Tir Na Nog (ティル・ナ・ノーグ Tiru Na Noogu?) is the world in which Tales of the Rays takes place. Permeating the land are chiral particles which those called mirrists utilize as a form of unlimited energy in their craft. However, recent conflicts have thrown the world into decline and created a destructive force which threatens to devour all who inhabit it.
Geography[]
A majority of Tir Na Nog's original geography is unknown. Most of it has already been destroyed with the only remaining region being the island of Sellund. In their desperation, the survivors use exoflection to progressively replace the lost lands with new ones based on other worlds. By the completion of the Aegis Project, Tir Na Nog primarily consists of two large islands, Sellund and Hy-Brasil, and six continents that are further divided into territories named after their original worlds or a location within them. To the northwest are Organica and Phandaria. To the north are Rieze Maxia and Werites. To the northeast are Terca Lumireis, Orbus, and Areulla. To the southwest are Auldrant, Aselia, and Calegia. To the south are Tethe'alla and Ephinea. And finally to the southeast are Regnum, Glenwood, and Midgand.
Because most of the land is an amalgamation of worlds, it is widely varied. Multiple climates and terrains are scattered throughout the world and do not necessarily adhere to traditional geography. And because these lands are formed from nexuses' memories like dreams, they are not perfect recreations and sometimes include fusions or mismatches of locations. Nexuses frequently describe them as very similar but definitely not the places they hail from.
After the Mirrorshift, abundant amounts of light blue crystals protrude throughout the world. Despite causing destruction upon formation, they do not disrupt daily life except within the epicenter, Sellund, where the largest concentration of crystals have almost completely encased or pierced most of its structures, leaving the city in ruins.
History[]
Long before the exoflection of other worlds, Tir Na Nog was created by inhabitants from the ruined world of Nibelung. Their world had been rendered uninhabitable which forced the survivors to create their own refuge. Over time, life went on and the origins of Tir Na Nog were largely forgotten and faded into myth except among a few individuals. Times were relatively peaceful until war broke out between the nations of Sellund and Bifrost over the former's disregard about the ancient warnings of using mirrites and how they would bring about the end of the world. The conflict eventually ended with Sellund's invention of the Kaleidoscope, a weapon of mass destruction that extracted anima from all life. The inventor of this weapon, in despair over her deceased love being killed during an attack on their hometown, fired it indiscriminately upon Bifrost, obliterating its victims into dust-like particles.
Although the war was over, it only gave birth to a greater threat: the Voidstorm. Essentially a byproduct of the Kaleidoscope gone wild, it progressively devoured the world until only Sellund remained. It was then that the ruling body decided to enact the Aegis Project by exoflecting Tir Na Nog's past and constructing a barrier, the Aegis, that would protect them. Initially the plan was successful. However, unrest and paranoia began to form among the oblivious citizens due to shared dreams of their “previous” deaths. This combined with the sudden travel restrictions intended to prevent discovery of the Voidstorm's existence lead a militia known as the Salvation Front to assume that a Bifrost mole had infiltrated Sellund and was trying to sabotage it. The Front destroyed the Aegis in response which let the Voidstorm run rampant once again and consume the exoflected lands.
In a last ditch attempt to save their world, Sellund decided to enact their plan anew but this time exoflecting other worlds and drawing upon their anima. However in order to accomplish this, they needed the cooperation of Ix Nieves, the current owner of his creation-type family's mirrage. Unfortunately Ix had already drowned saving his friend, Mileena Weiss, from the Aegis' falling debris that annihilated their homeland, Odanse. Having no other choice, Sellund exoflected his past self from when he could still be saved. With the boy none the wiser, they set him on the path towards the capital.
Trivia[]
- In Irish mythology, Tír na nÓg, meaning "Land of the Young", is one of the names for the Celtic Otherworld.
- Originally, Tales of the Rays rendered Tir Na Nog three-dimensionally and featured some returning locations such as Regulus Knoll, the Grand Tethe'alla Bridge, and Vortigern, although none could be explored. When the developers redesigned the user interface to reflect the aesthetics of the Mirrage Prison update, the game switched to a revised two-dimensional map, which removed most of these iconic locations. For example, the southwest portion of the Tethe'alla region no longer features Flanoir and now has a complete absence of snow.
- Originally, exoflected towns were known by rather generic names, mainly referring to its surroundings, like "Fruit Orchard Village" in the Rieze Maxia region, while exoflected fields were named after non-player characters with regards to its world of origin, like "Poisson Road" in the Ephinea region. Since Fairy's Requiem, the Asgard Empire officially names towns after their original counterpart, such as Daath in the Auldrant region.