Convergence

"The impossible was always inevitable." — Felari historian

The Convergence was a universe-wide cosmological event that marked the collapse of Old Aurelion and the beginning of the modern age.

Although humanity had seen the signs coming, and already had a loose grasp on the force we now refer to as magic, the Convergence was seemingly a breaking point where such developments exploded, taking place in the Old Aurelian year of 2005.

The universe was flooded with energy, which formed pockets of unstable, anomalous space referred to as the Great Empty. Distance, continuity, and spatial position became unstable. Entire worlds were transformed in an instant, and magic flooded into far more prevalent existence.

The Convergence was only kept from becoming a true catastrophe by the existence of the Nullstar. Where these pockets may have forced some worlds to be lost to time, the Nullstar’s influence stabilized these areas enough to allow them to persist.

Very little information survives from the time of the Convergence.

Debate of Causes

The true nature of the Convergence remains unknown and is widely debated by religious and scientific communities. Many theories include:

Containment Collapse Theory

Some evidence suggests The Heart Below is to blame for the Convergence, and it throwing off the chains of its human captors is what brought about the Convergence.

Excerpt from Shackled Heart: Reassessing the Heart Below's Imprisonment by Professor Naira Sel

"We have discovered remnants of Pre-Convergence infrastructure in that little we can recover from Aurelion, descriptions that align more with deliberate confinement than they do with habitation. Combined with references to 'binding arrays', the conclusion becomes difficult to escape. The Heart Below was imprisoned. If the entity represented a concentration of primordial magic forces, then its liberation would naturally explain the sudden flood of energy, the formation of the Great Empty, and the destabilization of space itself."

Excerpt from the keynote address of Dr. Lorian Vesk at the Annual Symposium on Cosmological History.

"The theory mistakes coincidence for causality. While many can agree that references to imprisonment exist, nowhere does the evidence demonstrate that the Heart Below escaped at the exact moment of the Convergence, nor that it possessed the capacity to reshape the cosmos on such a scale. The argument relies on filling enormous gaps with speculation because the narrative is emotionally satisfying. Reality is seldom so poetic. Until proponents can demonstrate a mechanism by which a single imprisoned entity could rewrite the fabric of universal space, the theory is more myth than it is fact."

Cosmic Correction Theory

Some speculate that the Convergence was a natural force tied to the universe correcting itself after centuries of unnatural manipulation.

Excerpt from Equilibrium Lost and Found by Felari cosmologist Ishaan Vey.

"Across every known measurement, the post-Convergence universe displays properties that are mathematically cleaner than those that are reconstructed from Old Aurelian observations. Even the Great Empty in some pockets settles into harmonics. Such consistency is difficult to reconcile with an accident, but perfectly compatible with a correction. Humanity manipulated reality through technologies they did not understand, perhaps sustaining an impossible state for centuries. The Convergence, then, was a cosmic immune response expelling an infection from the body of reality itself."

Excerpt from the review article The Myth of Universal Intent by Dr. Amelia Hart.

"Correction implies purpose, which further implies standards, which implies that the universe possesses an ideal state against which it judges deviation. None of these assumptions can be demonstrated scientifically. Proponents point to elegant mathematical patterns after the Convergence while conveniently ignoring the burst of wild entropy following the spatial collapse. The universe became extremely disorderly during the Convergence. We should resist the temptation to assign agency where blind natural processes suffice."

Nullstar Replacement Theory

Some believe that the Nullstar directly brought about the Convergence, displacing the Heart Below with this event.

Excerpt from a lecture delivered by Professor Yuto Marek on Chitara.

"Every simulation treating the Nullstar's emergence as reactive produces contradictions. Reverse the sequence, however, and a remarkable consistency appears. Suppose the Nullstar did not save reality from the Convergence, but instead caused it by forcibly occupying a cosmological role previously held by the Heart Below. Such displacement would necessarily produce instability while the universe reorganized around a new anchor. The Great Empty becomes understandable as scar tissue left behind by this impossible transplantation."

Excerpt from the editorial Against Circular Cosmology by historian Celeste Oran.

"The Replacement Theory suffers from a fatal logical weakness, that every unexplained phenomenon is simply attributed to the Nullstar. Why did space fracture? Replacement. Why did magic spread? Replacement. This explanation only suffices in appearance. We possess no evidence that the Heart Below ever occupied the role assigned to it by proponents, nor any indication that such a role even exists. The theory survives because it is infinitely adaptable, and hypotheses that explain everything often explain nothing."

Predestination Theory

Some believe that the Convergence was always an inevitable event, and humanity merely accelerated its arrival.

Excerpt from Meren Sol's address at the fiftieth anniversary of the bi-annual Cosmology Convention.

"We continue searching for a singular culprit because we naturally fear the inevitable. But the universe owes us no comforting explanation. The Convergence appears regardless of intervention. Perhaps a civilization could accelerate it, or delay it, but none could prevent it. Humanity did not create the event any more than a sailor would create a storm. The tragedy of history is not that humanity caused the impossible, but rather we believe they could have ever avoided it."

Excerpt from Fatalism and Historical Convenience by sociologist Dr. Renata Choi.

"Predestination has always been the refuge of incomplete evidence. Whenever records fail us, inevitability rushes in to occupy the void. The theory's popularity stems less from proof than comfort. If the Convergence was unavoidable, then no civilization will bear responsibility, certainly not the humans the Aurelians descended from! But to claim the event would have happened regardless is to render the people of past nations infallible, and to make an assertion that cannot be tested, falsified, or meaningfully investigated. It ends inquiry precisely where inquiry is needed most! We cannot replace scholarship with resignation, not when the risk of a Second Convergence could be very real."

No theory fully explains all observed consequences or answers all questions.