Okay, hi! When I explain the theory of this novel to people it often confuses them so I figured I'd put a guide to the histories of both the Aureans and the Magi Clans as well as how the humans fit into this story, to make it easier to comprehend :-) hope this helps!

1. AUREAN / FILII AUREA

• THE DESCENDANT THEORY

Okay, so this is an important part of Aurean religion and of course their entire belief system. I explained this briefly in the prologue and had Nuri explain it a little bit more in the previous chapter. The basic idea of the descendant theory is that there are four major Aurean "clans" if you like. And basically it states that Aurean abilities are hereditary. So the four major Aurean families, dating back to the first 4 descendants are the Aro, the Bachmann, the Sai and the Negi families. All of our protagonists come from one of these families, and their abilities are the results of millennia of golden blood in their family. Basically your amount of power and status in Aurean society is based off how prominent your bloodline is, the Aro, Bachmann, Sai and Negi bloodlines are the most prominent but obviously there are other, smaller families with the same abilities.

• CURSED ABILITIES

Another big thing in the novel is obviously the cursed abilities that all of our protagonists seem to possess. As I mentioned above Aurean abilities are heriditary, so if there's bad blood, it'll be carried over. In the prologue I explained that decades ago a bunch of radicals experimented with their DNA and created a race of Aureans that ended up with bad genetics. This story is a little over-hyped mostly since the Aurean Elders regarded this as such a sin that they basically made up things and added on to the story. In short, bad shit happened and some Aureans ended up screwing w their genetic code, creating these abilities. So you ask, how the fuck did Nuri end up w them? When Aziel Aro reawakened the gene in the Aurean code, it could be carried over once again to the next generation. Now Nuri explained that the reason these abilities didn't exist for a very long time because the 4 Aurean families quarantined their families, and stopped them from mingling w other families. The gene then became dormant and would only be reawakened if the abilities are practiced again. So in comes Aziel and reawakened the gene, logically Meri would get the bad genetic but all of the other protagonists got it as well? In short, because the Aureans are in a sense all related their genetic code would be similar. So logically the gene would be carried over, right? (Honestly this is a fantasy novel, genetic science didn't exist so bare w me if this isn't scientifically accurate...)

• GOLDEN BLOOD?

Yeah, if you've read at least the 1st chapter then you know the one thing that sets the Aureans apart from the humans and Magi Clans are the fact that they have golden blood. Not gold flecks, straight up golden blood. The reason for that is the fact that Aureans are descendant from Gods, literal Gods, their mother was the caretaker of the Earth and their father and powerful Celestial Being with... *drumroll* golden blood! So in turn their blood would be ichor, the blood of the gods, in Greek mythology. (As u can see Dan likes Greek mythology very much, what with the whole naming my cat Pandora and shit, and now this shit w the ichor, rlly Dan. Rlly?) so yeah, the Aureans have golden blood because they're descendant from gods, yay.

2. MAGI CLANS

• GENERAL

Honestly I haven't really thought out the Magi Clans, mostly because they're not a huge part of the story. The only reasons they were implemented is because Ignis was in the story and obviously he was of Magic descent. (However, Magi History will be covered in a companion novel called Aira coming soon, so look out for that). Generally the Magi Clans are beings of immense power, that were supposedly born out of desire. The humans needed protection and desired it, so the Magi Clans were awakened. Their power is drawn from "minerals" in their blood, that allows them to manipulate magic, unlike the Aureans who draw from nature. The Magi Clans allied themselves with the humans when the Aureans started a war. So basically, in the Aurean eyes they are evil.

3. THE WAR

This isn't something that's mentioned very much in the story, mostly because it doesn't directly shape the story, but it was part of the Aurean, human and Magi history so I feel obligated to include it. Anyhoo, the prologue briefly explains the War. Basically after the radical Aureans screwed around w their genetic code, their generally pacifistic tendencies went out the window and they decided that they were more powerful than the humans and of course the Magi Clans. So the Magi Clans were born of the humans' desire, not as long ago as the Aureans, but they're still an "established" race, if you like. What happened then was the Aureans challenged the human kingdoms and rushed into a war that they were winning, but when the Magi Clans allied themselves w the humans, the Aureans pulled back. Keep in mind that the Aurean race itself is very small, because they mainly kept to their regions and mingled only with those accepted into the regions. Think of it like this, I based the map of the world off of Europe, the U.K., Asia and the Middle East. Basically Oceania's "region" would be Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. The Fire Children would have the Germanic regions, so Germany, Austria, Belgium etc. The U.K. And Ireland would be the Sovereign Regions. Think of London as the Sovereign Capital with the Magic Academy in there as well. Ireland would be where the Magi Clans reside, they have sort of assigned regions where the prominent Magi Families like the Lux Clan resides and a grey area where the less prominent families would reside. Then the Middle East would be where the Children of the Terrain (so Avani's people) reside, and Asia would be where the Children of the Wind (Vayu) stay. SO BACK TO THE WAR... (nice Dan, getting off track...) anyway, the Aurean race was TINY compared to the human and Magi races, so obviously a TON of Aureans died off in the war, which naturally meant they'd retreat. The Aureans retreated back into their regions and attempted to reconcile w the humans and Magi Clans but obviously because of the atrocities the radicals had committed the humans had a warped image of the Aureans. The Magi Clans would struggle with their vision of the Aureans, some would hate them and some would support them.

So there ya have it! The whole "history" of the Aurean and Magi Clans, as well as information on the geology of the world they live in. Hopefully this clears things up... :-)

w love,

Dan <3