AEHU/Plot/606AG Background
According to legend, the first Mystic sprung into conscious being at the feet of Gladus, life-giving Goddess of the Moon. When he looked up he was blinded by her ethereal beauty, and from that point forward Gladus became hidden to all Mystics save Shamans specially trained to communicate with her.
561 AG
Leon Guildstern is born into a well-landed family in Guardia. His life is much harsher than would normally be expected for a noble, for in that year King Guardia XX bans Mystic slavery throughout all of North Zenan and Choras. Against a backdrop of political and economic upheaval resulting from the king's decision, Leon endures backbreaking labor in support of his father's farm while his younger brother will take up the chef's trade.
567 AG
Cyrus is born in Choras. His veins contain the blood of noble Choran lineage but his last name holds no meaning in Guardia other than destiny to serve the King; Choras lingers in a political arrangement that devotes a portion of its sons and crops to Guardia as reparations for the war that brought The Honor to Choras' shores centuries earlier and trounced the native pagan religions.
568 AG
Levant is born in Medina. Like virtually all Mystics during this time period, he begins life as a slave under dominion of the Second Acacian Empire, which holds the entire expanse of South Zenan and the Medinian superislands.
569 AG
Leene is born into San Dorino's Rae family, part of the Acacian Empire's burgeoning middle class of wealth-accumulating tradesmen, whom the ruling Viper clan closely monitors for subversive activity.
571 AG
Glenn is born to Eugene and Mary of Truce, members of Guardia's own emerging middle class. During early childhood a plague of Medinian origin sweeps over the known world, leaving Glenn smaller and weaker than most children his age. Nevertheless, Glenn accompanies his parents on various caravan adventures between Truce and San Dorino, his father teaching him how to wield blades for self-protection from bandits and the occasional Fiend incursion made by escaped Mystic slaves in South Zenan.
578 AG
A six-year old child inexplicably appears in the courtyard of the Acacian Empire's ruling dynasty. The child's cries draw attention from Empress Viper and the child is taken in. Emperor Viper soon discovers the child's "noble fighting spirit" and dotes on her, favoring her over his own children, who he views as weak-willed. She is assigned the name "Ella."
It seems she is star-crossed with Levant, who, on the night of her appearance, escapes from captivity with a group of fellow slaves and discovers the secret lair of Ozzie. Ozzie having revived the study of Mystic arts nearly stamped out by the Acacian regime, Levant receives his first exposure to magic and a variety of Mystic religious traditions. Moon Goddess worship is all the rage at this time, so social influence steers him in that direction. While physically scrawny amongst Mystics, Levant is noted for his intellect and magical prowess. Ozzie fast tracks his magic training and considers him a promising candidate for Shaman.
Glenn's parents pass away following a Naga attack on their caravan near San Dorino. His upbringing is completed by monks of The Honor and he lives in Manoria Cathedral, studying the most advanced mathematics of that age and numerous literary works.
582 AG
The current Shaman passes away and Levant installed in his stead. Even at his young age he successfully makes contact with Gladus, who delivers an auspicious message presaging liberation. Ozzie activates slave revolts throughout Medina and the ensuing chaos pushes the Acacians back to South Zenan. Slash and Flea earn special renown for their successful revolt against the slave overlord Belial Viper. Belial is executed and his head sent to Porre, shaking the once-invincible Viper Clan to its core.
Medina's loss undermines the Acacian Empire economically and the Viper Clan summons King Guardia XX to San Dorino to invoke an ancient mutual security pact and request that Guardia's Knights of the Square Table help reclaim Medina. Emperor Viper's request is rebuffed, however; King Guardia XX is in no mood to endanger his people, just recently recovered from the sociopolitical consequences of his own progressive decisions, in military ventures caused by irresponsibility on the Acacian Empire's part. Left to their own devices, the Empire and Medina stockpile arms, preparing for a final campaign that could destroy either. Against Ozzie's inclination, Slash advises sending the high-profile and strikingly humanlike Levant as a peaceful envoy to Guardia to ensure a one-front war.
While the Guardian royal entourage stops in San Dorino on its return trip to Truce, Sir Rae deftly offers his daughter's hand in marriage to King Guardia XX's son. It is an arrangement of necessity -- Rae foresees the Acacian Empire's fate and has high hopes that his daughter can live safely in a non-belligerent kingdom.
