10Prologue,
By Questina
(credit goes to Nighthawk for helping me revise this prologue)
There is a world, that exists on the far opposite corners of space, very far from Earth. In a solar system much like ours, with five planets orbiting a large yellow star, there is life that resides on the third planet closest to the giant ball of energy. The Planet is called Fauna, with three major continents, and one large island spaced out by vast, blue oceans. Each continent has a magical barrier called a Spirit Border that keeps its inhabitants in, and never lets them out. An extremely powerful wizard, hundreds of millennia ago, put the borders there. Today, the wizard has been tucked away in a hidden place, living in dormancy, for many more millennia to come.
Some people will say they believe in an alternate universe that exists parallel to our own, some think there are more than one that are all tangled up, some will just shake their heads and refuse to believe such alternate realities exist. Fauna, has its own alternate reality, that is so closely intertwined with its partner that the two realities often cross together creating pathways to the other. However, such instances are rare only occur occasionally, and only a select few can feel when this will happens. The portals that are formed when two realities collide is called the Crossroads. Inhabitants from either side can cross over to the alternate reality through the Crossroads. These portals are very obvious, yet tend to appear in uncommon places.
There are three major continents on Fauna. They are called Majikan, Kraftings, and Cy-Byte. The continent of Majikan, which is to the east of Cy-Byte, houses a race of magical anthropomorphic animals. Every Mage that lives in Majikan is born with the ability to cast magic. Not powerful magic, but enough magic to make life easier for the natives. Hard labor is no longer done, as the Mages can enchant their tools to do all the work by themselves, however, these tools could go awry if the Mage that enchanted the tool was too hasty in their spell casting. With this range of magic, Mages are thus left open to enjoy a leisurely life. Majikan boasts of a wide variety of games that Mages young and old always enjoy. From card and tile games, to sports and even child's games. With so much free time on their hands, games are invented every day, however, most of these games are just variations of old ones, with new or varied rules.
Next, Kraftings, which is west of Cy-Byte, it houses a race of anthropomorphic animals that enjoyed toiling and working diligently in a life similar to feudal Europe of Earth. Peasants work in the farms, craftsmen work on creating tools that are essential for every form of livelihood in Kraftings; so thus, they are the most essential part of the civilization. Knights and Royals are people who keep the peace in Kraftings. Royals create the laws, and the Knights enforce them. The people enjoyed a land of peace and prosperity, secure that should anything untoward occur, the Knights would protect them and quell the vice. So Royals and Knights became figureheads most of the time, making sure the people of Kraftings are pleased that there is someone educated and important in charge of their society.
There is one particular race that inhabits Fauna that is not animal-like at all. Rather, they were very much like elves; Blue Elves to be precise. The outsiders that have managed to cross the Spirit Borders and travel to the Blue Elves' island existing between Cy-Byte and Kraftings, have referred to these people as 'The Lost Race' or 'The Lost People', and to keep in theme, the island is called 'The Lost Island'. The natives refer to their large island as Spiri Tol. However, Spiri Tol has no Spirit Border around it. Yet the Blue Elves have a natural fear of traveling, and are known to shun travelers on a whim. They don't often allow foreigners to live in their villages and towns.
The Blue Elves have hair that range in colors from yellow and green to red and purple, and the tip of their ears are slightly fuzzy, with fur the same color as their hair. These people have a very spiritual tie to Fauna, and all its inner workings. They are said to be able to communicate with the dormant Wizard that had created the Spirit Borders. They are also rumored to be able to detect when and where a Crossroads between Fauna's two alternate realities appears. Only those rare few foreigners who live amongst the Blue Elves, and the sea-faring traders who often visit Spiri Tol know much about the Blue Elves' culture.
On one such particular continent however, shall one day bring a revolution, that will spread to the other two neighboring continents, even through their Spirit Borders. This continent is called Cy-Byte, called so because within its Spirit Borders is a vast metropolis that covers the entire landmass of the continent. Cy-Byte's citizens are known as Cyborgs. Anthropomorphic beings that all resemble Earth animals from the present and past, who live in a technological world. Parents conceive children in biospheres, and choose their offspring's genes from their own. Once the infants are developed enough, they are equipped with cyborg body parts, chosen by their parents. These parts can later in life be exchanged for different parts, or added onto if the individual chooses.
Everything on Cy-Byte is technological. Nothing within the Spirit Borders of Cy-Byte is without its own microchip or artificially made parts. Machines were built to do all the hard work required in such a civilization. Thus, a majority of the people are technicians and mechanics. But a society based upon technology isn't without its own traditions and beliefs.
One thing that all three continents share is a single taboo. Nothing is allowed to enter or leave the Spirit Borders that are so tall, they almost reach the stratosphere. These Spirit Borders are also extremely wide, up to two miles thick in some areas, yet they can be only a foot thick in other areas.
Spirit borders are not perfect. Invisible holes appear randomly at any given time, and anyone fortunate enough to stumble across these holes, can safely pass through the Spirit Border to the other side. However, once one travels through and past the Spirit Border, they are not guaranteed to be able to travel back through to their home. The occurrence of these invisible holes is sporadic, one day could only have one or two holes that appear for a minute or so, another day could have holes that spring up continuously, and stay open for hours. If the invisible hole or the spell cast to keep the Spirit Border open collapses, the being trapped inside would be instantly vaporized when the energy of the Spirit Border smothers the poor soul. Thus, creating an incentive to be wary about traveling outside the Spirit Borders.