Joren and allies from other nations of their world will fight against both the Infernals and Celestials. They will individually obtain great power and form an alliance and then transform into a newly created elemental form – The Aetherials.They will establish a central ruling city as the new Aetheric Bastion to begin their Crusade as "Protectors of free will" fighting against the unwanted imposition of ideologies which both the Celestials and Infernals are known for.
The two suns shone brightly as they each began their ascents. Barren wastes almost ignited by their light. The sand had been completely abandoned, its residents already prepared for the season. Yet still Joren pressed onward focusing on the rhythm of his feet rising and falling, his destination was the only thing on his mind. There was no end in sight and sweat already poured down from his body, slowly depleting him, yet still he pushed forward. The suns had only just risen, and already his energy was waning. His mind began to waver and flicker. He hoped it would all be worth it, if he could even survive the trek. His mind began to fill with grim thoughts of facing his death, as a seed of doubt began to take root in his mind. "I will survive this. There must be a reason. It was too real," He reassured himself as a brief flash of the dream he'd had two nights before sparked across his mind. The first twinge of redness starting to show on his skin as if wanting to burn; not a usual occurrance since his kind flourished in the region. Throughout the millenia the Cer had adapted to the climate and learned to bear the burden of their suns. Their rustic grey skin had been hardened by countless cycles of the rising suns. But in the recent decades, his clan had become lax, basking in the comforts of the technologies developed by their engineers. The two sun season no longer no longer required the extensive preparation it once did thanks to the improvements to the city. Cooling generators were placed all throughout Cerrim and were only activated during the season. Yet even they had become nearly obsolete since the implementation of the new heat shield - which served two purposes. One, to block the heat, and the other to defend the city from invaders. The high walls of Cerrim needed far less maintenance now. The buildings in city seemed to be less worn down as they had been, too. Cerrim was seated just two days' journey across the Evanin border and was reknown as a seat of trade. As such they were always on high alert from raiders, and the lesser threat of wandering creatures which sought respite from the sunlight. Merchants and scholars would come from the various regions of their realm to study or to sell their goods. Cerrim relied little on import, yet the recent influx of korvinium trade, which could only be mined in the depths of the seas of the aquatic empire Korvin, had become a staple of their technological research. While the sand elves were acclimated to the harsh cycles of their land, they couldn't survive the voyage into the depths of Korvin. Even standing on the shores of the Great Sea was something for which specialized merchants were sent to endeavor. Many of the other lands were bearable, but inhospitable. Cerrim had seen an explosion of technological growth over the past twelve years, allowing them to venture further out with fewer resources. But traversing the Korvin sea was still something beyond their reach. Not that they would even be granted permission to, let alone launch a mining expedition there. Trade between the Korv and Cer was far too valuable to the Korv to lose by giving up their most precious resource to be mined freely, especially by a race who needed it the most. Joren had already exhausted half of the day's water ration even though the first sun had only just reached its peak with the second only a few hours behind it. He felt overwhelming unprepared for this journey. The thought of turning back grew from a subtle whisper of doubt. "All this because of a dream?" he scolded himself. "Kaya told me this was foolish, but I didn't listen." The doubt which had only been wading in his mind began to take root in his heart, the feeling of dread since the morning began to rise within him. He took out the vial of cooling mist she'd given him and thought about breaking it for even just a small amount of relief from the inferno towering down on him. "Curse these suns..." He muttered out loud, his tongue barely able to articulate the words. Kaya had only given him one vial, it was all she could convince the lab officer to give her. "Use it wisely, Joren" She'd told him with a deep look of concern. A look that was half "good bye" and half hope. His grip tightened as he thought about breaking it, "It's only going to last me a few hours. I don't even know how long I'll be out here. I need to save it." He thought, as reason began to slowly settle over him in place of his doubts. The heat barred down onto him, his skin pleaded for relief, and then he remembered his dream. An old man with a staff, standing in front of an ancient dark brown and grey altar, under the bright, burning suns. The light beamed down onto the altar, causing it to radiate a reddish-gold glow. There were symbols on it which he had never seen before ............... . Behind the altar was a small oasis to the left. All the man had said was "Come. Bring only what has this land has provided." Joren mulled over what the man's words, and his grip lightened. As he was putting the vial back into his pocket a deep, quiet voice which echoed in his mind whisper, "Leave it. Come." His head snapped around, and he drew his dagger as he looked for its origin. His eyes scanned the vicinity, looking for any nearby threats. "Surely... not. No one is crazy enough to be out here during the season." He paused, briefly questioning his own sanity. He looked for a moment longer and shifted his focus out wider to the horizon scanning still for any threats. "Leave it. Trust..." He heard the voice again. It was only slightly familiar. Deep, paternal, and with a slight rasp to it. He slowly began to recognize it as the voice from his dream. The old man's voice. His doubt began to fade slightly, and the grip on his blade began to loosen. He sheathed his obsidian blade and drew the vial back out of his pocket, looked at it, and after a long pause, dropped it onto the sand. "Guess it won't matter anyway in a few hours. Suns will be up, and I'll already be too far in." He looked north into the horizon, deep into the heart of what would eventually be the deadland, and pressed on again. Merely two steps in he heard a slight cracking noise. Quickly looking back, his eyes fell to the vial. Another crack, as if it were being squeezed. A line slowly forming along the side of it. "What...?", soft bewilderment escaping his voice. The ground began to rumble and the sands shifted, pushing him slightly. The cracking in the vial amplified as sand rushed all around it. Another rumble, and the vial was completely submerged in the desert's golden sand. Then a loud crack and hiss as the glass broke and mist poured out of the vial. Small streams of bright blue-white mist pierced through the sand but were quickly snuffed out as the ground rumbled again with more sand piling on top of the vial. The hiss grew louder as more of the mist poured out, coating only the sand under which is was now completely buried. The sand had quickly gone from a lustrous bright, golden copper to a deep, clay brown, as if all of the life had been drawn out of it. Joren walked over, crouched and placed his hand on the lump of clay which was completely cold to the touch. It felt like it was caught somewhere between dead and frozen. "Well... I guess there's only two options now...", he thought. He stood and looked in either direction trying to decide whether to press forward on his fool's journey, or go back to Cerrim. He thought for a moment, "This... can't be a coincidence." He looked up at the sun which was high over head, the other trailed behind it. He looked north again, and started walking. Both suns now beamed overhead. Brilliant light blazed down onto the barren sand.