Religion. To some people, it was an important part of their lives. Some of these lives even revolved completely around it, such as priests, monks, and bishops. To some others, they saw it as a hassle. They would go every Sabbath day to fulfill what they saw as a duty. And to some other people, it was a scam. They didn't believe anything that these men on the raised platforms were screaming.
Whatever it is that they believed about religion, it was a huge portion of the times, especially after the Great Cataclysm. After the event, many turned to religious figures, believing that it was a sign from whichever god they believed in. Whether that sign be a good thing to some, such as vanquishing their enemies, or be a bad thing.
After the Great Cataclysm, religion became more widespread than it was before. People were searching for answers. They needed answers. For most, however, those answers did not come through religion. And when those answers didn't come through the gods, the people turned to superstitions, such as magic, astrology, and even witchcraft or black magic.
The Samurai turned to the witches of the Myre's thick, wet swamps. The Vikings turned to the shamans of the snowy Valkenheim forests. The Knights turned to the stars. Each of the factions had their own coping mechanisms, each one failing just as the others:
The Vikings—Thinking that they had the superior mechanism for finding out the truth about the Great Cataclysm, the Vikings turned made shamans speak to the spirit world. When this yielded either a fake answer or no answer, they grew frustrated and turned to sacrificial believed that they needed to skip the middleman and go straight to their gods. And to no surprise, this also failed.
The Samurai—These warriors of the Orient looked to the witches for answers. All of these magicians came to the conclusion that the gods were angry at them. Seeking repentance, many of the Samurai turned to penance. Punishing themselves for things that they did not know were wrong, they tried to appease the gods. Because of the lack of a second cataclysm, many believed that they found the true path to salvation.
The Knights—Taking a different approach than the other factions, the Knights sought their own kind of answers. Rather than going to the spiritual world, they looked to the stars. They turned to the the astrologers to give them answers. After none of their "research" turned to be truth, the Knights concluded that it must've been a random event. But that did not satisfy their search for answers. When superstitions did not come up with true answers, they turned to science.
And in the same space of time of the search for answers, the Great War began to lay foundations for a long, hard age of war. The Knights claimed Ashfeld as their homeland, but land and food had become scarce shortly after the Great Cataclysm. This forced them to start to expand in the north—in Valkenheim. Unbeknownst to the Knights, the Vikings reclaimed their fallen homeland. In response to the expansion of Ashfeld, they retaliated and fought back as much as they could, driving the battle from Valkenheim and into Ashfeld.
At the same time, the Samurai from the Orient had travelled west shortly after the Great Cataclysm. Finding the Myre, they sent word back to their homeland only to receive news that it had fallen into the sea. Believing that this was a sign from their gods that this was their land to keep, the Samurai staked claim to the marshy swamps that the Myre offered.
After hearing of the war between the Knights and Vikings, they decided that it would be best to keep a neutral side in the war. This neutrality, however, did not last for very long, as the Vikings and Knights started claiming land from the Myre to help turn the tide of the war. In response to this, the Samurai entered the fray to protect their homeland and its people.
And then there began a millennium of conflict. After decades and decades of relentless warring, no victor seemed to be emerging. It seemed as though the war had transitioned into a stalemate. Soon after, the Vikings' raids upon the Myre and Ashfeld mysteriously stopped, allowing the Knights to push them out of Ashfeld and the Samurai pushing the Vikings and Knights out of the Myre. When the Knights and Vikings stopped their attacks upon the Myre, the Samurai did the same with Valkenheim and Ashfeld. And so began an age of peace.
This age of peace only lasted for a short time though. When the Viking raids began again, the once powerful Samurai and Knights had become weak from the age of peace. In addition, the Vikings were no longer regarded as powerful and ferocious as they once were. Dissatisfied with this result, a certain Warden, Apollyon, and her Blackstone Legion sought to restore the three factions to their once ferocious state. And how would she do this? By renewing the Great War.
Firstly, Apollyon had gathered allies. Uniting the powerful Iron Legion with her ferocious Blackstone Legion had allowed her to control a large, powerful force that would crush any who got in her way. Travelling into Valkenheim, the Blackstone Legion attacked and conquered much of the land, burning all but a small portion of the food that the snowy lands had. Leaving barely enough food that the Vikings could sustain some raids, Stigandr united the Vikings, leading the Great Raid against the Samurai.
Meanwhile, the Blackstone Legion marched into the Myre and killed the current Emperor of the Samurai. Whilst they were fighting amongst each other, Ayu was able to defeat the other Daimyo and become the new Empress of the Samurai. Uniting the Samurai, they attacked the Blackstone Legion, finally putting an end to Apollyon.
However, it was too late. Her work was already done. The three factions had come together in Ashfeld with aggression and hate for one another. There was no possible way that this could've ended any differently. With their swords raised high, the armies clashed.
The Great War was reborn.
A/N: So… it turns out that I have a lot of ideas for these one-shots. This one, however, was basically just a retelling of the story campaign, but I'm sure that I'll introduce more characters later on so that'll be fun. Don't worry, this will not replace either of my other stories. This'll just be something that I update when I feel like it, so probably often because I have a lot of fun writing these.
Anyway, there is a poll on my profile, asking which of my stories you mostly read. If you have some time, why not check it out?
As always, I hope that you all enjoyed this story.
