"War? Like klevonians versus pneumarians?" I asked for clarification. I sat down in a seat on the other side of her desk as I listened intently.
"Yes, there have been many recent disputes between the nations. Many of the differences between our kind go far back into Cindar's history. I presume Rabae informed you all of the Primeval Pneumarians and bansedai?" Raina asked as she leaned intently onto her desk, interlocking her fingers.
"He told us about the Primeval Pneumarians, but only mentioned the bansedai," I answered. "He said they tried to travel the galaxy with the Primeval Pneumarians."
"They did," Raina nodded, "it's because of them that we're aware of many of the worlds we interact with now."
"Put simply," she continued, "the bansedai are the direct offspring of the Primeval Pneumarians and were the second most powerful generation of pneumarians before being mysteriously trapped on the Prison Moon. Each of them possesses an EQN over 900 million."
My eyes widened as I tried to envision that. Rabae utterly defeated us and could've flooded Earth without using a fraction of his power. I couldn't even imagine how powerful someone like the bansedai or Primeval Pneumarians were.
There was a sudden whoosh of air as part of the room was encased in gold. When we looked over, we saw some of the antiques Avarice had been looking at were golden now.
"I'm terribly sorry, did I hear you say 900 million...?" Avarice asked as the gold began to recede.
"Do be careful with those," Raina urged him, "But yes, the oldest of my kind were extremely powerful. Before the Celestials rose, the Primeval Pneumarians and bansedai would spread the pneumarian influence across the quadrant by bringing worlds under their empire."
"So, they were conquerors." Za'Fia put bluntly.
Raina gave a small laugh.
"Yes, but that was a long time ago. We pneumarians don't and have long since practiced conquering other worlds. Primarily due to most worlds falling under the Neutral Corp's or a Celestial's protection. So, don't be concerned about that."
"You said most of the bansedai were trapped? So some are free?" I asked.
"One," Raina answered with a finger raised. "He's Chief of the Neutral Corp, but that's a story for another time. The conflicts with the klevonians reached hostile proportions during the third generation of pneumarians—"
"Sorry," I said, interrupting, "and the third generation were the bansedai's offspring, right? Sorry, this is the first we're learning of the generations."
Raina looked at us in disbelief.
"Viraa hasn't explained anything to you...? To become a pneumarian, one must either be born one or evolve into one after dying a klevonian," Raina told us. "Those born a pneumarian are considered generational. Typically, each generational pneumarian is stronger than the generations that follow, but that doesn't align with klevonians who evolve into one. That's why Rabae, though powerful, is not considered a third-generation pneumarian despite becoming a pneumarian around that time. Otherwise, he'd have power closer to 800 million, as they did.
"Wait, Rabae was once a klevonian?" I was stunned, as I tried to wrap my head around everything.
Yes, but you can ask him about that yourself later, and I'll explain more on why klevonians can become pneumarians in a bit. However, back to the conflict during the third generation: ultimately, it sparked the First Great War between the Pneumarian Forces and the Klevonian Army. This was well after the Dark War, so the Primeval Pneumarians were already dead, and the bansedai had already been trapped. So that left the third generation to take over as Crest Heads, and some became the commanders of the Pneumarian Forces with Mud as Ryfi Theos."
"They believed the klevonians were getting out of hand and should be forced into submission, so they waged war against them, thinking they were invincible, underestimating the klevonians, and beginning the First Great War of Cindar," Raina educated us. "This led to many of their deaths—well, some were expunged post-war since many pneumarians lost loved ones and businesses and blamed that generation's arrogance. Mud remained Ryfi Theos after claiming to have seen the error of his ways and allowed the worst of the Crest Heads who sought war to be judged. This appeased most,"
Raina flicked her wrist with a serene flamboyance as she recalled the rest.
"Others of the third generation were either taken prisoner by the Klevonian Army and periodically absorbed by them over time—when a klevonian is stealing another powerful being's energy, they do it in bursts every few hours so their body has time to acclimate to the new power before they can safely absorb more—or fled the planet."
"Finally, the war ended," she sighed. "According to texts, that's when pneumarians grasped how much of a force the Klevonian Army was. Still, despite the war ending, ideals clashed and tensions remained high. Many of the klevonians during that time later evolved into pneumarians from the power they absorbed from their captives. Then they too left the planet, unable to remain in Forgeton, yet not wanting to be part of the pneumarian society."
Raina shook her head as she continued on.
"Afterwards, for eons, the two nations antagonized each other and multiple times nearly started another war. Then, sometime later, they came closest to the start of the Second Great War, but our Celestial prevented it. Both forces were warned that should their feuding put the civilians and stability of Cindar in danger, they'd have to deal with him. This prevented any large wars from ever erupting again, but both still used different underhanded tactics to interfere with each other. Then over 1.5 million years ago, when Viraa was Ryfi Theós, a treaty was made between the Pneumarian Forces and the Klevonian Army. Back then, pneumarians would force their ascension marks on klevonians to increase their Crest's power and influence while diminishing the Klevonian Army's numbers, and the Klevonian Army would kidnap young pneumarians to comply with their demands. Sometimes, exchanges were made for the release of their loved ones. Sometimes the young would be absorbed in retaliation....The most extreme among the klevonians thought that once one of their kind experienced the power an ascension mark gives, they'd be 'corrupted' by its allure, so there was no negotiating with them. During the treaty, treatment for klevonians in Pneuma City became significantly better than what it once was. Benefits were introduced as time went on. Now they're made comfortable for the most part. After living for so long as part of a Crest, we noticed that most klevonians who ascended into pneumarianhood have remained part of their Crest even after evolving."
"Oh, God," I exhaled as I thought about the kidnappings and what those forced klevonians and children must have gone through.
"Hm? Yes, it was a terrible time," Raina sighed.
"It's like Stockholm syndrome," Michael commented.
"An extreme version of it," Tymon added.