Meanwhile Ella leads a sheltered life filled with all the trimmings of royal splendor, oblivious to impending doom on the horizon. She, like all other non-royals living in South Zenan, believes her adoptive Clan rules Porre by divine right and looks up to her father.
583 AG
With Levant as mediator, Gladus instructs Ozzie to accompany Slash and Levant on their first goodwill voyage to Guardia, for a great Mystic leader will be born there. While Levant and Slash carry out their political rounds Ozzie awaits the presaged arrival in Truce Canyon. Out pops Janus, and Ozzie tests him, forcing Janus' arcane powers into the open. The Goddess has once again spoken truth.
Cyrus of Choras arrives in Truce on a ship bearing other Choran youths bound for service to King Guardia XX. In an act of mercy, Guardia XX grants the young Choran men complete freedom to do as they will, essentially nullifying the age-old practice that Guardia had imposed upon Choras for ages. Whereas his cohorts immediately return to Choras, Cyrus remains in Guardia, inspired into the country's service by the true nobility of its monarch. He wanders the land assisting people in need, even spending some time slaving away with Leon on the faltering Guildstern plantation.
Cyrus befriends Glenn on one of his visits to the Yakraburg canton housing Manoria Cathedral. The older and stronger Cyrus protects Glenn on numerous occasions from a mean-spirited gang of Trucian noble youths who harangue on Glenn for his slight physical and social stature.
Glenn and Cyrus first encounter Leene in Manoria Cathedral, where the Rae family formally pays its dowry to the king, finalizing the arrangement whereby 14 year-old Leene is betrothed to Tristan Guardia, ten years her senior. The marriage is set to be consummated when she turns 19, and for now she returns with her family to San Dorino.
Over the next 5 years Slash personally accompanies Levant to Guardia on numerous goodwill tours, and both receive exposure to the kingdom's rich cultural heritage. In Guardia's court Levant even engages in civil religious debate with Sensei, touting Gladus' superiority over the unseen Honor because she communicates with her worshippers, thus proving her divine presence. Through his stout Goddess worship Levant unwittingly begins to turn Guardian public opinion against the Mystics.
Glenn spends his final monastic years reading poetry, studying accounts of courtly love, and sparring with Cyrus to augment his physical stature. One day he cryptically asks Cyrus whether one should let destiny guide life, and Cyrus replies that one should follow his dreams and live a life outside societally imposed bounds. Glenn takes Cyrus' advice to heart and mysteriously withdraws from the monastery the very day he is to be ordained as a clergyman. While on a caravan protection mission in San Dorino, Cyrus finds Glenn again and discovers that his mathematical knowledge has secured him employment as a bookkeeper in the Rae household. They renew their friendship.
588 AG
Janus' training complete, Ozzie bestows the title "Magus" upon him and yields Medina's leadership to him.
Cyrus announces his decision to accede to the Knights of the Square Table and invites Glenn to join up with him. Glenn turns down his offer with the excuse that he simply "wouldn't make the cut." Cyrus finds this curious given Glenn's demonstrated sword-wielding ability.
The Magus, deferring to local culture, summons Levant and asks whether the time is ripe for the final assault on the withering Acacian Empire. Receiving an affirmative answer, the Magus embarks on the most startlingly successful military campaign in medieval history, overtaking the entirety of South Zenan within the year.
Sir Rae sends Leene to stay with the Guardian royal family a few months ahead of schedule due to the Mystic incursion. He assigns his bookkeeper Glenn to personally lead the entourage across Zenan Bridge since he's the only one in the household with any weapons training whatsoever; an imperial draft has made hiring mercenary protection an impossibility. Sir Rae promises to follow up in a week after finalizing some business arrangements, but San Dorino falls to the Mystic army within that time.
The Magus allows Ozzie to personally storm the Acacian Empire's central bastion in Porre and the imperial family and all relatives who can be found are rounded up. Threatened with execution, Emperor Viper beseeches the Magus for lenience with repsect to his family. Per the Magus' ruthless reply, every member of the Viper Clan in Medinian custody is prepared for sacrifice in Gladus' name -- a decision that augments his already outstanding approval ratings amongst the Mystic citizenry. Levant delivers the message and organizes the sacrificial ceremony. While the imperial family is murdered before his eyes, Levant grows sick but can't bring himself to intervene against an order from the Magus. He closes his eyes and prays fervently to the Goddess for a moral way out and receives an order from Gladus that Ella should be spared, for she may be a suitable vessel; the Goddess wishes to live in the flesh once again, marking her worldly return and divine rulership over all Mystics. Levant joyously delivers the news and uses it as an opportunity to stop the execution before any more women or children of imperial lineage are sacrificed.
