Hiraeth: Blackout (I)

Prologue

In the Beginning there was one star, so bright that she illuminated the space beyond enough for her to see that she was alone. This mother star became lonely and sacrificed herself - exploding into billions of smaller stars which were thrown throughout the vast empty space. There were some smaller than a grain of sand, and others larger than the Sun. These many daughter stars gave light like their mother; all except for one, who possessed something none of the others had - life. Hiraeth, as she would be named, could produce and harbor living beings instead of light.

At first, Hiraeth could only create life in darkness, for she had no light to give. Beings of shadow, the first "humans," ruled her frozen lands until another star found her. Her name was Sun, and she lent light and warmth to her sister. Sun's rotation around Hiraeth distributed her light evenly. This, of course, resulted in two main things: Night and Day, and the creation of new life that was not of the darkness.

Moon arrived shortly thereafter. She was a strange star, because her light was fainter and bluer than any of her sisters - reliant on other's light, which she reflected towards Hiraeth. Moon found a place near Hiraeth, as well, following behind the Sun to give light every evening.

Other stars grew intrigued by their life-giving sister, and so they decided to settle close to Hiraeth's location in space. This created a new Night sky, infinitely painted by clusters of light and darkness. The smaller stars were able to interact with life on Hiraeth by entering the atmosphere when Sun was not looking. Some of them took it upon themselves to bring magic to the beings that resided there. Others watched over the life carefully.

The mischievous stars meddled with the order of humanity, creature, power, and magic, until life became a chaotic mess of diverse subcategories. "Human" grew less and less common, and more lifeforms were now magical and humanoid. Shortly after the order was disturbed, separate cultures with their own customs and languages were established. Naturally, certain peoples began to quarrel. Thus began the First Age of Conflict.

It didn't take long for Hiraeth's life to divide. Battles were fought over territories and resources. Some beings decided they were better than others, and warred for the title of "superior."

This continued on until three rulers, deemed "governors," took up arms to fix the mess. Together, Idyll, Wondryn, and Drift's leaders established the old ten categories of beings, meant to inspire order and understanding. They also named the humanoid beings of magic "flares," and they had their own categories as well. As a whole, the new order was good, and the Age of Peace began.

It did not last long. Within a few hundred years, beings of darkness came together to take Hiraeth for themselves. They believed it was rightfully theirs since they had been created first. This marked the start of the Dark Ages. Hiraeth suffered the loss of stars and creatures of light in massacres and organized hunts, while shadows crept across the land and reached towards the Sun. Magic was weakened, Nights were dark and cold, and hope began to dwindle.

It was everyone for themselves. Crime and poverty ran rampant. Dragons and magical creatures were hunted for the resources their bodies could provide. As the lack of illumination grew unbearable by many, small creatures and jewels of light became currency.

Beings of darkness ruled everything. They were able to live without the light they were slowly quenching, growing more and more powerful with each Nightfall. Eventually, however, the reign of terror came to an end when a courageous sorceress of light defeated the Dark Witch.

The beings of darkness vanished.

The Age of Development began next, put into action by the light sorceress. This was a period of improvement on technologies, governments, and society as a whole.

Drift was the center of humanity, and did not harbor much magic, so it became the city and technology continent. Idyll, the largest and most magical, expanded in its fields of wonder. Wondryn, the oldest continent, developed its agriculture and military - but its technology did not advance in time with the rest of the world.

During this period, there was a swift re-organization of history, mathematics, time, and languages - made possible by the beings of light who had established themselves in their conquered counterparts' absence. Years were divided into Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Starscend. The global language that had been enforced during the Dark Ages was made easier to write and speak, and words from old tongues were slowly integrated. Lost languages reemerged and received preservation.

The Modern Age began seventy-odd years prior to the start of this story. This age brought about the finalized recordings of history, the new nine categories of powered beings, and cures for ailments, diseases, illnesses, and curses.

The beings in this age of technology are consumed by the Divide, using categories and species as a means to segregate and drive one another apart. The most downcast include creature beings, those who don't fit into a category, humans, and the few beings of darkness left.

It is in Wondryn that this tale begins.