The Mythal
The Mythal
The Mythal is the planar barrier that prevents the most powerful deities from entering Eldareth in their full divine form.
It was established at the end of the Age of Divinity following the final conflict with the Triad. The Prime Deities agreed to withdraw their full presence from the Material Plane, and Ao, the Realmweaver, gave their decision permanent form through the Mythal.
The Mythal changed the relationship between mortals and the divine. Gods could still answer prayers, grant divine magic, communicate through dreams and omens, and work through mortal or planar intermediaries, but they could no longer freely walk Eldareth with the full extent of their power.
Feonar the Wanderer is the sole known exception. His exemption was written into the Mythal from its creation, allowing him to pass freely between worlds despite his divine power.
Origins of the Mythal
The Mythal was created after repeated divine conflicts demonstrated how vulnerable the mortal world was to struggles between gods.
The Dawn War had already caused destruction across Eldareth, and the rise of Malgathar, Vorandor, and Lessarith during the Age of Divinity threatened another conflict on a similar scale.
The Triad could not simply be destroyed with any certainty that they would remain gone. The Prime Deities instead forced them from the Material Plane and prevented their return.
Malgathar was cast into Baator, where he later reforged the plane into the infernal empire of the Nine Hells. Lessarith was driven into the Abyss, where she established the Endless Spiral. Vorandor was confined within the Gray Wastes.
Removing the Triad dealt with the immediate threat, but the Prime Deities recognized that the same danger would remain for as long as any greater divine power could freely manifest within Eldareth.
They therefore agreed to accept the same restriction.
Ao gave that agreement permanent form within the planar boundaries she had established around the Material Plane. The resulting barrier became known as the Mythal.
Feonar was explicitly exempted from this restriction when the Mythal was created, and that exemption has remained intact ever since.
Nature of the Barrier
The Mythal does not block planar travel as a whole. It responds primarily to divine power.
Mortals and most extraplanar beings can cross the boundary without encountering its full resistance. Celestials, fiends, spirits, and other planar creatures can also enter Eldareth provided their power remains below the threshold enforced by the Mythal.
Demigods fall beneath that threshold. The Dragon Ascendants can therefore reside within the Material Plane, travel beyond it, and interact directly with mortals despite their divine nature.
The greater gods cannot do the same.
A deity powerful enough to trigger the Mythal cannot cross into Eldareth in its true form or manifest a comparable amount of divine power through an incarnation or similar vessel. The restriction cannot be bypassed simply by placing the same divine presence inside a different body.
Feonar remains exempt from this restriction and may cross the Mythal regardless of his divine power.
Divine Influence
The Mythal separates divine presence from divine influence.
Prayer still reaches the gods. Clerics and other divine servants continue to receive magic, and deities can communicate through visions, dreams, omens, signs, and other forms of guidance.
They can also act through mortal agents and lesser planar servants capable of passing through the Mythal themselves. A deity may therefore influence events in Eldareth without physically entering the world.
The Mythal prevents the greater powers from bringing their full divine presence directly into the Material Plane. It does not sever the connection between gods and their followers.
The Mythal and Planar Travel
The Mythal is not a single physical gateway. It extends throughout the planar boundary surrounding Eldareth.
Those who encounter it from the Astral Plane have described lattices of divine energy, immense arches with no visible foundation, overlapping geometric patterns, or boundaries extending in directions that do not correspond to ordinary space. Accounts vary considerably.
For most travelers, the Mythal presents no obvious obstruction. Planar portals, magical crossings, and other forms of travel continue to function for creatures beneath its threshold. Only beings carrying sufficient divine power experience the full restriction.
Scholars have long suspected that the Mythal is connected in some way to Eldareth's ley network. The exact nature of that relationship remains uncertain, but the fracture of the Mythal during the Upheaval coincided with violent disturbances throughout the ley lines and several major nexuses.
The Fracture During the Upheaval
The Mythal suffered its first known major fracture during the Upheaval.
The cause has never been established with certainty.
