Float Project

The Float Project was a significant plot in Auldrant's history in Tales of the Abyss.

History
More than 2,000 years prior to the events of the story, Auldrant's major countries engaged in a conflict known as the Float War. During this conflict, recent advancements in fonic technology produced disastrous results, eventually disrupting the machinery that controlled the artificial Planetary Storm within the planet's core. This disruption caused vibrations within the core that led the shifts in Auldrant's crust. When this occurred, a deadly poison known as miasma, which remained hidden up until this point, began to seep from the planet's surface and contribute to a massive death count. Between the war and devastating outbreak of miasma, half of the planet's population died within a month, and the kingdoms of Hod and Keter were completely destroyed.

Due to the advent of Yulia Jue and her dismal predictions of the planet's fate, the remaining kingdoms declared a ceasefire that led to the war's end. She and her followers later devised the Float Project to salvage the remainder of the planet's population. The plan involved elevating the planet's surface into the sky through the use of Sephiroth Trees, which would serve as pillars for the elevated land. As a result of this system, the poisonous miasma would remain confined beneath this newly elevated surface. The majority of countries adopted the plan, but two opponents, the kingdoms of Ispania and Frank, rejected it on the basis of Yulia's political influence in the world. The two countries planned to remove Yulia from this influence by bribing one of her disciples, Francis Daath, who informed them of Yulia's whereabouts.

Ispania and Frank eventually captured and imprisoned Yulia, leading countries that supported her to rise against them. This conflict became known as the Float War, but Ispansia and Frank claimed victory within a year due to their immense power. After the war, Yulia was found guilty of her crimes and sentenced to death by the International Court of Judgment, although Daath rescued her before she could be killed. He later committed suicide out of guilt for betraying Yulia. Upon these events, Ispania and Frank adopted the Float Project and raised their territories, leaving their opponents in what became known as the Qliphoth, a sea of miasma. Yulia did her best to save those left behind by joining with them in founding the sole civilization of the Qliphoth, Yulia City, named for its lead founder.