Exodia

Exodia was the greatest machina city, a symbol of human supremacy during the Exodian Era. Most information regarding Exodia and it's sister cities has been lost to the ages, but there are tales immeasurable about life there and the influence that Exodia exerted on the rest of Amestria. The history described on this page is theorized to have begun around five hundred years before Exodia's fall.

Background Information

In a time long before recorded history, it has been said that humanity was nothing more then a bunch of primitive villages scattered across the western coast of Amestria. The ancient forest was a vast expanse that covered much of the Exodius Continent's interior, and stretched almost all the way to the western coast leaving little area for settlement. Humanity dared not venture into the ancient forest, for there were giant beasts that could kill a man in a single strike. Life was hard during this period, food was scarce and plagues were common. If not for a single event, humanity would likely have never influenced Amestria on the scale that they become notoriously known for. This event was the appearance of a single man, known only as The Magician, who spread the practice commonly known as magic to all of humanity.

History

The Advent of Magic

As the aetherial arts started to spread from village to village, a new horizon appeared before humanity. They began to clear the ancient forest, the fierce beasts and wildkin of the forest proved to be no match for man's newfound aetherial power. As the borders of the ancient forest receded, resources and space for farmland helped fuel humanity's growth and thirst for knowledge. Much of today's open land on the Exodius Continent is thanks to early human expansion. New methods were discovered for storing aetherial energy in crystals, allowing for humans to cast limited magic without draining their own stamina. This little discovery would lead them down a path of which there was no return, whether they knew it or not destiny was now in their hands.

The Machina Age

Human civilization continued to grow, their cities would eventually cover the landscape. Humanity experienced very little infighting during this period, they had all been unified under the banner of progress and enlightenment. Their society continued to evolve, and with it their understanding of the aetherial arts and technology. Little did they realize that they would soon discover the most powerful branch of magic that humanity had ever known, machina. Ancient stories state that machina started out as little more then simple machines that used both physical and aetherial energy to perform a set function. They were limited by the energy stored within special crystals, and thus had to be recharged by humans regularly. But then something seemingly impossible happened, a new method of drawing immense power autonomously was discovered. Ever since the fall of Exodia, the secrets to this immense source of aetherial power have been lost.

Birth of an Empire

With the recent discoveries associated to machina, there was no longer a limit to what humanity could achieve. Everything from brushing one's teeth to transportation would be taken care of by machina. A new city which was built from the ground up to harness the immense power of machina was built, the city that all would come to know as Exodia. The city quickly became the shining beacon of human civilization, and was so successful in it's purpose that two more sister cities were built (Jeth and Laicura).

Assorted Info

The great capital city of Exodia was known to all as the city that never sleeps. Gigantic buildings of stone and metal as far as the eye could see, with roads woven in throughout the city many of which were suspended in the air between buildings. Machina of immeasurable complexity fueled the city's insatiable appetite for power. Humanity no longer needed to toil in fields or work by the sweat of their brow, for machina was able to do all the work for them. Humans had become like gods, but yet desired even more. And so as the saying goes, humanity's greed and lust are immeasurable.

Humanity experimented on everything known to the world, all in an attempt to achieve immortality. Forest spirits were captured and twisted with magic, bound to bodies of flesh and mortality. Many species were mixed together to create new species, and even elves were captured and experimented on. But to no avail, none of their experiments proved to be fruitful. For a time humanity had been convinced that immortality was unachievable.

At the height of humanity's lustful search for immortality, an ancient spring deep in the mountains was discovered. It's waters would instantly kill anything that drank from it. Using the great magic and machina which humanity had perfected over many centuries, it was discovered that the waters possibly contained the essence of life itself. The waters could possibly reform a person if they drank the water and survived, unfortunately the victim would die in the process of reformation.

Humanity summoned forth their most advanced magic and technology, and succeeded in creating a serum that would have a small chance to succeed and make one immortal. Many people volunteered to take the serum in the hopes that they would survive and become the pinnacle of human society, all of them perished. Countless souls who lived in poverty on the lowest streets of Exodia and in many other cities were forced to participate. Ultimately humanity succeeded in discovering two survivors among the countless dead. They proved to be godlike, able to move mountains with a single thought, able to instantly heal any wound, and possessed true immortality.

The Fall of Exodia

All of humanity was in celebration of their great accomplishment, seemingly forgetting about the countless dead bodies that had been spent in the process. The greatest minds of humanity succeeded in creating a safer serum that would make one ‘immortal’. They imbued their own blood and powerful magic into the preexisting serum, creating a new and supposedly safer serum. Many people survived the painful transformation, but would mysteriously disappear and never be seen again. It was not long after this accomplishment that a great disaster would strike Exodia.

There are no accounts of people remembering how it happened, only that buildings started to crumble and lightning came forth from the sky and rained down upon the great city. Many people would flee, and only a few would survive. The entire city was destroyed in a single night, and it would soon be discovered that all of humanity's cities would suffer the same fate. This is referred to some as the great cataclysm, and to others it was righteous judgement for humanity's insatiable greed. Some believed that the destruction was caused by excessive usage of magic, others believe it was a divine punishment carried out by the heavens as punishment for humanity trying to become gods. The only thing for certain is that humanity had lost all their most advanced knowledge, which had been stored within the machina that served them.

Human refugees that fled from their former cities which had once fulfilled their every wish, now struggled to survive on the barren land that had been stripped of abundance after many years of progress. Humanity had come to fear magic and machina, and would not pass on their knowledge of advanced magic or machina to their children. Those who survived used simple magic, or had a thorough understanding of the land. They would confront horrifying beasts of their own making, empowered by the twisted magic of their former experimentation. Humanity dared not enter the ancient forest, for every spirit, beast, and elf hated them with every fiber of their being.

Humanity would eventually develop magical knowledge once again, but the secrets which they had discovered before would be lost to them for all eternity. They founded settlements and formed civilizations, but would never again rise to the heights they achieved during the machina age. Machina has ever since been declared a forbidden art, a taboo that threatens humanity and is penalized by death in all human civilizations since.