Faeria

## Chapter 1: The creation of the world

Back in time immemorial, and for unknown reasons, all the immaterial Gods decided to create something together, something new, something they could be proud of, something so huge and impressive they would not have been able to achieve alone. This is how the world came to be.

First, there was only an infinite sea, and in it - a single giant snake, Orobouros. This creature had been created by all Gods together, and received a part of each their power. In the end, Orobouros became much stronger than any one God.

For a long time, Orobouros swam in the sea, traveling from here to there with no real goal or point, but he was happy. One day, he felt tired and decided to lay down and sleep. His slumber was going to last for a very, very long time.

This is when the Gods decided that even if their creation was great, it could be even better. They were so enthusiastic from their first success that they wanted to create more creatures. With all their new ideas in mind, the four most powerful Gods went down to the world to create the continents and give a new face to their universe. They became the Four Gods of Elements : Aoros, God of rocks and mountains and Gaea, Goddess of nature (bound by the earth); Alua, Goddess of the seas and oceans and Astar, God of the winds (bound by the sky).

To achieve this immense task, the Four Gods of Elements shaped their new sons : Giants. But having multiple creatures in the world had a consequence the Gods never thought of: their creations didn't always like each other. Soon, Giants started to fight, and the war quickly destroyed everything the Gods created. To stop this disaster, the outer Gods shaped powerful celestial creatures, strong enough to beat their sons: this is how Dragons were born.

The Dragons did what they were created to do, and separated all the Giant kingdoms from their neighbors. With these neutral zones created, where no Giants could walk without getting attacked by Dragons, the war stopped and an era of peace began. Life grew, thousands of species appeared, the world seemed to be in perfect harmony.

## Chapter 2: The destruction of the world

This explosion of life changed the universe: the old peaceful world was now full of little things that were moving, eating, drinking, partying, singing, and who knows what else... The world wasn't calm anymore, but it was full of life. Eventually, the Gods decided to awake their first creation, Orobouros, to show him how they improved his home and how nice it was.

This story is famous all over the world, and has been told from father to sons for thousands of years. Of course there are a lot of versions of it, but I'm going to tell you the one a monk of Eirimar once told me. It is called 'the Speech of Orobouros to the Gods Astar and Aoros, before the destruction of the world':

"Astar created a gigantic sphere of wind around them, and together they plunged into the deep darkness of the sea. Before long they could see the shape of the Worm, and Aoros gathered many rocks from the outer continents, which he melted. Then Astar sent them whirling around the huge body of Orobouros, a cyclone of lava burning his skin and bones.

The Old Worm opened its Great Eye in rage, and the sea around them evaporated. But he did not show any pain. He then said to them:

« Who are you to dare such offense, Outer Gods who intrude my home, who bring chaos to my peaceful darkness ?

I have felt every little wave in the sea, I have heard every little whisper in this world Since its very beggining until its end. I am the oldest and most powerful, Master of Fate, First and Last to be,

I will now devour everything I see Until nothing is seen or heard anymore And at last I will have peace again. »

He devoured them, and that was the end of the most powerful Gods. He then chased Alua, Goddess of the sea, in a circle that created the Maelström, which destroyed the Ancient World for ever.

In the end Alua was devoured as well, but the serpent overreached with his massive maw and had also bit its own tail: the world was thus saved and the Maelström slowly ceased, until continents emerged again to a new era."

## Chapter 3: The new world

Now you are ready and you can understand why I was saying this world has nothing to do with ours!

So, the first thing to know about the world of Faeria is it's a disc, a bordered disc. The body of Orobouros biting his own tail creates a circle and nothing, nothing exists outside this circle. So the world of Faeria is not a planet lost in the galaxy; there are no planets, there is no galaxy, there is no sun, no stars, no moon. The world IS what's inside the circle. The old world was infinite, the new one is limited.

"Wait wait wait, what? There is no sun?"

