A Tale of Traumas

## **No matter how bad it gets, *it can always get worse***

*We kid*.

No we don't. There are fates worse than death, and the once-sweet release no longer guarantees peace. There might, however... just *might* be a fighting chance to survive. To shift the odds in your favor, familiarize yourself with the three short eras that the world has recently endured.

No matter where your character came from, they lived through this. Some may remember the days before the *Incidence of Indents*, others may have grown up in a world of magic and mayhem.

## **The Calm: *1365 to 1376***

The "Incidence of Incidents," as they came to be known, started in 1365. Ghost sightings were the most common, but there were stranger things bubbling up in an already-superstitious world. There was no single place of origin, rather a gradual rise in oddities *everywhere*.

By 1367, with a surge in spectres and angry angels, a birth on the Epiphany was taken to mean something. Doubly so if it was the birth of a noble – and just such a thing happened in Western France. By some definitions, Richard of Bordeaux grew to become one of the Magi. He healed his brother and eventually father and was said to be in conference with the angels themselves.

Richard's father, Crown Prince Edward of Woodstock, was destined to be England's next king. Richard's older brother was destined to follow in his footsteps, leaving the door wide open for Richard to follow a different path. That he did, mastering alchemy at an early age to keep the Crown solvent.

Suitors and courtiers from around Europe threw themselves at the English Edwards, and quietly, at young Prince Richard. England became unfathomably wealthy, the Crown a bottomless moneylender, and it's said that the streets of London were paved in gold brick. Obviously not, but those were the tales that entranced courts as far as the exotic city of Samarkand – and possibly to China itself.

The Church had very particular ideas about magic, *and the English Lollards*, but it also had a love for gold. Vacillating between Avignon and Rome, the Curia was tearing itself apart well before the Plantagenets. When the Order of Merlin rose, the Church was torn again between excommunicating England – *or recruiting them against the encroaching Turks*.

Saved from death by dysentery, the Prince Regent laid the groundwork for massive changes. When King Edward III passed the torch to his son, King Edward IV rocked the world. He set new precedents and dared Europe to follow.

## **The Storm: *1377 to 1383***

Around the world, the *Incidence of Incidents* were accelerating, but areas already isolated had no way of sharing their story. From the farthest reaches of Africa, through the jungles of Asia, the merely strange was turning malevolent. In the Western Hemisphere, the apocalypse had already begun.

In Western Europe, there was a different tempo to the growing chaos, if only because of one mitigating factor: *the legacy of Merlin's magic*. That didn't lessen the impact, it just focused it.

In 1378, from the *Scream of the Spectres* to an undead apocalypse in London, the *Incidence of Incidents* got worse. The newly formed Royal Army, the *Regiment of Saint George*, fought back against the evil of the Devil's Teardrop and prevailed. The English Crown seemed indomitable, but in victory, *security*. Even as war erupted in France, London threatened to riot if they lost their protectors.

Beyond the war, as Old London grew, it sparkled with magic. The world was enchanted, tilting to spin on the axis of England.

Was Prince Richard, born on the Epiphany, Merlin reborn...? England seemed to think so. Young Rick became so popular that the Archbishop of Canterbury dared not utter a word against the Order and Merlin's magic.

John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, also thought so. The rumor, at the time, was that the Order of Merlin hid most of their creations. Some said there were wands that *anyone could use* that cast great balls of fire. There were cannons that could pummel mountains into valleys. Such power would end the bloodshed in France (and everywhere else) overnight, but Richard wouldn't confirm their existence, much less allow their use. John promised his duchy to *Prince Rick* (pending approval of the king) should he finally agree to magically help him conquer Castile.

Prince Richard did eventually become a king... *of Aquitaine*. Maps were redrawn from Iberia to Ireland as the Plantagenets reclaimed the *Angevin Empire* under the banner of the *Commonwealth*. Where it expanded, there was peace, tolerance and stability. English ships went around the world. A whole other continent was discovered – *and it was filled with monsters*. New kingdoms were founded, new foods discovered, and civilization was prevailing... but the Incidents were just getting warmed up.

## **The End: *from 1384 to Now*...**

The *Battle of Moon's Shadow* changed things. There had been an annular eclipse just some months before and the countryside always got skittish, but whatever happened in the sky those nights...? The whole world witnessed it. Some of the "sparks" reached the ground and entire villages perished: people, dogs, cats, birds, cockroaches. But no sign of earthly damage.

After the *Battle of Moon's Shadow*, the world started to unravel. A lot can happen in three years, and it did. There were already monsters among us, but now whole regions went mad. The seeds of legend led to truths of terror.

And then, April, 1387: *Starfall*. For three days, the sky was on fire. Near the end, the shield broke and Leeds Castle, home of the *Royal Order of Merlin*, was left a glassy hole in the earth. London burned to its foundations and the reign of King Edward IV ended in the blaze. Amidst the ruins, the reign of King Edward V started in a trial by fire. Two years have gone by since then, but few in the world can bear to evoke ***those memories***.

Starfall bloodied the Order, it was a miracle there were any of them left, but the wizards never stopped. One would think, after surviving the End of the World, that they could relax and recover.

*No*.

Since then, the "little" incidents only got worse. Away from the Oder, some say the so-called *End* may have been an angelic attempt at mercy. Others say the angels were only trying to save themselves. Indeed, monsters and demons were only the beginning. Where the *unspeakables* have touched, the living envy the dead.

The Order of Merlin never gave up. Instead, as the incidents grew darker, their light shined brighter. The wizards have made it clear: *now the challenge begins*.

## **Enter the Pilgrims**

Since Starfall, the call of the Order has been renewed: *tell us what you have seen*.

English, French, Spanish, Germans, Italians... Russians and Turks, Egyptians and Mali princes, Arabs and Indians, Mongols and Chinese, Aztecs and Mayans. People are making the journey. It matters not where the brave hail from, only that they bring news of where the light is needed.

So opens the door to our players' characters. Where do they come from and what can they offer? Players should begin their quest by sallying forth on the ***Road to London***.

## **Behind the Scenes**

The referees will be approaching the fight from a different perspective.

Guiding the adventure, and playing every role not filled by a player, the Refs need to know the bigger picture of the ***Darkness Rising***...