The new Beginning (2483-2525)¶

Up until the dark days of the exile, the homin peoples had always lived separately. The collapse brought them together. The refugees of the Prime Roots had no other choice but to learn to tolerate one another and live together. They made ready their return to the surface and declared the Edict of the Four Peoples. This agreement foresaw a sharing of the new lands according to the territorial preference of each race. In 2483, when they finally returned to the surface, the Zoraïs regained possession of the jungle, whilst the Matis took the forests, the Fyros took the deserts and the Trykers took the lakes.

The exile lasted two years, this being the time it took for the Kamis and the Karavan to push the Kitins back down to the depths of Atys. The Guardians of the Karavan remained in close contact with the homins during this period. As soon as the four races had completed their ascent to the surface, the Karavan took great care to seal the passageways that lead to the Prime Roots and prevented anyone else from using them.

For the civilizations, everything had to be rebuilt from scratch. They spent the next three generations laying the foundations of new Homin empires. The Fyros, under the command of Leanon, sister of the late emperor Cerakos II, the Zoraïs guided by Hoï-Cho, the Trykers under the leadership of Rigan Mac'Darrell, and the Matis lead by Yasson, all began the arduous task. They took over and secured new territories, built towns and began to re-establish trade routes.

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According to the legend, the Matis capital was built on the exact spot where the arrow of King Yasson landed, in Majestic Garden. The capital bears the name of his son, Yrkanis, born in the Prime Roots in 2482. The Zoraïs built Zora in memory of those who fell during the kitin attack. The Trykers explored the continent of Aeden Aquous and laid the first foundations of Fairhaven in an area particularly rich in resources. The city of Pyr, capital city of the Fyros people, was constructed behind the site where the embalmed body of Cerakos II was burned. The funeral pyre thus became the great door to the city.

Very quickly, the refugees began to throng the ancient lands, swelling the ranks of the survivors. Training camps were set up to welcome them and provide training. Great warriors of all races came together under the banner of the Guild of the Force of Fraternity. They too had taken the route of the exodus to rejoin their people and teach them new methods of combat. Each race cherishes the names of these heroes: Kalus Hym the Fyros, Leng Cheng-Ho the Zoraï, Matini Roqvini the Matis and Bremmen Dingle the Tryker. All died gloriously, sacrificing their lives for their people and their leader.

When word came in 2490 that the Kitins had begun to re-appear on homin lands, the Guild of the Force of Fraternity set off to meet them head on. A Pact of Mutual Assistance was signed by Hoï-Cho, Rigan Mac'Darell, Leanon and Yasson.

But the homin alliance proved to be short-lived. The lines of discord began to multiply, beginning when each race allied itself with the Kamis and the Karavan and when the ambitions of the leaders began to diverge. The Matis, and to a lesser extent the Trykers, took a resolute stance and joined the Karavan, whilst the Fyros turned towards the Kamis. The Zoraïs had escaped the influence of the Karavan as soon as they resurfaced from the Prime Roots and it was during this time that the Kamis arranged a meeting between the leader Hoï-Cho and Ma-Duk, whom they revered as the veritable Lord of the Kamis. At this time, the Guild of Elias appeared. It was a secret society made up of individuals from many races, whose stated goal was to spread the name of Elias Tryton. Its methods and group ethos are still rather unclear. Considered as a sect by the Karavan, the Guild continued nevertheless to win widespread support.

Once again, trade exchanges between the races proved to be the factor that unleashed further wars. The Fyros and the Trykers signed a trade agreement which lead the Matis to revoke the Edict of Four Peoples. The following year (2499), the Matis invaded Tryker lands - it was the beginning of the Autumn War in Lagoons of Loria.

The Tryker resistance took the form of a guerilla movement lead by Still Wyler. He was soon joined by the Fyros, who joined their allies by passing through Zoraï lands. The Fyros were lead by Dexton, son of the deceased emperor, Cerakos II. Dexton showed great bravery in battle, but was eventually captured by the Matis. Mabreka Cheng-Ho, son of the great Zoraï warrior Leng Cheng-Ho, who gave his life to save the Matis prince Yrkanis from the Kitins, negotiated Dexton's freedom for a sum of 1,000,000 dappers. King Yasson accepted the offer against the advice of his younger half-brother Jinovitch and a contingent of the royal court. Jinovitch saw only weakness in the moderation shown by the king. Despite these tensions, the leaders of the four peoples signed a new peace agreement in 2501 and the Lagoons of Loria were thereafter considered neutral territory.

