Mouseferatu
Hero
Everyone knows that when all-powerful Kélai shaped our world from the fires and chaos of the Time Before, He threw down Wolahn and the great demon lords, grinding them into the dust.
Everyone knows that only a few of Wolahn’s demons and their monstrous and inhuman spawn survived the earliest ages of mankind.
And everyone knows that when Sir Gathlemence led the Third Crusade into the wild lands of the monstrous heathens, he destroyed what little witchcraft and what few demon-spawn remained, leaving our world free for mankind to expand and grow in safety.
Yeah, yeah, everyone knows. Only problem, of course, is that everyone's wrong.
The Crusaders did a fine job, I'll grant them that. They succeeded in wiping out a vast portion of Wolahn’s creatures: inhuman beasts, spell-hurling witches and warlocks, demons from beyond our world, even the risen dead. All cast down and destroyed.
Mostly.
It seems foolish to believe that an army, no matter how large or successful, could have destroyed every one of Wolahn’s servants, but the people believed it because they wanted to believe, and because the throne and the Church convinced them to believe. And over time, myth and wishful thinking became fact.
Thing is, some of these creatures aren’t happy staying in the wilderness where it’s safe. Some of them insist on coming into Sumalka and its neighboring territories, killing people, eating children, causing untold property damage, and just generally making a nuisance of themselves.
It gets worse. You know why gods need worshippers? They get their power from mortal belief, that’s why. As long as most of mankind believes that Wolahn’s creatures were all wiped out and that he was thrown down with them, that he no longer exists at all, he has very little power in this world. Let word leak out, though, let the citizens learn that these monsters are still out there, and people are going to start believing in Wolahn again. And that’s just not good for anyone.
So you poor saps who “volunteered” for this job get the best of both worlds. You get to deal with all the critters, the ghosties and ghoulies, the rogue spellcasters, and basically every damn thing that the normal city guards and the military aren’t equipped to handle. And you get to do it without letting the public know what the hell’s going on.
Welcome to Shadow Branch. Have fun out there, and don’t get eaten.
At least not in public.
Shadow Branch is a self-contained D20 fantasy campaign setting produced by MonkeyGod Enterprises, available mid-2003.
Everyone knows that only a few of Wolahn’s demons and their monstrous and inhuman spawn survived the earliest ages of mankind.
And everyone knows that when Sir Gathlemence led the Third Crusade into the wild lands of the monstrous heathens, he destroyed what little witchcraft and what few demon-spawn remained, leaving our world free for mankind to expand and grow in safety.
Yeah, yeah, everyone knows. Only problem, of course, is that everyone's wrong.
The Crusaders did a fine job, I'll grant them that. They succeeded in wiping out a vast portion of Wolahn’s creatures: inhuman beasts, spell-hurling witches and warlocks, demons from beyond our world, even the risen dead. All cast down and destroyed.
Mostly.
It seems foolish to believe that an army, no matter how large or successful, could have destroyed every one of Wolahn’s servants, but the people believed it because they wanted to believe, and because the throne and the Church convinced them to believe. And over time, myth and wishful thinking became fact.
Thing is, some of these creatures aren’t happy staying in the wilderness where it’s safe. Some of them insist on coming into Sumalka and its neighboring territories, killing people, eating children, causing untold property damage, and just generally making a nuisance of themselves.
It gets worse. You know why gods need worshippers? They get their power from mortal belief, that’s why. As long as most of mankind believes that Wolahn’s creatures were all wiped out and that he was thrown down with them, that he no longer exists at all, he has very little power in this world. Let word leak out, though, let the citizens learn that these monsters are still out there, and people are going to start believing in Wolahn again. And that’s just not good for anyone.
So you poor saps who “volunteered” for this job get the best of both worlds. You get to deal with all the critters, the ghosties and ghoulies, the rogue spellcasters, and basically every damn thing that the normal city guards and the military aren’t equipped to handle. And you get to do it without letting the public know what the hell’s going on.
Welcome to Shadow Branch. Have fun out there, and don’t get eaten.
At least not in public.
Shadow Branch is a self-contained D20 fantasy campaign setting produced by MonkeyGod Enterprises, available mid-2003.
Last edited:
