"It's hard to put into words just how our current world came to be. Our era, the Fifth Era, is the aftermath of a gigantic cluster-fuck of epic proportions. While it was the longest of all Era's, the Fourth was undeniably the bloodiest and holds the most prevalence in Orvonia's political arrangements. Everybody knows the Fourth Era was the time of empires, intrigue, politics, bloodshed and deception, but for what actually happened? How to say this...I guess it was lost to history?"
Alexander smiled gently at Altair as he twirled his fork in his hand. Despite only looking at Altair, he had grabbed the attention of everyone else at the table.
"If the Fourth Era was the most recent, how is it's history so deeply buried? After all, there are mountains of books and reports about it, and relics from that Era are still be uncovered today" Altair asked with furrowed brows.
Alexander chuckled and shook his head, looking at the young boy across from him endearingly. "You are so innocent Altair" Alexander stated flippantly. "What the common masses know is only what they are allowed to know: the heavily filtered truth. But it's true the framework is relatively rigid in and of itself. There were multiple Empires, the Gods did start a civil war and eventually caused the Great War. Then the Orthodox Gods eventually joined forces to push back the Secret and Sinner Gods, thus ushering in the age of modern prosperity that we call the Fifth Era."
"But!" Alexander raised his finger "What are the circumstances, the reasons, the trigger and final blow to these matters? Who did what and why? Where did the Fernandez Family disappear to, if they were the ultimate victors of the Great War? And what caused the Orthodox Gods, who had long since been at each other's throats to the point of nearly destroying Orvonia as collateral, join hands in the end? Such answers are concealed by the thick fog of mystery and intrigue, jealously hoarded by the Churches and Magi in the know."
And then Alexander tilted his head and looked between Altair and Sia in visible confusion. "But why are you asking me? House Atrazark, while not the most ancient of lineages, was still around during the Great War. You should have all the access you need to such information...yet I can read the surprise and uncertainty in your eyes. How strange!"
Sia pulled back into her chair, an uncomfortable look flickering across her face. Altair turned to his sister, looking for confirmation that Alexander was speaking true. Did House Atrazark already have such information available? Altair had never bothered to explore the family lines, so his knowledge about his own House was only slightly better than superficial. Raphaniel had also tried to keep him away from the politics side of the House, and blocked his attempts on that front.
Seeing her brother's expectant gaze, Sia flushed before stuttering out an answer. "I-it's true that the Atrazarks were a Nobler House under the Fernandez Family, and that our ancestor partook in the Great War. But knowledge about that Era is kept to the Elders. Only Mother and a select few others would know about that stuff" she confessed in embarrassment, Alexander's words unintentionally making her feel dumb.
Alexander looked down at his wrist, where a silver watch was attached. "Well, we still have a few minutes. I can tell you a few tales, if you like. Though bear in mind, my House was never able to verify these stories. What do you say?"
His question seemed to be directed at everyone, but his golden eyes never broke contact with Altair's own, a near mirror-image of golden shades.
"Sure, if you don't mind" Altair accepted the proposal casually, much to Sia's silent chagrin. She shot his furtive glares from the side-lines, but Altair ignored his sister. A first-hand recollection of the Fourth Era...even if half the stories ended up being fake, at least they would grant Altair insight into how the people of the time perceived the world around them.
"Well, I suppose I should start big: the Gods that rose during this time" Alexander began, causing Elizabeth to look over at him. 'That reminds me, Ingrid was born in the Fourth Era...perhaps Liz is curious to what he has to say about her God?' Altair thought.
"The first God to allegedly rise in the Fourth Era was Dendron, the brother of Gaia. Dendron had mostly likely served as a subordinate to the Almighty in the Third Era, since there are fragmented records of a 'God of Wood' and a 'King of Elves' after Syntharae perished. As Gaia's brother, Dendron naturally gained power and prestige, eventually founding "His" own Church. After the Great War though, "His" Church was crippled and forced to merge with Gaia's, eventually becoming the Harvest Diocese."
"The history books say Tiamat and Consus were born in rapid succession to each other. Tiamat was a subordinate of Mermaid Queen Chrystalarium back in the 2nd Era, even though "She" isn't a Mermaid. Anyway, Calypso aided "Her" to Godhood, though not without a fight from Gaia and Dendron. To this day the two parties-Gaia and Dendron, Calypso and Tiamat-hate each other's guts. Tiamat is the Goddess of Life and Femininity, which places "Her" Authorities at odds with Gaia's."
