fef8 lore v2

THE CREATOR:

When the Creator's Palace fell down from the skies, the Creator was already dying. Therefore he created the Humans similar to his own visage, and their pure hearts and their melodic chants were to heal his dying carapace. Alas, it was not enough.
The Creator was doomed to die; and so, he has created the Angels that were to guide and protect the Humanity, the Children of the Creator, so they may flourish and never forget his name.

THE ANGELS:

The winged beings of immense power and knowledge, the Angels are protectors of the humanity. All of them lost their bodies of flesh upon the destruction of Xalar, but their spirits live on as the marvels of the Magic. Zorostrian Empire enforces their worship while client states let everyone decide if and which Angel is to be worshipped and how. The names of the Angels and their Revered Titles are as follows:

Angelos, the Divine Messenger of the Angelic Council
Mystus, the First Magician and Master of the Trinity
Choron, the Caretaker of the Sun and Moon and the Keeper of Time
Judicus, the Eternal Judge of All Affairs
Leoni, the Wielder of the Tongue of Flame and the Angelic General
Gaab, the Tamer of Giant Beasts and Dweller of the Underworld
Arche, the Angelic Singer and Explorer of the Stars

THE ORB OF ETERNITY:

When the Creator perished, the Angels have taken dust of his body and molded it with the crystal to create Orb of Eternity. It is said that as long as Orb of Eternity will be whole, the Humanity's fate would be secured in peace and prosperity.
But mere five centuries later, the Orb have been seized by the evil Xatar, who then shattered it against the ground.

THE XATAR:

When Xatar first came, he was akin to an Angel; he guided the humanity, but he did it with blood and force rather than word and magic. And lo, under his advice, Zorostrians begun the Great Conquest; their huge armies conquered or destroyed lesser kingdoms, before the Angels heard the weeping of the innocent and fell upon the world in rage.
Xatar thus shattered the Orb of Eternity, causing the beautiful Arche to weep; the furious Leoni to roar; the loud Angelos to grow silent first time ever. The Humans, pure and constant in worship, wavered and changed; hatred, lust, greed, pride, gluttony and sloth have entered their hearts, and they began to quarrel amongst each other, and look for Xatar for help in mastering their newfound emotions.
And the Angels chased Xatar to the very peak of the Mountain of Sibil, and there they have torn him to seven pieces, while he killed all seven Angels with his dying breath. And so the Mountain of Sibil have crumbled, forming what is known the Grey Wasteland, where no plant nor animal is able to survive.

THE ORDERS OF THE ANGELS:

When the Angels have perished, many Humans formed Orders that were to uphold the virtues and values that the Angels have been spreading for centuries. Of the seven Orders, the order of Leoni is the most powerful one, followed by Order of Mystus and Order of Arche. Crusaders and Bishops bring order and peace under banner of Leoni; the scholars study and propagate magical knowledge under banner of Mystus; and the gifted bards and dancers provide strength and happiness to all bearing the banner of Arche.
The other four orders are very small and devoted to only scholarly research on the virtues and magical runic inscriptions of Angelos, Choron, Judicus and Gaab, because after the death of the Angels, many of artifacts they bestowed upon Humans have shattered or crumbled to nothingness. All these Orders and the Artifacts are kept under the sacred vigil of the Zorostrian Empire.

ZOROSTRIAN EMPIRE AND RESTORATION OF THE ORB:

Zorostrian Empire have not forgotten the Creator nor the Angels. While the emotion-less past of perfect peace was lost forever, the Zorostrians were not going to surrender themselves to despair and death. Thusly reconstruction of the Orb of Eternity have begun.
For eight hundred years since the Shattering, the Zorostrians have scoured the lands and seas for each and every piece of the Orb they could find; from the tiny shard found on the remote, unnamed island in the east, to the large crystal taken from the treasury of King Adonis after Battle of Hundred Days, the Empire has been cataloguing and bringing together the Orb.
So far, they have gathered six hundred and twenty pieces of the Orb of Eternity, alas, they ran out of places to search. The Orb, as tall as a human, is still missing a piece - or several pieces - of the size of a human head.
For the past fifteen years, not a single piece have been recovered.

