Age of Fantasy Lore Focus #3

Hi everyone,

Every week we're highlighting the lore of a few factions for each of our games, and this week we're focusing on Age of Fantasy factions!

Rift Daemons

"The Rift Daemons are monstrous servants of the Havoc Gods, who emerge from beneath the surface of Tyria. Their forms very greatly, depending on which god they serve, and they are accompanied by a variety of daemonic beasts.

Daemons serve the strange and alien wills of their gods, emerging from the Great Rift and sewing Havoc throughout Tyria. The Daemons are cast offs of dying gods who desperately hope to buy more time for themselves, and which are ready to leave nothing but havoc in their wake, just in hopes of extending their own lives for a little longer.

Rift Daemons are born from the last survivors of a pantheon of dying gods, known to Tyria as the Havoc Gods. Desperate to survive, these gods sought out followers from the lost and desperate, and offered them power in exchange for worship. Those who rejected these gods came to know them as Havoc Gods due to the zealotry of their followers and the unrest that they caused.

The Havoc Gods came to Tyria soon after Voidgates had been discovered. As mages and adventurers activated Voidgates throughout the land, the influence of Havoc began to spread. The Havoc Gods saw Tyria as a fascinating plane due to the diversity of its peoples, where they could find all sorts of different new followers.

Daemons were sent into Tyria by their gods, spreading throughout the plane. They sought out followers for their Gods, either through promises of power, or shows of force. They found followers throughout Tyria, whom they guided to conquer others. Treachery, war, and bloodshed became commonplace as the Havoc Wars began. Daemons were seen throughout the continent, fighting alone or alongside mortal allies, as they and their masters threatened to overrun the plane.

The Havoc Gods were on the verge of victory when they fell into a desperate trap set by their enemies. The most powerful mages of Tyria gave their lives in a ritual that managed to seal the Havoc Gods into the Orb of Fate. Suddenly severed from their creators, the forces of Havoc were defeated. The surviving Daemons fled and hid throughout Tyria, escaping wherever they could, while their foes enjoyed an era of peace and prosperity.

This peace was brought to an abrupt end when, centuries later, the orb was broken by the heirs of the most powerful Human Empire in Tyria. The Havoc Gods were freed, and the power unleashed by the broken orb tore through the heart of Tyria, scarring the land and opening a massive fissure cutting through much of the plane. This great scar became known as the Rift, and from it, the Daemons began to emerge once more into Tyria.

The Rift Daemons are eager to return to their masters and avenge their defeat. They have already spread throughout many corners of Tyria, and their hordes grow steadily with each passing day. With their old foes complacent and divided, there are few who can stand against them while they are ready to once more bend Tyria to the will of their gods.

How will you bring glory to your god?"

Beastmen

"Beastmen are a coalition of different species of bestial humanoids, which rely on ambush tactics to overwhelm their enemies.

For centuries, the Beastmen lived together in the southern savannah of Tyria, building great cities and trading prosperously. The opening of the Rift destroyed many of their cities, and Daemons drove them from their home. Most of the Beastmen have fled north, surviving by raiding and scavenging while they seek a new home.

The vast savannah in southern Tyria had been inhabited by wildlife since the beginning of time. At the center of the largest watering hole of the land, a giant lush tree provided shade and food, and from its roots a magical substance seeped into its fruit. Over many generations, the animals that ate the fruit of this tree slowly changed and became sentient, and came to see the tree as sacred, settling around it in peace.

Gradually, the different tribes of Ndoli, Waheni, Hapari, Ndwari and Silombi learned to co-exist and formed a confederacy of closely knit tribes. The Beastmen built a great civilization in the savannah, constructing a great capital city around the Holy Tree, and a network of smaller cities around, which expanded out through the grasslands and connected the watering holes around it. For centuries, the Beastmen tribes lived lives of peace and prosperity on the Savannah.

Then, the Rift opened. It tore through the Savannah, damaging the Holy Tree and destroying many of their cities. When the Daemons began to emerge, most Beastmen were forced to abandon their homeland. The only thing that remains of their old civilization are the ruins of their cities,  and the dried out remains of the Holy Tree, whose once crystalline waters have now turned black.

Some Beastmen still call these ruins their home, but there is no hope that it will flourish once again in the future. Others have begun to wander along the edge of the Rift, towards the heart of Tyria. In order to survive, they raid settlements and burn forests to build equipment and camps. Each amongst the Beastmen has their own reason for this great migration. Some hope to find a new home, while others seek to understand the cause of the rift. There are others who have become accustomed to raiding and violence, and take any opportunity to destroy the homes of others, just as their own homes were destroyed.

