The Story of the Beginning

[Archon Torches]

-Prologue-

The beginning was full of chaos, nothing was balanced in the realms. Unfinished spirits and mass energy was all that existed. The spirit pieces would devour the energy and destroy each other. Out of the chaos one true being finally formed, Ishtmal. With his power he put an end to that chaos. With infinite power supply in his hands, he separated the conflicting energies and formed structure. With that structure and power, he created twelve overseers, the gods and goddesses of the Magica, otherwise named, the Vir-Xieg.
Virche, the god of fire. Irvel, the goddess of water. Talm, the goddess of earth. Varamir, the goddess of wind. Krazzak, the god of lightning. Gresha, the goddess of ice. Yizmir, the god of space. Falric, the god of time. Terramir, the goddess of purity. Zark, the god of corruption. Verge, the god of shadows. Isis, the goddess of energy. Through a magnificent display of power and order, the twelve overseers combined their magics to build three realms. The Realm of Light, the Realm of Ishtmal, and the Realm of Shadows. In each they created a separate world, Nuvaterra in the Realm of Light, Valterra in the Realm of Ishtmal, and Nulterra in the Realm of Shadows. Each one served a purpose and were each connected by thin bonds. Any creature that was born into a realm couldn’t reside in the other realms until their body died and their spirit was recycled into the next realm.

The recycling process was cunningly devised in a way that the realms would keep a cycle and a being born on Valterra would always have a spirit to inhabit it. When a being on Valterra dies, it is born into Nulterra, a world of chaos where the Shadelings and Banelings are always killing each other and sending their spirits onto Nuvaterra where they sit patiently until a body is born on Valterra.

Nulterra was where it began, the first section in the recycling process. All spirits reborn here became Shadelings, the first shadow creature to have been created. Shadelings thrived in the darkness and many grew stronger through devouring other Shadelings. The first Baneling was created by the rapid consumption of several Shadelings. Banelings soon became the darkest of beings in the Shadow Realm. Each one had a different ability that could cause potentially high damage. They could rarely enter the other realms at will because of their concentrated shadow spirit, which would dissolve back into the Realm of Shadows after some time. Shadelings could remain in other realms for a slightly longer amount of time.

Nuvaterra was the second stop in the recycling process. The spirits born into the Realm of Light came from the Realm of Shadows. Pure-Souls were the equivalent of Angels, but without a solid form. They lived in peace and would not war with each other because they knew each of them was equal and they would reach the end of their life in good time. Pure-Souls would rarely ever leave the realm because they saw no use to return to the Realm of Shadows because it was too chaotic, and they would get to live in the Realm of Ishtmal when their spirit gathers energy enough to reborn itself into the third realm.

Finally there was the realm of Ishtmal, named after their creator. The twelve overseers each oversaw their part of the Magica chain in the world of Valterra. Spirits were born from the Realm of Light, and spirits that died went to the Realm of Shadows, thus completing the cycle. Talm created two vast islands on Valterra; one was going to be the home of their first creation here, the Humans. While the other is where they would rest deep into the planet’s crust. They began with creating the first humans. They were intelligent creatures that began building villages and conforming their cultures and beliefs. The overseers then began creating other bodies in which spirits would inhabit, until they deemed their creation complete. Ishtmal stood by as his overseers created the realms and when he was pleased enough with their work, he went deep into Valterra and slumbered in its core. The twelve overseers soon followed and took to their slumber as well until they thought they were needed once again.

Though the twelve overseers were in a deep slumber, there had to be someone keeping balance in the realms. That Guardian is the first thing Ishtmal truly created. Before he created the overseers, he needed someone to make sure balance was kept, the guardian of the realms. Ishtmal brought order to the realms when he was created, but order isn’t complete without chaos. With the chaotic energies that were still flowing he created Alturak, The Guardian of Chaos. Alturak would hide in the shadows, out of the reach of the twelve overseers and would only interfere when balance needs to be restored.  

[Archon Torches]

Chapter One- The Age of Growth

Tervis Larket, the son of a farmer, grew up learning only how to farm the land, but what he didn’t realize was that he would become a leader. Everything the humans achieved started with him. It’s only fit the story should start with him as well. Tervis was out in the field working as he usually did; the life of a farmer was to make sure he had food for his family. He stopped his plowing to wipe the sweat from his forehead when he noticed his oldest son running towards him. “Father!” the boy cried out, “Come quickly!” “Calm down Jacob, what is so important that you feel the need to trample your dinner for the coming winter?” “Its mother, she fell down and is breathing heavy.” Tervis understood the seriousness of the situation. He had heard stories of a disease that was spreading through the land, claiming many victims. When he reached his wife, he found her symptoms were just as described, difficulty breathing, a high body temperature, and almost completely paralyzed. Her condition worsened over the next week and died soon afterward. Tervis and his children were apparently immune to the disease, he was thankful for that. With his wife dead, many of the household duties were placed on his three children, Jacob, Marcus, and Elizabeth. Soon though, the winter came and much of the crop wasn’t ready for harvest. They spent the winter conserving everything they could just to survive. Elizabeth soon became ill from lack of nutrient, and it was because of this that Tervis though of a plan to rally others together to create a city, where they could help each other survive.

