Introduction


Introduction ·
S


ome five centuries past the races of mankind in their arrogance ignored the warnings of the Cardinal Church and brought about its near destruction yet again by the power of the long-gone Foreigners, save their flying ovoid cities and the all-powerful Poltergeists sealed within. Devastated by that power, mankind once more at the beginning of yet another new age resigned themselves to the teachings of the Cardinal Church. But the races of mankind were arrogant and greedy still, and faced with the constant threat of the Foreigners sought protection by technology and unity under nation states.

Some two decades past mankind’s faith in the Cardinal Church would be shaken with the appearance of a church legend of yore. One that portended to the coming of a great and destructive evil well beyond the Poltergeists. In the last nation on the Face of Icarus, watched by the two Eyes of Icarus on high, the Cardinal Church along with salvagers who sought to make the treasures of old their own and those fearful of the power a nation held brought war. The Kingdom of Lucir was not weak however and possessed the Cardinal Church’s most coveted treasure, the Saint, Lady Cardinal’s Light of Hope. With it they could save those who were infected by the beasts of the Foreigners from becoming monsters themselves, transforming them instead into what the Cardinal Church called Sa·B·ers. To reclaim their holy artifact the Cardinal Church would go to any lengths, and in so doing they woke the light that would slay the Dark God of the Foreigners and reminded mankind that the Legend of Light cast a long and dark shadow.

Yesterday, or perhaps longer ago, or even tomorrow, mankind lost nearly all faith in the Cardinal Church and the world descended into chaos as mankind sought answers and a way of life that would keep them safe. But sanctuary seemed impossible to find as mankind turned against itself in light of the appearance of the Lucifalz, a tree of light that covered the sky with its branches and scarred the many time razed Face of Icarus with its roots. The appearance of the tree changed the world named after the god dwelling within it and protected by the Sister Goddesses who were all unified by the Saint, Lady Cardinal. None could forget the day the tree they named after the Foreigners’ Dark God had appeared, but neither could they remember it. They all knew it had happened, and they all knew they had lived through it. But they could not say if it was just yesterday or years gone even before they were born. But they knew it had appeared. They all remembered the day they could not remember. They all had heard stories of isolated, lone trees of light seen growing somewhere on the Face of Icarus. They all had heard stories of the Sa·B·ers who carried the Light of Cardinal, and they feared them, for they knew that they would be the ones to face not just the beasts of the Foreigners they were sworn to slay, but also the Dark One, Lucifalz.

For all of the chaos brought into the world with the advent of the Lucifalz and the fear of what the light portended, it was also a time of unique prosperity for the races of mankind. Though the Cardinal Church had placed a taboo against technology, in the five centuries since the Poltergeists had razed the Face of Icarus mankind had achieved an industrial revolution of steam and magic built on their miniscule understanding of the hyper advanced anachronistic technology of ages past. As mankind moved away from the church and again turned on each other, their steam age began to mature with airships and other vehicles becoming more elaborate and their ability to imitate and use ancient technology with their own improving by the day. It was a time of adventure both in burgeoning city states and the ruins of both the present and the past. It was a time when adventure called out to all.


Copyright © 2019 Joshua D Tarwater

Popular posts from this blog

114 A Journey's Beginning · 4

113 A Journey's Beginning · 3

112 A Journey's Beginning · 2