The Rediscovery Endeavor

Overview

The Rediscovery Endeavor is the great exploration campaign launched in 392 AC to reclaim territories affected by The Tumult. Proclaimed by Basileus Avkan ruun-Heshkari, it marks humanity’s first organized expansion beyond Asgartha into the Terra Incognita since the founding of the nation. All six factions contribute forces and expertise to the effort, which is commanded from the mobile flagship The Ouroboros.

Structure

The Endeavor consists of two main components. Exalts, pairs of Alterers bonded with Chimerae through The Musubi, serve as scouts and vanguards, using their abilities to stabilize regions still subjected to the Tumult. The Expeditionary Corps, composed of thousands of soldiers and specialists, follows in the Exalts’ wake, tasked with reclaiming and securing the territories thus liberated.

Leadership

Temera Singh serves as Grand Admiral commanding the Expeditionary Corps. She was personally selected by Avkan and approved by the Privy Council for the role, in part because her independence from any faction ensured the neutrality of the Endeavor’s command structure. The Council of Factions functions as a deliberative body for major deployment decisions. Operations are coordinated from The Ouroboros, the mobile flagship and headquarters converted from the Kasirga Clan Sahanka whose hull was reinforced by Axiom engineers to withstand the Tumult.

Faction Participation

All six factions contribute forces and expertise to the Endeavor, as declared in Avkan’s proclamation. Ordis provides architects, historians, and cataloging operations. Bravos supplies military forces and conducts reclamation operations. Axiom contributes engineers, prospectors, and technical support. Muna serves as quartermasters and provisions specialists. Yzmir deploys Initiates for magical monitoring. Lyra supports mobile base operations and logistics, with the Kasirga Clan providing the Ouroboros itself.

Origins and Motivations

The Endeavor was the culmination of decades of planning. As early as the 360s AC, Avkan and his ally Waru Toowoom orchestrated a long political campaign to build support for the initiative. Waru publicly posed as Avkan’s opponent while secretly advancing the Endeavor’s cause through political maneuvering, including engineering his own conviction to lend credibility to the opposition.

The stated mission objectives included discovering other Oases, finding other Oneiroi allies, locating potential human survivors, and finding the source of The Tumult. However, the “Source of the Tumult” justification was fabricated by Waru, who hired forgers and paid experts to authenticate false evidence linking the City of Scholars to the Tumult’s origin. Avkan was aware of this deception and hinted that the City held something of genuine importance, though he withheld the full truth even from Waru.

Additional motivations included the depletion of Asgartha’s Kelon reserves in the Suspira mines, with scientists confirming that Kelon was more abundant in the Tumult expanses. Avkan also viewed the Endeavor as a unifying project to prevent internal fractures within the Concord.

Timeline

392 AC, September — Launch and the Kraken

Basileus Avkan ruun-Heshkari proclaimed the Rediscovery Endeavor, declaring it time for Asgartha to turn outward toward the Terra Incognita. On September 13, the Solstice Gate — sealed since the founding of Asgartha — was opened for the passage of the exploration forces. The first major engagement was the battle against Kraken, the Leviathan that had controlled the adjacent territory for nearly three centuries. The Ouroboros was used as bait to lure the creature into an ambush, and the combined forces succeeded in felling it.

392 AC, October–December — Caer Oorun Reclamation

The Endeavor secured the region directly adjacent to Asgartha, reclaiming the Bravos fortress of the Cebir where evidence of esoteric experimentation was discovered. Expeditions explored Calida, Irundu, and other sub-regions within the province. The wreck of the Mesektet was recovered in the Irundu river valley. The region was renamed Caer Oorun and designated as a Province of Asgartha. In November, the Age of Rediscovery was formally proclaimed.

393 AC, January — Exalt Gathering at Marsa

All Exalts were summoned to the ruins of Marsa in the Tilted Steppes to plan exploration of the next territories. The high command determined the next target: a luminescent mountain to the west, requiring the expedition to finally leave the borders of the Known World.

393 AC, January — Storhvit Deployment

The vanguard deployed to the Storhvit, a harsh winter region beyond Caer Oorun centered on the Cais Adarra mountain range. Progress was grueling, with the Exalts facing significantly harsher Tumult conditions than in the rehabilitated province. The region’s climate was dominated by the idea of cold emanating from the Cais Adarra. Encounters with the hostile Belisenki began during this period.

