Festin Valor

"A battle wages between the Divine and the Damned and we are the spoils of war. As I write this letter it is 1326 since the death of our Lord and Savior. The bumbling fools in Prague doomed us all. Their Luman project has unwittingly unlocked the power of the human soul. Energy beyond any known. Enough to power a revolution of mankind's potential. Damn the shame that was never to be, for we are no longer alone on God's creation. His first sons and daughters have returned to claim our land, and his grace locked in every mortal body. As drawn from the pages of a thousand blessed scriptures of a hundred different religions, the armies of the High wage war on the legions of the Low to stake their claim on our birthright. God save us from his children." - Father Uhe Meheric Pol

Summary of this Reality

In Festin Valor, humans are a commodity to be fought over, gathered, cultivated, then harvested. Creatures both Divine and Demonic from a thousand religious heritages have come to Earth to battle over mortal souls. A pantheon of the Angels, Demons, Devils, Angelic Creatures, and Demonic Creatures have emerged from the Judeo-Christian text. But they are not alone. A host of creatures of pagan religions have joined the fight. Wiccan, Inca, Myan, Ojibwa, Egyptian, Hindu, Inuit. Any mystic text or oral tradition still worshiped by people in 1470 has birthed its symbolism into very real dangers. Souls are the 'spoils' of this war just as oil, land, and resources have been the spoils of human aggression. The two sides battle to claim the souls of humanity, though to what end is still unclear. Until the 1400's that battle was mostly fought in the shadows. But a portal to Talus opening in 1392 forced the fight to the fore as fear of losing the Souls of humanity to another Reality overtook the need to maintain a veil of normality. Over the next 101 years the War of High and Low has raged opening on earth as in heaven as in hell.

Timeline

1310 - A group of intellectuals in Prague, sponsored by the Catholic Church and provided with arcane religious tools, began a unique investigation into the nature of the soul.
1313 - A soul was successfully quantified, observed, and extracted from a living body. Once removed, the soul represented a vast source of harnessable energy. This breakthrough in religious science opened up a new era of soul powered innovation.
1314 - A year long series of natural catastrophes felt throughout the world. Mortal civilization was brought to near extinction.
1315 - The Geddon. The arrival of the Lows on the Mortal Plane and the beginning of the Harvest. Humans were rounded up for their soul energy
1317 - The first Lowborn is birthed from a human woman and a male Low.
1321 - The Soul War. The arrival of the Highs on the Mortal Plane. Highs battled with Lows in constant conflict throughout the world.
1325 - The Highs are near defeat by the Lows and their Soul powered weaponry and magic. The Highs fall from their moral high ground, opting to use Soul power against the Lows, and thus beginning their own Harvest of mortals.
1339 - The first Highborn is birthed from a human male and a female High.
1415 - On the anniversary of the Geddon, humanity revolts against the High and the Low.
1416 - The resistance movement goes underground, and forms the Covenant
1440 - The Talus Universe is connected to the Festin Valor universe. The Cra family are the first to travel to Talus from this world.
1470 - Present Day

Alterations from Control Earth

There are angels fighting demons in the streets of any town in any country on the planet. This war has cost humanity much. Progress has been lost in Sciences and Industry as people revert to old ways and old religions in light of the very real divine presence. Magic, both arcanum and metaphysical, has bubbled up due to the convergence of Heaven and Hell. Humanity has done what it does best, and adapted to new realities of their place in God's plan. An underground resistance has been organized globally to fight both the High and the Low when an opportunity arises.

Races

The High - Any creature whose original intention in the source material was to be a paragon for humanity to follow. With the Soul War waging, that presumed altruism has proven to be a thin red line between them and The Low.

Highborn - Those born from a bonding of a human and a High creature. Expression of this bloodline is as diverse as there is variety in heaven

The Low - Any creature whose original intention in the source material was to be a caution for humanity. As with The High, the Soul War has amplified the Low's original mandate.

Lowborn - Like Highborn, those born from the bonding of a human and a Low creature. Lowborn come in all shapes, sizes, and qualities.

Setting Tone & Inspiration

Festin Valor is Gothic Religion Horror set in a world before the Industrial Revolution. Literary Inspirations: Dracula, The Name of the Rose, Paradise Lost, The Divine Comedy Sacred Texts: The Bible, The Tanach, The Sutras, The Vedas, The Quran Occult Texts: Isis Unveiled, Theosophy, The Real History of the Rosicrucians, The Divine Pymander Media References: Dark Souls game series, Religious Horror movie genre.