Heroes/Maya

Lore
Every so often, the events of years past find a continuation centuries, sometimes even eras thereafter. This came to pass when the progenitors of all humans, called the Forerunners, first set foot upon the planet.

Tall and fair, they beheld a world full of harmony and beauty, of warbling birds and whispering brooks, a planet steeped in sunshine and protected by the magnificent titans. And thus the Forerunners decided to populate this place with their offspring. That was how humans were created. The Forerunners loved them more than anything else in the world; yet duty called upon them to leave the planet. Century after century, the humans and titans lived alongside each other in peace, until out of nowhere there came a darkness that upset the perfect harmony of the world.

One day, the humans were awakened by a loud din. It turned out that no less than ten dozen titans, angered to the utmost extreme, had approached Santar, the capital of the human empire. A giant named Seymour voiced his discontent the loudest. “Murderers!” he shouted. “Humans are murderers!” His accusatory tirade named every vice in existence and deemed humanity guilty of them all. At the conclusion of his speech, he pulled Floria’s lifeless body out of the forest.

There were exclamations of surprise in the human crowd. Everyone called upon Governor Brand to come and make sense of the situation. As Brand climbed the wall, he saw Floria, and his eyes welled up. The humans, having received no answer, started to squabble with the titans, who responded, after Seymour’s manner, by shouting insults.

The mutual abuse soon escalated into a skirmish, amid which Brand stood as though in a bubble of silence. In his mind’s eye, he saw the sunsets he had watched with Floria, their long talks at night, and the rustle of leaves on his beloved’s dress. Nobody knew about their relationship; nobody could understand the grief that Brand was feeling now. Yet who had killed the titan of nature, and why? Even as thoughts swarmed inside the governor’s head, the world around him became a battlefield. Brand had to lay aside his brooding suspicions and lead his people into battle, for that was what duty demanded of him. There was no telling now who had been right and who had been wrong.

In the heat of battle, no one noticed Seymour, the titan who had stirred the unrest, leave the plain in a hurry, as if someone were waiting for him. The human empire and the world of the titans clashed in a fierce battle, the likes of which had never yet been seen. And all the while, hordes of monsters gathered in the east. Kept informed by the traitor and murderer Seymour, they were waiting for the order to attack, which would come when both the titan and human forces were utterly exhausted.

When the feuding races realized they had been led into a trap by a mendacious traitor, they stood as one, trying to fend off the army of monsters. But it was too late.

It was a dark day for titan and human alike. Rivers of blood poured over the face of the earth; mountains of bones—human, titan, orcish, and demonic—stood forever as an earthly monument to madness and treachery. The titans were believed to have been completely exterminated after that battle. As for humans, theirs was the dismal fate of fighting for their survival against the demons destroying this world.

As chance would have it, Brand’s body was left lying on the plain next to the body of Floria. The blood of a human and a titan who were in love with each other mingled together before the earth soaked up both, so that many years later, the world would be given another chance to set everything right.

What, you may ask, is the purpose of this lesson in history? You see, now that the world is growing restless again, and the reborn titans are prepared to join forces with humans for the sake of saving the planet, a wondrous creature has been born out of Brand and Floria’s blood. Maya: a child of two races, who is to restore the Dominion to its former harmony.

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