Tales of Khemistra

**Tales of Khemistra**is a Story Arc of the the Exteria Multiverse. It takes place in Yggdra, in the subplane of **Derris**, and follows the perspective of the elvish heroine Hethea

## Main Arc

### Start of a Journey

In a world where Anima, the source of the magic-like **Khemia**, becomes a scarce resource, Hethea is sent to rejuvenate the mystical flow, due to only elves being able to do so, and Hethea's sister Merriel having previously failed. On her way, she encounters a young unconscious man on the road. The young man, barely able to speak, identifies himself as "Quartz" and follows Hethea, slowly learning about the world.

Hethea and Quartz visit a temple dedicaded to Solomus, where a oracle tells Hethea to travel across the four **Pharos Cardinalis**, massive stone structures in which Anima travels, in order to rejuvenate them. However, as they embark on a journey, they are ambushed by a mysterious group, **Sol Arcanis**, including hostile Pyrrhus and Merriel herself, who seeks to prevent Hethea from going on her journey.

### The Four Gather

Nevertheless, the pair escapes, with Hethea being quite shaken; nevertheless, they keep traveling, encountering mysterious young woman Lyda who investiges the flow of Anima as well. Lyda joins the group upon learning of their objective, seemingly at odds with Sol Arcanis as well. In order to reach more easily the four Pharoi, the group journeys to the capital city of Derris, where they learn from King Derris of strange, serial murders.

While at first they believed the culprit to be rogue military agent Marzia, they soon learn that Marzia is on the run from a hostile man from northern, **Ratatoskrian** Tribes warrior Plutus; after fighting them, they learn that Marzia once served Derris as a Khemia Adept, tasked with burning the nothern tribes' lands, before deserting, devastated by what she had done.

The group further investigates Derris, learning of its connection of the mysterious Melchior of Sol Arcanis, who engineers a breed of alchemically-created clone-soldiers, named Ersatz. Soon after leaving Derris, unable to truly impede Melchior's path, the group is visited by Alekhia, Sol Arcanis's last member, and Lyda's mother and personal nemesis, who promises to create a better world.

### Grim Revelations

Visiting the Pharoi one after another causes Hethea to experience flashbacks - of a past life as **Maotela**, companion to a Quartz-lookalike named Solomus, under the care of Alekhia. It becomes clear that Solomus - the origin of the divine Solar Adept - is in fact a personal creation of Alekhia, who is revealed to be an Eredim - a precursor to mankind, a powerful race that invented Khemia.

Furthermore, Solomus seems to be an Ersatz as well, leading to the discovery that Quartz is nothing more but a mass-produced model that gained sentiance. These successive revelations are further supplemented by the fact that Ratatoskr, founder of the northern tribes, was once a friend of Solomus who goaded him towards a sinister path, hinting that Solomus had become misanthropic and cynical.

### Despair and Hope

It becomes even more worrying when Hethea's mind begins degrading after unlocking the Pharoi's powers, as Merriel repeatedly attempts to thwart the group's pilgrimage. The second-to-last Pharos shows a horrifying truth : that Maotela died in Solomus's arms in the aftermath of a human war, causing Solomus to wipe out most of Khemia - and force Maotela's descendants to perform a rite of renewal, in exchange of transforming that person into Maotela's vessel.

Quartz's abilities and Lyda's quick thinking, combined with Marzia's artifice, allow the trio to break Solomus's hold over Hethea. Slowly, it dawns upon them that Merriel knew of this, and sought to prevent Hethea from dying. Realizing that Merriel nearly underwent the same ritual, Hethea rushes over to save her, using the four's combined Khemia to heal Merriel. Recovering, Hethea's sister celebrates their true reunion.

### The Four Fallen and the Hammer

Merriel indicates that Sol Arcanis's aim is to use fragments of Khemia magic, "cores", in order to create a second, artificial Solomus from an Ersatz's body, in order to control the flow of Khemia and save the world. However, as Solomus still slumbers, antagonistic, this is a risky tactic, which Hethea resolves to stop, confronting successfully Melchior, Pyrrhus and Alekhia, and proving her determination.

As she does so however, King Derris - using knowledge gained from a bargain with Sol Arcanis - manages to seize one of Ratatoskr's ancient superweapons, Thor's Hammer, in order to control the world's Anima flow to a destructive extent. Sol Arcanis and Hethea's group team up to defeat him, and prepare to mend the world - by defeating Solomus, and allowing Quartz to wield Sol Arcanis's technology instead.

### To Face a God

Before the final confrontation with Solomus however, the group faces with Ratatoskr after collecting his ancient cursed weapons, putting the haunted, dark spirit to rest in a final confrontation, in which he entrusts his hopes to Marzia. Then, Melchior gives up his existence to join with Quartz, increasing his power, while Alekhia manages to modify Thor's Hammer in order to send the group to the land of Kharlan, where Solomus awaits.

After a perilous journey, the four manage to encounter Solomus, who offers to restore the flows of mystical energy in exchange for Hethea's sacrifice. Despite her doubts, Hethea refuses and faces the living God. The latter's mystical prowess is unmatched, but his devastating **Dimension Materia** is eventually countered by the four's united Solar Khemia, **Blue Earth**, which causes Solomus to dissipate, his spirit at peace. The four reactivate Kharlan's rings, returning Khemia, and prosperity, to their world.

## Characters

* Hethea
* Quartz
* Lyda
* Marzia
* Merriel
* Melchior
* Alekhia
* Pyrrhus
* Solomus
* Ratatoskr
* Other Characters

## Trivia

* This storyline takes inspiration from many Tales of titles, as well as the Golden Sun franchise.
* The number four recurs in the entire work, repeatedly being used to represent the pattern of four Elements:
	+ Hethea's group : Hethea (Air), Quartz (Earth), Marzia (Fire) and Lyda (Water).
	+ Sol Arcanis : Merriel (Air), Melchior (Earth), Pyrrhus (Fire) and Alekhia (Water).
	+ The Four Founders : Maotela (Air), Solomus (Earth), Ratatoskr (Fire) and Alekhia (Water).
	+ The four races: Elves (Air), Ersatz (Earth), Humans (Fire) and Eredim (Water).
	+ The four Pharoi : Iupiter (Air), Venus (Earth), Mars (Fire) and Mercurius (Water).
	+ The four talents: Magical Power (Air), Physical Defense (Earth), Physical Power (Fire), and Magical Defense (Water).