A gentle morning breeze brushes against a tall mountain in the southern side of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. That mountain has been there for countless years, and that seemingly harmless breeze doesn’t possesses any threat for a single blade of grass, let alone for the grandeur of this mountain. However,if it is threatening or not is not for them to decide.

That gentle wind which can only carry a handful of specs of dust, a couple of meters from its original position, if given enough time it can flatten the tallest and mightiest of mountains. Time, the source of life, the harbinger of death, the miracle of creation, the incarnation of destruction. Time, powerless yet almighty, intangible yet always surrounding us, finite and yet infinite at the same time.

Since the era of the True Gods no one has been able to conquer time, yet this is a history of an individual who was able to defy the rules of those True Gods, who was able to squander the fate that had been imposed on him.

In the mountainside of that tall mountain, known as Mount Gerlic, there’s a large collection of small and tall buildings which number more than eight hundred thousand, forming a large and lively city which shares the same name with the mountain at its back.

Gerlic City, one of the capitals of the Holy Empire of Ivalice, although not the biggest city in the entire empire, its location near a chain of mountains in the center of the Vadem continent gives it a strong tactical position for military purposes. The abundance of precious ores inside the mountains, fertile lands which can grow almost every type of seeds and herbs, and the fact that is in the way for numerous merchant routes that goes from east to west and form north to south, facilitated the fast flourishing of this city.

The first rays of sunlight slipped past the mountains to fall upon the land giving a definite end to the night, however, it seemed that for the denizens of Gerlic City dawn came too late because the city was already bustling with activity since a couple of hours ago. Blacksmiths hammering tools and weapons in anvils, merchants yelling at top of their lungs in the streets and in the different plazas, priests spreading their preaching, farmers plowing their lands and collecting fresh vegetables, seeds, and fruits. Almost every corner of Gerlic City was lively.

In one of the many buildings in Gerlic city there was a common bakery, there, an old woman holding a basket full of bread in her back was walking towards a counter in the outside of the building. A young attendant hurriedly received the bread basket and immediately started to sort it out. The aged woman let out a soft sigh and a proud smile covered her wrinkled face as she walked out of the bakery to inhale a bit of fresh air.

She produced a yellow handkerchief from her apron in order to wipe out the perspiration on her forehead and at the same time turned to look towards Mount Gerlic. A look of veneration filled her eyes as she eyed a huge and imposing fortified castle that covered almost all her field of vision. Old or young, strong or weak, whoever looked at Salzem Castle would feel a sensation of safeness and reassurance.

Salzem Castle is one of the four sacred places of the Holy Empire of Ivalice, only those individuals who have a great status within the empire or which are part of the Royal Bloodline would have the right to enter, even each guard and servant has some kind of special background.

This castle covers one hundred and seventy thousand square kilometers of Mount Gerlic and is protected by the most powerful spell arrays, spell formations, and the most formidable Imperial Royal Guard of the whole empire, which numbers more than fifty thousand soldiers. Even if an army of ten million soldiers wants to siege Salzem Castle, they would find it extremely difficult and frustrating.

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Salzem Castle has existed since more than ten thousand years ago and is a testimony of the hegemony of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. In its history, the stretch of the lands has been continually being pushed back and forth in many smaller conflicts with other empires, and although Salzem Castle is located in the southern border, no competent General would dare to push a military campaign through this location.

Those who were foolish enough to be consumed by the greed of conquering the fertile lands and rich mines near Mount Gerlic and attempted to siege Salzem Castle had suffered the most disastrous and crushing defeats.

Victory after victory, legends of Salzem Castle were spread to every corner of the known world. Some of this legends were exaggerated to the point of saying that Salzem Castle was protected by a God, and without the aid of another God, the result would be always the same.

There was one legend in particular which everybody loved to talk about, mothers from all over the empire would recite it lovingly to their sons with their eyes shining with hope.

During the last calamity war, the demi-humans were ruthlessly rushing a campaign from the north of the continent with an army that numbered over the hundreds of millions. The human alliance was attempting to make their last standing, but they were destined to perish against that formidable foe.

In midst of the anguish, despair, and tiredness of those valiant soldiers who were fighting in the calamity war a miracle occurred: A paladin appeared. He was matchless in combat, had an aura of an extraordinary leader, his appearance was that of an archangel untainted by the mortal world. People spoke of him as a saint blessed by the heavens with unnatural amounts of holy power, a man chosen by mother earth to rule over the land.

Not only he stopped the invasion single-handedly, with courage and determination, he changed the tide of the war completely to the point where humanity started retaliating and recovered part of the lands that were lost during the war.

His name was Titor.

After the war ended, Titor and his followers divided the lands of the Great Holy Empire and founded the Holy Empire of Ivalice. Titor was venerated like a God, and at the same time, hated and envied like a mere mortal, but those who hated him could only clench his teeth and endure their anger, no one was a match for him in this world.

Titor ruled over the Holy Empire of Ivalice for two thousand years, and then, he vanished. Some people think he transcended the mortal realm, others that he died of age, and some people thinks he is still living within the lands he once ruled. Whether any of those statements are true or false, no one has been able to prove it.

Although no one inherited his blood, before disappearing he left great legacies for his empire that would maintain the political and military stability after his departure, one of them known as the Order of the Exalted Paladins.