History

From the start of nothing to the ongoing and ever-changing present, Khy'eras' background has been recorded below. If you are looking for a slightly quicker read, please try our short history or even the timeline.

I: Age of Rebirth

For some things to live, they must first die. Such was the case for Khy'eras, a vast and uninhabitable wasteland of dried, cracked earth. Unable to support any living creature, its existence was rather pointless. When the planet was cursed to fade and wither, five entities made their way through the fissures in Khy'eras to see if anything could be salvaged. These beings were Eidolons, ethereal spirits that believed they could bring the realm back from the grasp of death and create an existence from the ruins.

Each Eidolon, by the unique and compelling magic they wielded, brought a gift to Khy'eras. The first, Ixaziel, gave much: land and mountains from which to cultivate, beasts (both simple and fascinating, like Dragons), and nature. To compliment Ixaziel, Pheriss filled Khy'eras with oceans, rivers, sea creatures, and the desire for exploration. Where the land was once barren, it became a lush and vibrant haven. To live upon this picturesque canvas, Ixaziel projected the first races: Fae, Elves, and Humans. However, in order for life to move forward with what it was bestowed, inspiration was necessary.

The third Eidolon, Ristgir, invoked day, fire, and the sun while the fourth, Ny'tha, brought night, stars, and dreams. Together, these two spirits gave races, fauna, and flora the course of time. It was an impressive combination that fueled motivation in the inhabitants of Khy'eras, a feeling further elevated by the final Eidolon, Dainyil. The last offering to the realm was prose, art, and music which was eventually referred to as "knowledge", the process by which books were written, cities were built, and memories were crafted.

Life and death coexisted as a single force. When something "died", that being was broken down into a lesser spirit, energy that roamed the land until there was a new body for it to transform into. There was harmony in this. And magic, the key ingredient that the Eidolons used to restore Khy'eras, was sealed away. They knew it was too paramount to hand out freely. Almost all societies seemed to not care about this (or weren't aware) and were content enough living with the things that were given to them. They thanked the Eidolons for their blessings and deemed their saviors "Gods".

II: Age of Unveiling

Bhelest, an enthusiastic Human scholar yearned for deeper knowledge and rejected the idea that the denizens of the realm should have things hidden from them. The youth spent sleepless night after sleepless night captivated by books and loaded his mind with as much history and ancient text that he was capable of. On a particular fateful night, Bhelest unlocked something that no race had ever touched before. He had transcended beyond an invisible wall and was embraced by magic.

This was kept a secret for a time and Bhelest practiced his newfound talent for insignificant things: tricks with fire, levitation, and plant growth at an accelerated rate. This was temporarily fulfilling and Bhelest began to use his conjury for more influential ambitions. Magic was sold on black markets to people and Bhelest charged lofty rates. With the fortune he amassed, Bhelest gained jurisdiction in kingdoms and fed people ideas, instigating fights among those who had lived peacefully together before. When creatures died, Bhelest would seize those wandering souls and place them in his keeping.

Bhelest's source of magic was gained by a tear in the veil of the spiritual world, and this sorcery flowed without restraint into him. As he used magic, it was returned twice fold. It became so overwhelming that he dismissed riches and gave magic away without payment. A little too late, the Eidolons noticed a disturbance in the balance of Khy'eras and when they joined to stop Bhelest's reign, Pheriss was absent. The oceans, once a place of travel and seafaring, suddenly brimmed with mist that reached the shoreline - a low, gray cloud thick enough that no one dared venture beyond it for fear they'd never return.

The Eidolons sought out Pheriss to put a stop to the Bhelest's chaos. With the amount of magic Bhelest had gathered, they needed the force of all five Eidolons to stop him. Bhelest had known that he would eventually be discovered as his followers warned him, thus he drew together a plan. When the other Eidolons came upon the spot they felt Pheriss' aura, they found Bhelest with a towering, reptilian beast three times the size of the largest Dragons. Radiating from the creature was the essence of oceans and sea life. Pheriss was not missing; the Eidolon was banished and its powers transferred to the beast.

Angered at the abomination, Ixaziel summoned a swarm of Dragons to slay Bhelest's creation. If the beast was killed, the Eidolons assumed that Pheriss would return to Khy'eras as spirits had in the past. The Dragons obeyed the command and for fourteen days fought without rest alongside the Eidolons. One by one, the titan hunted them. Extinction was near and when scarcely any Dragons were left, they took to the skies and abandoned the Eidolons. It was then that Bhelest seized his chance, and with the Eidolons in one place, the same fate that befell Pheriss was placed upon them. The spirit gods were exiled, never to return to Khy'eras, and their merged essences completed a five-headed hydra which the people of Khy'eras called "Nihegora".