Indeed as there is no galaxy there is no sun, so where does the light come from? The Eye of Orobouros. The 'sun' is the burning Eye of the Giant Snake, turning around the world and illuminating it. So one day in Faeria is the time Orobouros takes to fall asleep and to wake up again. And one year is the time the Beast takes to make a rotation around the world. Which also means the sun is not 'rising' or 'setting', but 'opening' and 'closing'. And so the moon is nothing but the closed eye of Orobouros.

This is also how seasons work in the world of Faeria. As the Eye turns around the world, when it is close to a certain region, it's summer there, but when the Snake's head is on the opposite of the world, there are a lot of things blocking the light, and so it is winter. As a direct consequence of this, the 4 seasons are present in the world at the same time and move everyday.

Finally, as the 'sun' is the Eye of Orobouros, the polar zones are not the north and the south, but the middle of the earth, as it's where the light reaches the less. Also, the areas close to Orobouros body are all burning like Mars. The more you get closer to the Snake, the hotter the weather is.

"Well ok but there must be a sky or something? How can it be limited? You won't tell me the world has two dimensions?!"

No indeed the world is not in two dimensions, and yes there is a sky. Above and below the earth are two vortexes, ended by black holes. Those void Maelstroms are created by the movement of the Orobouros, and in the end, everything that falls into them is destroyed forever.

But the actual problem of the world is this: the Faeria is the divine energy, and it is being destroyed everyday by the black holes. The Gods become weaker and weaker, and every year, the Snake's desire gets closer becoming a reality.

The world isn't as peaceful as it was before, and if no one reacts, it could be destroyed one day or another. Sadly, no living race is really taking care of it, and they prefer waging wars against each other, instead of trying to stop the destruction of all.

## The factions

Each colors are referencing to the environment they are living in (Prairie, Lake, Forest, Mountain and Desert), and nothing else. They are even not allied because they are from the same color. For example, Shaytans and Solars, two Yellow factions, are mortal enemies.

But let's see each faction quickly:

1. The Mîrnast Empire: The human empire of Mîrnast is the first worldpower. Gigantic and strong, the Empire still has a lot of troubles right now. They are at war with multiple enemies, and the rebellion against the scientific revolution (which came with Faeria mastery) is eating it from inside.

2. The Kingdom of Meroval: It was the first human kingdom, Meroval is the symbol of the old human's exploit. Old allies of the Empire, it is often considered as a part of it. They still refuse the scientific revolution and are well attached to the old traditions and beliefs.

3. The Kingdom of Thyria: Way younger is the human kingdom of Thyria. Established in the ruins of the Old Thyria and founded by the Giants themselves, the kingdom of Thyria is one of the richest in the world. The Thyrians founded their own religion based on a unique God, and their church is very powerful since they have their own armies and have their hands in the economy.

4. The rebellion: The rebellion is a group of strewn rebels who decided to fight against the Emperor and his scientific revolution and politics. They want to keep their right to use their old customs and live by their ideals of strengh and power instead of trusting blindly in the giant machines the scientifics are building. They are not well armed or trained, and it's sometimes hard to say if someone is a rebel fighting for their beliefs or a common bandit looking to make profit.

5. The City of Gabria: Gabria was, with Thyria, the first power of the world before Orobouros woke up. After the Snake got jailed, the majority of Gabria were submerged. In front of the new threats of the world, the few gabrian survivors hid under the sea for thousands of years. Recently, the small mochis came to Gabria and offered to the old gabrians their help to rebuild the city, if gabrians let them occupy the submerged part of the town.

6. The Tritonis Kingdom: Tritonis is the capital of the triton's land. There are a lot of tritons over the world, but the wonderful Puken'pin where Tritonis reside is the only place where they truly govern themselves. It's a peaceful place, a true refuge in this world in war.

7. Kappas communities: Kappas are not really forming a full faction, but several communities who live peacefully in lost regions of the world. Living with barely any technology, they still are very clever, and the oldest turtles count among the wisest creatures in the world. Kappas are considered as a faction as they are still civilized (in their own way).

