Homia Lore as told by Tara Hawthorn, HollowOak village's Wise Elder.
In ancient times, when the land was whole, magic ruled the world. It was everywhere - magic in the sky, the water, the ground, even in the deepest fires of our world. Back then, we weren't the only ones who lived in Terithel either. There were others - beings with long pointed ears, sharp fangs, giant clawed hands, and unnaturally large eyes that could see in the darkest night. The most powerful of these other beings were the ones made of pure light, the wonderful Sera, and those made of pure darkness, the dreaded Deav. These beings of light and shadow kept our world in balance. See, the Sera and Deav guide our souls to the Great Beyond, the place we go after death. Even though we can not see them, they still guide our dead, even now. Those with light in their hearts, who have lived an honorable life serving their village get taken by the Sera to their home, Serahistia to live in the sunlight. Those with darkness in their hearts however, they go to Deavonis, taken by the Deav to the land of eternal shadow. Such is the fate of all Outcasts.
Sadly, long ago, many years before I was even born, there was a great war between the Sera and the Deav. It was during this war that a great Homia leader rose to power, uniting all Homia under one banner along side the Sera. This display of unified power terrified those others that lived among us for they knew they were not as strong as all of us united. Spurred on by their fear and lies from those dreadful Deav, the other beings across Terithel united against us and attacked our ancestors in an unfair fight! The battle raged for many moons and at the end of it, we were almost wiped out. Our Sera allies came to our aid just in time and helped our people win the fight against our enemies. In doing so, it left them drained of their precious light and vulnerable to the Deav. Having planned for just that, the Deav attacked the Sera when they were at their weakest.
In a last ditch effort to save the Sera and keep Terithel from plummeting into darkness, all of the Homia who had survived gave up their magic. They surrendered it willingly, giving it to the Sera to recharge their light. In doing so, our magic was lost to us forever. The Sera however, survived and were restored to their former glory. Furious with the other beings for attacking us they broke the land apart, separating us from the rest so that no one could rise against us once more. Then they turned their anger to the Deav and locked them away in the world of darkness. In order rid us of the Deav, the Sera were also lost of us, trapped in their own land of sunshine as the cost for trapping the Deav. But as I said earlier, though we can not see them, they are there, on the other side, protecting and guiding us after we've moved on from this life.
After the land split, there was a time of peace for our people but nothing lasts forever. Without the Sera and the Deav, Terithel had been thrown off balance. The world began undergoing drastic and violent changes. Rivers flooded, mountains rose from the sea, forests died, and deserts formed. Over time the land settled but there were many less Homia on it. Having lost their magic, our ancestors struggled to survive but over time they found ways to keep on living. That was, again, many years before my time. We have lost much more than just our magic over the years. With the natural disasters, we lost many books and texts that held information vital to surviving. Nowadays, much of the old knowledge is gone and many of our resources depleted as well.
As we all gather together here, the last of the Homia, I fear our history may be coming to an end.