How will you guide your tribe?"

Duchies of Vinci

"The Duchies of Vinci are an army of highly advanced humans assisted by their robotic automatons. On the battlefield, they rely on ranged warfare using crossbows and cannons, supported by the more resilient automa.

They were once a collection of poor villages who discovered the intelligence-enhancing Mindstones in the aftermath of the Rift. The Vinci have gained great wealth and knowledge, but guard their secrets and their Mindstones closely to protect themselves from poverty. However, over time, their isolationism has fostered rivalry between the Duchies, causing them to stagnate.

The Vinci were once amongst the poorest people in Tyria, a meager collection of villages built on swampland. Without any source of wealth, they were subsistence farmers who were largely disregarded by the wider Empire and other outsiders as mere peasants.

When the Great Rift opened, the Vinci’s homelands were devastated by violent earthquakes. Soon after these quakes however, glowing stones began to emerge from the depths of the swamps. At first, the stones were simply used to create jewelry, but soon the stones started to affect people’s minds and made them smarter, leading to a new time of technological and cultural progress. They became known as Mindstones soon after, and it was not long before the Vinci had taken every stone that they could find until almost none remained undiscovered.

Influenced by their Mindstones, the Vinci started building machines to drain the swamps and reclaim the land. They expanded their farmland, built great cities, and became very rich, very quickly.  The Vinci established universities that attracted the best minds in all the land, which led to the invention of robots, known as Automa. These robots assisted the Vinci with farming, construction, and generally served to boost the advancement of the Vinci even more.

As the Vinci began to prosper, they found themselves surrounded by enemies. Outsiders sought to claim these newfound riches for themselves, and began to stake claims upon the Vinci and their Mindstones. When conflict broke out, the Vinci armies turned the tides and soon conquered their neighbours.

In order to defend themselves from future conflicts, the Vinci turned their cities into fortresses and expelled all foreign diplomats and scholars. The isolated Duchies became even more reliant on advanced technology to make up for their losses in trade. Now, Universities are the real power in Vinci, while Dukes have become mere figureheads. This led to them being highly insular and suspicious, with their universities waging secret wars of sabotage and espionage on each other.

How will you ensure the prosperity of your duchy?"

Kingdom of Angels

"The Kingdom of Angels is a faction made up mostly of Humans in the service of powerful angelic creatures. Their zealous infantry are protected by divine magic and supported by Angels who exude powerful auras over the battlefield.

When the Great Rift opened, the people of this Kingdom were spared from destruction by the coming of the Angels. The Angels brought the people to safety beyond Tyria and taught them to worship new Twin Gods. Now they have returned to Tyria under the watchful eyes of the Angels, who offer their protection in exchange for total obedience.

When the Great Rift opened, its consequences were felt throughout Tyria. However in one remote province along the southern border of the Empire, these consequences were particularly severe. The people of this province faced a series of catastrophes, as floods, hail, and wild fires raged throughout the region, destroying homes and crops while the Rift cut them off from much of the Empire and their neighbours.

It was in this time of catastrophe that the Angels revealed themselves. They presented themselves to the people and offered to take those who would follow them to a city in the sky, far from the destruction, so that they might return to rebuild in harmony with the Angels. The people came to know their new home as the Celestial City and they soon came to worship the Twin Gods of the Angels and obey their will as it was told to them by the Angels. They worked to improve their new city, their hands always guided by the watchful eyes of their angelic saviours. The youths were taught to view the Angels as saviors and protectors, and to trust in the words of their new guardians completely. After nearly two generations away, the Angel finally returned to Tyria with their followers.

The people found their old homes abandoned and ruined, and the Angels instructed them to destroy what little remained, and sever any connections with their ancestors’ lives. Under the close supervision of the Angels, the people began to rebuild new temples and homes in the style of the Celestial City. These cities would serve as the core of their new realm in Tyria, and soon the Angels were ready to expand their flock.

The Angels and their armies took to converting those who had come to the land in their absence. They offered rewards and favour to those who showed devotion and adopted the faith willingly, while crushing anyone who rebelled against them. Soon, the Angelic Kingdom began to look beyond its old provincial boundaries, seeking out strange magical relics, and converting new followers, whether through preaching or conquest. They keep a close eye over their people, inspiring them forever towards greater faith in return for their salvation.

While their followers profess the benevolence of their Angelic leaders, others in Tyria view the close supervision and strict commands of the Angels with suspicion, and some have begun to speculate that the Angels are working towards some secret ends beyond the knowledge of their followers.

How will you spread the new faith?"

That's it for this week, we hope you enjoyed this lore focus. :)

Happy Wargaming!

– OPR Team

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