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Veritas In Oblivione
In the beginning there was nothing. No light, no dark, no colour, no sound, no space, no time, just nothingness. However, from this nothingness, through some unknown means, something came into existence. This something was creation. Time, space, light, dark, colour, sound, everything came into being. But it all existed in chaos, until through the chaos, the first being was born. This being would become known as Zenith, a being with no gender, and no known form. Zenith did not create, instead it took what came into being, and organized it. Slowly, the chaos of creation ceased, and everything fell into order. Through this order, many things came into existence, include the mortal world.
However, order must be maintained, else chaos rises. In order to keep creation from falling back into chaos, Zenith gave its life. From Zenith’s flesh, the first life came into being. From Zenith’s soul, the invisible forces that maintain reality came into being. From Zenith’s blood, magic came into being. Finally, from Zenith’s heart, the Three came into being. The Three were Zenith’s children, and would come to be considered the primal gods. While they all came into existence at the same time, they were not equal and would come to rule over different domains.
First there is Tivnia, who would become known as the Lord of the Light. He would be considered the holiest of the three, and ruled not only over light, but the Heavens and all things good. Unlike the other two, Tivnia is the only one who would maintain his physical form after the Sundering. Tivnia is credited with the creation of the Angels, who serve as his personal army, and the mortal races. Second there is Ijun, who would become known as The Sunderer. When he had his physical form, he could match Tivnia in terms of strength. But that form was lost during the Sundering, as his body was torn apart, and spread over long distances to prevent him from regaining his physical form. Even without a physical form, his influence would still be felt. He would eventually become considered the most demonic of the three, and is said to rule over darkness, the Dark Realm, and all things evil. Ijun would be credited with the creation of the Daemons, who served as his personal army.
Finally, there was the most powerful of the Three, the goddess Zodia. With power over time, space, and the forces that maintained reality, she would never be considered fully demonic, nor would she be considered fully holy, as she acted as the balance. Her physical form was lost during the Sundering, but unlike Ijun, whose body remains in the mortal world just in pieces, Zodia’s body was lost. She gave her body not to stop the Sundering, but prevent the mortal world from being forever lost, and maintaining it in its current form. However, one part of her body was said to remain, her heart. Unlike her brothers, who had their own personal armies, Zodia did not. Instead, she was credited with the creation of the only beings capable of naturally traveling from the Heavens to the Dark Realm, the Dragons.
However, the Three’s roles would only be solidified with a certain event, the Sundering. The Sundering happened before the mortal races existed, before the Dragons, and before any of the gods, the exception being the Three. The only intelligent beings that existed where the Three, Angels, and the Daemons. Many details surrounding the Sundering are unknown, as Tivnia refuses to go into too much detail, as it was a hard time for him. That said, it is not completely unknown, and the story goes like this.
Sometime after the birth of the Three, Ijun grew jealous of Tivnia, jealous of his rule over the Heavens. So, Ijun challenged his brother to a duel, where if he won, Tivnia would hand over Heaven, and he would give his brother command of the Dark Realm. And if he lost, Ijun swore to never bother his brother over the right to rule the Heavens, which came with the right to rule the mortal world. So, they fought, and Tivnia won. Despite losing, Ijun refused to keep his word, and returned to the Dark Realms, where he planned to overthrow Tivnia. So, he created his Daemons, and returned to challenge Tivnia. However, Tivnia knew his brother was creating the Daemons, and as such, he created his own army to fight against them, the Angels. The two brothers clashed once again, this time with an army aiding them. Once again, Ijun lost, and once again Ijun was disgraceful in defeat, this time he decided though that if he couldn’t win, he’d take the mortal world with him.
Focusing all his power, Ijun struck the mortal world, causing it to shatter. But there was a price to using all this strength, as Ijun’s body also shattered and flew off in all directions, as the fragmented pieces of the mortal world did so as well. Tivnia tried to stop Ijun, but was to late. So, Tivnia just watched and begged for help as the fragments of the mortal world, which would soon be known as Aeria, flew further and further apart. That was when Zodia arrived. She could not reverse what had happened, but she had the power to prevent the fragments of the mortal world from flying to far apart and away from the mortal world’s core, which remained intact.
So, Zodia descended to the burning core of the mortal world, ripped out her own heart, focused her power, and plunged her heart into the core. The molten core changed with the addition of the heart, as invisible chains erupted from the heart in all directions. These chains embedded themselves into each of the fragments of Aeria (and the Dark Realm), and prevented them from drifting too far apart from each other. It was then that Zodia’s body was said to transform into the barrier between the fragments that formed the new Dark Realm, and the fragments that formed the new mortal realm. This barrier can still be seen, though it takes the form of an endless cloud that is far to dangerous for most mortals to attempt to penetrate. Still in her body, Zodia’s blood changed and gave birth to the Dragons.