8. The Amaï Empire: The Amaï Empire is the richest country in the world. Amaïs have been the best sailors and traders alive for a very long time, founding branches all over the world. Living for profit, they trade everything without conscience as long as it can make them richer. Strangely, they have no army, but they are so rich that, if someone wanted to attack them, they could hire whole kingdoms as mercenaries if they wanted to, so nobody really wants to fight them.

9. The Oradrimms: Lead by the Djidan order of Templars, the Oradrimms, were a very powerful faction at one time. However they got beaten down a long time ago by kobolds and forced to go back to their natal Island. Now, pushed by their ideal of balance, and because they think using faëria, the divine energy, is going to destroy the world, they want to force other races to stop using it. It's still a project, but the Djidan order are preparing their comeback.

10. The Republic of Solaris: Solaris is the only republic in the world, and probably one of the most impressive places on earth. Solars have impressive advances in terms of technology and nobody can fight them in their lands. Indeed, using a gigantic system of mirrors, they managed to bring an endless light to their lands, so the night never fell again. Knowing their natural relation with the light, everybody can understand why they are unbeaten in their desert.

11. The Shaytans: Shaytans were solars, before. But when they understood the light was going to stop reaching their lands, and that their only chance to survive was an unrealizable project of mirrors proposed by a crazy engineer, they decided to turn themselves to the origin of light, Orobouros. They begged him to give them another source of light, and he did. He gave them a heart of fire, which saved them, but also turned them into perverted mutant creatures.

12. The Keldrans tribes: Keldrans are not a full faction either, but some tribes of desert warriors and travelers. They are probably the best for flying on the back of any creature, and learn to mount before walking. Nomadic (by flying), living close or even inside the Amaï empire, they are often hired as mercenaries by them to protect caravans or even ships.

13. The Tiki tribes: The tikis tribes are united since they joined the Green Alliance and saved the Gaea Tree during the Second Kobold War. Tikis are nomadic small creatures, but their cute faces shouldn't trick you, they are unmatched when it comes to using poison, and their ambushes and traps are famous all over the world.

14. The Sagamis tribes: Members of the Green Alliance from it's creation, Sagamis have been the protectors of the Gaea Tree for a very long time. Each sagami tribe is independent, but they are all united when anyone makes one step into their forests. Indeed, sagamis are quite aggressive with any creature who doesn't come from the sacred forest, and their voodoo rituals are quite scary.

15. The Eldritzs: Eldritzs are small and peaceful creatures living in a very small area of the sacred forest. They joined the Green Alliance but they are always reticent to fight, except of course if someone tries to invade the forest. Even if they seem so cute and peaceful, Eldritzs can be fast as lightning and an unexpected threat to anyone who's not attentive.

16. The Dryads: 'Dryad' is a generic term to refer to several forest spirits living all over the world. Dryads are the first defenders of the sacred forest, they often live alone, and attack any intruders, which makes the sacred forest a very dangerous place to cross. Dryads are all fighting together in the Green Alliance when the Alliance decide to go in war.

17. The Old Thyrians: The old Thyrians are the old Giants, sons of the Gods, who created the world with them. Their knowledge has no equal, and their wisdom as well. But the Giants are only few, and their old country is now a human kingdom. Just awoken from a thousand year sleep, they try to recover part of their lands without fighting. That said, nobody knows if it's their wisdom or because of their infinite patience, all of them are content to wait rather than exterminate the small humans.

18. The Kobold Empire: The Dragon Empire is the last memory of what was aptly called 'the Kobold era'. Right after the destruction of the world, kobolds took control of the whole world. Three giant empires were ruling it, trying to beat the last still resisting - the Green Alliance. After several endless wars, they finally got beaten, and some impressively bloody civil wars ended with the destruction of the empires. But recently, the emperor Khrazek brought new slaves into the empire, and with them, an uneasy stability nobody could trust. With Trows as slaves, they are still a threat, and if nobody pays attention, the Kobold era may come back sooner than expected.

