The world known as Aeolus has suffered several bloody wars over the past one thousand years. This portion of the Final Fantasy 6 worldbook gives an overall description of these events that have led up to the present situation that the worldbook takes place in. The material here split up into different eras: the golden age, the first war of the magi, the age of Chaos, the age of recovery, the Imperial war, the second war of the magi, the year of hell, and the present. If you haven't already done so, it would be best to look through the FF6 timeline before reading any further.

The Golden Age
The First War of the Magi
The Age of Chaos
The Age of Recovery
The Imperial War
The Second War of the Magi
The Age of Ruin
The Present Important note:
This is the incomplete version of the FF6 worldbook's history. In the coming weeks, a new ff6 worldbook will be developed that will complete Aeolus' history. For now, this will take you up to the present and won't screw up the old FF6 worldbook written by Scott Tengelin.

Known loosly as the 'golden age', this era is referred to as such because of the tranquil peace between the planet's two owners: the humans and the espers. The espers, a collective race of beings that wielded a powerful force known as "Magic", were the servants of their gods Doom, Poltergeist, and Godess. During this age, mankind's mastery of machinery peaked. Suddenly the creation of devices such as Robots, floating cities, space travel, and vehicles of all sizes (from hoverbikes to Airships equal in size to modern aircraft carriers) were the norm. However, mankind has always yearned for the 'forbidden fruit' and discovered a new science that could used the power of magic to support machinery. This new science was labled "Magitek" or M-tek. The esper gods agreed that the humans had now become a threat to their rule and decided that it was time to destroy them before they took control from them. Faced with war, humans armed themselves with powerful weapons and turned their new technology to warfare. Thus, Magitek Mecha were invented and the First War of the Magi began.

Frightened by the possibilities of magiteknology, the gods gathered their children together and what is known as the "war of the magi" began. Despite their 'common foe', the war of the magi soon after it started shifted to a 3-way war between the gods with each backed by different human nations. Although it was short (only one year), the damage done to the planet and to the population were immeasurable. In a moment of Clairity, the gods chose that they were incapable of existing peacefully. Asorbing much of the mana from the world, they transformed themselves into a trio of statues with the hopes that another war of magic would never occur. Their last command to their esper children were to create a seperate dimension where they could live in peace away from the corruption of humanity. With their gods in hand, the place known as 'Esperworld' was created and the espers forever sealed themselves from the humans of Aeolus.

Or so they thought.

The humans left behind by the espers faired far worse than their monstrous companions. Left in a world broken and weary, almost all the civilizations of the world had been destroyed. The developments of the golden age were destroyed and the world itself was shattered. Whole continents were broken, re-arranged, or submerged while whole areas of land rose from the ocean floor. Faced with a loss of their civilizations, their homes, and a growing monster problem; historians remember the first two centuries following the first War of Magi as the 'Age of Chaos'. It was during this time that humans began to blame magicians and mage warriors- people infused with magic- for the destruction wrought by the war. Many were hunted down and killed but some made it to secluded area and set-up their own small towns. The most successful of these towns was Thamasa, which was able to hide its existence until it was uncovered by Locke Cole, Terra Branford, and a small group of Gastorian soldiers. Bandits and other outlaws thrived during this period, making life misserable for most survivors. The only law of this period was that only the strong shall survive. Little historical material from this age exists, although legends of valiant heroes fighting off hordes of bandits and monsters would become the basis for children's stories for centuries.

Over the next seven centuries, the wounds of the war were slowly healed. Nations such as Figaro, Gastoria, and Doma rose and brought order to most of the world with their fortified cities and growing armies. Bandits and monster were slowly brought under control with better protection and law enforcement. Lost technologies such as steam power, gun powder, and sciences began to surface, giving humans a stronger technological level. The events during the war of the magi and the age of chaos slowly slipped away from the minds of most people until they were considered fairy tales by most. Several wars did occur during this time, marring an otherwise peaceful period of time. The most severe of these wars being the "Imperial War" (detailed below) while several others set up the uneasy peace between Figaro, Gastoria, and Doma that lasted up until the Second War of the Magi.