"Consus was a strange one. It is believed Nyx sponsored "Her", and "Their" Churches still has a positive relationship but "She" has never officially declared this to be true. Likewise, there are no reports of Nyx and a pre-Ascended Consus coming into contact. On that note, Consus isn't really a "She" either, but is apparently gender-fluid. Now, everything at Supreme and above can forcefully change gender, but Consus is the only Gods to not have a definite gender of "Their" own. Some records insinuate Consus as a minor Deity of Travelling in the Third Era. An interesting titbit is that Consus was neutral in the War and didn't aide Nyx or the Pallez Family."
"The final God to be born before the Great War broke out was Chanteur, the God of Dreams. "He" was a recorded subordinate of Beast King Sulyvahn in the Second Era, so "His" background is the clearest. "His" rise is largely attributed to Fallacy, though the two Gods cut off contact shortly after. A such, it is believed that Chanteur "employed" Fallacy to aid "Him" rather than the two Gods were friends to begin with."
"Now comes the juicy bits. The Orthodox Gods had joined together in Astoria to oppose the Evil Gods that resided in the Tartarus Continent. Yet at the same time, these "allied" Gods sought to undermine each other and secretly created Empires on the remaining Continents. The Fernandez Family was backed by Sol, Zephylte, Gaia and Dendron. The Pallez Family was backed by Xerxes, Tiamat, Calypso and Nyx. The Yareli Family was backed by several of the Secret Gods who sought independence from Tartarus, such as Seraphic, Jester, Chanteur and Fallacy."
"When the Great War broke out, hell followed with it. While the War was a time of chaos and destruction, it was also an period of opportunity and growth. Three Gods managed to rise through the conflict: Ingrid, Daemon and Polydorus."
"Ingrid was a purely independent Ascender that had no ties to any other God and forged "Her" path purely by "Herself." However, Ingrid's actions and rise was seen as an affront to the authority of the Gods, both Secret and Orthodox, since "She" was the first unaffiliated mortal to obtain Godhood. Despite suffering suppression from "Her" peers, Ingrid managed to to impress Fallacy, Calypso and Jester to the point "They" eventually stood up for Ingrid."
"Daemon became a God with backing from Jester and already was "His" subordinate in the Third Era. Like "His" name implies, "He" is a God of overwhelming slyness and has a penchant for deals and bargains. Of course, accepting "His" contracts will only result in a bad end. If Sol is the God of Contracts because "He" brings order and fairness to transactions, Daemon is the God of Bargains because "He" always gets what "He" wants from the deal. Like Jester, Daemon is a complete hedonist that only desires pleasure, extracted from the suffering of those below "Him". If not for "His" minimum restraint in terms of bloodshed, Daemon would be paired with Seraphic, Aenrys and Navruavati."
"Polydorus is relatively boring. "He" was already a powerful entity with a long history, and "He" was a subordinate of Morduch in the Second Epoch. After the death of "His" master, Polydorus submitted to the Almighty Primordial and eventually worked "His" way to Godhood, finally achieving it in the Fourth Epoch. Polydorus' attitude towards "His" fellow Gods is pretty negative, because "He" is a loyal follower of Seraphic, who helped raise "Him" to Godhood. Oh yes, Polydorus is also in a particularly deep conflict with Calypso and Chanteur, for some reason..."
"The Goddess of Knowledge stayed neutral during the War, while Daemon joined the Yareli Family half-way through. Polydorus joined the Tartarus Family, though "His" loyalty to them at the time has always been a topic of debate. The four sides were all evenly matched for the most part, meaning most of the War actually came down to the lower rungs: the Sacreds, Supremes and Sovereigns. All these powerful Magi fought for either glory or personal benefit, and they tore into each other."
"As the War dragged on, the weakest contenders gradually dropped off. When the conflict reached its peak, only Sacreds were left to duke it out, as everyone else had been killed or disabled. The first Family to perish was the Tartarus Family. The other three factions agreed that the Evil Gods winning was the worst outcome, so they teamed up to eliminate them first. Polydorus ended up joining the Yareli faction after the fall of Tartarus, though "He" spent most of "His" time recovering."
"After that, the Yareli Family was next. Despite the presence of powerhouses like Seraphic and Fallacy, the Orthodox Gods momentarily settled on a truce to target them. Most of the Houses backing the Yareli, and the Yareli themselves, were driven to extinction. Nowadays, the someone with the Yareli bloodline is as rare as a Supreme. The Secret Gods backing them scattered, and have not recovered to this day."
