The name Arkana was by definition the equivalent of saying secret. Something that very few knew about. The Arkana world or dimension was just that. Quite similar to Midgard in many ways. But Midgardians had no idea of its existence.
The Arkana had many different races... different magic... and also different kingdoms. The predominant race in this world was humanity. The two major Continents (Western and Eastern Continents), divided by the Great Sea, housed the sum total of humans that existed.
Other races included different breeds of beast-men (they were a minority that in most cases preferred living in their own society, away from humans) and the giant race that was believed to be extinct. There were a small group of people that believed that giants had found a way to remain hidden from humanity... a way that involved their own particular magic. The giants of myth, according to the Arkana's most ancient history books, were quite proficient in magic. Each giant was said to possess a very particular form of magic, which they were able to unleash to crush their enemies. Some even believed that the first giant, Og, carries the world over his shoulder.
Two other races had much rarer appearance rates in the Arkana: The Angel race and the Demon race. No one had seen or heard from these races in thousands of years. It was believed that they were extremely active in the days of the War of Magic, which occurred ten thousand years ago.
Contrary to popular belief, the Demon Wars that occurred over 152 years ago didn't involve any actual demons. The kingdoms of the West joined forces to exterminate the threat of Dark mages who were corrupted by the powers that they sought to obtain.
The true origin of the demon race was never clarified by textbooks. But there were rumors saying that the angel race was created by a supreme being responsible for all of existence... a supreme being known as The One.
In the Arkana, the Western Continent was well known by all. It was the most densely populated. Several kingdoms dwelled in it, but the most influential of them all was Dalmacia: known for keeping the peace and justice in the land. The Kingdom of Moriah to the south was an isolated one. In the past, they attempted to expand their lands and influence but were defeated by Dalmacia. Sylar was another kingdom located to the south of the Western Continent. Its king, Bedivere Ambrosius, was regarded as the greatest swordsman to ever walk the Arkana. His kingdom was on good terms with Dalmacia.
The people in the West knew next to nothing about the Eastern Continent. Travel to and from it was not impossible, but incredibly dangerous, since the only means that was accessible for people was a long travesty by sea. People were afraid of an illness that would take those who dared sail through the Great Sea, pairing them up with their maker sooner rather than later. The illness was called pellagra, which made the afflicted feel both seasick and delusional.
Over at Dalmacia, it was recently learned that there was, in fact, a very powerful military force in the East fixing on expanding across the Great Sea. The Kingdom of the Reach.
The kingdom of The Reach was located near the southernmost part of the Eastern Continent. It had a massive fortress in its capital, surrounded completely by elevated mountains. There was no way for an invading force to get the jump on them. They had never been invaded in all their existence. In the age of conquest, they were the ones doing the invading. That is how they basically took over all the kingdoms of the Eastern Continent.
The current ruler of The Reach was Aurelius Maximus. Some said he was born to be king (the Maximus dynasty had ruled The Reach for countless generations).
Besides his royal lineage, Aurelius was always a man of great ambition. At age 15 he murdered his best friend when he discovered he had a crush on the same girl he liked. Some say he killed his own father because he couldn't be bothered to wait for the succession to occur naturally in order to receive his moment to rule. This has never been confirmed, though (the ones responsible for carrying out the investigation mysteriously disappeared).
To our standards, we might consider Aurelius to be bad, or even label him as evil. But others might say he was a visionary.
Compared to Midgard, The Arkana was way behind in technology when it came to most aspects of everyday life. But Aurelius had always been a curious man, and as such, prone to perform and conduct experiments that would further enhance scientific knowledge.
Ten years ago, scientific knowledge would take a wild turn in the Reach kingdom. Whether it was for the better or not was debatable, but with the new man in charge, Doctor Hyde Park (most generally known as Doctor HP), a great deal of research beyond most people's wildest dreams would be underway. His life's work was understanding monsters. He had led many failed attempts at cloning and learning to communicate with them. But after many failures, he managed to successfully create a mutagen that could turn humans into monsters... and in most cases, it turned out to be successful.
The transformation process didn't always work. At times, a subject's transformation was effectuated, but the subject also would expire in the process. Apparently, something to do with blood type and the intricacies of the subject's DNA. Many subjects died while this mutagen was being perfected. Of course, all the test subjects were human. They were all unwilling participants that had the misfortune of either being born poor, having a criminal record, or simply not being in Aurelius' good grace.
King Aurelius wanted to try out this mutagen serum on a larger scale. As an experiment, he ordered it to be discretely administered in a nearby town. And so, on a dark and stormy night, an airship released the mutagen amidst the storm, over the clouds. The locals noticed something odd about the rain and after realizing its strange effect, believed it to be some form of a plague. Over the course of a week, many people got ill and died. Others went insane. But some were transformed into something else... something inhuman.
Not yet satisfied with the evolution and application of the experiment, Aurelius still funded its development. The serum was perfected within 4 years, and The Reach began creating monsters out of prisoners and homeless people. These monsters were then added to the military, serving as an imposing asset to The Reach's forces.
The Maximus family had an heirloom that was protected even more than the treasury. A magnificent weapon that seemed eerie and other-worldly in nature. It was known as the Demon Halberd. Aurelius used to meditate in the hidden chamber behind the throne room with it in his hands. Some guards would say that, at times, they could hear the sound of the king laughing like a maniac when they were on guard duty. The guards that originated the story were never heard from again, by the way.
Aurelius had a great interest in the occult. About five years ago, he used books of forbidden knowledge in an attempt to make contact with other dimensions out of pure curiosity. Such curiosity led him to stumble across a so-called Dark Dimension, also known as Skotia, from which a strange voice spoke to him:
Demon: I have seen you meddling in the dark corners of my home, Aurelius. If you let me in, I can lead you to more than what you could ever possibly achieve over two lifetimes.
Aurelius: Who are you?
Demon: I am Barbas. And I'm your ticket to becoming the Emperor of The Arkana.
Aurelius: Emperor?
Aurelius' eyes were shining. He could picture it. Millions of people crying out loud "Long live Aurelius, Emperor of the Arkana!" He felt as if it was what he was born for.
Barbas: Yes... What do you say... King?... or should I say… Emperor Aurelius? Do you accept my offer? Would you let me in?
Aurelius: ... I accept! Why be the king of this wretched land when I can rule the entire Arkana!? Yes! I can see it now! This was the reason I came to be... It is the purpose I have been longing for all my life... I will not resist destiny!
And so, Aurelius started demanding to be called Emperor. He became quite proficient in Dark magic pretty much overnight. It was evident that something had happened to him... something unnatural. His subjects feared him even more for it.
He began aggressive preparations in the military and focused solely on readying his armada to take over the Western continent. His forces had already occupied all known lands in the East. He knew that conquering the West was going to be a challenge, which is why he decided to wait until he had completed all preparations before waging war.
Legend and the others thought they only had to worry about the Four Fiends... that alone would have been enough of a burden. But shortly they'd realize that there were more immediate threats to life and peace in the Arkana.