Phoenix Caged

In the beginning, when the world was fresh from the womb of Phoenix, upon it lay heavy a future filled with unforeseeable wonders. A lush, verdant paradise, the world seemed to sparkle with a heavenly radiance.

Together Phoenix and Dragon created their children: plants, animals, and finally man to act as the shepherd of all creation. In those days, humans lived close to both their animal companions, as well as their creators, walking close with them as friends and siblings.

As time passed, the closeness between men and the gods faded, as Phoenix and Dragon became focused on other pursuits. Man discovered fire, technology, and then sorcery. In time, the arrogance of these sorcerers grew to the point where they began to view themselves as great powers and masters over the creatures they were supposed to protect.

Paradise ended when two powerful sorcerers became jealous of the other’s gifts. It is unknown which of them struck the other first or why precisely, but they scoured each other’s homes with their magic, unleashing plagues, demons, and the elements.

It was the first war, and the results are readily apparent still. Magic stalked the land like a living creature, blighting the earth, scarring man and plant alike, and living little of the once beautiful paradise but a waste.

His reasoning is unclear to us today, but one of the mages cast a spell intended to draw Phoenix herself to him with the intent to trap and siphon off her powers to re-forge himself into something like a god. However, before this process could be even initiated his rival discovered his plans and staged a direct battle, interrupting a critical sequence and the spell. With his attempt to capture the magic for himself, the entire sequence exploded.

It is said that Phoenix herself lashed out at these two foolish mages, even as the spell whipped and tore at her essence. This final desperate duel between the rivals ended in an instant, with both suspended in a moment of time. They had achieved their immortality, but were cursed to stare at each other, incapable of movement or purpose.

The obsidian tower in which this final battle was waged is thought to stand even now, high in the mountains within a black and forbidden land saturated in unholy energy. It is further believed that Phoenix is still trapped within, chained and perhaps dying, but none have been able to free her. And many have tried.

With the throes of his bride, Dragon moaned and receded completely from humanity, leaving them to their wastelands. Without his guidance man fell into a long period of rashness. The dead within blighted lands began to crawl from their graves, seemingly intent on perpetuating the destruction initiated by the two sorcerers.

From the ruins, however, came the new races. The daiharu and theru, named for their traits in an ancient tongue long forgotten. As both of the new species were immune to the effects of the blight and therefore incapable of becoming the ravening dead, and with those same accursed monsters growing more prevalent and cunning with each passing day, many of the humans turned to the protection of these new races. Other humans turned to a wild and feral path, clinging to their ancient cultures and trying to restore a broken world.

It is now the eighth millennium since the final stages of the war that cursed the land, skies, and waters. Nature has begun some manner of restoration, turning back some of the blight that has deeply scarred the world. Humans still desperately cling to safety in the arms of the more powerful races.

But little else has changed. The frontier is vast and powerful; the tribes cannot guarantee the safety of those who drift from their influence, and the undead blight lands and people alike, leaving nothing but death in their wake.