Lore

The lore of DeFi Kingdoms

Gaia - A World in Recovery

The world of Gaia once consisted of a singular continent, a singular people. They grew in numbers, sharing freely with each other information and schools of learning. They prospered greatly, century after century. All were cared for, wealthy beyond measure, all living in an unaware state of peace and utopia.

Not satisfied by all the wonders and glories that nature freely provided them, their global civilization embarked on an era of technological advancement. What began with the promise of swift progress, catapulted their global civilization away from an appreciation of Gaia, who they began to destroy for the sake of their own advancement. Gaia’s children moved with reckless abandon. With unrelenting greed, they took from her, digging and poisoning the soil with their oils, gasses, and contraptions. In the wake of their progress, the first age was declared, known as the Age of Progression, and Gaia wept.

A small number of the people held true to Gaia and continued to worship her, and she did grant them safe journey into the Inner Grove, a paradisiacal dimension for those who remained true to her during the destructive and dark times in the Age of Progression.

Once these first heroes were whisked away into the Inner Grove, Irae, an old God, the God of Renewal, could suppress his anger no longer in the face of such disrespect for Gaia. In his wrath for what the children of the world had done to his love, he sundered the continent, separating them by vast oceans to put a halt to their progress, bringing low their great machines and monumental structures.

After many millennia apart, the lands and peoples are beginning to knit back together, having learned their lesson, all peoples returning to the harmonious balance of peace with Gaia and an appreciation for her gifts.

Kingdoms, once continents all their own, now are connecting with other kingdoms. Though the people are uniquely different, all have one thing in common—a connection to the life-giving land they inhabit, prizing their garden plots above all else which provides them with not only food, but a special crystallization key to powering their economy, called JEWELs.

Gardeners tend to the JEWEL gardens, and kingdoms are beginning to use the crystal’s mystical energy to summon back to the realm the ancient powerful heroes from the Inner Grove. These heroes are helping to defend and fight for their kingdoms, vanquishing invaders and corrupted monsters that roam the countryside.

A new age, the Age of Heroes, has begun, and the history books are yet to be written, awaiting the great deeds and stories that are just on the horizon. Welcome to the kingdom, Hero.

The Ritual of Summoning Heroes

Summoning Crystals

Gaia has begun to allow those loyal followers within the Inner Grove to come forth back into this world once again. Heroes that have returned to this world retain a small portion of the essense of the Inner Grove within them. Two heroes may gather to embue that essence into a summoning crystal. This crystal acts as a focus for the portal, combining the essences of the two heroes long enough to pull a matching hero through from the Inner Grove. The energy unleashed in this process destoys the crystal, but in its place a new hero appears to help the people of this land journey into the new age.

Gaia’s Tears

The key component to creating summoning crystals is a substance known as Gaia’s Tears. When Irae tore the world asunder in his rage, Gaia wept. Her tears took the form of small, tear-like crystals. Warm to the touch, her power flows through them, and it is said even a handful of them contain enough power to bridge the vast expanses created in Irae’s fury. Gaia’s Tears can be found in small quantities throughout the kingdom, and the druids have recently discovered a means to harness them to summon others to these lands.

Gaia’s Tears attune with the heroes involved in the summoning process, gathering in the essense of the Inner Grove from within them. Those tears are then melded into a single crystal by an arch druid harnessing the energy of JEWELs. Experienced heroes have learned to attune more tears at once, creating summoning crystals capable of enhancing the power of those that come through the portal with some of their own strengths.

The Runes of Power

Runes

Runes are plain stones that have symbols written with Irae’s ashes. When Irae sundered the world, his rage left many areas burning; scorched by the heat of his ire. This fire was imbued with his essence of renewal, and the ashes from that event remain scattered across the lands and are used by the druids for their rituals. The symbols focus his power in various ways, and when placed in key locations in the meditation circle, experienced individuals can pull that energy into themselves to transcend to the next level.

There are 10 types of recorded runes:

Shvās (breath) - This is the most basic rune and is required for all levels. It can be obtained occasionally as a reward for performing crafts and from quests.

Moksha (liberation) - This rune is required to move beyond level 10. The owners of those Heroes who perish on the Perilous Journey may be rewarded with this rune, but, as of know, other methods of acquisition are unknown...

Asha (hope) - Unknown effects

Quwa (courage) - Unknown effects

Urja (energy) - Unknown effects

Jyoti (light) - Unknown effects

Pragya (wisdom) - Unknown effects

Ātmā (soul) - Unknown effects

Sātvik (purity) - Unknown effects

Om (om) - Unknown effects