Flinrock

**Branch/es** | Unknown

**Flinrock** is a continent in the world of Carokiiv in the Tides of Fate canon. It is almost completely isolated from the rest of the planet due to the extremely high amount of monsters that also call the continent home, incuding the seas that surround it. It is situated east of the planet, and is the homeland of the Asterians, along with a small number of humans.

## History

### The Tyrant Age

#### Setoran Incursion

At some point during the peak of Flinrock's first 'golden age', the Asterians ended up facing their first trials concerning a foreign force outside their continent: Setora's Dwarves, who have come to their land in search of natural resources for themsleves. The first contact did not serve the Asterians well, as the Dwarves quickly deemed them as enemies of their kingdoms, due to how they appear similarly to humans, whom they battled with early in their history. The fact that the Asterians were also under the care of the human-based Crimson Drakes faction only inflamed tensions between the two continents.

The initial efforts of the Asterians and the Crimson Drakes in the defense of their homeland were met with great success in battles and skirmishes, despite the hardened efforts of the Dwarves to break through Flinrock's best line of defense against the Setorans, via The Brass Fort. The humans maintained the iron-tight defense, while the Asterians harassed the Dwarven armies through hit-and-run tactics at every turn they got. The Dwarves opted to use their Airship Fleets, but their military decided against it after repeated attempts to scout and infiltrate the surrounding areas were met with failure due to the powerful defensive Spires that surrounded the edges of Flinrock. The continuous losses forced the Dwarves to abandon their first attempt on the conquest of Flinrock until they could find a way to defeat the tactics of the defenders and bypass their ancient defenses. The entire campaign lasted for around 6 months.

#### The downfall of Flinrock

The defenders rejoiced when the invaders retreated back to their own homeland and peace was soon restored shortly thereafter. However, it was short lived as the threat of invaders soon resurfaced. The Dwarves made a comeback with two of their best Fleets covering the western seas of Flinrock along with a new enemy, the High Elves, led by the High Elven Tyrant-King.

The invaders started off their attack from the southwest, using the Elves' advanced magic against the defensive Spires to temporarily disable them, before sending in their transports full of troops aided by powerful elven mages. The small city of Pikestead was the first Flinrock settlement to fall and was later fortified by the invaders to serve as their temporary base of operations in the continent. Specialized mages were kept on strategic positions to keep the nearby spires under 'lockdown'.

The people of the continent later received news of the breach, resulting in the independent states of Flinrock banding together to defend themselves against the invaders and forming an Asterian Provisional Government. This lead to a series of operations from both sides against each other.

Despite the efforts of the provisional government, the defenders were unable to hold off the combined forces of the Dwarves and High Elves, arguably due to the elves' advanced incantation-based magics coupled with the mobility of the Dwarves' smaller airships which were used to devastate the aristocracy's defenses. The downfall was sealed when the Tyrant-King and a small strike team infiltrated Castle Flinrock and successfully altered the Grand Spire in the very center of the castle-city, allowing the Dwarven Air Fleets to move in and invade most of Flinrock freely. The Red Light(house) and The Brass Fort also fell as a consequence, and many of the continent's defenders were slain by the onslaught of the invaders.

Two large groups of surviving Asterians, one accompanied by the remaining human Crimson Drakes retreated to Icefield Quarry, where they would recuperate and re-organize until they could counter-attack against the invaders and drive them away for good. The other group ended up hiding in The Dark Chasm, an ancient underground city well-hidden from all but Asterians.

#### The Phoenix's Return

Some time during the occupation period of the Dwarven-Elven Pact, a legendary mage known as Ahriman Phenex came to Flinrock and began rallying all the Asterians he could, engaging in skirmishes against the invaders and scouting missions to find two Asterians with the potential to merge into the High Asterian, the Priestess-Queen of all Asterians. Ahriman knew that only the Priestess-Queen could truly unite all the natives of Flinrock under one banner and that he could not hope to defeat the Tyrant-King while preventing collateral damage to Flinrock without her help.

The initial skirmishes were of relative success and began instigating rebellion against the oppressive invaders. Various groups of Asterians began to enact skirmishes of their own against their conquerors, allowing Ahriman and his followers time and the diversion they needed to eventually find the two candidates.

