History of Eridya

Lore of Eridya’s history

Legend

It is said that at the beginning of the world there was nothing save for Eirene the dragon, the very first Guardian and the leader of all the other Guardians. Upon Eirene's birth, she created eighteen other mythical creatures, as well as their talismans and Legatuses (including her own), dubbing them Guardians. The other Guardians then created various facets of Eridya under her guidance, such as landmasses, oceans, forests, mountains, and even the skies and the weather. Once that was done to their satisfaction, the nineteen Guardians created the creatures and humans that would populate it, before dispersing to their individual territories across six of Eridya's seven continents – Amera, Euria, Gaelen, Kaze, Neyri, and Valya. The final continent, Arctica, remained uninhabited by human nor Guardian, though many marine creatures acclimated to the ice made it their home.

From their territories, the Guardians were content to watch over the world. With Eirene at their head, they were worshipped by humans and animals alike as they collaborated to help Eridya's civilization flourish. The Guardians were rather proud creatures, and despite the creation of their Legatuses that would facilitate bonding with human partners, they found no reason to do so.

Though the other five continents got along well, those in Valya were regarded with suspicion, especially as their Guardians were practitioners of blood magic. Things worsened when the Valyans created against their Guardians' wishes an enormous black dragon, Dovrak, as a clone of Eirene with the intention to surpass her. They soon lost control of their creation, which proceeded to rampage wildly across Eridya and attack the Tree of Life, wounding it and causing humans and creatures across the world to fall sick and die. This prompted the Guardians and humans to work together to drive back the menace in what became known as the Nightbringer War. After the war ended, Eirene collaborated with the centicore Tezal to heal the Tree of Life, healing those who were affected by its injury.

Though they succeeded in sealing away Dovrak, the Valyans were wholly blamed for the disaster, with many Guardians clamoring for retribution. The psoglav Mirjana took full responsibility for Dovrak's rampage, since it was she who taught the humans of her continent blood magic and asked that if anyone should be punished, it was her. The gagana Annora and the zmei Zoran also stepped up, saying as fellow Guardians of Valya, they also had to take the blame.

As punishment for their actions, Eirene sunk the entirety of Valya deep under the sea in what became known as The Purge as it wiped all but 10% of Valya's population, scattering the remnants across the rest of the world. An enormous vault was then built in Neyri, in which all knowledge of blood magic – along with Annora, Mirjana, and Zoran, as well as their talismans and Legatuses – were sealed. The vault was locked by a mural of Eridya's remaining patron Guardians with explicit instructions never to be opened by anyone – and thus became known as the Forbidden Vault. The keys to the vault lie in five crown jewels – one for each of Eridya's remaining continents. Furthermore, all traces of Valya, including their Guardians, were wiped entirely from Eridya's history as if they had never existed, bringing the total number of Guardians down to sixteen.

As knowledge of Valya and blood magic faded and the rest of Eridya gradually returned to normal, civilization flourished once again. However, as Eridya grew to new heights, a sect of humans became cocky and decided to develop technology to advance their civilization even further. Those humans became indifferent and disconnected from the Guardians, splitting off from the rest and forming their own group that they called the Duskwing Syndicate.

The Duskwing Syndicate cleared out surrounding forests and plains for weapons production factories, using the lumber they cut down and the stone and metal they mined as fuel and materials. Byproducts of that production polluted the environment, killing animals and humans as well as displacing them from their habitats. The Duskwing Syndicate even went as far as overtaking towns and villages with lumber and mining industries to divert labor and resources to their technologies and conscripting other humans as soldiers or forcing them to work in their factories and work camps. Their developments harmed the land and their disregard for nature stirred conflict, especially as the Tree of Life – an enormous tree created by Eirene that governed all of life in Eridya – felt the effects of the devastation and began to wither.

500 years after the Nightbringer War, Eirene foresaw a prophecy in which the Duskwing Syndicate managed to revive Dovrak and attempted another invasion upon Eridya and the Tree of Life, as well as a deeply unsettling premonition of the remaining Guardians fracturing. Fearing what it meant for the world, Eirene called the Guardians together for a Grand Council to discuss the matter. After quite some back and forth, they came to the consensus that they should seek out the aid of Champions in the dual hope that the Champions' presence would not only keep the Guardians together but also strengthen their defenses against the Duskwing Syndicate. They decided to search among young adults between 18-23 years old, as children would be unable to harness the Guardians' power.

Eirene’s request for a Champion was met by a young woman who wielded the Cosmos Blossom and worked alongside Eirene as the very first Champion. All of Eridya were inspired by their teamwork and courage, leading to optimistic hope of closer ties between Guardians and humans. While some Guardians decided to follow in Eirene's footsteps to search out and bond with young adult Champions of their own, still others were more reluctant and continued to refuse human contact. However, those Guardians found themselves surprised when the humans themselves approached them – while many attempted to win the Guardians over with their tenacity and charisma, a few others fell into the role via rather unorthodox means. Regardless, in the end, every Guardian had bonded with a Champion, and together they became regarded as holy warriors tasked with keeping peace in the world.

