Laderia is a Country that is rich in diverse culture. Different languages, different skin tones, and most notably, different species. Of all of the other countries in the world, this is the largest and the most diverse. While there are a lot of races all across the planet, there were also a lot of sub-races or clans within those races that had unique traits or specialties. Some of the main races were humans, demons, celestials, fairies, werewolves, phoenixes, and plenty of others with no one race being the dominant race.
While it may not have large representations of every culture in it, it had enough to where some blending could be observed in the bigger cities. The smaller communities that remained the majority of their clans could be see as being isolated and more stuck in their ways. This led to a lot of misunderstanding about other clans which in turn stemmed a lot of biases and racial tensions. Eventually, these tensions sparked riots and fights that eventually led to an all out race war.
After the war, the country was left greatly damaged. Even generations later, old forts and forests have still not healed. Ghost towns can be found across the country and the mass graves of those who didn't make it. It was a war that had no winner and only ended after 100 years because of negotiation talks finally being to be had after much suffering to all sides. Eventually, a peace treaty was signed between all the leaders of the clans and a counsel was developed. The counsel then began developing laws and systems to address the underlying racism in the country that led to the start of the war.
Shortly after the war had ended a counsel had been formed. and the counsel had been formed, the leaders of all of the clans of each race agreed that there was a lot of miscommunication and misunderstanding occurring between them. In order to help prevent the isolation of races from one another, it was decided that clans would trade their offspring with other clans. This practice came to be called the exchange. In order to prevent this system from being abused and to keep children from being abused by the system, a list of rules involving the exchanges were developed. An individual could be exchanged only once in their lifetime. They can always move to another clan or city on their own, but they could never be forced after being exchanged once already. They would also be able to freely return to their clan of birth ten human years after being exchanged. Exchanges are not able to be forced as part of a power move or manipulation. There also must be an agreed upon trade between children. In order for one clan to accept a child, they must give a child. Children cannot be exchanged until the age of ten. This allows the children to develop bonds and connections with their clan of birth. It also allows them develop an understanding of their own cultures, so if they are exchanged, then they can share their culture with their new clan. While there are still opponents to the exchange and some clans that flat out refuse to participate in it, it has been deemed a success by the majority of the members on counsels. Over generations, it has also become a great pride to be selected for an exchange my the majority of the population.
Demon Heat picks up 120 human years after the Race War.