Although the Imperial War took place in the span of ten years, it began 63 years earlier when then Emperor Odin Worjo was found to be an ally of intelligent monsters. The emperor was quickly executed, his family exiled, and a council was set up to handle the goverment. It is the only period of time, save for the present, that the continent of Gastoria has been ruled by a democracy. Moving foreward to 353 WB, Lance Chere, the grandson of Odin Worjo and self-proclaimed emperor, allies himself with several monster tribes to declare war on the Vector and the Gastorian Republic. Figaro and Doma both pledge their support to the Republic and are promtly dragged into the war. Some notable events include the death of 9 of the 10 coucil members of the Gastorian Republic in 349 WB, the death of emperor Lance in 357 WB during a vector counter-attack, the rise of Albert Chere as Emperor in 355 WB, and the conquests of Nikeah, Narshe, and South Figaro in 354. By 353 WB, Both Doma and Figaro withdraw from the war in exchange for their towns. The Chere line continues in power over their empire for the next 281 years.

The rise of Nicholus Gestahl as Emperor of the Gastorian Empire (what is referred to as the simply 'the Empire' during the game) in year 25 WB is usually where most scholars consider the beginning of the begining of the second War of Magi. Having successfully taken the throne following the apparent assassinations of the previous emperor Cain Chere and his daughter, Gestahl began looking for ways to gain even more power. It was during one of his searches in the libraries of Vector City that he uncovered the location of the sealed gate that connects Aeolus to the esperworld. Breaking through, the Imperial forces were able to take several dozen espers hostage. Using the captured esper's power, Imperial scientists were able to resurrect the dead science of Magitek and its most lethal application in the form of Magitek Mecha. Drunk with power, Gestahl began a war with his nation's closest neighbor (and constant enemy), Doma, on 5-10-5 WB. By December of 2 WB, the Gastorian forces had destroyed several Doman towns in the south and they were beginning to make their way into Figaro.

The year of 1 WB is acknowledged as being one of extreme chaos in motion that began with the discovery of the Esper Tritoch in the mines of Narshe. Wanting verifications of the rumor, the imperials sent a small Magitek armor strike force including the half-esper Terra Branford to the neutral city-state. The strike force was slaughtered while Terra was wounded. Lucky for her, she was found by Arvis Donnelly who was about to make his way to the Returner Hideout near the Kol Mountains. Terra recovered in Arvis' care, only to be discovered by Narshe's militia who were still bitter from the loss of their comrades in the imperial's attack on the city-state. Seeking safety in the mines, Branford fell through a weak spot in the floor to a lower level. As luck might have it, Arvis had requested help from the returners for the girl's sake. This help materialized itself as Locke Cole, a treasure hunter that allied with the returner's following an imperial attack on his hometown of Kohlingen. Locke had arrived roughly 10 minutes after Terra rushed into the mines. Finding where Terra had fell through, he was able to protect the unconcious imperial soldier with the help of a small moogle tribe. Escaping to Figaro through a secret passageway, the two found temporary safety and aid from the desert kingdom. Hearing rumors that Terra had found protection within Figaro's walls, Gestahl sent Kefka to retriever her. Despite King Edgar's denial that the girl was there, the mad general ordered the magitek armor unit under his command to attack the castle. During the raid, Edgar, Locke, and Terra successfully escaped Kefka's soldiers on chocobos. After a brief stop in South Figaro, the trio made their way through the Kol Mountains. Here they met up with Edgar's younger brother Sabin, who had left Figaro ten year earlier for his own reasons. The trip through Kol Mountains was otherwise uneventful and the group had reached the Returner Hideout to meet their mentor, Banon. Believing that Terra represented their only hope to defeat the growing power of the Gastorian Empire, Banon asked Terra to join the Returners whom later accepted the offer.

The celebration was short lived, as the Returners recieved news from a wounded comrade that the imperials had occupied South Figaro and were on their way to the Returner Hideout. At this point Locke made his way to South Figaro to gain more information on the fallen city while Edgar, Sabin, Terra, and Bannon made their way down the lete River. During their ride through the rapids, the group bumped heads with the villainous octopus Ultros. After some hasty a move on Sabin's part (he jumped into the river to chase the octopus), the black belt eventually washed up on the shores of Northern Doma where he met up with the reknown assassin, Shadow. Together, the two made it to Doma Castle just as the imperials were making their attack. During the skirmish, Kefka poisoned Doma's water supply which quickly killed nearly all the occupants in the castle save for retainer Cyan Garmonde who was involved in the battle. It was a dark day for the knight, who in one brutal strike lost his family, liege, and country. With nowhere else to go and revenge on his mind, Cyan joined Sabin on his journey back to Narshe. After a fiasco where the trio (according to them) had boarded the phantom train, Cyan and Sabin reached the Veldt and its sole community- the town of Mobliz. Here they heard a tale from an inventor about a helmet that allowed people to breathe underwater but the device was stolen by a beast child from the Veldt. By accident, the two met up with the beast child, Gau, who joined them after being offered some food. As it turned out, Gau had the deep sea helmet and were able to make it to Nikeah through the serpent trench. The trio then went on to rendevous with the other returners.

