The magical continent called Altea is a place where various intelligent races and creatures live. The basis of everything is mana. It is a magical energy that is in the surroundings, but also in every living being. It can also be given to items by someone using magic or being near a place with a lot of mana. A large amount of mana in the surroundings causes magic that can change the environment or beings nearby in any way. Altea is a land stretching from mighty mountains in the north through uninhabited ruins in the east, full of impassable forests west and the most populated south and center.
Altea is inhabited by Aisens, Gruns, Dragonits and Nords. All these reces are descended from the original population of the Altea- Alts. Thanks to this, everyone speaks one language. There are many different dialects of this language, but even in extreme cases they are generally understood. Over the years, the influence of mana and the place where the Alts' groups lived influenced their appearance and the characteristics they acquired.
Aisens are a race with light skin color, blue hair and eyes of various shades of green. They are characterized by high agility and speed, which they owe to the delicate physique. They have a unique talent for archery.
The Nords resemble the Aisens in appearance, thanks to which both races live together. There are mixed pairs, whose children, depending on their appearance, are classified as one or the other breed. Nords are better built than Aisens, with different hair colors, but all have brown eyes. They are distinguished by their extraordinary condition and endurance in comparison with other breeds. Nords and Aisens have a sense of superiority over the other races.
The Dragonits, on the other hand, possess the blessing of dragon's blood. Thanks to this, they own a second heart on the right side and dragon scales on the body. They possess hair the color of their scales, as well as golden eyes. They have a huge amount of mana, which makes their blood extremely desirable by other races, because the common offspring has the potential of both races. The Dragonits themselves, in turn, prefer the purity of blood.
Green-skinned, red-eyed with an athletic appearance and black hair is a description characteristic of the Gruns. They are stronger than other races and like to act in a group. The rest of the races stay away from them because of their appearance with lower canines protruding from their mouths.
In addition to the descendants of the Alts, there are also magical creatures. They were divided into two groups: mythical beasts and magical beasts. Mythical beasts are those that do not have their roots in ordinary animals, they were born of magic. Examples include dragons, phoenixes and golems. Magical beasts, on the other hand, are creatures transformed by, and able to use, magic. These include, for example, lunar wolves or solar lions. Magical creatures are endowed with great intelligence, equaling and often even surpassing the descendants of the Alts. They are not hostile to others as long as no one threatens or attacks them.
As the numbers increased, so did the number of contacts between the races. Initially, it was mutual examination, and even trade or attempts at cooperation. Unfortunately, the differences between the descendants of the Alts over the years began to lead to conflicts. Small squabbles turned into battles, and battles into wars. Deepening mutual hatred and hostility towards each other led to a lack of mercy for the defeated, genocide and slavery. Over time, even racial community proved to be unsustainable and there were divisions within a given race. This only added even more chaos to the lands of Altea.
The main force in wars were warriors. They did not know how to use magic, but they were trained in combat. Magic was reserved exclusively for shamans, which could only be a person who sensed mana in the environment.
This situation lasted for millennia, and the blood spilled combined with magic gave birth to miasma, a negative magical energy that led to the mutation of magical creatures into aggressive and bloodthirsty beasts called Raksa. In addition to the change, there was also a decrease in intelligence, compensated by a significant rise in mana. Over the years, the Raksa have grown in number and their power has also increased. They attacked others in groups of a dozen or several dozen beasts. One larger group was able to threaten cities without special protection. The rate at which their number grew, and at the same time the strength of the four races decreased, meant that all races were threatened with extinction.
Aware of the danger, the leaders of the previously conflicted races gathered together for the first time in millennia. They knew that individual groups, or even races, could not cope with the threat. They decided that the shamans who knew magic best would meet and try to find something that would help in the fight against Raksa. This event went down in history as the "Birth of the Mages". Until now, shamans could only use mana from the environment. However, they developed a ritual that made it possible to use the mana found in the shamans themselves. This made the magic they used many times stronger. Additional life expectancy has increased significantly, and the aging process has slowed down. Using your own mana also made it possible to create new, more powerful and versatile spells. They also stopped being addicted to the mana around them. However, not every shaman could become a mage. Only people with enough mana could become mages, otherwise the ritual led to death. Just a quarter of shamans became mages.
