A Brief History of Caelum

The Beginning

Long ago, Caelum came to be. The world is made up of floating islands suspended across the open sky, but society was borne in three massive landmasses that dwarfed all others: Verelum, Rubrelum, and Tranquelum.

Verelum, the island of everlasting spring, had as much water as it did land. The people and Pokémon built their civilizations both alongside and on top of seemingly never-ending rivers and lakes. They favored reputation above all else.

Rubrelum, the island of red sand and orange sunsets, bore the toughest of men. The people struggled to survive the land's unforgiving deserts and plentiful mountains until Pokémon taught them their ways of self-preservation. They favored power above all else.

Tranquelum, the island of peace, was an honest and transparent land. There was nowhere to hide in the island's tall grasses, nor was there reason to. It was here that men spent their time thinking and invented ingenious devices to aid them in their time of need. They favored ingenuity above all else.

A group of Tranquel inventors were the first ones to fly as they'd discovered how to build airships. However, several people died out in the sky as they had no accurate maps telling travelers how to get to places. This all changed when Shaymin, extremely friendly Pokémon who flew in flocks of eleven, began to lead travelers isle to isle.

The Cleansing/Black Purge

As time progressed, violent power struggles began to appear on each of the three main islands. Magicians, men born with the power to cast Pokémon-like spells, rose to the top. They enslaved the non-magicians and cast the world of Caelum into despair.

Even so, the non-magicians' hopes for a free world failed to be diminished. Rebel groups banded together and declared war on magicians to get their freedom back. Due to the non-magicians' teamwork across all the isles, they managed to overthrow all of the magicians and take their places as government heads. The greatest war heroes of each island—Chaoxiang Zhou of Verelum, Ghazee Samara of Rubrelum, and Erland Helvig of Tranquelum—became monarchs. Together, they signed the Sky Isle Alliance Treaty which stated there would be no war between the countries as they were all connected to fend off the evils of the world.

King Ghazee was the one to begin The Cleansing, otherwise known as the Black Purge. Non-magicians came together to end magicians once and for all by murdering all of them. This vengeful genocide lasted for several decades, obliterating the magicians' population. Those remaining fled to Tranquelum's Far Plains for refuge, and the ruler at that time, Queen Erika, forbade the military from pursuing as the Far Plains held too many valuable resources to be destroyed in a war. This ended the bloody ordeal.

The Diamond Age

Peace returned to Caelum for the next hundred years known as the Diamond Age. Brilliant inventions, clever businesses, rich arts, and new philosophies came to life. Inventors and scientists moved to Verelum; warriors and farmers left to Rubrelum; Tranquelum became a place of relaxation as one did not have to worry about sparring with another as there was no one to fight with.

Trade was stronger than it'd ever been before, spurring forward the isles' economies. The most expensive luxury item became the Gracidea: a rare, beautiful flower whose perfume smelled like no other. Naturally, they became a symbol of wealth and power.

To raise prices even more, Gracidea-sellers bribed Tranquel science journals to publish false articles saying that the flowers had magical properties. Their deceptive tactics worked brilliantly. Everyone wanted a Gracidea.

Shaymin's Extinction

The state of Caelum began to shift towards the end of the century. Criminals fled the mainlands to miniature, hidden isles and formed villainous bands to wreak havoc. Pirates, as they were called, slowly began to populate the sky and attack sailing merchants.

Crime rates skyrocketed when people noticed how well off pirates were living with their loot. Criminals sought the quickest way to a boundless fortune and found it in the form of Shaymin hunting. The poachers tracked down the Shaymin and stole their real Gracideas, killed them, and tore off the Gracidea-like flowers on either side of their heads to sell to the masses. Fake Gracideas circulated throughout the markets for years until a Vere scientist printed out an article describing the differences between the real Gracideas and fake ones.

Due to the poaching, the Shaymin population declined. In the span of fifty years, the species had gone extinct.

Rising Tension

In the last hundred years, the islands' weather patterns have begun to change for the worse. People blame magicians for these crises, claiming the magicians are cursing the isles as revenge for The Cleansing/Black Purge. Countless hardships have arisen during this upset, causing tensions to grow between nations.

Verelum is constantly cloaked in storm clouds with never-ending downpours. Floods are everyday occurrences that wipe out villages, homes, fields, and all.

Rubrelum is suffering from a terrible drought, causing water bodies to shrink and crops to wither. Wildfires and dust storms tear through the land and destroy all they touch.

Strangely enough, Tranquelum's land has remained steady. This has caused Verelum and Rubrelum to call for aid from the Tranquel people, but King Benton worries if he sells his resources that his people will rebel against them because they fear Tranquelum will face their own set of natural disasters soon. Queen Zeya of Rubrelum has threatened to take his resources by force, saying his reluctance violates the SIA Treaty. King Dingxiang agrees with her. War is expected.