Testament of the Survivors

Survivor's Last Will

I am writing this diary for future generations so that everyone will know what happened here. This is my testament: Remember what happened here, why we are here, why you must continue to remember it. About a decade has passed since the global cataclysm known as the Great Dawnfall. For those who may not know what the Great Dawnfall was, I hasten to explain. On the day *blurred*, a minor event called the Three Days of Darkness occurred. Three days of impenetrable darkness, the earth shook, the air was filled with plague, and the powers of hell left their underground principality to wreak destruction on Earth. For three days we sat in our safe havens praying for this nightmare to finally end. And so it eventually did, but not quite. Our uninvited guests from the afterlife did not want to simply return to their little whorehouse and continued to hunt those who had the fortune or misfortune of surviving. Governments around the world were unable to cope with the new threat, and the fact that the UN elites and most of the international Blue Helmet forces turned out to be puppets of hell, drastic measures were taken, such as full-scale nuclear bombing of the largest centers of demonic activity. Unfortunately, this was not the end of our troubles. Then a "plague" appeared. An unknown, fast, brutal disease that fed the hellish hordes, turning normal people into bloodthirsty puppets wanting to serve their "Benefactor". Thus, the world almost fell into the arms of the Global Alliance of Occultists, but fortunately or unfortunately, two other equally powerful factions appeared. First and foremost, it was the Society of Light, a brotherhood originating from the Order of the Illuminati and Masonic Lodges, people who wanted progress towards the total Enlightenment of Humanity and its better future. Great minds and influential people, returned to the destroyed world to spread their ideas and gain territories under their tutelage. According to them, they were behind all the important events that were to liberate humanity from darkness, such as the French Revolution, the American Revolution, or even responsible for the Allied victory in World War II, and even the victory of the Western Bloc during the rivalry between the USA and the USSR. They are a very controversial organization, because on the one hand they are praised for the fairly good quality of life in the settlements under their leadership, but many also complain that they are often incompetent in extending their plans. In addition, many settlers hate them for allowing so-called "friendly demons and monsters" to join their society on their territories. Unfortunately, it draws people to their eternal enemy, who has been displacing both the United Coven and the Society for several years. It is the most mysterious faction of the three. They call themselves Tenebris or the Order of Tenebris. Not much is known about them, except that they are a very heavily militarized quasi-religious organization that supposedly has existed since biblical times. They present themselves as defenders of the human race and true servants of God. The organization has many settlements under its care all over the world, but from reports from refugees they lead there an almost totalitarian regime that does not tolerate a word of protest, but many of their sympathizers believe that it is on their territory that it is the safest. Unfortunately, more and more often we hear about many terrifying things that they supposedly commit on people they consider "unclean" or "unworthy". I myself saw a black V22 Ospray with a triangle symbol shooting at a caravan of refugees. The survivors were finished off by guys in black armor and raven masks of plague doctors who burned the corpses. The three main factions are the largest and have the most lands under their control, but they are not the only ones. The next largest can be considered the Independent City of Chicago, which despite the atomic bombings managed to secure a huge area, where a small but quite well-functioning society was created, which took refuge in the strongest skyscrapers. Thanks to the support of several US Army regiments, they managed to defend it from mutants, demons and the largest factions. However, there is no hiding the fact that they still have considerable internal problems, such as limited resources, but recently they have been taking many initiatives to improve the situation. Time will tell if this is enough. Recently, there have also been radio broadcasts, the broadcaster of which states that they are representatives of the survivors of the UN, who are faithful to their previous ideals and are calling for people to join their cause. I have heard about them and even had the opportunity to travel with one of their soldiers to their facility in New York. These people actually have enough resources to operate all over the world. May the universe bless them. They are also said to be cooperating with the mysterious Juotunheim Institute, a combined force of some of the largest scientific institutes in the world, which is looking for a cure for the plague. Maybe they are wasting their time, or maybe they will save the world. Who knows? Unfortunately, there is no shortage of complete scoundrels in the world. One of them is the Silver Horde, a band of robbers from Asia, suspected to be soldiers from Mongolia, Russia and China, who decided to cultivate the tradition of their ancestors and survive in the new world at the expense of others. In theory, no one knows how big the Silver Horde is, because it constantly moves from place to place, plundering every settlement or other group of nomads it encounters. That is why they should be avoided more than clusters of demons and the sick. I could list hundreds of larger groups such as the Freedonia Confederacy, the Restored Empire of China, the Andean Federation or larger nomadic clans traveling through the contaminated radiation and mysterious Black Sludge of canning Earth.
I hope you have come to live in better times, when demons, mutants, the sick, or disturbing factions do not threaten your existence. No matter who you are, I bless you. Please live so that others may live.

[Parish announcements][Welcome to the new book from the Great Dawnfall universe. The book will be a collection of many stories of various people who will try to survive in the world 10 years after the biblical apocalypse ended with a nuclear conflict. Their everyday lives, struggles and life goals will be put to the test in a new, hostile environment. How will they survive? You will find out more about this in the following chapters. If I have intrigued you, please read on.]