The Sundering took Tivnia’s siblings from him, and left him alone with the mortal realm, along with his Angels. After hundreds of years of loneliness, as the Angels made for poor company, Tivnia decided to do something about it. He created the races who would inhabit the mortal realm. With the creation of the mortal races, something unexpected happened. More gods started to appear as well. Tivnia was no longer alone, and eventually joined with these new god. Eventually the mortals stared to create their own nations, inventions, languages, but still appeared lost to Tivnia. So, Tivnia came to some mortals, and told them how they came to be, and what would become the dominant religion, The One Faith was born.
For many thousands of years, the world was dotted with many city-states, and kingdoms. Due to the fact that the “islands” of Aeria are drifting, and constantly moving at a decent speeds, maintaining the borders of large empires has nearly been impossible, but ambitious souls did try to found empires. Of course, some succeeded, and out of those who succeeded, they all fell before five years passed, with the average lifespan of empires at this time being a year, thus the term One Year Empires was used to describe empires of this time. However, that was until the creation of magic devices knowns as DAMS, or Dynamic Aeria Mapping Systems. With the creation of DAMS, nations could keep track of their territories, no matter how far apart they drifted. As such, empires could last much longer, thus ending the era of the One Year Empires.
Not many empires did rise however, as while DAMS made it easier to track ones territory, one still needed the resources to defend it. So, only the most powerful empires survived. Such as The Epostolis, an empire founded to serve Tivnia, spread The One Faith, and to enforce its doctrine. It is during this time of grand empires that our story begins, and it begins with a single mortal. A mortal who managed to not only pass into the Dark Realm, but return alive. Deep in the Dark Realm, he found it, the legendary Heart of Zodia. But unfortunately he could not obtain it, as it was sealed away, and in attempting to break the seals, the mortal lost his mind. But for the sanity that he lost, the mortal gained the knowledge of what was needed to break the seals.
This mortal was found by The Epostolis, and revealed the knowledge to them. Certain items where required, items that the mortal referred to as the 11 Keys of Truth. The mortal was unable to say what they were, or where they could be found. After the mortal told The Epostolis this, The Epostolis tried to prevent this knowledge from becoming public knowledge on the orders of Tivnia. But of course, the knowledge was leaked, and soon after many nations, pirates and wealthy individuals began to search for the 11 Keys.
Why so many people desired to find the 11 Keys was no secret, as if the legends were to be believed, then who ever controlled the Heart of Zodia would have the power to rule Aeria. So of course, many power hungry individuals and nations began searching for the 11 Keys. Of course, upon learning about all this, The Epostolis could not remain silent. So, using its influence it demanded that all other nations cease searching for the 11 Keys. Many listened, but some didn’t. As such, The Epostolis was forced to act.
This is where our story begins. The Epostolis has gathered a team, be them mercenary or members of The Epostolis military, that they will send to gather the 11 Keys and return the 11 Keys to The Epostolis. Will this team find the 11 Keys? Or will this team fail? The future is clouded, and the stage is set Aeria to change once again.
OP: Faal Lot Himdah
Co-OP: TBA
Sir Silas Lucius Alard
Grand Cathedral of Tivnia, Luxsancta, The Epostolis
A Few Weeks Prior
Grand Cathedral of Tivnia, Luxsancta, The Epostolis
A Few Weeks Prior
“This is a disaster…” One of the cardinals of the One Faith spoke with an old and weary voice. The most powerful people within the government of The Epostolis had gather, be them cardinals or military leaders, they gathered. “How did this information get out?”
“The source has been kept under lock and key since he got here.” Another cardinal spoke, this one with a younger and faster voice, “There is no way they could have told anyone on the outside about the Heart… unless…”
“I hope you aren’t insinuating what I think you are.” Another voice spoke, this one old and gruff, belonging to the Grandmaster of the Order of the Merciful Hammer, “Those guarding him are some of the most trusted members of my order. None of them would dare betray us…”
“Yet, the existence and location of the Heart has been revealed to the public…” The young cardinal spoke again.
“Now, lets not jump to conclusions.” A new voice spoke, this one belonging to another high ranking member of the Order of the Merciful Hammer, and a war hero of the Epostolis, Sir Silas Lucius Alard, “Is the source sane? No. The source seems to have been marked by Aryna. He is mad. So, how do we know that he hasn’t been in contact with the mad goddess?”
