The world of Volkān and its inhabitants have been at peace for over 100 years now with no sign of reversing back to the old ways when the world was filled with a much more cruel reality. Since that time the worlds economy had boomed with success, people had began using magic for pure good and the benefit of others. Murder and crime was almost unheard of. The creatures of this world had bonded with humanity and had finally agreed to coexist with one another in harmony. The treasures within the realms were still being uncovered by lucky adventures and traveling merchants who happened to stumble upon such riches. Magic flowed through the world with freedom and liberty, without restriction or boundaries.
Reality was a blinding light that shined upon its inhabitants with good fortune and tranquility
In this reality, on Volkān, in the country of Zhol'n, out in the countryside rested a small village. It's most aged and wise elder sat in a wooden chair with a gentle smile on his face as he watched his great great grandchildren play with their friends. They played with water, rocks, the winds, they used small flames flames to create shows and popping spectacles. All this was used through the small magic granted to every living creature on the planet and throughout the realms. Due to The Final Horizon magic has grown far weaker and less available than before and soon there would be none of it left.
"Papa, Papa! Can you tell us a story?" The Elders granddaughter requested as she ran towards him. "Yeah yeah" said the others as they approached him. "Tell us tell us. Pleeeaase."
The Elderly man wore a bandage around his right eye to block something out. He had long white hair that went down to his lower back as well as a beard the went to his chest. He was very wrinkled and had hit the age of 137 years old. His wife had passed peacefully in her sleep long ago and his direct daughter as well. Thankfully those he loved lived on in his grandchildren and down the line to his great great granddaughter who stood in front of him. He wore a tan robe that covered his body from his chest to his calf's and he carried a cane with him so he could move around. And even in this mans old age he was still able to move by himself, though at a slow pace. He wore sandals that gave cushion to the bottom of his feet like a cloud. The man had faded scars from his younger years visible on his arms and legs and a finger missing on both hands. On his left hand he had lost his middle finger, and on the right his ring finger.
"Hohohohooo" the elder chuckled. "So you wish for me to tell a story, huh? Well how could I say no to someone on their birthday?"
His granddaughter lit up with glee and shook in excitement. "Thank you, Papa!!!" She always loved her Papa's stories.
The Elder slowly rose to his feet with the help of his cane and began guiding the children around his humble home. A very large sword, almost too big to be one, rested against the outside wall of this home. The Elder took one look at it and smiled, remembering the fond adventures the blade had led him through. "This large item is something very fond to me. It's led me through many journeys and I doubt most would have been successfully completed without it." The Elder turned to the children and moved his hand for them to sit down. "I will tell you the story of a family. They traveled the world and faced many a foe. They saw things no other person had ever seen before like other realms left untapped, beautiful shows that would make a grown man cry, battles that shaped the world and the individuals they fought beside."
"Papa-" the girl stated. "-who are these people?"
"Just 4 men who carried a very large weight on their shoulders. You see these were no ordinary men. They were powerful and got stronger and stronger to protect the weak."
Then on the the other girls interrupted. "All men? Why aren't there any women in the story? My momma says women can be just as strong, if not stronger than men."
The Elder chuckled before leaning back onto his cane for support. "Your mother is a very wise and passionate woman. You're very lucky to have her as your mother. The 4 primary individuals of the story are men, yes. However behind every great man is an even greater woman who strives him to be better for her. Without a strong woman, a man is simply just that. A man wondering aimlessly in the world. And there were many many women stronger than those 4 men. 3 of them had wives and spouses while another was assisted through life by those wives. And one day, all you young and beautiful girls, you too will grow up to become strong, wonderful women who will show the world what for!"
The children smiled at each other and then looked back at the Elder for the continuation of the story. "Now where did these men become one? How did they meet? Well allow me to take you back to the beginning."
The Elder reached his hand out with the palm upwards towards the sky. Tiny particles of pure mana glided upwards to create a screen for the children. He wasn't just going to tell them a story, he was going to give them a show. A show that would stick with each of them for the rest of their lives. Something that would garuntee the success of these young children. It all started with a Dragon. The young dragon flew through the forming universe and saw that he was lonely and stressed. To help him he decided to create two beings to help balance his universe and assist in its formation for life. One was the color of purity and beauty. An almost golden white that shined like heaven: The Creator. The other was the color of malice and disgust. A pitch black as dark as the void that the universe was taming in its expansion. The three grew to know each other very well and played for eons. The Creator and the destroyer had very simple jobs. Do as there name suggested. Create and Destroy. The young dragon grew tired and restless after the eons had passed and decided to take a long, long slumber.
When he awoke from his rest he was shocked to see his beautiful universe in complete chaos. The balance between creation and destruction was no more. There was only malice and destruction that reigned in this young universe. The Destroyer had turned against The Creator. The young dragon had put personality into the deities that best fit their job. The Creator was pure and benevolent, a being a light and joy. This personality was opposite to The Destroyer. It was mad full of malice and anger, believing itself the greater half of what the dragon deemed "Balance". It believed its own God Complex so heavily that it did what it did best. Destroy. The Destroyer killed The Creator out of its natural instinct. This upset the young dragon.
The dragon and its creation fought very quickly, with the dragon sealing away its creation rather than ending its existence as the other had done to its counterpart. The dragon grieved over his loss and began to fix what The Destroyer had caused to his universe. He made the cosmos in its beautiful designs and the homes deemed "planets" to a new creation. One that would be above anything the dragon would ever put into the universe. It would build civilizations and unique personalities towards each of its individuals. It would fly, it would swim, it would run, it would be smaller than able to see and larger than some of the mountains. Life.
Life would be its own creation and destruction. It would lead its own existence through the different paths of its own society and allow for a new creation. Love. Love was bestowed upon life so that it could spread and give the realms a newer light that shined beyond all others. This was the young dragons greatest creation and his last. It was finally able to sit back and watch the realms unravel before him across the eons. It could properly rest without the worry of its deities.
However though he lay dormant in his everlasting slumber as the universe rolled with time, so did life. Life was unique in its concept. It gained intelligence which allowed it to access its personality into much deeper roots, not always for the better. Life learned war, access to magic and the mans stream, and became a negative balance in the world of Volkān that leaned more towards battle and death rather than the love and purity that the dragon had bestowed upon them. Some even used this love as motivation to commit crime and murder and other horrible acts. They became a truly horrid society.
"Papa!" The little girl interrupted. "What does this have to do with the heroes? Why are we talking about a dragon?"
The elder man paused for a second and chuckled before pausing himself. "Well, my dear, in order to begin a story we must always start at the beginning, yes? No point in beginning a race at the finish line, correct?"
"Yeah I guess, Papa. But I wanna learn about the heroes. Please?"
"Ohohoho very well, darling. Well then we must begin with the Ampharos Mage Academy. A School that taught young students the world of magic and trained them on there wonderful abilities."
"Papa, how do you know you know so much about these things?"
He smiled at his granddaughter and stared back at the giant sword against the house with a humble joy. "Oh... I've just done plenty of research. That's all."