THE SIGN OF DOOM:

A new threat have arisen in the skies; a Crimson Moon, glowing brightly with blood, began its approach to the world. It has a menacing aura about it and it has color same as Xatar, leading many to believe that it is a lost piece of his gigantic body, and it is going to destroy the World, and the Humans, the Children of the Creator, along with it.
It is still far but close enough to cause disasters; floods are greater than before, storms on the sea vicious than ever; diseases harder to cure; and winter becomes harsher and darker with each passing year.
But from the Order of Angelos came a prophecy, claiming that 'One Sphere shall shatter the Other', and many claim that it means Orb of Eternity is going to destroy the incoming Moon before it falls upon the world...

ZOROSTRIAN CLIENT STATES:

From the times of the Great Conquest, not many foreign nations have maintained their existence. Those conquered now remain mentioned on the map of the Empire as large cities; those which have certain autonomy have their borders within the Empire.

The Abbi Tribes: Abbi were great horsemasters that migrated from the west in the very unfortunate times - times of Great Conquest. Brave and stubborn, the Abbi managed to elude captivity for long time, before finally succumbing to the Zorostrians only after few decades of constant warring.
Nowadays, the Abbi trade their horses for freedom; the ever-growing military, be it Zorostrian Army or the Order Militia, require strong and fast steeds, bred by the horsemasters of Abbi.
Abbi people have no capital; their tribes are constantly on the move, following their horses. The only settlement in their territory is Bazaar; large trading market, where horsemasters trade with foreigners from all over the Empire.

Miccah: Miccah is a small kingdom ruled by descendants of Miccah the Thunderrider. Miccah was the first human ever to tame a wyvern, back when wyverns were breathing thunder and causing storms with the flutter of their wings. Zorostrians never conquered Miccah, the fearsome wyverns and treacherous mountains were too much for the Zorostrians.
Unfortunately for the Miccah, Zorostrians were relentless, and with each passing year, they've conquered another settlement, another garrison, another mountain watchpost. Fifty five years have passed before Miccah XIV have decided to yield; in return for ending to the conflict, he would pay tributes to Zorostrians and grant them wyvern trainers and wyvern eggs. His decision, and inclusion of Wyverns into Zorostrian military, had grave consequences when it came to certain nation on the other side of the continent.
It needs to be noted that the Zorostrians never entered the Miccah capital nor learned of their location; any diplomatic meeting is held in one of the border outposts, and Miccah soldiers and traders swear to never divulge the location of their capital. Somehow, either by extreme willpower of the Miccah peoples, or by huge amount of luck, the mystery of the Miccah capital was never revealed.

Kingdom of Kovalia: Kovalia was a peaceful nation of artificers and magicians, before Zorostrians, driven by the Great Conquest, came knocking to their borders. The strong smiths and wild magicians have maintained their flank pretty well, especially with the help of their renowned steel and agile pegasi.
Alas, all came to an end when Zorostrians have been given Wyverns by the Miccah. The winged, scaly wyverns were more than a match for the fragile pegasi; the powerful jaws of the reptilean mounts tore apart both the winged horses and their riders. In less than a year, Zorostrian Empire took control of more Kovalia than it did within last decade.
In the face of looming destruction, Kovalians followed Miccah steps and gave Zorostrians the pegasi, as well as control over most of the steel industry, and married their Princess, Estella, to Zorostrian Prince Tollos. Since then, Zorostrian Princes are bound to marry Kovalian Princesses every three generations, with only four exceptions noted in the last eight centuries.

Shari-Val: The only 'truly' independent nation, Shari-Val is a nation living at the vast swamps of Waterlands. Thick forests and murky swamps buried Zorostrian soldiers, while the thick mist lingering over the land denied both pegasi and wyverns possibilities for effective strikes. Zorostrian military was stumped before they decided to inflict as much damage.
It was few months that the Shari-Val people remember as 'The Heart Fire'; settlements of Shari-Valians were burnt to the ground along with their inhabitants and livestock, and the charred ground provided dry land for more Zorostrians to invade deeper into Shari-Val. But then, Xatar was defeated, Zorostrians cured of their madness, and Shari-Val counterattacked.
Bloody and numerous were skirmishes of the two nations before Zorostrians settled for a truce. Since then, Shari-Val is 'considered' a client state of Zorostrian Empire, but only on paper; in fact, the nation of swamp people has the greatest autonomy of all, with only a small garrison of Zorostrian soldiers, and Zorostrian Advisory Council, residing in the capital of Sharia. Nowadays, Shari-Val people keep to themselves, thriving on exported herbs and lumber from their swamps.