Gaia

The second planet in the Astrae System, the home world of the human race, and the centerpiece of the Omoia Alliance.
The smallest of the tree Gaian continents is Talaria. It is currently home to the Kingdom of Ruanah and humans of Ruan ethnicity. In the past it was populated by various smaller kingdoms and nations. In 123 PCE, a massive famine and plague called the "Slow Death" ravaged the continent. King Triarius had been stockpiling food within his borders, whether because of paranoia, good planning, or prophetical visions. With his help, the people of Talaria were able to weather the disaster. But in return for aid, King Triarius asked the rulers of the other nations to submit to his authority, uniting them under the single banner of the Kingdom of Ruanah.
The second largest continent is Grandaria. It is currently home to the Azazi Empire and the humans of Azish ethnicity. Its people were formerly organized into a variety of warring tribes and nations. In 76 BCE, the legendary warlord Az al Huic Azaz conquered the entire continent and formed the Azazi Empire. His lust for power remained unquenched and after gathering his forces, his attacked the western nations of the continent of Ventaria in 70 PCE.
The continent of Ventaria is currently home to the People's Ventarian Federation and the humans of the Ventian ethnicity. Prior to the Great War, the continent was filled with 62 different nations. Facing the threat of the Azazi Empire and the damage they had already wrought on the western nations, every nation agreed to form the People's Ventarian Federation in 69 PCE. The great thinkers Scotte Vall and Francis Hein were instrumental in the creation of the founding documents and principles. They created an alliance with the Kingdom of Ruanah, and with their combined might were able to defeat the Azazi in the Great War.
In the aftermath of the war, the Azazi Empire was forced to pay reparations. Malcontents in the empire who blamed Emperor Huic for his hubris conspired to have him assassinated. His brother, Az al Hisic Azaz took control of the empire. In 50 PCE, the official existence of Essies was recognized by the world. Emperor Hisic proved just as power-hungry as his brother, and he organized a group of Essies to assassinate the other world leaders. This sparked the beginning of the Variant War in 40 PCE, in which civilian Essies, unhappy with the conscription of their Azazi brethren, banded together to end the war. After the war’s conclusion, they formed the superhero league known as the Gaian Protectors.
To prevent further conflict, the three nations of Gaia joined together to create the Gaian Alliance in 30 PCE. Emperor Hisic, who had retained power at the end of the war, pulled out of the alliance in 28 PCE due to the Azish disdain for the additional oversight and rules of a world government.
When collateral damage from the “heroic” actions of the Gaian Protectors became too high to ignore, the Protectors were officially instated as a branch of the government and fighting crime with Essie abilities without a government license was outlawed in 25 PCE. The son of Emperor Hisic, Az al Ramburr Azaz realized the power that control of the Gaian Protectors gave to the Gaian Alliance. If the Azazi Empire remained separate from the Gaia Alliance, they would never again be a major player on the world stage. Therefore, he arranged for his father to be killed, took the throne, and rejoined the Alliance. This move upset many of the Azish who wished to remain independent from global rule (the separatists), so they organized to have him assassinated. The assassination succeeded, but their plan to seize control of the Empire failed. They underestimated the willpower of his wife, Az al Huna Azaz who retained a steadfast commitment to her late husband’s aspirations. She retained control of the Empire and ensured that it did not exit the Alliance.
In 0 EE, two Essies made the first interplanetary jump to the planet of Tetapos. This sparked the beginning of the Expansion Era. Despite lacking noteworthy spaceflight capabilities, the existence of Essie abilities meant that travel, terraforming, and colonization of other worlds was now possible. The global corporation Cornucopia was the fastest to mobilize, not having to deal with an internal governmental bureaucracy. It hired the two Essies who made the first jump and claimed the planet of Tetapos.
Many of the separatist Azish who wished their empire had remained separate from the Gaian Alliance saw the possibility of colonizing a brand-new planet as an amazing opportunity. They gathered a group of like-minded individuals from across the planet and organized the colonization of Exesti as a planet free from any world government. 
Not long after, the People's Ventarian Federation colonized Herseus and the Azazi Empire colonized Votis. The Kingdom of Ruanah, steeped in tradition, was the slowest to mobilize colonization efforts and all the rocky planets in the solar system were claimed before they had a chance. This left only the moons of Iona and Klaumata. Queen Eva Levesque  pressured the barons to spearhead colonization efforts by seizing control over their Talarian holdings and gifting them with a moon charter in exchange.
Initial colonization efforts proceeded very slowly, as they were forced to rely on the random birth and discovery of Essies with useful abilities, such as those to create oxygen or transmute different elements. Then a group of Exestian miners discovered the Grakaenaios species on Dodan, a moon of Iona. These dragonoid creatures were led by their Queen Mother, a being named Grakaena who had the incredible ability to design her offspring down to the molecular level. Her psionic ability to assimilate new adaptations proved to function on the Essies that she encountered, giving her the ability to spawn Grakaenaioi with supernatural abilities. The language barrier and presumed non-sentience of the Grakaenaioi sparked the brief yet terrible Dragon War. Eventually peace was forged when the Queen Mother Grakaena produced humanoid Grakaenaioi who could speak the human languages. The Treaty of Meritas was signed.
The largest impact of the treaty was an immediate explosion in the pace of colonization. Rather than relying on single Essies with terraforming skills, Grakaena was able to replicate their abilities into entire castes of new Grakaenaioi. Once the atmospheres and ecosystems were sufficiently advanced, humans began constructing and inhabiting large scale cities on other worlds for the first time. Soon generations were being born that called these new worlds home.

Included Locations

• Grandaria
• Talaria
• Ventaria

Included Organizations

• Gaian Alliance