As spring approached and the temperature began rising, Tervis packed up their belongings and set out to find other people. He promised everyone he came across a chance of a better life if they all worked together. Many others agreed with him, and he soon gathered more than two-hundred followers. They found a large open field with only a river going through it, and it was surrounded by forest on three sides, and a mountain on the fourth. It was here they began building their new home. Tervis assigned different people with the tasks of gathering wood for buildings, and others for hunting and gathering so they had food to eat. The river was clean enough to drink from, but he enforced that nobody use that river for anything other than drinking from. It was a simple rule, and if you needed water otherwise you had to pull it away from the river. Everyone followed and enforced the rule as they all knew that drinking water was vital to their survival. Buildings were constructed along one side of the river, and many farms were planted on the other. They built bridges early on in their construction, as well as large devices to pull large amounts of water from the river up to one of the bridges where it was easier to obtain. Tervis overlooked much of the work and they finished just in time for winter. They ran into a bit of trouble as the temperature grew colder. The river began to freeze over, blocking any access to their only supply. Tervis had thought of this ahead of time and had another contraption being build that could break the ice. It was because of his ideas that the city was so prosperous. He had planned out many different machines that simplified their lives. Soon, other groups of people followed his example and other villages had been built in the surrounding area. Tervis knew that if villages were built too close together, there would be conflict over supplies, so he met with many of the other humans on the island setting up a distance rule, making sure that you weren’t taking from another village’s supply source. Tervis was nearing the end of his life, but he saw that he created something amazing. He died at the age of sixty-seven in his sleep. His son Jacob became the new leader of the city. His first order was to name the city, which he named Tervis, after his father. Jacob resembled his father in many ways, with the exception of his temper. He created some vital trade routes between many of the cities that produced uncommon goods, such as sea fish and various metals. Soon though, things would change. “Brother, the leader of Vulteria wishes to make your acquaintance, he should be here within the hour.” Marcus felt more excited about it than Jacob was. “I see, where is Elizabeth, I want to make sure she’s nowhere near the man. No telling what foul thoughts he’d have of her if he saw her.” “She’s in the garden tending to her flowers. She’s been spending more time there since father passed. I guess it calms her.” “Yes, anyways, I believe I see our ‘friend’ approaching in his carriage, let’s greet him, shall we?” They walked down the steps to the main hall and opened the door just as a larger man was hobbling out of the carriage. “Greetings, Sir Jacob Larket. I am Fancis York of Vulteria.” He said with a short bow. “Welcome sir... Francis, may I ask what brings you to my humble estate?” “Why, only to make your acquaintance, dine at your table, and share stories.” “I see.. then I shall welcome you inside.” The fat man walked to the front door and wiped off his feet before entering. “Your street seems a bit dirty, rather surprising considering it be the home to a man of your stature.” He said with a chuckle. “Dirty you say?" Jacob asked, "I’m sure your street is spotless by the sound of it.” “Quite frankly, it is. May I ask where your” He began to say, but Jacob grabbed him by the collar and threw him to the ground. “If my street is so dirty to you why don’t you clean it with your tongue, it may teach you to hold it next time.” “You dare touch me?!” Francis was already sweating, and his face red with anger. Jacob grabbed him by the neck and pushed his face into the stone. “I said, clean it with your tongue!” Francis struggled for some time before he finally stuck out his tongue and licked the stone path. Jacob finally let go and Francis stumbled toward his carriage. “How dare you treat me like this! Come tomorrow you’ll have my men burning down your city!” He crawled back into the carriage and quickly took off. “Jacob! You realize what this means? We aren’t prepared to fight other humans, it’s unheard of, it’s never happened before!” “Don’t worry brother, we will suppress his attack, but even that will not stop him. I knew that fighting would one day be inevitable; I just hoped it wouldn’t be so soon. We’re going to have to invade Valteria in order to end this swiftly.” Marcus always was the concerned one

This encounter created quite the tension and caused a large battle to take place. Jacob fought along side his men and they not only defended the attack, but invaded the opposing village. Jacob had the leader burned alive in his estate. When he returned home, his brother confronted him about his actions saying it wasn’t want their father would have wanted. He calmly told him that their father was gone, and that fighting would have been inevitable in the future anyways. Three-hundred years went by; the Larket family was still head of the city which was named after their first leader, Tervis. Buildings were being built from steel and wood and society was more modernized. Guns and vehicles were being built for the first time, and soon magic abilites would begin showing in many people. This became known as the age of Discovery.