#korusca

           Reality was split evenly between Light and Shadow, and both were tearing each other part and the rest of existence in the process. A victor had to be chosen… Reality could not manage to sustain itself between two states of alignment at once- There was simply not enough Life for two worlds.

           A decision was made; The Elemental Deities chose to side with Nuva the Blinding One, with most of the Okotan Pantheon following afterwards. Some chose to remain neutral, but by then the choice had been cast. Darkness had been forsaken, and Light was chosen as the champion and dominant force for reality.

           And so, reality itself shifted between the two alignments. Most of Life itself manifested itself in the alignment of Light, leaving behind a hollow remnant of its dark-version… An empty, lifeless world that could do nothing but react to the World of Light and its formations, a parallel dimension that acted more as a shadow cast by Light than its own separate entity. Thus, the Dark World was born; Known later under many other names, such as the Field of Shadows, Para-Realm, Zone of Darkness, etc.

           With the Light-Dark split in reality, Umarak was banished to the Dark World. And for a time, peace seemed to settle, even if the overzealous Nuva remained anxious, wanting to fully eradicate her rival.

           A thousand or so years passed; But during that time, Umarak had managed to pierce the divide between worlds, bypassing the spatial barrier and crossing over into the Light World. Like Light, it was his nature as Shadow to spread as much as possible, especially since his own realm was so barren in comparison to Nuva’s.

           He and Nuva clashed yet again, but this time Nuva found additional support; Her own champion, another mortal that chose to be her Kaita. By performing a Kaita fusion with her warrior, Nuva created the Toa of Light, and in this ascended state managed to completely eradicate Umarak. Her blinding light burned Umarak’s darkness away, searing the entity into seemingly nothing.

           And so, another thousand years or so passed; But Darkness continued to exist. For nothing is truly destroyed, merely transformed… And afterwards, some things will transform back into what they once were. In the time that passed, Umarak’s will and essence reformed in the Dark World. Anxious for a rematch, he immediately set to piercing the veil between worlds once he reformed with full strength; And yet again, he appeared to challenge Nuva.

           Nuva found a new champion, defeated Umarak, and waited for him to respawn. And so time and time again, the cycle of Light VS Shadow would continue, with Umarak reincarnating and crossing over to the World of Light… Nuva could clash with him, before choosing a reigning champion to perform a Kaita fusion with, and then banish Umarak once more as the Toa of Light.

           This cycle continued multiple times… But with each victory, Nuva felt only more embittered, enraged, and frustrated. Yes, she had practically ‘won’ when the Okotan Pantheon sided with her, with Reality skewed towards the Light; But Umarak kept returning. And as part of her nature as Light, Nuva desired to spread and shine, burning with a radiance that reached every shadow and completely eradicated it. So long as there was darkness –and she could feel it in the Dark World, as hollow as it was compared to her own realm- Light would have the desire to glow brighter and fill the void with itself.

           One day, Nuva snapped; She decided then and there that she had had enough of Umarak’s repeated pestering. She would annihilate the Darkness once and for all, and do so by leaving no nook nor cranny for him to hide in; Nuva would engulf all of reality with her Light, and blaze eternally and omnipotently. She promptly went on a rampage, scorching Okoto with her searing Light as she sought to increase the Light World’s radiance and completely obliterate the Dark World; Light casts shadows, but make it bright enough and there is no darkness to be left.

           The Okotan Pantheon reacted, unable to stand by and let Nuva continue her mindless rampage. The very island of Okoto was being scorched to its foundations, and more, with the oceans boiling beneath the Light. Even Nuva’s own champion at the time, Avohkii, chose to rebel- And this act of defiance, of betrayal, drove Nuva completely mad. She lashed out, blinding all as her Light began to sear the veil between worlds, threatening to burn it away and the Dark World along with it.

           This would be disastrous; Not just for Okoto, but for reality, as Darkness was nevertheless an equal force alongside Light. Both needed to exist in tandem, and the balance between both could not afford to be jeopardized.

           And so, desperate, the Okotan Pantheon fought back. They lashed with all their might, hurling the raw power of the elements and Life itself. And while Light was mighty, it was not the only form that Life could take; It could also function separately as Darkness. Nuva was not invincible amidst her seemingly-endless strength, and the dragon was repeatedly battered from all sides. And without Avohkii’s blessing, Nuva was worn down from the constant onslaught, stripped of the support she had from her fellow Deities, rendered to almost nothing.

