The Day of the Cataclysmic Silence:
Date: Uncertain. Records are fragmented. Survivors refer to it simply as "The Day the Sky Forgot to Breathe."
What Happened:
The world was already fraying before the Silence—subtle anomalies, whispers in static, people vanishing into thin air mid-step, dreams bleeding into daylight. But it all culminated in a single, devastating event.
At 4:44 AM, every sound on Earth vanished.
Not muffled. Not blocked.
Erased.
Birds mid-cry fell from the sky. Sirens wailed without a voice. People screamed—silently. Even the wind ceased. Not a breeze. Not a breath.
Then the sky split open.
A titanic fissure formed across the firmament like a wound leaking ink. It pulsed once—like a heartbeat—then poured a black aurora into the atmosphere. This wasn't darkness. It was absence. Light died on contact with it. Stars blinked out like candles snuffed by a breathless god.
From this wound, Echoes began to fall. First as lightless spores, then as howling storms of forgotten thoughts, then as entities—monsters, relics, and incomprehensible beings wrapped in veils of broken logic.
Cities crumbled not from fire or flood, but unreality. Buildings that existed for centuries were replaced by constructs from alien dimensions. Maps changed. Clocks melted into concepts. People's names were stolen by wind and forgotten even by their own mothers.
All communication failed. Radios screamed gibberish in long-dead languages. Satellite feeds showed mirrored versions of Earth. Then nothing.
The Silence lasted for 13 minutes and 13 seconds.
When sound returned, half of humanity was gone. The sun was missing. In its place hung a Twilight Maw—a dull, gray orb, unmoving, casting eternal dusk.
No government remained. Survivors emerged to a changed Earth, broken into floating city-fragments, ruined wastelands, and Anomaly Zones where time and logic warped unpredictably.
It wasn't an invasion.
It wasn't a war.
It was a cosmic awakening—and humanity was caught in the breath between two gods.
They called it:
The Cataclysmic Silence.
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The Power System — Echo Ascension
Power in this world is rooted in the aftermath of the Silence. It is not magic, nor science—it is the contamination of the soul by forces not meant for human minds. It is known as:
Echo Ascension
1. The Source: Vestige Echoes
Vestige Echoes are fragments of entities that leaked into the world when the dimensional veil tore. They are not alive, but not quite dead—remnants of unknowable things that once ruled (or still rule) other realities. These echoes embed themselves into physical objects, thoughts, locations, and people.
Humans who can house these Echoes become Echo-Bearers, capable of wielding supernatural abilities.
However, each Echo is laced with a Conceptual Cost—corrupting identity, memory, or flesh.
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2. Core Mechanics of the System
a. Echo Types (Origin of Power):
Beast Echoes – Physical mutations, monstrous strength, heightened senses. Often primal and hard to control.
Wyrm Echoes – Causality-defying entities. Time loops, reality edits, chance manipulation. Highly unstable.
Wisp Echoes – Mental and soul-based powers. Illusions, memory tampering, dreamwalking. High corruption risk.
Monarch Echoes – Rarest and most powerful. Domain over specific concepts like Gravity, Hunger, Despair.
Godspawn Echoes – Supposedly extinct. If bonded, the bearer becomes a walking paradox.
b. Domains (Power Manifestation):
Each Echo grants a Domain, a thematic ability set tied to its origin concept. Examples:
Domain of Chains – control over bondage, physical and spiritual.
Domain of Ash – destructive heat that leaves behind cursed remnants.
Domain of Remorse – weaken enemies by flooding them with past guilt.
Domains evolve with each Ascension Rank, unlocking deeper layers of control—but also unraveling the host's humanity.
c. Ascension Ranks (Progression):
Dawn-Touched – Initial bonding with an Echo. Minor abilities. High instability.
Hollow-Bound – Echo solidifies in the host. Appearance and perception may begin to shift.
Echo-Bearer – Fully integrated powers. Echo begins to exert influence.
Fragment-Walker – The user can fracture into multiple realities or timelines briefly.
Shard-Lord – Echo's Domain fully manifests. The user can reshape local laws of nature.
Covenant-Keeper – The Echo and host form a Pact. Powers become godlike, but cost accelerates.
Transcendent – User no longer considered human. Their identity becomes myth.
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3. Anchors (Power Limiter / Soul Binding)
To stabilize an Echo and prevent Echo Madness, a host must tie it to an Anchor—a deeply personal, real part of themselves:
A childhood memory.
A physical relic with sentimental weight.
A name of a loved one.
A belief or unshakable truth.
If the Anchor is broken—the Echo goes feral inside the host, resulting in corruption, madness, or transformation into an Anomaly (monsters born from failed Echo-Bearers).