The Chained Book
[h3]In the beginning, there was war. [/h3][p]The greatest one of them all, caused by greed and ambition of men – The Mother of All Wars. Men squabbled with each other for power and wealth, bringing ruin to the world around them in the process. A story told countless times before.[/p][p][/p][p]![]()
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But this time, the world didn’t stand in stoic silence.
[/p][p]The unimaginable horrors of nature spilled forth. The boiled seas drowned the land. Unbearable heat flayed the earth, and lethal freeze gnawed at its remains. Crumbled mountains spat out liquid flames, while the ground squirmed in agony.
[/p][p]And then, attempting to prevent all of those horrors, he came. The promised savior, the troubled prophet. “Doctor Ox” they called him. In his failure to deliver salvation to our world, he decided to flee it. To look elsewhere for a way out, to let humankind escape the dying world. Countless times he asked for favors from the men of power to provision his experiments. And countless times he was refused. Until, one day, there was no alternative.
[/p][p]With all the resources at hand, his prophets and lackeys started to work. And when this work was about to bear its first fruits, but was met with a wall, Doctor Ox received an otherworldly guidance. In attempts to open a path to a new world, someone reached from the other side. They helped Ox overcome struggles he faced, guided his hand in the right ways, promising salvation.
[/p][p]When the time came to open the gate, they failed. Years of their work, undone in an accident. Yet the Doctor stood firm and began anew.
[/p][p]In the second attempt made, years after the first, they failed again. The flames of their engine didn’t burn strong enough to undo the veil. And so they built anew.
[/p][p]The third attempt was met by Doctor Ox with his hair in silver and too few years of life to count. Ending as yet another failure, it put his entire life’s work into question. But his pride and zealotry obstructed the faulty scaffolding of this project. With both himself and mankind left no time to spare, they renewed his project once more. Now with whispers from the other side drowning his conscience and clarity of mind.
[/p][p]On the fourth time, they succeeded. The light itself was eaten by the machinery of men, gobbled by the maw of the Dark Fracture. Yet, Ox’s hopes of salvation were undone not long after. The Fracture was not a way for humanity to flee its doom, but welcome it onto themselves with Others. [/p][p][/p][p]![]()
[/p][p]The whispers that guided men in opening this passage came. They were those who came to be known by some as The Fallen. Twisted, dark things, driven by hunger and ambition. Sharing this hubris with the same of men, but knowing no bounds to it. They took those willing to serve as slaves, and killed the others. They corrupted the minds and enslaved the body with sweet whispers of greatness. And so, the age of The Fallen began.[/p][p][/p][p]They have cast their insatiable gaze upon humanity since time immemorial, shaping the course of our history from behind the curtain of shadows. These ancient beings whispered lies to rulers, sowed chaos among empires, and reveled in the suffering they wrought. But when The Dark Fracture tore through the fabric of reality, their hidden influence erupted into dominion. No longer content to manipulate from afar, these eldritch entities descended upon Earth, erecting grotesque kingdoms amidst the ruins of human civilization.[/p][p][/p][p]With each step they took, they twisted the world further into a nightmare. Men and beasts were subjected to horrifying rituals – souls torn apart, bodies warped into monstrous aberrations known as Echoes. These wretched creations serve as both tools and weapons for their dark masters, embodying the corruption of all they once were. To encounter an Echo is to face a perversion of life itself – a living void that mocks the natural order.
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[/p][p]Yet not all succumbed entirely to their will. A rare few resisted the full weight of The Fallen’s influence, becoming something… other. Known as The Touched, they bear traces of the same unearthly power that twists the Echoes but wield it with terrifying precision. Though they retain the semblance of humanity, their essence has been irrevocably tainted. Bound by invisible chains to the dark forces they resist — or unknowingly serve—they walk a razor’s edge between defiance and damnation.
[/p][p]In this fractured age, there are no true innocents—only those who serve the abyss more directly or less willingly.[/p][p]
Let us live to see another day, together.
[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]
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[/p]
But this time, the world didn’t stand in stoic silence.
[/p][p]The unimaginable horrors of nature spilled forth. The boiled seas drowned the land. Unbearable heat flayed the earth, and lethal freeze gnawed at its remains. Crumbled mountains spat out liquid flames, while the ground squirmed in agony.
[/p][p]And then, attempting to prevent all of those horrors, he came. The promised savior, the troubled prophet. “Doctor Ox” they called him. In his failure to deliver salvation to our world, he decided to flee it. To look elsewhere for a way out, to let humankind escape the dying world. Countless times he asked for favors from the men of power to provision his experiments. And countless times he was refused. Until, one day, there was no alternative.
[/p][p]With all the resources at hand, his prophets and lackeys started to work. And when this work was about to bear its first fruits, but was met with a wall, Doctor Ox received an otherworldly guidance. In attempts to open a path to a new world, someone reached from the other side. They helped Ox overcome struggles he faced, guided his hand in the right ways, promising salvation.
[/p][p]When the time came to open the gate, they failed. Years of their work, undone in an accident. Yet the Doctor stood firm and began anew.
[/p][p]In the second attempt made, years after the first, they failed again. The flames of their engine didn’t burn strong enough to undo the veil. And so they built anew.
[/p][p]The third attempt was met by Doctor Ox with his hair in silver and too few years of life to count. Ending as yet another failure, it put his entire life’s work into question. But his pride and zealotry obstructed the faulty scaffolding of this project. With both himself and mankind left no time to spare, they renewed his project once more. Now with whispers from the other side drowning his conscience and clarity of mind.
[/p][p]On the fourth time, they succeeded. The light itself was eaten by the machinery of men, gobbled by the maw of the Dark Fracture. Yet, Ox’s hopes of salvation were undone not long after. The Fracture was not a way for humanity to flee its doom, but welcome it onto themselves with Others. [/p][p][/p][p]
[/p][p]
[/p][p]In this fractured age, there are no true innocents—only those who serve the abyss more directly or less willingly.[/p][p]
Let us live to see another day, together.
[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]