Segrelia, the capital of the country to the south had been a major trade and overall asset to the Varis economy for hundreds of years, before the war had broken out. It started fifty years ago, when the kings of Medra and Onryx—whose capital was Segrelia—declared war on one another.
For many years, Segrelians believed that magic users were cursed and tainted, and therefore below the more natural non-magic users. Before the war had even begun—thirty years prior—the King of Onryx decided to gather up all the magic users in the country of Onyx. Segrelian guards stormed into the households of known magic users and forced them into servitude, imprisoned them, or in most cases, killed them. Many were forced into hiding, seeking any refuge. Guards had begun to patrol the streets day and night, looking for any hint of magic. This terror contaminated the hearts of people which would continue for years before news made its way to Medra and its capital, Varis.
Medra was known as a land made up of many magic users—more than Onryx—and those people were able to live peacefully. Magic was a part of life in Medra, used every day as a gift and a tool. Varis itself was constructed by magic users. So, when the king caught wind of what was happening in Segrelia, he immediately decided to act. He felt that no one should die solely for something that was part of their nature. There were rumors that the king of Medra himself, could control magic, but it was never proven.
The only problem in the king’s plan to liberate the people of Segrelia, was the huge chasm dividing the two countries. One could scale down the siding of the chasm, but that in itself was a whole day’s climb. Even if one dared when reaching the bottom, the sand and wind create a disastrous wind tunnel, with grains of sand whipping through as clouds of needles, making it too difficult to cross. So, the king’s only option was to attack from the sea, which surrounded three quarters of Onryx on all sides.
It was a quick and brutal battle between Medra and Onryx; Medra’s navy was weak and stood no chance against Onryx. The winner of the war was easily decided, but the king of Onyrx had relished the taste of the blood of magic users and refused to stop at his own borders in continuing his plan.
His goal was to get magic users under his control, and Medra was a large country full of them. Soon after, Onyrx ships docked on Medra’s shores. Trained magic hunters of Segrelia rushed into Varis, killing most and capturing others. The magic users retaliated, as they were the only ones still strong enough to fight back against the oncoming army. The fight was ruthless with major losses on both sides. Onryx was forced to retreat at the end, overpowered by the vast population of magic users who were able to hold them back. It was then that the magic users built a protective wall around Varis, it was meant to keep the inhabitants save, but would end up being their downfall.
Years later, under the rule of a new king, Onryx attacked with renewed vigor. The wall held, but that did not stop the soldiers. Stationing themselves outside of Varis’s borders, the soldiers of Onyrx killed anyone leaving the city, magic user or not. They had cut the capital off from the rest of the country and world. The new king of Medra was ruled by fear of this old hate and knew not how to respond.
Ten years the lockdown continued, until one day a messenger ran up the steps of the castle at Varis, holding an ultimatum in hand. The only way to stop this war was to build a link between both nations. The king of Onyrx would remove his troops and would cease fighting, if the prince of Medra married the daughter of the king of Onyrx.
At the time, the king of Medra had been very protective of his son, since he had already lost one from a sickness that could not be cured because of the blockade. To agree to this ultimatum, the king would have to go against his believe, but knew he must in order to save his people—or so he had believed. The king agreed to the ultimatum and forced his son to marry the young girl, to save his country.
After the king’s death—which was a mystery that was quietly swept under the rug—this now grown woman ended up manipulating the new king to her will. He was a puppet on the throne, ruled by her shadow, pulling at his strings. It was only a matter of time, one fateful morning that the young king was found cold in his bed. At the new king’s early death, the young, widowed Queen took over the throne and continued the work originally started by her grandfather—setting out to extinguish the flame of magic users—yet a deep interest had also begun to take root in the nature of magic itself.
Her first target in this new purge was the wall. Torturing a strong magician to the point of insanity, she created the perfect puppet. This magician—unlikely any other—could use spell work and symbols to suppress magic within the wall’s barrier. What had been the magicians’ original protection had become their cage once more, but this time cutting them from magic completely.
Even though she was seemingly victorious in ridding Vairs of magic, the Queen faced a new war, this one emerging from within her own borders. When magic was cut off from Vairs, magicians from the other side began to retaliate. They formed camps throughout Medra, attacking merchants from the Financial District or dignitaries of the Queen’s, waiting the Queen make the next move. She made that inevitable decision and sent troops to destroy these camps. These missions failed time and time again, rarely succeeding in defeating the minor camps. As time went on—and more bodies were needed—the soldiers became more and more under-trained and underage.
With this war grew a new hate, one that had not been seen in the people of Varis before. The magicians were seen as cruel—killing men, women, and children ruthlessly. They were evil beings, cursed by magic and its dark influence.
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