The Dark Age of the Academy describes a period of time between 1989-98, that began after the murder of the then-Guardian Julianna Belgrobe, at the hand of her fellow Guardian, Giovanni Rossacino.
During this time, the Academy fell into shambles, as Giovanni continued his killing spree, murdering his fellow Guardians one-by-one in a quest for power in order to become what he stated as the "only true High Guardian."
History[]
The Missing Case of Julianna Belgrobe and Kaylen Moore[]
On January 4th, 1989, Julianna Belgrobe was reported missing by her fellow Guardian Kaylen Moore. Though the other Guardians could feel her power, they could not communicate nor locate her, and a search party was set up in order to find her. After a week, the entire Academy was filled with rumours of foul play and paranoia. No Guardian had ever before become missing, let alone undiscoverable (as the connection between Guardians allowed each to psychically contact their fellow Guardians).
As time continued and Julianna remained missing, both Kaylen and Jerome (another Guardian at the time) theorised that if they could still feel Julianna's presence but could not contact her, that she was indeed alive, but neutralised instead. However, it was common knowledge that a Guardian could only be neutralised by another Guardian, and so each Guardian quickly became distrustful of one another. It was not until Kaylen began his search for Julianna that a week later, he himself went missing, on February 12th, 1989.
The Discovery[]
Soon after Kaylen went missing as well, the Academy quickly demanded a state of emergency. Though the remaining Guardians attempted to keep the rest of the Academy intact, many Academians refused to trust their leaders, seeing as it could only be a Guardian that could neutralise another.
Having no other alternative, Jerome and Valentina (lovers at the time) sought to follow Kaylen's trail, suspecting that he had found Julianna but had paid the price in doing so. Though they were wary of arriving at the same fate, they believed that staying together would outnumber and outmatch a single Guardian. Simultaneously, Giovanni and Vivienne del Mar -- High Guardian at the time -- came across some old notes within Kaylen's chambers, pertaining to corruption runes and the use of demonic rituals infused in light magic to augment those summoned. Examining them closer, they found them not to be of Kaylen's work, but Hamish's instead.
Vivienne quickly demanded an answer from Hamish, who defiantly protested his innocence, claiming they were not of his doing. The argument swiftly turned into a duel between Guardians, with Giovanni and Vivienne on one side, Hamish on the other. The vast majority of the Academy was destroyed in the duel, threatening to rend apart the pocket dimension in which the Academy existed.
The Duel's Aftermath[]
With Kaylen's trail completely cold, Jerome and Valentina returned to the Academy to find grand halls in ruins. Though Hamish and Vivienne were nowhere to be found, they found an unconscious Giovanni nearby, barely alive with shallow breaths and in a deep sweat. Resuscitating him, Giovanni informed them that Hamish was the true culprit, having evidence of his work on corruption and unraveling magic on a cosmic scale, in an attempt to funnel the other Guardians' energies through himself and gain ultimate power. He claimed that he had been quickly shot with a blast of astral energy during the duel, knocking him out cold, and was unaware of where the other two Guardians had gone.
Still feeling the power of his fellow Guardians, Jerome believed Vivienne and Hamish to have destroyed each other in the duel, neutralising one another. Valentina however, believed otherwise, exclaiming that if they had neutralised each other, Hamish would have lost the additional power from drawing on his fellow Guardians. Sensing that power still present, she quickly lashed out at Giovanni; believing that he was the true culprit, and had planted framing "evidence" in Kaylen's chambers against Hamish. Without substancial proof however, Jerome rebutted her, arguing that Giovanni was simply caught in the duel unawares.
The Rise of Rossacino[]
Sensing that the situation was soon to become out of hand, Giovanni instantly lashed out, beheading Jerome in one swift motion. Distraught but quick to react, Vivienne defended herself against Giovanni, who now unleashed his full fury upon her. Though she invested all the strength she could muster, Giovanni had funneled the power of the other Guardians into himself, and she was no match for the corrupt Guardian. With her defeat and subsequent neutralisation, the supernatural world entered into a period of darkness, with Giovanni proclaiming himself "High Guardian" and ultimate dictator of the Academy, and the planet. To protect his newfound power, he hid the bodies of the neutralised Guardians across the globe, in the hopes that they would not be found for the time he remained alive, granting him a lifetime of pure unadulterated power. From April 16th, 1989, Giovanni's atrocities continued as he sought a way to separate his cosmic side from his humanity, which he believed weak and frail, ensuing months upon months of using his newfound power to claw his humanity away.
The Revolution[]
Under Giovanni Rossacino, the supernatural world fell into disrepair and chaos, and the Academy became an order of destruction, with Giovanni seeking to gain complete control over the entire planet, as he believed to be the right of the Guardians. As the Academy was so heavily invested in many of the supernatural species upon earth, disarray and madness ensued. The treaty between vampires and werewolves was made useless, the Academy's protection of the Moroï ceased and the regulations upon the supernatural world fell through altogether.
