Our world, Erebus, is living entity. Each and every living thing has part of the spirit of Erebus inside it. Throughout our lives we gain and lose some of this spirit… and when we dies, it return to Erebus.
Occasionally a living creature attains a large amount of this spirit and becomes something much greater. These creatures became known as Giadines, and were worshipped by ancient civilizations. Giadines embodied various aspects of the world around them. There were Giadines of elements, like fire and wind. Giadines of emotions, like joy and fear. There were even Giadines for concepts like vengeance and lies.
*Creatures with abnormal amount of spirit energy, like Chan and Sir Pancakes.*

As the early civilizations grew into empires, Giadines of conflict became more prevalent. Sometimes a Giadine would bond with a person granting them great spiritual powers.
If this person was a warrior they would attain a high position in their nation’s military. These people became known as Empire Blades, and were feared on the battlefield. Any region without an Empire Blade became a target of conquest to any neighboring regions. After many wars, five majors empires remained.
The artic kingdom of Vonua in the Northwest;
The Saskia kingdom, rich with lakes and wetlands in the Southwest;
The small kingdom of Gyro, in the South, was peppered with mining towns and recknown for its blacksmiths;
The desert kingdom of Tsufu in the Southeast;
and the great Scaradunna kingdom in the Northeast.

For centuries the five kingdoms coexisted. This was due mostly to the fortunate formation the kingdoms had sprung up in. Each Kingdom had two adjacent kingdoms. They could not attack one side without potentially opening themselves up for an attack from the other side.
The peace was broken when the kingdoms of Scaradunna and Tsufu formed an alliance to conquer the other kingdoms. Vonua and Gyro were the first to come under attack, suffering heavy casualties at the hands of the enemy Empire Blades. The harsh tundra around Vonua greatly slowed the advance of Scaradunna… while the small kingdom of Gyro managed to hold its borders with it’s well armored warriors. Although, the combined forces of Scaradunna and Tsufu eventually proved too great… and the situations of Vonua and Gyro began to deteriorate.
It would seem our world has always been plaged by wars.

A young man from a small smithing town joined the Gyroian military after his village was destroyed by Tsufu soldiers. He was sent as a envoy to Saskia which had not yet been affected by the war, to try and form an alliance. At first, the rulers of Saskia were convinced that the war had nothing to do with them and refused an alliance. After an assassination attempt by Scaradunna was thwarted by the man from Gyro, Saskia agreed to lend their support.
Throughout his journey, the man from Gyro made many allies, and his group attained many key victories in the war. However, Tsufu seemed to have an endless amount of soldiers to throw at them… and both Vonua and Gyro were slowly losing ground.
A Saskian spy unit was sent into Tsufu to gather information. Only one member of the unit returned. The spy revealed that an Empire Blade from Scaradunna, called Adnihm, had the power to resurrect the dead. This is how the enemy was amassing its numbers. This revelation put fear in the hearts of many of soldiers. The man from Gyro, was sent on a special mission to try and eliminate Adnihm. They came close to succeeding, but Agnihm managed to escape.

Without the ability to raise the dead, the Tsufu war effort began to fall apart.
The man from Gyro was sent to assist the Vonua forces, and relay the information about the undead soldiers… But they were ambushed in a port town by Scaradunna assassins.
The town was destroyed and many of the innocent civilians were killed, as well a close friend to the man of Gyro. This sent the man of Gyro into a rage.
Fueled by his anger, he attained a massive amount of spirit energy. This was the first time a human had gained such power without the assistance of a Giadine. From that day on, the man of Gyro became known as the Giadine of Hate.
The Giadine of Hate tore through what was left of the Scaradunna forces, and eventually destroyed the Empire. After the war, Giadine grew scarce as men could now gain great power on their own. Mankind’s potential for spirit power was unlocked by intense hatred.

After the Giadine War ended, the man from Gyro disappeared from history.
The empires fell to ruin as more and more people began to appear with high amounts of spirit energy. These warlords formed groups and claimed smaller territories within the empires. The fighting between the warlords cost many innocent people their lives.
It was during one particularly bloody battle between four warlords that Judgment appeared… and then he was gone, just as suddenly as he had appeared. Some speculate that he was the Giadine of Hate, returned to pass judgment on those who harm the innocent. However, records suggest the Judge’s outward appearance was drastically different than the man from Gyro.

