The Grand Papate, Emperor Althusius IV, had recently perished in a naval incident--the galley he was travelling in was attacked and sunk by a large sea serpent, hithertofore not an inhabitant of the coastal waters of the Empire--while en route to the outlying Half-Western Isles. There were few survivors; of a complement of twenty score crew and slaves, fewer than one score remained alive to tell the tale, among them the Papate's chief wizard and royal consultant, the Arch-Magus Beukron.

News of the Emperor's death hit the Empire hard. Military actions on the Borders came to a virtual standstill, with many major (and several minor) Dukes and Counts laying claim to the throne. The Emperor had left no legitimatised offspring to take his place, leaving Knight-Commander Saint Jerome and Arch-Magus Beukron as acting advisors to the Throne Authority.

Civil war erupted in the Southern and Northern Kingdoms. Many knights deserted their posts and formed their own "settlements", enlisting the aid of various rabble and militia to assist in impressing their will upon the people. The Tueton Formative Council was forced to divert important military forces to the Western and Eastern regions of the Empire to stem the increasing nervousness of the people.

Then the raids began from the Border Wastes. Ravaging hordes of marauders and bandits, and things more foul, attacked and quickly conquered large areas of land in both the North and South. Saint Jerome and Arch-Magus Beukron had their worst fears realised--a new force on untenable and considerable strength now had its sights set on Alamaine. Many of the self-titled Bandit Kings, themselves renegade Tueton knights, allied themselves with this invading menace in order to better consolidate their personal positions. Increasingly, the Tueton Formative Council was being drained of more and more resources to stem the invaders' advance.

In the mountains, dwarves, the "karzk-dünwarr", retreated to their strongholds and sealed themselves against the encroaching storm. Following the burning of huge tracts of forest and jungle, the elves, the "la'sirien'wa'lai", retreated further into the woodlands. Protecting themselves with old magics, they barricaded themselves against the physical threat promised by this new enemy. The enigmatic "gg'dorogg'dor", the rock-men, in a demonstration of patience and concern, added their support to the Tueton Formative Council by creating a unique elite fighting force, marrying their knowledge of elemental magic and earth with their physical and mental prowess. Those that hadn't allied themselves with the Bandit Kings, or remained in an independent status, rallied around the major cities and towns of the Empire.

War waged forth on multiple fronts in a new frenzy, and continued in this fashion for nearly half a century, with stalemates being met and new boundaries drawn and reinforced with military expertise. Saint Jerome died and was replaced by Saint Matthew, the former Arch-Bishop of Enclave, the capital city of the Empire. No heir replaced the Emperor on the throne. Following the appointment of Saint Matthew, Arch-Magus Beukron retreated into the Northern Mountains and formed his own sorcerous coalition, a new order dedicating themselves to the study of deeper occult magics away from the limitations imposed on them by Saint Matthew and the Church. And on the heels of the departure of Beukron came the revelation that the war was about to take a different, and uglier, turn...

From the Author
Game systems. Hmmmm... I have some ideas for this world, but haven't yet fully formulated what system best to plagiarise for the mechanics of this world. My current (be aware that this changes every other week) line of thinking heads towards a customised version of the Earthdawn 1st Edition mechanics.

Feedback
You can send us feedback via email to alamaine@jflowers.spam_me_not.org (please remove the obvious "spam block content" from the email address before sending). Looking forward to your comments!