Exodus

The **Exodus** or **Exodus** **to Faeia**, a pivotal event in the history of the realm, marked the arrival of humans in the land of Faeia. This transformative migration stands as a defining moment in the rich tapestry of Faeian history, when the Minoans of Crete planeshifted from one world to another, following their leader, King Idomeneus. This cataclysmic even brought about significant changes to the Central Continent and its inhabitants. As a result, Faeia became the stage for an eternal struggle between different races, cultures, and powers.

## Prophetic Prelude

In the year 1284 BCE, as the Trojan War concluded, Cassandra, the famed oracle, delivered a haunting prophecy. She foretold a future conflict and the rise of an empire of fire that would consume the Earth.

The Greeks dismissed her words, but they did not go unnoticed by the primordial goddess of the Earth, Gaia.

Gaia, the mother of the Titans and the Earth itself, heard Cassandra's prophecy and summoned the Olympian gods to take heed. Disregarding their sides in the recent war, the gods gathered on Olympus to hear Gaia recount the prophecy. Phoebus Apollo, the god of prophecy, confirmed the its authenticity.

The gods charged Poseidon, the Sea God, to ensure that Idomeneus, (the Minoan King, who was on his voyage home as a victorious commander, after leading the Cretan armies in the Trojan War) did not make it home to Crete. Poseidon was hesitant to kill Idomeneus as they were allies in the war in Troy. Perhaps that is why when he engulfed the King's ship in a terrible storm, and Idomeneus cried out to him, begging for mercy, Poseidon answered. The sea god materialised on the war ship, trident in hand, to hear what the mortal had to say. All Idomeneus could do was ask "Why!?". Poseidon explained to him about the prophecy, As the last living descendant of Minos, Idomeneus could not be allowed home to his wife to sire an heir. If he did, that progeny would bring forth the end of days... they would "scorch the earth"..."burn it all".

After Poseidon revealed this to him, Idomeneus pleaded with the sea god, "Spare my ship and crew, I will sacrifice my only son on my return to Crete and swear an oath of celibacy thereafter". Satisfied that with these terms upheld, the prophecy would be prevented; Poseidon showed mercy and let Idomeneus go.

Upon his arrival at the docks in Crete, waiting for his father was Idomeneus' son Idamante, whom the king duly sacrificed with a swift and dramatic stab through the heart. Idomeneus' son was dead before his ship was even moored. But as soon as the King of Crete stepped foot on solid ground again, the earth beneath his feet began to shake. Gaia cried out to her grandchildren in the heavens above, "Poseidon you FOOL!" "He swore the Minoan age would end with him" the sea god defended himself to his brother Zeus. "You can not trust these deceitful mortals" Zeus retorted "And," Gaia added from the ground beneath them "You can NOT bargain with fate!" So the gods sent a plague to Crete to wipe out the Minoan king and his supporters.

### Idomeneus and the Neo-Minoans

The Exodus to Faeia finds its roots in the life and deeds of Idomeneus, a renowned figure in the lore of Faeia *and* in and in Ancient Greek Mythology.

In the mythology, during the Trojan War, Idomeneus made a solemn vow to the god Poseidon that if he returned safely from the war, he would sacrifice the first living being he encountered upon his arrival in Crete. And by coincidence, Idomeneus' firstborn and only biological son greeted him at the docks.

Faeian lore tells a different story.

After sacraficing his son's life in an attempt to save his own, and bringing about a plague in Crete, Idomeneus' people turned on him. To end the plague, the remaining Cretans (under the new king Leucas, Idomeneus' foster son) elected to send Idomeneus, his wife Meda, and all other Minoan loyalists into exile.

The angry mob, which numbered almost half the population of Crete, drove Idomeneus and his people out of the crown city of Minos. They drove them halfway up Mount Iuktas, where they had a violent standoff at the temple of Anemospilia. At this point, Mother Gaia had **lost patience**. If you want something done, do it yourself. That was her motto. Suddenly the ground opened up on the mountainside, the very ground on which the Cretan coup was being fought. The temple's pillars collapsed, crushing Cretans on both sides of the conflict. As a deep crevice began to form where the ground had opened up moments before, a shout erupted from the crowd "The pit to Tartarus! Run!". In a panicked scurry, the Cretans dropped their weapons and fled. But the cracks in the earth were spreading too fast. They could not escape!

The crevice opened up wider and wider, swallowing more and more of the Cretans, indiscriminate of whether they were loyal to Idomeneus or Leucas. It was a terrifying sight. Those who were not consumed by the chasm's fiery depths were burned by the intense heat emanating from it. Some tried to jump over the widening gap, only to fall to their deaths. Others clung to the edge of the crevice, desperately trying to save themselves, but eventually, they too succumbed to the inferno below.