However, the manticore Uriah and the kitsune Ashika secretly betrayed the other Guardians and sought Champions among the Duskwing Syndicate, working with them to aid Dovrak in his invasion. They saw value in the technology the Subjugators were developing but knew the other Guardians would likely banish them should they reveal their secret. Ultimately, they succeeded, standing alongside Dovrak and the Duskwing Syndicate Subjugators as they initiated the Twilight War. In the process, Eirene's worst fears came to pass as the gryphon Aethon, the kujata Duman, and the kinshi Sen – also tempted by the Duskwing Syndicate’s technological advancements – joined Ashika and Uriah in their rebellion against the other Guardians as they, too, had secretly sought Champions among the enemy. They openly turned on and attacked the other Guardians, before targeting the Tree of Life once again. As a result, Eirene sent Turin the phoenix, Brysenne the direwolf, Jhin the nekomata, Kasha the roc, and Nagi the basilisk along with their Champions to protect it while the others attempted to stave off the invading Duskwing Syndicate.

Ashika caught wind of this, however, and trailed them to the Tree of Life, where she corrupted the Champions' bonds with their Guardians via her talisman. The Champions were driven to psychosis, and in their agony and madness, they were compelled to attack their Guardians and the Tree. Though it pained them deeply to do so, their Guardians were finally forced to kill their Champions, both to put them out of their misery and to protect the Tree of Life from further harm.

Not long after, Ashika arrived with Uriah to confront them. The furious Guardians battled against them to protect the Tree of Life, though they were soon overwhelmed and gravely injured by an explosion from the two Rogues’ attacks. Sensing that they would not last longer alone, Brysenne desperately howled to sound the alarm, alerting the other Guardians. Thankfully, Eirene and Tezal arrived along with the remaining Guardians in time, and together they were able to once again rally the Guardians and Champions to protect the Tree. Using the last of their strength, the five Guardians aided the others in driving off the Duskwing Syndicate and Rogues, with Eirene imprisoning the latter for their crimes.

Despite the victory, the five Guardians who were sent to protect the Tree of Life were wracked with guilt at their failure to save their Champions, considering it equivalent to sending them to their deaths – and thus an enormous disgrace to the other Guardians. Driven by a combination of sheer exhaustion and the aforementioned shame, they fell into hibernation within their talismans, their Legatuses reverting into their deactivated forms in the process. As such, the five Guardians were considered effectively deceased and thus were given the name the Five Fallen. Though it originally referred to their deceased Champions, it also came to refer to the Guardians themselves due to their "fall from grace" at the end of the war. Their talismans and Legatuses were thankfully saved and enshrined in a temple dedicated to them which became known as the Forbidden Vault, where they were venerated and protected as holy artifacts.

Determined to ensure that such a tragedy would not happen again and that Eridya would be better prepared for Dovrak’s return, the world leaders gathered and formed a global militia called the Dawnwing Organization with assistance from the surviving Guardians and Champions, the latter of who became the Dawnwing Organization's founders and leaders. The Dawnwing Organization set up their base of operations in an abandoned castle in southeastern Euria that they christened Skyhaven.

Though the Guardians themselves refused to have any part of the Dawnwing Organization's membership, they willingly offered their talismans to the Dawnwing Organization, as they felt that since this was a mistake made by five of their own, it was their responsibility as Guardians to fix it. Thus, they agreed to have their talismans sealed away in various locations in Eridya in order to protect them from the Duskwing Syndicate. Confident that the talismans would be safe, the Dawnwing Organization turned to building and training their forces while the Guardians watched over them from afar.

Gradually, the other continents recovered and rebuilt, while the Survivors returned to their home territories to aimlessly roam once more. Over the next five centuries, the Five Fallen remained dormant, while the Rogues, embittered by their defeat, vowed revenge on their former brethren.

Fifteen years before the present day, word spread that Dovrak and the Duskwing Syndicate had returned, led by the Rogues who had broken out of their prison. Noting this threat, Eirene reluctantly realized that the remaining Guardians had no choice but to bond with Champions if they have any hope of pushing back the invaders, especially as they were also weakened significantly from the prolonged separation from their talismans. Gathering the remaining Guardians together, Eirene ordered them to seek out Champions once more.

The other Guardians moved to seek out Champions within their home nations – the thunderbird Cera and the alicorn Fleuris bonded with Amanda and Petra from Amera, while the chimera Renee bonded with Janus from Gaelen. The centicore Tezal and the strix Orthrus, both of whom hailed from Euria, bonded with Sumia and Ashton respectively, thus forming a new generation of Champions who moved to lead the Dawnwing Organization, training their forces for Dovrak's return.

The fallen Champions were given a heroic funeral and burial and were made honorary members of the Dawnwing Organization and are revered as Eridyan heroes. Realizing the devastating effect the truth would have on the Liberators' morale and the Five Fallen’s legacy, the survivors crafted a white lie that the Five Fallen’s Champions valiantly fought to the end and fell alongside their Guardians, thus covering up their true fates and preserving the Five Fallen’s heroism. The tale rapidly spread throughout the rest of Eridya, and the truth faded into the mists of history, remembered only by the Guardians themselves.

By the time the Five Fallen are reawakened in the present, they are all but shells of themselves, having lost all of their powers and being effectively mute due to their extreme isolation and slumber. Nevertheless, they reluctantly follow their new Champions, gradually recovering their powers and ability to speak, as well as their place in Eridya as its Guardians.

Fantasy

The Five Fallen killed their own Champions out of greed

Has shaped all of Eridya as the world knows it

Is considered to be the history of Eridya

Has permeated all of Eridya

Oral, written