User blog:CrimsonPyre/Etheria

Etheria is the sister universe of Materia and exists alongside it yet connected to it at the same time. It is nearly identical to Earth, sporting the same continents however, the countries themselves are different.

History
Etheria was once part of the massive plane, Ethermateria, which was created by the Primordial God, Alpha, long ago. During the days of Ethermateria's infancy, the Primordial God, Omega, attempted to destroy the entire universe in an attempt to restore the balance that was disrupted with the creation of Ethermateria. Omega and his Horsemen were beaten back by the Rune Dragons and the Primordial Goddess of Light, Radia.

Eons later, Kairos and Corona would engage in their apocalyptic battle that would plunge all of Lower and Hyper-Space into chaos, leaving entire universes in ruins. Eventually, their battle reached a head in Ethermateria and something deep in its metaphysical structure shattered, causing the entire universe to undergo radical planar refraction. The universe shattered along its Spatio-temporal axis like light refracting inside a prism and caused it to split into two separate universes, shadows of their former self. The Great Sundering also shattered the various civilizations that had formed at the time as well as the ecologies.



The new world, Etheria, saw a rise to several gods born from the energies of the Primordial Goddess of Fate, Aira, and the Primordial God of Magic. The various sentient races regressed to savages, having lost all semblance of civilization after the war between the two Primordial Dragon Gods. Eventually, the new gods cultivated the races with various new religions popping up. The largest of these would be the Church of Aurba that was dedicated to the Goddess of Time, Eltariel.

Years later, Razdan, the Ever-Being preceding Issei, would wage war against Eltariel's church, defeating them and earning the ire of the Goddess. The two fought in a cataclysmic clash that rearranged the entirety of the continent, fragmenting it as well as damaging the 4-D construct of Prima, the home of the Etherian Gods. After the battle, Etheria would be besieged by a former member of the Skywatch, Samuel, and his new cult, the Cult of the End, which would result in the deaths of hundreds of thousands as well as the death of Razdan.

Aurba


Aurba is a massive country with the same landmass as the entire continental United States and the bottom half of Canada. The country is home to a vast amount of natural resources as well as several cultures. The government of Aurba was formerly a theocracy run by the Church of Aurba who promotes the worship of the Goddess of Time, Eltariel. The head of the theocracy is the Chief Priest who holds supreme ruling over all of Aurba. In regards to other policies, Aurba does not tolerate other races and practices elven supremacy in which all other races are second class. Humans here are often used as servants to their elven overlords. However, when the Ever-Being, Razdan, waged war against the Church of Aurba, they changed their style of government to a parliamentary monarchy. The current king of Aurba is Creoz Mitarian.

Illoran
Ill0ran is a small collection of islands several thousand miles west of the main continent. They are a sea-faring nation whose economy is based on fishing as well as trade. It is an important trade center in Etheria and a cultural melting pot. The largest city in Illaran is Mithras. It houses a large trading port from which all countries come to trade, even the country of Aurba. Illoran is a democracy with three branches of government. The executive is known as the Prime Minister. The executive is a bicameral legislature while their judiciary has nine judges with life tenures. The country has an open-door policy with trade but had a mixed opinion on immigration. Their current Prime minister has promised to kick all immigrants out of the country.

Church of Aurba
The Church of Aurba is a church dedicated to the Goddess of Time, Eltariel. The church's doctrine mainly speaks of faith in the Goddess as well as following her tenets. All who follow her tenets are said to be awarded a place in Prima at the Goddess's side upon death.

The church's tenets are.

1. Eltariel is the Supreme Goddess. All other gods are inferior before her.

2. The full moon of every month is a month of pilgrimage in which one must meditate and contemplate upon the Goddess and her teachings.

3. It is the moral duty to spread the word of the Goddess to all others.

4. All life is sacred and must be cherished.



The Church of Aurba is structured in a system in which one can ascend the ranks. There are eight ranks. From lowest to highest, they are priest and priestesses, paladins, bishops, archbishops, inquisitors, overseers, cardinals, and the chief priest/priestess. In order to ascend the ranks, the one trying to ascend must undergo examination overseen by the Overseers. After it is done, the Cardinals evaluate their performance before coming to a decision. The decision must be a majority vote among the Cardinals. Another way is through promotion by a Cardinal or Inquisitor. To those trying to become Chief Priest, they must be nominated by a Cardinal and voted upon with a 4/5 majority vote in favor of that candidate.

Trivia

 * Etheria is a play on words of the word Ethereal. Much like Materia is a play on words of the word Material.