most notably those of Bel and Niro.