Beast Bond Academy Year 1 - Leviathan's Chosen

Long ago….Thalyssra was born of beasts.

Before towers pierced its skies or crowns gleamed in the sun, the wild ruled.

The first wolves, lions, serpents, and merpeople shaped the land with claws, fangs and fins. When the fae crawled out of the dark, the beasts decided who lived, and who was devoured.

To survive, the fae made a promise.

We will honor you. Bond with you. Never forget who truly holds the power.

That vow built civilization itself. It birthed kingdoms, crowned rulers, and forged the sacred Beast Temples. They were monuments of shimmering stone where gods still whispered.

~

The Temples of Thalyssra

Every child born under Thalyssra’s stars was taken to one. Within days of birth, they were submerged in the Sanctum of Waters, a glowing pool of ancient magic, and judged by the spirits of beasts.

If a beast answered, a bond was formed. If none came, the child was branded Hollow.

The Hollow were pitied, mocked, shunned and belittled.

For in Thalyssra, to be bondless was to be less than fae. You were seen as nothing. Invisible.

Over the centuries, the temples grew into cities.

Each Temple was ruled by priests of the Primal Accord. The priests were bone-masked arbiters who claimed to serve the Beast Gods.

Their word was law. Their rituals were unquestioned.

They held all the power.

But power, like water, always finds cracks.

~

The Primal Accord

The Primal Accord was older than kings.

Their bone masked priests and bond wardens oversaw every infant beast bonding, every record, and every whispered prophecy. They were the supreme rule of the land, claiming to be the divine mouthpiece of the Gods. They had soldiers of land and sea, priests, zealots, spies, and half the nobles in their pockets.

They began innocent enough, but power warps even the most promising soul. The priests became corrupted. Mythic beings challenged them, so they wiped them out.

They said the temple waters were pure conduits to the gods.

They lied.

In secret, the Accord tampered with the waters, altering destinies, manipulating which beasts appeared, and silencing families who dared to question them.

Their creed was simple: Beasts exist to serve. Bonds are chains, not partnerships.

They maintained full control over the entire power ranking and bond system. Left unchecked, their corruption began to leak through the noble houses.

The Hollow? Not fate. An engineered suppression. A quiet genocide of potential Mythics. They knew that those with mythic power level would challenge their ultimate authority. So they culled them.

~

The Beast Temples of the Realm

Ivory Fang Temple – silver pools, sacred to wolves.

Skyspire Temple – mountain spire open to the skies, home of hawks and griffins.

Emberforge Temple – bubbling lava springs, birthing fire-born fae.

Venomspire Temple – serpent towers carved of black stone.

Ironroot Temple – amber-lit caverns beneath petrified forests.

Abyssalith Temple – beneath the sea, its coral glow fed by the Leviathan’s bloodline.

Each temple bowed to the Accord. Each one fed the same lie, that the gods chose freely, when in truth the choice had long been stolen.

~

The Strength Tier System

At eighteen, every bonded fae was summoned to Beast Bond Academy, the most ruthless institution in Thalyssra.

There, a towering crystal construct called the Divinity Engine, measured their worth.

Inside the chamber, light flared, scanning each fae’s body and soul.

Fae Strength-The speed of muscle, reflex, and endurance.

Magical Affinity-The number and potency of elements they control.

Beast Strength-The power of the creature bound to them.

Bond Synergy-The depth of trust, unity, and emotion shared between fae and beast.

Once measured, four scores would be combined into a final Tier Rank. These scores were then displayed on a crystal badge worn over the heart.

No one could hide weakness. No one could fake strength.

The world watched, and judged, by your badge color.

~

The Seven Tiers of Power

Iron (0-99) - Scraps.

Weak, bullied, and often end up dead before graduation.

Bronze (100-199) - Rustborn.

Commoners, reliable but forgettable.

Silver (200-299) - Blades.

Skilled, respected, and middle-tier nobility.

Gold (300-399) - Suns.

Elite warriors, and heirs to power.

Platinum (400-499) - Stars.

Prodigies marked for greatness, or recruitment by the Accord.