           Of course, Light cannot be destroyed; But regardless, she was weakened. And so to survive and hopefully recover, Nuva reverted to a smaller, weaker form, consisting merely of her Face, the most fundamental aspect of a person… She transformed into the Mask of Light.

           Wounded, battered, and burnt, the Okotan Pantheon picked up the Mask of Light. Nobody knows what happened to it next; But supposedly, they banished the blazing artifact away from the island of Okoto, far beyond into the endless oceans, hoping that none would ever find it again. Hopefully, Nuva would never re-emerge and resume her plan to scorch Okoto with her Light, and the balance would be maintained.

           …This was the ideal option, of course. But reality never turns out so simply. Umarak sensed the defeat of his ancient foe, and delighted, struck at the weakened barrier between worlds with twice as much force. Emboldened by the defeat of both Nuva, as well as the weakening of her former allies, he saw a chance and took it; Umarak pierce the veil and emerged into the Light World once more, ready to spread his shadows across all of Okoto and consume it with Darkness.

           The wounded Okotan Pantheon could do little to challenge Umarak; They were weak from their previous fight, and it seems only the blinding Light of Nuva could vaporize him. Helpless, they were unable to defeat the Deity of Shadow as his darkness spread across the scorched surface of Okoto, planning to spread into the endless oceans beyond. In an act of desperation, the Elemental Deities devised a brilliant plan; One that could save them all from both Nuva AND Umarak, while preventing either from returning once more.

           Every time Umarak was slain, he would simply reform… So to put it simply, why not keep him from dying? If the Elemental Deities could prevent Umarak from reincarnating, and holding him in place… Hopefully, he could no longer torment Okoto. And then, with Nuva trapped as the Mask of Light, the balance would be preserved…

           And so, the Elemental Deities struck back with the last of their strength. They hurled boulders and mountains and waves upon Umarak, burying him beneath an onslaught of pure elemental energy. Pillars of Stone and Earth were formed, impaling Umarak and helping to restrain him. A new island of Okoto was being formed from the Elemental Deities themselves, and Umarak was being buried beneath it.

           But it wasn’t enough- Umarak was already beginning to break free of his prison, and it seemed that the Elemental Deities wouldn’t be able to contain him. But in a blinding flash, Avohkii stepped up to challenge the Deity of Shadow without Nuva, using their own Light to wound and hinder The Darkness. Enraged, Umarak lashed out and struck Avohkii, greatly wounding the Kaita- But Avohkii held on just long enough for the Elemental Deities to complete their prison. Umarak was pinned down, preventing him from escaping as more foundations buried the Deity of Shadow. Avohkii, exhausted and wounded but with their work done, succumbed to their wounds and died.

          Trapped, Umarak let out a roar as the Elemental Deities dug his grave and sealed it with a new land, a newer version of Okoto, one neither scarred by Light nor consumed by Darkness. This new island would act both as an ideal home for the survivors of the great incident, but also as a prison for Umarak, keeping him trapped yet alive in the Light World; Unable to reincarnate and assault the new Okoto as he normally would.

           And thus, while the buried Umarak thrashed beneath the new Okoto, the Okotan Pantheon could finally fall and rest. But just before they did, they made sure to honor the fallen Avohkii, who had given their life to defeat both Nuva AND Umarak… Their body, retrieved by Uxar, was buried in a hidden grove, a sacred plot of land beneath jungles of foliage and underbrush, somewhere on the new Okoto. But even in death, Avohkii’s Light still shown; And shortly after their burial, new life sprouted from the ground. Fueled and grown by Avohkii’s residual Light, plantlife grew in the form of thorned vines that emanated powerful, sacred Light; Plants that would later be known as Lightvines, for their mystical, eternally-radiant properties.

           The primary difference is that the Para-Realm lacks any forms of life; It is completely empty, not having the Life to be its own separate world. Instead, it merely reflects what happens in the World of Light; If a pit was dug somewhere on Okoto, then in the exact same location on Dark Okoto, shortly afterwards, a pit would inexplicably form in the earth. Because the Para-Realm more or less exists to shadow the actions of the Light-World, this means that if one were to alter the landscape in a significant fashion, it would eventually reform and revert back to the layout found in the World of Light.

           There are no animals and no people in the Para-Realm, and what plantlife it does have is a twisted, darkened version of the flora found in the Light World, something not truly alive. In general, that is what describes the Para-Realm; A darkened, imperfect imitation of the real world, clearly cruder and rougher around the edges than the original, with none of the life. The landscape and layout may be the same, more or less, but a mountain’s shadow in the Para-Realm will not have the fertility and nutrition as its prime, nor will its physical properties be quite the same.

