Only a couple of things before we get started:
First thing: this fiction is set around 20 years after the events in the game. I do have to set some things up before we get to that actual setting, but no worries, that will happen next chapter.
Second thing: This here is my very first fiction, so any pointers from you experienced FanFicers would be most appreciated. I feel really stupid on this site for some reason.
OKAY! Let the words flow!
Prologue: The Moonless War
Historians called that turbulent time the "Moonless War." Sailors recall that the era changed the face of Arcadia forever. Pirates saw it as the death nel sounding for their very existence. The violent end of the era known as the "Age of Pirates" brought about by the heroic deeds of Vyse the Pirate King and his crew was many things to many people. While perhaps not a war in the traditional sense, what with no nations battling over land or other such issues of national interest, battles were fought, armies clashed, and people died. Why it was called "Moonless" was relatively simple; the people of the world cast aside its lunar affiliations in order to stop a threat to all life. People fighting from all corners of the world to stop a single evil, national pride playing no role in the end; this was the reason learned individuals began to refer to the period of the Pirate King's adventures with such a name. Additionally, the events surrounding the rise of Arcadia's most notable swashbuckler signified the turning point in the direction society traveled on a global scale.
Withered and broken by strife, catastrophe, and battle, the world's two great powers, the fiery lands of the red moon, Nasr, and the incandescent lands of lightning, Valua, much needing respite after a long and grueling feud, turned inward to rebuild and focus less upon weapons, more upon industry.
Much of the Valuan navy had defected to join Lord Admiral Galcian in his bid for power, and in the following battle that resulted in his demise, that very navy was nearly wiped out. The prince-turned-emperor Enrique de Val immediately set out revising the expansionist policies put in place by his late mother Empress Teodora I, pulling significant funding from his now miniscule navy. This in turn was focused into rebuilding both cities and society.
Normally such a drastic change in policy would not go unhindered due to the ruling noble class in Valua; however thanks to the Rains of Destruction called on by Galcian, a grand majority of the ruling class perished, along with a third of Valua's populace. The result left a nation crippled and lacking leadership, something Enrique's brilliant rule aimed to rectify.
The land of Nasr was better off in some ways to Valua while in many others far worse. The Nasrean Navy was crippled thanks to the acts of Galcian and his men. The final battle was even more devastating to the navy of the Red moon due to the inferior technology and numbers of the Nasrean navy compared to Galcian's. The capitol city of Nasrad was also nearly completely obliterated, along with the royal line of the Nasultan, the ruling family of Nasr. Only two of the 30 sons of the Nasultan Amr III survived the assault on the capitol, both only children. This pitched the political climate of Nasr into a hotbed of unrest that rivaled the very influence of the Red moon that watched over it.
Neither son was capable of leading, neither son was even a decade old, thus causing retainers to vie for power on their behalf. Many power hungry men of the upper class began to battle for the throne, splitting the lands of the red moon into feuding city-states. Any chance for a unified Nasr in the years to come quickly shattered when what remained of the navy was split among the feuding lords.
While the lands of the Yellow and Red moons turned their focus inward, trade between the two nations also curtailed. Valua was in terrible need of construction materials, particularly lumber, a resource that Nasr sorely lacked in any exportable quantity. The demand for quality goods such as the fine Nasrean cuisine and carpets that once flooded Valuan markets dropped sharply in the next few years following the fall of Galcian. Though Nasr did have another resource Valua craved in its reconstruction; stone, particularly sandstone, limestone, and granite, the land of the Red moon had a significant need for the building materials as well rebuilding their own capitol city to its former glory. This caused little more than a trickle from what originally would have been a flood of goods to Valua. The lack of exporting from Nasr destroyed its economy, which was already being ruined by its feuding lords.
The resulting cease in trade also affected other parts of the world. The city-states of Mid-Ocean, who depended heavily on the intermediate trade between Valua and Nasr, began to feel the pinch in their own coffers. This lead to many merchants and sailors attempting to seek new trade routes from both Ixa'taka for its nearly inexhaustible supply of lumber and Yafutoma for its technology. New routes were found, weaknesses in the once thought impenetrable sky rifts were finally noticed, shortening the trip and pumping new life into the small islands under the Silver moon. These new routes all eventually lead to Valua, which was more than capable of generating the required funds in its restoration thanks to the large veins of gold that ran through the thunder struck lands in great abundance.
