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Ok, so after giving it some thought, it came to me! I've developed the Archai a bit, and as a result, come up with the reasons why this continent is so effed up.
Ok, so here's the method to the madness:
There were four races at one point in time that inhabited the continent. There were the indigenous peoples of the Killing Fields (humans who were close to nature and whatnot), the Fahim (a race of spiritual beings, very shamanistic in their approach to life, magic, etc and possessed almost no technology), the main brunt of the humans (colonists from some other world, expanding into other parts of the galaxy, possessing some tech) and the Archai, a race not physically strong, per se, but who had managed to combine magic and tech into machines and means both useful and fantastic.
It was the Archai who discovered a means of travel between our own plane of existence and the others layered throughout the universe, specifically, those of a supernatural element. Oddly, they were the only ones that could withstand the actual travel from one to another, and their discoveries therein made them wary of allowing access to them by the other races. Creatures and powers both divine and demonic lay on the other side, and in their wisdom they saw the mass potential they held for the destruction of all the races, if used unwisely.
And so they chose to take the path of guardians, using the newfound power to turn the continent into a veritable Garden of Eden. They found that they were able to channel the power from the other side using their own energies- the same as a kind of "magic" so to speak. A side-effect of the fact that their "magic" and power lay in channeling the divine was that they became conduits of sorts for the divine plane. Over time this power began to evolve in them into a sort of two-way empathy, the ability to project their own feelings and emotions into the world around them, and to feel the happiness, joy, pain and sorrow of others.
Their greatest contribution, however, was the summoning of creatures from the Beyond (working name). Because they saw little point in the hostility of war, they used them only for the benefit of the continent. But there were those who begrudged them their power. While the humans could not travel to the plane, they found that a few among them could channel the same power to summon the beasts. However, in their lust for power, they did not seek the divine creatures that Archai so commonly trusted- these were too close to the Archai, and seemed to hold little potential to act as real weapons.
They wound up drawing something much fiercer, and darker at first. The greatest of these creatures was called Bedrothen, and it was among the strongest of the creatures of destruction. It convinced a mass of foolish, desperate people that they were being used, and that if they were to ever own this planet truly, they would have to oust the Archai. The fools obeyed and demanded unobstructed access to the plane beyond of the Archai. When the Archai refused, all hell broke loose- literally. The humans used the destructive power of these creature, led by Bedrothen, to completely annihilate their once-shining empire. It was over in a matter of days, the humans springing their newfound weapons on the unsuspecting Archai in the most brutal fashion.
Some say that when they stopped breathing, so did the continent. In the years after their extinction at the hands of the humans, all races suffered. The gates to the other side mysteriously sealed, with no explanation of how or why. Most distressing, though, are the changes that have come over the continent since their deaths. The once lush, beautiful places have all-but become feral deathtraps. The general agreement is that when they died, the Archai unwittingly projected all of their grief and pain into the land that they once cared for and tended. The Killing Fields, where much of the carnage occurred (it was home at one time to the largest Archai city on the continent and ran with grasses lush and green) is now more than desolate; it is a wasteland, bereft of any life, save a few wretched skeleton trees, the indigenous peoples who refuse to abandon it, and some very dangerous creatures. It is a prime example of how the suffering of the people warped the very land around them.
Everything is askew, and some wonder- will the continent ever be the same again? Or will it continue to fester and decay? Some say that when justice is achieved and the grieving of the Archai souls ceases, that the continent will flourish again, others believe that it is as simple as finding the LR. The majority, however, see the place as cursed, and argue that it will never be the same again. Whatever the case, the continent is no walk in the park for hunters and should be considered and crossed with extreme caution.
Sorry about the seeming randomness of this post, I was writing stream-of-consciousness, or as the ideas came to me. I wanted to get teh ideas down before I lost them. Enjoy!
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