Ah, the Elyth… sweet and cruel nectar.
In the beginning, no one called it a gift — only a curse. On March 20, 2030 A.D., humanity faced the disaster remembered as the Day of the Great Calamity. That day, the dreaded Calamyr were born: humans who died… and returned. They came back with twisted bodies, alien organs, and the power to summon fire or harden their skin like diamond. Worst of all, they were immortal. No weapon could stop them. They were the first "gods" of destruction the world had ever known.
In the face of such horror, six geniuses from different lands rose up. Each carried a different dream, each a different banner, yet they shared a single purpose: to found a city where life could begin anew. In the heart of what was once Kazakhstan, they built Lirium, the city of new humanity.
They were not alone. A seventh visionary marched beside them — a man who wished not only to build the future, but to rule it. The six accepted, under one condition: they would be the public face of Lirium, while the seventh ruled from the shadows. Thus, seven families carved their names into history: the Ainsworths of England, the D'Alessios of Italy, the Takedas of Japan, the Petrovs of Russia, the Salazars of Peru, the Al-Mansurs of Arabia… and the Alhazens of the United States.
The year 5 After the Great Calamity (A.G.C.) marked the official birth of Lirium. For a time, there was peace. But peace was only an illusion. Every human had been infected by the Elyth. Most were mere carriers, but their children were born with the "disease" unleashed: deformities, unstable powers… and short lives, rarely exceeding twenty-five years.
Seven generations of suffering were needed before the gift stabilized. Then came the Novalyth — the new humanity. No longer monsters, but heirs to a power both divine and cursed.
Thirty years after the Great Calamity, eight young explorers defied the walls of Lirium. Six were heirs to the great families, one the daughter of blacksmiths… and one a reckless drifter. With the aid of an Alhazen heir, they crossed the continent for six years. When they returned, only three remained: the adopted son of the Ainsworths, the blacksmiths' daughter, and the drifter bound by debt to the Alhazen.
All that endures of them is an echo: the notebook they carried home — the First Al-Mansur Encyclopedia, written mostly by Layla Al-Mansur, who died on the road. The fate of the three survivors was lost to time.
In the years that followed, the Alhazen ceased to be hidden kings and became rulers in daylight. Their ambition soon consumed Lirium, transforming it from a city into a nation. The other six families, disillusioned, departed to found new nations around it — some to defend Lirium, others to contain it. The Calamyr, once gods of death, fled into jungles and wastelands to slumber in silence.
Yet peace again was a mask. Whispers told of an unseen shadow — a manic laugh that came before slaughter. Whole criminal syndicates were found butchered. Even Calamyr, the undying, were discovered dead. None knew if the killer was man, monster, or something else. They called it the Strongest Creature in History.
By the year 259 A.G.C., the disappearances began — children and youths between five and twelve, vanishing without a trace. The Order of the Black Cloak was blamed, though no one ever found proof.
And so we arrive at the year 289 A.G.C. — the year when two children would be born, destined to rewrite the fate of the world.
Ready to see the gods fall? :D