Lore

## Lethe History

In the past, A'Zana used to be the center of the world. It was a vast empire that claimed to be blessed by the gods and held the balance of life and death in it's hands. They called themselves the Holy Empire and were run via clerics, paladins and the various priests/priestesses that followed the various gods of life. Or rather - the various gods that wished to see the gods of death and the underworlds dead.

At first things were fine to let be, but balance is a delicate thing and while there are people who are meant to come back to life, there are far more who are meant to stay dead. It's crucial to maintain the balance of the universes and this balance is what the gods of death oversee. If they were to die then the balance would be broken and everything would crumble.

A'Zana wasn't the blessed place it claimed to be, not for those outside the temples. They oppressed everyone, charged insane prices for their services, hoarded mana stones and magic for themselves and anyone who could afford their prices. With their power they nearly drained the dungeons dry of resources, mana stones practically depleted and mana itself on the verge of disappearing.

Mana isn't something that's fully understood, but on a very simple level it's the excess energy created from dark matter conversions. And how do you get dark matter to convert you might be asking? Souls. Or rather, the souls of the dead who, after 500 years move on to reincarnate in an alternate universe. In exchange, souls from other universes come in, maintaining the balance of mass and allowing for mana to continue to be created. Without the proper flow of souls in and out, the very foundation of the universe Lethe called home was standing on the verge of collapse.

In the shadows of the various countries of Lethe there worked the followers of the gods of death to try and bring balance back. They worked as assassins, necromancers, mercenaries and more, willing to coat their bodies in blood in order to do what needed to be done. Killing those that were meant to be dead, ending the lives of the corrupt holy people where they could, even stealing from the rich and destroying their homes.

This wasn't enough to truly make a difference, not when the gods were fighting amongst themselves through the mortals the granted their powers to. In an effort to save the universe, and themselves arguably, the death gods got together and decided to act before it was too late. They sent an oracle to Lethe to give warning to all, a final chance to change, to reverse the destruction and imbalance.

A'Zana killed the oracle.

Not a simple death but something horrific, an example to all that the Holy Empire was not to be questioned. That was the beginning of the purge.

Hades, Anubis, Hel, Ereshkigal, The Morrígan, and Izanami were some of the few who stepped forward in this fight. They reached out to their most loyal followers and made an offer. Become their Avatar, take a portion of their divinity within their mortal bodies, and receive incredible power in return. Enough power to destroy A'Zana.

And if the only cost was to give their soul over to their god in case their god died? A small price to pay to ensure the survival of the universes.

With mana having been so depleted, the spells and abilities people could wield were far weaker than they used to be. Because of that, when the Avatars awoke to their powers, it was far beyond what anyone else could either handle or achieve.

The day of death. That is what it was called when the Avatars took up arms and killed billions, nearly half a trillion when all was said and done. Death unlike anything that had ever happened, a horrific, bloody, mass extermination of everyone they could find that worked against the gods of death. All over Lethe the land became a red sea, A'Zana itself turning into nothing more than a sea of sand.

That, however, was only one part of the needed plan. Mana needed to be reintroduced to Lethe, balance reinstated and a step towards opening a pathway for the gods - for all divines - to actively engage with the world. With this engagement portals could be opened that would bring necessary and new resources as well as information and advancements Lethe would need to push themselves forward.

All of this started with the deaths, a massive amount of energy created from death - specifically the massive amount of energy left from unfulfilled lives. The potential of all those years, centuries, millennia when the hundreds of billions of lives were cut short. Such a massive wave of energy condensed to tear a hole in the veil of the universe, creating a doorway for the divines to reach in and help build the universe back up.

Unfortunately, no good deeds go unpunished. Unnoticed a horde of mind flayers had felt the building of the energy wave and, in their greed, traveled to lay in wait once the doorway was opened. So much raw energy ripe for the taking - it was more than they could resist.

And so, after a long battle killing off the majority of mana users left on Lethe, a new battle began against the mind flayers who wanted to take over their world. This war defined Lethe nearly as much as the Day of Death had, the introduction of Hunters occurring, Divines taking an active role in blessing the beings of Lethe with power to help with the fight.

An entire century this war waged on, people calling out to any being who would listen for the power to save themselves and their loved ones. And now they were answered, not just from the gods Lethe was so accustomed to, but any Divine from any universe who took an interest. Because of this, many different powers were introduced and, while not perfect, Academies were created to train Hunters in their abilities and make them battle ready as quickly as possible.

Dungeons were used to train anyone who was willing on strategic survival strategies, and the portal of The Underworld was successfully discovered and contracted with. Luckily Shiro led the team in the portal discovery and, as Hade's Avatar, easily managed to get the treaty signed. Though seemingly unimportant, the clearing of this portal gave them a huge advantage in the war: Shiro gained access to the Helm of Invisibility.

Unlike the spells that became possible, or even species specific skills, the Helm makes everything about an individual invisible; mind, soul, every microscopic atom. This gave Shiro the ability to use her assassin skills to even greater heights, able to waltz right in to a mind flayer encampment and kill everyone without them being able to take over her mind or find her at all.

Over the course of this century the Avatars established their individual territories, though only a few survived both battles. Each controlled their own academies and magic towers, their own armies to fend off the mind flayers. When victory was won, all remaining Avatars gathering to defeat the elder brain, they agreed to keep to the borders that had come about.

Things weren't perfect after the war, there are simply too many species with vastly different moral compasses to allow for that. But it was better, incredibly so. Divines even stepped in more prominently and ended up with everyone having a mark once they come of age instead of a select few.

Shiro was the leader, then Queen and ruler of the largest part of Lethe. She was, after all, the strongest and the one who had contributed the most to both battles, the one who had killed the most. It didn't interest her to rename her kingdom so the varying countries have retained their names, but at some point the people themselves began referring to it as Styx, a name that has since stuck for their kingdom.

Styx has the most prominent Academy, something people from all over fight to get admitted into every year, though priority is given to Styx citizens. Hunters are the only ones who can travel into portals, and as such, are still a vital part to Lethe. Adventurers typically handle the dungeons and make sure they're graded according to their danger levels and such. They also made a change to open the academies up to everyone with a mark, adding adventuring courses so that those students would have a much higher chance of survival.

Paladins and clerics are still around, though distrust of them is still very prominent even after nearly 1300 years. Unfortunately, with so many long lived creatures, memories last far longer in Lethe. Then again, perhaps that mistrust isn't such a bad thing when those corrupt beings weren't completely eradicated. They were now called a cult, people who worshipped divines who had been beaten and were no longer considered desirable to worship or have a mark from.

The cult wants one thing: a restoration of The Before. They want to be in positions of power once again, to be worshipped as they used to be. And who do they most despise and blame for their current state? Shiro of course, especially since she still uses her assassins to hunt them down and kill as many cult members as possible.

To say the world of Lethe is complex is an understatement, but it is a beautiful world none-the-less. From dragon riders to dungeon diving adventurers, it's a land of possibility. Magic, intrigue, chaos and fun, what you decide to do is up to you.

Just make sure you don't give Shiro a reason to notice you, there are consequences to your actions after all.