The Isterica

Good morning, good evening, and good night to you, dear friend! I am pleased beyond words to see you here! I see that you are wondering where precisely you are. Fear not, for I, your humble Guide, am here to fill you in on some of the compulsory details. 

Allow me, if I may be so bold, to paint a picture for you of where our story takes place. Imagine a world that is, in fact, five worlds with bridges between them. Four such worlds are inhabited by Angels not entirely unlike the varieties thought of in the typical imagination, and the last is something that— my intuition tells me— you may have more personal experience with: A world of sentient organisms known as humans. 

These worlds are known as the 4 Spheres of Heaven and the sole Sphere of Aerth. Each—save for Aerth— bears its own varieties of Angels, cities, cultures, and history, and each is distinct in its own way: The flat, rolling expanses of green grass and floating islands within Prosperity.The harsh, varied landscapes of Strife sprawling below a gargantuan mountain. The two regions of the Heart Sphere, where above there are shifting regions and catastrophic weather events fueled by emotion, and below a smaller land where the firmest beliefs and most most stalwart hearts dwell. Finally, Mind, with its great megacity and infamous, neverending Logic Storm. Of Aerth, I have little to say. It shall not be so unfamiliar to you, I think.

I call the Spheres by their common names, Prosperity, Strife, Heart, and Mind, so that you may understand them, and are those names typically used by Angels. If I were to speak the truest names of the Spheres, I fear they would pass over your head quite uncontested. You will see what I mean, in time.

Now that you are acquainted—though only in the merest way— with the Spheres and Angels, it is prudent to take a more intimate view, and hook you in with a little of what the tale is about.

Armael, an Eagle of Strife, has just been offered the greatest opportunity of his young and relatively unremarkable life: The chance to become a Descender— those who travel incorporeally to Aerth and influence events there. This is an incredible honor to Armael, who is one of a small cohort of Striferans raised in the Prosperian way after their occupation of Strife. The honor is so great, in fact, that it borders on unreasonable. Armael was never the greatest of his lot, and the Prosperians’ choice of him is more than a little surprising. Still, he’d have been a fool to turn it down. He intends to prove that he is deserving of this blessing and works harder than anyone else to do so, that is, until he finds himself embroiled in a conspiracy of epic proportions and cast down to Aerth alone and in a human body. Hunted by enemies hailing both from Heaven and Aerth, and plagued by a traitorious psyche, Armael must find a way back to the Spheres above and come to grips with the fact that things don’t quite work as he thought they did.

Calastiel of the Lightborn is Commander of Virtue’s Grasp, a Pristarum, and Right Hand to the Archon of Virtue, he is loved and feared the Spheres over for his ruthless dedication to the Prosperity’s cause. Calastiel is also rather surprised when his entire command is recalled to Prosperity after years of rooting out rebellion in the occupied portions of Strife. He is even more surprised when the Archon of Virtue herself informs him that Prosperity is apparently rife with Striferan infiltrators bent on assassinating officials and fomenting rebellion in the Prosperian populace.  Naturally, it is his job to snuff it out. To do so, he’ll need the help of old friends, an old flame, and all the tenacity he can muster, as stopping what his enemies have begun is anything but a simple task.