The Promised Lands

Two centuries ago, the Reckoning destroyed the world as it was known. High mountains erupted with fire and ash, great rivers and lakes boiled away, and famine and disease reaped bountiful harvests of corpses, numbering in the millions. A great winter fell upon the land, the kingdoms of Eprea fell into ruin, and the world descended into madness and death.   A five-decade-long struggle for survival followed. Murder, bloodshed, tribalism, and cannibalism reigned, as families and communities desperately tried to stay alive, no matter the cost. A man's life-worth came to depend on his strength, his sword arm, and his sway over his fellow human beings. With no lords, kings, priests, or gods left to maintain hope, the only thing left for a hopeful survivor to have faith in became himself.   As violence flared, so too did passions. As death tolls inflated, so too did egos. As the hapless, the wretched, and the unfortunate succumbed to their miserable existence, the powerful, greedy, ambitious, and self-righteous thrived in this new arena of life - so ripe with opportunity to prove their worth, to justify their existence. All nationality broke down, as the battle for survival became a universal constant. Those who before had been divided by religion, language, or homeland now found themselves both united in their shared burden, and divided in their struggle for dominance. Despite their many backgrounds, they had been forged into a people of one shared experience, one great tragedy, and one common blood - and so did they adopt this moniker for themselves: the Onebloods.   Out of this chaos came Teran, the warrior-prophet of Ade - the Harvester of Souls, the Reaper of the Bloodcrop, the Great Yeoman of the Mortal Fields. Ade, speaking to Teran through visions and dreams, was impressed with the Onebloods' awakening to their own potential, and offered him a deal. If Teran, great warrior as he were, were to take up the name of Ade and spread his word through the lands, Ade would not only reward Teran with leadership over the Onebloods, but would guide them across the seas to a new home; a promised land of vast plains, verdant forests, and vigorous battle; a true paradise.   And so were the Adians born - and within years, their faith had spread like wildfire, even through this hopelessly hostile landscape. As the faith of Ade spread among the Onebloods, so too did the hope of a better life. Gradually, Teran attracted a following of countless thousands of these new, hardened men, and with the blessing of Ade, set off across the sea from old Eprea into the unknown. Many ships sank with all hands, others still were blown off course, but by Ade's will one hundred and fifty years ago, Teran and his band of faithful men made landfall on what we know as the Promised Lands. With their first victory, the Onebloods rejoiced; Ade had delivered them, and in his name, Teran proclaimed the Onebloods to finally be free - and so did the Onebloods become the Freebloods, and Teran their emperor.   But the Freebloods were not alone in this land, and a campaign of subjugation was launched to wrest control of this newfound homeland from its owners - one which still rages to this day, one hundred and fifty years later. Teran is long dead, as are his henchmen and loyal followers, but they were able to carve out a realm for themselves in this land, and now, a century and a half later, their descendants rule with an iron fist over a world where one's prosperity is assured only by his power.   But as the foundations built by Teran and his bloodbrothers begin to crack, so too do the long-wronged gleefully look to fight back and exact their vengeance.