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Over the course of the two years following the signing of the treaty, the leadership of all four peoples changed hands. Dexton succeeded Leanon as king, while Beadley Nimby emerged as the head of the Trykers in a struggle with Still Wyler. Hoï-Cho died heirless, thus ending the Cho dynasty. Despite the widespread popularity of Mabreka, the old and wise Fung-Tun took over the leadership of the Zoraïs and banished his opponent to exile. Mabreka took refuge among the Fyros in the city of Pyr. Fung-Tun reinstated the worship of Jena and, under the pretext of fighting the Goo, reintroduced slavery.

Unrest was most felt among the Matis, the most ambitious and scheming people of Atys. Jinovitch poisoned the king, took the crown, pursued the multiracial guilds and tracked down anyone who opposed the Karavan. The new dictator also renamed the capital Yrkanis, calling it Jino instead. From then on, Matis interests would be defended with arrogance.

With this tyrant seizing power, trade routes once again became a major source of tension. A surcharge was imposed on any Fyros goods traveling through Matis territories. The Fyros decided to travel through Zoraï territory instead in order to continue trading, but some of the traders provoked a fire, which lead the Zoraïs to close the trade route.

The lessons of the past taught Jinovitch that, even with the support of the Karavan, the Matis would find it difficult to oppose a Tryker/Fyros alliance. Jinovitch hatched a plan therefore to drive a wedge between the two sides. He proposed a lowering of taxes on goods to the Trykers, who in return would agree to follow the teachings of the Karavan more closely. The offer was accepted immediately by Beadley Nimby. To the heretic Fyros however, he would offer only war.

This campaign would prove fatal to the ambitions of Jinovitch however, who lost an entire battalion in the attack on Sawdust Mines. The Fyros were able to count on a formidable ally among their ranks - Mabreka. He fought alongside Dexton and then returned to a hero's welcome in his home country. He became leader of his people following the deposing of Fung-Tun, who had been struck down by the Goo. The New Zoraï leader revived the former Cho dynasty and reinstated the worship of Ma-Duk. As soon as he came to power, under the name of Mabreka-Cho, he signed a pact of alliance with the Fyros in case of Matis attack. The pact also authorized the Fyros to once again make use of the trade routes that pass through the jungle lands.

For his part, prince Yrkanis took advantage of the defeat inflicted on the Matis to attempt to topple the throne, but without success. Yrkanis was then arrested and put in prison. He barely escaped an assassination attempt and fled with his cohorts through the Prime Roots. While Jinovitch passed him off as dead, Yrkanis found safe asylum with the Trykers and then the Zoraïs until 2512.

In the same year, Jinovitch launched a campaign against Lagoons of Loria, which were immediately renamed Jino Waters. Prince Yrkanis and his followers then allied themselves to the newly elected Tryker leader, Still Wyler. Many Matis soldiers rallied to their cause. On the way to Tryker front, King Jinovitch died horrible death in the jaws of kitin scouts which his soldiers left him to charge alone. .

Yrkanis took over from him and Lagoons of Loria were retroceded to the Trykers. A peace treaty was signed between the homin peoples, followed by a Free Trade Agreement and the ratification of the Homin Rights Act, an anti-slavery text introduced by the Trykers. A new era of peace had begun.

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Parallel to this, the Zoraïs and the Fyros launched themselves in an all-out offensive against the Kitins, who had reappeared in Knot of Dementia and Dunes of Exile. Another enemy soon proved to be more and more of a threat - 2519 was the year of the Goo. The diseased sap was spreading, infecting beast and soil alike. It seemed that the destructive fire might be capable of bringing an end to the scourge for good. It was then that another ghost emerged - the discovery of ruins in the Prime Roots, which threatened to rouse the curiosity of the Fyros.

In the year 2525, the four homin civilizations were continuing their efforts to reconquer Atys and recover the glories of the past. The earlier upheavals in history had shown how fragile and dangerous alliances among Homins truly were. It remains to be seen whether the refugees will be able to display enough courage to meet the challenges that will decide the future of their people. Are they capable of putting their differences aside and wipe out the Goo for good? Can they defeat the Kitins? Can they unearth the lost secrets of the great homin empires of the past and discover the reasons that might explain the differences between the Kamis and the Karavan? The history of Atys is at the dawn of a new era.