Vagrund

17th of Palkonne, 1237

Vagrund is a beautiful but harsh planet; marked by its poisonous lowlands and cold temperatures. Snow falls deep and often. The inhabitants of the planet have adapted for this climate, usually in the form of thick fur and excess stores of fat. Humanity has mastered farming during the short bursts of somewhat non-inclement weather and have spread across the face of the planet.

Vagrund is split between hundreds of countries and kingdoms, small and large. But it had not always been this way. Hundreds of years ago, now only a passing memory, most of the world was ruled by the Gratellan Empire; a military empire bent on bringing the entire planet under its jurisdiction. However, their spread was curbed by their technological limits. As the Empire spread itself thin, it became difficult to manage its furthest reaches and expansion became impossible. Even the newly invented airships could not provide fast enough communication. The boundaries of the Empire were plagued by continuous revolts and uprisings. Spreading the army ever thinner. The empire was on the verge of collapse. Then the sickness came. A plague that spread faster than one could identify the symptoms. People died as their blood turned into a thick sludge and their hearts collapsed. Cities and towns were burned to the ground en masse in desperate attempts to contain the outbreaks. After years of fear and sickness and fire the plague suddenly disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.

The Empire fell soon after, it's capital reduced to ash, and its leaders dead or gone. The groups once ruled by the Gratellans were left with a newfound freedom; and they basked in it. They began the process of rebuilding. Reclaiming their ancestral homelands of the Gratellan invaders and began to form new kingdoms, fueled by a mixture of their classical beliefs and the systems imposed by the Empire. Of course there was war and death; as there always is when humans are left to their own devices, but it was negligible compared to the recent past.

Currently, all of Vagrund is in dire straits. Half the world is at war, and the other half is sure to be dragged in. A bloody conflict between the greatest superpowers has raged for two and a half years, leaving entire sections of land as dead, desolate wastelands, fit only for corpses. Casualties have mounted and morale is low. This conflict has taken everything and provided nothing in return; save for money to line the pockets of the powerful.

To make matters worse, recent historical discoveries hint at the existence of a weapon that could end the war in the favor of whoever finds it first.