Tales of Xalthia

Prelude:

Mana, the source of life in all living things. This world of Lorategia is dependent on mana for daily life. Working at a job, fighting off monsters, treating the injured even travel by land, sea and air. Mana is what drives human life and continues their advancement. It's what gives birth to not only life but magic. Mana is controlled and maintained by the Four Great Spirits. Fire, controlled by the Great Spirit Efreet. Water and Ice, controlled by the Great Spirit Undine. Wind, controlled by the Great Spirit Sylph. Earth, controlled by the Great Spirit Gnome. With the power of the Four Great Spirits, the balance between every element can be properly maintained and can be distributed evenly to all living things. However, whenever something becomes seemingly balanced, there will always be something to cause a shift in the balance, throwing everything into complete and utter chaos.

As technology and humans advance with each passing year, the amount of Mana consumed continues to increase. A shortage of Aer, an invisible force that eventually turns into the form of Mana, causes nations to seek out other methods of obtaining Mana which gives rise to conflict and strife. Those conflicts causes the balance of Mana to be thrown off which can end with dangerous and sometimes life-threatening results. Humans are siphoning the Mana faster than it can reproduce itself. Pure Mana has become such a hard thing to come by now with all the advancements that scientists have created Boosters to compensate the lack of Mana. Boosters give a person an increase in their abilities but the side-effects can be life-threatening if they're used too much. If a person uses a Booster one too many times, they will lose their life. For that reason, Boosters are only administered to military personnel and should only be used as a last resort. Everyone else had to make due with the lack of Mana themselves or acquiring yet another means of tapping into Mana; a Blastia. A Blastia is a less common form of tapping into Mana that's slowly starting to become a popular use again. Unlike Boosters, using Blastia is a safer way to use Mana as it doesn't put the user at risk of death. Blastia is more commonly used by adventurers. Others prefer to fight with their own abilities, unassisted by Boosters or Blastia.

There was an age, however, where things were much different. A long-lost age of over 3,000 years ago. Technological advancements back then were nothing compared to the current world. Skyscrapers that stretched high into the sky. Mechanical vehicles that could fly in the air. Highly advanced levels of magic the world had never seen before. Weapons that could channel magic through them to bring devastation and destruction. Even normal, common household appliances were highly advanced. It was a truly futuristic age from a distance past. This was the year 1000 and people back then lived carefree lives in prosperity. That is, until the gates of hell opened up and an endless horde of monsters came through. They laid waste to anything that stood in their path. Civilzations were toppled and peoples' lives were thrown into utter chaos. Humanity was challenged by the highly organized horde of monsters and were pushed back. As the world came together and fought, a band of unlikely heroes had formed and after much bloodshed and destruction, the monsters were defeated and its commanders struck down followed by its king that led them all. People rejoiced at a victory that was long fought and could once again rebuild their lives after having their very foundation shaken.

As time passed, the advancement of technology itself and civilization as a whole regressed. Due to the attack of the demons, much of the worlds' resources had been destroyed or used up. People would have to adapt to these new changes. It was challenging but humanity pushed on. While the level of technology wasn't the same anymore due to it being unrecoverable, that didn't stop peoples' will to live. Then, in the year 1400, a cataclysmic event occurred that rocked the entire world. The land itself began to split apart. The oceans were parted. No one knew the reason this happened and as a result, one part of the world was completely cut off from the rest due to the land splitting. It wouldn't become known for another 100 years of what the true cause behind the formation of what was known as the Great Rift truly was.

More time passed and in the year 1500, humanity would be put to the test once again. No one knew how or why but the demon lord known as Sarex, the former King of Demons that decimated the world back in the year 1000, had been ressurrected. As a result of this, there was a massive shift in the worlds' balance. It wasn't long after that when Sarex started to make his move against humanity once again. He focused on the small part of the world that had been split off from the rest, which comprised of several major continents and a number of smaller islands. This part of the world was called Lorategia and it was there that he began his plan. Only this time, he wanted to watch the civilization that had initially defeated turn on each other. Conflict arose among the people as they started to turn against one another. Brawls would turn into small conflicts. Small conflicts would turn into bigger disputes. Bigger disputes would turn into all-out war. Being the mastermind behind it all, Sarex watched in delight until he eventually made his move, leaving behind a trail of destruction in his wake.

As chaos ensued, a party of eight heroes had formed from all over and after many trials and tribulations, they discovered that Sarex was the one behind everything and was the cause of the formation of the Great Rift. With technology on rapid decline, the heroes had to resort to old traditional methods of fighting as magic was still as powerful as ever. The heroes were going to need an ace up their sleeve if they were to kill the demon lord that decimated and split the world. Thus, a special type of magic called the Sigil was created. This Sigil would have the potential to deal the killing blow to make sure Sarex would never be able to ressurrect again. There was downside to this but one of the heroes decided to bear the burden and became the Sigil Bearer. With everything they needed, the heroes set out and faced off against Sarex in a last-ditch effort to stop him and after a grueling battle, the heroes came out on top but not without sacrifice. One of the heroes didn't survive this encounter as they had been corrupted by the darkness and influence of Sarex and became their enemy. With the defeat of Sarex, the people of Lorategia all rejoiced in humanitys' victory. Peace could once again be restored to the lands.

And so, peace returned. Little did everyone know, however, that it was only temporary. In the year 2000, despite all of their best efforts, Sarex was ressurrected once more. With technology down to 75% of what it used to be, by this time, people had already taken in the more rustic, middle age lifestyle and traditions. People had long forgotten about the futuristic cities and settings that were present in the year 1000 with many believing them to be simply legends, folklore and fantasy. Magic, however, still remained in the world and with the ressurrection of Sarex, the time for a new Sigil Bearer had arose. History repeats itself and Sarex was, once again, defeated. The same would happen all over again in the year 2500. Sarex would be ressurrected and defeated once more.

Now, it is the year 3000. Lorategia's level of technology had regressed down to basically 95% of what it used to be, rendering it all pretty much foreign, alien and unknown. Despite all of the Lorategia's history with Sarex and him being ressurrected three times, people in the modern day all chalk it up to exaggeration and fairytale. History has changed so much that no one really knows what the true history is anymore, not even the most knowledgable historian. Everything that had happened to the world over the last 2,500 years wasn't taken seriously. It was a new age. Some choose to believe in the recorded history while most don't and carry on with their lives. Unbeknown to the people, however, that creeping darkness still festered. No one knew when it would happen but it was only a matter of time for history to repeat itself once more. A never-ending cycle that knows no end. For those that do believe, they remain unsure as to why Sarex continues to come back. Researchers hope that, one day, they will be able to find the reason for it and to eliminate it once and for all.