The Story

## Artalys

A dying world, dilapidated by the premise of a raging star which stands close to destruction. Artalys suffers this cycle every 10,000 years. She dissimulates her pain through a metamorphosis of rebirth after death. She dies, then she is born. She is the world itself.

## Reign of the Archaics

The mysteries around the Suns sporadic cycle puzzled the Archaics, an ancient race who practiced Alchemy, for eons. Every 10,000 years the Suns demise elicited a backlash which would at times severely damage Artalys and its inhabitants. The destruction moved mountains, shifted seas and wiped many lives. During the Novus Cycle, they were once again faced with a Sun on the brink of its death.

## End of the Novus Cycle

On a fateful night, an interstellar relic fell in the hands of a powerful Archaic Alchemist, Delzerus. The Relic contained a dark energy source which accelerated the Archaics’ use of Alchemy. With this new found ability, many advanced their techniques in attempts to discover solutions of protecting themselves from the Suns impending supernova. As the experiments took a darker turn, they were quickly forbidden.
Delzerus, corrupted by the power of the relics came into conflict with the Archaic elders after claiming he had created a solution to the Suns death cycle. His plea rejected, due to the use of forbidden Black Art techniques and inhumane requirements, filled him with anger and resentment.

A great conflict ensued after he unleashed his wrath onto his people. The combined strength of the Archaics overwhelmed him. The elders, fearing his incredible power, sealed his soul into the relic. With many Archaics deciding against changing the natural order of life, they accepted their fate and the Sun imploded – wiping out most of the civilization. The Relic, unknowingly indestructible, survived the ordeal and Delzerus lived on.

## Birth of the Solus Cycle

A surviving Archaic Alchemist, Xander, retrieved the relic and arrived to a shocking revelation found in ancient scriptures dating back to his time. Three Divine Archaics foresaw a prophecy where the world would finally be rid of its endless loop of destruction in the next cycle.

For this to happen, they predicted a timeline of events necessary to occur in order for the world to be salvaged. In the discovery, Xander uncovered numerous cards etched with the faces of different individuals who appeared to have a key role to play in the predicted events. The scriptures warned that the individuals marked on the cards must never become ware of their fate, for the prophecy would distort – creating an alternate line of events which could continue to push the world into despair.

In light of this news, Xander used the Dark Arts of Alchemy to extend his life and begin a new journey ensuring the events through history occurred as predicted. He lived on through centuries, watching the world rebuild itself and grow while orchestrating the events key to making the prophecy of the Divine Archaics true.

Eventually, he passed the relic onto a young man named Indra, who used its power to unite many small nations together – forming one of the worlds current largest empires, Ixion.

The teachings of Alchemy from Xander were also passed down, birthing a new age of Alchemy, a craft adopted by many nations and civilizations across Artalys.

Xander watched on as civilizations grew, idolizing the relic and oblivious to the consequences of its use. Out of the growing nations, three prominent empires stood to be the largest, Aeterna, Ixion and Wilkurse. All three birthed a unique variation of Alchemy and endured a long period of conflict over full possession of The Artifact.

To prevent further bloodshed, a peace treaty was signed. The Relic was divided and shared among the three main empires for the purpose of a unified progression towards solving the Suns mysteries.

## End of the Planet

The current Solus Cycle brought a brief period of peace until the world found itself staring at an unusually sized Sun set to destruct.
In light of the planets nearing end, Aeterna has broken its alliance with Ixion and Wilkurse, causing an all out war for possession of the relics. Nations have once again become embroiled in conflict and instability.

Amid the war, an ex Aeternian knight and an old student of Xander, Kronos is hell bent on seizing the relics for his own purpose. Fearing the ordeals of his time repeating once again, Xander embarks on a quest to unravel his old students motives and align the final events of the prophecy.

Join Xander in a desperate quest to change the course of the world and challenge the forces attempting to distort fate.

Eminence: Xander’s Tale is a story about a world torn by war over nature’s natural destruction, broken alliances and our constant fight against inner demons and temptations of a darker path.