https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRXycUEVQto<span class="mu-i">"Listen to the heartbeat of the beginning"</span>
The world is covered in ice. Thick white clouds obscure the sky, preventing the sun's warmth from reaching the surface. Blizzards howl between the white sky and the white earth. The winds are strong enough to pick up the unwary and make them disappear. Snow limits vision to barely more than a few meters. Giant waves and icebergs make it impossible to navigate at sea. Very few things can survive in the harsh conditions and below-freezing temperature of this inhospitable place. Humans avoid it as best as they can.
It was not always so. That is, if you believe the old tales. Myths tell of a long bygone era, when the sun could be seen by all who were bound to earth's surface. An era when the surface was green with plants as far as the eye could see, beasts roamed and fought humanity for supremacy. Humans, united in their struggle, could walk outside without protective gear and not risk freezing to death. But you're not even sure if you believe those tales, the world they speak of just sounds so different to your own.
Your world is far from that pleasant dream. Humans are the undisputed masters of the glaciers, but have divided themselves into two. Magic, a gift by Lavos, God of Magic, is the dividing line. For that gift was not given to everyone.
Those who can wield magic call themselves the Enlightened Ones. With powerful sorceries they wrested four islands and let them soar above the clouds. Thus was founded the Magical Kingdom of Zeal. A true, eternal paradise, powered by harnessing the unobstructed energy of the sun. With calm, warm weather all year around and artificial servants, magically created, taking care of all manual labour, the Enlightened Ones, dressed in the finest if cumbersome robes, want for nothing as they zealously pursue the advancement of their Gift under the kind, wise guidance of their monarch, Queen Zeal.
And underneath this paradise the rest of humanity ekes out a meager existence. Those without the ability to use magic, the Earthbound Ones as they are called, live underground in the village of Algetty, cultivating moss and mushrooms, occasionally venturing in the harsh surface to hunt the hardy beasts. Dressed in rags and furs, necessary to ward off the bitter cold, the Earthbound Ones have no hope of ever seeing that paradise above the clouds.
As for you? You were
>An Enlightened One, born and raised in luxury on the floating islands of the Magical Kingdom of Zeal. Magic was your birthright.>An Earthbound One, born deep in the caves of Algetty. Your life was full of hardship and magic would be forever denied to you.This is a Chrono Trigger quest that I've been thinking about for a while. The setting will be familiar to everyone who has played the game. I will try to explain everything as it comes up so that anyone can follow along. Though not everything will be the same as it was in canon.
