Chapter Text
SECTION: History of Atossa and the Outside
AUTHOR: Edward Elric
DATE: X/X/1921
SUMMARY: An overview of how the “Outside” regards Atossa, with discussion of what led to the separation of Atossa and how it connects to “Quirks.”
The Continent of Atossa - art by @quasar-crew (aka me!)
The Outside's understanding of Atossa is fairly limited and there has been next to no engagement between governments over the past several centuries. Even prior to 1600 XE and the emergence of Quirks, official communication was at a bare minimum since the two sides of the border isolated themselves.
The following is an excerpt from the Outside that discusses Atossa:
Colloquially known as “the Hidden Continent,” Atossa is a landmass in the northern hemisphere. It stretches from the Mediterranean to the Ural Mountains, which serve as natural barriers to the region. Much of our knowledge of Atossa is limited to hearsay, ancient stories, and a handful of accounts written centuries ago before Atossa isolated itself from the rest of the world. From these records, we can put together that Atossa contains a diverse array of biomes and climates, from the mountains and glaciers of the north to the great desert in the center of the continent.
[...]
One of the most notable characteristics of Atossa, and part of what has defined its borders, is that Quirks did not develop within the bounds of Atossa and modern technology cannot function inside its borders. Furthermore, those who attempt to cross the border find themselves plagued by illness. The “Border Sickness” or “Atossan Sickness” as it's sometimes known, with symptoms including nausea, anxiety, headaches, and fatigue, becomes apparent in the vicinity of the continent's borders. The deeper one attempts to push into the continent, the stronger symptoms become, enough to render victims bedridden. This, paired with the isolation, has given Atossa a reputation similar to that of the Bermuda Triangle in the popular consciousness.
– Excerpt from Ecceleston’s “Hidden: How Atossa Became a Global Myth”
The Outside doesn’t know much about the countries or politics within Atossa, however they still have information that is typically recent as of the past couple decades. For instance, they did not know that Roy Mustang was Fuhrer, but were aware Claudio Rico is the current Prince of Aerugo, and he was crowned about 15 years ago. They also knew enough about Amestris to identify Officer Talfon by his uniform. The fact they know anything at all, even if it is a few decades out of date, indicates the presence of unofficial trade and communication channels near the borders. (Much like how we within Atossa know a bare minimum of the Outside, but have maps of the continents and artifacts from the bordering nations.)
Prior to contact with Japan, Outsiders generally knew more about the countries closer to the Atossan border, including elements such as culture and government structure, but the farther in from the border, the less is known. Much of the knowledge of countries and governments seems to have come from texts and verbal anecdotes that made their way to the Outside.
The inner workings of Atossa are relatively unknown. Thanks to maps that have come from the continent we know the names of most of their countries and their approximate borders. From these, we can get a hint to the relationships between these countries and their respective cultures.
Xiang and Drakama seem to be among the largest nation-states within Atossa. Little is known about Drakama, other than it being located in the northern part of Atossa. Xiang is located in the far east of Atossa and is separated from eastern Asia by the Ural Mountains. Records from Xiang have revealed it has an ideographic language, which seems to share a common ancestor with the Sinitic language family. Translation of these records has indicated that in the past, and perhaps even today, Xiang had a monarchy and a number of noble families.
Continuing westward there is a large desert which splits Xiang from the rest of Atossa. Texts indicate that languages east of the desert have similarities to English and French, suggesting a shared root language. Bordering the desert, near the center of the continent is a country named Amestrix, which the most recent records indicate seems to be engaged in frequent warfare with surrounding nations. Comparison with older texts suggest this is not an infrequent occurrence.
Other central-continent nations include Creta, a decentralized unitary state, and Aerugo, a nation along the Mediterranean coast and for which we know quite a bit about (relatively speaking), thanks to its proximity to the outer borders and sailors that crisscross the Mediterranean Sea.
– From Kharkov’s “Into the Unknown: A Reconstruction of Atossan History”
Outside authors also describe what they call “satellite states,” the countries that reside along Atossa’s land border. These land borders do not see as much trade as along the southern sea, but the western border in particular is still a route for human migration and trade goods, despite what countries on both sides of the borders claim. These satellite states also experience impacts to technology and Quirk demographics due to being so close to the Atossan border.
Atossa is bordered by a number of “satellite states,” with France and Russia holding the main land borders. These countries, despite their proximity to Atossa, have rarely interacted in any official capacity. However, it’s generally recognized that the border with France, particularly the non-mountainous northeast portion, is the largest avenue for human migration into or out of Atossa. (Though such migration is still quite low, discouraged by the “Border Sickness.”) The countries closest to Atossa, particularly France and England, have a much larger Quirkless population than the rest of the world, as high as 80%. It’s presumed this is due to these countries' proximity to the Quirk deadzone of Atossa proper.
Furthermore, while not entirely surprising, Atossa and the Outside have different dating systems. Atossa currently lists the year as 1921 XE, while the rest of the world uses a system that lists the date as over a century later. It’s unknown why or when our dating systems diverged, but it is worth noting since it can make communication across the borders even more challenging.
The Schism:
It's well known that a schism developed between Atossa and the Outside beginning centuries ago, though the cause of this schism has been long debated. While there has never been complete isolation, the schism is so extreme and so mutually-agreed-upon that it is generally agreed that it couldn’t have happened without some kind of driving force, though what exactly that is has baffled people for years.
