Cray i

Cray i (クレイ Kurei Ai), also known as the alternate Cray, is the alternate timeline of Planet Cray featured in Blitzer's works.

The demiurge and Hazur's creation of the alternate Cray
When people ask who created Cray, some say Messiah. Some say Minerva. Some answer with other original spirits that were present during Cray's creation. While all of these are correct, they belie the true entity responsible for coordinating the original spirits to create Cray, a being known only as the "demiurge." (No, not that Demiurge.)

The demiurge created Cray primarily for its own purposes ; the simple joy of creating and the desire to bring new lives into the universe were way down the list. For these purposes, the demiurge required conflict. Thus, soon after Cray's creation, the demiurge removed the ability of Cray's inhabitants to speak the language of the original spirits, hindering their ability to communicate and understand each other. The denizens of Cray began fighting amongst each other and separated themselves into various factions, creating the nations and clans of Cray.

One of the original spirits was a dragon named Hazur. From the very beginning, Hazur felt that there was something wrong with the nature of creation, although he wasn't yet sure what. He spent some time hanging out with some of the original spirits, including Messiah, Gyze, and others, following them and learning their professions. In the end, however, he felt that none of them were what he was looking for in life, and he was still no closer to finding that flaw in reality than he was before.

Dissatisfied with Cray, but not wanting to abandon it, Hazur kept picking at the fabric of reality and eventually discovered strands of creatia leading away from Cray. He followed them and reached a different planet, one nothing like the homeworlds of the travelers of Star Gate. He saw that it was inhabited by humans, and seemingly no other sapient races, and that they played a game that depicted people and historical figures from Cray: "Cardfight!! Vanguard." He saw pulses travel from and to Earth, and as they played the game, a corresponding event would happen on Cray. As he gazed at Earth, he felt an incredibly powerful presence gazing back at him, its power tugging at the seams of Hazur's body and soul. Hazur immediately hightailed it out of there.

Hazur noticed that the presence seemed incredibly familiar, as if he and everything he knew was part of it. He realized that he had come face-to-face with the demiurge, the unknowable god who created Cray. When he returned to Cray, he began to see the demiurge's influence in everything that existed on Cray.

Meanwhile, Gyze also got curious about Earth and visited it. Gyze was also confronted by the demiurge's power, but before Gyze could escape, the demiurge froze Gyze in place. Desiring to create a villain for its stories, the demiurge warped Gyze's mind, body, and soul, and Gyze became unhinged. When Gyze returned to Cray, Gyze heard the inherent evil of Cray that the demiurge built into it, and they heard its screams. Gyze heard screams of hate, greed, pride, despair, sadism, all the world's evils, and they realized that the evils of Cray were not an accident, a test, or sabotage from an outside party: they were the purpose of Cray's existence.

Gyze's mind broke, and they came to believe that the world was too horribly flawed to allow to continue to exist. The only thing that could be done, Gyze thought, was to destroy Earth and Cray and remake it anew. The inhabitants of the destroyed Cray would be sent to peaceful oblivion, not having to suffer anymore, while Gyze could hopefully make a new world free of the demiurge. Thus Gyze and their Apostles declared war on the entire world, beginning the Cataclysm.

Hazur was horrified that his fellow god fell to madness, and fought on Messiah's side during the Cataclysm. Hazur eventually confronted Gyze himself during the final battle, and Gyze attempted to show him the truth of Cray. Gyze tried to convince Hazur that the world wasn't worth fighting for, and showed him all the world's evils brought about by the demiurge. Before Messiah delivered the final blow to Gyze, Hazur told Gyze that he understood Gyze's viewpoint, but he rejected it entirely. Hazur declared that there was beauty and goodness to be found in the world, even in a world made flawed by the demiurge, and if he had to confront the entire world's flaws to preserve it, then so be it.

After Gyze's defeat, Hazur finally completely understood the demiurge's nature. Hazur came to believe that while the demiurge did much good in creating Cray, the world was tainted by their selfish purposes. Furthermore, Messiah would not take Hazur's warnings seriously, as they were too proud of the world they created and too certain of its goodness to see the flaws in it. Thus, with the help of a Gear Chronicle agent named "Kairos Wing Dragon", Hazur created a copy of Cray in an alternate timeline that he could use as a personal testing ground to find and remove the flaws of Cray. As the world existed in an imaginary plane hidden from the demiurge, it become known as timeline i.

