From the days of old

• Valley born. Aspects of physical world born (Kairos, Tellura, Phoenix, Ferus, Essos). Portals to afterlife spirit realms created (Eternity and Abyss).

• Humans entered the Valley. Humans are well... humans. Good at first but then got greedy and messed everything up. Lots of destruction of the Valley, throwing things out of balance, war, greed, etc etc. Humans eventually eradicate themselves cause of their own greed.

• Valley in disarray. Aspects take pieces of themselves to make Gods to assist with returning the Valley to a balanced state (these are the individual Gods of each faction).

• Valley returns to good state! However, one Aspect, Essos, pitches idea that they shouldn’t just have reign over the Valley, they should expand their domain. Other Aspects boo them, Essos is butt hurt and starts throwing a tantrum by secretly killing other creatures and eating their souls and returning chaos to the Valley and disrupting the balance once again.

• Tellura x Phoenix OTP.

• Essos has a piece of them that gets separated and remains within the spiritual realms. Estis is created, shepherding souls both torn by Essos and those that passed from other causes. Remains within the spirit realms.

• Essos is found out by Tellura. Essos panics. Essos kills Tellura by consuming her soul. Tellura falls into ocean. Phoenix finds out and rages and burns away ocean to look for Tellura (pst this is future goldenwind). Finds her bones. Gets sad, rages some more and makes some tunnels, then just goes to sad sleep.

• Essos gets more hungry for more souls, wants another Aspect soul. But when waiting for the next opportunity, gets found out by Ferus when trying to munch on one of the creatures she lives with. Small fight, Essos tucks tail and runs.

• Ferus goes to tattle tale on Essos to Kairos. Estis remains within her realm, still “young” and not able to help but gives them a thumbs up. Ferus/Kairos go to gang up on Essos to tell them what’s up. They find the equivalent of a rabid squirrel. Big fight!

• A mist emerges from Essos and seeps into Kairos and Ferus. Everyone goes crazy now! Everyone fights each other! Much destruction. Much death.

• Kairos snaps out of it and does the surprised pikachu face at how much they’ve all destroyed of their Valley. Says bro we gotta stop this and siphons power from Phoenix’s resting body to have enough strength to stab Essos and Ferus and force them both to take a long rest. Except Essos is very weak and just dies like a pleb.

• Kairos and Ferus go night night. (Kairos is still siphoning power from Phoenix btw, and now Ferus too)

• Gods just sigh with their hands on their hips like “well shit, gotta clean up this mess” and disperse themselves around the Valley to repair it. (where they settle is where the current factions reside!)

• Lots of darkness lingered within the Valley for a time, and a being of shadow is created. Corvus, a false-Aspect born of the despair and chaos of the Valley, emerges. Corvus wants control of spirits. Slaps Estis in the spirit realms and kicks her out of her spot, forcing her into hiding within the spirit realms.

• Estis sad and misses souls. Dream hops to see what’s going on while she hides from Corvus. Becomes Aspect of dreams and nightmares.

• No physical realm Aspects = weakened connection to Eternity and Abyss. Physical portals to them falter and eventually disappear. Corvus and Estis now trapped within their realms.

• Valley is still in a repairing state, and there are lots of points when the balance is disturbed. Gods aren’t as chad as the Aspects, so it’s a lot more work for them to repair and maintain the balance.

• Scene.

Several eons prior to game start

• The Valley is created by the shifting of the Earth’s plates, driving mountains and cliff sides apart until a vast landscape is created between them with a southern coast.

• The Aspects of the physical world are born from the natural elements of the Valley, sworn to its protection and longevity.

• With the birth of the Aspects, reigning over the physical realm, two portals were created as life began to seep into the Valley. These lead to the Abyss and the Eternity, the resting places of the holy and damned souls, and became home to the afterlife. The portals allowed for any still living creature to step into these realms.

• Various animals populate the Valley, predator and prey alike. There is an understanding that those who prefer the taste of flesh are only to hunt the sick and elderly, so as to preserve the populations and future of the grass eaters.

• Man make their way to the Valley and create nomadic communities.

• Some humans create religions and cultures built around the Aspects.

