The Prologue
Before any land or sea existed, there were ten gods, entrusted with the making of a world. The first goddess, Bhumika, builds the land. The second one, Aquira, builds water. The third and fourth, the twins Flora and Rixaos, make plants and animals. The fifth one, Volaris, is air. The sixth, Quiabium, is fire.
The seventh, Memora, is memory. The eighth, Kairo, is time. The ninth, Drazmoth, the god of Chaos, was jealous, as he also wanted to join the act of creation, yet was rejected by the other gods and felt denied of purpose. He attempted to destroy the world, leading to a war, and all nine are shattered, as well as the world itself.
But the tenth god, who had survived, Pheonar, gathered the pieces and made a new world.
This time, Pheonar added the remains of their fallen siblings into this new world, which, as a result, created new life, with each tribe having abilities from the shards.
The shardless ones learned to develop and build tech in order to compensate for this.
The humans untouched by the shards established cities focused on industry and technological advancement, whereas the tribes remained living throughout the land.
Thus, the tribes arose, each shaped by the shard of a fallen god. The children of Bhumika, known as the Earthshroud, reside in the woods and deep forest, with the ability to control, communicate, and bend the land to their will. Aquira’s followers, the Wave Walkers, remain in the seas and coasts, with abilities to swim, communicate to the creatures of the deep, and influence the flow of the waters. The tribes of the twin Flora, the Wildlings, find refuge in the forest and meadows, while the sons and daughters of Rixaos roam free as the Roamers, able to communicate to and transform into their animal brothermen. The dynasties of Volaris, named the Zephari, hail the clouds among kingdoms, ability to manipulate and bend the air alongside taking to the skies. The people of Quabium, the Pyralis, make their nation within the blaze, hotter than the first flame, able to manipulate and create the flames.
The successors of Memora, the Cognari, reign over places of history and can bring history to life, manipulate, go into, or even remove memory, and have a deeper connection to the past. The tribe of Kairo, the Tempris, resides in places of time, always hidden among the sundials, the clockwork, and the bell towers, with the ability to manipulate time as well as look into the future. Yet prosperity was not universal; those known as the children of Drazmoth, the Mali, were exiled as a penalty, left to survive in barren wastelands and bleak shadows. They can cause mischief, oversee the deceased, cause wither and decay to all they touch, and are able to bring bad luck, even as far as to brainwash. However, legends say there is a tenth tribe, hidden deep in the land, known as the Revenant for the tenth God, Phoenar, the fate of which is unknown. Some say they walk between life and death, keeping the cycle in balance. Thus began Rephora, the Second World, born from shards and shadow.
But creation does not end with the living.
Yet even as the Second World took shape, not all fragments fell to earth. Some shards drifted into the space between life and death, forming a realm now known as the Veil of Echoes.
Within the Veil lie three realms. The first is the Quiet Path, shaped by Memora’s lingering memory, where souls walk until they remember who they were. The second is the Fractured Wild, twisted by Drazmoth’s chaos, where lost spirits confront the pieces of themselves that remain broken. The third is the Loom of Rebirth, where Pheonar’s light still weaves new life from the remnants of the old.
When a soul leaves the body, it enters the Quiet Path. Those who accept their life move deeper. Those who cling to fear or regret drift into the Fractured Wild. Only the souls who reach the Loom are reborn into the world once more.
Thus, the tribes touched by memory, time, and shadow feel the Veil more strongly than others. The Cognari hear its whispers. The Tempris sense its threads. The Mali slip through its cracks. And the Revenant walk all three realms, keeping the cycle in balance.
So the Veil endures, shaped by the gods who broke, and tended by those who carry their fragments.
