Lightning On The Horizon

Prologue

Races die out. Cultures become extinguished. Religions fade into nothing. Great nations and identities fall. And there will always be someone who picks up the pieces. One who can weave their own fate, according to the roads laid before them within the Path. There has only been one in every few generations with the will to walk it, and history will be written in the pain they leave behind them.

Long ago, an ailing technocracy fell prey to a disillusioned god. One who broke from their own family and sought to demand worship from the lesser. The Seraphs were gods of the realm, gentle observers and occasional caretakers. The Seraph Volition decided that in their infinite power they should be worshipped. Volition descended upon one of the first mortal races, the technologically advanced V'Oreen.

The V'Oreen opposed the god, which ultimately ended in their near extinction. But, in their moment of vulnerability, the one who called himself Volition made it mandate that those who would not kneel towards his kind would be culled. The other members of his Seraph council were appalled as they did not share this belief of imposing power on races who could not comprehend it. Volition sparked a world-shattering war that pitted gods against one another, and at the end of it all, he and the others who sought godhood were imprisoned within the world's core. The ones who sealed them away retreated to the coven of moons above, cocooning themselves away for what would be lifetimes. The closest friend of the god's leader, the Seraph Storms stayed behind, to one day combat the inevitable return of the darkened brethren. He would see the evolution of beings flourish in the millennium to come, and steer their hearts along a tiresome yet fruitful path.

Over the eons, he saw mysterious and strange races rise and fall. Perhaps the most curious of all these beings were the Humans. Frail, weak and shivering things lousing about and dying off easily, prey to the vicious creatures that roamed the world. The Seraph witnessed their intellect blossom over the course of time, forming communities with one another, learning to read and write, creating a diverse and intricate culture. The bulk of Humanity had begun refining its identity, and their minds had awoken. Coming together under a zealous and altruistic cause, they formed the Human colony of Oegema. Though they came together in unity, conflict was in their nature. Following a period of heavy conflict with many other Human tribes, an unknown cataclysmic event nearly destroyed Oegema, and forced Man to flee on a vagabond's journey for a new home. The massive roaming species fled finding strife and death at every corner, waging aggressive wars that spread across the lands they traveled. War and survival became their religions, and the resentment they felt for their own downfall produced harsh and cold demeanor towards any race that would not welcome them with open arms. Many broke off and tried to find their own home.

The very primitiveness they despised had tricked them, and now Fate laughed at their helplessness as the species they encountered treated them like the dirt beneath their feet. Somewhere along their pathetic exodus, the concept of the Path of the Protector came to be. The Path offered the promise of a leader who would bring prosperity and power to their people. Using the symbols of the cosmos left behind by the lone Seraph, they charted their course, traversing the astral strands of prophecy. These markings became the faith of the Lunar Charter, which served as a reminder to the world of the moons watchful eyes.

Humanity, with the aid of this faith, looked towards the horizon with the hope that the names of heroes to come would bring about their ultimate salvation. As the legends of yore came and went, the same eternity that saw Humanity thrive would bear witness to its lowest of moments, and the Seraph that stayed behind could all but watch.

When a small armada of fishing boats, cramped with several tribal families aboard the dirty, infected and rotting troughs landed ashore the Autumn Isles, a glimmer of hope cut through the nihilistic veil. Only one determined force halted their evolution, and it came in the form of a lonesome, mutated woman.

The vile Broodmother of the Avarati, Ashera Sepherant, spread her Hieroblight across the lands of the Isles in an attempt to keep her rightful rule. In her own time, Lady Vivella Soldvari, the legendary Face of Humanity led humans across a treacherous campaign. They converged upon the blood-soaked fields surrounding an abandoned V'Oreen compound, resplendent with the technology and ascension the humans did not know they desperately needed. Lady Vivella shook the foundations of the Isles themselves all to oppose Ashera. The Broodmother herself, her adoptive son Kayden, and Lady Vivella clashed on the muddied fields of Sunset Mounds.

The seeds of the future were planted long ago, and the only method Humanity has ever known to progress is war. Humanity was bred within war, and there it will forever remain.