III: Age of Dominance

Centuries transpired and the denizens of Khy'eras lived under the rule of Bhelest. As Bhelest was Human, many speculated that he would die of old age and that people would be free upon his death. But this was not the case; something about his magic had made him immortal. To enforce his dominance and longevity over the realm, Bhelest unleashed the spirits that he had caged, putting them through mutation. He used Ny'tha's exceptional magic to create a constant cover of nightfall, giving his undead army of skeletons, wraiths, and zombies extra strength and the ability to endlessly haunt the land.

While Bhelest had loyalists, there were those who wished for change and as such, wars were common events. Majority of these battles ended in Nihegora leveling cities, rebelling militias, or small towns, uncaring as to who was fighting whom and for what reason. Not so long ago, people could pray to the Eidolons, but faith in those deities was discarded. Temples were destroyed, books were burned, and voices went silent. The races were afraid that Bhelest and the hydra would hear them.

IV: Age of Valor

Often the cure for strife has a slow start and with Khy'eras, it had finally caught up. On the western coast, there was a city called "Fellsgard" that remained relatively untouched from the wars. Fellsgard was home to three lighthouses that had been turned off by the lightkeeper as no one was brave enough to venture out into sea. The owner of the lighthouses had a daughter by the name of Cecilia who was about sixteen years old. The girl had no real skills as far as combat and did not have the tactical aptitude to lead an army, but she was an inventor and had ingenious ideas.

As Ny'tha's magic was abused to shield and empower the Bhelest's terrors, Cecilia contemplated that Ristgir's magic could be integrated with the lighthouses. If only a small relic of that ancient magic was unearthed, Cecilia was sure she could devise a way to fuse that energy with the lighthouses. Confident in her theory, Cecilia departed from Fellsgard with a handful of plans scribbled on parchment with two goals: gather followers that would believe in her and search for Ristgir's essence.

Thirty-four years of expedition had come and gone and unbeknownst to Bhelest and his forces, Cecilia managed to carry out her plans and set them in motion. Cecilia's company was initially small; she traveled with a party that consisted of a mage, healer, and swordsman. They met with individuals who wanted nothing more than to be rid of Bhelest. A portion of these people held positions of authority throughout minuscule regions in Khy'eras and assembled battalions for the awakening of the lighthouses. And these comrades of Cecilia's had clues as to where a buried source of Ristgir's power might be.

While armies lain wait across the realm, Cecilia's group came upon Ristgir's temple, a sanctuary previously used for worship that was overrun by the elements and forgotten. The mage harnessed archaic energy from the ruins and the four raced back to Fellsgard, spreading word that hope had been revealed. Along the way, Cecilia had taught her party how to activate the lighthouses in the event that she was not accounted for. Meanwhile, Cecilia's allies progressed towards the city and those that would betray her informed Bhelest what was developing. With his own followers and Nihegora, Bhelest headed in the same direction and aimed to crush the city of Fellsgard. Cecilia's father, ever vigilant, waited at the top of the tallest lighthouse for her return home.

But the battle started before Cecilia reached Fellsgard and though risky, the party split up, ensuring at least one person was on their way to each of the three lighthouses. Cecilia ascended the top of the lighthouse, not expecting her father's presence. Their reunion was cut short as the battle swelled around them and at last, they turned the lights on with Ristgir's magic. When it was done, pale beams flooded the area for miles and the effect of it was excruciatingly painful for Bhelest's legions. The undead cowered and shrieked in misery; the night filled with screams. Writhing on the ground, they were further damaged when the additional two lighthouses flared alive with blinding, white beacons. Bhelest was defenseless as the masses that had joined Cecilia swarmed and killed him. With the hydra's master slain, Nihegora fled from the battle, enraged and lost in the mists that surrounded Khy'eras' oceans.

Bhelest's defeat, however, was at the cost of Cecilia's life. As the dwindling foes were dispatched, an unknown arrow was shot in the direction of Cecilia. Since she was bathed in light, the arrow struck its target and Cecilia died in her father's arms.

V: Age of Neverend

In the aftermath of Bhelest's death and the overflow of magic being released from him, phenomenon-like events did occur. New races were created and strange lands were formed. Night and day returned to the normal flow of time and because of this, the undead recoiled and fell back in ranks. The mist that enveloped the oceans withdrew a bit, but was still present. Beings of Khy'eras referred to the realm as "The Neverend" as they truly had no clue where it started or ended. Those that tried to map out the land were eventually swallowed by it.

Though free from tyranny, Khy'eras became divided by those who basked in the darkness that Bhelest left behind and those who were warmed by the light Cecilia managed to cast. There were free people as well, inhabitants of the realm who followed no one. Explorers journeyed out of cities to uncover what else Khy'eras had to offer besides war. People said that those who left found only death, but others found something else entirely - hope and adventures.