Story Building: World Lore 1

Starting next month, I will be able to properly have Piper playable. But in the meantime, I'm going to provide story details on what the world of this game is like and how things came to be. Of course, I won't go into things that would be a spoiler for the main story, just general history and lore that will either be found during the main game or through side events and such. Some things are subject to change (especially if I were to move away from this being a fan-Tales game), though otherwise this is the general history that shapes the world.

Origination

The story is set on the planet Anchbhaile, which was created by Origin, a great spirit born of the magic force known as Mana. Origin came to be from a collection of energy that spread across the universe until it became sentient and possessed a will of its own. They created three more spirits from this mass of mana, Maxwell, Chronos and Pluto. They each had power to create from nothing but within limitations set by Origin; who had been left weakened by the creation of their new companions and thus left the creation of their new world to them.

Origin acted as the foundation for Anchbhaile, with the intent to making it the primary provider of all mana in the universe; they brought to life more spirits born from mana, of different elements and together with the other Primordial Spirits they shaped the world they wanted to bare. Maxwell would oversee the process of evolution for the lifeforms that would form and keep record of their history, while Pluto helped to purify mana that was polluted with harmful/evil desires, and Chronos maintained the flow of time for the planet. Four of the strongest elemental spirits would be empowered and in charge of the primary forces of mana they know most.

Thus, the world began to change and evolve in accordance to the life that had been born from their craft. As spirits helped maintain mana through their own parallel dimension, the Spirit World, organic lifeforms that would become known as humans would come to learn of their gifts and work with the spirits to improve the world further.

Mana and Magic

All lifeforms are capable of producing mana in some shape or form. Just as many creatures rely on what is normally needed to live, mana is yet another part of them needed for survival. Through Maxwell, certain creatures were able to develop a special organ in their body (called a Mana Lobe) that would allow them to produce their own mana within their bodies, just as the spirits who were made entirely of it. In the past, most mana was produced by humans, the first evolved species to show the most growth in mana production, allowing them to perform various feats not possible by other lifeforms, which meant manipulating and controlling the elements.

Due to what would happen later on in history, magic would become more accessible to other lifeforms, though only one other race would reach the level of proficiency that humans have achieved. Otherwise, the use of mana is often done willingly, but sometimes unknowingly by lesser creatures. Spirits who use a lot of magic or have exhausted it to the point of passing will leave behind an essence that catches onto the soil and crystalizes. The humans can then craft them into Magic Spheres which enable them to use them without needing to use their own mana, as the spheres contain mana of a certain element that can be reused when either recharged with the mana in the air or from other sources. Using certain magic artes, in particular those that attract spirits, they can be applied to various technology, thus the creation of magitech.

All lifeforms are born with a certain affinity toward one of the four known types of Mana that the spirits embody. Although nothing can stop them from learning to control or manipulate other types of mana, they usually have the best results with what they can naturally produce. It is even possible to control mana at its purest form, to which it has yet to identify within the other types, and allows to wield magic similar to the Primordial Spirits but on a lesser scale. This type of magic is often referred to as Void Magic, as it leans toward creation or destruction.

Evolution of Humanity

While relations between man and spirit had remained healthy, mankind became less dependent on the spirits as they learned how to better apply their power to suit their needs. Although it was encouraged by Maxwell that they were to oversee their growth without their direct interference, one of them (Pluto) had grown concerned with 'how' they were advancing. While mana production had increased, so too did the need to use it given the technology involved; and with how those in power were using this for the betterment of themselves and not those less fortunate, it gave rise to tainted mana that would later be called "Malevolence" by humans, that made it difficult for Pluto to purify. While many try to outdo the cause by those in power, ultimately it was through a certain incident that lead Pluto to take some kind of action; because neither Maxwell, Chronos or the other Great Spirits, were willing to do what needed to be done, which was punish humanity.

The Age of Pluto

Because of how much Malevolence was being produced, Pluto had decided that neither he or those spirits tasked with purification, would do a thing about the rise in tainted mana. The problem with tainted mana is that the lingering negative emotions or desires of man can lead to it causing erratic or rapid change in whatever it affected. This lead to animals, plants or even lesser spirits, to undergo horrifying changes that greatly changed the world as they knew it. Organic life would undergo transformations that would not be possible without years of steady evolution or without human influence, while the lesser spirits revolted and caused changes to the environment, alter landscapes, change the weather, and demolish settlements in various ways. Within a decade, humanity had been reduced to a small handful, forced to settle within one of the oldest magic academies in the the world, protected by whatever they had as everything else was destroyed and even the land around them sank into the sea.

Toward the end of that decade, one wizard by the name of Voltanus, along with a select group of individuals that he trusted, would set out to find the Heart of the World, where spirits around the world could converge, where they had hoped to meet with whatever Great Spirit they can find to try and turn things around. While the journey was perilous, their fortune was soon found upon arrival; and although the exact details of what transpired are left unknown to the general public or kept out of reach, this lead to Pluto resuming his duties to keep the world as clean of malevolence as possible while also confining himself to his own personal domain as his own punishment for what he did to human and spiritkind. From there, all that's left is for humanity to rebuild.

To Be Continued...