Nexus is a being of a much higher order, of spiritual nature. Nexus came to Darlow millions of years ago during early evolution to settle down at a permanent home. It aided the evolution process and gave rise to numerous life-forms, one series of which became intelligent enough to rise to civilization. Nexus looked upon these beings and every other life on Darlow as its children. It watched as the evolution continued. Over time, Nexus became intricately linked to the planet, and a representative of the actual physical structure of Nexus grew as a sphere (approximately 2 meters in diamater) in a deep underground cave on an island west of Skure across the ocean. That sphere came to be directly linked to the sphere of the actual planet. If Nexus thrived, the planet thrived. Both thrived on one another, a dynamic relationship. With its one small moon and one great, revolving around a deep orange star, Darlow grew into a bountiful planet of extensive and balanced life.
Thousands of millenia before civilization began to appear, a force of intense darkness travelled to find Darlow. Voleron was also a being of a higher order, much like Nexus, except that Voleron had an almost opposite outlook on life and how it should exist. Voleron was evil, dark, disturbed, and maniacal, lusting for power and yearning for destruction. When it came to Darlow, Nexus appointed itself to destroy this threat. A fantastic battle raged across the landscape of Skure. The skies would darken, then lighten, in no sort of pattern. Huge storms raged, but none of the inhabitants of the region ever came to any harm. In the end, Nexus was empowered by the planet and the endless need to preserve it. Voleron was defeated and imprisoned into a black crystal that Nexus created, to be placed into a deep cavern in the mountains separating northern and southern Skure. It would be millions of years before Voleron would be encountered again.
As the planet prospered and Nexus with it, the life on the planet evolved continuously. After hundreds of thousands of years from the first sign of a truly intelligent species, civilization began to appear. The original tribes sprung up in Skure and in the Polar South. The tribes in Skure spread out slowly and steadily, never leaving the continent. The tribes of the Polar South began to live in underground caverns, thus isolating themselves. Nevertheless they lived in peace and harmony amongst eachother, becoming very peaceful people. These tribes of the Polar South became known in the future as the Hassites and would develop the first major cities. But because these cities were isolated and underground, there was no possibility for expansion, and the Hassites lived for thousands of years in tranquility with their surroundings. Technology stopped, development ceased, and they lived happily.
Meanwhile, the tribes of Skure began to understand that their world was large and empty, save for the vast wildlife. Once separated, some of the tribes moved into the Dal'r Desert, just east of Skure. These tribes organized themselves to later develop into one of the great kingdoms - Ruoze, later still to become Anara. The two main tribal factions in Skure remained there for centuries before one of them left to cross the vast islands in the ocean and then to the continent of South Kreland. These tribes came together, also to form one of the great kingdoms - Dainaria, later to be known as Dainan. The remaining tribes in Skure never quite organized themselves to become a united kingdom, although they did have a distinct culture and a clear identity. They were eventually enveloped by Ruoze. This time period was known as the "Migration Age".
It was during the development of these tribal kingdoms that a magnificent event occurred, the first of its kind in this time period. A solar eclipse put the greater moon between the orange sun and Darlow for days. The people of the planet, the tribes, looked up in curiosity at the bright light surrounding this disc that was in the sky. The Hassites, the Daines, the Anarans, and the remaining tribes hailed this disc as a god when the life of the planet began to flourish like never before. Trees grew twice their height in a few years after this eclipse. Animals became tame and passive, yet vibrant; ocean life evolved into unseen creatures of immense beauty. Darlow was in a golden age and dubbed by the Anarans as the "Awakened Age". The solar eclipse had energized Nexus so much that the planet had responded in turn. This gave rise to the religion, The Followers of Nexus, who believed that the circular disc they saw in the sky during the eclipse was their god. It was only by coincidence that the people linked the circular feature of the solar eclipse with the existence of Nexus. Through this religion, society developed itself around Nexus and its existence. The year after the eclipse became known as the year 1 N.R., the anniversery of Nexus' Rebirth. For the first time in its history, Nexus existed in the minds of sentient creatures that held great respect and faith towards it as protector and god. Nexus continued to prosper.