393 AC, February–March — Belisenki Conflict and Hurricane

Open conflict with the Belisenki escalated as the Expeditionary Corps advanced through the Storhvit. A Tumult hurricane threatened the exploration forces, prompting all contingents to regroup at the center of the Oasis for protection near the Cais Adarra. During this period, the Mana Moths were discovered, which proved to be the key to resolving the conflict with the Belisenki.

393 AC, April–May — The Nilam and Kuraokami

Exploration forces discovered The Nilam, a dead world-tree similar to The Spindle, whose crystallized trunk imprisoned an Oneiros: the dragon Kuraokami. The Exalts freed Kuraokami by redirecting the power of the Tumult hurricane to shatter its prison. The Yzmir learned that Kuraokami had been imprisoned by a powerful mage who had used the dragon’s power to unleash a catastrophic tsunami on Asgartha in 305 AC. The Storhvit was renamed Caer Nilam and designated as a new Province. Jack Frost was installed as the tutelary Oneiros to preserve the frozen ecosystem after Kuraokami’s release, with temporary governance granted to the Ordis, supported by the Yzmir.

393 AC, May — Discovery of the City of Scholars

The Ouroboros located a promising site approximately 75 kilometers north-northwest of the Cais Adarra. The site proved to be the City of Scholars, an underground metropolis beneath a vast crater known as The Screed. The Expeditionary Corps established their first forward outpost around the Crow’s Eye, the central chasm leading down into the city. Admiral Singh initially delayed underground exploration, a decision that fueled political criticism in Asgartha.

393 AC, June — City of Scholars Exploration Begins

The exploration forces established themselves on the surface of the City, building a forward outpost to recover from the Storhvit trials. They launched expeditions into the City’s underground levels, which took the form of a sprawling labyrinth stretching across multiple levels and plunging hundreds of meters deep.

393 AC, July — The Sap and the Wayfarer’s Arrival

The new golden substance found in Caer Nilam was determined to have been used extensively by the City’s former inhabitants in nearly every aspect of daily life — as an energy source, fertilizer, and food. It was named Sap, as it originated from the intensive exploitation of The Nilam. The Asgarthans began incorporating it after confirming its harmlessness: the Axiom converted their equipment to counter the Kelon shortage, and Sap was even incorporated into cooking. Evidence also confirmed that the City’s residents had mastered the use of Aerolith. During this period, The Wayfarer, the Lyra Sahanka of the Tisdhera Clan, arrived unexpectedly at the City.

393 AC, August — The Hunger and the True Purpose

Increasing numbers of explorers were struck by a strange affliction that stole their memories. Some reported being targeted by an entity soon called The Hunger, which preyed primarily on the Sap reserves unearthed by prospectors. Writings collected within the City suggested that Avalon, far to the northwest, held further clues to the location of the Source of the Tumult.

During deeper exploration of the City’s labyrinth, Waru used an Alteration simulacrum inscribed with a Gestalt Glyph to extract data from the City’s living structure. The information confirmed what Waru and Avkan already knew privately: that Rune himself had reached this place and searched for the Source of the Tumult, but had failed to find it — confirming the Source was never real.

The Phoenixian Guard, a group of Bravos warriors present during the discovery, then revealed themselves as keepers of Rune’s Testament. According to the Testament, the true purpose of the Rediscovery Endeavor was to sail westward and rekindle the Phoenix. The Phoenix Egg had been secretly transported aboard The Wayfarer by Bravos loyal to the Testament, who had joined the Tisdhera Clan. Waru chose to suppress the truth about the Source’s fabrication and adopted the Testament’s directive as the Endeavor’s new guiding purpose.

393 AC, September — Defeat of the Hunger

The Exalts confronted and destroyed the Hunger, which was revealed to be Sofia, the original incarnation of the City’s soul. The Sap had given her life, but when deprived of it she could only sustain herself by devouring memories, until madness consumed her. At her destruction, she released a signal in the form of a column of light. In response, another pillar of light rose on the horizon. The decision was made to detour southwest to investigate the origin of the responding signal.

