THE SPECULATIVE SKY KINGDOM TIMELINE
Disclaimer: everything you see here are theories and speculations written before Two Embers aired and TGC lore livestream happened and are STC any time
Long time ago in a far away galaxy
First species descended from stars and started civilization on the planet. Hard to say who they were and how they looked like but there is slight possibility those were rythulians (Journey) simply because of many similarities - both include big stormy weather sacred mountain with beam of light visible from everywhere as final destination, both rythulians and ancestors/skids are cape and mask wearing individuals communicating through chirping and honking, both have nearly identical if not fully identical architecture. The whole Journey could happen in the mysterious western desert from the 2019 Taipei Game Developers Forum map. Maybe that was TGC's initial thought too. We can already see future “DLC” maps titled Secret, for example the island on south being Aviary village.
An unknown amount of time later…
Rythulian civilization starts slowly dying with very few survivors in the form of small Travelers (Wayfarers) and tall white cloaked figures (Rythulian Elders/Ancestors) remaining. Some Wayfarers figured out how to acquire white robes and “ascend” just like their elders.
Eventually this species had to adapt to the new environment without cloth creatures. They yearned for the sacred mountain and through continuous cycles of journeying, the species eventually evolved into what we know as ancestors similarly to how light creatures evolve to bigger and more complex forms with each rebirth. They started to worship the mountain and the mysterious light coming out of it. Those people also built what they call “Kingdom in the skies”. It could be an early version of the Eden castle or it could even be a spaceship of some sorts.
“The stars were once united and our light was infinite.
The first of us descended to build a Kingdom in the clouds.
But we took our light for granted... and in shadow, we withered away.
A long time has passed. Now, you bring us hope.
Go forth child. Return your light to our fallen stars.”
Somewhere sooner than 500 years before present
New civilization started to settle in and The Light from sacred mountain gave the ancestors new creatures, made out of pure light, to be their companions and make the world more alive again. The Light also gave those people leader figures in the form of Elders. They were no ordinary Ancestors but more like proto-sky kids. Both come from the same origin, the Megabird, but are not directly related to each other. Each Elder got their own corner in the land of Sky kingdom and their followers. The oldest ancestors seemed to be very religious and close with nature, using only butterflies to supply them with light sources and letting prophecies to shape their future.
One day they received a prophecy about Chosen One, a savior, and started sending children to conquer elemental trials to find which one of them is the rumored saint. After Megabird (The Light) knows how many attempts, one of the orphaned kids, Alef / Dawn ember, succeeds and is recognized as the Chosen One.
He gave each of the Elders, except Isle and Vault elders, one element / colored light that he obtained in those trials. Daylight prairie gets yellow light, hidden forest gets green light, valley of triumph gets teal light and golden wasteland gets red light.
Somewhere between this point of time and a few years later, the season of sanctuary happens, based on the architecture there. Season of passage probably happens around this time as well, considering strong animal and nature motives in the spirit masks and clothes.
Wind paths likely exist already too.
Few years later
Alef (Eden prince) and Teth (Forest elder) discover a huge amount of mysterious stones in caverns of Hidden forest realm, later finding out it can be used to store light and is much more compact than huge jars with butterflies. They begin to mine those stones and turn the forest temple and its surroundings into an industrial area.
The whole kingdom experiences a big technological boom in upcoming years. The future Golden Wasteland part of Golden Valley gets transformed into huge factories simply for having better terrain than forest and being closer to Eden. Together with bigger power source demand the light from butterflies quickly becomes insufficient so the ancestors start to hunt and harvest light from other light creatures, mostly mantas, while slower but more powerful manatees are enslaved to serve as transportation animals for people and supplies in low income communities and rural areas.
The season of dreams and season of performance likely happens around this time. At the same time, season of assembly happens as well, a group of young spirits from Hidden forest whose parents are working in the mines. Season of moments might happen around here too. Prairie peaks were just too far or maybe protected by Ayin (Prairie elder) to mine the darkstones that can be found there, especially the rich ore vein in the cave.
Couple of years before the Shattering
The Chosen One is crowned from Prince to King in the Golden Valley Coliseum and turns the entire sacred mountain hollow to build the Vault of Knowledge inside it and the city of Eden on the surface. To supply the newly built facilities, Alef, now named Resh, creates a huge darkstone crystal and stores it safely in the heart of the city of Eden. This diamond is accepted positively by people of Eden but not by the entire Kingdom.
Few riots start to happen in realms beyond Golden Valley and the King becomes a little worried about security, hiding himself in the floating castle above the city. The Isle of Dawn realm cuts ties with King completely. Researchers in the Treasure reef light processing facility start to experiment with accelerated growth of light creatures. Possibly even artificially creating some as concept arts of season of abyss and similar things in in game murals seem to be portraying the facility as “manta hatchery”, showing round, egg-like, objects hooked up on light extracting tubes leading to darkstones. If not mantas, they were certainly trying to create something for sure. On different concept murals we see those eggs hatching, releasing dark creatures, probably the small worms we can see during days of nature. Things go wrong and those creatures escape with aid of Leviathan, possibly being the result of experiments on elder manta or elder eel we see on one of murals as well, flooding the entire facility and leaving huge claw marks on one of the watchtowers.