Ozzie calls for Levant to be reprimanded for not simply continuing the execution after removing Ella from the lineup, but Slash prevails upon the Magus to play up the news that Medina has spared the Viper clan's wives and children -- it will go over well in Guardia and give the Magus the moral high ground in international affairs. Ozzie is transferred to San Dorino while Slash assumes command over the southern continent's internal security.
The Magus' fledgling Medinian Empire slashes and burns millions of forested acres in an attempt to deprive remaining elements of the Viper Clan of their hiding places. However, Thaddeas Viper remains at large. Meanwhile Gladus' acolytes prepare Ella to become Vessel of the Living Goddess by subjecting her to a grueling fitness regimen that becomes her personal hell.
Ella spends the last few months of the year plotting revenge against Levant since he's the most accessible Mystic official in her daily life. She attempts an assassination but Levant barely survives, and she makes her feelings known. He learns that she misperceives the Viper Clan as a family that could do no wrong and unjustly executed. He leaves her in a room alone with Belial's and Thaddeus' memoires detailing the Acacian Empire's cruelty toward enslaved Mystics, as well as notes her father had left acquiescing to these practices.
Levant and Slash leave for their final goodwill tour and arrive to witness King Guardia XX's death on the final night of 588AG. They meet Cyrus at the King's deathbed and witness Cyrus swearing absolute fealty to the King's son at the father's request. Once Guardia XX has passed, Slash and Cyrus discuss the fact that the king-in-waiting is much unlike the father, and that war is likely.
589AG
When Levant returns he finds Ella changed -- her restive vengeance has given way to a dreary existence, but he marvels at her ability to somehow find it within herself to cheer up her enslaved cousins. She explains that keeping them alive and forging a more just Viper Clan where none existed before is her dream; she also understands that they owe their existence to Levant intervening in the execution. She seems to have uncanny insight into Levant's inner thoughts, and he embarrasingly finds out she had snatched one of his diaries while he was away.
The Magus begins sending Flea on reconnaissance missions and deftly secures a non-aggression pact with Choras that lasts the duration of the imminent war, though expert Choran sailors sneak supplies into Guardia occasionally. Sir Toma Levine gains a reputation as a master smuggler.
King Guardia XXI enacts emergency military preparation and appoints Cyrus a captain amongst the Squaretable Knights at the recommendation of Sir Guildstern, acting Knight Captain. Cyrus spends a night in Truce's tavern drinking away his sorrow over the late King's death and thereupon meets Glenn, also in dolorous mood. Meanwhile Sir Guildstern and others in the tavern celebrate the coming spectacle of war, expecting to overtake the Mystics in a few months' time. Cyrus makes his need of a squire known to Glenn, who eagerly accepts.
Levant becomes well-acquainted with Ella and begins valuing her for who she is and not for how suitable her body may be for Gladus. For the first time in his life, he doubts Gladus' noble intentions.
The accession of a new king to the Guardian throne challenges the Magus' imperial fortunes. Even with Porre knocked out of the war, Guardia XXI honors the military alliance neglected by his father and brings the full brunt of the Squaretable Knights to bear on Medina. Whereas the Magus allows his generals full reign over Medina's strategy, Guardia XXI personally assumes command of the Squaretable Knights and his reckless valor stretches the Guardian military to the breaking point against the Magus' army.
When the Guardian populace arrives at the sobering conclusion that they must settle in for a war much longer than expected and with uncertain outcome, the Chancellor advises that the time is ripe to lighten the kingdom's mood with a lavish late winter marriage ceremony. Cyrus and Glenn are on hand for the occasion. However, Leene spends the evening alone in her quarters after her father's body arrives at Castle Guardia bearing a message from the Magus himself. Cyrus loses track of Glenn for a day; when Leon Guildstern inquires as to Glenn's whereabouts wishing to communicate his condolences to the famous Porrean merchant's former bookkeeper, Cyrus explains that Glenn has taken to wandering the forest in his own sorrow. Cyrus' squire shows up for military duty the following day, and together they vow to slay the Magus.