19. The Goblins: Goblins are small and incredibly clever creatures, really obsessed about the mastery of Faeria and the art of explosion. Taken as slaves by the Kobold Empire of Tavaryn, their revolution was the final strike to the old empire, ravaged by the civil war. Since then, they took back all the kobold territory and now try to expand their kingdom even further, by fighting dryads, gabrians and tritons.

20. Trows: Well, poor Trows, they can barely still be considered a faction. Trows were small creatures living in peace in a small country next to the Sacred Forest, inventing wonderful machines and digging into the old kobold tunnels. But now, they are nothing else than kobold's slaves, and the only few free trows remaining have nothing else to do than pray for a miracle...

## Chapter 1: The player

But let's start with you. You probably got that being able to create lands, control several creatures and create gold from nothing is not exactly a common ability.

So who can do that? Gods. Indeed, in Faeria, you are not a general, neither a summoner, but nothing else than a God.

You probably remember I told you there were two type of Gods : the Four Gods of Elements and the outer gods. You are one of the latter. Yes you are a God, but don't get your chest puffed with pride yet. There are a lot of these Gods... Really, you’re not that special. Each player is one of them, so imagine how many there are.

But still, you are a God, and you have several powers. The first one is the ability to take the control of creatures. Yep, I didn't write 'summon' or 'create', but 'control'. That's why you are not using mana to cast creatures, because you don't summon or create them, but hire them. As a God you are also able to see the battlefield from the top and to change the world as you see fit, creating or changing lands. You can also interact with the world, making miracles and weird events, but the creatures who are fighting are real, you didn't create them.

Now you maybe wonder why are the Gods fighting, as your opponent is a God too, and how can you have such an impact on the world while the 4 most powerful Gods Gaea, Astar, Aoros and Alua had to lose their immateriality to be able to create lands. Are you more powerful than them? Well, probably not. So how? This is where the orbs come in to play.

## Chapter 2: The orbs

The first orb was found by Hîmsaël the Mariner, the Merovian great explorer who had a great journey which lead to the creation of the Mîrnast Empire and the Kingdom of Thyria. On his way back from Gabria, he went to the frozen center (the center of the world), where he founded a wonderful valley. In the middle of this valley there was a temple, and in this temple, an orb. He didn't know what the use of this orb was, but the Gabrians told him that in this temple there was something that could save the world.

He went back to Meroval with the orb, and hundreds of years were to pass before the races of the world learned how to create more of them, and what their use was. These orbs where able to create a link between a God and the world. Once the creatures of the world understood this, there was a revolution in warfare. With a God helping them, enemy armies had no chance. Quickly, in most large battles there was always a God on each side. The objective of the army became to destroy the enemy orb, thus destroying the link between the God and the world, and winning the battle.

The orbs do have some issues though. First of all they are really expansive. Second, it's really hard to move them, and third, the linked God can only interact within the area around the orb.

This is why you have to destroy the opponent's orb to defeat him. But it still doesn't explain why Gods are now fighting. To understand that, we need to see what the memoria is.

## Chapter 3: The memoria

'Memoria', weird name for money. As its name says, it is related to your memory. But to understand how, and what is it, we need to go back a bit, when I told about how Orobouros destroyed the world and got sealed.

After Orobouros was sealed, the outer Gods thought their troubles were over. They lost their most powerful brothers and sisters, but it was all calm now. Well, they were wrong. They quickly understood that Orobouros was still slowly destroying the world. Indeed, he was eating his own tail and so the world was getting smaller and smaller, as the serpent himself was getting shorter. The Gods had to find a solution. After much hesitation, they decided to push all their energy into the world, to push against the Snakes movement and prevent him from continuing to devour himself. The divine energy lingered in the world, and became what you all know as Faeria.

It was a success, but all the Gods were completely out of energy, and they fell unconscious for a very long time. Recently, they started to wake up, but the Gods that returned realized that they have lost a lot of their power. Most of them completely lost their memory, they forgot everything and even how to interact with the world. They were completely powerless.