• Several hundred years pass since Man’s first arrival into the Valley, and it is brought to the Aspects’ attention that they have begun hunting more than they need, and are hunting anything they come across rather than the sick and elderly.

• In this same time, Man has begun to prefer settlements over a nomadic life. They have started to cut down excessive amounts of trees and plant life, sometimes even resulting to burning the forests to clear the way for more buildings.

• Man begins to learn how to morph the Valley to their vision. While still peaceful with one another, they have sought out new ways they can adapt the natural order of things to better benefit them and their future generations.

• The Aspects attempted to intervene, and while godly in their strength, it was no match for the indomitable human spirit that had grown rapidly amongst Man, and many turned against the Aspects, angry at them for their refusal to use their abilities to help Man control the Valley.

• Persevering through the Aspects’ attempts at repairing Man’s damage, they continue to evolve. Several millennia pass, and the wooden homes turn to stone. The ores harvested from the stone are crafted into protection and tools.

• These new resources begin to make Man crave more. They wanted to know what more the Valley could provide. They began to grow possessive over whatever sources they had and claimed them for their families and communities only.

• Those who had the highest supply of these natural resources quickly rose in power, realizing they could control others by giving or taking that which everyone sought.

• It was not long before the metal tools were crafted into weapons. Those who did not have enough resources to sustain themselves and their future had grown pushy and no longer asked but demanded that those with their resource power share it. These weapons were the first that spilt Man blood into the Valley’s soil. Those in power drove their swords into the hearts of those with less.

• This newfound source of control and power drove Man to desire more. Why stop at what they had in their own territories, when their neighboring ones had enough to last them a lifetime?

• War was quick to spread across the Valley. They expanded quickly, pushing and morphing their territory lines, taking more lives, seeping more Man blood into the Valley.

• Since the first drop of Man’s blood touched the soil, the Aspects had felt as though a leech was slowly draining them of their strength. They knew what ability they had would not be enough to stop this. 

• The Aspects turned to those who crafted religions around them, visiting the temples crafted in their honor, sure that those that idolized the Valley’s protectors would be eager to side with them. They too though were not safe from this spreading greed and wrath.

• The zealous began to demand the Aspects to grant them a fraction of their strength so they may rid the Valley of those who had turned their backs on the Aspects so long ago, to cleanse the Valley of these sinners so the self-proclaimed holy may dominate the land.

• Deeming Man incurable from what plagued their minds and drove them into this madness, the Aspects had begun to formulate a plan to exterminate all of Mankind from the Valley and release it from their rotting grip.

• Man themselves though would prove to be their own undoing. They were driven further and further by the need for more, and cutting down anyone who stood in their path.

• Those who were at the “mercy” of those in power with the control over the Valley’s resources turned the swords that had been pointed for so long at them towards the self-proclaimed monarchs. The common folk were the ones driving swords into the hearts now.

• Paranoia and chaos broke out. Man turned on one another, distrust spreading like wildfire. They would not share even with their own blood, which often led to their deaths. Some could not even trust their own minds.

• Slowly, Man undid themselves. Before the Aspects could step in to try and cleanse the Valley of this rot, they found that the only cure for Man was Man themselves.

• It did not take long before kingdoms and communities crumbled, leaving behind an eerie quietness to much of the Valley. The only ones who remained were the nomads who managed to keep themselves excluded from the chaos of Man’s greed, the only ones who maintained the same mentality as when Man first arrived in the Valley. Their time left in this world was limited though.

• When the last Man in the Valley let out their final breath, it was as though the Valley took its first in several thousands of years.

• The Valley was left in a state of disarray. The stone buildings still stood, forests still cleared and burned away, the animals struggling to maintain their populations. The Aspects, though weakened, vowed to reverse the calamity Man had brought upon the Valley, and craft it into a better version than what it once was.

Several eons prior to game start

• Following the events of Man, the Aspects found themselves overwhelmed with the amount of work the Valley required to return it to its flourishing and thriving state.

• Unable to complete the work that needed to be done on their own in their weakened states, the Aspects took pieces of themselves and crafted “children”. These children, simply called Gods, were created with the task of assisting the Aspects with their duties in maintaining the balance of the Valley. They were not as powerful as the Aspects themselves, but they still held more power than the normal creatures of the Valley.

