Post by Gaea on Mar 1, 2016 20:20:56 GMT -8
The world of Elibe before the Scouring was much different than the clearly-defined settings of Fire Emblems 6 and 7; magic suffused the world in quantities that the inhabitants of the future could never imagine, legends come to life as magical creatures, and the world as a whole has not yet been tamed or understood. Reality is sometimes stranger than fiction, and dark things lurk far beneath the surface.
Civilization in Elibe is primarily centered around the Lycian Divide, the circle of arable land and relative safety within the confines of what becomes FE6/7's Lycia; surrounded by mountain ranges that cut it off from the rest of Elibe, it is relatively safe and capable of supporting a great many people - which is good, since the number of refugees from outside the walls have strained the governments that once controlled it to the point of collapse. Rumors of the opportunities and horrors of the rest of the world fly wildly, but to the average layman they are far less important than making ends meet. Within this world, perspective is fairly myopic, generally seeing little value to the outside world aside from what they can provide for those living within the Divide.
Above the Lycian Divide, the gigantic floating city of Arcadia slowly wends its way through the sky, an enormous mile-wide central citadel surrounded by countless floating islands and levitating platforms, loosely held together by massive chains, cables, or magic. A testament to what humans and dragons working together can accomplish, but now bereft of purpose, it provides the closest thing to a government that the Divide knows - but internally it is gripped in endless partisan deadlock, each would-be governing body unable to compromise and work with the others, and in doing so back off on their claims of absolute ownership of Arcadia, and possibly the world.
Outside of the great mountains that hold most of civilization lies the Outer Reaches of Elibe, treacherous and dangerous lands rife with demihumans and monsters of all varieties - but so too do countless smaller human civilizations, men and women banding together and struggling to survive in an unforgiving world. There are a thousand and one kingdoms and tribes and cities, most of them knowing nothing of the rest of Elibe aside from their immediate surroundings, their neighbors, and rumors of the Lycian Divide, often inaccurate and idealistic.
While the last century was filled with endless monster attacks, natural disasters, and strange magics like the lethally poisonous miasma that has claimed many areas in Elibe, the last few years have been surprisingly quiet, almost pleasant, and many in Arcadia see it as their chance to stake claims on the rest of Elibe, or at least create a legacy for themselves. Trade between entities within the Lycian Divide and its immediate neighbors outside the mountain walls has slowly recovered, and trade between even further kingdoms has slowly begun, lending the era a sort of heady possibility.
But there are those who suspect that this mysterious good fortune is only the calm before the storm, who struggle to understand the Miasma or find clues in the downfall of the ruined civilizations that can be found within the Outer Reaches, who attempt to impress upon the bickering politicians and would-be rulers of Arcadia the importance of the races standing together before they fall together. As monster attacks pick back up and the threat of war rises across Elibe, their warnings certainly seem to hold some merit, but there is no real proof of their truth yet, nothing coordinated.
As for which is true - only time will tell.
Civilization in Elibe is primarily centered around the Lycian Divide, the circle of arable land and relative safety within the confines of what becomes FE6/7's Lycia; surrounded by mountain ranges that cut it off from the rest of Elibe, it is relatively safe and capable of supporting a great many people - which is good, since the number of refugees from outside the walls have strained the governments that once controlled it to the point of collapse. Rumors of the opportunities and horrors of the rest of the world fly wildly, but to the average layman they are far less important than making ends meet. Within this world, perspective is fairly myopic, generally seeing little value to the outside world aside from what they can provide for those living within the Divide.
Above the Lycian Divide, the gigantic floating city of Arcadia slowly wends its way through the sky, an enormous mile-wide central citadel surrounded by countless floating islands and levitating platforms, loosely held together by massive chains, cables, or magic. A testament to what humans and dragons working together can accomplish, but now bereft of purpose, it provides the closest thing to a government that the Divide knows - but internally it is gripped in endless partisan deadlock, each would-be governing body unable to compromise and work with the others, and in doing so back off on their claims of absolute ownership of Arcadia, and possibly the world.
Outside of the great mountains that hold most of civilization lies the Outer Reaches of Elibe, treacherous and dangerous lands rife with demihumans and monsters of all varieties - but so too do countless smaller human civilizations, men and women banding together and struggling to survive in an unforgiving world. There are a thousand and one kingdoms and tribes and cities, most of them knowing nothing of the rest of Elibe aside from their immediate surroundings, their neighbors, and rumors of the Lycian Divide, often inaccurate and idealistic.
While the last century was filled with endless monster attacks, natural disasters, and strange magics like the lethally poisonous miasma that has claimed many areas in Elibe, the last few years have been surprisingly quiet, almost pleasant, and many in Arcadia see it as their chance to stake claims on the rest of Elibe, or at least create a legacy for themselves. Trade between entities within the Lycian Divide and its immediate neighbors outside the mountain walls has slowly recovered, and trade between even further kingdoms has slowly begun, lending the era a sort of heady possibility.
But there are those who suspect that this mysterious good fortune is only the calm before the storm, who struggle to understand the Miasma or find clues in the downfall of the ruined civilizations that can be found within the Outer Reaches, who attempt to impress upon the bickering politicians and would-be rulers of Arcadia the importance of the races standing together before they fall together. As monster attacks pick back up and the threat of war rises across Elibe, their warnings certainly seem to hold some merit, but there is no real proof of their truth yet, nothing coordinated.
As for which is true - only time will tell.
