Starlight Fables

Sort of a beginning of a new kind of mythos. We'll see where it goes. A very slow project. Expansive world, hundreds of characters already developed, a full world map, and a few dozen locations.

I. Fall of the Old World 

     Once, the world was divided into kingdoms. After thousands of years of modernization, technology, and war, after the people of the world had destroyed themselves again and again, there was a giant city divided into kingdoms.

     One was the City of Legend, ruled by the Old Gods. Another was The Eternal City, ruled by Reason. And the third was the City of Cir Fasconnas, ruled by Men.

     However, one day one of the Men, schooled in Reason, murdered all but one of the Old Gods, and set the stage for the Warring Age, which gripped the three cities in death, fear and battle. Out of the Warring Age, there arose an Emperor and Empress from the Other World, who restored balance to the three cities and brought magic, the elusive and mystical science from their land, thus empowering Men, defining Reason, and replacing the Old Gods.

II. The New Renaissance

     The three cities lived in harmony in the Empire. Because of the science of magic, Men could delve into the mysteries of the universe, with Reason they developed technology, and on their own they discovered the depths of pleasure and pain.

     As people grew stronger and wiser, they also grew greedier and covetous of power. Some Men tried to capture the power of the universe in order to become more than Men, against the rules of Reason, to become gods themselves, and brought ruin to the Empire.

     First, they overthrew the City of Men, Cir Fasconnas, and then used the power of the Gods and the science of magic to call a creature called the Nephilim of the Far Realms to their world. He came and brought destruction, destroying the City of Men and bringing Chaos into the world, a far born chaos that ripped the essence of reality apart, and like a magnet, attracted powerful forces to it from beyond. And they came, pouring into the broken land of Cir Fasconnas.

     The rulers of the City of Men went mad, taking to the skies in battleships, and while the City of the Gods raised up a shield against them, the Eternal City did not and was toppled. The King of the Eternal City threw himself into the sea, and the Empire hid from the shadow of the Nephilim, the Astral Creature from beyond.

     The New Renaissance became a living nightmare, as the cities broke apart into camps of brigands and daring-dos, Men were warped cruelly by the chaos into monsters, shadows from the Far Realms came seeking the power of the Nephilim, and the rifts to dark worlds opened and poured evil into the land.

III. The Plagues

     In response, Men gathered in prayer to rid the land of shadow. They were the hidden Godmen, who worshiped in secret for fear of the magical energies who lived in opposition to their God, and they called the Music of the Spheres to their world. The Music began to cleanse the land, wiping the evil and good both, a flood of power to set the balance.

     As the land suffered under the plagues, the cities' delicate balance was broken. The Empress was killed and the Emperor went mad, leaving the City of the Gods powerless and weak.

     The Nephilim came out of hiding and filled the power vacuum, bringing his rage and power. During this time, the Lightbringer's Prophets came, and in response the Nephilim raised up the Wild Men, ordinary men suddenly endowed with his dark powers to fight against the Lightbringer. But during this time, he was wounded greatly, and fled, as a new army rose from the abyss to claim dominance.

     After the arrival of the Twilight Dance, the Empress was resurrected and kicked the Emperor out of the Palace.

IV. The Overthrow

     When the Emperor disappeared, the Empress began a reign of terror. She was different now, and her monstrous nature spread across the city. The people lived in fear, her armies were no longer afraid of magic and wielded it with terrible ire, and her villains grew in power, using the Dreamdrug to enslave the population, while the Lightbringer's War spread from the Shadows, and a small group of rebels began a plan to overthrow the Empress, restore the Emperor, and bring back balance.

     The rule of the Empress was long and cruel. She used nightmares and creatures from her own world, the Other World, as her soldiers and police. At first, the people welcomed her, because her servants were beautiful and magical, and the city became fantastic. But the illusion soon shattered, and as the plagues continued, the land continued to decay; the Empress's creatures became monstrous.

     The philosophies of the Wild Men and the Pure Ones (worshipers of the Lightbringer) also spread, and the pirates of the Cir multiplied as Men lost their homes due to the war of the Endowed Men of the Shadows, caught between the machinations of the Empress, the Dreamdrug of the Faces, the roving illusionary soldiers of the Other World, and the ravaging of the plagues.

V. The Rebellion

     During this time of conflict, a small group of warriors banded together, linked together by their connection with an astral being of extraordinary, dangerous power.

     This being was spoken of by the Prophet Markus to be either the salvation of damnation of the world, whose power would either destroy or rule the Nephilim. The warriors connected with him were a Priest, a Witch, a Warrior, and a Beast. It was through their victories against the Empress's machinations that a small rebellion began, banked by the tyrant Ladon of the Eternal City, soldiered by the pirate Lucius and his fighters, and aided by the magic of the Orphanites and the Faces.