X: Founding
In the cold embrace of the Old Russian wilderness, the greatest Warlords fought for control over the lands. Behind them followed hundreds of Risen and thousands of mortals, all swore to them by fiefdom. Many Risen, and many more mortals, had grown disgusted by the suffering wrought by the Warlords, though fear of punishment held their tongues.
Those who could fled into the chilling cold and away from their lords, whose forces dared not follow for fear of freezing to death like so many others. In time, these defiant wills came to meet in a ravine. Rather than kill one another and their Ghosts, these nine deserters gathered together to brave the cold, sharing their stories of the Warlords they had served under. Guilt for the wold they had helped shape seized them, and a somberness overtook the meager camp they had created. Together, they hid from the Warlords and their armies, living in fear of discovery within a fledgling mining town. However, merely a year later, the community was attacked by its ruling Warlord, as they had failed to produce enough ore for his forges. Though the repentant deserters successfully killed the Warlord, the people they had come to know were lost in the battle.
One of them, a great swordsman by the name Radegast, proposed they end the tyranny that gripped the Earth and her people. The others agreed to this, and so they forged a fellowship to tear down would-be kings.
At first, their strikes were merely disruptive, stealing tithings to the Warlords so that they could be returned to the people. But over the ensuing decade, the rumors of these defiant warriors spurred others to join their ranks, both mortal and Risen. Two hundred and ten years after the dreaded Collapse, this blossoming rebellion struck against one of the Warlords, toppling his armies and reign in a single day. Having proven their fortitude and intent, hundreds more abandoned their despotic lords and joined the fellowship. Now hundreds strong, these emancipators became renowned for their unbreakable will and determination. And so, they became known as the Iron Lords.
For the next twenty years, the Iron Lords, followed by their hundreds of loyal Iron Wolves, fought across Old Russia to eradicate the Warlords. Some battles ended with little to no bloodshed, as the Warlord's soldiers surrendered or defected. Others ravaged entire towns, with innocents often being caught in the crossfire as the armies clashed. Some Warlords, either seeing the Iron Lords' cause as just or simply seeking to escape death by their hands, fell in with the warriors and joined their ranks. The most famed of these were Felwinter, the quiet holder of a mountain fortress which became the Iron Lords' base of operations; and Shaxx, a proud and boisterous fighter who wished to revel in battle.
After two decades of war, the Iron Lords had largely secured Old Russia under their banner, with the few Risen loyalists of the Warlords ultimately outmatched to oppose them. From their fortress Felwinter's Peak, the Iron Lords declared the people across Old Russia and the grander world would never again go threatened by corrupt Risen. Rejoice was heard in response.
A month after, however, the Iron Lords and their Ghosts found themselves drawn to the west by a strange, enlivening pull. The nine reformers, with the trusted Felwinter in tow, journeyed to a vast mountain range, one cloaked in a persistent storm of fog and rain. The storm parted, bidding them passage into a lush and forested valley, something unseen outside the storm's walls. Trekking further inward, they found the Traveler, whose name had drifted nearly into fable; one known only by the Risen through the words of their Ghosts. In its shadow, they found a man preaching and caring for a small camp, another Risen like themselves. He claimed to speak for the Traveler, for it had spoken to him in his first hours of new life. He proclaimed that it had told him to build a haven in its shadow, a place of safety for all who would travel there.
The Iron Lords saw the Speaker's claims and goals were true, finding a humbling feeling towards the great white orb above them. They called the people of Old Russia and beyond to this safe and bountiful land. Thousands from across the world answered their call, hundreds of whom being Risen drawn by the same Light as them.
In a mere year, the once miniscule village had grown into a city of hope. But hope proved it could not hold together the people of this city. Factions of both political and ideological bearings, all of whom being inspired by remnants of the Golden Age's philosophies, governments and technology, began competing for dominance over the city. As the Iron Lords were on campaign in Old Asia and the Saharan Deserted Zone, these Factions fell into violent infighting, rallying bands of Risen to their causes; in defiance of the old fellowship's decrees against unfair dominion. The Faction War engulfed the city, driving its mortal populace to pick sides in order to ensure their safety.
The Speaker, distraught over the civil war, pleaded that the neutral Risen end the conflict. Loyal to his word, an alliance of Risen, led by the rising hero Rezyl Azzir, banded together and began challenging the Factions. Through both battle and debate, these pure-hearted Risen quelled the infighting and stabilized the city, and not a moment too soon.
Mere days after suppressing the last of the extremist Faction leaders, the Earth came under siege from spacefaring arachnids whom cloaked themselves in red cloth. While their brothers and sisters had become content to scavenge the outer reaches of the Solar System for a while longer, the Fallen House of Devils had possessed no such patience. Instead, they had pressed further into the system and found their lost god. And so, the House of Devils had arrived on Earth, intent on reclaiming the Great Machine for themselves. Stories of these brutal pirates and thieves spread across the Earth in little time, speaking of how they ravaged villages and towns to fuel their Servitors.
In response to both the Faction War and the new Fallen threat, the Speaker petitioned the creation of an official government to rule over the city. The Iron Lords, having since returned in the face of the invasion, seconded this idea. No one group would hold more sway than another, to prevent another Faction War and ensure the city's continued safety. Thus, the Consensus was formed, which was at first comprised of the remaining moderate Factions, the Iron Lords, and the Speaker; who would stand as a spiritual guide and figurehead to lead the newly titled Last City.
Most importantly, it was seen that the Risen were the City's best chance at survival, and as such they could not go on persisting with a code of ethics that permitted the likes of the Warlords and Faction War to occur. So, the Risen of the Last City were named Guardians, paragons who would live and die to safeguard Humanity. To manage the City's protection, three divisions were founded, composed of both Guardians and mortals. There was the City Guard, who would prepare the City's defenses against foes within and without; itself established by the Pilgrim Guard that had defended emigrates from bandits long ago. Next was the Order of Refractions, who would study the bizarre and awesome power of the Light that had been bestowed unto the Guardians and other Risen. And, lastly, there was the City Expedition Force, who were to scour the Earth, and in time the worlds beyond, to seek out looming threats and lost secrets. In order to lead these divisions, the triumvirate known as the Vanguard was founded, whose members would find themselves added to the Consensus as tactical military and information advisors.
With these first foundations in place, the Last City stood defiant against the alien threat from beyond, whose arachnid blue eyes took on an eager and fanatical glow.
Author's Note
Hopefully, it will only be one or two more chapters of this 'recap the stuff from the lore so that people understand what's happening just in case' stuff. Then, I'll be able to start talking about the bearer of the dawn. Once I hit that point in the story, things will be different. For any wondering, the next chapter will involve Osiris' exile, Six Fronts, Dredgen Yor, the Great Disaster, and all the stuff that goes on around them, so expect it to be longer than this one.