00. Introduction

IN A TIME LONG FORGOTTEN, eight stars appeared in the night sky. One by one, a drop fell from each one. Those drops were the gods: Cá, Bakkhos, Disdemona, Islywn, Nephthys, Keres, Siri, and Pæon. When the drops met the land, the world shook. The once shapeless land now had mountains and valleys, caves and crevices, and endless other places to explore. And the drops that fell were now mighty beings.

The eight gods took the forms of what would be the first Phaetrans. The siblings recognized each other and hugged and kissed and celebrated. They created a feast, which took them two days to finish, and slept until the second sunrise after.

When the gods woke, they made all that Phaetra is and all that it will be. However, there was a problem. The siblings didn't often agree on everything, or anything for that matter. So they divided up the land between them and developed it in ways that were just right for their needs. And they developed creatures and resources that were just right for the land. And they developed people that were just right for the creatures and the resources and the land.

The kingdoms, as they were created, were Prota, Amagat, Scylla, Joka, Hippolytos, Impisi, Raiona, and Dione.

The gods walked among their people every day. They would sing and dance and feast. They would mourn together. They even loved.

Demigods were not uncommon. Born of the gods and their mortal lovers, they walked the land for many generations.

As long as the gods and demigods lived among them, Phaetra was a joyous place. Even when the gods ascended into the heavens when their presence became overwhelming, the kingdoms continued as they were.

This was called The Creation.

THE KINGDOMS OF PHAETRA were a harmonious collection of people. They celebrated each other in their differences and aided in their prosperity. Not a day went by where the people of the kingdoms didn't gather to fellowship or share stories. However, it was nothing like Peace Day.

Peace Day was the biggest celebration of the year. People from all the kingdoms would gather at the geographical center of the world and party. They would eat, drink, and dance. Old friends would catch up and new loves would spark. Most Phaetrans that married outside of their kingdom often cited Peace Day as their first meeting.

But most of all, the kingdoms celebrated their gods.

THE EIGHT GODS OF PHAETRA loved their people dearly, and the same could be said for the eight kingdoms. Each kingdom has a fountain in honor of one of the gods. Each fountain flows crystal waters through every season. As long as the fountains remain, so do the kingdoms. As long as the fountains remain, so does the peace.

The high priests that maintain the fountains and their temples will take water of the fountains and christen all the babies born since the last Peace Day. It is an offering that Phaetrans will continue to use their skills and hone their craft at the benefit of the gods and the kingdoms.

It is said that during this time the gods would show preference towards the children that resonate with them. It is an indication of their occupation later in life. This preference is usually revealed within the year. Talkative children were often favored by the storytelling god or tinkering being a calling from the goddess of innovation or the god of craftsmanship.

However, there were a few odd cases every now and then. Children that presented no outstanding behaviors or qualities that presented to a specific god. These phenomenons were referred to as unfavored. Unfavoreds spent most of their lives bouncing between jobs, picking up many skills. Yet, rarely did they settle on one to master. No one wanted to hire an Unfavored longterm. This made it incredibly difficult to earn wages and support their families. When it was brought to the attention of the powers that be, they turned a blind eye.

For generations this continued. More and more Unfavored were left unsupported and forgotten.

One Unfavored, who was born of a magic-user and a priestess, grew exceptionally bitter. The hatred he had for the monarchs festered as they continued to enable the mistreatment of their people.

The night before that year's Peace Day, he traveled to the fountain and prayed there. For hours, he kneeled before the obsidian, calling out to the god of the fountain and asking for them to intervene. He told them of the hardships and atrocities that the Unfavored faced in their kingdoms.

"Why have you damned us?" he cried. "Do you despise us so much to have left us unchosen and unwanted for our entire lives? If you love us and watch over us as you have promised then you would help us. Our suffering is your suffering. Our rage is your rage. Our pain is your pain. Please! Do not forsake us a moment longer. Do not let this continue, lest you wish eternal pain and suffering on your people forevermore."

That night the man laid out his soul wounds. He fell asleep to the sound of his own cries, comforted only by the puddle of tears under him. As the sun rose on the fountain the next morning, it was revealed that his pleadings were answered.

The scream of the morning attendant startled him awake. He shot up and stumbled back, hitting his leg against the obsidian. When he finally looked down, the world around him seemed to crumble.

"What have you done? What did you do?"

The man turned wide-eyed. At a loss for words, he fled.

News quickly traveled of what had transpired:

The fountain had dried.

No one knew what this meant, but scholars were losing their minds trying to figure it out as another fountain was found dry the next morning.

And the next.

And the next.

And the next.

Until every fountain in Phaetra was bare.

It wasn't long before chaos fell onto the land. The gods had abandoned them, they cried. Prayers went unanswered. Babies went unchristened. The camaraderie and peace between the kingdoms crumbled.

Monarchs shut their doors to the outside. The other kingdoms couldn't be trusted. All trade halted. The economies that Phaetra had built within itself collapsed.

Suddenly, the living conditions faced by the Unfavored became commonplace. Those living outside of the capitals struggled to make ends meet.

This was called The Great Drought.

IN THE WEEKS FOLLOWING, it was quiet across the eight kingdoms. Too quiet.

It has been since lost on Phaetran scholars who dealt the first blow of the war; all they know is that the massacre that followed would be forever unmatched in history.

The first major documented casualty was of the high priestess of the obsidian fountain. It was revealed that her son was the one there the night before The Great Drought started. Her husband followed quickly after. Their son was never found.

The second major documented casualty was of the royal family of the grassland kingdom. It is said that their own staff had turned against them and plotted their murders in secret and great detail.

The documented casualty that scholars deem to be the most peculiar is of a boy presumed to be a servant and a great wolf. They were found buried together. Many bedtime stories have since spread, fantasizing the story of the boy and the wolf. It is still unknown how the two came to be together in life and the importance of their companionship in death.

The reamaining documented casualties surmounted to be approximately three-fifths of Phaetra's population at the time.

This was called The Great Death.

"AND THE POPULATION HAS struggled to recover since then. Without Peace Day to help the kingdoms intermingle, babies are not being born in great number. We call this time The Great Sorrow."

The classroom of children stared at their professor with wide eyes. Some looked around, wondering where they would be if the fountains had never dried up.

"But, Kaspen that's not the end is it? There has to be something more."

Their professor, Kaspen, looked at the small, golden-eyed girl that sat before him. He smiled kindly at her.

"No, Neoma, that is not the end. Once the dust settled and the kingdoms began to rebuild, each of the high priests and priestesses over the fountains received a vision." Gasps rang out through the classroom. "It was a message from the gods, a prophecy. Turn to the last page of this chapter in your books."

The sounds of pages flipping filled the room as the children scrambled to learn what was to come.

"Neoma, read what it says please."

Neoma swallowed nervously and took a deep breath. You could hear a pin drop as she began reading:

We have listened to the cries of sufferers,
and with this we shall end their pain.
Those that delight will know the plight
of those that work without gain.
And if the sun sets true on dark stone
wet once more by tears of the wounded
Then all of Phaetra be damned.

But if eight favored ones
born of the gods own hands
unite as one at the birth of Peace
and do as commanded in story
Then the fountains will be reborn
and Phaetra restored to its former glory.