War is a brutal affair. Death. So many other facets that inspire horror in man, but that alone is frequently enough. How many are the people and the things, the cultures, crushed beneath uncaring death in war? Yet War is also a romantic affair it seems, with glory and victory praised, tales of heroism told round every hearth.

What if the war didn't need Death? What if the warriors of this battle were so far beyond mortal ken, that death could not touch them. What if their skills surpassed the need for the numbers of armies, or the stone walls of cities, allowing the battles to happen far from the fragile things of mortals? Such are the skills of the Practitioners, wielders of Arete, Ki, and Mana. Their battles are wondrous and organized, honorable, and fair. The people may look on with wonder and amazement as dragons of water or one man made ten clash in the sky, without covering children's eyes or fleeing in terror. 

Three houses fight with each other, not for dominance, but to prove their values are the truest road to enlightenment. The Thousandfold Golden Paths, masters of Arete, seek enlightenment through the pursuit of the most esoteric secrets of the universe that defy all logic. The Coiling Dragon Betwixt Heaven and Earth, masters of Ki, seek enlightenment through finding their place in the cycle of life to become one with all. The Omnimental Circle, masters of Mana, seek enlightenment through codifying complex laws of physics made simple and malleable. These three fight to prove the strength of their ideals. And in the ruins of the Precursors, they seek their destines. But all this without malice.  Without death. Truly, it is an Enlightened War.

If one doesn't look very hard, that is.