Y.Z. / z e r o / SU + OOC [M]

History is always shaped by those who win. At the end of every great war, the victor shapes the story of how the events unfolded. As such, history is biased, a collection of tales based around a glimmer of truth. The story of the end of the world, though, is a story that's true essence could not be warped by the loyalties of mankind. Where the blame is to be placed, perhaps, but the physical events that rocked the planet, those facts cannot be debated.

Was the end predestined? Humanity had a nearly endless number of potential Gods among their religions shortly before it's demise. Any one of those powers could have been responsible, were they at all real. Whatever the cause, the prayers in the days leading up to the grand finale did not waive the will of the land. Earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes. The planet Earth was wrecked simultaneously by disaster after disaster, as if the world itself was proclaiming that it had finally had enough with it's occupants. Day by day, the population dwindled, until only the few lucky enough to survive through sheer tenacity remained. At the end of it all, what was left of the planet was far from habitable. Plant life nearly ceased to exist, the oceans absent as if they had been swallowed by the land itself. Still, those humans that remained - those that passed this story down - managed to somehow survive. And they gave this new era a new name to represent the end. YZ.

Unfortunately, there is a substantial gap in the history books - almost 300 years. The absence of this time is disturbing for one reason: it's when the most significant changes to the world took place. At some point over the course of these 300 years, a new power emerged, seeping up from the cracks of the dried up land. Mahstion, it was dubbed, and it granted humanity with it's second chance. A power akin to magic, at some point people learned how to make use of it and control it. Split into six different forms (Lionus, Dation, Wation, Fionus, Wionus, and Eation), somehow this power lifted entire continents into the skies through Mahstion spikes, creating a world with two tiers. The landmasses that reached for the skies began to prosper: plant-life grew once more, and water began to flow from the Mahstion. During this same time, there is another inexplicable event. At some point, humans grew wings. The shape, size, and even animalistic traits of each pair of wings varied from person to person, but it was clearly an evolution to help people live easier in the skies. The origins though, to this day, remain a mystery.

The history of the past 500 years is much easier to access, and most of it is kept in libraries in capital cities. Now 800Y.Z., one would hardly believe humanity had been nearly wiped out eight centuries prior. In fact, the story itself has been demoted to the status of a legend, with different retellings depending on where you're from. We've made the best of what the Mahstion has to offer our kind, adapting it into machines for better use, and even arming our military forces with those who specialize in using it for combat. It is a golden age for the people of Earth, a level of prosperity we haven't seen for almost a millennium. Although the world is not without it's problems.

The world is primarily ruled by two great nations. The first of which is the Kingdom of Tealia. It's teachings and government ruled by the notion that science is the answer to all of the world's greatest questions, they feel this also applies to the 300 year historical gap. Somehow, at some point, humanity raised the land using both Mahstion and science, and gave themselves wings through the technology of that time - a technology that became lost over the years. The capital city of Tealia is known as Meredy, and houses Queen Jaqueline and Prince Jamie amidst the castle there. Only figureheads, the country is actually a democracy with a President that is technically ranked lower than the Queen. Located in the sky amidst the western hemisphere, Tealia is the second largest floating continent with a size comparable to Canada. The plant-life is, for the most part, deciduous, and it is the world's greatest provider of lumber. Due to the country's hardheaded faith in science, they have a tendency to butt heads with most of the other countries in regards to situations involving the entire world.

The second of the two great nations is the Carn Empire. Situated in the eastern hemisphere over what was once Europe, this nation is the opposite to Tealia in almost every notable way, starting with their beliefs. The people of Carn are very religious, following the idea that their God, Tylonstus, was responsible for the miracles of the past, and that he will grant them further feats in the future if they continue their practice. The only remnant of the old world lies on Carn - the church of Notre-Dame. The old-world Gods lost to time, this site has become the most symbolic site for the worship of Tylonstus, and is located in the capital of Nephistos. The Church is not confined to Carn, though, and has branches throughout the world. Ruled by King Dian and Queen Siepte, they also have a daughter named Juliet (intentionally named after the heroine in Romeo and Juliet). Those born in Carn are imprinted with a tattoo made of Dation at birth. This tattoo, floral in shape, is usually placed on the back of their hands and acts to ensure that a resident remains loyal to their God and their country. If the magical tattoo were to sense one straying from such thoughts, their bodies would be wracked with extraordinary pain until they submitted once more. As a result, many deserters are either missing a hand, or have distorted hands where the tattoo was forcefully removed.

