THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS.
One of the more important backstory elements in Chasing Fae is how the Upper Realm of the Fae and the Middle Realm of the mortals interact with one another. There is a lot of history of conflict between the two races that has led them to the tumultuous and uneasy state that exist as the book begins. I touch on this history briefly throughout the book, particularly towards the beginning when the reader is introduced to Lisden for the first time. Today, I want to share a little more of that story in depth with you.
The world was born of demons who formed the framework of the Lower Realm. Demons were the most powerful of the races, but their magic was uncontrollable. As time went on, a small faction of the demon race developed more control and more finesse over their powers. Those people would be the first Fae. After thousands of years, the Fae grew tired of the persecution and endless death that followed them wherever they went. A Fae elder, Master Annacht, designed a spell that would shatter the Lower Realm into two. Using his lifeforce, he managed to generate enough power to form what is now the Upper Realm and the Lower Realm.
In the formative years of the Upper Realm, however, a group of the next generation of Fae were born without magic. Originally it was believed that this affliction was some sort of curse enacted by the demon race as a punishment for fleeing the Lower Realm. At first, the problem was mostly ignored as there were so few Fae children with missing magic. But as those children became of age, they began mixing with Fae society. Suddenly, there was a whole race of half-Fae running around, and that was something that the general population just could not abide. A group of powerful mages intent on preserving magic gathered their powers and split off a smaller portion of the Upper Realm. The Fae without magic, now referred to as mortals, were sent to this Middle Realm to form their own society. The half-Fae were banished to the Lower Realm in hopes that they would die out.
It didn’t take long for the Fae to realize that the pieces of their realm that they had given to the mortals contained important resources that they had not considered in their haste to get rid of them, such as the salt mines and extremely fertile farmland. The noble family in power at the time set the precedent for hundreds of years to come by sending Fae officials to monitor the budding mortal society. Eventually, those observing officials would integrate directly into the mortal government as liaisons and diplomats to the Upper Realm. In the modern era, a handful of mortals were handpicked and paid off to report directly to the Fae on any budding legislation or economic developments. This would allow the Upper Realm to form trade deals with the Middle Realm that were heavily skewed for their benefit.
All of this history brings us to this moment. The Middle Realm has been ravaged and drained dry by the Fae. The people are hovering on the end of poverty, struggling to make a living and in some cases, to stay alive. The Fae have suppressed the people for so long that many have given up on seeing brighter days.
And that, my friends, is where Chasing Fae begins….
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