“We don’t…” The young voice said again.
“Sir Alard, what are you suggesting?” The first voice spoke again.
“I am suggesting that there was no leaking of information, just the mad goddess causing chaos in our mortal world.” Silas spoke, “After all, that is what she does isn’t it?”
“Umm…” The first voice continued, “Even if that's the case, which seems most likely, it doesn’t fix our problem…”
“If you would allow me, I may have a plan.” Silas spoke again, and after a moment of silence he continued, “We know that any nation that claims the Heart has the chance to commit crimes against the Tivnia. But without a doubt the enemies and allies of the Epostolis will begin searching for the Heart. While we can demand that they cease their search, and threaten them with excommunication, trade embargos and even war, it won’t stop them. The reward far outweighs the risk. That said, nothing we say will cause our enemies to hesitate. So, our enemies will likely not even bother trying to hide the fact they are searching for the Heart, while our allies and those afraid of the Epostolis will likely act in the shadows. As such, the Epostolis will have to obtain the Heart first, not under the pretense of obtaining a weapon, but a sacred artifact that should never fall into mortal hands. I believe Tivnia will bless our cause if that was the case.”
“Umm… that would require mobilizing the military, which could appear to be hypocritical to other nations…” Another new voice spoke.
“That’s why we will only mobilize the military to enforce our threats, and combat pirates and other enemies to the One Faith who seek the Heart.” Silas spoke again, “Meanwhile, the Epostolis will fund a private expedition through the Order of the Merciful Hammer to obtain the Heart for the Epostolis. I offer my services to lead that expedition.”
There was another moment of silence before a decision was made. Silas left the room, he had a job to do now. He had to gather his crew, and prepare his ship. The Heart would be obtained by one group, and he was going to make sure it was the Epostolis that would claim it.
Alicia Messier
Some Tavern, Neunau, Juali Imperium
A Few Days Ago
Some Tavern, Neunau, Juali Imperium
A Few Days Ago
Neunau, a city that flew the colours of the Juali Imperium, but currently found itself sitting much closer to cities of The Epostolis than cities of the Juali Imperium. Due to this proximity, Neunau was often known as the most religious city of the Juali Imperium. Despite this, one could find taverns and other rather sinful places if they looked hard enough. It was in one of these taverns that a certain mercenary could be found.
Alicia Messier, one of the hardest to locate mercenaries in all of Aeria, and one of the deadliest snipers not among the ranks of the Juali Rangers. In fact, her skill had been often compared to that of the Juali Rangers, and when ever she heard that, she’d just smirk. Little did most people who hired her know that she was a former member of the Juali Rangers. While she could have made it more known, and raise her prices, there was no need. The prices for her services where already fair, for both her clients and herself.
Right now, she was in town after just finishing a contract for a client, and was getting a bite to eat, along with something to drink. So, she there she was, sitting in the corner of the tavern, with her meal and drink, listening to the other patrons speaking. Until everything went silent. The silence caught her attention, and she looked up from her meal to see a man in the robes of the priests of the One Faith start to approach her. The strange man didn’t stop till he sat across from her. Soon, the others in the tavern returned to their normal business.
“So, what brings a holy man to this den of iniquity?” Alicia spoke as she continued to eat her meal, “And why have you come right to me?”
“A job.” The priest spoke, and removed a letter from his robes and placed it on the table before sliding it to Alicia. A letter sealed with the seal of the Order of the Merciful Hammer, “Alicia Messier, master sniper, former Juali Ranger. You have been requested by name.”
“Umm… and what are the details of this job.” Alicia said as she looked at the letter, and then back at the priest.
“I have not been told.” The priest spoke, “I was told the letter would have all the details you’d desire, and to deliver it directly to you, along with this, a ticket for the next vessel from Neunau to Luxsancta.”
The priest then reached into his robe, and pulled out a ticket. He then stood up and left the tavern, leaving Alicia alone to finish her meal. Once her meal was done she opened the letter. After a short read, she just smirked, pocketed the letter and the ticket. She had a ship to catch, and one last job to do before a very early retirement.
Min-Ki
The Vitonca Library, Vitonca, The Epostolis
A Few Days Ago
The Vitonca Library, Vitonca, The Epostolis
A Few Days Ago
“Umm… Interesting…” Min-Ki spoke to himself, as he flipped through the book he was currently reading. It was an old book, that was full of stories from the oldest days of the city of Vitonca. Some could have been real, others may not have been. But nonetheless interesting to Min-Ki. When he was finished with the book, he noticed someone approaching him.
