Hello, all 12 of you, Elementals fans. This is Donniedrako15, and I'm officially back to grace you all with the present of my presence once again. I'm sorry I took so long of a break, and to make up for my mistake, I've decided to make it up to all of you by showing you another up close guide to the world of Terra. I've been debating about this subject for a long time since, on the one hand, I should be able to describe the world by myself while at the same time, and I don't want to shoot my foot by sucking all the "mystery" of Terra's world. On the other hand, though, I have a lot more factors in favor of this. For starters I just blatantly don't have a more visual medium like a book or manga to carry out my message, I don't feel confident that Aphele and the gang will visit every single province in Terra by themselves and I feel like this basic overview will help both you and me as the story continues while giving me just enough freedom for more elaborate reveals. Plus, there will be a little bonus scene at the end of this series, so look out for that. With all of that out of the way, let's finally delve into every crack, crevice, nook, and cranny of the lovely world of Terra!
Note
This guide will be the first of a multipart series that will describe more of the world of Terra (less elements and elementists, more history right now and then geography). There will also be a picture at the very end to give you my interpretation of what Terra should look like (though this is going to be pretty bad, not going to lie). Some information will be repeated, but most of this will be new information.
History
Origin
As you know from Tales of Terra Part 2, Terra was formerly created around 3 billion years ago when Terra escaped into our world and sacrificed herself to create the universe as we see it now. While this is how the world was made, many individuals in Terra have different theories on this phenomenon. Either way, some studies, and relics have been made more recently to support this belief a little more strongly. Overall though, Terra is profoundly dead with her last dying embers existing in various he forms, the most direct of which is how her "true element" (i.e., creation) has been divided into the elements that we know today.
Early Terra
An age of almost horrid simplicity, many of the monsters that you see now (goblins and giants) of the like were nothing more than simple creatures in their devolved states. While every creature in Terra could use the elements, Humans had adaptability and versatility on their side, creating an immediate apex on the world. However, despite all this, the elements as you know them now are very limited with only Fire, Light, Water, Earth, and Air existing at the time.
Province Era (100,000 to 50,000 B.G.W.)
Tens of thousands of years later, Humans and monsters have grown to the point where humans all over the world carved out pieces of Terra to create the provinces as we know today. However, this led to many of the Provinces being incredibly hard to control. This lack of communication and emphasis on expansion also led to these provinces being isolated. Monsters at this time were largely used as livestock/pets in this period.
Age of Elementist (50,000 B.G.W- 100 B.G.W.)
Because of the large territories, it was hard to govern them, leading to many bandits, mercenaries, and criminals. Certain monsters were also becoming more wild and aggressive To combat these various threats, a legendary hero known as Béni (blessed in French) would spend the remainder of her life to set up the current Specialist Union. She was also notable for being the first documented sighting of a "blessed" in Terra's history. A "blessed" is essentially a person (so far only human) that was born the closest to the "true element," granting them the ability to wield all the elements. The phenomenon itself is so extremely rare that some doubt Béni even was one in the first place, instead, faking it all to serve as a symbol of unity to other provinces.
Either way, her creation of the specialist soon led to the creation of the modern-day elementist, which in turn caused an era of peace within the separate provinces. This increased interactions between the provinces soon led to the mixing of cultures (all except the Light Province for later reasons), which in turn led to the further development of fusion and sub-elements for recreational use.
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The Awakening Period (100 B.G.W. to Grand War)
During the last century before the Grand War, Terra went through a chaotic shift. While very little documentation of the event, many historians in Terra have found this to be the most accurate retelling.
"It was a phenomenon so appalling, putting it into words wouldn't have given it any justice. The starry night sky I had seen countless times was decorated was bathed in a golden hue. But most surprising of all, the force was anything but alien. Down to the very cell, I felt this force connected me to the world and me to it. And after what seemed like an instant eternity, the golden night vanished in a rainbow-like shimmer. In that glow, all I was left with was a pen, which would soon be my most precious object."
The script was made by Cervantes (named after the star named after the writer Miguel Cervantes), who not only became one of the first to wield the Galaxy element; But one of the greatest writers in Terra's history. His centuries-old words were so full of life; his readers could feel the story as if they were there. Many others, like Cervantes, soon started to sprout throughout Terra. Half of the then gigantic Fire province was covered in the mile-long roots of the then Yggdrasil sapling, which later caused the Nature element to be born. A former nobleman of the Light province was soon exiled from his homeland after turning his family into a myriad of different minerals. This man would later go on to rename himself Trik (trick in various languages) as he went on to found what would later be the Mystic province. And finally, there was Prima(literally one freaking word from primal since I"m lazy) angered at the increasing abuse of civilians under the protection of corrupt specialist, developed a legacy that evolved into 100 different fighting styles, which would later become the modern-day Spirit element.
Combine all of this with the evolution of recent monsters into the more sentient ones we see now, and it was only a matter of time before all these calls for induivality caused the greatest conflict in Terra's history.
The Grand War (0 to 500 A.G.W.)
The positive and negative aspects of the Grand War left on society were massive and innumerable. The heavy discrimination monsters have faced in light of their recent evolution can still be felt to this day. Other elements, like Spirit, Mystic, and Darkness, have also faced incredible hardship. However, these trying times created numerous opportunities for these monsters and newer elements to develop in both culture and strength. This growth was so great in fact that it led to the many provinces you see now. Century by century, the war carved into Terra, creating terrible weapons like the Ravagers and weaponized crystilia. Eventually, one man was able to end the war in just 15 years. Using the split up provinces to his advantage and monsters as a scapegoat, Lord Granius managed to control most of the world by the war's end. Which brings us to...
The Granius Regime (500 A.G.W.-530 A.G.W.)
Three decades of tyranny followed, with countless inhuman atrocities following in his wake. The man was able to gain some of history's greatest evils, giving them free rein of their baser instincts, a clever strategy to further restrict all forms of freedom. But even in this seemingly hopeless abyss, hope still grew. And this hope manifested itself in the form of the Elementals: Scarlett, Caliber, Umbra, Apalla, Dmitri (male version of Demeter), Dorn (fist in Irish), Cosma, Mar(water in Spanish), Jimit(amulet in Indonesia), and their leaders, Gaea and Allt (all in Swedish). These 11 induvals risked their lives for five long years, finally ending Granius' reign as the first prisoner in the Forbidden Realm, at the cost of one of their own. First-hand accounts from the Elementals have stated that the scroll that grants access to the realm was another one of Granius' dark experiments that they just happened to get to first. Using this grand scroll, the Elementals proceeded to imprison all remnants of the Granius empire to create the.
The Elementals Era (530 A.G.W. to present 581 A.G.W.)
In the decades to come, the Elementals started to govern over their respective provinces with a peace that hasn't been seen in ages. While the scars of the past are still ever more present, Terra remains as united as ever. Over time the Elementals have also elected and nominated numerous individuals to guide their decisions as the current uncertain future of Terra gets closer every day. For now, it's up to the powerful specialists and elementist in the here and now to battle them against the various factions that were released from the Forbidden Realm.
Epilogue
I hope you all enjoyed the first part of this series, but with that out of the way, there will probably be at least two more parts before we go into the main story once again. See you then.