The world was bound by 7 distinct forces of magic.  The old saga depicts these forces being controlled by 7 wise men Who were to aid in the creation of the world long, long ago.  Shrines of virtue were constructed across the 8 continents to hold the central force of each magic elemental power, 1 per continent. The 8th shrine of virtue is the Spirit Shrine, whose elemental, Holy, contains the combined power of the 7 lesser magics into one great powerful force.
Of the humans, lesser shrines were built upon the earth.  Well actually, before that... there were shrines built in honor of virtue.  Honesty, Honor, Valor, Sacrifice, Compassion, Justice, Spirituality, and Humility these shrines were named.  Then comes the 8 shrines of delicate balance, built by humans to trace the powers that they know in the common world.  There is one final shrine, a 25th.  This is the Shrine of Power, to which all things are bound.  Its location is unknown to every soul but the 7, and the seal can only be opened by the 7 in a joint force.
Anyways... merchants were getting restless using their ships to travel from one place to another.  The merchants' pleas were granted by one of the few great events ever documented about the wise men (in lore and legend)..  Travel Doors were opened between each of the 25 shrines, connecting continent to continent, much like teleportation.  For many decades they were used to bring great wealth and good to merchants, mostly in the spread of good fortune. The world entered one of its Golden Ages of wisdom, peace, and prosperity.
But greed had overtaken the good hearts in the world, and the travel doors were soon used for misfortune and power.  The travel doors were not meant for such a purpose, and they became cursed as more and more people began to abuse them. The shrines used the most would begin to crumble, and the travel doors were ever kept wholly by the greatest thieves of the world.  Letting nobody else use their power, the thieves guarded the doors for the remainder of their lives... where it is said that most died in their shrines and the passage to the inner sanctum of the shrine was sealed.
With the passing of the last guardian of the shrine, with nobody to maintain the travel doors any longer, the entire web of teleportation between the 8 continents went completely out of alignment.  Those who dared to step through the few remaining doors were teleported to a random place in the world, never to be seen again.  By legend, there was a device that could be used to realign the travel doors, but it was only a legend.. even the essence of the travel doors themselves fell out of existence and became a mere myth to all except the eldest of the wise, who spent the rest of their lives searching for the key to realign the shrines. (the Dragonfly Statue)
But to no avail it was hopeless, and nobody ever saw the remaining 7 wise men and ever fell upon the doors of travel. Until only sixty years ago...a strange occurence took place..