The Empire, a world divided. A world of vast power, control, riches and wealth, but split, cracked, rife with division, fueled by those who fought to claw their way toward a better life. For the others, the ones in control, the politicians, the mega-corps, able to act as they wished, they held onto their power with every atom of their being, but there were rumblings of subversion, of revolution.
Change has a way of finding cracks in the mortar of dominion.
Those who were controlled by the few began seeking a new way, a new rule, a new mode of existence. This didn’t come in a moment, a sudden flash of revolution, but more in the creeping roar of evolution. The change that so many sought, found in the Ether Crystals.
They say, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, and many believed they would find such magic, a catalyst for revolution, in these precious elements. Not a technology, an element, but as with all elements, ones that start as a simple precious metal often evolve, their use becoming more complex as great minds get to work.
To begin, in their simplest form, they used the Crystals as a new form of currency. Accessible to all and uninhibited by the lords of the Empire, it rose quickly in usage amongst the have-nots of the world, and with this, the idea of the revolution they sought grew. The currency of the Empire collapsed and with it came the fall of the powerful and corrupt, those who controlled the lives of so many. As the system failed, war began, and it was devastating.
Great finality, seasons of blood, confusion and death. The Empire found its way to its ultimate demise, but the world cascades. Empires rise and fall, but for the colossal scale of every empire, for the magnitude of such powers, it is as above, so below.
As the reformation of this world took place, out of the Empire, we saw Kingdoms appear, and down further, into Factions, and further still, bands of warriors, and thus, the Kingdoms of Ether were born.
The different kingdoms rose, each with their own particular traits, ideologies, philosophies, but each seeking the Crystals. Some, bearing the signs of the old Empire dragged with them ways of the past, and honed their skills and strengths to fight for that old power. Others strived for a new way, a new dawn, life that is equal, open, and not closed, controlled, leashed. Whether for freedom or tyranny, each fight for control of the Ether Mines, where the Crystals are found, and each knowing this is where the future lies, where from which, that tech, indistinguishable from magic, will come to creation.
Here and now, within The Kingdoms of Ether, each person can be their own hero, their own legend. Within each Kingdom, each Faction, from Lancelot to Alice and her own Wonderland, this world is enriched with fable and myth, with old ones evolving and new ones arising. Mercenaries, rebels, outcasts, freedom fighters, a world where anything is possible, and change is now here, and the story has only just begun.
