Promised Land (Final Fantasy VII)

The Promised Land, in the world of Final Fantasy VII was a quasi-mythical location believed to hold infinite amounts of Mako deposits. The idea of a "Promised Land" was first discovered when Professor Gast, head scientist of the Shin-ra Comapny, interviewed the last known Cetra, Ifalna. She told him that when the Cetra die, the are taken to a Promised land, a place of extreme pleasure and happiness, becoming one with the planet in the process. Shin-ra became very interested in this legend and later discovered that this Promised Land was supposed to contain almost limitless energy. This further attracted their eyes, since such a place would be able to refine a large amount of Mako, which the planets society thrived on. They tried to capture Ifalna's daughter, Aeris, to tell them the Promised Land's location, so they could start building reactors there and collecting more Mako. She did not cooperate.

In reality, the Promised Land wasn't really a "land" at all. Rather, it was what the Cetra refered to as the "lifestream." The lifestream was a sort of spirit river that traveled under the planets' crust, supplying plants and animals with life. The Cetra posessed a certain bond with this Lifestream, and could control and, to some extents, harness its' powers. When refined, Lifestream energy becomes Mako energy, the final fantasy equivelent of fuel.