It was a priest of the One Faith, not to unusual in the Vitonca Library, as the library was often host to priests and clergymen of the One Faith. But the fact that this priest was making his way straight to where Min-Ki sat, with such urgency in his steps, definitely was strange.
“Min-Ki.” The priest said, to which Min-Ki nodded. Without saying anything else, the priest removed a letter, with the seal of the Order of the Merciful Hammer, “Your skills and knowledge has been requested. You will be paid generously. All details are in the letter…”
“So, I’m being hired for another job…” Min-Ki said and opened the letter, “Oh, I see why they want me… I helped design and create that ship.”
“I have also been instructed to give you this.” The priest handed the demihuman a ticket, “The vessel leaves in a few hours…”
“Luckily I’m always packed.” Min-Ki said as he smiled and headed for the exit of the library, “Adventure awaits.”
Fi Qina
Duzinok Prison, The City State of Duzinok
A Few Days Ago
Duzinok Prison, The City State of Duzinok
A Few Days Ago
It was cold, and poorly lit. But what else would one expected from a prison in a state run until recently by a single monarch, who was often seen as a tyrant. A state that had long been embroiled in a civil war, a civil war that many of the elite had gotten sick of. That was part of the reason she was being lead down the narrow corridors, deeper into the prison in chains. You see, she was hired by a certain noble to eliminate the tyrant ruler of Duzinok, which she did with relative ease.
Unfortunately it had seemed like the noble betrayed her, and reported her not long after the murder. In fact, while she was meeting to get paid, she was surrounded, ambushed and brought in. She didn’t fight, even though she would have likely gotten the death penalty, it wasn’t worth fighting. So, instead, she let them take her weapon, put her in chains and now found herself in the cities prison.
“Alright, here we are…” One of her escorts said, and opened the door to the cell she was now faced with. When the door opened, the human escorting her from behind decided to push her into the cell. “Enjoy your stay, pointy eared bitch.”
With that the two escorts left, and Fi took a look around the cell. She couldn’t see much, besides two old beds, and a rather foul smelling bucket. Oh, there was also her cellmate. A human male, it was hard to tell his age due to the darkness, and that she had a hard time to determine differences in the ages of humans. But what she did know was who he was, by the scar on his face.
“Umm….” The man said and looked at his cellmate, “What are you here for? Seeing as you have been placed her, I assume it was something to justify a death penalty.”
“Yes, it was.” Fi spoke and smirked as she sat down on one of the beds. “Just job. A little murder of a high profile target… you know that tyrant that called himself king.”
“So, he’s dead?” The man spoke, smiling slightly, “After all these years, he’s finally dead. It's only a matter of time before this country is reborn... “
“Well, about that…” Fi started, “You are under the assumption that there was only two parties in this civil war of yours. Your forces and the king's forces. It's never that simple…”
“So, there is a third party…” The man said, “And let me guess, they hired you to kill the king.”
“Yep.” Fi said and shrugged, “But it seems they have betrayed me…”
“So, they used you. Now, like the king threw away his people when they were not needed, they have thrown you away. It is only a matter of time before my men free me from here…”
“Whoa there.” Fi said, “I’m not joining some rebel group… it’s about time isn’t it?”
“What do you mean?”
“For my escape.” Fi said and approached the door to their cell.
“Hah, there is no escape. At least not with help from the outside.” The man said, “There are a series of spells on the door and walls to prevent such escape. Its partially why they don’t have legions of guards wandering around. No need to guard something that no one can break out of…”
“That’s good to know.” Fi said and turned to the man. She smirked as blue lightning started to crackle from her back, travelling to her chains. She closed her eyes, as the lightning slowly heated the chains, until finally she opened them. As she opened them, she pulled her arms apart, causing the chains to break. “I’ve wasted to much time here. I have a job to finish…”
“What do you mean fin-” He froze, realizing what she meant, “No… Please no…”
“Oh, that won’t change anything…” Fi said and approached the man before placing her hand over his mouth, “I always do my job…”
With that she summoned her white lightning, and watched as it entered the rebel leader. Everything burned, from his skin to his hair. The screams and the smell didn’t bother her, instead she kept her hand on him until the man's body fell to the ground lifeless. She then smirked and waited. A few minutes later, the door to the cell opened, and the noble who employed her to kill the tyrant, and the rebel leader entered.
“There you go.” She said and motioned to the body, “The former king is dead, you apprehended the killer, and now the rebel leader is dead. I assume that you are going to say the kings killer was killed, but before the king died, he ordered the death of the rebel leader… spin it to your liking so that you may seize power… as the mastermind of this most recent coup, and the newest tyrant of this dark, cold and miserable little slice of Aeria. Anyways, what you do now isn’t my worry, all I want is my pay.”