"The final victor came down to Pallez and Fernandez. What exactly went down is unknown, but the Pallez Family was beaten back and submitted, though they manage to avoid complete annihilation. The Pallez Family still has some influence in the Ouranos Continent, though they have certainly fallen a bit."
"Fernandez won the War, but not without incurring a great cost. This part of history is especially obscured, no doubt on purpose, since the last surviving heirs of the Fernandez Family "mysteriously" vanished overnight. But before any confusion could spread over the Court, the Augustus Family just happened to procure evidence claiming themselves as the new Royalty. And with the backing of the Orthodox Churches behind them, the Augusti claimed the throne for themselves."
Alexander smiled snarkily at the others listening in. "Such a strange series of events, isn't it? The Royal Family disappears and a Great House is elected almost immediately by the Gods, who should have been fixated on finding the missing Augusti instead. But of course, I'm not insinuating anything, no siree. I'm sure House Augustus came to power in a totally legitimate and clean way!"
'Your sarcasm was so thick, you could smother a baby with it' Altair muttered internally before returning his attention to his classmate. "What about the remaining Gods?" he asked quickly, aware lunch was running out.
"Ah yes, the other Gods. Metallus of Craftmanship and Weaver of Destiny. Metallus rose after the War, when the Gods and Continents were still weak. Taking advantage of the situation, Metallus quickly rose to Godhood and rapidly signed an agreement with Consus and Ingrid, essentially whoring "Himself" out. But while "His" attitude isn't very God-like, "He" managed to find a foothold in the shaken Orvonia and eventually establish "Himself" as the Orthodox God of Metal. Oh yes, before becoming a God, "He" is thought to have been a member of the Illuminative Ascetic Order."
"Weaver...Weaver is frankly the most mysterious of the Gods, even more so than Fallacy. For while the latter is the God of Madness and Mystery, Weaver is the God of Destiny and Luck. There are no records of Weaver: when "He" was born, or where "He" came from. One day there were nineteen Gods, the next there were twenty."
"As unbelievable as it sounds, Weaver just showed up one day and settled down as a God. To date, Weaver has never made an appearance in public, and only "His" fellow Gods know of "His" location. Weaver has no Church, no Cult and basically no followers either. If not for the occasional mention the the history books, people wouldn't even know Weaver exists."
Just as Alexander finished speaking, the sound of a bell rang out across the cafeteria. Alexander stood up with a smile as he picked up his tray, making to move away. "Well, it was nice to have a conservation with you all, even if I did basically all the talking. I'll make sure to collect that favour in the future, yeah?" he stated breezily.
"Huh?!"
Sia startled as she looked at Alexander with wide eyes. "What favour?! Since when do we owe you anything!" she snapped, though the uneasiness in her eyes could not be hidden by her loud response.
Alexander chuckled as he looked at Sia like you would a yapping puppy: cute and endearing. "You really didn't think I was telling you all that stuff for free, did you? You might not know it, but some of that information was quite...difficult to uncover without certain influence. As thanks, shouldn't I be compensated for my kindness?" he asked coyly.
Sia stood up, flustered, as she tried and failed to formulate a response. Watching his sister make a fool of herself, Altair sighed and also stood up. "Very well, as long as your favour isn't stupidly outrageous" he conceded, much to the visible shock of his sister.
Alexander beamed at Altair and waved as he walked away. Sia watched him go before rounding on Altair and grasping him by the shoulders. "Altair, are you mad? I'm serious, have you gone insane from a lack of social interactions, or perhaps the stress of attending school?"
Altair looked at his sister like she had six heads before shaking his head. "Of course not sister, I am of perfectly sound mind. In fact, I would say my mental faculties have only gone up since I arrived at Sky Cross, despite my extremely short time spent here" he refuted.
"Then why the hell did you agree with Alexander?!" Sia shouted in his face, shaking him back and forth like a ragdoll. Altair found himself helpless tor resist his sister's assault, though he tried to quell her rage. "He had a point though, I do owe him for his explanation. And besides, I doubt Alexander would ask for something massive. He seems to have a good grasp of the 'give-and-take' principal."
Sia released her brother and sighed deeply before placing her hand on her forehead. "That's not the problem Altair" she argued. "Tell me, do you know which God the Legendry's believe in?" she asked. Altair paused as he thought of the answer, before shaking his head.
"House Legendry primarily believes in Sol, but several members have connections to Daemon and even Jester. Do you understand now? Alexander could very well have connections to the God's of Contracts, Bargains and Mischief! That's a horrible combination for owing a debt!"