While Sabin was busy, Locke successfuly reached south Figaro and the trio of Edgar, Terra, and Bannon made it to Narshe. After some sneaky theivery on his part, Locke decided to free former General Celes Chere from the garrison. Having discovered her lineage to the former chere emperial line and spoken out against the attacks on neighoring countries, she was stripped of her rank and was to be executed the next day. The two together were able to reach Narshe after destroying a Tunnel Armor.

Together at last, the returners (as the player characters from Final Fantasy 6 are referred from here on out) found themselves the protectors of the esper tritoch when a strike force led by now General Kefka reached Narshe. Kekfa and his soldiers were turned back after a long battle on Narshe's snowfields by the group. It was discovered shortly after the battle that Terra was in fact a half-esper when tritoch caused terra's esper form to show itself. Frightened by this discovery, Terra fled southwest towards the thief town of Zozo with the Returners eagerly on their way to help their comrade. It was here in Zozo that the Returners first learned of Magicite- the crystal form that an esper's essence takes when one dies. With the help of Ramuh and several of his fallen friend's magicite, a small group of the returners led by Locke and Celes made plans to visit Vector to save the espers the Imperials were holding captive. On a visit Owzer's mansion, it was discovered that the wandering gambler, Setzer, is planning to kidnap Maria during the upcomming opera performance. In addition it seems that Celes just happens to look like Maria, setting up a scheme by Locke to use Celes as bait for Setzer while they stole the gambler's Airship. The plan worked nearly perfectly, save for an appearance by Ultros, and Celes was able to cheat Setzer into helping out the Returners by taking them to Vector.

Reaching the Imperial City, the group was able to successfully sneak into the empire's Magitek Factory but were too late to save the captured espers. Following Ramuh's decision to aid the Returners, they too offered their magicite to Locke & company. However, Kefka had overheard them and prepared to attack the rebels along with saying that Celes had been a spy. The group was able to escape to the mine car system below after Celes teleported herself and Kefka away from the Magitek lab. After a botched attempt to destroy the Returners with a pair of cranes, the group returned to Zozo with the magicite of Maduin whom is Terra's father. With her father's Magicite, Terra is able to recover and the group returns to Narshe. Angry as ever, the Gastorians increase their war efforts in hopes of smiting the returners. In desperation, Bannon asks Terra to unopen the sealed gate that connects Aeolus and Esperworld. Terra succeeds, but the espers that rush out do so enraged. They immediately attack Vector City, destroying several sections of the town and killing hundreds before the esper flee to the mountains west of Thamasa.

Emperor Gestahl, seeing the error of his ways (so he says), pulls out all of his troops and ends his war with what is left of Figaro and Doma. He pleads with Terra to be a representative of the humans (since she is half-esper) in the hopes that they won't attack any other countries. She reluctantly accepts and Locke tags along to make sure she's safe while the others stay in Vector- suspicious of what the emperor is up to. After a two day voyage by sea, Locke and Terra along with Celes, General Leo, and Shadow, reach thamasa. The group initially find a non-descript small village who know nothing of espers. Locke, Terra, and Shadow consult the local sage, Strago, who also deny knowing about the espers. During their visit, Strago's grand-daughter Relm becomes infatuated with Shadow's dog, Interceptor. Later that night, a fire breaks out in one of the town's houses. As it turns out, a little boy was practicing his Fire 1 spell when he accidently started the fire. The situation worsened since the house has a large collection of fire rods. Things get interesting when the townfolk begin casting Ice spells on the inferno but the condition of the house only worsens. In desperation, Strago rushes into the flaming house to rescue Relm. Locke and Terra lend a hand but are knocked unconcious shortly after defeating a fire monster that was causing the blaze. Before the house collapsed, Shadow made a dramatic appearance and made good use of a warp stone. The group just barely managed to escape as the house collapsed. Grateful for saving Relm, Strago gave his assistance in Locke & Terra's trip to the western mountains. While hiking through the passages, the trio came across plain rock statues of the three godesses of magic before running once again into Ultros. The big octopus was foiled again, this time by Relm's drawing ability. Too far into the mountains to go back, the Locke reluctantly allowed Relm to come along. Eventually the group came face to face with the esper's new leader, Yuri. After some tense moments, the espers made it clear that they regretted their attack on Vector. Regrouping with Leo and Celes, the General and Yuri traded apologies before Kefka made his presence known by blowing away some of Thamasa. Despite putting up a superior fight, Leo was murdered by Kefka. Afterwards, the mad general used his newfound power to turn all of the new espers into magicite.