The next skirmish proved to be a success when the first candidate was found amidst an attack on the port town of Finn's Repose by resistance forces, with Ahriman arriving in the nick of time to save the doomed Asterian forces from the invaders and push the Dwarves and Elves out of the city. After the chaos died down, the leader of the resistance was distrustful at first to Ahriman, due to the recent history of 'giants' with the tendency to meddle in Flinrock's personal affairs. It took some persuasion by Ahriman to get the first candidate to trust him. With the forces growing, the resistance wasted no time in searching for the second candidate.

Unfortunately, the successive battles of the resistance did not go unheard; The Tyrant-King, feeling that the Asterians were receiving help from an outside source, sent agents to investigate and kill their potential asset and anyone else supporting said help. In addition, the Tyrant-King ordered patrols all over Flinrock to be intensified. This caused trouble to Ahriman as he was left with no choice but to cripple the enemy forces to an extent, to force them to recuperate before resuming his search. Ahriman also split his forces to cover more ground, as time was not on their side.

After crippling the Tyrant-King's forces to buy himself time, Ahriman received word that the second candidate had been found, but also the ill news that a civil war had broken out between the Asterians; One side that trusted the humans, and the other being distrustful. Ahriman quickly hurried to the Dark Chasm where the inevitable battle was about to take place. Upon reaching the underground city of the chasm, he found the battle close to raging. To keep anymore Asterians from being lost, he suggested that the two leaders of both sides end up fighting for the control of the Asterian people through a duel with the winner being worthy of leading. Reluctantly, the two leaders accepted and dueled each other to the death with Ahriman and their respective armies as witnesses.

The duel ended with a stalemate, with both duelists wounded and exhausted from the fight, but still refusing to give in to the other. The leader of the Dark Chasm questioned the other as to why she kept on fighting despite the risk of humans establishing dominion over their people one day, much like how the Dwarves and Elves did. The other countered with the fact and lessons that one High Asterian had left behind, on how she believed in the legendary Zero King, and that even if both were to be either hated or loved by those they've sworn to protect, they would keep moving forward, regardless of what the future had in store for them to honor their legacy.

These words had moved all the Asterians who heard it, including the leader of the opposing side. Realizing that the fellow Asterian that stood before her was the embodiment of their people's future and survival, she conceded and accepted. She told her that she would place her faith and hope in her, before she sacrificed herself to merge with her, giving birth to the new High Asterian of her time. Both armies that witnessed the birth of their new Priestess-Queen rallied together as a result, pledging their allegiance to her.

The new High Asterian, along with Ahriman Phenex, soon rallied all the Asterians and the remaining Crimson Drakes all over Flinrock through a series of skirmishes centered on restoring control of the continent's lands from the sides, effectively surrounding the Tyrant-King and his remaining Dwarven and Elven forces to Castle Flinrock. Both sides prepared to make their stand to determine the fate of Flinrock.

The final major conflict was the assault on Castle Flinrock itself, where a large concentration of the Tyrant-King's forces attempted to break through the enemy lines to the north-west while Ahriman and the High Asterian led the assault. Though suffering severe losses, the Asterians and the Crimson Drakes stood strong, and prevented the invaders from escaping through the north-west via the Brass Fort.

In the phase of the assault, Ahriman and the High Asterian fought their way through a gauntlet of the Tyrant-King's forces, eventually killing the Dwarven generals and commanders of the Setoran forces. The High Asterian stayed behind to keep the fight between Ahriman and the Tyrant-King undisturbed. The battle ended with Ahriman as the victor, but not before the Tyrant-King set the Grand Spire of Flinrock to an unstable state, endangering the continent itself.

The High Asterian and a few of her own most loyal followers arrived to see their Grand Spire dangerously unstable. After some thought, the High Asterian decided that the only option was to forcefully bind her own Grimoire to the Grand Spire to over-ride the influence of the Tyrant-King's, but this required everything she could pour on it to maximize the chance of success, which meant she would die in the process. Her followers tried to talk her out of her choice and find an alternative, but the Priestess-Queen herself stated that they were out of time, and was confident that her people will find a way to carry on. She thanked Ahriman and those who fought and died for her people's future, before she began her spell. Binding her Grimoire forcefully into the Spire and using the last of her mana and life force in the process, the High Asterian sacrificed herself to avert the destruction of Flinrock, and destroyed the corrupting influence of the Tyrant-King over her land. The Grimoire eventually became part of the Grand Spire itself, its influence extending to the other spires all over Flinrock as well. The end of the battle marked the conclusion of the Tyrant-King's reign over Flinrock.

