The Opening of the Rifts
Every year the opening of the rifts marks the shifting of the seasons, releasing energy from the elemental planes throughout Embris. The ebb and flow of these four great rifts have been in balance for as far as recorded history can reach. Nearly fifty years ago, the unprecedented event known as "The Primordial Coalescence" shook the folks of Embris. The four great rifts opened simultaneously without regard to their usual cycle, causing devastating natural disasters throughout Embris and even nigh cataclysmic damage in some areas. During this disaster, nobody seemed to be able to find either a cause or a way to halt these rifts. As time went on the great rifts only grew larger while smaller rifts continued to open up elsewhere all throughout Embris.
The Great Intervention
One day, in what has become later known as the “The Great Intervention,” from within the great rifts the Supreme Gods emerged from their respective domains to close the great rifts. These pillars of power had not been heard from in nearly ten thousand years and yet their presence was felt everywhere. The backlash of these great beings briefly entering the material plane caused tsunamis, cyclones, earthquakes, and eruptions to occur almost everywhere in Embris that people could see. The one place left oddly untouched was Noirtisser, the city within the great mother tree.
With the rifts closed, the Supreme Gods returned to their subdomains, nobody knows who called them or why they were needed for this event. Slowly the weather waned, the natural disasters dissipated, and Embris returned to a state of normalcy. The folks of Embris had avoided true cataclysm, but the consequences of the Primordial Coalescence had left nobody untouched. Nearly everyone knew somebody, a family member or a friend, who had lost their homes or their lives during this great misfortune. While the folks of Embris have fully recovered in the following decades, the echoes of this disaster ring throughout the minds of all who were there.
Lingering Affects
These days the great rifts open normally, returning to their usual cycle of the shifting season. The lingering elemental magic, however, has resulted in a higher occurrence of smaller rifts to the elemental planes opening elsewhere recently. Elemental portals occasionally open up causing small pockets of altered environments when they do, such as an icy field with the desert or a scorched glade within the forest. While these are generally small and very temporary, such events are used as the basis of myths. Something has changed within the world of Embris, although how and what I could mean is a great unknown.
One piece of the world that had been permanently changed lies in Xuc'tor. It’s unknown as to why, but a large section of the Oceans Edge Mountains was utterly ravaged by this event. The incredible damage carved a direct passage from the Whispering Sands to the Oceans Edge coastline. In recent years this route has been used for trade between the two areas, although it is known for a high occurrence of smugglers.