There are many accounts of the Judge interrupting major battles and destroying forces on all sides. One after another, the small regions formed truces and peace treaties out of fear of the Judge’s wrath. The alliances grew and after some time a new age of empires was born. Though the new empires shared many borders with the empires of old… their cultures differed drastically due to their foundation of peace.
But there was one area of the world that wan’t part of the growing trend of peace. Due to the many wars and harsh climate change, a large area of the southern Gyroian empire was isolated. Only a few warring nomadic tribes lived in this frozen wasteland. They fought each other constantly, yet there is no documented account of the Judge interfering with them. People around the world began to referring to this region as the land hidden from the eyes of Judgement.
Warriors around the world migrated to this region to find purpose in an age that no longer needed them.
Some people believe the Judge no longer exists, or he would come to put an end to the current dispute between Allagath and Myrgato…

With no wars, the Judge had not been seen for many centuries.
A group of researchers banded together from all around the world on a mission to find him.
Using information from hundreds encounters, and crossing the references with the star charts… the researchers theorized that the Judge didn’t fly in from the heavens.
Instead, they claimed he was jumping across the world, seemingly always from the same location. Most people mocked this theory. The Idea of the powerful Judge was leaping across the world like a giant flea, seemed a joke.
Few interested nobles supported the researchers. They funded an expedition the find the home of the Judge.
In fact, jumping around the around does sound kinda funny.

Far off the northern coast of Hyogokun, formerly the Vonua empire, something happened. The expedition encountered a strange phenomena as they drew close to the point of their calculations. Their ship would be turned around without them noticing every time they got close. The researchers were frustrated to the point of almost giving up when one of them noticed something. One of the researchers has a bodyguard with him, a rugged man from the land “hidden from the eyes of Judgement”.
This man was able to tell almost instantly when the ship has been turned around. He told he could fell a spirit ward similar to the kind of the tribes use back where he is from. The tribes focus their energy to create spirit wards to mark boundaries of their hunting grounds. This one was much more powerful than any he has felt before, but he said there are always ways through them. He guided the ship on a path where he alone could sense until they came upon it… a black cloud that stretched out and up endlessly, slightly submerged in the ocean. The closer they came to the cloud an overwhelming sense of dread washed over the crew. When some men killed themselves out of fear, they decided to turn back.
Though they were not able to enter the cloud, the researchers were confident they had found the Judge’s home.
The angels call this place the “Lightless”, and claimed it was where Myrgato was born.

Words of expedition’s discovery spread around the world quickly.
They had no proof that the Judge was actually in the black cloud… but stories spread that the black cloud is where the Judge sleeps now that he has brought peace to the world.
The area quickly became a sacred destination for those who believed in the Judge. Countless pilgrimages were made to the black cloud. Many wealthy nobles went on expeditions to the cloud with hopes of seeing the Judge within. All turned back after getting too close to the cloud. There was one documented instance of a ship entering the cloud, but never came out.
On many of these expeditions, large numbers of the crew committed suicide out of fear, before the ships turned back.
Despite the tremendous danger, the pilgrimages persisted for hundreds of years.
Perhaps people needed a reason to throw their lives away in absence of war.

Where, exactly, they came from, none can say… But we can be sure they were not from this world. Fierce beings, enormous in size and overwhelmingly powerful.
They called themselves “Rift Gods”, but they quickly became known as “Tyrant Gods”.
They were drawn to our world by the potency or our souls.
In the beginning there were seventeen Tyrant Gods in total… but they fought with each other over the wealth of resources our world had to offer. Towards the end, only four remained.
The “Tyrant Gods Era” was before the coming of Valdis. Not much is known of this time period.

Ahkmande the spider god, was the first of the four remaining gods. He weaved fantastic stories that enraptured the people, making them susceptible to his will.
Kudeki was the god of greed. He manipulated the avarice of men to amass wealth, and hired armies to protect his riches.
Slave trade was rampant, as refugees from other domains were denied equal standing.
Iqara was the god of lies and the younger brother of Kudeki. He spread mistrust and paranoia that caused infighting among his enemy’s ranks. His twisted network of spies and assassins were far reaching.
Lothos, god of fire, was the most feared because of his chaotic actions. The most devout of his followers became ash walkers, abominations made of fire and brimstone. Ash walkers would wander aimslessly out from Lotho’s domain, destroying everything they touched.
The Tyrant Gods were almost worse than Alagath and Myrgato.

The rebellion started in the outer region of Kudeki’s domain.
A small hunting village stopped paying their taxes… and so a small band of mercenaries were hired and sent to snuff the rebellion. Kudeki’s wealth had bought their blades, but not their hearts. The mercenaries joined the rebellion under their leader , Rahk Erp… and his newly wed wife, Valdis Morana, chief of the hunting village.
The Rebellion marched towards the center of Kudeki’s domain, recruiting others towns as they went. The rebels killed Kudeki, and became the first free nation since the arrival of the Tyrant Gods.
Some says that “Valdis Morana” is the true name of the goddess Valdis, claiming she was a human once.