The largest nation is by far the poorest and most unfortunate of them all. Making their homes on the barren wasteland below the floating nations, The Underneath is treated as the cesspool of the modern world. Criminals run rampant in this dog eat dog world, and the majority of the population consists of the wingless, those that did not evolve with the rest of the people, and are now treated as inferior by many. There is no peace here, there is no order, there is no ruler. Tragedy in the underneath is a daily activity for most, and they hate the winged for not aiding them. These thoughts have lead to the creation of many bandit groups that prey on the winged - even those that do offer help, thus making it difficult for the sympathetic to even aid these people.

Three smaller nations also exist, the first of which being the neutral nation of Alta. Small, no larger than Switzerland, this mountainous island nation welcomes people and beliefs from all of the other nations. Ruled by Prince Regul, his acceptance of all people speaks strongly of his character, since he lost his parents to an Underneath terrorist attack several years ago. Beta, the nation of scholars, is located directly above where Japan used to stand. As a result, the culture and architecture seems to have stemmed from a series of different Asian influences. Also known as the country of machines, research into Mahstion technology is conducted here under the commission of various other countries. Thanks to the income from these projects, Beta is probably the wealthiest nation of them all, and is neutral by all extensive purposes. Sirius Academy, the most prestigious school in the world, is located in Beta as well, making it a popular hotspot for students. The nation itself is rules by Lord Yukimura, a tempered man and famous scholar. The final of these three nations is Gregar, a scientific wonder of a nation that seems to constantly be changing location. How it does this is one of the world's greatest mysteries, let alone how it does so without colliding with other landmasses. Because it is always moving, the climate changes suddenly and regularly, though plant life still seems to remain.

Constantly butting heads with one another, Tealia and Carn have been on the verge of an all-out war for some time now. Tensions began to rise even higher after Carn began to observe a decrease in Wation in their land and they tried to appeal to Tealia, which had an abundance of the resource. The nation turned to desperation when the science-lead country refused, forcing Carn to take hostile action. They moved troops into the Underneath first, seizing whatever Wation and Wation users they could in order to help replenish their stocks. This caused an uproar amidst the already rowdy nation, and Carn further doomed itself to war when it invaded Beta to the east in hopes of using it as a stepping stone to Tealia.

In the meantime, an odd mutation began to sweep through a small percentage of the human population, winged and wingless alike. A strange tattoo would appear on their faces in the shape of a roman numeral representing the mahstion they used. Some assumed these people were sickly, dangerous, and chose to avoid them, while others predicted that these individuals were special, chosen, and hailed them as being those next in humanities evolutionary line. Carn began to take these people prisoner, hoping that they might be useful in securing more resources in the near future. And, it was through such an encounter that the group of unlikely traveling companions, and later revolutionaries, would meet.


Key Events of the Past 50 Years - In Progress

• 750Y.Z. - Beta, funded by it's technology commissions, rose to power as it's own nation separate from Tealia. Tealia attempted to reject this, but was forced to ignore it through the pressure of other countries.
• 784Y.Z. - A five day attack on Beta by Carn took the nation by surprise, killing thousands and taking hundreds of prisoners. Carn claimed the attack was in response to a terrorist threat in the country, but none of the seized resources or prisoners were given back to Beta after.
• 786Y.Z. - A non-aggression treaty was signed by all the airborne nations, much to the distaste of both Carn and Beta, who had fought only two years prior.
• 795Y.Z. - Carn notices that their wation resources have begun to deplete, and attempt to barter with Tealia, whom had an excessive amount of the mahstion in their land. The world still uninterested in trusting Carn after the Beta attack over a decade ago, however, their pleas were refused.
• 799Y.Z. - In an attempt to secure wation, Carn invaded areas of the Underneath and occupy them to this day. Many lives have been lost and precious resources taken from the lower nation already on the verge of dying away.
• 800Y.Z. - Disregarding the non-aggression treaty, Carn moved it's troops into Beta, intending on using the country as a stepping stone to Tealia. As a result, Tealia began to fortify it's army in hopes of repelling the inevitable invasion.