The increased trade with both Ixa'Taka and Yafutoma caused great leaps in industrial growth for both lands. The people of the Green moon quickly realized that if not capitalized upon, their lumber and lives would once again become hostage to the less than honorable. After all, where one can make gold, greed is sure to follow. The Ixa'takans quickly took charge of their resource, restricting logging to only certain islands and carefully cataloging its export. This was done in two ways: one, by agreement with Emperor Enrique, trading services for technology, ships, and mercatile aid (the Ixa'takans were still somewhat naïve in regards towards modern economic concepts) for shipments of green moonstones and lumber. Valuan scientists discovered that though they made poor fuel by yellow or red moonstone standards, green moonstones fertilized soil. Since Valua was a very rocky and somewhat barren, agriculture was very difficult. By sowing green moonstones into cleared land, the ground would be able to yield. The Valuan Emperor planned to allow the previously infertile land that covered a majority of the continent to become fertile, allowing his nation to become self sufficient and aid in exporting goods to other lands. Secondly, the Ixa'takans hired many mercenaries to help train and man their new fleets. A majority of the mercenaries hired were once blue rogues who had fought against the old rule of Valua.This trade increased the military and technological prowess of the Ixa'takans. Where the once amiable people were a pushover for even the smallest of war vessels, they now sported a powerful navy backed by a strong economy.
While the sudden shift from relatively low to high tech in a matter of only a few years created much discord among those under the Green moon, the people of Ixa'taka knew that if they did not stand up for the forests, they would soon be in a situation similar to their enslavement towards Valua left them only a few years earlier. The traditional desire to respect and protect the forest was balanced with realization that utilization of such a resource would not only further their goals towards their forests by opening new possibilities (i.e. the trade deal with Valua) but launched the Ixa'takans to even greater heights in monitoring their lands.
Yafutoma, unlike Ixa'taka, did not hold vast quantities of untapped natural resources. Instead, Yafutoma sold sold it's technology. By trading the engine designs and capabilities along with processing techniques for blue moonstones, Yafutoma quickly became a land associated with technology. Floating platforms and gondola's became major fashion statements for the affluent, something that was common place in Yaffutoma. The blue moonstones from the land of the Blue moon also were a precious commodity to sailors. Where previously water was difficult and bulky to store, nearly 10 times the amount of a single barrel could be stored in a single moonstone, allowing more convenient storage of the crucial liquid. With a simple incantation, the moonstone could release its contents before being spent. Engines with Yafutoman upgrades became available and highly sought after, only increasing the coffers of the formerly isolated nation. Yafutoman culture was also highly sought after by the affluent. Colorful silk robes called kimonos were all the rage for wealthy women, and "Far Eastern" cuisine even more so with the general populace.
Under the rule of Lord Daigo, Yafutoma's relations with the other lands flourished, and soon the land of the Blue moon became much the envy of the rest of Arcadia. With his nation being the only one that did not suffer heavy navy losses during the end of the "Age of Pirates", Daigo quickly set about forging new trade routes to the rest of the world. Punching through or simply going over sky rifts allowed hundreds of new routes to be discovered. Along with the new routes, new islands for settlement were also discovered. Outposts were founded, and soon the safest trade anywhere on Arcadia could be found in and around the lands of the Blue moon.
Nations and societies were not the only things changing on Arcadia though. With a new rule in Valua, Blue Rogues lost a major source of income. Since there was no "Evil Empire" to steal from, many Blue Rogues resigned themselves to hunting down Black Pirates. Coupled with the rise in Yafutoman Naval presence, Black Pirating soon became less and less profitable. Black Pirates soon became very rare, and putting the honorable Blue Rogues back at square one. Some attempted the life of a Black Pirate, only to fail, others became cargo freighters or mercenaries, selling their services to companies and navies.
Within a decade, the "Age of Pirates" ceased to be. What this new era would be called, one with expansion and trade that had been unprecedented in the world since ancient times, no one really knew. The world was changing at an incredible pace. Powers shifting, nations rising and falling, new lifestyles rising to replace old, all because of the actions of a man known as the Pirate King.
I hope that was not too boring. It was a necessary evil, and I hope that yall realize why. I had to set the social situation. Besides, you couldn't possibly expect the world to remain practically the same after people began figuring out it was round and technology spread, right? Well, there will actually be people in the next chapters, from now on in fact, with only minimal social discussion (I say minimal, but I do not know how big it will really be when I really get going) and nothing like this. Out with the macro in with the micro!