Not even a century after the eclipse, the tribes had developed into well organized societies. Cities sprung up in bountiful places as The Golden Age continued. What the tribes did not realize was that they, the people, like the rest of the life of the planet, were evolving at an extraordinary pace and growing stronger in both mind and body. Magic became a fine art used for healing and, on later occassions, in battle. White, black, and blue magic became life-long professions like any others, such as joining the army or caring for a farm. Magic was sustained by the power of the higher order, of Nexus itself. Since Nexus was strong, magic was powerful. Technology also began to advance rapidly and war eventually broke out. The Ruozians had developed strong weapons, thick armour, and powerful magic and became an aggressive society, expanding through the force of war. "The Warring Age" had dawned.
Nexus frowned upon its children and their aggressive tendencies but understood that this development must be left alone and untouched. Nexus made a vow to itself not to interfere with the evolution of the species in this dynamic relationship in which they both existed. As time moved forward, fighting continued intermittently. Even the Hassites had to defend themselves against the Anarans within their caves. Despite the prosperity that the planet was enduring, the "civilized" worlds were in a mild state of chaos. Everything from the advanced weaponry of swords and spears to the finely tuned use of black magic was aiding war and little more.
It was to be this chaos that was about to unleash the terror that Nexus nearly sacrificed itself to contain. In the year 315 N.R., A young man of thirty-four named Zathar, son of Duntas, set out on an expedition with a small army force to explore the same road the Lireans had used when they began to migrate north. A captain in the Ruozian army under Anara and a Lirean by birth, he was an enthusiastic explorer and simply could not resist entering a cave in the mountains of Skure during this expedition. An entire day of searching deep within the mountain yielded Zathar a great treasure. He found a hand-sized black crystal, pure and beautiful. The moment he touched it, Voleron began speaking to him, enticing him to leave this place immediately. Zathar was strong physically, but his mind could not comprehend the power that was inside this jewel or the danger it posed, and Voleron quickly enveloped him. Zathar fled into the forest, never to be seen by his army again. Were it perhaps only for a sense of altruism and a lack of greed, Zathar might have change the course of his world's history for the better. This was not the case.
Only a few months had passed before Voleron was freed from the crystal through Zathar's body.. Zathar died immediately in this transgression, only to be resurrected by Voleron as his first "mortal" minion. Voleron was furious. After a few million years of imprisonment, revenge was the only thing that would please it. It sought Nexus and another magnificent battle took place where Nexus resided, on the large island west of Skure. The battle was isolated this time, for Voleron was weak from its long imprisonment and the power of Nexus was primarily devoted to the dynamic relationship that helped the planet thrive. In the end, Nexus claimed victory again, but just barely. Voleron had struck Nexus so hard that wounds appeared on the sphere itself. Nexus had been hurt, severely enough to reveal physical damage. The only sufficient means of keeping Voleron from spreading its wrath on the world was to imprison it again. This time, Nexus imprisoned Voleron within itself. Never again would Voleron be released. If Nexus was destroyed, Voleron would be as well.
For all its might and wisdom, Nexus failed in its duty to secure itself and Darlow. The wounds that Nexus suffered during that great battle quickly grew into scars that never healed. Voleron, although imprisoned, was keeping Nexus weak, never allowing it to heal. Nexus was, for the first time in its existence, completely helpless. It could do nothing to stop Voleron from causing it pain and it could not recover from its battle wounds. Because Nexus was directly linked to the planet, those scars began to take their toll when The Hunting Grounds began to appear. One by one, The Five Hunting Grounds formed on the surface of Darlow in the exact same spots relative to the scars Nexus had sustained. Peacful creatures began to be consumed with anger and rage. Even plant life became violent. It was to be the people of the kingdoms that would be hunted down by these sadistic monsters, chased from their homes, killed and eaten. Voleron's wrath was beginning to appear. The Hunting Grounds were aptly named at that point - it was the people that were hunted.
