The Qin Dynasty came into Evil Land like a storm of iron. Their Emperor, Zhao Hengdi, proclaimed himself the only rightful sovereign under heaven, his banners of black and crimson carried across the ruins by disciplined spearmen, armored chariots, and war engines dredged up from the bones of older empires. His message was simple: submit, pay tribute, and live as a subject—or resist and be ground beneath the wheels of history.
At first, the people of Evil Land bowed. Villages offered grain, guilds signed contracts, and scavenger bands avoided Qin patrols. But oppression grows heavier with each passing year. Taxes stripped the people bare, the Emperor’s governors crucified dissenters, and Qin conscription stole away the strongest youth to fight wars far from their homes.
It was not one single event but many sparks that ignited rebellion. An Ashlander caravan slaughtered by Qin soldiers for refusing tribute. A Guild of Thieves cell executed en masse after being caught smuggling. A Commoner’s Guild militia crucified for defending their granaries. Slowly, grudges coalesced into something greater.
From the dunes, the forests, the alleyways, and the ruins rose the Coalition, a confederation of scavengers, tribal warriors, rogue guilds, and outlaw kingdoms bound together by their hatred of Qin.
The backbone of the resistance, the Ashlanders provided both numbers and terrain mastery. Fierce raiders on guar-back and masters of ambush, they turned the desert and the wastes into traps, harrying Qin supply lines with relentless raids. Their chiefs, once at odds, set aside blood feuds under the leadership of Chieftain Veyra Salt-Eye, who declared that no ash should ever bow to foreign iron.
From the ruins emerged scavenger warlords, their weapons crude but deadly. They brought with them rediscovered relics—rusting tanks, jury-rigged firearms, and improvised explosives. Rikarn the Rust-King, infamous for turning a derelict factory into his fortress, became the Coalition’s quartermaster, supplying broken but serviceable arms scavenged from ages past.
The Thieves provided eyes, ears, and knives in the dark. They infiltrated Qin garrisons, sabotaged supply depots, and spread false orders among imperial troops. Mistress Kivea, a spymaster draped in silks and shadows, turned the underworld into a weapon, ensuring the Dynasty never truly knew friend from foe.
Farmers, bakers, smiths, and herdsmen, underestimated by Qin governors, rose up with sickles and hammers. They fortified villages, built hidden tunnels, and provided food to the rebels. Their leader, Elder Harun, spoke of dignity as a weapon: “The Emperor cannot eat our pride, nor tax our resolve.”
Mercenaries usually bound by coin, many guild warriors defected when Qin contracts grew too cruel. They trained the Coalition’s rabble into militia companies, instilling discipline to match Qin ranks. Their most famed captain, Rogan Bloodhand, defected after witnessing Qin slaughter a surrendered town.
Though divided, some cells pledged themselves to the cause. Their work was quiet but devastating: governors fell to poisoned cups, supply caravans burned overnight, and Qin officers awoke to find their tents decorated with severed heads.
The Guild of Mages was divided—some sold their power to Qin, others rebelled. Those who sided with the Coalition smuggled firestorms into battle and warded villages against Qin’s siege engines. Magister Salomeh of the Broken Circle became infamous for shattering an entire Qin battalion with a single spell, a storm of glass shards conjured from the desert sands.
The Coalition was not united by vision but by necessity. Their goals varied:
Ashlanders sought independence and preservation of their ways.
Scavengers wanted freedom to plunder ruins without Qin taxation.
Thieves wished for shadows unsmothered by imperial law.
Commoners demanded dignity and self-rule.
Fighters and Assassins desired revenge against betrayal and tyranny.
Mages fought for knowledge unbound by Qin edicts.
Together, their singular agreement was simple: the Qin must be driven out, or Evil Land would cease to belong to its people.
Guerrilla Warfare: The Coalition avoided direct confrontation with Qin legions. Ashlander raiders struck supply lines, scavengers set traps in ruins, and assassins thinned the officer ranks.
Economic Sabotage: Merchants sympathetic to the cause manipulated prices, starving Qin garrisons of supplies. Commoners destroyed harvests rather than surrender them, forcing Qin to bleed resources.
Magical Unrest: Rebel mages seeded plagues of locusts, enchanted storms, and false omens, turning Qin soldiers against their own commanders.
Propaganda: Thieves and Commoners spread songs and whispers of Qin defeats, inflating minor victories into legends that kept morale alive.
Alliances of Necessity: Even rival tribes or gangs worked together in raids, sharing spoils and intelligence to keep the Dynasty reeling.
The Emperor responded with typical ruthlessness. His generals crucified entire villages suspected of aiding rebels. They salted Ashlander wells, burned forests used as ambush cover, and unleashed war-beasts bred in imperial kennels. Qin mages countered rebel spells with wards and conjured terrors of their own.
Yet the Dynasty’s strength was also its weakness. They relied on rigid formations, centralized supply chains, and absolute obedience. Against a fluid enemy that melted into the wastes, Qin forces often found themselves fighting ghosts.
The Sack of Greyhollow – Qin seized a Commoner town suspected of harboring rebels, executing thousands. This atrocity drove many neutral villages into the Coalition’s arms.
The Glassstorm at Turel’s Pass – Magister Salomeh’s spell annihilated a Qin battalion, scattering survivors into the desert.
The Ash March – Chieftain Veyra Salt-Eye led 10,000 Ashlanders against Qin’s southern caravan routes, starving half a legion to death.
The Night of Masks – Assassins struck simultaneously in three cities, killing governors and sowing chaos across the frontier.
The Siege of Rustspire – Rikarn the Rust-King repelled a Qin siege for 40 days using scavenged artillery, becoming a folk hero.
The Coalition was never fully united.
Ashlanders clashed with scavengers over raiding rights.
Thieves quarreled with Fighters about loot distribution.
Mages distrusted Assassins, accusing them of undermining coordination.
Some tribes secretly negotiated with Qin for leniency.
Still, Qin oppression held them together. Every betrayal risked shattering the alliance, yet the greater enemy forced compromise.
As of now, the war is ongoing. The Qin remain entrenched in fortified cities, their legions disciplined and deadly. But the Coalition owns the wilds, turning every ruin, canyon, and desert into a battlefield. Neither side can achieve total victory.
The Qin Dynasty bleeds resources and morale, its soldiers worn thin by endless raids.
The Coalition gains strength as more villages rise in revolt, yet risks collapse under its own factional rivalries.
Rumors whisper that Baron eyes the chaos with greedy intent, and that House Dagoth sends dream-plagues to undermine both sides.
The land itself waits, patient and cruel, watching to see if the Coalition can endure long enough to fracture the Qin’s iron grip—or if it too will crumble into ash, another failed rebellion in the annals of Evil Land.
The Coalition against Qin is not merely a rebellion. It is a question posed to all of Evil Land: do the people choose tyranny for stability, or chaos for freedom? The answer is not yet clear. Villagers still sharpen pitchforks, thieves still whisper in alleys, scavengers still pry open ancient vaults, and Qin generals still march in iron ranks.
What is certain is this: Evil Land will never know peace, but it may yet know defiance.