Despite these limitations, the addition of mages to the fight, in place of shamans, still made the scales tipped in Maji's favor. Four races began to refer themself by this common term. The initial victories began to fill the population with the belief that all was not lost and that they would not be devoured or torn apart. Unfortunately, along with the successes, old conflicts and animosities returned. The alliance of races became less and less secure, and the Raksa again inflicted losses on Maji. As a result, the popularity and recognition that the mages gained were lost by them. Ordinary Maji began to accuse them of not engaging enough in the fight against Raksa and focusing on the competition of groups of mages for power and wealth. Mages began to meet with resistance from the local population for their activities, whether it was against Raksa or other mages. The situation was getting tragic again. The number of victims of demonic beasts, as Raksa were also called that, grew faster and faster. Mutual accusations of lack of cooperation and blaming each other for failures only made the situation worse.
Everything changed with the enormous tragedy that is still called the "Week of Silence". One day, the largest city on the continent, Arda, was attacked by a horde of Raksa numbering hundreds of creatures. This was the first such situation, because demonic beasts had not gathered in such large groups before.
Arda was a unique city, because it was inhabited by representatives of all races. It was a remnant of the times when dialogue prevailed in relations between Maji. Despite conflicts, wars and mutual hatred, Arda was for millennia a place where four races coexisted together. The city had tens of millions of inhabitants. By comparison, other large cities on the continent had only a few million Maji each.
When the mages arrived, they found a sight out of horror. The water in the river turned red, there was a strong smell of blood and corpses in the air. Torn bodies, scattered even a few hundred meters from the borders of Arda. Streets strewn with the bodies of defenseless residents. Many corpses were without limbs or had bite marks. There were also traces of magic in the form of burning, ice or magic blades. The sight of the city made the support which arrived, lost their voices, and some even went crazy at the sight of this gruesome view. After news of the massacre spread throughout Altea, the bustling continent fell silent for a few days, only to erupt in fury.
This time, the feuding Maji really decided to postpone their disputes until Raksa was defeated. Now they were united not only by a sense of common danger, but also by a desire for revenge. For the mages, the destruction of the demonic beasts became an obsession to erase their guilt for the tragedy in Arda. They engaged in a competition for wealth, power, and allowed old animosities to emerge before defeating the enemy. The new motivation and full commitment caused the Raksa to be decimated, but this time there was no relaxation. Mages, with the support of ordinary warriors, sought to finally avert the danger from Raksa.
In the north of Altea, near the Tartus mountain range, the last group of demonic beasts gathered, numbering more than seven hundred creatures. There was terror among them, fear of their own destruction. As long as the Maji were at odds, they were easy targets. Suddenly, they became a weaker side. Raksa had no definite goal, their only desire was destruction, but now they also wanted to survive. It caused a change in thinking, a need for evolution. However, they no longer had time. An army of ten thousand mages and as many warriors approached Tartus Mountains. The time has come for the last battle in this conflict, dubbed by descendants as "The Mountain Storm".
It began inconspicuously by observing each other for a few minutes, until finally the mages cast powerful spells, which led to the formation of huge electrical discharges within a radius of tens of kilometers. Some of the mages had deployed shields over the united forces a moment earlier. After a momentary stupefaction of Raksa, they proceeded to attack. Fireballs, ice daggers, air blades, and lightning started flying back and forth. Warriors also began to fight the beasts. Powerful explosions caused both sides of battle to be scattered in all directions. There was a smell of blood in the air, and the ground was swarming with the corpses of the warring parties. It took ten mages or fifty warriors to kill one Raksa. However, numerical superiority began to do its part. The Maji dominated the battlefield, and the number of Raksa began to melt rapidly. Finally, the first escapees appeared. Despite many efforts, it was not possible to catch all scattered demonic beasts. They took refuge in areas where miasma was too strong for the descendants of the Alts.
After this victory, Maji's leaders met to discuss continent's situation after the devastating struggle with Raksa that lasted more than 400 years. Everyone was sure Raksa couldn't be allowed to reproduce again. They decided to build outposts with permanently stationed mages near places with a large amount of miasma. For this reason, over time, these outposts began to be called the mages' towers. The duties of the mages, besides fighting Raksa, were also to search for and train their successors and to support the local rulers on whose territory the towers were located. In return, the mages received several privileges: regardless of race, they could move between territories, the areas around the towers became the property of the mages stationed there, they gained a privileged position over the ordinary population.
All the leaders also decided to limit the use of mages in military operations. This was caused by fresh memories from the battlefield and the destruction that a large army of mages could cause. One territory could set up a maximum of a thousand mages in its army. Violation of these restrictions was to be associated with the punitive expedition of the other rulers of Altea.
Having accepted these provisions, the leaders of the continent returned to their homes in the hope of a period of peace that would allow the wounds of Raksa to heal. These events took place five hundred years ago.