Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Welcome to the New World

"It has been two generations since the His Omnipotent Greatness Batrachos conquered the Western coast of the Old World. Batrachos the Deathless' more recent successful wars in the East have given him a richness of slaves that have supplanted the traditional places of both the peasants, yeomen, and burghers all over his great, continent spanning empire. The conquered and displaced peoples are left with few choices to support their families: to try their luck in one of the great cities of the Empire, to sell themselves into bondage, or resort to resistance and banditry."

"Recently, the Emperor's Administration has hatched a scheme in order to provide the Empire with a much needed population sink. He has funded the establishment of colonies in the New World. These colonies are made of peoples as diverse as the Empire itself as the colonist's families are given a lifelong tax exemption, and the Empire's sophisticated and reliable banking system allows for the flow of New World treasure, goods and dark secrets back to the Old."

"Humans and humanoids have landed on the Western shores of the New World and established ramshackle forts and settlements. These settlements are largely left to govern themselves and are as likely to raid as to trade with each other."

"There is also another motive to the Emperor's plan of colonization. When the Elves and Dwarves of the Old World began to see Batrachos' success and foretold his future victory, they abandoned the Old World for the New, joining their Brethren in across the Ocean. The elves vanished into the impenetrable forests behind the Mountains, and the Dwarves plumbed into the very depths of the Earth. Their expertise in the manufacture of luxury and arcane goods is sorely needed and missed, and their hubris angered Batrachos greatly. Truly a king's ransom has been offered to any who can locate and capture a live elf or dwarf."

"...and so, all you on this ship, be you refugees, fugitives, adventurers, or revolutionaries, gaze out under this gray sky and upon the tiny wooden Fort Hope as we approach. See how it is surrounded by brackish swamp, rocky shoreline, dense black spruce forest and with the Toadling Foothills looming behind. This is the face of both hope and death. Most of you will die here, but you will die free and maybe, just maybe, Varuzon's Godly Death-Glance will pass by and you will become a legend!"

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