• The Gods did not come specifically from one Aspect or another, they were created from several pieces of each Aspect. In this, they assisted with all tasks of the Valley; the creatures, the changing of the seasons, the sun, life, etc.

• These Gods spent several hundred years working alongside the Aspects to restore balance to the Valley

Several millenia prior to game start

• Several hundred years after the events of Man, the Valley begins to balance out again. Nature has taken over many of their old stone structures, their flesh and bones melted into the soil to nourish that which they destroyed for new life. The Valley generally begins to heal and move back to an era of peace.

• Though still weaker than their initial states, the Aspects gain some strength back thanks to the health of the Valley, directly influenced by its state.

• All of the Gods and Aspects generally work alongside one another, working one area at a time to correct it.

• As the Valley inches closer and closer to the lush and lively state it had been in prior to the introduction of Man, Essos, the Aspect of Life, suggests to their fellow deities that they should expand their domain. With the addition of their Godly children, they are working faster than before, and have more eyes and more hands to spread their work. Essos’ argument was that the Valley should not be the only one to benefit from the work they were doing, and they should seek new lands to take over and allow them to benefit from their power.

• Essos’ plan was immediately rebuked by the other Aspects, chastised for their thoughts that would not only disrupt the delicate balance of the Valley by removing the ones who worked to maintain it, but also force a break in the balance of other lands far beyond their home if they were to insert themselves.

• Essos sunk back to themselves. Angered quickly by their fellow Aspects’ sharp disapproval of their ideas, Essos sought an outlet. Turning their attention down upon the Valley, their eyes which previously saw all sorts of opportunity for new life and growth now saw opportunities to mangle and crush, snuffing out the light that the other Aspects protected.

• Essos, previously associated with light, morphed themself to hide within the shadows of trees and rocks and other creatures. They watched and waited, like a hunter stalking their prey, and whenever they could they would split the soul from the physical body of healthy creatures or lead them to their demise for other creatures to do their bidding, consuming their souls and sending them directly into the Abyss.

• Stories began to spread of “The Soul Eater” that forcibly separates souls from their bodies and devours them into the Abyss.

• When Essos became this new being of Death, a part of them separated itself and emerged within the spirit realm. A new Aspect, Estis, becomes a shepherd of the souls Essos forcibly tore away from their physical forms, and of those who passed from other causes. Estis resided purely within the spiritual realms of the Valley, awaiting new souls that she may help to guide to the Eternity or the Abyss depending on what was determined of their nature.

• A darkness spread over the land as Essos cast their shadow of chaos upon the Valley. It was unexplained for a time, Essos learning to slip under the radar and keep away from the watchful eyes of the other Aspects, and the Aspects began to investigate what was becoming of their land.

• Of the Aspects within the physical realm, Tellura was the first to notice Essos siphoning the soul out of a creature. Essos, fearing the backlash of Tellura informing the other Aspects of their actions and struck with a sudden bout of gluttony and greed, attacked her. Essos was quick to overpower the Aspect of Moon & Water, and feasted on her soul, consuming her power and draining her of all life. She fell to the ocean, lifeless and cold. Several creatures saw the Aspect fall from her domain of the skies, but none saw what caused her demise, leaving Essos free of blame.

• Phoenix, deeply bonded with Tellura, raged the moment word spread of the fallen Aspect. Burning with rage, the Aspect of Fire scorched his way through the eastern oceans of the Valley, steaming away the water and leaving behind a dry and arid land. Upon discovery of the bones of Tellura, Phoenix’s rage had reached its peak and the heat radiating from the Aspect tore through the newly crafted desert, caving out an intricate tunnel system that stretched for miles and miles below the sands, and even further.

• Phoenix’s flame slowly flickered out until it was just a breath of his initial rage. Burdened by the loss of Tellura, the Aspect buried himself below the sands, hiding himself away from the eyes of his fellow Aspects. He then laid dormant, grieving within self-made ashes beneath the sands of modern Goldenwind.

