Nosreffejthe23rd
That one thing from the other day
1000 years ago
A golden age had occurred in our world, a time when gods and mortals lived side by side and flourished. no one went without, the gods provided for the mortals all they needed and the mortals provided the gods with purpose. this went on as far back as any could remember and only the goddess Placendia, the mother of all that is divine, knew what the world was like before. Unfortunately even gold tarnishes, and this golden age was no exception. The peace mortals and deities shared was torn asunder by the mysterious death of Placendia. None among the numerous mortals and mighty gods could find the culprit but they would not need to search long. Her firstborn son Noire the god of darkness took credit for the killing in the middle of the council chamber of the other gods, in the same breath he uttered a spell that destroyed the council and consumed their essence becoming the most powerful god to ever exist...for a time at least.
His twin brother Lumos the god of light did not attend the council as he was still grieving at his mothers alter. the very moment his brother slew the council of gods his mothers power along with much more was gifted to him from beyond the veil of life. suddenly there were now two gods with near limitless power and they shared only one thing...their unrestrained hatred for one another. Calamities rained upon the world as they clashed in a battle that would last seven days. cities were toppled by earthquakes, coastal towns erased by tsunami's, the skies blanketed in ash by volcanoes, and floods tore through the plains and farmlands as hurricanes ran rampant. the battle would finally end when they both stuck one another with all of their divine might. The collision made a crater over 500 miles in diameter and nothing within that crater remained intact...including the two gods who collided. Lumos and Noire shattered into countless shards their minds and essences fragmented with their bodies and their shards were scattered into the afterlife as they perished.
The brothers had grown strong enough however that even the eternal tides of the soul shuffling were not enough to disperse their power. As such their divine power began to be mixed in with the pool of souls and in the children of those who survived the gods clashing these shards would manifest. children were born with either a Light shard or a Dark shard. while the two differed very little in the powers that they granted the perception of them was that of good and evil. sadly this meant that children born with dark shards would often be slain and those with light shard kidnapped and put into a tower where a group known as the Devout would attempt to merge the shards of Lumos and rebuild their god. this group known as the Devout would grow in power and eventually rise to being the largest government power in the world.
500 years ago
Eventually a rebellion was bound to happen, no peoples will let their children be slain for long. the population rose up against the Devout. They called this rebellion the Rise and many of them were in possession of dark shards, it seemed for all the efforts of the devout they could not destroy the shards and killing the host of the shard only sent it back into the pool of souls to be eventually revived. it looked to be a losing battle even still as the Rise didnt have even half the resources, weapons, or wealth of the devout. however a desperate raid on their tower of light freed those who possessed light shards the majority of whom joined the Rise and together they turned the tide of the battle. the Devout were pushed out of the continent and a new nation called Lysandria was formed its name meaning "free from lies".
Lysandria built itself up to a high degree in the following years, they encouraged those in possession of dark shards and light shards to use their powers to better not only themselves but also the nation as a whole. however spies and saboteurs from the Devout continued to make their development hard and costly in both coin and blood. with little other options Lysandria closed its borders and would build up a mighty military of shard hosts who would grow in power. They carefully screened all who came to their nation and slowly but surely shard hosts became the ruling power creating new inequalities that would continue to spread through out the nation. they built a massive tower and gathered many of their forces there to reeducate them and guide them to not only hate normal humans but to seek out and destroy the devout to prevent them from ever again rising against them... however before the training was completed the tower was destroyed and all the shard hosts there perished. With their leadership destroyed Lysandria broke into several city states, still calling themselves Lysandrians, but now adding a label for whatever city they were from. Once again peace followed a tide of blood and hatred.
Present day
The city states of Lysandria are in dire straits, while individually the cities have grown the tension between them has grown as well, and while the denizens of Lysandria were busy focusing on their own rivalries the Devout have spread throughout the rest of the world uniting broken survivors under their banner of righteous indignation. Now they arrive at the borders of Lysandria in their first move taking down the coastal city of Daizen and slaying more than half the population. refugees flee from the broken city into the neighboring ones spreading the word of the coming doom. their numbers are without end, their weapons are more advanced, and they bring with them ruinous powers from beyond the veil, those age old enemies of the divine...the devils.
however more frightful is how they seem to operate, they no longer seek to capture the light shard holders rather they kill them outright, no longer do they hide behind niceties and instead they cut down all who live under the banner of the Lysandrians but perhaps most terrifying of all, the devils seem not to lead them but rather are bound to serve them. what manner of power gives them such boldness and control? that of course is one of the many mysteries that we face now. who are you in all this madness? a soldier of the devout commanding troops and devils alike? a Devil bound to the devout troops seeking to find your freedom? a shard bearer of light or dark whose power is sought out by all? A normal person trying their damnedest to survive this madness with your loved ones? regardless of what role you may play the world will face the results of the shattered gods together for better or worse, either evil will be crushed or all will drown in a tide of blood...in the end the choice is yours.