Despite the lost of General Leo, the Returners regrouped while waiting for Kefka and Gestahl's next move. With their new power, the two had no problem opening the sealed gate and making their way through to the godess temple. Here they forcefully took the godess statues and returned with them back to Aeolus, ready to flex their new power. Their first trick was turning the mountain ranges surrounding the sealed gate into a floating island. Despite an attempt to stop them by Imperial Air Forces (IAF), the returners were able to make it to the floating island intact where they found a wounded Shadow. Together, a small group made their way to Kefka, Gestahl, and the statues. Gestahl had little trouble paralyzing the small strike force with the power of the Godesses. He then offered Celes a chance to take her rightful place alongside Kefka as one of his Generals, but Celes refused- stabbing Kefka with the very same sword that he offered her. Angered by the attack, Kefka began to try utilizing the godesses' power to annihilate the Celes and the returners. Gestahl tried to stop him, but being within range of the godesses made Kefka immune to Gestahl's magic. With a well placed lightning bolt, Kefka had no problem booting the emperor off the Floating Island. He then proceeded to disrupt the possitions of the godesses, causing a magical chain reaction similar to the end of the first war of the magi. Thanks to Shadow locking Kefka between the statues, the Returners had enough to escape the brunt of the blast but Setzer's Airship was damaged enough that it split in half. Meanwhile, the world was geographically reformatted. Moutains fell and the seas boiled. Monsters sealed away for eternity were unleashed on an unsuspecting world and thousands died.

12-31-1 WB is forever remembered as the "Day of Kefka".

The Age of Ruin is remembered as such because it simply was a period of destructive chaos with little of the world's former glory left. Vector was gone, smashed under the weight of the floating island that fell upon it. Figaro was stuck under a mile of sand beneath the Figaro Desert. Doma was now nothing more than a ghost town now that its people were all dead. Most of the Returners and the once proud Gastorian Army was dead. And worse of all, Kefka sat high upon his tower blowing away whatever city or town tried to defy him with the "Light of Kefka". Monsters thrived in this new hellish enviroment while humans and animals alike starved from lack of food and clean water. It seemed as though the world was coming to end. There was little hope left in the near dead world.

But even at it's lowest low, humanity is never one not to give up without a fight.

Some of the Returners (the player characters) had survived the day of Kefka more or less intact. During the year following the Day of Kefka, most had gone their own seperate ways. Locke had begun hunting treasure, Edgar searched for his kingdom, Celes was in a coma for a year, Sabin took up traveling, Terra was playing nanny to the orphans of Mobliz, Setzer had become a depressed regular at the Kohlingen Tavern, Relm began a painting career, Strago somehow became a cultist of Kefka, Cyan spent some time in the mountains north of Zozo, and Shadow began a fighting career at the Dragon's tail Coloseum. Shortly after the begining of 2 WR, the Returners slowly began to regroup which eventually led to an assault on Kefka's tower. After a long battle, the now demigod was destroyed. Having absorbed the power of the godesses, there was no longer a physical focus for the magical energy that he had taken. The result was a massive explosion of magical energy that destroyed anything of magical value- chief among them the returner's magicite- and weakened Terra due to her half-esper bloodline. The Returners were able to escape from Kefka's tower intact, which fell apart following its owner's demise. However, the effects of the A-bomb were more severe than thought. While the expelled energy did bring life back to the planet's vegetation, its exact effects are still unfolding.

The long years of hardship were finally over with death of Kefka. The land slowly began to heal from the damage inflicted it upon it by both Kefka and the second war of magi. The ground became fertile again, making it possible once more to grow vegtables. Once again free to do as they please, the world discovered that many of their goverments were gone. The millenia old Gastorian Empire had crumbled to nothing, Doma was dead- its people having fled to Nikeah, Narshe, and Figaro, and the only a handful of Returners survived the destruction of Vector City. Thus new goverments began to form. This era encompasses the next 20 years of life on Aeolus up to 21 WH where it is assumed that most games will take place. The calendar's name has also been changed to the "The World of Hope" or WH after a council of historians agreed that the use of "World of Ruin" was no longer exceptable given the slow healing process taking place.