• Following the successful consumption of an Aspect’s soul, Essos had grown reckless and had an insatiable hunger for more souls. They did not want to stop at just Tellura, as if she could fall, that meant they all were vulnerable to Essos’s power. 

• Essos continued to bide their time waiting for another opportunity to consume another Aspect’s soul. They stuck to minor creatures, but in their recklessness, Essos failed to notice Ferus, who often shape shifted into the creatures she created to live amongst them, was another direct witness to Essos’s destruction. Unlike the encounter with Tellura, Ferus was the first to attack Essos, as the cunning Aspect was quick to put the puzzle pieces together of what became of her “sister”. Essos managed to slip away from the Aspect of Beasts, sustaining only minor injuries while they slinked back into the shadows.

• Ferus immediately called for a council with Kairos and Estis and their Godly “children”. She explained what Essos had been doing since the decision against their proposition, and that all signs pointed towards them being the cause of Tellura’s untimely demise. 

• Kairos, accompanied by Ferus, went to find Essos himself to see what became of them. What the two found was not an Aspect of life and power, one determined to maintain the balance and longevity of the Valley. They found a twisted being, one that lashed out in violence the moment they approached Essos.

• Ferus quickly, and loudly, called for Essos’ execution, having witnessed firsthand the insanity the Soul Eater fell into and outraged by the murder they committed upon Tellura and the cruelty they showed her beloved creatures. Both Kairos and Estis were quick to agree, fearing he would fail the Valley once again by allowing Essos to remain free and causing the Valley to fall back into a state of chaos as Man had set it into.

• Kairos and Ferus agreed they would be the ones to carry out this sentence, and instructed Estis to remain within the spiritual realms, as she was still young and had not reached her full potential of power quite yet.

• The two Aspects set out to eliminate the Death Aspect to protect their domain, leaving their Gods and Estis to watch over the Valley and its souls.

• The fight was quick, and much like Man long ago, Essos was the root cause of their own destruction-- torn apart by their fragmented psyche. As Essos came close to death, a dark mist settled in the area. Where it made contact with Ferus and Kairos, it seeped into their flesh, like rain soaking into the soil. Ferus and Kairos fell into a crazed state, and it was no longer Essos they fought. Their eyes suddenly filled with hate and rage turned on each other, and it was an all out war between the three Aspects.

• Fang and claw quickly turned on each other, and where the Aspects raged, so too did the Valley. Forests flattened, mountains crumbled, earthquakes split the ground, tsunamis flooded the coast lines, long dormant volcanoes erupted and created rivers of lava. The Valley was being destroyed by the very things sworn to its protection, and life within it was quickly approaching extinction.

• The Gods were forced to flee from the Valley, as they themselves were not safe from the madness and destruction that had befallen their Aspect “parents”. Though powerful compared to the mortal creatures of the Valley, they were no match for the sheer strength of the Aspects. They were helpless in protecting the Valley, and could only watch in fear as the war raged on.

• Kairos, initially blinded by this madness, took notice of the destruction and death that the very beings sworn to protect the Valley had brought upon it. Taking this moment of clarity, Kairos slipped away from the fight.

• Injured and weakened, Kairos knew he alone was incapable of bringing an end to this war. Kairos was aware of Phoenix’s body slumbering away beneath the sands, and using whatever power he could muster, Kairos rooted himself into the Valley and sent the roots and vines through the soil, seeking out the smoldering Aspect. Once he found the dormant Fire Aspect, the roots wrapped around his body and pierced his flesh with thorns. Kairos siphoned the flame and energy that continued to burn within Phoenix to strengthen himself.

• With this newfound power, Kairos focused the roots originating from him towards Essos and Ferus. Similar to what he was doing to Phoenix, Kairos wrapped his roots around them and pierced them, drawing their power out of them and slowly weakening them.

• Essos, already weakened from the fight and near death, succumbed to their injuries and died from Kairos’s final efforts.

• Ferus grew fatigued, fighting Essos, Kairos, and her own mind. She slowly weakened and was pulled to the Valley’s floor by Kairos’s roots and vines. Ferus fell into a dormant state before disappearing beneath the soil.

