The Barrier-Crossing Artifacts were three extraordinary ancient artifacts capable of passing through the immense barriers that separated the world's continents.
At the time of their creation, however, the true nature of those barriers was not understood.
To the people living within the isolated continents, the barriers appeared to represent the absolute edge of the known world.
As a result, the artifacts were originally believed to permit travel between worlds, rather than travel between continents.
Overview
The world is divided by enormous barriers that isolate its continents from one another.
In later eras, these barriers would become understood as supernatural structures created by the Gods.
Ancient civilizations did not possess this knowledge.
From their perspective, the barriers were simply impossible boundaries beyond which nothing could be seen or reached.
The End of the World
Because the barriers could not normally be crossed, ancient populations had no reliable way to confirm what existed beyond them.
Many therefore believed that the barrier itself marked the end of their world.
This interpretation was reasonable from their limited perspective.
Their continent represented the entire accessible world, while everything beyond the barrier was unknown.
The Ancient Misunderstanding
When methods capable of crossing the barriers were finally discovered, those journeys were not originally interpreted as intercontinental travel.
Instead, travelers believed they were leaving one world and entering another.
This belief became deeply connected to the historical interpretation of the Barrier-Crossing Artifacts.
Ancient Interpretation: Barrier Crossing = Travel Between Worlds
The actual truth was different.
Reality: Barrier Crossing = Travel Between Continents of the Same World
True Other Worlds
The ancient misunderstanding should not be taken to mean that other worlds do not exist.
The broader universe contains other inhabited worlds, including many artificial worlds created by Gods.
Those worlds are completely separate from the continents divided by the barriers surrounding César's world.
Ancient travelers simply lacked the cosmological knowledge required to distinguish between the two concepts.
The Powerful Dryad
At some point in ancient history, an exceptionally powerful Dryad succeeded in creating three artifacts capable of passing through the barriers.
The Dryad's exact identity and the full method used to create the artifacts have not yet been established.
What is known is that only three such artifacts were created.
The Three Artifacts
The official names of the three artifacts have not yet been established.
They are therefore collectively described as Barrier-Crossing Artifacts.
Their defining function was the ability to permit passage through barriers that were otherwise effectively impossible to cross.
Why the Artifacts Were Extraordinary
To modern readers with knowledge of the world's geography, the artifacts might appear to be devices for traveling from one continent to another.
To the people who first encountered them, their significance was far greater.
They appeared to provide access to entirely separate worlds.
Possession of such an artifact therefore represented not merely strategic mobility, but access to an unknown existence beyond what was believed to be the limits of reality itself.
Elves and Giants
Elves and Giants eventually became involved in a major struggle connected to the three artifacts.
Their efforts to obtain them led to a costly conflict.
During these events, one of the three artifacts was lost.
Two remained in the possession of forces associated with the Elves and Giants.
The First Known Crossing
Elves and Giants eventually used one of the surviving artifacts to cross the barrier surrounding their known world.
From their perspective, this was effectively an expedition into another world.
In reality, they had reached Muxuu, another continent of the same world.
Arrival in Muxuu
Muxuu was already inhabited by Humans and Bararos.
The arrival of Elves and Giants therefore represented first contact between populations that had developed in isolation from one another.
This contact did not remain peaceful.
The resulting conflicts and interactions eventually changed the history of Muxuu permanently.
Half-Elves and Semi-Giants
Human interactions with the newcomers eventually resulted in the emergence of two important mixed populations:
- Half-Elves, descendants of Humans and Elves.
- Semi-Giants, descendants of Humans and Giants.
These populations later became central to the history of the remaining artifacts.
Rejection and Survival
Half-Elves and Semi-Giants were not fully accepted by the populations from which they descended.
Their shared circumstances eventually pushed them toward cooperation and survival outside the social structures of both their Human and ancient ancestral populations.
This shared history would later give them the opportunity to seize control of the remaining known Barrier-Crossing Artifacts.
Seizure of the Artifacts
Half-Elves and Semi-Giants eventually rose against the Elves and Giants.
During this struggle, they obtained the two remaining known Barrier-Crossing Artifacts.
These artifacts would soon enable two major migrations away from Muxuu.
Half-Elf Migration
One of the artifacts was used by a major Half-Elf population.
They crossed the barrier and eventually reached Disc.
To the migrants themselves, this journey would still have been understood through the old worldview of crossing from one world into another.
In reality, they had traveled between continents.
Semi-Giant Migration
The second artifact was used by a major Semi-Giant population.
They eventually reached Humel.
Humel was already inhabited by the Astals.
The arrival of the Semi-Giants permanently changed the demographic history of the continent.
Those Who Remained in Muxuu
Neither migration included every member of the two mixed populations.
Some Half-Elves remained in Muxuu.
Some Semi-Giants remained as well.
Over generations, many of their descendants reproduced with Humans and were gradually incorporated into Human populations through Human Lineage Assimilation.
