1 – The Everlasting and the Relics

In an age long since past, the Everlasting, divine beings of unfathomable power, descended to the world of Agnar from their celestial realm. First, they created great tools with which to shape reality and anchor the chaotic primordial state of the world into one of their liking. These were the Everlasting Relics. To ensure that their grand vision for the world would come to pass, even in their absence, these gods decided to imbue mortal beings with part of their power and knowledge. They took those who lived there and changed them, uplifting them by giving each a divine purpose. The Humans, the Oerikan, the Erisyr, and the Vulkir were each given the responsibility to guard and maintain the Everlasting Relics. The Everlasting themselves tutored the first Wise Ones, who erected great empires to honor their masters. 

In this golden era, mortals learned how to perform great feats of magic, and the wisest among them were granted a piece of divine power. The Everlasting taught them how to forge lesser Relics, allowing them to become partly divine themselves, and greatly expanding their powers. Satisfied that they had found worthy keepers for their grand vision, the Everlasting returned to their celestial realm. Although these gods have been gone from Agnar for many millennia, their return is prophesied, anxiously awaited by some, and dreadfully feared by others. Who knows how they’ll react to the horrors the world has suffered in their name?  

The age that followed the departure of the Everlasting came to be known as the Age of Relics. As the centuries dragged on, the bearers of divine power faltered in their duties. Some died, and their power fell in the hands of the unworthy, who were uninterested in following the path laid out by the Everlasting. Others became zealous fanatics, interpreting that original message to fit their own convictions. This was an age of war and turmoil, as the great empires warred with each other, using the power of the Relics to advance their own goals. Magic that was once reserved for the wise, was now used by the blind and ignorant. Each was certain of their convictions, of their right to rule and impose their will on others. All the while reality itself suffered silently in utter agony. The power of the Relics was meant to bend reality, but its thousands of years of misuse risked breaking it altogether.

After ten thousand years, one empire stood triumphant. Having conquered much of the world and captured the Everlasting Relics from other empires, the Astarian Paradux ruled supreme. From their capital city of Osterath, the Astarians ruled by Relic power, bending people and the land alike, trying to create a world worthy of the Everlasting so that they may return. They would do this by whatever means necessary.