You awake to the taste of coarse sand in your mouth. You lay on the ground, half buried in a sea of grains that shifts slowly with the soft wind. Not sand, you realise as dust covers your face. Gravel. Whatever happened last night, it was bad enough to leave you without any memory; Or strength, for that matters. You're barely conscious, just enough to hear the sound of chitinous legs approaching.
Is it an insect? It sounds to big to belongs to one. It's just over you now, clicking its mandibles. It is definitely an insect. So, it is how it ends. Someone shouts in the distance, beyond the towering giant. Help, maybe. Too far to do anything, you can't even hear what they say.
Suddenly, you're lifted up by two arms that feels very much human. They talk to you, and you have to make extra effort to understand them.
— Are you alright? Where's your titansect?
You feel some thin, yet rough fingers check for your pulse, then force your eyes open. The sudden influx of light has you twitching in pain, but the man holding you doesn't budge. The world is hazy and you can hardly make out the silhouette in front of you, except for a vague shadow.
— By the gods, another vanished! Let's take them up there and refresh their memories.
Trapped
The Divine Ordeal is a post-apocalyptic medieval fantasy world set in a divine gaol. To punish the hubris of a man who tried to become their equal, the gods threw its whole civilisation down a divine jail of eternal suffering. Lost in an infinite beach with gravel for ground and storm clouds for sky, humanity had to run from giant insects and survive in a most hostile environment. Are they to break all of the thirteen seals, their sins would be cleansed and their bloodlines forgiven.
Centuries have passed, and humanity survived. They tamed the giants that ruled the place before them and managed to get back a semblance of normalcy. They are mostly nomads with their technology stuck in a pre-industrial stage without much chance of progress. Man is no longer a helpless prey in this place, yet it is far from getting to the top of the food chain. Dangers lurks beside, above and beneath, more dangerous creatures appearing to the whim of the cruel divinities.
You'll see soon enough, living on the shoulders of giants isn't that bad. It's bumpy, uncomfortable and it smells, but it beats walking any day.— Alana, second-in-command aboard Choleptra
The Ultimate Armada
As time passed and the seals proved as difficult to find as to destroy, humanity's will wavered. They lowered their weapons and raised dull tools, dedicated to build and farm rather than hunt and kill. The hope of ever getting out was placed in the palms of the last people with enough determination to perservere against all odds. The Ultimate Armada is the embodiement of that hope, the largest group of hundreds of titansects dedicated to claim back their world.
Yes, we're part of the Armada, did you take us for some kind of wandering thugs? We were on a recon mission before stumbling upon you. I'm afraid you'll have to be our guest until we're done with our survey, hope that's not too much of a bother. The sky's frilan though, so we may go back to the Gronzephax earlier than expected. It's up to the captain to decide, but I wouldn't count on him to back down.— Alana
Over the centuries, the Armada has won spectacular battles and took down the most monstrous Seals. Through persistance and strong bonds between the crews, the orgnization survived against all odds. When an alliance of eight of the twenty four great families sought to dismantle the great fleet, it was met with an unparalleled resistance which annihilated five of them. Feared and respected, they are humanity's best hope and its ultimate weapon against the trials of the gods.
Humanity is...
Broken
When humanity was thrown in this pit of despair, it was stripped of everything of worth. Ambition, wealth, technology and art suddenly meant nothing. Not only the divine retribution struck down a thriving and pious civilisation, the endless torment they are subjected to has shattered their faith. Even those who decided to accept paying for the sin of their ancestors are unable to pray in good faith to the cruel divinities.
Even now, the gods watch over their victims. People are only safe in their mind, where they can slander the name of the gods in impunity without fear of vanishing. They live in the constant fear of breaking an untold taboo. Distrust and treason run rampants in the reformed society, as angels are discovered among the population
Resourceful
The archduchy was not only prosperous, it was a grandiose place of science and art. Engineers, architects, alchemists and all kind of scholars had to band together and devise new ways of life in an inhospitable land. With the greatest minds of their time pushing forward education and the passing of their knowledge. As a result, even the riffraff is educated in the ways of chemistry and basic engineering at the very least.
With limited resources and hindered by the divine interventions, purely technological progress is slow. However, titansects proved to be invaluable research assets from which a great deal of chemicals and materials were designed. The academic way of looking at novelty and will to push the boundaries of human knowledge is still very common, as it allowed the civilisation to persist in a godless world.
Preyed on
Despite looking like a desert and severely lacking in geographical relief, the divine gaol is not devoid of life. In the absence of vegetation however, the numerous insectoid lifeforms that roams this vast expanse are all carnivorous. A group of humans, much less a lone one, is an easy prey for the armored titans out there. The strongest rules here, and a species of feeble mammals is at a great disadvantage.
Even worse, the other inhabitants of the place have taken a liking to the taste of human flesh, and they are not just a meal for the predators, but a popular one. Although the inventivity of the people is unrivaled, science pale in comparison to man-sized mandibles.
Angels??? 0.0 So people are still taught old science and have managed to preserve their knowledge, or has a lot of it faded by now? I got the idea that there has been quite a few generations of people born in this goal, is that right? From what you write here I understand that all the new generations are also all educated properly despite the circumstances? Very fun new world :D
Angels are a surprise tool that will ~~help~~ be revealed later :D A lot of their technology, as well as their magic which relied heavily on artifacts is completely lost, and of course they couldn't keep most of their knowledge with the few books that were transported with them. However most of the people were scholars and scientists, who worked hard to pass down all the knowledge they could remember, to ensure their civilisation would not simply collapse after the first generation. Still, since they were poorly fit for survival in this kind of environment, whole fields of science have been lost in the early years. Being educated is also a matter of survival in the abyss, even more than being a skilled fighter. As this jail is filled with giant creatures, there is not much humans can do without relying on tools and ingenuity. Engineers and artificers are the most common, but biologists and physicists are required to study and put up countermeasures for the new kinds of threats that appears regularly. Very glad you liked it!