Whenever someone else has something that someone else wants it always leads to conflict. If the Earth’s resources were unlimited this problem wouldn’t exist, however, resources are finite and people’s wants know no bounds. Just as established trees have to compete with undergrowth for nutrients and space, so do humans. Fire clears the weaker trees and debris and returns health to the forest. Natural fires help to weed out the weak and create stronger, more durable trees. However, if those flames become inflated, they could burn down even the strongest of trees leaving nothing but puny embers. As the fire fizzles out into nothingness the scars still remain on the Earth’s surface, only to be veneered by time.

The Earth was vastly different before the Era of Flame, a time period in which the Earth combusted into a ball of fire. Before, the Earth was enveloped in lush fields of green and heavy forests. Humanity had limited itself in numbers and land usage to stop the ever growing dilemma of pollution. Most people lived in cities that were a great distance away from each other, but were densely populated. Most of the previous, smaller towns and villages were broken down and repurposed into building materials for the sky city initiative. The sky cities were built upward, rather than outward like the older ones. For a while it was looking like people were managing the new cities fairly well, but a pestilence would come to bring disorder into their lives.

Although people were making more of a conscious effort to reduce pollution, a disease grew from the inhalation of polluted air found in cities. Given that most people on Earth lived in sky cities, the disease spread throughout them with ease. The disease would cause visual impairment and a lack of proper judgement in its victims. The disease was given the name of Aamon’s grasp, and its victims were called Aamon’s chosen. Sky cities were already hard enough to manage on their own, and with the new outbreak it almost seemed impossible to sustain them.

The violent fires of avarice are what burned down civilization and made way for the ashen wastes which would usurp it. One such outburst of carnivorous heat was the Gaia Fire, the culmination of sin and the most monstrous of all fires during the Era of Flame. The city that would set off the chain of events that would lead to the Gaia Fire was named Ehsu. Ehsu was a troubled area that suffered from mismanagement of resources and poor diplomacy. The poor resolutions passed would have hapless consequences on the residents, leading to constant chains of revolt that seemed unremitting. Leader after leader fell to the cycle of revolution, with each insurrection the nation was losing power and becoming feeble. To mitigate the effects of the realm’s failing government, they formed alliances with other nations. They agreed to divide resources and manpower as deemed necessary. This would work for a brief period of time, until shared resources became scarce. It seemed that at this rate the nation had to either unite under one efficient ruler who could allocate resources and manpower properly or they could remain stagnant and lose everything.

Rather than losing everything to time, the rulers of Ehsu became the bearers of the first fire in the Era of Flame. There had been many fires like it beforehand but this was the spark that would send the world into an inescapable Dark Age. The fire was set upon Ehsu’s neighboring nation of Mino. Due to the massive amounts of air pollution, the flames were able to catch and aerated the combustion. Mino had been allied with the nations of Lakker and Efoi, so it was no surprise when they started gathering up fuel for a fire of their own to counter Ehsu. However, Ehsu’s allies set fire to Lakker and Efoi. Both Lakker and Efoi had allies of their own which set fire to the allies of Ehsu. The chain continued until the Earth became a bright ball of orange-ish crimson. Before the archives were burned down and abandoned, the event was recorded as the Gaia fire. The Earth was a much different place after all its resources were used in the fire, it was an inhospitable mess of a world that was barely clinging to life.

Ash walkers were conceived from the residue that was left from the Gaia fire. They were once fortunate, prosperous people that thrived greatly under the care of civilization. Misfortune befell these people and morphed them into creatures with massive potential yet it was undiscovered. Whatever they could have been is irrelevant, for genius without education is like silver in the mine.

They are survivors who have been marked by the ebony mists that circulate through the air. The air of the barren terra firma shuts their throat off like a drain stopper to a bathtub, causing them to make a series of congested coughs until it opens back up. They reluctantly press ever forward, clinging to each other like magnets. They hope to find solace in each other, but what good is a band of carpenters with no tools. Flora had joined the Earth in it’s wallowing of cinders, and fauna struggled to adapt to its decision.

The Gaia Fire created a world of misery for those who weren’t burnt up by the flames. Humans who were once considered to be apex predators were reduced to mere scavengers. It was because of the wildfires that the world was in a state of disrepair, it was nothing more than a land of smoke and ash. Fire in the hands of the unexperienced is dangerous, even in capable hands it is nothing to play with.