Hazur remained active for hundreds of years, teaching the peoples of his newly created Cray about the demiurge and the illusionary reality the demiurge created. Hazur taught that the demiurge, the true creator of Cray, was a selfish god who encouraged war and conflict, and that achieving freedom from this reality required love and peace among the people of the world, as well as constant growth and self-reflection to avoid falling into stagnation. However, having expended his divine power to create the world, Hazur eventually drifted into a deep sleep, and he would not wake for thousands of years.

Due to the unusual circumstances of its creation, as well as the chaotic nature of its creator Hazur, the time-space continuum is mildly unstable in the alternate Cray. Past, present, and future intermingle with each other, allowing individuals from all eras to interact with each other on infrequent occasions. Thus, Stride has existed throughout the alternate Cray's history, and it is considered a natural part of the world.

The history of the nations
The alternate Cray's history differs from the original one. Clans that existed in the original Cray do not exist here, and clans that do not exist in the original Cray were formed here. As Messiah and Gyze do not exist here, the world was not ravaged by the Cataclysm. However, in spite of a nail, some things stayed the same, such as the division of the grand sanctuary into United Sanctuary and Dragon Empire.


 * United Sanctuary: Gold Paladin, Angel Feather, Guardian Force
 * Dragon Empire: Kagero, Murakumo, Ryusei, Jishin
 * Star Gate: Nova Grappler, Link Joker (Suppressor faction), Galactica
 * Dark Zone: Dark Irregulars, Pale Moon, Gear Chronicle (recently), Night Hunter
 * Magallanica: Granblue, Bermuda Triangle, Aqua Force, Deep Thought
 * Zoo: Megacolony, Great Nature, Neo Nectar, Primal Roar

When the United Sanctuary was new, it used to have many groups of shadowy warriors led by Abyss Dragons. Most of them opposed the Sanctuary, and they threatened to tear the nascent nation apart. Thus, a group of Cosmo Dragons, donning steel armor, descended from the Realm of Deities to Cray. Renouncing their divine nature to better understand the mortals they were supposed to protect, they become biological beings able to have children and die. They formed the homeland security organization Guardian Force, which hunted the dark groups down. Many of them could read the writing on the wall and swore allegiance to the Sanctuary, while others fled to Dragon Empire to join Murakumo's ninja clans or Dark Zone to form Night Hunter. However, even though they joined the Sanctuary, the Abyss Dragon race became a minority in the Sanctuary, discriminated against to this day for their dark powers and the sins of their ancestors. In the centuries that followed, the first regular army, the knight's soldiers, was named Gold Paladin, while Guardian Force became the Sanctuary's defense, intelligence, and espionage agency all rolled into one. Guardian Force is an expert on Stride, and were the first to invent the G guardian system, but lag behind on Stride research compared to Murakumo.

The Dragon Empire's armies formed around a general troop and the espionage troop Murakumo. The general troop contains members from all the races of the Empire, including Flame Dragons, Thunder Dragons, and Dinodragons (and can be used in all Dragon Empire decks like Drachma). The largest portion of the general troop is Kagero, the Flame Dragon troop. Murakumo has evolved into a research and intelligence agency, and they are the foremost experts on Stride in the entire world. Flame Dragons tend to be the most privileged citizens of the Empire, with Thunder Dragons at a close second; the rest, while not second-class citizens, are treated more unfairly than the dragons.

Star Gate was uninhabited for a long while, being located in the nearly uninhabitable antarctic, until a group of travelers from the ancient space-faring federation Galactica discovered Cray while traveling the galaxy. Desiring to observe Cray but not interfere with it, they built a colony in Star Gate, bringing the Nova Grapple with them. The Nova Grapple brought in visitors from all over the planet, allowing Galactica to interact with the denizens of Cray.

Dark Zone was mostly ruled by various demonic warlords, known as the Dark Irregulars. However, Night Hunter arrived and carved out a niche for themselves, bringing a modicum of order into the lawless land and executing several warlords. While Night Hunter's founder, Abyss Shatter Dragon, was originally evil and power-hungry, his experiences in Dark Zone made him realize the worthlessness of power in itself, and he declared Night Hunter to be a sanctuary for the innocents caught in the conflicts of Dark Zone. The Dark Irregulars understood Night Hunter to be a threat, but a combination of disunity and Night Hunter's guardedness and elusiveness prevented the demons from defeating Night Hunter. Night Hunter built up a solid power base over thousands of years, but could not exterminate the demons, causing them to be locked in a stalemate.

