Welcome to another entry in the Fatal Factions blog. Today we're going to talk about Amoas and dive into its history and how your favorite guilds came to be! It'll be a hefty blog, but it will also cover a lot of history that spans all of the Fatal Factions games.
Amoas is a large continent where the events of all the Fatal Factions games takes place. The map of Amoas that you see to the side is imperfect and made with only traveler knowledge in mind, much like maps of old (or maps drawn by other horrible artists). Locations like the Fields of Rage, the Metal Flower and the Caves of Illusions are places that either have no known boundaries or are hidden from the general population. What you will see are known cities, gatherings, or towns (black dots) or known national monuments, landmarks and mysteries (blue dots).
The history of Amoas is considerably more condensed than that of the history of places on Earth. By nature, Amoas has a magical energy called Aether in its blood that takes many different shapes but always appears in small, suggestible particles that can be manipulated to solidify, liquify, penetrate, heat up or cool down from transmissions coming from some beings. Those beings have a very thin internal branching system much like a nervous system that is called the Aetheric System - though very few actually know about that system in this world. A being's Aetheric System allows them to interact with Aether particles and perform what we all know as Conjuration, or Magic. The ability to perform magic isn't limited to just people, as vegetation or animals can sometimes interact with Aether - which often causes problems for nearby settlements. In fact, vegetation by far has the thickest "Aetheric system" and can sometimes cause bursts of self-destructive fire or kinetic pushes. It's for this reason that guilds like Vines of Adem do so well to manipulate plants!
Aetheric Systems tend to adapt to the location that the being is in or the art that is being practiced. While some Muses can create thriving magical spaces out of painted creations or spirit-boosting harmonies with Aether because they are exposed to the inspiring ocean air of Ka'il, the Berzerkers from the Fields of Rage are exposed to a more Savannah-like atmosphere where a lot of battles occur. Because of the constant fighting, Berzerkers utilize Aether for muscular assistance and physical protection or pain transference for their abilities.
However, none of the abilities above appeared until a few hundred years after people started to evolve into having an Aetheric System. The first people to have discovered their abilities were the Elementalists - a group of people located near the Central Amoan River close to where present-day Fravice is - who began to gain small influential control over the basic elements. Small heat increases eventually turned into full-blown infernos and bolts of electricity at the cost of some lives and large amounts of stamina. Once the Elementalists had a bit of control over their abilities, they utilized their newfound skills for the prosperity of their people. Much like when humankind discovered fire, humanity began to jump forward quickly in Amoas at the discovery of beneficial magics. The Elementalists provided the groundwork for advanced wooden homes, heat, tools and weapons long before history had started being documented. For at least a few hundred cycles (or years), the peoples of Amoas rose from fur skins and campfires to whole settlements and lines of trade under the prosperity that the Elementalists provided.
The Great Joining
The first major event in Amoan history was called The Great Joining. This is a time period where an Elementalist woman named Vastelle (who people called “The Matron”) and her assistant Zeral built the first city that came to be known as Adem with a bunch of other people from the Fravician settlement. The Ademian Kingdom rose quickly from that city and provided the first roads and stone houses in the known world, and very quickly a castle and many shops came soon after. News of the kingdom spread, and settlers journeyed from all over Amoas and made the Ademian area their home within the flourishing populace.
It was a no-brainer to the Ademian people that Vastelle would become the primary leader of Adem with Zeral at her side as her closest confidant and primary voice of reason. For the first several years of her rule, all of Amoas would come to understand the importance of documenting history as well as the power of the arts, labor and currency. The Amoan calendar also came to be, as well as the measurement tools of “hands” for measuring smaller objects and “fields” for measuring distance. Other important locations like Fravice and Midpoint (which contained Midpoint Tavern, The Grand Library and The Grand Arena) were built during this period in time. Cycle 1 through 20 on the global calendar were considered by many to be the renaissance of Amoan culture and invention.
The Great Divide
With innovation comes expansion. With expansion comes disorder. And with disorder comes madness.
Not long after Cycle 24 came and passed did transportation become a widely-used commodity for those that could afford or build it. Vastelle had reached 55 years of age by the time she saw caravans heading to distant lands and boats sailing down the Central Amoan River with adventurers pining for new locales, unique eats and forgotten ruins. Her companion Zeral took note of the slowly slipping population, but Vastelle didn't take his warnings seriously. If anything, the thought of her people reaching distant lands excited her - her reach could cover the entire continent by the travels of her people!
The adventurers from Adem would come to find other established civilizations or new places to mark their ground. Some places would not be established until later cycles, but the adventurers - called Walkers in many Amoan history books - would eventually create several towns and cities and build the settlement that would eventually become Metraal, an important city where Fatal Factions: Guild Wars begins.
We'll go over where the Walkers went to and what they found in different posts. One important note: Another one of Fatal Factions' games takes place during this time!
