The Bookwyrm

The world of Aionios consists of two colossal military nations, Keves and Agnus, locked in an eternal war against each other. This war has been going on for as long as anyone can remember. The countries are organized into military units known as colonies. Each colony is given a number in Keves, and a greek letter in Agnus. Each of them has a gigantic robotic machine called a Ferronis, that acts as both heavy artillery in conflict and the basis for a base camp in between battles. Each colony is also run by a mysterious Consul, and each nation has a Queen that oversees the entire operation.

Soldiers in this world are "born from the queen," at least according to the belief system they uphold. They're birthed from growth modules called "cradles" at the biological age of ten.

After that, they have ten years to live.

They call them terms. Ten terms, ten years spent fighting for their Queen, their nation. If they make it the whole ten years, their passing is honored in a ceremony called Homecoming, where they dissolve into golden motes of light, and return to the queen after a decade, a lifetime, spent fighting.

All soldiers fight to take part in the Homecoming. But most don't make it. The war is enforced by the brutal system of the Flame Clocks. Inside one eye of every soldier (right for Keves, left for Agnus) is a HUD device known as an Iris. Soldier's Irises hold smaller Flame Clocks that are connected to a large one embedded in the Ferronis of their colony. If the Colony's Flame Clock runs out of fuel, all soldiers tied to it perish. So, they fight. They fill the Flame Clock with the life from soldiers of the other nation. Every soldier goes into battle with the hope of prolonging their own life, but also the fear of filling the Clock of their foe.

It's a brutal cycle; fighting in order to live, and living to fight.

Soldiers slain in battle fade into grey husks, with blood-red motes of light flowing from their husk into the enemy's Flame Clock. Certain soldiers from both nations, known as off-seers, perform ceremonial melodies on shinobue flutes in order to send off the souls of the fallen; the remaining red motes of light turn blue, and fade into the distance. A consolation for those left living.

This is the world that this game starts in; brutal, unrelenting, endless. Until three soldiers from each nation gain a glimpse of something deeper; something horrifying, but something hopeful. A chance to change it. A chance to set the world to rights. They must put aside their differences and take up a new power, try to break the cycle of death that entraps this eternity.