Magallanica is a republic whose main armed force is Aqua Force. The Aqua Force of this timeline does not have the historical baggage associated with Valeos and Void, and are a lot more relaxed as a result. However, there is a subsection of Aqua Force that distrusts foreigners. Meanwhile, Deep Thought continued to expand their underwater civilization away from the prying eyes of the other clans, worshipping Hazur and remembering his teachings about the demiurge. They disapproved of the surface worlders' unwillingness to escape the demiurge's illusion, but they did not act—yet.

Zoo looks similar to the main timeline's Zoo on the surface, but is in actuality quite different. Neo Nectar is the most prominent power on Zoo, and is generally peaceful, allied with United Sanctuary and Magallanica. Once, however, a rogue faction took over and sought to control the world by manipulating Neo Nectar's food exploits, causing widespread hunger and famine worldwide. The rogue faction was eventually defeated, but they have returned to the shadows, waiting to rise again. While Great Nature remains a peaceful university of animals, it is led in secret by an ancient cabal of beast supremacists known as "Luminus." Luminus is responsible for the lack of non-beasts in Great Nature, but although they believe that animals are superior, they are willing to sacrifice their university's animal students in dangerous experiments for their goals. Megacolony is a disputed country opposed to the rest of Zoo; it is not nearly as united as in the main timeline, even under Gredora's rule. This has turned Megacolony into an authoritarian hellhole where the cult of personality around Gredora is enforced by the state, and where dissenters who wish to make peace with the rest of Zoo are brainwashed into compliance by chips in their brains. Gredora herself appears sane due to her frequent reasonable and shrewd behavior, but she is in truth rather unhinged and selfish, retaining the same madness and obsession with her children that caused the main timeline's Gredora to attempt to destroy the world.

The downfall of the Overlord
Among the history of the alternate Cray, there were few events as influential and wide-reaching as the betrayal of Dragonic Overlord. It had profound effects on the politics, society, and culture of the Dragon Empire.

Centuries before the present time, Dragonic Overlord was the commander of the largest battalion of Kagero and revered as the strongest warrior in the Empire. During that time, Dragonic Overlord single-mindedly pursued power, and as a role model, several generations of the Empire's children looked up to him and followed in his footsteps. However, such was Dragonic Overlord's obsession with power that he began to forsake everything else, including bonds and morality.

In pursuit of a rival that could compete with him, the Overlord pushed into the territories of the other nations, which initially aligned with the expansionist stance of the Empire. However, the Overlord became reckless and power-hungry, and came to believe that the Empire were holding him back from achieving more and more power. This came to a head when Dragonic Overlord murdered the emperor and massacred several of the Empire's generals during a military meeting, beginning a bloody civil war which lasted for years.

Mass chaos erupted in the empire as the Overlord rampaged throughout the territory. Millions died as a direct result of the fighting, and even more died from the mass starvation and deprivation that occurred as a result of the war. Eventually, the Overlord's followers, who only followed him out of fear, slowly abandoned him, even Aermo. The Overlord let them go, disgusted with their "weakness" and believing that he didn't need allies. In his last stand, the Overlord fought against and slaughtered entire armies. However, as he began to use his own life force to gain more power, his body slowly destroyed itself, and he was defeated. The Overlord was captured and sealed away at the bottom of the Empire's underground prison with the most dangerous Seal Dragons. As he repudiated bonds, he became known as "The Alone."

The downfall of Dragonic Overlord tore out the metaphorical heart of the Empire. Their greatest and strongest champion, the embodiment of all their ideals, betrayed them and killed millions of their loved ones. The Empire's citizens were filled with horror and confusion, and they began to seek answers for why the Overlord fell. Many concluded that the Empire's culture was at fault, and they began to study the social flaws of the Empire, including the Empire's aggressive actions against other nations, their obsession with military and martial might over improving society, the favoritism of dragons over non-dragons, the inability of the common man to dictate governmental policy, and so on. The Empire largely attempted to ignore these problems.

In the wake of the Overlord's fall, the Empire chose three champions—a flame dragon, a thunder dragon, and an abyss dragon—to represent the ideals of the Empire in the Overlord's place. These champions became known as the Three Blades of the Empire. While a position of great prestige, the Three Blades were always carefully watched to ensure they would never rebel like the Overlord.