           Because the Para-Realm is the imperfect shadow and imitation of the prime reality, this means that major changes to the Light World’s landscape take a while to manifest within the Para-Realm. The landscape CAN be altered, but again- It will eventually reform to match the Light World. Of course, if one were to place sturdy enough foundations with material not from the Para-Realm, alterations might stay; But otherwise, the land itself will always adapt.

           The Para-Realm lacks weather; Its ‘air’ is deathly-still, always, as are its waves. There is no rain; There are no Elemental Deities in the Para-Realm, so the presence of nature is absent and merely copied superificially. By consequence, this means that the hurricanes of the Endless Ocean, which made travel between Xia and Okoto nearly impossible, don’t exist in the Para-Realm; Now, this doesn’t matter ever since The Shadowed One brought both worlds together.

           Buildings, cities, and other manmade constructs of adequate size, if they stay in one place long enough, can eventually cast their own ‘shadows’ across the Para-Realm, as darkened constructs crudely resembling such fortresses rise from the earth. Depending on the materials used in the buildings reflected, these dark imitations can be outright indestructible, with any changes in their surface and shape only occurring to match what happens in the Light World.

           As a result, while the Para-Realm is ideal for infiltrating areas by accessing their equivalents in the Dark World without any guards to worry about, it is not ideal; For example, an underground bunker made up of protosteel (such as the Archives) casts a shadow in the Para-Realm, one that is similarly impenetrable. And the sturdier the shadow of a structure is in the Para-Realm, the more quickly it will reform and rebound any attempts to damage and alter it.

           The Para-Realm is almost entirely dark, although some form of superficial ‘light’ exists scattered throughout the area, sometimes emanating from spots in the shadows of plantlife, or within cracks in the ground. The sky itself, in some areas of the Para-Realm, has waves of glowing energy emanating across, like that of an Aurora Borealis; It seems that the Para-Realm is somewhat imperfectly casting the shadow of the sky’s light as well. Some areas are more well-lit than others, and light in other areas is spread so thinly that one cannot discern a source, but still see regardless.

           It is possible to live in the Para-Realm, although not recommended. Again, it lacks any true substance; There is little nutrition to be found here, with ‘dark’ plantlife yielding little and ‘water’ in the Dark World being a black, liquid substance with few of the nourishing properties of actual water. The Para-Realm is notably colder than its Light counterpart as well.

           Those who live in the Para-Realm can at least breathe there (this also applies to its dark ‘water’), but may find the air to be somewhat thin. Sound is quieter and travels shorter distances, while artificial light sources glow more dimly than usual. For the first generation of Kraahl that arrived in the Para-Realm and began living in it, constant decades of exposure to Shadows caused a change in their children, who were born as beings of Light and Shadow, possessing an affinity for Darkness not found in the World of Light that enables them to travel between both worlds. It has also affected the Zyglak, to a lesser extent; Potentially due to being more recent inhabitants with less of a vested-interest in connecting with shadow, as well as manmade creatures of mutated bio-matter waste. It seems that the longer one stays within the Para-Realm and engages with its energy, the more it will alter their physiology, transforming them into darkened creatures of Twilight.

           Aside from these ‘Twilight’ beings, there seems to be no naturally-occurring entities made of pure shadow that can be found in the Para-Realm. The closest to these are Umarak’s Shadow Traps, being made of Darkness and Metal; But those tend to be crafted in the World of Light anyway. This is the result of all six Elements, and thus Life itself, choosing to align more with the Light than the Dark, thus causing the Dark World itself to be lifeless and without much of a will.

           Something interesting to note is that during the Great Cataclysm of Okoto, the layout of the Para-Realm actually matched what happened to the island in real-time, with the landscape rapidly changing and reorganizing in sync with Okoto thanks to the Mask of Life. Similarly, when the island of Xia was transported across the ocean, Dark Xia followed along the same path in real-time as well.

           Because Shadow stands out so much against Light, its contrast can help to ‘highlight’ it; As a result, particularly powerful forms of Light can be noticed and even felt from the Para-Realm. In particular, the radiance of Lightvines is so brilliant that their glowing radiation carries on even into the Para-Realm, burning and damaging Night Wraiths due to their tenuous balance between Light and Dark being disrupted.