Tales from Terrestria: Prologue

Tales from Terrestria

To my family and friends who encouraged me to 

pursue my dreams of becoming a writer

Prologue

Once upon a time, the great deity Theos created the land that would be known as Terrestria. It was supposed to be a land of harmony, peace and prosperity for humans as they reigned over the natural world using a powerful ability known as Essence. Essence manifested everywhere ranging from the skies to the waters and especially the earth. Humans were born with said Essence in order to maintain Terrestria’s natural realms for it would be their home and their birthright as Theos intended. Unfortunately, a demonic being known as Diabolos despised this peaceful and prosperous state as he believed that it should all be his instead and ruled in his image. In order to counter Theos’ intended plans, he corrupted the humans and the realms they lived in by making them more selfish, wrathful and fearful while also weakening the natural realms so they would have to fight for it instead of sharing it as intended. Seeing that both the realms and humans would end up being destroyed by Diabolos’ corruptive influence with the Essence also being tainted, Theos was forced to destroy the once beautiful realm He had created with a giant flood that wiped out everything in its path. Only a few survivors remained to help repopulate the world thanks to Theos having given them a warning ahead of time by allowing them to create an ark that would keep them and the original creatures of the world safe and sound. Even so, it merely staved off Diabolos’ influence as he was determined to keep corrupting everything in his path. In order to help humanity gain a fresh start, Theos decided to give them Essence in a different way. 

Using what was left of the human Essence and mixing it with the natural Essence found within the mortal realms of Terrestria, He created an entirely new race known as the Fae Folk. They were beings who could take on humanoid forms while also having aspects related to the fauna and flora as well as other natural elements. His plan was to let the new generation of humans gain the power of Essence by forming meaningful relations with the Fae Folk who were untouched by the corruption that was released by Diabolos. At first it seemed like the plan would work as humanity would end up living in harmony with the Fae Folk who taught them how to live among nature in sustainable ways while also sharing their Essence with the then powerless humans. Sadly, Diabolos would find new ways to ruin this balance once more. Namely, by sowing seeds of discord and conflict between the 2 races and turning them against one another. He whispered lies and encouraged some of the Fae into believing that they alone deserved to rule the world of Terrestria, igniting the flames of war in the process. The humans would find themselves betrayed by their benefactors and partners thus igniting a war that would lead to the humans nearly being wiped out again only this time by another one of Theos’ creations. 

In order to give humans a better chance at surviving and punish the corrupted Fae for turning on their human partners, He imbued the substance that would later be known as iron with the ability to take away Essence which would be useful in weakening any Fae who came into contact with it or even got pierced by it. As a result, humans would utilize iron as a weapon to fight back against the Fae while also working with the non corrupted Fae who refused to partake in the oppression of humans. Though the war ended with the humans victorious, it did not come easy nor was the aftermath any more peaceful. The humans would later grow to fear the Fae along with the power of Essence to the point where some communities refused to let the Fae rejoin them once more and persecuted if not outright executed those who held even a smidge of Essence within their bodies. It also did not help that Diabolos and his demonic henchmen continued to corrupt and tempt anyone who was foolish enough to believe their lies. As a result, Terrestria would sadly grow corrupted and flawed once more… but that did not mean it was the end as a whole. 

For heroes would be born from the ashes and ruins of the old world to create a newer and better world for all. Though evil will continue to prosper and consume most of the world, good will always arise….