With Kudeki’s death the Tyrant Gods’ hold on humanity was shaken. They were no longer seen as untouchable. It was not easy, but they could be killed.
The rebel’s influence spread in Ahkmande’s domain, and it wasn’t long before they were at his gates.
The final battle was considerably more difficult, as Ahkmande’s followers were loyal than Kudeki’s. In the End, after heavy casualties, the rebels prevailed and Ahkmande was slain.
That night as the people celebrated their hard fought for freedom… one of Iqara’s assassins, slipped his blade into Rahk’s heart. The Assassin smiled at Valdis and said “Iqara has paid you back for the brother you stole from him”. It was then that Valdis screamed… a shriek so loud, so powerful, it shook the earth for miles around. A howl that echoed the sorrow and rage felt by all of mankind since the Tyrants arrived in our world.
“GIVE HIM BACK!” she cried out… and then…he came back, but it wasn’t only Rahnk that came back. Thousands of those who died during the battle rose up from the dead to stand at her side. Each with a rage in their eyes that gods would come fear.
It believed that it’s the first record instance of “soul manipulation”.

Iqara don’t live long after assassinating the rebel leader, Rahk. The rebels led by Valdis and her undead army, tore through his domain in a matter of days. The Tyrant god Lothos was all that was left between mankind and total freedom.
The rebels marched on Lothos’ domains, and many died at hands of the Ash Walkers. Each person that died was risen by Valdis to fight on until their bodies could take no more punishment. When the rebels reached Lothos, to everyone’s surprise, he surrendered.
Valdis refused to let him off so easy, and her undead army ripped him apart.
With all of the Tyrant Gods slain, Valdis released the souls of her warriors so they could rest. Humanity was left scattered and alone, as more than three quarters of the population died during the rebellion… but they were finally free.
It was dated over two thousand years ago, when Valdis Morana’s broken heart has given mankind the power to defeat the Tyrant Gods… or someone says, because they already managed to kill two gods before she could raise the dead.

Valdis went far to the frozen South to find peace and solitude out of reach or the world.
The frozen waste was a home to a dozen or so tribes or nomadic people.
She observed the tribes constantly fight each other in ritual combat for rights to hunting grounds.
Their warriors were fierce, and the battles were usually to the death.
After a battle, all tribes involved would come together and pay their respect to the fallen.
She came to realize that these people were not enemies.
They did not hate each other, or hold grudges.
They simply wanted to be stronger, strong enough to survive in this land where everything else dies. They reminded her of someone she knew long ago.
This details events when Valdis first settled in this region over 600 years ago.

Valdis became very interested in the tribes of the frozen waste.
She abandoned her self-imposed exile, and approached their leaders.
These nomads called themselves the Goibniu, and before this they had not known any god.
They eventually looked at Valdis as a symbol of power and beauty, but never as an answer.
They never prayed for her to give them anything, to relieve their suffering.
They weren’t like the other humans in the world, with their constant wants and wishes.
This was fine with Valdis, she just wanted to be with the people, not rule over them.
Over time, all tribes gathered and settled around Valdis. They called the settlement Sitheil.

Word eventually spread and soon outsiders from all over the world came to Sitheil.
The people that came to the city learned from the example set by the Goibniu.
They didn’t play to Valdis, they worked hard to live alongside her.
The Goibniu became revered holy warriors that kept order in rapidly growing city.
Scholars came to the city to study the mana crystals found in the region.
Technology was developed in the city that was found nowhere else in the world… Mana powered machines that provided heat and transport.
Sitheil soon rivaled the empires forged by the daughters she had left behind.

When most people hear the word, Goibniu, they think of women warriors clad in gold and red armor.
Female Goibniu were fierce warriors, and the sworn protectors of Valdis and Sitheil. Their legacy of battle was prevalent even in times of peace. They would sometimes scour the world for worthy opponents. Occasionally a Goibniu would challenge a demi-god, belonging to either Alagath or Myrgato, to single combat. It became a tradition in Sitheil to erect statues of Goibniu that had defeated demi-gods.
While not as renown as the women, it would be foolish to overlook the men of the Goibniu. They did not wander the world searching for battle, instead they were skilled artisans. They invented the technique of infusing mana into armor and weapons to give them magical abilities.
It is also a little known fact, that a female Goibniu will only marry a male that has bested her in single combat.

Valdis and her two daughters, Myrgato and Alagath, had a meeting to settle tensions that had been building between them. Though Valdis had originally intended to leave the world in the care of the twin goddesses… She had now found something in this world she had been longing for. Valdis stated that she has no intention of taking back the power and lands granted to her daughters. And that all three realms should exist in balance.
Alagath, readly agreed to the terms of non-aggression, but Myrgato took quite a bit of convincing. This was the beginning of the peace between the three realms of Light, Dark, and Man.
This last entry was dated 370 years ago…

I hope you enjoyed to read more about the incredible lore of this game. Thank you!