Lost gods
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1. Spirits of the Lost
In an age long past, patron gods littered the land, each supreme in their own corner of the world, each protecting their followers. Now the few gods who remain are shadows of their former selves, their power much diminished and their people slaughtered by the Six who united to conquer the known world. Ruyin was once a god of smoke and shadow. Now she hides within the teeming masses of Taipen, the capital of the Lian Empire the Six built. She lives a simple life, working as a messenger and watching the empire rot from the inside out after three hundred years of relative stability. For while the six gods of the pantheon slumber, the descendants of the founding tribes are proving to be an incompetent ruling class. Now, someone is killing Enforcers, who wield the blended magic gifted to them by the pantheon and who functionally rule the empire. Despite her best efforts, Ruyin finds herself pulled into the upheavals of the age by friends both old and new, all of which puts her closely guarded secret at risk. 2. City of the Forgotten The dark powers granted to Ruyin by the ancient spirit she plays reluctant host to are dramatically revealed when she kills one of the Six patron gods who built the Lian Empire. Even the Enforcers, who wield magic gifted to them by the Six, are glad Krusen is dead. After all, the old war god attempted to seize control for himself as soon as the religious fanatics within the wavering government raised him from his slumbers. Yet Krusen’s death leads to a number of unanticipated ripple effects because while the war god himself is dead, his magic is not. Without him around to direct it toward the Enforcers, the magic instead spills out through the land and ends up in the hands of average civilians, a situation that the faltering ruling elite cannot tolerate. Ruyin wants nothing more than to live out the rest of her days in peace, mourning her people, who the Six slaughtered as they conquered their way to the top. But her powers, once revealed, mean that everyone either wants her dead or wants to use her. Either way, they soon discover that there’s more than one reason Ruyin has worked so hard to keep these powers hidden. 3. Fury of the Fallen Ruyin’s old nemesis Elias is awake, the light to her dark. His mind has bowed under the weight of the ancient power that filled him when it found no better vessel. That power and Elias both hate Ruyin and the dark energy she holds inside herself. Their clashes awakened Calyso and Shang, two of the Six gods who built the Lian Empire, destroying all who resisted. Ruyin and Sahir nearly come to blow with the gods who doomed their people. Sonja, the Enforcer who once hunted Ruyin but now believes she can save the empire, has other ideas. She convinces Ruyin to at least meet with the two pantheon gods. Ruyin needs their help to subdue Elias and they need her help to cope with the rise of demons capable of resisting the magic of the Six. Ruyin reluctantly agrees, as much for the sake of the rebels under her care as for herself. Ruyin is still full of fury for the long-ago slaughter of her people but she finds a way to work with the gods of the pantheon. Yet even this might not save the empire from its enemies as demons tear through rips in the fabric of reality and Enforcers feeling their magic weaken start to grow resentful. |
Midlands
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