When the Tarrasque Wall fell, it also collapsed an ancient curse over Uppholm which cut off it's inhabitants from any sources of magic. Known as the Curse of Mundanity it forbade any humanoid creature from learning and using arcane or divine magic, which also meant that the Gods' influence in the region was completely severed. Many gods that didn't have aspirants or worshippers outside of uppholm withered and died, while some managed to hibernate away, hoping to one day hear their name uttered once again.
The day the wall fell, ripples of ancient magic spilled across the land and awoke some of the sleeping gods, while some new beings sprang into existence, animistic representations of totems nominally worshipped by savage or bestial races. Suddenly Orc shamans commanded actual divine magic, as their devotions birthed angry and hungry gods. Ancient slumbering gods woke and went to war with one another, fighting for the attentions of new eyes below them and the skies and ground rumbled with the clash of their heavenly weapons. Established Gods and Demons to the south also took notice and began sending their followers north to spread their word, seeking a foothold in this newly discovered virgin land. This mass spiritual migration northwards began what was referred to as the Great Northern Godrush, as missionaries established frontier monasteries, paladins launched crusades, inquisitions rooted out heretical cults, and warpriests fought each other in open combat.
The Godrush was an incredible opportunity for the godslaying assassins within the Gaians known as The Reclaimers. With this many gods rushing to have their divine voices heard they were sure to expose some of their vulnerabilities; in fact, the assassins had planned on it. The day the wall fell they knew what would happen and so had launched a secret mission of their own, building a citadel atop one of the highest peaks left standing. This citadel was to become a stronghold for their assassins, as well as a training facility, and a staging point for their assassination missions, but above all it housed a great secret; a ritual portal which could access the divine planes, in particular, their afterlives. The portal required the sacrifice of a devout follower of that god's religion, and so the next few years was spent capturing and enslaving high ranking priests to fuel the portal.
On August 14th, 1455, the Reclaimers launched their most ambitious attack. They started sacrificing the priests they had accumulated, using their soul to travel to their afterlife, and upon arriving in their individual heaven or hell, they began murdering any planar beings they saw and stealing the souls within them using a Soulstone before retreating back to their citadel. This hit and run tactic had two purposes; first, to charge their ultimate god killing weapons with the only currency that was guaranteed to hurt them, the souls of their followers; and second, to taunt the gods into attacking them so they could unleash their ultimate weapon, The Soul Cannon.
On September 5th, 1455, the Reclaimers got their chance as their citadel was besieged by the armies of angry Gods. This was the most divine power that had been in one location on the material plane in millennia, not since the fight against the invading giant Gods at Olympos. The heavens parted and rained angels down upon the defending reclaimers, who shot them from the sky with Soulstone powered ballista and crossbows, and met them in the air atop fiendish Hippogryphs and Chimera. Just as they seemed to be cracking the assassin's defenses, several Infernal Princes, having signed expensive contracts to assist the Reclaimers, erupted from a nearby mountain peak along with their armies, having been hidden in ambush for years. The battle raged in apocalyptic fashion, with the avatars of lesser gods incinerated in the hell breath of Pit Fiends, while angels grappled in aerial combat with Horned Devils. Finally, the Avatars showed their heavenly faces in rage.
The avatars of Valera, Rommon, and Gron, arrived ready for battle; accompanied by a number of minor northern gods, and heralded by the heavenly music of Minn, the bardic god. This was already a sight to behold, unlike any that mortal eyes had seen before, but then for the appearance of the actual divine forms of Bahoden the Celestial Dragon, and Theo, the patron god of Ossia. These two gods were so enraged by the audacity of the Reclaimers, bringing such war and death to the material plane, that they had to personally appear to wipe them from the face of the planet. It was truly a heroic sight, with Theo wielding a lance of pure light atop the shimmering platinum form of Bahoden, as they swooped around the tower swiping devils and cultists from the air. It was an unfortunate response however, as even though the sight emboldened all the celestial warriors assembled, it was exactly what the Reclaimers had been hoping for. The central spire of the tower was revealed to be the housing for the Soul Cannon as it unfolded in a grand clockwork fashion, and then to the horror of everyone watching, it fired it's screaming black ray of captured soul energy with a tremendous wail, directly into Bahoden and Theo.
There was a massive eruption of energy, light, and fire, and when the smoke cleared, the citadel, though damaged by the fighting, still stood. The cultists who had been operating the cannon were killed instantly, and those nearby in the citadel were either killed, driven insane, or if extremely lucky, blinded. Every divine being who had been fighting around the citadel had been killed by the wave of energy, and both Bahoden and Theo were ripped from existence; while the avatars of the others were also killed, leaving their parent Gods extremely hurt and weakened. The final stage of the Reclaimers plan came to fruition then, as the cult leaders emerged from their heavily protected sanctuaries within the citadel with their sacrificial priests, the remains of their army, and some select Devil Princes, and they crossed over into the planar realms of Bahoden and Theo, claiming them as their new seats of power.
It was a resounding, world changing, heaven shaking, success for the Reclaimers. They had murdered 2 full fledged gods and wounded dozens of others. They still had their citadel and their super weapon, though it would take some time to be operational again. They had their own presence in the astral plane, their own afterlife, the souls of thousands, as well as divine influence over a full country and hundreds of powerful dragons. They were usurper gods, and they were by all appearances, unstoppable.
The attack was felt the world over however, and a consequence of the Gods Death was a brilliant coruscating wave of energy that burst out from the citadel, washing over everything as it spread away from them. The Reclaimers had chosen the citadel's location with this in mind, hoping that the elevation and remote location would keep any potentially released energy from the fight from infusing any of the local population, but as with any plan, it wasn't exactly perfect. Any airborne vehicle, beast, or person within a few hundred miles of the incident was knocked from the sky by the energy wave, and if they weren't killed, they were somehow affected by it. Previously mundane eagles were transformed into intelligent giant eagles, dragons gained celestial or infernal powers, wandering scholars became sorcerers, tieflings, or Aasimar. Even as far away as Aiuran, the flying continent, the effects of the wave were felt with passive magical effects flaring into overdrive briefly, spells going awry, summoners losing control of their conjurations, and the country itself being rocked with tremors as the light washed over it before dissipating over the ocean.
The full effects of the Godsdeath Wave are unknown, and in large part, the cause of it is also unknown as most who fought at the Reclaimer's Black Citadel are dead, terribly wounded, or missing. The Reclaimers are still building their strength however, and it's only a matter of time until the Sou Cannon fires again…
