9 - Awakening

Long ago, mindless beasts from distant realms breached this world. They were ravenous, draining the air and water, turning the planet into a wasteland.

To resolve the crisis, the Shining Keeper, a being from the celestial planes, descended to the mortal realm. The plan was to craft vessels to house souls pivotal in sealing the cosmic breach. Those vessels would later be known as Lower Mortals, identified as Humans.

To make the world habitable, the beasts had to be exterminated first. So the Shining Keeper created the Salamanders—Higher Mortals born of fire—to fulfill this task. They succeeded. Yet, she deemed them too barbaric and unfit to become the guardians of Humans.

She fashioned a gentler and more docile successor. The Sylphs—Higher Mortals born of air—were tasked with eradicating the first race and replacing them as guardians.

But the Salamanders defended their existence.

Now, through ages untold, the Salamanders and Sylphs are engaged in an endless war, trapped in a fragment o