So, on my tumblr recently, I had thoughts about what might've happened in Cephiro immediately after all the shenanigans and goings on of the series, and figured I might as well add it here. Feel free to share your thoughts on it or any of your own theories and headcanons.
QuoteI'm not sure if I've ever made more than a passing reference to this before, but here it is. My headcanon for the immediate aftermath.
Right after the old pillar system is abolished and the new system comes into play, the world of Cephiro is in flux. The castle's still there, but the world around it is reshaping itself according to the will of the people there. Slowly, new permanent geology begin to emerge.
First comes many of the world's old prominent features that the majority of the world recalls. The ocean, the floating mountains, and the volcano, for example. Next, specific areas resembling the collective memories of those who've lived in those places for decades, even centuries, crop up, and people eager to go back to their old peaceful lives hastily seek those places out the moment they understand that's what's happening. Unfortunately, this leads to some casualties, as some perfectly stable land masses can be surrounded by fluid ones, and they quickly learn not to travel to these new places by foot or cart.
Thus, one of the first priorities of the new Cephiro is to map out the new world, to determine which areas have solidified and which areas are still deciding just what they want to be, and to figure out how they can consciously change the process themselves. As time goes on, the more the world settles into a strange mishmash of the old they remember fondly combined with the aspirations and influences of the new.
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Autozam is the first of the other worlds to have a presence on Cephiro. They set up a research station in permanent orbit around the world to constantly collect data, just close enough that the abundance of magic doesn't interfere too much with their technology. It starts out being run entirely by Autozamian scientists and military, but after concerns from the others about the possibility of a takeover if left unchecked, an agreement is reached to allow other world's scientists to join their efforts.
Chizeta is the first to have immigrants settling on Cephiro. It starts with an unauthorized ship chartered by an opportunist who convinced several hundred people to give up their life savings with the hopes of a better life on a new world, which prompted emergency meetings between Cephiran and Chizetan officials to hammer out some semblance of an immigration agreement. The immigrants live in the castle at first, and then find their way out. Some decide to join some nice communities already there, but most band together to settle on a new fixed landmass that's begun to form. It'd be a lie to say the transition was entirely peaceful, as Cephirans as a people are extremely unfamiliar with outside cultures, but some form of understanding is eventually reached. They come up with a perfectly good name for their settlement, but it's still often referred to as 'Chizeta Number Two' in jest.
Fahren has no immediate need for Cephiro's research or land, but they are the first to come to a trade agreement. At a time when Cephiro is trying to devote as much willpower as possible to the land development, it seems prudent to import many goods that would otherwise be created by will, and Fahren is the country best able to provide. It's an investment on their part at first, until the world forms enough of its own natural resources and materials to allow them a true bartering system. Though Fahrenese immigrants are uncommon compared to Chizetan and Autozamian ones, Fahrenese merchants are a very regular presence.
