Prologue

The region known as Muralis, a comparatively small collection of nations within the vast world of Oreldaena, has been largely isolated from its neighbors by vicious seas and an understandable preoccupation with the affairs of neighbors more immediate. Our story, therefore, is restricted to the territories of Muralis, which in the year of 261 AU (After Unification) has neglected to go about so petty a matter as making contact with the outside world. Such will no doubt come to pass, but not for roughly forty-four years. In the mean time, a brief overview of (relatively) recent Muralisian history is in order. Before some beleaguered scholar first set pen to paper in the interest of chronicling events as they came to pass, there set foot upon the shores of northernmost Muralis a small army of peoples hailing from the far north, the frozen lands of Murota in the Couronnes region. These Murotians gave no reason for their expedition to the startled natives who, as is generally the case with native peoples in stories of exploration and societal genesis, were lost in the quagmire of an era most medieval. Steeling their nerves against the lack of plumbing and basic hygiene, the Murotians began to spread throughout the continent and, for a certain branch of the expeditionary force, to the island of Carmagh. It is generally accepted by historians that additional interaction occurred between the native peoples and the Murotians, but it seems that few thought it prudent to jot a demmed note down.

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The first formal record appears in the year 290 BU, coming in the form of a record loosely amounting to a treaty declaring, in tolerably clear terms, that six tribes have agreed upon single leadership under one Archduke Gryndollyn Smythe, forming the nation of Durant. For some years, the Durantian forces attempted to expand, yet were beaten back by tribes on either side, the fruits of minor unification amongst border tribes.

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After a great many admittedly redundant years of Durantian incursions and defeats, there came in 69 BU a blow from the circles of hell which tidily upset the status quo. We refer to the Fiendtide, that hated plague whose existence catalyzed so many sweeping changes. After sixty-nine years of death and wilting throughout the northern tribes and Durant, it became clear to all parties that an arrangement was in order. So it was that, following the miraculous discovery of a cure by scientists Gaston Devraux and Sebastian Wade, the tribes of the north unified with the blessing of Durant into the nation of Ghalea, recognized in the Treaty of Colmsfield. This signing signified a change in eras, taking place at 0 BU/AU.

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Those observing the accompanying maps will perhaps have noticed the developments in the southern tribes, and the nation clearly forming. These sharp individuals will have handily predicted the development that would come in the year 150 AU, in which the treaty of Regius was signed recognizing the borders of the new nation of Godrin. It should also be noted that the people of Carmagh, far more quietly, unified and formed a proper nation at some point along the line. The lapse in information transmission created by the distance surely contributed to the nebulous nature of this happening.

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For a time, all seemed delightful. There existed a comfortable balance between nations, information was the most valuable resource, and great strides were made in technology. Society had flourished. However, in 209 AU, an astute gentleman noticed that the Godrite military had violated the terms of the Treaty of Regius and, in a stunning display of bravura, consumed still more of the surrounding tribes. This was not well received by the Durantians who, with Ghalean backing, wasted no time in initiating the War of the Vassals, so named for the importance of a handful of individuals and the comparative futility of outright infantry combat due to the overall equality of the two armies. For fifty years the conflict raged. Countless lives were lost, the generation and its leaders shaped by the constant awareness of bloodshed and brutality lurking just around the corner. Under the leadership of capable men, the most notable of which being Archduke Erick Saint-Just of Durant and First General Alexander Grafton of Godrin, an agreement was finally reached in the form of a ceasefire. Thus the armistice was signed in 260 AU, abruptly halting open hostilities and plunging the nations into a state of uncertainty. The terms of the armistice were simple: an end to hostilities, a designated land for tribals unwilling to become citizens of Godrin, and clearly defined borders by which to abide indefinitely. All the while, Kelsma brooded to the west, separated by the affairs of its neighbors by mountains and a culture given to isolationism.

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It is here that We find Ourselves, a year after the signing of the armistice. As if to distract themselves from the threat of renewed conflict, or perhaps in rushing to meet it, scientific efforts have been redoubled toward all manner of ends. In seeking to comprehend the reason for their present state of stagnation and distress, the peoples of the world have begun to question the way of things, as evidenced in the inchoate revolutionary movement of Durant. Muralis is on the verge of some great shift, though it is far from any one man's ability to say in what form it may come. As the Archduke Saint-Just writes, "So many wishes, each to the contrary of its fellows. So ardently do they labor on. We wonder, do they realize the face opposite them at the café possesses wishes of its own? With the victory of one, do they not see that nine others must fail? Oh how We smile, knowing that Our wish stands alone, its fulfillment all but certain. Whom shall We sacrifice at its altar? A question prominent in every mind, no doubt. We daresay that We are giddy with anticipation."