Mahstion

Mahstion is the great, magical power that swelled forth from the planet after humanity was nearly wiped out. Nobody knows what mahstion truly is, nor where it comes from exactly, but it was a crucial factor in rebuilding civilization in the skies. Machines can harvest mahstion for power, to help make things move or fly, and people can even freely manipulate the power with their own two hands if they're born with the ability to do so. These people are invaluable in the work force, and many become soldiers due to their ability to use it in combat situations. Every individual only has the ability to use one type of mahstion, and they are also immune to the effects of having that type of mahstion used against them.

There are six primary types of mahstion:

I. Dation
The very first form of mahstion discovered, dation represents darkness. The power of dation is much stronger during the night time, and allows one to commit feats such as manipulation shadows and creating a dark, physical energy that can be used as a projectile. More advanced users are generally more creative with it, and can use it to create portals that allow them to travel anywhere in the world provided they can mentally picture the location. Dation is primarily used by the stealthy, since it can be used to hide one's presence and blind your foes.

II. Lionus
The opposite of dation, lionus represents light. The warm, soothing power of lionus has a popular use as a healing agent, and as a result it's users are often found in medical establishments, or traveling with adventurers as an assisting party member. Lionus can also be used offensively, but it lacks the power of the other mahstion types since the energy must be bound to a physical object first, like a ball or arrow. When manipulated properly, the healing energy can be reversed, and these items can be treated as a sort of lionus explosive.

III. Fionus
Fire was not something lost to humanity after the world nearly ended, but creating it became far easier with the discovery of fionus. As you can imagine, fionus deals with the creation and manipulation of flames, which makes it an extremely important energy generator. Some fionus users are actually powerful enough to mold the heat into electricity, which is no easy feat. Combat wise, fionus is likely the easiest to use as a weapon, since you can create small explosions, launch fireballs, etc. Fionus users as best paired with wionus users, since the wind can spread the flames, though they should be wary of the water-shooting wation users that can douse their flames.

IV. Wation
Fionus' foil, wation involves the creation and use of water. Due to the sheer level of power needed to create water, though, powerful wation users are rare and sought after by governments to help supply their countries with the water necessary for life. Users of this mahstion, similar to lionus users, can heal others using their power, though it isn't as powerful. Even rarer are those who specialize in using wation to create ice by manipulating the temperature of the water. It isn't an easy feat to do so, but it makes it much more effective as a weapon. Popular attack techniques involving wation involve trying to drown a target by encasing their heads with water, or even trying to manipulate the water with one's own body (though this is liable to get you locked up for good).

V. Wionus
Wionus is, at the core, the manipulation of the air around you to create wind. One of the more convenient mahstion types, it's used to power wind generators, and even allow airships to fly. A whole sport exists around using wionus to power an air board that grants you flight, as well. Combat-wise, a wionus user can accelerate winds to such speeds that the enemy is assaulted with debris, and some can even increase the speed to such a level that the wind itself is like a blade. An exceptionally talented, or group of less talented wionus users are capable of taking down enemy airships with their powerful winds.

VI. Eation
With the power to control the earth, Eation is probably only slightly more common than wation in terms of users. Users of this mahstion make great farmers, since they can add minerals to the land and fertilize it to help grow crops. Offensively, you could destroy the ground below someone, have it shoot up to hit them, or even create a large tremor to level an entire area if the you're strong enough. The downside to being an eation user is that their power is useless while airborne. As a result, those traveling by airship generally carry weapons and other tricks in the case of an attack. Those that specialize in eation may also be able to manipulate plant-life to do their bidding.


Character Application
Due to the nature of this RP, I'll only be accepting two applicants to fill the spots Loki and I will not be handling. To that point, if you have an interest in joining, just PM me a sample and if I approve, you can apply for a spot using the signup. This is mostly so I don't feel bad having a bunch of people spend their time writing signups just to be shot down.