Decades passed while The Four Kingdoms re-established themselves and by 390 N.R. the wrath of The Hunting Grounds was halted. The monsters never treaded beyond their territories, for Nexus was still strong enough to maintain its influence where it was not scarred. It was only on the scars of Nexus, the "scars of the planet", that The Hunting Grounds were limited in their influence. No monster ever ventured outside of them. The Kingdoms, weakened and discouraged that Nexus was failing them, stopped fighting. Anara halted its expansion and Dainan stopped pressing Hassen at its borders. Lirea had successfully broken away from Ruoze earlier in the century and was now establishing itself. The Kingdoms were at peace, despite the terror that The Hunting Grounds inflicted upon their people. The Five Hunting Grounds were as follows:
- South Kreland
- The Death Mountains connecting Kreland and Skure
- Southern Skure and the lower Dal'r Desert
- The Ice Caverns of the Polar South
- The Island of The Pits of Pain where Nexus and Voleron resided
Generations passed. People began to accept the existence of The Hunting Grounds. Development had slowed, the planet was stagnant, and The Kingdoms had, for the most part, stopped advancing both socially and technologically. Magic, interestingly, became more potent, and much more violent. Even some of the "chaotics" (the monsters of The Hunting Grounds) began to harness magical power. Those who had perished would now awaken in a dead state - the undead. All in all, life was dreary and confusing. The Followers of Nexus, primarily represented by the monks at the scattered temples in the world, combined their efforts with The Four Kingdoms and began to search for clues as to why things had turned out the way they had. It was here that the investigations began to take shape.
By 520 N.R., over 200 years since The Hunting Grounds first appeared, groups of travellers the world over began to organize themselves in groups and parties to set out with the hopes of discovering what the world had come to. Warriors, mages, and even thieves and rangers formed groups, without prejudice, and ventured bravely into The Hunting Grounds to find out what had happened. Many of these groups travelled the entire planet; many did not survive. Many of the explorers made their names famous; many fell victim to the chaotics. They spoke to the monks, they conversed with the citizens; for once in civilized history, The Four Kingdoms had come together to ally in peace and work together for their common cause.
(The first game of Final Fantasy - The Hunting Grounds takes place in the year 572 N.R., the height of the investigations)
After learning the details from the monks, namely Brother Wytnunmo and Brother Tristan, about the world and Nexus and Voleron, the few remaining parties began to piece together what they had found.
Voleron had used Nexus to brandish itself out into the world. Each of The Hunting Grounds embodied a being that directly represented Voleron, just as Darlow was represented by Nexus. This allowed Voleron to have a physical presence in the world, which continuously weakened Nexus and heightened the need for the kingdoms to act. These Representatives were as follows:
The First Hunting Ground of South Kreland was occupied by the horrid vampire Vallatio, encountered numerous times and always returning. Vallatio represented Voleron's awareness. Sinister, intelligent, and calm, the explorers never concluded what a mighty force of power he truly was. His pestilence birthed many undead.
The Second Hunting Ground in The Death Mountains was home to the maniacal Kaug, a troll representing Voleron's fury. Unintelligible, Kaug would lash out the moment he saw anyone enter his chambers, screaming wildly while he was cut down, only to return hours later to haunt others who happened to come through in the future, many of whom were slaughtered.
Grygasz, the King of the Dinosaurs, occupied the Third Hunting Ground. Residing in the underground of the once great and wealthy (now destroyed) city of Ruoze, Grygasz represented Voleron's might. And he represented it well, for more than many of the travellers to his territory perished under his enormous maw, only to become another morsel of a meal.
The Fourth Hunting Ground, residing in the ice caves of the Polar South, west of Hassen, was the region under the rule of Geyzer, the ice-giant. Like Vallatio, Geyzer was able to communicate more effectively with the explorers who made it that far, although because he represented Voleron's anger, few stayed to listen to his crazy rantings. He, too, put many to death. It was Geyzer and his minions of frost who were to push the Hassites out of their beloved caves, slaughtering them as they fled east.
Last, but certainly and most distinguishably not least, was Magora, the High Demon of the final Fifth Hunting Ground, properly named The Pits of Pain. A nightmare of a creature, completely incomprehensible in relation to the evolutionary chain of Darlow, Magora was clever and horrifying. As a representative of Voleron's cruelty, Magora would bring her fallen victims back to life only to torture them repeatedly in the most horrid of ways before moving on to newcomers, many of whom came to suffer the same fate.