Even prior to the emergence of Quirks, Atossa was fairly isolated. There was some immigration and emigration, but most of it was done by people already living in border regions. Outsiders near the border states were known to ostracize Atossans, viewing them as “cursed.” Atossan attitudes were slightly better towards Outsiders, but the name itself – “Outsiders” – succinctly states the Atossan position on the matter. However, after the emergence of Quirks approximately two centuries ago, Atossa shut its borders almost completely. Any Outsiders with visible deviations from the assumed norm tended to be shot on sight, and even following the acceptance of Quirks on the Outside as they became majority, Atossans regarded Outsiders with suspicion.
There’s no exact date as to when Atossa and the Outside began to drift apart, but within Atossa, it’s been theorized that the destruction of Xerxes is tied to the schism. It wasn’t long after the Xerxes cataclysm that migration between Atossa and the Outside started to decline. Some historians argued it was due to the Outside fearing the stories of Xerxes’ destruction and staying away out of superstition. However, most agree that superstition can’t explain the magnitude of aversion and the consistent, physical impacts that Outsiders refer to as “Border Sickness.”
Various historians have attempted to ascribe the schism and border sickness to everything from volcanic eruptions to plague to evolution. Yet, while theories can explain portions of the schism and its history, none of these can explain it all.
One recent theory that holds weight is that the “Border Sickness” is due to the differences in the electromagnetic field between Atossa and the Outside. Within Atossa there are small, chaotic magnetic fields that disrupt Outside technology, and have necessitated designs in Atossa that enable electric current to flow consistently. It’s possible these small, shifting magnetic fields could interfere with the electrical signals in the human body, perhaps to the extent to which to cause the infamous “Border Sickness.”
Yet, even the electromagnetic field theory has its pitfalls. Atossans can leave the continent with only a fraction of the ill effects suffered by Outsiders coming into Atossa. If this theory were true, we’d expect Atossans and Outsiders to be equally impacted. Furthermore, experimentation with Quirk users capable of neutralizing electromagnetic fields reveals that even when the chaotic magnetic fields are removed, those with Quirks still find themselves ill at the border. And lastly, it was observed that Outsiders with Quirks were more heavily impacted by the “Border Sickness” than those without Quirks, which suggests the underlying cause to be linked to Quirks themselves.
In all, the separation of Atossa and the Outside has been rife with speculation and suspicion. I want to propose that the Schism did indeed result from the destruction of Xerxes. To explain it, I’ll need to draw on the little known history of what, exactly, caused Xerxes’ destruction.
There are dozens of oral and written histories accounting Xerxes’ destruction. While the details shift, the core generally remains the same: a calamity strikes down an entire city-state in a single night. The tale of Xerxes has even reached beyond Atossa into the Outside, though the names used differ.[1] The cause of Xerxes’ downfall is typically ascribed to divine retribution for the some sin on the part of Xerxes, since there was little else to explain how everything dropped dead overnight nor how it remained undecayed for so long. These stories, aside from a handful of fragmentary accounts from merchants, are our main source for understanding what happened in Xerxes.[2]
However, through a series of classified events, we have come to understand that Xerxes destruction was due to the actions of a handful of people, who sacrificed the entire nation in pursuit of power, and to do it, they transmuted the souls of the city. Over a million people died in a single day. It was the single most deadly, bloodless event in human history. And for almost everyone it came out of nowhere .
There is no doubt that the devastation of Xerxes resulted in terror, panic, and reasonable superstition in the face of such an unknown and powerful threat. All are factors which would have increased the isolation between Atossa and the Outside, as everyone sought to distance themselves from Xerxes and watched their neighbors with a wary eye, wondering if they would be next. However, even still, it is not enough to explain the Schism.
It’s well attested[3] that after a human transmutation, there will be a “bad taste” in the air that will hang around for weeks afterward. This is not just because human transmutation often has a gorey aftermath, but is suspected to be due to the Gate itself. Unlike a typical transmutation, which opens and closes the Gate with little evidence save the actual transmuted object itself, a human transmutation is a violation of the Laws. In a human transmutation, the Eye of Truth looks upon and exacts Judgement. Even if the alchemist escapes with their life intact, the Eye’s gaze permeates the surrounding area.
If this is the case for a soul transmutation on a single human, then what would be the consequence for a transmutation a million times larger? Perhaps, the isolation of Atossa.
A transmutation on the scale of Xerxes could very well have affected the entire continent of Atossa. Exposure to a site after a soul transmutation does not typically result in the kind of severe degree of unsettlement or nausea that Outsiders experience in Atossa (exempting any instances of gore or mutilation due to transmutation). However, soul transmutation on so large a scale is bound to have more severe consequences.
The question now becomes: why aren’t those within the bounds of Atossa affected? Well, just as those exposed to a strong smell for extended periods can become accustomed to the stench, the case may be similar for Atossa. Atossans have born, lived and died under the lingering effects of the Eye’s Judgment, so we do not notice the metaphysical “stench.” Furthermore, as the record of immigrants attests to, Outsiders can survive within Atossa despite being unused to the “smell,” though it can take years until they are able to function “normally”, if they are ever able to at all.
This does not entirely explain the presence of the small chaotic magnetic fields that disrupt Outside electronics, but the Gate and its Judgement are not easily understood. It’s quite possible that the Gate’s Judgement affects the elementary particles of the material realm in some way. One theory is that just like how alchemy can reshape arrangements of protons and electrons, shifting the forces within atoms themselves, things exposed to Judgement vibrate at some fundamentally altered wavelength.[4]