Posted by EarthDragon on 16th July 2015.
You are a native of the oldest confederation of peoples on the entire planet, The Unification. All the other such groupings have long since been swallowed by the darkness.
As a native, you live within the bounds of the main grouping of settlements that forms the heartland of the Unification. Unfortunately, as a native, you are a Civilian, and you have virtually no rights. You have no rights to property, your housing is provided by the government of the Unification, and the standards have been slipping continually for the last three hundred years under the crushing pressure of the endless war being waged with The Fallen.
It is because of The Fallen that there are no other confederations of peoples left in the world other than the Unification.
Like your housing, your food and clothing is also provided by the government; bland, dry food and plain, uniform clothing. Life is lived under curfew, troops patrol the streets, and Civilians are randomly rounded up, hauled off and made to perform all kinds of labour under the strict supervision of overseers who are not shy of using whips and cudgels to ensure compliance with orders and rapid work.
The worst detail is construction detail on the border, or at an outpost or garrison. Invariably, the defences are attacked during the repairs, and the Civilians are all left out to die, a sacrifice to allow the troops to withdraw to the safety of their fortifications and hold off the by now distracted, sated and somewhat less rabid enemy.
But there is hope!
There is a light at the end of your dim existence.
As a Civilian, you are eligible to Enlist! Once you enlist, you enter service with the military, and service guarantees Citizenship. And Citizenship brings you preferential treatment, the best housing and food, and all the rights and privileges that the legends say once belonged to the ancients. The only drawback is that Citizens fight.
They fight to maintain their status, they fight to defend their world, they fight to preserve the lives of the miserable Civilians, and they fight to end the struggle with The Fallen so that civilisation can once more return to normal.
Being a Citizen is dangerous, but it carries staggering rewards, if you survive. And, while Civilians might be rounded together and given poor, primitive weapons to act as cannon fodder in a particularly tight battle, Citizens get all the latest developments in weaponry, such as crossbows and even slings. By comparison, Civilians get sharp sticks.
The Fallen represent a strong and dangerous foe. Battles are constant, all along the border and in the isolated outposts and garrisons that protect the few remaining far-flung territories of The Unification.
The Fallen come from all sorts of locations, they rise up from the sea, they fly down from the sky, they crawl out of the earth, and they flow across the lands like a dark plague. The nature of the enemy is highly varied, ranging from stupid humanoids and insectoids right through to supremely intelligent and powerful bizarre creatures that bear no resemblance to anything known; twisted horrors from the darkest depths of your nightmares.
Once The Fallen were few in number and came sporadically to terrorise the borders of the various confederacies scattered across the world. Now, they darken all the land and sea but for the safety of The Unification.
And they grow bolder, and appear in greater numbers than ever before. Rumour has it that they are winning, though no Citizen has ever expressed such a heretical view.
And now, there is you. You were selected at random from the mass of Civilians and earmarked for special training.
And you did well, very well.
Now they are offering you the opportunity to serve and earn Citizenship. Even the clothes, food and equipment you were provided with in training was of staggering quality and quantity compared to what you are used to, but Citizens get even better. And they’ve offered to let you bring your family when you attain Citizenship, automatically qualifying them for the coveted honour as well.
Posted by EarthDragon on 16th July 2015.
For the last few years, you have been training at a university established in Kregoth by the Citizen’s Council. You have been learning the arts of war, the nature and use of weapons, and some even learn strange arcane powers, long considered to be the key to winning the struggle with The Fallen.
The University has campuses throughout The Unification, but none is as prestigious as the one in Kregoth.
It lies at the heart of The Unification, and it has the greatest assortment of peoples anywhere on the planet. From time to time, you will return to The University (any campus) to train and update your skills, and to craft new weapons and devices to aid your struggle.
Who knows, you might even attract greater prestige by inventing a new weapon or even a spell! Advances in these fields are automatic guarantees to additional privileges and wealth. The inventor of the crossbow was even elevated to the Citizen’s Council.