Past The Pits of Pain resided a small town underground which came to be home to the travellers and explorers who had made it that far. These people were very special, for they were the first, like Brother Wytnunmo, to have actually seen the sphere of Nexus. They were an odd sort and unusually blessed. Nexus itself had given them a piece of its very own essence, slowing their aging, heightening their physical and mental capacities. They were "The Enlightened", a group of no more than 40 out of the thousands who had perished on their path to reach this goal. Many were travellers from the kingdoms, some from leading command positions in the army. A few were monks, a few were simply adventurers, and the remaining were joined together in a spiritual bond known as The Brotherhood. It was The Brotherhood that periodically returned to the surface to aid others in their explorations and to guide them to Nexus. They used their magical potential to further the cause of humanity. Some even taught others their ways. Some were put to death by the Representatives.
The Enlightened understood entirely what had happened and took the responsibility of aiding Nexus in its struggle against its nemesis. The Enlightened confronted Nexus when they felt that they were of a force powerful enough to achieve what they had planned - allowing Nexus to release Voleron, whereby The Enlightened would thrust themselves upon the evil menace long enough to allow Nexus to heal and recontain Voleron. They placed their lives on the line for the good of the world as a whole; Nexus was proud of its children, proud that they were strong in mind and brave in the face of death. Nexus would make certain that they would be carried to the holy light, like every one of its children - absolute peace in non-existence. No creature under the eye of Nexus was ever excluded from reaching the holy light.
The moment Nexus released Voleron, The Enlightened realized that many of them were about to meet their doom. Voleron was enormous and extremely violent. The battle between The Enlightened and the beast from hell began when Voleron threw forth its five Representatives all at once. Vallatio, Kaug, Grygasz, Geyzer, and Magora appeared in front of The Enlightened. It was virtually a war that lasted for hours. The Representatives were destroyed, at last, and The Enlightened pressed forward to face the mask that Voleron placed over itself. Zathar and his demons stepped forward to succeed where The Representatives had failed, and another bloody battle began where The Enlightened were pressed to their capacities. In the end, they proved their strength and the faith they placed in their leaders, and Zathar was also destroyed. With no guards of hell to protect itself, Voleron was about to meet its end.
Seemingly, the great devil had been weakened and the final battle that ensued was quick and painless. Voleron fell to the ground with a thundering crash. The Enlightened were victorious. Nexus had replenished itself while The Enlightened guarded in waiting, worried that Voleron's demons were still prowling around in The Pits of Pain. As the scars healed themselves in those precious minutes, The Enlightened could feel the terror of The Hunting Grounds slipping away. Everything calmed.
Once Nexus had healed itself fully, Voleron was enveloped and locked away inside the sphere of Nexus. Nexus was still weak and it would take time to fully recover. The Enlightened who survived the battle with Voleron gave their power back to Nexus and gave thanks for such a gift. It was when they were preparing to leave to return to their homes that the ultimate, unpredictable disaster of the world struck without warning.
Voleron began to laugh and scream within Nexus. It was still concious. During the hundreds of years of terror that The Hunting Grounds raged across Darlow, the devil had grown mighty, seemingly much more so than either Nexus or The Enlightened had thought. Its Representatives sapped the energy from all five corners of the planet that they dwelled, and now Voleron was filled with great power, and residing inside Nexus. It had falsified its weakness (and its apparent defeat) in the eyes of The Enlightened and now it was going to enact what it had sought to do when it first arrived on Darlow -
The Cataclysm.
Nexus struggled to suppress Voleron. The demon responded by inflicting pain on its unwilling host. The two battled within the sphere as the once blessed group of The Enlightened watched in vain as they could do very little without the power they had previously possessed. The witnessing of the battle within the sphere between the two beings of higher order was unimaginable to the mortal eye. No amount of power had ever been seen or heard before. It was during the battle that Nexus pleaded with them to flee before they were killed, and so they did, praying that their god would be victorious. The Enlightened reached the surface to see the clouds darkening, huge storms raging across the sky as far as the eye could see, animals running and flying away in terror, lightning striking hundreds of times in a second.
