Lore of Spira Chapter 1 - Creation
In a pocket dimension the fae can be found. Full of mischief, laughter, dancing, singing with no fear of evil, corruption, or darkness. The fae come in many forms from little sprites and pixies that dance about with wings, to the beautiful nymphs and the dryad spirits of the trees, satyrs and fauns that like to frolic and play, sing beautiful ballads and attempt to woe the tree spirits with wine and song. There are also the elegant many kinds of elves, seelie, and unseelie – all that grace this hidden dimension unseen by the mortal eye. In amongst all these two fae met, one the beautiful, kindhearted, and caring Titania and the other the mischievous, creative and ambitious Oberon. There were sparks from the moment they laid eyes upon one another and it was soon a given that the two could not be apart from one another. As with most what seem to be happy ever after stories, this particular fae couple were crowned the king and Queen of the fae realm. Chosen for their qualities and characters as they were looked up to for wisdom and knowledge, blessed by their kin to obtain powers nearing that of divinity.
Not long after Titania had a wondrous idea - to create a land that mortal races might flock to and live within. Oberon joined her in her quest, first they needed to harness the four elements needed as the building blocks of life. Earth to shape the lands, water to bring the land to life with oceans, rivers, lakes, and ponds. Fire to begin the cycle of life as flora and fauna began to flourish. Finally, wind to lift the sky islands high off the ground and surround the enchanted forest with a veil against lesser creatures that might ruin the balance of this new life a little too soon. When all was complete, and a beautiful landscape awaited to be explored, Titania made it possible for the mortal races to find it in their travels. She would make them feel welcome. Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Beastfolk, and more built settlements and began to call Spira home. It began to thrive, while Titania nurtured the friendships between the mortals and the fae alike.
Oberon was not finished however in creating, he used the earth elemental to crack open the bowels of the earth, forming an abyss of blackness which he called Purgatory. This concerned Titania as there was something very wrong with purgatory. Dark whispers were now heard, and the peacefulness that was felt throughout Spira began to fade as humans started to give into their darker desires. Fearing that Oberon might misuse the other elementals she began to bind them one by one into statues. She started with the Earth elemental, but Oberon saw this as a personal attack on him, he lashed out in retaliation by attacking the new settlers on Spira – sinking their place of worship in to the depths of the soil.
Oberon retreated into purgatory and blessed it with his powers. In the darkness something chaotic touched him, whispering doubts and causing his anger and jealousy to flare and pricked his pride twisting him from the happy fae he was, into a dark creature that was sinking more and more into the inky darkness he started to call home. Here, down in the ichor, Pan was born. From his new home he could see all of Spira and began to plot ways to kill off the mortals that Titania had come to adore and love. The fae Queen saw how his taint was reaching the mortals through the waters that flowed through the land so she next bound the water elemental so his poison couldn’t seep any further throughout her creation. While she was distracted with water Pan shifted his attention to the once glorious desert and struck it with wild sandstorms of heat and death, almost obliterating the proud desert tribes that had called it home. Titania quickly bound the fire elemental but not before Pan had corrupted it. She then swiftly moved to harness and bind the wind to the statue upon the cliffs, in an effort to cease Pan’s destructive impulses.
Being unable to use his powers of creation, Pan sought out other ways to hurt Titania and the beautiful peaceful fae lands of Spira. Overnight, he sank Emerald Island into the ocean and gathered the corpses of the dead to form a colossus that would toss the great swords that decorated the once the city walls of the sunken land, waging war upon the sky islands. Great chunks of stone and earth fell to the land below, threatening the lives of the settlers and fae folk that lived on the islands together. Titania was forced to put on her armor and fight against the Colossus that threatened the realm. Showing that she was truly the Queen of the fae, she struck the colossus down and realized she would have to do something truly terrifying to fully bring Pan to heel before he did anything further destructive.
Titania gave the ultimate sacrifice. Surrounded by her handmaidens and those she trusted, she bound powerful magics into the simple veil that had up until now been protecting just the lush forest from mortal’s greed for poaching the land excessively. In this moment, as she started to shackle Pan with her very own life force, she ascended further higher, beyond fae, beyond godhood, reaching the very stars briefly as a celestial being. Pan fought her, struggling against her as she held him in her arms and wept as she whispered words of love for the fae who had been her king and her love. Her magic empowered The Veil, causing it to sweep over the whole of Spira, locking it protectively away from Pan’s touch. The Dark King, on the other hand, was dragged down into the very abyss he had created and was bound down there, locked away unable to reach out and harm fae or mortal that lived throughout the realm of Spira. The Veil itself requires an ample supply of power to fully activate – so it took from all the inhabitants that called Spira home, using their strengths and powers to form a great protective barrier all around the desert, the isles and the hidden dimensional pockets. It also fueled and concentrated the elementals locked within the statues, to such a point that pocket elemental dimensions were created for the elementals. These dimensions gave them a sense of freedom within their own realm, close enough to protect Spira, locked up so they could not be harnessed or corrupted by any other being that might come across them.
Many of the great heroes, mages, scholars, among others, mourned Titania’s death, the elves and fae alike sang a lament as her body was carried to its resting place. Even though Titania was gone, her touch upon the land and in the veil remained strongly in place. Time did not stand still, settlements rose and crumbled, empires were created and defeated. Spira was marked by ruins, rubble of ancient temples, castles, long lost temples. The Veil remained, standing strong, few now remember how the Veil came to be, even fewer can tell this story to the new stranded travelers that continue to arrive within the lands - stripped of their power as the veil feeds off each of them as they cross it, and at times even their very memories.
Among those travelers came a Mage who stumbled upon this mystical fae realm. He felt the effects as his once grand gift was ripped from him and he had to relearn the wild fae magic the land offered. He sought to understand, to learn of Spira’s past – finding bits and pieces like a giant jig saw puzzle. He spoke to the last original inhabitants, capturing their various abilities and memories into stones once he learned how to harness life force and memories. This mage formed what was to become known as Mors Magi with a single goal. To learn all there was to learn about the lost realm and find a way to go home. He left these crystals and stones scattered about to try and help other travelers and then he vanished. All knowledge of him was seemingly lost to the ravages of time.
Spira remained locked in its own mysterious little bubble, away from other lands and realms. Travelers were able to reach it, but found after arrival, they could not leave and became the realm's prisoner. New generations have come, and new adventurers now seek to learn of Spira’s many secrets.
In a strange land, surrounded by strange creatures. This is where you find yourself, regardless of how you arrived, or if you were even born here. This is your new beginning.