To bring the world back into order, a band of rebels came together (led by Arren Seymour, a Sentinel himself) seeking to fight back against Giovanni. As more of the discontented gathered together under Seymour's banner, the band of rebels grew into an all-out revolution that continued to battle Giovanni's forces, containing members of all species, even humans. While fighting Giovanni's power, they knew his ultimate defeat would come through severing his connection with his fellow Guardians. If they were able to find the bodies of the neutralised Guardians and kill them, Giovanni would no longer be able to channel power through them, and be restricted to sole use of his own power.
The Final Steps[]
Over the next few years, from 1989 to 1998, the revolutionaries (calling themselves the "Liberators") made it their priority to seek out the bodies of the six neutralised Guardians. Though they could only be slain by a human, killing a neutralised Guardian would trigger the Reincarnation cycle, and breaking the channeling bond each subdued Guardian had to Giovanni.
Julianna Belgrobe[]
Julianna was the first to be found and slain on September 9th, 1993. Her body was found by a Scout, buried in limestone in a cave off the coast of Galicia.
- She was reincarnated as Savannah Alyce Gardiner
Kaylen Moore[]
Kaylen was found and slain soon after Julianna, on the 15th of December, 1993. His body was found buried within the Camarinal Sill of the Strait of Gibraltar, purely by serendipity when a nearby Moroï sensed his power.
- He was reincarnated as Alexandra Rosaline Marie Martinez
Vivienne del Mar[]
Vivienne was found and slain on March 5th, 1994. Her body was found encased within a tree, growing in a broadleaf forest in southern Japan.
- She was reincarnated as Samuel Henry Calvin McKannis
Jerome LaBoivre[]
Jerome was found wrapped in train rails in an abandoned train shaft underneath Singapore, on August 2nd, 1996. Though he was found that day, he was not slain until August 12th, 1996 alongside Hamish Vaughn, as his body could not be accessed unless both bodies were slain simultaneously, spreading Giovanni's forces thin who were attempting to repossess both bodies for direct safekeeping under Giovanni's watch.
- He was reincarnated as Liana Catherina Elena Volkanstinova
Hamish Vaughn[]
Hamish was found on the 12th of August, 1996, on the same day as Jerome LaBoivre. His body was found unceremoniously dumped in a garbage heap two hours out of Vancouver, Canada.
- He was reincarnated as Liam Alexei Illarion Volkanstinov
Valentina Feng[]
At this point, Giovanni had taken repossession of Valentina's body. On the 28th of October, 1997, the body was found floating on the Loboc River in the Philippines, magically smuggled out from under Giovanni's watch by one of his own men.
- She was reincarnated as Damon Trent Brenlithe
Giovanni Rossacino[]
No longer able to channel the power of his fellow Guardians, the Liberators charged forward. Though many casualties occurred, and the siege of his domain lasted for near 4 months, Giovanni was eventually slain by Arren Seymour's right hand: Jonathan Drovanin, on the 9th of June, 1998.
- He was reincarnated as Augustine Spencer Lee
The Aftermath[]
With the death of Giovanni Rossacino, Arren Seymour took up leadership of the Academy, acting as its regent for the organisation until the time the next Guardian finally manifested. Seymour's greatest effort was poured into rebuilding the Academy with what limited resources he had, and attempting to reattain the reputation that the Academy had lost.
With Savannah's manifestation in 2007, she took up leadership of the Academy, and with her newfound power, swiftly set reforms into the Academy. As her first decisive act, she separated the supernatural world completely from the rest of the planet, enforcing rules and regulations to enact this barrier between the "normal" and supernatural. As part of this separation, she wiped the planet's memory of the supernatural world, leaving only the nations' leaders and few others aware of its existence. Under her rule as High Guardian, Savannah quickly brought the Academy back into the respect of nations worldwide, and of all supernatural creatures. Though some feared that as the sole Guardian yet manifested, Savannah would become a dictator much like Giovanni, fears were put to rest when Alexandra manifested not two weeks after Savannah.
Ever since, the Academy has undergone complete reformation and restructuring under Savannah, who since her manifestation, has worked tirelessly to reconstruct the Academy and its integrity. After the final awaited manifestation of Augustine, all seven Guardians were again in power, and the Academy left its age of corruption, and entering into a new period of prosperity, with more and more Descendants joining the Academy by the day.
Though the Academy has regained its position as a strong force of peacekeeping and protection, while many have forgiven the Guardians for the crimes committed by past lives, many have not yet forgotten the struggle the supernatural world had had to face under the cruel yet brief reign of Giovanni Rossacino.