393 AC, October — Cloud Realm Operations

The Endeavor reached the Cloud Realm, a region of floating islands and aerial phenomena divided into six distinct quadrants: Illyrian (livestock farming and exploration hub), Rhodopian (ornithology and phytobiology), Thermaic (water supply), Macedonian (classified Yzmir research), Pelagonian (Aerolith mining), and Thessalian (rice cultivation). Studies suggested these biomes were once part of a single archipelago. Remnants of ancient mining stations and agricultural infrastructure indicated a prior civilization had inhabited the region.

From October 393 AC, the Leviathan Halua — a manta ray of nearly a kilometer wingspan — began conducting a series of deliberate attacks on the fleet across multiple quadrants, causing heavy casualties and the destruction of mining facilities in the Pelagonian Quadrant. Unlike other Leviathans driven by territorial instinct, Halua methodically targeted Asgarthan vessels in retaliation for their resource extraction, which it perceived as destructive plundering. Soledad led the Bravos hunting efforts against the creature, clashing with it repeatedly. During one engagement, Kauri intervened to shield Halua and used the Skein to forge an empathic link between Soledad and the Leviathan, surfacing buried memories and enabling Soledad to perceive Halua’s history of betrayal by a previous human community. This connection pacified the Leviathan, which ultimately became an ally of the expedition.

393 AC — Crossing to New Territory and First Contact

The Armada — including the Ouroboros, Mandjet, Mesektet, and The Wayfarer — crossed a Tumult hurricane by following a procession of Leviathans led by Halua, whose passage through the storm created a slipstream that shielded the fleet. The Exalts stood united at the vanguard to protect a caller who lured the Leviathans forward. After nearly three hours of crossing, the fleet emerged into the eye of the cyclone.

There, the expedition discovered the source of the responding light signal: a vast floating island bearing a gigantic world-tree, comparable in scale to The Nilam or The Spindle. A living city of white stone and golden Sap had burgeoned at its base and along its trunk, its surface area estimated to surpass even Arkaster. Unlike the abandoned City of Scholars, this megalopolis teemed with life, surrounded by a multitude of flying vessels and featuring advanced technology. The city’s inhabitants, identifying themselves as the Reka people, hailed the Asgarthan fleet and welcomed them to Asty.

Political Impact

The Endeavor has been a subject of intense political debate within Asgartha. Critics such as Senator Muttunbaal characterized the initiative’s progress as too slow and costly, while supporters such as Senator Noya Kagama emphasized long-term benefits. The Arkaster Echo elections of 393 AC saw candidates take divergent positions on the Endeavor’s future, with Somayeh Bahman advocating for continued support, Bokang Nkoe calling for a pause, Anuncia ruun-Aysun pushing for increased funding and full self-sufficiency, and Lucas Aveskamp arguing for resource reallocation back to Asgartha’s population.

Relationships

• Avkan ruun-Heshkari: Basileus who conceived, organized, and proclaimed the Endeavor; promised to resign once it launched (392 AC)
• Waru: Avkan’s secret ally who publicly posed as his opponent while advancing the Endeavor; fabricated the Source of the Tumult justification; later adopted Rune’s Testament as the new directive (392–393 AC)
• Temera Singh: Grand Admiral commanding the Expeditionary Corps, selected for her factional neutrality (392 AC)
• Esmeralda: Shepherdess of the Kasirga Clan who offered the Ouroboros to the common effort
• The Ouroboros: Mobile flagship and headquarters, a Kasirga Clan Sahanka reinforced by Axiom engineers
• The Wayfarer: Vessel carrying Bravos loyal to Rune’s Testament and the Phoenix Egg
• Expeditionary Corps: Military and civilian forces conducting ground operations
• Kasirga Clan: Lyra clan that owns and operates the Ouroboros
• Phoenixian Guard: Bravos warriors and keepers of Rune’s Testament, revealed the Endeavor’s true purpose (393 AC)
• Rune’s Testament: Secret instructions from Rune directing the Endeavor to sail westward and rekindle the Phoenix
• Council of Factions: Deliberative body for major deployment decisions
• Sofia: Original incarnation of the City of Scholars’ soul; destroyed by the Exalts after preying on explorers’ memories (393 AC)
• Halua: Leviathan who led the procession that guided the Armada through the Tumult hurricane to Asty (393 AC)
• Reka: Human civilization inhabiting Asty; first contact established after the hurricane crossing (393 AC)