ilyana | [Voice]

Umm... hello? Is... is there anyone there? I'm not sure who exactly I'm speaking to, as I've never used something like this before, but... does anyone know where I am? I... I was traveling with a merchant caravan until just recently, but I'm afraid I'm a bit lost. I... ohh...

[the voice grows fainter, and fainter, until an audible thud is heard.]

Ooh... I'm so sorry about that... I'm afraid I'm feeling a bit faint... This kind of thing happens to me from time to time. Does... does anyone have any food they might be able to spare me? I feel... so weak... I have so many questions I want to ask about where I am... and why in the Goddesses name have I found myself here... but I don't think I can really rightly ask those questions until I eat something. It... feels like it's been weeks since I've last eaten anything.

[The young woman's voice becomes a bit more somber for this last part.]

There is... one more thing that is incredibly important to me. Upon arriving here, I seemed to have been stripped of my belongings, and there was one item that was very precious to me. Does anyone know what would have happened to my rexbolt tome? I fear it is... utterly irreplaceable.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Aye, I am!

It's pretty fascinating to me, actually, but it makes sense so far.

The most experienced practitioner of magic I knew was the goddess herself, as she was capable of using all forms of magic through sheer force of will.

So you use the goddess' magic and then the magic the land? And she also uses both I take it? Or well, I guess she could probably use all four sources, right?

That's right. Although the goddess... I'm not sure where the source of her power comes from other... than herself. She created the entire world after all so...

Wow, really? That's pretty impressive. And you actually met her?

Well... sort of. She had divided into two separate entities several hundreds of years ago, although that wasn't what we'd all been taught. There was Ashera the goddess of order, and yune the goddess of chaos. I met both Ashera and Yune, and... fought against Ashera.

You fought against Order?

[Note that he just looks amused by this.]

Well... yes actually. It threatened the fate of the entire world.

Interesting...

Why?

Ashera had made a covenant with the ancestors of all my people... that we would not war for a thousand years. We broke that covenant, and her judgement upon the world was to destroy us all.

Hardcore.

You were actually able to stop her?

With help from the goddess of chaos Yune, that Ashera had sealed away hundreds of years ago? ... Yes.

Wow.

But then the world would be in complete chaos, right? Although that's better than ceasing to exist, I think.

No... believe it or not Yune, was in more of a state of balance than Ashera. When sealed within the medallion, she spent the entire time being sung to by the heron Laguz, beings of pure order. They sang comfort to her, and because of that she was kept in check... to a degree. Ashera had sealed herself off from the rest of the world.

Yet... Yune I think knew the danger that she could be... so she left our world after we defeated Ashera. She said that maybe one day she'd return to us when we needed her most, as the whole goddess she once was.

Oh... wow.

That's... pretty impressive.

So what are heron laguz, and how did that help?

Hmm... that could take some explaining... See, the Laguz are gifted creatures that have the ability to shift between two forms. One that resembles us Beorc, or humans as we've also come to call ourselves, and another form that is of a great creature. The herons were one tribe of Laguz focused on peace, order, and living in harmony with nature. They had no offensive capabilities like the other Laguz trives, whose animal forms allowed them to fight with the strength of their animal.

Yet that did not mean they were powerless... their power was in their songs, and they were incredibly gifted in seid magic and galdrar. Their abilities allow them to heal, or imbue others with energy, or enormous feats of strength. Through the power of the slumber galdr, they had the ability to suppress the chaotic energies of Yune. I believe that it was through the power of the herons, Yune was able to remain more at balance than Ashera, who became so cold and calculated.

Laguz are zoan? You have an entire tribes like that in your world?

Wait... just in songs?

What's a Zoan? Also... there's more than just tribes like that, there are 5 well known Laguz Kingdoms. The beast kingdom of Galia, the dragon Kingdom of Goldoa, the hawk kingdom of Phonicis, the crow kingdom of Kilvas, and the herons of Serenes. Recently we also learned of another kingdom across the great desert, the kingdom of Hatori, where queen Nailah and the wolf tribe originate from.

... What do you mean by just in songs?

Zoan are... like me. I'm a zoan. We have more than one species. We can change in-between animals and humans usually, but some of us are two different animals.

But tribes? It's genetic then?

Ah, the power of the herons. You said they could do all those amazing things with just their songs.

That's right... it's in their blood. I could never change into a bird or anything like that myself... but these Zoans you're talking about... they don't inherit this ability?

Their songs contain magical properties that they developed by centuries of communing with nature. So yes... with just their songs.

Correct, we do not inherit it. It's a curse for life that comes from a fruit.

That's even more impressive. Centuries individually or as a species?

As a species... while herons can live much longer than most humans, and even most Laguz... I don't think they tend to live for centuries. Though I can't be certain as I've never met with any herons outside of the Royal family.

... Well except for him... but he's a special case.

"Him?" Him who? Why is he a special case?

Lehran... he was one of the 4 great heroes to defeat the goddess Yune and seal her within the medallion. He is considered to practically be the father of the heron race, and his magic is only outclassed by the goddess herself. I would not be a match for him myself, and I am the greatest practitioner of lightning magic in Tellius.

He has been alive since before the time when the goddess was asleep, nearly 700 years ago, and he will likely live hundreds, if not thousands of years more.