Chapter 1 - The Beginning

The Five Civilizations, the various species of those Civilizations, and their ways of life, are shown to us through the world of cards. After the Ancient War, a battle waged between Civilizations when they were far more powerful even than they are today, the five Civilizations each lived in relative peace, though, for the most part, they kept to themselves. Banding together in varied groups, each creature would do their part in skirmishes for survival and small battles over territory. Even then, each Civilization was aware that its way of life might need to be defended through conflict.

Some believe that the creatures served only the needs of their own Civilization, but even in the earliest years, there was the occasional indication that this was not completely so. Creatures of the Nature Civilization sought greater power, and ventured into the Darkness, where they were accepted, and some say, warped, into the Deathligers, the Lions of Chaos, becoming the most powerful denizens and defenders of the Darkness Civilization, on the early battlefields.

Still, there was truth to it. The Light Civilization stood united and pure, in the Sky Towers far above the rest of the world, with only the Purifying Elemental, Urth, and the great Radiance Elemental Hanusa, active enough to respond to threats as powerful as a Deathliger. Their world remained calm, protected by the Initiates, Guardians and Starlight Trees, its order maintained by the wisdom of the Oracles, the Light Bringers.

By contrast, deep in the subterranean catacombs of the Darkness, the Deathligers roamed freely, as did the powerful Knights of Darkness, under the command of Silphy, the Crown Princess of the Dark Lords. Their many scurrying servants devoured the enemies that dared to venture into the Darkness either for vengeance or in search of dark technology. Those that were not, found themselves tormented, driven mad by the ghosts, or destroyed by Silphy herself as she came into battles, draining the life essence completely from all but the strongest of them. Those that could withstand her dark power would be led into the pits of terror to dies, poisoned by deadly smoke, or worse, slain by the Demons, the Lions and Knights.

In the fiery rocky plains of the Fire realm, the Dragonoids and their heavily armored wyverns battled the Humans and their Armorloids, whilst the occasional appearance of one of the great dragons brought them hope. At that time, very few Dragons wandered the planet, remnants of a world long lost, drawing power from the rage of fallen comrades and heat energy, or in the case of the mighty Astrocomet Dragon, destroying by will and flame alone. The Rock Beasts defended their own territory fiercely from all challengers, whilst the Machine Eaters gathered information and technology from their occasional skirmises with the ground troops of the Water Civilization.

The Water Civilization, even then, plotted, but they plotted ways, mostly, of subverting and sneakily taking control of more territory, under the command of their then-leader Tropico, a Cyber Lord capable of highly skilled genetic engineering, and manipulation of battlefields. Liquid People troops, sent to scout, would make the paths of following troops far easier, and at times even the great Leviathans, creatures barely capable of coming close to the shore in some cases, would help in battles on Tropico's request, heaving their immense mass to send unstoppable tidal waves at the enemy, making it easier to bring more troops, or assaulting the enemy's defenses directly with great power. Masters of the arts of capture and teleportation, all they then needed was a few more forces against the opponents that could somehow threaten their settlements.

In the great forests surrounding the World Trees on the greatest continent, the Nature Civilization flourished, their great strength coming in their unity, ability to easily colonize new areas, and face challenges together with near unstoppable speed and fury. That which could stand against them, the powerful defenders of the Light Civilization, were revered by nearly all members of the Nature civilization. Whether this was because of their unity and view of the Light creatures as deities, or because the Light Civilization could easily help in the defeat of any dissenters, was unclear, but their deep respect for the cycle of natural life, put them only at odds with the Water and the Darkness, whose manipulation of life, and desire to cheat death and hence disrupt the natural cycle, the Beast Folk and their allies found abhorrent.

Still, there was cooperation even amongst these forces at times. In small fringe groups, the Bronze-Arm Tribes could sometimes be found helping the Aqua Hulcus, or even stranger alliances could be formed at times. Battles to protect one's life were just as important as battles to protect one's way of life, and so, things shifted, and changed, back and forth, returning to balance each time amidst the struggles for existence faced by each creature...