### A word with the manager

In an act of desperation, Idomeneus knelt and prayed to the goddess Gaia, begging that she spare the lives of his people. Just then, Gaia's voice spoke in Idomeneus' head. "Grandson of Minos, suitor of Helen, King of Crete... I will wipe you off the face of the earth, the face of Gaia, MY FACE!" and with those words a woman's face appeared in the dirt and ash where Idomeneus was kneeling, her arenaceous lips straining to shape the words that were ringing in Idomeneus' head "lest you burn my face..." Gaia's eyebrows furrowed then as a thought occurred to her "Spare you? There is no doubt that the line of Minos can not continue on this plane. You will fall to me on this day, mortal!". What seemed like a smile crept onto her face then, as grains, rocks and pebbles shifted around in the dirt, "Though... I suppose whether or not you \*survive\* the fall need not concern me."

With that, numerous rare gems were spat out of the shifting ground. Diamonds, opals, rubies, jades, saphires, emeralds and Tiger eyes. Precious stones, some of which even King Idomeneus did not recognise. From the cracks in the earth, molten magma bubbled to the surface, liquidising this assortment of jewels. In the area around the crevice that led to Tartarus, arcane symbols began to form in the ground, traced out by the glowing stream of melted rare gems. "What do you say Idomeneus of Crete?" Asked Gaia, "Are you feeling lucky?"

### A leap of faith

Idomeneus stood atop a large boulder, overlooking the massive crowd gathered before him. The air was thick with tension, fear and uncertainty. The ground shook beneath their feet, and the temple of Anemospilia groaned and creaked as it threatened to collapse on all those who remained.

"My fellow Cretans," Idomeneus began, his voice projecting clearly above the chaos of the quake. "Today, we face a great challenge, a challenge that threatens our very existence. But I say to you, this is not the end of our people. We have been granted an opportunity, an opportunity to start anew, to rebuild our kingdom stronger and better than before."

The crowd murmured in response, unsure of what to make of Idomeneus' words.

"I know that many of you have lost faith in me, and in our cause. But I stand before you today as your king, as your leader, and I ask you to trust me once more. I have made a deal with the god of the Earth, and she has granted us a path to salvation."

Idomeneus gestured towards the swirling portal, which shimmered with an otherworldly light.

"This portal will take us to a new land, a land where we can start anew. Yes, it is a leap of faith, and yes, it is a risk. But I ask you, what choice do we have? The temple will collapse upon us if we do not act now. We must trust in each other, and we must trust in our future."

The crowd grew still, their eyes fixed on Idomeneus as he spoke.

"I will lead the way," he declared. "I will be the first to step through the portal, and I invite all of you to join me. Together, we will emerge stronger, braver, and more determined than ever before. Together, we will build a new kingdom, a kingdom that will stand the test of time."

With those words, Idomeneus leaped off the boulder and strode towards the portal. The crowd hesitated for a moment, but then, as one, they followed their king. They stepped into the unknown, embracing the uncertainty and the risk, but also the hope and the promise of a new beginning.

So one inspiring speech and a very big leap of faith later, Idomeneus led hundreds of brave and trusting Cretans through a one-way portal into the unknown. A portal that opened in the circle of Arcane symbols where the pit to Tartarus was moments before. The precious gems were just the cost of opening the magic portal. With them gone, Gaia had washed her earthy hands of the nasty prophecy... those cursed humans were Faeia's problem now!

## Like Bile from the Bowels of Faeia

The first humans to arrive on the central continent of Faiea were the Minoans of Crete. It is said that they were spat out by the ground itself, like bile from the bowls of Faeia. This event is now known as the Exodus.

They arrived near the northern cape of the central continent and there, they founded the realm's first human settlement, Neo-Minos, the marble city, the ruins of which still stand at the time of the campaign. The name signified the new beginning, they were not Cretans or Minoans anymore, they were something new. Idomeneus was, of course, the first king of Neo-Minos and for a short while, the humans were at peace.

### First Impressions

Idomeneus awoke to see a woman's smiling face formed in the dirt on which he lay. He praised and thanked Gaia for saving him and his people. But the face looked confused and moreover, the voice that spoke in Idomeneus' head was not the voice of Gaia; "I know not of Gaia child, nor do I know of you and your kind, But I am Faeia, Mother of the Ground and Queen of nature. All the lands are me, and as the newest inhabitants of my lands, I welcome you" The Minoans looked upon the lands of Faeia and knew they weren't in Greece anymore. Idomeneus also reasoned that, although she shared her title and patronage, this goddess was not Gaia. The main difference being that Faeia wasn't actively trying to kill him... a huge improvement!

### A new mother earth

The humans explained all to Mother Nature, who they were, where they came from, and how they got there. One major detail that was neglected in the retelling, however, was the calamitous, world ending prophecy about scorching the earth. But hey... they figured it didn't apply to Faeia's earth (they figured wrong). And so, they got to work founding their first settlement. They built many temples; the first one a temple to Faeia, then temples to all of their old gods. The Cretans who remained there beyond the first schism became the Neo-Minoans, with Idomeneus as their king.