In the aftermath, Ahriman soon left Flinrock to the Asterians and the Crimson Drakes for themselves, confident that they would be able to find their way amidst their dark age.

### Age of Rebirth

The atrocious Tyrant-King has been defeated and his combined armies destroyed, but much of Flinrock were in ruins as a result of the wars. Although the Tyrant-King's corruptive influence had been removed from the Grand Spire, it's effects continued to persist through the native wildlife of the continent, driving even the docile fauna into a mindless rage against all sentient beings. With Ahriman Phenex and the Priestess-Queen gone, as well as much of Flinrock's original temporary government, the last of the previous Priestess-Queen's most loyal followers and the remaining Crimson Drakes went to reunite whom they could and save them before all was lost for Flinrock.

## Culture

As a result of their homeland being hostile due to the regular monster activity and harsh environment, the native Asterians and local humans have developed a hardy culture circled on the survival of the fittest, but also know the importance of unity, especially during times when there is a common enemy. This is one of the core beliefs despite their lack of a proper governing body of any sort due to being completely independent of each other.

The Asterians are well-known for their devotion to study, including the art of magic despite their poor Mana output but high Circuit count as knowledge is important for the sake of surivival. They see their human allies on the continent as invaluable friends as well, and have learned much from them in many fields.

It is currently unknown as to how the continent of Flinrock earned its current name. Some claim that it was named as such due to the Flints usually found in specific locations around the continent, while others say that it was due to how Asterians liked to use Flint they found to spark fires for their fireplaces before the fabled "Advent of Magic", and many other theories. Regardless of the case and origin, the current name of the continent ended up stuck.

## Geography

The continent of Flinrock has earned the reputation of being one of the most daunting yet rewarding lands in the known world of Carokiiv, due to its wide variety of flora and vast amounts of fauna, along with its myriad landscapes. It is known that Flinrock's terrain and geography can easily confuse any individual without proper preparation to the state of being lost for good, be it from the wilderness or local wildlife.

The northern hills of Flinrock are known for being one of the most peaceful regions in the continent. It is also known for its unusually fast-growing, edible berries exclusive to the hills' area only, commonly nicknamed as "Seraph's Joy" due to it's very enjoyable flavor and strange properties that makes the consumer feel completely comfortable in body temperature, especially when eaten fully ripe. The northern mountain range of Flinrock, which is close to the hills, is said to hide a hidden secret at the very peak, but almost all information concerning it ended up lost in time.

The northern half of Flinrock is known for its relatively cold climate, especially on the area where the northern town of Icefield Quarry is concerned, including the military garrisons of The Brass Fort and The Red Light(house), with the city-state of Finn's Repose being the least cold.

A fair portion of central Flinrock is notable for its fair climate and landscape, and notably has the least monster-related activity in the continent. The ancient Castle Flinrock is firmly seated in the center and contains the mysterious Grand Spire of Flinrock.

The southern half of Flinrock is considered the warmer part of the continent. The hills in its region are well-known for containing many flowers, all possessing beneficial traits in many ways, most notably when refined. Thus, it is considered the 'other sister of the northern hills'. East of the hills lies a mysterious location that is known only to a certain group of Asterians.

The rest of southern Flinrock is known to have a balanced environment similar to Betoriv, but is regarded as a dangerous region at night due to its nocturnal predators, which claimed the lives of many careless or foolhardy explorers. Pikestead is the only known town found in the southern part of the continent, and is effectively self-sufficient in economy due to how they adapted well to their surroundings.

Like Betoriv, the edges of Flinrock is well-protected by defensive Spires that deters would-be invaders, and is said to be as ancient as the Asterians when they won the continent from the Beast Races. How this ancient defense of Flinrock came to be remains a mystery, even in the time of the Modern Age.

## Military

Flinrock's military force is considered to be among the weakest due to their lack of an mass-organized force, relying on it's people of random occupations collecting together to form their core armies to combat threats other than monsters (unless in the most extreme of circumstances.) They also utilize technology obtained from their enemies, including from Setora, who had tried to invade and annex Flinrock for themselves in search of natural resources.

Flinrock's military mostly employ hit-and-run tactics to overwhelm their enemies, especially larger oppositions. The most notable (and most powerful) military of Flinrock are the faction known as the Crimson Drakes, firmly situated in their fortress-home of The Brass Fort, with The Red Light(house) serving as the continent's northwestern forward defense against invaders from the west.