World Concept: "The Prime Conflict"

Transcribed from Almudan's lecture on Relic history

[...]Once, humanity knew a war like no other. Sure, we've had great wars - very bloody ones. Millions dead. But this one in particular...this one was fought for our very own right to breathe. In the age of the Prime Gods, men were bred only to serve - as were every other living being. The two most intelligent species were us, and our brothers of the dragon kind.

For safety measures, human men were allowed to live only until their 18th birthday, unless they were tasked with worship - then, they were allowed to die of old age. Women, on the other hand, could live until their 35th. Men were instruments of blood, raised only to serve, fight, kill, and die. Women were used for...other purposes. Like us, dragons had an age limit to them. They could only live for five years, before becoming too powerful for the Gods to handle.

Our world was nothing but a battleground for the Primes that were constantly seeking dominion over the earth. At that time, men and dragons were used as instruments of war. Men - blessed by the gods - waged war on the ground, destroying everything in its path. Plotting, murdering, spying, you name it. A god can't be worshipped if there's no one left to do so, right? Dragons, on the other hand, took the war to the heavens. With their endless magical power, their breath carried enough power to burn the blue off the sky.

We were different. We had different kinds of power. We had different dreams. But we had something in common: We were slaves.

Kydrynagg - The Great Dragon King, in his dying breath, ordered his kin to try and find a way to achieve freedom. The dragons, following their king's last request, sought the help of mankind to end the tyranny of the Primes. Neither of us trusted the other, but we had no other choice but to cooperate. Dragons, then, gave humans the ability to summon their power through, what we know today, as magical relics. Dragons and humans declared war on the Primes. We fought, we lost. Even with our power combined, we had no chance against them. Dragons doubled their power by employing the help of mankind, but it was still...not enough.

Well...that was until we figured out magic. With our past experience in employing divine blessings, we began drawing power not only from the souls of the dragons - but from the realms of the Primes. With this newfound power, we turned the tide of battle, and together - as one - we brought the Gods to their knees. Little by little, we began taking over the Earth. With centuries available to them, dragons achieved the power to shake the foundations of this world, and our connection... only became stronger. The Primes fought, and they were defeated, over and over again. They had power - but we had numbers. They decided the best course of action was to breed more of them, like we and the dragons, as animals, do. Now... now... no human-dragon intercourse jokes, now! *Laughter* That could never happen.

Gods were different from us. They weren't living creatures. The Primes were beings of pure soul energy, and as such, they could not breed like we naturally do. They could only split their souls into beings of lesser power, more human-like. These "Born Gods" were tasked with conquering the world in numbers, and then - when the time came - bringing the Primes back with the soul energy harvested from us. The Born Gods, however, had other plans. Born Gods grew attached to their existence, and refused to bring their "parents" back. For them, the Primes had it coming with their arrogance. This new generation, then, fled these lands and raised their own. Where? No one knows, and no one cares.

If the bastards ever decide to come back, we'll be waiting for them.[...]