To prevent such a thing from happening again, they decreed that only one gateway would be allowed between the two worlds, and many stayed behind to
enforce their will. They remain, teleporting Pitborn and Haranian alike through what they call The Shifting Place. This one gateway, The Black Door, may hold one of three positions: closed, open to The Abyss, open to Haran. It permits a flow one way or the other, or not at all. Nevertheless, there was still some traffic between the worlds. The Summoners would not relinquish their dark arts, despite the pleading of The Incar. The Bagi were infected by an Abysmal virus that corrupted their bloodline for all time. The Segnale, Pitborn themselves, defected and were permitted passage en masse by The Augur.

The Haranians did not forget the indifference of The Old Ones in their hour of need. They turned their backs and hearts on The Old Ones. The only god to ever appear to those who worshipped him, challenged The Old Ones openly. His name was The Saint of Blades and he was a match for any of them. Only to the beauty
of Trieste did he acquiesce. Helion called a council of The Old Ones and they decided that this world had seen enough use of them; they would go elsewhere and aid some other fledgling civilization. The White Lady would not leave; Trieste would not abandon her people. She had seen a coming doom. The Black Door would swing wide and the armies of The Abyss would issue orth as though a river. The Old Ones left without farewell or fanfare. one day, they were simply gone.

For fifty years, the peoples of Haran prepared for war. The Azure Order honed their bladecraft; The Incar steeped themselves in the study and practice of magic; The Summoners delved ever more deep into their black arts; The Segita harnessed the power of Haran through the tips of their arrows; The Bagi called to the far recesses
of themselves for strength and pushed their twisted bodies to unknown limits; And The Segnale, the blood drinkers, assassins of The Abyss, even they gave the sternest blood of their Pitborn hearts to the ways of healing and murder.