PLEASE READ IF YOU'RE CONFUSED

There seems to be a misunderstanding of what I'm trying to achieve with this story, so here's an explanation of the world surrounding Exile's Lullaby.

(Disclaimer: This explanation wasn't triggered by anyone in particular, more so is a response to the number of questions left behind. If anything, I need to thank those who critiqued this work and have pointed out its flaws. You've made me realize that I may have left this book a bit too ambiguous, especially since there's no other stories following this chronology currently published. Thank you, and I hope this little A/N clears things up a bit, heh.)

Exile's Lullaby is part of a larger chronology. Each story won't be written in order, but they all should be able to be read as a standalone. However, I'm also writing this chronology in a way that will leave behind a fair amount of speculation and ambiguity. Call it a bit of an experiment. Not everything needs to be explained, and this leaves room for the reader to piece together the chronology themselves, to appreciate it as it is, or to create their own canon using the world I've created.

The world is far from complete, however, so the third option will be a little hard to accomplish. For now, feel free to read the book as a character-focused story or as a world-focused story (although the world building is limited to only one part of a realm so far). There are events I haven't written about nor have I explained since it wouldn't have made sense either way within Exile's Lullaby (because this is told in Aeric's POV and he doesn't know everything that has happened), but here are some further explanations.

The first event mentioned is the war between the Tir gods and the Lo gods. The only things you need to know about this is that the Tir saw the Lo as a threat, thus attacking the Lo, and to keep his people safe, the Patron God of Lo'ahm, Pyrilor, offered himself to be locked away so in return his people are left alone. That didn't happen, however, as the Tir instead killed Pyrilor, and thus the life-flame, the element keeping the realm of Lo'ahm alive, began to die now that the source was dead.

The next bit of information that may be helpful is knowing that this world occurs in the second shift of the pantheon. In a previous war, the current gods took over the old gods which ultimately split the world into what the Trivalri, the Three Tiers, is today.

And lastly, the Exile's Lullaby (the little bits of text you see at the beginning of the chapters), isn't about the story within. The chapter titles correspond to the lullaby, hence why they don't exactly make sense for the story and events contained within this book. There is a reason for this. However, that reason can't be explained until Aeric's entire part in the chronology has been written.

(Also I think people take the lullaby as a song that exists in real life, making Exile's Lullaby a song fic? It's not, I wrote the lullaby myself, and I haven't completed the track for it yet XD)

For a sense of where Aeric's part of the timeline occurs, here's a list of titles (is not immune to change) and basic explanations for each that are part of the Lullaby Chronology.

|| First Pantheon ||

— The Mark of Nemesis - Novella/Novel
The first of the chronology and is when the first pantheon shift happens. The story follows the journey of Azazel, better known as Aza, as he makes it his mission to kill the Seven Virtues and the Patron God at the time.

|| Second Pantheon ||

|| Third Pantheon ||

— Exile's Lullaby - Novelette
Takes place after the second pantheon shift and is the first of a series of short stories/novelettes that follow Aeric.

— Exiled Remnants - Novelette
A continuation of Aeric's story following shortly after his escape into Brivvala.

— Revenge as a Name - Short story
The split between the Lo remnants, where one side follows Aeric while the other follows Aeric's apprentice.

— Tales of a Survivor - Novelette
The story of how Aeric's apprentice got out of Lo and his struggles to survive in Brivvala. This is the last story within Aeric's era.

— The Legend of Exiles - Novella/novel
Takes place a couple centuries after Aeric's time and is the beginning of the third pantheon shift. It follows a man and a boy exploring a world that's slowly changing. This is the last of the chronology.

|| Fourth Pantheon ||

So that's about all you need to know about Exile's Lullaby in particular. Other than that, all will be explained in due time as I continue writing the chronology. I'm writing it very slowly, but it's still on my mind all the same XD