The Squaretable corps led by Cyrus becomes a bright spot in Guardia's military affairs. Cyrus' daring maneuvers - executed with uncanny geometric precision - confound Ozzie and arguments divide the unity amongst Medina's military leadership. At great cost the Guardian army succeeds in securing a beachhead on South Zenan and protects the way across Zenan bridge.
590AG
News that the queen is with child dispel rumors of frigidity between King Guardia XXI and Leene. The kingdom rejoices. Cyrus assumes command of the Squaretable Knights with Glenn serving as aide de camp. Early in the year Guardia liberates San Dorino.
The Magus relieves Ozzie of front line command and transfers it to Slash, who proves much more competent and manages to retake half of San Dorino; Guardia and Medina spend several months locked in raging battles through the city's desertified streets.
Queen Leene miscarries late in the year. While the kingdom grieves Cyrus apparently sends Glenn on a mission to Choras. The purpose is unknown, but when Glenn returns he and Cyrus set off to recover relics that could turn the tide of war in Guardia's favor. Cyrus recovers Masamune, said to have been wielded by Guardia I centuries earlier.
Masamune proves formidable, gravely wounding Slash in San Dorino and allowing the city to be recovered completely. The injured Slash arrives in Porre to recoup after his defeat at Cyrus' hands. The Magus anoints the magician Kasmir with military leadership, but Kasmir also succumbs to Masamune. His military structure demoralized and beginning to crumble, the Magus psyches himself to take personal command of the front line.
When the time for Gladus' possession of Ella - the Lunar Rite - has arrived, Levant does the unthinkable in directly challenging Gladus; after a hard-fought battle, he succeeds in keeping her at bay and thus shields Ella from Gladus' designs. The experience teaches Levant that Gladus is not so much a Goddess as a manipulative consciousness, and the entire Moon Goddess tradition nothing but a dangerous farce.
The revelation that he's essentially wasted his entire life devastates Levant, and he might slip into a deep despair if not for his growing emotional connection to Ella; she's the only being who seems real to him now. Drawing on knowledge of Acacian tradition, Levant braves giant Ogans to acquire a bellflower from the summit of Mt. Denadoro so he can offer it to her as a symbol of thanks for freeing him of the illusion he had lived under since becoming a Shaman. He gives her leave to do as she will, and she responds by reminding him that while the Bellflower is a symbol of gratitude, it holds additional meaning as a marriage proposal if placed in a lady's hair. Levant takes the cue and they try to eke out as peaceful an existence as possible for a few weeks.
Ozzie and the Moon Goddess acolytes soon knock on Levant's door demanding to see the Living Goddess and hearken to her instruction on how to smash the resurgent Guardia. Learning that Levant has failed to implement the ceremony, Ozzie has him shackled and Ella and the captive Viper children fast-tracked for execution. Ella surprises her captors and manages to defend Levant's manor, and the guard calls Slash in to personally apprehend her. She explains the situation and Slash agrees to help an old friend.
Slash unshackles Levant, who confides in him. Slash doesn't seem phased in the least by the proposition that there really is no Goddess; Slash has always placed his faith in the Medinian peoples, and therefore finds Levant's skills better employed in their defense. He swings Levant a position in the Magus' top secret project dedicated to producing a weapon capable of counteracting Cyrus' Masamune.
Levant recognizes that Masamune derives its power from spirits. In addition, he senses Gladus stirring in Gehrzbuele, where she has made her abode following their confrontation, and he worries that he is too drained from said confrontation to thwart Gladus again if she makes another attempt on Ella. Thus Levant throws himself into the new assignment wholeheartedly, appearing to work for the Magus' ends but actually producing the schematics for a blade capable of "destroying" Gladus inasmuch as it would sever her ability to manifest in the Shadow Realm. This weapon's functionality would be theoretically based on its ability to tear through spacetime and cause distortions in both the physical and imaginary number planes of existence. The hypothetical weapon Levant designs is termed "Levantine." However, the project never comes to fruition because producing the blade is extremely impractical given current production technology and the fact that the materials needed to produce such a weapon are themselves hypothetical.
