Once, the Great Kingdom of Theorzea ruled the Continent. From the vast Deserts of Karam to the frozen lands of the Northern Tundra, their rule was undisputed. The reason they had been able to conquer the world? Magic. They were the first in history to discover that people could bend reality in unthinkable ways, to create both magnificent monuments and horrible catastrophes. Thus, they shaped the world unimpeded in their imagination, discovering more about the truths of the universe, with the hope of one day conquering the stars.

Nonetheless, their hegemony could not last, for some things are better left unearthed.

The arrival of the Fog shook the world, a harrowing phenomenon that siphoned the life out of everything it touched, leaving only ruin and ashes in its wake. Legend said that when it first spread through the Continent,

Theorzea lasted four days. When the assault was over, it had returned to the North. Sometime later, it had come back, and the process had repeated countless times. The Fog would keep sweeping through the land, following incomprehensible patterns, without care for the suffering it caused. It was unthinking and unrelenting.

But hope did not die. Here and there, civilization survived and thrived, rebuilding around those men and women who could still light the day, no matter how dark it seemed. Once the joke of the magic community, light mages became the most influential people in the world. The reason was, their light repelled the Fog!

Every light mage was born with a Fairylight, a golden orb of light that floated behind them at all times. Though mostly intangible, a Fairylight was the core of their power - the larger and brighter it was, the more power a light mage could unleash with their spells.

However, they were rarer than rare. Only one in a million people would be born with a Fairylight, and the percentage would only slightly increase for children of other light mages. From scarcity, some glimpsed opportunity. Soon, every king and every sultan from all over the Continent started courting them, begging to protect their cities from the Fog in exchange for riches and glory.

Between the common folk, one spell became the symbol of salvation - Lighthouse. Formerly thought of as a useless spell, it became the most effective way to protect settlements from the Fog. When used, light mages could manifest an immaterial dome of light as large as their ability permitted. Because of this spell, light mages were openly worshipped - many saw them as emissaries of gods sent to the world to bring their light to civilization.

Alas, every coin has two sides. Those light mages who were still too young to know the world or too weak to fend for themselves became prey to crime lords and slavers. They were used and abused, then bred in hopes of giving birth to others of their invaluable talents.

Since then, more than a thousand years have passed. From the ashes of the Ancient Kingdom of Theorzea, many countries have risen and fallen. Yet the Fog still curses the land, its source a mystery. When someone discovered that it would accept sacrifices in exchange for periods of truce, many more questions rose about its nature. And why did it prefer children? No one ever understood. Could the answers be hidden in the deep North, where the Fog rests? Over the decades, many expeditions have departed from the Continent in search for the truth.

In a thousand years, no one has returned to tell the tale.