With the foundations laid and the first tribes gathered, the South entered an era that
the rest of the world would eventually come to view as a dream. Thousands of years
passed, yet time seemed to move diferently within the borders of the two empires.
Under the silent guidance of the two hidden anchors, the "noise" of mortality was
slowed. The people—the Demi-Humans of the meadows and the Draco-kin of the
sea—found that their lives stretched across centuries, unburdened by the sickness
and rot that plagued the lands beyond the fourteen skies.
In the land of the Gilded Rose, civilization became a masterpiece of living art. The
shadowy figure who carried the Divine Flute never revealed a face or a name,
remaining a draped mystery that moved through the white marble halls of the capital.
Because of this, the Demi-Humans did not worship a person; they worshiped the
peace the flute provided. They built an empire where the greatest achievements were
not conquests, but the creation of music that could soothe the wildest beasts and
gardens that bloomed with the glow of fallen stars. Love and beauty were the only
currencies, and for a thousand years, not a single drop of blood was shed in anger
upon the golden grass.
To the east, the Aurex empire flourished with a lethal, silent eficiency. The hidden
anchor of the sea, still a formless silhouette of azure mist, presided over the vast
coral cathedrals and deep-trench fortresses. The Mermaids and Lizardmen, living
together in their Hskin forms, developed a culture of absolute discipline. They became
the masters of the wind and the wave, their lives dedicated to guarding the southern
gate. The Divine Arch was never seen in its true form, yet its presence was felt in the
unnatural stillness of the ocean. They were a people of secrets, living in a perfect,
submerged harmony that the outside world could never hope to navigate.
The two empires lived side-by-side in a state of divine equilibrium. The border
between the meadow and the sea was not a line of soldiers, but a place of exchange
and celebration. The Draco-kin brought the treasures of the deep—pearls and
bioluminescent ores—while the Demi-Humans ofered the fruits of the sun and the
crafts of the hills. They were two diferent bodies with a single soul, both born from
the grandfather's legacy and the siblings' sacrifice. The South had become a
sanctuary of longevity, a continent where the gods' dream of a peaceful, long-living
race had finally become a reality.