A Glimmer of Hope

Now that Esperia had been rebuilt on new foundations, which seemed obvious to have been put in place after careful reflection, thinking back to the world as it had been just before the War of Chaos seemed unreal.

“How could we possibly have behaved like that?” wondered a young Esper, incredulous as he studied the history of a past that was not so distant.

“Did we really have to go as far as that War, which caused so much damage to the planet, but also decimated the population?” wondered another.

These were difficult questions to answer. It is often easy to have the benefit of hindsight once events have passed, but anticipating the consequences of their actions was not the natural way for Espers to think. They were far more concerned with seeing the direct and immediate results.

If the War of Chaos seemed as though it could have been avoided, it was also exceptional circumstances that had made possible the renewal of Esperia: the discovery of that glimmer of hope that would change the face of their planet.

The StarDust.

Understanding that it existed within every Esper, and that by developing it, each one could then perceive their Shadow and begin to tame it, had radically transformed their civilization, which until then had been blind to the consequences of its actions on nature and on its own society.

“How many have died in useless wars. How many have polluted the seas and oceans, the forests, the mountains. How many have wiped out other species, often just for pleasure…”

This glimmer of hope brought by the StarDust was very real, but also extremely fragile: it could be forgotten, causing the civilization of the Espers to return to its natural state…

Their Shadow.


Our latest tales

  • The Awareness of Collective Rationality

    The Awareness of Collective Rationality

    Simba, our little monkey companion from the land of lightning, was beginning to see a little more clearly when it came to awareness. This was mysterious: it now seemed innate to the Espers of the planet, while still needing to be developed. Although he had sensed that several levels of awareness seemed to exist, he…

    Read more

  • Feeling Alone in the World

    Feeling Alone in the World

    Seeing the world from a different perspective than others can be alienating, and can then make you feel as though you are alone in the world. Cha Cha, our little platypus companion, had long been very detached from what was considered normal. As with everyone, what he had experienced during his childhood and the environment…

    Read more

  • Learning from Mistakes

    Learning from Mistakes

    The Espers were far from perfect. Learning from their mistakes was therefore also a natural way for them to grow.But in a society where the right to make mistakes was becoming less and less accepted, learning from one’s own mistakes was also becoming increasingly difficult. The image of success had changed. At the height of…

    Read more

  • Perceiving the dilemmas

    Perceiving the dilemmas

    The challenge the Seven Shapes had set themselves was far from simple. Trying to rebuild a civilization after a war that had decimated the population and a large part of the ecosystem seemed an almost insurmountable task. But things had changed, and therein lay the hope for a society finally acting in a modern way.…

    Read more

  • Against the Current

    Against the Current

    Making the right choices is not often easy. Especially when the almost insurmountable flow of society as a whole imposes a vision from which it is difficult to break free. Thinking or acting against the current then becomes a trial that is at once discouraging, irritating, and sometimes almost ridiculous, yet within which a glimmer…

    Read more

  • Is There Really a Need?

    Is There Really a Need?

    The period of abundance brought about by the massive and limitless use of magic had come to an end. Not by choice, as might have happened if the Espers had managed to agree on difficult questions, such as the consequences of their actions on Aether, the planet’s source of life, or the inequalities caused by…

    Read more

  • Interdependence in a Limited World

    Interdependence in a Limited World

    The Seven Shapes had clearly understood that, in order to rebuild Esperia, everyone’s efforts would be necessary, whatever their element. The period preceding the War of Chaos had developed, throughout all the elemental lands, the understandable but fruitless feeling that the fault always lay with others and that making efforts oneself only meant putting oneself…

    Read more

  • Taking Mental Health Seriously

    Taking Mental Health Seriously

    If there is one thing that is difficult for the Espers to do, it is to properly take into consideration everything that is not visible to their eyes: the future rather than the present moment, the system as a whole rather than their personal situation, the general Shadow of their entire civilization… And mental health…

    Read more