“Ascending towards darkness
A distorted reflection
The hunter relentless to sate"
Somewhere around this time a child, whose destiny is to save the world and restore the Light, is born, losing their only parent to darkstone disease in their young years. This child becomes known as Dusk Ember.
Judging by the background and the shelter in the shot we see them together, it is the same tent Dusk ember lives in until shattering. The grass was still green at that time instead of dust and trash everywhere, pointing at gradual decrease of the land in the upcoming years.
“A friend worth saving. A ruler worth stopping.”
Five to ten years before Shattering
More and more civilians become corrupted by darkstone disease and the whole industry is slowly but surely falling apart. People stand long lines for hours to get some sort of treatment for their illnesses. Riots happen more and more often. Buildings get abandoned or destroyed for various reasons. Pipes leading to Vault of Knowledge and the diamond begin to crack with light seeping through.
The now flooded and abandoned facility and darkstone mine in Treasure reef is raided by Abyss squad armed with harpoons, searching for any darkstones and other resources left. The Lightseekers group probably formed around this time if not sooner. Grandma's belonging table with protection symbol on it and Aviary village also likely already exist. Season of Belonging and Season of Blue bird happens.
“The wounds of the past are never far from sight.
The light around us is in constant motion. Who could not see it? Who could not feel the joy of its movement?
Once, we guided the migrating flocks. Once, behemoths flew alongside us in peace. And then we took the light from the wind. The behemoths that remained were only the monuments to ourselves. Our cities shone with a captive glow. We were enraptured as we taught our machines to bind and hoard.
The world of the present can be healed, but our past cannot be undone. Jagged remnants lie in our wake, and even for the mountain it is too much to hold.”
One year before Shattering
Dusk Ember, now in preteen years, lives in a shelter in a low income market area of Golden Valley, scavenging parts of old machines and making various gizmos and gadgets out of them to sell. One day they encounter an enslaved flock of manatees, one of them being a tiny sickly baby who they rescue and adopt in an attempt to save and heal it. They bring it to crab fields where an old man, their friend, lives. During this year, Dusk Ember learns how to harness the Light and heal not only their manatee but also other creatures and people.
Their manatee gets visibly bigger and more round and buoyant, showing some time already passed. It gets a prosthetic fin to fix its disease deformed one and the dark stones are nowhere to be seen on its body, assuming Dusk ember was successful in healing it.
Forgotten ark and the other boats crashed nearby may have gotten lost around this time. Based on the fact the merchants on the boats were carrying memory lanterns and the murals seem to show Lamed’s acolytes, they were heading either to or from Vault of Knowledge with colored light, likely collected from Lightseekers, but considering the situation in Eden at that time, no one had time or resources to go look for them. Few survivors of the crash learn how to live in this desolate land, using colored light they carry to make the land more habitable. They attempt to clear the polluted water with blue light, collect mushrooms growing nearby (Playfighting Herbalist memory) and even try to grow their own food (Scarecrow Farmer memory). Based on this and the fact we see a box of what looks like potatoes in the Two Embers trailer, we can assume ancestors indeed needed water and food to survive.
The Shattering
The King powers up the diamond more and more every day and the darkness begins to approach closer and closer. One day he attempts to power it much more than before, making its surroundings go blackout, sending a big light consuming shockwave through the entire Golden Valley and rest of the Kingdom. Wind paths are hit by the shockwave too and shut down to prevent darkness spreading even more.
Dusk Ember is forced to flee but gets caught by guards, split away from their manatee friend, and sent to Vault of Knowledge where Lamed (Vault elder) makes them watch their own past, realising they were watched the entire time. The manatee gets caught by guards as well and is put under light extracting machine together with other manatees but the old man knocks down the machine and creates an opening for Dusk ember to escape. Dusk ember manages to escape far away from Golden Valley, unknown if with the old man and manatee or not, and finds refuge in Aviary village.
Shattering happens after Elders fail to stop it and all of them get sent into the Void. One of the shards lands in Aviary concert hall, quickly seeping all the light from its surroundings, turning everyone into husks. Dusk ember manages to escape to grab a candle in an attempt to free others but even they get caught in a rapidly approaching light consuming shockwave from shattering, turning into a husk and leaving a candle nearby. Them and Dawn ember meet in the Void.
“Bare at the precipice
Unseen fractures crumble in the chasm
The stars under fathomless weight
Reaching to light and to dark
Carrying memory of all that was held
In the final moment of shattering”
500 years after the Shattering
Megabird sees the world habitable again and sends not only light creatures to inhabit the land but also new species of humanoids made entirely out of light, to serve as saviors and cleansing forces against the darkness. One of the kids lands in front of Aviary village gates, finding a humanoid like stone husk. They also find a candle nearby, lighting it with their own flame core and releasing the soul trapped in stone.
This soul, belonging to the Dusk ember, guides them around, restoring the village to its former glory. After meeting various spirits in other realms and meeting Elders trapped in the void, freeing both, the child gets sent to the holy mountain of Eden to help both the spirits and Elders reach the Orbit. While Elders, being also creatures of light, decide to stay with the Megabird on Orbit instead of being reborn, spirits become ascended and are free to revisit the Kingdom as much as they please.
“In a forgotten corner of the kingdom stand the ruins of Aviary Village, a town that once flourished. Now, the time has come to bring it back to life! Join the Season of Revival to rebuild a new area steeped in Sky’s history, and transform it into a thriving town center once again for Spirits and Sky children alike.”
