Prologue

~<(0)>~

The world rotates without a care for any thoughts of its inhabitants, or what anyone else might think, for that matter. It is thought by many that such a statement is the undeniable truth, and that nothing anyone could do could possibly affect the movements of the planet. And yet, while the world still rotates and orbits around the local star on schedule, in the distant past of life on this planet, the inhabitants had caused a massive shift to the world. The world was called Gaia and had been called as such for as long as recorded history, though an outside observer, not that any existed save for the gods, might recognize it as being one in the same with the recurring planet called Terra. And, as with each instance of Terra, so too was it seeded with life by the great goddess Kasira, by way in part, of a special crystal known as the Eye of the Goddess.

Sometime during the tumultuous history of the world, many fantastical creatures sprang forth from the wondrous wellspring that was the bountiful gift of the Eye. Of these, the elves took it upon themselves to be the keepers of the Eye, protecting it from those that might seek to misuse it or damage it. It was unsurprising that they took this opportunity they had grasped, and researched this lifegiving crystal, tapping its bounty of magical energies. During this research, they set their sights on a goal, and though the intervening time was set with trials and discoveries, that story is for another day. In the end however, they succeeded, and on the day they activated the spell, the day that would in the future be known as “The Day of Awakening”, magic sprung forth into the world with great abandon, forever changing the planet of Gaia.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

~<(0)>~

Deep underground, the leylines crisscrossed the planet like a spider’s web, spreading magical energy from the various leakage points that the Day of Awakening had opened up to the ethereal plane. Some points were beyond physical, traveling through solid rock and soil, others were caverns that accumulated excess magical energy and grew pure thaumic based crystals. One place, a convergence of many leylines, was a great cavern, formed over the course of millennia, by water carving its way through the substrate like the unstoppable force it was. On the Day of Awakening, nothing much changed. With the passage of time, massive amounts of magical energy flowed through this cavern, saturating the air with its presence as not all of it continued onwards. Crystals grew on every surface, filled to bursting with thaumic power. But still, even as this residual energy collected and crystalized, more collected than could be suffused into the growths. Gelled magic collected at the very bottom of the cavern, and over the years, this puddle grew to a pool, then a pond. Then it was only accurate to refer to it as a lake. And, due to the sheer size of the cavern, the great underground lake of gelled magic became a sea, filling up nearly every empty space, right to the top of the cavern, with ancient stalactites poking below the surface of the sea. Thus was the largest concentration of magical energy in the entire planet created.

From beyond the veil of this realm, a seed slipped through the cracks and into this world. This wasn’t a seed in the normal sense, that of the embryo of a plant. Nor was it seed in the sense it was reproductive material between two creatures of the same species. No, it took aspects from both, and neither at the same time. It was not a physical seed, nor did it come from anything that could be considered a parent. What it was, was life, or rather the potential of life. It settled into this sea, and was permanently coloured by the concentrated magic, taking it on as its defining aspect. A small sphere formed within the sea, and ever so slowly, the level of the barely liquid magic started to lower.