By the time Vastelle saw the Ademian Kingdom depleted to a point where some normal functions of the kingdom were halted or slowed considerably, the tides of her demise were already rising to a point of no return. While some considered her ignorance of the Walkers unhealthy for the livelihood of Adem, others witnessed her sudden turn in rulership as she began to rip people from their jobs and homes to get them to retrieve her people back. Zeral and other high seat Elementalists watched as she furiously sent her people to all corners of the continent, only to lose large groups of them to the peace and prizes that other lands provided. There were definitely loyalists to her cause, but the number of people loyal to Vastelle were losing ground to those thinking they could do a better job of ruling the throne.
The Great Manifestation
As stated earlier in this blog, sometimes location plays an important part in manifesting abilities. Wherever the Walkers went, new abilities seemed to sprout and spread.
Southwalkers (adventurers that ventured south) started to tap into the Aetheric System of plants as well as leftover Aetheric energies of the dead. From this, today's Necromancers of The Ascendead and "Planters" of Vines of Adem came to be from the dreadful swamps of the south.
Westwalkers dabbled in healing and connection to other living beings among the bountiful nature found in central Amoas and the western coast near what would eventually be The Floren Collective. These people would eventually become the lone radicals that make the Fang & Claw and the holy priests and healers of Alabaster Sun.
The colder parts of the north held both large areas of intense blizzards and unnatural calms that the Northwalkers seemed to thrive in. This gave room for people to connect to their inner spirit or intense power, which allowed for the monks of The Ajai to thrive as well as the berzerkers of Ragefist to test their mettle against the peaks of Point Diamond.
And finally, the Eastenders (not Eastwalkers) were able to thrive in dream manifestation and artistic expression which brought about the dreamcasters of Somnium and the jovial crew of artists from Valiant Muses.
The Great Revolt
When Vastelle sent her forces to all corners of Amoas, many of them saw the beauty in the flower fields of the west or the order under King Varden found within the already-established city of Hadenerst to the northeast. If Vastelle's armies didn't give up their battles and join the distant establishments immediately upon finding them, they would instead lose to the overwhelming force of unknown abilities or the otherwise unbeatable force of nature - especially in the south where swamps were known to swallow groups of people whole. With loss after overwhelming loss, the High Table of Adem decided that they had enough of Vastelle. They only had to wait a cycle to get their opportunity to rid themselves of The Matron.
Even though the Walkers had done well to defend themselves or influence the minds of the downtrodden to join their cause, the Walkers knew that they would have trouble with the Elementalists as they had been practicing their magical craft for years. However, one quick evolution gave the Walkers one immense advantage over the Elementalists: The birth of The Silencer.
Known continent-wide for their ability to stifle magic, The Silence came from rejected monks that lived in The Spirwood who thirsted for battle more than peace. With their abilities to create Anti-Magic Fields and to aetherically Choke their victims, The Silence was the coming wave against The Elementalists that could not be broken. With gathered forces from all over Amoas, the Walkers marched on Adem. Luckily for Zeral and The Elementalists (but unluckily for Vastelle), the High Table of Adem could now step to the side and allow the Walkers to make way for their rise. With a vicious assault and no defensive forces to stop them, the Walkers razed Adem to the ground then ventured back to their homes.
Zeral and the others of Adem's High Table retreated to Fravice. There was no kingdom to take over, and the greedy mages of Fravice began to fight amongst themselves for established Elemental Houses and land among the swamps of Fravice. Zeral was not immune to this fury, as he was soon imprisoned and left to rot due to his betrayal. Mages would no longer respected or loved anywhere else until many cycles later.
The Great Rebirth
The Great Rebirth had officially started in Cycle 37, after Zeral's death in the prisons of Fravice. At this point, the small establishments dotted across Amoas began to grow and flourish. Ka'il, Port Furalt, The Floren Collective, Mignir, and Veres all came into full fruition while The Grand Monastery of Ji became the centerpoint of Spirwood. Hadenerst thrived. Even with their previous connection to Adem, Midpoint had done well to establish itself as the continent's center for entertainment and book-keeping. Over a hundred or so cycles, Amoas went through their own iron age and established roads and trade between the closer towns and cities.
By the time that Fatal Factions: Guild Wars takes place in Cycle 198, new places such as Metraal have also started thriving. Amoas as a whole is still expanding into things like electricity (without magic, that is) and new abilities still pop up from cycle to cycle. Many years go by in a relatively calm fashion, but don't let that fool you - The world will erupt in chaos in the events of Guild Wars.
So there you have it! I hope you enjoyed the short story about Amoas and its history. I hope this gets you into the guilds and sets up the story of Fatal Factions: Guild Wars. Thank you for your support, I'm looking forward to seeing you at the next blog entry!