The Age of Faith and First Fire
The continent was young, and hope was abundant.
Time itself came to be measured with the founding of the first holy city, Dagresh, and the rise of the Church of the Almighty. In those early centuries, God reached openly into the mortal plane, bestowing blessings and miracles without subtlety or restraint. Dagresh shone as a beacon of divine favor, drawing pilgrims, scholars, and faithful from across the continent—and beyond the sea.
Elsewhere, progress crept forward slowly. Isolated tinkerers and craftsmen experimented with primitive mechanisms, discovering that heat could be harnessed to create motion. These early machines were crude and unreliable, curiosities rather than revolutions. True technological advancement remained distant.
Faith, however, flourished.
The concentration of divine power within Dagresh did not go unnoticed.
Across the sea, on the neighboring continent of Thalith, the earth itself split open. The Gates of Hell erupted along its coasts, unleashing demonic hosts upon the land. Within months, Thalith was reduced to a blighted ruin, its people scattered or destroyed.
Drawn by divine radiance, the demonic tide soon turned toward Raphtspire. God’s favor became the continent’s greatest curse, leading the armies of Hell directly to Dagresh.
The holy city stood as the first—and greatest—obstacle to the infernal invasion.
What followed was a war without precedent. For years, the Church’s holy warriors held the line against demonic forces at the city’s gates. Miracles burned through fiends. Radiant steel clashed with infernal flesh. Victory was bought at an unbearable cost.
Dagresh survived—but scarred. Entire districts were ruined. Refugees fled inland, founding new settlements far from the coast. Though the demons were held at bay, the war showed no sign of ending.
The Church sought a final solution.
A small, Church-sanctioned expedition was assembled to cross the sea and permanently seal the Gates of Hell. Few were chosen. Fewer returned.
Among them were:
Ignacio Valve, a lower-district tinkerer whose unconventional invention promised a means to reinforce the seal.
Granthal Rookshaw, Arch Paladin of the Church, accompanied by his grandson Ernest Rookshaw, newly sworn as a Templar.
Eleanor Hothgar, a gifted scribe and devoted student of the High Priest.
Madam Goraney, a shaman-prophet cloaked in white, whose blessing by the Almighty was spoken of in whispers.
The journey was brutal. Many perished before reaching Thalith.
Those who survived stood before the Gates themselves.
After defeating the demonic guardians, the ritual began. Granthal and Ernest forced the gates shut while Eleanor chanted divine scripture. Ignacio and Madam Goraney prepared their own methods—mechanical and prophetic—to seal the breach permanently.
They were too slow.
Something within the Gates forced them open once more.
The sight of what lay beyond paralyzed both Ignacio and Goraney. Eleanor’s chant faltered when she inhaled a sickening, infernal vapor, collapsing as corruption entered her lungs. Demonic reinforcements surged toward the ritual site.
Granthal made his decision.
He ordered his grandson to flee with the others and remained behind, alone, to hold back the infernal host.
His sacrifice bought them time.
Only a handful returned to Dagresh.
Eleanor Hothgar did not survive the journey home. She lived just long enough to show what was soon to come....