Chapter Text
The story of Anillis and Hec-Tor Kur begins nearly a century after the War against The First Ones. Despite their ancestors being a pacifistic and friendly race, the people of Krytis were one of the few nations to fight back and win against the enemy empire.
At first it was unclear as to why the First Ones were invading the heart and center of a small but slowly growing empire - the Horde World. Soon it was revealed that all they were after were resources - magic, to be exact. What's even more confusing was that they retreated even before the rest of the Horde could send any help. It was believed that the courageous people of Krytis managed to protect their lands all by themselves. But nowadays some theorize that the First Ones actually left the planet because without its magic Krytis was simply no longer of any value to them. There are also debates going on that at the time when the invasion happened, Ethernia was already on the brink of disaster, therefore the First Ones abandoned their mission to deal with the conflict which was slowly escalating in their own empire.
Krytis didn’t become yet another colony of the First Ones and the Horde World wasn’t destroyed, but spacebats couldn’t find the time to celebrate, as they immediately felt the sudden changes on the planet. Not only did the First Ones leave an ugly scar on the entire planet, on the entire race for many generations to come - they took so much magic that they ended up severely damaging the entire ecosystem. Their lands, flora and fauna were dying from drought and forest fire, floods, earthquakes, sudden temperature drops, viruses outbreaks etc.
Yet another terrible news - the current emperor of the Horde World, a native of Krytis, was seriously wounded during the war and had to stay bedridden for a long time, not able to rule over an entire empire. Thus his wife was urgently chosen as a new temporary ruler.
It was the period of decline and depression, spacebats were mourning their people lost to the war and natural disasters while also coming to terms with the possibility of their homeplanet slowly dying.
But eventually, the brighter times had come. With the help of the new empress and her trusted council it was decided that they were done feeling defenseless and hopeless and relying solely on nature and magic and thus began the era of scientific and technological progress, the era of healing and hope. Spacebats began to restore everything The First Ones destroyed, adapting to the changed world and gradually saving their planet, helping it find the inner balance again, even with almost no magic.
Surviving through the darkest times and then finally thriving like never before, people of Krytis were felt truly united.
***
Spacebat society was quite divided in terms of what magic even was. They could see and feel magic, but never use it. Most of the common folk thought of magic only as a peculiarity of their planet’s nature, while the vast religious community nearly worshiped it, seeing it as a blessing given to them by gods. And they made it their goal to protect and honor sacred places and carriers of magic.
Every single town has its own place of worship, each and every one of them being under the watch of four main temples (North temple, South temple, East temple and West temple respectively). Main temples have their own inner hierarchy with the High priest being the most powerful and respected figure in their own community. For many years the High priest of the North temple was none other than the emperor, giving the community almost limitless power and authority all over Krytis.
High priests are the ones closest to the stars. It is believed that they can hear their gods and in return the gods can see the world through their eyes. But it's important that High priests don't try to get too close to the stars for they shall burn. They will be blinded by the light and forever lose their minds.
Religious community was always vast and big, but after the war a lot of new people joined them, coming to find salvation and hope. Together they were doing their part: saving nature and wildlife, helping their lands and people to recover, volunteering, rebuilding - all that. But something not many knew about, is that in order to help their planet the community also decided to bring back some dangerous ancient practices that were forbidden in the past…
***
According to main dogmas, the universe begins with the Mother, pure light with no physical form who saved the universe from darkness. She created galaxies, stars, planets - everything in the vast cosmos. Stars were all her children with whom she shared her light. Her most beloved creations were given consciousness and great powers. The stars blessed with the Mother's gift continued her work and made planets suitable for living. Their last (as they thought) creation were mortal living beings, one of them being spacebats. Stars are wise and powerful, they see all, they know all, but they will never intervene with the lives of their creations unless it's necessary. Always watching over them but still remaining far away in the distance.
While stars were too immersed in the process of creation, a few magical sparks were accidentally splattered across the universe, which then gained their own conscience and took the physical form of winged humanoids. The third generation of celestials were born - they were eventually called the saints. They are more curious, more invested in the lives of mortal beings, their hearts are always bleeding for their helpless siblings. Since they shared some powers of the Mother, some of them decided to come down to live among mortals and use their magic and inner light to help their people.
The most “famous” saints known to spacebats’ history and mentioned in most sacred texts were the Comet Brothers. They were born with one wing each and couldn't fly without one another. But together they were the perfect team of healers, as well as beautiful dancers. They devoted their lives to traveling over Krytis and helping everyone in need. Those who had the chance to speak to the Comet Brothers or see them perform ritual dances described those moments as life changing experiences. In return for their help, the brothers were given wonderful heartfelt stories and glimpses of lives of mortal beings. During their stay at a local temple they would communicate with the stars and tell them all about their odd yet mesmerizing encounters with kind strangers - each story being a proof that spacebats truly understood and cherished life given by the Mother. Pleased stars would then grant Krytis another year of peace and prosperity. But if the Comet Brothers would come to the stars with nothing but stories about disrespectful wicked people, disappointed gods would instead use their powers to punish mortal beings for their sins.
There was this one unfortunate year in which it seemed like the stars were especially angry at their creations, and a horrific bat-like beast was sent to Krytis to destroy its people once and for all. Horokoth - a little sphere of Mother’s light merged with flesh of the stars. The Comet Brothers were devastated, they wanted to save their people but their individual powers were not enough. That’s when the two decided to distract Horokoth by giving her their last mesmerizing dance. The grand finale of the dance was the brothers’ collision. Two became one, became whole - a powerful creature with two wings, four arms and the biggest burning, loving heart. The saint gave their all to their beloved planet, killing the beast and saving their people. In their last breath the saint perished in a bright flash, last bits of their magic being penetrated into the ground. Nature gained their powers - it was the last gift of the Comet Brothers. The saints were gone, but people knew, hoped that one day, when the planet will need them again, the brothers shall reborn and come to the cry of their mortal siblings.
It is believed that if you see two falling stars colliding and becoming one - it’s the Comet Brothers finally making their return. And on the night when it happened, the Kur twins were born.
