Fantasy world lore: the history of Aora, from an exiled queen to the kingdoms of today
Aora is the fantasy world of Echoes of Aora: a continent with no name until an elven queen arrived, fleeing a war, and changed its story forever. From her come the six schools of magic, the feud between elves and dwarves and the echoes of power that still wake creatures today. This is the whole story, from the beginning to the kingdoms you play in now.
Where does the name Aora come from?
Thousands of years ago this continent was a nameless land. Humans, dwarves and trolls shared its mountains, forests and plains, each people in its own corner.
Everything changed when an elven queen crossed the sea. Aora was fleeing the Great Elven War, fought between the elven clans, which laid waste to her homeland. She arrived wounded, exhausted and starving, with her daughter, Princess Iris, and five more elven children. The one who took them in was a human: King Aethelgard Exford. For years elves and men lived side by side in harmony, and long afterwards the whole world would come to bear the queen’s name.
Why don’t elves and dwarves get along?
As more elven survivors arrived, Aora decided her people needed a home of their own. With Exford’s help, the choice fell on the Alvacar woods, a vast and remote forest.
The safest road ran through the dwarven kingdom, but the dwarves, deeply distrustful, refused them passage. On the other road the elves were attacked by wild trolls, and some of them died. Those were deaths that would never have happened on the dwarven road. That is where the feud between elves and dwarves was born, a grudge that outlasted the centuries and later turned into open war.
Who founded the six schools of magic?
In Alvacar a long age of peace began. Iris and the five children grew up, and each one founded a school of magic and its city:
- Iris, nature, in the city of Aora, deep in the forest.
- Vaelith, shadow, in Mistvale.
- Solren, fire, in Sunforge.
- Lysael, the holy, in Dawnreach.
- Nimerion, the arcane, in Prismara.
- Taryndel, the storm, in Thunderport.
Humans, though, live shorter lives than elves. When King Aethelgard died, his grandson Valdric Exford accused the elves of taking too much land, broke with the kingdom and founded Valdoria. That is where the war Valdoria still wages today began.
What are the Echoes of Aora?
The peace ended with Malgareth, the Prince of Chaos, son of the primordial Khaos, who rose to free his father. In the final battle Aora gave her life to weaken him, and Iris united the six schools to bind him in the Seal of Six. The queen’s power shattered and spread across the world as echoes: they wake creatures, drive beasts mad and make mages out of ordinary people. That is where the game gets its name.
Victory divided the victors. Each school came to believe it alone could guide Aora’s future. Nimerion tried to master the power of the Primordials and ended up cracking the seals that held them: this was the Rupture. Creatures roamed free again, gods awoke, Lysael died defending Dawnreach, Vaelith took the blame for belonging to the shadow and Nimerion vanished. And the echoes revealed to old enemies that Aora had survived the Great Elven War: the dark elves crossed the sea.
What are the fantasy kingdoms of Aora today?
- Exford and the Wall. The old human kingdom still guards the north. When the winter of Louhi, Mistress of Pohjola, swallowed the outpost of Vinterhall, the king ordered a retreat and raised the Wall. Those left outside never came back.
- The Frost Kingdom of Hrímgard. Beyond the Wall live the Northern Clans, who never forgave Exford for leaving them in the cold. In Útgard reigns Thrym, king of the frost giants, and the Troll Dens shelter the descendants of the trolls that attacked Aora’s people. In the abandoned castle of Vinterhall, the hearth has never gone out.
- The Goblin Kingdom and the Stolen Mine. South of the March of Valdoria, across the Crooked Channel, men were digging iron. The goblins, who already lived in those gullies, waited for winter and took the mine and everything in it. Gorbo crowned himself in the Cracked Lands, shut Gobelinar to all but goblins and opened a fair at the bridgehead where he sells to anyone.
- The orcs of Grakhul. In the east of the Black Forest lies the orc kingdom, ringed with stakes. Only orcs get in, and anyone who isn’t an orc is hunted in packs.
- The Free Lands. Queen Aora gave this land to no crown: she called it free, free of tribute and of any lord, and said it would belong to whoever raised it. Now mages build realms of their own there.
- The school cities. The six cities founded by the heirs still stand, wary of one another, and every mage learns their magic in one of them.
Where is Iris, and what is your part in the story?
Iris is still alive, living as a reclusive shaman who is hard to find. The schools distrust one another, and the Seal of Six is weakening. That is where you come in: one of the mages born of the echoes, at a time when Aora’s fate is still undecided.
In Echoes of Aora you choose your race and your school, land in its city and head out into the world: cross the Wall into the ice, trade at the goblin fair, run from the orcs of Grakhul, capture creatures woken by the echoes and join the wars between the peoples. It is free and runs straight in your browser, on PC or phone.
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Frequently asked questions
Why is the game world called Aora?
After the elven queen Aora, who reached the continent fleeing the Great Elven War. Before her the land had no name, and after her death her power spread across the world as echoes.
Why are elves and dwarves rivals in Aora?
The dwarves refused Aora’s elves passage on their way to the Alvacar woods. On the other road, wild trolls killed some of her people, and the elves never forgot it.
What was the Rupture?
After the war against Malgareth, the schools of magic split apart. Nimerion tried to master the power of the Primordials and cracked the seals that held them, setting creatures and gods free.
Which kingdoms exist in Aora today?
Exford and the Wall, the Frost Kingdom of Hrímgard, Valdoria, the Goblin Kingdom of Gobelinar, the orc kingdom of Grakhul, the Free Lands and the six cities of the schools of magic.
Do I need to know the lore to play Echoes of Aora?
No. The story lives in the cities, peoples and wars on the map, and you discover it as you play. The game is free and opens in your browser.