The Magus convenes Slash, Flea, and Ozzie for a final assault to dislodge Cyrus' forces from reclaimed San Dorino, using Mt. Denadoro as their base of operations. Flea attempts to charm Glenn into yielding Cyrus' battle plans, but Flea's supposedly irresistible beauty proves ineffectual. Meanwhile Cyrus cooperates with Toma in outflanking the Magus' military maneuvers.
Cyrus thwarts the Magus' forces on Mt. Denadoro, severing the main body of Medina's military from its administration governing occupied Porre. He gives his life in this effort however, and the Magus conveniently solves the Levantine production dilemma by snapping Masamune in half. Although broken, the sword remains active.
Leon Guildstern oversees the liberation of Porre in cooperation with Thaddeas Viper. Victory proves bittersweet when he receives news of Cyrus' death and he accepts the position of Knight Captain, which he had vacated to Cyrus earlier.
Levant and all other Mystics are forced to flee Porre. Thaddeas Viper reclaims his children and offers Ella asylum in their re-occupied manor. Ella insists on accompanying Levant to Medina as Acacian partisans take the capital city; when Thaddeas learns of her choice the remaining adult members of the Viper Clan disown her irrevocably.
The Viper Clan meets further ill fortune when the Porrean populace forcefully rejects their return to power; instead, Porre opts to establish a leaner, non-monarchical, trade-heavy pseudo-state under Guardian protectorship. The Viper Clan live in abject poverty and are largely shunned by the wider Porrean community for starting this mess in the first place. San Dorino remains a Guardian protectorate along with Porre.
590AG ~ 600AG
Guardia and Medina settle in for a decade-long war of attrition. Levant risks the anger of his Mystic compatriots by harboring a human, but the Magus offers him protection in return for a political favor: seeing as no Shamans have been able to contact Gladus since Levant (she's been recouping in the forests of Gehrzbuele), and this has coincided with the failure of Medina's imperial designs, he asks Levant to go before the Medinian peoples and explain that Gladus has been superseded by the god Lavos, and Mystic fortunes will turn once again if only they would pay homage to the correct deity.
Thus Goddess Worship falls out of vogue in favor of cults devoted to Lavos, God of Destruction. Just another fictitious god in Levant's point of view. However, his public lie at the Magus' behest earns him a study in the Magus' citadel where he spends his last years imparting his spirit communication techniques and magical skills to Ella, so that she might fend off Gladus' machinations if something were ever to happen to him. She responds unnaturally well to Shadow training and reaches an extremely high level of Elemental acuity.
600AG
Following the Magus' sudden disappearance, Leon Guildstern leads Guardia's final assault on his citadel in Medina. While inside, Guildstern's men slaughter desperate guards with impunity and Guildstern himself personally kills Levant after discovering the annex in which he and Ella hid in hopes of waiting out the attack. Witnessing Ella's heartbreak, he can do nothing but stare as Levant dies in her arms. He leaves her there to grieve and returns home to Guardia, where he is hailed as hero.
Sir Guildstern's popularity in Truce reaches historic proportions and he is asked to lay the cornerstone of Leene Square. The hero worship only deepens his psychological trauma because he views himself as an undeserving murderer.
Ella takes to wandering the countryside and finds gainful employment under the name Artemis, Shadow Hunter, making use of skills learned under Levant's tutelage. Wandering spirits suddenly grow extremely vehement, giving her plenty of work.
605AG
Sir Guildstern holds his newborn son for the first time and the prospect of family life stings him with the notion that he's robbed Ella of the same; the thought is the proverbial last straw that breaks the camel's back, and he wanders off into the wilderness.
Sir Guildstern's psychosis allows him to communicate with wandering spirits and he learns the truths of the life cycle -- that beings live, die, and commune with the Entity only to be reborn in a different guise and repeat the cycle endlessly. Wandering spirits cling to the earth specifically to avoid their fate and retain some semblance of identities they want to keep, but a Power on the far fringes of spacetime is literally devouring their essence. Leon Guildstern puts two and two together and develops a philosophy that all those who suffer can escape the chain of eternal recurrence by submitting themselves to this Power. He becomes Raqh, and his followers Raverna.
Raqh's philosophy hardly catches on at first, but he gains a serious following as plague begins to sweep over Porre, famine over Medina.