At the time of the Great Mage War, called the Rending, civilization was at its apex in political, scientific and magical systems, along with religion.

The Empaths, nutured in this environment,,had developed the Jii (singular: Jiy). These semi-sentient beings/machines were created solely for the purpose of being familiars to those Empaths: they focused energy, absorbed projected empathic energy from outside sources and diffused it, and kept emotional/mental strain from the Bonder.

The Mages, seeing the lurch in power that the Empaths had gained, launched an attack on the Empaths, casting spells designed to transfer Bondage of the Jii from the Empaths to the Mages.

Those Empaths losing their bond were either killed, burned out, or severely traumatized by the backlash. The Jii, in turn, went "Red" and wild in various timespans, driving both their original and new owners insane

The Empaths and Mages entered into a full-fledged war that lasted a number of years. The result: the total annihilation of the Empaths and their bloodline.

The result was the end of Utopia...