“My men will lead you to a ship I have contracted to take you away from here.” The noble said and stepped out of the way for Fi, “They will present you with your pay… Oh, before you go, someone else is here to see you.”
With that a priest stepped out from behind the nobles men, and removed a letter before handing it to Fi. The first thing she noticed was the seal, the seal of the Order of the Merciful Hammer. As she looked at it, the priest spoke.
“I was asked to deliver this to you.” The priest said, “You will find answers to all your questions in there.”
“Um, interesting.” Fi said and slid the letter into her cleavage, before following the nobles men out. After retrieving her weapon, boarding the vessel, and getting paid, she opened the letter. It was a job, and an opportunity, that made her smile.
Sir Silas Lucius Alard
On the Upper Deck, The Aetherwing
At Port, Luxsancta, The Epostolis
On the Upper Deck, The Aetherwing
At Port, Luxsancta, The Epostolis
Today was the day, after weeks of preparation, today was the day that a single ship would set out on a world changing expedition. This would become a decisive moment in the history or Aeria. A moment that would lead to all of their names to be etched into history. Or just a fairly normal event for Silas. There he was, walking through the empty halls of the Aetherwing, to greet his crew on the upper decks.
Once he stepped out of the ship, and on to the upper decks, he took a moment to look over the crew as he stepped up to an elevated platform. Most of them were volunteers, people who wanted to forge their legend, make their fortune. That said, he didn’t trust the volunteers, as while some may have wanted to serve the Epostolis, he was also aware that many of them desired the Heart for themselves. The same could be said for those few who did not volunteer, but were invited to join the crew of the Aetherwing. Call him paranoid, but that was going to be the only way for the Epostolis to retrieve the Heart.
“Welcome…” Silas spoke, loud enough to cause silence to fall over the crowd, “I am Sir Silas Lucius Alard, and I am pleased to welcome you all to the Aetherwing. I will be serving as your captain. Now… what are you all standing around for? I want this ship out of port yesterday.”
With that, everyone went to work, as Silas returned to the bridge of the Aetherwing. After a few minutes, the ship left port, and the journey to retrieve the Heart began, but first they needed to find where and what the 11 Keys were. There was only one place that Silas figured would have the information they sought, and thus the Aetherwing set course for the ruins of Zaetoria.
Min-Ki
The Mess Hall, The Aetherwing
Airspace between nations of Aeria
The Mess Hall, The Aetherwing
Airspace between nations of Aeria
It had almost been a day since they left Luxsancta, and Min-Ki spent that whole time in the engine room, making sure everything was fine. Only after a few hours of work, and many conversation was Min-Ki satisfied enough with the other members of the Aetherwing’s engineer team, to trust them to work on the ship he helped designed.
Now, he was in the mess hall, eating for the first time today, while also looking through multiple books and writing in his own notebook. “Interesting way to look at it…”
Alicia Messier
The Upper Deck, The Aetherwing
Airspace between nations of Aeria
The Upper Deck, The Aetherwing
Airspace between nations of Aeria
“This is nice…” Alicia spoke to herself as she took a deep breath in. The wind was nice, and the view was even nicer. But she couldn’t let herself be distracted by the beauty of the world from the upper deck of the Aetherwing, because she had a job. Her job at this moment was as a sentry, helping to watch the horizon and sky above for any threats to the ship. So, she continued to wander the upper deck, with her rifle ready for just about anything.
Fi Qina
A Training Room, The Aetherwing
Airspace between nations of Aeria
A Training Room, The Aetherwing
Airspace between nations of Aeria
There was a crash, then there was a bang, then another cacophony of sounds, all coming from one of the training rooms in the Aetherwing. Yes, the Aetherwing had training rooms, after all what good is it to have a ship full of warriors, if they don’t have a place to train and keep their skills honed? Anyways, the sounds came from one of the training rooms, specifically from the sparring mat were mercenaries and soldiers employed on this journey would fight one another to keep their skills sharp.
Standing on the mat, with her foot on the chest of her most recent challenger, and a wooden staff in hand, stood Fi Qina. After some time wandering the halls she found this training room, and joined in with the group of sparring soldiers, only to beat each and everyone in a rather disappointing time.
“Really? Is that the best that you all got?” She asked looking at them all, “The best the Epostolis could find? Really? That is disappointing. I didn’t even use my magic. Here I thought I would actually have some challenge… ah well, anyways, if anyone else thinks they can take me step forward, after you pick your practice weapon of course.”