That’s when the living creatures of the world found a way to create a link with the Gods: the orbs. They quickly asked the recently awake outer Gods to help them fight against their opponent, but the Gods refused to use their power to destroy a world they sacrificed everything for. So the living creatures of the world offered to trade with the Gods: in exchange for their help, the creatures shared old relics with the Gods, Thyrian and Gabrian ones. These relics held divine knowledge from ages past. When the world was created, the first creatures of the world kept records of how the world first came to be, and how it developed. The problem is that the Gods can't read them! They need the creatures of the world to read it for them or to link them to an orb close to a relic. This is how relics and archaeology became a source of power.

Now Gods are forced to fight each other to get their memory and power back. Nobody knows if they will still fight when they will remember everything, or if they will avenge themselves and punish the creatures for forcing them to fight. And nobody knows what will happen with the divine energy they threw into the world a long long time ago, this 'Faeria'. The only thing that we knows is that now, the Gods are fighting.

## The Faeria

The Faeria is of course those blue balls you need to harvest to play your most powerful cards. But you might wonder what it is, why they spawn on whirlpools, or why you need it at all?

Here’s the short answer: the Faeria is divine energy. When Orobouros got sealed after he tried to destroy the world, the Gods saw that was still able to continue consuming his own tail, thus reducing the size of the world every day. To prevent the world's extinction, they decided to push all their energy in to the world in order to force him back. But doing this caused the Gods to fall in to a deep slumber.

The divine energy fell into the water, created the whirlpools you all know. The Faeria is on the bottom of the sea, but sometimes the whirlpools pull up some Faeria, creating blue shiny balls. Also, when the water evaporated, some particles of faeria went up with it, and fell with the rain into the different continents of the world. The contact of the Faeria with some creatures significantly improved their development, and a lot of new species were born only thanks to the Faeria. Now, some of them even depend on Faeria, and can’t survive without it.

But even though the explosion of life created by the Faeria was good, it also had an issue: not all of it fell down to the ground after it evaporated, but kept floating up and up, creating the stars, and finally reaching a giant black hole and disappearing. So, the amount of Faeria in the world is reduced every day, giving more freedom to Orobouros and bringing the world that much closer to extinction. Nobody knows what happens to the Faria once it is used or destroyed. Maybe the energy is returned to the Gods and they will be able to push Orobouros back again, or maybe it is lost forever.

But only a small amount of Faeria disappears this way, and very slowly, so it wouldn't have been such a problem if the living creatures of the world didn't start to use it. The Gabrians were the first who researched the Faeria and its possible uses. They first stocked up on Faeria in gigantic cisterns, but they couldn't catch the Faeria floating upwards. The day they discovered how to catch the Faeria escaping to the surface marked the beginning of the Faeria revolution.

With the divine energy, every race was able to do incredible things, using it in very different ways. The already addicted creatures became stronger but needed more of it to stay alive. Goblins searched how the Faeria could be used in an offensive way. For Solars it was a true miracle. They found a way to create mirrors that increased the daylight to the point it was always day in their land, so the night would never fall again... And for the humans of Mîrnast, the engineers discovered how great the Faeria was as fuel.

But the fact remains that nobody knows what happens with the used Faeria, does it go back to the ground and then the water? Does it evaporate, does it go back to the Gods... Or perhaps it simply disappears? The Oradrims, lead by the Djidan order, think that is what happens, and that the living races of the universe are simply destroying it very fast. For this reason, they first refused to use Faeria at all. But they quickly became very weak compared to the other races, and weren't able to win any kind of battle anymore. To counter this issue, they adopted a new strategy that is very fast and aggressive, destroying their opponent before they can react with their advanced Faeria technology. In the end though, they understood that even their new strategy was not enough to win fights, and they succumbed to using Faeria as well. The Oradrim say that the use of Faeria is only for beating their enemies and becoming strong enough to force the rest of the world to abandon it. A small sacrifice in the present, in order to save the future.