The battle within the sphere did not last long and the final outcome was a tragedy that no human being could have possibly conjured up within their mind. Nexus and Voleron destroyed each other. The sphere broke into millions of shards, half part of Nexus, the other half of Voleron. The shards of Voleron remained primarily in The Pits of Pain while those of Nexus flew out, cascading across the sky as the planet began to dim into its death. Every living thing on the planet shrieked in horror as the dynamic relationship that kept Darlow and Nexus prospering had just ended. The skies turned brown, grass and trees became lifeless, and animals fell over dead the world over. The "Age of Death" had come. The shards of Nexus spread themselves throughout Skure and the Dal'r Desert, some landing in north Kreland. Where they landed, the small land around it healed. Most of the shards were no larger than a pebble. Those of Voleron eventually spread throughout south Kreland and southwest Skure and the Polar South. These areas became devastated.
Darlow died that day in 573 N.R.. The civilizations of The Four Kingdoms, the prosperity of human life, was finished. Aside from the few areas where the shards of Nexus fell, the planet was in utter ruin. Fires blazed throughout south Kreland, the oceans boiled in the far south, the skies everywhere were brown and the sun was, in the main, blocked out. Years passed as hope diminished. Nexus and Voleron were destroyed, only their physical and spiritual essences remained, and the dependence on Nexus that Darlow had come to rely on was no longer being fulfilled.
During the decades that Darlow faded away, survivors of the once proud Kingdoms found the shards of Nexus in their daily travels. The tiny shards embued them with a power to spread forth the holy light of Nexus once more, which took on new meaning. Even certain animals found these shards and grew to immense proportions, becoming intelligent, also able to spread the holy light. Nexus itself, although dead as a single being, was also making an attempt to bring itself together, and the larger shards began to form themselves into Representatives of Nexus - Angels, Unicorns, beings of a higher order (though not nearly as high as Nexus, as a whole, once was). Nexus was recovering into a new form of divided individualism. Likewise, Voleron was doing the same. The creatures that picked up the shards of Voleron became dark and disturbed, violent as Voleron had been, and evil. The larger shards of Voleron became the new Representatives in which Voleron was to attempt to agglomerate - Demons, Fiends, and horrible nightmares.
A few decades passed by while some of the many millions of shards were found and taken into possession by those willing to use them. In northern Skure and the Dal'r Desert where the once High Kingdom of Anara reigned supreme, the land became brighter and livelier as the shards of Nexus were slowly brought together by the people and even the animals that found them. A Kingdom in the sky was born when The Represenatives of Nexus, now independent in mind and soul, forged an alliance amongst themselves, building their fortress where the minions of Voleron would not dare venture. The faithful, The Representatives, and those loyal to preserving the good were coming together in hopes of restoring what had been lost - their home.
The mighty dragons and dinosaurs of southern Skure and the Polar South periodically found these shards as well. They joined the ranks of both sides, Nexus and Voleron, in rare numbers. Beasts once of a modest size had grown considerbly, such as the massive Taro of the Death Mountains. Spiritual forces of the elements laid their essences upon shards that they discovered, and also joined the ranks. Peace reigned in northern Skure, terror reigned in southwest Skure and the rest of the planet, for a long time.
Generations went by until The Followers of Nexus felt confident enough to organize themselves and set out to fight The Minions of Voleron. Although their cultures remained strong, The Four Kingdoms were no longer. They were united with The Followers of Nexus and the beasts of the plains.
The Minions of Voleron had done the same. Many of the people who stumbled upon the crimson red shards were consumed with evil and fury, as were the beasts and dragons who did the same. They, like The Followers of Nexus, were also united.
Darlow as the planet it was had died, and the higher powers were organized. Shards were still scattered worldwide, hoping to be found. Some individuals even began collecting them, either to aid their chosen side, or for their own personal gain of power. Nexus, in the end, went back on its vow that it made long ago - it had to interfere with the lives of the mortals now, for the existence of all that was good and true was now in the midst of exinction.
That is where Skure 2 begins. The Followers of Nexus and The Minions of Voleron now stand off to face each other for domination of the planet. Choose your side. May Nexus bring you to the holy light. Or, if you dislike such a prospect, may Voleron bury you in The Pits of Pain. If neither is to your liking, that is your decision. Good luck in your struggle to preserve what you choose.