The History of the Courts

In the ancient past, there were random, scattered tribes. Humans, mostly, though at this time an ancient and powerful dwarven empire was collapsing unknown in the dark and some say gnomes still frolicked in the woods of the Xulin Valley, at least. These humans served themselves, first, their warlords second, and the Fountain not at all. The seasons came randomly, Fire, then Water, sometimes Earth, Fire again, perhaps three days of darkness as the Void passed over the world. Why this time of chaos existed, no-one knows - the Bureaucracy of Heaven has several thousand-year-old requests for information still pending on these times, and generally it’s just considered rude to dig too deep - don’t you have a river to flow or a desert to fill with sand? During this time, there was little more than savagery and war. In the West, the people of the islands suffered from horrible disasters and did battle with great leviathans. In the South, the deserts were full of succubi and plagues. All in all, a terrible time to be a person. A conclave was called between the most powerful warlords of each cardinal direction, so that all humanity might be lifted up. Again, speculation as to who called this concord, each Court has legends of their own high part in this drama. In the end, they agreed that it would be best to work together to divide the world. At this conclave, the Arcana were formed, primitive in form, and the Structure of Fours.

Structure of Fours

To each place, there would be four rulers, as there were four seasons and four Courts. To each Court, Province, Village and Family there would be four to rule. A King and Queen, A Page and a Knight. One to rule with strength, one with heart, one to bring vitality and one to protect. As it is in the highest places, so too the lowest. This is something that the conclave brought to every home in the Courts and is, to this day, an enduring cultural truth no matter where you go.