The Approaching Alignment: 800 Years to Apocalypse

Where We Stand: Year 9,200

We live in the shadow of prophecy. Eight hundred years remain until the Alignment—when Sepehr-e-Nohom draws close enough to activate the pyramids and threaten all conscious life on Earth.

Current Signs (Early Warnings)

Physical Signs:

• The 9th planet is not yet visible (too far away)
• But astronomical calculations predict its approach with certainty
• Pyramids beginning to hum at infrasonic frequencies (felt in bones, not heard)
• Solar flares increasing—the Broken Sun's visible pain as the shield strains

Magical Signs:

• Powers slightly more intense than 1,000 years ago
• Div manifestations increasing (though still fragmented by the Broken Sun's shield)
• Wild random power occurrences more frequent (cycle imprints bleeding through)
• Enchantments lasting longer but becoming less stable

Social Signs:

• Prophecies circulating among oracles and madmen
• Cults forming—some worship the Alignment, others prepare to fight it
• Zahhak uses approaching doom to justify his tyranny: "Only strength survives the end"
• Les Souris resistance growing (desperation breeds revolution)

Psychological Signs:

• Sensitive souls experiencing prophetic dreams
• General anxiety—the feeling that "something is coming"
• Increased interest in previous cycle's history (seeking answers)
• Those with Rostam's bloodline experiencing the Broken Sun's memories

Timeline to Alignment

Current Era (Year 9,200-9,500)

The time of heroes. Zahhak's reign must be challenged. Pyramids must be understood. Countermeasures must be prepared. The Broken Sun's shield holds—but barely. This is when individual humans can still make the difference.

Phase 5 Begins (Year 9,500)

The Alignment phase officially starts. The 9th planet becomes visible to naked eye. Time distortions begin near pyramids. Gateway opening preparations commence. The last 500 years of increasingly desperate struggle.

Gateway Opening (Year 9,990)

Physical portals to the 9th planet become visible. Communication with entities (Yazatas and divs) becomes direct. Heroes from across the world gather for final confrontation.

The Alignment (Year 10,000)

The pyramids fully activate. The soul-vacuum mechanism engages. Humanity's consciousness hangs in the balance. Either heroes succeed in preventing total harvest, or conscious life ends—replaced by soulless husks serving immortal masters.

The Weakening Shield

For 10,000 years, the Broken Sun has held. But as Sepehr-e-Nohom approaches, the distance shortens, and the pressure increases. His hate consumption becomes harder. His essence-shattering grows less effective as entities adapt. His suffering intensifies beyond mortal comprehension.

At the Alignment, even his eternal torment may not be enough. He has bought humanity 10,000 years—but mortal heroism must finish what his sacrifice started.

What Can Be Done

We have 800 years to:

• Understand pyramid mechanics (how to disable or reverse them)
• Strengthen the Broken Sun's shield (how? No one knows)
• Defeat Zahhak and the Architects' agents on Earth
• Activate Demavand's counter-pyramid (if it can be understood)
• Raise heroes of sufficient consciousness to tip the balance

Or we have 800 years to prepare for extinction.

The choice, as always, lies with mortals. The Broken Sun has given us time. Free will. The possibility of victory.

What we do with these gifts determines whether his suffering has meaning—or whether it merely delays the inevitable.