Diamond (500-599) - Prisms.

Legends capable of commanding armies alone.

Mythic (600+) - God-Bonded.

Not supposed to exist. The Divinity Engine itself cracked when they appeared.

The badges glowed by tier, Iron’s dull gray to Mythic’s swirling galaxy of silver, blue, and violet starlight. Each mark sealed destiny into the fae’s chest.

Rank meant status. Rank meant future. Rank meant survival.

And the higher the badge, the closer the Accord’s watchful eyes.

~

The Thrones and the Accord

At the pinnacle of Thalyssra’s golden age sat the Supreme Thrones: They ruled as divine symbols of balance, beast and fae united.

King Alarion Stormfang - bonded to the Thunder Lion, whose roar could shatter mountains.

Queen Selara Dawnsong - bonded to a Phoenix, flame-born and immortal in spirit.

Behind their thrones, in the shadows of the temples, the Primal Accord still pulled the strings. Older than the crowns, and answerable to none, they decided who rose and who was buried.

And when the Thrones protested The Accord's cruelty, they placated them with whispers of rebellion, of order, and of necessity.

For the world, they claimed, was fragile. And the Leviathan’s return would destroy it.

~

The Noble Houses of the Land

Five Houses ruled the surface, each built on blood and beast:

House Fangclaw - Wolves and lions. Predators and tacticians.

House Talonstrike - Hawks, falcons, and griffins. Lords of the sky.

House Ironhide - Bears, rhinos, and scaled titans. Strength unyielding.

House Venomspire - Serpents and hydras. Venom and shadows.

House Emberfang - Drakes, fire-wolves, and tigers born of flame.

Their heirs dominated the academy’s top ranks, flaunting Gold and Platinum badges like crowns.

They fought for glory. For power.

Never realizing the Accord used them as pawns in an ancient game.

~

The Kingdoms Beneath the Sea

Far below, the Merpeople of Thalyssra ruled the deep in silence.

Sea King Varion Tidebreaker, bonded to a white whale, patient, and unmovable.

Sea Queen Naeryssa Pearlveil, bonded to a giant manta ray, graceful, cunning, and dangerously ambitious.

Their realm, Abyssalith, glowed like a city of stars under the waves.

Three noble houses stood with them:

House Selaryn (Dolphins) - swift, clever diplomats.

House Corvess (Sharks) - fierce warriors, and masters of the hunt.

House Thalyron (Seals, Whales & Octopi) - adaptable and underestimated survivors.

Once, the merfolk lived freely along the coasts. Now, the Accord’s soldiers raid their homes, driving them deep into the abyss. The Queen whispered of rebellion, and the King begged for peace.

The land claimed the sea was rising.

The sea knew the land was lying.

~

The Rebellion

Whispers spread like fire across the realm. They whispered of the Wildborn Rebellion, a movement rising against the Accord.

Their symbol: a beast’s eye above a broken chain.

They claimed the bonds were never meant to enslave. They claimed the Accord had corrupted the temples, caged the gods, and severed the sacred balance.

They spoke of prophecy, of a Hollow girl who would rise with the sea at her back, and a Leviathan’s call in her blood.

The Accord burned every scroll that mentioned her.

But prophecies…..like tides, always return.

~

The Calm Before the Storm

For centuries, no Leviathan had chosen a fae. The priests said the sea god was dead.

The people believed them.

But the sea was patient. The sea remembered.

It remembered the day its children were enslaved. It remembered the thrones that bowed to false gods.

And it remembered the promise it had made…

.....when the Accord drowns in its own arrogance, my chosen will rise.

~

The Birth of the Hollow Girl

On a windswept coast beneath a storm that refused to die, a newborn fae took her first breath.

The priests lowered her into the temple pool, and the waters glowed. Then they stilled. No beast appeared. No light. No song. Nothing.

The Bondwardens exchanged glances. One whispered, “Hollow.”

Her parents wept. The priests turned away. And the sea began to whisper her name.

Aeloria Tideborn.

The girl the world called just another hollow.

And far beneath the waves, a Leviathan opened its eyes for the first time in a thousand years.