A Dark History
Before the creation of time, space, magic, and the planes there existed seventeen beings of immense power known as the Zodiacs.
These powerful dragons came together and birthed the cosmic background energy that all known things are composed of: the Ether, raw magical power. The Ether spawned countless beings of higher power, and during the early ages of their turmoil the world of Vathis was born. Multitudes of races, cultures, and walks of life were established on Vathis, and in their fledgling years an ancient war brought the gods themselves to the walk among their mortal creations in a fight against an incomprehensible evil.
A meteor of zodite crashed into Vathis and covered the world in ether storms which plummeted the global temperature to frigid depths.
Magically-powered lightning and a rime born from this impact ravaged the civilizations and crippled the use of arcane magic, which persisted for centuries. As the glacial event began to wane, various nations secured their places of power when the advanced races of Vathis were gifted with magical sigils during an event known as the Starcalling. The Starcalling imprinted individuals with a single symbol denoting the power of a Zodiac, and these branded people came to be known as the Starcalled. Starcalled creatures are either born with their sigil or develop it over time, allowing them to act as beings outside of the shackles of fate. They are destined for fate-changing actions or developments that alter the destinies of people, kingdoms, continents, or even entire worlds. Sigiled creatures tap into a direct line of power to their patron Zodiac to manifest incredible ability and enact changes to their environment. The Starcalled families placed their stakes in the ground and made their territorial claims, bringing the nations as we know now them into being beneath their banners. The Zodiac Empires were born.
The Zodiac Empires progressed as civilization tends to, with the expansion of territories, creation of trade agreements, marriages, religious spread, as well as endless feuding between peoples.
This progression continued at a slow pace until the discovery of a magical crystal, named eldria. Eldria changed everything. The world of Vathis was forced into an age of rapid industrial expansion which created inventions fueled by the vast source of power found in the crystal. The greatest invention the world had ever seen was born of this discovery, the airship, which created not only new pathways for trading, but also brought another tool for warfare and destruction. As old ties threatened new alliances and the tensions of the world rose to a boil a devastating global conflict occurred. These disagreements brought nearly every nation in the world to arms at once, and ended with the utter dissolution of an entire nation of people. The destruction of this country, Elessar, laid the foundation for an even greater conflict yet to come…
