It was said that the Realms had not always existed as they did now. Once, they had begun as a utopia, an act of redemption, the final salvation of mankind.
The story went that the Queen of Lords, the Great Mother, had seen a vision, a Form of the perfect Realm, and he knew at once that it was his divine destiny to bring it into creation. The sages sang against him, and they spoke in their distant wisdom of what would happen to them all in the end. But as always, the sages vanished, and power marched forward unopposed.
And so, like a law carved into stone, the King presented the new Realm to his people. The discovery of energy was, he said, an enlightenment, and his people would live in a world ruled solely by this gift. From now on, everything and everyone would be equal, everything and everyone would be shared. The days of struggle were finished and a paradise of harmony was beginning.
From now on, there would be no wealth, no more ownership, and all who lived in the Realm would live for something greater than themselves. Those who opposed this ideal would be punished by death, or at least, that was how it had to be in the first stage.
Work was now divided among the people, and each worker was trained for their role. The work itself was kept to a minimum, while the remainder of time was devoted to the pursuit of knowledge and the cultivation of character.
On one day, the King declared that education was the foundation upon which the entire Utopia stood. If children left the Academies without the ability to truly think and understand, then no amount of prosperity could save the project from failure. If students did not grasp the nature of good and evil, if they did not comprehend the Universal Laws at the basis of their existence, then what were they but fallen beings?
Family and love would be central to the Realm, but above all, knowledge would remain open. Each generation would build upon the work of the last, with nothing hoarded and nothing kept private. This was the Tradition of the Realms.
And most importantly, justice existed, but not as it once had. Laws were unwritten. Crimes were resolved within the private dynamics of communities. The King often spoke of the ancient tales, where hundreds of strangers could come together, build monuments from a shared vision, then part without a word exchanged.
He believed in that ability and the Utopia was built upon it.
The King spent four hundred years, from childhood to death, building and maintaining the integrity of his creation. No one, not even his closest inner circle, knew the burden he carried. He was the most powerful being in all the Realms. At any moment, he could have abandoned his duties and lived by whim alone.
But the will of the King was eternal.
The Utopia had to survive the passage of time. All imperfections had to be brought to the light and made perfect. Who could he share this with, and who could understand such a burden? That is why it was said that at the end of his life, the King bowed his head and smiled.
Two years later, the Utopia collapsed.
Justice through communities was no longer enough. People learned to exploit one another's natures, and without an overseeing hand, they lived unopposed. The unspoken conventions the Queen had refined for centuries became loopholes and vulnerabilities. From the dust, dreamers rose, chasing their hollow visions of glory.
Thus began the Second Age, known as the Age of the King.
Under the instructions of the Lords, the Alchemists created the Faceless Ones, and with them, a new Realm entirely.
Life continued much as before, but beyond the people stood the Faceless Soldiers, guardians against chaos. Axiom energy remained abundant, yet its deepest secrets were known only to them. The Alchemists had learned from the King's mistake: not everyone could bear such power. Not everyone could endure the burden.
And soon, the King decided that the people should forget Axiom altogether. Thus came the Conjurers and the Mentors. There would be no questions of the outside world, no attempts to claim power. Order would be maintained—for their own good. And if correction was required, the Soldiers would act.
In the final stage, the Alchemists realized the opportunity for their own glory.
This was the true downfall of the King's Utopia.
And now—
From scattered grains of dirt, a lone figure emerged atop a hill overlooking the Eastern Forest.
It was the Supreme Faceless Leader.
"So his name is now Ashar," he said, "Have you found him?
"We encountered five bandit groups. None contained anyone matching your description."
"So his appearance has changed as well."
The Supreme Leader gazed toward the Noctis Mountains, beyond the forests, past the Forbidden Deserts, and finally to the distant Golden City.
"He will go to the City," he said. "By now, he will be dressed as a bandit. He will likely have companions. If he encounters no resistance, he will arrive in less than three weeks. But he will not reach the City, and I know where he will go instead."
"What are your orders?"
The Supreme Leader turned to the man beside him, brought forth by the Soldiers.
He was bald, one-eyed, and nearing sixty. His skin, once scorched, had turned pale with exhaustion and only the Soldiers' energy kept him alive.
It was Kareth.
"Why…" Kareth groaned. "Why am I not dead?"
"Are we monsters to you, old man?" said the Supreme Leader.
"Yes."
"Look at the chaos in those woods," the Leader said. "See how they live, worse than dogs and apes. Without us, there would be war at every mile, and what a victory that would be for your kind."
Two stars of silver lights flared behind the white mask he wore.
"You call us tyrants," he said, "yet even the tyranny of the Lords would be preferable to the world you would create."
Since witnessing the Eye of Sophia carried by Jinvar, the Supreme Leader felt a rage he did not understand. Never before had such passion lived within him.
"This world is a story of disappointments and flaws," he said. "But it holds beauty as well. A price must be paid for that beauty, don't you agree?"
"What is there to say to someone like you?" Kareth replied.
The empty sky stared down upon the Supreme Leader and his vacant silver eyes, and for a moment he felt the presence of the King whom he knew had walked here so long ago.
"The will of the King is eternal," he said, "I will protect this world, whatever the cost may be."
His energy screamed, and a dark cloud poured outward from him, slowly starting to seep through the entire Eastern Forest.
"But you're a Faceless Soldier? You just used... a Third Tier ability!" Kareth shouted.
"Tell the Western Leader what just happened," the Supreme Leader said to one Soldier. "I want to hear how he reacts."