The most widely accepted explanation is that a catastrophic magical or planar disturbance during the event placed the Mythal under more strain than it could withstand.
A competing theory argues that the nature of the disturbance mattered more than the amount of power involved. According to this view, something that occurred during the Upheaval disrupted one of the principles upon which Ao had constructed the barrier.
No specific act has ever been conclusively identified.
Whatever the cause, the fracture coincided with severe disturbances throughout Eldareth's ley network. Ley lines that had remained stable for centuries twisted, fractured, or shifted from their established courses. The resulting instability contributed to the Galarium explosions and magical disasters that brought the Age of Wonders to an end.
The Mythal survived. Its principal restriction remained intact, and the greater gods were still unable to manifest fully within Eldareth.
The wider planar boundaries surrounding the Material Plane were nevertheless left considerably less stable. In the centuries that followed, the relationships between some planes began to shift, beginning the phenomenon now known as the Planar Drift.
Consequences of the Fracture
Planar crossings became more common after the Upheaval. Some passages that had once been rare began appearing with greater frequency, while existing crossings became easier for lesser planar beings to use.
The Planar Drift further altered these relationships. Some planes appear to have drawn closer to Eldareth, making their influence and crossings more common, while others have become more difficult to reach. This movement does not appear to follow ordinary distance, and scholars continue to debate the principles governing it.
Regions where the Material Plane overlaps with other planes have also become more common. Magical disturbances associated with those boundaries now occur in places where none had previously been recorded, while some older crossings have shifted or become unreliable.
This gave the gods additional opportunities to work through servants and intermediaries capable of passing through the damaged boundaries, though the Mythal continues to prevent the greater gods themselves from following.
Some scholars believe the instability left by the Upheaval later contributed to the Incursion from the Far Realm. One theory holds that the altered planar boundaries made large breaches easier to establish. Another proposes that the disturbances surrounding the Upheaval may have drawn attention toward Eldareth from beings capable of perceiving such events across extraordinary planar distances.
Whether either explanation is correct, or whether both played some part, remains unproven.
The Mythal and Mortal Faith
The Mythal left the gods influential in mortal affairs while limiting their ability to intervene directly.
Temples may receive guidance from their deity, but mortals must interpret that guidance and decide how to act upon it. A god can warn its followers, empower a champion, send an omen, or work through servants, but most cannot simply enter Eldareth and resolve a crisis personally.
This has shaped religious life throughout the ages that followed. Priests, prophets, champions, and religious institutions carry considerably more responsibility because divine instruction is rarely accompanied by the physical presence of the deity who gave it.
Disagreements within a faith cannot always be settled by asking the god to appear and provide an answer.
Feonar again stands apart from this pattern. His exemption allows him a degree of direct freedom unavailable to the other greater gods, though how and when he chooses to exercise that freedom remains his own decision.
The Mythal Today
The Mythal remains fractured in the Age of Resurgence, but its central function continues to hold.
The greater gods remain unable to enter Eldareth in their full divine forms, with Feonar retaining his original exemption. No other known greater deity has succeeded in forcing enough power through the barrier to overcome its restriction.
The consequences of the Upheaval remain visible elsewhere. Planar overlaps continue to appear across Eldareth, while the Planar Drift has left some crossings and planar influences considerably less predictable than they were before the fracture.
The elves of Alven'Nathiss have recorded a growing number of unusual dreams and impressions that they call the Reverie Murmurs. Some scholars compare these experiences to phenomena associated with Val'Syra, while others connect them to the wider planar instability. Their cause remains uncertain.
Scholars also disagree over the present condition of the Mythal. Some believe the original fracture stabilized after the Upheaval and has not worsened since. Others point to the continuing Planar Drift and recurring planar disturbances as evidence that the damage is still developing even though the central barrier remains functional.
For now, the Mythal continues to keep the greater powers beyond the Material Plane, with the single exception written into its creation.
Whether the damaged barrier can continue to do so indefinitely remains unknown.