History

The Distant Past

Long ago, there was an Unnamed Empire, which ruled from the land where the Democracy currently holds power. They were a theocracy, based around a powerful Builder King seen as chosen by Builder itself, who created numerous monuments in his image, asserting his power across the lands. And the emphasis, here, is on the pronoun 'he'. The Unnamed Empire was a sexist, homophobic, transphobic state, based around the core principle of humans as racially superior. For this reason,such attitudes are abhorred by all the Factions, as they bring back memories of the oppression of the past. Those who behave in such manners are called out, and have a tendency to last nano-seconds in the positions that they may have attained. Women were erased from history, the one female Empress, Nefre'tae the Unmade, only reached power as she had been believed to be a man. When her gender was revealed, she was murdered, and her monuments destroyed. Even her name was removed from the records of rulers: the only reason that she survived to this day is that she is the one name the Ozgur preserved from the Unnamed Empire, as her policies had been much greater moves to reconciliation than had ever occurred before.

These divided factions remained so over the following centuries. The Democracy were the first to form coherently, quickly centralizing around the lands that they had taken from their oppressors. In the lands that were to be the Hegemony, . Meanwhile, the Vendicsal, who had mainly been kept quiet by the power of the Unnamed Empire, upon realizing its fall began the raids that would make their name synonymous with sea-based terror.

The Churches, other than the Explorer Church which found a natural home in the lands of the Democracy, became divided .The Builder Church is mainly focused around the lands of the Hegemony, with one notable Cathedral in the lands of the Democracy (although they are mainly ignored). The Aspirant found places wherever it could maintain a hold, in caverns or mountain-top temples. It is only recently that it's power is becoming clearer, used to working in the shadows. Meanwhile, Celebrant's major structure, the Golden Hall, is found to the north among the Vendicsal.

The War of Igimund’s Rift

It has been two decades since the War of Igimund’s Rift. A portal to the Beyond opened, drawing magi, priests and academics from across the three Nations and further afield. In defiance of the custom that Portals should be available to all, Clan Igimund of the Vendicsal seized it, sure that they could use its power to make recapture too expensive. Their extortion attempt failed, but not before each Nation, Guild and Church’s research delegations had called in reinforcements, triggering a confused and bloody fight as each Faction saw others as trying to steal the Portal. The war was ended with a combined Ozgur and Explorer Church peace deal that sought to determine responsibility for the conflict and prevent another. This deal was known as the Treaty of Ozgur Sehir.

The Discovery of Mat Sellah

A recent Hegemony expedition to find a rumoured Fourth Continent came across an island chain curiously not visible from the shore despite its relatively close distance. Divinatory Rituals uncovered a new Portal in this archipelago, and the expedition quickly returned for a larger group to explore the interior. They found a land dotted with ruins of a fallen civilisation, with no settlements other than the occasional village that claimed descendance from shipwrecked mariners. These villagers called the archipelago Mat Sellah.

The Nations, Guilds and Churches have all sent delegations to Mat Sellah. Fortunately, the reefs surrounding it make a direct invasion close to impossible, as only small boats can safely navigate through. Despite this, fear of treachery is ever-present. As an agent of one of the Factions, you have been assigned to Mat Sellah to exploit the Portal, explore these mysterious islands, and keep the peace as best you can.