• Kairos, exhausted from the burst of energy, fell to the Valley himself. He continued to siphon power from Ferus and Phoenix, hoping that by absorbing their energy, he would be able to continue to prevent this madness that threatened to overtake him from wreaking havoc upon the Valley.

• Kairos had an insurmountable amount of power within him that caused his heart to practically glow. Fearing what may become of it should anyone find him, burrowed himself far below the Valley’s surface, entering a dormant state.

• The Gods slowly returned to the Valley, finding it in a state of disarray similar to that which the Aspects told them had become of it following the events of Man. They agreed to disperse themselves throughout it, finding places that could benefit the most from their special skills and settling there.

Several millenia to hundreds of years prior to game start

• Following the events of the Aspect war, the Valley remained in a state of darkness and despair for some time.

• While many of the inhabitants of the Valley perished from the violence and the land was scarred, the Gods put in every effort possible to repair the damage done. However, they are not nearly as powerful as the Aspects, and it takes double or triple the effort to repair and maintain the balance they wished to achieve.

• Two steps forward, one step back became the new pattern of the Valley. While many things were restored, the Gods simply could not have eyes and power over every inch of the Valley, and chaos still found ways to slip through the cracks.

• Without the Aspects of the physical realm being in an active state, the connection between the Valley and the Eternity and Abyss begins to waver.

• With the constant unstable state of the Valley, a being of sentient shadows emerged. Feeding off the disorder and gloom of the creatures and factions within the realm, a false-Aspect was born, Corvus. They thrived within the chaos and contributed more to it where they could.

• Corvus is considered a false-Aspect, as they were not created to maintain the balance of the Valley, but still held a similar level of power to the newest Aspect, Estis.

• Estis remained hidden within the spiritual realms, fearing the state the Valley fell into following the Aspect War. She maintained her task of guiding souls, and found joy in learning about their lives and hearing their stories.

• Corvus heard through whispers about the hidden Aspect, and cloaked by shadow, crossed the portals to enter the realms of the Eternity and the Abyss, drawn by the desire to dethrone the young Aspect and have sole control over the spirits.

• The Silence was a place for souls awaiting to be guided to their final resting place. Within this, Essos’s soul remained waiting for their guide when Estis found them. Estis was stunned and distracted by finding the soul of the old Aspect of Death, and Corvus took this opportunity to strike. It took little effort to remove Estis from her position, and Corvus became the new shepherd of souls.

• Estis made efforts to retake her role, but Corvus was cruel. Every hint of Estis’s presence was met with quick and cruel retaliation, sending the lost Aspect back into the corners of the spiritual realm.

• Estis sought out the Gods of the Valley to assist her in stomping out Corvus from his unworthy position. However, when she went to make a move to slip beneath Corvus’s gaze and step into the physical world for the first time in several centuries, she was met with a block.

• The lasting slumber of the Aspects of the Valley caused the physical connection to the spiritual realms to crack. The portals no longer existed, and Estis was now trapped with Corvus within the spiritual realms. No soul that lived within the spiritual realms could cross into the physical world.

• The portals being shattered meant that those who could previously step into these realms while still being connected to their mortal bodies had lost the ability to do so, and the only way to enter the Eternity or the Abyss realms would be to separate soul from body. The Silence could temporarily be accessed due to it being considered an "in between" realm between the spirit and physical worlds.

• Estis remained hidden in the corners of the spirit realms, and in an attempt to maintain connection with the spirits she so dearly missed, she learned to enter the unconscious state of the living creatures of the Valley.

• Estis became a dream hopper. She could enter the dreams and nightmares of slumbering creatures, learning from their memories, hearing their stories, and gained the ability to leave messages with those she chose to visit.

• With the connections to the Abyss and Eternity severed, the Gods were forced to put in more effort to maintain the balance of the Valley. However, many times it felt as though it was hopeless, like the Valley was missing a half of itself.

• This leaves the Valley in a constant battle for balance. Two steps forward, one step back. Two wrongs made right, one moment of chaos to disturb the delicate balance of the Valley.

• This is where the Valley remains through to present day. There are numerous stories of chaos and destruction, of war and death, told through different creatures, through different beliefs, through the factions of the Valley.