This allowed Elven and Giant lineage traits to survive even after the descendants were once again classified as Human.
The Lost Third Artifact
The third Barrier-Crossing Artifact had been lost during the earlier struggles involving Elves and Giants.
For a long period, its location remained unknown.
It eventually resurfaced under very different circumstances.
Dark Elves and Lycanthropes
Dark Elves and Lycanthropes were suffering severe losses in separate conflicts.
Dark Elves were traditional enemies of Elves.
Lycanthropes were engaged in their own conflict with Vampires.
Under increasingly desperate circumstances, surviving groups of Dark Elves and Lycanthropes eventually formed an alliance.
Rediscovery of the Third Artifact
These allied survivors eventually discovered the lost third Barrier-Crossing Artifact.
Its recovery was an extraordinary stroke of fortune at a time when both peoples were facing severe danger.
Unlike the earlier crossings associated with exploration, conquest, or migration, this artifact was used primarily for evacuation.
The Evacuation
The Dark Elves and Lycanthropes could not simply abandon every battlefield and flee together.
Many capable fighters remained behind.
Priority was given to populations less able to remain on the front lines, including children, elders, women, and others who needed evacuation.
Those selected crossed the barrier using the rediscovered artifact.
Arrival in Halvmen
The refugees eventually reached Halvmen.
Once again, they believed they had escaped into another world.
In reality, Halvmen was another continent of the same world.
Their arrival established isolated Dark Elf and Lycanthrope populations in regions far removed from their earlier conflicts.
Loss of Knowledge
The migrations did not preserve every piece of knowledge or equipment possessed by the original populations.
Techniques, records, possessions, artifacts, and historical information were lost across generations and during the chaos of migration.
This contributed to the growing separation between historical truth and later mythology.
The Later Truth
Much later, the true nature of the barriers became understood.
They were not the edges of separate worlds.
They were structures separating different continents of the same world.
They were also eventually understood to be connected to the Gods.
This later knowledge completely changed the interpretation of the ancient migrations.
World Travel vs. Barrier Travel
The distinction became even more important once knowledge of the wider universe was considered.
| Concept | Ancient Belief | Reality |
|---|---|---|
| Barrier | End of the World | Boundary Between Continents |
| Crossing the Barrier | Traveling to Another World | Intercontinental Travel |
| Other Worlds | Believed to lie directly beyond the barrier | Exist elsewhere in the broader universe |
Importance in History
The Barrier-Crossing Artifacts changed the history of multiple continents.
Without them, populations separated by seemingly absolute boundaries might never have encountered one another.
Their use directly contributed to:
- The arrival of Elves and Giants in Muxuu.
- The emergence of Half-Elves and Semi-Giants.
- The migration of Half-Elves to Disc.
- The migration of Semi-Giants to Humel.
- The evacuation of Dark Elves and Lycanthropes to Halvmen.
Importance to César
The history of the Barrier-Crossing Artifacts is especially important to César.
His knowledge of future events gives him reason to understand that the barriers are not necessarily absolute obstacles.
The artifacts therefore represent far more than ancient curiosities.
They are proof that movement between the isolated continents is possible.
Unanswered Questions
Several important details remain unknown.
- The official names of the three artifacts.
- The exact identity of the Dryad who created them.
- The precise method used to create them.
- The exact mechanics by which they cross the barriers.
- The present locations and conditions of the artifacts.
- The complete reason the Gods created the barriers.
These details should remain unspecified until they are formally revealed.
Common Misconceptions
“Ancient people knew the barriers separated continents.”
Incorrect.
They believed the barriers marked the end of their world.
“The first travelers knew they were traveling between continents.”
Incorrect.
They believed they were entering another world.
“Other worlds do not really exist.”
Incorrect.
Other inhabited worlds exist elsewhere in the broader universe. They are simply unrelated to the continental barriers.
“The artifacts created the barriers.”
Incorrect.
The artifacts were created to cross barriers that already existed.
“The Dryad created an unlimited number of artifacts.”
Incorrect.
Only three Barrier-Crossing Artifacts are known to have been created.
“Dark Elves and Lycanthropes used the artifact for exploration.”
Incorrect.
Their crossing was primarily a desperate evacuation.
“Every Half-Elf and Semi-Giant left Muxuu.”
Incorrect.
Some remained and were gradually assimilated into Human populations over later generations.
Related Articles
History
Overview of the world's major historical eras and migrations.
Ancient Migrations
The movements of populations made possible by the artifacts.
Muxuu
The continent reached by Elves and Giants.
Disc
The continent reached by the major Half-Elf migration.
Humel
The continent reached by the major Semi-Giant migration.
Halvmen
The continent reached by Dark Elf and Lycanthrope refugees.
Half-Elves
A mixed population whose history became tied to one of the artifacts.
Semi-Giants
A mixed population that later migrated to Humel.